The Tim Ancona Leadership Blog

A leader needs to understand how to hold people accountable while extending grace. If you only hold people accountable without grace or give grace without accountability you will not be an effective leader.

It's not just the words you use but how you say them that matters and one of the things that affects how people interpret you is the pace at which you speak. Use pace to control the messaging you want people to receive.

We often compare ourselves to other people, which can make us feel like we are never improving enough. Whether it's feeling like you haven't run far enough that day, or answered enough emails, or any number of things. In this video, I share how to spin this feeling into something positive.

Part of growing as a person means being aware of what's going on in the world and keeping an open mind to how you can make a difference. In this video, I share how I try to keep aware and do my part.

Communication is important in all aspects of life, and we have all had instances where we weren’t the best at it. In this video I share my two top tips for improving your communication with others.

With more people working from home, meetings have become even more abundant. In this video, I share some ideas for how to make them something to look forward to, rather than dread. – Tim

In today’s new normal, it’s easy to fall into negative thoughts. In this video, I share how I’m keeping busy and what I’m doing to stay positive, and spread that positivity to my family, friends and coworkers. – Tim

As any manager can tell you, there are a lot of rules and principles out there for hiring employees. Over the years, I’ve built some of my own principles about what makes a great employee and incorporated ideas from many other people. In this video, I share some of them as well as 4 attributes that I heard recently from Mark Cuban. – Tim

Ever feel like your ideas aren’t being heard by your boss? Listen to this quick episode to learn what actually may be happening. – Tim

Most managers love to delegate, because it means they’re entrusting a task to someone else so that they have time to work on other priorities. On the other hand, if you’re the person having things delegated to you, it can be less enjoyable because it feels like your manager is giving you the tasks they don’t want to do. In this video, I share two simple words that can help turn delegation into empowerment. Try them out and see what happens! – Tim

More and more often, employees today are working remotely. Technology makes this easy, but it’s also easy to feel disconnected with people having to meet over the phone or online, rather than in person. When I first started this company, we had two locations—I had to figure out how to make people feel connected. In this video, I give you five tips for making remote workers feel more connected and engaged. And if you feel like sharing your own tips, please leave them in the comments below! – Tim

I mentioned in my last video that our company recently went through the Insights Discovery program, where we learned what our “personality” colors are and how they affect how we communicate in both our business and personal lives. In this video, I invite Paul Mitchell, our VP of Delivery Services—someone I work with very regularly—to speak about how the differences between his and my colors affect how we speak to each other. – Tim

We just completed one of the most fun, and busiest, weeks for our company: our annual meeting, Converge. This year, we welcomed some guests from Insights Discovery, and they taught us about how we each communicate. Both how we want to be communicated with, and how our colleagues want to communicate. There are four colors that represent each one of us, and each person carries those four colors in a different order. In this month’s video, I explain my own personal colors, and what I learned about how they help me communicate both in business, and my personal life. – Tim

Last week, my family and I traveled to Italy to try to find my grandfather’s birthplace. We found it, but I realized that in order for me to have found it, the people living in his former home had to open their doors to me—a complete stranger. They were so welcoming. That’s no small feat these days, as I’m sure most of us would have issues opening our doors to strangers. So, my message is simple: open your doors. Be welcoming. Talk to people—you never know what might come of it. – Tim

My wife, Karen, and I recently did a hike in beautiful South Dakota. Scenic, right? Except the higher we got, the more fog rolled in, until we couldn’t see anything! That’s when Karen suggested we just focus on enjoying the journey itself. The same concept can easily be applied to the business world. There’s so much we can get out of the journey to the final product, and sometimes we need to remind ourselves to focus on that rather than the final destination. – Tim

About a week ago, I took a group of employees to the 2018 Global Leadership Summit, held at Rockford University. This year’s theme was “Everyone Has Influence,” and the speakers included Pastors TD Jakes and Craig Groeschel, author Danielle Strickland, and even TED Talk alum Simon Simek. They spoke passionately, had wonderful knowledge to impart, and gave us all a lot to consider about how to grow as leaders. In this video, I share my top takeaways from the event. If you attended, I’d love to hear what you thought! What were your favorite parts? What did you take away that you feel will help boost your influence in your business and personal life? – Tim

