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Leadership Optimization

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Author: Don Tai

The Team Leader

The Team Leader

Ashley Prisant Lesko, President
Ashley Prisant Lesko, President

Dr. Ashley Prisant Lesko, SHRM-CP has a multi-faceted background – from working in the military as a Naval Officer to leadership roles in Fortune 100 companies, to educating students at colleges and universities. As a Surface Warfare Officer, she led hundreds of sailors and employees on ships around the world.

After receiving her MBA at MIT, she filled various senior leadership roles at Amazon, working in operations, HR and finance with over $45M in P&L, training programs, budgeting, and strategy across 4 fulfillment centers.

Her book, Go Beyond the Job Description, sheds light on ways for leaders and individuals who want to do more of what they enjoy doing in their current job. She now leads Square Peg Solutions, focused in operations strategy implementation for high growth companies & optimizing leaders’ impact on organizations. She teaches leadership, business and HR classes for Harvard Extension.

  • Name one thing most people don’t know about you.
    I have a passion for travel – I have been to over 45 countries, all 50 states, and all 7 continents. I believe the more you travel, the more you learn about yourself and those around you.

  • What is your greatest leadership trait?
    The ability to see the opportunity in others. Everyone has a potential – but it’s up to the individual to act on that potential. I help people recognize and act on that potential – and love seeing what they become when they cross those milestones! This is one of the inspirations of Leadership 9 Box – it helps leaders fill in the gaps of their skills (believe me, we all have them!)

  • What is your favorite leadership motto or quote?
    “Sometimes it’s the very people who no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine” – Christopher Morcom – Going beyond what anyone ever expects is the hallmark of an inspirational leader

  • What are your strengths in Strength Finders?
    My top 5 strengths are: Learner, Achiever, Woo (winning others over), Positivity and Individualization … these strengths have helped inspire me in starting SPS.

  • What is your favorite food?
    If I could only have 1 ice cream for the rest of my life (and I really love ice cream!) it would be Rocky Road … doesn’t matter if it’s in a cup or cone!
Leadership Expert Releases Book: Choose Your Comeback Plan

Leadership Expert Releases Book: Choose Your Comeback Plan

Leadership Expert Releases Choose Your Comeback Plan, a Timely New Book to Help Business Leaders Recover from Crisis

Jenn Strang Marketing & Communications

Charlotte, NC—Leadership and business strategy implementation expert, Ashley Prisant, Ph.D. releases her timely new book, Choose Your Comeback Plan, aimed at helping managers and small business owners return from crisis with a winning comeback strategy. With its unique approach to problem solving, Choose Your Comeback Plan is part business adventure and part resource guide.

“2020 could be the year that makes or breaks business leaders. They’ve been handed one challenge after the next and some just aren’t able to clearly see a way through,” says Ashley Prisant, Ph.D., principal at Square Peg Solutions, a consulting firm focused on leadership, business optimization, and helping teams pivot with limited resources and comeback challenges. “Indecisiveness is not a viable solution. I created Choose Your Comeback Plan to help leaders deal with the immediate crisis and harness momentum to push their business forward.

In the first half of the book, readers face a series of critical decisions that will take them further into the story as they choose their own path and create their own outcomes. Readers can opt to select the route they would typically take or try a different perspective – without real-life risk. Each story reveals a different outcome and allows readers to choose the ending that works best for them.

The second half of the book is filled with content to help the reader devise their own winning comeback plan using a step-by-step approach that applies a 5-piece pivot plan. This hands-on guide with specific strategies, tactics and questions helps leaders determine how to steer their organization and emerge an even better, stronger team than they were before the crisis.

Ashley Prisant, Ph.D. possesses a multi-faceted background that makes her uniquely qualified as a leadership and strategy implementation expert – from her career as a Naval Officer to her leadership positions at Amazon during its the rapid-fire growth in the early 2000s. Today, she teaches leadership, business and human resources courses for Harvard Extension School and leads Square Peg Solutions, a consulting firm focused on leadership and optimization. Her expertise lies in helping teams deliver results in a short time with limited resources, rapidly increasing productivity, and coaching leaders to maximize engagement while improving their bottom line. Choose Your Own Comeback Plan is Dr. Prisant’s second book, following Go Beyond the Job Description.

Choose Your Comeback Plan (ISBN: 9781735157504) is available on Kindle and in paperback via Amazon. For more information about the author and the book, visit the author’s website.

source

Choose Your Comeback Plan – Book by Ashley Prisant

Choose Your Comeback Plan – Book by Ashley Prisant

Choose your Comeback Plan: Surefire methods to help reinvent your team or organization after a crisis, Book by Ashley Prisant, June 2 2020, Amazon
Choose your Comeback Plan: Surefire methods to help reinvent your team or organization after a crisis, Book by Ashley Prisant, June 2 2020, Amazon
Choose your Comeback Plan: Surefire methods to help reinvent your team or organization after a crisis, Book by Ashley Prisant, June 2 2020, Amazon
Choose your Comeback Plan: Surefire methods to help reinvent your team or organization after a crisis, Book by Ashley Prisant, June 2 2020, Amazon

Turn the crisis you are facing now into your team’s comeback plan.

Choose Your Comeback Plan offers managers and small business owners a unique approach to understanding and recovering from crisis.

