Leader Central

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Various individuals have various views about what they think of counseling. Those who desire to become counselors and those who seek the help of a counselor and teachers, parents, public agencies, and school heads all have differing opinions and expectations of counseling. The endpoint of these objectives is dependent upon the counselor and the client.

Counseling experts don’t always agree on the exact counseling objectives and principles, as they are frequently imprecise, general, and filled with insinuations. Nevertheless, there are five most common objectives that these experts agree on:

• Enhancing the client’s capacity and efficiency to cope.
• Encouraging positive behavioral change.
• Holistic development.
• Improving an individual’s ability to create and foster healthy relationships.
• Supporting the decision-making process and enabling a person’s optimum potential.

In this article, the emphasis will be on group therapy and how a counselor can effectively lead people into becoming better versions of themselves.

In today’s world, a rising amount of focus is placed on efficient mental healthcare. This is indeed a significant sign of improvement in the community, and the strategies of going through therapy and counseling can often be puzzling. The implication is that there are various kinds of mental health treatments as there are practicing counselors and therapists. This is partly because of modern therapy’s focus on going through therapy that works for the individual. Counseling groups take on the idea from a somewhat wider perspective. These groups encourage those suffering from various challenges to ask for help with the company of other people with whom they can relate.

A counseling group is a great tool for assisting groups of people in surpassing some of their most difficult problems and learning coping strategies that they can use for life – if it is appropriately done.

Below are some significant steps to take to lead a group counseling session effectively.

Be Direct And Upfront But Not Assertive.

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Anybody who leads a group counseling session must be upfront and honest about its objective – its intentions, how, whom, and what obstacles they hope to aid these individuals present. Concurrently, this should not make the participants feel like they’re the targets of judgment and criticism. Among the most vital aspects of the group counseling is that individuals who come for the session want to feel like they’re part of a considerate and compassionate circle. If, instead, they feel like they’re being accused or condemned, the counseling session ultimately becomes unproductive.

A Stringent Rule Of Non-Violence.

It is vital to remember that overly controlling or forward behavior in a group counseling session should be avoided. However, there are also significant factors that should be completely be disregarded. Among these is threatening, vicious, or otherwise overwhelming behavior. Many individuals, specifically those who suffer from social or personal problems, will crash when faced with intimidating behavior, and the group session might become useless. In extremely bad situations, they may require help in giving the idea another try – and may probably want to continue the counseling in a new group. This type of behavior should be avoided – discreetly, if possible. If necessary, though, it should be shut down truthfully yet calmly.

Always Respect Each Person’s Privacy.

No private, personal data is entitled to the group or to anyone for that matter. Individuals joining in a group counseling session must never be allowed to reveal any specific information, no matter where or when. This sense of responsibility and susceptibility is directly opposite to what is required to help overcome a range of common mental health challenges – many of which are what participants in a group counseling session are going through. Ultimately, it is up to the counselor or the group leader to dynamically protect their participants from this type of infraction, not merely evade their need for anything.

Make It Fun And Interesting.

This fact is frequently overly stressed when it comes to groups centered on kids but concurrently under-used by groups that cater to the needs of seniors and adults. Fun is a significant aspect to integrate; socializing was made to be fun. If the participants get bored because the sessions are getting repetitive, perky, or unjust, the objectives and goals of the counseling sessions will consequently become useless. A range of choices can help make counseling sessions fun and interesting for adults. These can vary, from having doughnuts and coffee to creating new games to watching mental health-related movies that focus on overcoming the challenges that participants are currently experiencing.

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Reassure And Inspire But Do Not Force.

An individual has taken his initial and most important step towards facing his challenges upfront by joining group counseling sessions. Most probably, he has gone through individual counseling somewhere else, and this means that he has, in fact, attempted to make positive changes to his life and has perhaps retained some of these changes. Participants should be reassured and encouraged to join as decently as possible. Group leaders should inspire them to give group counseling a try, but it is crucial to remember that they should not be forced to participate if they are not ready.

