FREE Webinar: Masterful Career Direction with Assessments & Coaching

Presented By: Nancy Branton, M. A., PCC, BCC, CEO of Workplace Coach Institute, Inc.

Date: Thursday, 9/6/12

Time: 1-2pm eastern (12-1pm central, 10-11am pacific)

FREE Registration – Space is limited
      
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Key ingredients to job and career satisfaction
2. Working knowledge of Branton Career Direction (BCD) ModelSM and its 10 Building Blocks
3. Aware of career assessments that link to the BCD Model
4. Understand differences between coaching and other approaches
5. How to use coaching questions and active listening to increase others’ self-awareness about their career

Free Takeaway for Attendees: Branton Career Direction Model^SM worksheet to use with your clients!

Starting on a Strong Foundation for New Supervisors

Starting on a Strong Foundation for New Supervisors

There’s so much to know and learn when someone moves from being an individual contributor into the ranks of management. Part of navigating the new role includes establishing goals and plans for the unit, learning how to delegate, and motivating a team, to name a few. These tasks are all areas that new supervisors must master in order to be effective. However, there are three things that new supervisors can focus on to help them set a strong foundation as a successful supervisor.

Know your strengths – Our strengths are the tasks that we are naturally good at. They are the characteristics about which others regularly make positive comments. Often, we spend so much time focused on trying to fix our weaknesses that we lose sight of the really good qualities that we bring to the workplace. Effective supervisors take the time to identify these qualities and find ways to leverage their strengths every day. For example, someone who is a natural communicator can use this strength to connect with a wide variety of people in the organization to learn more about the business or about other’s expectations of him/her as a supervisor. He or she can also use this strength to forge relationships with their team members to begin to form bonds of mutual respect and engagement.

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Successful Supervisors Aren’t Born That Way!

Successful Supervisors Aren’t Born That Way!

Do you agree with this statement? The above assertion is made at the risk of igniting the age-old debate about whether someone is born a leader or whether one can learn how to be good leader. For someone who has been recently hired in or promoted to a supervisory role, the debate doesn’t matter. All new supervisors care about is how to be effective in their roles.

There are some common characteristics that successful supervisors share.  Here are four:

Successful supervisors…

• View themselves as leaders in their sphere of influence. Supervisors who have great impact are able to do so because they don’t view themselves as “just a supervisor.” They take a broader view of their role by looking for ways in which they can connect their responsibilities to the larger organizational goals and strategies. This motivates them to create a vision for their work and for their team, and in turn helps them to boost productivity.
• Do more listening than talking. Humans have two ears and one mouth for a reason! In today’s world of instant communication, most employees still crave to be around others who will really listen to what they are saying. Successful supervisors recognize that others (direct reports, peers, customers, etc.) often have better ideas than they do for solving operational problems.
• Build healthy teams by tapping into the strengths of each team member and helping the team to operate at its peak. The essence of effective supervision is getting work accomplished through other people’s efforts. Successful supervisors use what they know about the skill sets of each of their team members to orchestrate success by putting each member’s strengths to use in support of the overall team goals.
• Take time to get to know their staff and to help them improve their skills. The best supervisors are ones who have invested time in their direct reports. This investment comes in the form of having regular conversations with each person about their career goals, their strengths and areas for development. Successful supervisors then create opportunities for their direct reports to leverage their strengths and work on improving skills. It is an investment that pays off in increased productivity and engagement.

Learn more about being a successful supervisor by signing up for our January 19, 2011 Humanity Forum where you will hear more success tips and where you will hear details about the upcoming online training series, Essential Skills for the New Supervisor.

Glass Ceiling, Sticky Floor, Now Glass Cliff: Barriers to Women Considering & Advancing in Male-Dominated Careers

Glass Ceiling, Sticky Floor, Now Glass Cliff: Barriers to Women Considering & Advancing in Male-Dominated Careers

Recently, I read an article titled, “Workplace discrimination: Welcome to the ‘glass cliff,’ “by the Christian Science Monitor. The article reported that new research from Yale University found that “when a person has a high level job traditionally held by the opposite gender, they are judged more harshly for their mistakes.” Unlike the glass ceiling which keeps women from rising higher, the glass cliff is what women in male-dominated careers are in danger of falling from.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the glass ceiling is defined as, “An unacknowledged discriminatory barrier that prevents women and minorities from rising to positions of power or responsibility, as within a corporation.” Women still hold only 15.7 percent of C-level positions at Fortune 500 companies. According to a recent study by Catalyst, Inc., gender stereotypes continue to prevent women from reaching the summit.

Attend a free teleclass, Women in Male-Dominated Careers: The Top Roadblocks to Your Success and receive the Special Report on “Networking: Taking it to the Next Level.”  Also, you’ll receive a FREE WCI membership that will give you a 5% savings if you register for the upcoming training and group coaching program, Women in Non-Traditional Careers: Rising to the Top Coaching Group

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Women in Leadership: A Shift in Mindset?

Women in Leadership: A Shift in Mindset?

Attached is an oustanding article “Women in Leadership: A Shift in Mindset?” by WCI Faculty Member Joan Runnheim Olson.

Attend a free teleclass, Women in Male-Dominated Careers: The Top Roadblocks to Your Success and receive the Special Report on “Networking: Taking it to the Next Level.”  Also, you’ll receive a FREE WCI membership that will give you a 5% savings if you register for the upcoming training and group coaching program, Women in Non-Traditional Careers: Rising to the Top Coaching Group.