As an executive it’s easy to lose touch with staying marketable in today’s competitive environment. We all get busy doing our own jobs- it’s easy to forget about maintain and growing our network, keeping a current resume, and understanding the needs of employers. Here are a few tips on staying marketable:

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• Perform in your present job. Create value for your employer. Be intentional about achieving the results that your employer desires.
• Build and maintain a network. Ideally you want to make 5-10 phone calls per week to grow an active network.
• Help others, including recruiters and colleagues. Helping others is a simple way to maintain your network.
• Maintain (or better yet, have a professional do it) a current resume. Resumes change every 2-3 years. You want to stand out and appear relevant. You do not want an old resume as this makes you look out of touch.
• Know and communicate your value proposition.
• Know your number (X-Y’s). How have you moved the needle on service, quality, growth, market share, profitability?
• Grow professionally. Earn a degree, certification, or extra training.

If you need to sharpen your competitive edge, contact us at www.wiederholdassoc.com to learn more about staying marketable in today’s competitive environment.

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After six years of partnering with Jim Wiederhold in growing Executive and Physician Leadership Coaching within Wiederhold & Associates, Joy W. Goldman RN, MS, PCC, PDC, has been named as Executive Director of Leadership Coaching.

"We not only want our clients to find their next job; we want them to excel and grow into the best leaders they can be," states Jim Wiederhold, Founder of Wiederhold and Associates.

"Now, more than ever, our world needs effective and values-driven leaders. Joy is a person that naturally embodies those characteristics and is passionate about passing on quality leadership characteristics to others."

Coaching is a natural complement to Wiederhold & Associate’s strong reputation for providing transition services to Healthcare Executives across the nation.

"As I’ve come to know Jim and his organization, I respect not only what they do, but how they do it," states Goldman. "In relationships, we used to hear about the 'six degrees of separation.' With Jim, that is often cut down to three degrees of separation, and that’s because he’s built his business around value and trust. People trust Wiederhold & Associates to deliver excellence in what they do and put their customers’ success first with a spirit that demonstrates integrity in all that they do."

In 2017, Joy has the privilege of serving as the President of the International Coach Federation (ICF)-Maryland Chapter. She will be leading ICF MD’s board in connecting coaches throughout Maryland; supporting their professional development, and promoting the coaching profession to those who can most benefit. She will be working with regional and global coaches to support ICF’s mission of leading the global advancement of the coaching profession. As part of this effort, she will be partnering with over 200 coaches throughout the globe when she attends the ICF Global Leaders’ Forum next year in Warsaw, Poland.

In the future, we look forward to sharing success as told in stories that are co-created with you, our clients. Nothing makes us happier than to celebrate YOUR victories.

Here's to your success,

Jim

Whether it’s personal goals or career goals, we’ve all been there – setting aggressive and ambitious resolutions, chasing after it, hitting setbacks, and eventually become unmotivated to continue.

It is important to set goals, but if you measure success only by achieving your next goal, you probably have not accomplished as much as you would like. Willpower alone is usually not strong enough to overcome setbacks which ultimately result in failure.

Change of Focus, Change of Heart

Scott Adams, the creator of the immensely successful Dilbert Cartoons, reiterates a Wiederhold & Associates approach to finding success. He states, “When you approach life as a sequence of milestones to be achieved, you exist in a state of near-continuous failure. A system, by contrast, is something you do on a regular basis that increases your odds of success in the long run, regardless of the immediate outcome. People succeed every time they apply their systems, in the sense that they did what they intended to do.”

A simple shift in focus from goals to systems will ultimately help you find the success you have been longing to realize. The sense of accomplishment that comes from working the system each day creates a momentum that will carry you to the next goal. You may find yourself achieving goals faster than ever before with a new found personal invigoration.

As you plan your New Year’s Resolution, set your sights on implementing new systems for success instead of a milestone to be achieved. If you would like to discuss what systems could propel you the furthest fastest, give me a call. Together, we can map out a plan to that will put you in prime position to achieve your 2017 personal and career goals.

