I saw a great post from Mark Miller last week on New Year’s resolutions for leaders – and it really challenged my thinking. I’m not sure what your leadership goals are for the new year, but if you haven’t thought about it, I’d suggest picking something from these ideas below.

1. Speak Up

Jack Welch made an observation in his book Winning that society and business generally seem to favor those who are energetic and extroverted above the rest. So where does that leave all the introverts (myself included)? Here’s a start: when you see something, say something. Whether it’s a safety concern, a new idea or simply providing your two cents’ worth, your voice will never be heard unless you take the opportunity to speak up.

2. Help Others Build Relationships

Nearly every organization struggles with poor communication, from top to bottom as well as sideways. One of the underlying factors I’ve found is that people simply don’t know each other. People who know each other are more likely to communicate and work well together. You may not be a social butterfly, but with a little initiative, you can still be a connector. Take a look at your network. Who do you know who needs to know someone else? What can you do to make an introduction?

3. Fight Off Pessimism

Pessimism – even under the guise of realism – will destroy your leadership influence. The reason is simple: no one wants to follow a pessimist. If you truly believe a project or initiative you are leading will fail, how can you expect anyone supporting you to believe differently? There is a direct relationship between expectations and results. Positive expectations get positive support which leads to positive results. Be an optimist.

4. Join a Cross-Functional Working Group

In any organization, there are generally three leadership opportunities: leading yourself, leading others and leading an organization. There is only so much room on the executive team, but a good way anyone can influence an entire organization is by joining a cross-functional working group. Instead of representing your function’s interests, you partner together to solve an organizational problem. And who knows, it could be great executive practice.

5. Smile

Dale Carnegie pointed out in How to Win Friends and Influence People that a smile is usually the first impression a person gives. In the business world, smiles lead to dollars because people prefer to do business with friendly people. A smile is the modern day game face. How’s yours?

6. Conduct an Experiment

Have you ever wanted to try something new, but felt you didn’t have the information you needed to know you would succeed? This over-reliance on research stymies people and organizations alike. Chip and Dan Heath propose an intuitive solution to this lack of action in their book Decisive. “Ooch.” Instead of waiting for all the data come in, conduct a small experiment to see if your idea can work. Why guess when you can know?

7. Learn Something New & Teach It to Others

Many organizations offer tuition assistance or provide a learning budget. Employees are sometimes required score a passing grade in the course to be eligible for reimbursement. But that’s usually where the expectation ends. The ROI on learning stays low unless people take the initiative to share what they’ve learned with others. If you engage in a development opportunity, host a lunch ‘n’ learn or ask for 15 minutes during your team meeting to spread the wealth of knowledge around.

7.5 Floss More

You haven’t gotten a lecture about flossing until you’ve gotten one from a high school buddy who is now a dentist. Maybe it’s not a leadership resolution per say, but my dentist friend told me recently that he always tells parents to floss in front of their kids because positive action examples are “more powerful than a million verbal reminders.” That’s a good leadership resolution for all of us: to set a positive example through our actions, whether flossing or anything else.

If you were to add another leadership resolution, what would it be?

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his new ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website  or follow him on Twitter.

5 Reasons You Should Join Me at Chick-fil-A Leadercast

John Maxwell: A couple decades ago, John Maxwell had a vision for a different kind of leadership conference – one that the average person could afford and would attend. The first conference, then called Maximum Impact Simulcast, took place in 2000. Chick-fil-A has since become the main sponsor and John Maxwell continues to be the face of the conference. If you’ve gained anything at all from Maxwell’s leadership materials, you don’t want to miss this event.

World-Class Speaking Lineup: Not only is John Maxwell speaking, this year you’ll get to hear from a world-class lineup which includes Jack Welch, Henry Cloud, David Allen, Coach “K” Mike Krzyzewski, Condoleezza Rice and others.

Spark Leadership Momentum: Sometimes we all need to take time away from our leadership responsibilities to get a fresh perspective and new source of energy. Stephen Covey spoke to this in his 7th habit, “sharpen the saw.” My own perspective shifted in several key ways when I attended last year, which resulted in some major leadership decisions. If you bring your team, the sparks could really fly.

Expand Your Leadership Network: What happens when leaders and learners from many different walks come together in one place? You’ll never know unless you join them! Your next contact, sale, opportunity or friend may be waiting right around the corner for you at Chick-fil-A Leadercast. I know my network has been greatly enhanced by attending.

It’s Affordable: There are still tickets available to attend the live event in Atlanta. Tickets are $239 per person, with group discounts available. But you don’t have to go to Atlanta to attend the event. There are simulcast sites all over the country at simulcast rates, including here in Kansas City.

5 Reasons You Should Join Me at Chick-fil-A Leadercast – simulcast in Kansas City

Build Your Local Leadership Network: If you attend the simulcast event in Kansas City, you’ll have access to the network that attends with me. As long as you contact me, I’ll save you a seat and make sure everyone gets introduced. Not only will you meet some great people, you’ll have access to their own networks, their resources and their ideas.

