Insperity The Guide To Leadership And Management Issue 2
User Manual:
Open the PDF directly: View PDF 
.
Page Count: 7
issue two
PITFALLS
How to recover from a bad call
and other leadership mistakes.
CONNECTIONS
How to build relationships and have
tough conversations.
DEVELOPMENT
Create a leadership pipeline and get
the most from your high performers.
The Insperity® Guide to Leadership and Management
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
*Source: Influencer Incorporated by A.G. “Pete” Hinojosa
3 Struggles That
Leaders Face
Managers and leaders are responsible for inspiring and serving the people
entrusted to you to help your company grow and prosper. You are called to coach,
train and support your team. Your ability to understand individual styles will help
you be a resource for their personal and professional development.
Keep up with your bustling
business without burning out by
following these quick tips:
• Build a culture that fosters
collaboration.
• Delegate routine responsibil-
ities so you can spend more
time on strategic projects.
• Surround yourself with posi-
tive employees who will keep
you positive while helping
your business succeed.
• Stay at your physical best by
incorporating simple exercises
into your workday.
Are You an INFLUENCER or a CONTROLLER?
Create a vision for the company
• Be the torchbearer – others will follow
• Have a mission, vision and values
• Convey your company culture
Have tough conversations
• Don’t stick your head in the sand
• Develop relationship skills
• Be fair and consistent
• Focus on follow-through and follow-up
Develop yourself and your employees
• Find and mold the next leaders of your company
• Know that most leaders are held back by
behavior, not skills
• Coaching is one of the top skills of a good leader
As a leader, you have the ability to affect people’s lives. From your employees to your clients, how you go
about doing your job makes a difference. Basically, there are two options: Be an influencer or a controller.
Controllers get their way by overlooking others and
promoting themselves. They focus on self-interest
and manipulation. As Pete Hinojosa writes in his book
Influencer Incorporated, “Controllers brighten up a
room when they leave.”
Influencers build up their teams and elicit
enthusiasm. They seek mutual benefit to gain
success and have a desire to help others.
Going forward, know that you can do much more as an influencer than as a controller.
How to Do Your
Best Work as
a Leader
Before you are a leader, success is all about growing
yourself. When you become a leader, success is all
about growing others. - Jack Welch
Avoiding pitfalls
Difcult Employees
• Don’t ignore the problem.
Confrontation isn’t easy, but
speak with the employee in a
private seing about the problem
before it gets out of hand.
• De-personalize the conversation.
Stay away from “you” statements.
Avoid generalities and give
examples and instances that
were offensive.
Insperity // Guide to Leadership and Management // page 3
5 Mistakes
That Can Kill
Employee
Engagement
1. Take responsibility: Be frank about what happened. Explain why
decisions were made and what caused the failure.
2. Rebuild trust: Explain what you learned from the experience; your
employees will appreciate humility. Show you’re a team member, not
an unapproachable boss.
3. Maintain motivation: Keep everyone focused on goals. Show how
their efforts contribute to company success. Focus on the positives;
reward and recognize the good things.
4. Make adjustments: Find ways to capitalize on what went wrong and
build on lessons learned. Quickly adjust and make changes.
5. Keep taking risks: When making decisions, consider the impact if the
risk doesn’t work out. Sometimes you just go for it.
6. Ignore the noise: Tune out opinions that have no influence on your
goals. The opinions of your employees and clients are what maer.
6 STEPS TO RECOVERING FROM A BAD CALL
Be clear in your own mind
about what you want your
employees to do before
starting a new project.
Don’t let personality
preferences interfere with
how you respond to or
measure employees.
Too much control tells
employees you don’t trust
their work and judgment.
It also saps your time.
Don’t be aloof. Manager
interaction is a huge driver
of employee engagement.
If you’re working too much,
your employees probably
are too – or at least feel
pressured to do the same.
• Don’t make assumptions. Find out
if they’re aware of their behavior
or if there are external, personal
factors involved.
• Follow through. Be respectful
and professional. Show and explain
what is expected, then let the
employee know you’re staying on
top of the situation.
Negativity and lack of productivity can be corrosive to
the work environment. By dealing with it quickly, you’ll
gain the respect of all.
