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(27852, 251, '2015-10-12 06:00:55', '2015-10-12 10:00:55', 'Leadership manifests itself in moments. Defining moments in which we do — or do not - transcend <em>me</em> for <em>we</em>, champion good over evil, or take the high road instead of the low one.\n\nSo many public leadership moments have happened lately that have made me pause.\n\nI\'m haunted by Donald Trump’s moment in New Hampshire when he forfeited the opportunity to set a good example by correcting the man who made a false claim about the President\'s faith.\n\nThe Pope’s address to Congress was a moment in which he let the light shine on the positive power of love, humility, and connection.\n\nJohn Boehner’s resignation was another. He took his moment and stepped down from a post important to him to stave off a fight contrary to the greater good.\n\nThese moments, with audiences large and small, public and private, happen every day. They are spontaneous snippets of time that define us as someone to emulate and follow or sideline us as unworthy, uninteresting, or irrelevant.\n<h3>How Can We Be Ready When Our Leadership Close-Up Happens?</h3>\nThere are several internal decisions we have to make, and be ready to act upon, if we want to make the most of our moment(s).\n\n<strong>Am I prepared to touch the touchy issues?</strong>\n\nSilence in pursuit of maintaining the peace or avoiding conflict only perpetuates the status quo. When we fail to call out the elephant in the room, individuals and groups continue to be marginalized, bias and stereotype prevail, and people and principles get lost in the pursuit of profits. Even if the message is a hard one for some to hear or for us to verbalize, a leader follows his moral compass about what’s right and what’s needed, and makes her voice heard.\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Maya Angelou</div></blockquote>\n<strong>Do I want to be first respected or liked?</strong>\n\nTo me, making a sustained, positive difference is the purpose of life, not winning popularity contests. And doing that requires us to take a stand, even when it isn’t popular or easy to do so. This was a hard-learned lesson for me. We’re hard-wired to want connection, and we aren’t normally inclined to accept the discomfort we feel so acutely when people don’t like us, especially when they’re not shy about letting that be known. But, despite the discomfort, it’s better to be respected than to sacrifice rightness for being liked because once lost, trust and credibility are wicked hard to regain.\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Michel de Montaigne</div></blockquote>\n<strong>Do I know when to be selfish and when to be selfless?</strong>\n\nThere’s so much magic and allure in being known as the one who solved a challenging problem or created something new. The warm light of adulation can be seductive. Yet, the best outcomes and answers usually happen when we throw the doors of participation wide open and invite everyone to play a part. Being selfless doesn’t mean being a doormat. It just means we don’t hog center stage. It means we’ve found the sweet spot of self-awareness, alignment, and commitment between our wants, needs, and beliefs.\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">Leadership should be more participative than directive, more enabling than performing.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Mary D. Poole</div></blockquote>', 'Are You Ready For Your Leadership Close-up?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'are-you-ready-for-your-leadership-close-up', '', '', '2015-10-12 06:00:55', '2015-10-12 10:00:55', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=27852', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(27868, 318, '2015-10-13 06:00:23', '2015-10-13 10:00:23', 'Have you ever felt any of the following ways? You want the job, but you feel uncomfortable putting yourself out there.\n\nOr you know you could do more at work, but you don\'t want to look like you\'re one of those self-promoting types.\n\nOr maybe you\'ve started blogging but don\'t want to be too pushy about your content. After all, your work should speak for itself, right?\n\nOr maybe you begin to doubt yourself. \"If I were really that good, I wouldn\'t have to work so hard at positioning.\"\n\nIf you\'ve ever felt that way about positioning, you\'re not alone. Many managers I work with would rather have their boss or someone else do their positioning for them. The truth is, if you\'re not deliberate in positioning yourself as a brand, you\'re going to lose out to someone who is.\n\n<h3>Tips For Promoting Yourself, Without Being Annoying</h3>\n\nIf the thought of promoting yourself makes you break out in hives, consider these tips.\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Be Confident In Your Product</strong> - If you don’t believe in what you’re selling, your customer won’t either. Make a list of your features and benefits. What truly differentiates you? What\'s your unique value proposition? If this step feels too hard, ask some trusted advisers to help.</li>\n<li><strong>Create Genuine Connection</strong> - Relating on a human level and demonstrating that you truly care is much more important than any positioning technique. Work to connect with people and get to know them as human beings. If you\'re looking for new ways to create genuine connection, sign up for my <a href=\"http://inspire.letsgrowleaders.com\">Free 5-Day Video Challenge</a>.</li>\n<li><strong>Be Truly Humble</strong> - Confidence without <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/2013/03/19/humility_and_leadership/\" target=\"_blank\">humility</a> is annoying. False humility or stupid self-deprecating remarks will also make them gag.</li>\n<li><strong>Ask Great Questions</strong> - Find out more about what\'s really needed in the situation you\'re approaching. Help them clarify their vision based on their scene, not what you\'ve got to give. Listen more than you talk.</li>\n<li><strong>Focus On Helping</strong> - Work to find creative solutions that solve people\'s problems. Help without any expectation of reciprocity. Help people who you think can\'t possibly help you. Connect others who can help one another. It\'s tough to be annoyed with someone who\'s just trying to help.</li>\n<li><strong>Don\'t Sell Past The Close</strong> - Once the customer says yes, say thank you, and wrap it up. Don\'t keep talking.</li>\n</ul>', 'How To Promote Yourself Without Being Annoying', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-promote-yourself-without-being-annoying', '', '', '2015-10-13 06:00:23', '2015-10-13 10:00:23', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=27868', 0, 'post', '', 12),
(27886, 374, '2015-10-09 06:00:53', '2015-10-09 10:00:53', 'When I participate in a webinar, I am especially excited when the host provides opportunities for me to truly interact with him or her and with the other participants.\n\nWhitney Johnson\'s <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/events/disrupt-yourself-play-to-your-distinctive-strengths-with-whitney-johnson-becky-robinson/\" target=\"_blank\">Disrupt Yourself</a> webinar on October 7 provided precisely that type of opportunity, and has given me lots of food for thought.\n\nIn discussing the <a href=\"https://hbr.org/2012/09/throw-your-life-a-curve\" target=\"_blank\">S Curve of Personal Learning</a>, Whitney explained its seven stages, from the frustration and unfamiliarity of being at the start of a learning curve through mastery.\n\nI gained three takeaways from this webinar:\n<ol>\n	<li><strong>To Dial In To My Distinctive Strength</strong> - Whitney advised us listeners to go to our LinkedIn profiles and see what our top-rated skill was. On LinkedIn, other people can endorse you for particular skills. She theorized that your top LinkedIn skill may be an indicator of your top distinctive strength. Before doing the exercise, I could not have told you what my top LinkedIn skill was.\n\nDrum roll please, it was:\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-27887\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/LinkedIn-Skills.png\" alt=\"LinkedIn Skills\" width=\"613\" height=\"395\" />\n\nI really shouldn\'t be surprised. The reason my social media identity is <strong>Big Green Pen</strong> goes back to editing, and I have always edited in one way or another, paid and unpaid, for fun and for a living. In all honesty, the skills listing sort of tells the story of my career path over the last six years or so as managed care (my previous professional field) fell farther down the list while blogging, social media, and editing climbed higher.</li>\n	<li><strong>To Take The Different Path</strong> - In the webinar, Whitney shared the example of <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JayneJuvan\" target=\"_blank\">Jayne Juvan</a>, who began discussing her legal practice via social media channels while social media was still in its infancy. Her fellow attorneys thought it was a waste of time, but she persevered. They weren\'t really chuckling quite so hard once she <a href=\"https://hbr.org/2015/10/what-do-you-do-well-that-others-dont\" target=\"_blank\">made partner at 32</a>, based partially on the network she built as one of the few attorneys growing their network by social media.By all objective measures, my choice to leave my full-time job in May 2014, four months shy of my 20-year anniversary and with no safety net of another job to catch me, was unwise. It is a different path, one whose outcome still remains to be seen. But it is a path which has helped my distinctive strengths see the light of day, and has given my spirit hope, which makes me motivated to forge ahead.</li>\n	<li><strong>To Champion Disruption</strong> - When I attended the Social Good Summit in September, I heard speaker after speaker, each one more motivated and articulate than the previous one and many of whom are extremely famous, like <a href=\"http://livestream.com/Mashable/english2015/videos/100586641\">Charlize Theron</a>.\n\nOne speaker, however, stayed in my mind for a different reason. She is <a href=\"http://livestream.com/Mashable/english2015/videos/100591565\" target=\"_blank\">Vivienne Harr</a>, an 11-year-old who has raised more than $100,000 to fight human trafficking, rang the starting bell at the New York Stock Exchange for the Twitter IPO, and developed an app called <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stand-your-social-network/id960059100?mt=8\" target=\"_blank\">Stand</a> which allows people to find and help various causes.</li>\n</ol>\nVivienne is different from me; she doesn\'t have all of the existential questions that can plague you by the time you\'re 50. I am thinking she has had her share of nay-sayers, people who say she\'s too young, too inexperienced, too idealistic to climb the learning curve of app development and philanthropy. I think we <strong>all</strong> should take a page from Vivienne\'s book and adopt her belief about disruption:\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">I didn\'t think of all reasons why I couldn\'t; I thought of all the reasons why I must.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Vivienne Harr</div></blockquote>\nWhitney Johnson\'s webinar helped me frame my thoughts about the next steps for me as I plan for my life after my responsibilities for being my father-in-law\'s caregiver end and as I take on additional responsibilities with <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/opportunities/\" target=\"_blank\">Weaving Influence</a>. I am grateful for her perspective and will find my copy of her new book, Disrupt Yourself, invaluable as the journey continues.\n\nI encourage you to buy a copy of <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Disrupt-Yourself-Putting-Disruptive-Innovation/dp/1629560529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1444356134&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=disrupt+yourself\" target=\"_blank\">Disrupt Yourself</a> for yourself and/or a friend. As Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorsen says, \"it\'s the how-to guide you\'ve been waiting for.\"\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-27890\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/share_01.png\" alt=\"share_01\" width=\"440\" height=\"220\" />', 'Why We Must Find Our Distinctive Strengths', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'why-we-must-find-our-distinctive-strengths', '', '', '2015-10-09 06:00:53', '2015-10-09 10:00:53', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=27886', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(27922, 391, '2015-10-26 06:00:44', '2015-10-26 10:00:44', 'What do you perceive when you walk through your company building? I mean literally: state the facts that you can observe.\n\nYou see people working, meeting, and crossing the hallways. You hear what they say (or you hear silence). You notice situations and what people are doing.\n\nNotice energy, speed of speech and movements, tone of voice, and other nonverbal cues such as eye contact, body posture, facial expression.\n\nObserve <em>the what</em> (what’s being done or said) and <em>the how</em> that’s delivered. Perceive who is alone and who is part of a gathering.\n\nThis exercise can tell you a lot about your organizational culture, even though you have to interpret these facts and check the meaning you attribute to them with those you observed.\n\n<h3>Three Meeting Rooms</h3>\n\nYou may observe these three situations:\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Meeting room one</strong> with frowning people who sigh while watching the presentation. Lots of questions and comments start with “But?” Some are staring into space with slumped shoulders.</li>\n<li><strong>Meeting room 2</strong> with a team that is talking fast and loud and in an enthusiastic tone of voice while they energetically fill the whiteboard with drawings and ideas.</li>\n<li><strong>Meeting room 3</strong> full of people who are quiet and slow to respond to each other while they check their smartphones under the desk.</li>\n</ul>\n\nAfter checking, you find out that the people in the first room discuss a new project that won’t take off. They are discouraged and about to give up. They worry about their lack of progress.\n\nIn the second room, people are discussing a new project that suddenly spiked. After a slow start that required stamina, they are now catapulted into success. They are inundated with new customers and new opportunities. The energy in the room is palpable; it even feels hot. People interrupt each other, laugh, learn and venture out of their comfort zones. Apparently, because they joke a lot to lighten their embarrassment.\n\nIn the third room, the meeting is the weekly ritual. They go through the motions, ticking the boxes: business as usual is doing fine. Nothing new here. One person yawns.\n\n<h3>Where Are You On The Curve?</h3>\n\nWhitney Johnson’s new book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Disrupt-Yourself-Putting-Disruptive-Innovation/dp/1629560529/\" target=\"_blank\">Disrupt Yourself</a> got me thinking about the developmental phases of people and organizations, as well as organizational culture because that’s my field.\n\nJohnson shares this insightful S-curve derived from research on innovation. People, projects and organizations could be in one of three phases on this learning-innovation curve.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/hypergrowth-1024x741.png\" alt=\"S-curve\" width=\"728\" height=\"527\" />\n\nIn the beginning, there are little results while you put in lots of effort. A comfort to know for all those entrepreneurs and learners out there! Persist, build your competence, keep your faith and you may be rewarded.\n\nYou might gain momentum and move to the phase of hyper-growth where you experience confidence and tremendous results based on small efforts. The project takes off - it is spiking, it is dynamic.\n\nThen, things settle down and become business as usual. The market is saturated, and so are you. No more steep learning curves, no extreme challenges - just another day at the office. You may get bored or arrogant at the top of the curve.\n\nFor people, it’s time to jump onto a new learning curve to stay fresh and engaged. For organizations, it’s time to keep looking for innovations or they will be stuck at a plateau.\n\n<h3>Dilemmas</h3>\n\nAs Johnson says, the s-curve can help us deal with reality. I find it comforting to see the slow start because it can help avoid discouragement that makes me quit too soon. On the other hand, we must be realistic. Some projects and start-ups never spike. You have to know when to quit as well.\n\nIn the middle of the curve, you have to juggle too many opportunities and tasks - here’s the dilemma regarding what to outsource, delegate, or drop to stay sane.\n\nAt the top of the curve, you encounter the innovator’s dilemma. If you don’t do something new, something inside of you dies. If you do something new you take a scary risk, having to let go of the fact that you were so comfortably settled.\n\nThe same goes for organizations - and I encounter this often in my culture change work. Many established organizations are still nicely settled on their plateaus. They know they have to be agile, more responsive to change, innovative. But they are stuck. Their structures, procedures, and cultures are firmly rooted in hierarchy, efficiency, results.\n\nThose are competing values to being flexible, innovative, learning, experimenting, trying, dissenting, debating, slacking to enhance creativity, and so on. Their structure and their culture do not support these behaviors. It feels awkward, even wrong.\n\n<h3>Unsettle Your Team</h3>\n\nThe biggest challenge in organizational culture change is to <em>unsettle</em> again. For executives, this means practicing long-forgotten behaviors like debating, losing face, being open, experimenting, not knowing the answers, letting go of control, being flexible and vulnerable - as they once experienced in college or in their first jobs or start-ups.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/learn-lose-shame.png\" alt=\"learn-lose-shame\" width=\"728\" height=\"410\" />\n\nJohnson says that companies don’t disrupt, but people do. That’s a big truth. Corporate innovation seems a contradiction when you equate corporate with the established organization I described above. To speed up, to learn, to become loud and enthusiastic and energetic, as observed in meeting room 2, we need courageous people. People who dare to disrupt themselves and others. People who dare to let go of shame when they make a mistake.\n\nIf you create a workplace culture where everything is open to discussion, authority and ideas may be challenged, and mistakes are almost bravery, then you may be on your way to innovation. This is what I entice executives to do when working on culture change. There is no innovation without personal disruption. There is no culture change without personal development, and modeling personal development must start with the executives. Dare you?\n\nThings will change if the established executive team decides to get out of meeting room 3 and try to re-energize like the rising talents in room 2.\n\nA start can be to take turns with the role of devil’s advocate in meetings, challenge some statements, and coax others into debate or dialogue. Do that and you\'ll find disruption has started! Dare you?\n\nWhere are you and your organization on the S-curve? What are you going to do about it?', 'Corporate Innovation Through Daring Personal Disruption', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'corporate-innovation-through-daring-personal-disruption', '', '', '2015-10-26 06:00:44', '2015-10-26 10:00:44', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=27922', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(27941, 329, '2015-10-16 06:00:26', '2015-10-16 10:00:26', 'One of the first songs I heard my grandfather sing was the fable of John Henry.\n\nIt was a bittersweet song from a poem that told the story of a steel-driving man who won a contest pitted against the new fangled steam-powered drill and then died from the stress of the match.\n\nJohn Henry’s job was driving a spike into rock to create a hole large enough for dynamite to be placed in order to create the Big Bend tunnel for the C&O railroad in West Virginia around 1870.\n\nMy grandfather spent much of his life looking at the back end of a mule since farming during his era was largely done by hand. For him, the hero in the song loudly proved that man could always defeat machine. As a child, I recall feeling ambivalent about how any victory could be called as such if it resulted in a dead competitor.\n\nWhen I think about John Henry I am reminded of an incident at a large, well-known home improvement retailer. I went to purchase a single small copper fitting for a faucet extension. A very nice man helped me find the bin for ¾” fittings; there was only one loose unpackaged fitting left in the bottom of the bin. Somehow inventory had not been replenished.\n\nThe front of the bin had it priced at $1.99. I took it to the checkout counter and was told, “I’ll need an item number. Where is the package it came it?” I explained it was the only one left and was loose in the bin with a price of $1.99. Again, she refused to proceed without an item number.\n\nShe called back to the plumbing department and the man who waited on me came to her register and informed her the price was $1.99 and that it was a single loose item without a package. Again she stonewalled, heatedly sending him back for the item number from the front of the bin. He was gone a while. “Just charge me $5,” I suggested. “I am in a big hurry and we are holding up this line of customers.” Then, the steam-driven drill slammed into rock-hard reality.\n\n“The cash register will not let me ring up this copper fitting without an item number.”\n\nWe live in a time flush with high efficiency, cost control, and lean operations. Not only has waste and expense been wrung out of most systems, too often so has the heart and soul of the people serving people. We seem to be getting longer on high tech; shorter on high touch. The clerk was not the culprit in this “man versus machine” rematch.\n\nBar coded packaging today drives inventory control, P&L calculations, and all manner of financial management processes. Maximizing the clerk’s productivity meant keeping her focused on the rules of the registry more than on the concerns of the customer.\n\nWere this a small local hardware store, I might have gotten, “I’ll check you out now and put the item number in later.” But, this was big business where an all-powerful cash register completely blocked this clerk’s ingenuity, empathy, and empowerment. So, who ultimately wins this contest? There is a direct competitor just a few miles away! But, let’s go deeper into the real misfortune behind this incident.\n\nThe “cash register as champ” communicates to the clerk that it is far more important than she is. Coupled with her being within firing range of angry customers, she is easily beaten down by a scenario over which she has zero control. When I asked her whether this stalled situation made sense to her, she briskly replied, “Absolutely none whatsoever.” Her answer told me she had little regard for the system she guided; her tone told me she had little regard for my continued patronage. But, there is more.\n\nWhen the sales person with whom I dealt told her the price and she demanded he get the item number off the bin, her tenor sounded like an angry mother sternly chastising a naughty child. Her colleague could have easily concluded she did not believe him. When he was gone so long, retaliation raced through my mind. And, when he finally brought her the item number, there were no pleasantries exchanged. He did not smile; she did not say “thanks.” Machine: 1; Morale: 0.\n\nNow, for the final act in this tragedy. The entire scene was played out in front of an audience of several waiting customers. Some backed out of line to choose another rather than wait for the item number to satiate the cash register and release the two of us from its unyielding grip. I later wondered why I did not just leave. But, I sensed there were lessons to be learned from this $1.99 fiasco.\n\nWhat is smart about customer service driven by the inviolable nature of the cash register? And the cash register is just a metaphor for any system, process, and procedure that inappropriately stops the execution of enterprise. This was not a legal, safety, or health stoppage of commerce. Granted, profit making is vital for survival. But, as Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once remarked, “There is only one boss. The customer. And he (or she) can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his (or her) money somewhere else.”\n\nThe clerk might have been charged with the crime of a bad attitude. But, I suspect behind her tough exterior was a personality charming enough to fool a recruiter. She might have missed customer service training. But, knowing to focus on the person giving you the money which funds your salary is not a concept only learned in training.\n\nNo. The culprit was the myopic view of leadership driven by a “make the numbers” through operational excellence not customer intimacy. The irony was their technological prowess failed to keep the copper fitting bin flush with inventory. And, the human in command of taking care of the customer was jailed by a system that quarantined a solution that favored the customer.\n\nIn the end leadership failed to give this front-line ambassador the trust, respect, and capacity to ensure that when there was ever a John Henry-like contest, a healthy “John Henry” would always win…right along with the customer.', 'Are You Leading Cash Registers?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'are-you-leading-cash-registers', '', '', '2015-10-16 06:00:26', '2015-10-16 10:00:26', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=27941', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(27943, 329, '2015-12-17 06:00:56', '2015-12-17 11:00:56', 'The second word most toddlers learn to say is “mine,” usually accompanied with a “ready-to-fight” disposition. It is the beginning of the possessive and territorial orientation we carry with us right up until our will is read to our descendants. But “mine” is more than a statement of control; it is an expression of identity. To be a Harley guy, a Nordie, Deadhead, or Starbucks fan is a complex communication of affinity that goes beyond pure preference. And, it is the dream of every brand manager.\n\nThe concept of brand in this country started in the west with the branding of cattle. Cattle shared open grazing range. When it came time to drive cows to market, the hot tattoo was a convenient way to identify a particular cow. Obviously barbed wire fence altered the practice of using branding for identification.\n\nThe golden arches today help us identify a particular fast-food restaurant; an apple with one bite removed identifies a particular computer company. Brands are powerful tools for customer trust. They spell “consistency” and “reliability.”\n\nThe word “brand” is typically associated with image--logo, signage, impression, promotion, etc. Companies protect brands with the same fervor they guard patents, trademarks, and company secrets. Let a new hamburger enterprise opt for silver arches as its emblem and even a clown named Ronald will have something to say about it.\n<h3><strong>Brand as Identity</strong></h3>\nThere is another side of the meaning of brand. Branding in the Wild West was more than a tool for identification; it was also a means to determine ownership. The “Circle J” brand was not just the moniker of the cattle associated with the ranch along the east side of the Brazos River. It also told everyone that the cows were the property of that particular ranch.\n\nThere is a very big difference between simply recognizing a McDonald’s and adoring it. What steps change “the Starbucks at the corner of First and Main” into “my Starbucks?” A friend told me she loved her favorite restaurant in NYC so much she found herself tidying up their sink when she used their ladies room. That is emotional branding! How can outstanding customer service be an effective tool for building the trust in a brand that provokes customer devotion, not just confidence? Three principles characterize those organizations that elevate “trust in a brand” to “love for a brand”—inclusion, generosity, and honesty. They are also the features of their leaders.\n<h4>Inclusion: Customers Care When They Share</h4>\nThe CEO of eBay said in an interview, “Most good innovation comes from customers. The more time we spend thinking in the ivory tower in San Jose, the worse off we’re going to be.” The company places great stock in their voice of the customer efforts that bring in dozens of customers every year for feedback, ideas and suggestions. Politicians would be wise to learn the ways of eBay. Great brands build brand devotion through fostering customer participation.