Here's to your success,

Jim

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What your boss, Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob Squarepants, and Rod Tidwell from Jerry Maguire have in common and why you should care.

“Where’s me money?!” as Mr. Krabs would say. That is exactly what your boss is thinking but won’t ask given today’s decorum. As we learned in graduate school at the University of Minnesota, “it’s not about the money… it’s about the money”. Yet no one wants to talk about money- it’s uncomfortable. Try and ask people about their bank account, salary, or taxes and you will get some awkward reactions. Likewise your boss and the company you work for don’t want to look bad by overemphasizing finances. Don’t let this fool you as your company lives or dies by its profitable growth. That means your boss is counting on you to drive profits and make more money.

A system CEO once told me, “You know it’s very hard to get fired when you’re making budget.” I got it - message delivered. How can you deliver? First, cover your own costs. You better produce enough revenue to cover your salary or else you are vulnerable. Next, if you manage a budget you want to grow revenue at a rate faster than expense growth (positive spread ratio).

Finally, make sure you communicate to your boss the actions you will take to drive profitability. This builds trust as your actions turn into results. Remember- the bottom line is the bottom line. Pay attention to it and it will pay dividends for your career.

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When I picture a great leader, I picture someone who never lets their temper get out of control, no matter what problems they are facing. I think of someone who has the complete trust of their staff, listens to their team, is easy to talk to, and always makes carefully informed decisions.

What I have described is an emotionally intelligent leader.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to be keenly aware of your own emotions, and the emotions of those around you. These individuals are aware of the root cause of their emotions and how their emotions affect those around them.

According to Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist who helped to popularize Emotional Intelligence (EI),
there are five main elements of emotional intelligence:

The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence.

To be effective, leaders must have a solid understanding of how their emotions and actions affect the people around them. The better a leader relates to and works with others, the more successful he or she will be. The good news is, Emotional intelligence can intentionally be developed.

We are facing a critical era of transformation in healthcare and success is entirely dependent upon strong leadership. As you rise through the leadership ranks you must master Emotional Intelligence as a key component if you hope to become a great leader.

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I was recently attending a hospital association breakout session listening to two reputable healthcare systems present how they aligned their respective medical staffs to achieve quality outcomes. They demonstrated how they achieved reduced unnecessary admissions, reduced lengths of stay and the reduction of clinical testing and procedures. They specifically portrayed how they worked with their medical staffs to strive for best practice outcomes. Clearly the outcomes were impressive, but they neglected a key component of the Triple Aim: Reducing the per capita cost of healthcare.

Never once did they present actual cost reductions that their efforts rendered. When I posed the question about cost savings, the response I received from the two presenters was like it was the proverbial elephant in the room. They told me that they didn’t discuss cost to align their physicians “unless it was absolutely necessary”. They implied that they avoid it at all costs.

I disagree. My experience is that the cost of healthcare, or namely the waste in healthcare, needs to be shared with this key group of decision makers – our medical staff. Estimates of the money wasted on overuse each year range from around $200 billion to over $800 billion – between 10 percent and 30 percent of US health care spending. In 2010, the Institute of Medicine issued a report stating that waste accounted for thirty per cent of health-care spending, or some seven hundred and fifty billion dollars a year. The report found that higher prices, administrative expenses, and fraud accounted for almost half of this waste. Bigger than any of those, however, was the amount spent on tests that are overused, unnecessary or potentially harmful to patients.

Although it’s the “right thing to do”, I guess I can understand the presenters’ obvious trepidation to relate the cost savings to their physician partners. Sometimes it can be potentially career ending. For instance, I had a pulmonologist on staff that was a nightmare for our Case Management department. By himself, he accounted for 29% of all Medicare admissions and had a variance of the geometric mean length of stay for his patients of 2.5 days. His estimated uncompensated cost to the hospital was $1,818,300. Furthermore, we haven’t even touched on the cost of bad outcomes and malpractice cases, but I also had another surgeon on staff that was on the “watch list” for our Medical Malpractice carrier.

