When I ask firm owners about their biggest concerns, they say project managers need to act more like leaders: not just manage the deliverables but manage the team, develop them, keep them accountable, develop a trusting relationship with the client and the consultants, have hard conversations early, and look ahead for what’s coming up. When I ask why that’s important, they say principals can’t focus on bringing in work and running the firm if they’re also acting like project managers. The most successful project managers are also future principals, so developing project managers ensures the firm will continue to run smoothly and profitably as principals retire. In response, I developed a comprehensive training program to meet that need and help project managers become leaders.

But each time I walk into a training session, I can see this will be a big ask of those project managers. They look tired, overwhelmed, and stressed from all the unnecessary demands on their time: soul-sucking meetings, inboxes with hundreds of unread emails, constant texts, and voicemails about the latest fire. Changing their habits, thinking, and approach takes a lot of mental energy on top of their already overtaxed schedule. Even the most motivated student will struggle to apply a new way of planning their day, a different tack to have a difficult conversation, or a more thoughtful approach to delegation. How can the organization support their evolution?

A three-legged approach to setting project managers up for success shares the responsibilities between the project manager, their supervisor, and peers. Sure, the project manager still must put in the work to change. But they’ll learn more effectively and not burn out if they are supported by their supervisor and their peers. Plus, people learn best on the job. Here’s how you can make sure your investment in professional training will stick.

The role of the project manager

People engage in doing the hard work of change if they are personally invested in the outcome — in other words, if it serves them and not just the company’s needs. So, the first exercise I have participants do is to develop their three-year vision that includes not just their professional goals but their personal ones. Where do they eventually want to be? Why is it important to them to grow as leaders? An end goal will motivate them to make the connection between work now and reward later.

In my book “Coaching & Mentoring for Dummies,” I emphasize the concept of career self-reliance; the project manager’s career is not the responsibility of the firm — it’s their own. The firm can provide the opportunity and support, but ultimately, it’s up to the employee to mold and develop their own career. That moves us into the next discussion: Growing as a leader means the project manager must understand what they don’t know — whether it’s how to give feedback or how budget decisions are made. The best way for a project manager to take responsibility is to learn by asking questions and getting clarification. That may mean scheduling time with a principal, asking a colleague, or researching on their own. And project managers should not be afraid of giving their best educated guess.

The role of the supervisor

In this three-legged approach, the supervisors who are most successful with their project managers are coach supervisors. The difference between a doer and a coach is that the doer supervisor tends to be either totally hands off or too particular about the way a task is done, while the coach supervisor understands they need to take the time to offer genuine interest and mentor people to be independent problem-solvers and team leaders. Coaches have learned the long-term goals of their project managers. They encourage trial and error. They ask questions to encourage learning and self-discovery. They understand that if they just dictate how they want something done, without allowing for a different approach, their project managers will never stand on their own and the supervisor will never have time to focus on higher-level initiatives.

The role of peers

Peers are the most powerful source for project managers to stay energized and not feel alone in challenging themselves to grow. The project managers who have made the fastest progress reach out to colleagues when they need help or a sounding board on dealing with an issue. Support can be listening to the colleague project manager or tactfully offering them honest, constructive feedback. Chances are the peer will gain something in return.

Project managers who understand it’s in their best interest to invest in themselves don’t see change as something that is mandated by someone else but rather is necessary for themselves to reach their own goals. Supervisors who take the time to mentor and develop project managers can keep them focused on reaching those goals. All project managers on the same journey can help one another by learning from each other — they can even exercise their leadership muscles by scheduling a monthly get-together for themselves — and appreciating that the path to leadership doesn’t have to fall only on their shoulders.

Leo MacLeod is a Portland-based leadership coach, speaker, and author of “Coaching & Mentoring for Dummies” (second edition). Learn more at https://leomacleod.com. Contact him at 503-880-8393 or leo@leomacleod.com.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post A three-legged system for developing project managers | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

I’m putting together the curriculum for a for the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Oregon, and reflecting on how I got to a place where I’m teaching other people how to generate new business. Selling is something that many in the professional services field abhor but need to do to advance in their careers. Sales can feel too much like selling out, taking advantage of someone. My early experiences in learning to sell led me down the wrong roads and dead ends. Not only did I not like it, but I wasn’t successful either. It took a new way of looking at selling for me to understand how to do it well.

Door to door

As a kid, I sold magazine subscriptions at school, and like everyone else, I loathed it and wasn’t particularly successful either. To be a Boy Scout, I had to walk my neighborhood with a large cardboard box that said “Tom-Wat” on the outside. It was filled with household gadgets like lint rollers and shoe buffers that I would try to sell to anyone who answered the door. I reluctantly did it, selling just enough to get into the program.

