Well, the challenge is on.  How can we put more fun and subsequently more energy into our work in 2010?

People are tired.  Tired of pretending all is well when it might not be, tired of bad news, tired of things not going exactly as planned.

The antidote to tired is right at your finger tips.  Try these things today and see if you don’t see a difference.  Share them with your family, friends and staff.

1.  Look in the mirror and smile.  Not a regular smile, but a big goofy smile.  Put the light back on in your head and your body with your smile.  Smile at other people in the office, in the store and on the street.  Absorb the return smiles.

2.  Wear new underwear.  Go out and buy a different color, a different style or something you haven’t tried before.  Let what is “underneath” give you a smile and new perspective.

3.  Plug in your ipod, log on to iTunes, tune in a radio station or pop in a CD of really upbeat music to accompany your email work today.  Let the music guide your responses and how you feel about this task.  Come up with a good number of different songs that you can have going when you are doing email.  Look forward to email because you know you will get to listen to something you love and that gets you going.  (Headphones please if you share an office!)

4.  Stand up.  Get up from your desk and use a Blue-tooth or headset and walk around today.  While you are standing, try to do so on one foot.  Balance is a key indicator of good physical health.  Work on yours.

5.  Put your to do list on something more fun.  If it is on your blackberry/i Phone move it to colored paper in the morning and put it up on a wall or tape it to the top of a notebook.  Draw a quick picture to go with each item.  (Smiley face, stick figures, skull and crossbones, whatever will give you a lift when you get to the task.)

In other words Play More!

Quite often we find a team inside an organization with a certain amount of dysfunction.  People are quick to pick apart the reasons, “It’s because he does this, or she didn’t do that or……”  The blame game is very popular.  Most of the time teams are dysfunctional for a much simpler reason.

In reality most teams have a little dysfunctionality in them when they first form because people have yet to know and understand the work habits and basic behaviors of their teammates.

There is a quick and easy solution to this problem. 

First, get some basic information about each of the players.  I like to use an assessment for this that is validated not to tell us who does what better, but rather just who we are.  The assessment I use allows people to see how they behave normally, under stress and most importantly, what they need on a day to day basis.

Second,  with the group gathered I then facilitate an understanding of where we are all coming from and why people are different yet okay in what they are doing.  My groups have a lot of fun as I demonstrate our actions as just normal, yet different from one another.  We use some props and games to get ourselves to become relaxed with who we are, be open to how others are different and look at what we might need to do to be on a team together.  We don’t memorize letters or try to remember how we are supposed to treat each person, rather we learn to appreciate who each person is and respond to them as they are.

The best part of all this work is that it does work.  An assignment I did with a 7 member team in April of 2009 has netted cohesiveness, respect, calm, productivity and more fun in their work.

Check out your teams today and call me if you think a tune-up on working together might be in order.

Find me, Barbara, at 303-984-9271.

If you are beginning this year without a plan, be prepared, the default plan just may be a plan to fail. 

This year is asking more of the leadership of our organizations than any other time in history.  The marks have moved,  the goal is elusive, accountability must be embraced and leaders must be able to show the path to people who are confused, even in the dark.

Are you ready?

#1 – Have you put together a half day or full day with your key decision makers and created a road-map for this year?

#2 – Does the road-map include the forks in the road that may be required?

#3 – Have you put in a humane lay-off/outplacement program that shows your integrity?

#4 – What are the 7-9 key initiatives that will make the difference this year?  Who owns these?  Who is holding people accountable weekly for these?

#5 – Where is the creativity being generated about what you are facing?  Are you taking 1-2 hours a month to think about all of this from an “out of the box” view?  Who facilitates this?

Don’t think that what you learned, what you experienced or what you know will be any where near enough for this year.  Learn, discuss, invite in new people and ideas, break new trail and stay in your integrity as you are challenged to do otherwise.

Need some help with all of this?

Invite me in to help you with this through a facilitated meeting that will make all your paths this year not only manageable, but possibly finding new opportunities that you had not envisioned before! Let me help you keep your eye on the ball and help everyone who has the same responsibility.  Call at 303-984-9271.

