Empower women to make them and your workplace thrive

Retired University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban, speaking at a recent healthcare convention, says he was just an average coach until he learned the power of transformational leadership over his usual transactional, outcome-oriented approach. "Transformational leadership means you're going to set a good example. You're going to be somebody that somebody can emulate, and you care about other people to help them for their benefit, not your benefit, for their benefit," Saban says.

Put it into practice: Saban, who led the Crimson Tide to a 201-29 record and six national championships over 17 seasons, says the key to team success is to challenge each player to excel. "We show everybody that they're the best version of themselves, that they're going to create value for their future, which will benefit their quality of life and their chances of being successful in life."

Chances are good that you don't need to bring in outside talent to spark better productivity and ideas at work; chances are you already have such employees, and they're women whose abilities have yet to be noticed or tapped, writes leadership coach Joel Garfinkle. To become more competitive and promote from within, look to women by engaging, empowering and leveraging, Garfinkle explains.

Put it into practice: Engaging women at work helps their voices be heard instead of dismissed. Look for those who may have low-key personalities but excel in key areas, and bring them to the fore. And leverage what you find and the gains you make by not just giving one woman the chance she deserves, but by bringing more women into leadership positions, Garfinkle suggests.

Anecdotes at work -- whether you're selling a luxury vehicle to a customer or an idea to a colleague -- can help further your cause because "[p]eople remember stories 10 times more than they remember facts, a slide, a PowerPoint slide and a number," Harry Kramer, a Northwestern University leadership professor, a private equity firm partner and a former CEO, said in a recent podcast. It's not just making a number or fact more exciting; it's about connecting with people through stories, which Kramer believes "is probably one of the most powerful things."

Put it into practice: Kramer recalls the story he told people at work when trying to stress the need to take care with company money and possibly receive a bonus. His son put a bead up his nose, and they were headed to the emergency room. Before they got in and racked up a $500 bill, Kramer told his son to try as hard as he could to blow it out, and they'd go buy an entire pie and rent a movie to watch. It worked and yielded happier poeple and a far smaller financial outlay.

What's stopping you? Thirty-two percent of you report considering launching an entrepreneurial venture but haven't taken steps toward making it happen.

Ask yourself what's holding you back. Is it skill? Money? Desire? Fear? Risk aversion? Lifestyle concerns? Once you have your list of concerns, do some research. Talk to others who have launched a venture. See if your concerns are warranted. Write a business plan to see if you have a viable concept. Understand your "why?" for why you'd do it in the first place. That could be freedom, money, excitement or a contribution to society.

Analyze all these elements and come to an informed conclusion as to whether or not you can and should launch a venture or if you're really better off and happier in a larger organization. Either outcome can be right. Put in the effort though to get yourself an answer to give yourself some peace of mind.

-- Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, which includes TITAN -- the firm's e-learning platform. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He is a West Point graduate and author of three leadership books: "One Piece of Paper," "Lead Inside the Box" and "The Elegant Pitch."

Rachel Botsman, an author, teacher and a leading expert on trust, defines trust as "a confident relationship with the unknown," which, Botsman says, means integrity is more important than transparency since that reduces the need for trust. "People's confidence comes more from a belief that you know what you're doing -- capability, and I know why you are doing it -- character. Put simply, it comes from not just doing things but doing the right things," says Botsman.

Spending quality time with your dog, whether it's playing with them or taking a walk, has benefits for them, but a study in South Korea found the activities linked to an increase in alpha wave strength in humans, which is associated with better memory and reduced mental stress. In addition, gently massaging and grooming a pet were linked to stronger beta waves, which are associated with heightened concentration and attention.

I was really taken by Rachel Botsman's definition of trust "as a confident relationship with the unknown" and how a demand for more transparency in leadership is simply a way to reduce the need for trust because it attempts to remove much of the unknown.

Instead, it is our integrity as leaders that builds trust, something Nick Saban talks about learning during his career. Seeking to develop his own integrity and that of his team members led them to become a force to be reckoned with on the field.

Saban obviously knows the power of a good story, too, just as Harry Kraemer does. Throwing facts and statistics at people makes their eyes glaze over, but tell a memorable story, and they'll never forget the lesson you were trying to teach.

Botsman says our current approach of lowering our expectations of others -- especially politicians -- in a low-trust environment only erodes trust further. Instead, as Saban notes, we must expect more from ourselves and others and develop that confident relationship with the unknown.

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