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(32085, 416, '2016-12-06 06:00:15', '2016-12-06 11:00:15', 'Leading today isn’t easy. Changes abound. We work virtually. We work globally. Our hierarchies are flatter. Our environments are more collaborative. On top of that, there are so many different models of leadership out there.\n\nWe need the right balance between authority vs. autonomy, consensus vs. direct decision-making, and friendly vs. firm. Whether you’re new to management or a veteran leader, it can be overwhelming for many to think about all the different ways they can lead.\n\nBut in reality, there are <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/events/the-3-methods-for-spectacular-leadership-with-melissa-lamson/\">three core competencies</a> all leaders must have to be spectacular.\n<h3><strong>Give feedback regularly</strong></h3>\nFeedback is a necessary component to doing business successfully, particularly when working globally. <a href=\"http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/162794/five-questions-ask-team.aspx?utm_source=feedback%20culture&amp;utm_medium=search&amp;utm_campaign=tiles\">Studies</a> have shown that employee engagement soars when a culture of feedback exists. It has also been proven that employees are more satisfied at work when they receive regular feedback.\n\nThe way to create a culture of feedback is to do it often and frame it as a positive for both the individual and the organization. Give both constructive and positive commentary on a regular basis. Also, when giving feedback, be sure to tell the recipient the purpose of your comments, whether it is to grow, improve their image, or protect them.  Also, stick to observable facts rather than feelings or hearsay.\n<h3><strong>Put on your coaching hat</strong></h3>\nBut be a coach that’s different than what you see on the sidelines. Don’t simply call the shots. <em>Empower</em> your team to better themselves. Ask questions, listen, and help them reframe their answers so they can come up with solutions.\n\nI like the <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/give-yourself-year-end-review-melissa-lamson?forceNoSplash=true\">GROW</a> (Goals, Reality, Options, and Will) coaching model because it helps someone refine their goal, define their current situation, discover the different options of what to try, and then commit to a particular action. The coachee owns the answers and therefore is more engaged and committed to the outcome.\n\nThis strategy works especially well in flatter hierarchies and collaborative environments. Coaching is used to empower and service team members. It allows them to find answers themselves that might even be better than what you would have directed them to do.\n<h3><strong>Assess styles</strong></h3>\nFinally, all fantastic leaders are able to assess the different ways their employees work and thrive. They look at their teams’ personalities, cultural backgrounds, even at gender, to identify what approach will be most effective in engaging, motivating and bringing the best out of an employee.\n\nFor example, if an employee is extroverted, then they will likely want to talk through issues while an introverted person will want private time to think and then come to you with a solution.\n\nStudies find that people most often leave their jobs because of their direct supervisor. That is a lot of power. By learning what and how to motivate your team, you will be able to achieve your goals and increase productivity and profitability. Hard work and happy employees are unstoppable.\n\nHaving these effective and critical conversations will enable you to have a strong connection and see your team be more productive and successful.\n\nFor more on mastering these strategies, check out my <strong>free</strong> <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/events/the-3-methods-for-spectacular-leadership-with-melissa-lamson/\">Weaving Influence webinar</a> tomorrow, Dec. 7, at 2pm EST.\n\n<a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/events/the-3-methods-for-spectacular-leadership-with-melissa-lamson/\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-32086 size-full\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/3Methods_webinar_share.png\" alt=\"3methods_webinar_share\" width=\"440\" height=\"220\" /></a>\n\n&nbsp;', '3 Strategies for Spectacular Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '3-strategies-for-spectacular-leadership', '', '', '2016-12-06 06:00:15', '2016-12-06 11:00:15', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32085', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(32091, 445, '2016-12-15 06:00:17', '2016-12-15 11:00:17', 'Goodness isn’t really celebrated. Only greatness is. Great leaders aren’t just better at being good leaders. They’re in a class apart. To watch them work can be awe inspiring. They energize those who work for them, uproot complacency and can shock a failing group or company into success with their personality alone.\n\nGood leaders often protect the status quo. They keep a good thing going and improve piecemeal on the ideas around them. This is obviously a good strategy. A great deal of what we’ve managed to achieve has been through small innovations that have been stacked, one upon the other.\n\nNot all of our advancements have come this way, however. There have been those moments in history where one man or woman shaped the very destiny of a country, a field, or the world itself. They did not just innovate piecemeal. They changed the very name of the game.\n<h3>Good leaders show you what they can do</h3>\nGreat leaders make you realize what you can do. That’s a massive difference. A good leader impresses you with their capacity. A great leader, on the other hand, has the ability to impress you with who you are. They make you feel good about who you are and what you’re capable of.\n\nThat’s why great leaders often have a magnetic personality. After all, who doesn’t want to feel better about who they are?\n\nThe difference in productivity and capability is also immense. A good leader can help people become better at what they’re doing. A great leader can do so much more. They can take a team and make each individual brilliant at what they do, by inspiring them to learn, inspiring them to be better, inspiring them to be the best version of themselves that they can be.\n<h3>Good leaders tell you what they’re capable of</h3>\nGreat leaders only show you. The difference between good and great leadership lies in this: a good leader will seem bigger than life, while a great leader – who is no doubt bigger than life – will also be able to be your friend, relate to you and be somebody you trust.\n\nA great leader does not need to lord it over you. They are great leaders because they can assert their authority without needing to do so all the time. They can be your friends (while good leaders can’t) because they know exactly how to find that line between being your superior and being your ally. In fact, for them, they are often one and the same.\n<h3>Good leaders tell you you’re great</h3>\nGreat leaders have you believing it. It’s a subtle difference, to be sure. How can you make somebody believe they’re great without telling them? Telling them certainly helps, but it isn’t enough. You need to show it to them as well.\n\nThese are the little actions. The respect you give people right out of the door, the fact that you’re willing to trust them with something important, the way you give them your undivided attention when they need it. In effect, it’s all about respecting people for who they are. It’s about making certain that you don’t just see them as a means to an end (e.g. raised productivity) but as an end in and of themselves.\n\nSeeing a person as an \"end in themselves\" isn’t just one of <a href=\"http://www.trinity.edu/cbrown/intro/kant_ethics.html\">Kant’s imperatives to a being a good and moral person</a>; it is also the way to give a person true self-worth. Though you might be able to flatter us by telling us that we’re good workers, there is always something missing from a statement in that form.\n\nWe’d all like to believe that we’re more than just workers. We want to be fully fledged individuals, who are respected for our individuality, our personality and what we bring to the world beyond how well we work.\n\nA great leader realizes that. They give the people below them the feeling that they’re full-fledged people and then take it a step further by saying that they can, in fact, be more than they are.\n<h3>Good leaders build</h3>\nThis clues in to what I talked about in the beginning. Good leaders are able to enhance the status quo. At most, they might push the tiller in another direction and thereby turn the ship slightly. Great leaders don’t do that. They are disrupters. They invent new technologies, new ideas and realize there are utterly new ways to look at things.\n\nThis can make great leaders intimidating for others. After all, many people have a lot to lose when the status quo is endangered. That’s why great leaders attract a lot of attention – and it isn\'t always positive.\n\nA good leader doesn’t necessarily do that. They don’t rock the boat and in that way can often go below the radar. For a great leader, going below the radar is difficult indeed. After all, going below the radar means doing things in the same way that everybody else does.\n\nBut that’s not what a great leader does. They change the rules and in the process step on people’s toes.\n<h3>Good leaders are about not being noticed</h3>\nThat might be a strange idea, but it’s true. The best good leaders don’t really show up that much. They keep the ship straight and going forward. They make sure that everybody else can do their job properly.\n\nTheir words and their lessons are interesting, but they won’t win anybody any prizes.\n\nThat can’t really work for great leaders. Great leaders take a personal stake in what it going on. They don’t just direct the ship, they change the wind. Good leaders shape themselves to the reality around them. Great leaders shape reality to fit their will.\n<h3>A good leader covers for what they can’t do</h3>\nThat’s important. If you have a weakness, you need to cover for it, right? Not necessarily. Of course, great leaders also have weaknesses. They’re not gods. The thing is, they take those weaknesses and they turn them into strength.\n\nOkay, that sounds like something out of a fortune cookie. So what do I mean? I mean that they turn what they don’t know into opportunities for other people to shine. Look, I know something that this great person doesn’t know! Or they turn it into opportunities to learn something new themselves – and with that, I don’t just mean cover their weakness, but also about other facets of how to become a better human being. Perhaps they learn the skill required and in the process create a new understanding of how people learn and how they can make learning easier.\n<h3>Good leaders know where they’re going to be tomorrow</h3>\nGreat leaders know where they’re going to be a year from now. To be a good leader you don’t need to have that much vision. They can simply motivate those that work for them and depend on them for the direction. They’re more like a catalyst, rather than somebody that points the way.\n\nGreat leaders, on the other hand, both are the catalyst and the rudder. They know where they’re going and they’re willing to put in the hard work to get there. They’re like Duracell bunnies with an inbuilt compass.\n<h3>Alternatively, good leaders provide direction but no force</h3>\nYou know the kind of leader I’m talking about. They’ve got the vision, they idea, the motivation, but they don’t have the will to get anybody there. In this case, it’s once again up to everybody else to push the company forward. Other people need to work hard, while the leader points the way.\n\nThis isn’t possible for a great leader. They’re the ones who will be pulling each and every soldier out of the trenches and into the conflict, into the battle for their company’s success, even while the bullets whiz around their heads.\n\nIt’s an interesting point, actually. Good leaders can often embody a number of great leader characteristics without being great leaders. That’s because great leaders need to embody all of these traits. The difference between a good and a great leader is that a good leader has some of these traits, some of the time. A great leader has all of the traits all of the time.\n<h3>Last words</h3>\nSo how do you become a great leader? Well, you start off by being good and then work on getting better. Some people maintain that <a href=\"https://hbr.org/2016/09/the-difference-between-good-leaders-and-great-ones\">leadership is something you can do or can’t</a>. That’s nonsense. Leadership is not something inborn. <a href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201502/can-leadership-be-learned-or-are-you-born-it\">It is something learned</a>. That means that leadership is made, just like everybody else. That means they were good before they got great.\n\nThe difference between good and great leaders doesn’t lie in the way you’re born. Of course, it helps if you have some of the right character traits and a modicum of intelligence, but that is only the start. From there, it’s understanding that you’ve got to keep learning.\n\nA lot of people learn a skill set up to a certain level and then simply stop learning. They plateau and  stay there for the rest of their lives. That’s what doesn’t happen with great leaders. They get that they are good, but they don’t rest on their laurels. They keep the hunger to get better. They find new things to learn, they get new teachers and they understand what they’re doing wrong.\n\nThat’s the real difference between being good and being great. And that’s why you can be a great leader too. Just don’t count on it being easy.', 'The Difference Between Good and Great Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-difference-between-good-and-great-leadership', '', '', '2016-12-15 06:00:17', '2016-12-15 11:00:17', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32091', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32105, 251, '2016-12-09 06:00:12', '2016-12-09 11:00:12', 'A few things have happened recently that increase performance pressure on character-based leaders who are dedicated to doing what’s right:\n<ul>\n 	<li>The Oxford Dictionary announced the word <em>post-truth</em> as its <a href=\"https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2016\">2016 word of the year</a>. <a href=\"http://www.ralphkeyes.com/the-post-truth-era/\">Post-truth</a> relates to or denotes “circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”</li>\n 	<li>CNN’s <a href=\"http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/11/theres-no-such-thing-any-more-unfortunately-as-facts/509276/\">Scottie Nell Hughes said</a> in an NPR interview that, “There’s no such thing, unfortunately, anymore as facts.”</li>\n</ul>\nTalk about shifting ground! So, for those leaders who see value in embracing differences and who are intent on preserving integrity, truthfulness, and authenticity—leadership basics that could become quaint notions should post-truth practices and an absence of facts become normalized—here are ten things to do to keep these basics front and center in leading yourself and others.\n<h3>10 things to do to keep “post-truth” from crippling your leadership</h3>\n1) Hold yourself and those on your team <strong>accountable for full truthfulness</strong> instead of what <a href=\"https://books.google.com/books?id=f0Kvm3KObXoC&amp;pg=PA17&amp;lpg=PA17&amp;dq=ledger+book+truth+the+post-truth+era&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=NeE9dnkIPm&amp;sig=B-x_JsqsLR0s7VPHsq2xdbVseA4&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwja6uDOteLQAhVG6iYKHQoIB60Q6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&amp;q=ledger%20book%20truth%20the%20post-truth%20era&amp;f=false\">author Ralph Keyes</a> calls “ledger-book” morality. <em>“Ethics are judged on a sliding scale…If we add up truths and lies we’ve told and find more of the former than the latter, we classify ourselves honest…Conceding that his magazine soft-pedaled criticism of advertisers, one publisher concluded, ‘I guess you could say we’re 75 percent honest, which isn’t bad.’”</em>\n\n2) <strong>Manage paradoxes</strong>. Effective leadership is an oscillating mix of head and heart:  managing both facts and feelings as well as logic and emotion. Neither takes precedence over the other because both elements are needed for success.\n\n3) <strong>Encourage healthy debate and diversity of thought</strong>, opinion, and perspective. Position those who disagree not as being wrong, losers, or the scapegoat. Don’t link likability with being agreeable; they are totally separate concepts.\n<blockquote>Diversity: the art of thinking independently together. ~Malcolm Forbes</blockquote>\n4) <strong>Be eternally vigilant for opinions masquerading as facts,</strong> and correct people when they confuse them. Facts are concrete realities verifiable by observation, consistency with the rules of a symbol system such as 2+2=4, or applying objective standards of value such as \'stealing is wrong.\' Opinions are self-reports that represent a belief, view, sentiment, or conception that can be biased.\n\n5) <strong>Be transparent.</strong> Say what you mean and mean what you say. Hidden agendas serve no one well. Own up, not double down on, being wrong. James O’Toole and Warren Bennis point out, <em>“Leaders who are candid and predictable—they tell everyone the same thing and don’t continually revise their stories—signal to followers that the rules of the game aren’t changing and that decisions won’t be made arbitrarily. Given that assurance, followers become more willing to stick their necks out, make an extra effort, and put themselves on the line to help their leaders achieve goals.”</em>\n\n6) Recognize and reward those who have the courage and candor to speak truthfully and tactfully about their position without being closed-minded to alternate points of view.\n<blockquote>Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy. ~Isaac Newton</blockquote>\n7) <strong>Welcome and manage the tensions</strong> between what Dr. Jean Lipman-Blumen calls “interdependence (overlapping visions, mutual problems, and common goals) and diversity (diverse nature of individuals, groups, and organizations) by making diversity and inclusion a business priority just like any other specified business target. In an increasingly connected, technologically savvy, and fast-paced world, difference is the new normal. Paul Block, CEO of Merisant, observes, <em>“People with different lifestyles and different backgrounds challenge each other more. Diversity creates dissent, and you need that. Without it, you’re not going to get any deep inquiry or breakthroughs.”</em>\n\n8) <strong>Make sharing the truth, hard facts, constructive criticism, etc. easy to do</strong>. Discourage groupthink and don’t shoot the messenger.\n<blockquote>When you resort to attacking the messenger and not the message, you have lost the debate. ~Addison Whithecomb</blockquote>\n9) <strong>Don’t give yourself a hall pass</strong> by believing your “little lies” are OK while those of others are unacceptable. Practice the South African philosophy of “ubuntu,” which social rights activitist Desmond Tutu describes as <em>“the essence of being human…it embraces hospitality, caring about others, being able to go the extra mile for the sake of others. We believe that a person is a person through another person, that my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably with yours. When I dehumanize you, I inexorably dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms and therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in belonging.”</em>\n\n10) <strong>Win by not playing the “post-truth” game.</strong>\n\nIdeas and actions move from the fringe to the mainstream when we allow them to do so. It’s up to us whether we’re complicit or not in allowing that to happen.\n<blockquote>I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody. ~Lily Tomlin</blockquote>\nWhat else needs to be done?', '10 Ways to Keep “Post-truth” From Crippling Your Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '10-ways-to-keep-post-truth-from-crippling-your-leadership', '', '', '2016-12-09 06:00:12', '2016-12-09 11:00:12', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32105', 0, 'post', '', 8),
(32121, 357, '2017-01-19 06:00:38', '2017-01-19 11:00:38', 'I see it with my clients. I see it with my colleagues. I see it in myself. It’s damn hard to admit when we don’t know something. Somewhere along the line, we came to believe that being a leader meant being sure. Knowing the answers. Having the best and rightest solution to every problem.\n\nIt’s not true.\n\nThe strongest leaders I see are the ones who admit what they don’t know and what they’re not sure of, and who reach out to others for opinions, advice, and perspective. But why is that so hard to do?\n\nWhy have we come to expect our leaders to be infallible, and ourselves to be infallible? It’s a huge – and impossible – mantle to carry.\n\nIt might be our culture based on independence, a pioneering spirit, and “just do it-ness,” but it almost doesn’t matter where it comes from. What matters is our ability to throw that constraining belief aside and start afresh, and to be willing, as leaders, to take a deep breath and say, “I don’t know.” We need to:\n<ul>\n 	<li><strong><em>Admit when we don’t have the answer</em> </strong>– It takes a bit of willing to be vulnerable and to not appear omniscient, but we have to acknowledge our lack of surety and knowledge, and let that not be a bad thing.</li>\n 	<li><strong><em>Surround ourselves with smart people</em></strong><em> – </em>Effective leaders know that while they don’t know everything, there are people who know the things they don’t. The best leaders make sure that they have smart advisors, that the people around them know at least as much as they do, if not more.</li>\n 	<li><strong><em>Be open to other perspectives</em></strong><em> – </em>Having smart people and ideas around you doesn’t help if you’ll ask for – and then reject – other opinions. Successful leaders know that not only do they not know everything, but that they also don’t always know best.</li>\n 	<li><strong><em>Find people who’ve walked this road before</em></strong><em> –</em> Experience is one of the best teachers. If we’re faced with a problem we can’t figure out, chances are there is someone somewhere who has dealt with the same – or at least similar – situation. We’re much better equipped to figure a way out if we turn to someone who has “been there, done that.”</li>\n 	<li><strong><em>But remember that experience may blind us to innovation</em></strong><em> –</em> While experience is beneficial, it also can cause us to not see the differences, and nuances, in the current situation. It’s a best practice to trust your understanding of a situation, based on a record of success, and then at least once, second-guess your understanding to make sure you’re not falling into ruts.</li>\n 	<li><strong><em>Just say it</em></strong><em> –</em> Jump in. Take the plunge. Be willing to risk it. Say, “I don’t know,” and see what happens. Does the world fall apart? Do you lose the respect of others? (If so, you probably never had it in the first place.)</li>\n</ul>\nThe strongest leaders I know are the ones who know what they know, and admit what they don’t know and what they’re not sure of. The strongest leaders I’ve seen reach out to others for opinions, advice, and perspective. They consider it, weigh it against their knowledge and truths, and make a Thoughtful decision.\n\nThe strongest leaders I know are willing to say, “I don’t know,” and look for the answers.', 'The Best Leaders Use These 3 Hard Words', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-best-leaders-use-these-3-hard-words', '', '', '2017-01-19 06:00:38', '2017-01-19 11:00:38', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32121', 0, 'post', '', 10),
(32134, 276, '2016-12-14 06:00:35', '2016-12-14 11:00:35', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As another year comes to a close, so it is time to review and summarize your reflections. December is a great time to capture the highlights of the year and identify the key points that defined the year for you.   </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you assess what transpired during the year, ask yourself the following questions:</span>\n<ul>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What was the highlight of your year?   </span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is there a one-liner that describes your year?  </span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What were the key wins? Identify your key wins and determine how you can continue this pattern.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What worked for you? List what worked for you and list what you need to continue to enable you to be successful.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What did not work? It is important to capture what did not work, because you can learn from the lessons to avoid the same mistakes, or come up with a plan on how you will improve yourself.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How did you improve your leadership capabilities? Leadership development is continuous. We repeatedly develop and improve ourselves. This way we can help others.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did you grow talent around you? A leader’s number one job is to develop talent around them. By growing talent, we multiply our ability to compete with others. Because leaders always grow other leaders</span></li>\n</ul>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether you had a good or bad year, it is important to answer the above questions to enable you to document and, more importantly, come up with a plan that will help you navigate the upcoming year. There are two ways of approaching the upcoming year: create a concrete plan that you can follow or go with the flow. I strongly suggest coming up with a plan, because you’ll have a roadmap that you can use to track your progress. Going with the flow is not a good plan, because going with the flow keeps you from focusing on the key learnings that will help you avoid the same mistakes.   </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I always look at reflection as a great way of closing out the year and planning for the upcoming year. It also allows me to focus my attention on my personal development and perhaps renew my dedication to something that I’m passionate about. Learn from what transpired this year and start 2017 strong.</span>', 'Reflection and Planning', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'reflection-and-planning', '', '', '2016-12-14 06:00:35', '2016-12-14 11:00:35', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32134', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(32155, 329, '2017-01-18 06:00:06', '2017-01-18 11:00:06', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LeadChange is a really cool word picture.  The message is this: the role of leadership and the practice of change are intertwined. Effective leaders facilitate change; effective change takes good leadership. But, is there a component of leadership that does not change…that stands pat and is unwaveringly constant? There is insight from the ever-enchanting kaleidoscope.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We all love the charm of a kaleidoscope.  Its charisma comes from change—turning the animator or shaking the kaleidoscope enables the mirrored pieces of glass (granddaughters call them jewels) to constantly change positions revealing awesome images. But, the jewels inside never change. We don’t open up kaleidoscopes and put in different jewels.  </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Great leaders are constantly changing. And they are advocates for constant change. “He not busy being born,” sang Bob Dylan “is busy dying.” But, the “jewels” of great leaders never change. What are the constant “jewels” great leaders mirror to those they serve? What are their non-altering, never malleable core values of greatness?</span>\n<h3><b>The Jewel of Leadership Character</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the lunch following my dad’s funeral, people kept telling me what a very good man he was.It was more than a kind gesture; their emphasis was always on the “very.” They talked about how he never engaged in any action that would have left even a tiny implication of impropriety or inference of underhanded intention. He was solidly good to the core. “Learn to courageously say ‘no’ on your feet,” he would tell me growing up, “or you will come to the end of your life and have to humbly say ‘yes’ on your knees.” </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ray Bell was the manager of my hometown bank most of my childhood. The bank was the primary funding source for farmers in the almost totally agricultural setting. His faith in the bank was demonstrated by his investing most of our family savings in bank stock. And, the bank board chairman publicly lauded my dad’s patience with farmer-borrowers struggling to make loan payments when a fire destroyed a barn or a hailstorm wiped out a crop. After all, my dad knew the honesty of his farmer-borrowers--some were in the Sunday school class he taught for years. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, the bank ownership changed. And the big city bankers had different ideas about running a rural bank. Their practices, while technically legal, were devious and shady. Mercy was replaced with malice; generosity with greed. My dad resigned. The bank stock value quickly plummeted and ultimately the bank was closed. His leadership stand cost our family most of our savings. My 100 year-old mother still believes the significant financial loss cost him his health. He got a job as the credit manager in his brother-in-law’s small farm implement company in a nearby town. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Novelist James Lane Allen wrote, “Adversity does not build character, it reveals it.”  The jewel of my dad’s leadership was the rich life lessons his family learned. Great leaders lead with a steadfast and unwavering character. And, the jewel of that character becomes the groundwater of how their leadership is expressed. “</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The greatness of a man [or woman] is not in how much wealth he [or she] acquires,” wrote Jamaican singer Bob Marley, “but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”</span>\n<h3><b>The Jewel of Leadership Generosity</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mason Wartman gave up his job on Wall Street to start a pizza shop! Rosa’s Fresh Pizza in Philadelphia started getting a lot of publicity after Mason’s decision to take selling single slices of pizza for a dollar to new level. He was even a guest on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. But it had nothing to do with the price of the slice; it was about a customer-suggested idea for how to fund pizza for the homeless. It works like this: when customers buy pizza for themselves they put a dollar in a container, write a message on a Post-it note, and stick it on the wall. Any homeless person can come into the store, take a Post-it note off the wall and get a slice of pizza. Rosa’s has given away thousands of slices. When I recently met Mason in his tiny pizza shop he reminded me we are all put on this planet to make a difference, not just make a living.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generosity conveys the kind of unconditional positive regard that characterizes relationships at their best. </span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The noncompetitive nature of generosity means approaching relationships with a \"cast bread upon the water\" orientation. And each contribution to the relationship causes it to grow, prosper and feel enriched. An abundance attitude creates a legacy of affirmation—it lives on in the language that associates and customers use to describe the leader as well as the organization the leader fronts.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The principle of abundance is about giving more than is expected. It is a proactive attitude of engulfing a relationship with emotional plenty without concern for reciprocity. Granted we cannot “give” our way to bottom line success.  An attitude of generosity is more the belief that if we employ a giver mentality, the customer will take care of the bottom line.  </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">John Ellis, in an article entitled <a href=\"https://www.fastcompany.com/45503/monthly-column-strategy\" target=\"_blank\">Strategy</a> in the October 2002, issue of </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fast Company</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> wrote:  “Here’s what real business leaders do. They go out and rally the troops, plant the flag, and make a stand. They confront hostile audiences and the deal with the press. If the issue is confidence, they conduct themselves confidently. If the issue is trust, they make their company’s business transparent. If the issue is character, they tell the truth. They do not shirk responsibility; they assume command. Because a fundamental ingredient of business success is leadership.” </span>\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-32174 size-medium\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/kaleidoscope-cover-300x300.png\" alt=\"kaleidoscope-cover\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" />\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside the ever-changing kaleidoscope of leadership are the constant jewels of character and generosity.</span></em></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chip R. Bell is a renowned keynote speaker and the author of several best-selling books. His newest book is </span><b>Kaleidoscope: Delivering Innovative Service That Sparkles</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. He can be reached at www.chipbell.com.</span></p>', 'LeadStandPat', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'leadstandpat', '', '', '2017-01-18 06:00:06', '2017-01-18 11:00:06', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32155', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32159, 446, '2017-01-04 06:00:43', '2017-01-04 11:00:43', 'Poor leadership is often at the root of high employee turnover.\n\nIn fact, according to a recent <a href=\"https://cmoe.com/statistics-reveal-price-of-high-employee-turnover-infographic/\">CMOE infographic</a>, nearly 50 percent of employees were likely to leave their jobs if they didn’t feel recognized by their managers\n\nWhile these types of statistics are disheartening, they also reveal an opportunity that the best leaders take advantage of. Developing specific leadership skills for the workplace can support employee retention by increasing performance, job satisfaction and a whole host of other factors.\n\nLet\'s dig into the leadership skills that managers can use to reduce employee turnover and enhance business results.\n<h3><strong>Recognize and Acknowledge</strong></h3>\n<a href=\"https://www.bamboohr.com/blog/reward-and-recogntion-survey\">Reward and recognition</a> has been shown to have a strong impact on employee performance and engagement. This may seem like a simple thing to do but many leaders struggle to do this effectively. To reward your employees for their contributions, you need to take the time to make note of their successes and find effective ways to let them know that they are appreciated.\n<h3><strong>Create Opportunities</strong></h3>\nIt’s not uncommon for employees to leave a job because they feel that their growth has stagnated. A Cornerstone survey revealed a direct connection between lack of opportunities for development and high turnover. Good leaders will invest in their employees by creating new opportunities for education and career advancement.\n<h3><strong>Make Your Vision Contagious</strong></h3>\nEmployees who feel like their work has meaning and <a href=\"http://www.inc.com/adam-vaccaro/purpose-employee-engagement.html\">are driven by a sense of purpose</a> are much more likely to dedicate themselves to their jobs. Strong leaders know how to pass their vision on to their team and inspire them to achieve the goals that will bring them to realization.\n<h3><strong>Cultivate a Respectful Workplace</strong></h3>\nDemonstrating respect with your employees and promoting it between team members is invaluable. It is also a critical component of <a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2013/07/22/5-ways-leaders-earn-respect-from-their-employees/#6bdd9bb242f4\">gaining the respect of your employees</a> in return. You can achieve this in a variety of ways that include being responsive, admitting to your mistakes, demonstrating that you value their time and energy, and creating an inclusive culture.\n<h3><strong>Promote Employee Development</strong></h3>\nGreat leaders know how to extract the highest amount of value from their teams by giving them the opportunity to develop their skills and education. This can be achieved by putting together a development plan for each employee, providing the necessary tools to meet these goals and cross training them to create more variety in their job roles.\n<h3><strong>Strategic Communication</strong></h3>\nThe ability to communicate effectively to deliver messages and drive results is a skill that should not be underestimated. Poor communication is a common issue when it comes to employee dissatisfaction and high turnover. Consistent and clear communication should be a priority if you want to keep your workforce engaged for the long haul.\n<h3><strong>Clear Feedback</strong></h3>\nWhile solid feedback regarding past performance is a must, this skill also involves relaying information throughout the process. Letting your employees know what is expected of them and working with them to determine realistic timelines and results will eliminate negative surprises at the end of a project. If you leave them in the dark about their performance you can expect dissatisfaction and turnover to skyrocket.', 'How to Reduce Employee Turnover with 7 Critical Leadership Skills', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-reduce-employee-turnover-with-7-critical-leadership-skills', '', '', '2017-01-04 06:00:43', '2017-01-04 11:00:43', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32159', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(32184, 389, '2016-12-22 06:00:28', '2016-12-22 11:00:28', 'In <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/what-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-started-my-career-part-one/\" target=\"_blank\">yesterday\'s post</a>, I shared eight things I know now, that I wish I had known when I had started my career.\n\nToday, I am sharing seven more:\n<h3>Be Interested in What’s Right, Not Who’s Right</h3>\nI’ve seen too many talented people along the way focus their energy in all the wrong places, most commonly by obsessing over winning arguments. Intellectual Integrity is much more important than perceived Intellectual Prowess – which by the way is not automatically prescribed to the winner of an argument. Be interested in what the right thing is, then do that right thing. That’s energy well spent.\n<h3>The Biggest Risk You Can Take is Not Taking Any Risk</h3>\nThe Navy’s first female Rear Admiral, Grace Murray Hopper, once said “Ships in port are safe. But that’s not what ships are made for.” Wayne Gretzky once said “I guarantee you’ll miss 100% of the shots you never take.\" Henry Ford said “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.” The biggest difference I’ve seen between mediocre and magnificent leaders comes down to their willingness to take risks, learn from them, and keep moving forward. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.\n<h3>Be Resilient and Relentless</h3>\nFortune favors the flexible and the fervent. Being agile and ready to bend and adapt to changing circumstances is an absolutely vital skill set to develop if you want to have a career that’s as frustration free as possible. The same holds true for maintaining an unbending commitment to keep trying, no matter the conditions. The fortitude to do both of these things is quite often the difference between success and failure. If there’s one set of undeniable truths that I’ve seen over and over in my career, it’s that perseverance pays and resiliency rewards.\n<h3>Don’t Run for Office When You’re Already Elected</h3>\nI have zero patience for office politics as the way to get ahead, and you should too. Think about it this way – along your career you will be placed in a position many times because someone has already “voted” you in; they already believe you to be worthy. You don’t need to politic any further than that. Do your job to the best of your ability and leave the politics for those with less ability. Sometimes, yes, politics will pay off for someone else in their career. But not over the long run. And do you want to advance in that fashion anyway?\n<h3>Get the Right People on the Bus, and the People on the Bus Right</h3>\nAs you progress in your career, you’ll eventually have opportunities to select who will be on your team through hiring or staffing decisions. That’s good. It’s important to learn the skill of getting and keeping a great team to surround you. But too often I’ve seen a manager focused on getting the right people on the bus, but not investing enough in the people who already had a seat. It’s all too easy to choose not to invest in those who might not be your first choice or might not be the obvious superstars. But everyone has talents just waiting to be brought out – if only you’d take the time to invest.\n<h3>Integrity Can Have No Breach – Ever</h3>\nI’ve never seen anyone in the real world of professionalism truly recover from a major breach in integrity. Wear yours on your sleeve and never compromise it. Sadly, in today’s world of organizations like <a href=\"http://www.npr.org/news/specials/enron/\" target=\"_blank\">Enron</a> and <a href=\"http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/lehman-brothers-collapse.asp\" target=\"_blank\">Lehman Brothers</a>, being stoic in your integrity is often quietly noted and can actually draw admiration.\n<h3>Leave a legacy</h3>\nYou’re never too young to start thinking about what you want your mark to be. It’s a mathematical fact that we all have a “born on” and “end” date in life, and in each job we’re currently in or are going to. What do you want that time in between to say about you as a person? What do you want it to say about what you accomplished or whose life you touched? We can only hope that in the end we carved our names on hearts and minds, not just on tombstones. And we can only hope that we lived in avoidance of what poet Oliver Wendell Holmes called the greatest human regret – “to have gone to our graves with our music still inside of us.\"  None of us wants that, of course. So start now with a mindset of leaving a legacy behind in each and every role you take on in your career. Same goes with how you live your life each day. The daily little impressions we leave can add up to a huge permanent impression.\n\nTo repeat my wishes from yesterday: All the best as you accelerate your own careers. May each of these lessons looking back help you in moving forward.\n\n<u>3 ways you can take action on this article:</u>\n<ul>\n 	<li>Comment on it and get the conversation going</li>\n 	<li>Share this article to help others and build your own credibility</li>\n 	<li>Get my free newsletter <a href=\"http://scottmautz.com/newsletter/\" target=\"_blank\">here</a> for more leadership building insight</li>\n</ul>', 'What I Wish I Knew When I Started My Career (Part Two)', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'what-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-started-my-career-part-two', '', '', '2016-12-22 06:00:28', '2016-12-22 11:00:28', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32184', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32189, 380, '2017-01-13 06:00:50', '2017-01-13 11:00:50', 'My wife went to get a piece of carrot cake for my brother on Fathers’ Day.\n\nWe had visited Aspens, the steak house she went to, a number of times over the last few years. Their carrot cake was excellent.\n\nShe arrived just after four o’clock. The doors were open.\n\nWhen she walked in, she was greeted by a dark-haired teenager. “May I help you?”\n\n“Yes, I’d like to buy one piece of carrot cake to go, please. My brother-in-law loves it, and yours is delicious.”\n\nThe waitress, or hostess, hesitated a moment. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we are closed from 4 until 5. If you want it, you’ll have to come back then.”\n\nMy wife’s jaw must have dropped in surprise…\n\n“Really?”\n\nShe wasn’t asking the kitchen to cook a steak, right? <strong>It was a piece of cake.</strong>\n\nLiterally!\n\n“Really.” The girl responded (and, according to my wife, she couldn’t have cared less).\n\n“Well, no thanks, then.”\n\nBy the time she arrived home, with a carrot cake she had purchased at <a href=\"http://www.publix.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Publix</a>, she delivered the story to me and was determined that we would not be eating at Aspens at any time in the future.\n\n“She just didn’t care.” My wife kept saying to me, over and over.\n\nAnd I thought to myself… how common is this same type of behavior in other workplaces?\n\nIn my newest book, <a href=\"http://greatresultsteambuilding.net/winning-teammates/\">The 10 Commandments of Winning Teammates</a>, one of the ten lessons the main character experiences is that winning teammates always <strong>do more than is expected, with enthusiasm</strong> – and they <strong>claim personal responsibility for results</strong>.\n\nThe restaurant the young woman worked at was in business to sell food to customers.\n\nThe doors were open, and the request was not ridiculous.\n\nBut the young hostess (or waitress) did not do more than her manager would have expected – and she certainly did not claim responsibility for results.\n\nShe was an hourly worker with the awareness and thoughtfulness of a disengaged employee.\n\nRather than recognizing that by treating a good customer well you might gain customers through positive word of mouth about the quality of your food and helpfulness of the staff…\n\nRather than recognizing that by treating a good customer poorly you might lose their loyalty and suffer the damage of negative word of mouth about the apathy of the staff…\n\nRather than recognizing that every interaction a customer experiences will build or diminish your brand and revenues…\n\nThe employee didn’t care.\n\nAnd that is probably not because she was a bad person.\n\nIt was probably because she had a bad manager.\n\nBecause a good manager would be sure that every person in their organization knew that they were the face of the organization to the world.\n\nA good team leader would be sure that every person knew that their job was to go over and above expected conventions to give guests a tremendous experience that they could brag about to their friends.\n\nA good team leader would be sure that every person knew the reason they were in business – and that company profits (a symptom of positive guest experiences) were the results that ALL teammates should take responsibility for.\n\nOne thing I learned as a basketball coach, that I consistently see illustrated in business, is that <strong>a</strong><strong>ttitude reflects leadership</strong>.\n\nIf the leader values guest experiences and places a premium on “team goals,” so will others throughout the organization.\n\nBut if the leader is short-sighted and hasn’t taken the time to connect his people to a compelling common goal – or to each other to build collaborative staff relationships – then ultimately that will trickle down throughout the ranks as well.\n\nIf you are a leader, what are you doing to set and example and to ensure that your people <strong>do more than is expected, with enthusiasm</strong> – and <strong>claim personal responsibility for results</strong>.\n\nIf you do a great job as a leader, your customers will see it in the behavior of your people – and they will be transformed from disengaged employees into great teammates. As an <a href=\"http://greatresultsteambuilding.net/atlanta-team-building/\">Atlanta team building</a> facilitator, I have helped thousands of team members recognize the impact that their behaviors have on organizational success…\n\nBut if you do a poor job as a leader, your customers will see that also - and they will eventually, after a bad experience, share that story with others and stop returning.\n\nMy wife still doesn’t plan on going back to Aspens.', 'How Team Leaders Can Avoid a Carrot Cake Incident', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-team-leaders-can-avoid-a-carrot-cake-incident', '', '', '2017-01-13 06:00:50', '2017-01-13 11:00:50', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32189', 0, 'post', '', 1);
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(32191, 440, '2017-01-06 06:00:02', '2017-01-06 11:00:02', '<p class=\"Body\"><b></b>In college I used to put off studying, often until the night before the exam. Why? You might be surprised. Not because I was worried. Not because I was lazy. Not because I didn\'t like studying. Not even because I had more interesting things to do. Nope. I did it because it didn\'t get exciting enough until time was running out. Call me crazy, but I did my best work under the gun.</p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Observe several people procrastinate and they may look similar on the surface. They put off making decisions or completing important tasks, and that\'s a problem. It delays progress, holds others up, and increases the chance of mistakes. Why do people do this?</p>\n<p class=\"Body\" style=\"margin-left: .5in;\"><i>It may be easy to jump to the conclusion that procrastinators are lazy or lack discipline. Very often nothing could be further from the truth.</i></p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Procrastination is strongly influenced by personality type. Why should you care? Because knowing this can help you understand your own procrastination tendencies and have a better idea what to do about them. As a friend, parent, leader, mentor, or coach you\'ll be better equipped to help others in the most constructive ways.</p>\n<p class=\"Body\">In no particular order, here are the six kinds of procrastinators along with tips for how to help them deliver on time.</p>\n\n<h3 class=\"Body\"><b>Type #1: Pleasers</b></h3>\n<p class=\"Body\">Pleasers procrastinate for fear of conflict, disapproval or rejection. If they run out of time, maybe you\'ll feel sorry for them and give them a break.</p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><u>How to help the Pleaser:</u> Reassure these people that you care about them regardless of the decision they make or the outcome of their efforts. Affirm that even if they make a mistake, mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow and you will be with them through it all. When conflict-avoidant Pleasers know they are unconditionally supported and OK they are more confident to move forward, even with difficult decisions and actions.</p>\n\n<h3 class=\"Body\"><b>Type #2: Perfection-Seekers</b></h3>\n<p class=\"Body\">Perfection-Seekers procrastinate until there is more data or more evidence. These people suffer from analysis paralysis and fear the loss of control that comes with making a decision or taking action.</p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><u>How to help the Perfection-Seeker:</u> Affirm the Perfection-Seeker\'s thinking ability and problem-solving skills. Help them weigh pros and cons, anticipate consequences, and develop a \"Plan B.\" Ultimately, Perfection-Seekers need support to face the sadness and loss of control that comes with making decisions. Encourage and support them to let go and move on when more information will not help them feel any more secure.</p>\n\n<h3 class=\"Body\"><b>Type #3: Responsibility Avoiders</b></h3>\n<p class=\"Body\">Responsibility-Avoiders procrastinate to avoid taking ownership or having to live up to expectations. If they run out of time, it\'s not their fault.</p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><u>How to help the Responsibility-Avoider</u>: Above all, avoid judging or preaching about responsibility. They key is to balance a \"chill\" attitude with clarity around what you want them to do. Let them know you\'ll accept them unconditionally regardless of the outcome and affirm their creativity in finding their own way from point A to B.</p>\n\n<h3 class=\"Body\"><b>Type #4: Thrill Seekers</b></h3>\n<p class=\"Body\">Thrill-Seekers procrastinate until the stakes are high enough to make it exciting. That was me in college! If they run out of time, they\'ll try to pin it on someone else.</p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><u>How to help a Thrill-Seeker:</u> Play to their strengths - make it thrilling. If you want them to meet a deadline, make it exciting by issuing a dare or prize. Challenge them to \"pull it off\" or make it a special assignment that only they can do. I once had a Thrill-Seeker working for me in training support. When I tried to plan ahead with her, it ended up in procrastination. I learned to wait until the last minute to give her assignments and it worked like a charm.</p>\n\n<h3 class=\"Body\"><b>Type #5: Hostage Takers</b></h3>\n<p class=\"Body\">Hostage-Takers procrastinate on giving approval or being satisfied. They confuse high standards with unrealistic expectations and hold others hostage with their chronic discontent. Pleasers and Perfection-Seekers are particularly vulnerable to the Hostage-Taker\'s traps.</p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><u>How to help a Hostage-Taker:</u> Recognize that beneath it all is a noble desire for excellence and high-quality. Hostage-Takers are natural protectors and want to help others be more perfect. Replace this negative energy by affirming their convictions and dedication to quality. Ask proactive questions about their standards and expectations, and invite their opinions along the way.</p>\n\n<h3 class=\"Body\"><b>Type #6: Passive-Avoiders</b></h3>\n<p class=\"Body\">Passive-Avoiders procrastinate because they don\'t feel potent enough to make an independent decision.</p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><u>How to help a Passive-Avoider:</u> Avoid questioning their intentions or commitment. They are externally motivated and greatly appreciate clear direction. They are more responsive than responsible, more directable than self-directed. Use clear, concise commands to find out what they have on their plate, and then direct them towards clear action steps.</p>\n<p class=\"Body\">I am a Certifying Master Trainer in the Process Communication Model (PCM), a behavior-based framework for understanding different personality types and how to communicate more effectively with them. This article was inspired by the PCM science around how different personalities are motivated, prefer to communicate, and sabotage themselves in distress. At <a href=\"http://www.next-element.com\" target=\"_blank\">Next Element</a> we are passionate about the science behind human behavior and using this intelligence to help teach more productive communication skills. To get trained in PCM, or for information on becoming a certified PCM Provider, click <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"http://next-element.com/tools/pcm/\" target=\"_blank\">here</a> for more information.</span></p>', 'Six Kinds Of Procrastinators, and How to Help Them Deliver', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'six-kinds-of-procrastinators-and-how-to-help-them-deliver', '', '', '2017-01-06 06:00:02', '2017-01-06 11:00:02', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32191', 0, 'post', '', 10),
