I am a leader with over 15 years of experience, and during my time in leadership roles I have had the opportunity to work closely with a variety of management styles. I like to think of myself as an observer of human behavior, and I like to help my teams understand why people act in certain ways to make us more empathetic and effective leaders. This is why I created COMET Leadership Development.
People ask me what COMET stands for. COMET isn’t a strict acronym with only five words. Instead, it’s an amalgam of behaviors and characteristics that I strive to embody or emulate in my leadership activities. These are also items that I find myself speaking on when I work with others on advancing their skills, and I believe that combining these qualities creates powerful teams. We can turn our employees into STARS – Strong Teams Attaining Rewarding Success!
C: Connection / Caring / Coaching / Charismatic
I had no shortfall of words beginning with “C” that came to mind. However, these are the top items I strive to emulate, and they frequently become points of conversation during mentoring sessions. These words give me passion and conviction (there’s another one) when I talk with people about leadership.
O: Observation / Objectivity / Openness
When coaching leaders inside of my organizations, we frequently delve into the “why” of someone’s actions, observing what they say, do, and trying to be aware of how they perceive our action (or inaction). I strive for open, honest discourse to foster closer connections and encourage my teams to come to me when they are facing challenges.
M: Mentoring / Modeling
Mentoring is a topic that I cannot emphasize enough, particularly among newer leaders, and I believe in modeling the behaviors you want to see in others. I was incredibly lucky in my early career that my boss for my first leadership role had the bandwidth to work closely with me as a mentor to build up my skills. Great mentors are invaluable, and they frequently become long-term connections. Even as our careers have moved apart, back together, and apart again, I value the connection with that boss as he remains a close friend and mentor.
E: Empowering / Engaging / Empathy
People are at the root of the businesses that I have been a part of, and everyone wants to be treated as a real person instead of just a number. These “E” words are those that help me feel connected to my team and create a feedback loop where my efforts to help them result in them trying to help me and so forth.
T: Transparency / Tenaciousness / Trust-Worthy / Team Focus
Another place where I had no shortage of words at my disposal! One of my team members has frequently joked that “Kimberly does not sugar coat or exaggerate things!” While this is frequently a humorous view of her interview with me, and my subsequent direction to her on hire, it also speaks to my method of communicating with my team. If there are problems, let’s get them in the air and address them. I don’t ask things of my team that I am not willing to embody. And we’ll get through any of our issues together… none of us are “the most important person in the room” – we all are partners in our success.