How One Leader Gets Better
When Gettysburg College contacted me to coach one of their directors, I never imagined that he was caught in an endless loop. That’s how Michael Kotlinski, Gettysburg Bookstore Director, described his professional life. He simply was not performing to his highest level and as a leader in retail that is a dangerous slope.
Wants to be better
Michael knew he wanted to be a better leader and communicator with his colleagues, supervisor and the executive team. He wanted to improve and foster a more positive work environment with his department team. Unfortunately, a mirage of distractions were permeating his focus and derailing his overall leadership effectiveness. This was spilling over into his personal life as well.
Meanwhile, Michael continues to serve on the Mid Atlantic College Stores and Independent Campus Stores Collaborative board of directors and brings this unique industry expertise and competitive advantage to Gettysburg.
Personalized approach
I knew that I could offer Michael a personalized development approach with accountability, guidance and feedback to develop skills and leadership behaviors to thrive in his current role and refine capabilities for the long term.
As his executive coach, we started to strip away the excess baggage and get back to basics. My first recommendation was to read Don Miguel Ruiz’s, The Four Agreements, and then apply the learning into daily practice. Shortly, Michael was able to clear the clutter and get back to a solid foundation from which he could begin to rebuild.
We utilized the Work Personality Index Leadership assessment, Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder and Leadership Blind Spots. These tools gave us insight on his natural tendencies of thinking, feeling or behaving including talents. We now had important information for developing his leadership skills and accelerating personal growth.
Meaningful insights and tangible results
Throughout our coaching, Michael practiced new ways to encourage a more positive workplace and increase employee engagement. Here are a few that you can try too.
- Commit to spend more time strategic listening before formulating a response. Michael found this to be especially useful in his staff meetings and one-on-one conversations.
- Learn and apply the Blanchard Situational Leadership model by adjusting your leadership style to best fit the development level of the individual you are trying to influence. Michael learned to adjust his behavior of directive and supportive to meet the needs of his team.
- Be more present by talking to people instead of talking at people. This one shift in communication opened new opportunities for Michael.
“It may sound cliche but I like the person I have become more than the person I used to be. Life (work and personal) continues to change and evolve. It is easy to become complacent. I need to be the best version of myself and remember the importance is in the details. Lose sight of the details and you forget to evolve,” said Michael.
As a result, the team is more empowered and Michael has regained confidence and an inner peace that resulted in how he acts and reacts to situations regardless of how stressful the situation.
Interested in getting better?
Contact me for a free assessment! Let’s discover your potential.
- 4 Tips To Help You Keep Your Commitment - July 9, 2019
- Accountability Starts With You - May 1, 2019
- Stop Saying “Just” So Much - March 20, 2019
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment. Click here to login