Alissa Finerman

Los Angeles Executive Coach and Gallup Certified StrengthsFinder Coach, Speaker and Author

Best Articles on Leading with Strengths

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As a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach I have seen how a strengths approach can make a difference for employees, customers and companies. It’s a win-win. The Gallup Organization does amazing research on the strengths based approach and how it can help your employees, managers and organization. Here are a few excellent articles to learn more. Feel free to contact me with any questions or to learn more about doing a strengths seminar for your team.

* How a strengths based development approach can improve profit, sales, engagement for your company, customers and employees

ROI for Strengths Based Development

* Managers can make a huge impact in the success of your company and employee engagement. This article shares why managers matter, how they can make a positive or negative impact and a few strategies to help them development.

Manager Development Matters

* The strengths based development approach is impactful. This article shares some powerful stats that companies are seeing from using this approach. It also shares some best practices for managers to consider.

Strengths Based Development: The Manager’s Role

Why Aren’t All Organizations Strengths Based

Why Coaches are Essential to Creating Strengths Based Organizations

Building A Strengths Based Organization

Do Strengths Differ for Men and Women

Strengths Based Development for Leaders

Do Employees Know What’s Expected of Them

 

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, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb, the Milken Institute, LA Business Journal, Prostate Cancer Foundation, and NBC Universal. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook

Success Magazine Interview with Alissa Finerman

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Success Magazine interviews Alissa Finerman about her book, Living in YOUR Top 1%, and aligning goals with your values for greater success. Enjoy and feel free to share!

Success Magazine interview

http://www.success.com/podcast/alissa-finerman-on-how-to-align-your-choices-with-your-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, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb, the Milken Institute, LA Business Journal, Prostate Cancer Foundation, and NBC Universal. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook

Sharing Your Voice

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This past year I’ve had the opportunity to work with emerging leaders, managers and established leaders in various industries including commercial real estate, education, legal services, food industry, finance, accounting, security, tech and more. What’s most interesting to me is that regardless of the industry, role or title we all face many of the same issues at work and in our life. One key issue that consistently shows up is sharing our voice in a productive way regardless of your position. This is simple but not always easy to do.

We all need to find an authentic and meaningful way to share our voice whether we are introspective, thoughtful, supportive, reserved, talkative, direct, action oriented, visionary or an idea generator. How we share our voice in conversation, under pressure, when we disagree, during meetings or in difficult situations impacts how people think of us. It impacts how they trust and respect us and whether they think we add or detract value. If you add value people will want to partner with you more often and if you detract value people start to lose respect. It’s important to realize that this behavior contributes to how people view us.

Sharing our voice ties into the brand we want to build for ourself. Some people have something to say about everything while others prefer to stay quiet and think through all the possibilities before they speak – neither approach is necessarily good or bad. We all need to consider how we show up and if this aligns with the brand we want to create for ourself and the results.

Here are a few questions to consider:
1. What 3 words would you use to describe yourself?
2. What 3 words would others use to describe you?
3. What steps can you take to more effectively share your voice?

As we move into the new year, this is the perfect time to reflect on how we show up and the impact we are capable of making in the world.

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, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb, the Milken Institute, LA Business Journal, Prostate Cancer Foundation, and NBC Universal. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook

Building a Strengths Based Leadership Brand

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What Does Your Brand of Leadership?

Leaders can be effective with a variety of styles. There is no one size fits all model for success. While some study the styles of others, it’s even more important to develop your natural style that plays to your strengths. Effective leaders figure out the best way to build trust, instill hope, show compassion and provide a stable and solid environment where people can thrive and achieve team goals. The question is how do you develop your leadership style and authentic voice?

I recently worked with a client who was referred to a “quiet” leader (he managed a sales team) and his manager wanted him to share his voice more so people could appreciate his insights. Whereas some leaders are the first in a meeting to offer their point of view or decide what the team is going to do, some leaders like to listen first rather than hear themselves talk all the time. Both approaches can make an impact – the work is in gaining clarity on what you do well (your strengths) and how you can apply your strengths to gain credibility and results as a leader.

