Every leader is faced with a lot of adversity and any skills that might help out in making the best out of situation might come in handy. In this article we will focus on communication skills for any leader or executive to improve that side of the job. 

The ability to convey ideas, inspire teams, and build strong relationships between employees is crucial to the success and growth of the company or any business. Effective communication is very important, for example when we look at sports and teams who have won three-peats in NA, it was all made possible by the use of effective communication between the teammates, managers and the entire locker room. It is proven that over a few years, that ability stayed strong and allowed these teams to be so successful. Let’s dive straight into the most useful tips all gathered into one simple list.

Active Listening 

Many people confuse active listening with hearing the words that are coming from the mouth of other people and the difference couldn’t be more significant. By just hearing what others are saying you are staying in the conversation, but you are closed off on any enormous potential ideas. Active listening is a basic skill that allows executives to gather ideas from their employees and managers, get the best feedback possible, and everyone has ideas that are worth listening to. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Try to listen actively and demonstrate empathy to others and open your mind to new and interesting ideas. Any workplace needs people who can listen to others, and ideally make notes. 

Be Clear and Concise 

Being able to communicate quickly but with detail is a hard skill to master, but the more you do it the easier it becomes. As an executive, you will find yourself quite often in situations where you will have to communicate some information to others. The better you do it the more time and money you can potentially save. If the messages are clear and concise it leaves less room for misunderstandings. All the information going out from you should be clear to understand and individual to a person on the other side. You might phrase one piece of information different to a programmer than to a graphic designer for example. The less time and words it takes the better. 

Implement Non-Verbal Communication 

Non-verbal communication is almost as important if not more than the words you are saying. You can say the exact same sentence, but change its meaning by changing your voice, your facial expressions and your body movement. It is good to always show your intentions with everything around the spoken word. By aligning verbal and non-verbal communication allows you to show confidence, decisiveness, build trust with others, and make it clear to understand. You might also find yourself on the other side of the fence and you might be in need of some executives. No matter if you are the executive yourself or an employee, non-verbal communication is important for everyone. 

Feedback and Constructive Criticism 

A key role of every executive is to lead and to do that you need to give feedback to others, praise clever ideas, and give constructive criticism to fewer inspiring ones. It is particularly important to learn how to express your intentions and put into words what you need to tell others. It is worth writing down some pointers for you not to forget the specifics while holding a conversation. It is also a good idea to always give written feedback, so the person that gets it can always double-check everything. Another great practice is to give a lot of examples while giving feedback, or something is done better elsewhere, or how things could look like. The changes made by feedback can be easily implemented at any workplace. 

Mediation and Resolving Conflict 

Being an executive often comes with a lot of human interactions, and you will have to speak with others, and the more people, the more problems and room for conflict. It is your role to resolve that conflict, or even better, prevent it. However, if you are not able to prepare in advance then conflict resolution is a basic ability that you should have. Mediation between parties can ease the blows and give needed clarification on specific issues. Make sure to stay as impartial as possible, but do not let others get over your head. Always be firm while resolving conflicts, but make sure to utilize an individual approach. Every human being is different, and someone just needs something to be explained, others just want to feel justified in their thinking. Make sure to turn a win-lose situation into a win-win situation for all people involved. 

Communication Skills: Promoting and Cultivating 

A very important part of any communication skills is the ability to teach others. All the advice should be cultivated inside your job, not only by the executives but by everyone else. It is worth training your employees in effective communication because it always gives back. As an executive you should foster the means of transparent communication, and if everyone knows how to communicate, then it allows all the people involved to save time and money for themselves and for the whole company. 

Are you looking for a CEO for your business? Do you want to know which qualities make a CEO better capable for the position? The responsibilities of a CEO are many, and you will have to look for the best traits to find a suitable and skilled executive for your company. A CEO needs to be a communicative, confident, approachable, inspirational, and critical thinker. The CEO leadership style must motivate others to contribute more to the success of your business. Organizational skill, reliability, and better understanding will also play a determining role when hiring a CEO. Here are the CEO best traits you can look at when considering a new appointee for this position.