Erratic Expectations
Favoritism
Micromanagement
Distractedness
Burnout
01
02
03
04
05
How to Deal With
COMMUNICATION AND CONNECTING
The Importance of
Seing
Expectations
Having your employees understand what is expected of them should not be set on auto-
pilot. Things change throughout the year, and those changes need to be communicated.
Without clear expectations, the most productive efforts by employees may be misaligned
with the company’s needs.
The more oen you meet with your employees – individually, as a group, or both – the beer understanding
there will be among everyone involved. The meetings do not have to take long, but the objective is to
achieve clarity about roles and accountability between you and your team.
5 Proven Ways to Connect With Your Team
The beer you know your employees – understanding their interests, recognizing
their strengths – the beer position you’ll be in to help them, and your company,
continue to succeed. Good communication helps maintain engagement, develop
loyalty and increase productivity. How can you help develop lasting relationships?
One Two Three Four Five
Learn to put
yourself in your
employees’
shoes and look at
things from their
perspective. This
helps you gain
insights into
their challenges.
Be vulnerable. The
fastest way to earn
respect is to be real.
For your employees
to trust you, they
have to see you as
a regular person
who is willing to
admit mistakes.
Make sure you’re
invested in your
employees. Be
their advocate, give
them exposure to
other parts of the
company, and help
develop them.
Strike a balance
between listening
and talking. Being
aentive to
employee input
counts as much as
communicating
individual and
company goals.
Avoid over-
communicating
or micromanag-
ing. Be sure to
give employees a
degree of latitude
to use their best
judgment toward
solving problems.
Connect individual expectations to the company’s goals
so that your employees understand how their roles fit in
with those goals.
Work on developing solid relationships with employees
so they feel comfortable enough to trust you and your
decision-making.
Follow up on each conversation about expectations with
your employees – in writing.
Three Tips for Dealing
With Conflict
Insperity // Guide to Leadership and Management // page 5
Develop a good relationship with each employee to build your team.
There are some characteristics that cohesive teams share:
It’s not unusual for disagreements to occur in the workplace. Miscommunication is a frequent source of
conflict, which can range from not seing clear expectations to making false assumptions about other
employees. On the other hand, conflict can be a good thing when opposing views are discussed openly
in determining best practices. When discord occurs under your watch, keep these in mind:
Integrity The employees you want to have on
your team are commied to doing what’s right.
Having integrity sets the foundation for you and
your employees to respect and trust one another.
Accountability If your expectations are clear for
your employees, they will perform to the best of
their ability, knowing that everyone on the team
is accountable.
Improved processes This gets beer with time.
Your employees get to know each other and how
they work, which can lead to beer results for
your company.
Invest the Time in Building Chemistry
Remembering that you have a business rather than a personal
relationship with others can help keep things professional and polite.
Avoid using the term “conflict.” Many see it as a strong negative.
Use “disagreement” instead.
Consider a pre-emptive approach by organizing conflict-resolution
sessions led by a trained professional. Le to their own devices,
people will avoid, confront, or seek neutrality when conflict
happens. Conflict resolution helps your employees develop
skills to solve disagreements on their own.
Have conversations individually. Be objective and listen carefully
to all sides.
1
2
3
Leadership is about making others
beer as a result of your presence
and making sure that impact lasts
in your absence.
Sheryl Sandberg
LEADERSHIP QUOTES Insperity // Guide to Leadership and Management // page 7
A leader ... is like a
shepherd. He stays
behind the flock, leing
the most nimble go
out ahead, whereupon
the others follow, not
realizing that all along
they are being directed
from behind.
Nelson Mandela
It is not fair to ask of others what
you are not willing to do yourself.
Eleanor Roosevelt
No man will make a great leader who
wants to do it all himself or get all the
credit for doing it.
Andrew Carnegie
A leader takes people where they want
to go. A great leader takes people
where they don’t necessarily want to
go, but ought to be.
Rosalynn Carter
A genuine leader is not a searcher for
consensus but a molder of consensus.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our emerging workforce is
not interested in command-
and-control leadership.
They don’t want to do things
because I said so; they want
to do things because they
want to do them.
Irene Rosenfeld
Our chief want is someone
who will inspire us to be
what we know we could be.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
By leadership we mean
the art of geing someone
else to do something that
you want done because he
wants to do it.
