Are you new to your role and challenged with imposter syndrome? 
Are you in a leadership transition and struggling to be a better boss?
Are you facing succession with trepidation?
Are you wondering where your job love went?

I get it!

Here's the problem:

The manager-to-leader journey is not easy. It can be a lonely adventure, and the pandemic has only compounded the isolation. Leadership can be a privilege, a pleasure, and a painful experience at the same time. When we get paid to deliver results, it's easy to lose sight of the opportunity we have to lead and make a difference.

Managing is not the same as leading - we need both to be effective, efficient, and successful. 

But when you're under pressure from your boss, your peers, your deadlines, and a myriad of complicated circumstances, our default is to manage, micromanage, and overmanage, ultimately forgetting that people also crave leadership. 

Leading people can be a game changer but only when we execute it with intentionality. It’s never accidental.

Frustrations, Pain, and Aggravations

I hear it all and there's nothing I haven't heard.

From managers, from managers' bosses, from managers' employees.  

Here are my top favorite frustrations of, by, with managers
(yes, I'm talking to and about you! but don't worry, I'm also talking to the manager next to you!)

Not taking ownership | Not honoring commitments | Giving reasons for why something can’t be done | Concerned about image | Blaming | Automatic No | Saying yes with no intent to commit |
Lack of curiosity | Repeating mistakes | Continuing processes that don’t work | Failure to understand the bigger picture | Not making tough decisions around personnel | My way is the only way | Silo mentality | Limited visibility |  Disconnected to needs of others | Unable to build relationships across teams | Being a victim | Setting poor example | Pessimistic | Not self-reflective | Unproductive exchanges | Unable to solve issues amongst their peers | Lack of empathy | Drama provokers |
Unable to resolve issues without escalation

Build Better Bosses Intensive … The Circle of Excellence

I developed the Build Better Bosses Intensive: to help managers evolve and achieve a level of performance that completely transforms the results they are creating because of it.

Should you be involved in this?

• At this point, I don't know. It just depends on your current situation, where you're trying to go, and what's keeping you from getting there
• If you're dealing with any of the aggravations listed above, I CAN tell you they're NOT just going to disappear on their own.

If you want to discuss your situation and see if the Build Better Bosses Intensive Circle of Excellence is right for you or your team, get on my calendar and schedule a short call where we can discuss.

• There are a limited number of spaces for the Intensive, so scheduling your call sooner than later would be a good idea.
• Here's the link to schedule a call with me: http://www.scheduleyou.in/5WmLJby5B

More More!

The Circle of Excellence! A leadership journey with a community of  peers from a variety of organizations and industries. Through masterminding, mentoring, and leadership training, we explore what it means to manage and lead simultaneously. We look at how to be effective managers, meaningful mentors, and great bosses. In the end, we discover the secret to making a difference (and having fun again), in spite of and because of the titles we hold!  

Is the Build a Better Boss Intensive and the Circle of Excellence for you? 

If you are a new manager or team lead with manager aspirations, the Circle is for you!

If you have a few years under your belt managing and leading and want to take your leadership to a new level, the Circle is for you! 

But let me be completely honest, the Circle and my time, energy, expertise, and passion are only for you if you are: 

• committed to making a difference with your title
• excited about influencing and inspiring others
• willing to look at other people's perceptions of you
• eager to identify and address your blindspots
• prepared to take a chance and be uncomfortable
• open to new ideas and suggestions for managing and leading
• intentional about taking actions
• able to persist and be resilient in the face of circumstance
• ready to mastermind and mentor
• eager to take your ambition on a mission

Here's the potential for you:

Leadership is a skill that can be developed, improved, and honed! Each of us can evolve from individual contributor and micromanager to Manager who Leads. It's a (neuro)science and an art; it's a passion and and a privilege.

Imagine engaging with people on your team and purposefully choosing to manage their expectations while leading them to become bigger, better, bolder versions of themselves!

We just need to reverse-engineer how people operate, examine what contributes to or contaminates trust, understand how missed expectations occur, and discover what drives people to perform and thrive. From there, we create and apply formulas that allow us to build trust, communicate, influence, develop, delegate, establish accountability, and recognize.  

A comeback story:

When Mary joined the Circle, she was struggling. She was losing the trust of her team; her communication was landing like criticism and accusation; her bosses were blaming her for their own shortcomings; and as a result, her self-esteem was teetering.

Her 360 assessment only confirmed this story. Her scores were wildly inconsistent, negative, and frustrating. She was losing at the game of leading, and she knew it.

Mary and I worked together in the Soar Coaching Program for 6 months. We focused on her communciation style that caused the intention-to-impact confusion; we worked on closing the constant expectation gaps; she experimented with new language for delegating and giving feedack; and she discovered how to manage and lead.