Sadly, both of these physicians were on the hospital’s Board of Directors and I paid the ultimate price for “doing the right thing”. They continue their ways unaddressed and I moved on.

Working with physician partners isn’t always negative, though. In the same institution the price being paid for physician preference items by my stand-alone hospital I had just become the CEO at was shockingly high. When I insisted that this egregious price difference for such things as cardiac stents and orthopedic implants be shared with the respective interventional cardiologists and orthopedic surgeons, the alignment towards the hospital point of view was overwhelming. Despite the fact that these physicians had close ties and relationships to the individual companies and/or the representatives, since they were astounded at the price difference they worked with the hospital to leverage an $8M annual savings for the same implants! It was the “right thing to do”.

My message is that reducing the cost of healthcare goes hand-in-glove with the other two prongs of the Triple Aim: improving the patient experience and improving the health of populations. You can be selective in how you share the cost information, but it must be shared with all decision makers in order to achieve the ultimate value.

Labor Day means more than great BBQ and spending time with friends and family. For me, it is a celebration of American leadership, strength, and ingenuity.

In the days following World War II, when the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return to the dark ages, Pope Pius XII said, "The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind."

Wiederhold & Associates joins in the national tribute to the American workers who have made contributions and achievements to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country and the world. Happy Labor Day!

It is my passion to equip people with the tools it takes to be successful. With that in mind, I have assembled a team of leaders that will help you gain the competitive edge you are looking for. One of the members of my coaching team is Joy Goldman.

Joy is an accomplished professional in leadership, physician development, coaching, and enhancing organizational effectiveness. I feel that you will find her insights useful and helpful.

-Jim

By Joy W. Goldman, RN, MS, PCC, Professionally Certified Leadership Coach

Research shows that 9 in 10 conversations miss the mark. Sometimes people may say to you, “I don’t have time to spend in deep conversations – they take too long.” By mastering Conversational Intelligence (C-IQ), what normally could take months or even years, can happen instantaneously. Below are three significant ways that Conversational Intelligence can impact your leadership success:

• Enables quicker, deeper connections. We see higher levels of trust, of partnering, and of teamwork. Our world is moving from an I-centric world (focused on self and independent leader) to a WE-centric world (focused on teams and collaboration).
• Provides frameworks for building TRUST. Trust is the human platform from which great conversations emerge. Patrick Lencioni identifies trust as the foundation for all effective teams. C-­IQ provides a new innovative framework for understanding how conversations shape our relationships, partnerships, our culture and our reality. C-­IQ introduces tools for creating higher levels of trust and higher levels of engagement, which strengthens partnerships, teams, and cultures.
• A scientifically proven method for improving engagement. Based on Neuroscience Research- specifically the Neuroscience of Conversations, C-IQ facilitates the accomplishment of results, while also fostering enjoyment with the process.

C-­IQ provides us with deep understanding about how every conversation has an impact ­on our brain. With this understanding, we can prime our conversations for impact and learn how to develop trusted relationships. Building trust comes from practicing inquiry. Click here to read an article on applying self-inquiry to achieve your goals.

Would you like to learn how to master conversational intelligence or other enhanced communication skills? Contact Joy today.

Joy W. Goldman RN, MS, PCC This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Say the word “executive” to some people and it conjures up images of leather chairs and mahogany desks. In reality an executive’s job is to execute, or achieve results. At times we all get caught up in the storms that surround us- meetings, urgent issues, committees, etc. Just remember, never confuse activity with results. Like what? In healthcare we must achieve results in: service, patient safety, quality, growth, market share, service line development, cost containment, productivity, community benefit, employee/physician engagement, turnover, etc.

When executing, know where you are going. In order to execute you must have a X-Y goal in mind. For example, create a goal to grow market share from 22% to 50% in two years. If you are not clear where you want to go, how will others be clear? Relentlessly pursue your goal as that’s why we were hired- to execute and achieve results.

