Why Every Entrepreneur Needs to Learn How to Defuse Fear
According to Benjamin Franklin, the only certainties are death and taxes. But with all due respect to the Founding Father, he forgot to mention something just as common, at least for entrepreneurs: fear.
Fear is a time bomb. Here's how to MacGyver your way out of dread's grip and become a more confident leader. This article originally appeared in Entrepreneur.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
According to Benjamin Franklin, the only certainties are death and taxes. But with all due respect to the Founding Father, he forgot to mention something just as common, at least for entrepreneurs: fear.
Fear can be an everyday state of mind for modern entrepreneurs. After all, when big problems happen, the world knows it at once and responds without remorse or filters. Even before BuzzFeed announced in January that it would lay off about 220 workers, CNN and other news outlets had already caught wind of that scuttlebutt. That left CEO Jonah Peretti in the unenviable position of explaining why 15 percent of his workforce would soon be searching Indeed and Glassdoor for new roles.
No startup founder wants to experience what Peretti did. Yet everyone in a leadership position must accept that, in time, tough choices will be necessary. That realization can lead to an increase in the fear already simmering just below the surface. And, unless you shake it off, fear it can become crippling.
Scared stiff in the C-suite
Of course, fear is hardly unnatural, especially for people struggling to keep a company afloat. Considering that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that three-quarters of companies are destined to fail within a decade, it's no surprise that entrepreneurs might break out in a cold sweat.
What's more, closing shop is hardly the only worry founders have: There's also the threat of financial ruin and job instability; and the list goes on.
Like many other entrepreneurs of his generation, my father experienced these fears as the leader of a successful company. The business was dealing with a big problem, and he asked me to solve it. So I came up with a solution, but one that involved addressing the issue in a completely new way.
My father's fear, however, prevented him from seeing the value in my out-of-the-box solution, so he fired me. I was 17 years old. It wasn't until two decades later that I learned just how much stress he had been under.
All those years ago, my father hid his fears from me, and in my experience, a lot of entrepreneurs do the same. They live with nagging worries about various aspects of their businesses, but they keep those worries a secret from employees, friends, even family members, and that can add a layer of loneliness on top of that fear.
Even the smartest, most well-trained leadership team members are only human. And humans have something called the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain controlling creativity and innovation. This is also the part of the brain that goes into hibernation in response to rising fear.
The way to kick-start the prefrontal cortex and return to a state of control and confidence? Masterfear. Entrepreneurs can do this by following the following five-step path to achieve long-term, effective fear management.
1. Imagine the worst-case scenario.
When dread comes calling, address it head-on by “going there” and verbalizing the most disastrous outcome you can imagine. Rather than trying to push away your fight-or-flight desires, lean into your feelings. Be clear and fully outline exactly what you fear the most, putting words to all those neurological responses pinging from your amygdala.
Indulge your mind by going on an expedition to come up with the scariest scenario possible. Beyond bringing your fear to your conscious mind and away from a generalized sense of doom, you will engage the rational side of your brain and allow yourself to move to the next step.
2. Outline the map to that worst-case scenario.
Now that you've called out the worst things that could come to pass, figure out how they could come to fruition. Write down all the dominoes that would need to fall in perfect alignment for the worst to occur. In the majority of cases, you will be surprised at how unlikely the gravest situation can be or how easily some dominoes could be sidestepped.
Let's look at a worst-case scenario that did come to pass for one company: the downfall of Blockbuster. It turns out that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings approached Blockbuster CEO John Antioco in the early 2000s with the option to purchase the DVD company. While surely Antioco had a worst-case scenario in the back of his mind of his business failing, he neglected to map out the path there that included a pivot to mail-order and, eventually, streaming content.
He passed on the deal, and though Blockbuster still exists, most of us view it as a distant memory (in fact one of the two last Blockbusters in the world recently closed).
3. Determine how much time you have to avert disaster.
You have your worst-case scenario mapped out. Now, figure out how long you have to avoid the crisis. In most circumstances, you may be weeks, months or even years from disaster, so you have plenty of time to correct your course. Bringing awareness to how much control you actually have positions you to head off fear by taking a new path.
Avoid prediction bias by basing your forthcoming moves on realistic forecasts culled from similar prior projects, or even just reaching out to someone in your network so you can talk it over together. As humans, we often don't do a great job estimating how long it will take to complete tasks, so it can be helpful to get an outside perspective.
4. Decide on the top three disaster-aversion actions to take.
Using the information you've put together about your fear and what it will take to avoid a calamity, focus on taking action. For instance, one of your ways of avoiding a worst-case scenario might be to shift operational processes. In this case, you would create a do-able timeline to execute this action.
As you create your fear-defusing plan, implement goals using the SMART system: goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-linked. By the time you are finished, you will have a strategy that is attainable and realistic.
5. Use a scale to gauge your worst-scenario likeliness.
Look at that: Now that you've completed the previous four steps, you've got a solid plan and time line to avoid your worst-case scenario. The last step is to take a good, hard look at the likelihood that said scenario will actually occur. Use the 1-to-10 rating scale that psychologists often use in self-reporting surveys, or something like SurveyMonkey's widely used Net Promoter Score template.
Using a scale instead of simply asking yourself whether the scenario will occur helps you pinpoint the extent of your fear. This step will show you just how successful the past four have been. I'd be willing to bet that your rating will be much lower than you might have expected at the beginning of this exercise.
Getting rid of fear is hard to do, especially if you have an ounce of emotional intelligence and sensitivity. Still, you can overcome your primal responses by validating, processing and rationalizing them. Over time, this skill will come easier, enabling you to grow your leadership abilities without being waylaid by dread.
5 Stories That Will Make You Rethink Your Leadership Style
When he first became a business leader, admits Krister Ungerboeck, CEO of Courageous Growth, in St. Louis, Mo., he was a bit of a jerk. “I assumed that the CEO should be the smartest person in the room,” Ungerboeck told me recently via email.
CEOs speak candidly of times they fumbled on the job, and what they learned in the process. To read the full article, visit Entrepreneur.
When he first became a business leader, admits Krister Ungerboeck, CEO of Courageous Growth, in St. Louis, Mo., he was a bit of a jerk. “I assumed that the CEO should be the smartest person in the room,” Ungerboeck told me recently via email.
That was a mistake, Ungerboeck now acknowledges. Thanks to that mentality, he says, he tended to lead through criticism, he says. And that in turn led him to doubt the abilities of his team, and created an unproductive work environment.
But after receiving less-than-stellar feedback on an employee survey, Ungerboeck says he realized his leadership style wasn’t working. “When I finally realized that my leadership style left my employees struggling to feel inspired, I made a major transformation,” he wrote. “I learned that criticism is lazy leadership that is intended to pump up the ego of the boss by making the employee feel smaller.”
Since that epiphany, Ungerboeck has tried to do better by leading through encouragement. In fact, he now refers to himself as a “recovering a-hole.”
While his employees are now better off for the change, Ungerboeck is hardly the first boss to rethink his or her leadership style. Here are five stories of how other leaders came to realize they needed to do things differently:
Always be learning.
By his mid-20s Glenn Phillips was an award-winning entrepreneur. There was just one little problem: His software company wasn’t making money.
“While we delivered great systems and support, we were not profitable and I was not addressing the problem well,” Phillips told me. “I thought that I was smart enough and hard-working enough to ‘figure it out’ and solve our issues.”
Eventually, though, Phillips realized he needed help. “I started educating myself about running a business,” he said. “The education included peers, classes and lots of reading. I studied businesses, cognitive thinking, sales, capital and more.”
Soon, his business began to turn around. Today, as the head of Lake Homes Realty in Pelham, Ala., he says he makes continual learning a priority for everyone at his organization. He says he hosts regular lunch-n-learns at the office and leads in-person trainings. The company even has a reading library, and if an employee finishes one of the books, Phillips takes that individual out to lunch to discuss what was learned.
