Category: Avid Learner

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Avid Learner Blog Lead Yourself Positive Mindset

How to Avoid the Leadership Learning Trap

By: David Novak Leadership

If you have been around leadership circles for very long, you’ve likely heard the term “avid learner”. Being an avid learner means you are deliberate about gaining new insights to become better at what you do. With the amount of knowledge readily available these days, anyone can be an avid learner. If you want to grow your career, you should absolutely be doing this.
Whether you are just starting out, or you’ve been working on developing your skills for a while, it’s important to beware of the leadership learning trap.
When you take in new information, does it influence your day-to-day actions? Have you spent time and energy trying to develop yourself with no noticeable results? If learning doesn’t lead to transformation, then you’ve fallen into the leadership learning trap.
To grow in your leadership, you need to be learning and developing. The two are not the same and it’s important to understand the difference if you want to be an effective leader.
Being an intentional learner isn’t just about taking in knowledge. The most important thing is what happens after you consume information. It’s absorbing new ideas and letting them change the way you believe. When your beliefs change, your behavior changes.

Intentional learning is transformational

It is taking in new information and turning it into action.

The most inspiring, dynamic leaders use learning to challenge themselves to become better. If you’re going to join their ranks, you need to be putting into practice what you learn by evolving in your leadership mindset and implementing new habits in your daily routine. Learning is only intentional when it develops you.
If you really want to excel as a leader, don’t settle for being a passive learner who remains unchanged by the knowledge you’ve gained. This happens so often to people in leadership, and it will hinder you from reaching your fullest potential.
If you want to be a leader others want to follow, don’t make the mistake of being a passive learner. Be intentional.
At David Novak Leadership, we’ve made intentional learning simple. Our Essential Leadership Traits Program is a fully interactive experience designed to help you transform your leadership. This course will challenge your beliefs and provides you with real actions to implement. We help leaders be more intentional so they can truly be effective. Click here to begin growing in your leadership today.

 

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Avid Learner Blog Inspiring Others Intentional Lead Yourself Training

Five Behaviors of Great Leaders

When you think of great leaders who comes to mind? Do you think of historical people like Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King or John F. Kennedy? Maybe you think of leaders of powerful companies like Jamie Dimon or Indra Nooyi.

Free Leadership Assessment from David Novak LeadershipYou don’t have to be famous or lead a big company to be a great leader. Think about those leaders that made a real impact in your life like your high school coach, an employer or a manager that invested in your growth and development. These leaders earn trust and respect from their followers, and they lead by example. What makes them different?

Here are 5 behaviors that make a great leader:

1. They are all about their organization’s success. They understand that nothing big is accomplished alone. They care more about the success of the people working for them than their own success.

2. They are successful over a long period of time, and in more than one occasion. Great leaders are adaptable and grow. Because they understand and apply positive leadership principles, they can come into a variety of new situations and circumstances and still be highly effective.

3. They are avid learners. Great leaders are good at what they do, but they don’t stop there. They want to learn new ways to get better at leadership, at their business, and at their craft.

4. They don’t shift blame to their people when faced with setbacks. Great leaders take ownership when problems arise. They focus on what needs to be done to correct the issue then put process and discipline in place to ensure the issue doesn’t happen again.

5. Great Leaders recognize the people that helped them succeed. When success comes, great leaders point to their team – or mentors – as the reason. They give the credit away, rather than hoard it.

Leaders who exemplify these traits are not only admirable, but they leave a lasting impression. Implement these five behaviors and you’ll be sure to leave a lasting impression, too. If you want to continue to grow in your leadership, check out the great resources on our website.

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Avid Learner Blog Lead Others Lead Yourself Training

Are You Hirable?

If you think having a great resume and a prestigious qualification makes you hirable, think again. Many employers look at qualities as well as qualifications.

If you want a long career in your field of choice, you need to be the type of candidate people want on their team. So, what kind of candidate is that?

Have you ever wanted to tap into the thoughts of a hiring manager to learn why some people get hired and others don’t? You might be surprised by what you discover. If you think a great resume and prestigious qualifications are enough, think again.

We’ve asked David Novak, former CEO of Yum! Brands, what he looks for when he hires someone, and this is what he told us:

Most leaders will start by verifying that a potential candidate is smart and intelligent. The applying person must have the skills for the job, otherwise it simply won’t work out. Competence is the first qualifier.