Utilizing a step-by-step approach that applies a 5-piece pivot plan, leaders challenge themselves and their teams to transform their immediate crisis and harness momentum to push their business forward. By choosing their own path, readers can bring their team and organization back on track – faster than competitors.

Choose Your Comeback Plan is a business adventure book – readers will follow their own story and choose their own path. Readers can follow the path they would typically take given the situation at hand or try something new to develop a different perspective – without risking anything. Each story reveals a different outcome and allows readers to choose the ending that works best for them.

The second half of the book is filled with content to help the reader determine how to devise their own winning comeback plan. A hands-on guide with specific strategies, tactics and questions helps leaders determine how to pivot their organization and become an even better, stronger team than they were before the crisis.

Fostering Leadership: Kimberly Ross, BluSkye Consulting

Fostering Leadership: Kimberly Ross, BluSkye Consulting

Fostering leadership in any organization is fundamental. Companies who foster a culture of leadership set the tone for a positive, empowering work environment. Leadership must drive this vision and lay the ground work to cultivate a positive result. This starts with attracting like-minded talent and nurturing ‘leaders in the making’.

Some people are born leaders, while others are ‘leaders in the making’. Leaders are those who step up to the challenge. They practice active listening, are open minded, creative and think outside the box. Great leaders communicate effectively, are decisive, and empower those around them. They are honest, loyal and have integrity. Leaders are part of the solution!
Researching what makes a person a good leader has led me to three core competencies – interpersonal skills, time management, and organization.

Interpersonal Skills
The first of these competencies is possessing and practicing good interpersonal skills. Leaders are active listeners, reliable and self-confident. They show empathy, have a positive attitude, and are team players. These leaders have a positive influence on others, often without knowing it. They motivate and inspire others around them. Leaders are creative problem solvers. Most importantly – they communicate effectively!

Time Management
Secondly, a good leader practices time management. This includes focus, self-awareness, goal setting, prioritization and more. Example: Having 30 plus years of sales experience and worked for several Sales Managers, it has been my experience holding team calls or one-on-one meetings at the beginning or end of the day frees up sales personnel to reach more clients during peak hours. Hosting ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions is another great way to communicate with your team, yet not taking them away from precious selling time. This is also leading by example and unconsciously mentoring. By encouraging the sales team to focus on administrative tasks during times when clients are typically not available, you are fostering good time management.

Organization
The third core competency is organization. The goal of any company/organization is to ensure work flows smoothly. Implementing deadlines, creating tasks/deliverables and managing milestones establishes a plan for achieving the desired outcome. This includes creating general work tasks for yourself and others. Set a goal for every meeting. If you do not establish a goal, you are wasting your time and that of your team or your client.

Practicing the three core competencies – improving interpersonal, time management, and organization are the foundation for a’ leader in the making’! The principals of leadership are simple when you think about it. They can be applied to any leadership role. Consistency and practice are instrumental in becoming a great leader.

Finding a mentor is key in learning and gaining experience in applying these skills effectively. A mentor can be someone you know or work closely with on a regular basis. It could be a business professional you look up to at work or a coach you have employed through a leadership training program.
Mentoring is based on relationships and communication. This is an exchange of knowledge, advise, and insight. Mentors offer invaluable skills and knowledge like storytelling, candid feedback, tips and tricks on how to handle different scenarios, and more. Often mentoring is a learning experience for both the mentor and mentee.

As a mentor, I found there were areas in my skill set I needed to improve upon as well. Mentoring afforded me the opportunity to learn more about my own leadership style. I gained a wealth of knowledge (including a few lumps) through client facing, sales and customer service management roles in my 30 plus year career. Sharing this knowledge has provided a sense of fulfillment. I hope by sharing, others will benefit from my experiences in a positive way, as well as enable them to tackle the challenging situations.

‘Leaders in the making’ may be self-motivated to take the next steps in improving their soft skills for personal or career reasons. Others are encouraged by peer leaders to continue building their foundational skills. These peer leaders see the potential in others and nurture them, sometimes simply through their actions – much like a mentor. Leadership cannot be taught; however, it can be fostered and developed through experience. The team at BluSkye Consulting recommends the leadership training solution Leadership 9 Box by Square Peg Solutions to all our clients. The program offers an eLearning experience in the core competencies of leadership, as well as mentoring by SME’s.

Zig Ziglar is quoted as saying ‘Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation’. This rings especially true in leadership. Preparation is a trickle-down effect. Companies where leaders share the organizations vision, focus on customer success, and empower employees are building a strong foundation for the future and ensuring success. Organizations employing mentoring programs are ensuring their future by essentially creating what is commonly referred to as succession planning.

As a ‘leader in the making’ or someone who already holds a leadership role, improving your skills and practicing them are the building blocks to success. You hold the key to future opportunities. Foster success for yourself and others. Find a mentor (most great leaders have a mentor), seek a great leadership training program to sharpen your soft skills, and practice those skills regularly – there is always remove for improvement!

Kimberly Ross – Entrepreneur and President, BluSkye Consulting

Go Beyond the Job Description, Book By Ashley Prisant Lesko

Go Beyond the Job Description, Book By Ashley Prisant Lesko

Go Beyond the Job Description, Ashley Prisant Lesko. new book published July 03 2018
Go Beyond the Job Description, Ashley Prisant Lesko. new book published July 03 2018

What do you do well that you don’t use at work? In Choose your Comeback Plan: Surefire methods to help reinvent your team or organization after a crisis © 2020 available on Amazon