Simple steps to start building your resilience.

Not everything in business will go to plan and turn out how you envisage it – not every decision you make will be the right one – despite your best intentions.

The recent UK election is a testament to that.

In this unpredictable world, we all need to be prepared for the unexpected barriers, challenges and setbacks that we will invariably face. The challenge is how you react to them and how you bounce back from them.

The best leaders, when faced with a setback, delve deep and discover their inner strengths to tackle them head on, not allowing the problem to take them off course. They know how to refocus, re-energise and remain determined to overcome the setback.

Resilience Leadership

Being resilient means we have the strength to learn the lessons we need to learn and the wisdom to move on to tackle further challenges from a position of strength and positivity.

The most resilient teams and individuals aren’t the ones that don’t fail or haven’t suffered any setbacks or adversity, they are the ones that fail, learn from their failures and thrive because of them.

The good news is that resilience is a learned behaviour and can be self-taught.

Some simple steps to start building your resilience:

• Learn from your setback – every setback has the power to teach you something as a result. Don’t dismiss your setback but see it as an opportunity to learn and grow
• Commit to moving forwards – revisit your goals and purpose and find compelling reasons to commit to them to move forwards
• Maintain perspective – try not to blow events out of proportion, nor to generalise. Be thankful for what you have
• Practise positive thinking – reframe the setback to see some good and not just the bad. Use positive thinking to your advantage
• Take personal control – you have a choice as to how you respond to a setback. Your reaction and the subsequent impact to you is within your control. Understand the difference between the things within your control and those merely under your influence
• Making do. Overcoming obstacles means having to improvise a solution to a problem when you don’t have what you want. Resilient people make the most of what they do have

David Guile is an Executive Leadership Coach. Having worked his way up through all the managerial levels within the hospitality industry to CEO, he combines hard-won experience with a robust coaching methodology to provide insights, support and direction to help emerging leaders find, own and work their potential and the potential of others.

Subscribe today and receive tips, tools and business insights from David Guile. 

Click here to buy David Guile’s Amazon #1 best seller ‘Potential’.

The post Facing a setback? Teach yourself how to bounce back. appeared first on David Guile.

Our weaknesses invariably drain and de-motivate us and it’s not uncommon to spend a great deal of time, resource and energy to try and overcome them. Why spend quality and precious time on things that we don’t enjoy and that may only produce limited results and minimal impact?

Instead, take a more strategic approach to re-addressing weaknesses and learn what is needed to get by.

6 simple ways to manage and minimise your weaknesses: –

1. Admit and accept that weakness exists and be comfortable with it. Everyone has weaknesses and you are no different
2. Effectively manage the weakness. Spend more time and positive energy on developing and fine tuning your strengths. By focusing on what you are good at, you will feel more confident and create a stronger foundation and mindset to tackle your weaker areas
3. Be in control. Avoid putting yourself in situations where your weaknesses may be highlighted
4. Be prepared. If you do find yourself in a situation where your weakness may be exposed, then be as prepared as possible. Excellent preparation can make up for a lot and will increase your ability to deal with any scenario with which you are presented
5. Get good enough. A weakness doesn’t have to become a strength and most likely it won’t, regardless of the time you spend on it. Do place importance however on learning and managing it, and getting good enough to get by
6. Use the strengths of others. Delegate to and empower others whose strengths complement your weaknesses

Take control of your weaknesses and allow yourself more time to focus on your strengths and making them stronger.

In conclusion, manage your weaknesses from a position of strength and do just enough to get by.

David Guile is an Executive Leadership Coach. Having worked his way up through all the managerial levels within the hospitality industry to CEO, he combines hard-won experience with a robust coaching methodology to provide insights, support and direction to help emerging leaders find, own and work their potential and the potential of others.

Subscribe today and receive tips, tools and business insights from David Guile. 

Click here to buy David Guile’s Amazon #1 best seller ‘Potential’.

The post Do just enough to get by. How to manage & minimise your weaknesses. appeared first on David Guile.

7 steps to be a great listener.

Listening is one of the most powerful leadership skills we have at our disposal, yet possibly the most overlooked. The power of listening is rarely acknowledged or effectively practised.

Stephen Covey writes ‘Most people do not listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intent to reply.’

How well are you listening?