At the conclusion of your tenure with a given organization, know what you’ve executed. What was your X-Y in HCAHPs, profitability, turnover, market share, etc.? Clearly communicating these results to recruiters and hiring managers is the key to honing your value proposition. Remember- execution and results are the reason we get paid.

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Leadership is such a broad subject with many important subcategories.

We are in a time of great challenge to our leaders both inside and outside of healthcare. Great challenge creates great stress. Our leaders live and work in a fishbowl and must realize that every move they make whether it's verbal or nonverbal will be noticed and analyzed.

Good leadership, as with anything else, starts with character. Everybody wants it, but it has so many definitions. Everybody sees a lack of it in others but not in themselves.

I'm in the process of reading the book, "Louder than Words," by Andy Stanley. I'm not finished with the book but I'm enthralled with the subject matter. It focuses on the definition of character. Because I'm faith-based, I will adhere to Andy's following definition:

Character is the will to do what is right, as defined by God, regardless of personal cost.

So easily stated, it's so difficult to achieve. Perhaps it's like mastery, we strive for it, but never get there. For others who are not faith oriented, I would suggest defining what the right thing is but not changing the second half of the definition.

Leadership Starts Here: Doing the Right Thing

Secondarily, leaders did not get to where they are today without utilizing strengths that have made them successful. But under stress, those same strengths can become weaknesses. Beyond that, everyone has certain "derailers" that can be triggered by stress as well as other influencers. By giving into these triggers, the ability to keep good character intact becomes difficult.

Recognition, or awareness, of the "derailers" is not always present within the leader. Leaders should develop feedback mechanisms that they can rely on and will accept. Gaining awareness of these triggers/influencers is a highly valuable personal investment. Once these triggers are identified, passionately pursue how to change them.

In stressful challenging times, these two components are essential to successful long-term leadership.

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Everyone recognizes nursing plays a huge and vital role in our hospitals and healthcare systems today. Nursing, like any other area of healthcare, needs experienced coaches and mentors.

Please remember the optimum word here is experienced.

Here are some of my observations from my 27 years of healthcare experience:

• The aging of America will create more need for nurses and nursing leadership.
• Nurses don't seem to be very well represented in the CEO role.
• Because of their training, they seem to struggle with their assimilation into that role.
• Nurses move up into management roles within the nursing department because they were good nurses which doesn't always guarantee they'll be good managers.
• Like many others who are promoted into management roles, nurses are generally not offered a great deal of assistance as they move into these new and challenging positions.
• The chief nursing officer role is not attractive to younger nurses developing their careers.

Wiederhold & Associates believes that Nurse Leadership is an important area to invest in. We know that the very skills that make effective nurses (great communicators, creative problem-solving abilities and leadership acumen) are also the skills that make great leaders. With proper guidance, the transition into a senior leadership role can be very successful.

To maximize the success of our nursing clients, we have partnered with Nursing Leadership Coach Diane Scott. With her strong clinical background, Diane has a deep understanding of the nurse executive role.

Diane explains, "Senior nursing leaders usually are in charge of the majority of theworkforce of any healthcare organization. They are often promoted through the ranks and experience challenges with increasing their ability to critically think at their new leadership level. However, once they reach that level, the new challenge is the overwhelming desire to meet the mission of patient care and balance a seemingly polar opposite of managing the numbers, especially financials. They also struggle with developing a self-strategy for their career, finding it too self-serving and not patient driven.

The most successful senior nursing leaders learn that by increasing their own abilities, they can achieve their own potential, develop their managers as well as provide excellent patient care. In this way, everyone benefits under leadership that understands needs from the ground up."

At Wiederhold & Associates, we know an organization can optimally increase a nursing leaders’ capacity for successful outcomes through professional Nursing Leadership Coaching. It is the single most powerful way for a leader to achieve their potential for superior leadership, strategic thinking, and measurable results.

