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The Top 6 Skills To Become A Better Leader Coach

Published June 3, 2022

If you are a leader who aims to become a human leader, who might feel that your personal mission in life encompasses enabling greatness in others; helping people figure out how they matter, how their teams matter; how they can work together unleashing their potential for the greater good; and making a positive difference, then these might come in handy as you continue to build your leadership skillset'for today and the future.

1.A Establish Trust

Group of professionals standing and talking at work

In any human relationship, trust is at the base; it is foundational. In this great period of change, uncertainty, and anxiety that we''ve all felt'how many of us feel exhausted and scared due to all of this? The teams and the people that you''re leading might be feeling deep levels of discomfort, maybe paralysis and even fear. There has never been a more crucial time to establish, deepen, or re-establish trust.

Establishing trust with the whole person, with everything that they are, is especially important. One way to do this is firstly by getting to know them. Take the time to know your people, really know them'what their aspirations, challenges, and career expectations are amongst other key areas.

Display your ability and expertise in supporting them, act with integrity, genuinely care for others, and be dependable. These will get you a long way in building or deepening trustworthiness.

2.A Ask Powerful Questions

If you want to learn what other people think, feel, expect, aspire to, etc., you must ask, and asking powerful questions can really provide you (and your coachee/employee/direct report) a lot of value and insight.

The definition of a powerful question is a question that will help the recipient 'think, reflect, wonder, gain an insight' amongst other powerful things. Think of it this way: when you ask a powerful question, you are helping the recipient of that question gain perspective.

These types of questions usually start with what, how, when, or who. Depending on the topic at hand, they can really help you create a thought-provoking, high-impact conversation. Try it!

3.A Listen Actively

Have you ever wondered why we have two ears and one mouth? Some of us think it''s because there is an important proportion of time that the coachee/employee/direct report needs to have to express themselves, instead of us providing them with all the right answers.

Coaching is about 'partnering with someone, in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential' (ICF).

One way to listen effectively or actively is to 'listen to understand' not to respond. One of the shortcuts that we, as humans, create is what we understand as an ability to be ready to fire the response to someone as soon as they finish speaking. This is not active listening. This is listening to respond, which does not give you the necessary information or clarity. Does this sound familiar to you?

4.A Establish Vision

'There are many ways to achieve a desired state, yet when you use a 'vision' technique for your coachee/subordinate/employee to envision the future (desired) state, you provide them with a unique opportunity to not only decide how to get to that goal, but you''re also promoting the opportunity for him/her to be creative, imaginative, and grow.

This is about focusing on the future, not on the past'yet taking advantage of lessons learned and capitalizing on both.

5.A Set SMART Goals

Focusing merely on setting up a strategy and expecting everyone to understand what they needed to do to achieve it is no longer the right approach. Productivity is no longer the result of repetitive, routine actions'so passee, especially in the light of a post-pandemic environment. We need everyone in our teams, in our organization to be able to bring their whole selves and unleash their full potential.

We''re so in a VUCA world and for our organizations to succeed, we need our people''s imaginations, we need them to bring their whole best selves to work. Whatever they might be feeling and living outside of work, which is now also part of work. Leaders, therefore, must show up as human beings.

Employees expect empathy, vulnerability, and authenticity from their leaders in addition to clarity. When coaching, approaching goal setting using the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound) approach, makes it easier for everyone involved.

6.A Establish Accountability

Currently, with so many challenges and uncertainty, it is not infrequent for employees to feel unclear on what the right priorities to pursue are. When you coach, making sure that there is clarity on who''s accountable for what and by when, becomes critical.

If accountability (and goals) are not proved in coaching conversations, they could simply become nice conversations. There is no growth, no actions, no path forward.

Avoid confusion and increase meaning and impact through insightful, thought-provoking coaching conversations. Good luck!

Published November 2, 2023

CEOs & Business Sustainability: How Lack Of Planning Will Hurt Your Company Long-Term

The concept of sustainability has become an imperative consideration for businesses of all sizesâin every industry. CEOs are now tasked with the critical responsibility of not only driving short-term profits but also ensuring the long-term viability and success of their companies. Lack of planning from CEOs can significantly impact their companies’ future success and resilience in an increasingly competitive market.