Confidence

Confidence is the first thing you should look for when having a new CEO for your business. Confidence makes an executive better capable of handling a situation. A confident CEO can motivate other employees and set an example with passion. The CEO personality should inspire the team so they can work to their full potential, and you can expect more from your endeavor.

A CEO can create a positive setting and boost the performance of a business with confidence. The executive can look at all the possible aspects and inspire employees to work hard and make more from their efforts.

Critical Thinking

Apart from confidence, a CEO should have better-thinking ability and patience. Both these are the CEO’s best traits to manage different situations positively. A CEO should know how to work with data and factors to bring favorable results to the business. The executive needs to understand the competitors and the strategies that can work. CEOs should have insights into different situations, including positive and negative. They should avoid costly mistakes and help the business with more profits.

A CEO cannot get the best outcome without problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities. You can inquire about experience and performance before considering your next step.

Positive Mindset

Confidence and positivism are interconnected. A confident person will be positive-minded and can try his best to get a positive outcome even in an unfavorable scenario. When the leader is optimistic, the team can perform better and learn from the behavior and approach of the leader. A CEO can work as a guide for others and take responsibility for achieving goals. With an optimistic attitude, one can influence the workforce, motivate others, and build a strong connection with the business.

By hiring an optimistic leader, you can guarantee the success of your business. More importantly, you can expect better management and avoid negative impacts during unfavorable market conditions. An optimistic CEO can ensure success in different scenarios with confidence and positive thinking abilities.

Flexibility

The responsibility of a CEO is more than other employees. These executives need to work with different mindsets and talents. Hence, they cannot make the most without being positive and adaptable. They need to be flexible to understand the capabilities of each and manage the task accordingly. A CEO will have to deal with failures with a positive mindset and inspire the employees to achieve more instead of holding on to their mistakes.

A CEO can create a proper working environment and motivate others to achieve more without adopting a harsh approach. A motivating setting can inspire employees to work more positively than in fearful surroundings. The executive should make employees aware of mistakes but motivate them to work better instead of making them feel low for their mistakes. Since mistakes are part of the work culture, the CEO should understand and work on them. Hence, you can look for this trait in a CEO when considering a new appointee.

Willingness to Take Risks

A CEO can take your business to the next level with his leadership style. These executives can transform the look and feel of a business with passion, confidence, and positive thinking. Also, many companies have witnessed significant improvement after hiring a new CEO. A successful CEO can make transformative changes and embrace risks to make profits for the business.

A CEO needs to be confident enough to embrace risk and get positive outcomes in an unfavorable situation. The willingness to take and manage risk is one of the best traits you should look for in your CEO.

Communication

Good communication skills can make a difference in every sphere of life, and a CEO needs this trait to maintain consistency and develop a bond with employees. A CEO must communicate with all the staff without causing conflicts and impacting the employees’ confidence. Communication skills and a positive attitude will help a CEO inspire other staff and competitors.

Soft communication skills make a CEO better capable of this position. Also, many executives give effort and time to refine their communication skills to work positively within a team. You can ask about the communication ways when hiring a CEO. Always focus on the one who believes in positive and soft communication.

Inspirational Leader

CEO has to be an inspirational leader to set an example. When hiring a CEO, you can check the level of compassion and care he has for your employees. A CEO should have the skills and experience to take the lead and inspire every employee with confidence. The executive should know how to set an example and work hard while maintaining consistency.

At the same time, a CEO should make every employee proud of his contribution, and it is possible only by being appreciative and communicative on different levels.

Curiosity

Curiosity is the best trait to achieve more. You can look for this trait in your CEO to lead your industry. A curious CEO can accept challenges, work hard, and inspire others for more contributions. Moreover, these executives will work to know about the potential of their employees, and they can hire the best professionals for particular jobs.

Besides, the CEO will understand your workforce better and can plan improvements to achieve more. The executive will have solutions for different situations and insights into both positive and negative ones.

Can I Hire CEOs and Other C-level Executives Online?