Leadership takeaway: Set a good example for employees by constantly seeking new knowledge. This will ensure that your entire company will always be learning and improving. Tools like Workramp can help your team reach its potential.
Accept your new role.
When Rachel Beider, CEO of Massage Williamsburg + Massage Greenpoint in Brooklyn, N.Y., set out to expand her business, she quickly saw she was spreading herself too thin.
“I was trying to do too much, including still seeing massage therapy clients directly, and being involved in the day-to-day tasks,” she told me recently through email. “I started to feel perpetually stressed and burned out, and I knew I wasn't giving my best to the position.”
That’s when Beider set a deadline for herself so she couldn’t make excuses and put off the change. “Though it was a scary transition, it has allowed me a lot more time to work on important things and see the bigger picture," she wrote. "I had to learn to delegate. Now, I'm a lot more 'present' at work, with less on my plate, and open to more suggestions on improving the company.”
Leadership takeaway: First-time CEOs often need time to adjust to their new responsibilities. And it can be hard to give up old tasks that feel comfortable. But, as a leader, it’s important that you step up and accept the fact that it’s time to stop spending energy on things others can do, and focus on running the organization.
Be adaptable.
“When I had five or six employees, I managed them all the same,” Beck Bamberger, founder of Bam Communications, in San Diego, Calif. said in an email.
That worked for a while, she said, but once the company grew to dozens of employees, she saw she’d have to adapt. “There was one particular client meeting where I noticed a highly independent, quiet but well-liked employee was not taking my feedback as well as a bubbly, vivacious employee,” Bamberger went on to say.
What he told her, though, just didn’t seem to click. “We had this awkward pause in the meeting where we sat in silence for nearly 20 seconds before we started (thankfully) laughing. Then I said, ‘Okay, you're different from her.’ This was a little a-ha moment for me in terms of leadership that was adaptable for each individual.”
Leadership takeaway: Not every employee responds the same way to the same leadership style. Great leaders recognize each individual’s needs and adapt accordingly. This ensures that every employee can perform at his or her best.
Think quickly.
“A few years ago, when my companies were just starting out, my employees or potential business partners would ask me questions, and I would let them linger for a long time rather than answering them right away,” said Tony Jakstis, founder of Casa De Lago Event Centers, in Orange, Calif.
Not wanting to make a bad decision, Jakstis took his time coming up with the best answer. But, sometimes, stalling can mean missing out on big opportunities. “A good leader needs to be able to hear any kind of problem or opportunity and make a key decision that will benefit the company,” Jakstis said. “If it fails and something goes wrong, then at least I’ll find out quicker. If I’m right, the job will be done.”
Leadership takeaway: Don’t be afraid to be decisive. Even if a decision doesn’t turn out as planned, see that not as a failure, but a chance to learn.
Find support.
Danielle Wiley, CEO of Sway Group, in Corte Madera, Calif., never wanted to be a leader, she says. Nonetheless, she found herself at the helm of a fast-growing company.
“With the rocketship success that Sway saw in its first few years, my own personal leadership growth couldn't keep up,” she wrote in an email. “We were no longer a small company, but one that 35 employees' livelihoods depended on.”
The weight of that responsibility led Wiley to isolate herself -- and her team to suffer as a result. “I knew I needed to do better, I just didn't know how,” she told me.
Around this time,the executive attended a dinner for women executives. She was at the same table as a woman who kept talking about a CEO advisory group that she had joined. Wiley decided to give the group a go.
“At my first meeting, I quickly realized this group was exactly what I needed," she said. "I began to see that my concerns and frustrations were the same other CEOs were experiencing. The group gave me a newfound sense of confidence and direction that I was able to bring back to the team.”
Leadership takeaway: Being a CEO is an experience unlike anything else. Finding others going through similar situations can provide much needed support and guidance.
Happiness at Work by Management 3.0 Podcast: The Language of Leadership
How do the words we use lead to better connection, leadership and growth both in our personal and professional lives? The key is to avoid false emotion and eliminate the words ‘should’ and ‘you need’ from our vocabulary.
Find out why the world’s first leadership archaeologist and author of upcoming book, The Language of Leadership, Krister Ungerböck said if we change our words, we’ll change our hearts. This podcast originally appeared on Happiness at Work by Management 3.0 Podcast with Sam Mednick. To listen to the full interview, visit, Happiness at Work by Management 3.0.
How do the words we use lead to better connection, leadership and growth both in our personal and professional lives? The key is to avoid false emotion and eliminate the words ‘should’ and ‘you need’ from our vocabulary.
Gut + Science Podcast Episode 054: Father’s Day Special Episode: Creating a Unified Language of Leadership | Krister Ungerböck
Krister is breaking down his book “Language of Leadership,” which digs into a new, powerful language that drives emotional intelligence and better relationships at work and at home.
In this special Father’s Day episode, we’re talking to Krister Ungerböck (@MeetKrister), father, author, award-winning CEO, leadership expert, and national keynote speaker. This podcast originally appeared on the Gut + Science Podcast with Nikki Lewallen. To listen to the full interview, visit Gut + Science.
Krister is breaking down his book “Language of Leadership,” which digs into a new, powerful language that drives emotional intelligence and better relationships at work and at home.
You’ll also hear about Krister’s Father’s Creed Challenge, an exercise that has the potential to transform relationships between fathers and their children. (It’s also an excellent exercise to do this Father’s Day).
Listen in as Krister explains how our language and relationships impact our children and their future relationships.
Truth You Can Act On:
360 Feedback. This is a process that helps us understand how others see or experience us. Get an audience of 20 people or more for a larger sample size, and make it an annual habit.
Focus on the difficult relationships around you. Most of us do the opposite, but with the process we learned in this episode, it can be simple (maybe not easy, but that will make us grow).
Powerful next steps from feedback have 3 parts: Write down what you are going to do; make a commitment; have a date to check in.
Book Recommendation:
Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg
HR Studio Podcast Episode 81: How the Language of Leadership Can Make You a Better Leader
Krister Ungerböck, a keynote speaker, CEO Coach, and global expert in the Language of Leadership joins us this week to share his personal career journey and leadership lessons learned. This podcast originally appeared on HR Studio Podcast with A.J. O’Conner.
Krister Ungerböck, a keynote speaker, CEO Coach, and global expert in the Language of Leadership joins us this week to share his personal career journey and leadership lessons learned. This podcast originally appeared on HR Studio Podcast with A.J. O’Conner. To listen to the full interview, visit HR Studio Podcast.
He shares cultural differences between leading in Europe versus America, drawing a parallel between speaking in a foreign language and effective communication in one’s native language. Krister highlights how generational differences impact leadership, with powerful advice for HR leaders on being more effective by listening more and offering solutions less. He proposes the Magic Management 8-Ball Challenge as a tool to help. Tune in to hear Krister discuss emotional intelligence, soft skills, and his personal journey to becoming a better leader.
Prior to retiring at age 42, Krister was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. His expertise in the language of leadership is based upon his unique experience as a global CEO leading teams in three languages while observing and doing business with executives in over 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three. As a corporate keynote speaker, Krister is passionate about sharing the secrets that his team used to win five consecutive Top Workplace awards and achieve remarkable employee engagement levels of 99.3%. His upcoming book, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live and Love, is planned for release in the Fall of 2019.
Key Learnings From This Episode
A pivotal moment in Krister’s career trajectory. Krister did not learn his most profound insights while he was the CEO for one of the world’s largest family-owned software companies, but rather while signing up for a gym membership at the YMCA. He was asked for his emergency contact, which brought him to tears. He was 42 and focused on work, building a company with hundreds of employees in eight countries. He had just initiated a ‘business divorce’ with his partners (his father and brothers) and two weeks later, his wife walked out. He had no one in his life as an emergency contact. He had been reading business bestsellers since he was 12 years old, which clearly worked in building the successful business. He was mastering all the tools of business leadership, but he could not convince his own family to follow him. In asking himself where he went wrong, Krister began a journey in which he discovered some surprising insights about communication and leadership.