Mary's post-360 assessment evidenced Mary's growth and improvement - people noticed and appreciated her hard work. Her scores were consistent with a Manager who Leads. The comments from her team and her boss were complimentary, receptive, and enthusiastic. And even the suggestions for improvement had an underlying tone of responsibility and partnership.

Mary discovered how to prevent the intention-to-impact confusion and close the expectation gaps. She strengthened the trust and connection with her team. She discovered a passion for leading that softened her insistence on managing (and often micromanaging).

Today Mary is more confident and connected with her team, she experiences joy and engagement as a leader, and she is back on the path to leadership advancement. 

Why the Circle of Excellence?

Because aspiring leaders need a Leadership Community.

We need a leadership community now more than ever. We need to stop trying to lead in a vacuum. We need to learn from each other. And we need to lean on each other.   

The good news is that you don’t need to figure out managing vs. leading all by yourself. You don’t need to be on this journey alone. And in joining a community of greatly-intended peers (not like-minded... we need to learn from different-minded peers!), we up-level our experience and our results together!

Isaac Newton said, "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Consider the Circle the shoulders of giants you've been waiting for! 

How is the Circle of Excellence different?

Studies show that we put into practice only 5% of the theories that we learn. That sucks. What a waste of time, money, energy, and enthusiasm!

Good news! That number goes up to 90% when we include masterminds, feedback, demonstrations, and mentoring.

And so that's what we've done. And I promise you will learn theories. And I promise you will put them into practice. And I promise it will make a difference so you can make a difference.

Here's the journey that the Circle of Excellence Program will take... 

Pre-360 Benchmark

You will start with a 360 assessment to identify any perceptions, strengths, blindspots, opportunities to develop.

Goal - your Ambition on a Mission

You will then create a Manager-who-Leads Goal - an objective, a commitment, a project, an obsession, your ambition on a mission that will intentionally drive from program start to finish.

Coaching & Mentoring

• Coaching: you and I meet as need for 1:1 to explore your goals and specific situations 
• Mentoring: you meet monthly with your Learning Partner for peer mentoring 

Group Circles for Leadership Training and HotSeats

You will come together with your group 2x/month for leadership training and hotseats. We cover a 6-month curriculum on the following essential topics: battle cry, trust, communication, delegation/accountability, feedback/development, recognition, gumption, and joy!

Weekly Success & Intentions Report

By submitting a Weekly Success & Intentions Report, I can recognize your accomplishments, identify resources, and create accountability and support throughout this journey.

Post-360 Benchmark

At the end of the program, you will do another 360 assessment to measure your progress and celebrate your improvements.

Final Showcase of Results and Recognition

You will complete the program with an opportunity to share your insights and accomplishments, and to acknowledge your results.    

Testimonials

"If it wasn’t for this program, I would have quit being a Nurse Manager. I didn’t have any guidance at my job. But with my mentor’s guidance, we worked through problems like communications, techniques, and project management. Everything they didn’t teach me in nursing school, my mentor taught me. I am three years as a Nurse Manager now and I’m still growing. Very grateful for the program!”

Sandra Marquez, BSN, PHN, MICN

"The first time I heard Ann, she opened a new perspective for me: knowing what I do not know can be the biggest hindrance to becoming an excellent leader. I quickly signed up for the Circle of Excellence. I have grown leaps and bounds as a leader, applying the knowledge Ann imparted and the sharing of challenges and solutions from the group.     

It has been an amazing journey. Ann's infectious personality and her ability to strike a unique balance of careful listening with sharing her wealth of experience and ideas. She is inspiring, insightful, and her coaching is exemplary!"

Rosemarie Brian 
Assistant Controller
Pine Street Inn

"As the Director of Learning and Development for Fairfax County Government, I was looking for a leadership program that would fit my needs of leading self and leading teams. The Circle began pre-COVID and I immediately felt connected with the other leaders in the program.

After a few meetings, we were full force into the COVID situation, and Ann continued to mentor, guide, lead, and reassure us as leaders to stay the course. We met monthly and discussed many topics that were near and dear to our specific situations, including: resiliency, change, fear, feedback, and the battle cry!

This program and Ann led the charge to support our individual and collective needs! I highly recommend the Circle of Excellence to anyone in a leadership position, for small or large teams, and to anyone ready to be more self-aware. 

I then put one of my reports into the next Circle and I saw such a change in her! She is so much more self-aware and has this sense of calm and collaboration I haven't seen before. And this is allowing me to be more effective in my own role. I actually like my job again!

Thank you, Ann, for all you do to prepare us to serve our teams! It was a life-changing program!

Robin Baker
Director, Learning and Development
Fairfax County Government

This Program is for: