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.

A leader knows that the morale of his or her staff will make or break them in the long run.  We have watched staff exit from the political campaigns of leaders that can’t be clear, stay on track or even take the time to discuss next steps.  There is a lesson there and it came to me in a strange way today.

 I had the unusual opportunity to walk in a beautiful forest in upstate New York as a break from my work, which is slated to go well into the night.  As I hiked up a path on a steep hill a young doe walked out in front of me on the trail.  A quick glance in my direction stilled me and the deer.  We eyed each other for a while and then the deer eventually sauntered off into the forest.  A little later we ran into each other again, this time near a pond where the doe was headed for a cool drink on a warm day.  Again, I stilled, again the deer did not flee but wandered on to drink.

Leaders need to approach their people as the doe and I did with each other.  Be still, quiet your mind, and just be.  Listen to hear what is in the air. Is it peace?  Is it fear?   Let your thoughts be set aside, while you hear their thoughts.  Know that you can co-exist because you have a mutual respect and understanding of each other. 

If you rush, run, blurt, or push you will cause their thoughts to flee.  You will miss the opportunity to hear the magic they bring to you and your business.

Our Mastermind groups learn how to do this every month.  Are you missing out on this valuable leadership experience.  Call us today to learn more about how two hours a month can make your managers into leaders and your leaders into superstars.  303-984-9271

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.

I am currently in what I consider to be the leadership training capital of the world, Kauai, Hawaii.  Now why would I make such a bizarre claim when we all know that leadership is being studied in corporate offices, major universities and on Wall Street every day?  My reasons are simple.  In Hawaii there is one word that sums up what leadership should be.  That word is ”Aloha.”

This is a place where people and businesses choose to bring their presence (alo) and a breath of life (ha) to every encounter and to the products and services they provide.  They chose to “share” part of themselves in serving a meal, fixing an elevator, building a road, creating a software program and more.  In return, they create an incredible experience for their customers and buyers. 

This simple word provides leaders with a road-map to getting our work on track today and every day.  Have we brought the full presence of who and what we are to the work?  Have we put our full breath into our efforts or are we holding back? Are we making the product we build or the service we give the real essence of who we are and what we stand for? 

When the people we work with feel these two things from their leaders or managers,  our full breath and our true essence they respond in kind.  New ideas flood into the workplace, a sense of creativity and ease surround tackling the challenges of the day, and the pride in the outcomes is the fuel for the next day’s efforts.

When our clients and customers feel this Aloha spirit, they too want to work with you again.  Returning for the real presence that your service or product brings to them.  They also want the life your create for them in your product or service because you have brought your true essence to them and shared it freely.

I am currently at the Marriott Kauai Beach Club and you could easily say I am just influenced by the sun, the surf, the palm trees, soft breezes and chirping birds.  (Are you imagining all of this yet?)  All of those things are wonderful by themselves.  However, my experience in my stay here is magnified ten fold because of the Aloha that greets me in every encounter.  The housekeeper, concierge, waiter, grounds-person, security, and so on will always pass along an “aloha” and follow that up with just what it means.  I am blown away, when I ask a simple question and get not only a good answer, but so much more.  They bring their presence to our encounters and share freely.  You can actually feel the breath of life in their work with each other by the smiles, not just for the tourists, but their colleagues, who I suspect are friends as well.

Experience leaders know how to bring “aloha” to their workplace every day.  May you be one of them.

Aloha!

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.

Today more than ever we are challenged to be good leaders, ethical managers and all around perfect employees.  It’s never easy.  There are quirks and personalities to contend with.  There are two to twenty different opinions on how things should be done and to top it all off, there are the demands of the business that make even listening hard some times. One of the things that I have found in most successful leaders is the way they KEEP IT SIMPLE.  To that end, here are a  few simple tips for you today that will make all of this just a little bit easier;

1. Smile - right now while you read this.  Notice your heart rate drop a point or two.  The heart rate of the people around you will drop as well.

2. Get up, go out the door and tell someone, anyone they are doing a good job, (with real meaning).  Say no more and just come back to your work.  Your mind is clearer and your colleague that you just appreciated is clearer as well.

3.  Listen - just walk around to five people, ask and then listen to what is on their minds today.  You will feel more informed, they will feel more empowered to get things done.

4.  Decide anything that has been lingering out there and needs a decision now.  You will feel better for having started the action and your colleagues will be anxious to make it happen.

5.  Learn, something, anything that will make you a better leader today.  Ask one person how you can improve and then work on that for the week.   You will get better and everyone you lead will be better for it.

6. Start a Leadership MasterMind Group in Your Company today with my help.  Just call 303-984-9271 and we will get you on your way.