Leadership Articles
Four Questions, Sharper Thinking
28/August/08
Four
Questions
for Sharper Thinking and Focused Presentations
How do you even start to organize ideas?
Perhaps you have a complex business you need to describe to potential customers or investors. Maybe your department needs to continually justify its existence to corporate powers that be, or you have to present material about a complicated subject to people from different backgrounds.
What is a Solution?
Here’s a technique for organizing your ideas so you can present a topic meaningfully, whether you have one hour or are limited to one minute. Succinctly answer these four questions: what, why, how, and so what?
Article summary:
What ...a technique to simplify complex information
Why ...lets you communicate clearly and succinctly
How ...by organizing ideas around four questions: what, why, how, so what
So What ...clear and focused communication will accelerate your achievement
See the full article here, and make your own comments. Read More...
for Sharper Thinking and Focused Presentations
How do you even start to organize ideas?
Perhaps you have a complex business you need to describe to potential customers or investors. Maybe your department needs to continually justify its existence to corporate powers that be, or you have to present material about a complicated subject to people from different backgrounds.
What is a Solution?
Here’s a technique for organizing your ideas so you can present a topic meaningfully, whether you have one hour or are limited to one minute. Succinctly answer these four questions: what, why, how, and so what?
Article summary:
What ...a technique to simplify complex information
Why ...lets you communicate clearly and succinctly
How ...by organizing ideas around four questions: what, why, how, so what
So What ...clear and focused communication will accelerate your achievement
See the full article here, and make your own comments. Read More...
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7 Actions to Manage Transitions
30/July/08
Upcoming business merger? Big shift in strategic
direction? Organizational realignment? To move
forward successflly, executives must not only
lead change, they must
manage transition.
Leading change is about gaining willing followers and keeping their commitment to follow a new vision. Efforts at leading change, however, can be inconsequential, if not outright disastrous, unless you also manage transition. Yet managing transition is often the most neglected part of a change initiative.
There is a difference between change and transition. Change is an observable event that often occurs very quickly – e.g. you get a major promotion to a new level of responsibility. Transition is an inner state – how long it takes you to learn that new job. Transitions are challenging due to the amount of energy it takes to learn new behaviors and make emotional re-adjustments. (see the previous article, Worry About Transitions, Not Change).
So how do you manage transition? Read the full article to explore seven actions that help leaders successfully navigate the shoals of transition while leading a change initiative. Read More...
Leading change is about gaining willing followers and keeping their commitment to follow a new vision. Efforts at leading change, however, can be inconsequential, if not outright disastrous, unless you also manage transition. Yet managing transition is often the most neglected part of a change initiative.
There is a difference between change and transition. Change is an observable event that often occurs very quickly – e.g. you get a major promotion to a new level of responsibility. Transition is an inner state – how long it takes you to learn that new job. Transitions are challenging due to the amount of energy it takes to learn new behaviors and make emotional re-adjustments. (see the previous article, Worry About Transitions, Not Change).
So how do you manage transition? Read the full article to explore seven actions that help leaders successfully navigate the shoals of transition while leading a change initiative. Read More...
Worry About Transitions, Not Change
27/June/08
One of the most widely accepted beliefs is that
people find change difficult.
Not necessarily so! Or at least, it’s not what leaders and managers should worry about. What trips up most people, and most organizational change efforts, is not change but transition.
Change and transition go hand in hand but they are not the same. What’s the difference? Think of change is a discreet event, while transition is protracted process or state of mind. For example, selling your car and buying a new one is a change. Getting used to the new car, how it handles and knowing where all the controls and switches are located, requires a period of transition. The change to a new vehicle is quick, perhaps driving to a dealer with your old car and driving out with the new. The transition, however, could last for days, weeks, or months.
This same distinction applies to acquiring a new residence, a different job, or adopting a new company policy. The specific change is typically quick, whereas the transition takes some time...and effort.
Following are three reasons why transition is often the difficult aspect of change initiatives. Read More...
Not necessarily so! Or at least, it’s not what leaders and managers should worry about. What trips up most people, and most organizational change efforts, is not change but transition.
Change and transition go hand in hand but they are not the same. What’s the difference? Think of change is a discreet event, while transition is protracted process or state of mind. For example, selling your car and buying a new one is a change. Getting used to the new car, how it handles and knowing where all the controls and switches are located, requires a period of transition. The change to a new vehicle is quick, perhaps driving to a dealer with your old car and driving out with the new. The transition, however, could last for days, weeks, or months.