(32198, 274, '2017-01-09 06:00:29', '2017-01-09 11:00:29', 'Welcome to the January 2017 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival!\n\nOne of the components of the Lead Change Group that I most appreciate is its spirit of supportiveness. There are so many areas of our lives where we can feel isolated, personally and professionally. In reading through this month\'s submissions, I see many interesting concepts and multiple strategies for being more productive and satisfied at work. I encourage you to lend <strong>your</strong> support to these authors by commenting on their posts or sharing them on social media. Support <strong>does</strong> make a difference.\n\nThe Lead Change Group would like to thank <a href=\"http://billtreasurer.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Bill Treasurer</a> for sponsoring the Lead Change Group (including this carnival) for January 2017.\n<h3>Let\'s Get Started</h3>\n<div class=\"divide\">\n\n<strong>Art Petty</strong> submitted <a href=\"https://artpetty.com/2016/12/06/leveling-up-to-change-in-our-careers/\" target=\"_blank\">Leveling Up to Change is THE Issue</a>. Art summarizes, \"For all of us, the need to help our firms navigate change while doing the same in our careers defines our level-up challenge.\" Follow Art on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/artpetty\" target=\"_blank\">@artpetty</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Beth Beutler</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.bethbeutler.com/\" target=\"_blank\">H.O.P.E. Unlimited</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.bethbeutler.com/the-day-i-messed-up/\" target=\"_blank\">The Day I Messed Up</a>. Beth recaps, \"This post elaborates on some thoughts about when the mistake is your own.\" Find Beth on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bethbeutler\" target=\"_blank\">@bethbeutler</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Chris Edmonds</strong> of the <a href=\"http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Purposeful Culture Group</a> contributed <a href=\"http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com/culture-leadership-charge-the-right-culture-matters/\" target=\"_blank\">Culture Leadership Charge: The Right Culture Matters</a>. In this post, Chris shares a real-world example of a client that did some “culture refinement” to improve employee engagement and customer service. Follow Chris on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/scedmonds\" target=\"_blank\">@scedmonds</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\">\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Dana Theus</strong> of <a href=\"http://inpowercoaching.com/\" target=\"_blank\">InPower Coaching</a> contributed <a href=\"http://inpowercoaching.com/dear-dana-workplace-advice-bother-feeling-grateful-crappy-boss/\" target=\"_blank\">Workplace Advice-Why Should I Bother Feeling Grateful For a Crappy Boss?</a>. Dana writes, \"When you have a tough work situation, finding ways to feel gratitude and appreciation can go a long way to turning the situation around, but is it really the best strategy? Often gratitude is the <u>last</u> thing you feel. Here\'s how effective leaders approach gratitude in tough situations.\" Find Dana on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanaTheus\" target=\"_blank\">@DanaTheus</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>David Dye</strong> of <a href=\"http://trailblazeinc.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Trailblaze</a> submitted <a href=\"http://trailblazeinc.com/how-to-lead-when-everything-goes-crazy/\" target=\"_blank\">How to Lead When Everything Goes Crazy</a>. David summarizes, \"People act irrationally, circumstances change, and the truly unforeseeable happens. The good news is that you don’t need a specific step-by-step plan for the infinite number of problems you might face. David shares a better way to meet your leadership challenges.\" Follow David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/davidmdye\" target=\"_blank\">@davidmdye</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>David Grossman </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.yourthoughtpartner.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The Grossman Group</a> shared <a href=\"http://www.yourthoughtpartner.com/blog/bid/69954/7-things-every-employee-wants-from-their-boss\" target=\"_blank\">7 Things Every Employee Wants from Their Boss</a>. David writes, \"What do employees want? While the answer varies by employee, our research and work reveals a collective \'wish list\' every boss should know. Best of all, everything on the wish list is free.\" Discover David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThoughtPartner\" target=\"_blank\">@thoughtpartner</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jill Malleck</strong> of <a href=\"http://epiphanyatwork.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Epiphany at Work</a> contributed <a href=\"https://epiphanyatwork.com/everyday-recognition-matters/\" target=\"_blank\">Everyday Recognition Matters Most</a>. Jill shares, \"At year-end leaders often think about how to thank their teams. The best leaders weave recognition into every day so that no one feels undervalued.\" Find Jill on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/epiphanyatwork\" target=\"_blank\">@epiphanyatwork</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jesse Lyn Stoner</strong> of the <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Seapoint Center</a> shared <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/ethics-check/\" target=\"_blank\">Do an Ethics Check to Navigate the Gray Zone</a>. Jesse Lyn recaps, \"It’s easy to know what’s ethical when your choices are clear-cut. But there’s a huge gray zone where the choices are not so clear. Ethical decision-making can be challenging in our personal lives. And, when you are in a role that impacts others, it becomes even more critical. Use these 3 questions to provide ethical leadership through the gray zone.\" Follow Jesse Lyn on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JesseLynStoner\" target=\"_blank\">@JesseLynStoner</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jim Taggart</strong> of <a href=\"https://changingwinds.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Changing Winds</a> provided <a href=\"https://changingwinds.wordpress.com/2016/11/27/why-america-is-good-and-great/\" target=\"_blank\">Why America is Good and Great</a>. Jim shares, \"I chose this particular post because it’s about personal leadership and ordinary people stepping up to do good for society with no expectation of any form of remuneration. The setting happens to be the United States for my post, from the perspective of a Canadian. Given all the negativity in the media, we need to reflect on the good acts that people do each and every day.\" Find Jim on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/72keys\" target=\"_blank\">@72keys</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Joel Garfinkle</strong> of the <a href=\"http://careeradvancementblog.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Career Advancement Blog</a> submitted <a href=\"http://careeradvancementblog.com/improve-work-performance\" target=\"_blank\">The 16 Ways to Improve Your Work Performance in 2017</a>. Joel recaps: \"Learn the 16 ways to improve your work performance in 2017. These tips will help you start 2017 with a great year.\" Discover Joel on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JoelGarfinkle\" target=\"_blank\">@JoelGarfinkle</a>.\n\n</div>\n<strong>John Hunter</strong> of the <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog</a> shared <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2016/12/07/podcast-building-organizational-capability/\" target=\"_blank\">Podcast: Increasing the Capability of the Organization</a>. John summarizes, \"Changing how organizations are managed makes a huge difference in people’s lives. When this is done well people can go from dreading going to work to enjoying going to work, not every single day – but most days.  And it can change our lives so that most of the time we are <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2015/05/13/the-aim-should-be-the-best-life-not-work-v-life-balance/\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2015/05/13/the-aim-should-be-the-best-life-not-work-v-life-balance/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1482608346397000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGclHtcjIRA2bow-kMXlLgPj8K3eQ\">doing things that we find valuable and we enjoy</a> instead of just going to work to get a paycheck so we can enjoy the hours that we have away from work.\" Find John on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/curiouscat_com\" target=\"_blank\">@curiouscat_com</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\">\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jon Mertz</strong> of <a href=\"https://www.thindifference.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Thin Difference</a> contributed <a href=\"https://www.thindifference.com/2016/12/join-one20-a-day-to-do-good/\" target=\"_blank\">Join One20: A Day to Do Good</a>. Jon shares, \"Our country is divided. It\'s time to heal our wound. On election day we need to show our good side, our good character, and do some good in our communities.\" Follow Jon on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThinDifference\" target=\"_blank\">@thindifference</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jon Verbeck</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.jonverbeck.com/\" target=\"_blank\">JonVerbeck.com</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.jonverbeck.com/the-key-is-profit/\" target=\"_blank\">The Key is Profit</a>. In this post, Virtual CFO Jon Verbeck helps readers get back to basics—explaining that we’re in business to make a profit (which can help us do good things). Business owners must not ignore the goal of making a profit. Find Jon on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jonverbeck1\" target=\"_blank\">@jonverbeck1</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Julie Winkle-Giulioni </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Julie Winkle-Giulioni</a> provided <a href=\"http://smartbrief.com/original/2016/12/magic-making-effort\" target=\"_blank\">The Magic of Making an Effort</a> Julie recaps, \"In a world where perfection and achievement are the eternal standard, effort might count for a lot more than many of us realize.\" Find Julie on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/julie_wg\" target=\"_blank\">@julie_wg</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Karin Hurt </strong>of <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Let\'s Grow Leaders</a> contributed <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/5-questions-to-help-you-resolve-your-conflict/\" target=\"_blank\">5 Questions to Help You Resolve Your Conflict</a>. In the post, Karin reflects on a conflict that happened over the holidays, and what she and David Dye learned from it. Follow Karin on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LetsGrowLeaders\" target=\"_blank\">@letsgrowleaders</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Linda Fisher Thornton </strong>of <a href=\"https://leadingincontext.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leading in Context</a> submitted <a href=\"https://leadingincontext.com/2016/12/14/ethical-leadership-is-a-fear-free-zone/\" target=\"_blank\">Ethical Leadership is a Fear-Free Zone</a>. Linda summarizes, \"Fear is the toxic ingredient in many failed leadership strategies. In a fearful mode we may \'rule out\' positive strategies that would help us solve collective problems – including dialogue, cooperation, long-term thinking and listening to understand.\" Follow Linda on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/leadingincontxt\" target=\"_blank\">@leadingincontxt</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Marcella Bremer</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.leadershipandchangemagazine.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leadership and Change Magazine</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.leadershipandchangemagazine.com/21-best-articles-positive-leadership-culture-change/\" target=\"_blank\">The 21 Best Articles on Positive Leadership, Culture, and Change</a>. Marcella recaps, \"I support positive organizations where both people and performance thrive. Positive organizations are better at change, more innovative, competitive, profitable, and they contribute to the world - while engaged people spread their positive vibes everywhere. Here\'s a list of my best liked 21 articles to date- which do you like best?\" Find Marcella on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarcellaBremer\" target=\"_blank\">@marcellabremer</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Mary Jo Asmus </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.aspire-cs.com/need-really-listen/\" target=\"_blank\">Aspire Collaborative Services LLC</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.aspire-cs.com/ten-daily-practices-show-respect-team/\" target=\"_blank\">Ten Daily Practices that Show Respect to Your Team</a>. Mary Jo summarizes, \"Showing respect for your team helps them to be motivated, dedicated and loyal. The word gets out and you become a talent magnet. Here are some great ways to show your respect on a daily basis.\" Follow Mary Jo on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mjasmus\" target=\"_blank\">@mjasmus</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Mary Ila Ward </strong>of <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Horizon Point Consulting</a> contributed <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/blog3/item/bridging-the-divide-education-for-the-future/\" target=\"_blank\">Bridging the Divide... Education for the Future</a>. She recaps, \"A country divided is what we are all hearing. I’m tired of hearing it, aren\'t you? But as I examine the problem, I realize, like we all are, I am a part of it. So let\'s do something about it! The solution is education!\" Discover Mary Ila on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaryIlaWard\" target=\"_blank\">@maryilaward</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Mary Schaefer </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.reimaginework.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Artemis Path, Inc.</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.cio.com/article/3148684/careers-staffing/one-way-to-be-the-change-you-want-to-see-in-your-life.html\" target=\"_blank\">One Way to be the Change You Want to See in Your Life</a>. Mary summarizes, \"You want to eliminate an unhelpful habit, address a hot-button issue or negotiate a change at work. You can take charge. Practice making a challenging change. There\'s no substitute for firsthand experience.\" Follow Mary on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/maryschaefer\" target=\"_blank\">@maryschaefer</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Miki Saxon</strong> of <a href=\"http://mappingcompanysuccess.com/\" target=\"_blank\">MAPping Company Success</a> contributed <a href=\"http://mappingcompanysuccess.com/2016/12/56-words-that-will-change-your-life/\" target=\"_blank\">56 Words That Will Change Your Life</a>. Miki writes, \"The best advice isn\'t complex or filled with multi-syllabic words. It is simple to understand and takes hard work to implement it consistently. However, the payoff is definitely worth the effort.\" Discover Miki on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OptionSanity\" target=\"_blank\">@optionsanity</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Neal Burgis</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Burgis Successful Solutions</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/2016/12/30/happy-new-year-2017/\" target=\"_blank\">Happy New Year 2017: A Change to Be Creative in Your Business</a>. Neal recaps, \"With the New Year, change takes place. Here is your opportunity to boost your idea for creating and producing a breakthrough result of your own. These tips will help you move forward in your creativity and profit from what you create.\" Find Neal on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Exec_Solutions\" target=\"_blank\">@exec_solutions</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Paul LaRue </strong>of <a href=\"https://upwardsleader.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The UPwards Leader</a> contributed <a href=\"https://upwardsleader.com/2016/12/05/201-thoughts-for-reinventing-your-leadership/\" target=\"_blank\">20+1 Thoughts for Reinventing Your Leadership</a>. Paul summarizes, \"Even leaders can get stuck in a rut of ineffective and stale leadership. Here are some quick thoughts to turn yourself around and reinvent your leadership impact.\" Follow Paul on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/paul_larue\" target=\"_blank\">@paul_larue</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Paula Kiger</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.biggreenpen.com\" target=\"_blank\">Big Green Pen</a> submitted <a href=\"http://biggreenpen.com/2016/12/18/six-lessons-from-six-years/\" target=\"_blank\">Six Lessons from Six Years</a>. Paula summarizes, \"Although Rakan Stormer did not reach adulthood and become a leader in business, public service, or the arts, his life taught lessons every leader should heed.\" Follow Paula on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/biggreenpen\" target=\"_blank\">@biggreenpen</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Randy Conley</strong> of <a href=\"http://leadingwithtrust.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leading With Trust</a> shared <a href=\"https://leadingwithtrust.com/2016/12/11/too-many-priorities-3-tips-to-focus-on-what-matters-most/\" target=\"_blank\">Too Many Priorities? 3 Tips to Focus on What Matters Most</a>. Randy writes, \"The excitement of starting off a new year can cause us to set too many goals that we don’t have a realistic chance of completing. That leads to us feeling \'over:\' overwhelmed, overcommitted, and overstressed. To avoid feeling “over” in 2017, Randy Conley offers 3 tips to focus on what matters most.\" Find Randy on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RandyConley\" target=\"_blank\">@randyconley</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Russ White and Jay Anderson</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.ddiworld.com/home?lang=en-US\" target=\"_blank\">Development Dimensions International (DDI)</a> shared <a href=\"http://www.ddiworld.com/blog/tmi/december-2016/agile-ready-leaders-start-in-kindergarten\" target=\"_blank\">Agile Ready Leaders Get Their Start in Kindergarten</a>. Russ and Jay write, \"To lead a cultural transformation to Agile, leaders require a very specific mindset. In this post, we discuss the four tenets of leading in an agile environment: Be Honest, Be Kind, Be Responsible, and Work in Small Increments.\" Find Russ and Jay on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DDIWorld\" target=\"_blank\">@ddiworld</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Shelley Row</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.shelleyrow.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Shelley Row</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.shelleyrow.com/come-closet-4-ways/\" target=\"_blank\">Come Out of the Closet: 4 Ways to Talk About Intuition at Work</a>. About this piece, Shelley says, \"We sometimes look down on \'intuition\' as a reliable way to make business decisions, but intuition is an important part of the process.\"  Discover Shelley on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShelleyRow\" target=\"_blank\">@shelleyrow</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Susan Mazza</strong> of <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Random Acts of Leadership</a> provided <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/how-to-find-a-mentor/\" target=\"_blank\">How to Find a Mentor</a>. Susan explains, \"Potential mentors are all around you. You may even have one or more, and simply have not recognized them for their role as a mentor in your life. If you are in search of a mentor, often all you need to do is look around you and ask for the support you need.\" Follow Susan on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SusanMazza\" target=\"_blank\">@susanmazza</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Tanveer Naseer</strong> of <a href=\"http://tanveernaseer.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Tanveer Naseer</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.tanveernaseer.com/end-of-year-inspiration-to-do-better-going-forward/\" target=\"_blank\">A Year-End Note Of Inspiration To Keep Pushing Ahead</a>. Tanveer explains the post is \"an end-of-year note to inspire leaders to challenge their outlook and understanding for how they will empower the best in those they lead.\" Discover Tanveer on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TanveerNaseer\" target=\"_blank\">@tanveernaseer</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Wally Bock</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Three Star Leadership</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/leadership/learning-to-lead\" target=\"_blank\">Learning to Lead</a>. Wally recaps, \"Learning to lead isn’t easy or automatic and it’s sometimes painful. But that’s the only way to get better.\" Find Wally on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wallybock\" target=\"_blank\">@wallybock</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\">\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<em>Thank you to everyone who submitted articles for this month\'s carnival! If you would like to be on the distribution list for submission calls, please contact Paula Kiger (paula @ weavinginfluence (dot) com)!</em>', 'January 2017 Leadership Development Carnival', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'january-2017-leadership-development-carnival', '', '', '2017-01-09 06:00:29', '2017-01-09 11:00:29', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/november-2016-leadership-development-carnival-2/', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32205, 434, '2016-12-23 06:00:37', '2016-12-23 11:00:37', 'Mom told us breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Andrew Carnegie told us that “if you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.” There is some debate these days over whether breakfast is so important, but there is no debate about goals.\n\nI am not saying that you don’t know that goals are important. I have never worked with a client who did not have goals or at least acknowledge their importance. Not many companies survive without some sense of that. What I am saying is: <em>Knowing something is import­ant and actually making it important are two different things.</em>\n\nLike so many others factors in life, the bustle and distractions that start the moment we wake up too often push goals to the proverbial back burner. They may always “be there”—listed in your company’s business plans and annual reports. But when did you last look at them? Outta sight, outta mind. And the longer you ignore them, the more likely you are to rush to address them when the end of the year comes and you need to update them.\n\n<em>Wake up! </em>That approach to goals is not only dated but also shows a complete lack of caring that is beyond bad for your millennials and your business as a whole. The most thoughtless, misguided, and disconnected goals are created in an act of disingenuous annual compli­ance at the eleventh hour.\n\n<em>If you care so little about your company’s goals that you pay only token annual homage to them, why should millennials or any employee care more than that? </em>\n\nI once had a boss who wrote down his goals for the year on a piece of paper the size of a Post-it and carried it around in his wallet all year long. Every time he opened his wallet, he saw those goals. They were with him always until the end of the year when he pulled out the paper and assessed them. He cared that much.\n\nBut even that closeness only gets you so far, because you need to care about the goals of the people who work for you, too. In other words, when it comes to goals, waking up only solves part of the problem. You can find the source of that problem in one word that appears three times in Andrew Carnegie’s otherwise excellent quote: “your.”\n\nThis is not just about you.\n\n<em>How do you create meaningful goals that will command the thoughts, energy, and commitment of others? </em>\n<ol>\n 	<li>Have a shared vision and shared goals that create alignment between individuals, the team, and the company. Connect the dots: Show that you care about where they and the company are going, not just what they are doing, by connecting what you need them to do to their “why.”</li>\n</ol>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n 	<li>Lead with transparency and purpose to increase engagement and trust. Embracing <em>meaningful </em>goals not only shows millennials how much you care, but further ensures that you embrace their vision and in turn have them embrace yours.</li>\n</ol>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n 	<li>Measure to create results. Don’t just establish the link between individual performance and team goals as well as organizational goals/success; have metrics for progress toward them and then plow achievements into new collaborations and innovations. Build a plan to maintain them and to ensure individuals and teams that embrace the vision for the company.</li>\n</ol>\nI have had some BHAG (big hairy audacious goals) personally and professionally—for both myself and others—in my life. But it wasn’t until I really understood the power of aligning and sharing individ­ual, team, and company goals and making them meaningful that I truly understood how to achieve them by moving from “me” to “we.” You must make others’ goals a central part of your world, particularly through how you engage and align individual goals with the team’s and company’s goals to show that you care.\n\n<em>What can you do tomorrow to create alignment around shared goals for your millennials?</em>\n\n<strong>Need help answering this question and getting started? </strong>Let us help you stop chasing relevance and make it happen. For more on the power of relationships, check out Part One of <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Relevance-Understand-Generation-Workplace/dp/0692643257\"><em>Chasing Relevance: 6 Steps to Understand, Engage, and Maximize Next-Generation Leaders in the Workplace</em> TODAY.</a>\n\n&nbsp;', '3 Ways to Create Meaningful Goals to Increase Engagement and Trust', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '3-ways-to-create-meaningful-goals-to-increase-engagement-and-trust', '', '', '2016-12-23 06:00:37', '2016-12-23 11:00:37', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32205', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32217, 408, '2016-12-27 06:00:18', '2016-12-27 11:00:18', 'The other day I met for a coffee meeting with a new colleague. We wanted to better understand each other’s professions and objectives in the months ahead. He was actually in the midst of final interviews for a new job he hoped to obtain, and as he described it to me he suddenly glanced around the room to be sure that no one else was watching us. He then lowered his voice conspiratorially and confessed, “I actually prefer not to be the Number One guy. I’m better as a Number Two, supporting the company leader.”\n\nHis behavior got me thinking. Organizations have long-recognized the value of a great Number Two, the COO, the wing-man to a visionary leader. Yet when did it happen that publicly discussing this preference became something to hide, something to be potentially embarrassing or shameful to admit? Has the prevalence of and over-emphasis on “being a leader” led to this kind of reluctant admission?\n<h3><strong>A little less development, a little more recognition</strong></h3>\nLet’s face it, “leadership development” ranks as a pretty hot topic in business circles, and sure, even potential Number Twos can benefit from this kind of training. Yet, the push towards leader development might have had an unintended consequence: too many chiefs and not enough indians. Or, more accurately, the intensified belief by too many that they are qualified for chiefdom and not enough enthusiasm by others to engage as foot soldiers. For as attention on “being a leader” has emphasized the status of the word <em>leader </em>itself, it has equally diminished the importance of those who are not labeled as “leaders.”\n\nAny great leader at an organization will acknowledge, “we are only as strong as our team,” and this is true. Therefore, organizations go to great lengths to coach and motivate their teams. Do members of that team, though, feel valued in their roles? Do they realize their importance in this role, particularly for excelling at the work their roles demand? Are they enthusiastic about “just” being a member of the team, or do they now aspire to move up and on as soon as possible?\n\nI don’t raise these questions because I’m of the belief that great workers should be suppressed and kept in the roles they’re in, only to serve the organization’s best interest. Quite contrarily. I raise these questions because I feel that “leaders” get the undue share of attention, praise, training and development when their underlings do not, and this inequity ought to be changed, particularly at a time when the average millennial’s life expectancy at a company is <a href=\"https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/tenure.pdf\">less than three years</a> and the workforce <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/solving-for-the-growing-workforce-donut-hole/\">donut hole</a> continues to expand.\n\nTo be fair, yes, at-large workforce development programs exist, and yes, some organizations do a great job at recognizing foot soldiers and leaders alike. Yet, the degree of diminishment of pride about and enthusiasm for one’s work feels like it continues to decline. When was the last time you heard someone wax poetic about their job on the production line, working in the accounts receivables department, driving the warehouse forklift, or holding the traffic sign at a construction site?\n\nPerhaps someday in the not-too-distant future some of these foot soldier jobs will even be eliminated by workforce automation, but for the time being, these jobs wouldn’t exist if they weren’t needed. And many of these jobs are essential to the ability of an organization to serve its customers. Do the people doing these jobs, though, feel essential or respected? Do their leaders routinely and genuinely extol the virtues of these jobs? Do we, in society, regularly applaud them so that others aspire to be them? Are too many parents raising their children to expect to be “leaders,\", even if they are only mediocre ones? Or are any parents raising kids to be really great do-ers?\n\nThe foot soldier role shouldn’t be something that people are embarrassed to fill – a fallback job where those in it feel like second-class citizens. It’s time we give a little more sex appeal to support positions. Organizations that depend quite literally upon foot soldiers, such as the U.S. military, have understood the value of this sex appeal for quite some time now, as witnessed by the <a href=\"https://www.ispot.tv/browse/q.AS/politics-government-and-organizations/military\">ad campaigns</a> for its four branches. Maybe we should all look to this kind of positioning as an example of how to elevate the stature of the everyday worker.\n\nIn a time of constant workplace flux, imagine what a little dose of consistent pride and enthusiasm would do for our overall productivity.', 'It’s Time to Credit the Lieutenants and Glamorize the Foot Soldiers', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'its-time-to-credit-the-lieutenants-and-glamorize-the-foot-soldiers', '', '', '2016-12-27 06:00:18', '2016-12-27 11:00:18', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32217', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(32223, 376, '2016-12-28 06:00:23', '2016-12-28 11:00:23', 'Happy Holidays to one and all, however you choose to celebrate during this festive time of year!\n\nOne of my personal holiday traditions involves watching the many films based on <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol\">A Christmas Carol</a>, the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens\">Charles Dickens</a> classic short story, as often as possible and with an open mind. According to Wikipedia, the original book published in 1843 has always been available in print form and the story itself has been filmed and re-imagined over the years.\n\nThrough stage, radio, television and film, animation and live, even in a musical, some variation of this remarkable story and these memorable characters has been available to us for almost 175 years. Click on <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebenezer_Scrooge\" target=\"_blank\">Ebenezer Scrooge</a> to see a full listing of all those who have brought the crusty curmudgeon to life in one form or another.\n\nSomething about this tale sticks with us and has remained in our hearts and minds for over seven generations, through good times and bad, as technology and culture has shifted our worlds, and as we have continued to live our lives.\n\nIf  we could travel back through time, we could discuss this story at length with around seven generations of our ancestors. I can\'t think of too many other topics that would be familiar enough to both me and my great-great-great-great-great grandfather to talk about, besides the big issues like love and health.\n\nOne of the themes carried throughout the various versions is that Scrooge ends up with a deeper appreciation for his past, his present, and his future, because of what he has witnessed on that one very long and challenging night. Of course, all the lessons were already there to be learned, but he had to be led to them, dare I say by the three spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, who function much as coaches as they observe, question, and challenge Ebenezer\'s perceptions.\n\nJust like Scrooge, we who work with change often discuss the roles of our Past, Present, and Future.\n<h3>THE PAST IS PROLOGUE</h3>\nSometimes we see the past as a negative force, holding us back through misconceptions of our abilities and behavior or being locked into unproductive or even harmful activities due to the weight of our personal histories. As we know intellectually, just because we have acted in a certain way in the past does not mean we do not have the ability to choose to act differently into our futures.\n\nOf course, we often turn right around and claim loudly that \"<em>past performance is the best indicator of future performance,\"</em> as I am sure many well-paid consultants have stated.\n\nRemembering does not mean repeating ... sometimes we look back and rightfully recognize how we might have done better.\n<h3>THE TIME TO BE HAPPY IS NOW</h3>\nWe also often find ourselves so darned busy getting through each day and meeting all the imagined demands (especially the ones that we place on ourselves) in order to live into our sometimes exaggerated self-perceptions. Yes, I am talking to the workaholics and driven souls among us. We often find ourselves in the role of challenging another\'s memories or even encouraging them to disregard their past behavior.\n\nWe insist that we are not locked into our past behavior and sometimes make great efforts to act differently, forgetting the value of some of our past behavior. This is why some of us seem to need alcohol or other drugs sometimes to relax enough to have fun playing games at a party.\n\nStopping to appreciate today is one of those behaviors which cannot easily be overestimated in its ability to renew our souls and our bodies, giving us strength for the challenges that still lie below us. I am thinking now of the physical and emotional rehabilitation of the actors in those versions I enjoy, who display such energy as they step into Christmas Day and begin their new, more thoughtful and sharing roles.\n\nThe trick is to actually enjoy the \"Now\", without letting doubts and thoughts of other things intrude. This is hard to do for many of us and is also why the practice of mindfulness is experiencing a mini-revival of late.\n<h3>TO THE FUTURE AND BEYOND</h3>\nFinally, we are faced with the reality that some things in our future will not change. Scrooge did not live forever and that grave with his name on it became a reality at some point.\n\nWhat we might learn from this Carol is that when we are honest with ourselves about what roads we are choosing to walk down, we get a glimpse of what might be around that next bend or at the end of the route.\n\nOf course, we cannot control everything and life has a certain definiteness to it. We simply have to try to do the best we can, choosing to live with our eyes toward the best selves we are capable of aspiring toward, and hope for the best.\n\nIt is left unsaid in the original story as to how long Scrooge lives after that night, but the changes that come over him and which benefit so many others are clear and compelling. Apparently the lesson for us here is not about redemption so we can live a longer life, but redemption so we can live a better life.', 'The Day After Christmas', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-day-after-christmas', '', '', '2016-12-28 06:00:23', '2016-12-28 11:00:23', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32223', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(32246, 343, '2017-01-30 06:00:42', '2017-01-30 11:00:42', 'When I consult with independent restaurateurs a common concern many of them voice is:\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>\"We just can\'t compete with so-and-so across town\"</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\nThose so-and-sos referred to can be the larger national chains, the popular or trendy new restaurant, or an established location that has secured a strong and loyal clientele. These are the measure by which my clients have set a benchmark for their success, or failure.\n\nThey worry about how their pricing strategy is laid out (\"they kill us on price\"), or their food quality (\"we can\'t make everything from scratch like they do\") or their location (\"they\'ve got tons of traffic and ample parking\"). Their worries are what paralyze them from being their best and truly standing out as their own brand.\n\nMy simple answer to every business owner is:\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Don\'t worry about the competition. You only need to compete against yourself.</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\nThis puzzles people until I explain it to them further.\n\nThere is a saying in the food industry \"You are only as good as your last meal.\" It doesn\'t matter how good your product or service was last year, last week, or even yesterday. What matters is how you provide and execute today, period. Your only customers that matter are today\'s customers, and your only focus should be on doing better today than you did yesterday.\n\nYour only competition is to become better than you were the prior day. This is true whether you are in the restaurant, manufacturing, technology or other industry. To beat your yesterday self is to improve and further create a distinguishing brand of your own without regard for what your (perceived) competition is doing.\n\nWe marvel at the accomplishments of Olympic athletes in their individual events, whether gymnastics or track and field. But did you know that their concern is not how so-and-so from another country is running the 100M dash or performing on the vault? They focus on those things that only they can control - their dismount, start off the gun, sticking their landing, or the release point of their javelin. If they concerned themselves with others they would not work towards those minor details that could mean the difference between a medal or not.\n\nAnd so you should focus on those things in your business that only you control. Service. Product quality. Shipping time-frames. Customer service calls. And in case you are thinking a little too small, think of how your daily commitment to improve can disrupt your industry through better customer experience, business model, or innovation that no one else thought of.\n\nMind you, ignoring what your competitors do in the marketplace is at your own peril. In order for you to improve and succeed, you need to be a student of your industry, trends, and competition to better differentiate yourself as a sought after brand. But to worry about how you match up against them is to take the focus away from your own opportunities.\n\nInstead, you should do everything in your power to make them worry about you. Your best marketing is the execution of your brand and how you interact with your customers each and every day.\n\nThe most successful brands in any industry look inward to have continuous improvement programs, secret shoppers, ongoing and remedial training, and other internal initiatives that laser-focus their efforts on better service, product quality, and execution on a daily basis. Whether it\'s making widgets, steaks, or selling t-shirts or SaaS products, looking at yourself as your main competition will spur your organization on to outpace those other companies that don\'t work as hard internally to improve. And that in itself turns the tables of who is chasing who in your industry.\n\nI\'ve known a few smaller independent restaurants that actually drove larger chains out of the area because they created a unique ambiance and customer experience that couldn\'t be matched by large scale standards and marketing dollars. If they can do that to a daunting corporate player, you can do the same.\n\n<strong>Determine today to compete against yourself. Leave the competition in your rear-view mirror.</strong>\n\n&nbsp;', 'Your Only Competition Is Yourself', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'your-only-competition-is-yourself', '', '', '2017-01-30 06:00:42', '2017-01-30 11:00:42', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32246', 0, 'post', '', 0);
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(32257, 273, '2016-12-29 06:00:01', '2016-12-29 11:00:01', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it does make us better. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Building a championship team takes practice. From the greatest NBA season ever played by the ‘95-’96 Chicago Bulls (72-10 with a Championship) to the international dominance of the Spanish soccer team from 2007-2012, there’s one common thread…</span>\n\n<em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Practice.</span></em>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a leader, the best compliment is growth and improvement in your team. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There’s often a lot of emphasis on hiring well. While that’s an important factor, working with people means that finding the right fit is rarely plug-and-play. It takes work to integrate new people and recalibrate existing members to work optimally.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imagine your team is a machine. When it’s new, it isn’t quite how you like it, so you adjust the settings to your preference. As it gets older, it starts to show signs of wear and it just doesn’t work as well as it used to, so you get it serviced. A team works much in the same way, through continuous repetition of this cycle.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What can keep your team producing at the level you expect?</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The answer is simple: </span><a href=\"http://www.snacknation.com/blog/team-building-activities-for-work/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">team building exercises</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Activities that emphasize skills like communication, delegation, and organization around a common goal can help your team realize their potential.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider these reasons for making team building a central focus of your employee engagement strategy:</span>\n<h3><b>Open the Lines of Communication</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There’s a reason why communication is at the top of practically every list you’ll find on the benefits of team building. It’s core to both the interpersonal and functional aspects of how a team interacts. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A </span><a href=\"http://employeeengagement.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gallup-2013-State-of-the-American-Workplace-Report.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gallup study</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> found that nearly 70% of workers in the U.S. were disengaged from their work, increasing to </span><a href=\"http://www.gallup.com/services/190118/engaged-workplace.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">87% worldwide</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Gallup estimates that this costs U.S. companies $450-550 billion dollars a year.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communicating an idea that you expect someone else to interpret and subsequently realize is no small feat. It takes a significant amount of understanding to anticipate both the way the person you’re directing that information to will receive it and how they perceive it against their career goals and the overall company goals. </span>\n\n<a href=\"http://www.snacknation.com/blog/employee-engagement-ideas/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To keep your team engaged</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, focus on their strengths. Team building activities are a great platform to emphasize and learn more about the individual strengths of your team members.</span>\n<h3><b>Create Clear Opportunities for Growth &amp; Development</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keeping an employee engaged can be as simple as having </span><a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/building-effective-teams-manage-team-conflict-by-clear-delegation/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">clearly defined roles</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for each person. Whether it’s project-based or defining someone’s role within the larger context of the company, it’s essential to be clear what success looks like. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Set clear, actionable goals to hold your team accountable, using every opportunity to show how their performance effects company success - especially celebrating wins. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you give an employee a clear path to advancement, they’re more likely to experience fulfillment. It’s important to align this advancement with the career goals of the individual whenever possible. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Becoming a manager isn’t for everyone; there are different ways to utilize talented employees that don’t necessarily show interest in leading a team. Offer growth opportunities based on the skills that they’ve shown the most aptitude towards.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use team building activities to help develop your employees. They’re a fun way to challenge your employees to enhance their skill sets.</span>\n<h3><b>Produce Targeted Results with Goal Setting</b></h3>\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/lets-get-smarter-about-goal-setting/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make sure goals are tangible and attainable</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It’s easy to create lofty goals that seem insurmountable, most of us do it every new year. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Setting up </span><a href=\"http://leanblitzconsulting.com/2012/01/benefits-of-setting-smart-goals/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">S.M.A.R.T. goals</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a great way to plan and visualize success. S.M.A.R.T. goals are </span><b>s</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pecific, </span><b>m</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">easurable, </span><b>a</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ttainable, </span><b>r</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ealistic and </span><b>t</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">imely. It’s easier to align these types of goals with company objectives and get immediate feedback on the impact an employee has on your company. This directly ties employee motivators to the company’s overall success.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The issue here is that sometimes it’s hard for some people to think in such finite terms. Team building activities can help employees articulate how they plan to get from “point A” to “point B”, eventually leaving them with the ability to set goals both personally and professionally.</span>\n\n<img class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-32262\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Barron-Rosborough-075c-web-e1482958991283-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Iso 50 200sec f4.5AlienBee 1/32Speedlight ½ -.3\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" /><strong>Barron Rosborough</strong> is a seasoned digital marketer and writer from Los Angeles, CA. He writes on topics ranging from wellness to leadership (and everything in between). He is currently the Digital Marketing Coordinator at <a href=\"http://www.snacknation.com/\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://www.snacknation.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1483034687432000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGEjaOwqWB79zv-CdW0DO0Xc6aloA\">SnackNation</a>, a curated healthy snack subscription service for offices and homes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;', '3 Reasons Team Building is Vital for Employee Engagement', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '3-reasons-team-building-is-vital-for-employee-engagement', '', '', '2016-12-29 06:00:01', '2016-12-29 11:00:01', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32257', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(32281, 374, '2016-12-30 06:00:10', '2016-12-30 11:00:10', '361 days ago, I pressed \"publish\" to bring the first Lead Change post of 2016, the <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/january-2016-leadership-development-carnival/\" target=\"_blank\">January 2016 Leadership Development Carnival</a>, to life.\n\nIn the intervening days, we have produced 269 blog posts, including 12 Leadership Development Carnivals.\n\nWe have received 750 comments. Maybe you were one of the readers who commented on a post and/or shared it via social media.\n\nThere have been 238,192 unique page views. The average \"time on page duration\" was 47 seconds. Do the math, and you\'ll discover readers have spent 186,583 hours reading our content.\n\nThat\'s 7,774 days, or 21.29 years. (Caveat: I hope I did the math right! Whatever the case: Lead Change continues to make its presence known, to produce quality content, and to get people talking.)\n\nWhile numbers aren\'t everything, I <strong>am</strong> proud of our Lead Change metrics for 2016, and for posts like these, which garnered the most pageviews in 2016:\n\n<strong>Dysfunctional Leadership: 10 Thinking Habits to Avoid</strong>\n\nThis March 18, 2016, post by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarcelSchwantes\" target=\"_blank\">Marcel Schwantes</a> examined <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/dysfunctional-leadership-10-thinking-habits-to-avoid/\" target=\"_blank\">distorted thinking patterns</a>: it looked at how to accept their dysfunctionality and how to overcome them.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-32283\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/pablo-marcel-schwantes-march-18-300x150.png\" alt=\"pablo-marcel-schwantes-march-18\" width=\"400\" height=\"200\" />\n\n<strong>A 30-60-90 Day Plan for Leaders </strong>\n\nThis August 9, 2016, post by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/paul_larue\" target=\"_blank\">Paul LaRue</a> provided a <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/a-30-60-90-day-plan-for-new-leaders/\" target=\"_blank\">specific plan for new leaders to get results, build trust and establish credibility</a>. As Paul shares:\n<blockquote>Many new leaders have a 3-month, 6-month, and first-year game plan to create impact in their new role. But in our faster world, you’ll need to set up a way to hit the foundational touch-points both quickly and solidly. Set the ripple effect from Day 1 that allows culture and people to permeate operations and ripples through sustained results and future growth for your organization.</blockquote>\n<strong>What Millennials Need in a Leader</strong>\n\nThis February 3, 2016, post by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MM_KerrJ\" target=\"_blank\">Margy Kerr-Jarrett</a> lays it out candidly: <strong><a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/what-millennials-need-in-a-leader/\" target=\"_blank\">this</a></strong> is what millennials want in leaders. Margy encourages leaders to believe in millennials, clarifying:\n<blockquote>Despite how much confidence we exude, how much creativity we possess, and how nonchalant we may seem, we are perhaps the most self-critical, unconfident generation yet.