Helping teams reach their potential through leadership.
GET UPDATES FULL OF LEADERSHIP TIPS, TRICKS AND TALES
CONNECT WITH SHAWN
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.
Professional Development for Parents
This post is for the parents and soon to be parents out there. Sorry non-parents, I will be back to regular programming in my next post. As I mentioned in my last post, if you are parent, you are a leader. I have an important question for you. What is more important to you: your role as a parent or your role in your job? Most parents I speak with quickly say Parenting! Well, then why have you put in only 1/10th of the training you have put into to acquire your ‘day’ job? Parenting IS A Job! Parenting is a job and it is time you start treating it this way. Parents act and say irrational things all the time. Just think of some of the dumb things you have said and done while you lost your cool at your kids. Now, can you imagine acting this way in the office the next time you had a disagreement or something didn’t happen the way you wanted? I lost my cool on my kids several times in a week last fall and being a leadership and communication guy, that got me thinking…. What is really causing this blow up and there’s got to be a better way to communicate with my kids. The behaviors of my kids and myself was not acceptable to me and I wasn’t willing to carry on like this for years to come, i.e. making it “normal’ behavior in our family. I reached out for support, advice and training to be the best leader parent for my kids. I am still on this journey and...
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...
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