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower
Our ambitions must be
broad enough to include
the aspirations and needs of
others, for their sakes and
for our own.
César Chávez
Management is
doing things right;
leadership is doing
the right things.
Peter F. Drucker
A leader is one who knows the way,
goes the way, and shows the way
John C. Maxwell
My grandfather once told
me that there were two
kinds of people; those
who do the work and
those who take the credit.
He told me to try to be in
the first group; there was
much less competition.
Indira Gandhi
The most important thing to do if you find
yourself in a hole is to stop digging.
Warren Buffe
It’s all about
the people
at the end
of the day.
Surround yourself with the best
people you can find, delegate
authority, and don’t interfere….
Ronald Reagan
Paul J. Sarvadi
An effective company culture makes employees feel good, but your focus should be on helping your
employees do their jobs beer, so your business runs as efficiently and effectively as possible.
These seven components help you foster a positive company culture.
Set clear and specific expectations.
Make sure your employees know the purpose
behind their jobs, so they can focus on goals
and help your company forge ahead.
Explain the big picture connection.
Knowing how their work contributes to your
business gives your employees a sense of
belonging and value that is motivating.
Get your leadership team on the same page.
Your leaders must focus on the same goals
and destination to avoid wrong turns.
Hold employees accountable.
Let your employees own their work. Don’t
micromanage, but hold each person
responsible for pulling his or her own weight.
Maintain open, honest communication.
Talk. Listen. Share ideas. Be honest. Sweeping
issues under the rug won’t solve problems
and may make things worse over time.
Take time to recognize success and learn
from failures.
Tell your employees when they do well. You’ll
be surprised how far a “thank you” or “good
job” can go. Recognize their successes in front
of the entire team.
Give them room to grow.
Expanding their skill sets and applying them
can be more aractive to many employees
than a larger paycheck.
7 Steps to Building
an Effective Culture
4 Ways to Sabotage Your Company Culture
Don’t worry about candidates before you hire them.
Job candidates want an experience with your
company, and that’s your job. Follow up in a timely
manner. Exhibit an interest, ask questions. Streamline
your interview process to respect your candidates’
time, and they’ll be more enthusiastic, whether
they’re hired or not.
Don’t keep up with technology.
Tablets, laptops and smartphones may be a
cost-effective way to keep employees happy
and avoid the financial drain of top talent
leaving for more tech-savvy employers.
Don’t think about work arrangements during the
interview process.
Evaluate your business needs before commiing
to a remote work agreement, and make sure your
candidates know if they’ll be expected in the office
every day before they are hired.
Don’t expect leadership to adopt the culture.
Culture trickles down from the top. Employees
want to know key decision-makers and how
their jobs contribute to your business goals.
Host a monthly company meeting. Or, have
managers sit with their teams in an open
workspace that supports team communication.
Insperity // Guide to Leadership and Management // page 9
How do you invest in
your employees?
Is there a sense
of camaraderie
and respect? Recognition and rewards
(monetary or otherwise)
for a job well done show
that you value the work
of your employees.
People like to be
involved and know
their word and
work are trusted.
COMPANY CULTURE
How well do your
employees enjoy
their work?
Is there a level of
accountability and
responsibility?
Are your
employees engaged?
Does Your Culture
Need Resuscitating?
Coming to work
shouldn’t bring
feelings of dread.
Taking ownership
makes employees
feel connected.
Believing what they do
maers to the company
and its mission leads to
commied employees.
Company
So What is a
Your mission
statement tells the world
why you’re in business.
Keep it brief.
A good vision
statement describes what your
company aspires to be down the road.
It should have emotion and motivate.
Values
are what you and your employees
believe, and how you’ll behave.
Build your culture from your values.
Culture?
In the simplest of terms, your company
culture is the personality of your
organization. It’s what you stand for,
and its cornerstones are your mission,
your vision and your values.
You and your executive team need to devote time and effort to lay this foundation. If you don’t, someone will
fill in the gap. And you’ll look around one day and say, “This isn’t what I planned. What happened?”
Begin with the basics:
It’s not too late to revive a culture that’s flat-lined.
You can design a workplace your employees won’t
want to leave. Start by asking these questions:
Answer these questions honestly. Now you’re ready to begin the task of recreat-
ing a company culture that will make your competition envious.