In this article, Work It DAILY experts from Vistage discuss how not planning risks missing opportunities for growth and innovation, failing to mitigate potential risks, and jeopardizing the future of the company. Read on to learn about the importance of planning for business sustainability and how to start a long-term plan for your organization today.

Mark Fackler

Our world is moving so fast. Business opportunities are near infinite. Your company can possibly survive without planning, but it will most likely never become sustainable. There is nothing wrong with an unsustainable business. I know many CEOs who have these types of businesses, run by their sheer tenacity. They provide a decent living and pride of ownership.

However, if you want to go beyond this, and create an ever-growing sustainable business, planning is mandatory. In the beginning, planning can be just in your head. But as the number of employees grows, getting your thoughts, and your plans, down on paper must happen.

Owners are bombarded on a daily basis with threats and opportunities. Without plans, decisions can and will be haphazard. Haphazard decision-making is not sustainable. As you grow, your employees will be faced with issues that they need to resolve in real time: an upset customer, a quality control problem, or on the exciting side, a prospective sale. Written plans that staff are intimately familiar with allow them to make the decision and know that the decision is aligned with the company goals, the company plans.

The most important and longest-term planning starts with your core values. These should be the one foundation in planning that rarely, if ever, changes. Core values define behaviors, behaviors that are aspirational and sometimes not possible to achieve. For example, my company’s core values were honesty, home/life balance, and relentless improvement. Honesty is one of those values that is aspirational and unachievable in its purest sense, but that is not an excuse to stop striving to be 100%.

The next level of planning is the more traditional concept of long-term goals. Those goals can range from five years to 20 years or even to 100 years. These goals help the CEO avoid the shiny object syndrome. Visionary CEOs see opportunities as often as they get up in the morning. Long-term goals are especially effective at providing bumpers and guide rails to new initiatives.

Core values and long-term goals help keep you focused and help keep the team focused. Focus happens when you know when to say âyesâ and, even more important, when to say âno.â With focus comes sustainability. Sustainability is good.

Mark Fackler is a retired CEO and currently leads the Vistage CEO group that he was a member of from 1991 to 2002. He is passionate about creating great ROI for his member CEOs.

Kirsten Yurich

Employees/coworkers in a meeting discuss business sustainability and planning

Do you have a plan? Or do you have a strategy?

You need both! And you need to know the difference.

Too often companies and leaders are lulled into a big board room with coffee and snacks and a whiteboard and Post-it notesâ¦ and engage in âstrategic planning.â

Iâve done this myself!

What I want to be clear on is this. A strategy is not a plan. A plan is not a strategy. And yet, you must develop both or your company is doomed.

You control a plan. A plan is safe. A plan has to do with your resources, your people, your costs. You build a building. You train, hire, and fire. You launch a new product.

You do not control strategy. It is a set of interrelated decisions that you make.

You have what they call a “theory.” A hypothesis of how to WIN at your business.

You canât show it on a balance sheet. But you BELIEVE that if you play on THAT playing field or in THAT sandbox you will outperform your competitors. It is in that field you will âwinââ¦ revenue, market share, or sales.

Conversely, the plan consists of the tactics or set of activities to deploy your resources in service to the strategy.

Where I have seen companies succeed and struggle are two key areas. First, how simply can they distill the strategy to every employee? Second, how frequently do they revisit the strategy and test their theory against relevant information?

“If you donât know where you are going, any road will get you there.” âCheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland.

Kirsten Yurich is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. As a clinician, professor, author, and executive, she leverages this unique blend and creates learning environments for executives to become better leaders, spouses, and parents.

Mike Thorne

Employees/leaders in a business meeting look at data to make up for lack of planning

In thinking about why this matters to SMB owners, I am reminded of Elon Muskâs recent quote, âDonât go top speed into uncertainty,â when discussing his recent plant expansion.

Electric cars are a great example of this (GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, etc.). Planning for this is daunting yet crucial to get it right for their success.