No experience necessary

I found my first job out of high school in the help wanted ads of the Poughkeepsie Journal in the Hudson Valley. “$500 a week. No experience necessary. We train.” I called the number, and when I got off the phone, my parents asked what it was about. I said it was selling vacuum cleaners. My father enthusiastically shouted, “Oh man, that’s great!” My mother groaned, “Oh brother, not again.” Earlier in his career, my father tried to support our family by selling vacuum cleaners. Tried is the operative word, as apparently those were some of the dark, debt-ridden days in their marriage. My mother hadn’t forgotten. My father was still a believer.

Anything it took

The mentor I was assigned to shadow on sales visits was a weaselly little guy named Walter, who smoked little cigars and used every manipulative trick to dupe or demean housewives into surprising their husbands with a $500 dirt sucker. While it felt sleazy, my dad thought it was a good idea, and making a lot of money at 18 and driving a Cadillac sounded good to me too. Before I could get my own leads, I had to try to sell to 10 family and friends. The low point was when I tried one of Walter’s badgering tactics on a friend’s parents. They nearly threw me out of their house and never talked to me after that. I’m happy to say I never sold a machine.

Still about winning

After college, I went into fundraising – a viable career option for an English major. I liked raising as much money as possible for scholarships and education programs. How could I start a fundraising letter so the recipient didn’t toss it but read it through to the end? What magic words could I find to convince them to write a check? It wasn’t selling can openers or vacuum cleaners, but it was still a game of trying to convince someone to buy. Success was measured by what I got out of it. How much I won. My side of the deal.

The revelation

It wasn’t until later in my career that I learned how all those early experiences had filled my head with the wrong way of thinking about sales. I finally learned the right way only when I didn’t have anything to sell.

About 20 years ago, I found myself at a networking event after being laid off from an ad agency. I had no clue what I was going to do next. I ran into someone who had volunteered on one of my fundraising committees. He worked for a large developer, and he needed some help researching and approaching different markets. I have no idea why he thought I could help him, but I was keenly interested in trying to figure out how I could. I listened to him, asked a lot of questions, did research, talked to various people to get up to speed, and came up with an idea of what I would do for him and how much it would cost. Impressed, he said, “Yeah, let’s do it!” Wait, did I just sell someone and it didn’t feel yucky? In fact, it felt good.

Listening for how to help

What was different was my focus. My entire orientation was around him and his needs, not mine. I wasn’t focused on closing the deal or making money. I was motivated to help someone I knew who had a problem. I didn’t hurry to the part where I asked him for the contract. I slowed it down to make sure I knew what the problem was, what was behind the need, and the bigger picture of who was involved, what they cared about, and who I could approach to help me understand even more.

My proposal captured everything I understood about the goals of the work and important considerations for the solution (schedule, budget, deliverables, phases, what my fee included and didn’t include). I took the contract, which was tailored to this person and this project, seriously. That led him to trust me. And that led me to not want to let him down.

When I completed the scope of work, he had more work for me. Soon other developers, architects, engineering firms and contractors started asking me to fix their problems. I took the same approach of listening first to understand what they needed. What I was selling was my ability to listen.

People buy from people they like and trust. Taking the time to listen is the foundation to not just understanding problems and earning the trust of clients but building long-term relationships. And long-term relationships mean more repeat work and less cold calling and awkward networking events. I count many of my clients as friends I help. Selling isn’t so bad when you think of it that way.

If any of this sounds interesting, check out the seven-part ACEC Oregon leadership series that starts Oct. 12. The series includes my book “From the Ground Up: Stories and Lessons from Architects and Engineers Who Learned to Be Leaders.”

Leo MacLeod is a Portland-based leadership coach, speaker and author. Learn more tips and access practical videos at https://leomacleod.com. Contact him at 503-880-8393 or leo@leomacleod.com.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post A wrong approach and a revelation: Selling starts by listening | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The following has been excerpted from my book “From the Ground Up: Stories and Lessons from Architects and Engineers Who Learned to Be Leaders.” It is available now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers.

“What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Mark manages construction crews that repave asphalt on highways in Oregon. Because half of the year is rainy in Oregon and asphalt and water don’t mix well, the dry summer months are when most of the paving is done – primarily at night, when traffic is lighter. It’s dangerous work with big equipment, hot materials, traffic screaming by you, and lots that can go wrong.

Much of Mark’s day feels like everything is equally urgent with little time to even eat or sleep. Mark is one of those reliable, agreeable construction managers who never says no and who races to get back to people when they call, text, or email. And it was killing him. Literally. The stress of always being on and feeling like he needed to answer people right away was taking a toll on his health. What had gotten him here now wasn’t going to get him anywhere further than a heart attack.