By reading, understanding, and following these simple steps, a group leader can effectively improve the group’s overall success. Hopefully, he will be more capable of developing more progressive techniques for coping with various mental and emotional challenges. Consequently, it helps participants learn ways of functioning more efficiently in their own communities.

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Aside from organizing students’ schedules and managing academic assessment exams and placement exams, school counselors are frontrunners that can tremendously play a role in improving and accelerating learning. They should convince others that their insights are valuable and working with school principals and other academic officials.

A school counselor has several responsibilities, including providing sound advice to students and referring them to external agencies, joining support communities, working with parents and teachers, and assessing and enhancing their own academic counseling system.

Below is a list of important leadership characteristics that a counselor must possess.

Empathetic

Being empathetic – placing themselves in the shoes of the individual they’re dealing with – significantly helps a counselor learn and understand the core problems. Experienced counselors agree that the capacity to understand their students’ experiences truly helps them do their job effectively. Empathy, according to them, encourages listening and an improved ability to assist their clients in finding worthwhile solutions to their issues. Students also become more comfortable and more eager to open up to them honestly.

Meaningful Listening

To start, any counselor must be a good listener. Generally, counselors deal with many students and often get very few opportunities to talk with them thoroughly in just one session. But seasoned counselors suggest that the primary need of humans is to grasp what the other person is trying to convey, and of course, to be understood by the other person as well. What better way to achieve this than by listening?

Counselors should be completely in the moment to be effective listeners. This means committing their full attention to the problem at hand instead of thinking about just simply doing their job description. Their view of the person’s issues and how they deal with them will show how much they have listened and understood them. They should also be open-minded while being cautious not to criticize until they have clearly understood the person’s story.

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Doing Evaluations

Evaluation skills are important for school counselors in several areas. From skills evaluations and personalized career and testing advisement, the counselor’s capacity to distinguish between desire and talent is significant in effectively providing counsel.

Evaluations also include identifying whether or not a student has specific needs and translating certain types of data to decide which position the students must be placed in and what kind of programs they can take advantage of.

Notwithstanding the purpose for the evaluation, the stages usually include but are not limited to:

• Selecting the tests that should be performed and when.
• Preparing and running examinations.
• Providing sound advice to students, parents, teachers, and others.
• Assessing examinations, results, and ensuing proposals and suggestions. Evaluations require some testing but should be combined with being empathetic, being a good listener, and ultimately the connection that has been established to identify how testing results relate to the students’ traits, needs, and goals.

Establishing Relationships

Building a significant connection with students or fellow counselors is not quite easy. But through empathy and great listening skills, this can be achieved quicker.

To talk to a counselor comfortably, a student should establish trust, ease, and acceptance. He must recognize that his counselor is a professional helper who can go to without fear of being criticized. On the other hand, a counselor who can create this unquestioning connection with a student is obviously more efficient in doing his job.

Being Versatile

If there is one thing that is sure in education, it is that change is constant. Programs, schedules, and obligations all disrupt a counselor’s everyday routine.

The needs of students and the requirements of the school in general frequently come first – scheduled meetings only second. Staff and parent issues, conversations within the classroom, and unforeseen counseling needs could all be distractive.

An efficient counselor must:

• Utilize effective time management strategies.
• Reserve short breaks daily in case of unscheduled needs.
• Communicate thoroughly. Inform parents, students, and teachers of programs, schedules, as well as limitations.
• Set realistic boundaries. Learn to know which ones are worth the distraction and which ones can wait.

By being versatile, counselors can deal with the stress that comes with the job better and will be more receptive when they need to counsel arises unexpectedly.

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Managing School Efforts And Activities

This can be aligned into various categories. Counselors need to synchronize education plans for students, including other specific programs for students. Along with managing student programs and collaborating with teachers and other staff, the school counselor usually organizes other tasks and activities.

In many situations, counselors are tasked with taking care of school announcements, newsletters, coordinating social media accounts, and other outreach and activity efforts.

The ability to manage and organize school efforts and activities needs robust management and leadership skills. Sharing these skills with the students by permitting them to be responsible for their own educational objectives allows the counselor to become a leader by example.

