Kurt Blazek

Good leaders should want their employees to not only succeed but also push their limits and raise the bar. One way that can help employees get there, is through regular goal-setting. This can be challenging because often times, employees don’t understand the overarching visionand goals of a company or organization. So it’s important that all players are aligned on the corporate vision in order to effectively start with the goals process. With that firmly in place, a manager can try to push his or her employees by suggesting stretch goals—the type of target that may seem impossible.

There are differing views of the efficacy of stretch goals. Some feel that setting the bar too high can cause dejection, making people feel like they’re getting nowhere and that they’ll never achieve the mark. Some studies even suggest that, with impossible goals in place, people become more and more dishonest or even ruthless in their pursuit of results—which has been shown to cost companies billions each year. Others, however, feel that, particularly for top performers (who are already driven to achieve and succeed), stretch goals can be motivational, and a huge reward in and of themselves once they are achieved.

Are you a micromanager? Or—perhaps worse—you may be one and not realize it?

Here are 5 signs you might be too involved in your employees’ work:
– You rarely delegate (and when you do, you are entirely too nervous about it)
– You find yourself spending more time overseeing (or even doing) other people’s projects than on getting your own done
– You nitpick the details (like putting the cover sheets on the TPS reports) and neglect the 30,000-foot view
– You reassign projects—to yourself—before they’re done
– You discourage autonomy and decision-making at any level under yours

Alright, 360 Assessments do not fall into the testing category that you can “Ace”, however there are steps you can take to ensure that you are getting the most out of your 360 Assessment. Here’s one question to get you started:

Which of the following will help you get the most out of a 360 feedback program?

Acknowledge the Process – Feedback is a positive thing and should be used as a development tool. If you go into a 360 assessment with this in mind, you will get out of it what you put into it, which should be a clear and concise view of your strengths and weaknesses within your organizational culture. Feedback will tell a story, not fiction, and it’s up to you to listen to it. But awareness is only the first step.

In most relationships, people want to have trust—with a romantic partner, with a family member, with a doctor or a dentist, with a mechanic or a plumber. In those relationships, without trust as a foundation, much can fail. Shouldn’t we see it the same in the workplace? After all, a company’s success is based on trust—consumers must trust the brand, and employees, who, in essence, sell trust to consumers, most definitely need to trust their leaders. CommuniCon, Inc., says that “high-trust organizations have increased value, accelerated growth, enhanced innovation…and improved collaboration.” So why is it that, according to the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer, 82% of people don’t trust business leaders to tell the truth? If you’re a leader in your company, that statistic should be alarming.

Luckily, it’s never too late to start building, earning, and increasing trust, and one basic building block is communication. Note that word well, though, because too often, leaders confuse the skill—communication—with its vehicles—communications. Gaining trust is not about which channels you use. It’s about the messaging—and the truth behind it—itself.