Kansas City is a Great Place: If you live in the Kansas City area, then attending our lone simulcast site at Mid-America Nazarene University makes a lot of sense. But there are many great reasons to visit KC as well. Since the event takes place on a Friday, you can enjoy our city while you’re here. Kansas City BBQ is second to none. You can check out the plaza or the fountains. And the Royals are hosting the New York Yankees at Kauffman stadium all weekend as well.

Win a Free Prize: Each simulcast site features plenty of opportunities to win door prizes, such as the the iPad mini featured here in KC. For the folks who join me, I’ll be giving out a free copy of Ken Blanchard & Mark Miller’s recent book Great Leaders Grow to one lucky participant.

30% Coaching Discount: Leadership coaching has become more and more popular in the organizational leadership space and one study even showed that it generates over 500% average return on investment when applied to learning activities. I have a special Leadercast promotion for up to three coaching sessions. (One before the event to set learning goals, one soon after to recap learning points, and the final one shortly down the road to support the implementation). Don’t let what happens at Leadercast stay at Leadercast (tweet). Get a coach! Visit my Coaching page or contact me for more information.

It’s Affordable: While the live event price is $239, the simulcast price in Kansas City is only $79! That’s a price just about anyone who values leadership can afford.

So what’s the standing between you and Chick-fil-A Leadercast 2013? Will you join me this year?

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website or   follow him on Twitter.

In my last post, I shared the basic principles of mentoring from a potential mentee’s standpoint that I’ve learned over the years. But I’ve also built a professional mentoring program in a previous role and also advised clients on mentoring programs they’ve set up themselves. I’d like to share some of the best practices I’ve collected.

Identify Your Objective

Mentoring programs can be great for development, but you shouldn’t build one just to have one. There’s nothing worse than setting up a mentoring program (or any type of program) that no one wants, or that is so generic that no one gets any value from it. Are you sure a mentoring program is actually needed? Would people sign up? What gaps would a mentoring program address? What outcomes do you want to see? Begin by identifying your program objective.

Identify Your Mentee Population

This may seem like a no-brainer, but it requires more thought than you might imagine initially. Most people probably consider entry-level employees as having the highest needs for mentors, and by and large they are correct. But additional groups could include new experienced hires, first time supervisors, first time executives, or employees who gain a new certification or join a new group. Or it could be a group of high potential employees being groomed for additional leadership responsibilities down the road. Your mentoring program will be most effective if it divides these populations into separate programs instead of one large program which accommodates everyone. Or you may want to focus exclusively on one group and address other needs at a later time.

Identify Your Mentor Population

Once you identify the mentees, you’ll need to identify which group would make the most effective mentors. Mentors should have more experience and knowledge in order to maximize the value of their insight. But they don’t need to be senior executives (in fact, for many mentoring programs, the tendency to recruit mentors from too high a level results in only mediocre results). A good rule of thumb is to match mentees with mentors who are 1-2 steps ahead of them in terms of career level, competency, certification, etc. Mentors should not also be a mentee’s direct supervisor.

Set Clear Expectations

Of all the steps included, this one might be the most critical. Many mentors are happy and honored to agree to serve in that capacity, but without clear expectations, their mentoring duties can remain a low priority when competing with all their other responsibilities. Here are some of the areas that need basic expectations:

• How long the mentoring relationships will last
• Maximum number of mentees that mentors should take on
• What mentees will seek mentoring for
• How often they will be expected to connect
• Where the mentor’s responsibilities begin and end
• What (if anything) is considered “out of bounds”

Incidentally, one of the most helpful expectations you can set for your mentors is that they shouldn’t try to provide 100% of the solutions to their mentee’s concerns. Encourage them to provide insight, but also to help their mentee think about the best solutions themselves. Mentors should also be encouraged to reference other resources and share their own networks.

Choose a System for Mentors/Mentees to Connect

Once the mentees and mentors are identified, they need a forum to connect. There can be various ways to do this, from publishing a list of mentors that mentees can choose from, hosting a kick-off event to make assignments, building an online system so mentees can choose their mentors independently, having the program manager assign mentors, or a number of other ways. Objective, budget, infrastructure, and preference for being hands on (or hands off) play major factors in choosing the most effective system for any given program. The biggest mistake is to not have one and to just assume that once the two groups are identified, they will make it happen on their own.

Obtain Executive Sponsorship

This practice is less crucial than some of the others, but can go a long way in generating both involvement and awareness. Try to get a senior ranking person in the organization to sponsor the mentoring program. Put their name on it. Let them speak publicly about the benefits and include their name and picture on communications. Use their influence to enlist more participation.

Utilize a Communications Campaign to Launch the Program

Once the program is ready to go, it will need some type of communications campaign to let everyone know. Generally, the more communication outlets the better. You might consider an internal web page, a corporate email message, a newsletter article, or a memo encouraging supervisors to promote the program directly to their teams. One effective method is to give a short in-person presentation at a town hall or community meeting to generate broad visibility. Make sure to reference start dates and links to additional resources and points of contact.

What other best practices would you add?

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website or   follow him on Twitter.

Telemachus consults Mentor

It’s said that King Solomon was the wisest man who ever walked the earth.  From the stories it seems his leadership ability was pretty astonishing as well.  Imagine what it would have been like to spend an hour with him.  What questions would you ask?  What problems would you want him to help you solve?  What best practices would you want to know about?

