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Take charge! Lead Your Class or Meeting to Success
We've all been there. We attend a seminar or a class and gnash our teeth as the leader falters, gets off track or allows other participants to waste our time. These tips create a strategy for effective leadership. Modify for different audiences. 1. You're the leader. Be strong! Don't abdicate your role to the participants. 2. Get buy-in on your agenda and goals before you begin. Think of a flight attendant's announcement just before the doors closed: "We're going to Cleveland. If you don't want to go to Cleveland, this would be an excellent time to depart." 3. Keep the group on track. Sooner or later, a participant will toss out an irrelevant comment or (shudder) a long-winded story. Be ready with tactics: "I'm sorry to interrupt, and I'd like to hear that story during our break." Or, "That's a great topic for next week's class." 4. Inevitably, one person will try to dominate the class, asking lots of questions, interjecting frequent comments. What will you say? "Thank you, Mr. X, and can we hear from someone on the left side of the room?" Or, "Let's hear a question from someone who's been silent all morning." 5. Demand attention! Cell phones off, private conversations in the hallway. Participants will be grateful. They're usually annoyed but afraid to speak up themselves. 6. If you're established as a leader, make a rule: "No apologies before you speak." Recently I attended a meeting where smart professionals prefaced their input with, "This is probably a dumb question, butŠ" or, "I may be way off here, butŠ" Participants come across as lacking in confident and listeners say silently, "Just get on with it!" 7. Eyelids drooping? Time for a break, even if you haven't scheduled one. Sleepy participants lower the meeting's energy. 8. Long class? Incorporate exercises and breakout sessions. Combine coffee breaks with assignments. Keep everyone moving. 9. Just before class ends, identify take-aways. What do you want participants to learn? What should they remember? 10. End class early. Use the last fifteen minutes - no more - to go around the room and ask everyone a question. For example: "What will be different next time you sit down to write?" "What surprised you most in today's class?" "What is your next step?" Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., author of Making the Big Move, helps midlife professionals navigate career and business journeys. Complimentary Special Report: "Raise your DQ: Decision Quotient" http://www.cathygoodwin.com/signup.html. Contact: http://www.cathygoodwin.com/feedback.html Phone: 505-534-4294
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