For consumers even, think about this: When you own a gas-powered vehicle you have a high level of confidence because the infrastructure and service model is clear, consistent, and reliable. When we move into electric vehicles, consumers have to plan and need to have a strategy or they will be stranded. My brother-in-law experienced this recently on a trip with his new Tesla driving from Florida to Maine.

Our business owners have a similar situation: their business certainty isnât what it was and now it is time to stop and say, âI HAVE TIME to slow down and think about the landscape in front of me.” Warren Buffett says, âIn the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.â

Scenario planning. Prepare for possibilities and probabilities. Learn to shrink the gap between success and failure and minimize riskânot eliminate it. SBAâ50% fail in the first five years. The primary reason is lack of financial planning and management.

Be able to weather economic ups and downsâinvest in growth and secure capital are at risk. The National Center for Middle Market found there is a 32% decline in growth compared to those with a plan. Sustained success requires rigor and discipline around planning strategically.

Consider the following as you work towards this: understand drivers of costs, growth, and performance, know mission/behaviors/consequences (right jobs/right roles/right people/right time), and assess the current playing field. Who is changing the landscape? What are we doing? What are we worried about? What are the big movers? How do we drive consumption and repeat business?

Mike Thorne is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. He leads and facilitates a group of trusted advisor entrepreneurs and a CEO peer group in New Hampshire and Maine.

How has a lack of planning hurt your company? Join the conversation inside Work It DAILY’s Elite Program.

Published June 9, 2022

5 Benefits Of Working For The Federal Government

USAJOBS, the primary portal for federal job seekers, launched a streamlined application service for college students and recent graduates called Pathways to better assist them with finding government work. While this is certainly welcome news in a competitive job market, one might wonder why there is so much interest in government jobs in particular.

By way of an answer, here are five benefits of working for the federal government.

1. Job Security

Man works a federal job from home

Increased job security is a valuable commodity, especially in an uncertain economy, and the federal government provides it. Compared to public servants, private employees are at a much higher risk of being terminated; in fact, they are three times likelier to be terminated by their private employer than employees of the federal government are.

2. High Compensation Increases

Federal worker reads documents

Federal employees receive competitive salaries with the added benefit of high compensation increases. From 1951 to 1991, the average state and local government employees received $1.37 in compensation increases for every $1.00 received by the average private employee. Federal civilian employees received $1.91.

Since 1980, the pace has increased, with average state and local employees receiving $4.78 for each $1.00 received by private employees.

3. More Vacation And Holidays

Federal official on the phone

Over the course of a career, state and local government employees and federal civilian employees receive nearly 1.5 years more in paid vacation and holidays than the average private employee. The average state or local government employee has 9.9 more paid vacation days and holidays than their private counterparts, a figure that increases to 13 for federal employees.

Increased vacation time means that employees are properly compensated for their work hours and given ample time and resources to properly recharge so as to better function in their jobs. The government tends to offer its employees more paid sick and personal days as well.

4. Generous Health Benefits

Woman working a federal job

The Federal Healthcare Benefits Program, or FHBP, provides the widest selection of health care plans of any U.S. employer. Though government health care benefits tend to pale in comparison to those offered by private employers while an employee is working, most government health care plans provide superior benefits to retirees than do private health care plans.

5. Generous Retirement Benefits

Federal worker reviews government documents

Speaking of retirement, federal employees tend to have the option to retire earlier than their private sector counterparts and have access to superior retirement plans through the Civil Services Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS).

Under both plans, retired employees receive an annuity, complemented by Social Security benefits and participation in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which offers 401(k)-type investment options. Retired federal employees also have the option of continuing health benefits at the same monthly cost that they paid before retirement.

If you’re looking for a job with a lot of benefits, a federal government position could be right for you. There are pros and cons associated with every job, but the pros of a federal job are definitely something to consider during your job search.

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This article was originally published at an earlier date.

Published August 10, 2023

Rebranding In The Music World: How Artists Transform Their Image For Impact

Success in the music business has never been an easy journey or an overnight success story for anyone. Establishing a cohesive brand story is critical for distribution, label shopping, press outlet attention, and more. For artists looking to make a new profound impact and leverage fanbase activity, consider rebranding an essential tool to remain relevant and adapt to the dynamic trends in the music industry.