\n\nOn Southwest Airlines Flight 22 from El Paso to Phoenix, the flight attendant accepted assistance from two adoring passengers to help pass out peanuts to fellow passengers. The most important part of the occurrence was not the obvious fun the two guys in Bermuda shorts and ball caps had. It was the noticeable positive effect the incident had on everyone on board. Even super serious passengers could not help but grin as they received the all-too-familiar snack from the flight attendant-wannabes!\n<h4>Generosity: Great Brands Give Back</h4>\nAnne Frank wrote; “No one has ever become poor by giving.” Great brands have a captivating impact on customers through a recognizable attitude of generosity. And, generosity starts at the top (think Buffett, Gates, Oprah and Paul Allen). Generosity attracts and retains because it conveys the kind of unconditional positive regard that characterizes relationships at their very best. Customers like the way they feel when dealing with service providers who have such an abundance orientation. They feel valued, not used. They believe they are recipients of a sincere desire to serve, not just a ploy for payback.\n\nBouquets is an award winning flower shop located in downtown Denver near many parking meters as well as a bus stop. Many businesses refuse to give change for meters and buses, except to customers, because it depletes their cash till and takes employee time to go back to the bank for more change. Bouquets replenishes a bag of quarters daily, specifically designed to make change for anyone who asks, says owner B.J. Dyer. “Coins are offered with a smile and a business card. Many people later become our customers when they need flowers,” Dyer adds.\n<h4>Honesty: The Whole Truth and Nothing But</h4>\n“Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist,” wrote Mary Kay founder and CEO Mary Kay Ash. Great brands are fans of truth telling and truth-seeking. Take it from the City of Santa Clarita (California), selected by Money Magazine as one of the Top 25 places to live in the U.S. Santa Clarita’s mayor holds the annual hairdressers banquet—a powerful forum to learn what matters most to citizens. The city also shows its willingness to be frank and make information a two-way street with its citywide Citizen Participation program.\n\nThe most famous cattle brand in the state of Texas is the “Flying W.\" It is the symbol for the largest ranch in the U.S.—the 875,000-acre King Ranch in Southeast Texas. Established in 1860, the ranch has produced cattle and horses that have won top honors at competitions around the world. One King Ranch horse won the Triple Crown in 1946. But King Ranch is best known for its significant and generous contributions to the cattle industry. The King Ranch example of going beyond image holds an important message for all brand-maker leaders.\n\nCustomers devoted to a brand are assertive advocates. Devoted customers are quick to forgive blunders (e.g., the rapid comeback of JetBlue after the tarmac fiasco). Brand lovers contribute ideas that help the brand innovate and grow. And, wise leaders eager to create a strong emotional connection with their customers have learned it starts with a culture grounded in an allegiance to inclusion, generosity, and honesty.', 'A Leader’s Guide to Emotional Branding', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'a-leaders-guide-to-emotional-branding', '', '', '2015-12-17 06:00:56', '2015-12-17 11:00:56', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=27943', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(27946, 329, '2015-11-17 06:00:42', '2015-11-17 11:00:42', 'It was an amusing game at a leadership retreat, especially after a few adult beverages. The instructions were simply describe leadership as a highway sign and tell why.\n\nThere were the comical ones like <em>One Way</em> or <em>No Turns</em>, or <em>Rough Road Ahead</em>”. But the one that stumped us all was <em>Speed Limit 24 MPH</em>.\n\nWhen the laughter stopped the explanation that followed was more than a frivolous detour. In fact, it was downright sobering.\n\n“Leaders need to be provocative,” said the aberrant participant. “Influence is already baked into the word itself. But to be effective a leader’s influence needs to be noticed and considered. It needs to provoke some action or attitude. Who would miss a provocative speed limit sign that had an unexpected number on it?”\n\nThe game - especially the off-the-beaten-path answer - was the subject of the following morning’s workshop. What should be the nature and practice of leadership in order for it to be effectively practiced?\n\nMy first commanding officer in combat in Viet Nam was a no-nonsense, battle honed, badass who accepted nothing short of excellence. He was not inclusive; he was decisive. He was uninterested in my morale. \"Go talk to the chaplain,\" he would say. He was deeply interested in the mission.\n\nHe was a true warrior and expected all in his command to be likewise. His principle: Leaders lead. Be the first boots on the ground and the last boots off. He was a great leader and I would follow CPT Jack Hamilton to the end of the earth.\n\nMy first boss in the professional world was a bright, charismatic leader who melded a diverse group of officers into a superb partnership. Our unit was famous for innovation and forward-thinking practices. He forged an environment laced with trust, respect and collaboration. He was a great listener and curiosity-driven conversationalist.\n\nHe demonstrated courage and responsible risk-taking, even with a boss famous for his strong, power-driven style. His principle: There is unity in strength; strength in unity. Take care of the whole. He was a great leader and I would follow Chuck Cooley to the end of the earth. Hold that thought...\n\n<h3>The Trouble With A Formula</h3>\n\nI was recently in a meeting with the leadership development director of a large manufacturing company. The topic was the company’s leadership development training program. He was boasting about the number of leadership theories he taught in the training program.\n\n“They get a good blend of Hersey-Blanchard’s Situational Leadership, Kotter’s Change Management, Kouzes-Posner’s Five Leadership Practices, Collins’ Level Five and many more.” I realized he was giving me the table of contents of a college textbook on leadership theories.\n\nThe bad boy in me wanted to tell him leadership was not a theory or model. Just ask Jack or Chuck. Models may explain but it is principles that guide. We feel safe with formulas. It is comforting to know we can explain away ineffective leadership behavior with simple labels like EQ or ESTJ or 9/1.\n\nParticipants sit through classes chock full of models and instruments with a few clever games thrown in and come out <em>a trained leader</em>. It is easy for the trainer to train; it can be a waste for the learner if the test is competence that can be replicated, applied, and mastered in the line of fire.\n\nBefore I deployed to Viet Nam as a newly minted lieutenant, I had the opportunity to go through leadership training as a part of Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA. The centerpiece was a set of filmed battlefield situations in which a leadership decision was required for success.\n\nAt the crucial decision point the film stopped and the words on the screen read: “What do you do now, lieutenant?” What followed was a discussion about leadership principles relevant for the role, responsibility and setting. There were no formulas, models or diagrams to remember, just principles.\n\n<h3>The Crucible For Principle-Centered Leadership</h3>\n\nJack Hamilton would have been a failure had he applied his combat-relevant principles to the unit lead by Chuck Cooley. As much as I learned from Chuck, I cannot imagine his collaborative style working in the thick of combat. Leadership is more than situational; it is cultural.\n\nThe culture of a group of Army Rangers is totally different than the culture of a staff unit in a financial services company. Each culture harbors a set of principles, written or implied, that guide leader beliefs that influence leader actions and practices. What provokes in one culture only perturbs in another.\n\nCaptain Michael Abrashoff is the former captain of the USS Benfold, the ship the U.S. Navy acclaimed to be the best-run ship in the Navy.\" He writes in his book, <em>It’s Your Ship</em>:\n\n“On my first day aboard when the chow line formed for the traditional Sunday lunch on the deck of the ship I went to the back of the chow line,” says CPT Abrashoff. “It had been a tradition that all officers went to the front of the chow line and then sat together in a different area of the deck. After getting my meal, I sat with the enlisted personnel. It signified to every sailor on board that I was there to support them, not the other way around.”\n\nThe following Sunday, every officer went to the back of the chow line and sat with the enlisted personnel. His principle: Leaders use their actions to affirm that all people under their command have unique contributions.\n\nWe could probably find the basis of CPT Abrashoff’s decision in Robert Greenleaf’s service leadership model. But the guide for this leader was not a model but a principle; one that could be understood and replicated by others simply by the message sent through the leader’s actions.\n\nStart a conversation in your organization about what it means to be a leader at Acme. What is the organizational mission? What are the core values and how are they manifested in fundamental principles for leaders?\n\nWhen the late Stephen Covey suggested, “think win win” or “seek first to understand, then to be understood” he was suggesting a principle, not a theory. So, what do you do now, leader?', 'The Signs Of Provocative Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-signs-of-provocative-leadership', '', '', '2015-11-17 06:00:42', '2015-11-17 11:00:42', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=27946', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(27955, 343, '2015-10-22 06:00:48', '2015-10-22 10:00:48', 'Living 13 miles away from Loudon, New Hampshire, places me next door to New England\'s largest sporting venue, the <a href=\"http://www.nhms.com/\">New Hampshire Motor Speedway</a>.\n\nA large mile-long track attracts numerous events throughout the racing season.\n\nBut twice a year, over 100,000 racing fans come to camp out all week and see the NASCAR circuit races throughout a major event-filled weekend.\n\nNot particularly a racing fan myself, but a sporting fan overall, I enjoy watching the rules and strategies come into play, particularly how the drivers adjust to the various changes of the race, as designated by the color flags being flown.\n\nDepending on the track conditions or the behavior of a driver, these flags reveal to everyone certain conditions that must be heeded. When flown, these flags give the drivers an indication of what is about to happen or what needs to be responded to.\n\nFlags are given in organizations as well, but in a more subtle sense. When it comes to employee engagement and opportunities to shine within the company, what flags are you flying?\n\nConsider what you are communicating out there as it correlates to the NASCAR flags:\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Green Flag</strong> - This flag indicates that the race is on. Is the race - the opportunity to develop, promote, and build your people - a green flag? Are positions posted and everyone given a fair chance to show their talents and skills? Do you create opportunities, projects, and positions for all of your people to grow professionally and in turn grow your company?</li>\n<li><strong>Yellow Flag</strong> - A yellow flag shows caution ahead, and indicates that drivers may need to slow down. What are the signs of caution that get communicated to your staff, that prevent them from charging forward, being fully engaged, or even trusting you? Do they have a chance to freely voice their concerns and effect change? Do they feel that the road ahead is littered with debris and speed bumps that will derail their goals or confidence in the organization, or both? Are you cleaning up the track so the green flag can be unfurled again?</li>\n<li><strong>Red Flag</strong> - A red flag means to stop the race immediately. Do your people see the red flags that go up in your organization? The person who gets promoted without the job being posted. The downsizing and workforce reductions due to mismanagement or cost avoidance. The questions that don\'t get straight or honest answers, thus eroding all trust. The actions, contradictions in culture, or broken promises that tell your people to get off the track and find another race. Do you see your own that your people see? Remember, it takes more energy, fuel and momentum to get a car back up to speed after it has been stopped. Stop the red flags before they come out.</li>\n<li><strong>Black flag</strong> - A black flag is the consultation flag, signifying a driver needs to address an individual issue quickly. Are you flying a black flag to a person when their otherwise stellar performance starts to lag? Or when their agenda shows their values are not congruent to the organization\'s and will dilute the team\'s vision? Do you hesitate to address issues out of fear, indifference, or a willingness to just get rid of the individual? Think of how the impact slows down the other people (drivers) and gets in the way or them doing their work and succeeding. Flying the black flag quickly and effectively coaching the person back on the track will salvage their career; failure to do so may prevent others from trusting your leadership and cause them to put the brakes on their performance by navigating around the debris left in its wake.</li>\n<li><strong>Blue Flag With Yellow Stripe</strong> - This is the passing flag, letting other drivers know that faster cars are coming up. This flag can have opposite meanings. Your message to your people can show favoritism to those who you set up to succeed, or obstacles that prevent the others from having a turn in the driver\'s seat. Or it can be taking your people aside to encourage them to pursue projects and goals that will enable them to zoom ahead in their career and not feel like they are being left in the dust. The decision regarding how you fly this flag is yours, so choose wisely.</li>\n<li><strong>White Flag</strong> - A white flag means the lead driver is entering into the final lap. I call this the cheer-leading flag. When your people get close to attaining their goals, do you cheer them on and invite others to do so as well? Are you showing people that opportunity exists for them also, perhaps not during this race but perhaps the next? By highlighting the people who make the most of their opportunities, you not only encourage everyone else on the team to jump in the next time, but also to partake in team efforts to help others succeed in their goals as well.</li>\n<li><strong>Checkered Flag</strong> - When the checkered flag waves, the race has a winner. In racing, there is only one winner. That doesn\'t have to be so in your organization. This doesn\'t just mean the company as well, but consider how entire teams, departments, and even cross-disciplines can mutually win. A race car driver does not win all by himself or herself. He or she has a dedicated crew and support cast that shares in the victory. A leader who creates true opportunity will allow as many people as possible to win and have a chance to show their skills and worth to the organization. They buy milk and flower wreaths for the team and hoist the cup with them as partners in the overall accomplishments of their mutual victory.</li>\n</ul>\n\nWhat flags are you flying for your team? Are you truly creating opportunity over multiple races for people to take the pole position on a project, run the lead lap, and go to victory lane? What flags do your people see you flying?\n\nMake sure everyone gets in the race, and help them to run it well.', 'Opportunity - Which Flag Are You Flying?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'opportunity-which-flag-are-you-flying', '', '', '2015-10-22 06:00:48', '2015-10-22 10:00:48', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=27955', 0, 'post', '', 1);
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(27973, 406, '2015-11-06 06:00:04', '2015-11-06 11:00:04', 'Are you getting all you want? Are you achieving all of your goals and succeeding in life? Are you living a fully intentional life?\n\nIf you are, I salute you. I can\'t make the same claim. I do aspire to live more intentionally, though I am an aspiring intentionalist.\n\nTo live a more intentional life, I constantly strive to gain greater agency, the quality of living intentionally.\n\nIn doing that, it helps to take the following three steps: Evaluate reality clearly, make effective decisions, and achieve your goals.\n\n<iframe style=\"border: 1px solid #CFCFCF;\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z04V5_-MZ5M?rel=0&amp;controls=0&amp;showinfo=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe>\n\n<h3>Evaluate Reality Clearly</strong></h3>\n\nWhat does it mean to evaluate your reality clearly? That means gaining a deep understanding of your external environment - your immediate surroundings, your social circle, your career, and anything else of relevance. That also means your own internal environment - your patterns of feeling, thinking, and behaving.\n\n<strong>Four factors obstruct our ability to evaluate reality clearly:</strong>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://lesswrong.com/lw/hs/think_like_reality/\">Social prescriptions</a> about appropriate ways of perceiving reality.</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://lesswrong.com/lw/k5/cached_thoughts/\">Cached thoughts</a> based on our previous experiences that lead us astray.</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases\">Thinking errors</a> that our brain makes due to faulty wiring.</li>\n<li>Finally, an emotional reluctance to <a href=\"http://lesswrong.com/lw/id/you_can_face_reality/\">face the truth of reality</a> when that requires changing our minds and updating our beliefs based on new information.</li>\n</ul>\n\nLearning about and watching out for these challenges in a systematic manner improves our decision-making.\n\n<h3>Make Effective Decisions</h3>\n\nNext, you want to make effective decisions about how to reach your goals. Consider your options, based on your knowledge of your outer and inner environment. Be aware that you can change both your external surroundings, and your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, to help you to get what you want in life.\n\nEvaluate the various paths available to you, assess the probability that each path will get you to your goals. Then make a plan for how to proceed, and take the path that seems best suited to go where you want.\n\n<h3><strong>Achieve Your Goals</strong></h3>\n\nFinally, implement the decisions you made and travel along the path. Remember, you will usually encounter some unknown obstacles on your road to what you want. Be excited about getting feedback from your environment and learning about better paths forward.\n\nTake the opportunity to <a href=\"http://intentionalinsights.org/stop-live-the-life-you-want\">change your path</a> if a new one opens up that seems better suited to help you meet your goals. Be open to changing your very goals themselves based on what you learn.\n\nAs you can imagine, these things are easy to say, but hard to do. It\'s very helpful to get support along the way, through <a href=\"http://intentionalinsights.org/about\">learning about strategies</a> oriented toward this purpose, such as those on Lead Change Group. However, above all, it takes your own commitment to the goal of gaining greater agency over your life and living intentionally to succeed in life.\n\n<strong>Here are some final thoughts to consider:</strong>\n\n<ul>\n<li>What personal experiences did you have that illustrate the benefits of gaining agency and living intentionally?</li>\n<li>What have you gained from reading this article?</li>\n<li>What specific steps can you take to implement the strategies described here into your life?</li>\n</ul>', '3 Steps To Your Success', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '3-steps-to-your-success', '', '', '2015-11-06 06:00:04', '2015-11-06 11:00:04', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=27973', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28077, 374, '2015-10-30 06:00:28', '2015-10-30 10:00:28', 'Here at Lead Change Group, we know that problems are most effectively solved when individuals come together to meld ideas, energies, and approaches.\n\nTo use a golf analogy, not every shot is a long drive. Many times, golfers have to take a chip shot to move the ball along for a short distance, with incisive accuracy.\n\nIf you are new to the Chip Shots green, welcome. In our Chip Shots feature, our Leading Voices are invited to provide brief insights into a leadership-related topic.\n\nTo learn more, spend some time browsing the entire <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/topics/chip-shots/\" target=\"_blank\">Chip Shots</a> Series.\n<h3>This Month\'s Prompt</h3>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">Most people don\'t form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by their calling.\" // \"Matching problems to your strengths isn\'t just about being rewarded by monetary compensation but also the joy of following a true vocation. But often, you discover that that calling is one baby step at a time</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Whitney Johnson</div></blockquote>\nContributors were asked to reply with thoughts about what this passage evoked for them.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/becky-robinson/\" target=\"_blank\">Becky Robinson</a> shares:\n\n\"I have discovered my calling one baby step at a time. It started with a question from my husband about a career after kids. I had no idea what career I might pursue, but I started saying yes to opportunities, which led me to discover work I love. Whitney also writes that showing up is the most important metric of all. I believe when we show up to possibilities, amazing things can happen. \"\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/chip-bell/\" target=\"_blank\">Chip Bell</a> responds:\n\nIt evokes to me the power of learning from our mistakes, not just from our successes.  When I was growing up and I made a big boo boo, my dad would typically say, \"Well, son, did you learn anything?\"  From him I developed an insatiable curiosity about life and a love for learning. And, it has made all the difference.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/david-dye/\" target=\"_blank\">David Dye</a> advises:\n\nThe distilled essence of leadership is that:  together we can have a better tomorrow. That better tomorrow only comes one problem at a time - and solving today’s problem is only a key that unlocks the door to tomorrow’s problems. Our self, our leadership, our strengths are only built as we work for that better tomorrow - one baby step at a time.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/susan-mazza/\" target=\"_blank\">Susan Mazza</a> contributes:\n\nResponding to the opportunities that life presents can be part of how you discover your vocation.  Yet that discovery requires you have an intent to find your true path vs. living life as a series of reactions. You can have a life and a career given by happenstance, or you can choose a life and career by design.  At some point living by design requires that you choose to disrupt your status quo.  What are you choosing now?\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/mary-schaefer/\" target=\"_blank\">Mary Schaefer</a> writes:\n\nEarly in my career I was really quiet. I spoke up passionately one day in a meeting and everyone was shocked. Well, I finally had something to say. Baby steps.\n\nThank you Becky, Chip, David, Susan, and Mary for taking a shot at this question.', 'Chip Shots - Finding Your Calling', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'chip-shots-finding-your-calling', '', '', '2015-10-30 06:00:28', '2015-10-30 10:00:28', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28077', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(28100, 274, '2015-11-02 06:00:51', '2015-11-02 11:00:51', 'Welcome to the November 2015 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival.\n\nLeadership blends the demands of setting a vision for people and the rewards of seeing them achieve that vision.\n\nThe contributors to today\'s carnival each looked at various facets of leadership. As Dale Partridge wrote in <a href=\"http://blog.sevenly.org/4-signs-youre-meant-to-change-the-world/\" target=\"_blank\">4 Signs You\'re Meant to Change the World</a>:\n<blockquote>As leaders we can afford to be uncertain, but we cannot afford to be unclear.</blockquote>\nAs always, we appreciate each of you who provides such clear and thought-provoking posts about leadership each month!\n<h3>Let\'s Get Started</h3>\n<strong>Anne Perschel</strong> of <a href=\"http://germaneconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Germane Consulting</a> submitted <a href=\"http://germaneconsulting.com/how-to-manage-your-ego/\" target=\"_blank\">How to Manage Your Ego - Leaders Guide</a>. Anne shares, \"Trouble happens when your ego takes control and causes you to run amuck. To make sure your wise self is driving the bus, follow the Leaders Guide.\" Locate Anne on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bizshrink\" target=\"_blank\">@bizshrink</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Bill Treasurer</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.giantleapconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Giant Leap Consulting</a> contributed <a href=\"http://www.giantleapconsulting.com/risk-taking-advice-from-americas-greatest-mountaineer/\" target=\"_blank\">Risk-Taking Advice from America\'s Greatest Mountaineer</a>. Bill recaps, \"Ed Viesturs has summited Mount Everest seven times, helped with the ill-fated Everest expedition in 1996, and climbed all 14 of the world\'s 8000 meter summits. He certainly knows a few things about taking risks - and you don\'t have to be a mountain climber to benefit from his advice.\" Follow Bill on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/btreasurer\">@btreasurer</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Bruce Harpham</strong> of <a href=\"http://projectmanagementhacks.com/#sthash.Bb8rBrRO.dpbs\" target=\"_blank\">Project Management Hacks</a> submitted <a href=\"http://projectmanagementhacks.com/how-to-develop-business-acumen/#sthash.Rs0kGeQT.dpbs\" target=\"_blank\">How To Develop Your Business Acumen</a>. Bruce summarizes, \"To lead, we need to know our environment and translate that information into insights. This article shares a three step process to build up your business acumen.\" Discover Bruce on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PMPhacks\" target=\"_blank\">@PMPhacks</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Chery Gegelman </strong>of <a href=\"http://consultgiana.com/giana-consulting/\" target=\"_blank\">Giana Consulting</a> shared <a href=\"http://consultgiana.com/maximize-your-purpose-with-an-altered-path/\" target=\"_blank\">Maximize Your Purpose with an Altered Path</a>. Chery writes, \"Faced with or in the midst of something you didn’t plan?  Peace for your heart, mind and soul:  Catalysts for maximizing your purpose are often disguised as distractions and delays.\" Chery is on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GianaConsulting\" target=\"_blank\">@gianaconsulting</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/change-is-hard/\" target=\"_blank\">Change is Hard</a>. Chris describes the post as: \"a personal example and a client example of how change is, well, hard. It’s not fun - at least at the start. It’s work - but it’s worth it.\" 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/p/about-dan-mccarthy.html\" target=\"_blank\">Great Leadership</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2015/10/stop-criticizing-and-start-leading-your.html\" target=\"_blank\">Stop Criticizing and Start Leading Your Youngest Workers</a>. In this post, consultant and speaker <strong>Claudia St. John </strong>provides advice for leaders on leading younger workers.\" Find Dan on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/greatleadership\" target=\"_blank\">@GreatLeadership</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>David Dye </strong>of <a href=\"http://trailblazeinc.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Trailblaze, Inc.