Top 10 Traits of "User-Friendly" Leaders
01/ 26/ 2007


These days, "user-friendliness" is a valued commodity. User-friendly appliances, computers, customer service and information help save time and increase comfort.

These early years of the 21st century are bringing increased attention to another new phenomenon: the user-friendly leader. Call this style of leadership anything you want-- accessible, open or front-line--but it has the same valued characteristics as so many other user-friendly commodities of this age.

Ask yourself: As, a small-business owner, are you a user-friendly leader? Does your leadership style add value, convenience and results to the people around you? Not sure? Think about these traits of user-friendly leaders--and resolve to build as many of them as possible into your own work style.

The open door. User-friendly leaders keep an open door, symbolically and literally. They pride themselves on accessibility to employees and customers, and they're constantly looking for ways to encourage others to drop by.

The loose tie. User-friendly leaders know that formality can, at times, become a barrier to effective communication. So these leaders are quick to adopt a casual style of dress (always keeping within their organizations' practices) and demeanor.

Down and dirty. User-friendly leaders are not afraid to become involved in the thicket of problem solving. They'll set up ad-hoc work teams, conduct brainstorming sessions, experiment and push for unconventional solutions until the problems are solved. And they'll stay intimately involved the whole time.

In the trenches. Although it's not their immediate responsibility, these leaders occasionally work alongside their employees, partly to gain insight into their jobs and partly to demonstrate an interest in what they do each day. These leaders also take the time to participate in after-hours activities like employee dinners, bowling leagues or other social activities.

The quick laugh. To the user-friendly leader, the occasional joke and regular recollection of humorous incidents is part and parcel of the job. These leaders know how to laugh and how to create relaxed work environments.

Never-ending learning. A "learning culture" is present in many 21st century organizations, from mega-corporations to the smallest of businesses. User-friendly leaders embrace this philosophy. They never stop learning, and they're quick to acquire new skills--from technology to people skills--alongside their employees.

Real guys and gals. User-friendly leaders don't sit on lofty symbolic platforms. They share their thoughts and interests with the people around them and are quick to talk about everything from current business concerns to last week's soccer game with the kids.
Great relationships. User-friendly leaders do more than communicate well. They get to know the people around them and understand their concerns, fears and ambitions. They're quick to foster relationships and do whatever they can to help their people become more satisfied with the roles they play.

Humility. If there's ever a mystique about the all-knowing leader, user-friendly leaders do their best to dispel it. They know that expertise in today's knowledge economy rests with the entire team, from highly skilled technicians to folks at the front counter. They're never afraid to ask for advice and help from any source, and they're quick to acknowledge that they need it.

Love of tradition. User-friendly leaders know that customs and traditions help build a sense of stability within their organizations. Weekly staff meetings, quarterly awards ceremonies and time-honored courtesies as employees come and go each day, for example, are valued by user-friendly leaders eager to leave their people with a sense of security and satisfaction.

So ask yourself: Are you a user-friendly leader? Do you demonstrate the traits of openness and front-line management so necessary for the success of your small business in the 21st century? To be sure, positive leadership means more than practicing user-friendly habits. But for a contemporary leader, these habits are a great place to start; they can quickly become building blocks for the morale and productivity characteristic of the best organizations of the century.

The Essentials Of Business Communication

If you’re one of those individuals who occasionally ponders the mysteries of the universe, you may have wondered why we have two ears instead of just one. The answer depends on who you ask, as it does with many things.

According to scientists who specialize in such matters, sound usually reaches one ear a fraction of a second faster than it reaches the other ear. By calculating the difference in receiving times between ears, the brain can pinpoint a sound source within two or three degrees.

The ability to listen is just one of the tools of communication. The ability to speak so that others really hear and understand you is another, and in business, the degree to which you can get people to listen can be the degree to which you get the greatest payoff. Sometimes the cards are stacked against you, but you can improve the odds by speaking more effectively.

Here are three things you can do to get people to listen:

1. State the facts. For example, when you’re in a meeting, make observations that place you in control. Demonstrate your knowledge of the situation, and describe strategies. Go step-by-step and be logical. Don’t talk over people’s heads or expect people to grasp your style of speaking.

2. Give a compliment. For example, when you remark to someone who you know has been dieting that he or she’s lost weight chances are that person will be friendly toward you. People love compliments and attention, but make sure that the complement is appropriate. If you’re a male, it’s pretty stupid to tell a female boss that she’s wearing a nice sweater.

3. Confound your audience. By confounding someone, I mean use your knowledge of the language to impress someone by using interesting words, grammar, and sentence flow. This takes skill and practice, and many people cannot do it, but if you can, you’ll show great intelligence. Don’t use huge, polysyllabic words or mundane examples. My point is, use language as an asset to gain control.

Another trick for getting someone to listen is to determine which sense of perception the other party responds to. There’s an old paradigm that the world is divided into three types of people: those who relate most to the sense of hearing, or to feeling or to seeing. You can communicate effectively with people by appealing to whichever of the three senses they relate to most.

A feeling person responds to images of touch: “I feel that my product will touch the hearts of everyone who comes in contact with it.” A seeing person responds to images of vision: “I see that you are a big-picture person who can envision the power of this marketing plan.” A hearing person responds to images of sound: “I can hear the victory bells and the applause from the audience after they hear this proposal.”

The success of any communication depends on believability. You have to say what you mean and mean what you say. If you’re credible, it will show. However, be careful because the opposite is true, too. Believability is the name of the game.

Remember, communication is a two-way process involving both talking and listening. Beware of falling into the trap of spending too much time on one-half of the process. To be a good communicator, you must listen well. Listening skills, and the ability to read how well others are listening to you, is crucial to success in business.

A good listener must form a partnership with an individual or group and engage in a give-and-take situation with concentration and patience. Here are few things you can do to listen more effectively:

• Listen to the entire message. Take in all of it be before you speak. This can be a big task for you because some people will take the floor and go on and on, but always be courteous.

• Put your thoughts and ideas aside while you are listening. Concentrate on the speaker’s words. You won’t hear if you don’t put out some effort. We all have an inner voice and we talk to that voice more than we talk to anyone else. That voice needs to be shut down temporarily.

• Deal with your inner conflicts and emotions some other time. Don’t let your problem of the day interfere with your ability to hold a conversation.

• Listen for the speaker’s ideas and feelings. Don’t get hung up exclusively on words.

• Listen positively. Don’t make internal judgments while the person is talking. Be open-minded and interested.

Another important point to effectively listening is to watch the body language of the other person. When you speak, your body sends messages, and there are six possible messages, to be exact. Those messages are happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust and surprise. When you learn to read those signals in other people it will greatly help your success in communicating with them.

Anyone can learn to become a good communicator. It’s a skill that incorporates the use of common sense, patience and teamwork. Just give and take, and don’t talk just to hear yourself. You’ll be amazed at how much better your business and personal relationships will be when you learn to listen and speak more effectively.

Copyright©2007 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and success coaching programs. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in career coach training. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many businesses around the world, on the subjects of leadership, achievement, goals, strategic business planning, and marketing. Joe is the author of three books, Starting Your Own Business, Finding Your Purpose In Life, and The Guerrilla Marketing Workbook.

The Power of Negative Thinking

By Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D.

Alfred P. Sloan, one of America’s first celebrity CEOs, wasn’t afraid to shake things up in the board room—which might explain how he was able to revitalize General Motions during the 1920s when it was close to bankruptcy. At one meeting of his top executives, Sloan stated: “Gentlemen, I take it we all are in complete agreement on the decision we’ve just made.” Everyone nodded. “Then,” said Sloan, “I propose we postpone further discussion until our next meeting, to give ourselves time to develop disagreement—and perhaps gain some understanding of what the decision is all about.”

Just as in Sloan’s time, most organizations today need less complete agreement and more constructive conflict. Rather than discouraging resistance and negativity, leaders should surround themselves with people who can debate passionately before a decision is made—and then unite behind the final decision.

Think that’s easy to do? Think again. Just the opposite dynamics are at work in most organizations. Too many people sit in meetings and keep silent, or gloss over the effect a given proposal will have on their department or co-workers. They sit quietly, while the leader proceeds as if everyone is aligned. But this “consensus” is not real. Later (in “off the record” conversations) these same folks may very well undercut or sabotage the proposal.

On management’s side of the equation, too many leaders emulate Samuel Goldwyn (the fabled founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) who once said, “I don’t want any yes-men around me. I want them to tell me the truth—even if it costs them their jobs.”

Goldwyn’s comment underscores the concern that even if a leader sincerely wants to hear dissenting opinions, most employees—especially those at lower levels of the organization—find it difficult and uncomfortable to speak up in a formal setting. They’re unsure whether the leader genuinely wants to deal with conflict. They fear ridicule or retaliation for “being negative.”

Even a culture of teamwork, based on developing familiarity and friendly cooperation between employees, can result in congeniality taking precedence over the introduction of ideas that might prove unpopular. In an environment that values collaboration as the top priority, employees hesitate to take any action that causes tension or appears to be divisive.

If you want to take concrete steps to build constructive conflict into your decision-making processes, here are a few suggestions:
Assign someone on your team to play the role of “Devil’s Advocate” to ensure a critical eye.
Ask part of your group to think like the firm’s competitors (or customers or employees) in order to surface any flaws in a set of core assumptions.
Establish “ground rules” that will stimulate task-oriented disagreement—but minimize interpersonal conflict.
Keep the proceedings “transparent” by making decisions based on what goes on in the meeting, not in behind-the-scenes maneuvering.
Make sure your team members represent a diversity of thinking styles, skill levels and backgrounds. If they don’t, invite people with various points of view to offer their perspectives.
Start out with a question and don’t voice an opinion. Once you’ve said, “Here's what I'm thinking . . .” you have already influenced your team.
If you really want honest feedback from your team, be the first person to admit your own mistakes.
Really listen to everyone's ideas. Let people know that you value their input and are taking into consideration what they have to say.
Clearly state the behaviors you want during the discussion (constructive conflict) and as a result of the discussion (shared commitment to the outcome).

The most successful organizations harness the power of creative collaboration without falling victim to “group think.” Only leaders who understand how to foster constructive conflict will be able to achieve this delicate balancing act.


Author Bio:

Carol Kinsey Goman, coaches executives, helps teams develop strategies and delivers keynote speeches and seminars to business audiences around the world. She is the author of nine books, including Ghost Story: A Modern Business Fable. Contact her at CGoman@CKG.com or through her Website at www.CKG.com