This same distinction applies to acquiring a new residence, a different job, or adopting a new company policy. The specific change is typically quick, whereas the transition takes some time...and effort.
Following are three reasons why transition is often the difficult aspect of change initiatives. Read More...
Resolving Issues
27/April/08
Does your team incessantly talk about the same
issues? Does it seem that too many issues never get
resolved?
I find that most groups get stuck in one or more of three areas, discernment, design, or discipline - i.e understanding what is going on, crafting a satisfying response, and following through with meaningful action.
Following are twelve questions leaders can use to stimulate progress on those persistent issues that plague your team or organization.
Read More...
I find that most groups get stuck in one or more of three areas, discernment, design, or discipline - i.e understanding what is going on, crafting a satisfying response, and following through with meaningful action.
Following are twelve questions leaders can use to stimulate progress on those persistent issues that plague your team or organization.
Read More...
Leadership for Third Graders
25/February/08
Recently I was asked to speak on leadership to the
third grade at a local school, not as a leadership
consultant but in my role as Mayor. The third graders
were studying biographies of leaders, and wanted to
know how my life shaped my understanding of
leadership. Here’s the three main lessons that I
believe are important for leaders of any age.
Read More...
7 Leadership Actions
19/December/07
There is indeed a command-and-control aspect of
leadership. However in today’s knowledge-based
environment, most value is created by bringing
together specialized know-how from interdependent
sources. The head of almost any organization needs
the knowledge of customers, matrixed team members,
vendors, professionals, or other stakeholders over
whom they exert little power. Executives, business
owners, and team leaders find themselves needing to
bring out knowledge rather than impart it.
So in a knowledge, service, and interdependent environment, if you are not actually telling people what actions to take, what is it that leaders DO to get results?
The following are seven leadership ACTIONS other than telling someone what to do: exemplify, acknowledge, articulate, frame, follow, facilitate, and presence. (Yes, the latter is intentionally used as an active verb - read on to see why...) Read More...
So in a knowledge, service, and interdependent environment, if you are not actually telling people what actions to take, what is it that leaders DO to get results?
The following are seven leadership ACTIONS other than telling someone what to do: exemplify, acknowledge, articulate, frame, follow, facilitate, and presence. (Yes, the latter is intentionally used as an active verb - read on to see why...) Read More...
Expert Performance Is Not What You Think
18/December/07
Conventional wisdom will tell you that you get the
best from your expertise by deeper learning your
field, by keeping up with new developments and
understanding the nuances and intricacies of your
domain – in short, investing in knowing more.
Conventional Wisdom tells us natural talent is what
drives top performance.
Modern research challenges these notions. Read More...
Modern research challenges these notions. Read More...
Edge of the Box Thinking
26/October/07
When desperate for innovation, what is most any
leader likely to say? “Think outside of the box.”
Think about it.
“Out of the Box” is a cliché, a phrase that’s been around for decades. Everyone knows what it means, but it’s hardly a trigger for ideas that are fresh, creative, and original. I encourage people to focus on Edge of the Box thinking – especially if you need ideas with a high potential for useful application.
Edge of the Box thinking is based on viewing the world at the boundaries of your organization and experience, where inside and outside perspectives can be combined, and where fresh ideas most likely will emerge. In today’s knowledge-based world, useful innovation typically arises out of combining core competencies with ideas taken from places outside of your industry or field, but not so far out as to be inaccessible. Read More...
“Out of the Box” is a cliché, a phrase that’s been around for decades. Everyone knows what it means, but it’s hardly a trigger for ideas that are fresh, creative, and original. I encourage people to focus on Edge of the Box thinking – especially if you need ideas with a high potential for useful application.
Edge of the Box thinking is based on viewing the world at the boundaries of your organization and experience, where inside and outside perspectives can be combined, and where fresh ideas most likely will emerge. In today’s knowledge-based world, useful innovation typically arises out of combining core competencies with ideas taken from places outside of your industry or field, but not so far out as to be inaccessible. Read More...
Uncertainty - Strategies for Facing an Unknown Future
30/September/07
People often treat uncertainty as an “either/or”
situation; i.e., given a specific circumstance,
decision, or strategy, the future outcome either is,
or is not, uncertain. Here’s a smarter approach for
dealing with change constructively: Instead of asking
if something is uncertain, ask in what way is it
uncertain. In other words, what type of uncertainty
are we dealing with? Read
More...
Leadership and the 8th Muda
26/May/07
As a leader in your organization, do you add
muda or subtract it?