If you would like to learn more about our Nursing Leadership Program, download a tri-fold brochure here

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How often in my conversation with executives do I hear the statement, "he/she is good at reading the tea leaves" or "he/she is not so good at reading the tea leaves"?

What does it mean?

To me, it indicates a sense of external awareness of what's being said around you. When the action and the talk don’t align – you’d better take notice. Unfortunately, a lot of executives get so caught up in their own internal world that they are unaware of what's going on around them.

There's lots of evidence to support this lack of external awareness. In working with executives in transition, I often hear the statement “I never saw it coming.” As I review the details of their last 60 to 90 days of employment and then we review it together, the next statement I often hear is –“I should've seen it coming. Obviously, that executive didn't do a good job of "reading the tea leaves."

Now most of us are aware of the concepts emotional intelligence and political intelligence.

• Emotional intelligence is the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.
• Political intelligence is a thorough understanding of the interpersonal and political dynamics that organizational structures create and to know how to make things happen within this context.

We define these concepts in terms of both nouns and verbs. As you know, a verb implies action, and both forms of intelligence must have an action to be of any benefit.

Both terms suggest a strong emphasis on the external environment as well as the internal environment. As mentioned, too many executives become overly focused on the internal environment. By practicing the art of emotional intelligence and political intelligence you will learn to pay attention to the external as well as the internal and increase your ability to read the tea leaves.

Happy Reading,

Jim

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A big piece of onboarding is the ability to manage up- how you effectively work with your immediate Manager. My experience in this area indicates that we don't give this enough attention. The conflict that begins here usually ends up in one being asked to leave the organization or perhaps exiting too soon on their own.

Often, different styles, as well as egos, get in the way. Change the way you look at this relationship, and you will be more successful in building it. I haven't come across many people who “manage up” t extremely well, and it's such a necessary skill to one's future success. Embracing the employee/manager relationship is a critical skill to hone and managing up helps you master it.

Managing up means that you go above and beyond the tasks outlined on your job description. You continuously go the extra mile. Your job is to make your immediate manager’s life easier.

Ways to effectively manage up:

• Listen well
• Learn his/her style
• Jump in when needed
• Project a positive attitude
• Deliver quality work
• Keep him/her well-informed
• Build key relationships
• Sell/negotiate when appropriate
• Recognize what he/she respects and honors
• Create early wins
• Execute great follow up
• Establish a comfortable level of transparency
• Establish the rules of effective pushback
• When you have a challenge, always offer a solution
• Communicate, communicate, communicate
• Close information gaps
• Have a voice beyond your boss
• Keep commitments
• Apologize when you are wrong
• Don’t make excuses

Learning to effectively "manage up" can put you in a great position to align with your immediate supervisor, integrate effectively with the organizational culture, receive great recommendations, and ultimately help you on board effectively.

Coaching comes in many forms but the goal is to help you become the very best version of yourself as a leader, executive, and whole person.

As you know, I have been coaching executives for years to help them become their best. Through the power of technology, my coaching capabilities have been extended into a new dimension. I am excited to present the 2016 Webinar & Telebridge Series.

Webinars:

Once a month, Wiederhold & Associates will be inviting renowned speakers to address leadership topics in healthcare in this interactive online series. The next scheduled webinar is in April and will be free to ALL registrants. Beginning in May, we will continue to offer these webinars free to only our Premium Active Network Group members and current clients. There will be a nominal registration fee for everyone else. There are limited spots for each session so make sure you register early and take advantage of this opportunity to learn from national experts! Email us to request topics and dates.

Telebridge Calls:

As a new benefit of our Premium Active Network membership in 2016, Wiederhold & Associates will implement the following program each month. I am hosting a Telebridge (conference call) meeting with any of our premium active network members who want to participate. In that meeting, I will answer questions you may have related to your career, whether you are gainfully employed, in transition, or thinking of looking for a new position. This is sure to be a time of enrichment that will aid you in developing a lifetime of success.