Most of the demands on Mark’s time came from five key team members who reported to him. While he couldn’t control all the IM, texts, calls, emails, and live, impromptu meetings that came at him during the day, it was easier and had a greater impact to start making changes with people who reported to him. He tried a different approach to his day that gave him more control and, ultimately, more peace of mind.

Mark called a meeting with his five people and defined what constitutes “it can’t wait” and “it can wait” requests for his time. They agreed that most things could wait for at least a couple of hours. Mark said they would have a check-in each morning and a couple scheduled check-ins during the day. That allowed almost everything to be addressed at a planned meeting rather than as an interruption. Mark started his day by planning the schedule. He then convened his team for the morning huddle. These ready-set-go meetings were purposefully short – only about 20 minutes – but they helped set the priorities for the day with the team. There was only one question that each person addressed: what was their plan for the day?

Mark made sure these morning huddles stayed on point and didn’t become problem-solving discussions that would drag the meeting out or whining sessions where people complained about unreasonable schedules or problem clients. What was their plan for the day? That was it. This accomplished several goals: it kept people accountable to their stated priorities; it kept Mark in the loop in terms of what his team was working on and their progress toward completion of projects; it helped Mark set boundaries of his time; and it did so efficiently without a bunch of vague, confusing emails being tossed back and forth. “We all know what we need to do. Let’s do it and talk again later in the day.” People refrained from bugging Mark until 10:30 a.m., the next scheduled check-in, and then again at 3 p.m.

That was all Mark needed for some breathing room to make his schedule for the day, have lunch uninterrupted, and get some sleep. When people refrained from being spontaneous, they started to work differently and solve problems on their own. When they did check in with Mark during those scheduled times, they were more organized and efficient in their communication. This strategy required Mark to ignore the team members who hadn’t fully embraced the new time management system. It still left people outside his team – clients, vendors, and subcontractors – wanting an immediate response, but over time, Mark learned how to ignore urgent messages and field only the truly “it can’t wait” requests.

What Mark learned:

• Not everything is equally urgent. Most things can wait.
• Scheduling time reinforces people working in blocks.
• Ignoring is not a withdrawal if you have made an agreement before.
• Clear team communication is essential to greater productivity.

Leo MacLeod is a trainer and coach who helps doers become leaders in the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Contact him at 503-880-8393 or leo@leomacleod.com. Visit leomacleod.com/work-with-me/ to learn more.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

Editor’s note: This is the final column of a four-part series. The previous ones appeared in the May 18, June 15 and July 20 editions of the 91��Ƶ.

The post OP-ED: The leadership recipe: not everything is urgent appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The following has been excerpted from my book “From the Ground Up: Stories and Lessons from Architects and Engineers Who Learned to Be Leaders.” It is available now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers.

Josh loves water. Especially stormwater. As a consultant for a national civil engineering firm, he knew something about how it flows and how it can be managed for municipal projects. Well-respected by his peers at the city and county, he was a busy guy.

But Josh spent too much time using production software, computer-aided design (CAD), doing work that junior staff should be doing. Why? Because that was the way Josh approached projects. He knew it would get done right and on time if he was addressing every detail in the methodical, step-by-step way he was accustomed. That was the way he met his commitments and had a high say-do ratio. That was how he maintained a lot of equity with his clients. For 15 years, it worked. But while his approach got him that far, it wouldn’t get him to where he wanted to go.

Josh’s mountain was to spend more time with his 12-year-old son now before he got much older and didn’t want to spend time with his dad. Josh could already see his son pulling away and wanting to spend more time with his friends and was keenly aware of how important these father-and-son outings were to their relationship.

In three years, Josh wanted to be doing less project production work so that he could spend more time learning best practices in stormwater management. He was envious of his peers who regularly traveled around the world with a contingent of business and civic leaders to learn what other cities were doing for best practices. What were Tokyo and New Orleans doing to meet the future?

Josh also knew that to advance, he needed to develop his network. But it was challenging to find time for lunch or happy hour with colleagues, let alone a trip. He had to turn down participating in ACEC’s golf tournament because he couldn’t spare the time. The managing principal fully supported Josh doing less production work and even endorsed the weeklong trips to other cities. And if Josh delegated more work to staff, they would grow as leaders.

Nothing was stopping Josh, except how he had been working. Instinctually, he knew what he should do and what he shouldn’t do. He knew the stuff he shouldn’t do was weighing him down and keeping him from advancing. While his emotional bank account was high with clients, staff were being shortchanged by not being challenged with more responsibility, the firm couldn’t grow without him focusing on higher-value activities, his family didn’t get his attention, and he was not fully realizing his full potential as a leader and a dad.

