Level up: Three ways to ask for more responsibility at work

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Those who want to climb up the corporate ladder must learn how to highlight their skills, talents, and character. In a corporate setting, there's always a place for those who want to put their time and talent to good use. For business coach Emile Haddad, one must have a clear plan before discussing taking on more work with a superior. Here are three ways to request for more tasks at work.

1. Schedule a one-on-one meeting with the superior. Asking a boss when having an informal lunch with the rest of the team might not be the best idea. Organizing a one-on-one meeting will allow managers and supervisors to hear the employee's request formally. This can also be an opportunity for the superiors to provide options that will make the request work.

2. Present a carefully considered plan
A well-thought-out plan will show a person's earnestness, explains Emile Haddad. During the meeting, it might benefit the employee if they already have a carefully considered plan. Making a proposal or a presentation will give superiors the chance to take note of points. Discussing how the plan will benefit the team and company might tip the scales in the employee's favor.

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3. Show dedication.
Leaders will carefully watch employees requesting more work to see if they are ready for more duties. While these superiors are still deciding on the request, the employee should continue showing excellence in performing the usual tasks. From a superior's point of view, allowing a person to take on more jobs can affect the whole team's performance. Demonstrating commitment even while waiting for an increase in tasks wills set-up a person for success.

Emile Haddad is a Seattle-based business coach who believes that a company’s success is dependent on the condition of its employees. He conducts seminars and lectures that unlock workers’ strengths and hidden potentials. Visit this blog for reads on succeeding at work.

Employee recognition and how it prevents company catastrophes

In all his years helping companies grow, Emile Haddad has noticed that in many instances, huge disasters that bring down entire businesses begin with the smallest things. Because of this, it’s important for business owners and managers to take a closer look at some details that may have a company-wide effect.

For this blog, Emile Haddad focuses on how the simple act of recognizing the efforts of employees can be enough to stave off a catastrophe.

Picture this – a small distribution business with about a dozen or so office workers taking in calls and plotting out schedules through which the company delivery vans will be delivering products. In the office, all 12 of the employees work hard for 8 hours a day, 5, maybe 6 days a week. Of course, not everyone works at the same pace. Some employees get the job done faster than others. Other employees get sick. However, even with the slight disparities in productivity, the tasks get done, and the products get delivered.

At the end of the year, management decides to reward four, maybe five of its employees who they deem to have worked the hardest and make a huge deal of their efforts. The rest of the team are left there staring at each other, having had fought tooth and nail, but never given credit.

What happens after? Feeling dejected, the remaining seven or eight decide to (secretly) look for new jobs. They hand in their resignation papers at the start of the following year all at the same time.
Now, Emile Haddad suggests an alternative take on it – where everyone is recognized, but only one outstanding employee is given an award. This way, nobody is alienated, and everyone feels they’re still appreciated. Think about it.

Emile Haddad is a Seattle-based business consultant who teaches entrepreneurs about the importance of respect and building a culture of excellence in the workplace. For similar reads, go to this page.

Three ways to deal with the office know-it-all

Dealing with a know-it-all can be frustrating especially in the fulfillment of tasks and responsibilities. In a professional setting, it's important to keep emotions in check before confronting a colleague with whom there are disagreements. Business coach Emile Haddad shares some ways to approach the workplace know-it-all.

Don't be afraid to engage

Know-it-alls tend to think that their way is the best. While some of them are actually good at what they do, the contributions of other team members could be more valuable. In this case, it's okay to engage. Don't be afraid to question their points or to verbalize the possibility of a better option. To prevent embarrassing the all-knowing co-worker, always remember to be courteous and diplomatic. In the process, encourage them to listen to what others are saying.

Confront, don't compete

When there's a know-it-all in the team, some people choose to put on their competitive face, ruining the dynamic. This might also send the wrong message to the difficult co-worker, making them think that they're being challenged. Emile Haddad suggests confronting the person in private to avoid embarrassment and conflict within the team. Leaders must also state the importance of collaboration and cooperation within the group.

Delegate specific tasks

Some people who seem to know it all just want to share their knowledge. But there are employees who want to assert their position over others even when they're clearly in the wrong. For difficult co-workers who still won't change even after confrontation, delegating tasks that will challenge their skills can be a good solution. This will require them to focus and put their knowledge to good use without compromising the team's performance.

Emile Haddad of Seattle is a business coach and consultant. His focus is helping entrepreneurs with their bottom line through simple yet effective learning plans. Visit this page to learn more.