</a>, shared <a href=\"http://trailblazeinc.com/resources/engage-newsletter/how-to-lead-a-team-look-here/\" target=\"_blank\">How to Lead a Team - Look Here</a>. David asks, \"Do you have employees or colleagues that irritate you? (Hint: We all do.) Here\'s a specific strategy you can use to build productive teams - even with <i>those</i> people.\" Discover David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/davidmdye\" target=\"_blank\">@davidmdye</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jesse Lyn Stoner</strong> of the <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Seapoint Center</a> provided <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/perpetuating-an-outdated-view-of-leadership/\" target=\"_blank\">Are You Unconsciously Perpetuating an Outdated View of Leadership?</a>. Jesse summarized: \"When I noticed that over 90% of popular leadership quotes are by men, I did an experiment. I created a new list with 85% quotes by women. Guess what, the list is very popular AND no one noticed the skew. Does any of this matter? I think it does, and here’s why.\" Follow Jesse on Twitter at <a href=\"http://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\">Ephipany at Work</a> contributed <a href=\"http://epiphanyatwork.com/in-praise-of-powerful-admin-assistants/\" target=\"_blank\">In Praise of Powerful Admin Assistants</a>. Jill shared, \"Many leaders are overwhelmed because they don’t have an assistant, or if they do, they aren’t partnering well with them. Here are some tips to make this role pivotal to your organization’s success.\" Connect with 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=\"http://changingwinds.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Changing Winds</a> submitted <a href=\"https://changingwinds.wordpress.com/2015/09/20/should-executives-be-allowed-to-telecommute/\" target=\"_blank\">Should Executives be Allowed to Telecommute</a>. Jim says, \"The traditional organizational pyramid has been around a long time. An increasingly outdated concept in a global economy, the Pyramid is accompanied by the physical presence of employees within organizational silos. Managers want their staff within arms-reach. Enter the teleworking concept with its supporters and detractors, each making their separate cases. But what about executives being able to telecommute?\" 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/speaking-meetings-visibility\" target=\"_blank\">Are You Afraid to Speak Up at Meetings When You Have Good Ideas?</a> Joel recaps: \"Casey has become The Reluctant Leader. She feels she is not being noticed for all her hard work and accomplishments. Yet she doesn’t feel comfortable bragging, talking about how great she is, or publicly calling attention to all her accomplishments. Here are three ideas to help just start the raising of her profile.\" Discover Joel on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JoelGarfinkle\" target=\"_blank\">@JoelGarfinkle</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jon Mertz</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.thindifference.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Thin Difference</a> sent <a href=\"https://www.thindifference.com/2015/10/shifting-from-digital-native-to-digital-citizen/\" target=\"_blank\">Shifting from Digital Native to Digital Citizen</a>. Jon summarizes: \"What\'s the difference between a digital native and a digital citizen? And why is the shift that is occurring so important?​\" Discover Jon on Twitter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThinDifference\" target=\"_blank\">@ThinDifference</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Karin Hurt</strong> of <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Let\'s Grow Leaders</a> gave us <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/communication-listening/11-signs-you-have-a-listening-culture/\" target=\"_blank\">Do You Hear Them Now? 11 Signs You Have a Listening Culture</a>. Karin discusses her current work with CEOs/CFOs of large manufacturing companies, and how it has focused on development of  a listening culture. This post provides readers an opportunity to chime in. Find Karin on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LetsGrowLeaders\" target=\"_blank\">@letsgrowleaders</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Lisa Kohn</strong> of <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/thoughtful-leaders/\" target=\"_blank\">The Thoughtful Leaders<sup>TM</sup> Blog</a> provided <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/2015/10/15/dont-buy-into-the-drama/\" target=\"_blank\">Don\'t Buy Into the Drama</a>. In this piece, Lisa shares shares: \"as leaders we can remember to do our best to calm the worry and ease the anxiety, so that we have the energy to handle the real issues and challenges when they actually arise.\" Follow Lisa on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThoughtfulLdrs\" target=\"_blank\">@ThoughtfulLdrs</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<div class=\"divide\">\n\n<strong>Mary Ila Ward </strong>of <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Horizon Point Consulting</a> submitted <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/blog3/item/3-steps-to-winning-a-best-place-to-work-award\" target=\"_blank\">3 Steps to Winning a Best Place to Work Award</a>. Mary Ila writes, \"At the end of the day, an organization wins a best place to work award because employees feel valued.  This post gives you a framework for building a company culture where employees love what they do and find value in doing it.\" 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 Collaboative Services, LLC</a> contributed <a href=\"http://www.aspire-cs.com/what-happens-when-you-have-real-conversation/\" target=\"_blank\">What Happens When You Have a Real Conversation</a>. Mary Jo says, \"There is a lot of action going on in our organizations, but not a lot of real conversation. Here are some reasons to slow down and have dialogs in service to more effective action with rich learning and deep connection.\" Find Mary Jo on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mjasmus\" target=\"_blank\">@mjasmus</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Miki Saxon </strong>of <a href=\"http://rampupsolutions.com/\" target=\"_blank\">RampUp Solutions, Inc., </a>contributed <a href=\"http://mappingcompanysuccess.com/2015/10/ducks-in-a-row-culture-made-easy/\" target=\"_blank\">Ducks in a Row: Culture Made Easy</a>. Miki continues, \"Culture is recognized as a determining factor in success. In the interest of the \'keep it simple\' approach, here is the basic premise and associated action needed to build a great culture.\" 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> shared <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/2015/10/28/leaders-shifting-gears-to-hire-introverts/\" target=\"_blank\">Leaders Shifting Gears to Hire Introverts</a>. Neal summarizes, \"<span class=\"il\">Leaders</span> overlook introverts for various positions. Introverts, also known as Ambiverts are those who have a lot more of the strengths, skills and talent to generate and create ideas for problem-solving. They also interact longer in team interactions longer than the average introvert. Follow 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=\"http://upwardsleader.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The Upwards Leader</a> contributed <a href=\"http://upwardsleader.com/2015/10/13/are-you-a-vision-caster/\" target=\"_blank\">Are You a Vision Caster?</a> Paul continues, \"vision is no good if, as a leader, you have it and don’t give it away.\" Discover Paul on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/paul_larue\" target=\"_blank\">@paul_larue</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<div class=\"divide\"><strong>Randy Conley </strong>of <a href=\"http://leadingwithtrust.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leading With Trust</a> provided <a href=\"http://leadingwithtrust.com/2015/10/25/are-you-a-boss-or-a-leader-7-ways-to-tell/\" target=\"_blank\">Are You a Boss or a Leader? 7 Ways to Tell</a>. Randy shares, \"Anyone can be a boss, but it takes special attention and focus to be a leader. In this post Randy Conley shares seven key differences that make someone a leader rather than just a boss.\" Follow Randy on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RandyConley\" target=\"_blank\">@randyconley</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Susan Mazza </strong>of <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Random Acts Of Leadership</a> submitted <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/7-steps-to-break-the-cycle-of-inaction/\" target=\"_blank\">7 Steps to Break the Cycle of Inaction</a></span>. Susan asks, \"Have you ever had a really great idea - something you knew you should do - and yet somehow you did not act on it? Unfortunately, when you get caught in the cycle of inaction, the tendency is to remain at rest. Here are 7 steps to break through that cycle and put the law of motion to work in your favor.\" Find 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://www.tanveernaseer.com/about/\" target=\"_blank\">Tanveer Nasser Leadership Coach</a> contributed <a href=\"http://www.tanveernaseer.com/how-a-leaders-words-can-empower-or-extinguish-employee-potential/\" target=\"_blank\">Understanding the Power of Our Words</a>. Tanveer summarizes, \"Learn how the words we use to communicate our message to those we lead can either inspire others to believe in their potential ... or take the wind out of their sails in bringing their best to the table.\" Locate 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> shared <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/supervision/5-praise-pitfalls\" target=\"_blank\">5 Praise Pitfalls</a>. Wally writes, \"Praise is a powerful tool for any boss. But, like any tool, it can be misused.\" Follow Wally on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wallybock\" target=\"_blank\">@wallybock</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>William G. Steiner </strong>of <a href=\"http://executivecoachingconcepts.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Executive Coaching Concepts</a> provided <a href=\"http://executivecoachingconcepts.com/great-business-stories/\" target=\"_blank\">Great Business Stories</a>. Willy says this post is \"a look at how to \'craft\' a great story from your own experiences for the purpose of influencing others in business. This post includes 4 key steps to constructing great business stories, as well as well some specific storytelling tips to make your stories more impactful and memorable.\" Find Willy on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/coachforexecs\" target=\"_blank\">@coachforexecs</a>.\n\n<em>Thank you to everyone who submitted articles for this month\'s carnival! If <strong>you</strong> would like to be on the distribution list for submission calls, please contact Paula Kiger (paula @ weavinginfluence (dot) com)!</em><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ldc_square.png\" alt=\"\" />\n\n</div>', 'November 2015 Leadership Development Carnival', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'november-2015-leadership-development-carnival', '', '', '2015-11-02 06:00:51', '2015-11-02 11:00:51', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28100', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(28101, 372, '2015-11-04 06:00:19', '2015-11-04 11:00:19', 'Yesterday I went to our local UPS Store to drop off a number of packages. My hands were full. I was doing the classic “chin press” to keep the tall stack intact as I walked towards the door.\n\nAs I got closer, I realized I had too few hands available to open the door on my own.\n\nAt that point, a gentleman walked out of the store and held the door open for me. “Great timing,” I said. “Thank you!” He smiled and went on his way.\n\nIt was simple for me to express thanks. I genuinely appreciated his help.\n\nWhen we were growing up, it is likely that adults around us - parents, teachers, etc. - coached us to say “please” and “thank you” to others, often. This was common courtesy, proactive expressions of gratitude to others whom we interact with daily.\n\nThe problem with common courtesy is that it ain’t so common around these parts anymore. Why is that?\n\nI believe it’s because we pay more attention to our smartphones than we do to our environment or to others in that environment. I believe it’s because our society is so polarized. Online and IRL, people are more likely to point out how others are wrong and unlikely to find shared values. I believe that our Western individualism - our “I, me, mine” focus - encourages us to win while others lose.\n\nThose beliefs and practices will reduce how frequently I say please and thank you.\n\nWe can learn from a <a href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pere.12094/epdf\" target=\"_blank\">recent study</a> featured in <strong>USA Today</strong>. Researchers at the University of Georgia found that when married couples regularly express gratitude to their partners, the receiver feels appreciated and believes their partner values him or her. Those feelings and beliefs increase one’s commitment to the partnership and increase your belief that the marriage will last.\n\nStudy co-author Ted Futris says that one’s partner expressing gratitude is the “most consistent significant predictor” of happy marriages.\n\nThis practice - expressing gratitude - has a huge positive impact in the workplace, as well. In work cultures where team members proactively praise and encourage both efforts and accomplishments, productivity goes up, customer service goes up, and employee engagement goes up.\n\nIn <a href=\"https://www.tinypulse.com/2014-employee-engagement-organizational-culture-report\" target=\"_blank\">Tiny HR’s 2014 Engagement and Organizational Culture Report</a>, 44 percent of employees provide peer recognition on an ongoing basis. This study also found that only 18 percent of the least happy employees praise others while 58 percent of the happiest employees express gratitude.\n\nWhen researchers asked employees “what motivates you to excel and go the extra mile” in your organization, employees reported that their peers are the number one influence.\n\nThe study also found that only 21 percent of employees feel strongly valued at work. That means that 79 percent of employees feel undervalued due primarily to a lack of recognition and appreciation.\n\nThere just might be something to this common courtesy thing. The research is compelling. Express gratitude daily. Expect nothing in return. Just be present and observant. When people do things that help others, say thank you. When people make progress on their work tasks or home tasks or neighborhood tasks, say thank you.\n\nYou’ll feel better. They’ll feel better. And the things that you’re praising and encouraging? People will do more of them - because they\'ve been thanked for doing them.\n\nIt can’t hurt. You’re going to be on the planet anyway. Let’s try this expressing gratitude deal.', 'Saying Please &amp; Thank You Boosts Everyone’s Well Being', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'saying-please-and-thank-you-boosts-everyones-well-being', '', '', '2015-11-04 06:00:19', '2015-11-04 11:00:19', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28101', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28133, 252, '2015-11-09 01:35:37', '2015-11-09 06:35:37', 'My first experience with downsizing was in 1992. We were told to prove we were qualified for our jobs.\n\nKeep in mind this was 23 years ago. I still remember that there were 11 criteria to be qualified for my job. The rollercoaster starts.\n\nI was livid. If some employees weren’t pulling their weight, why didn’t management do something about them already? Why did I have to prove myself?\n\nIf my performance was a problem, why didn’t I hear it sooner? If my boss doesn’t know whether I’m qualified for my job or not already, there’s a bigger problem here.\n\nI was required to provide evidence that I was qualified. That meant poring through old performance appraisals, projects reports, and emails. Took 24 hours to prep. Long story short, I was deemed qualified to keep my job. Through the “evidence gathering” process I learned my own value.\n\n<h3>Why Didn’t I Feel Lucky?</h3>\n\nAs time went on my job was at stake again, and again, and again (and again). I went through bouts of disillusionment and cynicism. It didn’t always make sense who was chosen to lose their jobs. It didn’t always make sense who was chosen to stay. And for the most part, the work wasn\'t going away even if we had half the resources we had last month.\n\nI didn’t want to be that person who hid so I wouldn’t be noticed. I didn’t want to be afraid of speaking up or making an unpopular decision at the risk of being part of the next cut. I didn’t want to be bitter or allow my attitude to affect my performance. I didn’t want to pretend that it was all okay either.\n\n<h3>Recognizing Survivor’s Syndrome</h3>\n\nAs I transitioned into HR and befriended an employee assistance counselor, we started running workshops to support those who <em>survived</em> job cuts. There is a deep well of feelings in those left behind (e.g. anger, fear, contempt, suspicion, and guilt).\n\nWe took hundreds of people through the workshop. We helped people talk through their reactions. The objective was to help them feel empowered coming out the other side.\n\n<h3>If Only…</h3>\n\nIn the workshops, we must have heard some version of “If management would only…” or “If the company would only…” dozens of times. This brought back what I learned in my initial experience in 1992.\n\nI had to be careful when I chose to respond to these laments. At some point I would ask, “What if management doesn’t ________?” or “What if the company doesn’t ________?” Timing is everything. The participant had to be ready to recognize it was time to take the reins despite all manner of unfair treatment, perceived and real.\n<h3>What Does Take the Reins Mean?</h3>\n\nLiterally, for every “If management would only…” I would hear I would challenge participants to identify what they could do instead. Example: “If management would only be more fair in their selection process.”\n\n<blockquote>What if they don’t do that? What if they do, but you don’t think so? Let’s talk about what you can do, so external circumstances don’t derail you over and over.</blockquote>\n\nThrough my experiences I learned that I could:\n\n<ul>\n<li>Keep my knowledge and skills sharp and up-to-date and document my training and accomplishments, projects and assignments.</li>\n<li>Make sure I nurture relationships with people who do not work for the same employer.</li>\n<li>Make sure my boss knows my accomplishments clearly and we agree on my level of performance, and that people in authority know what I’m doing – people who are not my boss.</li>\n<li>Reframe my own assumptions and disappointment at the prospect that I may not stay with this employer as long as I want.</li>\n<li>Make every effort to be fair and helpful to those who are new to the scene, like those who replace a former co-worker, for instance.</li>\n<li>Channel my anger in a non-destructive way.</li>\n<li>Be a truth teller, but in a way people can hear me.</li>\n</ul>\n\nYou might say my list is a lot to ask. Agreed. Those who end up on the seemingly wrong side of a cut or termination have a challenge in front of them.\n\nAt the same time, it is easy to underestimate the impact on survivors. But as a survivor, it is imperative that you decide who you want to be in the environment you now find yourself. No one can do it but you.', 'How To Survive Being A Layoff Survivor', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-survive-being-a-layoff-survivor', '', '', '2015-11-09 01:35:37', '2015-11-09 06:35:37', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28133', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(28155, 407, '2015-11-03 06:00:29', '2015-11-03 11:00:29', 'Mastering Leadership, by Bob Anderson and Bill Adams, will be released on November 30, 2015. We are pleased to share an excerpt with you today.\n\nWhen we step into positions of leadership, we make a set of promises in the form of expectations.\n\nWe all expect certain things from our leaders, and these expectations constitute <em>the Promise of Leadership</em>.\n\nLeadership expectations come in two forms:\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Explicit</strong> - Expressed expectations for certain outcomes that come with the role of the leader and that show up in the leader’s job description - things like fiscal responsibility, accountability, strategy, and execution.</li>\n<li><strong>Implicit</strong> - IUnspoken expectations that stakeholders have of their leaders - things like competence, fair treatment, commitment, engagement, listening, acting on suggestions, and providing meaning and direction.</li>\n</ol>\n\nOrganizations succeed or fail depending on whether or not their leaders clarify their roles and goals, understand the impact that implicit expectations have on their perceived effectiveness, and keep their promises. Constituents judge their leaders’ effectiveness on both explicit and implicit expectations, even when these expectations are unrealistic or misunderstood.\n\nWhen a leader steps into a role, followers usually believe: I expect that you, as my leader, will fulfill both my explicit and implicit expectations, and thus keep your Promise of Leadership. However, since these expectations are often unrealistic or unexpressed, leaders may feel that they are set up to fail in their efforts to fulfill the perceived promise of leadership.\n\nLeaders can discover the explicit and implicit expectations that people have of them by asking those who work with and for them about their expectations of them. All leaders can accelerate their progress towards effectiveness by asking, learning, and then managing expectations, thus, allowing the expectations to become the bar by which they are measured.\n\nWe all have high expectations of our leaders and hold them to very high standards. Few leaders, only 5 to 10 percent, fulfill the Promise of Leadership. When we ask people to identify the extraordinary leaders they have worked for or with, most cannot identify more than one or two.\n\nLeaders who keep their promises boost performance, enhance their credibility, inspire and engage stakeholders, and build trust; those who break promises to constituents lose credibility and trust. Leaders who claim to value the talents and contributions of individuals, yet lead as if intelligence resides only at the top, are breaking a promise. Leaders who seek near-term profits at the expense of sustainability and long-term growth are breaking a promise.\n\nLeaders who avoid discussing potential pitfalls during a change initiative are breaking a promise. Leaders who do not make it safe to fail are breaking a promise. Leaders who are unclear in their messaging, avoid difficult situations, or react defensively to feedback are breaking a promise. When a promise of leadership is neglected or unfulfilled, trust is broken and performance erodes.\n\n<h3>Four Universal Promises of Leadership</h3>\nFrom our research and experience, we have identified four universal promises of leadership:\n\n<ol>\n<li>Set the right direction and create meaningful work.</li>\n<li>Engage all stakeholders and hold them accountable for performance.</li>\n<li>Ensure that processes and systems facilitate focus and execution.</li>\n<li>Lead effectively—maintain relationships of trust to achieve desired results.</li>\n</ol>\n\nWhile most senior leaders are familiar with the terms, few see them as promises and hence often break them and suffer the sad consequences. When Promise 1 is broken, the organization fails to be competitive and thus declines. When Promise 2 is broken, employees underperform, turnover increases, competition wins market share, and the organization declines. When Promise 3 is broken, dollars, human capital, and time are wasted; the organization becomes mired in a culture of resentment and hopelessness and ultimately declines. And if Promise 4 is broken, there is no chance of meeting Promises 1, 2, and 3.\n\n<h3>The Leadership Agenda</h3>\n\nThese four promises and the level of effectiveness, if not mastery, that they require - individually and collectively - constitute the Leadership agenda for the organization. This agenda needs to be held by the Top Team and led as a key strategic priority and business imperative. The performance of the business—as well as the meaning and value creation of everyone associated with the business—depends on it.\n\n<h3>Practice Making and Keeping Promises</h3>\n\nWhen you make a promise or commit to do something, in effect you are making a contract between your Current Self and your Future Self. Such contracts are not easy to keep. For example, your Sunday Self may want to go to the gym three times this week, but your Monday Self wants to break the contract to get an extra hour of sleep.\n\nYou are more likely to follow through on your promises when: the terms of the commitment are clear and specific, other people know about it, beyond those whose love for you is unconditional, and your future self loses something for failing to follow through.\n\nTo fulfill the Promise of Leadership, leaders must know what people expect of them, manage those expectations, and perform against them. When this happens, execution is extraordinary—performance is high, stakeholders are engaged, and work is fun and fulfilling.\n\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n\nExcerpted from Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results, by Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams (Wiley, 2015).\n\nBob Anderson is Chairman and Chief Development Officer and Bill Adams is CEO of <a href=\"http://www.theleadershipcircle.com\" target=\"_blank\">The Leadership Circle</a> and the <a href=\"http://www.fcg-global.com\" target=\"_blank\">Full Circle Group</a>.', 'The Promise Of Leadership - Clear The High Bar Of Expectation', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-promise-of-leadership-clear-the-high-bar-of-expectation', '', '', '2015-11-03 06:00:29', '2015-11-03 11:00:29', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28155', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(28164, 407, '2015-11-18 06:00:14', '2015-11-18 11:00:14', 'Increasing your Collective Leadership Effectiveness will give you a competitive advantage.\n\nOne Promise of Leadership is this: We shall lead effectively and seek to become more effective. Yet developing leadership effectiveness is rarely a leadership priority. It is often relegated to a staff function that struggles for attention and relevance amid competing priorities.\n\nAt The Leadership Circle we conducted research into the relationship between leadership effectiveness and business performance. We created a metric wherein we asked leaders to evaluate the performance of a business compared to industry standards on a series of performance criteria including revenue, market share, sales, profitability, quality of products and services, new product development, and business performance. We then used these criteria to construct a Business Performance Index and correlate the Index scores with a measure of Leadership Effectiveness on our Leadership Circle Profile 360 assessment.\n\nWe found a very strong and positive correlation between <strong>Leadership Effectiveness</strong> and<strong> Business Performance</strong>. Thus, if you can improve leadership effectiveness, you will likely see that improvement translate into higher business performance.\n\nWe also found that leaders in the highest performing businesses had Effectiveness scores higher than 80% of our norm base, and that each 80th percentile leader outperforms those in the middle zone by <strong>six-fold</strong>! Clearly, developing effective leaders deserves to be a key strategic priority. The most successful organizations are the best led.\n<h3>What is Your Leadership Quotient?</h3>\nIs your leadership a competitive advantage? To answer this question, we created a metric called the Leadership Quotient (LQ)—Leadership Effectiveness divided by Leadership Ineffectiveness.\n\n(LQ) = Leadership Effectiveness (LE)/Leadership Ineffectiveness (LI)\n\nThe LQ score for an organization measures the degree to which leadership is a competitive advantage or disadvantage. An LQ score of 1.0 means neutral impact (the leadership is competitive, but it is not yet a competitive <strong>advantage</strong> or <strong>disadvantage</strong>). The LQ for the highest performing businesses (top 10%) in our research is 4.0. In the lowest performing businesses (bottom 10%), the average LQ score is 0.4, suggesting a <strong>10-fold difference</strong> between the LQ of the highest and lowest performing businesses!\n<h3>What is Your Collective Effectiveness?