In a recent release of HR Magazine, Evan Scott of BOOST tells us about the new challenges that we face with our workforce and how to address them.  He points out that we need to not only know who these people are and what they need, but then we need to be prepared to reward them in a way that pushes the envelop, using technology and aligning those rewards with what we are trying to accomplish.

A leader knows how important incentives and rewards are.  In the new world, where we must not only attract and maintain the best, new leaders are looking at what else is needed to convey the message of accomplishment .  People want and need more.  Companies need to align incentives to outcomes so that it is a win-win situation all around.  Both of these need good technology as a partner to make it happen.

Check out this great article and Evan’s words of wisdom at “It’s a New World and Everyone is Paying Attention.”

In 2008 most businesses are experiencing some significant changes that don’t necessarily fit the rules of leadership that have been on the books for ages. Things that worked yesterday, last year, and many years before that are suddenly not working and leaders are scratching their heads in puzzlement about what to do next.

Here are a few ideas if you see yourself or leaders on your team looking for new information on how to handle what is in front of them today.

#1 – Get out of your office

You need to get into the shoes of your employees and find out what their work experience is like.  When you know what it is like, you need to know if that is the experience that will allow them to produce the most.  You will know how to utilize them the best and grow them into the next generation of leaders for your organization.

In addition to that information you will find the answers to most of the puzzles in front of you are available in the people around you.  It is time to stand up and talk with everyone on your team and ask what they are thinking, find out what they are experiencing and LISTEN to what they think.  Then start implementing some new ideas.

#2 – Know why your people will leave

This is heresy to say the least, but it is the road to success.  You need to have a relationship at some level with every one of your direct reports that allows you to know why they would leave and if they would ever leave.   Does that mean you will then do everything you can to stop them?  Not necessarily.  For some people the future may be with your organization, for others it may be somewhere else for very good reasons.  Helping people to make the right decision about where they work and why is part of the new leader.  We all know that the 30 year career with one company is still out there, but rarer and rarer with the varied interests of new generations.

#3 – Don’t Lead the way your Father or Mother did

Your Mom and Dad were good, smart leaders in their time, and many of the things they did you should note and follow, but if that is all you do, you are in trouble.  You need to find all the new ways people are communicating and use them to lead in a different manner.  If some of your employees NEVER use the phone anymore, how will you know the inflection in what they say?  Will that come across in a text or IM? How will you lead with a subculture of communication all around you, asking questions, challenging ideas and possibly undercutting initiatives without you even knowing it?  How will you get in on this information?  In the reverse, how can you use all the new ways of communicating to inspire and grow your people?

Look for new ways to lead and share them with us at his blog!

When Jana went to work at her new company she was convinced that it was going to be the answer to her prayers.  Good work, good pay, good people and stability.  This company wasn’t going anywhere.  And that was exactly what she got.  Good work, good pay, good people and a company that wasn’t going anywhere, literally.
As someone who studies what good companies do that make them go someplace, I have found an interesting disconnect in “being good” and getting to the next level.  Experience Leaders know this better than anyone.  They understand that they must create and powerful experience around the issues of the day to push their companies to success in both good and bad economic times.
Experience leaders know the correlation between all this “good” stuff and taking your company somewhere.  Good work, good pay and good people are only 75% of the formula for success. 