Possessing A Sense Of Humor

The capacity to see things with grace and humor definitely has several benefits. It allows students to realize that counselors are also humans and are capable of laughing at circumstances and laughing at themselves as well. Having humor is among the tremendous assets in establishing student trust and building a connection with them. It is frequently how those students associate with adults, either through humorous comments or jokes, that show a point that counselors are trying to convey. Finally, humor is a great stress reliever.

Conclusion

It definitely takes a blend of several leadership traits for someone to be an effective school counselor. He should be empathetic and utilize efficient listening skills to be able to establish harmonious and effective relationships. Counselors should also administer evaluations and manage academic efforts and activities. Possessing only one of these traits is not sufficient – and nobody is equally proficient in all of these traits.

Mental health continues to be a taboo topic in the workplace. Some employers feel that they should not enter the personal lives of their employees. However, mental health is not just a private matter. It also affects how they behave and perform in the workplace. With this in mind, here are some of the positive effects of promoting wellness in the company. 

Higher Optimism

Admit it or not, mental health remains as a taboo. A lot of people still view mental health problems as something abnormal. Thus, many fear judgment from their colleagues, making them feel less comfortable to open up on their issues. This boxed setting leads employees to sadness and isolation, which, most of the time, affect how they work. 

Therefore, leaders need to step up and address this disconnect. To support their employees who are challenged by their mental health, they should execute some initiatives to help eradicate the stigma around this topic. 

For one, employers may spearhead an open dialogue. Let this be an avenue for experts to address the misconception revolving around this issue. It is the perfect avenue to promote awareness and educate the whole company on the ins and outs of mental health.

This way, everyone will have a deeper understanding of it. The more people are aware of the underlying ideas in this topic; the more their colleagues will have the strength to open up. 

Lower Absence Rate

Do you know that almost 17 percent of employees take a leave at work because they’re feeling anxious, depressed, or sad? They sometimes do not have the drive to get out of their bed and proceed with their work happenings. Some also feel less encouraged to go to the office since being in a place where no one understands them makes them feel isolated.

Meanwhile, if they have a good mental health condition, they are more likely to feel motivated to go to work, which means a lower absence rate in the long run.  Since more people are present, it increases the overall productivity, which helps the business be efficient. Besides, you don’t have to worry about getting relievers for your employees, given that they are there to work. 

Better Employee Productivity

One of the best things that good mental health provides to the company is high productivity. Believe it or not, the presence of mental illnesses will have adverse effects on how someone works and their corresponding output. 

For example, workers will exhibit a lack of concentration and focus. Since many negative things are running in their minds, they tend to space out while working. Once they lose focus, they also lose their momentum and train of thought. Therefore, leading to wasted time.

At the same time, burnout and poor overall health stem from poor mental health as well. For instance, some people may have a hard time sleeping because of the ongoing worry and bothersome emotions. It may then lead to insomnia and then an insufficient amount of sleep. Due to lack of sleep, they most likely do not have the optimal energy to work the next day, which results in lower productivity. 

However, if their state of mind is at its best, there is a better chance that they’ll be pumped up to do their work. Some bosses do not even have to exert that much effort to keep their workers going since their energy gives them the initiative to do more than what they are asked for. 

Better Employee Engagement

We have a lot of activities happening in the office. Some initiatives might be as small as weekly meetings, but there are instances that it’s as big as product launch nights and awarding ceremonies. 

If your employees do not have a good mental health state, they may instead choose to skip these events. Lower employee engagement also comes from strained work relationships that stem from the mindset that they don’t have anyone to lean on in the office. But if they’re happier overall, this will give them the courage to interact more with the people around them. They’ll be relaxed to be their best selves as well. 

It’s not only the social part of employee engagement that gets touched when this happens. The complete engagement in terms of better decision-making, design thinking, and process workflow will be improved. This person will also most likely have more creative juices in their body. Therefore, they get to spearhead more ideas and initiatives that will help the causes of the business. 