</h3>\nMost organizations focus on developing <strong>individual</strong> leaders, ignoring the collective effectiveness (how leaders show up together to lead the organization) of the leadership system—all leaders and managers in formal leadership positions. Within this structure of formal leadership, we focus on the top four levels or the <strong>Extended Leadership Team</strong> (ELT). The ELT is responsible for providing leadership to the entire organization.\n\n<strong>Collective leadership effectiveness</strong> is impacted by how well the ELT sets direction; aligns around vision and mission; agrees on direction, key strategies, and initiatives; develops a clear shared understanding of strategy; translates strategy into execution; understands each other’s roles; collaborates together; makes decisions; creates an accountable, engaged, performance-based culture; focuses on achieving results; mobilizes and engages all stakeholders to achieve those results; and develops leadership that can do all the above.\n\nHow effectively collective leadership is deployed differentiates organizations that perform optimally from those that do not. No organization can perform at a level higher than the collective effectiveness of its leadership.\n\nIndividual effectiveness is necessary, but insufficient, for extraordinary business performance. Individual leadership effectiveness catalyzes collective effectiveness. Collective leadership effectiveness drives organizational performance. Collective effectiveness and the success leaders have as a team results from the way they interact with each other—the quality of their communication, the level of alignment on vision/direction, the level of agreement on key strategies, the degree of trust and honesty, and how well they execute together. The quality of the leadership conversation largely determines the level of collective leadership effectiveness.\n\nLeadership is a conversation. Leaders spend most of their days in conversation—meetings, phone calls, emails, and strategic communications. How you show up in these conversations determines your level of effectiveness. How we show up together in these conversations drives our collective effectiveness. The quality of our collective conversation largely determines our collective leadership effectiveness and business performance.\n\nWe usually <strong>dumb down</strong> when we come together, meaning that the collective intelligence and performance of most leadership teams is well below the average intelligence and performance of the members. The dynamics played out in most groups—overly aggressive advocacy of positions, poor listening, reactive responsiveness, political caution, ambitious self-interest, mistrust, withholding of opinions—subvert collective effectiveness. Collectively intelligent leadership teams consistently achieve breakthroughs—high-leverage actions, innovations, or changes that make them super-competitive.\n\nHigh scores on <strong>Leadership Effectiveness</strong> correlate closely to positive outcomes such as strong bottom line performance, employee job satisfaction, high employee engagement, and low turnover. As a leader, you will not scale the organization unless leadership is collectively effective and until you invest in developing high potential leaders. This is what we call the <strong>Leadership Agenda</strong>. It is a business imperative.\n<h3>Ask Yourself These Questions (and Answer Honestly)</h3>\nWe invite you to ask yourself six provocative questions:\n<ul>\n	<li>Is your leadership team comprised of extraordinary performers with LQ scores well above one?</li>\n	<li>Are your key leaders functioning at or beyond the 80th percentile?</li>\n	<li>How effective is your personal and collective leadership?</li>\n	<li>How do you know?</li>\n	<li>How does your leadership effectiveness compare to that of your competition?</li>\n	<li>Are you tracking the effectiveness of leadership over time to gauge improvement? Is your leadership a competitive advantage or disadvantage?</li>\n</ul>\nIf you do not know the answers to these questions, you probably are not serious enough about the effectiveness of leadership. You are likely not making the Leadership Agenda a key strategic priority.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\nExcerpted from Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results, by Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams (Wiley, 2015)\n\n&nbsp;', 'A Mastering Leadership Excerpt - You are Necessary (And Insufficient)', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'you-are-necessary-and-insufficient', '', '', '2015-11-18 06:00:14', '2015-11-18 11:00:14', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28164', 0, 'post', '', 2);
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(28168, 407, '2016-02-04 06:44:27', '2016-02-04 11:44:27', 'Our Universal Model of Leadership helps explain how extraordinary leadership develops and how to accelerate its development. Many well-intentioned improvement initiatives fall short of intended results because leaders fail to account for the transformation in consciousness required to create and sustain high performance.\n\nOur Universal Model includes five stages of progressive leadership development: <em>Egocentric, Reactive, Creative, Integral, and Unitive</em>. Each stage is more mature, more effective and higher performing.\n\nOur Leadership Circle Profile (LCP) is the only 360° assessment that measures both behavior and beliefs at various stages of development—and the only one built on an integrative, Universal, meta-model of leadership. Hence our research yields provocative and profound understandings about <em>what</em> makes for effective leadership and <em>how</em> it develops.\n\nThe Universal Model and LCP are drawn in a circle, and the LCP displays 360° feedback results in a circle. The circle, as depicted in the LCP, is a complete rendition of the Universal Model. When we transcend from one level to the next, we call this <em>Vertical Development</em>.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-29192\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Vertical-Development.png\" alt=\"Vertical Development\" width=\"383\" height=\"536\" />\n\nThe LCP is built around the stage framework. It is designed to measure leadership behavior (and the internal assumptions that run those behaviors) at the <em>Reactive</em> and <em>Creative</em> stages.\n\nThrough our research, correlating the LCP with a measure of Stage of Development, we have reached a game-changing conclusion: <em>Leadership Effectiveness</em> is highly related to the Stage of Development of the leader. Furthermore, since business performance is strongly correlated to Leadership Effectiveness, we conclude that the performance of an organization depends highly on the level of consciousness of its leadership.\n\nConsciousness is the Internal Operating System (IOS) of performance. With each evolution in consciousness comes greater capacity, capability, and mastery to meet complexity with greater effectiveness. Higher consciousness begets higher performance.\n\nThe premise at the heart of the Universal Model of Leadership is that consciousness can evolve into higher-order capacity to meet complexity. Development proceeds from lower to higher-order Structures of Mind through a series of well-mapped and researched stages. Each stage develops out of the previous stage and into the next. This sequential order is built into the way the human body/mind is designed. Each stage is inevitable—we must grow into it, and eventually beyond it.\n\nAt each stage transition, something is being lost and gained. With each developmental evolution, the old operating system (the way we know ourselves and our reality) is being deconstructed. It comes apart so that a more effective operating system can be reconstructed.\n\nDevelopment is a disintegration-reintegration process. It is metanoia and metamorphosis. There is loss and gain with each progression. At each developmental inflection point, we are challenged to let go of old ways of knowing before new ways of sense-making have booted up. At each transition, we are losing ourselves and gaining a new self.\n\nThis pattern occurs many times if vertical development proceeds. If development is thwarted, we experience ourselves as in over our heads. As emerging leaders, we face ever more adaptive challenges (challenges that can not be solved from within our current IOS) that encourage us to evolve to a level that adequately meets the increasingly complex challenges we face. If we do not evolve at the pace of escalating complexity, we become less relevant.\n\nAs one Stage of Development evolves into the next, many aspects of consciousness are evolving. We focus primarily on one aspect—Identity—which is what we use to construct our self-understanding and self-concept. We build different constructions of Identity at each stage of development.\n\nIdentity defines who we are, organizes much of our leadership behavior, and drives the strategies that we use to establish ourselves in the world. Identity is at the core of our inner game (IOS)—the part that harbors our sense of self; organizes how we understand ourselves; and determines how we establish our sense of self-worth, self-esteem, personal value, and security. Identity drives how we take up our role in situations and how we deploy ourselves moment to moment. Since our Identity mediates much of our thinking and behavior, it generates patterns of results consistent with how our Identity is structured. When Identity evolves, so do we, as do the results we attain.\n\nIn the Universal Model of Leadership, identity is at the core. As it evolves, identity restructures itself into more mature awareness and self-understanding. Each progressive evolution enables increased capability to handle increased complexity.\n\nThe Leadership Circle Profile 360 is designed to measure leadership behavior that derives from progressive stages of Identity. The LCP, built from the Universal Model, tracks the evolution of leadership capability as Identity transforms from one stage to the next. Our research suggests that those leaders who live and lead from the Reactive Stage have average Leadership Effectiveness scores at the 40th percentile compared with our world-wide norm base. By contrast those leaders functioning at the Creative and Integral level have Leadership Effectiveness scores at the 65th and 90th percentile respectively. Higher-order consciousness is more effective.\n\nLeadership is the deployment of self into circumstances. Since Identity is the core of how we understand ourselves and the world, it manages how we deploy our leadership in every situation. Structure determines performance. The structure of our Identity determines how we show up as a leader—how we deploy ourselves into circumstances. Hence, as our Identity transforms, so does our leadership. All things change when we do.', 'Dive Into the Universal Model of  Leadership - A Mastering Leadership Excerpt', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'dive-into-the-universal-model-of-leadership-a-mastering-leadership-excerpt', '', '', '2016-02-04 06:44:27', '2016-02-04 11:44:27', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28168', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28182, 399, '2015-11-05 06:00:12', '2015-11-05 11:00:12', 'The Lead Change Group is always striving to create more opportunities for our members, and especially our influence-building <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/\">Instigators</a>.\n\nThat of course also includes our incredible <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/\">Leading Voices</a>.\n\nWith the humble recognition that no one succeeds without the inspiration and guidance of others, we have decided to help our readers get to know our Instigators and their amazing work on a more personal level by highlighting a new Instigator each month.\n\nYou may ask, “How does one get chosen to be a featured Instigator?” The answer is simple. If you are already an <strong>Instigator</strong>, 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.\n\n<h3> This Month We Feature Sean Glaze </h3>\n\nFor the month of November, we are excited to be featuring Sean Glaze, Teamwork Speaker, Team Building Facilitator, and author of the newly released <a href=\"http://greatresultsteambuilding.net/rapid-teamwork-2/\">Rapid Teamwork</a>.</h3>\n\n<strong>What is your educational background?</strong>\n\nMy Bachelors was earned at Georgia Southern and I have a Masters and Ed.S. from Jacksonville State, all of which focused on Literature and Educational Leadership when I was teaching high school. Like most leaders, though, my greatest education was experiential - from leading teams and developing people as a basketball coach.\n\n<strong>Tell us a little bit about your career to date.</strong>\n\nI have been facilitating fun team building events for organizations for nearly 10 years now, and have been delivering teamwork keynotes at conferences for the last 5 years - and just published my second book (Rapid Teamwork) which has had a terrific response thus far.\n\n<strong>What has been the most helpful book for your professional life?</strong>\n\nI\'m still a huge fan of Dale Carnegie\'s <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034\" target=\"_blank\">How To Win Friends & Influence People</a>. So many important reminders - and it will always be true that the soft stuff is really the hard stuff. Of course, I hear that Rapid Teamwork is a great read, too.\n\n<strong>What is one of your favorite quotes?</strong>\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">\"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it\'s the only thing that ever has.\"</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Margaret Mead</div>\n</blockquote>\n\n<strong>What is the most creative solution you’ve ever seen to a problem–in life or work?</strong>\n\nOne of the most effective, creative solutions to solve problems is to ask a very simple and powerful question - \"What do you think?\" If leaders and coworkers would use that one question within their teams, I believe the impact and appreciation and sense of camaraderie would be tremendous.\n\n<strong>If money was no object, what would you do all day?</strong>\n\nI would write more, and read more.\n\n<strong>What is the one thing that should be taught in school that isn’t already?</strong>\n\nI think that the three R\'s have changed - and now are rigor, relationships and relevance. Specifically, I think that people need to understand the power of the story they tell themselves and that once our story changes, our behavior will change. And that our behavior impacts others - and accountability begins with empathy.\n\n<strong>What do you think are the most important qualities in a leader?</strong>\n\nLeaders need the wisdom to ask questions and gain a greater awareness of people and opportunities... and enough courage to take decisive action.\n\nThank you for helping us get to know you better, Sean!\n\nFor additional information on how to connect with Sean, please visit his <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/sean-glaze/\" target=\"_blank\">Lead Change Instigator</a> page.', 'Featured Instigator - Sean Glaze', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'featured-instigator-sean-glaze', '', '', '2015-11-05 06:00:12', '2015-11-05 11:00:12', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28182', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(28198, 251, '2015-11-10 06:00:16', '2015-11-10 11:00:16', 'Why is real talk hard for many leaders to do?\n\nReal talk is two-way communicating that moves past what’s obvious, superficial, and assumed to get at the core of authentic meaning and connection.\n\nUnless leaders use thoughtful engagement to probe and clarify, the best we can hope for is a best guess, which isn’t a very firm footing for effective leadership or success.\n\nMaking conversations real is hard. Real talk requires willingly mastering a challenging combination of awareness, curiosity, and courage. Awareness that sometimes what is said isn’t what is really meant. Curiosity to move deeper than what we see and interpret on the surface. Courage to be vulnerable and ask the questions that confirm we don’t have all the answers.\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">In the new economy, conversations are the most important form of work—so much so that the conversation is the organization.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Alan M. Webber, Fast Company Founding Editor</div></blockquote>\nBecause he so embodies the paradox of head and heart, I’m a big fan of <a href=\"http://www.conversational-leadership.org/\" target=\"_blank\">David Whyte</a>, a poet and philosopher who does leadership consulting. I concur with his belief that the conversations we have at work are not so much about the work as they are the work.\n\nTalking about technical competence may allow us to safely skate across the surface of interactions, but it doesn’t always produce the results we want or <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/are-you-ready-for-your-leadership-close-up/\">foster the connections</a> we’re hard-wired to crave.\n\nTo reach that level of meaning sharing requires that we have both courageous conversations as David has labeled them and be willing to accept the <a href=\"http://braithwaiteinnovationgroup.com/dancing-with-purposeful-discomfort/\" target=\"_blank\">purposeful discomfort</a> that comes with having them.\n\n“The courageous conversation is by definition the one we do not want to have,” says David.\n\nPurposeful discomfort enters the picture because, as he describes, “If you get into a real conversation, it’s going to nourish you, but it will also pull you apart to make way for the new person.”\n\nDavid notes five entities with which we need to have courageous conversations: the unknown future, the people we serve, different parts of the organization, our work groups and colleagues, and ourselves.\n\nHaving courageous conversations from the 360-degree perspective of our personal and professional life does three things for us:\n<ul>\n	<li>It takes us off autopilot.</li>\n	<li>It builds our self-awareness.</li>\n	<li>It also deepens our attentiveness to those around us.</li>\n</ul>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">“The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice.”</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Ronald Laing</div></blockquote>\nSeeking out courageous conversations and embracing purposeful discomfort aids us in seeing what we fail to notice.\n<h3>5 Entities To Engage In Courageous Conversations</h3>\n<ol>\n	<li><strong>The Unknown Future</strong> - As we consider what’s to come, we should ask ourselves:\n<ul>\n	<li>What do I want my future to be?</li>\n	<li>What do I anticipate the future around me being?</li>\n	<li>Am I doing the right things now to have the future I want?</li>\n	<li>What do I need to be doing to prepare?</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n	<li><strong>The People We Serve</strong> - From the many around us, customers, clients, vendors, shareholders, stakeholders, community and other groups, we should ask:\n<ul>\n	<li>What do you need?</li>\n	<li>What can I do for you?</li>\n	<li>How can I serve?</li>\n	<li>What brings you satisfaction, and how can we do together to make that so?</li>\n	<li>How can we prepare for the future together?</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n	<li><strong>Different Parts Of The Organization</strong> - We should ask those up, down, and across the organization in all functions:\n<ul>\n	<li>What elephants are in the room that prevent us from being and doing our best?</li>\n	<li>How can we collaborate to create positive outcomes for our customers and shareholders while fostering employee engagement?</li>\n	<li>What do we need to start, stop, or continue doing to fulfill our mission?</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n	<li><strong>Work Group &amp; Colleagues</strong> - Of our employees, colleagues, peers, bosses, and others, we should ask:\n<ul>\n	<li>What do you need from me that you are not getting?</li>\n	<li>How can I best communicate with you?</li>\n	<li>How can we team up to do our best work?</li>\n	<li>What am I doing that keeps you from doing your best work?</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n	<li><strong>Of Ourselves</strong> - I love how David phrases this one as having the talk with the tricky moveable frontier called yourself. As we ponder our awareness, curiosity, and courage, we should ask ourselves:\n<ul>\n	<li>Am I living my purpose every day?</li>\n	<li>If not, why not?</li>\n	<li>How am I getting in my own way?</li>\n	<li>Are my head and heart in alignment?</li>\n	<li>Is the story I keep telling myself about myself still true?</li>\n	<li>Am I paying attention to what matters or what’s easy?</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n</ol>\nMaking courageous conversations a regular part of our lives bridges our inner and outer worlds, connecting what we know with what we do and who we are. When we bravely do that, we create alignment - and peace - between our intellect, feelings, and action.\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">“There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening.”</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~Marshall McLuhan</div></blockquote>\nReady to have a courageous conversation or two?', 'Why Real Talk Matters &amp; How To Make It So', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'why-real-talk-matters-how-to-make-it-so', '', '', '2015-11-10 06:00:16', '2015-11-10 11:00:16', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28198', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(28251, 376, '2015-11-13 06:00:45', '2015-11-13 11:00:45', 'Well, it\'s that day again - <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th\" target=\"_blank\">Friday The Thirteenth</a>. It\'s when all manner of bad things are supposed to happen to us, and just because the thirteenth day of the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday.\n\nSilly superstition, right? Of course, right. However, not to an estimated 17 to 21 million Americans, according to the <a href=\"http://www.drdossey.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Stress Management Center & Phobia Institute</a>.\n\nThat\'s a lot of folks cowering under the blanket, not wanting to get out of bed on this day, suffering from <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triskaidekaphobia\" target=\"_blank\">Triskaidekaphobia</a>.\n\nThe reality is that on Friday The Thirteenth of any given month in any given year, bad things have happened and will happen. I guarantee it. Of course, I can make that same guarantee about every other blessed day in the year. Stuff happens as part of life on a regular, but not always predictable basis.\n\nSuperstitions are simply things we repeat to ourselves as true and modify our thoughts, our behavior, and our feelings to reinforce our beliefs. The words always and never come up often when we talk about our superstitions. \n\nOf course, we educated folks do not live our lives according to this or other silly superstitions. That would be like believing something that is true, but not in the way we think it is true, and we all know better, right?\n\n<strong>As leaders, trainers, coaches, and consultants we would not...</strong>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Continue to support and use outdated theories about how people think, act, and feel, along with a one tool, just because they made sense once upon a time and we like the familiarity.</li>\n<li>Always use that favorite one tool or approach to the exclusion of other newer tools, because we experience success with our hand-picked client base using that one tool. Think one tool to rule them all.\n<li>Continue to use whatever we have at hand and in our toolkit, while insisting that the clients, employees, or audiences just try harder and have faith in our one tool.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<strong>If the above questions ring bells for you, try these instead...</strong>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Always learn new approaches and theories, looking for what might be valuable and applicable to what you do. We want those we serve to be life-long learners, so we need to walk the walk with them.</li>\n<li>Never restrict yourself to one approach in dealing with those who you seek to lead or help. It does not matter what famous person you studied under at what prestigious institution of higher learning.</li>\n<li>Always give the employee and the client the benefit of this one viewpoint: They are doing the best they can with what they have to work with and want to do better. Help them do that.</li>\n<li>Never refuse to work with people simply because they do not fit your chosen One Tool or niche or are not motivated. Stretch yourself in a professional and responsible way. Get a mentor/coach and expand your repertoire.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<strong>Well, I\'ve said my piece it\'s your turn...</strong>\n\n<ul>\n<li>What have I said that you agree with and why?</li>\n<li>What have I said that you think is horse manure and why?</li>\n<li>What would you say instead?</li>', 'Happy Triskaidekaphobia Day', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'happy-triskaidekaphobia-day', '', '', '2015-11-13 06:00:45', '2015-11-13 11:00:45', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28251', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(28295, 374, '2015-11-16 06:00:53', '2015-11-16 11:00:53', 'We are pleased to congratulate Instigator Linda Freeman on receiving the Statewide Energy Innovator Award from <a href=\"http://rethinkenergyflorida.org/\" target=\"_blank\">ReThink Energy Florida</a>.\n\nBecause Linda was not able to travel to the award presentation earlier this summer, a presentation is scheduled at a meeting of <a href=\"https://www.thechildrenstrust.org/\" target=\"_blank\">The Children\'s Trust</a> in Miami on November 16.\n\nKim Ross, President of ReThink Energy Florida, will present the award at that time.\n\nThese excerpts from the nomination, modified slightly to reflect the passage of several months, explain the ways in which Linda made a difference in sustainability and energy issues.\n\n<h3>Engaging In the Community</h3>\n\n<img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Linda-Post-Two.jpg\" />Linda engaged in several different groups of people spanning continents, ages, genders, and occupations with the <a href=\"http://iamthriving.org/2015/02/kidpower-earth-day-project-2015/\" target=\"_blank\">KidPower2015</a> Project. Linda and her team created model bicycle generators with a clean energy curriculum.\n\nA teacher at Hollywood Elementary School collaborated with Linda to test the project in her classooms. KidPower2015 was then taken into 11 Florida prisons with <a href=\"http://www.childrenofinmates.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Children of Inmates, Inc.</a> so children could interact with their parents.\n\nIn August the KidPower2015 project was taken to the Light of the Future Schools in Cambodia. The team was invited to the <a href=\"http://odtug.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Oracle Users\' Group Community Service Day</a> to highlight the possibilities of clean energy improving the world.\n\n<h3>Educating Others</h3>\n\n<img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Light-of-Future-School-linda.jpg\" /></a>Linda and her team created the curriculum for #KidPower2015 to coincide with Earth Day 2015. The clean energy curriculum she and her team had designed was presented to children in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, Florida and Phnom Penh, Cambodia.\n\nThrough the project, the children utilized bicycle generators to power blenders; developed engineering and math skills while learning a simple, clean energy technology to generate electricity; explored environmental protection and conservation needs in their countries; shared their learning experiences through video-conferencing; and utilized the creative arts to express Earth Day Network’s 2015 theme, <em>It’s Our Turn To Lead</em>.\n\n<h3>Empowering Others</h3>\n\n<img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Linda-Girls-300x247.jpg\" />This project empowered individuals in myriad ways. The most powerful way was enabling children of incarcerated parents and their parents to spend time together while learning and having fun. When the children worked with their parents to make fruit smoothies by pedaling bikes, and experienced the joy of learning together, for that period of time they were like any other parent and child: bonding and learning together.\n\nDestiny and Annabelle, the two student leaders of #KidPower2015 (and also children of incarcerated parents) were empowered to be young women who felt comfortable with technical material, and confident presenting it via videoconferencing. Their lives are changed and empowered.\n\n<h3>How Linda Innovates</h3>\n\nLinda and her team have innovated through the application of everyday items and activities to provide clean energy where there were few other alternatives. KidPower2015 provided over 300 children and their caregivers with a learning opportunity surrounding clean energy and provided a learning activity for 300 more children, as well as electricity at a school in Cambodia.\n\nIn 2014 in a village outside Phnom Penh, Linda and team constructed a biogas digester to turn human and animal waste into energy, eliminating firewood cooking. Firewood cooking causes respiratory issues and can prove to be a difficult resource as villagers must scavenge or purchase firewood.\n\n<img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Linda-Post-Five.jpg\" />I have never actually met Linda, but when I chose to nominate her for this award, I did so because week after week when I read her blogs and see her other activities on social media, I am struck by the way she channels her engineering background and intellect into changing lives for the better.\n\nAs a mother of a daughter, I also especially appreciate young women like Destiny and Annabelle being given educational and leadership tools which will be assets as they grow into young adulthood.\n\nLinda\'s projects at Florida prisons also resonate with me, because I do volunteer work at a local prison. To a person, every inmate I have dealt with who is a parent talks first of their children before anything else. These inmates and their kids may think they\'re making smoothies with bicycle-generated energy, but I know they are making something much more permanent thanks to Linda\'s ability to engage, educate, and empower.\n\nEditor\'s Note: Linda and her daughter, Daniella, are currently working on <a href=\"http://iamthriving.org/2015/10/the-shoe-that-grows-in-cambodia/\" target=\"_blank\">raising money</a> to provide shoes to the 600 children in Kratie province, Cambodia, where her team started Light of Future School. The shoes are <a href=\"https://theshoethatgrows.org/\" target=\"_blank\">The Shoe That Grows</a>, which lasts for 5 years/5 sizes.\n\nTo donate, visit <a href=\"https://fundraise.theshoethatgrows.org/checkout/donation?fcid=534792/\" target=\"_blank\">The Shoe That Grows</a>. You can also support a #MyGivingStory which may lead to a generous donation simply by liking the feature at <a href=\"http://woobox.com/kxdcce/vote/for/11155156\" target=\"_blank\">Woo Box</a>.', 'Linda Freeman - Engaging, Educating, Empowering', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'linda-freeman-engaging-educating-empowering', '', '', '2015-11-16 06:00:53', '2015-11-16 11:00:53', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28295', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28306, 276, '2015-11-20 06:00:13', '2015-11-20 11:00:13', 'Growing up, other people’s perception was my reality. I lived in a world where no one thought that I could do anything great, that I was mediocre to say the least.\n\nIn fact, there was no such thing as expectation when it came to my ability to deliver academically. I supposed my lack of success had something to do with it. But I have to assure you that it was not due to lack of trying.\n\nMy turning point was when I was in my junior year in high school. When I met a teacher, she told me that I knew own capabilities. She also told me not to let anyone tell me what I could not do or accomplish in life. I’m the only person who can determine what I’m capable of.\n\nI started challenging myself, studied more each night and forced myself to develop discipline, to ask questions and not hesitate, especially when I don’t know something. Not to let the lack of knowledge hold me hostage. Not to let the fear lock me in the deep cell of sorrow.\n\nSince then, I spent more time focusing on my passion. I did well enough to get into the university that I wanted to attend, but it was after college that I excelled, as I developed the love for learning. For the next 20 years, I completed two graduate school programs and developed the love for developing talent.\n\n Many of the successes I had in my career are due to the fact that I prepared for it through years of training and studying and working on the skills, so when the opportunity presented itself, I could jump at it and show that I could get it done. As I always tell my two girls, always be prepared for opportunity. This way you’ll be successful.\n\nOn the same topic, I read the story of David Tolley, a highly regarded pianist and composer. He wrote off-Broadway musicals, performed for four US Presidents and did several performances on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. In December of 1985, he was just a regular person. On that fateful day, Johnny Carson’s guest pianist, Horatio Gutierrez, had an accident and was not able to play.\n\nLike any consummate professional the show must go on. So, Johnny Carson asked if anyone in the audience knew how to play piano and had at least 5 years experience. David Tolley raised his hand. He was prepared, and when the opportunity presented itself, he seized the moment. He played “Memory” from “Cats” and the rest is history.\n\nThe story about David Tolley reminds us that we don’t have to control our destiny; however, we need to be there before the opportunity arrives and when does arrive, we ought to have all the skills we need to be ready to do the job. David seized the moment and made it happen and the rest is history. Who could have known, the guy wearing a Nike t-shirt, jeans and flip-flops would have his best audition in the show where he was expecting just to be a spectator.\n\nThink of what you want to achieve in life. Define the training you need to get there. Get started and be disciplined, do not give up, and work on it every day. Prepare for a better tomorrow by working today. Remember that you need to be ready for the opportunity. Start today and make it happen.', 'Be Prepared For Opportunity', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'be-prepared-for-opportunity', '', '', '2015-11-20 06:00:13', '2015-11-20 11:00:13', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28306', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28309, 282, '2015-11-19 06:00:44', '2015-11-19 11:00:44', 'I was stunned like many of you were to hear about the attacks in Paris by terrorists. I was especially concerned because I have friends living there.\n\nMark Oldham and Gretchen Beil were students in my youth group, and I was their youth pastor through their junior high and high school years. After high school, they married and eventually ended up living Paris.\n\nThey and their children love Paris. It\'s their home. Even though I discovered they were safe after the attacks, I was broken-hearted that their home was attacked, because I love them.\n\nMark, Gretchen, me - we\'re all from Oklahoma. We\'re the home to the largest tornado in history (and lots of other damaging tornadoes every year), the Murrah Federal building bombing attack in 1995 (the largest act of domestic terrorism in our history), and most recently a senseless car crash through the homecoming parade crowd at Oklahoma State University.\n\nWe\'re no strangers to tough times. But if you take the time to Google \"tragedy in __________,\" and insert the name of your state, I\'m sure the list would be just as long, if not longer.\n\nMany times we feel helpless in the face of tragedy. It doesn\'t matter if that tragedy is a half a world away, or right in our own city. The calamity can seem so enormous, so overwhelming that it stops us stunned and numb in our tracks. Our friends may be hurting. Our kids are asking tough questions. Our co-workers are confused or conflicted about it all.\n\nWhat can we do? Here are a few ideas:\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Take A Breath</strong> - Make sure it\'s a long, slow deep one. Maybe take 3 or 4 of them.</li>\n<li><strong>Donate</strong> - With crisis typically comes a need for resources, whether it be cash donations, food, whatever. Just help as you can.</li>\n<li><strong>Listen Wisely</strong> - Not all information is good information. Trust credible sources. Before reacting or overreacting, make sure that the information you\'re receiving has been verified.</li>\n<li><strong>Pray</strong> - Yes, I said it. Some things are just way too big for us to face without help from God.</li>\n<li><strong>Relax</strong> - I\'m not suggesting you have a nonchalant attitude. Rather, I\'m encouraging you to remember that there\'s only so much you can do, and that some things are simply out of your control.</li>\n<li><strong>Focus</strong> - Big problems can be faced with big solutions, but more often than not they are overcome or worked through by lots of people applying lots of smaller efforts and solutions. Focus on what you can do to help or move forward, no matter the size of your efforts.</li>\n<li><strong>Talk It Out</strong> - Find others who will listen, and dialogue about constructive ways to help and respond to the challenge. Everyone brings a different perspective and offers a different set of solutions or ideas.</li>\n<li><strong>Rally Support If You Are Able</strong> - Whether it\'s organizing a blood drive, establishing a Go Fund Me campaign, or making a donation to a relief agency, you can be the linchpin of a movement to make a difference. The only thing stopping you is you.</li>\n<li><strong>Put The Needs Of People As A Primary Concern</strong> - It may not be as glamorous or exciting to make a donation, write a card or make a phone call to someone in need, but it could drastically impact their world and their heart in a powerful way.</li>\n<li><strong>Clear Your Head</strong> - It may sound strange, but it\'s amazing what 30 minutes of relaxing music, reading a book or taking a walk can do for your nerves and for your attitude. You\'re not much help in any situation if you\'re a wreck emotionally, mentally or physically.</li>\n<li><strong>Do Something</strong> - You can\'t do everything. You can\'t make it all right, fixed or better. But there is no excuse for remaining idle or standing still on the sidelines. In times of crises it is the character of honorable men that make history and shape the future. Be that person.</li>\n</ul>\n\nCharles DeGaulle once said: \"Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it, makes it his own.\" It\'s fitting that in light of what has happened in Paris that we take the words of this historic French leader to heart.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Crisis-1024x359.jpg\" alt=\"Crisis\" />', 'The World Is Coming Apart. What Can I Do?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-world-is-coming-apart-what-can-i-do', '', '', '2015-11-19 06:00:44', '2015-11-19 11:00:44', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28309', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(28322, 380, '2015-11-25 06:00:41', '2015-11-25 11:00:41', 'If you are leading a team in any industry, you are likely constantly in search of actionable ideas that will help you to strengthen your culture and inspire better teamwork among your staff.\n\nI would like to share an idea from nearly 2,000 years ago that has surprising relevance today.\n\nThe Greek philosopher Plutarch, somewhere around 100 AD, described the mythical Ship of Theseus in his writings this way:\n\n<blockquote>“The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned from Crete had thirty oars, and was preserved…for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their places, in so much that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not.”</blockquote>\n\nFor philosophers, the story about replacing those timbers raises a significant question. Once Theseus’s ship has had all the individual boards and mast and other parts replaced one-by-one, is it truly still the same ship or a different ship altogether?\n\nIf you are a philosopher, you can keep yourself busy in conversation and discussion for hours arguing the points of each perspective.\n\nMost of us aren’t philosophers, and you are likely reading this article looking to find a relevant takeaway that you can somehow apply to your situation to improve the effectiveness of your team.\n\nThankfully, there is a relevant application of Theseus’s Ship and it was inspired by a book I read by <a href=\"http://www.mindsetonline.com/abouttheauthor/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Carol Dweck</a>, the author of Mindset. In her book, Dweck suggests that people either have a fixed mindset - they are what they are and that is their identity,  or a growth mindset - they are constantly in a state of becoming and making an effort to grow and improve.\n\nFor fans of Dweck’s work, I likely did a poor job of summarizing her main premise – but the point is that we are, according to our own self-image, either static or dynamic. As a leader, that is an incredibly important insight.\n\nMany of the people walking the halls of your building are stuck believing that they just are who they are – and like the boards on Theseus’s Ship, they will continue to sail and endure storms and eventually will see their skills or performance begin to deteriorate. As a leader it is your job to provide opportunities for growth and inspire them to renew themselves.\n\nI have written before that to create unity, a leader must connect his people to TWO things – a compelling common goal, and each other. You absolutely need to have a worthwhile destination and purpose, and you cannot neglect to invest time in team building events and encouraging your team to forge stronger and deeper personal relationships.\n\nBut once your team has committed to a clear goal and has become connected to and aware of their teammates skills and personalities, your job as a leader begins to shift. AFTER connecting your people to a goal and each other, your priority should be to begin replacing boards!\n\nYour competitive advantage is found in ongoing and consistent professional and personal development of the people on your team. A culture of continuous improvement begins with everyone on your team recognizing the importance of a growth mindset.\n\nThe story of Theseus’s Ship is tremendously important to strong leaders – because your people are the ships that your organization’s success is depending on. And ships are always in need of repair and improvements. Ask anyone who owns a boat.\n\nNever allow your people to feel or think or say that that’s just how I am. We are all in a constant state of becoming. That is the key takeaway from Dweck’s work. We have the ability, with effort and intention, to grow and improve and change over time.\n\nThere is a funny and incredibly insightful story about an administrator who questioned the money and time being invested in professional development in his department. So he goes to the CEO and asks, in sincere concern for the company’s future, “what if we spend all these resources on developing our people, and then they leave to go work for our competitors?”\n\nThe wise CEO responded simply: “We should not be concerned that they might grow and improve, and then leave us – we should be concerned that they might remain exactly as they are, and grow or improve, and choose to stay.”\n\nTheseus knew that old, rotten, broken-down boards needed to be replaced if his ship was going to remain fast, safe, and competitive.\n\nStrong leaders know the same insight applies to their people.\n\nWho on your team has a few boards that need to be replaced? Who on your team would benefit from the motivating experience of adding a new skillset or being given an opportunity to improve his or her resume with a relevant professional development workshop or certification?\n\nHere are two things you can do right now to begin working to improve your ships:\n\n<ol>\n<li>\n\n<strong>Identify who on your team needs to have boards replaced.</strong>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Consider making a list of what you perceive as individual needs on your team</li>\n<li>Consider bringing in each person and asking for their desired areas of growth</li>\n<li>Consider asking upper management who they would like to focus on receiving which skills or experiences over the coming year for succession planning</li>\n<li>Consider what needs your office will have in the future and finding people whose personalities and interests best fit those areas of opportunity.</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n<li>\n\n<strong>Provide opportunities for them to get those new boards.</strong>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Maybe that means sharing a new book for your team to read together</li>\n<li>Maybe that means sending someone to a conference</li>\n<li>Maybe that means scheduling a <a href=\"http://greatresultsteambuilding.net/teambuilding-events-3/\" target=\"_blank\">team building event</a> or workshop</li>\n<li>Maybe that means providing online classes for specific skills</li>\n<li>Maybe that means paying for someone to get an advanced degree</li>\n<li>Maybe that means you hosting a lunch and learn for small groups each week.</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n</ol>\n\nWhatever your budget and imagination and circumstances would allow, the key is that you find ways to grow your people. Help them to get excited about their own development, and you will find them far more invested in helping to accomplish your company’s goals.\n\nBeing a great leader begins with connecting your people with a compelling common goal and then providing opportunities for them to strengthen their relationships. The rest of the process is described more fully in my book, <a href=\"http://greatresultsteambuilding.net/rapid-teamwork-2/\" target=\"_blank\">Rapid Teamwork</a>, which uses the acronym GREAT to share the five essential steps for building a great team.\n\nTheseus knew to focus on what so many leaders neglect – maintaining employee engagement and loyalty by growing and developing them as individual contributors.\n\nWise leaders are replacing their own boards and improving themselves every day – and the wisest are working to help their people do the same.', 'A Lesson For Team Leaders From The Ship Of Theseus', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'a-lesson-for-team-leaders-from-the-ship-of-theseus', '', '', '2015-11-25 06:00:41', '2015-11-25 11:00:41', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28322', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(28331, 343, '2016-03-15 06:00:13', '2016-03-15 10:00:13', 'Have you ever heard of an \"absentee leader\" or manager?\n\nIn this era of working remotely, having \"commuting executives\" who travel from city to city, and leadership that takes on added locations and broader areas, a growing trend has developed where employees don\'t see their leaders as much, or hardly at all.\n\nWhile that may seem like every employee\'s dream - \"the boss is never around!\" - studies from leadership consultants and articles from Forbes and Fast Company show that companies whose leaders\' presence is largely absent have the following challenges:\n<ul>\n	<li>Employees have no clear direction towards goals</li>\n	<li>Staff receive no parameters for decision making, then either make erroneous decisions or no decisions at all</li>\n	<li>A vacuum replaces culture, vision, and motivation</li>\n	<li>Bosses tend to overcompensate for when they are there, requiring extra work during their time</li>\n	<li>Bosses micromanage through systems so ensure the work is done when they are away</li>\n	<li>Employees feel detached from the organization which then leads to disengagement</li>\n	<li>They don\'t feel they know what is going on in the organization</li>\n</ul>\nCompanies whose work culture involves multiple locations, field sales, or working remotely from home offices are especially impacted by the lack of physical leadership presence due to their geographical layout. But every company, large and small, can be impacted by a lack of real presence in leadership.\n\nOh, yes, there is email to fill in the void. Unfortunately, email in lieu of a leader\'s presence descends to either white noise or a cold, mechanical relationship with one\'s boss.\n\nPeople, your people, crave that personal presence in your leadership. They want that physical, emotional, and social connection that comes from knowing you\'re there ... even when you\'re not physically there.\n\nSo how can leaders overcome this and make their presence felt in the organization?\n\n<strong>MBWA still works</strong>. Management by walking around may seem outmoded in today\'s world, but if done with the goal of connectivity to engage your people, it is still the most effective means to show presence and support. When you can personally interact, understand, and sense your team\'s needs and make them feel the same about you, the highest level of presence is felt and your people\'s needs are met on every level. Physical presence will always be the chief way to connect with your employees.\n\n<strong>Make the most of your visits</strong>. A lot of times a leader\'s schedule at a location is packed with meetings, then they rush off to the next location for a jam packed schedule there as well. If you have very little time in each location, schedule open space in which to do nothing but connect with your people. If you need to do so, meet with them as a group. If you convey to your team that you take the time to seek them out and are there for them, they will never have the \"Yeah the boss was here but we never saw her/him\" resignation. Make every visit count as much as possible.\n\n<strong>Your people are still only a phone call away.</strong> Remote field workers pose a greater challenge in that the boss will not visit your home office as a general rule. Regular phone calls to connect with people, get updates, find ways to help, and to see how they\'re doing build that relationship with them and go a long way in making your people feel part of your team.\n\n<strong>Use technology.</strong> Skype, webcasts, conference calls, and other uses of apps and meeting technology exist for a reason - to keep teams and individuals connected and informed. Even more than that, they can rally your people around the week\'s goals, bring everyone to the same page, and energize your team by making them feel your presence. Don\'t be afraid to use these tools to let your people know you are involved.\n\n<strong>Some email used properly can promote presence.</strong> While I agree in large part with David Burkus\'s conclusion of banning emails in his new book \"<a href=\"http://davidburkus.com/books/under-new-management/\">Under New Management</a>,\" if need be a quick email of praise and support can be a positive in those circumstances when a rapid acknowledgement is necessary. I don\'t encourage this as a practice, but when an employee opens an email or text that encourages them it gives them that extra lift in their job and can go quite a ways in making an impact for their day.\n\n<strong>Don\'t discount off-hours contact.</strong> To think of reaching someone after the work day is over may seem like an encroachment of their personal time and space. But think about the impact when an employee knows you care for them and you take moments from your personal time to connect with them. A little sacrifice means a great deal when your people know that you give up some things to build them up.\n\n<strong>Above all else ... make it personal and authentic</strong>. Your people are smart and will see through any insincerity in trying to be with them. The emotional impact of your presence is felt on many levels, and not just what you do or say. Be real in your purpose, which is to motivate and support your people. Center your presence around your people, not yourself.\n\n<em>When you can\'t physically be there for your people, those are probably the times when they need you the most. Reach out and connect to them at every opportunity. Make your presence known and felt throughout each day.</em>', 'The Power of Presence', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-power-of-presence', '', '', '2016-03-15 06:00:13', '2016-03-15 10:00:13', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28331', 0, 'post', '', 2);
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(28335, 343, '2015-11-23 06:00:24', '2015-11-23 11:00:24', 'Do you remember Bob Nelson\'s series of books <a href=\"https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/126644.Bob_Nelson\" target=\"_blank\">1001 Ways</a>?\n\nThe titles ran the gamut of:\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/1001-Ways-Take-Initiative-Work/dp/076111405X\" target=\"_blank\">1001 Ways to Take Initiative at Work</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/1001-Energize-Employees-Nelson-Ph-D/dp/0761101608/\" target=\"_blank\">1001 Ways to Energize Employees</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/1001-Energize-Employees-Nelson-Ph-D/dp/0761101608/\" target=\"_blank\">1001 Ways to Energize Employees</a></li>\n</ul>\n\nWhy were these books so popular, and why do they continue to have a place on leaders\' bookshelves still today? It\'s because of the power of giving value to your people and acknowledging their efforts.\n\nMany books have properly outlined the power of effective praise and recognition. From Nelson\'s books to Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson\'s <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/The-New-One-Minute-Manager/dp/0062367544/\" target=\"_blank\">New One Minute Manager</a> and its predecessor to Michael Lee Stallard\'s <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Connection-Culture-Competitive-Advantage-Understanding/dp/1562869272/\" target=\"_blank\">Connection Culture</a>, the inherent need to create an approach and culture that validates your people is powerful and proven.\n\nFor all the note card, bell ringing, and public praise methods, each author agrees on the most simple and cost effective method for engaging their people.\n\n<h3>The Simple Thank You</h3>\n\nI noticed in my early career how much this meant to my team. I learned how at the end of their workday they left with a smile because of a simple thank you. How the long grueling days in the hospitality industry melted away when staff members knew their efforts were appreciated (\"Thanks, Lisa, you killed it today.\"). How the last interaction of the day became their last thought and made them look forward to coming in the next day, knowing that their contributions were noticed.\n\nThe most effective leaders I know work diligently to thank their people. The validation can come from end of day departures and acknowledging extra effort on the fly, to even just thanking them for doing their normal work, giving input, or being positive throughout the day. These leaders know the value of their people and their basic need of feeling important, the feeling that their top three needs on Maslow\'s Hierarchy of Needs (belonging, esteem, and self-actualization) are being met.\n\nTake every opportunity to find reason to thank as often as you can. That presentation didn\'t go quite well? Thank them for the time and effort they put in anyway. The account dropped out to do business with a competitor? \"You did a great job meeting their needs Marcie!\" The 2nd shift comes in when your first shift leaves; thank them for working strong during the evening hours. Simple and genuine acknowledgement yields committed people and sustained performance.\n\nThanking your people for their everyday efforts is a simple and easy way to make a powerful lasting impression in your organization. Make every connection a reason to find and give thanks to your people.', 'The Most Cost Effective Way To Engage Your People', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-most-cost-effective-way-to-engage-your-people', '', '', '2015-11-23 06:00:24', '2015-11-23 11:00:24', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28335', 0, 'post', '', 10),
(28358, 329, '2016-01-18 06:00:20', '2016-01-18 11:00:20', 'Disruptors are getting a lot of attention these days. Uber reinvents the taxicab industry and almost overnight there are Uber-like features found at Taco Bell, Domino’s, and countless other enterprises. Tesla is transforming the car buying process, Jet.com is working on reinventing shopping clubs, and Apple is changing the landscape for wearables (Watch/Fitbit becomes a portal to everything). Is it time to examine the role of leadership through the lens of disruption?\n\nClassic books on <em>how to be a leader</em> have focused on leaders as shepherds, buck stoppers, and controllers. But, disruptive leaders - those leading organizations that disrupt enterprise - are catalysts, partners, and risk takers. Whether the leadership prototypes are CEO Larry Page at Google, CEO Ginni Rometty at IBM, or CEO Mike DeFrino of Kimpton Hotels, their paths to influencing have striking similarities. Let’s zero in closer on their features.\n\n<h3>Shepherds To Catalysts</h3>\n\nWhen I was in Officer Candidate School at the Army Infantry School, we marched daily past a life-sized statue of an infantry officer charging into battle with the caption that was the theme of the school \"Follow Me\". It is what shepherds do. Shepherds lead sheep by being out front; they do not herd from behind like rounding up cattle. Sheep are not very smart and will follow an alpha-sheep right off a cliff. The shepherd-infantry statue metaphor was never missed on me. It might be a relevant role-modeling concept for brawn-based jobs. In Army boot camp when a private started a sentence with “I think…” hardnosed drill sergeants screamed, “you aren’t paid to think, soldier, you are paid to fight!” Leaders were supposed to be emulated…and a little bit feared.\n\nAs organizations are populated more and more by smart employees pursuing innovative solutions in brain-based jobs, the proper role of the leader becomes that of catalyst, not shepherd. Catalytic leaders facilitate (make easy) more than they direct; they resource employees more than supervise. “My job as a leader,” wrote Google CEO Larry Page, “is to make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, and that they feel they\'re having a meaningful impact and are contributing to the good of society.”\n\n<h3>Buck Stoppers to Partners</h3>\n\nThe sign on President Harry Truman’s desk resonates well with accountability-hunters looking for someone to praise or blame when performance succeeds or fails. The carrot-stick philosophy might be appropriate in a skill-based (as opposed to a wisdom-based) work world. I still emotionally struggle when everyone on my granddaughter’s soccer team gets a trophy, even though she worked the hardest and made the most goals and assists.\n\nIn my early years teaching leadership, we were adamant about a single point of accountability. Management by committee was abhorred; consequences had to be directed at the <em>one person</em> at the dead-end of the buck. Then I consulted with a few highly respected law firms, accounting firms and physicians groups. In a true partnership, risks are shared, accountability is shared, and even parts of leadership are shared. Leadership is about what an organization accomplishes when many unite and engage in the courageous work of providing value to the marketplace and improvement to the community in which it operates.\n\n<h3>Controllers to Risk-Takers</h3>\n\nWhen any employee says, “I will have to check with my boss,” I hear the paternal innuendo of a junior high school kid seeking permission for an overnight at a friend’s house. Granted, there are rational reasons why different people within any organization have different levels of authority. Boundaries are not all about power; many are about expertise and experience. But, make any request to any clerk at Nordstrom or to any contact center operator at Zappos and see if it follows with permission-seeking behavior.\n\nLeaders in innovative organizations value the kind of risk-taking that results in originality, breakthroughs and growth. They value employee self-control over boss-control. They hire mature people then provide them wisdom-spawning training, enlightened support and one more powerful ingredient—respect! Respect means assuming the best in people. It means sharing authority, not hoarding it. And it means listening for intent and meaning instead of judging based on less than perfect semantics. In an innovation-centered work world, compassion trumps constraint and experimentation trumps instruction. Leadership comes from everyone, not the snooper-visor at the top of the org chart.\n\nWe live in times of massive and rapid change. The <em>innovate or evaporate</em> warning is not about avoiding a losing season; it is fundamentally about organizational survival. We have about reached the limits of incremental improvement as a strategy for growth and success. In the world of new (the root word for innovation), leadership must also undergo transformation in order to foster an innovative, disruption-creating organization. New leaders are risk-taking, partnership-driven catalysts that cultivate spirit, underscore purpose, and promote collaboration.\n\nToday there are 13,000 yellow cabs in New York City and 16,000 Uber drivers. There are over a million Uber drivers worldwide. Six years ago, Uber did not even exist. If your leadership practices were as disruptive as Uber, what would your associates experience?', 'Is Your Leadership Disruptive?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'is-your-leadership-disruptive', '', '', '2016-01-18 06:00:20', '2016-01-18 11:00:20', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28358', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(28369, 405, '2015-12-15 06:00:48', '2015-12-15 11:00:48', 'There I was, on stage in front of 168 audience members waiting to hear what I had to say. A few moments before, I had found my hand shaking weakly at my side, with the mic switched off.\n\nI wondered how I had even gotten myself into this. It was exhilarating! I was about to introduce an event that I had independently organized and welcome a slew of high-profile speakers to the stage.\n\nIn moments like this, I wondered, \"How the hell did I get here? What did I do that opened up such opportunities?\"\n\n<strong>To better understand this, let’s back up 8 months.</strong>\n\nI was a sophomore in undergraduate school with some friends, decent grades, and poor time management skills. I wasn’t complaining, but at the same time there wasn’t anything special happening either. I was a part of about five clubs on campus, but only went to one: entrepreneurship.\n\nI had just joined the small group that year and took a very relaxed approach to the term participation. As I gradually became more involved, I learned about what things the club did on campus. In particular, there was one event, TEDxWooster, that required a lot of time and resources. When the student who brought TEDx to my small liberal arts school completed the event that year, she was about to graduate, so there was no one to take it over.\n\n<strong>That is when everything changed.</strong>\n\nFor some odd reason, I felt the words, “I’ll do it” escape my mouth before I could close it. It was too late. They heard me. At this point my mind was racing. I was content with my not-so-involved life and I was getting by, so why did I just volunteer to put myself through 8 weeks of stress for an event I barely knew anything about? I could count the number of TED Talks I had seen on one hand.\n\nI could have backtracked right then, but I didn’t. When they asked, “Really? You sure? You want to do this?” I replied a confident “yes” that hid the battles of confusion inside my head.\n\n<strong>I had no clue how far the ripple effect would take me.</strong>\n\nIn the next year I faced daunting challenges that I had not encountered anywhere before. I had to promptly learn about contract management, navigating institutional politics, reaching out for funding, marketing on campus, social media marketing, event planning, and customer service. My boundaries were pushed way beyond their previous limits and I grew into a more actively involved individual who is determined to show others that they can do great things as well.\n\n<strong>It all starts with one word: “Yes.”</strong>\n\nSince then, I have traveled places and been a part of experiences that I never knew existed. It is the sole reason why there is even a post for you to read right now.\n\n<strong>Your Challenge:</strong>\n\nThe next time opportunity knocks, take a deep breath and wait a few seconds before responding. When you respond, \"Yes,\" don\'t be surprised when amazing things happen.', 'Opportunity Knocks - It&#039;s Up to You to Open the Door', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'opportunity-knocks-its-up-to-you-to-open-the-door', '', '', '2015-12-15 06:00:48', '2015-12-15 11:00:48', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28369', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28371, 408, '2015-11-24 06:00:58', '2015-11-24 11:00:58', 'Economic uncertainty, industry change, personal evolution—there are many reasons we–or those we know—decide to pursue career reinvention.\n\nNo matter what the motivation, an understanding of the reinvention continuum is an important part of supporting ourselves and others through this very important process.\n\nBefore I can explain The Reinvention Continuum, I need to first address the difference between <a href=\"http://www.reinventionworks.com/webinar-series-launch/\" target=\"_blank\">career reinvention</a> and mere change or adaptation. I view the latter case as passive or reactive – a situation presents itself and the person facing that situation has to find a way to accommodate it. The situation creates the adaptation.\n<h3>Reinvention is a Choice</h3>\nOn the other hand, reinvention involves deliberate and intentional choice TO change. There are instances where a change in situation also ultimately precipitates a reinvention, but not always. Here\'s an example: Frank and Linda have both worked in commercial real estate sales for the same company for the past 10 years and both now find themselves downsized in the latest company cut-backs. Frank decides that he\'s going to look for another commercial real estate job at a different company, but Linda decides that after doing this same job for 10 years, she\'s now ready to pursue her amateur passion for baking and she\'s going to open up a bakery shop. Both people adapted to the situation, but Frank did not choose to reinvent while Linda did. That\'s why I like to say, \"Reinvention is a choice.\"\n\nAs someone who has gone through multiple career reinventions and who has also chosen to be a student of the reinvention process for the past 13 months, I have come to several conclusions:\n<ul>\n	<li> No one goes through reinvention in a vacuum</li>\n	<li> No one succeeds at reinvention without support of some sort</li>\n	<li> True reinvention is really tough – it\'s messy, challenging, confusing, and oftentimes painful</li>\n	<li> The reinvention process lends itself to a lot of existential thinking and self-reflection</li>\n</ul>\n<h3>The Four Phases of the Reinvention Continuum</h3>\nMy informal research into the reinvention process has involved dozens of interviews – often <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_I43RApkfTzhOJczUc0yNA\" target=\"_blank\">videotaped</a> during live webcast sessions – and countless conversations. While there are certainly predictable patterns of traits, attitudes, and advice from all these \"Reinventionists,\" as I call them, no two people experience the exact same reinvention journey.\n\nI like the word \"journey\" because it aptly describes how reinvention feels, but when I objectively assess the landscape, I see a common sequence that people go through. I have named this sequence, The Reinvention Continuum.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Reinvention.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-28378\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Reinvention-300x225.png\" alt=\"Reinvention\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\n\nThe Reinvention Continuum consists of four phases:\n\n1. Foundational\n2. Visioning\n3. Planning\n4. Executing\n<h3>The Foundational Phase is About Recognition</h3>\nIn the Foundational phase, the individual has to do the difficult work of coming to terms with their sense of self and recognizing their own perceived inadequacies and self-limiting behaviors. You see, many people say they want to reinvent, but the biggest obstacle to their reinvention is what\'s in their mind. Reinvention requires people to face fears, doubts, unattained goals, and long-ingrained beliefs that if unaddressed, will continue to hinder their ability to succeed at reinvention.\n<h3>Articulate Your “Next” Future with Visioning</h3>\nAfter the Foundational work comes Visioning. Visioning drives the individual to articulate their ideal \"next future\" – the career or life they want to reinvent towards – and why that future is important to them. Visioning helps answer the questions, \"How do I turn my passion into a revenue, a livelihood?\" and \"What do I have to do in order to get there?\"\n<h3>Planning Provides a Reinvention Roadmap</h3>\nOnce someone has a clear sense of what they want to do, they can begin to plan for it. Do they need to go back to school? Do they need to downsize their lifestyle? Do they need to move? Do they need to leave someone who\'s holding them back? The Planning phase provides the individual with the roadmap to the intended reinvention journey.\n<h3>The Execution of Reinvention</h3>\nThat leaves Execution, which is setting the plan in motion. In its purest state, Execution seems like the easiest phase of the Reinvention Continuum, but it can actually be harder than the Foundational phase because as most of us already know, almost nothing in life goes exactly as planned. During Execution, the Reinventionist will be tested again and again. During the Execution phase, the will to reinvent has to override everything else because without that self-conviction – that drive to achieve the reinvented state – reinvention is unlikely to happen.\n\nThe Reinvention Continuum also accommodates for repetition or refinement of the reinvention journey. The struggle of the Execution phase may bring the individual back to the self-exploration state of the Foundational phase – \"Why isn\'t this working?\" or \"I thought I had this figured out, so what\'s wrong with me that\'s hindering my success?”\n\nEveryone goes through this process of reinvention at their own pace and in their own way. While the four stages may stay the same, the timeline and way a reinventionist goes through them differ dramatically. That’s a really important point to remember, for reinvention must be unique to be meaningful and successful.\n<h3>Reinvention: An On-going Process?</h3>\nLastly, we could also question if reinvention really ever ends; or, should it end? In today\'s fast- and ever-changing world, shouldn\'t we all always be ready to reinvent? The Reinvention Continuum intentionally evokes a never-ending process. And it\'s a process that should be embraced, not feared.', 'Managing Change Through The Reinvention Continuum', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'managing-change-through-the-reinvention-continuum', '', '', '2015-11-24 06:00:58', '2015-11-24 11:00:58', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28371', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(28383, 276, '2015-12-04 06:00:14', '2015-12-04 11:00:14', 'I find it interesting seeing people wanting to be leaders like it is the first-place position in a race.\n\nEach one is vying for that coveted position to be able to lead and tell people what to do.\n\nA position that has an aura of power and authority that is bestowed upon them, that enables them to give commands that their people have to follow and carry out.\n\nSuch demonstration of intense focus to gain power is akin to purchasing a house, thinking that once the house is purchased it is the end of the journey. But that is far from the truth. While the initial act of purchasing a house requires a huge financial outlay, the work that comes after that is even bigger and more demanding.\n\nAfter the purchase one has to tend to the needs of maintaining a property, like mowing the lawn, cleaning the gutters, trimming the bushes, planting and caring for the plants, raking leaves, shoveling the driveway during winters and the overall upkeep of the house inside and out. All the ensuing activities are often not clear until the purchase is completed because the intense focus of acquiring it shifts the focus to the house itself.\n\nAs John C Maxwell said, “Leadership is action, not a position.”\n\nMost folks fail to realize that there is a lot required of them after they arrive at the destination and are given the opportunity to lead others. They have to serve their constituents; they need to spend a great deal of time and managing people is not easy. As a result, they fail at it because they don’t have a clear picture of what they need to do.\n\nTherefore it is important for leaders to educate their constituents about the work that is ahead of the folks who desire to be leaders. Just like purchasing a house, the single act pales in comparison to the commitment you need to dedicate time to serve and lead others. Until you realize the effort needed and learn what lies ahead, it is best to take the time in your journey to equip yourself with the necessary skills and knowledge to make it happen.\n\nI make it a point to mentor my people of the importance of the work that lies ahead and the commitment that is needed to get there.\n\nJohn C. Maxwell said that as we move up, we have to give up and do more time with and for our people. Unless one realizes the work needed ahead, they will certainly fail in leading their people. If you’re willing to sacrifice your time and develop people, that is when you should contemplate being a leader.\n\nOne must develop the heart of serving others and growing talent around them. It is the best gift they can give to their constituents to help them grow and develop.\n\nWriting is a labor of love, if you agree with my post let me know your thoughts. If you disagree, let me know your perspective, I look forward to learning from you.', 'Leadership Is Action', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'leadership-is-action', '', '', '2015-12-04 06:00:14', '2015-12-04 11:00:14', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28383', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(28385, 390, '2015-12-01 06:00:08', '2015-12-01 11:00:08', 'John Steinbeck\'s 1952 family epic and not-so-subtle Bible allegory, <em>East Of Eden</em>, is impressive for the sweeping arc of its story and richly drawn characters.\n\nIt also includes insight on both the nature of the servant life and the pitfalls of complacency.\n\nAt one point, the character of Samuel Hamilton converses with Lee, his Chinese servant, about his vocation. Sam wants to know why Lee is content to be a servant.\n\nLee surprises Hamilton by turning the question around, marveling at why more intelligent people don\'t take it as a career - learn to do it well and reap its benefits.\n\nAs Lee tells it, the servant life \"is the refuge of the philosopher. It is a position of power, even of love. A good servant can completely control his master, tell him what to think, how to act, distribute happiness to him, and finally be mentioned in his will.\"\n\nThe good servant also \"has absolute security,\" says Lee. A master will defend and protect him.\n\nA poor or complacent servant, though, will eventually negligently do himself in. Lee says many servants rely on a master\'s habit and indolence. Because it\'s a hard thing for a man to change his spices or lay out his own socks, a poor servant, one who does not work and does no worrying can still be \"fed, clothed and protected.\n\nAt least for a time. In Lee\'s estimation, the field is cluttered with incompetents such as this, taking advantage of their masters\' inertia. \"Excellence is so rare,\" Lee says.\n\n<h3>The Lee Principles</h3>\n\nWe all serve someone. And while there are times when a severance or setback in a relationship can come as a genuine surprise, by practicing <em>The Lee Principles</em> retaining the trust and protection of our masters comes much more under our control.\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Be A Partner</strong> - First, position yourself as a partner, not merely an order-taker or task-completer. Humility and deference are important, but so are insight and candor. For example, a seller-buyer relationship focused only on smartly  effecting transactions is like a relationship with a bad servant who misses his opportunity to build a broader trust.</p>\n\nNever assume your master wants you to mind your own business on matters unrelated to the transaction at hand. If you want to become, in the current parlance, a trusted advisor, there is just one path: giving, over time, trustworthy advice.\n\nBeing a nice guy won\'t cement the relationship either. Service-with-a-smile will be appreciated, but really, anyone can do this and it will not make you a partner.</li>\n<li><p><strong>Forces Mount</strong> - Next, continuously self-evaluate. Is my master keeping me around out of appreciative trust or inertia? Am I protected or merely tolerated until replacing me can no longer wait? And how can I tell the difference?</p>\n\nAlways avoid the glib presumption of a master\'s continuing goodwill. In business, clients about whom it\'s said they\'ll never leave us have a way of suddenly turning up in the stables of competitors.\n\nThe physics of inertia are not about the immovability of an object, only its resistance to movement. Inertia will be overcome as forces mount. What causes this? Lack of regular contact, laziness in follow-through, only caring about the task at hand or perhaps worse, only caring about the next one. \n\nIt may be a hard thing for a man to change his spices but eventually he will. Once budged out of place, your master will have a property related to inertia: momentum. That object will tend to remain in motion will be sent in a most unwelcome direction: away.</li>\n<li><p><strong>Lasting Reward</strong> - Finally, do you see being a servant as a position of love? The meaning of this will obviously vary by circumstance but always includes consideration, putting the other first, giving of self, patience, kindness, commitment.</p>\n\nThe incompetence of a bad servant lies not in his inability to perform required tasks, but in his inability to realize that his lasting reward will not come by taking what he can get, but by inspiring his master to keep giving.</li>\n</ul>', 'Content To Be A Servant', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'content-to-be-a-servant', '', '', '2015-12-01 06:00:08', '2015-12-01 11:00:08', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28385', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(28404, 323, '2015-12-02 06:00:35', '2015-12-02 11:00:35', 'Much has been written and talked about on the importance of leading others. But what about leading ourselves?\n\nI believe that our ability to self-lead has clear links to our ability to lead others. This ultimately affects our ability to achieve success in whatever endeavor we undertake.\n\nBut, as the age-old saying goes, sometimes we are our “own worst enemy.” This is because we forget to check in and take care of ourselves in the midst of our daily grind to lead our teams and our organizations.\n\nThis is a risk because if we don\'t take care of ourselves we can hardly take care of others, let alone lead them. While an obvious notion, it helps introduce four ideas - pillars - for success in self-leadership.\n\nThese <em>Four Pillars</em> - ideas for strength in daily self-leadership - are inspired by some of history\'s top thought leaders.\n\n<h3>The Four Pillars</h3>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Know your plan.</li>\n<li>Feed yourself first.</li>\n<li>Do one more.</li>\n<li>Get up.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<h3>Know Your Plan</strong></h3>\n\nSteven Covey, author of <em><a href=\"https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits.php\">7 Habits of Highly Effective People</a></em> said this:\n\n<blockquote>“Begin with the end in mind.”</blockquote>\n\nThe <em>First Pillar</em> of <em>Know Your Plan</em> is about setting goals. It requires having a before and after picture, but starts with an honest and clear-eyed assessment of your current state. Otherwise, how do you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you are?\n\nAs Socrates famously said:\n\n<blockquote>“Know Thyself.”</blockquote>\n\nOnce you know your current and future states, you can then start the hard work of meeting small goals that move you closer to your finish line.\n\nBe ready to adapt to changing, unplanned circumstances along the way, because they are inevitable. The best leaders have vision but can also change course when necessary.\n\n<h3>Feed Yourself</h3>\n\nSimply put, if we don’t eat, drink, or breathe, we don’t live. Further, if we don’t learn, we can’t grow. Extending this idea one step further:\n\n<em>If we don’t grow, we can’t grow others.</em>\n\nMarshall Goldsmith, famous leadership coach and author of <em><a href=\"http://www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com/cim/What-Got-You-Here.php\">What Got you Here Won’t Get You There</a>,</em> said:\n\n<blockquote>“To help others develop, start with yourself.”</blockquote>\n\nI once heard <a href=\"http://www.johnmaxwell.com/\">John Maxwell</a>, another popular leadership coach, author, and pastor offer this idea about the importance of taking care of ourselves:\n\n<blockquote>\"If you’ve ever flown, you’ve heard a flight attendant say, ‘If you are traveling with children or seated next to someone who needs assistance, place the mask on yourself first, and then offer assistance.’\"</blockquote>\n\nThe <em>Second Pillar</em> of <em>Feed Yourself</em> means that before we can lead others, we must first be follow-worthy. This requires feeding our body, mind, and spirit.\n\nFor expanded thoughts on the <em>Second Pillar</em>, read <a href=\"http://alanderekutley.com/2015/04/06/follow-worthy-leaders-do-this/\">Follow-Worthy Leaders Do This</a>.\n\n<h3>Do One More</h3>\n\nSam Parker and Mac Anderson, authors of <em><a href=\"http://www.givemore.com/212-the-extra-degree/\">212◦ The Extra Degree</a></em> offer this inspiring metaphor about making an unwavering effort in every task we undertake:\n\n<blockquote>“At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water, comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive.”</blockquote>\n\nThe <em>third Pillar</em> of <em>Do One More</em> is about the daily grind. It reminds us that seemingly small things can make the difference between competing and winning. When we’re tired, up against a wall, out of time, or out of ideas, that’s when we dig deep and find a way to <em>just do one more.</em>\n\nVince Lombardi, hall of fame football coach, said:\n\n<blockquote>“Inches make champions.”</blockquote>\n\n<h3><strong>Get Up</strong></h3>\n\nThomas Edison clocked exponentially more failures than successes. But in his own words:\n\n<blockquote>“I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”</blockquote>\n\nThe <em>fourth</em> and final <em>Pillar</em> of <em>Get Up</em> reminds us that on our way to the finish line, we may trip and fall, and sometimes we just won’t be fast enough.\n\nBut it is not how many times we fail that matters. Rather it is how many times we embrace the failure and then get up and get going that truly counts.\n\nOnce again from John Maxwell:\n\n<blockquote>\"You will not succeed unless you are willing to fail.”</blockquote>\n\nIn summary, do, fail, learn, and do again.\n\n<h3>Final Thoughts</h3>\n\nThe harsh reality of leadership is that people choose who to follow, despite hierarchy and formal authority. Therefore, follow-worthy leaders have earned the right to lead others by first showing strength in the daily leadership of themselves. Doing so allows them to offer their very best while leading everyone to success.', 'Four Pillars Of Self Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'four-pillars-of-self-leadership', '', '', '2015-12-02 06:00:35', '2015-12-02 11:00:35', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28404', 0, 'post', '', 8),
