The information in this complimentary report will help you to sharpen your leadership skills and improve your team’s results. It includes four parts:

• Six essential leadership competencies,
• Identifying and understanding key stakeholder relationships,
• Business organization including roles & responsibilities, and
• Identification of obstacles that may be holding you back from achieving your full potential.

 

Effective Leaders share six essential competencies:

Effective leaders consistently execute six core competencies to lead their organizations. It’s human nature for you to be naturally better at some aspects of leadership than you are at others. That’s why a review of these core competencies and periodic self-evaluation of how well you performing them is beneficial. The activities suggested in this report will help you focus your precious time and resources on building your strengths and finding ways to manage weaknesses through delegation or outsourcing.

The effective leader:

1) Looks ahead. Leaders establish the vision and direction of the business. They conduct assessments of the external environment and  evaluate the internal organizational strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise and the strengths and weaknesses of the stakeholders who operate the business.

 

2) Establishes Expectations.

    Leaders work ON the business, setting goals and making plans to achieve their Primary Aim and business mission. They organize     primary business activities and decide how much time, talent and financial resources it will take to get the results they want. They establish key metrics and accountabilities, formulate strategies and manage risk.

 

3) Aligns resources and communicates with the business stakeholders.

    Working INthe business, the Leader chooses strategies to meet objectives. Leaders establish and organize operating systems. The
Leader communicates the vision and delegates accountabilities to key business stakeholders. Leaders anticipate potential roadblocks or obstacles.

 

4) Does the Job with Discipline.

Leaders implement strategies enforcing the use operating systems and tools. Attracts talent, develops skills, delegates work and through innovation and orchestration helps the organization to overcome roadblocks and obstacles.

 

5) Evaluates Operations.

He or she monitors operating efficiencies, measures stakeholder contributions, and controls key results areas such the client development pipeline, workflow and finances.

 

6) Results Accounting.

Leaders compare outcomes to goals, assess performances; their own, and the other stakeholders, rewards successes and superior performance, enforces accountabilities for inferior performance and looks ahead to refocus.

Suggested Activity

Rank your effectiveness in these core competencies. We suggest using a forced ranking listing starting with your strongest competency and ending with the least.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

Are you naturally better at your top strengths or did you develop them through education training or by receiving coaching?

If you could delegate or outsource some of the responsibilities associated one or more of these competencies which ones would they be?

If you were going to attend training or receive coaching to further develop one of your strengths or to manage a weakness, which one would it be?

 

Identifying and understanding key stakeholder relationships

As a leader you rely on others to get the results you want. Identifying stakeholder relationships helps you think about the people that provide the talent you need for your business to thrive.   We’ve included a brief description of the various types of stakeholders your business may rely on, the types of outcomes that are generally important to them and the nature of their relationship with the business.

Clients – Want you and the other business stakeholders to deliver solutions that meet or exceed their expectations. They want solutions.   
            You and the other business stakeholders ultimately work for them.

Employees – They typically seek safety, security, good pay, excellent benefits and skill development opportunities and some want a path to advancement. They work for you.

Independent Contractors – These self-employed individuals are motivated to be their own boss. They are fiercely independent, preferring not to rely on others. They work for you when you need them. They own the job you delegate to them.

Vendors – They want you to buy every product they offer that is useful in your business - from their business. They want you to order in advance, to treat them fairly, pay on time and be a repeat customer. You are their client.

Wholesalers - They want you to incorporate as many of their solutions as possible into your client solutions. For example, insurance products for an insurance agent, investment management for money managers, asset management for financial advisors. They Support your solutions.

Investors – Lenders want a return of their investment with interest. Equity investors want investment returns comparable to the risk you ask them to take. They want return on their investment. They capitalize the business.

Strategic Partners – Many successful business leaders forge strategic partnerships to help operate the business or expand the menu of solutions they offer. Strategic partners can the business to thrive in two important ways.

Strategic solution partners offer products or services that are complementary to yours. They want you to add value to your client relationships and they want you help them add value to their client relationships. They help build the business.

Strategic management partners offer skills and services that complement your strengths. They position you to delegate parts of the leadership and management work that you prefer not to do. They help you focus on your strengths to lead and manage the business

Each Stakeholder has a unique Talents, Skills and specific expectations. Effective leaders take responsibility for assessing each stakeholder’s talents and skills. By quantifying each stakeholder’s capabilities they can more effectively organize and orchestrate their efforts so the business attracts, serves and keeps the ideal clients it needs to succeed.

Suggested Activity

Identify the key stakeholders in your business, the outcomes they expect, their strengths, their weaknesses.

Try finding answers to these questions –

 

Do you find it to easier to relate to some types of stakeholders than it is to others?

 

Do any stakeholders need to be added, upgraded or given new responsibilities?

If so, why? If not, why not?

 

What are the potential benefits of reorganizing, replacing or adding key stakeholders?

 

Business Organization including roles and responsibilities

Most successful leaders not only organize the business to reach its goals, they also find a way to manage their time so they achieve their personal primary aim. In other words they find a way to organize the work so the business succeeds AND to personally experience the fulfillment, fun and financial success that’s important to them.

 

A traditional organization chart starts with the Leader on top and might include three main headings below the Leader.

The first is Marketing. This function is responsible for attracting prospects, converting them into clients, serving their needs and expanding client relationships.  