Before each TeleBridge meeting, we will announce the initial topic of discussion. Once we conclude that topic, we will move on to other subjects relevant to the group. Our first meeting was an excellent discussion of interim work in the healthcare Industry from both sides of the equation. This will be the initial subject of our next TeleBridge Premium Active Network meeting. After the initial topic is addressed, any subject that the group wants to talk about is fair game.

I will facilitate these meetings as well as disseminate a summary to the participants from these sessions. The Telebridge calls are an excellent opportunity to learn and engage with relevant healthcare subjects.

Through these programs, you are sure to make valuable connections & gain critical industry insights throughout the year. I look forward to connecting with you.

Here's to your success,

Jim

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First and foremost, I want to wish you much success in 2016.

The new year is a time to start new journeys. As you know there are journeys we choose and journeys that choose us.

So with that in mind, we took a real good look at the people we work with in career transition and found that the most successful ones had three consistent behaviors. Those three behaviors were passion, attitude and confidence.

Passion is one's intense desire or enthusiasm to do something. The level of passion for these successful individuals kept them on track even when there were challenges and bumps in the road. They did not roll over or quit when things got tough.

Attitude is how an individual's behavior reacts to a person place or thing. We live in a world where most individuals focus on the negative side of a challenge. Successful individuals took a more positive look at the challenge of career transition and focused in on the benefits that would result from this journey.

Confidence is one's assessment and feelings about their own skills and qualities. These successful individuals realized that they live in a deposit/withdrawal system. Unfortunately, withdrawals are automatic and deposits have to be made manually. They have learned how to make necessary deposits.

So as you begin your journeys in this new year remember to pack the right amount of passion, attitude and confidence. Because a good start usually means a good finish.

Here's to your success,

Jim

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I constantly hear the statement that nothing happens between Thanksgiving and New Year's day. That idea becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that can prevent you from moving forward in the new year.

The time between Thanksgiving and New Year's day is what I referred to as Relationship/Gratitude month.

It is the perfect time to build and solidify relationships by giving thanks to those that have helped you in the past year as well as those that will help you in the new year. This show of gratitude, when done without an agenda and with great sincerity, will strengthen business partnerships that can carry you into the new year and beyond.

As you all know, the opposite of gratitude is ingratitude. When you don't express gratitude and you assume the other person understands your perspective, what you really are expressing and certainly not intending to, is ingratitude.

Call up those people that have given you so much over the past six months to a year and just say thank you. Use the holiday season to send out cards to those you don't call. Individualize each card with a note and your own signature. Make your audience feel special. Remember, this is about quality not quantity.

Here's to a prosperous new year!

Jim

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Are you creating and executing a roadmap that will assist you in moving up within your organization?

The whole concept of internal transition or advancement for executives I find is often neglected. Like overall career planning, without a roadmap, executives have no rudder or direction in mind.

As a result of having no real advancement direction or plan, these are the most prevalent outcomes:

• Career growth in their current company is slow to nonexistent
• They leave the organization too early and possibly create a negative ongoing pattern predictable change

Neglected areas are often:

• No plan for growth within the organization
• No key stakeholder list
• Lack of appropriate self-promotion
• Poor outcomes alignment with immediate boss
• Weak political acumen
• Ineffective soft skills
• No clear vision and strategy
• Lack of developing a strong team

These are certainly not all of the issues but key ones I often see. Setting a roadmap, following the path and focusing on the key areas needed for your success will help you reach your end goal. That next stop on the career path may be within your existing organization or you will be well positioned for that next opportunity outside the organization.

What is that old saying?

What is that old saying? "If you don’t know where you are going you will never get there."

Enjoy the drive!

Jim

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As the health care system confronts the need to change and adapt in the new era, leadership is required throughout the entire organization.

Nursing Leaders are the centerpiece of care delivery and are extraordinarily vital and influential in carrying out the mission and vision of any healthcare organization. As a result, their leadership has a direct effect on the quality and fiscal outcomes that are of vital importance to an organization.