Muda is a Japanese term for waste. One of the prime tenants of the Toyota production system, to which much of that company’s outstanding quality and profitability can be attributed, is to reduce muda. The organization is built on constant striving to identify and eliminate anything that does not add value for the final customer. The Toyota processes are now used worldwide, often called LEAN processing.
Seven mudas are traditionally recognized: overproduction, waiting, unnecessary transport, over processing, excess inventory, unnecessary movement, and defects. Jeffrey K. Liker, in his excellent book The Toyota Way, adds an eighth muda – unused employee creativity.
Liker describes the eighth muda as the waste of “losing time, ideas, skills, improvements, and learning opportunities by not engaging or listening to your employees.” Too many organizations suffer from CEOs or owners that inflate the eighth muda, rather than contribute to its elimination.
Read More...
Muda is a Japanese term for waste. One of the prime tenants of the Toyota production system, to which much of that company’s outstanding quality and profitability can be attributed, is to reduce muda. The organization is built on constant striving to identify and eliminate anything that does not add value for the final customer. The Toyota processes are now used worldwide, often called LEAN processing.
Seven mudas are traditionally recognized: overproduction, waiting, unnecessary transport, over processing, excess inventory, unnecessary movement, and defects. Jeffrey K. Liker, in his excellent book The Toyota Way, adds an eighth muda – unused employee creativity.
Liker describes the eighth muda as the waste of “losing time, ideas, skills, improvements, and learning opportunities by not engaging or listening to your employees.” Too many organizations suffer from CEOs or owners that inflate the eighth muda, rather than contribute to its elimination.
Read More...
Vision and Leadership
26/March/07
The conventional and over-celebrated view of vision
is that it's something a good leader first must
“have” and then convinces followers to adopt.
I do not subscribe to the conventional view.
Exceptional leaders don’t impart a vision, they cultivate the emergence of a vision – a huge difference. High achievement and success are more likely when an organization’s vision has a life of its own. While the seed for a vision can certainly originate from a leader, there is incredible power and energy when a group of people to discover their collective vision.
This article outlines five critical actions that experienced leaders use to tap into the power of a shared collective vision.
Read More...
I do not subscribe to the conventional view.
Exceptional leaders don’t impart a vision, they cultivate the emergence of a vision – a huge difference. High achievement and success are more likely when an organization’s vision has a life of its own. While the seed for a vision can certainly originate from a leader, there is incredible power and energy when a group of people to discover their collective vision.
This article outlines five critical actions that experienced leaders use to tap into the power of a shared collective vision.
Read More...
People Are Not Machines
28/February/07
Time to crank up production? Get this place
running like a well-oiled machine?
The machine continues to be the dominant metaphor of the workplace – meaning we tend to relate to our working world as if it was a machine. We have plenty of experiences each day that reinforce this perception of life-as-machine: We step on the gas pedal and our cars move faster. We push a button and documents get efficiently copied – maybe even on both sides, collated, and stapled.
I continue to be approached by executives looking for that metaphorical lever, pedal, dial, or button that will motivate people, get them to change, or increase morale. It’s the wrong thing to be looking for because it’s the wrong metaphor. Read More...
The machine continues to be the dominant metaphor of the workplace – meaning we tend to relate to our working world as if it was a machine. We have plenty of experiences each day that reinforce this perception of life-as-machine: We step on the gas pedal and our cars move faster. We push a button and documents get efficiently copied – maybe even on both sides, collated, and stapled.
I continue to be approached by executives looking for that metaphorical lever, pedal, dial, or button that will motivate people, get them to change, or increase morale. It’s the wrong thing to be looking for because it’s the wrong metaphor. Read More...
Ask Yourself Big Questions
18/January/07
Consider the two following questions.
What are the goals for my business this year?
What would the world miss if my business didn’t exist?
Both are important, but for very different reasons – and they will impact your thinking in very different ways. Read More...
What are the goals for my business this year?
What would the world miss if my business didn’t exist?
Both are important, but for very different reasons – and they will impact your thinking in very different ways. Read More...
Free the Creative Genie
26/October/06
Sooner or later any group that works together, be
they employees in the same office, volunteers on a
non-profit board, or executives on a management team,
will be called upon to come up with some creative
ideas – to innovate. Unfortunately, what typically
happens when the designated leader asks the group to
“give me your best ideas,” the reply is limited to
standard answers, conventional responses, or blank
stares. Would that these hard working souls had some
creativity in them! Well I’m here to tell you that
groups can let the genie of creativity out of the
bottle if they understand three counter-intuitive
principles - quantity over quality, reduce
inhibition, and seek some chaos.