Delivering an excellent mental health wellness program in the office is not as easy as it seems. However, as a business leader, it is your responsibility to draft the best ones suitable for your company’s culture and environment. Without initiatives like these, you might lose your best employees. Not only that, but it will also cost your company in terms of its operating expenses. 

Start with the little things and jumpstart from there — spearhead lectures and seminars to increase the knowledge on these topics. Then, once the stigma has been broken, this is when you can integrate more significant wellness activities. 

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The recent coronavirus outbreak has caused rapid and extraordinary changes, particularly in the lives of business leaders across the world. More importantly, their status of businesses are connected to the health of its employees, the health of the communities, and the health of the entire planet. Since the past two months or so, surprising transformations in our everyday lives are convincing businesses to get accustomed quickly and find various ways to survive and thrive.

Worldwide unrest has been making it tougher for leaders to find their balance – and those who want to work from a place of transparency are rather shaken from this global health storm. So the question that most of these leaders are confronted with is this: What can we do to move past such distinctly uncertain times?

Efficient and positive business leadership will help manage the crisis, regain strong communities, and be more prepared for moments of confusion and chaos. However, with so many unsure encounters emerging all at once, a lot of leaders might struggle to pave a clear path forward.

To gain a better position to respond efficiently, leaders must work on three essentials – identifying a clear purpose, providing support for investors and clients, and strengthening your managerial and emotional spirit.

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What is your purpose?

The first step to take is to reassess the purpose of your business. The enticement for opening businesses in these COVID times is frequently to go small, to stoop down, and focus on essentials and values. Right now, rather than tapering down their focus, business leaders in crisis must think about holding back and remembering their basic principles. Highlighting their company goals and purposes will also show your intentions to the world, and this imparts confidence and generosity among investors and clients who share these principles. In these COVID times when change is on a large scale, workers, shareholders, and employees alike will be more inclined towards companies where their purposes mirror their personal beliefs and morals.

What actions can you take?

This is the second of the three most important steps – to be aware of what actions need to be done to convey support to those who are relying on your business or organization, especially those who have more critical needs. This entails reevaluating who your shareholders are – from your clients and investors to workers, and the whole community as well. You should determine their needs and acknowledge that their needs may be different from each other. Finally, this involves identifying ways by which you can best serve them, which includes moving forward with operations with social distancing and health and safety measures in mind. Your shareholders are key people who push and gauge your success, especially during a time when success feels hard to attain.

How do you strengthen your emotional and managerial spirit?

This third step encompasses your need to find a resolution to weather the storm that is COVID-19. You can only do this if you are emotionally strong with tough managerial skills and spirit. To make this adjustment possible, identify the behaviors that make you a more compassionate, resilient, and competent leader. This may involve starting a new physical activity to energize you, regaining the focus that you need to become better, or simply making sure that you get adequate sleep—in a nutshell, finding equilibrium.

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Similarly, it is also vital that you inspire your teams. When confronted with a tremendous number of serious decisions, business leaders – or any leader for that matter – will possibly feel tempted to tighten the grasp of their position. Still, a resilient leader relies more on shareholders and collective insights, structured throughout a network of people with clear directives. Encouraging leaders with the right attitude and personality – those who are constantly driven and versatile and are willing to make tough but brave calls – is crucial for sound and quick decision making.

The ability to be aware of our obligations and opportunities and to understand who we truly and what we value the most are skills that will strengthen us during and after the pandemic. As we traverse a vague and narrow path today, how we deal with today will determine where we are going tomorrow.

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A quote that became popular during Winston Churchill’s era is now recalled to describe the recent COVID-19 pandemic and how the world leaders will be able to handle the situation: Cometh the hour, cometh the man. In a time like this, where millions of lives are at stake, and the economy is plummeting, policymakers, company executives, and different leaders around the globe are put to the test. The ‘hour’ has come again – in need of the right ‘men’ who will navigate us to and through this global crisis.