</blockquote>\n<strong>4 Things That Will Increase Your Optimism</strong>\n\nThis August 10, 2016 post by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MickUkleja\" target=\"_blank\">Mick Ukleja</a> defines <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/4-things-that-will-increase-your-optimism/\" target=\"_blank\">the term \"explanatory outlook,\"</a> which takes readers beyond a \"glass half empty/half full\" or \"personality tendencies\" approach to optimism vs pessimism.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-32293\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/pablo-ukleja-end-of-year-300x150.png\" alt=\"pablo-ukleja-end-of-year\" width=\"400\" height=\"200\" />\n\n<strong>Doing Their Best</strong>\n\nThis August 5, 2016, post by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/djgreer\" target=\"_blank\">David Greer</a> explored how we can <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/doing-their-best/\" target=\"_blank\">grow through our fears and beliefs</a> with the help of supporters who hold us accountable. He reminds us:\n<blockquote>As leaders we can set the course for those we lead so that they can get past their fears to grow.</blockquote>\nI think that quote from David is a fitting idea with which to say goodbye to 2016 and welcome 2017.\n\nWhether you wrote one of the posts with the most views, wrote a post that did not receive as many visits or comments, or are still thinking \"maybe I should write for Lead Change someday,\" we honor your place in our community, thank you, and look forward to charting a thrilling \"course\" in 2017!\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18470\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo_lead_change-300x86.png\" alt=\"logo_lead_change-300x86\" width=\"300\" height=\"86\" />\n\nNot a member of the Lead Change Group Community? Learn more about becoming a Member or Instigator by clicking <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/join/\" target=\"_blank\">here</a>.\n\nWe thank our 2016 sponsors for their support: <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/lead-change-group-new-potential/\" target=\"_blank\">Kevin Eikenberry\'s Remarkable Leadership Podcas</a>t (July), <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/highlighting-our-august-sponsor-launchbox365/\" target=\"_blank\">Launchbox365</a> (August), <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/highlighting-our-september-sponsor-coaches-training-institute-cti/\" target=\"_blank\">Coaches Training Institute (CTI)</a> (September), <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/highlighting-our-october-sponsor-next-element/\" target=\"_blank\">Next Element</a> (October), <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/highlighting-our-october-sponsor-next-element-2/\" target=\"_blank\">The Remote Leadership Institute</a> (November), and <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/highlighting-our-october-sponsor-next-element-2-2/\" target=\"_blank\">The Servant Leadership Institute</a> (December). For more information on sponsoring The Lead Change Group, please email <a href=\"mailto:margy@weavinginfluence.com\">Margy Kerr-Jarrett</a> for more information.', 'The Lead Change Group: 2016 In Review', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-lead-change-group-2016-in-review', '', '', '2016-12-30 06:00:10', '2016-12-30 11:00:10', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32281', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(32306, 374, '2017-01-03 06:00:26', '2017-01-03 11:00:26', '<div class=\"message_content \">\n\nWe are elated to have the <a href=\"http://www.billtreasurer.com\" target=\"_blank\">Bill Treasurer</a> as our Lead Change Group sponsor for January 2017! Bill is the Chief Encouragement Officer (CEO) of <a href=\"http://www.giantleapconsulting.com\" target=\"_blank\">Giant Leap Consulting, Inc.</a> He has designed leadership and succession programs for emerging and experienced leaders for NASA, Saks Fifth Avenue, UBS Bank, Walsh Construction, Spanx, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and many others.\n<h3>Bill\'s Books Motivate and Inspire</h3>\nThis month, Bill will be releasing his latest book, <a href=\"http://giantleapconsulting.com/kickass/\" target=\"_blank\">A Leadership Kick in the Ass: How to Learn from Rough Landings, Blunders, and Missteps</a>. This book covers how even the best leaders -- in fact, most of the best leaders -- start out as decidedly bad ones. And sooner or later they reach a moment of reckoning that Bill calls a leadership kick in the ass. When it happens, it feels like it\'s all over. But properly navigated, Bill shows how that kick can be a new leadership beginning. Based on his work with thousands of leaders, this book reveals how to turn those ego-bruising events into the kind of transformative experiences that mark the paths of great leaders. As Steve jobs famously said, \"Getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to me.\"\n\n</div>\nThis book is a survival guide, coach, and morale booster to help readers use that kick to more forward instead of fall down. Top leadership expert Ken Blanchard calls the book \"a wake-up call for leaders at every level.\"\n<div class=\"message_content \">\n\nBills other books include <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Open-Doors-2nd-Performance/dp/1562869647/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483123268&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=bill+treasurer\" target=\"_blank\">Leaders Open Doors: A Radically Simple Leadership Approach to Lift People, Profits, and Performance</a><span class=\"a-size-large\">, <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Courage-Goes-Work-Backbones-Performance/dp/1576755010/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483123439&amp;sr=8-3&amp;keywords=bill+treasurer\">Courage Goes to Work: </a></span><span id=\"productTitle\" class=\"a-size-large\"><a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Courage-Goes-Work-Backbones-Performance/dp/1576755010/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483123439&amp;sr=8-3&amp;keywords=bill+treasurer\" target=\"_blank\">How to Build Backbones, Boost Performance, and Get Results</a>, and <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Right-Risk-Powerful-Principles-Taking/dp/1576752461/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483123439&amp;sr=8-5&amp;keywords=bill+treasurer\" target=\"_blank\">Right Risk: 10 Powerful Principles for Taking Giant Leaps With Your Life</a>.</span>\n<h3>Bill is a Sought After Keynote Speaker</h3>\n</div>\nIn the past two decades, thousands of executives across the globe have attended Bill’s keynotes and workshops. Benefiting from the concepts first introduced in Bill’s bestselling books, participants come away with stronger leadership skills, improved team performance, and more career backbone.\n\nPrevious speaking clients include, among others, Hugo Boss, Saks Fifth Avenue, CNN, The Home Depot, Fortune Magazine, and the National Science Foundation.\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/user/GiantLeapConsulting\" target=\"_blank\">Bill’s YouTube page</a> for loads of leadership tips and excerpts from his speeches.</span>\n<h3>Bill and Giant Leap Consulting Provide a Suite of Services</h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to his new and previously published books, Giant Leap Consulting, the company Bill founded in 2002, provides an array of other services..</span>\n<div class=\"message_content \">\n\nGiant Leap Consulting designs, develops, and delivers comprehensive <strong><a href=\"http://giantleapconsulting.com/services/leadership-development/\" target=\"_blank\">leadership development and succession programming</a> </strong>to deepen organizational bench strength.  <strong> </strong>\n\nThrough its <strong><a href=\"http://giantleapconsulting.com/services/strategic-planning/\" target=\"_blank\">strategic planning services</a></strong>, Giant Leap Consulting engages stakeholders, clarifies goals, helps set measurable objectives, and facilitates the identification of mission-critical actions in order to help organizations reach their goals faster. Bill and Giant Leap have provided strategic planning services to corporate, non-profit, and academic research settings.\n\nGiant Leap\'s <a href=\"http://giantleapconsulting.com/services/team-building/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>team building services</strong></a> range from issue-focused team strengthening meetings, to spirited experiential team building excursions. For <a href=\"http://giantleapconsulting.com/services/meetings-retreats/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>meetings and retreats</strong></a>, Bill and the Giant Leap team can help you get the most of any group, no matter how diverse their backgrounds, agendas, or points of view may be. In addition, Giant Leap delivers unique training solutions that elevate individual and organizational performance. To learn more about designing content and programs that ensure your desired outcomes happen, click <strong><a href=\"http://giantleapconsulting.com/services/training-courses/\" target=\"_blank\">here</a></strong>.\n<h3>Interact with Bill and Marshall Goldsmith!</h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Want to learn more about Bill and Giant Leap Consulting? Bill will join legendary organizational theorist Marshall Goldsmith – the world’s top executive coach – for  a free webinar on Monday, January 16, 2017 at 1 pm ET. Bill and Marshall will share leadership insights and practical tips on the power of being humble. Click </span><a href=\"https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1326102661380723457\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to register!</span>\n\n<a href=\"https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1326102661380723457\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-32338 size-full\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/leadership_kick_webinar_share2-1.png\" alt=\"leadership_kick_webinar_share2-1\" width=\"440\" height=\"220\" /></a>\n<h3><strong>Other Resources</strong></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn more about Bill and his company at:</span>\n\n<a href=\"http://www.couragebuilding.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.CourageBuilding.com</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span></a><a href=\"http://www.billtreasurer.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.BillTreasurer.com</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span></a><a href=\"http://www.leadersopendoors.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.LeadersOpenDoors.com</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span></a><a href=\"http://www.couragebuilding.com/Kickass\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.CourageBuilding.com/Kickass</span></a>\n\nJoin Bill on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BTreasurer\" target=\"_blank\">@BTreasurer</a>, on <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/courage\" target=\"_blank\">LinkedIn</a>, and on <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/TakeGiantLeaps/?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook</a>.\n\n</div>\n<div class=\"message_content \">\n\nThank you again, Bill, for your support of the Lead Change Group!\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"></p>\n\n</div>', 'Highlighting Our January 2017 Sponsor: Bill Treasurer', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'highlighting-our-january-2017-sponsor-bill-treasurer', '', '', '2017-01-03 06:00:26', '2017-01-03 11:00:26', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/highlighting-our-december-sponsor-servant-leadership-institute/', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(32343, 323, '2017-01-12 06:00:09', '2017-01-12 11:00:09', 'While on vacation I was reminded of the power of positivity.\n\nDuring lunch, my wife and I couldn\'t help but notice a particular waitress who bounced from table to table, serving her customers with a smile and a side of joy. We watched as she delivered a child\'s sandwich in a sing-songy voice.\n\n\"Here comes your grilled cheeeeese and haaaaam.\"\n\nShe made it fun. She delighted every person she served.\n\nI didn\'t get her name, but I will never forget her great attitude.\n\nThat night, a second waitress grabbed our attention. Her name was Molly and she had such presence. She was confident, engaged. She smiled and made eye contact. She seemed like she was having a wonderful time. She made us feel the same.\n\nNow these were no ordinary restaurants. They were two of the busiest, most popular restaurants in the heart of New York City, during one of the most hectic weeks of the year.\n\nThe customers were packed in like sardines. The service was fast and the wait staff blocked and tackled their way to each table. Their brows were knitted in a tight thin line. Their shoulders were hunched over and their gazes averted. They took their orders and promptly moved on. They were stressed, over-worked, and we couldn\'t blame them.\n\nBut not these two waitresses. Nope. They stood out in stark contrast. Like little pops of color amongst the gray.\n\nInspired by Molly\'s happy nature, we engaged her in a little small talk as she topped off our drinks.\n\n\"Having fun? You sure look it.\"\n\nMolly joked, \"Thanks. I guess those acting classes really paid off.\"\n\nIt turns out Molly wasn\'t having a great night after all. She was gritting her teeth on the inside, willing her way to the end of her shift. Like all the rest.\n\nBut what made Molly different was we didn\'t know. From where we sat we never would have seen her internal struggle. For us and for every other customer in that restaurant, she was putting on a show. And it was a happy one.\n\nHow\'d she do it?\n\nA little <em>smile</em> and <em>shift</em>.\n<h3>How to hack positivity</h3>\n<h4><strong>Smile</strong></h4>\nAmy Cuddy, author of <em><a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Presence-Bringing-Boldest-Biggest-Challenges/dp/0316256579\" target=\"_blank\">Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to your Biggest Challenges</a>, </em>is famous for saying, \"tiny tweaks can lead to big changes.\"\n\nShe asserts that our bodies change our minds, our minds change our behavior and our behavior changes our outcomes. Fake it until you become it, she says.\n\nAs Cuddy suggests, Molly worked from the outside, in. She started with a smile - perhaps something she learned from acting class. In the end Molly smiled her way to a happy place and her customers loved her - and we tipped her well. Most would agree that\'s a positive outcome.\n\nWhile Molly uses a smile, Cuddy suggests there are other ways to change your thinking through body language. For example, standing in a power pose - even when we don\'t feel confident - could have a fruitful impact on our success.\n\nI\'m reminded of the many teachers who encouraged me and my classmates to stand tall with our chests out and our heads up. I know that always made me feel better.\n<h4><strong>Shift</strong></h4>\nShirzad Chamine, author of <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Positive-Intelligence-Individuals-Achieve-Potential/dp/1608322785/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1484151026&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=positive+intelligence\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Positive Intelligence</em></a>, suggests that our thinking processes are always at risk of turning negative because of \"a set of automatic and habitual mind patterns...that work against our best interests.\"\n\nHe calls these mind patterns <em>Saboteurs.</em> They are universal - we all have them - because they are connected to the functions of the brain focused on survival. The problem with these Saboteurs is they make it difficult to see a problem as an opportunity.\n\nBut, that can also be a healthy thing. Chamine explains:\n<blockquote>...a few brief seconds of feeling anger, disappointment, guilt, or shame are fine as immediate reactions to an event. This is similar to feeling pain when you touch a hot stove. A moment of physical pain should alert you to remove your hand to avoid further damage. A few seconds of psychological pain should similarly alert you to shift your mind to the [positive] mode so you can deal with the situation without further distress and damage from your Saboteurs. If you don\'t shift your mind, it is like keeping your hand on the hot stove and continuing to feel the pain that was only initially useful.</blockquote>\nAs a way of shifting your mind, Chamine recommends the <em><strong>Three-Gifts Technique</strong></em>. It is simple. When faced with a bad situation, come up with at least three scenarios where the problem could turn into a gift and opportunity at some point in the future.\n\nPerhaps Molly\'s three gifts were:\n<ol>\n 	<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"margin-right: 0px;\">This is a chance to try my acting skills</p>\n</li>\n 	<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"margin-right: 0px;\">Maybe a customer is having a worse night, and I can make it better</p>\n</li>\n 	<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"margin-right: 0px;\">A big smile equals big tips (<em>and it did</em>)</p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n<h3>How positivity benefits us</h3>\nTom Rath, author of  <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/StrengthsFinder-2-0-Tom-Rath/dp/159562015X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1484151115&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Strengths+Finder+2.0\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Strengths Finder 2.0 </em></a>and <em><a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Strengths-Based-Leadership-Leaders-People/dp/1595620257/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1484151146&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=strengths+based+leadership\" target=\"_blank\">Strengths Based Leadership</a>, </em> recognizes \"Positivity\" as a core relationship-building strength. He suggests that people who lead with positivity \"have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.\" Being positive can make you a better leader.\n\nFurther, research in neuroscience, organizational science, and positive psychology suggests there are <em>positive</em> correlations between positivity and performance, health and happiness.\n\nResearch aside, doesn\'t being positive just feel better? And doesn\'t it make others feel better?\n\nI think so. And all positivity needs is a little <em>smile</em> and <em>shift</em>.\n<h3>Bonus Hack: When in doubt, sing it out</h3>\nIf smiling or mind-shifting doesn\'t quite do the trick, maybe try singing.\n\nWhen I was a child, any time my sister and I felt the blues, my mother cheered us up with a song. Recently I asked her where this song came from and to my delight I learned she made it up.\n\nSo in closing, I share the lyrics to my mom\'s original number - <em>The Positivity Song</em> - in the hopes they inspire you as they do me.\n<blockquote>Think positive, believe you can,\nDo anything that you plan,\nIf you do life will treat you grand,\nThink positive, man!</blockquote>\n<em>Smile</em>, <em>shift</em>, or <em>sing</em> it out!', '2 Self-Leadership Hacks for Positivity', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '2-self-leadership-hacks-for-positivity', '', '', '2017-01-12 06:00:09', '2017-01-12 11:00:09', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32343', 0, 'post', '', 12),
(32376, 252, '2017-01-10 06:00:45', '2017-01-10 11:00:45', 'If you have ever visited a new doctor, dentist or other medical professional, you might find yourself in the exam room wondering:\n<ul>\n 	<li>Will they respect me or talk down to me?</li>\n 	<li>Will we have enough time or will they seem hurried?</li>\n 	<li>Will we have the same values?</li>\n</ul>\nI\'m thinking about a recent experience. I realize now my underlying question is, “Am I going to be treated like a human being or just another case in a folder?” Trust in being seen and heard is paramount for a strong, collaborative relationship.\n<blockquote>People don\'t care how much you know until they know how much you care. – Theodore Roosevelt</blockquote>\nRecently my long-time, favorite veterinarian retired. For those who are close to your pets, you know your relationship with your vet can be as important as your relationship with your own personal physician.\n\nI had just seen my former vet six weeks ago about some periodontal issues with my kitty, Sydney. Now there was a new issue. I saw a new vet in the same practice. He addressed the issue. Then he examined Syd\'s mouth and proclaimed she would need a teeth cleaning under anesthesia, X-rays, and perhaps several teeth pulled.\n\nI was dumbfounded. My vet of 17 years suggested only weeks ago that I use treats that eliminated plaque. I asked the new vet what changed so radically in 6 weeks. He said that different vets were going to have different opinions.\n\nHe voiced what were a number of inconsistencies in diagnosis and care, based on my experience. I inquired about these inconsistencies. Nothing fazed him. I went so far as to tell him that I expected my vet to care about my pets, and me, and I was not feeling that from him. Then I was silent. He was silent.\n\nI asked him his reaction to what I just said. I’ll give him points for being able to repeat back what I just said.\n\nHe started making arrangement as if we were proceeding with the teeth cleaning. I had to remind him I had not agreed to that yet. We completed the appointment and I left.\n\nI looked up recent reviews of that practice and found others reflecting the same experience. I thought back on times when that practice had gone above and beyond. One day my cat, Mac, had a seizure out of the blue. They did everything they could to get him examined that day, by my favorite vet.\n\nThere had been a lot of turnover there lately. I realized I needed to feel supported by the entire practice. That confidence was no longer there. I wanted a practice that would take seriously my concerns, urgent and otherwise.\n<h3>All it took was a little sincere empathy</h3>\nI asked around among my group of friends, particularly those who had similar expectations of their vets. I found one and visited within days. They looked at Sydney’s mouth and went on to explain what was happening. Nearly immediately I heard, “Unfortunately, she is probably going to need all of her teeth pulled.”\n\nWhy was I able to hear this news from this vet, when I could not hear it from the other? In fact, this news was even worse. The other had mentioned a few extractions, but not all of her teeth.\n\nThis vet started with the word, “unfortunately.” The vet’s manner and one word, expressed with sincerity, allowed me to hear the recommendation and move forward.\n\nThis vet also started sentences with things like, “I’m afraid that…” and “She will still be able to…” showing me she knew what was going on in my mind.\n<blockquote>We tell people who we are with every breath we breathe. - Unknown.</blockquote>\nNo matter what role you are in, keep in mind that those looking to you for leadership are wondering too:\n<ul>\n 	<li>Will they respect me or talk down to me?</li>\n 	<li>Will they have enough time for my concerns?</li>\n 	<li>Will they relate to my values?</li>\n</ul>\nYour ability to meet people where they are and understand their concerns impacts your ability to influence and lead. This is called empathy. You can\'t fake it. When others know you understand them, this builds trust and an effective relationship.\n\nWhere is your heart and mind on the trust scale with those you serve? You, like my new vet, can move in the right direction starting with one sincere word.', 'How to Improve Trust With One Word', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-improve-trust-with-one-word', '', '', '2017-01-10 06:00:45', '2017-01-10 11:00:45', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32376', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(32406, 273, '2017-01-05 06:00:11', '2017-01-05 11:00:11', '<em>This post is part of our 2017 Lead Change Group Guest Blogger Series. Today we are pleased to share a post from Rebecca Henderson.</em>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I’m facing some changes in my life, some of which I perceive as bad, but some are good.  It’s been said that the only person who likes change is a wet or soiled baby.  I must confess, I’m a fan of the status quo, even when it’s got to go.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wet babies like change, but most of us are somewhat reluctant to accept, let alone embrace it. Being creatures of habit, we sometimes become creatures in a comfortable rut. When the rut\'s too comfortable, it can lead to complacency. Complacency is never good for an organization.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I’m trying to</span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">face the fact that meaningful change is difficult and usually uncomfortable, because we have a tendency to like the status quo.  Sometimes the status quo must not only change, but leave our lives entirely, without any trace of tracks.  </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The potential for change increases with our participation in the process. If we want to see change within the confines of our organization, we need to be active in changing it!</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It takes courage to design, implement and embrace change.  When we want to change something, we may fail at the attempt.  Be ready to face the failure, because most people usually don’t start significant change; indeed, most people shy away from lots of change, especially that of a momentous nature.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People can only handle a certain amount of change at one time; change can be exceedingly stressful for many people.  Is your organization undergoing a mere breeze of change, or is it more of a gale-force wind kind of change? What seems to be a breeze to one person feels more like a hurricane to someone else. Do the group members feel like they\'re feeling a breath of fresh air, or struggling to stand in a tornado? Neither is right and neither is wrong, but having their pulse will help inform the work to make changes happen, and with a minimum amount of disruption.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The culture of an organization is usually the last thing to change, because it is such a part of who the organization is. An organization can renew and transform itself through challenges, if those challenges are put into perspective and handled correctly.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get commitment to change; then get Commitment to Change (note the capital letters). Finally, get COMMITMENT TO CHANGE. Don’t start with the all capital change, because you\'ll probably encounter quite a bit of resistance. It’s easier, less stressful and usually more successful to work your way into the change. Just as a house is made out of bricks put together in a systematic order, so are the building blocks of change.  Explain the change!</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One step to success as a leadership level community influencer:  If you want things to change, you’ve got to change, too, by modeling the change.</span>\n<div></div>\n<em><img class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-32410\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Rebecca-Henderson-e1483563844266-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" />Rebecca Henderson owns Strategic Priorities Consulting, specializing in strategic planning, organizational design and development, and leadership implementation. She has been honored for her work by Milligan College, which chose her to be a recipient of their “<a href=\"http://www.milligan.edu/2015/04/07/milligan-honors-local-servant-leaders-2/\" target=\"_blank\">Leader in Christian Service</a>” award. She is the author of <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Serving-Significance-Leadership-Community-Influencers/dp/1635051266/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1479320544&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=serving+with+significance\" target=\"_blank\">Serving With Significance: A Guide for Leadership Level Community Influencers</a>. You can follow her on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/rebeccainjc\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter</a> or <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/pub/rebecca-henderson/19/175/7\" target=\"_blank\">LinkedIn</a>. </em>', 'Change Management Challenges', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'change-management-challenges', '', '', '2017-01-05 06:00:11', '2017-01-05 11:00:11', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32406', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(32435, 251, '2017-01-11 06:00:39', '2017-01-11 11:00:39', 'Do you (or your organization) use the vending machine approach to leadership?\n\nThat approach is when someone asks the boss a question (inserting the coins) and out pops (like the candy bar, soda, or bag of chips) the correct answer.\n<h3>Fitting the mold</h3>\nThis \"all-knowing\" expectation is common in many organizations:  you, as a leader, are rewarded for looking smart by quickly providing answers. Because what gets rewarded gets done, you adjust your actions to fit the preferred mold. Pause for a moment and reflect:\n<ul>\n 	<li>Do I make statements rather than ask questions to save time and keep things on track?</li>\n 	<li>Do I reward consistency and conformity because they are the expected norms of behavior?</li>\n 	<li>Do I label those who ask too many questions as disruptive and difficult?</li>\n 	<li>Do I look for facts that support my position and ignore those that challenge my position?</li>\n 	<li>Do I want answers given to me fast, clear, and unequivocal?</li>\n 	<li>Do I tell the boss what he wants to hear?</li>\n 	<li>Do I feel uncomfortable when there’s ambiguity?</li>\n</ul>\nThe curiosity and joy of exploration (the insistent inquiry about why this or why that) that filled your childhood gets squeezed out by the expectations and standardized processes of academia and business.\n<blockquote>It seems that organizations are claiming to value curiosity, but still discouraging its expression. They promote innovation, yet punish failure. They cling to legacy structures and systems that emphasize authority over inquiry and routine over resourcefulness. ~ Todd B. Kashdan, scientist and profession, George Mason University\n\nAnswers are more valued than inquisitive thought, and curiosity is trained out of us. ~ Hal Gregersen, Executive Director, MIT Leadership Center</blockquote>\n<h3>An absence of curiosity at work</h3>\nA <a href=\"https://curiosity.emdgroup.com/docs/State-of-Curiosity-EN-US.pdf\">state of curiosity survey</a> conducted by Harris Poll in 2015 shows how curiosity is absent from most of the leadership landscape:\n<ul>\n 	<li>39% of workers report that their employers are either extremely encouraging or very encouraging of curiosity</li>\n 	<li>22% describe themselves as curious at work</li>\n 	<li>66% report facing barriers to asking more questions</li>\n 	<li>60% say their workplace throws up barriers to integrating curiosity into their work</li>\n 	<li>10% strongly agree that their leader preferred new and unfamiliar ideas</li>\n</ul>\n<h3>How being curious benefits you</h3>\nCuriosity—desiring knowledge beyond what you know—is a state of mind that <a href=\"http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-agenda/ceosurvey/2016.html\">CEOs say</a> is a necessary leadership ability. A deficit of curiosity and a surplus of conformity make it challenging to lead in today’s complicated world.\n\nCuriosity delivers multiple personal and professional benefits including improved performance, mental retention, and happiness. Being curious also improves <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3430822/\">social interactions</a> and interpersonal relationships by allowing for “comfort with uncertainty, unconventional thinking, and a tendency to avoid judging, criticizing, or blaming other people.”\n<blockquote>Curiosity is what separates us from the cabbages. It’s accelerative. The more we know, the more we want to know. ~ David McCullough, author and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner</blockquote>\n<h3>10 ways to be a more curious leader</h3>\nProvided you have self-awareness, curiosity—filling the gap between what you know and want to learn—is a skill that can be developed. To be a curious leader, you need to:\n<ol>\n 	<li>Stop making statements that shut down creativity; start asking more questions that begin with “why” and “how.”</li>\n 	<li>Probe for hidden or missed insights in the conflict, incongruity, contradictions, and uncertainty the bubble up at work.</li>\n 	<li>Reframe your definition of failure to allow room to experiment, explore, and learn.</li>\n 	<li>Be mindful of being too quick to judge or criticize.</li>\n 	<li>Stop insisting on certainty and accept a measure of uncertainty and ambiguity.</li>\n 	<li>Give yourself permission to play, have fun, and break the rules.</li>\n 	<li>Listen more closely; ask clarifying questions. See what’s churning beneath the surface.</li>\n 	<li>Watch the labels you use to categorize people and situations; they can be barriers to learning.</li>\n 	<li>Probe for unfamiliarity within the familiar.</li>\n 	<li>Don’t get too comfortable with what you know; seek out facts that challenge what you believe to be true.</li>\n</ol>\n<blockquote>A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be. ~ Albert Einstein</blockquote>', 'The Secret Ingredient for Extraordinary Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-secret-ingredient-for-extraordinary-leadership', '', '', '2017-01-11 06:00:39', '2017-01-11 11:00:39', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32435', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32462, 409, '2017-01-25 06:00:47', '2017-01-25 11:00:47', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Large businesses and corporations have a significant advantage over SMEs and freelancers when it comes to lowering their carbon footprint. And I say this from personal experience, for I have worked in both environments.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This might sound odd. How can a huge conglomerate make the process of being environmentally friendly easier than a sole trader? Surely a larger building, countless staff and significant product output will result in a carbon footprint the size of a large crater?</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That’s exactly what I thought, until I stumbled on a rather alarming set of facts about the damage even the most innocuous of life’s day-to-day activities does to the world around us.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did you know, for example, that a large latte </span><a href=\"http://www.eco2greetings.com/News/20-ways-youre-killing-planet.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">contributes 340g of CO2e to the Earth’s atmosphere</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? I didn’t. And I drink an awful lot of coffee.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With that in mind, I decided to review the green effort of my own micro business (it’s just myself and a laptop) in order to see what I was missing, and the results were rather worrying. You see, large corporations benefit from HR teams and environmental strategies that ensure their carbon footprint is kept to a minimum. In many industries, they absolutely </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">have</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to do so in order to remain compliant.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I don’t - I’m a writer, therefore the effect my work has on the planet isn’t really at the top of my agenda. Or at least, it wasn’t.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here’s what I learned. I think it’ll help anyone in a similar position immeasurably:</span>\n<h3><b>I’ve ceased using paper entirely</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As previously noted, my business is run almost entirely from a laptop. However, I was still using a fair amount of paper - mostly in the form of bank statements and note taking.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I’ve therefore gone paperless across the board and swapped my notebook for my iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.</span>\n<h3><b>I’ll only fill the kettle with as much water as required</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I’m British, therefore an incessant tea drinker (along with the coffee I consume), and as anyone will tell you, we have a rather bad habit on these shores of filling the kettle full each time, even if we’re only making a single cup.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, I only fill it with as much water as needed. As a result, I use far less energy each day and my drinks are ready quicker, too!</span>\n<h3><b>I turn lights off</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was a stickler for leaving lights on in my home. This was partly because I flit between my office, the kitchen, living room and dining room to get work done. Leaving a light on in each room was both wasteful and pointless - so I’ve grown into the habit of reaching for the switch every time I leave.</span>\n<h3><b>I use Skype far more often</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before I went ultra-green, I was doing a fair amount of travelling each week in the car. Not long distances, but several that saw me using more petrol than was strictly necessary.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nearly every venture was for a meeting, therefore I’ve managed to successfully tempt my clients and partners to instead lean on Skype. As a result, we get things done quicker and the car spends the majority of its time on the driveway.</span>\n<h3><b>I turn off my desktop computer</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ok - I lied earlier. I do have another machine I use, but only occasionally, and it’s a desktop Mac. Previously, I’d leave it on all day (you know, just in case I needed to take a break from the laptop). But, in hindsight, this was silly.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, I turn it off whenever it’s not in use. And you know what? It hasn’t affected my productivity at all.</span>\n<h3><b>Final thoughts</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We live on a breathtakingly beautiful planet, yet I’m the first to admit I’m one of the many who has often brushed off global warming and the effects my day-to-day activities have on the environment. However, I’m one of countless micro business owners, and if we all forget to do our bit, the end result could actually be rather sobering.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s time to go green, no matter how small you are!</span>', '5 Ingenious Ways to Make Your Small Business Environmentally Friendly', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '5-ingenious-ways-to-make-your-small-business-environmentally-friendly', '', '', '2017-01-25 06:00:47', '2017-01-25 11:00:47', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32462', 0, 'post', '', 0);
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(32464, 268, '2017-01-16 06:00:03', '2017-01-16 11:00:03', 'A few days ago, I saw the movie <a href=\"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4846340/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Hidden Figures</em></a> with my friend Gwen. The movie, based on a true story, chronicles the contributions of three black women to the space program in the 1960s. This film is a must-see for corporate leaders.\n\nSet in segregated Virginia, <em>Hidden Figures</em> powerfully depicts the hardships faced by people of color during that era, particularly women. One of the gals runs a half mile in high heels to the closest “colored” bathroom. Another goes to court to petition for permission to take engineering courses at an all-white school. And the third is kicked out of a public library, because she wants to check out a FORTRAN programming book from the “white” section. These are the types of inequality that Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted to rectify.\n\nAs a white person, it’s easy to look around and say, “Today, things are so much better.” The blatant symbols of segregation are gone—the separate bathrooms and water fountains. But news headlines continue to reflect the injustice faced by people of color in the U.S.\n\nToday, as we remember Martin Luther King, Jr., I want to issue a challenge. Find someone who is different from you and start a dialogue. A person with a different skin color or from a different country or who practices a different religion. Go see <em>Hidden Figures</em> together. Discuss the film. Ask questions to understand their worldview. Their joys. Challenges. Needs. Concerns. Dreams.\n\nMy friend Gwen is black, and I am so grateful that she has been willing to discuss race with me. When I was in graduate school, I needed input on the graphic design preferences of African-American women. I asked Gwen for advice, and she offered to host a party. Sixteen guests, ages 25 to 73, clipped images from magazines to illustrate what resonated and what they found offensive.\n\nThe following excerpts (<em>italicized content)</em> from <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Print-Magazine-European-Design-Annual/dp/B003BKI8GE\" target=\"_blank\"><em>PRINT Magazine’s 1999 European Design Annual </em></a>provide a glimpse of what I learned from these 16 magnificent women:\n<h3><strong>Dialogue will expose your filters.</strong></h3>\n<em>During a discussion that was emotionally intense and more focused on history, current events, and culture than I would have expected, I kept examining my own internal criteria and discovered I had been weighing copywriting and design decisions against an unconscious check list of factors…and realized I had been using the same checklist for every target audience.</em>\n<h3><strong>Dialogue may be uncomfortable. You may hear things that sting.</strong></h3>\n<em>“I grew up during the Depression,” one guest said.  “We’d come into town and we were these black things…we weren’t people. We weren’t even good enough to come through the front door. As a group, we blacks would always stay together. We got help from no place else.”</em>\n\n<em>“We’ve had to be strong,” several women remarked. “It takes a very special people to carry a lot of negative experiences and still be here.” Another chimed in, “When black people talk about strength, it’s because black people have had to have the personal and collective fortitude to live in a society that is not welcoming…”</em>\n\n<em>When the group asked what I had learned from the discussion, I felt tongue-tied, vulnerable, and very white. “If someone asked me what attributes to consider when putting together a poster celebrating African-American women, I would now say strength. I don’t know what attributes I would have chosen before. Strength is not a word I think about, and I don’t know why.”</em>\n\n<em>“That’s because you don’t have to,” the guests said nearly in unison. One woman added, “To survive, we have had to learn white culture. If we don’t know it, we don’t survive. White America does not feel it is necessary to know anything else except itself.\"</em>\n<h3><strong>Dialogue requires trust.</strong></h3>\n<em>A debate ensued about who bears responsibility for teaching white people about black issues. “You want to know something about me?” one guest exclaimed. “I’m right here. Come to me. It’s not my job to take it to you.”</em>\n\n<em>Another responded, “Who teaches those people who want to know? Leigh is a person who wants to know, and she is doing her best to do that. Would we have come together today if Gwen had not brought us all together?” Several people replied that they indeed had come for Gwen. “Most of the time,” one woman said, “when white people want to know this type of information, it’s because they are trying to sell us something.”</em>\n\n<em>My heart was racing. If a group doesn’t trust my motives, or fears I will create stereotypes, why would they want to share their thoughts, concerns, and preferences with me?</em>\n<h3><strong>We must teach each other patiently.</strong></h3>\n<em>Gwen gracefully redirected the conversation, “I think the way we learn is to realize and accept that we all have our biases and prejudices. All of us. We have to acknowledge these biases and be willing to put them aside, change them, or simply loosen up a bit. If I try to look at something from your perspective and you feel I am not understanding your views, you don’t say, ‘That’s too damn bad.’ We are all here as teachers.”</em>\n<h3><strong>Dialogue isn’t a one-time event. Getting to know someone requires time and may involve missteps. </strong></h3>\n<em>I had hoped to become an expert at bridging cultures—at least black and white cultures—in the context of my communication work. However, I learned that a bridge is not made by one person or group. It requires mutual permission and trust among parties who want to understand one another, along with ongoing communication and feedback. Bridging cultures also requires a willingness to make mistakes and humbly correct them.</em>\n\nBuilding bridges needs to be on the agenda of all leaders. A famous Biblical quote warns, “A house divided cannot stand.” Through dialogue, you find out if and how you are divided from your fellow citizens and brainstorm ways to patch divisions. Dialogue helps you suss out unconscious assumptions that limit you and interfere with bridge building.\n\nMake dialogue a habit. You can never truly walk in another person’s shoes, but you can strive to learn about their experience.', 'Building Bridges With Dialogue', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'building-bridges-with-dialogue', '', '', '2017-01-16 06:00:03', '2017-01-16 11:00:03', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32464', 0, 'post', '', 8),
(32474, 276, '2017-01-17 06:00:39', '2017-01-17 11:00:39', 'Last December, I did my post on <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/reflection-and-planning/\" target=\"_blank\">Reflection</a>. As we start the year, it is appropriate to touch on the topic of starting the year right. As a leader, it is important to close the year strong. However, it is even more important to start the new year strong. A good start creates momentum that can help you sustain a level of performance for the year.\n\nIn reviewing your year-end plan, if you’re working with your team, it is important to communicate the plan and highlight the milestones. This way your team knows what the goals are. By sharing the plan, you can also tie it back to your vision and objectives. This can help people connect aspects of their work to why we’re doing what we’re doing. This will also help people focus on the team’s overall goals.\n\nAfter communicating your plan, you can follow that session with monthly coffee-corner meetings. Coffee corners are mini meetings with an audience of less than 50 people. This creates an intimate session in which people will not feel pressured to ask questions. During these sessions, you can report the progress made and pinpoint which milestone has been met, what the highlights are, and open the forum for Q&amp;A. This session allows you to stay connected with your people and listen to their viewpoint or perspective. You can also use the session to engage and motivate your people by thanking them for their contributions.\n\nTo stay competitive in the marketplace, I believe that a strong start is a must, because it gives you the opportunity to get ahead and adjust your moves accordingly. When you fall behind, you don’t have the luxury to take the appropriate time to adjust your moves.\n\nI’ll close this post by saying that communication is a must to getting a good start. Start 2017 strong and may you have a great year.', 'Getting a Good Start', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'getting-a-good-start', '', '', '2017-01-17 06:00:39', '2017-01-17 11:00:39', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32474', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(32483, 447, '2017-02-09 06:00:53', '2017-02-09 11:00:53', '<p style=\"text-align: left;\">There are hundreds of thousands of resources that tell people about what it takes to be a leader. Everyone has an opinion on how it should be done. Studies have been conducted to prove that leadership is achievable. Former leaders are emulated.</p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Current leaders serve as inspiration. But leadership is a combination of some tangible things and some less tangible qualities. Leadership is a constant grind that one has to work on every day for the rest of their life – if they want to keep being leaders, that is.</p>\n\n<h3><strong>How do you turn yourself into a leader?</strong></h3>\nThe answer may be easy: lead. But how do you do it? What does it take? Do you have to be a born leader as they say?\n\nFirst of all, you become a leader by working hard to earn that position. It takes a lot of guts, initiative, and creativity to become a great leader. Although another leader can bestow that position upon you, it is up to you to make use of it in the best way possible.\n\nA born leader is one who is foisted upon that position like a son or daughter or a legacy, an inheritor of a large conglomerate, to name a few. No one is born as an actual leader. One can be brought up as a leader, though. And one can also be trained as a leader even towards the last days of their lives. There is no starting point and there is no deadline. When you are ready to be a leader, you will become one.\n<h3><strong>What should you do in order to become a leader?</strong></h3>\nYou have to act on it every day. Even when you are not at work, you have to work at being a leader. If you can handle it in your sleep, be a leader there as well.\n\n<em>Measure yourself, not your position</em>\n\nAlthough achieving a high position in an organization constitutes recognition of leadership, the two do not always go hand in hand. Sometimes, people get promoted due to work input, while others are given the position because they are a great fit for it.\n\nWhen it comes to being a leader, do not look at your title as a measurement. It will only demoralize you when you compare it to not having a higher position. Being the valedictorian, getting the highest scores on the SAT test, getting an executive entry-level position? Those are not measures of your worth as a leader. Just doing what a leader does is enough to boost your self-esteem and get ahead in the game.\n\n<em>Innovators are not necessarily leaders</em>\n\nYou do not have to invent something or develop a theory that can change the world to consider yourself a leader. You have nothing to prove in that regard. However, if you do have a revolutionary idea, you can use it as a stepping stone to train yourself on how to build an organization out of it.\n\nBy then, you will be automatically looked up to as a leader. Unfortunately, discovering something and leading its journey are two different stories. Just remember, you can be a leader without creating something and you can always learn how to become leader if you are about to give the world a helpful product or service that you pioneered.\n\n<em>Leaders are not necessarily inspirational figures</em>\n\nLittle kids may see Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg as great role models, but it is not necessarily good to focus only on leaders with intensely public visibility. Inspirational leaders are not just successful and intelligent. They also need to have a positive moral compass and a consistent personality.\n\nThat is not to say that Zuckerberg and Sandberg are not great role models; however, not being able to <a href=\"http://news.mit.edu/2016/student-profile-marlyse-reeves-1220\">know who they really are</a> will not serve you well. Inspirational figures are unassuming mentors. They don’t know that you look up to them, but you know yourself that they are someone who you want to aspire to be.\n\nThis means that when you finally become a leader, reflect the footsteps of the leader who set an example in terms of good values, work ethic, decision-making, and management.\n\n<em>You cannot become a leader by yourself</em>\n\nTo lead is to guide followers. To lead is to take advice from other leaders. To lead is to work with other people in accomplishing a mutual goal. You have to value the people who are with you, especially the ones who are contributing to your efforts to become a leader.\n\nIn order to do this, you need to learn how to listen and disagree when the situation calls for it. You have to be open to other people’s ideas and share your own as well. Don’t carry that mountain on your shoulders alone. Let others help and ask for it when you need it. Even when you do not need any help, you should still ask because it shows that you value the people around you.\n\n<em>Plan how you can become a leader</em>\n\nActions require you to take steps. These steps are the key to achieving your goal. By planning your life ahead of time, you can design a system where you can consistently act and do your part as a leader. Even if you are not yet in a position of power, it is still necessary to work on your leadership skills.\n\nAn <a href=\"http://govleaders.org/leadership-development-action-plan.htm\">example of a plan</a> is this:\n<ul>\n 	<li>Assess your weaknesses and strengths</li>\n 	<li>Work on the negative and improve the positive</li>\n 	<li>Record one achievement everyday</li>\n</ul>\nYou can design your own plan any way that you want. The main thing to remember is that you must plan a life that is based on leadership and the way of life that leaders live.\n\n<em>Reward yourself. Don’t expect rewards from anyone else</em>\n\nYour reward does not have to be materialistic or expensive. A small reward like a well-deserved meal or time off to spend with your loved ones is all that you need to give yourself that boost for accomplishing a leadership task.\n\nA promotion will not be as rewarding as what you can truly give yourself with the fruits of your labor. Once you become a leader, do not stop rewarding yourself. Just make sure that you do not do so in excess.\n\n<em>Solve your own problems first, rather than letting someone else lead you to it</em>\n\nThe marker of a true leader is their <a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2013/11/04/the-4-most-effective-ways-leaders-solve-problems/#19a0b8d42bda\">ability to solve issues</a> starting with themselves. A small problem can easily be remedied and that can count as a proactive achievement for you. Soon, you will be helping others and working with them to solve bigger problems that can help the make the world a better place.