The employer will then dig deeper to make sure the candidate is a good fit. During an interview, the hiring manager typically looks for two things:

1. Why will this person be a great addition to our team?

2. Does this person have the ability to learn?

David believes the difference between a good performer and a great performer comes down to a desire to learn. Are you the kind of person who wants to learn from others? Do you seek out best practices in your field? Hiring managers look for the candidates who are curious because they strive to learn throughout their career and, as a result, raise the game for other members in on their team. When interviewing, be prepared to share how you are passionate about learning. This just might set you apart from other candidates.

After interviewing applicants, David determines who to hire by asking himself, “Would I want my daughter to work for this person?” If the answer was no, then that person wouldn’t get the job. However, if David saw someone with a special leadership quality, someone who would invest in his daughter and help her become the best she could be, he would hire that person.

Hirability is the one quality that will help you get through the gates and onto a path towards a successful career. Being a learner and a leader are equally important, and we are committed to helping you develop in those areas. Check out the David Novak Leadership Podcasts and learn from other great leaders at David Novak Leadership.

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Avid Learner Blog Feature Blog Intentional Job Hopping Lead Yourself Recognition Training

Why Great Leaders Need Truth Tellers

Why Great Leaders Need Truth Tellers in their lives

Were your antennae clipped at birth? This is not your typical leadership question, but let’s consider how helpful this question can be. Antennae provide sensory information to insects which helps them better understand their environment. While humans don’t have actual antennae, we use environmental clues to discover how we are perceived by others. Yet not everyone’s antennae work perfectly, and some seem to have had their antennae clipped at birth. Research refers to this as lacking emotional intelligence, but I’ve found that asking if your antennae were clipped gets people’s attention a lot better!

When serving as the Head of Human Resources at Yum! Brands, I frequently got to help people who were stuck in their growth and performance. Have you ever worked with someone who seemed completely unaware of how their attitude and actions impacted others? Me too – and those are the people I describe as having their antennae clipped at birth. For example, consider the person who talks too much in meetings and constantly interrupts others, yet her behavior doesn’t change. Others dread going to meetings and don’t feel heard because she talks all the time. Because her antennae are clipped, she doesn’t realize how her behavior negatively impacts the team. The truth is, some people don’t have antennae to help them navigate their relationships.

We all have blind spots in our lives, even if our antennae work properly. The key to uncovering our blind spots is giving people permission to give us feedback. When we invite people to serve as truth tellers in our lives, we learn and grow. If we don’t have a few truth tellers, we run the risk of staying stuck with behaviors that are ineffective, and possibly destructive, to our success.
 
I know from personal experience that asking for feedback can be hard because you might be surprised by what you hear. When I was Head of Human Resources at KFC, I was introduced to a feedback exercise and decided to try it out with the Executive Team. We had one minute to complete two statements about each Executive Team Member in a round robin format:
 
  • What I appreciate about you
  • How you can be more effective
I got more feedback from these two questions than I received in an entire year! Some of it was encouraging, some of it was helpful, and one particular piece of feedback was shocking. During this exercise, I found out that one of my peers thought I was going over his head to send him messages. This information shocked me because that was not my intent. Because my relationship with this peer was important to me, I took action to repair our relationship. We started having regular lunch meetings where I shared what was going on and what I was thinking. And over time, we developed a productive relationship because he shared feedback with me and I took action to make changes.
 
The Executive Team Round Robin opened my eyes to how powerful this feedback tool can be. And once I understood the power of receiving feedback, I recruited a few people to become my truth tellers. I regularly asked them to give me straight feedback, and they agreed to be honest. Seeking out feedback has helped me become a better leader in both my personal and professional life.
 
Ken Blanchard coined the phrase, – Feedback is the breakfast of champions. I’m a firm believer in the
truth of this phrase. It’s a simple way to remind you that you need to invite people to give you feedback daily, just like you eat breakfast each day. Both breakfast and regular feedback helps you become more
productive.
 
Were your antennae clipped at birth? Maybe not, but we can all use a few truth tellers in our lives. Who can you invite to be your truth tellers? Once you identify them, use this feedback tool to start the conversation. And remember to seek out that feedback regularly! Building discipline around asking for feedback can help you become a better leader. Who will you ask for feedback today? Download the Truth Tellers Feedback Exercise to help you get started.
 
David Novak Leadership is all about investing in you and helping you become the best leader you can be. And we invite you to pay it forward by sharing this blog and the feedback tool with others. Who can you share this with today?