Leadership today has changed from yesteryear. Today’s successful leaders know that their skill set needs to be different and include compassion and humanity if they are to retain an engaged team and grow a flourishing business. They also know they need to look inwardly at their emotional intelligence and outwardly to take their business forward with embedded purpose.

All of this cannot be done lightly, so the word-of-the-moment is IMPACT. In this BVTV Shorts blog, I want to give my SIX tasks I suggest you need to manage so you can be a High Impact Leader. Now I say tasks as, apart from inherent skills, today you cannot simply rely upon what you did before. To achieve HIGH impact, as opposed to average impact, you need to be 6 stars across the 6!

All of the six are derived from my BVTV interviews with global leadership experts and are part of our Hybrid Coaching and Performance Improvement Online Courses.

The six are in a suggested order of your performance development plan starting with:

Self-Awareness. Some may call this self-mastery or personal potential. Whichever you choose it is all about being in control of yourself and addressing any issues of self-doubt or confidence. It’s easier to say than to do as you have to be honest with yourself. Know your impact on others. Improve your EQ (Emotional Quotient). Are you seen as trustworthy? My IMAGES tool can help you. It’s in our Leadership Today coaching.
Governance. This encompasses many things but today’s new generation of workers like to see responsible management of resources and a genuine minimization of impact by a business on the environment. Another way of saying this is good stewardship. Our BizPulse Better Business Scorecard service aims to help you know and show your activity and impact.
Purpose. Today you need to clearly know and communicate the purpose of your business. To most businesses purpose has replaced mission. Carefully craft your Purpose, Vision and Values. You’ll find some great insights into developing Vision with my interviews with the author of the Vision Code, Dr. Oleg Konovalov. Click to link to one of them.
Communication. We’ve dedicated a whole BVTV Channel to help you master the art of Persuasive and Effective Communication. It’s BVTV 3. Your vision, your purpose, your intentions all have to be sold. Sadly too many leaders think this is just a matter of sending out an email, or newsletter and perhaps a pre-recorded video. You’d be surprised how many employees tune into my BVTV interviews to watch their boss and his or her performance! It’s knowing what to say and how to say it.
Engagement. Some like to call this teamwork and, whilst that is an important word, it perhaps doesn’t go far enough to accomplish consistent motivation. It can often foster a “them and us” situation is my personal thinking. I don’t mean that you, as a leader, have to be “one of the boys”, but you do need to master the skill of people engagement.
Consistency. How many times during my coaching career have I asked about a new company initiative to be told by team members that, like other such initiatives, it will be quickly replaced by another? Consistency of message and consistency of actions brings reassurance not just to your team but also customers, suppliers and influencers. Just reflect on what you think about politicians and U-turns to understand the need for consistency!

So that’s my HILT 6 – high impact leadership -for your consideration. Do let me know what you think about them. Have I missed any out that you think are imperative to be included?

If you accept that Leadership Today skills are needed and you want some expert help for yourself or team member then look at my Today’s Answers Collection or send me an email or book a free Zoom Chat

Hello from the BizVision Sales Shed. I’m Malcolm Gallagher and I’m feeling positive and optimistic.

I’ve been taking my Brexit Gloom Buster Tablets twice daily and they are working! For example, this last week I developed thrive strategies for 5 businesses I met, mostly in food and drink, developed a win contracts strategy for another, come out with an exciting new brand initiative for us and have initiated a programme for SMEs to access the African market. All in a week……!

I’ve managed to do that, and motivate the businesses involved because I have long been practising what I call “beyond half-full”. I have a mantra of No Problems Only Opportunities and I’ve bored people for years with it!

But it’s true and works!

For instance, research just published by Aberdeen and PJA Marketing clearly shows that buyers actually reach out to vendors or suppliers at the beginning of the buying process.

What’s more, buyers are especially willing to speak to suppliers early in the buying process IF the supplier can actually help them make a buying decision.

Far too many businesses have salespeople who are not making the prospect contact and are coming up with the weak excuse nobody is buying because of “Brexit”. Now, I can understand that excuse existing when you are besieged daily with Brexit gloom. But somewhere the sky is blue. And that’s where I prefer to fly. How about you?

A great answer to finding the blue sky is in my recent interview with Charlotte Foster (see it in Sales Shed TV ) in which she talks about the real need to communicate even more in these challenging or uncertain times. Keep existing and potential customers updated with positive news and great ideas.

One other thing that I’d add is the need to firm up on the communication of your difference from your competitors. Don’t let yourself, or your team, fall into the “similar” trap. As Dr. Jonas Ridderstråle in Funky Business said too many similar businesses, offering similar things, to similar people… you get the idea. Maximise your difference.

With the businesses I work with, I usually go straight in on this at the beginning and ask where they are different. It usually needs a lot of probing to get the answer. Most are too busy getting on with the business that they have forgotten their differentiation which usually means they are missing opportunities.

This last week I also did something I hate doing and have avoided for the past number of years by hiding behind the web and email. I actually went cold calling and I got two new customers! It was hard to do at first, (it’s years since I did it) but then I felt elated after the first call said yes to my proposal. That made me confident for the second one which also proved to be successful. High fives all round!

And, on top of that, I succeeded in getting two other clients, with whom we had been communicating by email but were wavering, fully on board through a face to face visit.

Watch out world next week – I’m planning more personal visits!

What about you- are you still hiding behind the web or are you getting out?

I had to laugh at one web company who were trying to prospect, or sell to me, the other day. They invited me to travel to their place for a coffee and a chat!

It doesn’t work that way does it?!

So many businesses have been seduced by IT slick-talk into thinking that the web can do it all for them. That’s not true and I’ve been walking the walk myself to prove it. The old adage that people buy from people they know like and trust is so important at this time. It’s not just important for surviving but, I believe, vital for thriving.

Don’t get me wrong the web has an important to play in lead generation, customer confidence and service but don’t let your salespeople , or even yourself if you are the salesperson, believe that nobody is buying because of Brexit.

I’m quite excited about the African trading initiative, the new channels for my distillery client, the development with another client of their new home delivered freshly prepared food pack, the new heritage range with my Ceramic artist client around Mayflower 400 which is about the fact that in 2020 it’s 400 years since the Mayflower – think of the American market opportunities around that! Oh, and have I told you about the many Indian companies talking to us about accessing the UK market…. See there are no problems only opportunities. I’ll repeat don’t let your sales team, marketing people or anyone else tell you that “nobody is buying because of Brexit”. There’s a big world out there beyond Brexit and the EU. Tell yourself you are going truffle hunting to sniff out opportunity or reach for the blue sky (select your own analogy!).