Yes, you can hire CEOs and similar C-Level executives online. CEO Worldwide is the right platform to post your executive search with more than 20 years of experience worldwide and a pool of 20,000+ vetted executives to date. You can browse directly a portion of their vetted executives via their exclusive search engine. 

After the fast departure of a leader from a subsidiary with 1000 people of a large group, this interim management mission is to support the group’s interim general manager, to implement my methodology of taking a position in the interim management of general direction and aiming at giving to teams dynamism again, to make proposals in accordance with the unit’s strengths and weakness.

• Name of the interim manager: Anne-Claire Humeau.
• Date of completion of the mission: November 2018 -April 2019.
• Company name: confidential (subsidiary of a large group).
• Activity sector: Services to individuals.
• Company type: Subsidiary of 1000 people, turnover of 100 M €, 450 employees in production and a network of 10 shops.

Challenges of the interim management mission

The company was put in a bad position by a general manager in office for several years, due to the non-existent management, a contemptuous stance, reprehensible actions, and a construction of isolated services. The whole staff is discouraged, does not perceive light at the end of the tunnel, does not understand what is happening, is not heard neither when faced with difficulties nor when offers solutions. The financial results are catastrophic.

Results

• Communication is well established, hope is reborn, ideas emerge, proposals are made. 100 % of the people that wanted to leave the subsidiary decided to stay in their position.
• The dialogue is put in place. Commercial team “liberated” make a 10% increased of turnover.
• Bad practices are identified, and corrective actions are proposed.
• Major changes are recommended and followed by actions (departures and arrivals of staff, adjustment of the organization chart).
• The group makes key decisions for the unit’s future.

Actions taken

Step one

• Field visits inside the company: production, shops, services.
• Meetings and interviews with the management committee (7 people), and then meetings with their N-2 even N-3 at the request of the committee.
• Staff meetings are requested when situations are in crisis, either personal or within their professional responsibilities.
• Analysis of data provided by financial, management control, marketing, purchasing, HR, transport logistics.
• Throughout the interviews, the first report made to the leaders of the sector in the group.
• Feedback of this first round to the management committee: interviews and conclusions on the analysis of the context and the paths for the future.

Step two

• 2nd round of meetings, interviews, solutions with management committee members.
• 2nd mission report with specific proposal regarding the changes of organization chart and the daily team management organization, and point out the urgent decisions that need to be taken.
• Feedback exchange with the leaders of the company and its group.

Talents implemented

• Rapid understanding of complex corporate contexts and their leaders.
• Acquisition of new sectors’ related knowledge.
• Understanding of complex production systems.
• Knowledge of the functioning of Small to Medium-sized Enterprises, Employee Representative Bodies, and large groups.
• Capacity of listening and analyzing, leadership and ability to reassure, transmit dynamism and give impetus.
• Competences: financial, management control, HR, transport logistics, purchasing, production, management, experience as a member of Management Committee and Executive Committee.

A few words to conclude this interim management mission

• Exciting discovery of a new sector and an excellent company. Staffs are mostly qualified and passionate about their work.
• Satisfaction for having successfully established the internal communication, relieved the staff in difficulty, given dynamism, opened other potential leads, generated solutions and actions to exit the crisis.
• Satisfaction to see a big part of my proposals are accepted.
• New start for the company.

Final feedback from the client (CEO)

• Communication well established”, “necessary though difficult”, and a “big THANK YOU”

Interim management mission key figures to keep in mind

• 43 people interviewed, even more contacts during field visits.
• 1000 people, 100 million turnover and network of 10 shops.

The raise is nice, you feel the same, co-workers congratulated you, maybe there were a few speeches and a cake and coffee. Now they are all waiting. You feel a bit anxious.

What does being a new supervisor or a manager really entail? What just changed? What are you going to say? How are you going to act? How have other people found the change? What advice would they give? How are you going to be a better supervisor at work?

You were good at what you did. That’s why you got noticed. That’s not why you got promoted. You might think so, but in fact, the answer is somewhat different. Always remember, you got promoted because your new “peer group” thought you are someone who belongs in their group and can behave correctly in their group.

Here are just a few insights from working with “young” and “old” managers, leaders, and supervisors across many different industries on the realities of supervision.