As an assignment, I asked Josh to start each day by looking at his to-do list and current workload and asking himself what will bring him closer to his mountain and not further from it. For an example of this working to great effect, I turn to Neil Gaiman. As a young man, Gaiman didn’t set out to become a rich and famous author and screenwriter. He just moved in a direction that seemed right to him at the time. Smaller, more immediate decisions. Along the way, he learned what kind of writer he wanted to be. Gaiman, who never graduated from college, offered this advice at a commencement for the University of the Arts in Philadelphia: “When I truly was not sure what to do, I could stop, and think about whether it was taking me toward or away from the mountain.”

Josh thought about his mountain and quickly identified that whenever he was working in CAD, he was getting further from his mountain. His decision-making broke down to a simple binary choice: Not opening CAD? Closer. Opening CAD? Further. Delegating CAD to junior staff? Closer. Doing it myself? Further. Coaching them to work out the solution? Closer. Taking back a project and doing it myself? Further.

By identifying one switch in his day he could control, Josh started to see his choices more clearly. He began each day reviewing his commitments and identifying CAD-related tasks he could delegate. He met with the staff and made sure they understood the scope and expectations of delegated tasks. He stopped himself whenever his mouse hovered over the icon for the CAD software.

After six months, Josh had reduced his time in CAD from 10 hours per week to one hour per week. That left him more time to spend with his son on camping trips and more time with peers on bigger, more engaging discussions about the future of stormwater management. Last time I checked with him, he was looking at joining the civic group to visit Bogota, Colombia.

What Josh learned:

• Start with one routine task you should delegate.
• Plan each day by identifying if you’ll be doing that task.
  • Intentionally avoid doing that task.
• Repeat until the new habit pays off and you can see forward progress.

Leo MacLeod is a trainer and coach who helps doers become leaders in the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Contact him at 503-880-8393 or leo@leomacleod.com. Visit leomacleod.com/work-with-me/ to learn more.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

Editor’s note: This is the third column of a four-part series. The final one will appear in the Aug. 17 edition of the 91��Ƶ.

The post OP-ED: The leadership recipe: make daily progress toward that mountain appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The following has been excerpted from my book “From the Ground Up: Stories and Lessons from Architects and Engineers Who Learned to Be Leaders.” It is available now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers.

When I met him, Amir was a 22-year-old engineer who designed airport transportation systems. Very bright, personable, and responsible, he was on the leadership track at his 300-person consulting firm. He was well compensated, and he liked the company culture and his supervisor. But the workload and pressure to meet deadlines were relentless. Amir was frustrated that he didn’t have time to develop the skills that would help him grow. The lack of mentorship made him question whether this was the right firm for his goal, or mountain, of being named associate in three years. Maybe another firm would be more supportive of his dreams and help him get there? When Amir posed the question if he should look elsewhere, I said I didn’t know, but in the meantime, I asked him: How can you start moving toward your mountain today?

Maybe a move to another company was best. But while he was figuring it out, he could also start moving toward his mountain at his current firm and not wait for ideal conditions. He knew the skills he needed to work on. How could he find ways at his current firm to strengthen his skills? He didn’t need a formal mentorship to focus on listening and communication skills, for instance. While he wanted someone to sit down with him and show him how something works, what could he learn from observing other people, asking a quick question on a technical issue from time to time, reading a book, watching YouTube videos, and attending webinars? A lot. He took my advice and started to look for creative ways of getting what he needed.

That was five years ago. Amir is still at the same firm and is a senior associate. He realized he was able to accomplish his mountain at his current company. Making the best of what’s in front of you, adapting to the realities before you, is a skill you will continue to need and develop as you ascend. Amir could go somewhere else, but every company has its challenges. The moment you make that move – whether it’s to another firm or working for yourself – you’re likely to discover a different roadblock you didn’t see coming. Conditions for moving toward your mountain are never perfect. Amir will be that much further down the road in his development as a leader if he does later switch companies. But he will also discover that you can often get what you need where you are if you are creative and persistent. If he does want to grow his leadership, how will his supervisor see his leadership potential if he is constantly complaining about not having a mentor?

Dave Lakey, who has held several executive positions, suggests there are two kinds of employees who each elicit a collective sigh of relief. Let’s say it’s a typical meeting. One person enters, and the group sighs, thinking, ‘Whew, everything’s going to be OK because they are here and will help us reach a decision/solution.’ The other kind of sigh of relief is when a different person leaves the meeting, and the group thinks, ‘Thank goodness! That person was taking us nowhere. Now the rest of us can get to work!’ The first kind of employee is an Oh Yes employee, and the other is an Oh No employee.

Even though Amir is well regarded at his firm, complaining about what he isn’t getting could easily get him labeled him as the Oh No employee instead of the Oh Yes employee. His stock as an emerging leader could be compromised if he can’t demonstrate resourcefulness and creativity to solve his problem. His chances of influencing his supervisor to promote him are much greater if he shows initiative and resourcefulness to develop himself without help. His supervisor may want to support him, but they also want to see him doing everything he can to solve his own problems.