Rebranding provides an opportunity to refresh your image, connect with new audiences, showcase artistic growth, and share new stories and experiences. Ultimately, rebranding can revitalize an artistâs career, open doors to new opportunities, and reignite interest from fans and industry stakeholders. Letâs start our conversation with a quick recap on branding.

What Is Branding?

Branding involves taking deliberate actions to build a brand and shape how your audience perceives you. The goal is to ensure your audience views you the way you intended.

For music artists, their brand is the cornerstone of their success. It determines lucrative collaborations, event invitations, social media followers, and favorable public opinion shaping their career trajectory. A well-defined brand strategy is pivotal in attracting the right audience, driving awareness and recognition, and, ultimately, paving the way for a thriving career.

What Is Rebranding?

Rebranding concept

Artists must continuously evolve to remain relevant and advance their careers. The key to achieving this is through rebranding.

Rebranding is a strategic process of altering a brandâs identity, image, or message to align with evolving goals, target audience, or market positioning.

For artists, considering rebranding is essential to stay relevant and adapt to the dynamic trends in the music industry. This strategic process offers a valuable opportunity to rejuvenate their image, establish connections with new audiences, and exhibit artistic growth. This can include changing their messaging, incorporating new fashion images, releasing new music, updating content, exploring new storylines, engaging in collaborations, being featured in other artistsâ work, experimenting with different hairstyles, and more. Embracing this transformation enables artists to effectively communicate their evolution and resonate with a broader, more engaged audience, positioning themselves for continued success in an ever-changing industry.

As the music industry continues to evolve, artists who embrace rebranding as a means of adaptation will be better positioned to thrive in the competitive landscape. It allows them to keep their artistic journey fresh and exciting, appealing to both long-time fans and newcomers alike. Rebranding represents an artistâs commitment to growth, relevance, and longevity in an ever-changing creative landscape. By carefully evaluating their artistic direction and brand identity, artists can decide whether rebranding is the right step to propel their music career forward.

A Winning Rebranding Strategy

Rebranding/branding concept

A successful rebrand strategy should include the following key elements:

Clear Objectives: Define the goals and outcomes you want to achieve through rebranding efforts.
Market Research: Conduct research to understand your target audience, competitors, and industry trends.
Brand Identity: Develop a compelling and cohesive brand identity, including a new logo, color palette, and visual elements.
Messaging: Craft a strong brand message that resonates with your audience and reflects your unique value proposition.
Consistency: Ensure consistency in brand communication across all touchpoints, including website, social media, and marketing materials.
Internal Alignment: Get buy-in and support from internal stakeholders, ensuring everyone is aligned with the new brand direction.
Rollout Plan: Develop a well-structured rollout plan to launch the rebranding smoothly across all platforms.
Customer Engagement: Involve your audience in rebranding through surveys, feedback, and interactive campaigns.
Building a Community: Focus on creating and nurturing a community around your brand to foster deeper connections with your audience and promote loyalty.
Public Relations: Leverage media and PR strategies to create buzz and generate positive coverage for rebranding.
Monitoring and Evaluation: Continuously monitor the performance of the rebrand and assess its impact on key metrics.

By incorporating these elements into the rebranding strategy, you can set yourself up for success and ensure a seamless transition to your new brand identity.

Miley Cyrusâs Bold Rebranding Success

Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrusâs rebranding success story is a shining example of a transformative artistic evolution. Known initially for her wholesome Disney image, she strategically embraced a bold and edgy persona, shedding her previous image to redefine her brand. With her album Bangerz and provocative performances, Miley fearlessly broke away from her previous teen idol image, grabbing headlines and sparking public discussions. Despite initial controversies, her authenticity and fearlessness resonated with a new audience, expanding her fanbase and reinvigorating her career.

In 2023, she took another daring leap, releasing her new album Endless Summer Vacation while pivoting once more, embracing an Old Hollywood glamour look with platinum hair, beachy waves, and red lips. Mileyâs evolving rebranding of herself has showcased the power of embracing change, unapologetically expressing oneself, and taking creative risks, solidifying her position as a boundary-pushing artist in the music industry.