\n\nJust do not forget to ask for help and guidance. Doing the work is easy enough. Admitting when you cannot take it anymore is much more noble and is the oxymoron of being a good leader. Know when to solve your own problems and know when to finally let someone else take the reins.\n\n<em>Learn how to be a follower</em>\n\nIt may sound contradictory, but this is the most important part of learning how to be a leader. Put yourselves in your subordinates’ shoes so you can find out what they need, what they want to learn, and what they want to accomplish as individuals and as a group.\n\nWhen you finally look through their eyes, you can also see the good and bad components of your leadership. These go hand in hand because it tells you what you are doing right and what you can improve on. All in all, empathy will be your strength, as well as your company’s.\n<h3><strong>Acting Like a Leader</strong></h3>\nSince being a leader means having to <a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/danpontefract/2015/03/24/if-you-act-like-a-leader-you-will-think-like-a-leader/#52f14ad87513\">act like one</a>, you must also understand what motivates a person to do what needs to be done. As a leader, your subordinates will follow you. Before becoming a leader, you need to follow your current leader through the motivation they give you. Learn from that and apply it to your own style.\n\nSelf-awareness is also important because it reflects on your employees and other leaders. It will benefit them to see that you know what you are doing and that you are showing it in a transparent way, such as announcing reports, engaging with each member of the company, and accomplishing your own tasks efficiently and quickly.\n\nThe motivation to be a leader will stem from the motivation of your followers to treat you like a leader and follow in your footsteps. You cannot be the only leader forever, which means that you should also be giving everyone a fair chance to act like leaders themselves.\n\nThat is what true leadership is all about – helping each other climb up the ladder, rather than stepping on other people to get to the top.', 'Leadership Hinges Upon What You Do - Not Who You Are', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'leadership-hinges-upon-what-you-do-not-who-you-are', '', '', '2017-02-09 06:00:53', '2017-02-09 11:00:53', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32483', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(32486, 273, '2017-01-20 06:00:48', '2017-01-20 11:00:48', 'The winter I renovated my apartment was one of the coldest I remember. I couldn\'t stay there during the project. My sister generously let me stay in her family\'s house, but the basement guest room was dark and drafty and the commute from Queens was long.\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The one-month renovation turned to two, then three, then four, then five. The costs overran to double. Everyone\'s patience wore thin. It\'s uncomfortable to impose on someone so much, even family, no matter how generous your host.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I taught an evening class in Brooklyn that semester. The commute home went all the way through Manhattan, often after midnight. When the express went local for track work, I would be stuck underground, stalled between stations, not knowing when we would move again.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One such ride, I felt depressed, the kind where you think, “All those people who feel happy, they aren\'t </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">really</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> happy. They just think they are. I know how life is. It\'s like I feel now, and that\'s not happy.” You know when you want to wallow in your suffering? I felt that way then: tired, cold, and in the dark. I wanted to dwell in my misery.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Except for one thing: I exercise every day when I wake up and just before sleeping. I exercise before sleeping, no matter how tired or my mood. I have for over six years—in particular, I do </span><a href=\"http://joshuaspodek.com/js_blogseries/burpees\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">burpees</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> plus stretching and some other calisthenics, which I collectively call my burpees. I don\'t need equipment, a gym, a trainer, or anything. They take about ten minutes.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I realized on the train that my burpees would have the same effect on me that night as every other. Getting my heart pumping, my muscles moving, and my lungs processing oxygen, they make me feel alive and happy. Every time.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may have heard, as I have, that no medicine has proven more effective at improving moods than exercise. Exercise elevates mood, at least according to </span><a href=\"http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/exercise-and-depression-report-excerpt\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Harvard Medical School</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the </span><a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mayo Clinic</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the </span><a href=\"http://apa.org/monitor/2011/12/exercise.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Psychological Association</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, </span><a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/exercise-depression\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WebMD</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and </span><a href=\"http://time.com/4352177/exercise-benefits-brain-and-mood\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Time</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With all this evidence, why don\'t more people exercise more?</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyone has his or her personal reasons, but a big one is that strenuous exercise makes you uncomfortable. It\'s easier and more </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">comfortable</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> not to. I was </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">comfortable</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sitting on the train. I would have felt </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">comfortable</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> going straight to bed when I got home.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But I would have woken up unhappy. Comfort that discourages exercise is a thief of happiness.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Search the web about burpees and you\'ll find many people say they hate them. They\'re hard. People say to me, “After so many burpees, you must have gotten used to them by now. They must have gotten easier.”</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the contrary. Before every set—and six years of twice-daily sets means over 4,300 sets—I have to work hard mentally before starting. I find the mental work harder than the physical work, despite not burning nearly the calories.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is the mental work harder?</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because burpees are intense physical exercise, which makes you uncomfortable.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why make myself uncomfortable?</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because as uncomfortable as I feel before every set, I\'ve felt </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">happy</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> after every set. Every single set, no matter how tired before, no matter how uncomfortable, makes me feel accomplished, invigorated, exhausted, and </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">happy</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twice-daily exercise means that in over six years, I\'ve never gone more than about twelve hours without making myself happy. I choose short-term discomfort, a skill I build with practice, and steal happiness back from comfort.</span>\n\n<em><img class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-32493\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/JoshuaSpodek_532_crop-e1484872384245-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" />Joshua Spodek is an Adjunct Professor at NYU, leadership coach and workshop leader for Columbia Business School, columnist for Inc., founder of <a href=\"http://spodekacademy.com/\">Spodek Academy</a>, and author of <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-Others-ebook/dp/B01HUER0ZQ/ref=sr_1_3_twi_kin_2\">Leadership Step by Step</a> (launching February 2017).</em><em> He has visited North Korea twice, swam across the Hudson River, and has done burpees every day for six years and counting. He lives in Greenwich Village and blogs daily at <a href=\"http://joshuaspodek.com/\">www.joshuaspodek.com</a>.</em>', 'Stealing Happiness Back from Comfort', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'stealing-happiness-back-from-comfort', '', '', '2017-01-20 06:00:48', '2017-01-20 11:00:48', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32486', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32496, 448, '2017-02-07 06:00:03', '2017-02-07 11:00:03', 'The first thing you’ve got to let go in order to be a great leader is the stereotype in your head. Good leaders come in every shape and size. Some are indeed smartly dressed, tall and authoritative. Others, however, might be short, introverted or less domineering in their approach.\n\nLeaders come in every shape and form. Trying to fit yourself into the stereotypical role might end up selling you short, as you actually hide away your best skills and try to do things in a way that doesn\'t suit you.\n\nThat said, there are some aspects of leadership that are still vital. With them, you’ll be a better leader. Without them, you’ll struggle to inspire a three-year-old.\n<h3>Trust them</h3>\nYou have to trust the people who work for you to do a good job. If you can’t do that, you’re likely to micromanage. And that is possibly one of the most <a href=\"https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/business-professional/why-micromanagement-is-bad\">energy sapping activities a boss can undertake</a>. You’ve got to give your team members or your employees a chance to do things on their own. Only afterwards can you offer criticism and suggestions.\n\nOf course, that doesn’t mean you give them the keys to the safe. An Arab proverb I love goes, <em>trust in god, but tie down your camel.</em> If an employee hasn’t yet proven themselves, of course you’re justified in checking in on them if they’re engaged in an important assignment. Just make sure that you’re only checking in and not telling them what to do.\n<h3>Get them to trust you</h3>\nEqually, you’ve got to make sure you’re seen as trustworthy. There are lot of ways that you can make people trust you, but probably one of the most effective is to show that you’re interested in them and care about them.\n\nIn a lot of businesses, the project comes before the people. Often that’s not a very effective way of doing things. If the people come first, then they’ll be willing to put in the effort and the energy to make sure the project gets completed on time and gets completed well.\n\nYou can see your team as your tools. You want them to be in the best shape they can be. After all, a blunt knife doesn’t cut a tomato. Treating them as humans is (paradoxically, considering the example I’m using) the best way to make sure they’re going to be in the best shape they can be.\n\nNot good at the empathy thing? Find other ways to <a href=\"http://www.talentculture.com/building-trust-in-the-workplace/\">build trust between them and you</a>.\n<h3>Deal with problems and challenges</h3>\nIt is a leader’s responsibility to accept the challenges that come their way and deal with them. If a leader can’t do that, and they duck their responsibilities, the rest of the team will be forced to worry about things that aren’t their responsibility or in their field of expertise.\n\nIt isn’t just about dealing with problems and challenges. It’s about letting your team <em>know </em>that you’re dealing with them. Sometimes, if they believe that you’re not doing anything (even when you are) that can be just as destructive for morale.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/5-ways-to-communicate-more-clearly.html\" target=\"_blank\">Communicate clearly</a>, say that you’re dealing with the problems, and follow up your words with actions. That last point is vital, for if you say you’re dealing with something when you’re not, then the people will very quickly stop believing you. And that’s a horrible situation to be in.\n<h3>Stay curious</h3>\nJust because you’re a leader doesn’t mean you can’t be a student as well. In fact, it’s much better if you can keep learning. After all, the world is changing rapidly right now, and if you’re not learning what the new opportunities are and what’s going on, you’re going to end up falling behind.\n\nYou won’t be able to take advantage of the new opportunities that come your way and you won’t be able to see the pitfalls that are out there if you don\'t stay curious.\n\nTake courses in your free time, get academic help, read books about new topics. Ask people working for you to explain what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. If they’re not too busy, they’ll appreciate the interest and you’ll have a better understanding of what’s going on beneath the hood of your company.\n<h3>Be you</h3>\nSometimes we think we have to be something we’re not. The problem is, people notice when you’re being fake. And when that happens, they’ll think that you’re hiding something, that you’re not being honest about other things either.\n\nDon\'t try to be something you’re not. Instead, embrace who you are. I know it’s hard, but ultimately if you’re straightforward and honest, your employees will be as well. You see, you’re responsible for creating the environment in which people interact with each other. So make it an honest one.\n<h3>Protect those below you</h3>\nAs a leader, you’ve got to be able to take the blame when things go wrong – even if it wasn’t necessarily your fault. Only in this way can you make sure that your employees feel they’ve got the space to experiment and try new things.\n\nTo protect your employees doesn’t just mean taking responsibility, either. It also means that you’re able to cover for your staff. Maybe the people higher up have come up with yet another hairball scheme that they want your team to execute.\n\nIn that case, you need to find ways to cover your staff and make certain that they don’t end up having to waste time on something that they don’t really have time for.\n\nYou are the gatekeeper between those above and those below. If you do that role successfully, then the people who work for you will be in a position to focus on what they’re supposed to be doing without distraction. If you don’t, then they’ll find themselves swept up, distracted and unhappy.\n<h3>Last words</h3>\nDespite all of their styles, there are really two kinds of leaders. There are those who manage to make the people that are working for them become more than their parts together. And there are those who don’t. To be the former kind of leader means creating trust, respect and an environment where the people who are working for you can get on with the task that they’re supposed to without distraction.\n\nFor your team to fall apart and not be the best they can be, only one of the dimensions that I’ve mentioned needs to be out of place. That happens quickly. It takes people feeling they can’t say what they’ve got to. It means employees believe that you’re not honest, or won’t protect them, or feel they’ve got to watch their own backs because you’re not doing it for them.\n\nWhen that happens it’s hard to go back. Fortunately, it’s not impossible. Find out what the knell point is and deal with it. If you can do that, then you’ll be on the road to once again inspiring them. If you can’t? Then chances are people will start moving on. For <a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2015/08/04/people-leave-managers-not-companies/\">people don’t leave companies, they leave bosses</a>.', '6 Keys to Inspiring Leadership, No Matter Your Style', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '6-keys-to-inspiring-leadership-no-matter-your-style', '', '', '2017-02-07 06:00:03', '2017-02-07 11:00:03', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32496', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(32500, 408, '2017-01-23 06:00:09', '2017-01-23 11:00:09', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When companies talk about talent development, retention, and succession planning, words like “cross-training,” “knowledge transfer,” and “redundancy” tend to crop-up. I’m a big fan of these techniques, as they work in organizations large and small. By developing a workforce this way, companies create employees with overlapping skill sets, skills that may be applied intra-departmentally or inter-departmentally. Almost no one at an organization will argue that this kind of overlapping is a bad thing. It doesn’t create “fat” in an organization but rather the opposite – a fail-safe. In fact, when a company faces imminent downsizing, having cross-trained employees assists with continuity and minimal disturbance to daily productivity.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So why is it that when it comes to the hiring process, too many companies seem to overlook the value of transferable skills? I recently </span><a href=\"http://www.reinventionworks.com/why-todays-hiring-process-favors-no-one-except-recruiters/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wrote</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about what I see as a significant problem in today’s hiring process that is leading to unintended consequences with new hires: HR recruiting software’s algorithms scan for keywords but people’s capabilities – particularly transferable skills capabilities -- aren’t always evidenced by the keyword matches found in their resumes. If the recruiting personnel tell the software to only seek certain keyword matches – like job titles or years of experience – the company might not even ever interview an extremely qualified individual. That’s the problem with algorithms:  they’re only as good as what they’re programmed to do, and as we used to say in computer coding class:  GIGO (garbage in, garbage out).</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think about professional sports teams, for instance.  Everyone knows of stories of the high school track star that ends up playing professional football because of their speed; or the college quarterback that ended up playing professional baseball. In these instances, the teams recruiting these players saw their transferable skills as assets they could apply and improve upon. Pro sports teams constantly take risks based on transferable skills, so why doesn’t corporate America?</span>\n<h3><b>Hiring for Transferable Skills has Multiple Benefits</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When your company deliberately seeks out and hires people with transferable skills, a number of gains can be achieved:</span>\n<ol>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will be hiring an individual proven to be trainable and coachable;</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will be hiring someone with enough vision and initiative to see the application of their skills to a different job, a good indicator of problem-solving and critical thinking abilities;</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will already be hiring an interdisciplinarian, someone ready-made with a skill set that might come in handy someday in your company or in the various roles in your company that this person can play;</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will be hiring someone who from Day One will feel challenged and encouraged by the opportunity to succeed at something new. In other words, </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">they’ll be engaged</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and what company these days doesn’t want engaged workers?</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will send other positive signals to your workforce that your organization can benefit from: that you’re open-minded; that you’re willing to give people seeking forward progress a chance; that you see value in change, not sameness; that the potential exists for workers to pivot internally should they want or need to which means your employee might be less likely to leave without asking about an internal transfer first.</span></li>\n</ol>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will also benefit from encouraging the development of transferable skills within your existing team: it helps fight employee burnout and boredom. According to the </span><a href=\"https://about.udemy.com/udemy-for-business/workplace-boredom-study/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2016 Udemy Workplace Boredom Study</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 43 percent of U.S. office workers are bored, and bored workers are twice as likely to leave a job as an engaged one. The study also found that </span><b>80 percent</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of workers feel that learning new skills would keep them more engaged.</span>\n<h3><b>Build It, and They Will Come</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Companies with a commitment to workforce development consistently make Fortune’s list of Top Best Places to Work, and in so doing, these companies continue to attract top talent. Millennials, in particular, are attracted by companies that offer training and other promises of employee engagement. Even besides traditional training programs, though, you can build a team with great transferable skills by:</span>\n<ul>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating cross-functional awareness - Invite members of the company from outside the team to come and have an open dialogue about what your team does and what this person’s position does. Learn from the exchange and encourage the outsider to make suggestions based on what they see with their own set of fresh eyes. Consider it as a mini-audit and consultation your department doesn’t have to budget for!</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Encourage employee-initiated cross-training - if anyone from your team expresses an interest in growing their skills in an area of the company they’ve been exposed to, help facilitate their cross-training by finding them a mentor or devising a simple plan they can follow. Having your blessing goes a long way to sanctioning their interest and the future interest of other team members.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incentivize referrals – </span><a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-survey-reveals-85-all-jobs-filled-via-networking-lou-adler\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">85 percent</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of most jobs are filled by networking, so why not get your team some skin in the game and offer them a bounty for their qualified referrals? Indicate what skills you’re looking for…even if the candidate comes from outside the industry or outside the standard norm for the open job position.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Embrace your inner maverick – Keep your people intrigued: make a point of always having a person or two on your team that doesn’t seem to belong based on their past background but who you know really has the right skill set to be an excellent asset to the team over the long-haul.</span></li>\n</ul>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to lead an ever-evolving, engaged team, don’t just rely on an algorithm to find you the best job candidate. Push your hiring managers to look beyond the surface and you’ll find some great candidates with transferable skills to benefit your team and your organization.</span>', 'Why You Want to Lead a Team with Transferable Skills and How to Build One', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'why-you-want-to-lead-a-team-with-transferable-skills-and-how-to-build-one', '', '', '2017-01-23 06:00:09', '2017-01-23 11:00:09', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32500', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(32504, 449, '2017-01-24 06:00:57', '2017-01-24 11:00:57', 'Years ago I had a peer (I’ll call her Nancy) who complained constantly about her team. We were both managers of large sales teams, worked for the same overly demanding boss, and had to manage in a period of never-ending restructuring and downsizing. I’ll admit, it certainly was trying and stressful most days, and there were definitely times when I was frustrated with my team. However, I knew that they were doing the best they could in a difficult situation – and I was also doing my best to be the leader that I wanted to be. When Nancy would talk about her terrible team during our lunches together, I would feel grateful for getting my Sales area and not hers. That could easily have been me with the dysfunctional team, I thought.\n\nThen the day came when I was told that one of her supervisors would be joining my team, and I was not happy. My group was working well together and the last thing I wanted was a toxic employee coming on board to mess things up. After whining a bit, I decided it was best to give this person the benefit of the doubt and pretend I knew nothing about him – the clean slate approach.\n\nIn our first meeting, he seemed fairly competent but I did notice a bit of an attitude. He was going to need some work, I thought. After a few weeks, I noticed he was blending in nicely with my team and he was opening up more in our weekly one-on-ones. He really seemed to be blossoming, so I asked him how he was doing and what his assessment was of his first month. He said, “I’ve learned more in one month on this job, than I did in over a year where I just came from.” As he explained further, it became clear that Nancy did little to develop her team members and, as a result, they were unhappy, disengaged, and fighting amongst themselves. The things she had been complaining about to me were actually caused by her.\n\nThere are several ways that leaders jeopardize and undercut their team’s development. Here’s how to avoid those barriers:\n<ul>\n 	<li><strong><em>Let go</em></strong> – You can’t do everything and your team won’t learn if you don’t delegate and share decision making as much as possible.</li>\n 	<li><strong><em>Get out of the weeds</em></strong> – Operate at your level – set a vision, be strategic, understand and articulate the big picture. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself doing the work of someone a level below you, focusing on minutiae, and micromanaging.</li>\n 	<li><strong><em>Teach and coach</em></strong> – Development is an active job. You have to spend time with your team members, be accessible, share your knowledge and experience, and offer guidance and feedback. You can’t do that if you are constantly in meetings or behind closed doors.  Consistent teaching and coaching is essential for team development.</li>\n 	<li><strong><em>Trust and empower</em></strong> – You don’t have all the answers and no one expects you to. Trust that your team can come up with some pretty good solutions too and encourage them to give input, take risks, and share their opinions regularly.</li>\n 	<li><strong><em>Acknowledge</em></strong> – Part of your job is being a great advocate for your team. If you’re not willing to share the spotlight when things go well or take the blame when things go wrong, then team development will suffer.</li>\n</ul>\nIf you’re frustrated by your poor-performing team, it may be time to stop focusing on what <strong>they’re</strong> doing wrong and think about what <strong>you</strong> may be doing wrong.  Chances are you’ll discover that one barrier to their success is you.', 'The Biggest Barrier to Your Team’s Development?  You.', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-biggest-barrier-to-your-teams-development-you', '', '', '2017-01-24 06:00:57', '2017-01-24 11:00:57', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32504', 0, 'post', '', 2);
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(32507, 274, '2017-02-06 06:00:29', '2017-02-06 11:00:29', 'Welcome to the February 2017 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival!\n\nIn a recent webinar, Jack Quarles, author of <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/books/expensive-sentences-by-jack-quarles/\" target=\"_blank\">Expensive Sentences</a>, talked about the trap of \"we\'ve always done it that way\" and how that can adversely impact productivity and morale. In reviewing this month\'s contributions, I see a willingness to put aside \"we\'ve always done it that way\" and risk \"what if we tried this?\" As I\'ve seen in my own leadership journey, that\'s often the choice that leads to new and exhilarating paths.\n\nThe Lead Change Group would like to thank <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/books/leaders-made-here-by-mark-miller/\" target=\"_blank\">Leaders Made Here</a> for sponsoring the Lead Change Group (including this carnival) for February 2017.\n<h3>Let\'s Get Started</h3>\n<div class=\"divide\">\n\n<strong>Beth Beutler</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.bethbeutler.com/\" target=\"_blank\">H.O.P.E. Unlimited</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.bethbeutler.com/how-to-say-no-graciously-2/\" target=\"_blank\">How to Say No Graciously</a>. Beth recaps, \"Beth Beutler refreshes us on an important leadership skill—saying \'no\' with grace.\" Find Beth on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bethbeutler\" target=\"_blank\">@bethbeutler</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Chris Edmonds</strong> of the <a href=\"http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Purposeful Culture Group</a> contributed <a href=\"https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com/culture-leadership-charge-make-values-as-important-as-results/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1485444701979000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH55tT2TRr9-L9nDFKOl86FlD4Llg\" target=\"_blank\">Culture Leadership Charge: Make Values as Important as Results</a>. In this post, Chris charges leaders to elevate values to the same level of importance as performance results. Follow Chris on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/scedmonds\" target=\"_blank\">@scedmonds</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Dan McCarthy</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Great Leadership</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2017/01/6-essential-characteristics-for-leading.html\" target=\"_blank\">6 Essential Characteristics for Leading Simplification</a>. Dan recaps, \"This guest post by <em><strong>Lisa Bodell</strong> </em>explores the concept of \"simplification\" and the leadership characteristics required to succeed.\" Find Dan on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/greatleadership\" target=\"_blank\">@greatleadership</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Dana Theus</strong> of <a href=\"http://inpowercoaching.com/\" target=\"_blank\">InPower Coaching</a> contributed <a href=\"http://inpowercoaching.com/5-leadership-lessons-from-the-worst-bosses-ive-ever-had/\" target=\"_blank\">5 Leadership Lessons From The Worst Bosses I’ve Ever Had</a>. Dana writes, \"I\'ve had some pretty terrible bosses. In retrospect, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Not only did I learn a ton, but I began to claim my personal power by deciding I was done with being treated that way.\" Find Dana on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanaTheus\" target=\"_blank\">@DanaTheus</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>David Dye</strong> of <a href=\"http://trailblazeinc.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Trailblaze</a> submitted <a href=\"http://trailblazeinc.com/9-ways-motivate-employees-dont-set-goals/\" target=\"_blank\">9 Ways to Motivate Employees When You Don\'t Set the Goals</a>. David summarizes, \"Whether you are a team leader, a mid-manager, or even the President, CEO, or Executive Director there will be times in your career where you are asked to meet goals that you did not speak into or, in some cases, even disagree with. David shares how you and your team can still thrive in these situations.\" Follow David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/davidmdye\" target=\"_blank\">@davidmdye</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>David Grossman </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.yourthoughtpartner.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The Grossman Group</a> shared <a href=\"http://www.yourthoughtpartner.com/blog/what-great-teams-are-made-of-its-not-what-you-might-expect\" target=\"_blank\">What Great Teams are Made Of (It\'s Not What You Might Expect)</a>. David writes, \"Google was fascinated by the question of what makes for an effective work team, and recently studied hundreds of its own teams to determine why some performed better than others. They thought the answer would be the obvious – teams made up of the best and brightest people – but it wasn’t. The answer may surprise you…\" Discover David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThoughtPartner\" target=\"_blank\">@thoughtpartner</a>\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jesse Lyn Stoner</strong> of the <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Seapoint Center</a> shared <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/team-values-unite-your-team/\" target=\"_blank\">Do team values unite your team or divide it?</a>. Jesse Lyn recaps, \"<b> </b><span style=\"color: #1d2129;\">Identifying team values are a great way to create team cohesion. But if it\'s not done right, it can actually create discord, as this short story shows. This article also includes 6 questions to ensure your team values unite your team and create a foundation of trust.</span>\" Follow Jesse Lyn on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JesseLynStoner\" target=\"_blank\">@JesseLynStoner</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\">\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jill Malleck</strong> of <a href=\"http://epiphanyatwork.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Epiphany at Work</a> contributed <a href=\"https://epiphanyatwork.com/build-your-self-confidence-as-an-anchor-during-change/\" target=\"_blank\">Build Your Self-Confidence as an Anchor During Change</a>. Jill shares, \"Good leaders understand that self-confidence helps employees be more productive, but they can ignore their own confidence and its importance to personal development. Here are some easy tips to ensure you don’t get discouraged.\" Find Jill on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/epiphanyatwork\" target=\"_blank\">@epiphanyatwork</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jim Taggart</strong> of <a href=\"https://changingwinds.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Changing Winds</a> provided <a href=\"https://changingwinds.wordpress.com/2017/01/22/be-open-to-outcome-the-leaderly-approach/\" target=\"_blank\">Be Open to Outcome: The Leaderly Approach</a>. Jim shares, \"I chose this particular post because it’s about personal leadership and ordinary people stepping up to do good for society with no expectation of any form of remuneration. The setting happens to be the United States for my post, from the perspective of a Canadian. Given all the negativity in the media, we need to reflect on the good acts that people do each and every day.\" Find Jim on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/72keys\" target=\"_blank\">@72keys</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jim Thomas</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.ddiworld.com/home?lang=en-US\" target=\"_blank\">Development Dimensions International (DDI)</a> shared <a href=\"http://www.ddiworld.com/blog/tmi/january-2017/the-dirty-little-secret-about-expat-failure\" target=\"_blank\">The Dirty Little Secret About Expat Failure</a>. Jim wrote, \"An expat assignment can be a growth opportunity and a great adventure. But is it a smart career choice? In this post, I discuss the ways expat assignments can go wrong, and how many organizations don’t even bother to measure the ROI in their employee mobility programs.\" Find Jim at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DDIWorld\" target=\"_blank\">@ddiworld</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Joel Garfinkle</strong> of the <a href=\"http://careeradvancementblog.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Career Advancement Blog</a> submitted <a href=\"http://careeradvancementblog.com/let-work-speak-for-itself\" target=\"_blank\">Don\'t Let Your Work Speak For Itself: 3 Ways to Increase Your Visibility</a>. Joel recaps: \"Don\'t just let your work speak for itself. It\'s time you actively increased your visibility. Here are 3 ways to make that happen.\" Discover Joel on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JoelGarfinkle\" target=\"_blank\">@JoelGarfinkle</a>.\n\n</div>\n<strong>John Hunter</strong> of the <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog</a> shared <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2017/01/10/cater-to-customers-desires-to-achieve-customer-delight/\" target=\"_blank\"> Cater to Customers\' Desires to Achieve Customer Delight</a>. John summarizes, \"Customer delight requires understanding your customers needs and desires. Often even your customers don’t understand these well. Businesses that have a <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2012/07/09/customer-focus-2/\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2012/07/09/customer-focus-2/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1485464129492000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFMWxJKt7bGA45SXIBcH_TNdaVdrw\">deep appreciation for what their customers, and potential customers, desire</a> and that create systems to deliver solutions that delight those customers benefit greatly from that effort.\" Find John on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/curiouscat_com\" target=\"_blank\">@curiouscat_com</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\">\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jon Mertz</strong> of <a href=\"https://www.thindifference.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Thin Difference</a> contributed <a href=\"https://www.thindifference.com/2017/01/less-talk-more-action-where-do-you-fall/\" target=\"_blank\">Less Talk, More Action: Where Do You Fall?</a>. Jon asks, \"What have you done lately to lend a hand and lead change? We cannot afford just small talk or empty talking heads. We need more doing. It\'s time to act upon the change we wish to see.\" Follow Jon on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThinDifference\" target=\"_blank\">@thindifference</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Julie Winkle-Giulioni </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Julie Winkle-Giulioni</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/blog/career-matters/2742/\" target=\"_blank\">Want to Institutionalize Career Development? Look for (or Cultivate) these Cultural Markers</a> Julie recaps, \"Does your organization have the cultural markers that enable authentic, sustainable career development? Julie\'s article and the assessment it contains helps you answer this question.\" Find Julie on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/julie_wg\" target=\"_blank\">@julie_wg</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Karin Hurt </strong>of <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Let\'s Grow Leaders</a> contributed <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/stop-this-terrible-habit-you-dont-even-know-you-have/\" target=\"_blank\">Stop this Terrible Habit You Don’t Even Know You Have</a>. In the post, Karin points out a terrible habit many leaders have—and why you should stop it right away if you have it too. Follow Karin on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LetsGrowLeaders\" target=\"_blank\">@letsgrowleaders</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Marcella Bremer</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.leadershipandchangemagazine.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leadership and Change Magazine</a> provided <a href=\"https://www.leadershipandchangemagazine.com/how-can-you-develop-your-personal-positive-power-at-work/\" target=\"_blank\">How Can You Develop Your Personal Positive Power at Work?</a>. Marcella recaps, \"<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">How can you develop your personal positive power at work? There are four levels to work on, starting with yourself: ME. Here\'s the overview of the book that I am blogging! I hope you like it - in this era, we need as many positive agents as possible to make change happen.</span>\" Find Marcella on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarcellaBremer\" target=\"_blank\">@marcellabremer</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Mary Ila Ward </strong>of <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Horizon Point Consulting</a> contributed <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/blog3/item/are-your-goals-comfortable-delusional-or-somewhere-in-between/\" target=\"_blank\">Are Your Goals Comfortable, Delusional or Somewhere in Between?</a>. She recaps, \"Throughout January, Mary Ila has been talking about methods for goal setting to set us all up for a successful 2017. In this post Mary Ila looks at how we should step outside our goal comfort zones to achieve peak performance in 2017. \" Discover Mary Ila on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaryIlaWard\" target=\"_blank\">@maryilaward</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Michael Lee Stallard</strong> of <a href=\"http://connectionculture.com/disengaged-employees-say-boss-honest/\" target=\"_blank\">Connection Culture</a> provided <a href=\"http://connectionculture.com/disengaged-employees-say-boss-honest/\" target=\"_blank\">What Disengaged Employees Would Say to the Boss (If They Could Be Honest)</a>. Michael recaps, \"What if you could hear the honest truth about things disengaged employees wish you would do? Michael Stallard shares 6 ways that leaders can boost employee engagement.\" Find Michael on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/michaelstallard\" target=\"_blank\">@michaelstallard</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Miki Saxon</strong> of <a href=\"http://mappingcompanysuccess.com/\" target=\"_blank\">MAPping Company Success</a> contributed <a href=\"http://mappingcompanysuccess.com/2017/01/3-steps-great-boss/\" target=\"_blank\">3 Steps to Being a Great Boss</a>. Miki writes, \"Being a great boss has a lot to do with being a great worker, then fulfilling your own desires after you are promoted.\" Discover Miki on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OptionSanity\" target=\"_blank\">@optionsanity</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Neal Burgis</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Burgis Successful Solutions</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/2017/01/31/being-an-inspired-leader/\" target=\"_blank\">Being an Inspired Leader</a>. Neal recaps, \"Inspired leaders know how to their employees well enough to inspire them to create and produce great work. Employees who are inspired by leaders contribute significantly than those who are not inspired.\" Find Neal on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Exec_Solutions\" target=\"_blank\">@exec_solutions</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Paul LaRue </strong>of <a href=\"https://upwardsleader.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The UPwards Leader</a> contributed <a href=\"https://upwardsleader.com/2017/01/12/5-reasons-to-keep-recruiting-when-fully-staffed/\" target=\"_blank\">5 Reasons To Keep Recruiting When Fully Staffed</a>. Paul summarizes, \"If you have a full complement of people on your team, you may want to see the wisdom in staying in recruiting mode. The reasons may surprise you, but the benefits are tremendous.\" Follow Paul on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/paul_larue\" target=\"_blank\">@paul_larue</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Paula Kiger</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.biggreenpen.com\" target=\"_blank\">Big Green Pen</a> submitted <a href=\"http://biggreenpen.com/2017/01/06/gift-present-moment-guest-post-dr-john-izzo/\" target=\"_blank\">The Gift of the Present Moment: A Book Excerpt</a>. Paula summarizes, \"In this excerpt from The Five Thieves of Leadership by John Izzo, leaders are encouraged to learn how to center themselves in the present moment and, by doing so, to deter the happiness thief of control.\" Follow Paula on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/biggreenpen\" target=\"_blank\">@biggreenpen</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Randy Conley</strong> of <a href=\"http://leadingwithtrust.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leading With Trust</a> shared <a href=\"https://leadingwithtrust.com/2017/01/22/the-strategy-every-leader-can-use-to-develop-high-performing-employees/\" target=\"_blank\">The Strategy Every Leader Can Use to Develop High-Performing Employees</a>. Randy writes, \"The performance of your employees is a reflection of your leadership. What does your team’s performance say about you? Randy shares new research from The Ken Blanchard Companies that points to the strategy any leader can use to develop high-performing employees.\" Find Randy on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RandyConley\" target=\"_blank\">@randyconley</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Robyn McLeod</strong> of <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/2017/01/26/slow-it-down-and-keep-it-real-2/\" target=\"_blank\">Chatsworth Consulting</a> shared <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/2017/01/26/slow-it-down-and-keep-it-real-2/\" target=\"_blank\">Slow It Down and Keep It Real</a>. In this post, Robyn shares why being thoughtful, being present, focusing on the quality of our interactions not the quantity, and spending face-to-face time with others, helps us to slow down and put our relationships back in the center of our communications. Find Robyn at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThoughtfulLdrs\" target=\"_blank\">@ThoughtfulLdrs</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Shelley Row</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.shelleyrow.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Shelley Row</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.shelleyrow.com/number-one-way-show-respect-work/\" target=\"_blank\">The Number One Way to Show Respect at Work</a>. In this piece, Shelley reminds us of \"a simple, but often neglected way to show respect to one another at work.\"  Discover Shelley on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShelleyRow\" target=\"_blank\">@shelleyrow</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Susan Mazza</strong> of <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Random Acts of Leadership</a> provided <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/5-ideas-to-help-you-cultivate-leadership/\" target=\"_blank\">5 Ideas to Help You Cultivate Leadership</a>. Susan explains, \"The ultimate sign of an effective leader is that they are cultivating leadership in others. Sometimes this happens naturally. Yet, more often than not, if you want to cultivate leadership, you need to be intentional.\" Follow Susan on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SusanMazza\" target=\"_blank\">@susanmazza</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Tanveer Naseer</strong> of <a href=\"http://tanveernaseer.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Tanveer Naseer</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.tanveernaseer.com/understanding-why-others-follow-your-leadership/\" target=\"_blank\">How Would You Answer This Question About Your Leadership? </a>. Tanveer explains this piece shares, \"A question every leader should be asking themselves in order to figure out how successful their leadership will ultimately be.\" Discover Tanveer on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TanveerNaseer\" target=\"_blank\">@tanveernaseer</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Thom Pirone</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.strongholdtraining.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Stronghold Training</a> shared <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/thoughts-death-leader-thom-pirone?trk=hp-feed-article-title-share\" target=\"_blank\">Thoughts on the Death of a Leader</a>. In this memorial post to a revered mentor, Thom reflects on the three marks of a genuine leader, including how the impact they leave will be personal and profound. Follow Thom on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StrongholdThom\" target=\"_blank\">@strongholdthom</a>.\n\n</div>\n<strong>Wally Bock</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Three Star Leadership</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/leadership/3-ways-excellent-leaders-keep-getting-better\" target=\"_blank\"> 3 Ways Excellent Leaders Keep Getting Better</a>. Wally recaps, \"Great leaders keep getting better. Here are three ways.\" Find Wally on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wallybock\" target=\"_blank\">@wallybock</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Willy Steiner </strong>of <a href=\"http://executivecoachingconcepts.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Executive Coaching Concepts</a> provided <a href=\"http://executivecoachingconcepts.com/8-whats/\" target=\"_blank\">8 \"Whats\" to Engage and Mentor</a>. Willy explains, \"Key challenges for leaders to retain the best talent are to keep their staff engaged with the enterprise and to provide effective mentoring to help them grow and develop.  This post suggest 8 key \"WHAT...\" questions to support your staff in each area. Discover Willy on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/coachforexecs\" target=\"_blank\">@coachforexecs</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\">\n<div class=\"divide\">\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<em>Thank you to everyone who submitted articles for this month\'s carnival! If you would like to be on the distribution list for submission calls, please contact Paula Kiger (paula @ weavinginfluence (dot) com)!</em>', 'February 2017 Leadership Development Carnival', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'february-2017-leadership-development-carnival', '', '', '2017-02-06 06:00:29', '2017-02-06 11:00:29', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/january-2017-leadership-development-carnival-2/', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32532, 273, '2017-01-26 06:00:09', '2017-01-26 11:00:09', '<em>This post is part of our 2017 Lead Change Group Guest Blogger Series. Today we are pleased to share a post from Susan Thorn.</em>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Much of the adopted research on the field of strategic management and leadership depicts the successful leader as planner, decision maker, and instigator of structure and sustainable processes. Newer models and emerging gaps, however, are surfacing in the field based on some early little known work that Warren Bennis briefly alluded to: the management of meanings in leadership competency and its relationship to organizational performance. </span>\n\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“There is a profound difference between information and meaning”. Warren G. Bennis</span></i>\n\nLeaders say many things and behave in many ways; often our teams are unclear of the intent in our words and behaviors. This creates a manifold of personal perceptions, and soon the gears of our organizations are not aligned. As a result of our limited understanding and related challenges , we tend to overlook this crucial aspect of leadership in our training and development programs.\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Management of meanings recognizes that strategic management originates in the duality of leading change. This duality includes the fundamentally social aspect as well as the interpretive nature of strategy formation and implementation. The management of meanings is the mechanism for creating the \"why\" for your teams and aligning the gears of your organization. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where gears are not aligned, change will be nonexistent, or at a minimum very slow. This work is challenging and can be further compounded by the direct and indirect realism for members of our teams based on previous experiences to which we’ve have no control, and the sometimes false testimonial influence it represents. Today’s organizations are complex living breathing organisms, and in the absence of the management of meanings the culture can quickly take off on a newer journey all its own. In consideration of all of that, the mere thought of acquiring any sense of ongoing competency in leading change through the management of meanings to positively influence teams and create a shared interpretation of meanings is formidable. </span>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The four gears of success include:</span></h3>\n<ul>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a team consensus in the shared vision</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a collective understanding of the structural support through access to resources</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">feelings of empowerment in the creation of valued experiences</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">individual member autonomy through an acquired knowledge and skill set. </span></li>\n</ul>\n<blockquote><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organizational synergy is created through a management of meanings that infuses trust and adds to the justification of beliefs for each team member (<a href=\"https://ctt.ec/6i55d\" target=\"_blank\">Tweet this</a></span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). </span></blockquote>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When each team member understands the meanings within an organization, the total amount of justified true beliefs increases, creating a multiplier effect and superior synthesis which serves to increase the speed at which positive change occurs and is sustained. </span>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aligning the Gears</span></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The strategies for this change in how we infuse shared meaning must include a method for improved socialization to all members of the team. Don’t drive past the silos -- remove them. We must create an avenue to invite input from all intended stakeholders, analyzing gaps and opportunities before ever moving forward if we expect to drive change faster. Lastly, export what you learn, connect individuals to resources, socialize meaning and direction, and for sustainability… repeat.