Maybe there are some “older” supervisors reading this and for them, this is “old”, but for others, there may be an “Aha-feeling” where you get to learn about different rules and guidelines that can help you become a better supervisor at work.

1. Supervision is a different job – the people are the same

Just as the role changed, your relationship with the people changed too. They are no longer the friends and colleagues of yesterday. You changed, but, more importantly, they changed as well – in relation to you and how they perceive you.

You no longer do a job alongside them but are the person they want to respect as the Supervisor.

Welcome to first-line management, where you are the face of Management to the ex-colleagues, just as you are the face of the Shop Floor to your Manager. Forget this at your peril!

You notice that some people withdraw from you while others want to get closer. Your team members are just dealing with managerial change in their own way. They are sizing you up and trying to work out exactly what kind of manager you really are. They are figuring out if you are going to be respected as a “boss” or not.

Does this mean you can’t go bowling with them on Thursday evening? Of course, you can go, but avoid the work discussion when you do. Your views are no longer a colleague’s views, they are a “manager’s” views. It gives them more weight, they get quoted.

2. Employees want their supervisors to manage them

Be friendly. Just because you are a supervisor doesn’t mean you have to be unfriendly.

So, be friendly, but do not use this instead of managing properly. Subordinates expect you to deal with poor performers at work and you must demonstrate that you do not and will not tolerate poor performance – from anyone.

Show you are always fair and be decisive, the good performers will give you their even better effort and, most importantly for you, hard-earned respect.

3. Give up the old job habits – Now!

You have a new job so don’t hang on to the old one. This is often difficult. It’s what you know. It’s where you were successful. It’s what you are good at. It’s the reason, you think, you have been promoted.

But, not letting go of the old job causes more problems for new managers than any other single item. You don’t have time to do it and the new job, so the new job suffers.

The impression left with the subordinates is that there is a lack of trust to do the job right. The impression you are leaving is “it won’t be done right if I don’t do it”, or “I’m indispensable”.

So, show the people how to do it right and leave. It is your job that they do it right (in quantity, quality, and timeframe), not for you to do it for them.

4. Don’t let people think you have “favorites”

Today you have subordinates, yesterday you had colleagues and co-workers – friends even. It is only natural to like some individuals more than others, but you no longer have that luxury as a supervisor or a manager.

Subordinates are keenly aware of exactly who has that direct access to you. Maybe, in the past, you had coffee or lunch with the same people every day. Rotate round tables. If you don’t, your employees will earmark these people as your “in-crowd”.

Many managers recommend changing and having coffee with other supervisors. It’s a great opportunity to pick their brains on how to address a given problem. Of course, for a couple of days, there may be taunts of “being better” than the old colleagues. Ignore it, it goes away.

Make sure those are the people you talk to personally during work time and encourage.

5. Management knows no routine

In that first promotion, we say goodbye to the familiar routines. The supervisor tasked you and you carried out the tasks as directed, in a timeframe, order, quantity, and quality. Maybe some things had to be done by certain times, others had to be finished before the end of the day or a certain monthly deadline.

As a rule, the day had proscribed activities and when they were complete, the day was over.

But now as a supervisor yourself, “a day’s work” becomes harder to define. Routine, in many aspects just left. There may be a new routine, but much of the time plan is left up to you.

6. People have problems, issues arise – no time plan, no priority

As a supervisor, more people need your time. More issues need your attention. But do they all need to be dealt with immediately? The answer is clearly “no”.

It is also equally clearly your job to sort out what is urgent and important and what is not. It is your role to ensure the subordinates stay equally focused and concentrated.

That leads to the most important word in the manager’s vocabulary, just two letters, and the most difficult to articulate, the word “no”. Just try it – “No, not right now. I will get back to you at ……… [time].” There it is again – “time”. Give a time when you come back.

7. You have things to learn, possibly a lot of them

Maybe you never had to work with the finance department before or HR. Maybe you never had to deal with disciplinary issues before. Maybe you have not been in the company that long – the answer when the question comes is easy. NO DRAMA! – the answer is simple – if you don’t know, go and ask!

Go and ask another manager. No one blames anyone for asking. You did not suddenly become wiser because you had a promotion! You don’t suddenly know things you were never confronted with. Don’t be afraid to say, “I am not sure, but I’ll find out by tomorrow (or next Monday)”.

Always say when you expect to have an answer and communicate back. If you don’t have the answer, go back anyway and say you don’t have the answer. Explain. Never leave the subject in limbo.

8. You wear two hats

As a first-line manager, you wear the management hat when you are dealing with your team, and the Shop Floor hat when you are talking to your Manager. Keep it that way.

Keep Management things for being a manager and shop floor things where they belong. You are not schizophrenic but walk a fine but important line. Know when to keep confidential things quiet, even though you are dying to tell your ex-colleagues, friends, and family. Remember, as soon as more than two people know a secret – it no longer is one. The fastest way to spread a story is to ask people not to repeat it! Keep the two separate and you rapidly gain the respect of your team and your new peers. Jumble it up and you will rapidly be branded as unreliable, a “blabbermouth”, a chatterbox, your position becomes untenable.

9. The fastest way to get respect and keep it is to communicate

There is nothing worse than not knowing or only finding out part of the story late! Everything is about communication. Make sure the information is always correct, concise, and clearly distributed to all team members at the same time, or as close to it as feasible.

Back before mobile phones, a manager had a widely dispersed organization. The subordinates complained that they were “always the last to know” important information. Traditionally the information flow had to follow the hierarchy.

The result was that information did not always arrive lower in the organization completely, or timely. After talking to his subordinates, they all agreed that information would be passed as fast as possible, as completely as possible and it was not important if the absolute hierarchy structure was bypassed in the interests of completeness and timeliness.

People in his organization would phone each other with the news at any time – evenings, weekends, and holidays. Rapidly, the remainder of the organization became jealous! How could his subordinates always know everything hours (sometimes, days) ahead of other areas of the company? He was accused of releasing information early. This was, of course, not true. The reason was simple, effective, and timely communication. His organization felt proud to be part of the “best informed” and “special” because of it.

Remember: Not knowing makes people nervous and irritated; knowledge, even bad news, calms them down.

10. Workout the skills you don’t have and learn them and hone them

It may be a computer skill, it may be a financial skill, a presentation skill, or a technical skill, but whatever it is make a list and ask for training.

You did not need it before, so it’s clear you need to be taught, just like you were originally taught the skills in your old job.

Ask new peers how they do it. People love to tell you how good they are and show off what they know, so ask them.

11. Understand the Murphy’s and Thexton’s Law

There is Murphy’s Law: “If anything can go wrong, it will, at the worst possible moment with the worst possible effect.”

And to counter it, there is Thexton’s Law of Preparation: Plan for Contingencies, because: Nothing is as easy as it looks, Everything takes longer than you think, and every solution brings a new set of problems.

Bottom Line

The role changed – check it out:

You were:

• A doer who was tasked
• Liked by colleagues
• Holding on
• Knowing all the answers

You are:

• In charge – tasking others to get the work done
• Respected as supervisor
• Letting go
• Getting input and answers from others

Being a supervisor at work can be challenging. You are responsible for ensuring that your team is productive, meeting deadlines, and following company guidelines.

In addition, you need to be able to effectively communicate with your team members and resolve any conflict that may arise.

Fortunately, with a few simple steps we highlighted above, any supervisor can take to become more effective at their job.

First, it is important to set clear expectations for employee performance. This will help ensure that everyone is on the same page and prevent misunderstandings down the line.

Second, make sure to give employees regular feedback, both positive and negative. This will help them understand what they are doing well and where they need to improve.

Finally, be available to answer questions and provide guidance when needed.

These basic competencies are considered vital for effective leadership:

• Develop a vision. With a competent, motivated staff, the leader is free to develop a working vision of the organisation’s future.
• Know yourself. Your actions must align harmoniously with specific values, behaviour and principles.
• Connect with others. Understand what makes your employees perform at their best and give them what they need to help the business succeed.
• Take responsibility. When your actions or decisions backfire, don’t blame others. Size up the situation; determine realistic solutions and act on them.
• Communicate! Keep people informed about what’s going on –the good news and the bad.