The other 25%, the 25% that will make or break your future success as an individual or a company is tied to three key things;
Innovation – In today’s world if you are not doing something new, different, increasing your offerings, delivering in a new way, the boat is sailing without you.   If you are marketing the way you have in the past, you will be left behind.  If you are delivering what you delivered last month or even last week, you will be left behind. 
Innovation parties! - Experience leaders take their teams on a regular basis and say, “today we innovate!”  What can we do that is new, different, in line with the interests of our clients to be there for them?  At a minimum an Experience Leader will set aside one day a month as innovation day.  They will not rest until everyone contributes an idea and until innovation is a habit.
Knowing your control levers – What are the key levers in your business?  (People, products, quality, development, sales, investment, technology or more?)  Experience Leaders know what these levers are and how to control them as markets bounce up and down keep the boat afloat in the storm of economic challenges.  They move quickly to change around personnel if people are a key.  They move quickly to change marketing strategies if this is a key. They challenge everyone who works for them to find their levers and their control in the situation.
Make Finding these controls an adventure! –Experience Leaders make it an adventure for their colleagues by asking everyone to determine exactly what they think they can control and what they cannot.  They then take on the adventure of saying how can I get some or total control of the things I think I cannot?  They teach this to everyone who works for them.  With their hands firmly on the controls they can drive through economic typhoons and set their sights on the next best thing for the organization and the people they serve.
The self-interest of clients is your interest! – An experience leader knows the most importance thing for their clients/customers today.   An Experience Leader is right there to help them.  What they needed yesterday is not what they need today.  How they bought yesterday is not how they will be buying today. “What is my customer’s biggest interest today?” is the question that dominates the thought process of an Experience Leader throughout the day.  The Experience Leader asks their team to think about this throughout the day as well in an effort to ingrain the thought.
Don’t struggle with any of these in your organization.  Let a Leadership Mastermind group tackle these and ingrain them in your culture.  Find out more at Leadership Mastermind Groups.

As I read the papers these days and look at the challenges facing so many organizations and their leaders, I am struck by a bit of an incongruity between knowledge leaders and Experience Leaders.  We often find that leaders in organizations have confused knowledge and wisdom in choosing how to next direct their organization.  Too often we are just looking at what we have learned, done before, trends, and other past activities we set forth, to “lead” our organization.  I am not sure that in the current world of challenge that this is sufficient or the way that will make a strong future.  There is a famous quote that I think gives us a better idea of what is needed in today’s extraordinarily challenging times.  This quote, “We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.”  by George Bernard Shaw,  shows what a true Experience Leader knows, that we must be working toward true wisdom, using insight to create the future.  Our capacity to be wise, finding out what is true, what is really right for our organization and what will last has more power than knowledge alone.

Experience leaders find that wisdom or being wise encompasses the capacity to take a broader view of the current challenges and circumstances.  Rather than paying just the bills that are due today, dealing with just the crisis of today or worrying about the quarter, the experience leader is looking at the experience of the organization, its clients, customers, and employees for a lifetime.  They have the capacity to call upon and utilize the skills, talents and abilities of everyone in their organization for current challenges while simultaneously building the future.  The Experience leaders who are going out to their own employees and other leaders and saying, “help us create the future.”  These wise Experience Leaders are the ones who are making it through these challenging times.

 The Experience leader’s vision and wisdom is not created in a vacuum, but with the wise input of many, many people stretching even beyond their own organization.  Vistage, the largest CEO organization in the country, is well aware of the power of this collective wisdom and thus creates an environment where 12-16 leaders can join together to use collective wisdom to meet challenges and create the future.  They provide one of places Experience Leaders can go to get the common sense and good judgment of many and create powerful futures for their organizations.

These are challenging times, there is no doubt about that.  These are also the times of great opportunity.  The times for Experience Leaders to make use of the knowledge we have gained in the past and from others to become wise about the future of our organization.

Experience Leaders also make good use of “Leadership Masterminds” to collect this wisdom in their organizations.  I am convinced that where these collectives exist you will find that not only are the challenges met, but the future is being created.

To find out more about “Leadership Masterminds” email barbara_j_brannen@yahoo.com.

Wow!  2008 is really here!  As a manager/leader you now have the opportunity to have some fun.  You see, you can make fun out of anything, resolutions, work or what happened to me on New Year’s day……

You see my New Year started off so-o-o-o-o-o-o bad that my son commented. “Mom, you have no where to go but up.”   What happened was the septic system at my mountain cabin froze (more…)

Do you want something to change in your workplace? Do you need to get on track? Are you challenged by what is not working and how to fix it? If so, then you have come to the right place.

Barbara Brannen and Playmore offer a very different approach to your “situations” whether it is with one person, two people, a team, a department or the entire organization. Barbara can bring an incredible series of programs (more…)