Tag Archive for ‘Respect’ at DrivenLeaders.com

gen y respect 10 Tips on How to be Taken Seriously as a Leader Earning credibility and being taken seriously continue to be challenging issues for many Gen-Y employees as they step into roles of increasing responsibly.

In preparation for advancement, many training programs focus solely on building “competencies,” the cornerstones to success. I agree the ability to negotiate, communicate, influence, and persuade others are indispensable qualities when it comes to leading successful teams. And there is no doubt that enhancing these skills builds one’s credibility and sets the groundwork for long-term success. However, for Gen-Y Leaders, the risk of undermining that credibility early on is very real thing. Many sabotage themselves, losing control and credibility before they even have the opportunity to utilize there abilities, simply by falling into classic traps that are easily overlooked.

Highlighting this point, authors Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio, offer some basic and practical suggestions that lay the foundation for being taken seriously when moving into the role of team leader. The following ten steps can be found with greater detail in their book, The Girl’s Guide To Starting Your Own Business.

1. Be on time every day. It’s your business. Lead by example.

2. Don’t make a habit of leaving early. Your employees will resent you if you walk out the door at three and call them from the gym at five-thirty to check in.

3. Don’t go drinking with your assistant. Or swap stories. You need to set the example. What you do in your private time away from the office should remain fodder for your peers, not your subordinates.

4. Don’t ask them to do anything that is not work-related. It’s rude and fosters resentment. This includes walking your dog, picking up your dry cleaning, and buying your personal holiday presents, unless, of course, the job is personal assistant.

5. Don’t let them hear you on personal calls. Not only will they will imitate you for months if they hear you refer to your spouse with pet names, they will feel entitled to be on their own calls all day.

6. You are not their friend. Be a pleasant boss, but never leave the door open to talk about personal drama. You want your employees to feel comfortable talking to you about serious personal problems (especially if they will impact her job performance) - a sick mother or child-care problem, for example. But the last thing you can afford is to become a surrogate therapist for employee dating or marital woes.

7. Pitch in when you can. If you have assigned what you know to be a tedious task, such as mailing five hundred company brochures, spend at least a few minutes pitching in. This is your team; make it happen together. A little willingness to get your hands dirty will go a long way when you need a really big ditch dug.

8. Do not share company financial issues or problems. If your employees suspect things are not going well, they will be looking for another job before you know it. There is a whole philosophy of open-book management that works in big public companies (the law requires it, anyway), but in small companies you don’t need your employees second-guessing your decisions.

9. If something goes wrong with a client or customer, you have to take the blame. As the boss, you are responsible for everything running smoothly. If you have a problem employee, you need to monitor him or her closely, provide more training, or let her go. You cannot make bad employees the scapegoats for mistakes.

10. Manage, but don’t smother. Granted this is your business and you’ve got the most to lose, but you’ve got to let your employees take responsibility for their workload. Guide, cajole, pester — don’t suffocate.

What other suggestions would you offer from your experience?

How to Earn Respect Quickly Despite your Youth (drivenleaders.com)
How to work better with Gen Y (money.cnn.com)

How to Earn Respect Quickly, Despite Your Youth

Inspired by a post from Chuck Westbrook (ihateyourjob.com), I thought this topic was significant and worth revisiting with few thoughts of my own on the subject.

The following six tips will help you to get noticed quicker, earn you greater influence and responsibility, and get you closer to a level playing field.

Be a student of everyone: Asking questions and taking advice isn’t a sign of weakness, and it won’t emphasize your youth either. You’ll get better faster, impress more people, and actually seem older.

Why it works: Seeking ways to improve is a sign of maturity and is the easiest way to gain the skills and knowledge that make you more effective. Plus, demonstrating a willingness to learn from your elders takes away a lot of the stereotypes and targets you will be marked with as a Millennial.

Learn to write & speak well: Develop your communication skills to the highest level, both in your daily emails and in deliverables for which you are responsible. This includes correct grammar, capitalization, and punctuation-even in email. When speaking, avoid overusing the infamous “like” and prepare ahead of time to ensure you ideas are clear and concise.

Why it works: If you can quickly fire off sharp emails, you will come across as highly capable and intelligent (provided your content isn’t inappropriate). Not everyone types well, and certainly not everyone speaks well. It will be noticed.

Demonstrate leadership: Help other employees to be more effective. Be generous to help others format documents, create spreadsheets, or find information on the web. As for fellow younger workers, you’ll probably be able to answer many of their questions related to your industry and your company since you’re a student of everyone now. Concerning the boss, give appropriate amounts of ground-level feedback on how things can be improved if he/she is interested. Don’t suck-up, but do provide the kind of info they want to know.

Why it works: Nothing says maturity like leadership. If you have workers of every age looking to you to be more effective, you’ll have their respect by default.

Take initiative: Don’t rely on your boss to come to you with opportunities or projects, be the driver that gets the ball rolling. Interested in learning more about a particular process or area of the company? - be proactive! Most managers will be more than willing to assist you if they think it will contribute to your development and productivity in the long term.

Why it works: Too many people are satisfied with the status quo. Taking initiative shows that you really care and are committed to what you are working on. Plus, it makes your boss look good and that’s never a bad thing when it comes to earning respect.

Show up: Take advantage of opportunities to interact with upper-management. If it’s a small company, say yes when you are invited out to drinks or dinner. If it’s a larger organization, reach as high as is practical. Participate in forums, town halls, Q&As, and special project groups, and don’t be shy about introducing yourself at the proper moment. Your CEO might enjoy hearing the perspective of his tip-top inside sales representative, for example.

Why it works: In many cases, your boss’s boss’s boss is a very cool person. We’re probably not talking about someone who got their job on the strength of tenure alone, so there’s a good chance they aren’t as limited by notions of age as some career middle managers might be. This is just an instance of going to find the people who are most likely to respect the substance of who you are.

Remember, perception is reality: Don’t be “that guy” - anyone who’s spent any amount of time in an office has seen talented people who can’t stop shooting themselves in the foot. (Improper attire, showing up late, inappropriate jokes, failure to stop talking about oneself… the list goes on and on.) Exercise good judgment and be aware of the norms in your workplace. Good news never travels as fast as the bad - don’t let a snafu early in your career follow you in the long haul.

Why it works: When was the last time you heard someone say the name Barry Bonds and not mention steroids. Let’s just keep that asterisk off your record…

Take a look at www.ihateyourjob.com for a both a humorous and serious look at how we relate to work, balance, and trying stay sane in the process. Nice blog Chuck!