When I work with leaders who manage a team, we focus on developing their personal style of leadership. Each person needs to be able to answer this clearly and confidently. Leaders also need to be aware of how their leadership style is working and what your team needs more or less of. You may be a hands on leader who likes to get into the details with your team or more of a hands off leader who shares the goal and then checks in every once in a while to see how the project is progressing. Although there is no perfect path for leadership, you can create your personal and authentic brand to drive performance and engagement.

A few key areas that I discuss with my coaching clients include:

  1. How do you build trust as a leader?
  2. What strengths help you excel as a leader?
  3. What steps can you take to best partner with the people on your team?
  4. What’s the process for developing each person and connecting one to one?
  5. What do you do to motivate your team and recognize them for their contributions?
  6. What actions do you take to help your team identify and use their strengths daily?
  7. What do you do to build a stable yet inspiring environment where people have the confidence to do what they are best at?

Leaders need to deliver consistent outcomes and motivate their team by leveraging strengths and aligning them with meaningful goals. There are no simple formulas to be an effective leader but there are specific questions each leader can address to make the biggest impact and develop their team. One of the best steps you can take as you develop as a leader is to define your personal leadership brand to enjoy greater success.

We’d like to hear from you…how do you define your personal brand of leadership and what helps you be successful?

Managing the Millennial Factor

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Millennials are an important part of the workplace. There are 73 million millennials who were born between 1980 and 1996. Their voice matters and if companies, teams and people are going to be successful, managers need to understand this growing segment of the workforce and manage them more effectively.

When people are not engaged at work they are less likely to be loyal to a company and will move around more easily for new opportunities. Per Gallup, millennials are the least engaged generation at work at 29% compared to Genxers at 32%, Baby boomers at 33% and traditionalists at 45%. Gallup estimates that turnover for millennials stemming from lack of engagement costs the US economy $30.5 billion on an annual basis. High turnover is very detrimental to building a cohesive team because people need to be recruited, trained and re-learn about how best to partner with co-workers.

Managers who want to connect with and effectively manage millennials need to expand their development style and understand the six shifts taking place, per Gallup research, in this segment of the workplace.

  1. My paycheck to my purpose

There is a big shift taking place right now and it’s moving away from just having a job to make money to wanting to work for a company that’s making a difference in the work (think Tesla, SpaceX, Google, Uber, SAP, Toms). So companies need to realize that works like purpose make a difference and just simply having a sales target or empty goal that means nothing to an employee will not drive engagement. Millennials want to feel like they are connected to a larger purpose and making a difference.

  1. My satisfaction to my development

Companies can give all the perks in the world to their employees but if people don’t feel like they are being heard, recognized and developed by their managers they will not be engaged. A simple step mangers can take is to schedule regular meetings with their team and give feedback and share the goals and specific role responsibilities. People like to feel that they matter and that their voice is being heard. Regular meetings is an easy way to address this area and improve performance.

  1. My boss to my coach

Millennials want their “boss” to act like a coach and help them get better everyday. Bosses are often more about giving out orders rather than having a collaborative approach and listening to input (every boss is different). Millennials want to be part of the team rather than feel like there is a chain of command. They think their ideas are just as worthy as those of their boss and wanted to be treated with respect regardless of their age.

  1. My annual review to my ongoing conversations

Historically, companies have operated with annual reviews. This is changing now but millennials want constant feedback just like how they communicate. They are constantly texting, tweeting and instagraming so they see communication at fluid rather than a one time event. Managers need to understand this and adopt if they want to be successful. Gallup highlights that only 21% of millennials meet with their manager on a weekly basis.

  1. My weaknesses to my strengths

Most companies love to have people work on their weaknesses rather than identify and leverage their strengths. The strengths based approach focuses on what people are doing right and partnering to manage any weaker areas. To improve engagement levels, managers need to work with millennials to help them understand their strengths and how they can use them more effectively in their role.

  1. My job to my life

Millennials don’t just see the work day as a job, they see it as a way of life. They want to connect to the organization they work for and feel like they are valued by the organization, team and manager. The best way for a manager to drive engagement and make millennials feel like they matter is to honor their strengths and help them do more of what they love.

* based on the Gallup research report “How Millennials Want to Work and Live”

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, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb, the Milken Institute, LA Business Journal, Prostate Cancer Foundation, and NBC Universal. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook