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Shawn Stratton works with organizations to strengthen leadership skills that translate into powerful teams. Founder of the LiveMore Group, an organization that helps people maximize their potential and productivity, Shawn has designed presentations and retreats for both small businesses and large corporations, offering teams of all sizes the inspiration and tools to flourish in this unpredictable, exciting economic environment.
Leaders: Born or Made?
This week, I address the most consistent question I have received over my 20 years of teaching leadership. This question is especially popular with young and emerging leaders. Are Leaders Born Or Made? My quick answer to this age-old question is YES. Perhaps my answer is a bit biased, as I have been instructing leadership in some capacity for 20 years and if people were born leaders, I would have been wasting my breath all these years. I believe every person is born with leadership qualities but the most effective leaders have been crafted through years of observing quality role models, experimenting, mentorship and constant personal development (courses, books, mentoring, etc). If you are born with the capacity to produce offspring, you are born with leadership qualities. Those qualities may lay dormant for years or flourish as a child or young adult but they are there. Not one outstanding leader would say they were born with their leadership abilities and that’s it. Sure, they may have been born with stronger leadership tendencies but however strong they were, they were raw. These effective leaders developed their skills over many years of emulating leadership practices they saw in others and through deliberate practice on their own, even if that practice meant they failed many times over while in leadership positions. My mother always told me I gravitated to leadership situations as a kid, at first organizing street hockey and baseball games with the neighborhood kids. I agree somewhat but by no means was I the best or the most natural leader. Of the dozens of sports teams (soccer, basketball, volleyball, water...
Proactive Leadership = Greater Retention
The Importance of Stay Interviews A friend once told me that for whatever reason her manager ended an annual evaluation meeting by mentioning the company sees her as a low risk to leave the organization any time soon. Who says that? As a leader, much of your time is spent putting out fires and dealing with people who are ‘below the water line’, underperforming team members. What if you focused most of your attention on the employees above and well above the water line? These people need and deserve your attention the most. They are the most valuable components to your team and organization, yet you spend the least amount of time with them. It may not seem like they need much attention because they are performing at a high level, but it’s human nature to want to feel valued. You are wired to gravitate to and give your 100% for those who value you the most. As a leader, here are a few things you can incorporate into your management practice to show your most valuable employees you REALLY value them, even if the company can’t always show it. Conduct ‘Stay’ Interviews – Organizations will often do Exit Interviews when an employee is leaving the company, where the information gathered is often too little too late. How about doing a ‘Stay Interview’ at least once a year with your team members where the main focus of the conversation is learning from the team member what is working and not working for them in the organization and what will keep them there in the long run. This is not...
What Do You Need?
This is my last post before the Christmas holidays and I take a little vacation with my family (Ireland here we come!!). I want to wish you the most happiest of holidays, whatever you celebrate! I hope you are able to spend time with family and friends and give back to those less fortunate. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read my posts and share them with your colleagues. 2017 will bring many new exciting developments to LiveMore including launching LiveMore Masterminds for Project Managers and other leadership niches, details to follow in January. It is a privilege to serve you and I promise to continue delivering high-value content through this blog and other outlets. Are your needs being met? Several times in the last three months I have felt overwhelmed with all the things I WANTED to accomplish. At the time they sure felt like a NEED but in retrospect, just about everything I thought I needed was really a WANT. My world would have carried on if they weren’t accomplished or at least not perfectly. This list entailed business projects, house projects and family time. In this uneasy time, I was not completing my work to the best of my ability and I felt like I was being a poor parent, spouse, and leadership consultant. As a person who has high expectations for myself, this was a horrible feeling that I could not tolerate for long without something breaking down in my life. Many of us with ‘first world problems’ call this survival mode, where you boil down your priorities and focus on only the most...
Shawn Stratton, Leadership Motivational Speaker and Consultant
“His use of story telling, humor and photography delivered a powerful message on the importance of finding our true passion as an indicator of success. ” -Ian Shortall read more