</span>\n\n<em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-32537\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/susan-thorn-square-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" />Susan Thorn has been spreading her passion for leading change and health and wellness in the healthcare leadership sector for more than 25 years. Through her passion for improved models of healthcare care delivery, she guides individuals and healthcare organizations based on the principles of leading change. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Psychology and Industrial/Organizational Engineering while working as a Senior Director in healthcare as well as a consultant for the healthcare ambulatory community. When not in the office you can find her writing, working out, and pursuing her passions in life, love, and servant leadership. Connect with her on <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanthorn\" target=\"_blank\">LinkedIn</a> or <a href=\"https://twitter.com/elanvitals\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter</a>.</span></em>\n\n&nbsp;', 'Management of Meanings: When the Gears Don&#039;t Align', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'management-of-meanings-when-the-gears-dont-align', '', '', '2017-01-26 06:00:09', '2017-01-26 11:00:09', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32532', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(32540, 330, '2017-01-27 06:00:19', '2017-01-27 11:00:19', '<blockquote>Isn’t it funny how obvious and oblivious are so close?\n\n— Author unknown</blockquote>\nMy work with leaders sometimes involves inviting the leader’s direct reports to purposely kick him or her in the emotional keister. One of the most effective ways of doing this is having the leader go through a 360-degree feedback process, where the people they are leading rate the leader’s style and performance. The raters often include the leader him or herself and the leader’s boss(es), peers, and direct reports— hence a “360-degree” view. The feedback uses an anonymous survey consisting of quantitative data and qualitative (open-ended) questions. The idea is that people are likely to give more honest answers if they don’t feel threatened that the leader will retaliate against them for their honesty. A leader’s self-perception can be quite biased, so involving the broader perspective of others can be a useful development tool. While 360-degree surveys aren’t perfect, having administered hundreds of them over the years, I’ve seen them result in positive leadership change. Sometimes dramatically so.\n\nThe challenge is, some leaders do everything they can to justify or explain away the feedback they get. In my new book, <a href=\"http://giantleapconsulting.com/kickass/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>A Leadership Kick in the Ass</em></a>, I describe a headstrong leader named Bruce who rejected his feedback and harmed his career in the process. Bruce is a headstrong senior executive in the construction industry. He is physically imposing (six foot four) and socially dominant. He is the proverbial bull in the china shop, viewing nearly every interaction with clients, subcontractors, and direct reports (“subordinates”) as a competition to be won. While Bruce has developed a strong track record of taking on the toughest and most complex projects, he also has a well-earned reputation as a controlling hard-ass who has left a trail of human wreckage in his wake.\n\nA lot of pent-up frustration spewed forth from Bruce’s direct reports in his 360. Though he rated himself nearly perfect on every leadership question (giving himself nines and tens on a ten- point scale), the people rating him gave him ones and twos. The qualitative comments were just as bad, including one from his boss, who called him “petulant” and “irrational.” One direct report called him a “blockhead,” and another said he was a “brute.” So what did Bruce do? He blew it off, dismissing the feedback as sour grapes from midcore performers.\n\nFor a controlling and hardheaded guy like Bruce, all that mattered were the financial results he brought in to the company. Why should he care what people thought of him? He had built the biggest and most profitable projects in the company. From his perspective, his exceptional results <em>proved </em>that he was a good leader. But in rejecting the feedback of the people who had directly experienced his leadership, Bruce was making the deliberate choice not to grow. Choosing otherwise would mean chipping away at his blockhead and cracking open a deeper truth about his successes; the money he made for the company had come at a great cost in human suffering. Yes, Bruce had made a lot of money for the company. But he had also cost the company a lot of money in the form of low morale, high turnover, and lost leadership potential. Not admitting that hard truth was easier than changing. Eventually, by choosing to remain oblivious to himself, combined with his intimidating ways, Bruce ended up getting fired.\n\nTo be sure, it takes courage to subject oneself to a leadership 360. The feedback can be raw and hurtful. In rare instances raters will use the process as a way to get back at a leader they don’t like. But mostly the feedback is helpful because it allows the leader to illuminate blind spots that may be blocking his or her effectiveness. All it takes is an open-mind and a willingness to value the perspective of others.', 'Ain’t That a Kick in the Pants', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'aint-that-a-kick-in-the-pants', '', '', '2017-01-27 06:00:19', '2017-01-27 11:00:19', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32540', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(32545, 374, '2017-02-02 06:00:37', '2017-02-02 11:00:37', 'This month we are featuring Instigator <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/david-greer/\" target=\"_blank\">David Greer</a>. Known as \"Coach Greer,\" David previously served as co-owner and president of Robelle, where he traveled the world giving a new presentation every year, building Robelle into the world’s leading provider of HP (Hewlett-Packard) 3000 solutions. He is a co-author of The IMAGE/3000 Handbook, the reference work for the HP 3000 IMAGE database management system.\n\nDavid, who has a Bsc in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia, says his first jobs involved running shipping, receiving, and warehousing for sporting goods wholesalers. While still at university, he joined a young software startup as the first employee after the founders. He spent 20 years building that company, Robelle, into a global software powerhouse. Subsequently, he has been an angel investor, executive, marketer, coach and facilitator, always working with entrepreneurs to help them and their business grow to the next level.\n\nWhen David reflects on his best professional moments, he cites creating thousands of happy customers who in turn have had massive impact on their organizations and constituents, including <strong>their</strong> customers. Maybe that drive to create happy customers is why an interviewer once said to him \"Are you sure you want this role? You really could be running the place.\"\n\nWhen asked about a leadership lesson he learned from her first job, David replies concisely: \"Do what is expected of you.\"\n\nThe best advice David has ever been given was: Ahead of time, think about an issue, lose sleep about it, do whatever you have to do. Once you\'ve made your decision, never look back. Trust your decision and go with it.\n\nOn the topic of the most important qualities in leaders, David believes that leaders should focus on helping people to grow into their potential.\n\nWhen asked about a subject that is not currently taught universally in school but should be, David commented on the importance of education about mindfulness.\n\nResponding to a question about books he has found most helpful for his professional life, David praised <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Search-Excellence-Americas-Best-Run-Companies/dp/0060548789\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>In Search of Excellence</strong></em></a> by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, Jr.\n\nOne of David\'s favorite quotes is \"Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability\" from Edsger W. Dijkstra.\n\nIn response to the question \"if money were no object, what would you do all day?\" David responded, \"What I\'m doing now.\" As a few examples of David\'s adventures, check this <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/exploring-the-unknown/\" target=\"_blank\">post about his life history, including what he is doing now</a> and this one about <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/when-things-go-wrong/\" target=\"_blank\">one of his many sailing adventures</a>.\n\nWhen asked what hashtag he would apply to his life, David shared #LiveTheAdventureNow\n\nOnly one of our questions, \"What is the most creative solution you\'ve ever seen to a problem in life or work?\" stumped David. He said, \"I\'ve lived my life creatively and yet this one stumped me!\"\n\nWe can relate, David. Rest assured your creativity adds life to the Lead Change Group and we are not stumped if asked, \"What does David Greer contribute to Lead Change?\"!\n\n<em><strong>Editor\'s Note</strong> - You may ask, “How does one get chosen to be a featured Instigator?” The answer is simple. If you are already an Instigator, fill out <a href=\"https://cl182.infusionsoft.com/app/form/lcg-feature-questions\">this form</a> and continue to engage with the Lead Change Group on a regular basis. If you are not yet an Instigator, <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/join/\">sign up</a>. There are many benefits to being an Instigator – email us if you want more information.</em>\n\n&nbsp;', 'Featured Instigator: David Greer', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'featured-instigator-david-greer', '', '', '2017-02-02 06:00:37', '2017-02-02 11:00:37', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/featured-instigator-eileen-mcdargh-2/', 0, 'post', '', 5),
(32575, 374, '2017-02-01 06:00:26', '2017-02-01 11:00:26', '<div class=\"message_content \">\n\nWe are pleased to have <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/books/leaders-made-here-by-mark-miller/\" target=\"_blank\">Leaders Made Here</a> as our Lead Change Group sponsor for February 2017!\n<h3>Leaders Made Here: Blake\'s Story</h3>\nThis month, Mark will be releasing his latest book, <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/books/leaders-made-here-by-mark-miller/\" target=\"_blank\">Leaders Made Here</a>. This book provides readers a game plan for organizations to create a deep and effective leadership bench.\n\nAs Mark explains in the book, every organization dreams of having enough leaders. Yet most take a haphazard or inconsistent approach to leadership development. They either assume they can find new leaders when they need them, or they believe leaders are born, they can’t be made. The consequences of this thinking are devastating, creating a perpetual shortfall of high caliber leaders; yet without them, no organization can thrive. The good news: this problem is solvable.\n\nTo bring his ideas to life, Miller uses the story of Blake, a new CEO, and Charles, an old friend and colleague, as they search for best practices from around the world to ensure a continuous supply of their most precious asset: leaders. Blake and his team then translate their findings into a practical plan that any organization can use to create a leadership culture that will ensure a sustainable competitive advantage and long-term success.\n\n</div>\nMark has written other insightful leadership books, including <em><a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Secret-What-Great-Leaders-Know/dp/1576752895/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1485810594&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=the+secret+mark+miller\" target=\"_blank\">The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do</a>.</em> In 2011, he released <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Teams-What-Great-Know/dp/1609940938/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1485810482&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+secret+of+teams\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Secret of Teams</em></a>, outlining the key principles that enable some teams to outperform the all the rest. <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Great-Leaders-Grow-Becoming-Leader/dp/1609943031/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=1609943031&amp;pd_rd_r=ZRZ19ABM5V8EG2Q81K2Q&amp;pd_rd_w=HkMQK&amp;pd_rd_wg=90QR7&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=ZRZ19ABM5V8EG2Q81K2Q\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Great Leaders Grow: Becoming a Leader for Life</em></a> came next in 2012, followed by <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Leadership-Becoming-Leader-People/dp/1609949609/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1485810538&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+heart+of+leadership\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Heart of Leadership</em></a> in October 2013, the 10th Anniversary Edition of <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Secret-What-Great-Leaders-Know/dp/1626561982/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1485810421&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=The+Secret+mark+miller\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Secret</em></a> in September 2014, and <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Not-Checkers-Elevate-Leadership/dp/1626563942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1485810622&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=chess+not+checkers\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Chess Not Checkers: Elevate Your Leadership Game</em></a> in April 2016.\n<div class=\"message_content \">\n<h3>Mark Miller Leads</h3>\n</div>\nIn addition to writing, Mark loves speaking to leaders. Over the years, he’s traveled extensively around the world teaching for numerous international organizations. His theme is always the same: encouraging and equipping leaders. His work with Chick-fil-A gives him a deep well of experience from which to draw in his teaching work. He serves Chick-fil-A as the Vice President of Leadership Development.\n\nHe’s been married to his high school sweetheart, Donna, for more than 30 years, and they have two sons, a daughter-in-law, and a beautiful granddaughter.\n<h3>Interact with Mark!</h3>\n<div class=\"message_content \">\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are excited that Mark will be sharing a webinar with us in March. Please keep an eye on the Weaving Influence events page for more information.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the meantime, we are happy to share the recording of Mark\'s portion of our 2015 Servant Leadership Summit, when he and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CABachelder\" target=\"_blank\">Cheryl Bachelder</a>, CEO of Popeye\'s Fried Chicken, talked with <a href=\"https://twitter.com/beckyrbnsn\" target=\"_blank\">Becky Robinson</a> of Weaving Influence and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LetsGrowLeaders\" target=\"_blank\">Karin Hurt</a> of Let\'s Grow Leaders.</span>\n<iframe src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/dkeSNBuQ0YU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"></iframe>\n\n<strong>Other Resources</strong>\n\nJoin Mark on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LeadersServe\" target=\"_blank\">@LeadersServe</a>, on <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmillerauthor\" target=\"_blank\">LinkedIn</a>, and on <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MarkMillerGLS\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook</a>.\n\n</div>\n<div class=\"message_content \">\n\nThank you again, Leaders Made Here and Mark, for your support of the Lead Change Group!\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"></p>\n\n</div>', 'Highlighting Our February 2017 Sponsor: Leaders Made Here', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'highlighting-our-february-2017-sponsor-leaders-made-here', '', '', '2017-02-01 06:00:26', '2017-02-01 11:00:26', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/highlighting-our-january-2017-sponsor-bill-treasurer-2/', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32608, 323, '2017-04-25 06:00:58', '2017-04-25 10:00:58', 'Once upon a time there was a <em>Battery</em>. This <em>Battery</em> was very proud because he was full of power. What he didn\'t know was his power had been granted to him from the beginning. It was built in - he had this power simply because he was a battery.\n\nAnytime he wanted, the <em>Battery </em>could use his power to make things move. He could influence action and he was fantastic at it.\n\nBut there was a problem. One day the <em>Battery</em> discovered his power supply was empty. The horror! You see, unbeknownst to him, he had a limited supply that could not be replenished. Each time he used his power, it drained until eventually he had no power at all. And in the end, as often happens to batteries when they’re out of power, he was thrown away. Discarded. Obsolete.\n\nThe <em>Solar Panel</em> had more humble beginnings. At first, she had no power and was unable to make things happen. But unlike the <em>Battery</em>, she discovered the ability to gain power. Jackpot! And whenever she collected it, she found that she too could influence action. Lucky for her, anytime her power drained, she simply replenished her supply.\n\nIn the end, because of her unlimited source of power, she was never thrown away. Her value was infinite. She was important, useful, and effective!\n\n<em>What can we learn from this fable of the battery and the solar panel?</em>\n<h3><strong>Power and Influence</strong></h3>\nAs leaders, we must master the art of influence if we expect to make a difference in this world.\n\nHarry Truman described leadership as “the ability to get other people to do what they don’t want to do, and like it.” Truman’s statement is about influence and it raises an important issue:\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Leadership requires influence. Influence requires power. But power is a limited resource.</em></p>\nPower can be categorized into two types:\n<ul>\n 	<li>Token Power</li>\n 	<li>Earned Power</li>\n</ul>\n<strong>Token Power</strong> is what we find in formal positions of authority. It is built in by virtue of being \"the boss.\" It is bestowed. When applied inside a hierarchical structure, this kind of influence forms a relationship with two outcomes:\n<ul>\n 	<li><em>this OR that</em></li>\n 	<li><em>this FOR that</em></li>\n</ul>\nPut another way, as the boss, we can giveth and we can taketh away. And because of this promise of punishments and rewards, our result is compliance. That is, people do things because we say so. They <em>comply.</em>\n\nOn one hand, this is a positive. We need compliance in business, don\'t we? It keeps us out of trouble. In many ways, it serves as a safety mechanism - a risk mitigator. A way to ensure the job gets done.\n\nYet, in the long-run, there’s a problem with this simple give and take relationship.\n\nWhile at first, we may benefit from compliance, as we continue to push our people, one of two things will happen.\n<ul>\n 	<li>We will push them away</li>\n 	<li>Or they\'ll start to push back</li>\n</ul>\nAnd when this happens, we discover that, like the <em>Battery</em> from our story, our token power was only ever a limited resource. A token, if you will. Symbolic. After a while, this power source drains and stops working. It has no value.\n\nWhile token power can bear fruit in the short-run, it fails to affect what’s really important in the long-run. That is, the attitudes, values, and beliefs of our people – and that\'s where the real magic happens.\n\nToken power is easy, but only short-term.\n<h3><strong>Earned Power</strong></h3>\nIf token power is a limited resource, is there another option? Like the <em>Solar Panel</em> from our story, a better source of power is to earn it.\n\nBut you still have to work for it. Unlike token power, it doesn\'t come with a bestowed title.\n\nAlso, in the absence of token power – as is the case with those without a manager title – we need a second option if we’re to inspire change in others.\n\nWhere does earned power come from?\n<ol>\n 	<li><strong><em>Be good at what you do</em></strong> – know your craft and deliver consistent results</li>\n 	<li><strong><em>Be trustworthy</em></strong> – exercise transparency with your agenda and match your words with your actions</li>\n 	<li><strong><em>Be likeable</em></strong> – practice civility and demonstrate genuine care for others</li>\n</ol>\nDo you need all three in order to effectively influence others?\n\nConsider Alex, who is highly knowledgeable and skilled. With these traits, she can certainly get a lot done. But if she treats her coworkers poorly in the process of hitting targets and smashing company records, soon enough, she’ll notice her indicator light blinking: low power.\n\nSimply put, don’t be an “unlikeable expert” and still expect to have sustainable influence.\n\nConversely, consider Jorge. He is what Alex isn’t. He’s super likable AND a record-smasher. That’s a strong combination. Only, we discover his problem is he’s broken too many promises. No one trusts him. His result? No influence.\n\nWhat about Tom, who everyone likes and trusts, but who can\'t meet a deadline to save his life? You guessed it - zero influence.\n\nTo be an effective influencer we need the triad – get results, have integrity, be a nice person. With this combination, we have the potential to not only inspire actions, but influence hearts and minds. That’s not just a power, that’s a superpower!\n<h3><strong>Earned Power Requires a Recharge</strong></h3>\nThe best leaders close their ears to the siren song of token power, because they know its effects are weak and potential is limited. Instead, they tap into the only source of power that leads to true influence. It must be earned.\n\n<em>But heed this word of caution. </em>While earned power can be infinite, like token power, it does have a shelf life. That is, only if we fail to recharge.\n\nThe reality is, whenever we use our power - whatever the source - it drains. Therefore, in order to have career-lasting influence, we must regularly recharge the source. As long as we continue getting results, winning trust, and being likable - <em>the earned-power triad</em> - we will rediscover the ability to shake things up and make things happen.\n\nWhat can we learn from the fable of the battery and the solar panel? Token power is a limited resource with short-term results. Earned power is what we want - an infinite and sustainable source of influence.', 'How to Win Influence and Keep It', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-win-influence-and-keep-it', '', '', '2017-04-25 06:00:58', '2017-04-25 10:00:58', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32608', 0, 'post', '', 4);
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(32630, 273, '2017-02-17 06:00:36', '2017-02-17 11:00:36', '<strong>A Receptivity to Change Scale </strong>\n\nEllen R. Auster and Trish Ruebottom created a scale that categorizes individuals in an organization according to their receptivity to <a href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297823968_Navigating_the_Politics_and_Emotions_of_Change\">change initiatives</a>: Sponsors, promoters, indifferent fence-sitters, cautious fence-sitters, positive skeptics, and negative skeptics.\n\nOne of the values of this scale is that it provides a framework from which to categorize each stakeholder per his/her potential receptivity or reluctance to a specific change initiative. It provides a rough measurement for the level of difficulty that lies ahead.\n\nOnce an institution identifies a change initiative, one can use the scale to determine where stakeholders stand according to receptivity. Receptivity to change is not necessarily an immutable or static personality trait. Sure, there are the consistent nay-sayers and those that truly fear change, but more often, someone’s reaction to change depends upon the features of the specific change.\n\nFor all types of political, intellectual, and emotional reasons there are normally far fewer sponsors and promoters than one would hope for, regardless of the scope and promise of the change.\n\n<strong>Change and The Pareto Principle</strong>\n\nThe appeal of the 80/20 rule, or Pareto Principle, is found less in its scientific accuracy and more in its flexibility. The principle can be used in science, economics, quality control, sports, and management to name a few.\n\nExamples?\n<ul>\n 	<li>Quality Control: 80 percent of the <a href=\"http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/050115/what-are-some-reallife-examples-8020-rule-pareto-principle-practice.asp\">problems with products</a> were caused by 20 percent of the production defects</li>\n 	<li>Sports: 20 percent of the members on your roster determine 80 percent of team’s <a href=\"http://www.championshipcoachesnetwork.com/public/397.cfm\">success</a></li>\n 	<li>Home Life: 80 percent of the mess is created by 20 percent of my family (he knows who he is)</li>\n</ul>\nWhen it comes to <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-boyce-a709a9?authType=NAME_SEARCH&amp;authToken=Zc_z&amp;locale=en_US&amp;srchid=137970561485286363611&amp;srchindex=1&amp;srchtotal=33&amp;trk=vsrp_people_res_name&amp;trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%253A137970561485286363611%252CVSRPtargetId%253A2463924%252CV\">managing change</a>, a great goal to aim for uses the Pareto principle: For 80 percent of change to occur, 20 percent of the workforce needs to enthusiastically endorse change.\n\nIn other words, 20 percent need to be believers. They need to embrace, own and advocate for the change. Therefore, to implement a successful strategic change initiative, one must make believers out of the company’s true drivers. I lump sponsors and promoters together; I call them ambassadors.\n\nAmbassadors are the stakeholders, who over time, motivate most of the doubters and the skeptics, or to use Auster and Ruebottom’s terms: The indifferent fence-sitters, cautious fence-sitters, positive skeptics, and negative skeptics.\n\n<strong>Get on The Bus </strong>\n\nAmbassadors are one of the driving forces behind change. So how does one assure the ambassadors jump on the bus? By employing these three vital change management concepts.\n<ul>\n 	<li>Engagement</li>\n</ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">Change initiatives have a greater chance of failure when they are imposed. Ambassadors, to be truly effective, must draw their own conclusions. As the director of a change initiative, I must communicate clearly and provide ambassadors the opportunities to interpret, question, and integrate the initiative. It’s important to bring in ambassadors at the start of the initiative.  They need to understand the details and background to be fully engaged.</p>\n\n<ul>\n 	<li>Vision &amp; Trust</li>\n</ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">I was recently asked which change management asset I believe more valuable: Vision or trust. I responded by saying they are symbiotic. Trust enhances and facilitates vision and vice versa. One can undertake visioning all day, every day. Trust is required to put vision into action.</p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">Vision in change management is defined by aligning the numerous perspectives across an organization. To do so, one must promote the change’s end goal. This end goal must be crystal clear and easy to comprehend. Those inevitable growing pains? That is where the stakeholder consumption of one’s supply of trust becomes important. The team must believe that if they keep their eyes on the prize, <a href=\"http://www.quickbase.com/blog/5-leadership-challenges-in-change-management\">you as leader</a> will defend them and “have their back.”</p>\n\n<ul>\n 	<li>Be the First to Make Changes and Show Commitment</li>\n</ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">One frequent mistake of change management occurs when executives demand change of others and none of themselves. Team members, when faced with the challenge of change and the insecurity it provokes, look to the top for direction. When change leaders do not model change behaviors and display effort, many will doubt the veracity or benefit of undergoing change.</p>\n<strong>A Long Ride</strong>\n\nI am fortunate to part of a company that consistently remakes itself with new products, new markets, process and manufacturing innovations to guarantee successes long into the future. We identify market changes and actively adjust to address these changes by the way we conduct business.\n\nChange always takes longer than anticipated, but with the proper vision, trust, alignment, and empowerment the chances for change increase. So, don’t mind that your bus isn’t standing room only, make certain your ambassadors are on, make sure the leader is driving, and then it may be just a matter of time.\n\n<em><img class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-32790\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Screen-Shot-2017-02-16-at-3.00.51-PM-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" />Jane Boyce is President of </em><a href=\"http://tru-vue.com/\">Tru Vue</a><em>, maker of the world’s best glass and acrylic products for the use in art and photography applications. Tru Vue products are used in 80 percent of the world’s top art museums, as well as the homes of art and photography collectors around the world. They include Museum Glass ™ and Optium Acrylic for framing as well as </em><a href=\"https://trulifeacrylic.leadpages.co/trulife/\">TruLife Acrylic</a><em>, their new innovative anti-reflective acrylic for face mounting and printing. </em>', 'When the Right People on The Change Bus Fill Only Two Rows', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'when-the-right-people-on-the-change-bus-fill-only-two-rows', '', '', '2017-02-17 06:00:36', '2017-02-17 11:00:36', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32630', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32632, 386, '2017-01-31 06:00:30', '2017-01-31 11:00:30', 'Everyone around the table looked at each other. There was silence in the room. This was the third time they had met off site as a team to do their strategic planning. The facilitator had just asked how they had done on their five goals for the quarter. No one, including the CEO, was willing to own up until Don, one of the young up and coming members of the leadership team, said “we sucked—we didn’t make one of our five goals.”\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High performing teams need to be able to call each other on their bullshit. Only when a high level of trust is created among the team members is there a chance for everyone to hold each member accountable. It also requires yearly and quarterly goals that are measurable and unambiguous—no wriggle room allowed.</span>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weekly Pulse Point</span></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So much happens in a week that I believe senior management teams (whether for profit or non-profit) must meet weekly. The goal of the weekly meeting is two-fold:</span>\n<ol>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To have an honest debate of the issues at hand—no status updates. The most expensive and smartest people in the organization are in the room to figure out what’s happening next for the following seven days. That takes discussion.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Decide on Who, What, and When. You have to write this down, review it each meeting, and hold people accountable for doing what they said they would do.</span></li>\n</ol>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Culture</span></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As fellow Lead Change Group Instigator Chris Edmonds would say, “every organization has a culture.” We get into trouble when:</span>\n<ol>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The culture does not serve the organization well.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is not written down.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People don’t hold each other accountable for living the culture each and every day.</span></li>\n</ol>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A powerful way to hold people accountable and to build trust, is to make sure that at every weekly management meeting, at least one story from the previous week is shared with everyone that demonstrates a person in your organization living one of your cultural values.</span>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating Trust </span></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Culture and trust can feel like “soft” issues. You know, the ones that we don’t worry about. There is nothing soft about defining and living core values. Trust is the bedrock from which everything else is built. No softness there.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trust is built over time by people sharing and being increasingly vulnerable with each other. You have to spend unstructured time together getting to know one another outside of work. Discuss what is important in each other’s lives, who your family is, what is going on in your life outside of work, and over time build the myriad of connection points that let you trust each other.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every time you add a new team member, you must start this process over. Each member of the existing team must build connection points with the new team member, until you trust them and the new team number trusts the rest of the team. Does this take time? Heck yes and it is worth it, since without trust, you cannot lean into each other to overcome the inevitable obstacles that you will have to overcome together.</span>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being Accountable</span></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many leaders, especially entrepreneurs, don’t think they have to be accountable. They can have an attitude of entitlement thinking that because they are the boss/founder/leader, it is up to everyone else to be accountable, but not them. Your team will never reach their potential, individually or as a group, unless you are willing to be equally accountable as them.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which all starts with trust.</span>', 'It Starts With Trust', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'it-starts-with-trust', '', '', '2017-01-31 06:00:30', '2017-01-31 11:00:30', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32632', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(32672, 252, '2017-02-08 06:00:15', '2017-02-08 11:00:15', 'There are so many ways we get in our own way. You might know a team member who regularly pipes up with, “We tried that 5 years ago and it didn’t work.” Maybe you have your own go-to excuse, like, “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”\n\nOf course, it never seems like an excuse at the time. One of my favorites is, “That’s above my pay grade.” To me it’s only another version of “It’s not my job.”\n<h3>Don’t get caught up in a tragedy of errors</h3>\nExcuses can have dire consequences. One of the best examples I can think of happened to a colleague while she was on a project team many years ago. For our story today, I’ll call her Claire.\n\nClaire was having a hard time getting what she needed to get her job done. She was on a team implementing a new software program. Her contact with the software company was not cooperative. You could even say he was actively uncooperative.\n\nShe went to her project manager. He reflected how odd it was that not only Claire but also three of her teammates voiced the same experience. Peculiar, that. Yet he didn’t observe the behavior they described.\n\nShe asked that he get a new rep. He said if he wasn’t seeing a problem he couldn’t ruin the rep\'s career by raising this up with his employer.\n\nApparently the project manager was okay with allowing Claire and her teammates to languish in a miserable situation, and make no progress on the project for that matter. His advice was to cut the rep some slack.\n\nClaire talked to her boss about this, many times. He suggested she would get good practice at managing challenging situations. Claire went to her boss’s boss, several times. He was a little more empathetic. He told her to let him know when she was at her breaking point. Then he would act. Why would you want to wait until the person was at a breaking point?\n\nIn the meantime Claire stayed up nights brainstorming and reading books on what she could do to improve the situation. She lost sleep.\n\nTo make a long story short, the situation inadvertently became quite public. HR got involved. The persons who didn’t act looked pretty bad. Claire was so wrung out that she quit.\n<h3>Real leaders don’t say, “It’s not my job”</h3>\nI shudder to think about running a root cause failure analysis on this situation. At every turn \"leaders\" failed Claire with some version of “It’s not my job.” What can we learn?\n\nAs I consider this incident, and many others that wound up in my office as an HR manager, I offer these points to check yourself.\n<ul>\n 	<li>Has the person done everything within their power to improve the situation? Do they have the skills? If not, are you coaching them on that? What would “cut him some slack” look like?</li>\n 	<li>Does the person bringing the issue to you have the authority to change the situation? Do you? Who does? Who should escalate it?</li>\n 	<li>Are you listening deeply and with discernment? Are you dialing in how long this has been going on? How is this affecting the person’s health? What is the state of this person’s productivity?</li>\n 	<li>Does this person typically have problems like this? An employee may have a reputation for exaggeration or creating drama. That doesn’t mean the situation isn’t real this time. It deserves some level of investigation.</li>\n 	<li>What is your part? Are you avoiding conflict? Are you pushing it back to the employee because it’s sticky? Be honest with yourself.</li>\n</ul>\n<h3>It IS your job — A real leader rises to the occasion</h3>\nA real leader gets the full picture of the situation. A real leader understands the well-being of employees has a direct effect on the success of the work. A real leader takes the challenge even when the situation is ugly. A real leader doesn\'t have the luxury of making excuses.', 'Real Leaders Don&#039;t Make Excuses', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'real-leaders-dont-make-excuses', '', '', '2017-02-08 06:00:15', '2017-02-08 11:00:15', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32672', 0, 'post', '', 10),
(32719, 243, '2017-02-28 06:00:07', '2017-02-28 11:00:07', 'Lead Change Group has always been about instigating a personal, individual leadership revolution. Anyone can lead and we believe the world is a better place when people lead from who they are rather than from performance or positional authority.\n\nBut even more, when you reach <em>a position</em> of authority and responsibility, your actions and behavior have a greater impact on both your success and that of everyone involved. Before you are given the formal authority and responsibility, everything you do is a contribution. You volunteer your leadership. Your success or failure impacts people differently than it does once you cross over, if you will, into positional authority. To lean on an old analogy, you’re no longer the chicken, making a contribution to a bacon-and-eggs breakfast. Now you’re the pig. You are totally committed.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/about-wally\">Wally Bock</a> (<a href=\"https://twitter.com/wallybock\">Twitter</a>, <a href=\"http://www.linkedin.com/in/wallybock\">LinkedIn</a>, <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com\">website</a>) knows this distinction. He has years of real-life experience as a boss, and references to back it up. He\'s also a writer, coach and consultant on management and leadership. His newest book, <a href=\"http://tinyurl.com/zyfq6j2\">Become a Better Boss One Tip at a Time</a> is a compilation of 300 of his tips in an easy to read and search ebook.\n\nIt’s clear early in the book Wally has lived middle and front-line management. But he’s done more than simply pass through. He studied, influenced, impacted his teams and his organizations. He made a difference by actively being in the arena, to use a term from a famous quote, sometimes coming up short and other times experiencing success.\n<blockquote>Make it safe to try things\n\nIgnore all the calls from the pundits for you to \"encourage risk-taking\" by your team members. Instead, make it safe for them to try things and magic will happen.</blockquote>\nHis tips are filled with wisdom. There are tips about how to handle your emotions and the impact your energy has on that of your team. There are other tips about relationships and keeping things in perspective. Each page contains an actionable takeaway. There are tips about “doing better” and taking your time. Every tip has the potential to make a difference in the quality of life on your team. Each tip is written from the perspective that the boss has a responsibility to give more than direction and correction.\n<blockquote>Pay attention\n\nPay attention when a team member wants to talk to you. Look at them, not a screen. Shut down any distracting sounds. Then have a conversation. The screens will wait.</blockquote>\nTake 5 minutes a day with this book for 30 days and you’ll be a new boss. In 5 minutes you’ll find one or two things you can do every day. Each tip packs wisdom into a few brief sentences making it easy to implement and see the results. The brevity of each tip challenges you to act. You will catch yourself asking how you can implement this tip right now. I connected ideas from the book to real, right-now problems in my job. I’m sure you will too.\n\nI enjoy the book and continue to spend time with it. I can\'t over-recommend it. So if you’re in a position of authority or long to be, <a href=\"http://tinyurl.com/zyfq6j2\">get a copy of this ebook ASAP</a> and spend a few minutes thinking about these tips every morning for a month. Your attitude, performance and results will change for the better.', 'Practical Advice for Positional Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'practical-advice-for-positional-leadership', '', '', '2017-02-28 06:00:07', '2017-02-28 11:00:07', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32719', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(32727, 251, '2017-02-10 06:00:51', '2017-02-10 11:00:51', 'Google “songs about money” and entries like “40 best songs about money” and “12 best songs about money. EVER” pop up.\n\nThe search results are less abundant if you google “songs about ethics.” No 12- or 40-best lists appear. “Top 10 social and political songs of our times” is as close as it gets.\n\nThe pattern of emphasizing economics over ethics plays out in many workplace practices and cultures.\n\nMoney has become the end rather than a means to an end.\n\nThe pressures to conform to workplace economic norms are everywhere. The axiom “you’re only as good as your last set of numbers” is a performance standard embraced by many bosses. People in boardrooms are reminded “cash is king.” Resumes are packed with claims of “saving over $600k in payroll” and “grew profitability by $10m year over year.”\n\nSuppose, though, you understand the importance of economic performance but aren’t willing to <em>do whatever it takes</em> or embrace the notion <em>the ends justify the means</em>.\n\nRather, you want to make your company successful AND you want ethics, justice, relationships, and results.\n\nThat being your motivation, how do you step in the opposite direction—away from peer pressure, business norms, groupthink, and the power of conformity—to share a perspective that’s contrary to both expected and rewarded workplace behavior?\n\nThe first step is to assess your personal tolerance for risk-taking as well as that of your organization. You need to know if you can withstand the pain and opportunity that come with embodying truisms such as <em>speaking truth to power</em> and <em>marching to a different drummer</em>.\n\n“Risk-taking is hard to adopt among leaders,” says Julie J. McGowan, professor at Indiana University, “because recognized leaders have the most to lose and aspiring leaders may be discounted as lacking in knowledge or common sense.”\n<blockquote>there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right. ~Martin Luther King</blockquote>\nOnly you will know if the time is right for you to step up, take the risk, and speak out.\n\nAs you consider taking the first step in being different, explore these issues so the action you take is informed, thoughtful, and purposeful:\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Is this issue important to only you or do others share it? Will those who think/feel/believe the same speak up after you’ve led the charge, or will your voice be the only one that’s speaking? Are you ready to forge ahead regardless?</p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">How has your corporate culture reacted to those who have challenged the status quo?  Are you prepared to accept the consequences of deviating from the norm? Are you willing to be singled out? To be alone? Are you equipped to lose your job?</p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Are you willing to be the center of attention? To deal with your position going viral within the company?  Are you ready to be emulated and/or attacked?</p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Do you have solid solutions in mind? Are you disposed to collaborate with others and devise a solution that integrates the views of many? Are you willing to push for change?</p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Have you brainstormed possible unintended consequences, both positive and negative, both personal and professional, of the stand you’re championing?</p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Are you OK, mentally and emotionally, with the possibility of failure? Of success? Will your self-esteem survive the hit? Can your ego withstand the attacks if you fail or the glory if you succeed?</p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Do you have the will to see it through? Do you have a support system to nurture you along the way regardless of the outcome?</p>\nDeciding to speak up or to continue to go along to get along is a personal choice.  Only you can decide if high risk/high reward is your calling or if low risk/low reward represents the boundaries of your comfort zone.\n\nBe thoughtful. Be prepared. Do what’s right for you.\n\nAnd please be kind as you do it.', 'Is the Time Right For You to Speak Out?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'is-the-time-right-for-you-to-speak-out', '', '', '2017-02-10 06:00:51', '2017-02-10 11:00:51', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32727', 0, 'post', '', 14),
(32733, 409, '2017-02-16 06:00:07', '2017-02-16 11:00:07', 'As an independent micro business owner, I relish holidays. However, I’m also a little fearful of them.\n\nThis may sound odd. How could one be afraid of taking time off to recharge the batteries? And, certainly, if you hold a salaried position where the paycheck will appear in your bank account each month regardless of whether or not you dip into your holiday fund, the word \"fearful\" simply doesn’t enter the mind come holiday time.\n\nBut as a freelancer or <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/can-small-businesses-use-remote-teams-effectively/\" target=\"_blank\">small business owner</a>, the thought of taking time away from paid work can be incredibly nerve-wracking. What if every client disappears during the break? What if you forget to tell a key partner or customer that you’ll be unavailable for a week? Will they get fed up and go elsewhere?\n\nI guess the feeling can be most accurately compared to that experienced by a sportsperson whose time away from the game due to injury is plagued with thoughts of someone far more competent taking their place.\n\nThankfully, I’ve been in this game long enough to know that it doesn’t have to be this way. We all need holidays, be they far-flung getaways or chances to spend quality time doing the <a href=\"http://www.motorhomes.co.uk/resources/motorhome-holidays/new-old-timeless-activities-can-enjoy-uk-holiday/\" target=\"_blank\">timeless things you love</a> with those closest to you.\n\nSo, today, I’d like to offer three tips for keeping your small business running while on holiday. I’m going to assume (unlike me) you have a member or staff or two on board who will be handed the reins during your time away.\n<h3>1. Prepare in advance</h3>\nWhenever I’m due to take some time off - even if it’s just a few days - I’ll make sure I let all of my clients and partners know in good time.\n\nTwo or three weeks before my date of departure, I’ll either send them an email, instant message or pick up the phone to inform them that I’ll be heading off. I let them know when I’m going, where I’m going, the exact duration and <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/positive-communication-leads-to-a-culture-of-innovation-2/\">whether or not I’ll be contactable</a>. Lastly, I’ll explain exactly what work will be carried out in the run-up to the holiday.\n\nThis should never backfire on you. Unless someone happens to be particularly unreasonable, your clients will wish you well on your travels and thank you for keeping them updated. Providing they know the dates and have been given reassurance that it’s business as usual before and after, they’ll be happy.\n<h3>2. Prepare the staff</h3>\nWhile you’re away, someone else needs to be in charge, therefore the point at which you hand over the reins to your trusted employee is a very important one in your holiday preparations.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/five-ways-to-improve-communication-with-your-teams/\">Empower them to make decisions</a> (within reason) on your behalf. Tell them you have full confidence in them, but also provide a contact number should they need you in the event of an emergency.\n\nTrust your staff and show them the respect they deserve, and you’ll leave your business in the very best of hands.\n<h3>3. Set rules for yourself</h3>\nYou may have decided that you’ll need to undertake a few minor work-related tasks while away. That’s fine, but make sure you do so within some defined parameters.\n\nTake just one device away with you (a tablet rather than a laptop might be better suited these days), and promise that you’ll only ever get work done during strict, set times.\n\nLastly, don’t break your own rules!\n<h3>Final thoughts</h3>\nStill afraid to go away? You shouldn’t be. If you follow my tried-and-tested pre-holiday techniques above, your business should be absolutely fine - it’s as simple as that.\n\nYou need a holiday; don’t let your business get in the way.', '5 Ingenious Ways to Keep Your Small Business Running While on Holiday', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '5-ingenious-ways-to-keep-your-small-business-running-while-on-holiday', '', '', '2017-02-16 06:00:07', '2017-02-16 11:00:07', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32733', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32748, 450, '2017-03-29 21:45:46', '0000-00-00 00:00:00', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this post, I’m going to talk about leadership and why it matters.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\'s so many people who have different perceptions about leadership, I say that because it’s not a topic that interests everybody. Some people think they were meant to be a follower and never ever called to lead.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sound familiar? Perhaps you might be feeling the same thing; well, it’s time to get off those thoughts and develop a new way of thinking on leadership.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The painful truth is, you’re created to stand in a position of authority and leadership.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Me, a leader? Yes, you read that right and it’s not just you alone, it applies to everybody. I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, or what you do if there’s anything you were ever created to do in life, it all comes down to one thing, ‘leading’.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may be thinking, but I don’t have anyone to lead. Sounds good, but think about it this way:</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leadership is a process, it’s part of us and has everything to do with our growth and who we have become. </span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Admit it, you didn’t just learn all you know by some autopilot machine; there had to be someone at some point leading you and teaching you everything you know as you go through each stage in life.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How did you learn to wear your shoes correctly, learn strategies to build an efficient organization, learn a new habit, and so on?</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People often don’t see what they do as a way of leading and the same applies to you; somewhere at some point, you’ve been leading people and leading your way through life.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best leadership of all? You’ve been leading yourself!</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your thoughts might wage war among themselves over a decision you’re about to make, but you get to decide the one that you’ll implement. Part of your body might feel lazy to do something, but it will ultimately be your decision to do it or not.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You see, everything in life has to do with you and not even once have you ever been free of the burden of leading. You are always a leader as you always will be.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you agree to that, we can do business, if not? Well, it’s time to close this post and do something different. (Go watch a movie instead)</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bad news? As with bad and good decisions, there are bad and good leaders.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bad ones always curse misfortune, lead people astray, get back triple of what they give to others, practice evil, and if you believe in the existence of Lucifer, well, you just got yourself a perfect example.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the other hand, are the good leaders. They help to build, encourage, set a good example, and break great records. These leaders are often the type of people we wish to see every day and even if they are gone? They remain unforgettable.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The good news? You can make a choice to be a good leader, become unforgettable, and start leading a great life.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because you see, in the end, people might forget everything about you, but they certainly won’t forget the life you led and the mark you left.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Want to become one of those good folks? Below are three tips to master the best leadership for anything in life. Ready?</span>\n<ol>\n 	<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Embrace The Power of Unity</span></li>\n</ol>\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let me tell you a story.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Decades ago, some folks came together with the goal of starting a project that would be the greatest thing to ever happen on earth. They wanted to build a tower; not just any tower, and it’s not the Burj Khalifa in Dubai; it was to be a tower meant to reach Heaven.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reward? They simply wanted to make a name for themselves, it was called The Babel Tower, so go figure.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here’s the other part of the story. Genesis 11:5 recorded: </span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So they were scattered all over the earth and they stopped building the Babel Tower.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you notice the words ‘one people speaking the same language’ in the verse?</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is power in unity whenever you’re trying to get anything done. Always strive for oneness, and learn how to speak the same language as your organization and the things that matter to you. That way you’ll do just fine.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n<ol start=\"2\">\n 	<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Believe In Yourself</span></li>\n</ol>\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most people practice the opposite - self-doubt. They simply think it couldn’t be for them, they were not the best for such a position.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Self-doubt can drive us to quitting before we even begin; it tells us that we are not good enough and might end up failing no matter how hard we try.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to become an effective leader. You must stop doubting yourself and start believing in your own abilities. There is no such thing as failure, there are only results. And it’s within our power to choose the results we want.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n<ol start=\"3\">\n 	<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Stop Leading And Start Serving</span></li>\n</ol>\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let’s think about Abraham Lincoln for a moment. He led the Union Army to victory in the US Civil War and ended slavery in America.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People like Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years in jail fighting for the freedom of his people.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not even started yet! What about Mahatma Gandhi? George Washington? Come on, what are you thinking? Most of the leaders mentioned above don’t just give instruction alone, they also practice what they preach.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You must learn to do same with your organization and environment.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because, you see, the truth is.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You’re a human.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You have gifts to share with the world.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You were created for a greater purpose.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You are not alone.</span>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And whenever you’re down, just remember, there are people out there who won’t achieve their goals without you.</span>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So go lead your life.</span>', 'Some Practical Thoughts on Leadership - NOT ACCEPTED', '', 'pending', 'open', 'closed', '', '', '', '', '2017-03-29 21:45:46', '0000-00-00 00:00:00', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32748', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32759, 273, '2017-02-15 06:00:48', '2017-02-15 11:00:48', '<em>This post is part of our 2017 Lead Change Group Guest Blogger Series. Today we are pleased to share a post from Jeff Thurston.</em>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All leaders have a sphere of influence. It can be defined as the context in which influence is felt. In some cases, this sphere of influence is small, perhaps extending only to an immediate coworker, friend, or family member. In other cases, it is felt across the entire organization, such as in the case of a CEO. In rare cases, a leader’s sphere of influence can extend across an entire industry, nation, or even all of society. An effective CEO such as Steve Jobs for example, can cause financial markets to shift, buying patterns to stall, or entire industries to scramble. And in many such cases, it takes no more than a simple statement.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clearly, these are two extremes of the influence spectrum. So it is important to understand that the influence spectrum is wide-ranging and vast. Because of this, there are many opportunities for just about anyone to have influence and thus to begin their own journey of leadership. One simply has to recognize these opportunities and to understand how to wield influence within their own sphere.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To understand these opportunities requires a fundamental understanding of influence because influence is the </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">value force of leadership</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Influence determines the extent and effectiveness of the leader. Influence can take many forms and in most cases, an effective leader will leverage many forms of influence to achieve a desired response. This is a skill that is built up over time, as one embarks on their own leadership journey.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take the example the CEO role. One form of influence that is inherent in this role is </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">positional influence</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; the CEO is “the boss” and therefore the organization follows. Many CEOs will likely tell you that there are limits to positional influence and that it should be used sparingly, if at all. A CEO who simply barks out orders is unlikely to remain effective for very long. There are better forms of influence that are far more effective and far more sustainable. A good leader will have an arsenal of influence-based strategies that help to define him or her as a leader and ultimately define their success.</span>\n\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trust</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> may be one of the most common and effective forms of influence. A leader who has built a great deal of trust is far more likely to be able to influence a situation than one who is unknown. A new leader’s sphere of influence may be initially established only through positional influence. But as that manager achieves success, trust begins to build. Eventually, those in his sphere of influence may be thinking, “This guy has a pretty good track record, so let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and follow his lead.” In some cases, some may follow without being convinced of the benefits in doing so; they are following because they trust the leader to lead them to success.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another common form of influence is </span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">intimidation</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Most leaders would likely agree that intimidation is not a sustainable form of influence, but it does have its place. It could be because other forms of influence have not been sufficiently successful. Or perhaps intimidation is based on an emotional reaction to a challenging situation. Consider a situation where a high-profile project team has missed deadline after deadline and nothing else seems to work. A manager might be inclined to turn to intimidation through a statement such as “You have now missed our deadline 3 times, so if you want to keep your jobs, you’ll work the weekend to ensure that this project is completed by Monday.” Intimidation as a form of influence can be effective, but a good leader will rarely use it to achieve a desired result because it tends to overshadow and undermine more sustainable forms of influence.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trust, intimidation, and position are just three types of influence. There are many others that are common and effective. To discuss them all would likely fill an entire book. But if you stop to think about it, you may realize that nearly everyone is able to exert some form of influence in everyday life. Are you using that influence wisely and to your benefit? Are you doing what you can to achieve good outcomes for you, your team, or your family? As your day unfolds, give some thought to the influence you have and how you leverage it within your sphere of influence to make good things happen.</span>\n\n<img class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-32760\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Jeff-Thurston-Bigger-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" />Jeff Thurston has been leading teams of various shapes and sizes most of his life. Throughout his professional life, he has been in various information technology leadership roles ranging from project management to executive management. Jeff currently lives in the St. Louis area with his wife of 32 years. They have two sons; one is a school teacher and the other studies physics at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.\n\n&nbsp;', 'Influence is the Value Force of Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'influence-is-the-value-force-of-leadership', '', '', '2017-02-15 06:00:48', '2017-02-15 11:00:48', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32759', 0, 'post', '', 5),
(32765, 451, '2017-02-13 06:00:46', '2017-02-13 11:00:46', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In January, one Sunday afternoon I was preparing to teach an </span><a href=\"http://student.mit.edu/searchiap/iap-9289af8f581a3e03015820ccced60068.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IAP course at MIT</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The topic: how to solve hard problems. Yet something was nagging me. How do you explain the different characteristics of great problem solvers? What does a Great Problem Solver have that others lack?</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The course was focused on the behaviours required to crush hard problems, loosely based on my forthcoming </span><a href=\"http://www.stopguessingbook.com/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">book</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. But clearly behaviours alone are not enough to explain how great problem solvers succeed. My colleague Erik reminded me of an idea I had a few months before.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I popped into the garage and found a spare piece of wood - never make the mistake of fully </span><a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1485655352&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=marie+kondo+the+life+changing+magic+of+tidying+up\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">decluttering</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. I chopped the piece of wood into an interesting shape. With the help of my daughter Ella, each side of the block was painted a different color.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now when you look directly at one face you might see a black rhombus. Looking at it from another angle you will see a purple triangle (confession: I did not cut a perfect triangle and it is a bit light to be purple, but nevertheless you get the idea).</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img class=\"alignleft wp-image-32772 size-medium\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Erik-Rectangle-300x145.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"145\" />However an isometric view shows the shape to be much more complex. Multifaceted and multi-colored. I feel this better represents what it takes to be a great problem solver.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How does this shape help us understand great problem solvers? What it does is show us that problem-solving has many facets. One face might represent your </span><b>motivation to solve a problem</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Another might represent your </span><b>ability to understand the technical aspects of the processes involved</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Yet another face represents </span><a href=\"http://www.radicallybetter.com/blog/2017/1/12/stop-guessing-when-solving-your-problems\" target=\"_blank\"><b>how well you have developed your problem solving behaviours</b></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And so on.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To understand how to develop great problem solving capability you need to consider it to be multi-dimensional. If you have a 2-D perspective you might only see one characteristic of what it takes to solve hard problems. If you focus on developing only one of these characteristics, you won’t develop everything you need to be great. And when you go to solve hard problems, the outcome will be poor for you.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was left wondering if there is a perfect shape for a great problem solver? Then I thought: perhaps it is always changing, as it seems you can always improve your mental </span><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">capabilities</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. As you grow, different sides will grow and take on new shapes. You may develop a side you didn’t previously focus on, and your shape has now grown bigger and more complex.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the end I feel my rough shape, cut and colored late on a Sunday, is a great representation. We are all slightly flawed problem solvers with much opportunity to improve. As you work to develop your problem-solving skills, take this three-dimensional approach. Grow your capabilities across multiple dimensions.</span>\n\n<i>A version of this post originally published on <a href=\"http://www.radicallybetter.com/\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://www.radicallybetter.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1487091945347000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFZ_FIByYDrL1F_tD89x1PGIIdrmQ\">Radically Better.</a> You can read more <a href=\"http://www.radicallybetter.com/blog/2017/1/30/the-shape-of-great-problem-solving\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://www.radicallybetter.com/blog/2017/1/30/the-shape-of-great-problem-solving&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1487091945348000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF3X30TfS_5U8hoexqnMy0Ml5tqDw\">here</a>. </i>', 'The Shape of Great Problem Solving', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-shape-of-great-problem-solving', '', '', '2017-02-13 06:00:46', '2017-02-13 11:00:46', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32765', 0, 'post', '', 1);
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(32769, 381, '2017-02-20 06:00:19', '2017-02-20 11:00:19', 'Are you selfish?\n\nWhat was your answer? You said no, didn’t you? Nobody wants to be known as the selfish one. Nobody wants a reputation as a taker. For the next 900 words or so, be selfish.\n\nHere. Let me ease your mind a bit. Instead of thinking \"selfish,\" think \"self-care.\" Think about taking care of you so you can take care of others. Does that help?\n\nSometime between 1806 and 1861, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote a sonnet that starts out, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.” One hundred and fifty years later, the intensity of that love illustrates how we should take care of ourselves, body, soul, and spirit. This topic, intense self-care, is of library proportion, so we are going to boil it down to just a few points.\n<ol>\n 	<li>You can’t fool your body</li>\n 	<li>Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are healthy habits</li>\n 	<li>Planning to plan is just a plan</li>\n 	<li>Approach with caution, but at least approach</li>\n</ol>\nYou can’t fool your body. Your body knows what it needs. Sleep. Exercise. Water. Food. We often rationalize as these thoughts stream through our minds. We join a gym, buy flashy exercise clothes and designer shoes, but “My unused membership card has been lost for months.” We can say we exercise. “Didn’t I walk to the furthest coffee station six times today?” We can say we eat right. “Pizzas have a variety of meats and veggies – and mozzarella is low fat. Everyone knows that!” We can say we get enough sleep. “I had a power nap between the evening news and NCIS.”\n\nWe can’t fool our bodies. They know what they need. If you are no longer thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Don’t wait for thirst before you drink water. Don’t wait for exhaustion before you finally sleep. Don’t wait until you’re ready to gnaw on the furniture before you feed your body. Don’t wait until you’re going to crack before you ask for help. Don’t wait until your muscle tone is indistinguishable from other flesh before you tone up. Don’t wait until launching a set of stairs sends your cardio system into chaos before you decide to get off the couch and exercise.\n\nRome wasn’t built in a day and neither are healthy habits. If you think you need 21 days to form a new habit, you have skewed thinking. Every day you do that new thing is a day you do that new thing. You don’t need 21 days. You need to start. Today would be a good day for that. Pick one thing.\n\nIs it sleep? Set up your favorite shows to be recorded, and Go. To. Bed. Be the 9-year old for a change. Put yourself to bed so you get more sleep. Eight hours is optimum, but make up your mind to get seven or maybe 6.75 to start.\n\nIs it exercise? Go now to your closet. Do not pass go. Do not collect anything on the way. Find your shoes, your socks, your workout clothes with the hang tags that say “You can do this!” Now, will you work out at home or the gym? Decide because a delayed decision is still a decision. Right? And look where that mindset has gotten you so far. “It’s gotten me clothes that are still new,” you might say. Well, there’s that.\n\nIs it drinking more water? A good rule of thumb is one ounce for every two pounds of your body weight. So, divide your weight in half – and drink up. I don’t know about you, but I get cold when I drink cold water so I often drink hot water and put lemon slices in it. Your skin will thank you and so will your joints and muscles. Water is your friend. Everyone needs more friends.\n\nIs it eating a healthy diet? Clean eating is all the rage, right? I could advocate for clean eating, all natural, sans chemical processing. As a first step, though, eliminate junk food and feed your body fruits, veggies, and lean protein. If you need a definition of junk food, think of it as a consumable product that bears little resemblance to the natural item it came from. How close to a potato is a chip? We live in America. There is food on every corner and in every place where fuel is found. When was the last time you went to fill your car with gas and weren’t at least tempted to pick up a bag of chips or super-sized candy bar? You know they get you bonus points on your rewards card!\n\nPlanning to plan is just a plan. You do it for your business all the time. You use it to keep your family on schedule. For work and home you don’t just write a plan then do nothing with it. You plan, you act, you do. Write your plan and stick it on your mirror, your TV, your fridge. Make a promise to yourself. Make a promise to your significant other. Make a promise where people can see it and hold you accountable. Not ready for that? Planning to plan is just a plan.\n\nApproach with caution, but at least approach. Maybe all this sounds good. Maybe it even sounds appealing. What happens many times is that someone decides they need to jump into everything at once, like a cannonball. Have you ever seen the effects of a cannonball when it hits? OK, I’m talking about the movies, but you know what I mean. Even when you know you need to get more sleep, exercise, drink water, and eat healthier, don’t become so overzealous that you hit the ground running and only add more stress to your life. Approach with caution, but do approach.\n\nSelf-care says \"I’m worth it. I don’t want to get up in the morning and feel like a slug. I don’t want to stall when getting out of the chair because my joints want to go one way when I need to go the other. Self-care says I was only issued one body at birth and I only have one chance to keep it going till the race is over.\" Self-care is not selfish. Self-care is essential.\n<blockquote>Live a balanced life - learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work every day some. – Robert Fulghum in<em> All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten</em></blockquote>', 'Be Selfish', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'be-selfish', '', '', '2017-02-20 06:00:19', '2017-02-20 11:00:19', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32769', 0, 'post', '', 9),
(32776, 276, '2017-02-14 06:00:49', '2017-02-14 11:00:49', 'This post builds upon my posts over the last two months. I wrote <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/reflection-and-planning/\">Reflection</a> in December with the focus of wrapping up your year and setting up a plan to get to a good start as you enter the New Year. I followed that with <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/getting-a-good-start/\">Getting A Good Start</a> aimed to help the reader focus on a strong start and get things going.\n\nThere is a saying that if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it. As you start the year, you need to monitor and track your progress. Take notes and identify what is working and what is not working. In case things are moving in the wrong direction, identify lessons learned and room for improvements.  Use the <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/lets-get-smarter-about-goal-setting/\" target=\"_blank\">SMART</a> principle to come up with a plan to ensure that it is realistic and time bound. If things are moving in the right direction, collect information on how to continue to refine the process and improve your overall effectiveness. While things are moving along, you can continue to improve and make it better.  At times, you need to tweak things instead of making major changes. Those tweaks can help you achieve another level of results that can help your company achieve its goal.\n\nIn my opinion, success is done best through differentiation. To differentiate yourself, you need to continue to outperform your competitors. To do that you need to do one of two things. First, make fewer mistakes than your competitors. Second continue to improve over time to either catch up with your competitors or outdistance them. Regarding your mistakes, you can focus on learning the lessons and avoiding the same mistakes.\n\nCommunicating your goals with your team is essential to ensure everyone understands the vision and works toward the achievement of your goals.  When the team works as a unit, you can achieve greater things. Communicate often and let everyone know where you stand. Keep the score and track your progress. Good luck and stay focused.', 'Monitoring and Tracking', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'monitoring-and-tracking', '', '', '2017-02-14 06:00:49', '2017-02-14 11:00:49', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32776', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(32800, 452, '2017-02-23 06:00:02', '2017-02-23 11:00:02', 'Here’s the big secret of personal development. If you want to make big improvements, it’s most likely to happen if you improve a little at a time. Leadership development experts tell us that seventy percent of the way we learn to lead is on the job. That’s true, and you can make that learning better with a little bit of work.\n\nI really think the world of leaders is divided into two groups. One group figures that they’ll learn just by doing. They do, but that learning is random and much slower than it needs to be. The other group of leaders includes the men and women who take control of their own leadership learning. They learn more important things faster because they do just a little bit of work.\n<h3>What Do You Want to Improve?</h3>\nIf you’re going to get started planning your own development, you can make two lists. List your strengths and what things you can learn that will build on those strengths. List weaknesses that you must improve on, either for your current job or the one you want next. You’ll surely have other weaknesses, but working on them won’t improve your performance much.\n<h3>Identify Your Knowledge Sources</h3>\nOnce you know what areas you want to improve, you can identify sources of the knowledge you need. Check out your notes from courses you’ve taken and your reading notes. Do a simple web search. My book, <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/about-three-star-leadership/become-a-better-boss-one-tip-at-a-time\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Become A Better Boss One Tip at a Time,</em></a> has 347 tips that can function as learning points for you.\n<h3>Learn A Little Every Day</h3>\nHere’s something that’s worked for me for decades. Adapt it so that it works for you.\n\nIn the evening, identify one thing that you want to learn or improve on the following day. Make a note about what that is. I used to use index cards for this because they fit in my pocket, now I keep the notes on my smart phone. During the day, refer to your note and let it guide your action.\n\nAt the end of the day, take a moment or two to reflect on what you wanted to do and how things worked out. Then repeat the process. Do this day after day and you will get better almost without realizing it.\n\nThe key is to make it a habit to improve every day. A little bit today and a bit more tomorrow and another improvement the day after that, strung together for weeks and months and years. Suddenly you look back and realize how far you’ve come, one little improvement a day.', 'Get a Little Better Every Day', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'get-a-little-better-every-day', '', '', '2017-02-23 06:00:02', '2017-02-23 11:00:02', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32800', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(32803, 453, '2017-03-13 22:54:56', '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'Starting your own business is always a daunting process, and for most people it is brand new experience. It’s normally business mistakes, rather than a poor concept, that leads to a lot of new start-ups struggle to get off the ground. Avoid the common pitfalls by following these tips to start on the road to success.\n<h2><strong>1. Setting Up In the Wrong Place</strong></h2>\nThere’s a reason certain cities are home to more start-ups than others, so if you’re serious about your business, heading to Austin, Seattle, Silicon Valley, or other well-known hubs is a great start.\n<h2><strong>2. Being a Single Founder</strong></h2>\n<a href=\"https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236562\">Very few really successful start-ups come from one founder</a> – it’s normally a group of friends or colleagues. This means other people have faith in your idea, and also that you can share the workload – which will be heavy – and have someone to help you through the highs and the lows.\n<h2><strong>3. Limiting Yourself with an Obscure Niche</strong></h2>\nWhile finding a niche spot on the market may limit your competition, the fact is that if your idea is good, you will have competition. If you’re not prepared to face this, and instead are trying to hide in a small corner of the market, you may never really take off.\n<h2><strong>4. Not Being Original</strong></h2>\nBasing your idea on an existing business can be good to a point – if you can solve any issues and make it better, however there is a limit to this, and deriving your whole idea from <a href=\"https://www.buzzfeed.com/michellerial/is-your-startup-idea-already-taken?utm_term=.dvmlJGm4Gp#.kbYrVK0kK6\">something that already exists</a> is unlikely to succeed. You won’t excite investors, and you will be sharing your audience with the pre-existing business.\n<h2><strong>5. Trying to Do Everything Alone</strong></h2>\nWhile your new business may feel like your baby, and you may feel that your involvement in every single aspect is necessary, it may be better if you step back from certain tasks. While giving up control may sound daunting, you need to accept that other people have expertise in areas that you do not. And while this requires skill, staying on top of your digital marketing requires time, and needs to be constant to be effective. Using <a href=\"http://sproutsocial.com/\">SproutSocial</a>, <a href=\"http://www.smartinsights.com/\">SmartInsights</a> or <a href=\"http://academized.com/\">Academized</a> to create social media marketing strategies and improve your online visibility can be highly efficient, and save you hours and hours every day. Creating content for websites, writing proposals and business plans can all be very stressful if you’re more of an ideas person. Fortunately, there are plenty of websites that offer outsourcing such as <a href=\"http://essayroo.com/buy-essay\">Essayroo</a> or <a href=\"http://ukwritings.com/nursing-essay-help\">Ukwritings</a>, who can provide writing and editing services from experts (you may read review <a href=\"http://studydemic.com/essayroo-com-review/\">here</a>). This makes sure that your content and proposals have perfect spelling and grammar, and are all highly professional.\n<h2><strong>6. Being Closed Minded</strong></h2>\nWhile your business may have started with one idea, if you can see that a better option has appeared, make sure you’re flexible enough to take the best possible route.\n<h2><strong>7. Launch at the Wrong Time</strong></h2>\nMost new businesses launch too late – wanting everything to be perfect, when one aspect of their business should have been released earlier to get some excitement and feedback. Launching too quickly can lose some customers if there are too many errors or problems – so this is a delicate balance to get right.\n<h2><strong>8. Forgetting Your Customer</strong></h2>\nKeep our audience in mind at every point of your decision making. Don’t put potential profit or investment ahead of actually keeping your consumers happy.\n<h2><strong>9. Making Poor Hiring Choices</strong></h2>\nAny start-up is very aware that the mismanagement of funds could completely derail the whole operation, and that’s one of the reasons may new businesses hold off on hiring full time employees for as long as they can. This is a very safe plan, especially as there are many talented individuals available online, able to provide specific assignment help, and who only need to be paid for that project. Writing professionals are used to getting their point across in a specific word count, so can be as elaborate or concise as you need them to be. So hiring a content writer from <a href=\"http://upwork.com/\">Upwork</a> or <a href=\"http://boomessays.com/buy-essay\">Boomessays</a> means you can hire a talented writer from anywhere in the world, and you are only committed to them for one task. And for your website design, app development, marketing, or anything else to do with your website, there are some amazingly creative and skilled freelancers on <a href=\"https://www.peopleperhour.com/\">PeoplePerHour</a>, <a href=\"https://www.freelancer.com/\">Freelancer</a> or <a href=\"http://australianhelp.com/assignment-help\">Assignment Help</a>. This can guarantee you an awesome website, but at a lower cost than going to an internet marketing agency, or hiring someone from a limited pool of applicants.\n<h2><strong>10. Mismanaging Money</strong></h2>\nCosts are always higher than expected, so make sure you have enough investment to continue, and avoid any overspending.\n<h2><strong>11. Not Being Assertive With Investors</strong></h2>\nWhile you shouldn’t ignore your investors, remember that his is your business, your idea, and you don’t need to give in to their ideas if you don’t agree with them.\n<h2><strong>12. Not Going All In</strong></h2>\nIf you want this to succeed, a half-hearted effort just isn’t going to cut it. You need to go full steam ahead with everything you’ve got if you really want to succeed.\n\nFollowing these tips is no guarantee that your start-up will be a roaring success, however they can help you stay on the right path towards creating a financially viable business.', 'Start-up Mistakes Leaders Don’t Want to Make - POST NOT ACCEPTED', '', 'pending', 'open', 'closed', '', '', '', '', '2017-03-13 22:54:56', '0000-00-00 00:00:00', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32803', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32823, 454, '2017-02-25 14:46:32', '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'There are two main sources in our lives that provoke us for any kinds of actions: motivation and discipline. Without any of these, we will hardly start doing something and it touches all the spheres of our lives. We go on sports when we start feeling pity about our form and it motivates to start training; we go on studying and learning new things to improve our knowledge and become more competing compared to others; etc.\n\nThe real trend of nowadays is searching for motivation. People are looking for some idols, motivating books, films and other things that will help them to provoke themselves for some kind of action. Searching for motivation seems much easier than growing the discipline inside ourselves and more often this factor is ignored. In the following article, we will discuss why the effect of discipline is way better than motivation and why should everyone have it to achieve any type of success.\n<h2>What is the Difference</h2>\nThe notion of motivation supposes that one should become a special emotional and mind state to complete some action or achieve some goals. Such approach is completely wrong and non-effective. Just look how much motivation is around us, it turned into the whole industry. Professionals are giving seminars, writing books and make films; nevertheless, the number of lazy losers who are not able to start any changes in their lives did not become less.\n\nDiscipline, opposite to motivation, separates the action from mood, feelings, and other disturbing factors. First, you achieve the goal and the correct state of mind will be the prize for you, which in its turn will play the role of motivation for further successes. The result is just incredible.\n\nIn simpler words, you don\'t have to wait till becoming an Olympic champion to start training; you should first start and only after you will become the one.\n\nIf all your actions will be determined by emotional state and mood, you will have to wait for years till the correct one will appear. Waiting till its high time to start something is the dead end.\n\nLife is complicated and very often we have to act and do some things that we really do not wish to do, but they will certainly lead us to the positive aftermaths. The ability to do such things without doubting, just because it is necessary for you and your goals, this is what is called a discipline.\n\nYou should learn how to divide desire from necessity and start doing not what you want, but what you need.\n<h2>Belief in Motivation as Reason of Psychological Problems</h2>\nIn real life, we often have to do things that can be never treated with enthusiasm. Trying to find any type of motivation and enthusiasm about doing such things leads to self-harming and causes a kind of mental disorders. To understand such state of mind, just try to imagine someone saying «I love to feel these tables so much, that is what I was dreaming about through all my life. Thank you God for such a wonderful job». It sounds as a full nonsense, doesn\'t it? And this is what you are doing with your brains when trying to find motivation to the things that do not require it.\n\nYou should always take a practical view on the things! If you hate your work, do not force yourself to love it, yet try to realize why and for what you are doing it.\n\nAnother minus of motivation is its short terms. Even when you find it, it will not push you to the actions for too long. In a short period of time, you will have to find the new one or refresh it somehow.\n<h2>Discipline as Non-Stop Source of Profit and Success</h2>\nProductivity in any type of action does not require any special states of mind and mood. It only requires consistent and long-dated operations, and these are actually the things that discipline consists of.\n\nSumming up we might say, that motivation is a try to find the correct state to start doing something, and discipline is the ability to do anything despite any factors.\n\nDiscipline is a constant system, even the lifestyle and motivation is just a moment, fleeting moment.\n\nAcquire the necessary habits, begin from something trifle and bring them to your life. Afterward, they will form long ranges of actions that will lead to completed goals!', 'Discipline or Motivation? PENDING FURTHER REVIEW', '', 'pending', 'open', 'closed', '', '', '', '', '2017-02-25 14:46:32', '0000-00-00 00:00:00', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32823', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32828, 408, '2017-02-22 06:00:58', '2017-02-22 11:00:58', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adaptability is not an inborn trait; it’s a skill people learn, typically over time and through the “school of hard knocks.” The skill of adaptability requires mastery of many facets:  attitude, resilience, creativity, ingenuity, the minimization of fear, above-average willingness to take risks that could lead to failure, and the ability to anticipate what lies ahead, to only name a few. According to PCW’s 20</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> CEO Survey, <a href=\"http://pwc.blogs.com/ceoinsights/2017/01/man-and-machine-what-will-the-future-hold.html\" target=\"_blank\">adaptability is also one of the most in-demand skills that organizations cannot replace by machines and for which they find hardest to recruit</a>. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is adaptability in demand? Because we all now live and work in fast-changing and ever-accelerating times. Because the jobs of yesterday and today will not likely all exist tomorrow. And because companies themselves continue to feel the pressures of all sorts of disruptive forces:  competition, more fickle consumers, the adoption of technology, the beating drum of demanding investors. Today, no person or organization is immune to the need for adaptability.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet, since adaptability is not part of a common education curriculum, employers today face a dilemma: hire for other necessary skills and experience and hope that they get an adaptable worker along with it, or educate and train their workforce in adaptability skills. Since the former has already proven daunting, ought not the latter be a necessity?</span>\n<h3><b>6 Ways Adaptability Helps Ensure Company Longevity</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a company plans to invest in adaptability training, it will also want to know what its return on investment will be. The primary benefit will be to ensure a longer and healthier life for that company, and here’s how:</span>\n<ul>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Retention of talent; slough-off dead weight</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> – A company that truly embraces an adaptable workforce gains because it recognizes that adaptable employees may seek new challenges to keep themselves stimulated and engaged at work. This could mean that an employee wants to move inter-departmentally or becomes intrigued about posted job opportunities outside their current skill sets. If the company encourages – or at the very least supports – this kind of lateral development and thinking, rather than looking outside the company for advancement or fulfillment, the company can more easily retain and help re-train valuable employees. The adaptable employee will likely be able to learn new job skills faster and juggle requirements of two jobs as they transition out of one and into the next. Similarly, in such a culture, less adaptable, more inflexible employees will become more obvious and will either self-select out and leave that company or the company can choose to replace them altogether.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Multi-generational workforce coping skills</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> – People with adaptability skills tend to be more open and willing to accommodate the circumstances they find themselves in. Multi-generational workforces demand the kind of fast-learning and give-and-take commonly found among adaptable individuals.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Better developed leaders</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> – A leader with strong adaptability skills often positively reinforces, by mere example, how being adaptable creates better outcomes for her team, her department, and her company. Individuals taught adaptability can also become better leaders than leaders without this skill.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Incubates innovative thinking</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> – Adaptable individuals have the ability to forward-gaze; thinking several steps ahead enables them to zig while everyone else zags. This attribute of adaptability can also lead to innovative thinking and creative problem solving. That next great idea might just be a company’s new best-selling product or pivot that saves the company from an upstart competitor.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Enables faster product and company reinvention</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> – In a company where more people are adaptable, change of any kind can be more easily instituted.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Change doesn’t have to be so costly</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> – Finally, though change is inevitable, determining how to change and implementing it at the corporate level can be both expensive and crushingly difficult. Adaptability skills can help minimize these challenging downsides to change.</span></li>\n</ul>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wondering when the best time to start building an adaptable workforce would be? I say, the minute a new hire comes on-board.</span>', 'Create an Adaptable Workforce to Ensure Your Company’s Longevity', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'create-an-adaptable-workforce-to-ensure-your-companys-longevity', '', '', '2017-02-22 06:00:58', '2017-02-22 11:00:58', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32828', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(32836, 376, '2017-02-27 06:00:51', '2017-02-27 11:00:51', '<strong>Ever remember something easily and confidently ... then find out your memory of it was wrong?</strong>\n\nI have sometimes argued long and hard with family members over issues both minor and major from our shared past. I often remember every detail of a family story so clearly and so vividly that I could swear that I was reliving the event as we battled over the details.\n\nFinding out I was wrong sometimes (OK, quite a few times) made me curious about our memories. The research on memory recognizes that our memories are not perfect recording devices. But don\'t take my word for it. Here are<a href=\"https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=3&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjD1ZaClqXSAhWJ5iYKHRzYCq8QFghNMAI&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.psychologytoday.com%2Fbasics%2Fmemory&amp;usg=AFQjCNH02zDENDYzySGHYI1I6uoVDVY0QQ&amp;sig2=VNge9O0pSCCrAdBT7NgYOA\"> one </a>or <a href=\"https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=4&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjD1ZaClqXSAhWJ5iYKHRzYCq8QFghTMAM&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.human-memory.net%2Fintro_what.html&amp;usg=AFQjCNFDZsEaSKqVtk-tAhdGynaDIa__eA&amp;sig2=uoPkA5T8OgyjUapunWLJNQ\">two</a> sources of actual things we know about how our memories work.\n\n<img class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-32837\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Nelson_Mandela-2008_-Wikimedia-Commons-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" />I learned a new term recently: <a href=\"http://www.snopes.com/2016/07/24/the-mandela-effect/\">The Mandela Effect,</a> sometimes also known as the <a href=\"http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/berenstain-bears-debate-is-a-case-of-schrodingers-nostalgia/article25972071/\">Berenstain Bear Effect</a>. This is an apparently well-researched example of faulty memory, with the added fascination of not being tied to a couple of siblings in complete disagreement over who was more cool in high school, but reflecting a phenomena shared by many otherwise unconnected individuals.\n\nThe result is a strongly held and shared belief that something, such as Nelson Mandela\'s actual death or the spelling of a beloved cartoon bear family, is a certain way. These beliefs are usually strongly held, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. It\'s sort of a \"<em>Don\'t confuse me with the facts.  My mind is already made up\"</em> kind of thing. The links above contain many other examples of this phenomenon.\n\nIt seems we can believe something to be true and our memory will often support our views, whether the thing is objectively true or not.\n\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory\">False Memory Syndrome</a> has received much attention over the years in the medical community and  particularly from those who have suffered abuse. I think this observation defines the problem with our memories well:\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>\"Some of our memories are true, some are a mixture of fact and fantasy, and some are false -- whether those memories seem to be continuous or seem to be recalled after a time of being forgotten or not thought about.\"</em> </strong></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(From the <a href=\"http://www.fmsfonline.org/\">False Memory  Syndrome Foundation</a> website)</p>\nAnother angle on all this concerns another memory phenomena called <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphoric_recall\">Euphoric Recall</a>, which I remember fondly from my therapist days. In that specific context, euphoric recall was the tendency of drug users to recall the more enjoyable aspects of their using experiences, while \"forgetting\" the least desirable parts of that experience.\n\nThis occurs often with folks who do not have drug problems as well. We remember our first kiss as pure bliss for both involved, which may relate more to hormones and youthful imaginations than to the actual (and possibly awkward) reality.\n\n<strong>So why focus on The Mandela Effect, Euphoric Recall, and False Memories?</strong>\n\nWe often remember our childhood as simple, uncluttered with worries, and the world which we inhabited as generally rational, straightforward, and safe. I grew up in the 1950s and completely missed the reality of that whole \"Atomic Bomb\" thing. Now I look back longingly at that simpler and apparently safer time ... forgetting the very real and dangerous issues that existed politically, medically, and socially.\n\nIn this current time of alternative facts and frequently polarized views of events and issue, it seems that our feelings and positions about how things ought to be are closely tied to how we think things were. We think things were better then and consequently long for that imagined past good time.\n\nGiven this, we might want to consider just how untrustworthy our memories can be.\n\nAbout the leadership angle on all this, I am curious:\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Have you ever found yourself believing intently in something you later found out was wrong?</strong></p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Have you ever had to deal with others who suffer from some form of \"alternative\" memories?</strong></p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>How do you as a leader of others reduce the negative impact of inaccurate memories?</strong></p>', 'I Remember It Well ... I Think', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'i-remember-it-well-i-think', '', '', '2017-02-27 06:00:51', '2017-02-27 11:00:51', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32836', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(32841, 374, '2017-02-24 06:00:00', '2017-02-24 11:00:00', 'Today, we are pleased to share a post from the <a href=\"https://www.servantleadershipinstitute.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Servant Leadership Institute</a> about their upcoming conference. Make sure to read all the way through -- there\'s information about a unique discount at the end.\n\nThe theme for this year’s servant leadership conference hosted by the <a href=\"https://www.servantleadershipinstitute.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Servant Leadership Institute</a> is “The Music of Servant Leadership.” You may think this is an odd theme for a leadership conference, so let us tell you a bit about the powerful vision we have. Every speaker at our conference will discuss a different aspect of serving as we lead — with all these voices becoming the music of servant leadership. We are asking our audience to hear the music we hear. It’s the music of people thriving in what they do, of people actually enjoying coming to work every day, of finding meaning and purpose in not just their work but also in their lives. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.”\n\nOur audience will be people who lead as CEOs, managers, supervisors and every other position of influence. They will represent non-profits and for-profits in many fields, including education, healthcare, manufacturing, and food service — and  they influence diverse people who each play their own instrument and melody. The purpose of the conference is to show our audience how to inspire and equip those they influence to play in harmony — which will produce extraordinary results. That is the servant-led culture; everyone realizes they can serve someone.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-32842\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/image010.jpg\" width=\"450\" height=\"164\" />\n\nYou are cordially invited to come experience this unique event. The conference is March 13 and 14 in beautiful San Diego at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. Let’s learn to lead to a new beat!\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-32844\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/San-Diego.jpg\" width=\"450\" height=\"294\" />\n<h3><strong>Registration Information</strong></h3>\nFor more information about the conference, please click <a href=\"http://servantleadershipinstitute.cvent.com/events/servant-leadership-conference-2017-san-diego-the-music-of-servant-leadership/event-summary-48b16700cccf428aae8de0bf6c350b24.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">here</a>.\n\nThe Servant Leadership Institute has offered a significant discount of $300 off the regular rate\nof $1,375 to members of the Lead Change Group Community. To get the discount code, please <a href=\"mailto:becky@weavinginfluence.com\" target=\"_blank\">email Becky Robinson</a>.\n\nIf you are planning to attend as part of a group, please note the group rate options.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-32843\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/image009.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"196\" />\n\n&nbsp;', 'Music and Servant Leadership — Say What?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'music-and-servant-leadership-say-what', '', '', '2017-02-24 06:00:00', '2017-02-24 11:00:00', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32841', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(32861, 418, '2017-03-01 06:00:06', '2017-03-01 11:00:06', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s a question that has many of us in the leadership resiliency field pondering with great uneasiness. The current public personas of people whom we would title “leaders” are a far cry from the model Robert Greenleaf developed during his 40 years with American Telephone and Telegraph (now AT&amp;T). </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After decades in corporate America, Greenleaf’s research led him to a growing suspicion that the power-centered authoritarian leadership style so prominent in U.S. institutions was not working. In 1964 he took an early retirement to found the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He started a movement that captured many. Today, Greenleaf’s servant leadership can be found in the work of authors and educators like Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey,  Margaret Wheatley, Jack Zenger, and Warren Bennis. We point to the historical leadership examples of Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider the hallmarks of servant leadership: In Greenleaf’s own words: “Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?“</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ummm?? In his February newsletter, Wharton professor and best selling author Adam Grant made this observation from the recent World Economic Forum in Davos:</span>\n\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I </span></i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was shocked to learn that eight men are wealthier than half the world’s population—only to see an </span></i><a href=\"http://adamgrant.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=a63d6b9b98ca61bee8d6e4953&amp;id=f43f250bdb&amp;e=62fc6a677b\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">update afterward</span></i></a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that the eighth wasn’t necessary (sorry Bloomberg), because just seven dudes had it covered. It reinforced how poorly we are doing on behalf of the world’s poor. And people spoke in hushed tones about creeping nationalism and nepotism and narcissism. Before the U.S. presidential inauguration, one group closed a dinner by toasting the last night they could guarantee that America was a democracy.</span></i>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that is one frightening sentence.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Greenleaf ‘s servant leader model did not just look at justice through equality of opportunity but placed an even greater emphasis on how a servant leader behaves.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read his words very carefully: “A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.”</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In short, servant leadership is taking care of the “other.\" There is no name-calling or bullying, no temper tantrums and inflated ego. The servant leader listens to others, takes counsel, and continually asks how to help the “other” develop. Whether the “other” is an organization, a family, or a planet, the underlying message is that we can make this work together. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It takes no great leap of the imagination to realize that such servant leaders are horribly lacking. Greed, self- promotion, and narrow-interests abound.   </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However,  I believe the finger pointing and the incredibly noxious behavior we are observing across this nation must stop. As my mother used to observe: “If you point one finger at someone, remember the other four fingers are pointing back at you.” </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Individually, we can look at our behavior and explore resources like The <a href=\"https://www.greenleaf.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Greenleaf Center</a>.</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> We can commit to a daily practice such as the one found at <a href=\"http://www.trueleadercreed.com\" target=\"_blank\">True Leader Creed</a>. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is not being passive but rather showing up and holding up  a mirror to self and others. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our humanity and our collective well-being depend upon it.</span>', 'Are Servant Leaders Obsolete?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'are-servant-leaders-obsolete', '', '', '2017-03-01 06:00:06', '2017-03-01 11:00:06', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32861', 0, 'post', '', 8),