Many business owners are redefining their
company culture in order to create a more
appealing workplace that will win over
candidates who can afford to be choosy.
Don’t bark up the wrong tree. Use measurable performance
outputs to help identify high performers.
Remove roadblocks by identifying obstacles that might
prevent high performers from doing an even-beer job.
Understand their motivation. Many high performers are
self-motivated and enjoy repeatedly reaching and exceeding
expectations. Show them you recognize their success on a
day-to-day basis.
Learn from your high performers by looking at how they
produce the results you want, and sharing that information
with the rest of your team.
Got an open position for a managerial role, but no
current employees are biting? You’re not alone.
In fact, according to CareerBuilder, only 34 percent
of employees want to be a boss.
If this scenario sounds familiar, here’s what you need to do next:
• Ask employees about their aspirations.
Find out what keeps them motivated and engaged. It could be an
informal leadership role is more up their alley.
• Examine your company’s work-life balance.
Is work interfering with your employees’ personal lives? If so, this
might be why they’re unwilling to take on more responsibility.
• Don’t push employees into leadership.
Respect your employees’ choices if they aren’t interested in
leadership opportunities. Simply recognize that you need highly
talented workers in all roles – not just managerial positions.
When Employees
Aren’t Seeking
Leadership
Insperity // Guide to Leadership and Management // page 11
Before you promote your
staff members, ask yourself
the following:
Are your high
performers
ready to be
managers?
4 Secrets to Geing the
Most Out of High Performers
Do they have the motivation?
Are they driven to achieve
or have a need to advance?
When you understand
the motivation of your
employees, it will help predict
their successes or struggles in
new positions.
Do they have the skills?
Those who are already
mentoring their peers, or
have a good understanding
of the big picture, are
probably best equipped to
be great leaders.
Are they prepared
for leadership?
Good feedback and proper
development is essential
before employees move into
new roles.
1
2
3
4
1. Provide context to your employees’ work and why it maers.
2. Spell out expectations and guidelines up front, but trust employees to execute their work creatively.
3. Expect some failures. Look at blunders as a part of your training budget.
4. Deal with any issues on a case-by-case basis rather than implementing companywide policies to address
a single situation.
5. Look at how you can adjust work-lifestyle requirements, like flexible scheduling, to make employees feel
more trusted and happy.
6. Allow employees to develop their careers by providing opportunities to have professional achievements.
Once was a time when we thought aending a workshop addressed training and
development needs. But learning comes in many forms.
TRAINNING AND DEVELOPMENT
6 Ways to Foster Independence and Innovation
Professional Development: It’s Not Just Workshops
DEVELOPMENT
No one likes a micromanager. Set up your staff for self-guided success – without
losing control – by creating a culture of independent thinking and creativity.
5 Factors to Consider Before Granting a Promotion
PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIP STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES NECESSARY TRAINING
On-the-job learning
What employees do day-to-day, taking on projects
and working through new situations is probably
the number one way they learn. It’s oen a gradual
process that adds to experience and knowledge.
Mentoring
Having someone advise and guide your employees as
they take on new tasks and roles is indispensable. This
helps generate morale, relays institutional knowledge
and builds the next leaders of your business.
Online courses
Many continuing education classes, as well as basic
office skills, can be found online. This oen takes the
place of sending someone to a workshop – usually at
a cost saving.
Workshops and conferences
Although aending conferences can be costly,
the opportunity to challenge new thinking and
learn from industry professionals can provide an
experience that will not only increase knowledge
but employee satisfaction.
One-to-one coaching
Nothing replaces the value of regular coaching
and feedback conversations to help employees
understand in “real time” how to accelerate or
improve results.
Run Better. Grow Faster. Make More Money.
Building your team is just one way you can improve the ROI on your business.
Tell us where you need help, and we’ll create an HR plan for your business.
Learn more about HR outsourcing and find out
how we’ve helped businesses just like yours.
insperity.com | 800-465-3800
82-1197 | SAL-P0415-631
HR and Business Performance Solutions from Insperity: Workforce Optimization | Human Capital Management
Payroll Services | Time and Aendance | Performance Management | Organizational Planning | Recruiting Services
Employment Screening | Financial Services | Expense Management | Retirement Services | Insurance Services