What’s more, Amir may prove to himself he has more control and power than he imagined. He isn’t waiting for things to happen or for optimal conditions; he is taking control over his future, and that mindset will serve him, wherever he goes.

“Don’t think that you don’t have control over your future just because you work for a firm. Seek out and say yes to work that you want to do more of,” says Mike Baker, vice president of David Evans and Associates.

Amir’s challenge was less about resistance to his plans and more about not getting the resources to grow. Whatever the challenge, it still comes down to an obstacle to face and navigate through or around. You won’t get everything you want. No one does. Your growth as a leader will be in how well you adapt to that reality. How can you get your needs met, meet the needs of the firm, and build your skills in your current environment?

What Amir learned:

• There’s a lot you can do to get what you need.
• No situation is ideal, but you can learn to adapt.
• Your resourcefulness will help elevate your perception as a promising leader.

Leo MacLeod is a trainer and coach who helps doers become leaders in the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Contact him at 503-880-8393 or leo@leomacleod.com. Visit leomacleod.com/work-with-me/ to learn more.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

Editor’s note: This is the second column of a four-part series. The next one will appear in the July 20 edition of the 91��Ƶ.

The post OP-ED: The leadership recipe: show initiative and move toward the mountain appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The following has been excerpted from my book “From the Ground Up: Stories and Lessons from Architects and Engineers Who Learned to Be Leaders.” It can be preordered now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers.

Researchers Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman asked more than 300,000 business leaders to rank the top four competencies from a list of 16 key leadership skills. The team then ranked the data from most important to least important skills that leaders need to succeed in their current positions. The study showed what we intuitively know: technical skills, while important, don’t differentiate the most effective leaders. The soft skills of communication, essential to managing people and influencing others, rated the highest.

I decided to conduct my own survey of the AEC industry. When I interviewed 100 AEC business owners about their biggest leadership challenges, their number one issue was not finding better technical experts but finding people who can relate and communicate with peers and clients. Not to engineer something or solve a technical problem. But to be aware of what’s going on with their own emotions, to manage their emotions, to read people, and to have the sense of how to talk to someone. To know when to listen and be empathetic like a therapist. To know when to be direct and as clear as a drill sergeant. And to know how to do it well so you don’t tick people off but gain their admiration and trust.

Let’s face it – we want the smartest people in the room when it’s engineering the bridges we drive over, designing the schools children attend, and building the high-rises that tower 40 stories above the sidewalks. For executing complex tasks, we value precision and logic. We want those people to be sticklers for details. We want them to take ownership of their work. We want them to always do the right thing and be accountable to the highest standards. Technical experts with high IQ are indispensable to any AEC firm.

But when it comes to delivering bad news, resolving interpersonal issues, motivating other people to perform at their best, and convincing an interview panel to hire you, math is not the most useful skill. Technical skills are undeniably important to solving technical problems. But to solve people’s problems, you need a different skill set.

“Engineers need the full skill set of hard and soft skills to be effective leaders in the AEC industry,” says Alison Davis, executive director, ACEC Oregon.

IQ is the common predictor of intellect, but it doesn’t help gauge soft skills, which is equally important. Emotional intelligence, or EQ, is our ability to understand and manage the emotions of ourselves and other people to have better interpersonal relationships.

Author Travis Bradberry notes, “EQ is so critical to success that it accounts for 58 percent of performance in all types of jobs.”

It’s not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They do matter, as psychologist Daniel Goleman explains, but they are the entry-level requirements for executive positions.

Goleman, who first introduced emotional intelligence in a 1995 book by the same name, says, “Emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership. Without it, a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind, and an endless supply of smart ideas, but he still won’t make a great leader.”

To get a personalized assessment of your EQ, pick up a copy of Bradberry’s book (with Jean Greaves), “Emotional Intelligence 2.0.” The book breaks EQ into four buckets: self-awareness of your thoughts, emotions, triggers, and behavior; self-management of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; social awareness of other people’s cues, emotions, and perspectives; and relationship management, which leverages a total understanding of yourself and others to have more successful, productive relationships. Bradberry provides quick and easy strategies to boost your EQ.

Nora, an emerging leader I coached, learned how to be aware of her perception as a leader, how often she said yes, how difficult it was to let go of work, and how she communicated verbally and nonverbally to the partners. That required self-awareness. She needed to take the time in her day to plan her priorities, communicate clearly with her team so they could do the work without leaning on her, and bite her tongue when a partner was chastising her at a meeting. That required self-management. Nora learned to read the room and know when to speak and when to be quiet, to listen closely to truly understand what was important to someone else, and to spot those times when a staff member really didn’t understand a task but was afraid to say anything. That required social awareness. She learned when to say yes and when to say no, when to push and when to sit back, how to gain support by making others feel important, and how to communicate so people listened. That required relationship management. EQ is a skill that can be developed over time. You can learn how to listen, communicate, and think strategically.

Leo MacLeod is a trainer and coach who helps doers become leaders in the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Contact him at 503-880-8393 or leo@leomacleod.com. Visit leomacleod.com/work-with-me/ to learn more.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

Editor’s note: This is the first column of a four-part series. The next one will appear in the June 15 edition of the 91��Ƶ.

The post OP-ED: The leadership recipe: develop emotional intelligence appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

When people assess a talent pool to identify future leaders, there is a must-have skill set. It often includes strong interpersonal skills, respect of clients and peers, and a certain fire in the belly to either take on challenging projects or be the first to volunteer when extra work is required.

What’s often overlooked, however, is the ability to think beyond today and plan for the future. It’s easier to find someone who is a competent manager, but harder to find the person with vision and the ability to take the organization where it needs to go. For firms to continue to evolve and change with challenges and opportunities, strategic thinkers at the helm are critical.

According to a 2013 Harvard Business Review article, a strategic approach to leadership was, on average, 10 times more important to the perception of effectiveness than other behaviors studied. In an international study by the Management Research Group, the ability to think strategically is twice as important as communication (the second most important behavior) and almost 50 times more important than hands-on tactical behaviors. How can you ensure that the next line of leaders are strategic thinkers?

Know your people

Just as some people are naturally inclined to be good communicators, some are more strategic by nature. Strategic thinking can be learned, but some people more easily push back on ideas and ask the bigger questions about how a particular action will affect the future outcome of the business. It requires mentally shifting between today, six months from now and three years ahead and seeing the consequences of how things may change.

Engineers and designers may be able to manage projects and people successfully, but are leadership candidates curious about the future of the business? Do they express interest in trends by reading books and attending symposiums? There’s much to be said about picking people who naturally gravitate to imagining the future, rather than only managing the present.

Invite them to participate

It’s never too early to bring emerging leaders into discussions about the future, whether it’s sitting down over coffee one on one or participating in a planning retreat. Let them experience firsthand how strategic thinkers interact with each other. Ask their opinion on areas they have experience in. Strategic thinking isn’t something we generally get much formal training for, so help them learn on the job.

Provide a model

When I coach leaders, I often share my approach to a strategic plan and go over my thinking with them. I don’t care if they use it as a template. That’s what I did at some point anyway. Find a model and tweak it to be your own.

I sent a current client a business development plan and what he came back with was much more detailed and comprehensive than mine. When he saw the thinking behind the plan, he was able to bring his own thoughts by creating his own version. I simply provided the inspiration and road map.

Show emerging leaders what you’ve done before and talk candidly about what worked and what didn’t. Strategic thinking is as much about improvisation and adaptation as it is about creating and sticking with a specific course of action.

Give emerging leaders short assignments that have shorter time frames. It’s not reasonable to expect someone to look creatively five years down the road if they haven’t had to before. Ask them to develop their own plans – a six-month business development plan, for instance – and present them to management so they can practice making the case.

Anchor it in data

A good strategic plan is not just someone’s creative scenario. It is rooted in what’s happened historically and with data to support trends. Where has most of your firm’s revenue come from in the last three years? How can it be broken out to provide better direction on planning for the future? Has profitability declined over time? What are the factors that we can identify? Involve junior staff in research – both internal fact gathering and external data research – to teach them the value of supporting their assertions with facts.

Coach from the sidelines

After engaging emerging leaders in the strategic process by giving them an assignment, give them rope to make mistakes – but give them a hand. Pose questions to their ideas.

How might this affect the business in terms of revenue in the next two years? Why does it make sense for us to pursue this strategy? What are some trends you’re seeing in the industry that will support that strategy? What kind of resources will you need? What are the biggest challenges, and how will you tackle them? Tell me your thinking on what you’re proposing.

Strategic thinking is essentially inquiry. Teach people to ask good, forward-thinking questions.

Strategic thinking is critical in leadership, and much of it can be taught. Introduce staff to your strategic process, provide models so they can see what plans look like, give them small assignments, and push them for facts and to ask good questions.

Leo MacLeod is a strategic consultant and a leadership coach for professional services firms. Contact him at leo@leomacleod.com.

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As I launch into a new year of coaching and consulting, I’m evaluating what really matters in successful business development. There is a lot of great information out there, but I’ve found that the three essential keys to winning work are focus, attitude and discipline.

Focus

Here’s the reality: Most of us who have to sell the work and do the work, have to be wise about how we spend our time selling. What are the best opportunities that are going to advance our business? Who are the people we need to be in front of regularly?

It’s very tempting to lunge at any opportunity that comes within our view, no matter how small or off target. But with every piece of business there are opportunity costs. Since time is limited, what is being sacrificed by chasing small dollars?

Let’s say you have done some planning and determined that health care should be a prime target. You want to aim high by securing work with the largest organizations. Getting to know the right people and doing what’s necessary to put yourself in the right position – attending conferences, networking, researching continually and becoming educated about critical technologies – requires focus.

We lose time and focus when we spend time on any RFP that comes across the desk or take on projects we regret because we tell ourselves any money is good money. It takes time for those larger opportunities to happen, so there’s a balance between doing what’s necessary right now and what’s important over time. When we focus on the biggest and best opportunities over time, we grow credibility and top-of-mind awareness when the time is right.

Attitude

Selling is hard and draining. Those people who do it full-time and are successful have something that most of us lack: a perennial positive attitude. They don’t see rejection; they see a challenge.

I was at a holiday function and bumped into a business development manager for a construction company. He was totally distracted by whether he was going to win one of eight raffle prizes. I just wanted to get a beer and relax. There was nothing he could do about the outcome, but his competitive drive was palpable. When they drew names, he won three of the eight items. For a moment, it seemed like his attitude had made the difference. He wanted those prizes, and his drive to win seemed to separate him from the rest of the attendees.

No matter how you might actually feel about networking or selling, you’re wasting your time if you don’t bring a positive attitude to every encounter. Mark Edlen of Gerding Edlen Development says people don’t want to hear how tough things are; rather, they want to hear good news and what you’re excited about. Counting small wins, positive self-talk, surrounding yourself with positive people can help you maintain the right attitude to win work.

Discipline

New Year’s resolutions are as disposable as confetti. We like to make them, but rarely follow through. Woody Allen said 80 percent of success is showing up, and that’s true of sales. You don’t succeed if you’re not trying and doing the work to get the work. What’s required is developing a business development habit, and that takes time to ingrain into a schedule.

First, it’s good to set realistic goals for every week. A lot can be done in 10 minutes: researching a prospect, writing a thank you letter, forwarding an article of interest, reaching out to set up coffee with a colleague, or reviewing past activities for follow-up.

Everyone has 10 minutes in a week. The key is doing it consistently, and that’s where scheduling is important. Mark time on the calendar to do the work. We find other things that are more pressing, but to be successful we need to be disciplined to take the time.

Personally, I find it more achievable if I give myself reasonable milestones within a week. If something comes up (and it always does), I’ll rearrange my schedule to make sure by the time the week is done, I’ve checked it off my list.

Having action items in front of you and reviewing them every morning means they won’t be forgotten. I have a weekly phone call at 10 a.m. each Monday with four other consultants to look back on my progress from the prior week and schedule my upcoming week. I get strength, encouragement and ideas from my support group.

Every two months, I Skype with a colleague for two hours to revisit my progress on long-term goals and problem-solve current challenges. The colleague isn’t in my business, but he has something I admire: he’s disciplined and consistent.

This past year was my best ever, and I’ve concluded that focusing on the best opportunities, keeping a positive attitude and making time for business development are the three key factors that drive success.

Leo MacLeod is a leadership and business development coach and a strategic consultant. Contact him at leo@mainspringmarketing.com.

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Relationships are like bank accounts. We can hold a positive balance or a negative balance in any of our relationships. And like bank accounts, we build a positive balance in three ways: making deposits, limiting withdrawals and giving the account time to accrue interest.

Making deposits

We make deposits when we put other people first and consider how we can solve their problems or make their lives easier. The most powerful people in the world understand this and give more than they receive.

In business relationships, it’s most obvious in providing a lead for a project. But there are so many creative ways to make deposits: pick up lunch; don’t charge for additional work; finish a project ahead of schedule; connect people with others they want to know; send a book someone would like; connect parents with applicable ideas or resources; invite people to dinner; bring pastries to a meeting; send a letter of reference; treat someone to a round of golf.

The key is to understand what’s important to people – both professionally and personally. I had a client who was struggling with a teenage daughter acting out. I called a therapist friend who found my client someone who specialized in adolescents.

Take time to listen to clients. Be curious about their lives and challenges. Make notes and keep them in mind.

Limiting withdrawals

A former neighbor had a bad habit of always asking me for favors without any sense that there’s a limit to generosity: Could he borrow my drill? Could he park his boat in my driveway? Could I drive him to the airport? Did I have any sugar? Did I have any nutmeg?

Don’t get me wrong – I’m a helpful guy by nature, but my neighbor was all about asking for favors and taking withdrawals from our relationship account. After a while, I wanted to draw the blinds and not answer the door.

Think about your relationships – both personal and professional. When was the last time you did something nice or helpful? If you take an evaluation and find that you exceeded the budget for a project, your subcontractor didn’t finish the flooring, you didn’t pay someone on time, or you’re always presenting problems and not solutions, then you’re most likely in a deficit position with your relationship.

Be mindful about how much you are asking for favors versus how much you are reciprocating.

Giving it time

Bank accounts grow over time and so do relationships. Our strongest relationships are those into which we have consistently made deposits and limited withdrawals over time. The longer that a relationship has existed, the more equity there is.

Think of it this way: You meet someone new at a 91��Ƶ event and you follow up by connecting the person with an architect you know. The relationship account is too new to really make a withdrawal, such as asking to be included in bidding on a project.

We are so eager to cash in on relationships that personally benefit us that we sometimes don’t allow enough time for the account balance to grow. Otherwise, the initial deposit appears as a cheap ploy to make an immediate withdrawal. We are naturally attuned to who owes us and who doesn’t.

I have found that our overall net worth in the industry revolves around how much we serve other people by making deposits rather than serving ourselves and taking withdrawals. People will want to take your calls and meet with you if you’re perceived as someone who looks to fill their relationship accounts. You will both win if you think of relationships as investments that reap dividends over time.

Leo MacLeod is a new business coach and a strategic consultant. Contact him at leo@mainspringmarketing.com.

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How do you identify how much someone can be coached to be a leader versus what’s part of their DNA? I’m always looking for early indicators of leadership, and part of the answer came at a crosswalk in my neighborhood.

I was driving in a residential area when a young girl pulled her bike up to a crosswalk – her front tire in clear sight, her gaze steady and alert. She looked to be about 11 years old and riding without a parent in site. Traffic stopped on both sides. She waited and then slowly and confidently rode to the other side. Close behind her was what looked to be her 8-year-old sister, letting the elder lead the way.

As a parent of older kids, I’ve been keen to see how early we develop our adult behaviors. How we manage and assert ourselves in the world is formed in those early years. I could see that 11-year-old as a future manager, unafraid of asserting herself, aware of the risks in life, taking pre-cautions and modeling responsibility for others. Crossing that street, she was being a leader.

But what about the sister following? Will she learn from the elder and be a leader too, or be more comfortable letting someone take the risk and responsibility?

When I coach emerging leaders, anywhere from 25 to 55, I try to imagine them as kids. What is their natural path that has been wired in them through nature or imprinted through experiences like crossing the road, trying out for the soccer team, or working on a team science project? How do you spot leaders? Can you develop them beyond their natural tendencies? Here’s what I learned:

Time is the teacher. Look at a person’s record of how he or she behaves and executes over time. Is the person reliable and trustworthy? Is he or she sometimes brilliant but just as often reckless? Think about what behavior you want people to model. Confidence is contagious, but integrity is more enduring. Who didn’t want Atticus Finch of “To Kill a Mockingbird” as their father?

Judge them by their choices. There are things I can coach: selling, time management, assertiveness, presenting ideas clearly and taking more initiative. But when people repeatedly make poor decisions, there are often deeper issues that are not coachable.

Leaders need to have a basic understanding of what’s right and wrong and what’s appropriate. Young leaders sometimes need to learn those hard lessons, but it’s a flag for me when I see people make decisions that simply defy common sense. Somewhere along the way, they learned that to fit in or get their needs met, they turned off a part of their brain that factored in what others might think.

I have a rule of three: When I see three bad decisions, I have to tell senior management to look more seriously about the long-term potential of their choices.

Stretch people. The younger sister following the older sister may find that following is more natural than leading, but it may be only because she hasn’t had the opportunity to lead.

I’m working with a young designer who understands that in order to be a leader she is going to have to be more than the best designer. She is going to have to be more consistent in setting expectations with her staff, be tougher in confrontational situations, be more accurate in recording her time and turn in data to the CFO more promptly. I’ve seen people grow beyond their natural tendencies when management put them in that role. Their ultimate success depends on how much they want the responsibility.

Find the fit. The confident sales guy in the rental car agency who tackles customer service like a linebacker naturally rises to the top in our eyes as a leader. But what about the quiet, mild-mannered engineer who doesn’t say much but has clients’ ears when he does?

Leadership doesn’t always look like captain of the football team. The fact is that organizations need a variety of leaders to balance out the team. We need sales people, but we also need strong technical people. We need people who can take charge and command a room and we need people who make sure the IRS doesn’t audit the company.

Learn the unique abilities of people. Understand how they can contribute and how to balance their weaknesses with others’ strengths.

Much is ingrained in us from an early age. Look to the character of your future leaders. Understand their limitations. Coach them to grow in new ways. Recognize that leadership often takes different shapes.

Leo MacLeod, a partner in the Succession Consulting Group, helps firms plan for transition and develop the next generation of leaders and rainmakers. Contact him at leo@successioncg.com.

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