(32876, 455, '2017-03-31 06:00:23', '2017-03-31 10:00:23', 'Are you planning to start up a business with limited resources but wanting to hire the best people? Are you currently budgeting the overall cost of setting up your dream business but not wanting to compromise to hire the right team? Here are tips on how to hire a team with leadership in your startup.\n\nIt is a proven fact that your business can only be as good as the people surrounding your team. Since startup business usually has a lot of factors to take in such as having limited resources and even experiences, coming up with your leadership team may play a vital role in the success of your business.\n\nA number of startups fail to progress successfully. The culprit is usually due to the lack of research in hiring leadership positions. It may seem to be a laborious task to do, but thorough research on hiring C- level positions will have a long-term effect on the success of your company.\n\nHere is a guide on how to hire the right leadership team for your startup:\n<h3>Hire smarter people than you</h3>\nSince you are the one who came up with an idea regarding how to build your business, you may have the tendency to have the notion that you should always be making the final call. But you have to ask yourself if given your limited experience, you always have the right answer to decide.\n\nYou should refrain from hiring employees who are \"yes people\" who will only agree with every decision you make. Instead, be a kind of boss who thinks of the success of the company by hiring a core team who really possess technical expertise in your market industry. You should be the kind of CEO who truly trusts their team to bring in value-adding viewpoints that will drive your business to the next level.\n\nThe best leadership team is made up of members who have complementary parts.\n\n<strong>Hiring Tip:</strong> You may ask your prospective core employee how they would handle problems you are currently facing. You may also ask situational or real life problems. Their answers to your questions may tell you which areas you may have omitted.\n<h3>Cover your weak spots</h3>\nYou should not be sugar-coating the skills existing in your current leadership team. You should be honest to acknowledge your team’s challenge areas and try to work them out.\n\nIf you have a stiff budget, you might be tempted to hire the least expensive candidates but you will have to face the consequences in the end. Therefore, bring in experienced key personnel with credible track records to minimize the learning curve promptly. It may form a big part of your budget but the benefits are greater than the cost itself. Remember, the more experienced employees you hire, the more readily you can focus on the genuine acceleration of your startup.\n\n<strong>Hiring tip: </strong>Hire at least one experienced staff person to your core team and assign him to one of the challenging holes in your company. This will speed up growth in those areas.\n<h3>Recognize leadership skill that attracts talented individuals</h3>\nThe best executives bring numerous skills to the table but one of their key skills is their capability to attract top talent. This intangible trait is beneficial for your startup since these executives will bring out the best in others. People in your company would want to be surrounded by these kinds of individuals. They are like magnets wherein people would want to follow them.\n\nIt is a necessity to carefully hand-pick this type of members for your leadership team.\n\n<strong>Hiring Tip:</strong> Ask your potential candidates if they would follow a leader from company to another.\n<h3>Hire those who can shape the culture of your company</h3>\nWhat kind of culture do you want for your company? Culture defines your company through interactions, goals, vision and mission. As the CEO of your company, you get to set the tone of your company culture. It is in your hands to hire executives that are a good fit. If you hire a team that is not in the same boat as you, your own hires may go against you and can cause catastrophe.\n\n<strong>Hiring Tip</strong>: Look carefully at titles and accomplishments.\n<h3>Your leadership team is most likely your home</h3>\nYour team of C-level hires would be your <a href=\"http://articles.bplans.com/how-to-hire-the-right-leadership-team-for-your-startup/\">family</a> for a startup company. They are your confidants to help you make big decisions. They will be the next important group in your life after your family.\n\nThere is a tendency that you will spend a lot of long and stressful hours with them. You should ensure that you treat them with compassion.\n\n<strong>Hiring Tip: </strong>Ask the interviewees how they handle stress and how they cope with it. You can ask situational questions that are related to your startup business.\n<h3>There is more to life than a big paycheck</h3>\nThere is no doubt that salary is important. You may even have to offer your C-hires healthy paychecks to attract exceptional people. However, stop thinking that this will be the only incentive that should be important.\n\nAccording to the <a href=\"http://twocents.lifehacker.com/what-employees-value-more-than-salary-according-to-gla-1791184497\">Shapley value</a> method, there are various factors for determining employee satisfaction. What really mattered to employees in addition to compensation included culture, values, senior leadership, and career opportunities.\n\n<strong>Hiring Tip</strong>: Be sure to involve your leadership team in big decisions. Let them realize that you value them in your startup company. Should you reach success, acknowledge their efforts and recognize their contributions.\n\nDuring an early stage of the business, you may be tempted to go the easy route and hire mediocre hires rather than looking for the best fit to fill out your leadership team. However, be patient and be keen during your hiring decisions. Do not rush to hire just because you want to start building your company. Ensure that you will only hire the best and the right fit for your startup.', 'How to Hire the Right Leadership Team for Your Startup', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-hire-the-right-leadership-team-for-your-startup', '', '', '2017-03-31 06:00:23', '2017-03-31 10:00:23', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32876', 0, 'post', '', 1);
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(32882, 456, '2017-03-13 11:59:16', '0000-00-00 00:00:00', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/desert-749692_1920.jpg\"><img class=\"wp-image-32883 alignleft\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/desert-749692_1920-300x205.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"397\" height=\"271\" /></a>\nOne of my favorite writing assignments in college was constructing a monosyllabic story carved out of pure thought and based on the delectable mind of Dr. Seuss. This provoked inside me a strong curiosity on how to conquer the challenge of experiencing writer\'s block. In this case, we could employ large quantities of monosyllabic words from dictionaries that pertain to dreams and the imagination. Assembling a list of fictitious places and characters was also helpful and enjoyable. One can hardly go wrong when sincerely exercising the art of automated writing as expressed by the Dadaism and Surrealism movements. In the grips of ennui, this technique can help achieve the desired effect of locomotive writing and stimulating content. If we continue with clear</span><a href=\"https://thewritelife.com/need-writing-inspiration/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">inspirations</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, we can encounter a story that will be unpredictable, as well as, laudable. These tools are located in the sheds of our minds so let’s keep them sharp, witty, and ready!</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a writer, do you find yourself constantly looking over your shoulder when you hear footsteps trailing in the mist? On the cobblestone road, footsteps resound and echo. Then you finally realize that you are being shadowed by the blurred phantom known as writer\'s block. Ahead of you, there is a neon sign that blinks 5 ways to increase your creativity.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Good artists copy, great artists steal” ~ Pablo Picasso</span>\n\n<strong>The Artist’s Template</strong>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When one puts the needle on the record, you glance at the album cover and view the liner notes. Personally, I relish in these fascinations and clues that shed light to who is behind the voice and instruments on the record. Like a warm cup of peppermint tea, this knowledge soothes your mind, fueling your passion and artistic nature. Artists of all calibers are drawn to the temperament of extraordinary artists, and the techniques that they create with. Whether it\'s an Oscar Wilde Novel, a Roland Penrose painting or a song by Bo Diddley; savor them like a well-made spinach artichoke lasagna. Learn of their fruits and methods but don’t bite the tree.</span>\n\n<strong>Propose to Your Work</strong>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best engagement ring for your art is your passion. Do something that you love and make your heart smile? When I immerse myself in the</span><a href=\"https://thewritelife.com/writing-a-profile-story/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">creating process</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, rays of light conceal my face. To be as prolific as a vine of grapes is my contentment. I lose myself in the artistic process and let my mind drift away with the wind. Time passes when you are having fun, but minutes vanish when you are creating. When I’m deep in thought, working away like a madman, the moon and sun cease to exist. I find that in those moments, my creations have an aroma of intense satisfaction. Find a hobby such as gardening, fishing or collecting memorabilia. They can reduce stress and induce relaxation while fueling your creative vehicle on the roads of your life. When I took up the hobby of gardening in the past, I was able to replicate the growth of a tomato with a song.</span>\n\n<strong>Write like a Stargazer</strong>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I came to realize that it’s not healthy to grind your teeth, and that should also apply to one\'s own mind. Many, many times I have been told to stop daydreaming, or that I’m a gluttonous sleeper. However, it\'s during those fits of slumber that I have received the prototypes for stories, essays, sonatas, and poems. When your thoughts aren’t constricted, the ideas will trickle down like water. Dreams are fertile fields where your mind can run and smell the floral fragrance of art for art’s sake. When I wake in the morning, there are times that I regret not having a notepad by my bedside. If rest is your ally, then fertility will be your victory.</span>\n\n<strong>Good Vibrations</strong>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a child, summertime was the paragon of happiness. With that said, every day should be summer in your mind. Reduce your negativity to a grain of sand. I found that when I am happy and grateful, I attract priceless </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cerebrations</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and concepts like a pheromones to noses. Exercising, visualizing aspirations and reading through the pages of your cheerful memories will serve as food for your artistic appetite.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think of The Applause</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visualize yourself being soaked by a rainfall of applause. Write for the audience and compose for the listener. You can ask for the new ideas writers from <a href=\"https://123writings.com/\">123writings.com</a> as an option. Catering to the hungry palate of the ravenous audience should be your desire. I have employed my imagination for a high degree of pretending. As a musician, I make-believe that I’m on stage, the fans are cheering, and they invite me for an encore. If you think that no one is going to care, then usually the seats are going to be empty.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With these 5 tips, you’ll be riding the big Kahuna of your creative ocean at record speed.</span>', '5 Ways to Increase Your Creativity - REQUESTED REVISIONS', '', 'pending', 'open', 'closed', '', '', '', '', '2017-03-13 11:59:16', '0000-00-00 00:00:00', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32882', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32889, 335, '2017-03-02 12:45:25', '2017-03-02 17:45:25', '<em>We welcome Mark Miller for the first post in a five-part series defining the core principles of <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/books/leaders-made-here-by-mark-miller/\" target=\"_blank\">Leaders Made Here</a>.</em>\n<h3><strong>Step #1: Define It</strong></h3>\nHave you ever been part of an organization who needed more leaders? I have. It’s happened to me several times over the years. I have experienced this shortfall in schools, churches, and other non-profit organizations, and I’ve also seen this shortfall in hundreds of individual businesses. If you’ve experienced this shortage, you can probably remember the feeling – it is painful!\n\nWhat do you do when you have legitimate opportunities or challenges and you don’t have any leaders ready for the job? That’s the scenario <strong><em>Leaders Made Here</em></strong> is trying to prevent. The concept is simple: create a pipeline or system designed specifically to create “ready-now” leaders. The ultimate goal is to create a leadership culture.\n\nWhat is a leadership culture? Thanks for asking!\n\n<strong>A leadership culture exists when you routinely and systematically develop leaders and you have a surplus.</strong>\n\nWhen we decided we needed more leaders, our journey took us back to square one. We knew that before we could pursue it, we had to define it. What we discovered were multiple definitions of leadership within our organization. None of them were fundamentally wrong, but differing definitions create many serious challenges. Here are a few . . .\n<ul>\n 	<li>Whom do you recruit?</li>\n 	<li>Whom do you select?</li>\n 	<li>Whom do you reward?</li>\n 	<li>Who is capable of more responsibility?</li>\n 	<li>Whom do you recognize?</li>\n 	<li>Whom do you promote?</li>\n 	<li>Who needs which development assignments?</li>\n</ul>\nWith different working definitions of leadership, consensus on the answers to these questions, and others like them, was extremely difficult. And this list didn’t even touch on the cultural implications such as employee morale, satisfaction, and inefficiency in the training and development process.\n\nOur conclusion:\n\n<strong>To reach our full potential as an organization, </strong><strong>we needed a common working definition of leadership.</strong>\n\nWith this realization in the forefront of our thinking, we worked for many months trying to forge a common definition. We interviewed leaders, did global benchmarking, and read a couple hundred books on leadership. Out of it all, we decided our leadership point-of-view would be anchored in the belief: Great Leaders SERVE!<strong>\n</strong>\n\n<strong>S</strong>ee the Future\n<strong>E</strong>ngage and Develop Others\n<strong>R</strong>einvent Continuously\n<strong>V</strong>alue Results and Relationships\n<strong>E</strong>mbody the Values\n\nIn the aftermath of our project, we were reminded of the critical role character plays in the success of any leader – we agreed. However, we believed we could select for leadership character; therefore, with definition in hand, we naively thought our work was done.\n\nWe were wrong – our work was just beginning. My next post will pick up the story from here . . .', 'More Leaders, Faster', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'more-leaders-faster-step-one', '', '', '2017-03-02 12:45:25', '2017-03-02 17:45:25', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32889', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(32925, 374, '2017-03-03 06:00:07', '2017-03-03 11:00:07', '<div class=\"message_content \">\n\nWe are pleased to have <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Compassion-Work-Elevates-Organizations/dp/1626564450\" target=\"_blank\">Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power that Elevates People and Organizations</a> as our Lead Change Group sponsor for March 2017!\n<h3>The Workforce Needs Compassion Architects</h3>\nOn February 20, Monica released the book she co-authored with Jane Dutton, <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Compassion-Work-Elevates-Organizations/dp/1626564450\" target=\"_blank\">Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power that Elevates People and Organizations</a>. This research-based book outlines a 4-step process leaders can use to build a capacity for compassion into the structures and practices of their organizations.\n\n</div>\n<div class=\"message_content \">\n<h3>Author Monica Worline\'s Expertise</h3>\n</div>\nMonica is founder and CEO of EnlivenWork, an organization that teaches businesses how to tap into courageous thinking, compassionate leadership, and curiosity to bring their best work to life. She is a research scientist at Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education as well as the Executive Director of CompassionLab, the world’s leading research collaboratory focused on compassion in the workplace.\n\nMonica holds a lectureship at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and is affiliate faculty at the Center for Positive Organizations. She is an award-winning teacher who has also served on the faculties of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University; the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine; and the School of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine.\n<h3></h3>\n<div class=\"message_content \">\n\n<strong>Other Resources</strong>\n\nJoin Monica on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/monicaworline\" target=\"_blank\">@MonicaWorline</a>, on <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-worline-2119a5/\" target=\"_blank\">LinkedIn</a>, and on <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/monica.worline\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook</a>.\n\n</div>\n<div class=\"message_content \">\n\nThank you again, Awakening Compassion at Work and Monica, for your support of the Lead Change Group!\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"></p>\n\n</div>', 'Highlighting Our March 2017 Sponsor: Awakening Compassion at Work', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'highlighting-our-march-2017-sponsor-awakening-compassion-at-work', '', '', '2017-03-03 06:00:07', '2017-03-03 11:00:07', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=32925', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(32931, 274, '2017-03-06 06:00:29', '2017-03-06 11:00:29', 'Welcome to the March 2017 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival!\n\nDo you as a leader find it difficult at times to be bold or to awaken boldness in others? I was noticing the theme for this year\'s <a href=\"https://www.internationalwomensday.com/\" target=\"_blank\">International Women\'s Day (March 8)</a>, #BeBoldForChange, and it occurred to me that boldness is often in short supply. From another angle, sometimes we have the responsibility of helping someone shape their boldness into realistic action. In this carnival, bold ideas from the finest leaders. We thank everyone for their contributions.\n\nThe Lead Change Group would also like to thank <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Compassion-Work-Elevates-Organizations/dp/1626564450\" target=\"_blank\">Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power that Elevates People and Organizations</a> for sponsoring the Lead Change Group (including this carnival) for March 2017.\n<h3>Let\'s Get Started</h3>\n<div class=\"divide\">\n\n<strong>Anne Perschel</strong> of <a href=\"http://germaneconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Germane Coaching and Consulting</a> provided <a href=\"http://germaneconsulting.com/wise-ceos-in-new-roles/\" target=\"_blank\">Wise CEOs in New Roles Follow Two Important Rules</a>. Anne asks, \"What two rules do wise CEOS follow when they’re in new roles, and what are the benefits?\" Find Anne on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bizshrink\" target=\"_blank\">@bizshrink</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Beth Beutler</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.bethbeutler.com/\" target=\"_blank\">H.O.P.E. Unlimited</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.bethbeutler.com/three-ways-to-have-a-less-stressful-day/\" target=\"_blank\">Three Ways to Have a Less Stressful Day</a>. Beth recaps, \"Beth Beutler gives us three practical tools for reducing stress in our days.\" Find Beth on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bethbeutler\" target=\"_blank\">@bethbeutler</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Bill Treasurer</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.giantleapconsulting.com\" target=\"_blank\">Giant Leap Consulting</a> provided <a href=\"http://giantleapconsulting.com/leadership-development/reality-bites-for-new-leaders/\" target=\"_blank\">Reality Bites for New Leaders</a>. Bill recaps, \"Your influence can help make a positive and lasting impact on people’s careers and lives. All it takes is making the most out of your leadership kick in the ass!\" Find Bill on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/btreasurer\" target=\"_blank\">@btreasurer</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Chris Edmonds</strong> of the <a href=\"http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Purposeful Culture Group</a> contributed <a href=\"http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com/culture-leadership-charge-why-leaders-do-what-they-do/\" target=\"_blank\">Culture Leadership Charge: Why Leaders Do What They Do</a>. In this post, Chris explains three powerful influences over a leader’s behavior. Follow Chris on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/scedmonds\" target=\"_blank\">@scedmonds</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Chery Gegelman </strong>of <a href=\"http://consultgiana.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Giana Consulting</a> contributed <a href=\"http://consultgiana.com/5832-2/\" target=\"_blank\">The Inspiring STANDS of a REAL Leader</a>. In this post, Chery asks, \"As a titled leader do have the courage to take stands for the business?  …Your people?  …Your family?  What would you give to work with someone that takes stands like these?\" Follow Chery on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/gianaconsulting\" target=\"_blank\">@gianaconsulting</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Christopher Avery </strong>of <a href=\"http://christopheravery.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Christopher Avery and the Leadership Gift</a> contributed <a href=\"http://www.christopheravery.com/blog/how-i-practice-responsibility/\" target=\"_blank\">How I Practice Responsibility</a>. Christopher shares, \"The Responsibility Process works <i class=\"m_6068245821063590887gmail-bard-text-block m_6068245821063590887gmail-style-scope\">only</i> when self-applied. (If you have heard this before, and I hope you have, it is always worth revisiting.) What this means is that <i class=\"m_6068245821063590887gmail-bard-text-block m_6068245821063590887gmail-style-scope\">knowledge about</i> The Responsibility Process doesn’t <span id=\"m_6068245821063590887gmail-more-11512\"></span>change me. Only applying The Responsibility Process to my life will produce results that matter.\" Follow Chris on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/christopheraver\" target=\"_blank\">@christopheraver</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Cory Rieken</strong> of the <a href=\"http://www.ddiworld.com/home?lang=en-US\" target=\"_blank\">Development Dimensions International (DDI)</a> contributed <a href=\"http://www.ddiworld.com/blog/tmi/february-2017/when-leaders-fail-to-use-key-principles\" target=\"_blank\">What Happens When Leaders Fail to Use Key Principles?</a>. Cory shares, \"A leader\'s lack of empathy and ongoing performance conversations can lead to confusion and uncertainty among employees about where they stand. Learn about the key principles leaders can use to meet others’ personal needs to be respected and involved.\" Follow Cory on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ddiworld\" target=\"_blank\">@ddiworld</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Dan McCarthy</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Great Leadership</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2017/02/six-ways-to-make-your-presentation-hit.html\" target=\"_blank\">Six Ways to Make Your Presentation a Hit</a>. Dan recaps, \"Scientists say our attention spans are now shorter than a goldfish, so it’s more important than ever for leaders to make our presentations as engaging and compelling as possible. How can we do that?  One way is by taking cues from the place that can still captivate us for hours at a time: the movies. See Ted Frank\'s guest post to find out how.\" Find Dan on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/greatleadership\" target=\"_blank\">@greatleadership</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Dan Oestreich</strong> of <a href=\"http://unfoldingleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Oestreich Associates</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.unfoldingleadership.com/blog/?p=6755\" target=\"_blank\">On Not Waiting for Superman</a>. Dan recaps, \"Mythologist Michael Meade’s three layer model of human interaction provides a way to think about and act on our leadership in a time of change, conflict and controversy.  I use Meade’s model in my leadership consulting work because it ably defines the quest, common to human communities, to reach a shared sense of humanity and shared values such as love, justice and peaceful co-existence.\" Find Dan on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/danoestreich\" target=\"_blank\">@DanOestreich</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Dana Theus</strong> of <a href=\"http://inpowercoaching.com/\" target=\"_blank\">InPower Coaching</a> contributed <a href=\"http://inpowercoaching.com/upside-office-politics-2/\" target=\"_blank\">The Upside of Office Politics</a>. Dana writes, \"Unpleasant as it is, office politics gives us a special gift, which is to learn to stand up for our values and grapple with forces out of our control.\" Find Dana on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanaTheus\" target=\"_blank\">@DanaTheus</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>David Dye</strong> of <a href=\"http://trailblazeinc.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Trailblaze</a> submitted <a href=\"http://trailblazeinc.com/how-to-stay-focused/\" target=\"_blank\">4 Questions to Ask Yourself and Your Team to Stay Focused on the Most Important Thing</a>. David summarizes, \"I’ve never met a manager who has enough time to do everything they want to do. The stress that comes with being ‘too busy’ is inescapable – or is it? David shares a mindset shift and questions you can use to keep your team focused, and busy-stress at bay.\" Follow David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/davidmdye\" target=\"_blank\">@davidmdye</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>David Grossman </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.yourthoughtpartner.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The Grossman Group</a> shared <a href=\"http://www.yourthoughtpartner.com/blog/how-to-create-line-of-sight-for-your-employees\" target=\"_blank\">How To Create Line of Sight For Your Employees</a>. David writes, \"Statistics and sources show that employees overall don’t understand company strategy. Said another way, they don’t get how they fit in. And that’s a missed opportunity.\" Discover David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThoughtPartner\" target=\"_blank\">@thoughtpartner</a>\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jesse Lyn Stoner </strong>of the <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Seapoint Center for Collaborative Leadership</a> submitted <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/dialogue-bridges-the-divide/\" target=\"_blank\">Dialogue Bridges the Divide</a>. Jesse recaps, \"Since the US election, many people have experienced tension with a close friend or family member whose views are different than theirs. My own family is no exception, and I was having particular difficulty with a close family member.  My post explains why and how I reached across the divide and provides 4 guidelines that helped make it successful. Bottomline: It’s important and possible to begin reaching across the divide.\" Follow Jesse on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JesseLynStoner\" target=\"_blank\">@jesselynstoner</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jill Malleck</strong> of <a href=\"http://epiphanyatwork.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Epiphany at Work</a> contributed <a href=\"https://epiphanyatwork.com/widen-perspective-take-puppy-breaks/\" target=\"_blank\">Widen Your Perspective-Take Puppy Breaks</a>. Jill shares, \"Taking a short break away from work every hour or so will increase your mood and your productivity.\" Find Jill on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/epiphanyatwork\" target=\"_blank\">@epiphanyatwork</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jim Taggart</strong> of <a href=\"https://changingwinds.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Changing Winds</a> provided <a href=\"https://changingwinds.wordpress.com/2017/01/29/gandhi-and-mandela-would-be-proud-whats-next-after-the-womens-march/\" target=\"_blank\">Gandhi and Mandela Would be Proud: What’s Next after the Women’s March?</a>. Jim shares, \"In this post, I use Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi as prime examples of how to motivate and focus people towards a common vision using peaceful means. The context is the <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_918517396\"><span class=\"aQJ\">January 21st</span></span> Women’s March which spanned some 500 U.S. cities and dozens of countries. The participation wasn’t just the amazing thing but that the marches were done peacefully. Vision and how people collectively contribute to it is critical to this movement’s future.\" Find Jim on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/72keys\" target=\"_blank\">@72keys</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Joel Garfinkle</strong> of the <a href=\"http://careeradvancementblog.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Career Advancement Blog</a> submitted <a href=\"http://careeradvancementblog.com/increase-work-influence\" target=\"_blank\">Strategies to Increase Your Influence at Work</a>. Joel recaps: \"Increasing others\' perception of you and your visibility at work are vital to your career success. The next step is to increase your influence at work. Follow these 3 strategies and watch your influence increase.\" Discover Joel on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JoelGarfinkle\" target=\"_blank\">@JoelGarfinkle</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>John Hunter</strong> of the <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog</a> shared <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2017/02/02/why-do-people-fail-to-adopt-better-management-methods/\" target=\"_blank\">Why Do People Fail to Adopt Better Methods?</a>. John summarizes, \"Sometimes better methods will be adopted but often they won’t. People can be very attached to the way things have always been done. Or they can just be uncomfortable with the prospect of trying something new.\" Find John on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/curiouscat_com\" target=\"_blank\">@curiouscat_com</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jon Mertz</strong> of <a href=\"https://www.thindifference.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Thin Difference</a> contributed <a href=\"https://www.thindifference.com/2017/02/upstanders-essential-guiding-principles/\" target=\"_blank\">7 Essential Guiding Principles</a>. Jon asks, \"Who is an Upstander? A person who chooses to take positive action in the face of injustice in society or in situations where individuals need assistance. Being an Upstander is a leadership model we must embrace and these 7 principles can help.\" Follow Jon on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThinDifference\" target=\"_blank\">@thindifference</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jon VerBeck </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.jonverbeck.com/\" target=\"_blank\">JonVerbeck.com</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.jonverbeck.com/business-owner-mistakes-not-understanding-revenue-model-current-sales-plan/\" target=\"_blank\">Business Owner Mistakes: Not Understanding Their Revenue Model and Current Sales Plan</a>. As part of his series on mistakes business owners make, Jon shares about the importance of understanding your revenue model and sales plan. Discover Jon on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jonverbeck1\" target=\"_blank\">@jonverbeck1</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Julie Winkle-Giulioni </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Julie Winkle-Giulioni</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/blog/leadership-matters/lessons-in-stumbling-and-set-backs-from-the-big-top/\" target=\"_blank\"> Lessons in Stumbling and Set-Backs… from the Big Top</a>. Julie recaps, \"Since work frequently feels like a three-ring circus anyway, there are lessons to be learned from acrobats who know how to stumble and yet resiliently go on with the show.\" Find Julie on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/julie_wg\" target=\"_blank\">@julie_wg</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Karin Hurt </strong>of <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Let\'s Grow Leaders</a> contributed <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/how-do-i-get-my-team-to-trust-me-story-and-video/\" target=\"_blank\">How Do I Get My Team to Trust Me?</a>. In the post, Karin shares a personal story of trust with her team, and how it wasn’t so good at first. Follow Karin on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LetsGrowLeaders\" target=\"_blank\">@letsgrowleaders</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Linda Fisher Thornton</strong> of<strong> </strong><a href=\"https://leadingincontext.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leading in Context</a>  shared <a href=\"https://leadingincontext.com/2017/02/15/leader-competence-will-it-be-a-multiplier-or-a-divider/\" target=\"_blank\">Leader Competence: Will it Be a Multiplier or a Divider?</a> Linda recaps: \"Leader competence is either going to be a multiplier or a divider. When you have it, you multiply performance and trust, with exponential results.\" Find Linda on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/leadingincontxt\" target=\"_blank\">@leadingincontxt</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Lisa Kohn </strong>of <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Chatsworth Consulting</a> submitted <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/2017/02/28/why-self-respect-is-a-key-leadership-skill/\" target=\"_blank\">Why Self-respect is a Key Leadership Skill</a>. Lisa summarizes, \"While we need to be open to feedback, we also need a confident foundation in our strengths and contributions so that we can learn from the feedback, rather than be pierced by it.\" Discover Lisa on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThoughtfulLdrs\" target=\"_blank\">@thoughtfulldrs</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Marcella Bremer</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.leadershipandchangemagazine.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leadership and Change Magazine</a> provided <a href=\"https://www.leadershipandchangemagazine.com/what-if-we-embodied-positive-change/\" target=\"_blank\">What If We Embodied Positive Change?</a>. Marcella recaps, \"What did you do today that\'s worth repeating? We must first change ourselves to create positive change in a situation. We tend to copy what we have seen, and that’s why cultures stay the same. Every act of positive leadership and kindness counts... What have you done today that you\'d like others to do, too?\" Find Marcella on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarcellaBremer\" target=\"_blank\">@marcellabremer</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Mary Ila Ward </strong>of <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Horizon Point Consulting</a> contributed <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/blog3/item/the-conundrum-of-incentive-pay/\" target=\"_blank\">The Conundrum of Incentive Pay</a>. She recaps, \"Incentive compensation is tough.  It’s why many companies avoid it all together. Leaders often find themselves coming up with incentive plans they hope will work, only to come out with frustrating results and the intent didn\'t drive the desired outcome. In this post, Mary Ila shares some things that stand in order to do incentive pay well.\" Discover Mary Ila on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaryIlaWard\" target=\"_blank\">@maryilaward</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Mary Jo Asmus</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.aspire-cs.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Aspire Collaborative Services</a> shared <a href=\"http://www.aspire-cs.com/benefits-team-equals/\" target=\"_blank\">The Benefits of Having a Team of Equals</a>. Mary Jo summarizes, \"When you treat the members of your team as equally smart and capable as you are, you’ll realize what it’s like to make better decisions, have great trusting relationships and some bottom line results.\" Follow Mary Jo on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mjasmus\" target=\"_blank\">@mjasmus</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Michael Lee Stallard</strong> of <a href=\"http://connectionculture.com/disengaged-employees-say-boss-honest/\" target=\"_blank\">Connection Culture</a> provided <a href=\"http://connectionculture.com/surprising-way-reduce-mistakes-accidents/\" target=\"_blank\">A Surprising Way to Reduce Mistakes and Accidents</a>. Michael recaps, \"In industries like healthcare where the cost of mistakes and accidents is high, it\'s important to provide the support employees need to do their best work. Michael Lee Stallard explains how the \"connection culture\" elements of value and voice play an important role in improving performance.\" Find Michael on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/michaelstallard\" target=\"_blank\">@michaelstallard</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Miki Saxon</strong> of <a href=\"http://mappingcompanysuccess.com/\" target=\"_blank\">MAPping Company Success</a> contributed <a href=\"http://mappingcompanysuccess.com/2017/02/the-necessity-of-fools/\" target=\"_blank\">The Necessity of Fools</a>. Miki writes, \"There are many kinds of fools and while being a fool is something people work hard to avoid there is one kind of fool that should be your greatest aspiration.\" Discover Miki on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OptionSanity\" target=\"_blank\">@optionsanity</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Neal Burgis</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Burgis Successful Solutions</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/2017/02/28/leading-an-empowered-creative-organization/\" target=\"_blank\">Leading an Empowered Creative Organization</a>. Neal recaps, \"Leaders who empower employees to use their own creative thinking skills and talent help move the organization forward. In doing so, leaders trust employees to make decisions in solving problems, challenges and difficulties regarding the work they do. Working collaboratively yields greater results.\" Find Neal on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Exec_Solutions\" target=\"_blank\">@exec_solutions</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Randy Conley</strong> of <a href=\"http://leadingwithtrust.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leading With Trust</a> shared <a href=\"https://leadingwithtrust.com/2017/02/05/3-truths-about-trust/\" target=\"_blank\">3 Truths About Trust</a>. Randy writes, \"Virtually everyone agrees that trust is a vital ingredient for healthy and successful relationships and organizations, yet many don’t think about trust until the worse time – when it’s been broken. In this post, three fundamental truths about trust that every leader should consider.\" Find Randy on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RandyConley\" target=\"_blank\">@randyconley</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Shelley Row</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.shelleyrow.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Shelley Row</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.shelleyrow.com/2826-2/\" target=\"_blank\">Reap the Rewards of a Checklist: Two Easy Steps</a>. Discussing the value of a checklist, Shelley writes, \" If doctors and pilots use them regularly, it may be a good idea for other business leaders too.\" Discover Shelley on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShelleyRow\" target=\"_blank\">@shelleyrow</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Simon Teague </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.newlevelresults.co.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">New Level Results</a> contributed <a href=\"http://www.newlevelresults.co.uk/business-reflection-skills/\" target=\"_blank\">A Business is a Reflection Of ...</a>. Simon recaps, \"This post discusses productivity, combined with empowerment and engagement being at an all-time high in those organisations that are using more modern and innovative methods to recognise, reward and develop their people AND build their culture at all levels.\" Find Simon on Twitter at @<a href=\"https://twitter.com/SimonTeague\" target=\"_blank\">simonteague</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Susan Mazza</strong> of <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Random Acts of Leadership</a> provided <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/why-you-should-speak-less-and-listen-more/\" target=\"_blank\">Why You Should Speak Less and Listen More</a>. Susan explains, \"When it comes to leadership, there are times when it is more effective to choose silence over speaking up with your words. Only when you are able to listen well enough and long enough for people to feel heard will underlying tension will be released, and a conversation about what\'s wrong turn into a conversation about how to make things better.\" Follow Susan on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SusanMazza\" target=\"_blank\">@susanmazza</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<em>Thank you to everyone who submitted articles for this month\'s carnival! If you would like to be on the distribution list for submission calls, please contact Paula Kiger (paula @ weavinginfluence (dot) com)!</em>\n\n</div>', 'March 2017 Leadership Development Carnival', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'march-2017-leadership-development-carnival', '', '', '2017-03-06 06:00:29', '2017-03-06 11:00:29', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/february-2017-leadership-development-carnival-2/', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(33004, 273, '2017-03-07 06:00:43', '2017-03-07 11:00:43', '<em>This post is part of our 2017 Lead Change Group Guest Blogger Series. Today we are pleased to introduce you to Craig Marek.</em>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In today’s terms, King Solomon would be the wealthiest man alive; his control and influence would have a global reach, his wisdom unmatched. Solomon, one of the greatest leaders in history was bored…even discouraged. “Nothing new under the sun” he lamented. He was witnessing selfishness, pessimism and emptiness in others and himself. How tragic is it for the king of leaders to sense a hollow vacuum? Through much searching and submission he determined that as a leader, he (and we) set misguided objectives and deadlines, make shallow commitments and excuses, speak too quickly and overextend ourselves. This feels so similar to the endless hours (years) of trying to find the ultimate leadership style or system – we still “chase after the wind.\" We sit in conferences and workshops trying to adapt to unrealistic and non-contextual  approaches that leave us practicing demanding, controlling  authority that may or may not enhance our career…”all is vanity” the author cries. The vacuum still exists.  </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A life changing dose of humility for the most powerful man in the world was the only option (humility enough to invest in those who are in submission to him). Solomon decided to start with submitting himself to God’s authority and becoming a true servant so he could add value to others and deploy their talents. He had the wisdom but needed to apply it to his authority, the authority he needed to provide for their needs, not demand fulfillment of his own.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What a change! Truly Disruptive! Not to throw in disorder but to rupture the existing style. Solomon disrupted an unchallenged authority process (his own) to accept his calling to serve those he manages, leads, teaches and even taxes. The risk-taking seems less threatening than the responsibility a leader takes on by demanding respect and performance. We have been told we can be superstar leaders through inflation of self and a superior sense of control and authority. This often means manipulation and intimidation of those we have charge of. The simple alternative is to start listening and trusting, taking care of those who truly do the work that matters. True humility, but yet so disruptive. The wisest leader was willing to take a risk. Investing in all those he was responsible for created a level of influence that changed the world.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The leadership world today continues to “chase after the wind” and still “nothing is new under the sun.\" Years ago the first Disruptive Influencer changed it all by submitting to his God. His emptiness was filled and the groundwork was set for those who followed to become modern Disruptors.</span>\n\n<em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-33029\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/craig-marek-square.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" />Craig Marek has worked in Emergency Services for 35 years.  He has been falling into roles of leadership for the entire time, and is still trying to figure out what to do about it.  For the last 25 years he has been leading and managing one of the largest (in geographic catchment) EMS/Fire communications centres in North America.  Industry change has been intense, opportunities for influence great and rewards many.  No reward as blessed as living with a loving family amongst the many Nonwestern Ontario lakes.</span></em>', 'Disruptive Influencer', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'disruptive-influencer', '', '', '2017-03-07 06:00:43', '2017-03-07 11:00:43', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33004', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(33008, 273, '2017-03-08 06:00:11', '2017-03-08 11:00:11', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A well-designed, user-friendly website is an important part of marketing and fundraising for your nonprofit organization. Whether your campaigns take place online, offline or a blend of both, donors often check out an organization’s website before making a gift. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Along with having a website that is clean, uncluttered and easy to navigate, you should have an URL that matches your brand. Putting some thought into your domain name—even thinking beyond .com or .org—can help you look polished and digitally savvy and even raise more money. </span>\n<h3><b>Your domain name tells the world who you are and what you do</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are millions of nonprofit organizations out there, most doing very meaningful work. If you want to stand out to your potential donor base, have a website name that is simple, straightforward and easy to remember. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask yourself a few questions before you register your domain. Is it easy to pronounce? Easy to spell? Does it render well in print advertising or on business cards? Or will your long and complicated domain name make you look like you are late to the party, or worse, yet, fly-by-night? All of those things matter when you’re choosing a domain name. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lady Gaga and her mother Cynthia Germanotta use </span><a href=\"http://www.bornthisway.foundation\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.BornThisWay.foundation</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for their nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering teens and inspiring bravery. The name is easy to say, write and remember without any hyphens, misspellings or extra numbers.  As an added bonus, the URL is the organization’s full name—it doesn’t get easier than that. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you borrow a page from Gaga’s book and use one of the hundreds of newer </span><a href=\"http://name.kitchen/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">domain name extensions</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> now available, you can be creative—use a .</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">foundation</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, .</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">agency</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or .</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">services</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> domain name extension to tell people exactly who you are and what you do. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Greyhound Pets of America Indianapolis is a chapter of Greyhound Pets of America, a national non-profit organization. Its hyper-specific website, </span><a href=\"http://www.greyhoundsofindy.dog\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.GreyhoundsofIndy.dog</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> leaves little to the imagination, including its name, mission, and location in its URL. The same is true of the Delaware rescue group, </span><a href=\"http://www.pawsoftomorrow.dog/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.PawsofTomorrow.dog</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Innovative Finance Foundation (IFF) uses </span><a href=\"http://www.if.foundation\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.if.foundation</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for its network dedicated to funding sustainable development and ending extreme poverty. With a domain name that is short, simple and straight to the point, the IFF has been able to undertake research, advisory activities, design, and campaigns to create innovative finance products to fund health, education, nutrition, sanitation and the environment.</span>\n<h3><b>Your domain name is free advertising for your organization</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your domain name is a digital front door. And if your marketing budget is limited, a creative domain name can serve as free advertising for your organization. In addition to some of the more generic choices like .</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">group</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or .</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">life</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, some organizations are using very specific domain names that address what they do or what they serve.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In many cases, your domain name is your first impression. It’s your ‘calling card’,” said Kim Livengood, the owner of a public relations firm using the name </span><a href=\"http://www.theeclipse.agency\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.TheEclipse.agency</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.  “As they say, you don’t have a second chance to make a first impression.”</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Internationally, organizations are grabbing up creative domain names to help stand out from the online noise. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AlterNatives develops markets for the products created by women widowed by political violence in Guatemala. They use </span><a href=\"http://www.alternatives.boutique\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.AlterNatives.boutique</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to sell their goods, and the proceeds support charitable causes. The organization’s .</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">boutique</span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> domain name tells people what they can do on the website—shop. It’s a clear call to action, no advertisement required. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Costa Rica, The Jaguar Rescue Center uses </span><a href=\"http://www.jaguarrescue.foundation\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.JaguarRescue.foundation</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as the online hub for its</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> center that helps for ill, injured and orphaned wildlife animals.</span>\n<h3><b>Your domain name helps people find you </b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another organization that uses their domain name to make a strong first impression is Life.Church, an online church that meets in locations around the United States and globally online. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The church’s embrace of technology can be seen clearly in all of its online and offline marketing initiatives, including its new name and website, </span><a href=\"http://www.life.church/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.Life.Church</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a change made in October 2014 to align the organization’s online and offline presence. In fact, if you Google “online church” you’ll find Life.Church in the #1 spot on the first page of search results. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Bobby Gruenewald, the church’s Innovation Leader, the .church website enables them to present a unified front when communicating with parishioners and potential members, immediately making their mission clear to anyone who encountered them online.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The name has really helped provide consistent messaging,” Gruenewald said. “We’re placed here, in this moment of history, to take advantage of all the technology tools available today. What we do is authentic to who we are.”</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your organization is thinking about refreshing its digital presence, now may be the time to consider what a new domain name extension may bring to the table.</span>\n\n<em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-33032\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Screen-Shot-2017-03-08-at-3.55.05-PM_picmonkeyed-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" />Maris Callahan is the director of public relations for Donuts Inc. and name.kitchen, where she does media relations, content marketing, and social media. She lives in Chicago with Brad, her significant other, and their chihuahua Henry. You can find her on </span><a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarisCallahan\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twitter</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and </span><a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/maris-callahan-72222a9\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span></em>\n\n&nbsp;', 'The Importance of Domain Name Selection for Non-Profits', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-importance-of-domain-name-selection-for-non-profits', '', '', '2017-03-08 06:00:11', '2017-03-08 11:00:11', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33008', 0, 'post', '', 0);
