Category Archives: Ethics

Would You Work For You?

brian smith-pld, Coaching, Enduring Principles, Ethics, Leadership Development, Management, Personal Development, Personal Values, Reformed Control Freak, Self-Help, Soft-Skills Training, Teacher, Uncategorized

choices-2[1].jpgThink of a manager or leader that you admire. What was it about the way they managed or led others that you liked? If you had to list 5 things that they did well – what would you put on that list? Once you’ve completed your list think of a manager or leader that you didn’t like. What didn’t you like about the way they managed or led? The good news is we are not born knowing how to manage or lead others. It is a learned behaviour. Now that you’ve experienced working with a good and not so good manager or leader, you can decide what kind of manager or leader you want to be.

Successful managers or leaders understand the value of the people they work with. They understand it takes a team effort to be successful. Successful managers or leaders are FOCUSED on people. They understand that if you can’t communicate and interact with others then you can’t manage or lead.

Successful managers or leaders are:

Friendly: Someone who can smile and say hello. Someone who enjoys being around people and helping them be successful. Someone who can make everyone feel important.

Observant: Someone who can recognize those who need help and those who don’t. Someone who doesn’t micro-manage the process and gets out of the way and lets you do it.

Consistent: Someone who is consistent in the way they apply policies and procedures. Consistent in the way they manage people and situations. Someone who is fair and treats everyone the same.

Understanding: Someone who is empathetic. and tries to see things from the other person’s point of view. Someone who doesn’t jump to conclusions and waits to get all the facts before making a decision.

Sincere: Someone who truly wants others to be successful. Someone who genuinely feels and believes what they say. Someone who is not dishonest and hypocritical.

Energized: Someone who is enthusiastic. Someone who looks and acts like they really want to be there. Someone who understands that enthusiasm is contagious and will be your biggest cheerleader.

Dependable: Someone who understands that if they are going to talk the talk they must walk the walk. Someone who understands that whatever they say they are going to do – you can depend on them to do it.

Are you ready to get FOCUSED on being the best manager or leader you can be? Your future depends upon it.

Copyright (c) 2019. Brian Smith – Power Link Dynamics. Not to be reproduced without permission. To find out more about Brian and what he can do for you, your management team and your organization visit: https://briansmithpld.com or contact Brian by email: brian@briansmithpld.com

Selling is a Contact Sport

brian smith-pld, Coaching, Competitive Advantage, Customer Service, Enduring Principles, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Leadership Development, Networking, Personal Development, Personal Values, Reformed Control Freak, Self-Help, Soft-Skills Training

People Love to Do Business with People They Like

People love to do business with people they like and trust. How do you get people to trust you? Trust is a by-product of building those all-important relationships. Some people are better at it then others, but you can learn how. First you need to establish rapport. Find out what they like to do outside of the workplace and use that to strike up a conversation. Do they have a hobby? Do they enjoy cooking, tending to the garden or watching sports? Once you have established a rapport comes a relationship. You can’t build a relationship until you have established a rapport. Out of that relationship comes mutual respect. Others will not respect you until you have built a relationship. If they respect you – they will trust you because they believe you have their best interest at heart. Once they trust you – more than likely they will go along with what ever you recommend.

Copyright(c) 2019. Brian Smith-PLD. Not to be reproduced without permission. To find out more about Brian and what he can do for you are your organization visit: https://briansmithpld.com

Don’t Always Believe What You Think

brian smith-pld, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Leadership Development, Management, Personal Development, Reformed Control Freak, Self-Help, Soft-Skills Training

IMG_3193Have you ever met someone for the very first time and thought “what a dink”? And I don’t mean Double Income No Kids. There was just something about them that you didn’t like. I thought that when I first met Morris – Laura’s cat. As a kid growing up I never hung around with cats. We were dog people. All of my friends were dog people. So I never had much use for cats. We all have built-in biases based on our own experiences. We are influenced by what we read, hear and see. So it’s no wonder I never got to know cats. After taking the time to get to know someone have you ever changed your opinion about them? Meeting and getting to know Morris helped me change my opinion about cats.