As part of her rebranding strategy, Miley Cyrus has undertaken several key actions to successfully transition from her wholesome Disney image to a more edgy and provocative persona:

Image Makeover: Miley underwent a dramatic transformation, shedding her clean-cut, girl-next-door image for a daring, bold, and rebellious look. With her recent album Endless Summer Vacation, she took another daring leap, embracing an Old Hollywood glamour style exuding sophistication and elegance with platinum hair, beachy waves, and red lips.
Music Direction: Alongside her image transformation, Miley shifted her musical direction, moving away from a pop-oriented sound to a more edgy and mature vibe. Her album Bangerz showcased her emotional depth and candid storytelling about past relationships, while in Endless Summer Vacation she sings about self-love and courage, reflecting her evolving artistic growth.
Provocative Performances: Mileyâs performances became the centerpiece of her rebranding strategy during Bangerz, delivering memorable and controversial shows that garnered widespread media attention and ignited public conversations. Today, with Endless Summer Vacation, she continues to distribute thought-provoking and authentic videos that align with her artistic vision, captivating audiences with her newfound Old Hollywood charm.
Embracing Authenticity: Throughout her rebranding journey, Miley prioritized authenticity and fearlessness, openly expressing herself and her creative vision. With each album, she has fearlessly challenged societal norms and expectations, forging a path that remains uniquely her own.
Engaging with New Audiences: Mileyâs rebranding efforts aimed to connect with a broader and more mature audience, attracting new followers who resonated with her evolving persona and musical style. Her recent transformation to an Old Hollywood glamour look further expands her appeal and audience reach.
Media Engagement: To generate buzz around her rebranding, Miley strategically engaged with media during Bangerz. She gave interviews and utilized social media platforms to communicate her new image and creative direction directly to her audience. With Endless Summer Vacation, her media engagement continues to highlight her bold and glamorous transformation.

Miley Cyrusâs ability to successfully navigate two distinct rebranding journeys from the edgy and provocative to the timeless and sophisticated demonstrates her versatility as an artist and her commitment to embracing change to remain relevant in the music industry. Her recent rebranding to an Old Hollywood glamour look with Endless Summer Vacation further solidifies her position as a boundary-pushing artist, captivating the world with her artistic evolution.

Taylor Swiftâs Fearless Rebranding Reinvention

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swiftâs rebranding success story exemplifies a masterful transformation from country sweetheart to global pop superstar. Starting her career as a country singer-songwriter, Taylor strategically pivoted her music style, image, and brand identity to appeal to a broader and more diverse audience. With her album 1989, she fully embraced the pop genre departing from her country roots. This bold move paid off as 1989 became a massive commercial success, earning critical acclaim, selling 1.287 million copies in the U.S. in its first week, and is the most awarded pop album by any artist in history with 158 awards (Grammy Awards, BBMAs, AMAs, VMAs, Emmy, and more).

Taylorâs rebranding showcased her versatility as an artist, allowing her to break from previous stereotypes and connect with fans worldwide by continuously reinventing herself and fearlessly exploring new musical horizons. Taylor Swift established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry, solidifying her position as one of the most influential artists of her generation. Today, she continues to captivate audiences, taking them on a journey as she fearlessly evolves and stays true to her roots.

Taylor Swift undertook several strategic actions to rebrand herself successfully:

Shift in Music Genre: Taylor shifted from country music to pop, departing from her country roots.
Visual Transformation: Taylor adopted a more sophisticated and stylish image, reflecting her evolution as an artist. Her fashion choices and iconic red lipstick became synonymous with her new pop persona.
Embracing Independence: Taylor embraced her independence and artistic autonomy, making bold decisions and taking creative control over her music and image.
Public Persona: Taylor cultivated a more relatable and down-to-earth public persona, engaging with fans through social media and candid interviews. She allowed fans to see a more authentic and vulnerable side of her.
Narrative Shift: Taylorâs songwriting shifted towards more mature themes and storytelling, exploring love, heartbreak, and personal growth.
Engagement with Fans: Taylor actively engaged with her fans, creating a loyal and dedicated fanbase that played a crucial role in the success of her rebranding.
Global Appeal: Taylor focused on expanding her global appeal, collaborating with international artists, and embarking on successful worldwide tours.

