Alissa Finerman

3 Simple Questions to Set Powerful Goals for Your Best Year

January 1, 2018 By Alissa Finerman Leave a Comment

For my goal setting friends, here are three simple and thought provoking questions that may be helpful. I have my coaching clients create goals based on these questions. And if you don’t love the word goals, then substitute other words such as where you want to focus. Remember goals are not set in stone. They are dynamic and can be modified throughout the year. Take a small step now to having your best year yet. Often it starts with one small step.

This year my energy and goals are focused around the words community, collaboration and making an impact. It will be much more powerful to write down your responses rather than just thinking about it.

1. What are a few highlights for you from 2017 (these can be wins or accomplishments that you feel good about)
2. What areas would you have liked to spend more time on or improve (this could be your health, charitable efforts, travel, friendships etc)
3. What are a few key goals for 2018 (think about WHY each goal is important and only focus on goals that help you feel engaged and fulfilled. If it’s a should goal drop it and refocus your energy. The key is to focus your energy around your strengths and partner in the areas where you are not as strong.)

Wising you all the best for an amazing and fulfilling year in every way!

About Alissa

Alissa Finerman is an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. She works with leaders and teams in all industries to help them perform at their highest levels. She has an MBA from The Wharton School and lives in Santa Monica, CA.

4 Strategies To Be A More Effective Manager

February 13, 2017 By Alissa Finerman Leave a Comment

Every manager would like to engage their team and have employees who are excited and enthusiastic about their work, feel connected to the company’s purpose and feel like they are making a difference. The question is how can managers achieve this simple but not easy goal. The trouble is that most managers are not given the training to develop and engage their team.

Employees can either be engaged (34%), not engaged at approximately 50% (people work for a paycheck rather than because they love what they do and lack any emotional connection to the company) and actively disengaged with levels at approximately 16% (people who don’t like what they do, dislike their manager and company and make this opinion known causing a negative impact). It’s not that managers don’t want to be amazing in their role, but they often don’t have the tools to do this.

Gallup has studied engagement levels at work for many years and currently is approximately 34%. This means that on a team of 10 people, only 3-4 people are engaged and actually like their job. The other 6-7 people are either not engaged or highly disengaged. Managers account for 70% of team engagement and play a critical part in the overall success of the team. Managers are like the quarterback of a football team. They call the plays, set the tone and influence the entire team with their confidence, energy, fears and mindset. So managers need to be aware of the energy and belief system they are contributing to the team.

Here are four tips managers can use to engage and develop their team:

1. Know the strengths of each person on your team

It’s essential to know what each person on your team does well and how they uniquely contribute. When people use their strengths they are 6x more likely to be engaged in their work, per Gallup. When managers focus on employee’s strengths, active disengagement with employees falls to just 1% and the level of engaged employees rises to 61% (as opposed to 45% if the manager focuses on weaknesses), per Gallup. A strengths approach is empowering and helps employees naturally focus on ways to manage conflict, share their voice, communicate, build relationships, execute, influence, think strategically and build trust using what they do well (aka their strengths). You can learn more about your strengths via this assessment (CliftonStrengths).

2. Ask better questions

Tony Robbins says the quality of your questions determines the quality of your relationships. Every manager needs to ask more effective questions that focus on the key issues and let their team know he/she cares. A few great questions to ask each person on the team include: are you clear on what success looks like in your role (only 50% answer yes to this question), what are you excited about in your role and what gives you the greatest satisfaction, what would you like to do more of this year and what one action step can I take to help you be more successful? Managers also need to ask better questions to understand issues from all perspectives and resolve conflicts in a timely manner to reduce any team drama.

3. Listen

Most of my clients think they listen but their direct reports often have a different opinion. Listening means more than being present for a conversation. It means listening to what someone is saying and having them feel heard. This includes not interrupting or finishing a sentence even if you think you know the answer. It also includes putting your phone down and looking up from the computer and just focusing on your employee. It can be helpful to paraphrase back the key takeaways so the person knows you understand and hear their concerns. Listening is challenging and takes effort but this simple practice helps you connect with your team on an authentic and powerful level.

4. Recognize the people on your team

All people want to feel that they matter and recognition is the perfect answer. Managers need to understand that people are unique and therefore may want to be recognized in different ways from a congratulatory personal email to lunch to a group team email to a simple thank you. Often, managers mistake negative feedback for recognition. They are not the same. Per Gallup research, only 40% of employees on a global basic feel they have been recognized in their work in the last 7 days. Recognition is a great way for managers to let their team know they care about them.