Worth Remembering … There are things known and there are things unknown. And in between are the doors of perception. – Aldous Huxley.

Perception is your reality. It is whatever you think it is. What you know won’t hurt you. However, the elephant in the room are the things you don’t know. Don’t let your preconceived notions get in the way of the decisions you make. Don’t believe everything you think. Question the status quo. Continue to seek out others who have a different point of view. Empathy, trying to see things from someone else’s point of view will never go out of style. Ask the right questions and really listen to the answers before you act. Have you ever made a decision only to find out that you didn’t have all the facts? Had you had all the facts, you would have made a different decision.

Worth Remembering … One of the biggest problems with the world today is that we have large groups of people who will accept whatever they hear on the grapevine, just because it suits their worldview – not because it is actually true or because they have evidence to support it. – Neil deGrasse Tyson

I’m a huge fan of the hit musical TV show “The Voice”. I think there is a lesson here that you could use the next time you hire or promote someone. They pick singers from a blind audition. They don’t pick a singer based on their perception of what they think a singer should look like, they pick a singer based on the quality of their voice. The next time you need to hire or promote someone, hire or promote them based on their qualifications not by the colour of their skin or gender. We like what we like and we are more than likely to hire or promote someone who has the same qualities as the kind of person we like. But we know from experience that they don’t always turn out to be the right person for the job we hired them for. The next time you have to make a decision don’t believe everything you think.

Copyright (c) 2018. Brian Smith-PLD. Not to be reproduced without permission. Are you looking for a keynote speaker or seminar leader who can deliver an informative and entertaining session on a variety of soft skills topics? Give Brian a call. You won’t be disappointed. To find out more about Brian visit https://briansmithpld.com 

Would You Work For You?

brian smith-pld, Coaching, Dealing with Difficult People, Enduring Principles, Ethics, Leadership Development, Management, Personal Development, Personal Values, Personality Types, Reformed Control Freak, Self-Help, Soft-Skills Training • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

judge-with-gavel1Would you work for you? Would you work for a Boss who belittles you, and berates you in front of your co-workers, instead of behind closed doors? Would you work for a Boss who always needs to be right – even when they are wrong.? Would you work for a Boss who promises you something one day – and then takes it away from you the next? Does this sound all too familiar? Chances are we’ve all worked for a Boss just like that. I believe great Bosses aren’t born – they’re made. If given the chance, what kind of Boss would you be? Take a moment and think about that. If you had to put a list together of the top ten things a great Boss should be – what would you put on your list?

I think a great Boss should be:

  1. Patient: Able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or impatient.
  2. Open-minded: Be willing to accept new ideas.
  3. Honest: The quality of being honest.
  4. Empathetic: Show an ability to understand and share the feelings of others.
  5. Flexible: Demonstrate a willingness to change or compromise.
  6. Trustworthy: Have the ability to be relied on, to be honest, or truthful.
  7. Fair: Treat others in a way that is right or reasonable and not allowing personal opinions to influence their judgement.
  8. Consistent: Acting or doing things in the same way over time, especially to be fair or accurate.
  9. Loyal: Give firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or organization.
  10. Compassionate: Feeling or showing sympathy and concern for others regardless of their standing or position.

People don’t quit companies – they quit lousy Bosses. Always remember that you get to decide what kind of Boss you want to be. Culture is created from the top down, never the bottom up. Most people, if given a choice, would rather not be the Boss. But everyone gets to decide what kind of Boss they want to follow. Keep that in mind the next time you’re given the opportunity. Be the kind of Boss you’d like to follow. Ask yourself – would you work for you? If the answer is no – then you need to change.

Copyright (c) 2018. Brian Smith-PLD. Not to be reproduced without permission. Are you looking for a keynote speaker or someone to conduct an in-house training session on soft-skills training or leadership development? To find out more about Brian and what he can do for you and your organization visit https://briansmithpld.com