A leader must be able to look unflinchingly at the realities of the organisation and marketplace. To “interrogate reality,” a leader should ask:

• What values do we stand for? Is there a gap between the values we espouse and the way our business actually performs?
• Do the skills and talents we possess match the demands of the marketplace? If not, why?
• What opportunities are available to us in the future? Do we have the capacity to seize upon these opportunities?

The leader’s vision must be both feasible and far-reaching. CEOs should build a vision by expanding their intellectual horizons. Get out of the office and explore the world around you. Attend leadership seminars. Visit with other CEOs in organisations to seminars. Spend time with key customers. Find out what services and products they’re waiting for someone to design in the future. Leaders set the tone and pace for change. Their compelling agenda invigorates employees and, if successful, spills over to the customers as well.

Leadership Styles

All organisational cultures reflect the personalities of their leaders. Every day, in hundreds of ways, the leader demonstrates to others what is suitable — and unsuitable — in the workplace.The CEO must therefore adopt a distinctive, passionate style of leadership. Nothing done conventionally by the CEO will offer any competitive advantage. Conventional thinking always and everywhere leads to conventional outcomes.

Great leaders make themselves visible. They infuse courage and trust in employees in a variety of ways:

• Tell it like it is. The people who follow you deserve to know what’s going on and will do a better job with the facts at hand.
• Make change exciting. Build on short-term gains and lead employees through following cycles of change.
• Take risks on people. Leaders always persuade people to do more –and to be more –than they ever thought possible.

The Art of Communication

It’s essential to communicate at all levels of the organisation. No other single action is as crucial to winning employee trust and confidence. My advice is, keeping these principles in mind when communicating your vision:

• Paint a picture. Use metaphors, analogies and specific examples to make your message more vivid.
• Keep it simple. Avoid jargon or “techno-talk.”
• Repeats, repeat,repeat. People absorb ideas only after they’ve heard them repeated several times.

Confront uncertainty. Don’t hesitate to discuss “glitches” or mid-course adjustments the organisation must work through. Let employees know that occasional setbacks are a normal part of the change process. All forums, large and small. Take advantage of every opportunity to get your message across –through memos, e-mail and personal interactions. In addition to “what” the change is, be sure to explain “why” the change is coming. Whenever possible, share the various options that were considered and rejected before a decision was made.Another vital aspect of communication is active listening -listening with purpose. This means hearing a variety of messages, understanding their different meanings and confirming these meanings with significant feedback.

Keep in mind that the leader’s physical presence can be intimidating to some employees. A good communicator neutralises this through some simple techniques:

• Pay compliments.
• Keep negative comments brief.
• Take time to listen and explore the other’s response.
• Respond, don’t “re-act”.

Team Building

The first step in building a strong senior executive team is hiring the right people. Don’t underestimate the long-term negative effects of the wrong hire. A bad hire wastes time and money, and can collapse morale within the organisation and damage customer relations.With a strong team in place, leaders work to promote a community atmosphere. I suggest these practices:

• Promote learning as an integral part of everyday work life.
• Treat people with respect.
• Ensure that team members understand the importance of their individual contributions.
• Work together as a team especially when things go wrong, identifying problems without blame.
• Give people access to accurate information, so they don’t resort to rumours and hearsay.

Assigning important tasks to people that aren’t part of their defined jobs can be an effective motivational tool. Increasing the difficulty of the team’s goals increases the challenge and effort necessary to achieve them — but more difficult goals lead to enhanced team performance.

Motivating Others

Long-term business success depends on having a corporate culture where people are motivated to excel. This originates directly from the leader’s compelling agenda. High-performance organisations are “purpose-driven,” while others just operate day by day. With purpose comes new ideas — and new ideas remain the most valuable commodity in our world of information-overload.

How can leaders harness their employees’ creative energy?

• An inspiring mission.
• A sense of urgency shared by all.
• Goals that broaden employees’ abilities.
• A belief that teamwork can meet these goals.