Read More...
Read More...
Collaboration Across Boundaries
18/September/06
In an increasingly complex world you will be more
likely to face the challenge of working across major
organizational boundaries. Maybe it will take the
form of cross-functional teams or cross-departmental
projects within an organization. Maybe it will take
the form of several companies working together to
realize a business opportunity.
Whether your project crosses functions, silos, organizations, or industry sectors, to ensure success you’ll want to find coherent answers to these 5 key questions... Read More...
Whether your project crosses functions, silos, organizations, or industry sectors, to ensure success you’ll want to find coherent answers to these 5 key questions... Read More...
EQ Meets Critical Thinking
26/August/06
First the obvious. Given that “knowledge work” is on
the rise, the value that people add to organizations
increasingly comes from brainpower – the ability to
think. It behooves leaders, therefore, to create
conditions that enhance people using their brains to
the fullest, especially when leading or managing
knowledge workers.
What is surprising to many people is that emotions are biologically linked to critical thinking – i.e., to the use of the intellect, rationality, and logical analysis. While conventional wisdom says emotions get in the way of analytical thinking (and certainly they can), or that they are inherently irrational, modern neuroscience appears to embrace the idea that emotions are a key support of intellectual performance.
Read More...
What is surprising to many people is that emotions are biologically linked to critical thinking – i.e., to the use of the intellect, rationality, and logical analysis. While conventional wisdom says emotions get in the way of analytical thinking (and certainly they can), or that they are inherently irrational, modern neuroscience appears to embrace the idea that emotions are a key support of intellectual performance.
Read More...
Dual ACTION Leadership
26/July/06
What is leadership? I encourage would-be leaders to
think ACTION. While there are dozens of definitions
of leadership with perhaps thousands of nuances, the
fundamental concept to keep in mind is that
leadership is about ACTION – specifically, action
taken with people.
Here's the kicker: the more an enterprise is dependent on brainpower – i.e., people sharing knowledge to create innovations and bring them to the marketplace – the more leadership is important. Leadership action is comprised of two complimentary parts: leading and managing.
In some ways leading and managing are inseparable, like two sides of the same coin. And like ‘heads or tails’ on a coin, these two types of leadership actions have intrinsically opposed objectives.
Read More...
Here's the kicker: the more an enterprise is dependent on brainpower – i.e., people sharing knowledge to create innovations and bring them to the marketplace – the more leadership is important. Leadership action is comprised of two complimentary parts: leading and managing.
In some ways leading and managing are inseparable, like two sides of the same coin. And like ‘heads or tails’ on a coin, these two types of leadership actions have intrinsically opposed objectives.
Read More...
Problem or Possibility?
28/June/06
We all know it would be foolish, even potentially
suicidal, to ignore illness, cost controls, or
defects. Achieving excellence, however, requires
going beyond problem thinking, and operating from a
perspective of possibility thinking.
This key principle applies directly to leaders who aspire to achieve outstanding success for their businesses or organizations. Extraordinary organizations are not created simply by solving problems. Leaders need to be skillful at problem-solving, yes, but to be outstanding they also need to be competent at possibility-building. Read More...
This key principle applies directly to leaders who aspire to achieve outstanding success for their businesses or organizations. Extraordinary organizations are not created simply by solving problems. Leaders need to be skillful at problem-solving, yes, but to be outstanding they also need to be competent at possibility-building. Read More...
Transform Your Company Culture
30/May/06
When organizations identify a specific focus that
will drive success, leaders start talking about
building that focus into the company culture. For
example, I have been asked to help organizations
shape a culture of feedback, a culture
of customer service, a culture of
safety, a culture of teamwork, or a
culture of thinking LEAN (as in Lean Six
Sigma).
Leaders are correct to emphasize culture change. A company’s culture is the underlying behavior, attitude, and atmosphere that pervade by default – when people are operating on automatic pilot. It’s what people do when the boss isn’t looking, what people do without having to think. A company’s culture exerts a strong influence that shapes individual and collective action. Here's how to shape a company's culture...
Read More...
Leaders are correct to emphasize culture change. A company’s culture is the underlying behavior, attitude, and atmosphere that pervade by default – when people are operating on automatic pilot. It’s what people do when the boss isn’t looking, what people do without having to think. A company’s culture exerts a strong influence that shapes individual and collective action. Here's how to shape a company's culture...
Read More...