• You’ve been successful in this field when so many others have failed.  What made the difference for you?
• What are the most important lessons you’ve learned along the way?
• What advice would you give to someone just starting out today?
• What are some of the obstacles along the way I’ll need to be aware of?
• If you were starting all over again, what would you do differently?
• Who are the key leaders in this field I should be following?
• What books, publications, or blogs should I be reading?
• What questions haven’t I asked that I should be asking?

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website or   follow him on Twitter.

I met Ken Blanchard at Re:Write 2012

Have you ever found out about an event and wanted to attend, but were not quite sure if you were quite ready to capitalize on the entire experience? That’s the feeling I had leading up to Re:Write. I’ve enjoyed the challenge of creating and maintaining a leadership blog and have begun to dabble with a couple larger projects. But the timing and availability just lined up, so I bit the metaphorical bullet and signed up. Whether you’re an aspiring writer or not, I’d like to share my biggest takeaways from the event with you.

If you feel the call to write a book, then just write it.

This was a common theme throughout the conference. Seismic shifts in the writing and publishing industry will continue for another decade at least. According to the speakers, if you aspire to get rich from writing, that’s just not a realistic expectation. But you can make a difference. Don’t let your doubts or perceived lack of qualifications keep you from sharing the message that’s inside you.

Use your writing to create a conversation with your audience.

There is a huge difference between writing what you think needs to be said and writing what your readers need to hear. Ken Blanchard shared that he would write multiple drafts after constantly getting feedback from segments of his audience to hone the message for them. Lysa TerKeurst pointed out that marketing should be primarily about helping people call to mind why they need your message. And John Kilcullen added that selling a book isn’t a one-time transaction, it’s an ongoing relationship.

Your platform is your responsibility.

I had learned this before attending the conference from reading Michael Hyatt’s book Platform. (Hyatt was referenced frequently throughout the conference). But it did catch a few of the attendees off guard. Gone are the days when you can simply write a book and expect a publisher to create a platform for you. John Kilcullen bottom-lined by stating that your number one job, besides writing, is to create fans. An author is expected to be the primary seller for a book.

Humility is truly the high road.

I was completely blown away by the humility of the speakers who, by nature of their accomplishments and sales records, had clearly earned the right to toot their own horn. What I experienced was the complete opposite (although one of the attendees did bring a shofar to herd everyone back after breaks). The speakers were not in the least interested in highlighting their own accolades – only in making a difference for others. Writing simply afforded them the opportunity. Even Peter Strople, the “most connected man in America,” made much ado about the attendees he’d met and talked very little of himself. If I can someday possess half the level of humility the speakers at Re:Write demonstrated, I’ll consider it a major success.

Conferences can be incredible places to network.

This should go without saying.  The best connections are made when you show up face to face. I met some incredible people at Re:Write, such as Greg, who appeared with his #1 bestseller 1001 Ways to Be Romantic on Oprah, as well as his wife Karyn, who started the What’s So Funny About…? brand. (I’m definitely pushing for a What’s So Funny About Leadership? book!). I was even able to meet fellow leadership blogger Dan Black in person for the first time, who will be publishing one of my guest posts next month. (Incidentally, one thing that might’ve made a conference like this even better is a “speed networking” activity which would introduce participants to each other’s names, ideas, and projects quickly).

Live tweeting is awesome.

I’ve been to plenty of conferences that provided a hash tag to create a real-time conversation between the conference, the speakers, the attendees, and the public. In addition to connecting in person, it helped many of us connect virtually over Twitter. I was even able to follow Jon Acuff’s Quitter Conference, which was happening concurrently in Nashville. (I actually cross-pollinated a few comments using both conference hash tags since both events covered some similar topics and ironically I picked up new Twitter followers from both conferences). Search #ReWrite2012 to see the conversation we created together.

High profile and busy people will stick around for an event that is remarkable.

Most event speakers arrive just in time to deliver their presentation and then leave as soon as they wrap up. At Re:Write, almost all of the speakers stayed the entire two and a half days. They gave their talks and then took notes during the rest of the sessions. They sat on panels, signed books, and shared meals with the attendees. The fact that the conference was such a high priority for them spoke to its remarkable value.

Expect the unexpected.

I think most of the time you can’t quantify the entire benefit of attending a conference before you enroll (and sometimes even you after you return home). This is one of the reasons I love attending conferences. You never know exactly how one insight or connection could come around to benefit you down the road. Having returned, I still feel this way about Re:Write.

What conferences or seminars have you most enjoyed attending?

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website or   follow him on Twitter.

But here’s the catch: most people don’t think about leadership until they experience a leadership challenge. (Click to Tweet)  They accept a supervisory position, a new leader takes over, or the environment changes.  Then, when they experience more than they can handle, they begin to think about leadership a lot!  This is pretty normal actually.  In fact it’s the ones who experience a leadership challenge and continue to NOT think about leadership who tend to make the most mistakes and drive everyone else crazy!

So how can you and I avoid the trap of being unprepared?

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website or   follow him on Twitter.