Indeed, the way through this crisis is not at all easy. Aside from the apparent dilemma of choosing the right way to take, leaders are also responsible for ensuring the public and convincing them to abide by the decisions that the government makes, such as social distancing guidelines, despite how much it has taken a toll on employment and other personal concerns. Making a wrong turn could easily damage trust and cause unrest that will ultimately aggravate the dangers that are being posed at present. Thus, it remains to be seen whether or not these world leaders will come out victorious in providing the necessary response to these devastating times.

But before anything, leaders must remember these two important principles so that their ‘command and control’ measures won’t be anything but a show of who’s boss. Leadership must begin with compassion, honesty, and transparency.

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Sugar Coating Is A No-no.

This is one of the most common mistakes that a leader must avoid if they want to build trust instead of discord. This happens because policymakers think that when an unexpected crisis occurs, most of the public will panic and be overwhelmed, but studies have never backed this up. In fact, the chances that the public will panic because of what the government will tell them are quite low (panic buying is not included, though). A good leader, no matter how hard it may be, must be open about the problem that the community or the country is facing. He should not think of himself as a father protecting his children from harm. He must regard them as adults that can make a positive difference when the problem is given to them in complete detail. Level with them. Without transparency, people will eventually sense dishonesty, decreasing your accountability and, therefore, the trust in the government or organization’s policies.

Convey A Sense Of Purpose

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, South Korea made an exemplary presentation of the concepts of successful crisis management. It had begun to collect COVID-19 test kits years before a pandemic had hit its shores, and this had enabled them to test 10,000 of their citizens daily when the infection rate began to rise. They also utilized a mobile app that would update the people about the current situation. The country then has established the importance of having a sense of purpose, perhaps also because of the MERS outbreak that it has experienced in the past.

Most leaders still do not get to appreciate the essence of conveying a powerful message in the face of a crisis, specifically when it comes to transparency and consistency. They must not belittle the impact that their words can do to a people and a nation. Analysts agree that the content of a political speech is as vital as the final decision that a leader makes.

New York City Mayor Giuliani’s response to the 9/11 attacks is also an example of a great way to manage a crisis. He communicated honestly to the people and by appealing to them to show the real strength and courage of New Yorkers. This gave the public a sense of pride and morale that would have helped the city go through the grief and the whole situation as peacefully and successfully as it could have.

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People need a leader that projects empathy and a clear understanding of what the situation is and to bring it to them with hope and confidence that together, the crisis can be dealt with and surpassed. It is perhaps quite a difficult feat for leaders, but if they can achieve it, and in this case, help their people overcome the challenges of COVID-19, then the people will feel visible and heard.

Are you an example of a person who looks at yourself as powerful, dominant, and authoritative? Is that your definition of being in a higher position? Or are you the one who entirely knows that you are a person who has complete responsibility for other people’s will of success? If you are the definition of an individual who seems too focused on himself, then you might want to reconsider your status. But if you are the person who values your leadership commitment to others, then you are what they call a leader.

Alan Lyons, a business psychologist says, “This connection is supported by research showing that emotional skills are critical to the successful performance of individuals at the executive level. Further, the more someone progresses through the organizational hierarchy, the more important emotional skills become in their success.”

Real Talk

The misconception of leadership is that a lot of people think of it as a rank or a top position. However, it is not. Leadership is a decision one take to fully comply with other people’s needs and desire to succeed in life. Leaders are instruments that allow others to understand their potential. They are other people’s guides to better self-development and growth. Leadership is a choice, and it has nothing to do with people’s capability to stay relevant. It is all about the ability to remain reliable all the time for the benefit of others.

Robert Nauert Ph.D. quoted in his article, “Leadership support is essential in any workplace change, including wellness. Most employee wellness initiatives don’t utilize the power of manager leadership — this strategy is unique in that it really taps into the manager’s ability to lead their team to wellness,”

What some leaders do not understand is their lack of overall potential. Yes, some leaders are born with great talent, skills, and abilities. However, those positive traits do not often guarantee a strong position of becoming a responsible individual, especially when handling people with different opinions and beliefs. Leadership is not something someone would think of as being smarter than the rest. It is not about people’s above-average capabilities that take them to the top position. It is their willingness to help and offer value to other people’s lives. It is all about commitment, selfless love.

