Bishop House Consulting, Inc.

Are You Having an Impact?

Effective leaders seek to continuously improve how they impact the organization and those with whom they interact.  Gaining objective insight on your behaviors and how those behaviors impact others can provide you with critical data to adjust your actions and behaviors.  So, where do you really stand?  Are you an impactful leader?  Is that a positive impact or a negative impact?  When was the last meaningful conversation you had with your boss regarding how you are performing as a leader?

Seek the feedback.   A profound method for analyzing how well you are doing is to seek feedback from individuals within various stakeholder groups that surround you.  As a leader you have your direct reports who have a perception of you.  And there’s the boss who has her own perception as well.  But there are several other groups who can provide valuable insight.

• Peers – locally and globally
• Customers – external as well as internal
• Matrix team members – up, across and down
• Members of the Board of Directors, Mentors, External advisors

Formal feedback can be garnered via a 360 degree feedback survey – think of yourself as at the center of the circle and your stakeholders surround you laterally, above and below – which provides tremendous, objective and usually anonymous feedback.  Well run 360 degree surveys provide the input along leadership competencies which allow you to internalize the perceptions from various stakeholders.

Short on your budget?  Here are some less formal methods you could follow to gain input.

• Create your own electronic survey and deploy to your stakeholders via
• Free survey tool: www.Surveymonkey.com
• Outlook Exchange Voting/Tracking Survey
• Create a simple questionnaire and email to your stakeholders
• Facilitate in person meetings with stakeholders

To be successful, you should:

• Seek the feedback
• Create an action plan
• Find an accountability partner; you boss is a good place to start

Take Action:  Take 4 minutes to determine your stakeholders.  Using a blank piece of paper draw a circle in the middle of the page the size of a half-dollar.  Place your name in the circle.  Now, draw spokes off of that circle and write the names of stakeholders.  Start with broad groupings if needed such as direct reports, bosses, peers.  Then narrow those groupings with individual names or subsets.

By taking inventory of your stakeholders you will at least begin to think through how they might perceive your leadership impact on the organization.

Click here to see a sample 363 for Leaders tool which we use with our clients.

We’re Looking for New & Maturing Leaders Who Want to Increase Their Wisdom 

Get the training, tools and skills needed to be a successful manager. Our management training program immerses participants in the art and science of managing.

• Eight half-day training sessions held weekly
• One-on-one situational leadership coaching sessions guide application of new skills
• Dynamic training, invigorating discussions

Our next program starts the morning of March 22nd! Click here to learn more about our highly rated training program.

Cultural Storytelling

My friend Jerry can tell a heck of a story.  He pulls in that southern charm, teases you with just enough data to paint the picture in your head and then delivers the guts of the story.  In a matter of 3 to 4 minutes he has conveyed a full set of moral values usually with a laugh that can bring you to tears.

For your organization a good story can reveal so much about the culture of the organization.  The blending of experiences, people, events, success, challenge, tragedy, and life converge within the organization over time to create the existing culture.  Great leaders work hard to build a culture they believe will allow the organization to survive and excel over time.  These leaders know that culture – good and bad – evolves over time and well told stories reveal the threads of people and events that created desired aspects of the culture.  The leaders use the stories and history to paint the picture of the desired cultural state.

As you daydream in one of your back-to-back meetings today, meditate on the phrase “cultural storytelling.”  What messages, morals, history, and behaviors would you like to convey to employees the next time you tell a story from the old or not so old days?

Our Next Management Training Program Starts March 22nd! 

Over 500 local leaders have grown their expertise through Bishop House management training programs.  Our 8 week dynamic program focuses on:

• Increasing leadership impact
• Leading change
• Improving communications
• Managing employee performance
• Motivating staff

Are you looking to build your management skills?  Are you dreading difficult conversations?  Are you struggling as a manager?  Do you know a struggling manager?

Learn more about our Building New & Maturing Leaders Training Program.

Surround Yourself with Positive Leaders

We’ve all seen him, that leader who just has a black cloud hovering over his head throughout the day.  The world seems dark around him.  He is unhappy with the changes in direction of the company, changes that were announced 7 months ago.  He’s discouraged with his team that appears to always be in some type crisis.  He spreads gossip about other leaders.

Every day you have a choice regarding how you will approach the day.  Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s Power of Positive Thinking provides great insight on the power of your perspective.  The day will be what you perceive the day to be.  Surrounding yourself with positive minded leaders will create an atmosphere that inspires you to approach the day’s challenges with a strength, an inspiration to be the best leader you can be.  Surround yourself with negative leaders and the opposite will likely happen.  The day will be fraught with insurmountable problems, constant headaches and discontent among the people.

Take a moment to read each statement below. Which one of these statements best describes your perspective today as others will perceive you.

1. Leading is a lonely job.  Today is filled with more meetings listening to my team tell me why their work is behind schedule.  Then I’ll have to listen to someone complain about their continuing problems with a co-worker.  And to boot, I have to sit through a 2 hour status meeting over lunch.

2. Leading is such a great job.  I have the fantastic opportunity to inspire, grow and motivate people.  I look forward to the challenge today of helping someone feel great about their work.  The guidance I will provide will be thoughtful, have impact and help my organization to achieve success today.  During the status meeting today, I’m going to sit in a different seat and learn one new thing from the person next to me.

Life’s short.  Find the positive leaders with whom you can mingle.  Be inspired; be inspiring to others.  It’s your choice to make.