A second is Operations.   This function organizes processes, systems, workflow and tools to operate the business. Work is assigned based on the leaders’ assessment of the individual team member talents and skills.

A third is Finance. This function may include responsibilities such as raising money to capitalize the business, forecasting, budgeting, and accounting.

All of the jobs in the business ultimately link to one of these primary business functions. Many business Leaders use Marketing, Operations and Finance as the primary level of their organizational chart. Many leaders of small to medium size businesses find themselves occupying more spots on the organization chart than is humanly possible. They find themselves running out of time, or energy, or both. As a result, very often both the leader and the business find themselves suffering.

 

Suggested Activity

Think about the jobs your team is responsible for accomplishing. Draw or update an organization chart for your business or business unit using the model that follows. List each job function in the appropriate area. You may choose to use more or less than the three main headings shown in the example to illustrate how responsibilities are organized in your business.

Put the name of the business stakeholder that completes the task next to the job. Indicate the stakeholder’s role. (i.e. such as employee, contractor, vendor, etc.)

Be sure to identify every role you currently fill. Envision an ideal world where you only do those things you enjoy the most.

 

SAMPLE

LEADER   – YOUR NAME
Heading One: Marketing		Heading Two:   Operations		Heading Three:   Finance
Role/Responsibility	Name/Type of Stakeholder	Role/Responsibility	Name/Type of Stakeholder	Role/Responsibility	Name/Type of Stakeholder
Determining   Advertising Mix	Bob /Vendor	Recruiting	Megan/Employee	Budgeting	Your Name   /Leader
Sales	Pete/ Indpt   Contractor	Training	Your Name   /Leader	Pay raises	Your   Name /Leader

 

YOUR ORGANIZATION

Your   Name: _______________________________
Heading One:		Heading Two:		Heading Three:
Role/Responsibility	Name/Type of Stakeholder	Role/Responsibility	Name/Type of Stakeholder	Role/Responsibility	Name/Type of Stakeholder

 

From what boxes would you like to remove your name?

 

What difference would it make to your quality of life if you made these changes?

Click Here for help on how to quickly create a custom organization chart for your team using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Open a new Doc, From Menu choose > insert > SmartArt > heirarchy > pick the chart and customize.

 

Are there Obstacles that might be holding you back from reaching your full potential?

Every leader encounters obstacles. It’s been said a leader’s true character is revealed in the face of resistance. Lincoln, Kennedy, Regan all overcame obstacles to succeed. While the obstacles you face may not affect as many people as these leaders the impact of your decisions and actions on those who choose to follow you is just as important.   As the leader of a financial services or insurance organization you encounter a number of obstacles that have the potential to hold you and your team back from achieving the outcomes you want. Here are just a few of them.

Unwillingness to Innovate when facing change. Are you willing to examine your beliefs about how the business succeeds? Do you find yourself doing things a certain way because that’s how it’s always been done?   Are you profitably anticipating and responding to governmental, regulatory and societal changes? Are you harnessing the power of technology and specialized stakeholder skills?

Insufficient time invested working ON the business.  
It takes time and special focus to:

• Clarify your vision and direction,
• Make plans,
• Set goals,
• Identify potential obstacles, and
• Establish key metrics and accountabilities.

Experience has proven that time spent working ON the business helps leaders to develop effective strategies that enable them to achieve the results you want. You have many demands on your time. Is there a chance you have become so busy working IN the business they you are neglecting to work ON the business. Has this lack of attention caused you to spend time and financial resources without generating profits?

Poor Communication
How many times in your career has a problem developed or a sales or recruiting opportunity been lost because of miscommunication?   How did it make you feel? How did your customer or other business stakeholder feel. The fact is that goals, plans or expectations are poorly communicated. Stakeholders don’t know what is expected of them or what to expect from the Leader. This lack of clarity causes frustration and holds the potential to cause all business stakeholder to waste countless hours of time. This type of obstacle is easily overcome with training and coaching designed to sharpen essential communication skills.

Expectations are not linked to Accountabilities.
Plans get made and goals are set without effectively delegating work or assigning stakeholder responsibilities. This leads to frustration and very often to turnover.

Trying to copy other agency’s/firm’s strategies to deliver your solutions.
In order for a strategy to work for a specific business leader it must be aligned with their beliefs, vision and organizational talent. We see organizations or business units that try to copy another business model and fail miserably because the strategies they try to copy are not aligned with their beliefs, systems and capabilities.

Unwillingness to invest capital. Selecting talented stakeholders, training and developing skills, upgrading or adding business systems and tools that improve results are capital investments. Some business leaders lack the confidence, or access to resources they need so they can invest in these critical areas of business development.

Your sales force is not making enough sales.   Every for-profit business relies on sales to generate revenue and when sales fall short the business suffers and so do the people in it. You may find your organization pressing up against this obstacle for any number of reasons. Perhaps your sales force is too small. Perhaps your advisors or agents lack the competencies necessary to execute your sales strategies. Perhaps your people haven’t fully developed the ethical persuasion skills they need to attract, serve and keep the clients you need.

 

Suggested Activity

If you are not achieving the results you want, identify one or more obstacles that are holding you back from achieving the outcomes you want.

Identify at least two things you can implement today to overcome these obstacles and avoid them in the future.

Consider investing in consulting services, training or coaching that can help you or other members of your organization to avoid or overcome any of these obstacles.

 

Prepared by: David A. Thesing, CLU®, ChFC®, CFP®, MSM