Having been a successful leader of teams throughout my career in hospitality, I thought I was a good listener but I now realise that I was not as good as I thought I was. I would be listening from my own agenda and would readily interrupt with my thoughts and recommendations – too busy thinking of a response and my next question to give my full attention to understand what was being said.

It was only when I studied to become a leadership coach that I fully appreciated what a skill listening is. It is a skill that must be understood, continually practised and mastered over time.

7 steps to be a great listener –

1. Be Present – genuinely be there. Face the speaker and maintain eye contact. Turn off all distractions
2. Relax – be attentive. Keep an open mind & switch off your inner critic. Listen without judgement or by jumping to conclusions
3. Focus – consciously listen to the words that are being spoken. Don’t think about your response – focus only on what is being said
4. Stay quiet – don’t interrupt. Listen with patience
5. Wait – some people speak slowly or take longer to articulate. Wait for a real stop in the conversation before speaking yourself
6. Question – ask questions only to clarify what is being said. Don’t hijack the conversation with questions and your own agenda
7. Feedback – let them know that you are listening. Reflect back some key points and show you understand the sentiments of what is being said.

When you consciously listen to others you can hear so much more.

David Guile is an Executive Leadership Coach. Having worked his way up through all the managerial levels within the hospitality industry to CEO, he combines hard-won experience with a robust coaching methodology to provide insights, support and direction to help emerging leaders find, own and work their potential and the potential of others.

Subscribe today and receive tips, tools and business insights from David Guile. 

Click here to buy David Guile’s Amazon number one best seller ‘Potential’.

The post Shhh! Listen. The Quieter You Become The More You Can Hear. appeared first on David Guile.

I was, therefore, surprised to learn of a recent Harvard survey that concluded that giving negative and corrective feedback is an integral part of the remit of being a leader, however, giving positive feedback and praise is only perceived as being optional.

Out of a survey of c 8000, 21% of the participants admitted avoiding giving negative feedback whereas a much higher number, 37%, admitted that they don’t give positive reinforcement.

 Is it not the time to shift the balance?

Praise and recognition motivates, builds self-esteem and confidence and makes you feel valued. It can influence a positive, forward thinking and valued working environment where teams are motivated to go above and beyond in their roles.

There’s also a science behind the benefits of praise. Pride, pleasure and an increased feeling of self-worth are all common reactions to being paid a compliment or receiving positive feedback. This is because it triggers the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control the reward and pleasure centres of the brain. As well as making us feel good, dopamine can contribute to innovative thinking and creative problem-solving.

Whilst it’s important to give recognition and praise, it must be genuine, authentic and succinct. If it’s not genuine or is overplayed, it defeats the object. If it’s too broad or general the recipient won’t believe it. Find something legitimate and almost as soon as you recognise it, give praise. By praising, you clearly demonstrate to your team members that you want them to succeed. The result of a simple and sincere well done has a positive impact on productivity, engagement and results.

Appreciate people throughout the day and catch them doing things well rather than catching them out doing something wrong and notice the difference you will make to your team and the culture of the business.

David Guile is an Executive Leadership Coach. Having worked his way up through all the managerial levels within the hospitality industry to CEO, he combines hard-won experience with a robust coaching methodology to provide insights, support and direction to help emerging leaders find, own and work their potential and the potential of others.

Subscribe today and receive tips, tools and business insights from David Guile. 

Click here to buy David Guile’s Amazon number one best seller ‘Potential’.

The post A Free Yet Powerful Leadership Tool. Praise. appeared first on David Guile.

Click here to receive more valuable insights from Executive Leadership Coach, David Guile.

The most effective leaders realise that success is not about them personally but more about the success of others and their team. Leadership is about helping others to become more successful and removing any potential barriers, such as company politics, a negative culture or excessive bureaucracy, that might hinder that success.

Identify and recruit the best people to your team, articulate your vision, mutually agree their goals and then empower and support them to deliver results.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai states: “As a leader, your job is to make your people successful. It’s less about trying to be successful yourself, and more about making sure you have great people and your work is to remove that barrier, remove roadblocks for them so that they can be successful in what they do.”

10 steps to lead others to success

1. Coach & share your knowledge – There is no better leadership gift than passing down your experience, wisdom and advice and coaching others to success.
2. Empower – Provide clear direction with measurable goals and then empower to make things happen. Hand over control but at the same time, keep control through communication, support and review.
3. Identify development opportunities – Delegate ownership of projects that play to individual strengths.
4. 4. Praise – Acknowledge and praise great performance to build self-confidence. Confidence breeds success.
5. Give honest, respectful & constructive feedback – Create a culture of giving and receiving feedback to the benefit of all.
6. Acknowledge, communicate and celebrate successes and achievements – Let others know and appreciate high performance and what individuals are capable of.
7. Help to build their profile by influencing networking opportunities. Introduce your network to influence and build theirs.
8. Understand what’s important to them – Individualise your approach and make it personal to them. Being valued creates loyalty and commitment and drives performance.
9. Challenge and motivate – inspirational leadership sets the example to others and creates a culture of positivity and achievement.
10. Manage and influence – any potential barriers that hinder success. Sometimes you may need to shield them and cut through any internal negatives and politics to allow full focus on delivery. Positively manage up the line to create space down the line.

Successful leadership is reliant on leading others to success. Success breeds success.

Have you taken steps to empower your team or direct reports? Have you been empowered by a great leader? Let me know in the comments below.

David Guile is an Executive Leadership Coach. Having worked his way up through all the managerial levels within the hospitality industry to CEO, he combines hard-won experience with a robust coaching methodology to provide insights, support and direction to help emerging leaders find, own and work their potential and the potential of others.

Click here to buy David Guile’s Amazon number one best seller ‘Potential’.

The post Success Breeds Success appeared first on David Guile.

However, the success of these programmes relies on being clear about the difference between high performers and high potentials.

Research and recent studies challenge the assumption that your high performers are your natural future leaders, your ‘high potentials’.  Results from a study by Zenger/Folkman suggest that a high potential individual is usually within the top 5% of employees within an organisation. However, the study also concluded that over 40% of individuals within high potential programmes may not belong there, based on their leadership effectiveness and ability, and more surprisingly 12% were found to be in their organisation’s bottom quartile of leadership effectiveness.

From my own experience, I can recall on many occasions when high performance has clouded my judgement on the potential leadership ability of an employee. The skill sets and approaches required to be an effective leader are different and on reflection, you must explore the differences between Management and Leadership.

Performance is about the here and now, with high-performance measured on the delivery of tangible results in a timely and effective manner. Potential is about the future and the ability to lead, motivate and influence results through others and to see beyond the task at hand.

The seven traits of successful individuals

When analysing the successful individuals that I have worked with throughout my career, who have gone on to reach their potential as leaders, the following traits have been evident:

• The ability to motivate and inspire others
• A hunger for continual personal development, which is self-initiated
• Developing relationships across all levels of the business and seeking out a mentor or coach to support them
• An awareness of their strengths and how to build upon them and use them for maximum impact
• Adding value and taking ownership outside of their remit for the benefit of the organisation
• Taking risks outside of their comfort zone and developing a resilient and receptive approach when not everything goes to plan
• Thinking about the bigger picture, rather than just the here and now

As you start to think about identifying your next generation of leaders – think again and look closer. All high potentials should be high performers, however not all high performers will have the necessary leadership attributes or the desire, to be high potentials.

David Guile is an Executive Leadership Coach. Having worked his way up through all the managerial levels within the hospitality industry to CEO, he combines hard-won experience with a robust coaching methodology to provide insights, support and direction to help emerging leaders find, own and work their potential and the potential of others. 

Click here to receive more valuable insights from Executive Leadership Coach, David Guile.

Click here to buy David Guile’s Amazon number one best seller ‘Potential’.

The post High Performance = High Potential? Think Again and Look Closer appeared first on David Guile.

Traditionally, mentoring is a top down process. With a more experienced individual offering support, encouragement & advice to someone less senior to themselves. But is this approach becoming outdated? And limiting? Organisations might be able to reap more benefits if they’re open to reversing this traditional mentoring process. If they source mentors from up and down the ranks.

Regardless of seniority or experience, we all possess different strengths, weaknesses and areas of expertise. No one person can have all the answers or be fully versed in every aspect of the business.

Which is where reverse mentoring comes in. Whether it’s about company strategy, leadership, or how to get the best out of social media and new technologies – there will always be something that we can learn from others, whatever their age or rank.

Reverse mentoring can be used to an organisation’s maximum advantage, as an extra source of help and support, to promote learning and strengthen relationships across all levels within the organisation. It can encourage employee engagement, giving younger and junior staff members the opportunity to educate and inform the more senior. Something that might be especially useful in the areas of social media, new technologies and understanding a younger market demographic.

Reverse mentoring can help build confidence, value and recognition in the younger team members. While giving senior Executives the opportunity to get to know more about the business leaders of the future. The chance to understand what keeps their more junior colleagues motivated and engaged, as well as getting a fresh view of their thoughts about the business, its processes and systems.

Of course, the initiative does require thought, guidance, considered selection and review. Effective communication is essential, to ensure that both mentor and mentee feel comfortable with the process and to create chemistry that’s respectful and engaging so that everyone can get the most from the opportunity.

Reverse mentoring is about making the most of the strengths within the business by assigning the right mentor to the right mentee, regardless of whether they are more senior or junior. Get it right, and without a doubt, everyone will learn something valuable, and keep skills developing and an organisation thriving.

The post Reverse the way you view mentoring appeared first on David Guile.

When faced with such opinions, it’s easy to see your comfort zone as a place that holds you back. To consider the negatives rather than the positives.

However, this isn’t the full picture. There are in fact many positives for staying in your zone.

5 reasons for staying in your comfort zone

• It builds self-confidence and confidence in others
• You develop high levels of experience and knowledge within your existing environment from where you can provide support to others
• It provides personal and professional stability
• You build strong and lasting relationships
• You gain happiness and contentment by being true to yourself

Try asking yourself the following questions.

If you’re comfortable in your comfort zone, how is it perceived by you and by others?

Is your comfort zone a strength, one that reflects your professional stability and loyalty?

Or can your comfort zone be perceived as a weakness, highlighting a lack of ambition and adversity to change and challenge yourself?

Recognise and embrace how a position of comfort might be perceived as a strength. And use this to your maximum advantage.

And if you need to step out a little of your zone, try making your comfort zone a little more uncomfortable, for you to develop and fulfil the potential within you. Rather than leaving it altogether.

By understanding and working it properly, your comfort zone could be the place to provide you with the opportunity to make your greatest contribution.

So, what are you waiting for? Go make yourself comfortable.

———-

If you want to realise your own potential on the 20th February I’ll be publishing my new book, Potential. To get all the latest publishing news sign up here.

The post Taking strength from your comfort zone appeared first on David Guile.

I was delighted to accept an invitation to present alongside Alex Gregory at a recent event in London hosted by Stanton House. Alex was part of the record-breaking rowing team and won gold at London and Rio in the coxless fours.

The presentation topic was focussed around sustaining peak performance with Alex drawing on his personal experiences and learnings from the world of sport and with myself applying some of my learnings and experiences from a business context.

I was aware that Alex would be bringing along his 2 gold medals to show to the audience which initially made me feel a little anxious about my own successes, especially in the business where successes are invariably less tangible and less impactive.

He explained that  his gold medals represented his immense achievements, his unwavering commitment and his emotional sense of pride. They acted as a permanent recognition and reinforcement of his successes and achievements and a trigger for his associated emotions.

It got me thinking about success and influenced me to stop and reflect on my own achievements  – something that many of us find a challenging task to do.

Success is relative and will mean different things to different people. We all have successes , big and small, personal and professional, that we should be proud of and celebrate,  however not  all of us will have a gold medal or an accolade to show for them and as a result they can be easily forgotten, pushed to the backs of our minds and mentally discarded.

Don’t lose sight of your gold medal moments  –  achievements and successes that mean something to you. Recognise them , embrace them and continually acknowledge them and find ways to tie them into your thinking and to reinforce positive emotions. Success breeds success and can significantly influence a positive mind-set from which personal confidence can grow and lead to  greater success and achievements.

I followed on from Alex’s inspirational story of success and achievement and I began my presentation with my gold medal moments –  highlighting some of my professional and personal achievements and their significance to me.

I then posed the following  questions  to the audience :-

What are your gold medal moments?

What are the future gold medal moments that you are currently working towards?

Coaching, whether sports or business related, helps to build confidence and self -awareness  and aims to support you to recognise and enhance your strengths and successes in order to continually improve personal and business performance.

The post Sharing My Gold Medals With a Double Olympic Champion appeared first on David Guile.

The post Does your thinking limit your success? How a coach can add value to you and your business appeared first on David Guile.