4 quick-shots of your favorite roast to jolt you into action in this new week.

Note from Art: I’ll offer new suggestions almost every week.  Readers needing a double-shot are encouraged to checkout prior servings found under the Leadership Caffeine category at the Management Excellence site.

1.  Commit to tackling the tough conversation you’ve been delaying

We hate the tough conversations and we naturally push them off, naively hoping that the issues and behaviors might go away.  They don’t.

Create time in your calendar and set up the overdue meeting.  Plan your discussion ahead of time to increase your comfort and to help ensure that you cover the right issue.

Suggestions: focus on the behavior in question; link the behavior to a business issue; identify the change required; work with the individual to create a plan, and set an appointment for follow-up.

This gets easier the more you do it.

2.  Put a positive spin on project post-mortem meetings.

Most of these post-project “beat ourselves up” sessions emphasize the negatives.  “What did we do wrong?” is the most frequently asked question.  While the intention is good, it doesn’t get the group focused on building on strengths.

For a change, use the question: “What should we do more of?” as a discussion prompter.  The difference in wording is subtle, but the conversation will take on a decidedly positive tone emphasizing the development of best practices.

Try it.  You have nothing to lose and some great best practices to reinforce.

3.  Live and lead by the adage: Seek first to understand and then be understood.

Talk less and listen more. Focus on improving your active listening skills.  Resist the urge that so many leaders have to dominate the conversation.

Just because you’re in charge doesn’t mean you have to carry the conversation load. To the contrary, the most effective leaders know the power of learning by listening.

Suggestion: work on improving your Questions to Comments ratio.  The more questions you ask, the more time you will spend listening to others.

4.  Declare a moratorium on “first thing Monday morning” staff meetings.

OK, you may have to work on this one for next week.  If you run a weekly staff meeting, make it a “second thing” or schedule it over or after lunch.  Give your team time to reboot and dive into the week.

I’ve worked for a number of CEOs that liked to start the week off with a “first thing” staff meeting.  While the CEOs clearly thought this was a good idea, staff members attended purely in compliance mode.

Most people I know spend some time on Sunday night preparing for the week, but the “first thing Monday” window is time to start moving, not to start sitting. Your managers need time to greet their teams, look at and update forecasts and reports, ensure that priorities are in order and deal with any start-up fires.

While your “first thing” staff meeting is important to you, you’re a minority of one.
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Speaking of getting to work.  It’s time to push away from the keyboard and find someone to listen to.