Sometimes, we’re so ready and willing to help someone out that we don’t fully listen first to what they’re asking of us. In my latest post, Mike, my VP of Marketing, and I show just how easily this can happen, and how embarrassing it is to be the person who isn’t listening. Slow down and listen, and you’ll be better able to help those who need you. – Tim

In my 9 years as a high school tennis coach, I’ve learned a lot about working with teams. Whether you lead a team, or are just part of one, it’s always important to be aware of each team member’s weaknesses, as well as their strengths—and accentuate both to make sure the whole team is successful. To hear more, check out my latest (very brief!) video below. – Tim

How do you stay relevant? If you’re in a leadership position, or want to be in one, this is an important thing to keep in mind. From your clothes, to how you adapt to new tech, to the kinds of books you read—staying relevant helps you stay on top of the competition and shows people that you respect them, as well as the current trends. In this video, I lay out some key things that help me stay relevant. Do you have your own methods? Share them in the comments! – Tim

There’s a famous quote in the business world that says, “Employees don’t leave their jobs, they leave their boss.” I disagree with that; I think employees leave jobs, but it’s because they don’t feel that they can win or grow in that job, and it’s the boss’s responsibility to show the employee how they can win. I explain more in the video below—if you have any opinions on this, please leave a comment! – Tim

In my experience, there are two types of bad leaders out there. Those who don’t want feedback because they don’t really care what others think of them, and those who care so much about what people think of them that they focus on being liked instead of leading. The trick is to be that leader who is able to care about the people but is confident enough to not let every bad opinion of him/her paralyze their leadership. Do you have experience with this? I invite you to share your thoughts! – Tim

Have you ever felt the temperature in the room change suddenly? Not hotter or colder, but something just seems off. It happens to me quite a bit, and what I’ve learned is that leaders determine the temperature in a room with their attitudes. Check out the video below for the full explanation. – Tim

On the last blog, I talked about the Global Leadership Summit at Willow Creek I was going to attend with a group of colleagues. All of us—those who were new to the Summit as well as those returning—were blown away. The knowledge and motivation the speakers delivered was well worth the investment. In this video, I’ll share my “Top 10 Takeaways” from the event. If you attended, I’d love to hear what you thought. What were your favorite parts? What did you take away that you feel will improve your business or your personal life? – Tim

Most of us know the saying, “treat others as you’d like to be treated.” It’s a great thing to keep in the back of your mind as you interact with others, and it even has Biblical origins. As I grew as a leader, however, I learned that there’s a better way to say it: “Do unto others as they would like to be treated.” To serve others, you have to first find out how people want to be treated, and then find a way to treat them that way—even if that’s different from how you would want to be treated. – Tim

I was listening to a leadership talk while on vacation recently, and it reminded me that a leader’s job is not just to lead people. That’s a big chunk, of course, but it’s equally important to lead yourself. That means finding time to focus on YOU—whether that means taking a sabbatical, or reading a book for a couple hours, or exercising. I’m curious, how do you take time to Relax and Refuel? – Tim

Today’s topic revolves around a concept that many people who are new to management or leadership don’t often grasp right away: The Power of Position. As a leader, you have to be a figure of authority, and you also need to recognize people and give them affirmation. Being a leader means incorporating both sides into how you manage people, and those who do that well are bound for success.

For the next part of this customer service series, I want to focus on learning to say, “what else?” Saying this simple phrase allows your customers to freely give all of their feedback, and that means you’ll fully understand their wants and needs. – Tim

I’ve covered a few great methods for improving customer service, but there’s one very simple thing that, when done right, will really set you apart from your competition: Own the Issue. – Tim

Welcome to part 3 of our Customer Service discussion! Today’s tip is simple but very effective: Be Responsive. I’ve talked about how customers need to feel heard, and part of that is giving them a quick response. – Tim

This is the second part of my discussion on Customer Service. We’ve talked about one of the key reasons why customers leave to go to a competitor. And now we look at how “nice” customers—those who never say a word—don’t always help you. Especially when they “nicely” stop doing business with you with no explanation. – Tim

This is the first video blog in a series I will do on customer service. The first step in serving and keeping customers is understanding Why Customers Leave to go to a competitor.   -Tim

In this first introductory video I’ll share some of the key principles these blogs will be based on, like servant leadership and continual growth. I’ll also introduce the core areas of business we’ll be addressing, namely product excellence, employee engagement, and customer service. I hope you enjoy! – Tim