January 2016

Why Listening Makes You a Better Leader

Today, a leader must be an excellent communicator. They must be able to delegate effortlessly, motivate the team, and must be good at both verbal and written communications. But communication is a two-way street. Leaders also need to be active, patient and responsive listeners. While being outspoken and communicating clearly are two of the many attributes necessary for one to become a leader, it is listening that makes one a better leader.

How listening can make anyone a better leader

In the workplace, a leader is expected to address problems and initiate improvements. Certain problems will be obvious and a leader must be able to identify them. But, many problems are not so obvious. The only way a leader can get to know those issues is if they listen to the team or any particular member of the team. People should be able to come up to a leader with their problems and a leader must not spurn them.

Many leaders fail to actually hear what others have to say. They shrug at what is being shared or reported to them. They pretend to listen and forget what has been said soon after. They don’t even offer an audience and even if they listen. They can discard the issues at their whims and fancies. Such approaches are unbecoming of a leader.

The first step in being a better leader is to take the time to listen to others, and reflect back what is being said to clarify matters. A leader who listens is respected by their team members. Listening to anyone would make that person feel that they are important, what they say or have to say is being heard and that their thoughts, situations or their role in the team are valuable.

Steps to be a better listener include:

When listening to another person, imagine that they are the only other person in the room and be fully engaged in what they are saying.
Be open minded and put yourself in their shoes. You might not agree with what the person is saying, but give them a chance to fully articulate their thoughts. People will appreciate that you are making an effort to understand and hear what they are saying.
Repeat back the key points you are hearing and ask for clarification of anything you did not understand or may have missed.
Establish what follow up there will be, if any, so the person is clear on what will happen after the conversation is finished.
Remember, conversations are just the beginning step to implementing great ideas!

Listening is a skill that comes with time and practice. Leaders need to talk but they don’t need to talk to hear their own voice. A leader can always learn from others, from advice or suggestions from the team members and the act of listening itself can open up a treasure trove of informational and helpful exchanges. Remember, it only takes one person to suggest an idea for significant change to affect the organization.

As a leader, it’s up to you to become a better listener so you can improve your skills and earn the respect of your subordinates.

Casey Accounting & Finance Resources is dedicated to locating top talent for your accounting and finance positions. Contact a leading recruiter for finance careers today to get started!

Make Small Talk Your Strength by Shifting the Conversation Here

In the ‘information age,’ communication is the key to a successful office career. While lucid communication has always been a desirable attribute in a professional, especially for those in delegating and leadership or management roles, it has become much more quintessential today. Why? Companies are seeking professionals who are adept and comfortable in all forms of communication, including making small talk that leads to better working relationships.

How to improve the conversation by shifting the focus to small talk

When developing communication skills, it’s important to first focus on mutual interests demonstrated in initial small talk. Take the attention off “me” and put it on “we,” so that you can discuss a topic that you and your colleagues enjoy. It’s effective when relating to co-workers, talking with subordinates or managers, and building rapport with clients.

To be viewed as a true office professional, it’s important to establish or showcase your prowess in communication. That can be achieved by speaking decisively, confidently and in a manner that is understandable, convincing and engaging. Since communication is a two-way process and both or all parties must feel engaged, it is quite possible that what you talk about might not entice the other person enough. That is where small talk becomes your strength. Whether it is your interview or your first interactions with your fellow colleagues, small talk can give you the impetus you need.

What does small talk have to do with things?

In many ways, small talk is considered a normal part of any job. Unfortunately, there are some people who don’t like such conversations. When you speak about topics that matter to you and the other person, you can easily guide the conversation. At a more basic level, you get to establish a connection that will work in your favor. Small talk is also necessary if you wish to switch the topic of a conversation or you simply wish to steer the whole correspondence in a certain manner. Use open-ended questions to get the conversation going and invite people to tell stories instead of one word responses. Here are some conversation starters at the office:

What do you enjoy most about your weekend?
What is the most interesting thing that happened at work today?
If you could be anywhere in the world, where would you like to be?
What is the best way to accomplish our target for the week?

As Dale Carnegie stated, “Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.”

Using small talk during an interview to improve your career

Communicating better and more lucidly will become easy when you master the strength of small talk, especially on topics of mutual interest. For example, while being interviewed for a job, a candidate can use small talk to build a common ground with interviewers and appear to have the right personality for the job. This will present a candidate as having a confident, interesting and asserting personality. Use these tips during an interview:

Don’t ramble on. Keep small talk interesting and brief
Realize the interviewer is asking questions initially to see how easily you can engage in conversation
Answer the questions you are asked
Look at the interviewer and look interested in the conversation
Listen more than you talk

These are attributes that any company in any industry would want to have in its employees.

