Communication is one of those areas that people talk about as being really important, and it is. Yet sometimes leaders and managers fail to communicate effectively. So what is the real cost of failing to communicate effectively?

Wasted Time

One thing that most people seem to be short on these days, despite all of the advances in technology, is time. Worse still, no-one can buy more of it. We all have the same allocation per week, per day, per year. Imagine for example you fail to effectively communicate your requirements for a piece of work you have asked your team to do. They will spend valuable time and energy delivering something that is not of value. And as you are paying them for doing it, you are adversely impacting on the bottom line financial results.

Loss Of Confidence

People want leaders to lead and provide clear direction to others. When they procrastinate or avoid taking decisions, they create doubt and this doubt can lead to a loss of confidence among your followers. It can also result in a loss of confidence from external stakeholders.

Loss Of Credibility

People only follow people who they believe have credibility. How you communicate with others has a direct impact on your credibility. For example, if you don’t treat people well and are even perhaps off hand with them, your credibility diminishes.

Loss Of Business Opportunities

If you are involved in delivering services, being a poor communicator and specifically not listening can actually result in lost business opportunities. For example, professional services organisations like accountants and lawyers work hard on building client relationships. They are looking out and listening for unmet needs to which their firm may be able to help them find a solution.

Loss Of Staff

One of the biggest complaints people have is that they don’t know what is going on. Failing to keep people informed as to what is going on and the possible implications for them, especially in times of uncertainty, can result in the loss of key staff.

The Bottom Line

Being an effective communicator is not an optional extra but a key ingredient in being a highly successful leader.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people become great leaders and managers. Sign up for his free audio e-course Leadership Success at www.goalsandachievements.co.uk.

When it comes to recruiting staff interviews are by far still one of the most common ways of deciding who to appoint.  In most recruitment situations the employer is going to have a choice of who to appoint.

Obviously you would like to be the person who is appointed and in my experience there are 3 key questions that unless you can answer is going to result in you not getting the job.

What Do You Know About Our Organisation

10-15 years ago it was much harder to get information about an organisation than it is today.  Organisations these have web-sites, LinkedIn accounts, twitter accounts, press releases, are listed in trade websites and so much more.  As a result information has never been so freely available.

If you have not done your research or homework you give the impression that you are someone who is lazy, does the minimum, won’t plan ahead, does not really care to name just a few.

How keen would you be to recruit that person if you were the recruiter rather than the candidate?

Why Do You Want This Job

While the reality is that you might have been made redundant and you need to get an income this is not likely to make you stand out in a positive way.  If you have done your research you will have learned about the values, style, aspirations and senior people in the organisation.  Use this research to say why you are excited and enthusiastic about getting the role.

Why Are You The Best Candidate

The reality is that you know nothing about the other candidates most of the time.  The reason for asking the question is to give you the opportunity to sell yourself as the logical choice for the role.  Surprisingly few candidates have a good answer to this question even though it is almost guaranteed in some form or other for most roles.

The Bottom Line:  You can expect to be asked many questions in a job interview but unless you can give a great response to these questions you greatly reduce your chances of success.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professionals to achieve more career success.  He invites you to sign up for his free audio masterclass at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/careers-main.html

In these challenging economic times it can seem like the organisation has all the trump cards when it comes to hiring and recruiting: simply advertise a job, wait for a flood of applicants, interview and appoint.

While it might be tempting to think this way as a manager, the reality is that a recruitment decision is a two way decision. The organisation decides who it wants and the candidate decides if they want to work for the organisation.

So what are 5 mistakes to which you need to be alert when recruiting staff?

Mistake 1: Expecting Candidates To Tick Every Box

When candidates are making a decision about a job opportunity, particularly at a more senior level, they want to know that there is some personal growth and challenge in the role for them. Think about it: if someone comes into a job and can do 98% of it perfectly on day 1, how long are they going to stick around? Be willing to accept that in only very rare circumstances will you find a candidate who perfectly matches your specification.

Mistake 2: Not Selling The Organisation

You will quite happily ask candidates what they know about the organisation and why they want to work there. By the same token good candidates will want to do their own due diligence on the job, the people and the organisation. Expect them to ask you about the good points of working in the organisation and be ready to sell the benefits to them.

Mistake 3: Talking About Failings Of Others

Yes, it is good to be honest and not paint a picture of it all being perfect. At the same time you don’t want to give the impression that every employee is a problem employee. Everyone has areas of strength and areas in need of developing. As a manager you need to accept this.

Mistake 4: Not Having Clarity

In any job there are things that are so key to the job that if the candidate does not have them it is a show stopper. You need to have 100% clarity on any show stoppers in terms of candidate fit.

Mistake 5: Wasting People’s Time

Every single person who turns up for a job interview will more than likely have put in a huge amount of time and effort to prepare. If you are just inviting someone along to get your quota of applicants you are wasting their time and not giving a great impression of yourself or your organisation.

The Bottom Line: Recruiting staff is a major investment decision so treat it as such and avoid these common mistakes.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people to become highly effective managers. He invites you to sign up for his free e-course, Management Mastery, at www.goalsandachievements.co.uk.

We spend more time during our life working than just about any other activity.  Many professional people are keen to get to get on in their career but struggle to make the progress they would like.

So what are 7 things you could do to progress your career straight away?

Make It A Priority

Anyone can talk about wanting more success in their career but like anything worth having it requires an investment of time and energy.  If career progress matters to you make it a priority.

Get Clarity

Before you can embark on any kind of career progress you need to get clear about what you want in both the long, medium and short term.  The clearer you are the easier it is going to be to make progress quicker.

Speak To Your Boss

People often wrongly assume that the only way to progress your career is to move on to a new job.  Sometimes you can get a secondment or involved in a project to broaden your experience.  On the other hand you will never get this unless you are willing to ask.

Do Your Own Self Assessment

Sit down and do an honest assessment of what you do really well and what are your weaker areas.  Chances are your strengths will far outweigh your weaknesses.

Get Some Feedback

Others can often see qualities and attributes we don’t see ourselves. Asking a group of people for feedback is the fastest way to get these insights.

Create a CV or Resume That Markets You Well

At the end of the day your CV or Resume is your personal marketing document.  How good a job is your document doing in effectively marketing you?

Use All The Job Search Options

Up until a few years ago the options around job search were quite limited.  These days there are so many options at your disposal yet many people fail to utilise them.

Take A Long Term View

A career is more of a marathon and less like a sprint.  Make decisions with the long term in mind.  Remember too that the more senior you are the longer it is going to take to find the right opportunities as there are fewer opportunities around.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people to climb the career ladder and achieve the career success and rewards they desire.  He invites you to sign up for his free audio masterclass at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/careers-main.html

We all know that being a leader is tough role. When you are on the outside looking in it can look really easy. Yet in truth there is often a huge difference between perception and reality.

So what are some of the signs that you are leading rather than just playing at it?

You Are Thinking Long Term

There will always be things to do in any organisation no matter what it does. While you cannot ignore the present, you also need to be thinking long term too. Remember that as a leader your job is to drive the organisation forward.

You Provide Clear Direction

People want to know where they are heading so that they can decide whether they want to get on board and help you to reach the destination. As the leader you need to provide as much clarity of direction as you can. Vagueness about direction of travel will always result in less than optimal results.

You Listen A Lot

Leaders often talk about the importance of employees being engaged. What makes people engage is the belief that their ideas will be listened to and acted on when it is appropriate. Failing to listen is one of the fastest ways to disengage those who you lead.

You Take Personal Responsibility

It might not seem fair but as a leader you are ultimately responsible. In practice what that means is that you have to be willing to take personal responsibility even when there are potentially serious consequences for you.

You Recognise The Contributions Of Others

You might think that leaders are successful because they personally are brilliant. The truth is that behind every great leader there is a team of great supporters and followers. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that the public face of the organisation is doing it all by itself.

The truth is that leading is a process of continual learning and the best leaders keep growing and developing.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people become great leaders and managers. Sign up for his free audio e-course Leadership Success at www.goalsandachievements.co.uk.

Attending a recent conference for accountants, I was surprised by how many seemed to feel that, even though they were in leadership roles, they could not make things happen.

Now let’s not pretend that leading is easy; it’s not. At the same time my view is that people who choose to step into a leadership role do so because they can make a difference.

Of course it is easy to come up with a whole host of reasons why you cannot change things, like:

• Well that can only be changed at a national level
• If only people were more engaged
• The time is not right because of…… (you fill in the blank)
• I don’t have the authority
• I don’t want to go out on a limb
• You don’t really understand what it is like in my organisation, sector or industry.

Yet here is the reality: When you step into a leadership role you make a positive choice to take the lead, to move things forward, to contribute to strategy and success.

In return you get well rewarded.

Of course it is going to be uncomfortable at times. You will face obstacles, barriers and even complete resistance at times. If all you ever do is wait for someone else to make the tough choices, then you are not a leader; just a well paid follower.

At the end of the day as a leader you are in the risk/reward business. You take balanced risks, get results and get the benefit in terms of your salary.

The question is, are you a leader or just passive and waiting for everyone else to act?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people become great leaders and managers. Sign up for his free audio e-course Leadership Success at www.goalsandachievements.co.uk.

Of course you want to achieve success as a leader.  At the same time we often forget some obvious things when the going gets tough and lose our way.  Here are 10 timely reminders to help you be more successful as a leader and personally in 2012.

1.  You need to get clear on what you want to achieve.
2.  To achieve you need a plan of action.
3.  There will be obstacles and setbacks along the way.
4.  There are things you can influence and control and things that you can’t.
5.  Sometimes you need to be flexible.
6.  Change is happening all of the time and likely to impact on everyone.
7.  Taking decisions and action is the catalyst for progress.
8.  Everyone fails from time to time.
9.  The best investment you can make is in you.
10. Peak performers don’t try to do it all by themselves.

What words of wisdom would you add?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people to become highly effective leaders, managers and achieve more career success.  He invites you to sign up for his free audio e-course at http://goalsandachievements.co.uk/leaders-main.html

We often hear about those great leaders who have achieved something amazing in terms of corporate performance or turnaround.

