Leadership

Choosing Your Reaction
560 315 Aaron Sansoni

Your life isn’t about what happens, but instead how you react to it! The key to gaining success and having a good life is taking control of your reactions in your own hands and shaping it to benefit you.

 

You can’t control what other people do, how they think, or the actions they take. You can’t control bad things that happen to you or a significant number of situations that occur in your ecosystem.  What can you control then? You can control how you react. You can take the matter in your own hands, clear your head, and figure out what action you are going to take to spin the situation in your favor.

 

No matter what is happening, no matter if your world is tailspinning, you still have control of how you react. No one can take this away from you. No one can hurt you, make you angry, make you upset if you don’t let them. No one can put you in an adverse or detrimental position unless you let them.

 

You need to take control of each situation with the power of your choice. You have complete control over yourself and your decisions, and the first step to success is understanding that. You need to realize that your life is about you and the choices you make ultimately drives that.

 

In order to put a positive spin on a negative situation, you need to make the decision to act, and to react, in a way that benefits you. Don’t accept when times are down or when you’re not successful. Don’t accept failure. Don’t accept any possibility that you are not in control of your life and what comes out of it, how you influence people, and how you affect others.

 

Of course, you do have the power to affect others, but nothing is ever guaranteed, nothing is ever for sure outside of you and your reactions and decisions. Understanding that is the first step. Success is the next.

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Aaron Sansoni - How To Manage Rockstars Blog Header

How To Manage Rockstars
560 315 Aaron Sansoni

Having a team full of rockstars is a fantastic feeling. They do their work and they do it well, leaving you free to deal with issues better-suited to your leadership role. But what happens when your rockstars performers expect star treatment?

While it may be tempting to give your top-grade employees whatever they want to keep them happy, it’s actually quite detrimental to your company. Special treatment could cause other employees to feel resentment…something you don’t want if you’re struggling to keep them motivated in their first place. So, your best bet is to effectively manage your rockstar. Luckily, there are a few tactics you can employ to ensure you’re getting to most out of both parties.

Do Not Reinforce Bad Behavior
Rockstars often believe that they are exempt from several rules because of their value to you and the company. They may show up late, take longer lunches, or skirt corners. This is unacceptable. Hold them to the same standards as the rest of the team.

Do Not Make Exceptions In Front Of The Team
Similarly, top-performers are more likely to ask for favors or exceptions after exceeding a large goal or exhibiting an above-average performance. While it is acceptable to reward positive behavior in front of the other team members, it is never okay to grant these requests in public. In fact, I’d strongly recommend not granting them at all but every situation is different and you’ll need to evaluate on a case-by-case basis. Just be sure to evaluate and respond in private.

Build a 1-on-1 Relationship
You want to create a certain level of respect between you and your rockstar employees to keep them both motivated and engaged. Building a strong relationship is the first step in establishing that respect. It’s not enough to acknowledge their wins in public. You need to take the time to have meaningful conversations in a 1-on-1 environment. It doesn’t have to be daily, but it should be regularly.

Use Them For Training
Unfortunately, the reality of over-performing employees is that they are likely to leave you eventually. Their strong track record makes them ideal candidates for bigger, better positions. This means it is imperative that you get use them to improve the performance and knowledge-base of other team members. Ask if they’re willing to be a mentor or let others shadow their day-to-day activities. Every rockstar you employ should be training the next rockstar in preparation for their inevitable departure.

These are just a few of the tactics you can use to manage your top-level performers on a daily basis. What’s most important is that you set the standard at the start. Find out how to set and maintain standards, as well as how to effectively employ other team management strategies, in my Sales Leadership Mastery course.

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Leadership Styles Spotlight
560 315 Aaron Sansoni

Everyone is different, so it stands to reason there should be endless different leadership styles as well. That’s actually not true. In my opinion you can break down each and every leader into one of six distinct categories.

In my course Sales Leadership Mastery I describe each of these leadership styles in depth and provide you with the tools you need to identify them in yourself and in your life. I know we’re all busy, so I wanted to give you a brief working profile. I’ve broken the leadership styles down in snapshot format for easy reference.

Leadership style no 1: Alpha Leader

Mindset:  I am the boss, and I am in charge.

Description: Alpha Leaders often have extremely clear action plans. There is usually only one right way to do something in the eyes of an Alpha Leader. They’ll tell you what it is, how to do it, and then make sure it’s done.

Leadership style no 2: Facilitator

Mindset: I’m not managing, I’m just helping you figure it out.

Description: Facilitators are often conflict resolvers and perform well in customer-facing situations. They are usually customer-centric in their strategies and attitudes.

Leadership style no 3: Chaos Conductor

Mindset: I’ve got this all under control even though you can’t tell.

Description: Chaos Conductors are usually fast-paced. They excel at keeping multiple balls in the air by allowing their team to do their job freely. They do not micromanage. Chais Conductor offices tend to look disheveled or unkempt.

Leadership style no 4: Visionary

Mindset: I’ve found something else for us to try.

Description: Visionaries contribute new ideas and new processes regularly. They love to change the status quo just to see if something else will work. Delegation is a strength of theirs, and the often use it to juggle their many ideas.

 

Leadership style no 5: Sprinter

Mindset: I just did it. Now you should too.

Description: Sprinters need to have extremely motivated teams to keep up with them. They fly through tasks and processes quickly and expect others to keep up. Often they end up performing tasks themselves if they find their teammates to be too inefficient for their liking.

Leadership style no 6: Silent Leader

Mindset: Watch me. I’ll show you.

Description: Silent Leaders are very powerful in their effectiveness. They attract followers simply by conducting business and achieving results the way they usually would on their own. They are neither at one end of the spectrum or the other. They simply do what they came to do, let others see them do it, and move on.

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