Leadership Tools
28/May/06
I can’t tell you how often I’m asked, “Can you make a
leader?” Usually this is expressed as a challenge,
immediately followed by, “Aren’t leaders just born?”
Well, consider athletes. Do you think athletes can do their sport significantly better with practice, coaching, training, or proper feedback? Isn’t this as true for recreation league softball as it is for Olympic stars? We could apply this same line of reasoning to art, music, or any number of endeavors? What is worth noting about Michael Jordan, Mia Hamm, Tiger Woods, or Picasso is what they did to develop their inborn talent.
Yes, when it comes to leadership I believe there is inherent talent that plays a significant role. Nevertheless, whatever talent you start with, you CAN make a significant (big, huge, gigantic, life-changing, did I say significant) improvement in leadership. Like everything else, it takes the right effort, support, and tools. I don’t know whether you can make a leader, but I firmly believe you can indeed develop leadership. Here are some ways to do it...
Read More...
Well, consider athletes. Do you think athletes can do their sport significantly better with practice, coaching, training, or proper feedback? Isn’t this as true for recreation league softball as it is for Olympic stars? We could apply this same line of reasoning to art, music, or any number of endeavors? What is worth noting about Michael Jordan, Mia Hamm, Tiger Woods, or Picasso is what they did to develop their inborn talent.
Yes, when it comes to leadership I believe there is inherent talent that plays a significant role. Nevertheless, whatever talent you start with, you CAN make a significant (big, huge, gigantic, life-changing, did I say significant) improvement in leadership. Like everything else, it takes the right effort, support, and tools. I don’t know whether you can make a leader, but I firmly believe you can indeed develop leadership. Here are some ways to do it...
Read More...
Leading Change
28/April/06
Effective organizations always have a creative
tension between leading and
managing. During times when big changes are
being asked of employees, the heightened uncertainty
and corresponding hunger for stability cause this
creative tension to be accentuated. Good
managing is critical, but to make changes
effective, good leading is vital.
Read More...
Make the Most of Teams
28/March/06
Is your company vigorously promoting teams? Are you
dreaming of transforming your group so it responds
like a high-performance team every day? Proceed
carefully.
Anyone who has been part of a high-performance team knows the exhilaration felt when everyone clicks and team efforts bring that major goal within reach. Truth is, a high-performance team has become the gold standard of people working at their best. Some companies promote ‘teams’ as the best working solution for everything they do.
But not all situations are best served by pushing people to work in teams. In fact, when misapplied, working as a team may hurt, rather than help, both individual performance and the bottom line. Read More...
Anyone who has been part of a high-performance team knows the exhilaration felt when everyone clicks and team efforts bring that major goal within reach. Truth is, a high-performance team has become the gold standard of people working at their best. Some companies promote ‘teams’ as the best working solution for everything they do.
But not all situations are best served by pushing people to work in teams. In fact, when misapplied, working as a team may hurt, rather than help, both individual performance and the bottom line. Read More...
Stand Out: Create An Experience
28/November/05
Want to stand out and win customers? Think beyond
product and customer service. In today’s marketplace,
quality products and services along with great
customer service are the basics you need just to be
in the game. The big question to ask is what
is the experience
your business creates? Your answer
is a key to positioning, differentiation, and added
value that can make your business a winner.
Read More...
Motivation Wisdom
04/October/05
“How do I motivate the people in my organization?”
It’s a question I hear often; but what’s really being
asked is how to get people to do more on their own –
to be “self” motivated. Is there a way to get people
to go beyond what is minimally required?
Motivation, like morale and loyalty, is not something you operate but a condition you cultivate. There is no magic lever to pull that turns on motivation. Rather, motivation is like a garden and will grow on its own with proper conditions, care, and cultivation. Read More...
Motivation, like morale and loyalty, is not something you operate but a condition you cultivate. There is no magic lever to pull that turns on motivation. Rather, motivation is like a garden and will grow on its own with proper conditions, care, and cultivation. Read More...
Resisting the Culture of Interruption
30/August/05
In a time where increasingly the value we add comes
from brainpower, thinking, and knowledge work, the
culture of interruption reduces the value we can add
to our businesses and organizations. When we allow
firefighting to become a way of doing business we
undermine our potential for success.
Like managing a current in a river, we cannot ignore the culture of interruption, rather we must persistently resist it. Key points for managing the mayhem...
Read More...
Like managing a current in a river, we cannot ignore the culture of interruption, rather we must persistently resist it. Key points for managing the mayhem...
Read More...
Empowerment - When Are You Ready?