Bad Leadership

Leadership does not mean power. It does not disrespect others just because they cannot come up with better contributions to the team. If that is how current leaders picture things, then they are not qualified to become leaders. Because when things get tough, they never usually make it. With that, they blame everyone and everything else except for themselves. It becomes a lousy leadership because the people in the position never take accountability for their actions. In addition to the damage, most of these bad leadership usually take credit for the things they do not do. It becomes a problem because the consistency of this negative behavior results in the teams’ instant collapse.

Bad leaders are usually not accessible. Psychologist Nikki Martinez, Psy.D. explains, “Part of being a manager includes being available to answer questions, help you work through tasks you might be struggling with, and generally be your go-to adviser, so it’s a problem when managers make themselves inaccessible. You might not be able to trust your boss if they don’t seem approachable.”

Leadership must have to be a balance equation. The people in the position should understand that for people to follow them, they must set an example. They must promise to provide a reliable source of positive energy that can make the team appreciate their effort and capabilities. Leadership is not something one can impose instantly. It requires experience and a lot of learning. Leaders should understand the importance of thinking about leadership differently. It is not about how smart people are or how capable they can be. It is always all about their ability to help those who are in need.

Leaders are influential because they create a higher level of organizational goals. They keep the team intact, and they allow everyone’s growth. These people help manage the efficiency of the group by creating a healthy human relationship. Their skills are beneficial in providing a better system that allows industry, a business, or a community to have a better social and goal-oriented foundation. With all the great qualities leaders could have, have you ever wonder what supports their better leadership? Let’s talk about some of those.

Radiation Of Positive Energy

Great leaders function well when there is a radiation of positive energy inside and out. That is especially when it comes to the people surrounding them. For these individuals, the trust that people give is essential in keeping these leaders’ ability to concentrate on their duties. The radiations of positive energy from everyone around help these leaders to become more committed and reliable in their ways. It allows them to have a higher standard for their quality services, boosts the teams’ morale, as well as productivity.

“I’m convinced that the ultimate measure of a leader includes the leader’s track record, their pattern of behavior, contribution, aspiration, and accomplishment over time—across multiple platforms and contexts,” says Paul G. Stoltz, Ph.D.

Presence Of Proactive Attitude

It becomes easy to blame someone else when something goes wrong. But for most leaders who handle complicated situations, their leadership gets based on a proactive attitude. It is where the leadership mentality tries to shift focus to the entire better view of the situation. A proactive approach helps leaders to become more aware of solving the problem instead of complaining too much about it. The attitude allows leaders to take charge of the consequences and handle the damages of wrong decisions as well.

According to Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D., “The transformational leader makes sure that “we are all working together for a shared purpose and the good of all.”

Better Communication

There is no such thing as great leaders without better communication. People in the position know that communication is the best support for their leadership needs. It is where these individuals in the position can have a better understanding of the teams’ wants and needs. By merely having a conversation of what needs to get done, leaders and the followers can work together. That is because communication allows more significant ideas and resolutions to any team matters.

Complete And Reliable Delegation

Leaders fully understand that they cannot work on any task alone. That is why delegation is essential to their leadership. No, delegating a job does not mean leaders are trying to stay out of their responsibilities. Instead, it allows everyone to participate in the team’s matter concerning the group’s ability and skills. It means trusting everyone in the team without micromanaging their moves but only focuses on their contribution.

“Leadership by example can be powerful and inspiring. Inspiring personal stories of overcoming personal and organizational challenges and adversity can help “show the way” to move the organization to a new level.” – Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D. 

There is nothing more important in a team than passion, and everyone’s will to succeed. So when everyone shares the same goal, people are most likely to achieve it together. Understand that leaders cannot do it alone. They need help from everyone on the team. People should realize that not because they are the leaders, they are worthy of creating decisions and finish the task all by themselves. These people also require assistance and support, which the team can wholeheartedly offer.