Experiences that businesspeople would typically never do. While interviewing someone for his book Krister asked, ‘so it is like a race car going from 0 to 200 mph, because I’m not really prepared for it.’ The interviewee said, ‘no, it would really be like being pulled behind a race car naked through bramble weeds from 0 to 200 mph. And Krister thought, ‘that sounds like something I need to do.’
How learning languages helped to teach leadership skills. Krister learned a new language of leadership that had eluded him for many years and he was trying to figure out how to teach it to others. In the early 2000’s, he learned French and German while opening businesses in France and Germany, hiring the best business French teacher. He applied the shortcuts he was taught in learning languages to this new language of leadership, teaching people practical tools for emotional intelligence and the practice of asking better questions.
Differences in leading in the US versus Germany and France.There were two major learnings:
In the US, you give someone a project and then catch up in 2-3 days to ensure he/she is on track, checking in early and often. Germans want you to give them a project, and they will deliver on the date that you specified. It is the total opposite.
People have a different personality when they speak a different language. Krister was an engineer and very analytical, and sometimes had difficulty with empathy and emotional intelligence, even though he understood it intellectually. He always felt that he needed to change his personality. Over a few years, he discovered a language of emotional intelligence and thought, ‘do we really need to change ourselves?’
HR leaders sometimes think they need to change a person who is not performing. Often, we need to just help them change their words. When you learn a new language, you have to think a lot about your words, and it can be very painful to have a conversation because you have to speak very slowly. If we can be that present about choosing our words in our native language, it can improve our language patterns and improve our ability to communicate effectively.
How does the language of leadership apply to the next generation of HR leaders? Leaders who are in charge today are generally in their 50s and 60s and they were trained by the leaders who were from the generation before them, and those leaders grew up in the war. The model was military leadership. At the time, women were not in the workforce, and millennials, who desire an environment of more positive rather than negative feedback, did not exist. The workforce has changed significantly. With the language of leadership, the desire was to create one language, both professionally and personally. Once Krister found language patterns that worked equally well in both settings, he wanted to help people master just one. Practicing one language helps people communicate better. With the way the workforce is evolving, people are looking for leaders who are stronger on soft skills and are not coming from a military basis of leadership. These tools ultimately helped make Krister a better father and partner.
360 feedback improved professional and family/personal environments. Krister thought the negative behaviors in which he was engaging were isolated to work, but he discovered they carried over to his personal life as well. Although the words can sometimes be different, the underlying beliefs and behavior (e.g., constant criticism) were leaking into his personal life. By changing the behaviors, it had a powerful impact on his personal relationships and life also.
How can leaders be more effective? Leaders often lead with ‘the language of expertise’, meaning they lead with solutions because they think their primary value is to provide solutions. It is very seductive to be the person who gives all the answers, and it is very seductive for the people who want to shut down at 5:00 pm and not think about work until the next day. These people are outsourcing the problem-solving to their bosses. However, the employees who tend to be least motivated by the language of expertise are the top performers who want to come up with the answers themselves. Leaders inadvertently draw closer those who rely on their leadership to solve problems for them while pushing away people who want to solve issues themselves.
Marshall Rosenberg, a peace activist, and psychologist had a quote: ‘Listen for people’s needs, not their words.’Leaders who are constantly giving out advice and solutions to people may be fulfilling their own need of validation or self-esteem. If we look at ourselves and others with that lens, it can be a powerful way of understanding people’s behaviors.
There is a solution for this called the Magic Management 8-Ball Challenge. It is an experiment to help a leader convince him/herself that asking questions can be more powerful than giving answers. There are 15 questions, and before going into a meeting with their team, a leader randomly selects 3-5 of the questions and commits to asking the questions and letting the team call out some solutions. It takes less mental energy for the leader to just ask questions and not try to solve the problem. Leaders also find they have more productive meetings and learn more from their people because they are shifting their perspective from ‘my job is to give solutions’ to ‘my job is to ask powerful questions that lead other people to solutions’.
The Socratic method of asking questions is to reveal. Leaders ask people questions that will lead to the solution the leader already had in mind. Instead, ask open questions to lead people to their own solutions. Start questions with ‘what’ or ‘how’. Don’t ‘lead’ by asking ‘are you considering ...’ This leads to the solution the leader wants. Go in with an open mind.
Advice to his younger self or to an aspiring HR leader? Krister’s advice is to lead with questions more than answers. Learn the language of emotional intelligence, although Krister finds HR tends to be more emotionally intelligent than others. Conduct anonymous 360 surveys every 3-5 years or within 3 to 6 months after the composition of someone’s team has changed to get feedback on blind spots and to head off anything negative that may be creeping in.
Recommended Reading and References From this Episode
NPR Podcast: Applying 'The Language Of Leadership' at Work and at Home
Krister Ungerböck often works with high-profile CEOs, coaching them on best practices when it comes to leadership, communication and employee engagement. But his efforts to help people lead well extend beyond the upper echelons of organizational management and into everyday workplaces as well as family life.
Listen to the radio interview here on National Public Radio
Krister Ungerböck often works with high-profile CEOs, coaching them on best practices when it comes to leadership, communication and employee engagement. But his efforts to help people lead well extend beyond the upper echelons of organizational management and into everyday workplaces as well as family life.
On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin talked with Ungerböck as he looked to travel to St. Louis a little later in the week to speak at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Ubiquity Inspiring Leaders Podcast e087: The Language of Leadership with Krister Ungerbock
Krister Ungerböckis a keynote speaker, CEO Coach, and global expert in The Language of Leadership. Prior to retiring, Krister was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world.
Are you inspired by your life? This podcast originally appeared on Ubiquity Inspiring Leaders Podcast Episode e087 with Terry Lipovski. To listen to the full interview, visit Ubiquity Inspiring Leaders Podcast.
Krister Ungerböckis a keynote speaker, CEO Coach, and global expert in The Language of Leadership. Prior to retiring, Krister was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. His expertise in the Language of Leadership is based upon his unique experience leading teams in 3 languages while doing business in over 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three.
His expertise in the Language of Leadership is based upon his unique experience leading teams in 3 languages while doing business in over 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three.
“When you become the version of you that you would love to meet, other people will love meeting you”
As a keynote speaker, Krister is passionate about sharing the secrets that his team used to win 5 consecutive Top Workplace awards and achieve remarkable employee engagement levels of 99.3%. His upcoming book, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live and Love, will be published in spring 2019.
“To change how you lead, change your words”
LINKS
Krister Ungerböck on LinkedIn
Krister Ungerböck’s Website
Krister's Book “The Language of Leadership”
How to Make It Almost Impossible for Top Talent to Resign
It’s likely that you’ve worked for a subpar supervisor at one point or another. Was it hard to leave that company, even if the paycheck there was stellar? Probably not. But now that you’re in the human resources or leadership seat, you owe it to your organization to make sure your best people don’t feel like you once did. After all, your company can’t afford to have them quit — or, perhaps worse, stop caring about their work.
Thanks to a strong job market, top performers from every industry are jumping from job to job with ease. Although most of them might say they’re taking new roles because they offer higher wages, survey results tell a different story. To read the full article, visit Business 2 Community.
According to Gallup, boss behavior majorly impacts whether top talent stays or leaves. In other words, the actions of great managers trump the lure of great salaries, at least most of the time.
It’s likely that you’ve worked for a subpar supervisor at one point or another. Was it hard to leave that company, even if the paycheck there was stellar? Probably not. But now that you’re in the human resources or leadership seat, you owe it to your organization to make sure your best people don’t feel like you once did. After all, your company can’t afford to have them quit — or, perhaps worse, stop caring about their work.
Interestingly, it’s that last group of totally disengaged folks that Amazon actively weeds from its payroll. Once a year, qualifying full-time fulfillment center employees are given the option to take $5,000 and split — for good. The corporation actually pays to send people packing to keep its workforce stronger.
While you might not be ready to take such drastic measures, you should dedicate your time and resources to boost employee engagement among your organization’s top performers. Unsure how to do that? Start with the following steps:
1. Identify the cream of the crop.
Who would you fight hard to keep in your company? You can probably name a couple of people off the top of your head, but dig deeper than that. Who keeps grinding long after everyone else gives up? Which player puts quality and brand reputation over all else, constantly evolving through self-directed professional development? Whose calm-under-pressure decisions exude intelligence and confidence? These are the people who are anything but average. Retaining them will make your office stronger.
2. Share your top performer list with your leadership.
After you compile the list of your strongest employees, share it with your company’s leadership team. Explain in no uncertain terms that if anyone thinks one of those performers is disengaged, they should alert you immediately. That way, you can set up a meeting between the employee, his or her direct support, and/or another team member to learn how they can adjust their relationship and keep the employee engaged and loyal. In the meantime, schedule twice-yearly “stay interview” check-ins between your top performers and the most senior company executive you can. These meetings will advance your employees’ networks and careers as well as reduce the chance of them leaving without warning.
3. Move ASAP to keep any performer who tries to resign.
As you focus on keeping great talent in-house, ask leadership team members to identify potential flight risks and prepare for the worst. If you receive a resignation letter from a talented worker, get him or her in front of a senior executive within 24 hours. Use every tool at your disposal to win the person back. Give (or get) the blessing to move mountains if you can. Sometimes, a creative solution can be the difference between retaining top talent and shelling out for a new hire.
Money may initially motivate amazing people to join a company, but it doesn’t keep them around for longer than a couple of years. Committed, respectful leaders and human resources teams who absolutely care are the reason top talent stays put. Strive to fulfill those traits and watch as your superstars stick around According to Gallup, boss behavior majorly impacts whether top talent stays or leaves. In other words, the actions of great managers trump the lure of great salaries, at least most of the time.
It’s likely that you’ve worked for a subpar supervisor at one point or another. Was it hard to leave that company, even if the paycheck there was stellar? Probably not. But now that you’re in the human resources or leadership seat, you owe it to your organization to make sure your best people don’t feel like you once did. After all, your company can’t afford to have them quit — or, perhaps worse, stop caring about their work.
Interestingly, it’s that last group of totally disengaged folks that Amazon actively weeds from its payroll. Once a year, qualifying full-time fulfillment center employees are given the option to take $5,000 and split — for good. The corporation actually pays to send people packing to keep its workforce stronger.
While you might not be ready to take such drastic measures, you should dedicate your time and resources to boost employee engagement among your organization’s top performers. Unsure how to do that? Start with the following steps:
1. Identify the cream of the crop.
Who would you fight hard to keep in your company? You can probably name a couple of people off the top of your head, but dig deeper than that. Who keeps grinding long after everyone else gives up? Which player puts quality and brand reputation over all else, constantly evolving through self-directed professional development? Whose calm-under-pressure decisions exude intelligence and confidence? These are the people who are anything but average. Retaining them will make your office stronger.
2. Share your top performer list with your leadership.
After you compile the list of your strongest employees, share it with your company’s leadership team. Explain in no uncertain terms that if anyone thinks one of those performers is disengaged, they should alert you immediately. That way, you can set up a meeting between the employee, his or her direct support, and/or another team member to learn how they can adjust their relationship and keep the employee engaged and loyal. In the meantime, schedule twice-yearly “stay interview” check-ins between your top performers and the most senior company executive you can. These meetings will advance your employees’ networks and careers as well as reduce the chance of them leaving without warning.
3. Move ASAP to keep any performer who tries to resign.
As you focus on keeping great talent in-house, ask leadership team members to identify potential flight risks and prepare for the worst. If you receive a resignation letter from a talented worker, get him or her in front of a senior executive within 24 hours. Use every tool at your disposal to win the person back. Give (or get) the blessing to move mountains if you can. Sometimes, a creative solution can be the difference between retaining top talent and shelling out for a new hire.
Money may initially motivate amazing people to join a company, but it doesn’t keep them around for longer than a couple of years. Committed, respectful leaders and human resources teams who absolutely care are the reason top talent stays put. Strive to fulfill those traits and watch as your superstars stick around for years.
If you’d like to learn more about how the language leaders use every day can help employees feel more connected and engaged, check out a sample of my upcoming book here.
How to Identify and Nurture the Leadership Potential of Your Employees
Think about the best leader you’ve ever had at any point in your life. It might be your current boss; it could be a volunteer coordinator from college. It might even be your high school football coach. He or she embraced the characteristics of a capable and inspiring leader, no matter his or her profession.
Your company's future leaders are probably right under your nose. Here's how to sniff them out -- and help them grow into the role. To read the full article visit Entrepreneur.
Think about the best leader you’ve ever had at any point in your life. It might be your current boss; it could be a volunteer coordinator from college. It might even be your high school football coach. He or she embraced the characteristics of a capable and inspiring leader, no matter his or her profession.
The task of identifying leaders challenges every company. That’s why it’s important to encourage every member of your team to think like a leader, no matter what job title he carries. If you wait to coach someone on leadership until he eventually occupies a managerial position, you’ll be too late. You should be teaching your employees to be leaders from day one.
When seeking new managers and leaders for your company, promoting from within may prove more effective than hiring an external candidate. Elevating someone who already works for you means that individual will need less time to get up to speed. Also, leveraging your company’s growth into professional growth for your current team members can only make your employees feel more optimistic about their path at your organization. If you take this approach of promoting from within, you’ll be in good company: Hearst Magazines, Palo Alto Networks, Gap and Twilio all focus on career mobility for those they hire.
And promoting from within serves a selfish purpose, too: Leaders can create succession plans, meaning they can eventually move on to other projects without worrying about what they're leaving behind. They can groom internal leaders and help them gain perspective and context they normally wouldn't get until several years into a leadership role.
Business leaders who want to build the best possible leadership team can’t rely on impressive résumés or past experience. To identify and develop your company’s most promising leaders now and in the future, look for employees who:
1. Take initiative
Taking initiative is crucial to leading. Reward employees who come to you with solutions for problems, who step up when a project needs to be done and who seek out opportunities for professional growth. “You can’t force participation or improvement on employees who aren’t dedicated to it,” notes Krister Ungerböck, speaker, author and CEO coach. “When an employee doesn’t volunteer for more educational or professional opportunities, that should tell you how well suited he or she is for a management role.”
You’ll also want to invest in people who invest in themselves outside of work. Harvard Business Review has reported that about one-third of the most successful CEOs in the world have MBAs, so aiding your team’s educational efforts can only help your efforts to grow leaders from within.
Look for employees who are investing in their long-term future -- whether by getting an MBA, earning a professional certification or pursuing another educational opportunity – and assist them however you can. Offering tuition assistance, flexible scheduling around class schedules and time off for professional development workshops could go a long way.
2. Show humility
If someone is humble about her work, she'll always be open to suggestions for improvement. That lifelong learner mentality is crucial for leaders. “Humbleness comes with selflessness,” says Saahil Goel, CEO and founder of Kraftly. “Once you accept the equality between your team and yourself, it helps in creating a healthy learning environment in the company.”
And there’s another reason leaders should practice humility. According to psychologist Sherrie Campbell, people aren’t as eager to follow a leader who's perceived as perfect. When leaders make themselves vulnerable, it helps others feel accepted by and connected to them. That, in turn, encourages followers to become more open to trusting and learning from leaders.
You can foster humility in your nascent leaders by helping them gain greater self-awareness of both their strengths (via Gallup’s CliftonStrengths assessment, for example) and their weaknesses. When you frame discussions about improving weaknesses as an opportunity for growth, these become positive conversations rather than negative ones.
3. Can speak well -- and listen better
Think back to your last meeting. Was there a team member who argued persuasively for a particular course of action? Another who managed to convey next steps in a thorough but concise way? Being an effective communicator is key to being an effective leader. Leaders prepare what they’re going to say in advance, yet they're comfortable speaking extemporaneously -- the ability to think on one’s feet is an important leadership quality.
And leaders know that perhaps the biggest secret to communication is to be an active listener. “It’s more important to listen than it is to talk most of the time,” arguesspeaker and performance strategist Matt Mayberry. “How else can you learn about what needs to be done to improve a situation?” Fortunately, there are myriad exercises that can be used to boost your employees’ active listening skills.
You could divide team members into small groups and have them work through the story line exercise, for example. In that activity, someone begins a story, then the person next to him summarizes the first few lines and adds to the story. Active listeners should be able to paraphrase what they’ve just heard, and such exercises can help would-be leaders hone that vital skill.
In a business environment that grows more complex every day, having a team of leaders can only benefit your business. When you see the above qualities in your employees, you've likely identified the new leaders who can move your business forward today and act on opportunities that will deliver results tomorrow.
How to Turn an Underperformer Into One of Your Strongest Employees
As a manager, you’re expected to deal effectively with underperformers — either by letting them go or helping them improve. Easier said than done, right? However, with the proper mix of patience, guidance, and tact, you can manage your direct reports to success and avoid the spread of toxic underperformance to other workers.
When your co-worker underperforms, you have the option of looking the other way. But when you’re the team leader, you’re in a different position. To read the full article, visit Under30CEO.
As a manager, you’re expected to deal effectively with underperformers — either by letting them go or helping them improve. Easier said than done, right? However, with the proper mix of patience, guidance, and tact, you can manage your direct reports to success and avoid the spread of toxic underperformance to other workers.
Recognizing the Many Shapes of Workplace Underperformance
The low performance of some employees is quite evident, such as not fulfilling work assignments or only doing half the job. Other examples of subpar performance may be harder to pinpoint. For instance, is the person who routinely grumbles but executes on responsibilities an underperformer or just a capable co-worker with a snarky attitude?
In your supervisory role, you’ll need to use your best judgment to gauge what passes for satisfactory performance at your company. A general rule of thumb is that failing to meet agreed-upon expectations, skirting corporate policies, and exhibiting negative behaviors all fall in the category of underperformance.
Although the signs of underperformance are relatively easy to spot, their underlying causes are not. An underperformer might actually be responding to a lack of upward mobility in the organization. Or he could be burdened by personal stress or repetitive, monotonous duties. Take time to find out the underlying cause for each individual so you can proceed with understanding.
Regardless of the reason behind an employee’s underperformance, you have choices when it comes to taking charge of the situation. Use these recommendations to address and remedy any problems of underperformance among your direct reports.
1. Find out whether the underperformer is ready to call it quits.
Sometimes, an employer-employee relationship just isn’t the right fit anymore. Still, it can be tough for a worker to take a career risk and leave. Ask underperformers the tough question: “Do you still want to work here?” Make sure they understand that wanting to move on isn’t a crime.
Amazon believes not only in keeping happy, engaged workers on board, but also in incentivizing dissatisfied ones to go. Annually, the e-commerce giant offers some of its staff members up to $5,000 if they leave. The only catch? They can never work for Amazon again. Seem radical? It’s the best way to make sure workers are devoted to your cause, according to Michael Burchell, a workplace culture expert. “If you choose to actually not take the money and you choose to stay, it means that you’re committed to the organization and committed to your work,” he says. “It helps to frame the employer/employee bargain or that psychological contract.”
Not sure you want to offer a big bonus to an underperformer who wants to quit? Provide another incentive, such as a glowing letter of recommendation or gap insurance to cover her during her job search, with the caveat that you expect her to do her best work until she leaves.
2. Become the micromanager you never wanted to be.
When you took on a leadership role, you probably vowed never to become a dreaded micromanager. Now, you may have to rethink your promise, particularly if you want your underperformers to change.
Micromanagement isn’t all bad, as long as you temper and customize this much-maligned managerial strategy. Speaker, author, and CEO coach Krister Ungerböck suggests changing your point of view to embrace helpful aspects of micromanagement under certain circumstances. “For high-performance talent, micromanaging seems rather Big Brother-ish because it wastes time and energy,” he notes. But what happens when the work isn’t up to snuff, and the employee doesn’t know how to fix it? “In that case, micromanagement — when implemented correctly — might be a way to set parameters to help him succeed, not to punish him.”
For example, why not set up a series of expected check-ins with your underperforming employee? These touchpoints allow you to see whether work is being done and to help him overcome early stumbling blocks. You don’t have to hound your employee every second of the day to keep an eye on his progress and output quality, but regular meetings will ensure that a project doesn’t veer too far off track. Think of it like parenting: If you give a child three outfit choices, he experiences independence — despite the boundaries you’ve established.
3. Leverage the underperformer’s core strengths.
Resist the temptation to view your underperforming employee as somehow intrinsically flawed. All workers bring strengths to the table. Uncover your employee’s strong points to redirect her energies toward positive change.
Gallup studies have shown that managers, not just employees, play an enormous role in workplace engagement. Therefore, you probably have the chance to make a big impact on your workers’ future performance if you help them name and exploit their strengths. For 90 percent of teams using strengths interventions, Gallup saw up to 15 percent improvement in employee engagement and an up to 29 percent boost in profits.
Place yourself in the position of coach. Get to know your underperformers better, and help them leverage their innate skill sets. For instance, you may discover that your lackluster customer service representative has a natural penchant for problem-solving. In that case, giving her more power to generate troubleshooting ideas — that could benefit the whole team — could boost her engagement level as well.
Stop seeing underperformers as bad, as beyond help, or as the people you’ll have to fire next week. Instead, guide them to achieve their potential through some smart managerial techniques.
Jake Carlson Modern Leadership Podcast Episode 121: The Language of Leadership with Krister Ungerbock
As a corporate keynote speaker, Krister is passionate about sharing the secrets that his team used to win 5 consecutive Top Workplace awards and achieve remarkable employee engagement levels of 99.3%. His brand new book is, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live and Love.
Krister Ungerböck is a leadership keynote speaker, CEO Coach, and global expert in The Language of Leadership. This podcast originally appeared on Jake Carlson Modern Leadership Podcast Episode 121, to listen to the full interview, visit Jake Carlson Modern Leadership.
Prior to retiring at age 42, Krister was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. His expertise in the Language of Leadership is based upon his unique experience as a global CEO leading teams in three languages while observing and doing business with executives in over 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three.
As a corporate keynote speaker, Krister is passionate about sharing the secrets that his team used to win 5 consecutive Top Workplace awards and achieve remarkable employee engagement levels of 99.3%. His brand new book is, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live and Love.
Top Takeaways: The Language of Leadership with Krister Ungerbock
Stop reading HBR and tons of business books and figure what Are YOU Missing as a leader
Balancing professional success with personal success
Leadership in relationships – taking the best practices in business and personal relationships to create a lasting business
Many successful businesses are made up of people who have worked successfully together for a long time
Practical fill-in the blank phrases to speak the language of leadership differently than what we have previously learned
The Language of Leadership drives increased commitment, emotional connection and growth both personally and professional
Perspective shift occurs in learning a new language of leadership
Drop the “should” just tell people what you want from them –
Applying the same tactics, you would in learning a new language when you “learn the language of leadership”
Heart in the right place but the words are not –
Difference between the Language of Leadership and the Language of Management
Lead with Expertise – lead with solutions (Ego boost but also becomes addictive to having the answer)
Good for those employees who are not progressive and engaged
The one’s who do not like this style are pushed away or repelled because they want to be a contributor
Questions lead and answers follow – Are you leading with questions or are you following with answers?
The difference between leading questions and leading WITH questions
Asking questions is not about leading people to my solutions it is about leading people to THEIR solutions
Ask questions you don’t know the answer to
Make sure all your questions start with WHAT or HOW
Check your ego and allow yourself to be taught
Surround yourself with people who are smarter to help us grow as leaders
Let go of your need to be right
Modern Manager Podcast Episode 51: The Language of Leadership with Krister Ungerböck
This week’s guest, Krister Ungerboeck, is a CEO Coach, and expert in The Language of Leadership. Prior to retiring at age 42, Krister was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world.
How many languages do you speak or understand? Learning a new language helps you appreciate the importance and nuance of language and how it impacts your ability to communicate and connect with others. This podcast originally appeared on The Modern Manager Podcast with Mamie Kanfer Stewart. To listen to the full interview, visit The Modern Manager Podcast.
Leadership and management have their own language which you can learn.
This week’s guest, Krister Ungerboeck, is a CEO Coach, and expert in The Language of Leadership. Prior to retiring at age 42, Krister was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. His expertise in the Language of Leadership is based upon his unique experience as a global CEO leading teams in three languages while observing and doing business with executives in over 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three
Krister and I talk about the importance of language as a manager, how to use language to engage people, and how positivity can transform productivity.
Join the Modern Manager community to get special four tools from Krister including a leadership assessment, plus episode guides and other guest bonuses to support your learning journey!
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Leadership or management is all about how you use language. Even when the underlying meaning is consistent, how you say it matters. Choose words that are too strong and you risk alienated people. Choose words that are too soft and you risk not getting the behavior you’re asking for. Power your productivity with positivity by setting metrics that allow each person to compete with themselves rather than each other. Aim for each person to become their personal best. This eliminates room for excuses and allows everyone to be celebrated. Create metrics that can always be increased rather than a percentage so there is always room for improvement. It takes lots of energy to figure out answers, but asking good questions is often easier and leads to better answers. Ask open-ended questions that generally start with ‘what’ or ‘how’ as these will lead to more interesting answers than yes/no questions or questions that are really ideas disguised as questions. To improve your emotional intelligence, try guessing at the emotion the other person may be experiencing and why. What is it they’re needing? Use language like “I’m wondering if you’re frustrated by…because you want more autonomy to make decisions,” or “I’d imagine you’re feeling excluded from…because the team didn’t loop you in at the start of the project.” If your guess is accurate, the person will reinforce it, but if it’s not, they’ll likely correct you. This gives you more accurate information and helps them articulate their situation.
KEEP UP WITH KRISTER
Website: krister.com
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/theleadershiparchaeologist
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/meetkrister
Business Owners Radio Episode 136: LEADERSHIP | Why your leadership language may be limiting your growth
Krister Ungerböck is the world’s first Leadership Archaeologist™. He travels the world to unearth the most powerful – and often surprising – models, ideas, and secrets of leadership.
Krister Ungerböck, employee engagement and global business growth expert, shares insights from his research on the language of leadership. Learn how to change the way you listen and respond to your team to increase employee engagement, and become a more effective leader. This episode originally appeared on Business Owners Radio Episode 136 with Craig Moen and Shye Gilad. To listen to the full interview, visit Business Owners Radio.
Krister Ungerböck is the world’s first Leadership Archaeologist™. He travels the world to unearth the most powerful – and often surprising – models, ideas, and secrets of leadership.
Previously, Krister was the award-winning CEO of a 3,000% growth tech company. During his time leading Ungerboeck Software, he did business in 40 countries, built businesses in six, and lived in three. He also learned to speak French and German as an adult, which gives him a unique perspective on communication. Then, over the past few years, he became a prominent CEO coach and highly desired keynote speaker… but a very different kind than one might expect. In a sea of speakers spouting clichéd success secrets, Krister stands out as a successful CEO who bravely shares breathtakingly real stories of his own setbacks, combined with concrete, immediately actionable steps for audiences to sidestep the mistakes he’s made.
For the past decade, Krister has been on a “seeking secrets” journey, mining the minds of some of the greatest thinkers around the world and across disciplines, digging in dark places where others don’t… all to unearth unseen insights into the question of why growth companies tend to outgrow their leaders so quickly.
In addition to exploring the globe for new leadership insights and ideas, Krister is a top-rated leadership keynote speaker, CEO coach and consultant, and author of the highly upcoming book, THE LANGUAGE OF LEADERSHIP: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live and Love
Leaders of Transformation Podcast Episode 244: Krister Ungerböck: Learning The Language Of Leadership
Prior to retiring at age 42, Krister was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. His expertise in the Language of Leadership is based upon his unique experience as a global CEO, leading teams in three languages while observing and doing business with executives in over 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three.
Krister Ungerböck (unger-bahk) is a keynote speaker, CEO Coach, and global expert in The Language of Leadership. This podcast originally appeared on Leaders of Transformation Podcast Episode 244 with Nicole Jansen. To listen to the full interview, visit Leaders of Transformation.
Prior to retiring at age 42, Krister was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. His expertise in the Language of Leadership is based upon his unique experience as a global CEO, leading teams in three languages while observing and doing business with executives in over 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three. As a corporate keynote speaker, Krister is passionate about sharing the secrets that his team used to win 5 consecutive Top Workplace awards and achieve remarkable employee engagement levels of 99.3%.
On stage, Krister is a keynote speaker, but when he works one-on-one with CEOs and their highest potential executives, he’s more like a speech writer. Krister helps great leaders craft the words they use in high-stakes conversations, the million-dollar conversations that can make their year or their career, as well as the countless other conversations those leaders have every day.
His upcoming book, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live and Love, provides leaders a practical, fill-in-the-blanks approach to learning a powerful new language of leadership that helps leaders speak in a more impactful, emotionally intelligent way and maximize employee engagement, productivity and employee retention.
In his candid conversation with us, Krister shares his defining moment in life and how it reshaped his view of leadership going forward. We explore the use of specific words and phrases and how they can either break trust or foster connection. Krister further explains the language of expertise and why top performers hate it.
Want to transform your business and personal relationships and be a more influential and effective leader? Listen as Krister teaches us the language of leadership.
Key Takeaways
The number one destructor of business value is broken relationships.
Fear shuts down creativity.
Drop the “you should” or at least replace it with “consider”.
Let your words match the intention of your heart.
In order to get an enthusiastic YES you have to give people permission to say NO.
We listen for people’s needs, not their words.
Top performers hate to be lead with the language of expertise.
Are you leading with questions or following with answers?
Build employee engagement by building better bosses.
Resources
The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live and Love (October 2019)
Download deleted chapters in advance of book release
Become a beta-reader and provide feedback for the book
Connect With Krister Ungerböck
Website: https://www.krister.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetkrister
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristerdotcom
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristerdotcom
3 Behaviors That Make You a Better Leader
Effective business leaders possess many common denominators, but in the current culture of automation, the ability to connect on a human level is what truly sets great leaders apart. One analysis discovered that leaders who can develop positive work relationships not only drive better employee engagement and retention, but also motivate their employees to go above and beyond.
Incorporate these three behaviors into your everyday routine to build better relationships at work. To read the full article, visit Thrive Global.
Effective business leaders possess many common denominators, but in the current culture of automation, the ability to connect on a human level is what truly sets great leaders apart. One analysis discovered that leaders who can develop positive work relationships not only drive better employee engagement and retention, but also motivate their employees to go above and beyond.
In the past, most businesses were very hierarchical in nature. Success was measured by an ability to perform the specific functions of your role, whether you were at the peak or the base of the pyramid. Sure, these traits still matter to some extent, but most modern organizations want more — from leaders and employees. It’s why the best leaders don’t simply shout out orders and why companies aren’t just looking for employees who excel at doing what they’re told. We know those rigid behaviors stifle innovation.
Conduct a quick job search, and you’ll probably notice that companies typically describe their work environments as “fast-paced,” their teams as “tight-knit,” and their ideal candidates as “self-motivated.” Well, leading tight-knit teams of self-motivated employees in a fast-paced business environment takes a willingness to be part of the team — to be the cornerstone of the team, even — and to rely on other people’s expertise and judgment when necessary.