28/July/05
Empowerment is a concept easy to embrace and hard to
execute. Any organization which relies on knowledge,
creativity, and effective problem solving to achieve
its purpose needs empowered people to be effective.
Leaders are only likely to empower people they
believe will make good choices.
So how do you assess the capacity to make good choices? At what point should leaders empower others? What should a person do to demonstrate to leadership that they are ready for higher levels of responsibility?
I coach leaders and high-potential professionals to pay careful attention to three choice points: what kind of action is taken; whose interests are served; and how dissent is managed. The way people handle these choice points are important indicators of the value that they can contribute and the readiness for high levels of empowerment. Read More...
So how do you assess the capacity to make good choices? At what point should leaders empower others? What should a person do to demonstrate to leadership that they are ready for higher levels of responsibility?
I coach leaders and high-potential professionals to pay careful attention to three choice points: what kind of action is taken; whose interests are served; and how dissent is managed. The way people handle these choice points are important indicators of the value that they can contribute and the readiness for high levels of empowerment. Read More...
Power Up Your Influence
03/June/05
The quality of how others experience who you are and
what you do either amplifies or interferes with what
you have to offer in any role, position, or
expertise. In seminars and coaching I often encourage
the cultivation of three qualities that, especially
in combination, form a powerful means to build
influence with integrity, while demonstrating
reliability, authenticity, and meaning. These
qualities are
consistency,
congruence,
and
coherence.
Read More...
ABC's of Communicating With Impact
03/January/05
You clearly want to make your message appealing,
brilliant, and convincing. You want to make it
authoritative and bold… or at the very least,
comprehensible. To deliver a message that sticks,
think ABC --
Attention, Brevity, Clarity.
Read More...
Read More...
Accelerate Meeting Results
03/December/04
The key to being an effective leader or manager is
working with people. And for better or worse, the
venue where most of us work with other people is in
meetings. I find that most leaders and managers
conduct meetings by pulling people together and
starting a conversation about a particular topic.
They may make good use of tools like agendas, but
otherwise rely on the collective dialog skills of the
group to achieve results. Following are three simple
techniques that I believe any leader or manager can
add to his or her toolbox and apply in a meeting.
Read More...
Leading for Innovation
03/November/04
Does the future success of your organization require
ongoing innovation? Let me ask another way, if you
keep doing things exactly as you do them today will
you be just as successful in five years?
If your organization is dependent on knowledge work and professional competencies it’s highly unlikely the winning formula will remain unchanged. Innovation is essential! The challenge is that leading a team or organization for continuous innovation requires different structures, processes, and culture than managing for continuous high-performance operations. Read More...
If your organization is dependent on knowledge work and professional competencies it’s highly unlikely the winning formula will remain unchanged. Innovation is essential! The challenge is that leading a team or organization for continuous innovation requires different structures, processes, and culture than managing for continuous high-performance operations. Read More...
Play Well in the Sandbox to Excel in the Sandbox
03/September/04
Question...so why care about playing well with
others? Because it’s a key to success, whether
defined in terms of career, money, or a meaningful
life. Hands down, people competency is the most
distinguishing feature of top performers. By ‘people
competency’ I mean emotional intelligence,
interpersonal effectiveness, and team related skills
– in short, playing well with others.
Read More...
Read More...
Make Meetings Matter
03/August/04
Never have a meeting without a PURPOSE! And the
worthwhile purposes for having a meeting are
alignment, attunement, and action. Here’s what to do,
and here’s what to avoid... Read More...
Cultivating An Appreciative Culture
03/June/04
If you aren’t paying attention to the company
culture, you might be missing a powerful means to
accelerate productivity, profitability, employee
retention, and customer satisfaction – in short, your
organization’s success.
My working definition of culture in organizational settings is what people do when the boss isn’t looking. Organizational culture is the behavior, attitude, and atmosphere that happen by default unless there is disciplined intention and action to do otherwise. Your organization’s culture either advances or inhibits success. When the norm of an organization’s culture is people both valuing their organization and making extra effort to advance its objectives, the culture itself becomes an asset that increases the value of the company. I call this an appreciative culture. Read More...
My working definition of culture in organizational settings is what people do when the boss isn’t looking. Organizational culture is the behavior, attitude, and atmosphere that happen by default unless there is disciplined intention and action to do otherwise. Your organization’s culture either advances or inhibits success. When the norm of an organization’s culture is people both valuing their organization and making extra effort to advance its objectives, the culture itself becomes an asset that increases the value of the company. I call this an appreciative culture. Read More...