(28429, 407, '2015-12-03 06:00:08', '2015-12-03 11:00:08', 'Mastery in anything, from sports to the arts to leadership, requires well-practiced capability mediated by a highly mature interiority - a well-honed outer game arising on a highly evolved inner game. Both are essential. Masterful leadership is conscious competence.\n\nWe are always playing two games - an outer and inner game. The outer game of leadership consists of using all of our knowledge and experience, as well as our technical, managerial, and leadership competence, to accomplish results.\n\nThe all-consuming outer game is obviously where most leaders spend most of their time, since the day-to-day requirements of the outer game are fierce and the learning curve is steep. Developing well-honed capability to think and act effectively, skillfully, and competently in different situations is a baseline requirement for effectiveness. We ignore honing this outer game at our peril.\n\nMost efforts to develop mastery in leadership focus on the outer game of competence with little focus on the inner game of consciousness. Yet what we hold in our consciousness tends to manifest, meaning that the inner game runs the outer game. Until we take a more balanced approach - one that evolves both the inner and outer game (consciousness and competence) simultaneously - we will falter in developing leaders at the accelerated pace required.\n\nHow mature is your inner game for the stage you are playing on, or aspire to play on? Is it mature enough to handle the pace and complexity of leading your organization through the volatile whitewater that most managers and leaders are now navigating?\n\nIn his book, <em>Playing To Win</em>, Larry Wilson distinguished between two games. Are you stuck in a <em>play-not-to-lose game</em>? In this game, we strive to win by trying hard not to fail. This is essentially a defensive game - the way we play when our inner game is functioning from a <em>reactive mindset</em>. When we live and lead from a <em>play-to-win game</em>, we play full-out, as if we have nothing to gain or lose. We play this way when our inner game matures to what we call a Creative Mindset.\n\nCompetence is necessary to be effective in senior roles; however, competence alone is insufficient. Great leadership transcends skill, capability, and competence. It includes integrity, honesty, passion, vision, risk-taking, compassion, courage, authenticity, collaboration, self-awareness, selflessness, endurance, humility, intuition, and wisdom. These are qualities of the inner game.\n\nGreat leadership is connected with the deepest parts of ourselves. It has more to do with character, courage, and conviction than it does with specific skills or competencies. Mastery of leadership requires that we work at these depths and mature the inner game of consciousness.\n\nToday, leaders need to be effective in three areas:\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Leadership Process</strong> - This is the science of leadership and the domain of management. Leaders are responsible for the allocation and effective use of resources: people, time, and money. To effectively utilize resources, leaders deploy management systems that include business cadence, strategy, direction, execution, process, metrics, and decision making. Without effective leadership process in place, the business is not organized for success.</li>\n<li><strong>Leadership Competencies</strong> - These are the competencies required for a leader to be successful in his or her role. We describe this as the outside game of leadership. Certain core competencies strongly correlate with effective leadership.</li>\n<li><strong>Leadership Consciousness</strong> - This inside game includes a leader’s interior operating system - what drives the leader, how they define themselves, what is important to them, and what they believe.</li>\n</ol>\n\nIn high-pressure leadership roles, we often assume that the outer game is the only game that matters; however, what is happening beneath the surface is mediating and organizing the effectiveness of the outer game.\n\nThe inner game consists of: our meaning-making system—what we use to make sense of the world; our decision-making system—how we analyze, decide, and act; our values and spiritual beliefs; our level of self-awareness and emotional intelligence; the mental models that we use to understand reality, think, act, and create; and the internal beliefs and assumptions making up our personal identity—the system that we use to know who we are, and to define and deploy ourselves into circumstances. Together, these elements make up the complex internal system by which we relate to the world.\n\nThe better the outer game and the more mature the inner game, the more effective we are. Mastery is a well-honed outer game arising on a very mature inner game.\n\nThe dominant approach to leadership development targets a competency-based outer game. We measure competencies, provide feedback, and create action plans. While this approach is helpful, it seldom produces breakthroughs since it ignores the inner game.\n\nMoreover, while we may need help with learning a new competency, we often need more help with our inner game. We often get stuck at the level of the inner game. When inner game is letting them down, because the inner game goes on beneath the surface, it is usually the last place they look for breakthroughs.\n\nA breakthrough in the inner game can result in sudden shifts in the effectiveness of the outer game, which, in turn, can result in big performance gains. We incur huge opportunity costs when we ignore the inner game or treat it as irrelevant. Individual and collective leadership effectiveness emerge when we explore how our inner game is being played.\n\nAgain, what we hold in our consciousness tends to manifest, individually and collectively. The outer world shapes itself to the inner world. Consciousness creates reality. Everything emerging in our enterprise has its source first in thought.\n\n<em>Excerpted from Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results, by Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams (Wiley, 2015)</em>', 'Transcending Skill - A Mastering Leadership Excerpt', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'transcending-skill-a-mastering-leadership-excerpt', '', '', '2015-12-03 06:00:08', '2015-12-03 11:00:08', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28429', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28451, 372, '2015-12-09 06:00:44', '2015-12-09 11:00:44', 'It’s the last month of the year. The holidays are upon us. As we close out 2015 we begin thinking about how we’d like 2016 to be better.\n\nMost of our resolutions are focused on health, wellness, exercise, diet, etc. Those are valuable goals.\n\nThere’s a valuable resolution that leaders need to embrace for their workplaces.\n\nThere is one particular area where all leaders can make a huge positive impact on their companies, employees, and customers. That one area impacts everything that happens in their organizations, good and bad. This one area can boost innovation, results, engagement, and service - or erode all those things.\n\nThat one area is <em>culture</em>. It deserves leaders’ undivided attention in 2016 - and beyond.\n\nIn fact, Deloitte’s <a href=\"http://dupress.com/articles/employee-engagement-culture-human-capital-trends-2015/\" target=\"_blank\">2015 Culture & Engagement Study</a> found that 87 percent of organizations see culture and engagement as one of their top challenges today. More than 50 percent believe their culture and engagement problems are very important ones to solve.\n\nYet few leaders know what to do to address culture and engagement gaps today. Only 12 percent of respondents to this study felt that their organization is excellent at driving their desired culture. Deloitte says that leaders today “lack an understanding of and models for culture.\"\n\nOver the last 25 years I’ve refined a proven path to creating a high performing, values aligned culture. That path requires leaders to pay as much attention to the quality of their work environment as they do to the quality of results.\n\nToo few organizations spend the kind of time, energy, and focus that <a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2015/03/25/americas-best-employers-2015/\" target=\"_blank\">Forbes’ 2015 America’s Best Employers</a> do on culture.\n\nFor example, Google is the top rated employer on this list. Google invests heavily in the maintenance of a great culture. They regularly measure dozens of factors to understand what makes team members happy and productive.\n\nThey learn from those studies to adapt policies, procedures, processes, and environment to ensure that their workplace culture creates inspiration and contribution, not frustration and competition. They and the other top employers make values as important as results - and it makes a huge positive impact.\n\nOver the last 25 years, clients that have embraced my <a href=\"http://drtc.me/proof\" target=\"_blank\">proven framework</a> to refine their organization’s culture have enjoyed 40 percent gains in engagement, 40 percent gains in customer service, and 35 percent gains in results and profits, all within 18 months of engaging in proactive culture management.\n\nMy proven framework helps leaders change their culture by changing the rules. Making values as important as performance requires new rules, in the form of an <a href=\"http://thecultureengine.com\" target=\"_blank\">organizational constitution</a>. This document formalizes the team or company’s purpose, values and behaviors, strategies, and goals.\n\nOnce the organizational constitution is formalized, leaders must model the values and behaviors and then align all plans, decisions, and actions to those values and behaviors. An organizational constitution creates liberating rules for team or company members.\n\nAligning to company values creates great company citizens. Great citizens enable their own great performance and that of their team members. Great citizens treat their peers and their customers with trust, respect and dignity in every interaction.\n\nEmbrace your responsibility to create workplace inspiration and eliminate workplace frustration. Aligning behavior to an organizational constitution will do a world of good in 2016.', 'Resolved - Build Workplace Inspiration In 2016', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'resolved-build-workplace-inspiration-in-2016', '', '', '2015-12-09 06:00:44', '2015-12-09 11:00:44', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28451', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(28452, 252, '2015-12-08 06:00:44', '2015-12-08 11:00:44', 'I made an employee cry. Sort of by accident. Sort of on purpose. He had ticked me off. He was out of line. In retrospect, I realize I wanted to let him know not to mess with me.\n\nI was an experienced HR manager. I received a snarky email from an employee. He was responding to a message I had sent out to all organization members. The topic was a hot button for him. He twisted my words, put in it an email and copied his boss and a few more people.\n\nWhat he didn’t know is that he had now pressed one of my hot buttons. That’s when someone twists my words deliberately to make me look stupid.\n<h3>Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself</h3>\nDuring this same time period I was training managers on how to talk to their employees. I was training them specifically on how to ask questions before jumping to conclusions.\n\nI distinctly remember thinking I <em>could</em> apply that approach with this employee. But he was so out of line, this was an exception. He needed to pay a price. As you can imagine, I ended up paying a price too.\n<h3>I Rued The Day</h3>\nI set up a meeting with him to discuss the topic at hand. I basically told him that it was my prerogative to make the decision I shared in that message. I didn\'t owe him an explanation.\n\nI didn\'t leave it there though. I don’t know what else I said to escalate the situation. I\'m probably blocking it out. I do know that when I left his face was so red it looked like his head was going to explode.\n\nHis boss called me soon after. She asked me what I did to make her employee cry. She said she had never seen him that way before.\n\nMy boss called me and asked me what I did. He told me to leave the man a message apologizing and then avoid talking to that employee from now on. The employee thought the HR manager had it out for him. That is not anything a leader wants to hear, especially when it is earned.\n<h3>I Was Not A Leader That Day</h3>\nI had called myself a leader, but I was not a leader that day. Upon reflection, it felt like something else had taken over my good sense. On the other hand I knew what I was planning, and I did it anyway. I guess that is the power of a deeply rooted button, when pushed.\n\nThis got my attention, especially with his boss’s and my boss’s response. I respected them and they were telling me to back off. How I wish I could take it back. But the damage was done, irreparably. I am so sorry that employee was in the position to be the target of my very bad judgment that day.\n<h3>A Leadership Lesson Paid Forward</h3>\nSeveral years later I was training a group of managers on leadership skills. We were talking about values, about your own vision for yourself as a leader, and the importance of self-awareness.\n\nI found myself telling the story of the day I made that employee cry on purpose. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I wondered if I had made a mistake with being so transparent.\n\nI told them the story because I wanted them to understand that a leader can\'t afford to be self-indulgent, like I was. We also need to keep in mind how employees view our perceived or real authority. It is up to us to be super conscious of not abusing the privilege of a title.\n<h3>Being Up Front Pays Off</h3>\nWe completed that day’s training session. One participant who had been hanging back came up to me. She said she had been apprehensive and wondered if the training was just a bunch of platitudes. She wondered if the trainers had real world experience. She said that after she heard that story from me, she was ready to take me seriously.\n\nI think that\'s the day I could begin to truly claim the role of leader, by being willing to confidently admit that mistake, how I learned from it, and to publicly share my experience as a cautionary tale.', 'My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Leadership Lesson', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'my-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-leadership-lesson', '', '', '2015-12-08 06:00:44', '2015-12-08 11:00:44', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28452', 0, 'post', '', 12);
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(28469, 274, '2015-12-07 06:00:52', '2015-12-07 11:00:52', 'Welcome to the December 2015 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival!\n\nFor our December edition, we took a page out of <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/december-2014-carnival-of-hr/\" target=\"_blank\">last December\'s Carnival of HR post</a> and asked about books you have read which have made a difference in your leadership journey. We figure it might provide some gift-giving ideas for anyone who is stuck!\n<h3>Let\'s Get Started</h3>\n<strong>Art Petty </strong>of <a href=\"http://artpetty.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Art Petty Group</a> sent his blog about applying game designing approaches to designing workplaces, in which he recommends the book  <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Actionable-Gamification-Beyond-Points-Leaderboards/dp/1511744049/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1447857148&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=yu+kai+chou\" target=\"_blank\">Actionable Gamification—Beyond Points, Badges and Leaderboards</a>. Art says, \"This is not an easy read, but it’s most definitely a voyage of discovery.\" Find Art on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/artpetty\" target=\"_blank\">@artpetty</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/dont-manage-time-manage-your-values-priorities-habits/\" target=\"_blank\">Don’t Manage Time, Manage Your Values, Priorities, &amp; Habits</a>. Chris summarizes: \"Best-selling author Kevin Kruse’s new book, <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https://15timesecrets.com/free-book\" target=\"_blank\">15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management</a><strong><em>,</em></strong></span> features the best productivity habits of entrepreneurs, straight-A students, and a few billionaires.\" Follow Chris on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/scedmonds\" target=\"_blank\">@scedmonds</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>David Greer </strong>of <a href=\"http://coachdjgreer.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Coach David J. Greer</a> contributed <a href=\"http://coachdjgreer.com/create-your-business-success/\" target=\"_blank\">Create Your Business Success</a>. David shares, \"Debra Jason gives us the Eight Secrets for Succeeding in Business along with amazing practical advice that let you grow your business today in her book Millionaire Marketing On a Shoestring Budget. If you are feeling overwhelmed by social media, press releases, and marketing in general, you will feel in control after reading Millionaire Marketing. Debra shares her 25 years of building her own business and helping entrepreneurs build their businesses.\" Find David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/djgreer\" target=\"_blank\">@djgreer</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Hollis Thomases</strong> of <a href=\"http://reinventionworks.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">ReinventionWorks</a> provided <a href=\"http://reinventionworks.tumblr.com/post/134271569861/influential-reading-for\" target=\"_blank\">Influential Reading for Reinventionists-in-the-Making</a>. Hollis tells us, \"the principles discussed and practices taught in this book [<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Thought-Your-Thoughts-World/dp/1933916265/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1449681265&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=managing+thought\" target=\"_blank\">Managing Thought</a>] made an instantaneous behavioral impact on me. As a Type-A person, too curious for my own good sometimes and  who suffers from the dreaded analysis paralysis, I learned almost immediately how to quiet much of the noise in my head and to, quite literally, <i>manage thought</i>, as the book title says.\" Follow Hollis on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hollisthomases\" target=\"_blank\">@hollisthomases</a>.\n<h2 class=\"title\"></h2>\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jeremy Chandler </strong>of <a href=\"https://www.thindifference.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Thin Difference</a> shared <a href=\"https://www.thindifference.com/2015/06/7-books-millennials-can-read-to-rise-above-our-peers/\" target=\"_blank\">7 Books Millennials Can Read to Rise Above Our Peers</a>. Jeremy comments, \"I admit that at times reading can feel more like a chore than a hobby. But the books on this list were worth the effort. I recommend these seven books to anyone hoping to rise above their peers!\" Discover Jeremy on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jeremy_chandler\" target=\"_blank\">@jeremy_chandler</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jesse Lyn Stoner</strong> of the <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Seapoint Center</a> provided <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/what-is-collaboration/\" target=\"_blank\">What Is Collaboration And Where Does It Begin?</a>. Jesse summarized: \"Collaboration is a powerful tool that leads to break-through results, and is different from cooperation, coordination<wbr />, and teamwork. This post explains the difference and explores why so many efforts to increase collaboration fail. It was inspired by my friends Ken Blanchard, Eunice Parisi-Carew and Jane Ripley’s new book, <i>Collaboration Begins With You.</i>\" Follow Jesse on Twitter at <a href=\"http://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\">Ephipany at Work</a> contributed <a href=\"http://epiphanyatwork.com/break-bad-habits-by-creating-new-ones/\" target=\"_blank\">Break Bad Habits by Creating New Ones</a>. Jill shared, \"Well-meaning leaders don’t always do what they want to do. Read The Power of Habit for inspiration on how to break bad habits and be the leader you aspire to.\" Connect with 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=\"http://changingwinds.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Changing Winds</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Unflinching-The-Making-Canadian-Sniper/dp/147679510X\" target=\"_blank\">Unflinching: The Making of a Canadian Sniper</a>. Jim says, \"What is compelling about this book, in contrast to others out there by former soldiers, is that Mitic openly shares his journey from his problems as a youth to new military recruit to his three tours in Afghanistan as a highly regarded sniper. He talks openly about how he lost the lower parts of both legs when he stepped on an IED, his subsequent journey into darkness, his battle with drugs and alcohol as he fought PTSD, and he how he eventually won. He is now a city councillor in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. It’s a most remarkable story.\" 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/to-improve-your-teams-output-look-at-it-differently\" target=\"_blank\">To Improve Your Team\'s Output, Look at it Differently</a> Joel recaps: \"This article will provide five elements of team member output highlighted in the book Lead Inside the Box: How Smart Leaders Guide Their Teams to Exceptional Results<em>.</em>\" 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  Curious Cat Management shared <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2015/01/22/who-inspires-your-management-thinking-and-action/\" target=\"_blank\">Who Inspires Your Management Thinking and Action?</a>, which touches on sveeral authors and books who have influenced him. He says, \"From an early age I learned to experiment, appreciate and understand data, respect people and the importance of striving to continually improve. I am thankful for these lessons that I learned as gift from growing up in my family.\" Follow John on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/curiouscat_com\" target=\"_blank\">@curiouscat_com</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Mary Ila Ward </strong>of <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Horizon Point Consulting</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.horizonpointconsulting.com/blog3/item/10-books-leaders-need-to-be-reading\" target=\"_blank\">10 Books Leaders Need to be Reading</a>. Mary Ila writes, \"Leaders are readers. One of the easiest and cheapest ways to grow as a leader is to read about leadership and take the knowledge gained from your reading and apply it.  Here are the top 10 books Horizon Point suggests you should be reading.\" 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://www.michaelleestallard.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Lee Stallard</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.michaelleestallard.com/why-you-may-not-be-connecting-with-others\" target=\"_blank\">Why You May Not be Connecting With Others</a>. He shares, \"Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cochran have written a thoughtful book about the different rhythms we get into and how connecting with others depends on recognizing the rhythm they are in then adjusting our rhythm so that we connect.  his book provided some practical advice that has helped me both in my work and life outside of work.\" Follow 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://rampupsolutions.com/\" target=\"_blank\">RampUp Solutions, Inc., </a>contributed <a href=\"http://mappingcompanysuccess.com/2014/12/lean-startup-conference-2014-mikkel-svane-and-zendesks-story/\" target=\"_blank\">a post incorporating the book Startup Land</a>. Miki did not feel any of the books she encountered in 2015 offered sufficient ROI for their readers, but this one has lasting power. 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> shared <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/2015/11/23/overcoming-fear-to-be-creatively-confident/\" target=\"_blank\">Overcoming Fear to be Creatively Confident</a>. Neal summarizes, \"Even though the book has been out for a few years, I found Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All as the main book I prefer to help clients with Regaining their own Creative Confidence.\" Follow 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=\"http://upwardsleader.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The Upwards Leader</a> contributed <a href=\"http://upwardsleader.com/2015/07/07/book-review-connection-culture/\" target=\"_blank\">Book Review: Connection Culture</a> Paul continues, \"This book gives a powerful common sense approach to building engagement and performance in any organization. Using case studies and real life examples from his professional and personal experience, Michael Lee Stallard has written what I deem is the best leadership book of 2015.\" Discover 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://biggreenpen.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Big Green Pen</a> shared <a href=\"http://biggreenpen.com/2015/04/19/mind-in-boat-focus/\" target=\"_blank\">Is Your Mind \"in the Boat\"?</a> Paula summarizes, \"The book <em>The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold in the 1936 Olympics</em> made a distinct impression on me. In discussing the University of Washington\'s rowing team\'s evolution, the author explored how the team lost its way when it began focusing on winning rather than supporting one another.\" Find Paula on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/biggreenpen\" target=\"_blank\">@biggreenpen</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Phil Wilson</strong> of the <a href=\"http://lrionline.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Labor Relations Institute</a> contributed <a href=\"http://approachableleadership.com/why-you-shouldnt-start-with-why/\" target=\"_blank\">Why You Shouldn\'t Start With Why</a>. Phil recaps, \"I’m not saying “why” isn’t important, but this book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone/dp/1591846447/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1438898615&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=leadership+books&amp;linkCode=sl1&amp;tag=lrmasein-20&amp;linkId=ad6eef7b46ff4d3014cdb2455fc67b24\" target=\"_blank\">[Start With Why</a>] gets everything backward.\" Follow Phil on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Approachableldr\" target=\"_blank\">@approachableldr</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Robyn McLeod </strong>of <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/thoughtful-leaders/\" target=\"_blank\">The Thoughtful Leaders Blog</a> shared <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/2015/06/25/why-you-need-to-know-more-about-mindfulness/\" target=\"_blank\">Why You Need to Know More About Mindfulness</a>. The post, Robyn says, \"presents the benefits of practicing mindfulness at work, including stress reduction, more focus on work-life balance, and improved productivity and creativity.\" Discover Robyn on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThoughtfulLdrs\" target=\"_blank\">@thoughtfulldrs</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Susan Mazza </strong>of <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Random Acts Of Leadership</a> submitted <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/living-a-life-of-significance/\" target=\"_blank\">Living a Life of Significance</a></span>. Susan summarizes, \"By living intentionally, each of us can make a difference with what we have, where we are right now. If enough of us do that, we can change the world.\" Find Susan on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SusanMazza\" target=\"_blank\">@susanmazza</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Wally Bock </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Three Star Leadership</a> shared <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/books/leadership-5-great-books-you-may-not-know\" target=\"_blank\">5 Great Books You May Not Know</a>. Wally writes, \"Leadership wisdom gets plowed under as one generation succeeds another. Really good books are often forgotten. Here are five to find and read.\" Follow Wally on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wallybock\" target=\"_blank\">@wallybock</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>William G. Steiner </strong>of <a href=\"http://executivecoachingconcepts.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Executive Coaching Concepts</a> provided <a href=\"http://executivecoachingconcepts.com/giving-as-a-leader/\" target=\"_blank\">Tis the Giving Season - 3 Steps to Giving as a Leader</a>. Willy says this post reflects on a book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, by Adam Grant and his research about the benefits of Giving. He ties that to three steps a leader can take to give to their team that cost nothing but your time.\" Find Willy on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/coachforexecs\" target=\"_blank\">@coachforexecs</a>.\n\n<em>Thank you to everyone who submitted articles for this month\'s carnival! If <strong>you</strong> would like to be on the distribution list for submission calls, please contact Paula Kiger (paula @ weavinginfluence (dot) com)!</em>', 'December 2015 Leadership Development Carnival', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'december-2015-leadership-development-carnival', '', '', '2015-12-07 06:00:52', '2015-12-07 11:00:52', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28469', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(28507, 276, '2016-01-15 06:00:31', '2016-01-15 11:00:31', 'Take a moment and think of a leader you admire. Focus on how he/she interacts with their audience.\n\nDoes the leader listen and provide undivided attention? Or, does the leader at times cut off the other person in the middle of conversation?