Recognition and reward should follow outstanding achievement. People should be trained, encouraged and offered ample opportunity for advancement. It’s not enough to say, “for a job well done.” Specify the actions that culminated in a successful outcome.

Decision-Making

Regardless of decision-making style, I emphasise one point: Effective leaders use the decision-making process to free up resources that go to keeping things the way they are — particularly if these resources no longer produce results and don’t contribute to enhanced performance.Strong leaders scrutinise every element of the organisation — products, services, markets, and methods of distribution and value to the customer — because the business depends on it. They decide which elements to preserve and which should be abandoned. Certain conditions indicate when the right action is letting go:

• Products, services, markets or processes that still have “a few good years of life” usually require the greatest effort to maintain.
• Products, services, markets, etc. that are fully written off may generate some tax value, but the effective leader asks, “Wouldn’t we better off without them?”
• Sometimes the effort to maintain current products, services, etc. depletes energy and resources needed to develop new products and services.

Delegating Responsibility

The best way to become comfortable with delegating responsibility is to surround yourself with the best people you can find. With a strong management in place, it’s foolish, even self-destructive, not to take full advantage of their skills and authorities. I offer these guidelines for delegating responsibility:

• Define the task. Don’t tell people how to do the job; describe the results you want.
• Offer suggestions. Some individuals take the ball and run, while others are unsure about how to proceed.
• Offer helpful suggestions that enable them to perform at a higher level.
• Don’t hover. Once you’ve assigned a task, give people room to operate and the freedom to be creative in their approach.
• Reward and recognise. Some people benefit from praise along the way, while others are more self-motivated. Everyone, however, responds well to sincere praise.

Effective leaders understand that there is more than one way to successfully complete a project. After delegating responsibility, they avoid questioning, analysing and second-guessing each decision made or action taken by the person they’ve placed in charge.

Leaders Building Leaders

One sure sign of effective leadership is the desire to instil leadership traits in your executive management team. CEOs committed to building the next generation of leaders develop and refine their own leadership skills while mentoring others to do the same. What do true mentors do?

• Focus on a person’s strengths and potential.
• Convince a person that he or she has greatness within.
• Put aside their own agendas to help others express their unique talents.

Mentoring offers benefits for the individual and the organisation alike. For the individual, mentoring provides (1) enhanced people management skills; (2) the ability to set and achieve performance-stretching goals; and (3) the confidence to lead others and serve as an advocate for change.

For the organisation, mentoring benefits include (1) greater resources for accelerating companywide change; (2) assistance in maintaining performance during times of transition; and (3) promotion of organisational stability during periods of restructuring.

In the future, organisations will be obliged to constantly reinvent themselves. The effective leader understands that instilling leadership traits in others is an essential part of making that reinvention successful. All excellent/successful Leaders have their Mentor available on a regular basis.

Now go and be successful!

Leaders are `trained` to lead and are not born. Skill and experience of leaders show in the `bottom-line` results of their `team` efforts!

The `right` People with passion to succeed are the most valuable assets of any organisation. If you wish to know more, invest in a copy of the inspirational book, `Create Your Own Success Story` – ISBN:978-1-84549-260-1

CEO Worldwide offers companies the experience of seasoned top managers who have a successful track record in the carrying out of several restructuring programs for heavy loss-generating business entities. And in this field, like in a number of others, experience is a (probably even the) major success factor.

No one wants to talk about it, but there are numerous instances where a company or a group come to realise one day that a given business unit, a subsidiary, or worse, a group of subsidiaries, has become a source of recurrent, permanent losses, and does not respond to the efforts made to turn its situation around, or, at least, bring it under effective control.

This kind of situation appears very often when the money-loosing entity is located in a foreign country, where language problems as well as different ways of doing business add to the usual difficulties of finding the appropriate solutions and restructuring measures to cope with an ailing business entity.

A) Identifying the problem

When a business unit has lost money for some time and does not seem to react positively to whatever corrective actions have been decided upon and implemented, the usual reaction is to question the measures and/or the management team responsible for their implementation. However, when this line of thought does not lead to some fairly obvious explanation, it is necessary to look closer into the matter.