On the other hand there are fewer examples of others going out of their way to lead by example with only the best interest of another individual as their motivation.

I came across such an example last week when I logged in to one of the groups I belong to on LinkedIn.  The post on the group started by Mike Henry Sr spoke about the predicament facing Dan Rockwell known to many on twitter as @leadershipfreak.

Dan was involved in a major auto accident the week of thanksgiving in the US resulting in serious injury to Dan and the prospect of a long road to recovery.  Unlike here in the UK where we have the NHS free at point of delivery, Dan does not just face the physical challenge but the financial challenge of covering the medical bills that a major incident like this bring.

And this is where real leadership and leading by example was demonstrated.

Becky  Robinson with the help Lolly Daskal, Jesse Lyn Stoner, and Mike Henry got to work with a campaign to raise  $30,000 to cover medical expenses so that Dan could focus on the physical recovery without worrying about the financial issues.

On checking the item on the Lead Change Group on LinkedIn I saw an update that over half of the funds needed have already been raised which is an amazing testimony to the people who have made this happen.

You can read the blog post and find out how you can support Dan through the Lead Change Group initiative here

So what are the key leadership lessons from this initiative:

1.  It’s people not buildings, equipment or machines that make the difference.

2. When we focus on a definite purpose with a definite deadline we achieve more.

3. Collectively we can achieve much more than any one person can.

4. Small contributions from many deliver great results.

5. People are drawn to leaders like Dan Rockwell who are always willing to help and support others.

Even if you are not in position to donate I ask you to spread the word on this chance to make a difference for Dan Rockwell

As we start out on a new year, we all have great plans about what we will achieve in the year ahead. Having recently surveyed my subscribers, there seem to be 8 key barriers they highlight to achieving in 2012.

So what were the 8 most common barriers and what do I suggest they do to address them?

Barrier 1: Time

One of the most common barriers was the idea that people don’t have the time. The reality is very different. The truth is the reason why people don’t have the time is they fail to make something a priority. We all have to decide what we want to do with the 24 hours we have available in each day.

Barrier 2: Poor Communication Skills

Communication for me is about getting your point across effectively; both verbally and in writing and, even more importantly, learning to listen. There is an abundance of support in this area if you just seek it out.

Barrier 3: The Economy, Availability Of Resources And Opportunities

Let’s not pretend that the global economy is in good shape; we all know it is not. At the same time perhaps this is the time to take control of your own destiny. If you always wait for someone else to sort you out, you might miss the boat and end up staying stuck for ever. Take control of what you can influence.

Barrier 4: Clarity And Uncertainty

If we are not clear about what we want, it is always going to be difficult to achieve it. Take the time to get clear and then do something to move forward even if you are uncertain of the outcome.

Barrier 5: Finding Fault In Others

It is easy to look externally to justify your lack of progress. This might be the case some of the time but often it is seeking to blame someone else for what you are not willing to do.

Barrier 6: Throwing In The Towel

Success and achievement is a marathon, not a sprint. If you are not willing to persevere and persist, you will never reach your peak.

Barrier 7: Lack Of Skills

Whenever you have a skills deficiency you have two choices. Get the support to get the skills or accept you are not going to progress. The choices you make determine your results.

Barrier 8: Procrastinating

My experience is that procrastinating just delays, gets you frustrated and stops you achieving. Get off the fence and start taking decisions and action now.

The Reality: It is easy to come up with 101 excuses for not achieving. In truth, if you keep taking decisions, taking action, get the skills and support you need, you greatly increase your chances of success.

Duncan Brodie helps professional people to fulfil their career potential so that they get the rewards and recognition they desire. Sign up for his free audio masterclass at www.goalsandachievements.co.uk.

Every  year you have in business makes you realise just how important it is to have people around you for support, encouragement and to inspire you.  I am a great believer of the impact of teams on the results you get.

In this post I wanted to acknowledge some of the people in my team who have helped me in my business during 2011.

John Dionysiou

John helps me with all the techinical web and blog stuff as well as running my social media.  The results over the last year have been astounding, especially in terms of social media and list building.

Bernadette Doyle

I was in my second year of being part of Bernadette’s community in 2011 and still get a ton of benefit from listening to her insights on marketing.

Vicky Townshend

Vicky is my local VA who makes sure my blog posts and articles go out like clockwork.  She also helped me with a number of presentations, transcriptions and a big mail shot in the summer.

Deborah Meredith

Deborah helps the team when we are delivering leadership and team working training for doctors in South Wales.

Clare Lee

Clare co-leads with me when training doctors.  She is a real expert in training and development and ensures we continue to strive for excellence in what we deliver.

Joanne Rowley and Tracey Hunter

Who supported us in delivering training in North Wales.

As well as those on the team there are many others who have helped indirectly in moving the business forward in 2011.  These include Amy Harrison,  Robert Middleton, Pete Bennett, Mike Morrison, Sharon Gaskin and Heather Townsend.

So who are you grateful to for helping you moving your business forward in 2011?