That’s why leading is hard: It takes talent but also a high level of social skill. Whether you’re currently a leader or aspiring to be one, here are some key behaviors that you should cultivate now to strengthen your own professional relationships.
1. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Acknowledging your vulnerabilities is a sign of strong emotional intelligence. Krister Ungerböck — a speaker, author, and CEO coach — says that showing vulnerability can be hard for a lot of leaders, but the payoff is a mind that’s free to focus on breakthrough solutions. “If you want to add value to your team, you must be open to showing yourself fully to the leaders around you,” says Ungerböck. “Not only will you add a sense of authenticity to your persona, but you’ll also foster deeper connections with peers.”
When you show your team members that you’re vulnerable, you’re not displaying weakness but are reminding them your colleagues that they’re fundamental to your success. In contrast, attempting to hide your vulnerabilities will inevitably prove exhausting and alienate those around you. They already know you’re not perfect — no one is.
2. Give praise instead of seeking it. Authentic praise is a great motivator. Studies show that employees who get regular praise and recognition work harder, perform better, and stay at their current companies longer. Authentic praise often takes the form of positive, specific, and constructive feedback. When giving authentic praise, draw attention to your coworkers’ achievements and how an individual adds value to the group.
Conversely, avoid dishing out praise to everyone all the time; others will perceive it as a disingenuous tactic to get people to like you. This diminishes the value of your positive feedback and sends mixed messages. Instead, express your gratitude when someone takes on a big challenge or works outside of his or her job description to help the team. If you’re specific and sincere with your accolades, they’ll matter more.
3. Listen more and talk less. Modern leaders must wear a lot of hats, which makes it hard to be present and focused on the task or conversation at hand. We’ve all been involved in discussions where we hear other people speak but aren’t fully listening. Rather than thinking about what they’re saying, we’re thinking about everything we need to get done before tomorrow. But when we do this, we waste everyone’s time because, more than likely, the conversation will have to happen again.
When you have a lot on your plate, you need to be even more attentive to your surroundings. Resist the urge to tune others out. During conversations, summarize what you just heard to ensure you are accurately understanding what individuals are trying to convey. By being in the present, you’ll be better able to read colleagues’ emotions and better equipped to respond appropriately. In doing so, you’ll not only forge stronger connections with the people you rely on, but you’ll be able to use their insights to make better business decisions.
Modern leaders are made, not born. They invest plenty of time into studying and improving the ways they interact with others because they know that every interaction matters. They pay attention to their behaviors because they know they’ll be observed and analyzed. Most importantly, today’s top leaders know that they can’t accomplish anything alone. Emphasize building strong relationships with the people who matter most.
— Published on April 1, 2019
Breakthrough Success Podcast Episode E325: Understanding The Language Of Emotional Intelligence With Krister Ungerboeck
Prior to retiring at age 42, he was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. His expertise in the Language of Leadership is based upon his unique experience as a global CEO leading teams in three languages while observing and doing business with executives in over 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three.
Krister Ungerboeck is a keynote speaker, CEO Coach, and global expert in The Language of Leadership. This podcast originally appeared on the Breakthrough Success Podcast Episode E525 with Marc Guberti. To listen to the full interview, visit Breakthrough Success.
Prior to retiring at age 42, he was the award-winning CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. His expertise in the Language of Leadership is based upon his unique experience as a global CEO leading teams in three languages while observing and doing business with executives in over 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three.
Quotes To Remember:
“It starts with the leader.”
“Frustration is a form of anger.”
“Emotional intelligence is a key element.”
“Anger is an alarm bell.”
“Speak to more people with empathy.”
What You’ll Learn:
Becoming a leader
Harnessing emotional intelligence
Building the EI of your team
Better communication skills
Getting into the creative flow
Key Links From The Episode:
Magic Management 8 Ball Challenge
Recommended Books:
Content Marketing Secrets by Marc Guberti
Podcast Domination by Marc Guberti
Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg
Leadership Language by Chris Westfall
Quiet Leadership by David Rock
3 Ways to Retool Your Hiring Process to Attract High-Quality Job Seekers
At the end of 2018, the number of open jobs in the U.S. reached 7.3 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the highest number of job openings on record since the Department of Labor started measuring them in 2000. Available jobs have outpaced hiring for more than a year, indicating that companies are having a difficult time filling their vacant positions.
In a job seeker's market, businesses are finding it hard to hire and retain new employees. Here's how to revamp your hiring process to attract the best talent. To read the full article, visit: Entrepreneur.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
At the end of 2018, the number of open jobs in the U.S. reached 7.3 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the highest number of job openings on record since the Department of Labor started measuring them in 2000. Available jobs have outpaced hiring for more than a year, indicating that companies are having a difficult time filling their vacant positions.
In other words, it’s a job seeker’s market. Candidates are feeling so secure, in fact, that USA Today reports some of them are now “ghosting” employers -- that is, simply not showing up for scheduled interviews (or even their first day on the job) without canceling.
The cost of hiring a new employee is already prohibitive. Replacing someone can cost the average company $4,000, according to Bersin by Deloitte, and having to start the process all over again after a bad hire or a ghosting will only hurt your finances more.
The good news is that a great hire can boost your business’s productivity and profits. The challenge is finding those great hires. With a smaller pool of talent, it’s imperative that your company stands out. Here are three strategies you should use to better appeal to the top candidates in a limited hiring pool:
1. Be nimble, be quick.
For years, job seekers were taught to expect they’d have to follow up with companies multiple times in order to get a response. Today, that expectation will no longer fly. The need to constantly follow up with your hiring manager can turn candidates off a job, even if you do eventually respond. Worse than that, they’ll share their experienceon review sites like Glassdoor, turning future applicants away, too. To avoid leaving a bad impression, get back to potential hires quickly, and communicate your hiring process clearly so they aren’t left waiting in the dark.
But how quickly is “quickly”? According to speaker, author and CEO coach Krister Ungerboeck, employers should waste no time in calling candidates back if the employer wants a speedy response in return. He notes, “If a top-quality candidate applies, pass the information along to your C-suite so someone can call him or her back within the hour.” Because you’re responding immediately, and at the highest level, you should get a response back sooner than if you weren’t. You don’t even have to message or email -- new updates with LinkedIn allow employers to leave candidates a voice message through the platform.
2. Ask not what the candidate can do for you; ask what you can do for the candidate.
A basic job description needs to include the job title, responsibilities of the role and your required qualifications and skills. But to take your job post to the next level, you need more than a list of duties. In fact, lists of requirements and responsibilities can work against you by alienating qualified candidates, according to an experiment conducted by researchers from the University of Vermont’s School of Business Administration, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Calgary.
The researchers rewrote 56 job advertisements using two different approaches: one emphasizing what a company can do for the job seeker and one emphasizing what the company wants from the candidate. Candidates who responded to the first type of ad were rated more highly than those who applied to the second. Adjust your job descriptions to stop focusing so much on your list of desires -- instead, think about what the candidate wants and how you can provide it. Do you offer flexible work schedules, career development opportunities, more autonomy? Concentrate on how you help employees do well in their roles.
3. Turn your attention to the interview.
Leadership IQ found that problems with new employees might actually occur due to a flawed interview process. In fact, according to a study by the organization, 82 percent of the surveyed managers agreed that interviewers are distracted by other issues, pressed for time or lacking confidence in their ability to conduct interviews. If you fall into this category, it could be that your interviewers are so wrapped up in finding new hires who are technically competent that they ignore other key factors -- such as emotional intelligence, motivation or attitude. Shift the focus of your hiring process back to the interview, and hold behavioral interviews rather than asking only run-of-the-mill questions like “What is your biggest weakness?”
After setting the candidate at ease with some small talk, ask the person questions that help you identify past instances when he or she exhibited specific behaviors. If you do it right, the candidate won’t even realize the behaviors you’re trying to pinpoint in his or her answers. Behavorial interviewers ask questions such as “Tell me about a time when you obtained a new customer through networking activities” or “Please tell me how you went about maintaining a long-term customer relationship.” By allowing the candidate to show rather than tell you that she possesses certain traits, you’ll have a clearer picture of whether the individual is a good fit for the role.