At Wiederhold & Associates, we know an organization can optimally increase a nursing leaders’ capacity for successful outcomes through professional Nursing Leadership Coaching. It is the single most powerful way for a leader to achieve their potential for superior leadership, strategic thinking, and measurable results.

Coaching is customized to every situation and organization, with outcomes driven models implemented to ensure success.

Who can benefit?

• Senior Nursing Executives
• Nursing Directors and Managers
• Newly hired Nursing Executives who wish to position themselves out of the gate for great success
• High potential Nurse Executives who can benefit from expanding their strategic thinking
• Nurse Executives who want to continue to provide optimal leadership for the patients and the people who care for them

Team Coaching is different from training in that it specifically targets the needs of a group, while providing direction to challenge them to meet a targeted outcome. Teams that can benefit from our approach include:

• High functioning teams wishing to expand their capacities
• Teams experiencing significant changes or challenges
• Newly formed Nursing Leadership Teams

Want to move your organization forward?

Invest in your core: Nursing Leadership.

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The majority of us plan for our children’s college education, or to get married or stay single but unfortunately very few executives plan their careers. Many potentially successful executives fail to climb the executive ladder because they don’t plan where they want their career to advance to.

Healthcare professionals can progress in their careers, but only if they position themselves for success.

In my experience, less than 5% of healthcare executives plan their career. Most, as I would say, “wing it”; taking advantage of opportunities as they present.

I describe career planning like building a straight fence. You define where you want to go and then identify the points and steps it takes to get there.

Successful executives complete a gap analysis: what are they missing for experience and skills. Skills fall in two categories: hard skills and soft skills. Executives often focus on the hard skills areas and miss the needs for developing soft skills: communications, conflict management, effective messaging, emotional intelligence, relationship building etc.

Through my work with executives in transition, 95% of people in transition lost their job due to a lack of emphasis and engagement in the soft skills.

Preparing to climb the ladder requires a plan that includes the skills both hard and soft to be successful. Successful executives must master emotional intelligence and navigating the political landscape to stay at the top of that ladder.

Here’s to your success!

Jim

When you think of an --Effective Leader-- what comes to mind?

You might picture someone who never lets their temper get out of control, no matter what problems they are facing. Or you might think of someone who has the complete trust of their staff, listens to their team, is easy to talk tThese are qualities of someone with a high degree of emotional intelligence (EQ). Research shows that EQ scores climb with titles from the bottom of the corporate ladder upward toward middle management. Middle managers stand out with the highest EQ scores in the workplace because companies tend to promote people into these positions who are level-headed and good with people. The assumption here is that a manager with a high EQ is someone for whom people will want to work, and always makes careful, informed decisions.

These are qualities of someone with a high degree of emotional intelligence (EQ). Research shows that EQ scores climb with titles from the bottom of the corporate ladder upward toward middle management. Middle managers stand out with the highest EQ scores in the workplace because companies tend to promote people into these positions who are level-headed and good with people. The assumption here is that a manager with a high EQ is someone for whom people will want to work.

But things change drastically as you move beyond middle management. For the titles of director and above, scores descend with CEOs, on average, having the lowest EQ scores in the workplace.

The truth is that for every title the top performers are those with the highest EQ scores. Even though CEOs have the lowest EQ scores in the workplace, the best-performing CEOs are those with the highest EQs. You might get promoted with a low EQ, but you won't outshine your high-EQ competition in your new role.

Your emotional intelligence is completely under your control. Work on your EQ and it will boost your performance. Your effort can also ensure that you don't experience declines as you climb the corporate ladder. Even if your employer promotes you for the wrong reasons, you'll still outperform your contemporaries.

To help you get started, here are some EQ-boosting strategies for leaders:

• Acknowledge Other People's Feelings
• When You Care, Show it
• Keep Your Emotions in Check
• Sleep
• Remove Negative Self-Talk

Focus on your EQ and your executive performance will soar!

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