Timing & Patience To Accomplish Your Rebrand

Music festival/concert

Rebranding can provide a deep well of opportunities for music artists, yet patience is key while transitioning your brand. Before launching your new brand, ensure streaming platforms have been notified months before your releases. Donât get discouraged as rebranding, especially on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, can take up to two to three weeks before updates on artist brands are completed.

If changing your name, you can expect delays from the platform updates. However, the most important factor here is to run a copyright search by an attorney to secure your new name and register it so that your name cannot be challenged for ownership.
While going through the digital asset change process, stay quiet. Try to refrain from brand deals, posting on social media, etc. Essentially, you are striving for a complete rollover and new launch of the new you! This can take time as each music company updates your information, especially on social media platforms, where finding your correct stakeholder can be daunting. Try emailing or messaging account managers from Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Facebook, TikTok, etc. separately, informing them of your rebrand, supplying them with new digital assets, and requesting a rush update!

With the constantly changing landscape in the music industry, rebranding is an effective way to boost your results as a music artist for increased music sales, reconnect with your fans by providing new ideas and style to your already successful projects, and present new concepts for relevance in the space by curating new artist branding. A rebrand can also market you to labels, publishers, booking agents, and more.

As we define AI in music, a consistent and effective brand presence will be critical for artist success as a differentiator and disruptor in the music business. By having a story that you can continually create and tell, in a consistent high-quality way, the better your chances are to ultimately attract teams, producers, and executives to your projects.

Kathryn Marshburn has spent 12+ years in the music and gaming industries guiding teams on identifying targeted goals with an agile approach resulting in driving revenue and reducing risk.

For a step-by-step guide on how to develop a brand strategy, check out How to Develop a Brand Strategy by Lisa Perry. For more brand marketing insights, follow Lisa Perry.

This article was written by Kathryn Marshburn and Lisa Perry.

Published September 30, 2022

3 Ways To Build Confidence For A Job Interview

The interview is one component of the job search process that most people love to hate. While it serves as a sign from the employer that you are being strongly considered for a position, it also can be a source of angst for candidates who fear they’ll make mistakes that will cut them out of the running.

A great way to overcome the anxiety interviews produce is to begin feeling good about the process. Need help getting there? Here are five ways to build confidence for a job interview.

Conduct Research

Woman on laptop researches a company before her job interview

One great way to build your confidence going into the interview is by conducting plenty of research on the company and the position that you’re going after. A common question interviewers ask is, “Do you know anything about our company?” Most times, candidates give vague answers, orâin a worst-case scenarioâanswer, “No.”

If you’re able to share the company’s background information and showcase knowledge of its future goals for the position in question, you’ll have an opportunity to impress the interviewer.

Review Common Interview Questions And Practice Them

Woman conducts a mock interview with a work colleague

By understanding how to answer common interview questions, particularly behavioral interview questions, you’ll build a lot of confidence going into the job interview.

Another great way to build confidence for a job interview is to practice before the big day. You can do this by answering questions in front of a mirror to read your own facial expressions and body language, or you could have a friend help you with a mock interview.

It’s also great to find a professional outfit you feel comfortable wearing. Feeling good in your clothes and knowing you’ve fully prepared can work wonders for boosting your confidence before a job interview.

Make Sure You Have No Skeletons

An important step in preparing for your interview is being able to recall your own career history and discuss prospective goals with the company and in your professional life as a whole. But, as you look back over your career, be sure to research yourself online to ensure there are no skeletons on the internet that could be brought up in your interview.

Remember, companies conduct background checks often via search engines, so it’s up to you to ensure your social media profiles are professional and/or private.

It’s normal to feel some anxiety before a job interview, but you can take steps to minimize those nerves. We hope these tips help you build confidence for your next job interview and shine in the hiring process!

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