Essential skills employees need to develop to become leaders

A thriving company has a stable of leaders who can direct, encourage, and influence others. Business coach Emile Haddad believes that those who have potential to become leaders need to expand their skill set continuously on their way to the top. But what are the essential skills they need to become true leaders in their workplace?

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Listening

There are many good speakers out there but what the workplace might need is a good listener. This kind of leader knows when and where to share ideas and opinions. They also give others the opportunity to share their knowledge. In times of conflict, understanding conflicting points of view can help in forming resolutions.




Networking

Leaders should have the ability to connect with others on a professional level. While some people have the charisma of natural networkers, others can develop this skill by socializing and learning more about the business. As a veteran business coach, Emile Haddad believes that knowing who to approach and what to discuss are also part of good networking skills.

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Time management

Those who will eventually assume leadership positions will have to handle a lot of responsibilities. Mastering one’s time means allocating enough time to accomplish tasks and even to check up on others. Knowing where and how to spend their time is the main factor in a leader’s efficiency.

Emile Haddad is a Seattle-based business coach who believes that a company’s success is dependent on the condition of its employees. With this in mind, he conducts seminars and lectures that unlock workers’ strengths and hidden potentials. Visit this blog for more on leadership and success.

Take care of the family business through succession planning

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Most of the time, when entrepreneurs start a business, they never think about the day when they would have to leave it. The experience might be the same for executives who have been key players in the same company for decades. Developing a well-founded succession plan ensures that one’s legacy will remain long after they are gone.

Through succession planning, a business owner or executive can identify potential leaders in the organization by assessing their skills and qualities that would be helpful for the continuous growth of the company. A well-developed succession plan can help the board to handpick the most qualified leaders in the organization and provide them with training and coaching if necessary.

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Developing a succession plan makes the future of the family business and the intentions of the owner clear to every person involved. Critical business processes must be written clearly in the plan. High-performing employees must be maintained through training and development. High-potential performers must by kept engaged through focusing on their opportunity to grow within the organization.


An executive of the business or business owners themselves must create an exit strategy wherein the company would still run smoothly without them. Succession planning promises leadership continuity, but not the company’s long-term success. Consider a family business’s succession plan as a kind of insurance that would help the business succeed both during and after developing a plan set for the future. A long-term map for the future secures the company’s efforts and the business owner’s legacy.


Emile Haddad, a Seattle, Washington-based business coach, has taught many employees about the different skills they need to achieve professional success. For similar reads , head over to this page.

The hand of innovation in a company’s long-term success

In business, being innovative is a survival skill. Companies that have made it a century after its founding know the importance of adapting to the times and new technology. 

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With increasing globalization, competition is also increasing. To be ahead or even level with competition, a company must have innovative plans that would later on translate to innovative products and services. These products and services must prove relevant and useful, easy to replicate, and less expensive in production. Providing something authentic encourages productivity and efficiency. The drive toward having a significant contribution to society should fuel innovation.

Social media is a form of technological innovation that companies have dived into since its advent. This plays a major role in the communication between businesses and consumers, and is a great avenue for companies to know what their consumers are looking for. With the ever increasing expectations of customers, companies must be ready to come up with products that are new, useful, and creative, to keep their customers wanting for more. They won’t accept mediocre and obsolete products and services. 

Diversity also has its hand in a company’s growth. As leaders come from different walks of life, they lead with different perspectives, which is great for a business to continue to thrive. Having a diverse leadership provides more channels for innovation, as their outlooks aren’t the same, yet they lead with one vision in mind. 

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Emile Haddad is a Seattle, Washington-based business coach who has sensitivity to differing values within the workplace that has enabled him to develop business management models that promote top-notch professionalism and excellence. For more insights, visit this blog.

Transactional Leadership: Assumptions And Inner Workings

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Transactional leadership is an organizational scheme where leaders motivate and direct followers by appealing to their self-interests. It works around the system of providing rewards if an employee does well, or penalties if the employee underperforms.

One of the basic assumptions of transactional leadership is that employees perform better under a definite and well-established chain of command. The workers can distinguish between the levels of leadership and which specific leaders are delegated to certain tasks. It also assumes that the primary motivation of employees is determined by rewards and punishments. Third, the primary directive of employees under such setup is to follow the orders of the leaders. Lastly, employees need to be closely monitored in order to ascertain that expectations and objectives are met.

Transactional leadership is based on the relationship between the employee and the management, defined by mutual need fulfillment. In the implementation of the rewards and punishments system, rules and procedures are integral. This type of leadership is effective in setting initial expectations and standards which will boost the efficiency and productivity of the team.

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Transactional leaders are expected to give constructive feedback to their team members, which leads to an increase in the efforts of the latter to receive better feedback in the future. Transactional leadership is also fully effective in the event of a crisis or during crunch time. Focus, one of the strengths of this kind of leadership, is key in the mitigation of disasters.

Seattle-based business coach Emile Haddad’s sensitivity to differing values within the workplace has enabled him to come up with business management models that promote professionalism and excellence. Get to know him more through this blog.

Management Values: Accountability and Transparency

Sometimes the output becomes of utmost importance in the office. What leaders have to remember is that more than anything, the welfare of employees must never be neglected. Returning to the practice of accountability and transparency might bring about changes in the work dynamics. Instead of overlooking others just to get an individual task done, becoming aware of each member’s role in a team is essential.

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Accountability means being responsible for delivering. Whether it’s a small or crucial work task, being answerable to it is a sign of professionalism. If a leader keeps an important part of the job under wraps, those under him or her will eventually lose concern and do the same for their other assignments. Accountability is also about being responsible for one’s self and all the members of the team. This means recognizing that an individual has a role to play in the success of a project.

Transparency, on the other hand, is about being open for correction or evaluation. This could become difficult for those who have reached the top. However, to ensure the work’s quality, it is good to remain honest about all of its aspects. An office environment will thrive when transparency is promoted.

Accountability and transparency, when exercised, inspire success among all those involved. Having integrity at work will not only strengthen the relationship but will also cultivate best practices that assure quality output.

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Emile Haddad is one of Seattle’s most trusted business coaches. As a principal consultant at Catalyst Business Coaching and Consulting, LLC, he provides clients with the proper knowledge and skills they need to achieve their dreams of entrepreneurial success. To know more about Emile and his services, follow him on Twitter.

Age of innocence and innovation: Not every work day is marked by brilliance

Multiple sectors are on a high with innovation, naturally because it is the best way to secure long-term business viability. Moreover, innovation nowadays is coming around to an overarching intention of promoting public good. Green technology is on the rise to allay anxieties about climate change and environmental degradation. Medicine, in particular, has an inherent breakneck R&D mandate to defeat the ravages of dreaded diseases and epidemics. The sector, however, is a case for building innovation on the details----the management of medical facilities, which is not so much concerned with breakthrough cures as with improving hospital experience, can be more profitable and efficient.

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Corporate cultures, then, are embedding the innovative mindset within the walls of the workplace for some good old intrapreneurship. Joint ventures and public-private partnerships are well and good for funding the ideas of others, but a company that can file its own patents for a novel idea will definitely rule the market. The largest example is Google, with its sprawling campus of inspirational air. Employees are encouraged to go off at certain periods in search for the next big thing, at paid company hours.

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Even then, the jewels of thought are washed ashore only as often. Google does not roll out a stellar new product every month, which would have meant that brilliant employee pitches are coming in every day and being piloted with supreme speed. But it's the small things in the Google environment of products that give clues about the company's inherent dynamism. A new Gmail format is just as telling as Google Glass of the hum of in-house activity.

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Every work day has to be productive, but it can't always be easy going. Cultures of innovation take long to build, with pre-requisites such as competent professionals motivated by the right compensation packages, open leadership, and flexible business processes that allow the injection of new, viable ideas when they come up.

Emile Haddad is a Seattle-based business consultant with modern insights on leadership and innovation. Visit this blog for new ideas about professional life and entrepreneurship.

Leadership in the Age of Social Media – Advice from Emile Haddad

Leaders who have spent their formative years using low-tech tools to implement their directives might find it difficult to transition to a more digitally savvy format.  After all, social media platforms are constantly evolving, and although Facebook and Twitter have been the gold standards for several years now, the public is fickle – new formats are always emerging and occasionally fading away forever.  Nevertheless, it is critical to get a handle on the digital social landscape in order to keep abreast of public sentiment. 

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“The information technology sector is one of those industries whose innovation potential, though still in its infancy, has the potential to change every aspect of life as we know it,” says leadership consultant Emile Haddad.  “To keep this edge in the face of global market competition, entrepreneurs will do well to listen more and talk less at their teams; they need to take a much more proactive role in being curious and inquiring in effective ways so they can mine the imagination of everyone around the table.”

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Social platforms play an essential role in the effective communication between not only business leaders and their teams, but also leaders and the public.  Many organizations have social media branches of their organizations as a type of marketing solution, but some of these same organizations fail to use social media for its most useful purpose – namely, to keep their brand in touch with societal whims and desires which may prove to be highly lucrative.  Social media platforms provide fruitful trend and information mining opportunities that should never be ignored, and 21^st century leaders disregard them at their peril.

 

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“We must be comfortable in pushing the edge; asking tough ‘why’ questions and exploring territories unfamiliar,” says Emile Haddad.  “Successful new discoveries bring to the market new opportunities, new industries and new investments.”

Leadership in Business

Corporate culture and successful management relies on the interaction of teams and leaders in order to cultivate a positive environment. Leadership needs to be focused on not only overseeing projects and day to day operations, but also on encouraging team members to become independent of constant supervision. The best leaders create a positive morale to increase productivity throughout even the busiest times of the year.

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Unsuccessful managers and team leaders often make mistakes and believe that giving orders and double checking team work makes up all the responsibilities of any supervisory position. Theoretically, this is accurate; subordinates must follow instructions in order for a company to succeed. However, this management style almost always results in a less efficient department or team, as no one in the office believes or cares in the work they are doing.

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The best managers ensure that employees understand the reason behind each task, and foster an environment that encourages more output and better results through positive feedback, rather than fear of reprimand. Professional and constructive relationships need to be built between leaders and team members to improve team communication and efficiency when working together. Team members need to believe that management and leaders care about employees as people rather than business assets, which can be created through a positive atmosphere manifested by an effective leader. Regardless of the work load, employees rally behind leaders that show themselves to the company and make employees believe in them. Good leaders are magnetic in any setting, and make team members believe in a company message and culture. 

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Leadership is always far more involved than basic delegation of work. Leadership involves the management of people and finding effective ways to encourage and help employees. Visit leadership expert Emile Haddad’s blog for more information on leadership and how to apply effective leadership skills at any setting.

Leadership Involves Understanding the Logic behind Decisions That One Makes

You are leading a team meeting, and as you look into the eyes of your subordinates, a thought suddenly occurs to you: These individuals are quickly formulating opinions about whether you are a true leader or whether you are simply their “manager.” The two terms are quite different, particularly when the need to make a decision is at the center of the complex discussion.

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Many people who are in supervisory roles quickly discover the need to make important decisions effectively, but they often neglect the need to pay attention to the logic behind these decisions, according to Emile Haddad, a business consultant and coach. Understanding the purpose behind a decision that you plan to make will increase the chances that the decision will have a positive outcome

Knowing that you have to achieve a goal at your organization indeed is the first step toward experiencing success. Figuring out what you have to do in order to attain this goal is the next step toward success; however, many managers stop at this step. The third step that is critical in any decision-making process is pinpointing exactly why the decision has to be made in the first place. Knowing the purpose of the planned action as well as the expected outcome will enable you to determine whether the decision truly is the best option.

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People often explore the purposes of their decisions subconsciously, but they usually fail to discuss this openly, which allows for greater analysis of the decisions. Important decisions that may benefit from open discussion range from introducing a new product line at one’s company to merging with another company with the goal of maximizing one’s future profitability. When more people examine all sides of a potential decision and agree that it offers the best method for solving a problem, the chances are higher that the decision will have positive long-term consequences.

Observation and the effective leader

Good leaders understand the value of observation.

One of the underlying difficulties in understanding just how effective leaders work is the depths one must go to observe.  Casual observation of effective leadership fails to take into account many aspects.  Upon closer look, one would notice that effective leaders tend to be very observant when it comes to personal matters. 

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Good leaders know how to observe themselves work, be it by introspection or through feedback from the people they lead.  By knowing and observing what they see in themselves, good leaders are aware of their own flaws and areas for improvement and can work toward self-betterment in due course.

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Fortunately for many who strive for leadership positions, the inner observer that is vital to the emotional development of a leader is present in some form in all people.  The task of developing this inner observer falls to the person.  Ways to accomplish this include, among others, undergoing performance evaluations and remembering criteria for judging performance.

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A clear understanding of oneself through one’s inner observer can help a leader develop and grow emotionally, which in turn can help the leader effectively guide and influence people to reach their common goals.

For updates from Emile Haddad, a business coach based in Seattle, visit this blog.