The requisite in-depth study of what is actually happening is very often postponed if the losses generated by the business unit remain limited in comparison to the consolidated result of the shareholding entity, and/or if, in addition, the reasons for the poor performance of the business unit seem obscure and difficult to identify. The problem then remains unsolved, losses keep accumulating, and conventional wisdom, within both the ailing business unit and its shareholding entity, soon begins to vehicle the idea that there is no good solution whatsoever.

B) Where to start

The first decisive step must be the decision by the top management of the shareholding structure to put an end, one way or the other, to the never-ending losses of the business unit, and to follow up on that decision. The top manager in charge must clearly be backed by the CEO. He should be chosen amongst the top collaborators who have had no responsibility in connection with the ailing unit, his final objective(s) should be clearly expressed and the corresponding deadline to achieve his objective(s) clearly defined.

C) The key factors for a successful solution through restructuring

Considering the fact that the situation at hand has remained unattended or at least unresolved despite various attempts to deal with it, or at least to mitigate its consequences, it must be obvious to all that the problem is indeed serious and that the main reasons for its occurrence have not been properly identified and fully understood.

Consequently, the top manager in charge will first select and appoint a chief operating officer (COO) who will work full-time to solve the problem(s) of the ailing business unit, or to dispose of the unit through sale(s) or closure(s). Under the direct supervision of the top manager in charge, the COO should be given all powers to instruct and direct the ailing entity as he deems appropriate to carry out his assignment within the imposed time frame, in the best interest of the shareholding structure.

The COO will be given a limited but adequate amount of time to study the situation in depth and propose a strategy as well as an action plan to solve the problem(s) in due time. The top manager in charge will review the strategy and the action plan, make whatever changes and modifications deemed necessary (in liaison with the COO), and obtain the green light and full support of the CEO (or the Executive Committee as the case may be). He will then formally send to the COO the precise objectives, constraints, and levels of financial and human resources corresponding to the implementation phase of his assignment.

C1) Sponsorship

To ensure success of the action plan to be carried out by the COO, it must be clear to all, within the ailing unit but also within the shareholding entity, that the restructuring process is fully supported (and monitored) by the top management at the highest level. It is essential to have all collaborators involved be aware of the fact that the COO’s assignment has high priority for top management, that the necessary resources will be made available in due time, and that the key collaborators involved in the process will be accountable and rewarded for performance.

C2) Decision-making at the shareholder’s level

A key factor to the success or failure of the process is the ability of the manager in charge to swiftly make the decisions which must be made at the shareholder’s level in response to the questions and requests coming from the COO. All too often, because of insufficient availability, delayed access to the CEO, other priorities and so on, the top manager in charge is in no position to give the answers which the COO requests and which he needs to move on. As a result, the whole process is at best slowed down, its credibility damaged and its outcome jeopardised. No matter how competent and diligent the COO is, he can only succeed if the top management is prepared and organised to react and decide promptly.

C3) Communication

As the restructuring/cleaning up action plan often implies carrying out social plans, reductions of the labour force, closure of some plants, disposal of assets, etc…, it generates strong emotional reactions at all levels within the company and around it. It is therefore necessary to communicate and explain both internally and externally what is happening and what is coming and why, in order to give to all stakeholders a fair, even though often simplified, understanding of the process and to reduce inasmuch as possible all sources of anxiety. Communication is therefore of the utmost importance and should be handled very carefully with a strong involvement of the COO and the top manager in charge.

D) To conclude: nothing replaces experience

If there are any rules to successfully carry out a restructuring process of an ailing business unit, experience is the crucial factor. There are so many variables involved that no business administration operating manual can give all the answers; besides, the human factor plays a major role (either in a positive or in a negative way or both at the same time) in the response of the business entity to the restructuring process itself. This is why experience is so very important.

About the author: Click to view Thierry Potok’s short bio

CEO Worldwide provides a number of top managers who have succeeded in completing clean up/restructuring of heavy loss-generating business units. They can intervene in an autonomous way or assist you directly in this vital step for your company or group.