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(33010, 251, '2017-03-10 06:00:29', '2017-03-10 11:00:29', 'Like spring, conflict is in the air.\n\nContentious times are everywhere. On the media. In the workplace. In the streets. At the dinner table.\n\nMany people share they’re struggling to stay calm and collected in dealing with the disagreements, friction, and discord that’s swirling around them. Me, too.\n\nI’ve discovered I didn’t know people I thought I knew. The unpleasantness and disregard for civility they feel free to express tugs at some dark spot in me. Fortunately, I spent a big chunk of my career in labor relations, so I had a frame of reference to fall back on when my disagreement became disagreeable.\n\nConflict isn’t logical. Or rational. Or coolly detached. In fact, it’s usually deeply emotional and relational. Typically, our thoughts and feelings work in tandem. For many, feelings become facts.\n<blockquote>The same issues that lead to protracted conflict (e.g. values, status, and identity), are also the triggers of strong emotions. People who feel ‘unfairly attacked, misunderstood, wronged, or righteously indignant’ are typically overcome with emotion and respond with hostility and aggression. ~Michelle Maiese, <em>Emotions, Beyond Intractability</em></blockquote>\nBecause conflict is (and has been) here to stay, the trick is managing it to a constructive, goal-oriented end that increases performance and advances the greater good. Achieving that result requires following Aristotle’s advice to channel our anger, annoyance, antagonism, etc. at “the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose and in the right way.”\n\nGetting Aristotle’s “rights” right results in managing conflict in a healthy and productive manner. (And manage is all we’re going to do with conflict. Difference of thought, opinion, and perspective is healthy even if uncomfortable.)\n<h3>Healthy and unhealthy approaches to conflict</h3>\nLook at the following and think about your approach to conflict.\n\n<img class=\"size-full wp-image-33049 aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Jane-Table-Four.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"704\" height=\"844\" />\n\n&nbsp;\n\nNot every time we approach conflict will our first response be both healthy and productive. (Change is wicked hard.)\n\nWhat’s important is that we’re self-aware and self-regulate. And accept that while we may change the situation, we’re never going to change someone else. That’s how we keep our dark spot in check and assure we’re working toward the greater good.\n<blockquote>I have endeavored to remember that the object of life is to do good. ~Peter Cooper, industrialist and philanthropist</blockquote>\nHow are you managing conflict these days?\n\n&nbsp;', 'Conflict Is In The Air', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'conflict-is-in-the-air', '', '', '2017-03-10 06:00:29', '2017-03-10 11:00:29', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33010', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(33035, 335, '2017-03-09 06:00:34', '2017-03-09 11:00:34', '<em>We welcome Mark Miller for the second post in a five-part series defining the core principles of <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/books/leaders-made-here-by-mark-miller/\" target=\"_blank\">Leaders Made Here</a>.</em>\n\n<strong>Yes, But How? Step #2 -- Teach It</strong>\n\nIn my <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/more-leaders-faster-step-one/\" target=\"_blank\">previous post</a>, I began the story of how the <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/books/leaders-made-here-by-mark-miller/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><em>Leaders Made Here</em></strong></a> strategy was born. As with any significant strategic initiative, a clear destination or outcome is critical. In many organizations who want and need more leaders, the actual working definition of leadership is conspicuous in its absence – there is no clarity on what success looks like. That’s why Step #1 in the process is to Define It. But that’s not all . . .\n\nShortly after Ken Blanchard and I published <a href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Secret-What-Great-Leaders-Know/dp/1626561982/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1489027144&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+secret+ken+blanchard\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><em>The Secret</em></strong></a>, I began to receive calls to speak. This is understandable – the book was well received and today has been translated to more than 25 languages. However, the nature of the calls contained an insight.\n\nOrganizations did not want me to attend their conference or talk to their leadership teams about our definition of leadership – they had the book for that. What they repeatedly asked for was, “What’s next?”\n\nInitially, I was taken aback by the question. Wasn’t the definition enough? Obviously not! The common refrain was, “What do we DO with our definition of leadership?” The question many leaders are confronted with is “Yes, I want to be the type of leader you describe, but how do I become that leader?”\n\nThat’s why step #2 is to <em>Teach It</em>.\n\nYour organization must systematically teach your current and emerging leaders what you believe about leadership and how to fulfill your organization’s leadership expectations (your working definition).\n\nWhat does this look like? It depends. Don’t be frustrated by this ambiguous response. It really does depend. It depends on many factors – here are few of them:\n<ul>\n 	<li>The size of your organization</li>\n 	<li>The maturity of your leaders</li>\n 	<li>The demands placed on them (scope and scale of their responsibilities)</li>\n 	<li>Your personality as an organization</li>\n 	<li>Your goals</li>\n 	<li>Your budget</li>\n 	<li>Your sense of urgency</li>\n 	<li>The number of high-performing leaders already in place</li>\n</ul>\nThis is a partial list! However, in spite of the diverse factors at play, the answers you have at your disposal regarding how to teach your leadership point-of-view can probably be achieved with your own version and adaptation of the following strategies.\n\n<strong>Formal training</strong> – A simple scope and sequence can be created to ensure EVERY leader in your organization speaks the same leadership language. If you have a point-of-view on planning, teach all your leaders. If you have a point-of-view on effective teams, teach all your leaders. This doesn’t have to be elaborate, lengthy, or costly – it does need to be consistent.\n\n<strong>Mentoring</strong> – This is a cornerstone for many organizations. The reason is simple: things can be accomplished in the context of a relationship that will not happen in a classroom. So, why not skip formal training and do everything in mentoring relationships? Efficiency and effectiveness. If you want 50, 100, or 1000 leaders to learn your organization’s “5 Keys to Effective Brainstorming,” you don’t want to have 1000 different mentors trying to teach this. Let the formal training do what it is best suited to do, and let the mentoring relationships deal with more personal issues and applications.\n\n<strong>Self-guided Development</strong> – This is a powerful and often overlooked tool in every organization’s leadership development tool box. I believe EVERY leader should have an individual development plan that is updated regularly (at least annually) and discussed often with her or his supervisor. I am also a fan of this plan being co-created WITH a supervisor. The best leaders are learners – period. This needs to happen just like breathing. To inculcate this behavior, a written plan with specific outcomes and activities can be extremely helpful.\n\nSkills are a prerequisite to turn aspiration into accomplishment. If you have a definition of leadership, be sure your people have the skills to bring it to fruition in their daily lives.\n\nBut, if you’ve been down this path before, you already know what we quickly learned – there is more to creating leadership culture than a common definition and skills. My next post will address our next insight…', 'Yes, But How? (A Leaders Made Here Post)', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'yes-but-how-a-leaders-made-here-post', '', '', '2017-03-09 06:00:34', '2017-03-09 11:00:34', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33035', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(33041, 446, '2017-04-07 06:00:28', '2017-04-07 10:00:28', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In most work environments, employees perform their tasks in a team structure. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyone on the team has a specific area of expertise. The hope is that everyone works together, like a well-oiled machine. But if you’ve worked in a team setting, whether that be in school, sports, or the modern workplace,</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you know this is easier said than done. More often than not, someone is slacking off, and another team member has to pick up their slack. This can be very frustrating. But it can be fixed! </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Below are some tips on how to create psychological safety on your team. Doing this will promote both employee engagement and productivity.</span>\n<h3>What Is Psychological Safety?</h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The basic definition of psychological safety is feeling secure and comfortable in your environment. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Providing a psychologically safe environment</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is vital for your team. People need to feel free to brainstorm ideas, talk freely, and communicate directly. They need to feel comfortable with other team members and trust one another. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If these feelings are not present, your team will not be able to achieve their potential. Talk to your team openly about this and make them feel confident they can address concerns and questions openly with the team. Make sure there aren’t any workplace bullies on the team. This can have a huge negative impact on fellow team members and potentially cultivate negative attitudes amongst the team. If you notice workplace bullying happening within your team, stop it immediately and fix the behavior. </span>\n<h3>How to Foster A Psychologically Safe Team</h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having a psychologically safe environment is incredibly important. But how exactly can you provide this setting? Here are some tips. </span>\n<ul>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Include everyone.</strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Whether it be inviting people to lunch or after-work activities, make sure everyone on the team feels like they are wanted and valued.</span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Failure is not a bad thing.</strong><b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This may seem like an oxymoron, but it\'s important that your team members aren\'t afraid to fail. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Failure leads to success. Make your team members feel confident enough to try new things. If it doesn’t work out, don’t punish, but rather, encourage them to keep on trying.</span></b></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Encourage creativity.</strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Help your team understand that there is more than one way to do something. Make sure that everyone on the team is comfortable coming up with new ideas and running with them. However, make it known that all team members will be accountable for their projects. There is a fine line between being accountable and creativity. Walk that line and encourage team members to be creative, while still being accountable for all actions and ideas.  </span></li>\n 	<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Practice what you preach.</strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It’s one thing to say you’ll do all these things. It’s another to actually do them. If your team members can’t count on you to maintain the standards set, how will they ever be successful? If you say you are going to be available to them for questions, but shut people down when they come to you for help, it will destroy the psychologically safe environment you’ve worked so hard to create.</span></li>\n</ul>\n<h3><b>What To Do If Psychological Safety Is Being Threatened </b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No matter how hard you try to create a psychologically safe workplace, there will be problems to address. It’s how you deal with these problems that will set you apart from other companies and teams. Adequate supervisor developmen</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can be a great tool to facilitate this process.  </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best advice when dealing with threatening situations is to face them head on. If you have a team member that is belittling other employees, confront them in a non-hostile environment and let them know that what they are doing will not be tolerated. You’ve worked hard to establish a psychologically safe place for your team; don’t let the bad behavior of a few ruin that. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating a safe environment for your employees is easier said than done. But it’s an investment that is worth your time. Creating such a place for team members will drastically increase your effectiveness and overall happiness at work. All aspects of the job will be better, and your employees will have a greater love and dedication for their work.  </span>\n\n<em>Learn more about creating psychological safety on your team at <a href=\"https://www.bamboohr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Bamboo HR</a>. </em>', 'How to Create Psychological Safety on Your Team', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-create-psychological-safety-on-your-team', '', '', '2017-04-07 06:00:28', '2017-04-07 10:00:28', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33041', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(33047, 451, '2017-03-14 06:00:23', '2017-03-14 10:00:23', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The proverbial road to hell is paved with lots of people who want to become more fit. Their motivation might be to keep their heart healthy, climb a mountain, or play more with their kids. And much ink has been spilled on the subject. There is no shortage of research or advice into how to be healthy and get fit: most people that fail are plagued with myths, unhelpful mindsets, and bad behaviors. They’re stuck in routines and have given themselves plenty of good reasons to not get out of them. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are hundreds of books that promise the perfect map for losing weight, if only you follow the path they lay out for you. Many of these roads will lead you to your goal if you follow them. But most don’t. People guess that the latest diet or routine may help them, and so they try it out. Similar to other problems, a guessing strategy often fails. After these failures, most people give up, make excuses, or just heap blame on themselves.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But getting fit isn’t something you can do by following some rote path someone has laid out for you. One-size-fits-all solutions are great for easy problems, but for many people, getting fit is a hard problem. To solve hard problems, you need to adopt </span><a href=\"http://www.stopguessingbook.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new problem-solving behaviors</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Believe in a Simple Solution</span></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fear plays a big role in keeping people from being fit. Many people don’t see themselves as “athletes.” They’re afraid of being judged by others, or of being seen as a fraud. They’re afraid to change their routine, of being uncomfortable, of failing. It takes courage to commit to get fit. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many hard problems can be solved by a simple solution, if the problem-solving is good. Before you get started, picture that simple solution. Picture yourself as someone who enjoys their workout, and enjoys their new identity as an athlete, a health nut, an outdoorsman, an </span><a href=\"http://www.pjsweeney.com/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">adventurer</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">--whatever vision works for you. Identify the perks that go along with it: better cholesterol numbers, a smaller clothing size, or more energy to play with your kids.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Start with goals that you have the confidence you can hit--the next step should be a simple one. If you want a run a marathon, but have never run, start with making a habit of running; perhaps even start by walking and then build up to a run When you’ve mastered a 20 minute morning run, set a goal for a 5k, then a 10k, and so on. Your confidence will grow each time you hit a milestone.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you find the fitness plan that works for you, it won’t be hard. In fact, you’ll enjoy it and might even become addicted to it. That’s how fit people stay fit: it becomes, very simply, a part of their life that they enjoy and cherish. </span>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dig Into the Fundamentals</span></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fitness and psychology are fields that have vast scientific literature to help you understand the nuances of each discipline. The science of the body and the brain has yielded many new insights over the past few decades about how we can better keep ourselves fit. Unfortunately, few people do the reading.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One recent example from neuroscience: if you remove friction and decision-making from your workout routine, you’re far more likely to do it. </span><a href=\"http://www.unclebobstips.com/happiness/SIX_The_20Second_Rule.asp\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You could go to bed with your workout clothes on</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and your sneakers by the bed. Or you could put an ab roller and yoga mat in your bedroom so you do a core circuit every night. </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strategies like these, as well as strategies for eating or maximizing the impact of your workout, are a quick read away. Never in human history has it been easier to learn. Don’t be intimidated: most of these studies have been translated into language we mere mortals can understand. Go dig into the fundamentals and find one that resonates with you!</span>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smell the Problem</span></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To solve the problems holding you back from your fitness goals, you need to learn yourself and understand these problems better. If you’re having trouble finding time for the gym, record how you’re using your time. If you’re having trouble eating well, record what you eat. Keep a journal and take notes. You’ll be able to observe patterns about your behavior that can be critical to changing your habits and routine.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Often, people know what new diets or habits are helpful, or have set up time to work out, but simply haven’t done so. Something psychological might be holding you back: take stock of how you’re feeling before and after you eat something you don’t want to eat, or when you skip a workout. Write these feelings down, and you’ll understand some of the psychological or subconscious problems standing between you and what you want. Likewise make sure you notice every time you get a creative idea, come up with a solution to a tough problem, or feel a runner’s high during your workout. The benefits (carrot) are as powerful as the bad feelings (stick).</span>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blaze Your Own Trail</span></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your path to fitness may not be completely unique, but it won’t be the same one that others took. You’ll need to blaze your own trail, rather than walk a path that someone else has trodden for you. You can solve the problems holding you back from your fitness goals, if you approach them like a </span><a href=\"http://www.stopguessingbook.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">great problem solver</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. </span>\n\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This article was co-authored by <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/nat-greene/\" target=\"_blank\">Nat Greene</a> and Patrick Sweeney. Patrick Sweeney is a full time adventurer helping millions of people find their adventurer within. He’s also a TV host and former serial entrepreneur, launching and selling three technology companies worth millions of dollars. He was an Olympic-level and international champion rower, and is now a world record holder and global adventurer. Find Patrick at </span></i><a href=\"http://www.pjsweeney.com/\" target=\"_blank\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://www.PJSweeney.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1490152679751000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEF1T2LYJQJrxvZMHiKM9hDGVPfxA\">www.PJSweeney.com</a>, on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PJSweeney\" target=\"_blank\">@pjsweeney</a>, and/or on <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/PJSweeneyAdventures/\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook</a>.', '4 Trailblazing Problem-Solving Tips From Fitness', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '4-trailblazing-problem-solving-tips-from-fitness', '', '', '2017-03-14 06:00:23', '2017-03-14 10:00:23', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33047', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(33051, 357, '2017-04-12 06:00:38', '2017-04-12 10:00:38', 'We are a driven culture. A can-do society with an addiction, at times, to over-achieving. Or maybe that’s just me.\n\nOr me and many of my clients.\n\nOne thing I’ve learned in my years of supporting – and challenging – leaders is that at least as necessary as achieving and doing and getting things done, is resting and playing and enjoying ourselves. It is the fuel that can stoke our fire and the space that can ignite our imagination and innovation.\n\nI’ve witnessed clients (and myself) push themselves to the point of distraction and even error. I’ve seen clients work so hard and sleep so little that their worst behavior traits inflamed. I’ve had clients who felt they had to always be so serious that they left no room for creativity.\n\nAnd I’ve watched how leaders, teams, and organizations thrive and flourish – and achieve – when they take a break, or laugh, or make time for fun.\n\nThe mind and body are powerful, and when we give ourselves what we need to feel strong physically and engaged mentally and emotionally, we can be at our best. One of the best ways to do this is to make sure we enjoy ourselves, and enjoy ourselves often.\n\nThat person who delights you and makes you laugh will most likely help you see things in a new way and ease up on your stress. That favorite book or walk through the park will give your mind a break so that you can jump back into the challenge even more determined. That great movie, yoga class, favorite cup of coffee or glass of wine, comfortable chair, beautiful flower – whatever it is that does it for you – each of these are a way to strengthen your leadership.\n\nI challenge my clients to make lists of the things they love – at work, at home, in life – and to actively add a few things from their lists into their daily life. As often as possible. I challenge myself to stop and breathe and enjoy the moment, before I dive into my next task.\n\nI have learned, and I firmly believe, that enjoying ourselves is a key to powerful leadership and an amazing life. And it’s a fun key to put into practice.', 'Enjoying Yourself is an Essential Leadership Skill', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'enjoying-yourself-is-an-essential-leadership-skill', '', '', '2017-04-12 06:00:38', '2017-04-12 10:00:38', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33051', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(33060, 252, '2017-03-13 06:00:53', '2017-03-13 10:00:53', 'Being cut off while driving. People letting a door slam in your face when you approach a store. The person who leaves their car stereo blaring while parked in front of the ATM. Daily we can experience any or all these types of minor discourtesies.\n\nMy friend <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/jane-perdue/\" target=\"_blank\">Jane Perdue</a> did a great job recently reflecting on “<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/conflict-is-in-the-air/\">Conflict in the Air</a>,” sharing her latest observations of increasing incivility and what we can do about it. Her post motivated me to share my own recent stories when I was inspired to handle difficult situations better because of a friend’s encouragement.\n<h3>Trolls don’t have to ruin your day</h3>\nIf you are visible on the web, inevitably someone is going to take a shot at you. Recently I was bemoaning an awful remark about me in the comments section on a video. I wanted to call the person out. My rationale was it was so awful; people shouldn’t get away with that. A friend suggested I reply, “Namaste,” (basically honoring the other person\'s higher self). I did that.\n<h3>Trolls in real life</h3>\nAbout a month ago a vehicle cut me off on a nearby highway. As I signaled to change lanes and began to move, the vehicle slightly behind me in the other lane sped up so I couldn’t enter the lane. I was irked. Then they pulled ahead. The vehicle was a distinctive neon color. Its license plate read as an alternative spelling of the word, “Punisher.” How appropriate.\n<h3>A chance of a lifetime</h3>\nA few weeks later I pulled in and parked at my favorite coffee shop. Several feet away parked at the curb by an ATM was “The Punisher.” I thought hard. It was an opportunity I could not pass up.\n\nDon’t worry. I was careful. I scoped out the situation and the driver. There were so many thoughts going through my head -- snarky comments I could say to punish The Punisher. How many times do you get the chance to talk to the person who messes with you so blatantly on the roadway? Would he be as bold in person?\n<h3>Sometimes, face-to-face, we aren’t so terrible to each other</h3>\nDespite all the tantalizing possibilities, I knew I needed to be mindful. I remembered my friend’s advice about the troll online. What if I offered some version of “Namaste?”\n\nI kept my distance. After the driver finished at the ATM I got his attention and asked if I could have a moment. He nodded.\n\nI told him I hoped he had a good day. He looked at me quizzically. I told him he had cut me off on the road recently. I knew because his vehicle was so distinctive. I said I figured he must have been having a bad day to have cut me off, so I hoped today he had a good day.\n\nThe only thing he said to me was, “Where?” I don’t know why that was important. When I told him he shrugged and walked away.\n\nI share this story not to pat myself on the back but to acknowledge how difficult it is to be generous when someone has done you wrong.\n\nThere were so many satisfying things I could have said to him. I also know they wouldn’t have been satisfying in retrospect.\n\nI checked in with a fellow coach. Was I taking things too far by talking to this stranger? Is my impatience and annoyance leading me to risky behavior? After analyzing this and other recent incidents we decided I\'m not going off the deep end. Yet.\n<blockquote>Kindness is loving people more than they deserve.\n\n~ Joseph Joubert</blockquote>\nWe can hold others accountable. There’s a time to do it directly. There’s a time to do it kindly. We can even do both.\n\nI am grateful when I receive more kindness than I deserve. I’m glad my better angel of a friend challenged me to wish another well despite my temptation to do otherwise.', 'No Need to Troll a Troll', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'no-need-to-troll-a-troll', '', '', '2017-03-13 06:00:53', '2017-03-13 10:00:53', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33060', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(33095, 329, '2017-03-20 06:00:37', '2017-03-20 10:00:37', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mr. Hightower was not a very nice man. His cold countenance was so tight it appeared even a faint smile would shatter his face. I was reading a bedtime story to my kid brother and he asked, “What’s a troll?” When I told him that a troll was a very short Mr. Hightower, he immediately understood the imagery. If our family went to town on Saturday, a sidewalk encounter with Mr. Hightower was more frightening than having to walk home alone on a dark night from grandmother’s house.</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mr. Hightower’s cattle farm was adjacent to our family cattle farm in South Georgia. Cattle farms were comprised of large grazing pastures, their inhabitants confined by unreliable fences. Cows generally escaped their incarceration when an elderly tree expired and fell across the fence. For some reason our cows always ventured north to Mr. Hightower’s front lawn; his cows loitered south along the highway beside our pasture to visit our cows.</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The manner my dad handled a Hightower cow invasion and how Mr. Hightower handled the exact same scenario was a powerful lesson in the ethics of service. Mr. Hightower called up at first light with a demanding: “Ray, a bunch of your #%@ cows are out again! Get your boys up right now and come get ‘em out of my front yard. They’ve probably eaten my squash.” Mr. Hightower always forgot cows don’t eat vegetables.</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When my dad spotted Mr. Hightower’s cows taking a joy ride, he never called. He calmly got us up to go with him to return the cows to their proper domicile. But, he went one step further. He found the site of their prison break and repaired it. He waited until he saw Mr. Hightower on Saturday uptown to provide a cordial briefing of the incident. Mr. Hightower never expressed gratitude and always seemed puzzled. But, it never mattered to my dad. He knew he had done a good deed, helped retain civility between neighbors, and taught his boys the power of service.</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span>\n<h3>A Service Prelude</h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is the act of service, really? We associate it with assistance or help-- doing a good deed that benefits another. However, for such a benefit to matter it must fall outside of the realm of routine. When you take your car in to be repaired you bring with your vehicle certain service expectations. You expect the work to be done accurately and with a limited wait time. You expect the mechanic to “clean up after himself” --no grease on your car seat. You also expect when you retrieve your repaired vehicle to have to get out your wallet. As customers, we only recall such a standard encounter if the experience fails to meet our expectations or exceeds our expectations.  </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enhancing the worth of the server-to-customer exchange—value-added or value-unique—comes from the spirit of generosity. If the auto mechanic takes the time to explain the repair in a way that helps prevent a future occurrence, if the service writer leaves an ice-cold bottle of water in the car cup holder, or if the repair bill notes another problem was corrected without charge, we would describe that repair-for-money exchange as “great service” and tell our neighbors. My dad gave Mr. Hightower a gift. He could have left Mr. Hightower’s cows along the road at risk of being hit by a passing truck. Instead, he generously made a sacrifice to return the cows plus repair the fence.  </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, service is more than sacrifice born out generosity. As much as service is about giving, it is also about protecting. My dad knew that if he took Mr. Hightower’s approach to cow invasion, the two would be on the path to a South Georgia version of the Hatfields and McCoys. His service was more than an act of generosity and sacrifice; it was also an act of stewardship. He was giving; he was also guarding.</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company authorizes employees, including housekeepers, to spend up to $2000 to make sure a hotel guest leaves satisfied. But, if you examine that authorization closer, you learn that prior to empowerment came special training in how to handle situations in a way that minimized the need for such a costly gesture. Employees were taught to think like owners and “take care of the organization” as they were “taking care of the customer.” When customers witness acts of generosity that go beyond what they consider appropriate, they worry about the long-term viability of the enterprise. All of Ritz’s associates are as focused on RevPAR (revenue per available room) as they are on their GSI (guest satisfaction index).</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Service is also about hospitality. The auto mechanic who does all the right things to add value to the exchange but does it with a negative attitude can cancel out all the benefit. A generous act without a generous manner looks to the customer like a ploy or ruse. Generosity only has power when it is delivered with authenticity and enthusiasm. Mr. Hightower’s cold countenance never changed. But, that never stopped my dad from treating him like a valued neighbor. The lesson we got was the fact that we had complete control over our attitudes. Since positive feels better than negative, we could choose happy despite the Mr. Hightowers we encountered in life.</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Service works when it enriches exchanges. Customers feel valued when the experience a service provider delivers something special to the encounter. But generous must be coupled with conscientiousness or it turns contentment into caution. And, a generous heart without an enthusiastic spirit risks leaving customers believing they have received a gesture without importance and a gift without worth.</span>\n<h3><b>The Service Postlude</b></h3>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Hightower saga was also a lesson in principled service. It telegraphed to my family the nobility of service--encounters laced with goodness, kindness, and compassion. It gave us insulation from a world too often filled with avarice and self-centeredness. It provided guidance in how to nurture long-term relationships. And, it ensured we arrived at adulthood with a sense of character and moral courage.  </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All leaders walk in a floodlight.  How leaders handle the Mr. Hightowers of the world trumpets their values and reveals their interpersonal manners. And, when they take the high ground, they solidify the ground under the feet of their employees. When they demonstrate respect and benevolence, they bolster a space of safety and strength. Ethics is far more than morality—it is the very substance of all relationships.</span>', 'Is Your Service Ethical?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'is-your-service-ethical', '', '', '2017-03-20 06:00:37', '2017-03-20 10:00:37', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33095', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(33099, 276, '2017-03-15 06:00:35', '2017-03-15 10:00:35', 'One of the most important qualities of a leader is the ability to develop others. When they invest their time and effort, they can help the organization multiply leaders. Because leaders develop other leaders, while they are in their leadership journey, they continue to learn and improve themselves and at the same time develop their people.\n\nLeaders multiply the capability of the organization by multiplying talent, however it is important to note that, although numbers matter, quality is even more important.  In the Bible verse Judges 7, Gideon was ready to lead his 32,000 in a fight against the Midianites. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many people for me to hand the Midianites over to you, or else Israel might brag: \'I did it myself.\'\" God proceeds to give Gideon a couple of tests to whittle the number down. The first test culled 22,000 men out of the army, leaving 10,000. “Still too many,” said God.\n\nGod tells Gideon to take his men down to the water and let them drink. Weed out any men who stick their face down into the water to drink; keep the ones who ladle the water to their mouths with their hands. Gideon must have gulped hard when he counted how many were disqualified: 9700 were out, leaving only 300 men. At this point, you can imagine what’s on Gideon’s mind, from 32,000 to 300. What are the odds that 300 can beat 135,000 Midianites? On the surface, not a good chance, because it will mean each Israeli soldier has to fight 450 Midianites.\n\nWhat did the people who drank with their hands do to make them capable? My interpretation of that is measure of quality. Those who drank with their hands knew the right thing to do while those who drank with their mouth were not ready for the challenge ahead. In the end, it’s not the size of the team, but the size of the hearts of those who are willing do their best and rise to the occasion. As it turned out, God sent confusion into the ranks of the enemy and they started attacking each other. When the fight was over, 120,000 Midianites had killed one another and 15,000 fled. Gideon’s prayers were answered.\n\nIn conclusion, leaders develop leaders who can develop others. They multiply the talent, but it important to note that quality matters. It is important to know that we need to invest in the right people whom we know will help raise others and increase our overall capabilities.\n\n&nbsp;', 'Leadership: The Number That Truly Matters', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'leadership-the-number-that-truly-matters', '', '', '2017-03-15 06:00:35', '2017-03-15 10:00:35', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33099', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(33104, 335, '2017-03-16 06:00:53', '2017-03-16 10:00:53', '<em>We welcome Mark Miller for the third post in a five-part series defining the core principles of <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/books/leaders-made-here-by-mark-miller/\" target=\"_blank\">Leaders Made Here</a>.</em>\n\n<strong>Step 3 - Practice the Power of Opportunity</strong>\n\nCreating a leadership culture is within the grasp of every organization. The steps are known and proven. Hopefully, <strong><em>Leaders Made Here</em></strong> will serve organizations around the world by articulating an approachable strategy for success.\n\nIn my previous posts in this series, I outlined the first two stages of the journey. Without a working definition of leadership (<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/more-leaders-faster-step-one/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Define It</strong></a>) and the skills necessary to deliver on the definition <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/yes-but-how-a-leaders-made-here-post/\" target=\"_blank\">(<strong>Teach It</strong></a>), your efforts to create a leadership culture are on a dubious foundation. However, with these cornerstones in place, you are ready to bring the entire process to life.\n\nStep #3 - <strong>Practice It</strong> – is where the theory and concepts of leadership are transformed into tangible experience and results. The idea is simple to share and more challenging to execute. Here it is:\n<h3><strong><em>Give your current and emerging leaders real opportunities to lead.</em></strong></h3>\nThat’s it. More will be learned from leading than any other strategy or tactic you can devise.\n\nHere are a few tips to make this step most productive:\n\n<strong>Think before you assign</strong> – This may sound obvious, but don’t miss it. There are several things to think about here. Who are the leaders who need a growth assignment? Perhaps the answer is everyone! Fair enough; who needs which opportunities? Options include: Start a new venture. Turn around a struggling team or division. Grow a stagnant segment of your enterprise. Solve a major process or systems problem. Employ a cross-cultural or international experience. Build a team or department or division from scratch. Think – then make your assignments.\n\n<strong>Provide coaching and feedback</strong> – <em>Practice It</em> is not intended to be a solo endeavor. The most valuable experiences will be those in which a coach, mentor, or supervisor helps the leader process and learn from his or her experience. As Howard Hendricks, one of my mentors, reminded me often, “Experience is not the best teacher – <strong><em>evaluated</em></strong> experience is.” Help the leader name the lessons learned.\n\n<strong>Don’t over react to the outcome</strong> – The <em>Practice It</em> step in the process is not intended to be a sink or swim, pass or fail activity. It is not intended to be a corporate version of the Hunger Games, in which only the strong survive. The assumption is that every leader who is given real opportunities to lead will learn from her or his experience. Now, this is not to ignore patterns or emerging reality. Repeated opportunities to lead will reveal strengths, weaknesses, and potential limits regarding a leader’s future potential. But don’t judge leaders too quickly. We are all involved in a lifelong process of development.\n\nHere’s my final word on this step in the process: Fight the temptation to give all your real leadership challenges and opportunities to current, seasoned leaders. This is the short-term, risk-adverse, approach. It is not the path to long-term growth and vitality. It is not the path to a leadership culture.\n\nAs Robert Frost so eloquently said . . .\n<blockquote><em>Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—</em>\n\n<em>I took the one less traveled by,</em>\n\n<em>And that has made all the difference.</em></blockquote>\nAllowing leaders to <em>Practice It</em> is the road less traveled. Take a chance; give it a try. It will make all the difference!', 'Practice the Power of Opportunity (A Leaders Made Here Post)', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'practice-the-power-of-opportunity-a-leaders-made-here-post', '', '', '2017-03-16 06:00:53', '2017-03-16 10:00:53', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33104', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(33108, 258, '2017-03-17 06:00:11', '2017-03-17 10:00:11', '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Charles-Guillaume Etienne is said to have penned the phrase, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Most of us have heard something in this vein and many of us agree with these words whole-heartedly. The trouble is, whether at work or in our personal lives, we just can’t quite pull it off. There are simply not enough hours in the day to complete every task alone. We need help and good help can be hard to find.  </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Science is beginning to figure out what makes for good help in the form of successful leaders. Wake Forest professor and retired U.S. Army colonel Sean Hannah’s 2013 study of military leaders concluded that the brains of successful leaders are more complex than average. He found his best leaders had brains that functioned differently, and their thinking was more adaptable and nimble. Some reading his findings concluded that leaders were thus born, not made. Hannah hoped his findings could be used to help train more effective leaders.  </span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because brain development and growth occur throughout one’s lifetime, it is safe to say that it is possible to build good leaders in an organization. Just as teachers help students become more effective learners, organizations can help individuals become more effective leaders. However building leadership does require the proper opportunity, environment, and support.  </span>\n\n<b>How can you make opportunity knock?</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">  It’s not enough to simply give potential leaders opportunities to lead. Just as a teenager doesn’t begin by driving a jet, so too developing leaders need <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructional_scaffolding\" target=\"_blank\">scaffolded</a> opportunities. Leadership projects should begin with small teams, limited time frames, and clear objectives and responsibilities. Successful completion then leads to larger projects, larger budgets, and more autonomy. Emerging leaders need a chance to drive before they can fly.</span>\n\n<b>How can you build an environment of creative leadership? </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Educator George Couros tells us, “One of the best ways to derive fulfillment as an employee is to work on projects you initiate.\" Environments that allow employees to be creative and follow passions are open to new ideas and accepting of out-of-the-box thinking. They encourage and reward colleagues who consider new approaches and offer unique and exciting plans. More importantly, they make taking such risks a safe and expected behavior. Organizations that build leaders encourage employees to share their wildest ideas and their most practical. The only failure is the person who contributes nothing at all.  </span>\n\n<b>How much support is needed to help a leader fly?</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Mentorship is essential in creating leadership. Mentors provide guidance and clear expectations. They are a sounding board for ideas and a shoulder to lean on when necessary. Essential to the mentoring process is the debriefing of projects. Developing leaders need the time and encouragement to unpack a completed project, to reflect on what went well and what did not, and to consider new directions and solutions to problems. This ongoing relationship between mentor and emerging leader builds trust on both sides. The mentor fully understands the individual’s strengths and abilities, the emerging leader gains confidence and skills.</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Companies and organizations have several choices when it comes to leadership. Many hire the “born leaders\" they want, assuming they can always find and afford them. Others simply expect existing leaders to do everything themselves, limiting the growth of the leader and the organization. Perhaps the best choice would be for organizations to build their own leaders from within, creating the opportunity, environment, and support necessary to foster excellence, creativity, and innovation in young leaders.   </span>\n<blockquote><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Whatever good things we build end up building us.”  Jim Rohn</span></blockquote>\n<em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sources:</span></em>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Charles Guillaume-Etienne:  </span><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Guillaume_%C3%89tienne\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Guillaume_%C3%89tienne</span></a>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bruis et Palaprat:  </span><a href=\"https://archive.org/stream/bruisetpalaprat00etiegoog#page/n14/mode/2up\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">h</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ttps://archive.org/stream/bruisetpalaprat00etiegoog#page/n14/mode/2up</span></a>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sean Hannah:  </span><a href=\"http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/04/adaptable-leaders.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/04/adaptable-leaders.aspx</span></a>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">George Couros:  </span><a href=\"http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/7092\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/7092</span></a>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jim Rohn:  </span><a href=\"https://www.jimrohn.com/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https://www.jimrohn.com/</span></a>', 'Three Steps To Building the Leader You Need', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'three-steps-to-building-the-leader-you-need', '', '', '2017-03-17 06:00:11', '2017-03-17 10:00:11', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=33108', 0, 'post', '', 0);