Casey Accounting & Finance Resources, a winner of Inavero’s Best of Staffing® Client Award for the second consecutive year, focuses directly on your area of expertise. Contact us today to work with a leader in finance recruitment.

2016 Salary Survey

Happy New Year! 2016 is upon us, and with that, there are updates to salaries in finance and accounting. The compensation trends change every year and with the fluctuating economy, you need to be on top of your game when negotiating salary numbers.

Looking to learn more about what salary expectations should be? Casey Accounting and Finance Resources can help! We have compiled our salary survey list with updated facts and figures including job descriptions for Finance and Accounting positions for the Chicago metropolitan area.

Contact us today and we will be happy to share this with you. In the “YOUR MESSAGE” section, please enter “2016 Finance Salary Survey”. Best wishes to you in 2016!

Be a Better Teammate – How a Positive Attitude Affects You and Those Around You

Be a Better Teammate – How a Positive Attitude Affects You and Those Around You
by Gregg Gregory

Many people believe that, with a positive attitude and positive thinking, you can do anything, including be a better teammate. I have an amazingly positive attitude, but if you needed surgery tomorrow, would you really want me to perform that surgery? Of course not.

While I do possess a positive, can-do, attitude, I don’t possess the skills to perform any kind of surgery. I believe that, with positive thinking, you can do everything (that you do) better than with negative thinking.

After a long week of travel and crossing the country twice in just eight days, an exhausted Jose was going through airport security late one night when an airport security woman said, “Hi, how are you?” Now let’s be clear, when the average person says, “Hi, how are you?” they really don’t care and are not even listening to your response.

Jose, being almost always in a positive frame of mind, quickly said to the security woman, “I am having an awesome evening and I am getting better.” In a very raspy and sarcastic tone of voice the security woman said, “Well somebody’s in a good mood.” Jose responded, “Why would you ever choose to be in a bad mood?” The woman looked like a deer caught in headlights and responded genuinely saying, “You know, you are right, and thank you for reminding me it is my choice. Have a great evening.”

Did Jose change the attitude of the woman? No. All he did was to provide an open atmosphere where the woman could freely and comfortably make a decision to change her attitude. Jose walked around the corner and watched for several minutes as the woman greeted the next few passengers with an entirely different and positive attitude. This, in turn, had a positive effect on the passengers as well. The real question is: how long did the attitude of the woman stay in a positive state? Quite probably until a passenger with a very strong negative attitude came by and yelled at her.

Bottom line, nearly 90% of the people you meet can be affected by the attitude you present at any given time, so why not impact the world in a positive way?

Here are five things to remember about having a positive attitude:

The average person comes in contact with 10 different people a day, either on the phone or in person. This means that your positive attitude not only impacts the 10 you come into contact with, but it can impact up to two or more generations down the line. If you are positive to the 10 people you come in contact with, and they do the same for just one more generation, that means that your positive attitude impacted 100 people. What if that carried out just one more generation? You have now impacted 1,000 people with your positive attitude. Unfortunately, a negative interaction works the same way.
Your attitude drives your work behavior. If you are positive, you will do your work faster and at a higher quality than if you have a negative attitude. Think back through the last three or four days. What kind of attitude did you have when you got to work? Now how was your production for that day? Do you see any correlation?
Remember, your attitude is not just in your words, it is demonstrated in the way you stand, your facial expressions as well as the tonality of your voice. Non-verbal cues can be even more devastating than the words you selected.
Your attitude has a dramatic impact on your health. This does not mean that positive people will never get sick or have problems. It does mean that they usually use their attitude to get through the problems more quickly. The same applies to laughter. How often do you get a gut wrenching belly laugh? How do you feel after such a laugh?
Remember, like the airport security officer, your attitude is your choice. When you feel like you are headed in the wrong direction, do one of the following:

Think about a time when things were clicking just right.
Call a friend and let them pick you up.
Make a change in what you are doing at that moment to something you know will help create positive energy.

The bottom line is, when you are thinking positively you will be more effective in every aspect of your life and, in many cases, the endorphins released can reduce pain and anxiety, which perpetuates a greater positive attitude.

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A diverse, twenty-year background in real estate, mortgage banking, event planning, and production, as well as radio and television broadcasting, created a perfect storm that put Gregg Gregory where he is today. Gregg works hard to ensure that different personalities can work together successfully to accomplish your organization’s mission, goals, and objectives. To learn more about Gregg’s powerful teambuilding programs and events, visit www.Teamsrock.com or call 301-564-0908

Monthly Archives: January 2016