Managers play several roles in a company including being individual contributors, developing each person on their team and being responsible to motivate the team to achieve performance goals. Engagement and success levels increase when managers consistently recognize people on their team, listen to the needs and concerns of each person, ask better questions to solve conflicts and help people understand and use their strengths to achieve their goals.

About Alissa

Alissa Finerman is an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, speaker and author of Living in YOUR Top 1%. She works with managers, C-suite executives and teams to leverage strengths, shift beliefs and achieve meaningful goals. Alissa has an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked with Ross Stores, Petco, BNP Paribas, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Brookfield Property Partners, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dress for Success. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook

Mastering Feedback

February 12, 2017 By Alissa Finerman Leave a Comment

Most people want to get better and improve. One effective way to improve is through feedback. The challenge is if you accept the feedback. The process of feedback can be a raw and difficult one because sometimes the feedback you receive may not be what you wanted to hear. It’s tough to give and receive feedback when the message is not entirely positive but often these are turning point moments if the person can hear the feedback and constructively apply it.

There are several phases of feedback:

Denial – we reject the feedback or declare it to be untrue
Anger – we are upset at the person who delivers the message
Rationalization – we consider the feedback and think about a few examples where it might perhaps be valid
Acceptance – we consider the feedback to be true and accept the message
Take action – we take the feedback to heart and put some behavior changes into action
Others see a change – this is not a typical step in the feedback process but it’s how we know we are successful when others see a change in our behavior and there is a positive outcome

When clients successfully make a change, they own the feedback and behavior shift, commit to the new behavior and see the benefit. We can give people feedback but unless they digest it and decide to work on the behavior nothing changes. We know that feedback has worked only when others see a change in the person. For example, often the person working on change may feel that they are in fact more patient or a better listener yet everyone on their team still sees them as impatient and not a good listener. So the cycle is only complete when other people recognize and experience the shift in behavior – this is a critical component. It’s also helpful to let co-workers know what you are working on so they can help you stay accountable, give you positive feedback as you make progress and let you know when you are successful.

A good framework to give effective feedback follows this approach:

1. Start the conversation by sharing what the person does well (focus on strengths because people like to discuss what they do well) – example, I think when you are contributing at your highest level you are great at dealing with complex problems and communicating to the group what the key concerns are and how to address them. (If you need help identifying your strengths try this assessment CliftonStrengths).

2. Identify the issue so everyone is clear what you are talking about – highlight what didn’t go well without pointing a finger at the person. For example, in this project although we addressed the problem we didn’t clearly communicate the main issues to the team so there was a lot of confusion.

3. Ask the person for input, do you see the problem that I am highlighting and what is your perspective? For example, you can ask the person for their thoughts and if they think the communication portion was adequately addressed. They may or may not agree with you which is ok but it’s important to understand the conflict from their perspective.

4. Ask the person how he/she would approach this situation in the future and apply their strengths? It’s helpful to focus on what the person does well and how applying their strengths can help them work thru challenges.

5. It can also be effective to switch roles with the person and ask them how would they feel if someone on their team created the communication problem above? What suggestions would he/she have in this scenario?

Everyone needs feedback whether you are an intern, associate, manager or CEO. It’s the only way we get better and know what’s working. The key is in how you deliver feedback. Most people focus on the negative as in what you did wrong or what you are not doing. I encourage my clients who are managers when giving feedback to focus on the person’s strengths and what they do well to form the foundation for the conversation. Feedback is important because it gives people an opportunity to know where they stand, increases awareness of blind spots and offers a chance to improve.

About Alissa

What’s Your Management Style

February 11, 2017 By Alissa Finerman Leave a Comment

I had the opportunity to work with a group of 35 managers this week in a full-day strengths based leadership training event. One of the first questions I asked was for each person to describe their management style in one word. Obviously you might need more than one simple word to describe your style but it was an interesting exercise to learn more about each person and connect the group. The responses ranged from direct, listener, empowering, positive, supportive and more. It’s critical for each manager to understand his/her management style and then gain feedback on how effective it is.

If you’re not sure what your management style might be, a valuable approach is to identify your strengths to first understand what you do well (you can take the CliftonStrengths assessment to identify your top strengths). As an example, if your strength is developer your management style might be supportive, if your strength is consistency your style could be fairness and if your strength is strategic your style might be thoughtful. One of the words that was shared repeatedly was direct and I think it will be helpful to discuss in more depth.

It’s important to understand that being direct is neutral but it’s the person that makes a “direct” management style effective or ineffective. When you use your management style effectively you increase trust and respect and when you don’t you decrease trust and respect.

When a “direct” management style is effective, people know where they stand, they get immediate feedback on a project, issues are dealt with before they escalate and decisions are made rather than put off. For example, one client was direct in dealing with a conflict by identifying the issue in a timely way and talking to the people involved to understand the issues and make suggestions to help resolve it. This was an effective approach because it dealt with the issue, helped the team stay on track and prevented any additional drama.

When a “direct” management style is ineffective, the manager’s direct words can be harsh, insensitive, offensive, off-putting, increase conflicts and lack compassion. For example, the manager who gives negative feedback in an offensive way in the middle of a meeting and embarrasses someone on his team so the person receiving it is demotivated and wondering if they need to find another job.

Managers need to understand that sometimes you need to tone up or tone down your management style rather than say this is how I am so take it or leave it. Managers need to be aware enough to observe how their style is working to engage the team, build trust, create a stable environment, instill hope, show compassion and produce results. It’s not enough to only deliver results without the other elements if you want people to want to work on your team and contribute at their highest levels.

What’s your management style and how do you know if it’s effective?

About Alissa

Five Business Takeaways to Make This Your Best Year

January 5, 2017 By Alissa Finerman Leave a Comment

* This post appeared as a guest blog for Virgin

We all want to live our best life. The challenge is figuring out what our best life looks like. What are we really capable of achieving? I am continually reminded that regardless of someone’s title, salary, industry or size of the company, we all face similar issues to living our best life. We just handle them differently. I’ve shared a few insights to help you explore this question…

1. Speed bumps are part of life

We all hit speed bumps. Yes, all of us. Whether you are an experienced CEO, new parent or first-time business owner, there are always speed bumps or challenges. They just look different to each of us. What may be a speed bump today may become routine tomorrow. Hitting a speed bump is really not a noteworthy event. The interesting part is how we maneuver around it.

What I’ve seen as an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach is that the people who achieve and move forward understand that speed bumps are part of the process of going after what you want. One person had to be determined for four years to get a job at the company of his choice (and, yes, he had speed bumps such as a hiring freeze).

Takeaway: Often, the difference is a simple shift in your perspective to reclassify challenges and keep going.

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Image credit: Getty images

2. Mindset wins every time

“Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.” Thank you, Henry Ford.

Winners have a different mindset that says, “I can” or “I will figure it out and make it happen”. For example, I was incredibly inspired by one story of a property manager who oversaw a building that everyone labeled a disaster. The property manager refused to accept this story of mediocrity and hopelessness. He believed he could turn the building around and built a team to do just that. Before the end of the year, his building was one hundred percent occupied, and he was recognized for outstanding performance at the company’s annual conference. It’s a process, not magic.

Takeaway: Your mindset makes a big difference and directly impacts what opportunities you pursue.

3. Lean away from vague goals

Here’s the bottom line: if you’re setting vague goals, you might as well not even set a goal. I know it sounds dramatic, but it’s true. Vague goals lead to vague or no results because it’s unclear what you are doing. For example, ‘we need to start a training program’, ‘I will write a book’, or ‘I want to be a better leader’ are common examples of vague goals. When you are ready to be accountable and clear on what you want, you are ready to set a goal. Go ahead and declare to the world what you are going to do. And, by the way, major companies and senior team leaders set vague goals all the time so you are not alone. It’s much easier to leave things vague because it’s harder to evaluate the results.

Lesson: There is nothing vague about living your best life. Clarify what you want and go after it (and, yes, this takes time and asking good questions).

4. Focus on the why

People who achieve their goal are really clear on the ‘why’. There’s a difference between setting a specific goal and setting a goal that is both meaningful and exciting to you. When you have a strong why, it gives you a renewed sense of purpose and the motivation to continue moving forward.

Why do you want to be in shape, start a business, become an author, or start a blog? Is it something you should do or something that is important to you? Ask yourself why two or three times to truly understand why a specific goal matters to you. If a goal does not resonate and connect with your values, it will be difficult to move beyond speed bumps.

Takeaway: When you are clear on your why, you will wake up with a renewed sense of purpose and vigor.

5. It’s a privilege to live outside your comfort zone

100% of the people I’ve talked to who have achieved special moments, experienced uncertainty and lived outside their comfort zone — this includes the single dad bringing up his daughters, the first-time property manager and the woman in her thirties buying real estate properties to generate passive income.

Yes, it’s scary when things are uncertain. It’s uncomfortable for all of us. But it’s part of the process for personal development. It’s a privilege because it means that growth and opportunity are right around the corner.

Takeaway: What if you were 100% certain that moving outside your comfort zone and experiencing uncertainty led to personal growth? I’ve got a secret for you: it does, and it’s a privilege.

About Alissa

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