In a job seeker’s market, you can’t afford to stick to the same process you used in the past. It’s time to switch things up so you can stand out among your competition and gain the kinds of new employees who will help your business grow.
3 Ways to Make Hiring Easier for C-Suite Executives
If you consider all the articles touting that culture comes from the top, then it only makes sense to keep the ultimate hiring decision up to your bosses. Hiring the wrong person could turn your comfortable, open environment into a toxic space that will only encourage other employees to leave.
Hiring the perfect employees for a company is not HR’s job. That job belongs to your C-level executives. To read the full article, visit: HR.com.
Hiring the perfect employees for a company is not HR’s job. That job belongs to your C-level executives.
If you consider all the articles touting that culture comes from the top, then it only makes sense to keep the ultimate hiring decision up to your bosses. Hiring the wrong person could turn your comfortable, open environment into a toxic space that will only encourage other employees to leave.
Companies like JotForm and even Google have made it a point to keep their C-suite executives involved in hiring decisions. JotForm CEO Aytekin Tank wants to ensure new employees work well in the existing company culture without creating conflict. And he finds the role of hiring essential to keeping the company efficient — especially considering that hiring the wrong person can cost as much as $240,000, according to Link Humans CEO Jörgen Sundberg.
As leaders in HR, you’re on the front lines, and it’s up to you to bring in candidates, not employees. Here are three things you can do to better support your C-level executives in the hiring process:
1. Write job advertisements, not descriptions.
Companies that win the war for talent sell their open jobs; they don’t just describe roles. Next time you have a job opening, consider the unique selling points of the position and incorporate them into your listing. Then, learn what eligible candidates are searching for and tailor your language to match so they can easily find the role online.
From there, read a book about copywriting. I’m paraphrasing David Ogilvy when I write, “The goal of the first sentence is to get them to read the second sentence.” Every sentence of your job description should appeal to a job seeker. Your job advertisement should be so good that it’s the one job a passive yet talented candidate will look at and say, “This job looks so awesome that it might be the only job I apply for this year.”
2. Call top-quality candidates back within an hour.
If a top-quality candidate applies, pass the information along to your C-suite so someone can call him or her back within the hour. While Bullhorn found that the morning is a good time to contact candidates back, you should get a response as long as it’s within the hour. Plus, a new update from LinkedIn gives recruiters the ability to call candidates rather than emailing or messaging them via the platform.
Think of the impression you want to make on candidates. When I lived in Germany, candidates would apply to German companies and expect to not hear a response for almost three weeks. We differentiated ourselves by calling back good candidates almost immediately. This is not as impossible as it seems. Fewer than 1 in 100 job applicants are superstar caliber and justify a callback within an hour. But those people can make a huge difference within a company.
3. Don’t pass along bad candidates.
If you get 100 job applicants and all 100 applications belong in the trash can, don't hesitate to toss them! I recently spent an entire day with five other board members interviewing "top" candidates who were flown in from out of town at great expense. Two of them were not even strong enough for a phone interview, yet we took up six senior executives’ time — and the candidates’ time — interviewing them so we had a “point of comparison.”
Jobvite found that the average time-to-hire is 38 days. That’s a long time, especially considering how much of that time is wasted on interviewing the wrong candidates. Giving people points of comparison makes subpar candidates look better, not because they are right for the job but because they look good next to someone who wasn’t qualified. Ask your executives whether they would prefer to see only qualified candidates or whether they want to see the top few, even if some don't meet the minimum criteria.
Working in human resources and recruiting comes with many responsibilities, but while it is your job to find the right candidates, you shouldn't be making the final hiring decision. That's up to your company's executives. Use these three tactics to make your job easier and to help them find the next employee faster so that you can move on to filling the next role.
Krister Ungerböck is the global expert on the Language of Leadership. Krister is a captivating keynote speaker, a coach to high-performance CEOs, and former CEO of one of the largest family-owned software companies in the world. Based upon his experience observing business leaders in more than 40 countries, building businesses in six and living in three, he shares insight into leadership that bridges between business, relationships, and family.
The Other Side of Potential Podcast Episode 36: The Language of Leadership with Krister Ungerboeck
As the award-winning CEO of a 3,000% growth tech company, Krister created The Language of Leadership to help leaders master the high-stakes conversations that can either make or break their careers.
Krister Ungerboeck works with high-potential leaders to help them learn the practical language of leadership because he knows, from his own experience as a CEO, that language has the power to transform their lives. This podcast originally appeared on the Other Side of Potential Podcast Episode 36 with Sharon Spano. To listen to the full interview, visit the Other Side of Potential.
As the award-winning CEO of a 3,000% growth tech company, Krister created The Language of Leadership to help leaders master the high-stakes conversations that can either make or break their careers.
During his time leading Ungerboeck Software, Krister did business in 40 countries, built businesses in six, and lived in three. He also learned to speak French and German as an adult, which gives him a unique perspective on communication.
On stage, Krister is a keynote speaker, but when he works one-on-one with CEOs and their highest potential executives, he’s more like a speech writer. His upcoming book, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live, and Love, provides a practical, fill-in-the-blanks approach to learning a powerful new language of leadership, one that is is guaranteed to help leaders speak in a more impactful, emotionally intelligent way. This level of expertise will help them maximize employee engagement, productivity, and employee retention.
What you’ll learn about in this episode:
How Krister joined the business world through his family’s small business and what lessons he learned during his time there
How Krister learned the “language of emotional intelligence” and springboarded into a new career path
Why changing your language style is an effective way of changing yourself from the outside in
How the “language of management” and the “language of leadership” differ, and why the difference matters
Why one of the most difficult parts of being a CEO is the business outgrowing leaders
How to use “empathy guesses” and a fill-in-the-blanks approach to emotional intelligence
Why Krister’s self-awareness of language has been transformative in all of his relationships
How the feeling of being trapped in an executive role can lead to extreme stress and even PTSD
Why Krister works to help business leaders grow their leadership, and how the skills he teaches can help in all aspects of your life
How your company culture can help encourage happy people to stay and unhappy people to leave
How to contact Krister Ungerboeck:
Website: www.krister.com
Website: www.krister.com/otherside/
Krister Ungerboeck joins LeaderTHRIVE with Dr. Jason Brooks Podcast Episode 66
Krister Ungerboeck, The Leadership Archaeologist, joins LeaderTHRIVE podcast with Dr. Jason Brooks to share about the Language of Leadership and the power that comes when living this every day.
Emotional intelligence is key in leadership. And today's guest brings powerful experiences and principles to help us all lead well by connecting authentically. This podcast originally appeared on LeaderTHRIVE with Dr. Jason Brooks Podcast Episode 66. To listen to the full interview, visit LeaderTHRIVE with Dr. Jason Brooks.
Krister Ungerboeck, The Leadership Archaeologist, joins LeaderTHRIVE podcast with Dr. Jason Brooks to share about the Language of Leadership and the power that comes when living this every day.
Krister Ungerboeck shares with high-potential leaders a practical Language of Leadership to transform leaders’ lives, and the lives of those who follow them. The Language of Leadership was created while he learned business French and German as the leader of one of largest family owned software companies in the world.
On stage, Krister is a keynote speaker, but when he works one on-one with CEOs and their highest potential executives, he’s more like a speech writer. Krister helps great leaders craft the words they use in high-stakes conversations, the million-dollar conversations that can make their year or their career, as well as the countless ten-thousand-dollar conversations those leaders have every day.
His upcoming book, The Language of Leadership: Words to Transform How We Lead, Live and Love, provides leaders a practical, fill-in-the-blanks approach to learning a powerful new language of leadership that helps leaders speak in a more impactful, emotionally intelligent way and maximize employee engagement, productivity and employee retention.
Connect with Krister at