\n\nNot to take any sides in politics, but former President Bill Clinton has the gift of captivating the attention of the person he is talking to by looking at the person intently like no one else is around them. By doing this, he makes the person feel special.\n\nAs Stephen Covey says, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” I personally have done this many times; I listened to respond, instead of listening to learn. As I became aware of my mistakes, I put an effort to listen carefully. At that point, I learned that I was indeed listening, but not understanding, when I experienced that I failed to remember some of the points that were discussed.\n\nI decided to understand the different barriers to listening to help me avoid them: distractions, for example, such as anyone doing something and making noises; emotions that affect effectiveness; inattentiveness; and lack of clarity. By understanding these barriers, I’m able to focus.\n\nA leader listens to receive, retain, process and translate the message. You’ll notice that great leaders are good listeners because they are not afraid to repeat what they heard to ask for confirmation. They also look into non-communication forms like facial expressions, gestures, and body language to get a complete picture.\n\n<h3>How does a leader demonstrate effective listening?</h3>\n\n<strong>A leader:</strong>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Always maintains eye contact (most important).</li>\n<li>Uses body language to demonstrate that he/she understands what is being communicated by nodding.</li>\n<li>Asking questions to clarify the points.</li>\n<li>Repeating the message to receive confirmation.</li>\n</ol>\n\nTo be a good leader, one must master the art of listening. By developing this skill, over time you’ll slowly head in the right direction.\n\nLet me know your thoughts on my post. Do you agree? If you don’t, please share your thoughts.', 'Leaders Who Listen', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'leaders-who-listen', '', '', '2016-01-15 06:00:31', '2016-01-15 11:00:31', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28507', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28509, 251, '2015-12-10 06:00:48', '2015-12-10 11:00:48', 'Recently I invited three friends to be test readers for the first three chapters of the book I am writing. My ask was to focus only on meaning and clarity. I was both happy and fascinated with the feedback I received.\n\nThe comments generally followed a pattern similar to this one: \"On pages 39, 54 and 75 there are spacing errors in a couple paragraphs and some of the layout is weird. Other than that great stuff, love your ideas. Provocative.\"\n\nOne reader found a dangling participle that even my editor had missed.\n\nWhile all responses were most welcome (feedback is a precious gift), my expectation had been that people would overlook errors in spacing and layout. However, their observations shouldn’t have surprised me. Why not? Their attention to the faults was in line with the findings of psychologist Roy Baumeister that <a href=\"http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:krafV4uyAK4J:https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/file/49901/download%3Ftoken%3DGoY7afXa+&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us\" target=\"_blank\">“bad is stronger than good</a>. Our brains react more quickly to what is negative, and bosses, society, and the like reward us for doing so.\n\nWe receive promotions for fixing what’s broken or ineffective. We get kudos from the boss for problem solving, so of course we look for problems to solve. We receive positive acknowledgment in performance reviews for removing barriers and ferreting out waste.\n<blockquote>Adults spend more time looking at negative than at positive stimuli, perceive negative stimuli to be more complex than positive ones, and form more complex cognitive representations of negative than of positive stimuli.</blockquote>\nTo learn more, read the <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3652533/\" target=\"_blank\">NIH Study</a>.\n\nEven our use of words is changing, tilting <a href=\"http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2012/08/moral-decline-words-we-use/56142/\" target=\"_blank\">more to negative than positive</a>.\n\nResearch shows:\n<ul>\n	<li>74 percent of the words we use to describe other people are negative</li>\n	<li>Virtue words like humility and kindness are falling out of favor as are words such as character and decency that describe the general moral worth of a person, and</li>\n	<li>In low-performing work groups, there are three negative comments to each positive one.</li>\n</ul>\nNo wonder Gallup reports that only 34 percent of employees are engaged in their work.\n\nHmmm, it’s holiday time. Think we could capitalize on this generally good-spirited time of year to flip the focus from negative to positive within our sphere of influence and practice 12 days of giving good tidings?\n\nNeuropsychologist Rick Hanson observes that <a href=\"http://www.sfsu.edu/~holistic/documents/Spring_2014/GoodvsNeg_Bias.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">tilting to the good</a> helps us put challenges in perspective, lifts our energy and spirits, and fills our cup so we have more to give to others.\n\nReady to give it a try?\n<h3>12 Days Of Giving Good Tidings</h3>\n<ul>\n	<li><strong>Day 1</strong> - Give a <a href=\"http://braithwaiteinnovationgroup.com/ready-set-go-say-thank-you/\" target=\"_blank\">sincere thank you</a> to three people.</li>\n	<li><strong>Day 2</strong> - Overlook the molehill. Just let it go.</li>\n	<li><strong>Day 3</strong> - Smile at everyone you pass in any hallway or on the street—every time, all day.</li>\n	<li><strong>Day 4</strong> - Take a colleague to lunch and learn more about him or her. No work talk.</li>\n	<li><strong>Day 5</strong> - Shut down negative self-talk as well as bad thoughts about others. ‘Tis a day for giving the benefit of the doubt.</li>\n	<li><strong>Day 6</strong> - Be appreciative. Tell the barista how her good coffee gets your day off to a good start. Tell the receptionist how his thoughtful screening of visitors is a big help to your productivity. Tell your assistant that he’s the glue that holds everything together.</li>\n	<li><strong>Day 7</strong> - Give a sincere thank you to three people.</li>\n	<li><strong>Day 8</strong> - End your day by identifying three things for which you’re grateful. Ask someone what his or her three things would be.</li>\n	<li><strong>Day 9</strong> - Make it a point to say five positive things to every negative one that’s spoken.</li>\n	<li><strong>Day 10</strong> - Volunteer to help a co-worker who is struggling to complete a rush project.</li>\n	<li><strong>Day 11</strong> - Give a few of those out-of-favor words a workout. Tell someone how impressed you are with his character. Give someone a shout-out for being kind. Tell someone how important her grace and courage are in speaking truth to power.</li>\n	<li><strong>Day 12</strong> - Give a sincere thank you to three people.</li>\n</ul>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">In a world that is being reshaped by the relentless advance of technology, what stands out are acts of kindness and compassion that remind us what it means to be human.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ William C. Taylor</div></blockquote>\nMy ask of you is to begin your twelve days of giving good tidings today. Then come back on day 13 and comment on your experience, good, bad or extraordinary. Game to give good tidings a try?\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28511\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/dreamstime_xs_50346702-being-positive.jpg\" alt=\"power of positive leadership\" width=\"342\" height=\"480\" />\n\n&nbsp;', 'How To Spend 12 Days Tilting To The Good', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-spend-12-days-tilting-to-the-good', '', '', '2015-12-10 06:00:48', '2015-12-10 11:00:48', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28509', 0, 'post', '', 11),
(28520, 386, '2015-12-16 06:00:33', '2015-12-16 11:00:33', 'While I was still a computer science student at the University of British Columbia, I joined a young software startup called Robelle, named for the two founders Robert and Annabelle. I was the first employee.\n\nAs a requirement of my employment Bob and Annabelle insisted that I had to write my first technical paper, submit it to the 1980 International Hewlett-Packard General Systems User Group, and if accepted travel to the conference to present my paper.\n\nThat first paper, <a href=\"http://www.openmpe.com/cslproceed/HPGSUG80/0807.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Checkstack &amp; Controlling COBOL Stacks</a>, was accepted. I had to ask permission of my UBC professors in fourth year to take a week off so that I could fly to San Jose, where I did my first ever professional presentation, at the tender age of twenty-two.\n\nI remember how anxious I was before going on stage that first time, but I had no choice. My paper was in the proceedings and my time slot was booked. Here\'s an image from that paper:\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/GREER-Paper-300x114.jpg\" alt=\"Greer Paper\" width=\"638\" height=\"242\" />\n\nMy only prior public speaking experience was when a previous employer had me take a weekend long public speaking course. In addition to forcing me to practice public speaking during that weekend workshop, the instructor taught me three important things that you should do in every presentation:\n<ol>\n<ol>\n	<li>Tell them what you are going to tell them.</li>\n	<li>Tell them.</li>\n	<li>Tell them what you told them.</li>\n</ol>\n</ol>\nLike most good advice, the principles are very, very simple. It is the practice of how you do this that is the challenge. I still follow these principles today, being as creative as I can be so that people are not obviously aware that this is the pattern of my presentations.\n\nI think that we often do our best work when we don’t know what we are doing. Free of the shackles of previous experience we just go out and try things. Sometimes, we just repeat the mistakes of others. Other times, we strike out into a completely new area.\n\nNo one told me that 22-year olds are not supposed to go to international conventions and give presentations. At least in 1980 we weren’t supposed to. Today, it’s normal as the next generation of breakthrough technologies are often being invented by people much younger than I was then.\n\nWhat does this have to do with leading others? I take away these powerful lessons:\n<ol>\n<ol>\n<ul>\n	<li>We should not assume someone young in age or role is incapable of taking on something new and ambitious.</li>\n	<li>It is up to us to challenge those that follow us so that they have the opportunity to grow into what is next for them.</li>\n	<li>When stretching those that lead, you need to provide a safety net so that the whole company or organization or company is not brought down if the person cannot rise to the challenge.</li>\n</ul>\n</ol>\n</ol>\nIn my case, if I hadn’t written the paper or if it had not been accepted by the review committee, little harm would have been done to Robelle. Bob and Annabelle did take a reputational risk for their young company by having me, completely inexperienced as I was, get up on stage to represent the company. Fortunately, we did practice runs beforehand so that I was as prepared as I could be to do a good job.\n\nIn the end, it worked out for both Robelle and me. While I remember some stumbles and lots of \"ahs\" in that first presentation, I got through it. For the twenty years after that both Bob and I wrote a paper every year and traveled the planet presenting to technical and management audiences to create belief in our relatively small software company that people trusted their entire company to.\n\nIt all started with Bob and Annabelle issuing a challenge and taking a risk on what I could do.', 'Challenged Onto the Stage', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'challenged-onto-the-stage', '', '', '2015-12-16 06:00:33', '2015-12-16 11:00:33', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28520', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(28522, 268, '2016-01-22 06:00:55', '2016-01-22 11:00:55', 'We seek a motivated go-getter to join our team. Workaholic. Has no life. Has no relationships. Available by cell phone 24-7. Glad to work evenings, weekends, holidays, and at the beach.\n\nWilling to return early from vacations to handle fires. Our competitive pay is inversely proportional to hours worked. Add your heart and soul to our growing pile — um, I mean enterprise.\n\nIf recruiters really subscribed to truth in advertising, we\'d see more verbiage like this. Just think how much time companies would save by not interviewing — or accidentally hiring — people like me. Don\'t get me wrong. I like to work. I love to work. But I want the freedom to unplug from my electronics and enjoy my family, friends, and hobbies.\n<h3>Who Is Your Ideal employee?</h3>\nTwenty years ago, I fit the workaholic profile. My employer suggested putting home telephone numbers on our business cards. I was single then, thought I could earn points by pulling all-nighters in the office, and did everything in my power to recruit like-minded individuals.\n\nThe law prohibits asking certain personal questions during job interviews, but it\'s usually possible to get the information you want anyway. For example, see how a candidate responds to \"tell me about a project where you went above and beyond to deliver.\" If you hear \"we worked a month of 100-hour weeks,\" or \"I drove 400 miles through a blizzard on Christmas Day to deliver the prototypes to our customer,\" or \"I had an accident the day before a big presentation and went directly from the hospital to the client\'s conference room, bandages and all,\" then you know you probably have the ideal employee. At least, your definition of ideal.\n<h3>My Definition Has Changed</h3>\nI know I\'m about to state three big and perhaps unrealistic assumptions. But let\'s assume for a minute that a company has articulated measurable business objectives — not the pie-in-the-sky fluff that many organizations pass off as a vision. Let\'s further assume that the company has cascaded these objectives into measurable goals for individual employees and teams. Lastly, let\'s assume that we pay based on performance.\n\nFor a workplace that meets these assumptions, I’m fine if employees race out the office door at 4:00 p.m. or work from Starbucks, because I am paying them for the results they deliver, not the hours they clock. Yes, I want people who are eager to do a good job, but I also look for avid extracurricular interests, such as raising children and/or playing the trombone in a professional jazz band.\n\nHere\'s why. Every moment away from work is an opportunity to absorb new information and impressions that can contribute to breakthrough thinking on-the-job. Every conversation at a child’s soccer game or while working out at the gym has the potential to yield new business connections and insights.\n\nAll-work-and-no-play erodes an organization’s effectiveness. Outside inputs — like hobbies, friends, family, and faith — produce fresh energy and ideas to fuel creativity and business success. If all your contacts and inputs come from within your organization, you become so insular and ingrained in the system that, over time, you can\'t see other ways of doing things. You become stagnant and unimaginative.\n\nCollege admissions officers look for good students with solid GPAs and demonstrated commitment to extra-curricular activities. Some corporate recruiters do likewise — they want impressive professional credentials, along with evidence of outside-of-work pursuits. But some senior executives are still stuck in the mindset that business success requires working long hours, and that long hours are the best measure of employee effort and commitment.', 'Rethinking The Ideal Employee', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'rethinking-the-ideal-employee', '', '', '2016-01-22 06:00:55', '2016-01-22 11:00:55', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28522', 0, 'post', '', 5),
(28524, 268, '2016-02-02 06:00:17', '2016-02-02 11:00:17', 'Recently, while looking for a document on an archive drive, I stumbled across an unfinished draft from 2001. It features a \"23-month-old son,\" who today is almost 17. Ahhhh, the lessons we learn from little ones...\n\n\"Wha\'zat? Wha\'dis? Wha\'zat? Wha\'dis?\" my 23-month-old son repeatedly asked on the way home today. Like water torture. \"What\'s what?\" I politely responded, mumbling \"God help me\" prayers.\n\nI could not tell what he was referring to, or if he was simply asking questions to hear himself talk. Just as my blood pressure was beginning to creep upward, I had a profound revelation. Most of Corporate America\'s woes trace to one common root: the impatient parents of two-year-old children. Let me explain.\n\nWe parents are responsible for helping babies learn to talk. \"What\'s that over there?\" we ask them, hoping they\'ll respond with the correct vocabulary words. Then, one day, they start asking us the what, why, when, where and how questions. And they ask so many questions that we think we\'re going insane.\n\nWe espouse that it\'s important to ask questions and that no question is stupid. But in reality, we show impatience subtly or overtly, occasionally or every hour. Over time, we send the message, \"You\'d better be careful what you ask and when,\" leaving children confused for life.\n\nWe instill in them an insidious habit—they begin assuming instead of asking. \"I assume that animal over there is a horse, but I better not ask because Mom is driving right now.\" Today, it\'s horses. Tomorrow, it\'s product features. \"I assume customers will want this gadget because I like it. Since our stock is down, I\'d better not ask my boss for money to do market research.\"\n<h3>Do You Tend To Ask Or Assume?</h3>\nEven the most careful parents have impatient moments, and the impact on future employers is significant. Here\'s an example. One summer during college, I handled reservations for a rafting company. One day, a woman called to book a group of 20 adults. \"What is the name of your group?\" I asked. \"Triple A,\" she responded. I dutifully recorded \"AAA\" in our logbook and went about my day.\n\nThree months later, the equipment manager asked me for the day\'s reservations. \"The American Automobile Association is bringing in a group this morning.\" My jaw dropped when the bus pulled into our driveway. Atlanta Amputees? We went to greet the bus driver, who cheerfully explained that all our guests were lower-extremity-challenged—some amputees, some paraplegics, even a quadriplegic. I don\'t know if you\'ve ever rafted before, but you use your feet and legs to hold yourself in. Without these anchors, it\'s very easy to bounce overboard even in small waves.\n\nMy failure to ask one simple question—\"AAA, the automobile club?\"—resulted in revenue loss. We did figure out how to make the trip work, and the guests had fun, but the company lost money that day because we needed more raft guides than covered by our pricing to ensure customer safety.\n<h3>What Holds You Back From Asking Questions?</h3>\nInstilling the assumption habit is only a fraction of our parental crimes. We also teach fear of asking questions—and pride that feeds the fear. I graduated from college during a recession and was up to my eyeballs in student loans. The valedictorian of the previous year\'s class was flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant, so I knew I couldn\'t be picky about a job. My goal was simply to get the highest paying gig I could find, knowing that I could make a career change later.\n\nThe Travelers Insurance Company called me, following an on-campus visit. They said they wanted to interview me for a position as a Property Casualty Analyst. I dutifully read the company\'s annual report, trying to understand enough about Property Casualty to ask intelligent questions. A recruiter met me and four other candidates at a ritzy breakfast spot. After giving us a brief overview of the company\'s history, he pointed to three people and said, \"You are going to interview with the Property Casualty Department today.\"\n\nI was not one of the three people. Another fellow and I were off to see the <em>Group Department</em>. \"Whatever that is,\" I thought. As we stood up to leave, my coat pocket caught the corner of the glass tabletop. The dishes and silver slid violently across the tipping table. Everyone in the restaurant turned to look.\n\n\"Great. I haven\'t even started interviewing yet, and there\'s no way they are going to hire me.\" After that scene, I dared not ask what a \"Group Department\" was or what I\'d be doing for a living. Ten days later, I received an offer letter. The position? Group Field Representative. Whatever that is. I accepted the offer and moved from Tennessee to Hartford, Connecticut.\n\nTwo weeks into the training program, I finally figured it out. I had accepted a position as a traveling salesperson. I\'m an introvert.\n<h3>Just As Employees Need To Ask Good Questions, So Do Managers</h3>\nDid I mention the job came with a company car? The Travelers asked me to complete an application, which called for my driver\'s license number and a history of any moving traffic violations. I took a driver\'s education course in tenth grade, which included six lessons behind the wheel. Since I didn\'t have access to a car, those six sessions represented my total driving experience—except the license test, for which my instructor had let me use his student-teaching car. I had a license, no violations, and had never driven on a freeway before. Using a company car seemed like the perfect way to build my driving skills.\n\nSince we don\'t always encourage our children\'s inquiries, we need to ask ourselves, \"Are they getting enough practice and the right kind of feedback to ask appropriately-timed questions that yield the meaty, accurate information needed for making good decisions, doing jobs well, and maintaining healthy relationships?\"\n\nWatch out Corporate America in 2021.\n\nSincerely,\nA Mom In 2001', 'Do You Ask Enough Questions?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'do-you-ask-enough-questions', '', '', '2016-02-02 06:00:17', '2016-02-02 11:00:17', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28524', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28545, 385, '2015-12-18 06:00:09', '2015-12-18 11:00:09', 'Sometimes I just can’t pass up a good story. Here is one that my financial planner told me this week.\n\nIt seems that he was out to lunch with one of his clients. While eating, his client was approached by a police officer who asked him to identify himself. The client gave his name, and then the officer passed him a set of papers.\n\nThe client chuckled and said, “This is obviously a joke given that it is my 50th birthday tomorrow.”\n\nThe officer replied, “No sir, I am an officer of the law, and I have been paid to deliver these service documents to you as required by the fact that your spouse is divorcing you.”\n\nThe client was dumbfounded and just stared at the table.\n\nFinally my friend said, “Don’t worry about the rest of lunch. I think you had better go home.”\n\nHis client left the restaurant totally in shock that his spouse had filed for divorce. He had no clue that anything of this sort was even in the works.\n\nAt times we may be blindsided by that which we don’t notice or understand. Additionally, we often assume that things are going well until something happens that tells us that they are not. Below are a number of questions that you might ask yourself to assess the current quality of your relationship with your spouse or companion. You might also begin each question with the phrase, “On a scale from one to 10 how….”\n\nOnce you have answered the question, ask yourself, “Why did I answer the question the way I did?”\n\nAnswering this question should help you to identify the reasoning or rationale behind your selection. It will also give you an opportunity to identify an example or justification for your answer. Once you have answered the questions for yourself, ask your spouse or companion to identify how he or she would answer each question. Then hold a conversation comparing scores and talking through the major differences.\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>How satisfied are you with the current health of your relationship?</strong> - This question is intended to help you take a hard look at what results you are currently experiencing as opposed to the results that you would rather receive. Become more aware of the health of your most important relationships.</li>\n<li><strong>How open are you with one another?</strong> - You could ask yourselves if you are totally honest about what frustrates you about one another. Or, you could acknowledge whether you hold back or avoid talking about certain topics for fear of having to deal with conflict, emotion, or animosity of some kind. Being open allows you to identify what you need to work on.</li>\n<li><strong>How deliberate are you in identifying certain goals that might improve the relationship?</strong> - If you haven’t set any particular goals, then you have probably not talked about what could be or needs to be improved. Not particularly identifying what you could work on usually means that things will either stay the same or become worse over time. Pick something to work on and make a plan to do just that.</li>\n<li><strong>How supportive are you of one another’s activities, goals, and aspirations?</strong> - Individuals who are un-supportive usually begin to drift apart or look for more fulfilling activities or relationships away from or outside the association of their companion. Look for opportunities to be supportive of each other.</li>\n<li><strong>How often do you schedule quality time to be alone with one another?</strong> - There are so many demands that we place upon ourselves because of work, social obligations, child rearing, or other pressing concerns that it is easy to not be alone with one another. Failure to schedule time together usually leads to feelings of estrangement and missed opportunities to reconnect with one another. Make time to be together.</li>\n<li><strong>How clear are you about your needs and desires?</strong> - If you don’t know what you want or what you would like to improve, then you are probably not talking about it. In addition, if you believe that stating your needs may cause conflict, then you are also probably not talking about them. You can’t expect your partner to read your mind. You need to be clear about what you want and talk about it if you ever hope to have your expectations met. Unfulfilled expectations are usually expectations that are not communicated.</li>\n<li><strong>How often do you express appreciation or acknowledge the efforts of your companion?</strong> - This does not happen enough. Because we often don’t notice what others do for us, we usually lack the awareness and the gratitude that would naturally accompany noticing the efforts and sacrifices of others in our behalf. Catch each other doing some great things and express gratitude.</li>\n<li><strong>How unified are you in the way you make decisions?</strong> - This question deals with how we will respond given certain situations that arise. Children are particularly good at dividing and conquering when we have not made a firm commitment or decision about how we will handle certain situations. I know my children seem to have an uncanny ability to pit my spouse and me against each other if we have not discussed an issue beforehand. Finally we agreed that we would always check in with one another before responding to the requests or pleas of the children. Be unified.</li>\n<li><strong>How specific have you been in identifying your expectations?</strong> - Most couples avoid conversations about finances, physical intimacy, in-laws, and personal values. Failure to talk about such issues may lead to frustration and to harboring of ill feelings. Create opportunities to discuss and explore differences in perspective and personal values.</li>\n</ul>\n\nI was just as surprised as you were by the story that my friend shared. It is easy to take others for granted and ignore the warning signs that things are not going well within our relationships. Taking the time to be deliberate about assessing the status of our current relationships and setting goals to make improvements will greatly improve your joy and satisfaction with those that you value most.', 'How to Assess the Quality of Your Relationships', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-assess-the-quality-of-your-relationships', '', '', '2015-12-18 06:00:09', '2015-12-18 11:00:09', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28545', 0, 'post', '', 6);
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(28550, 374, '2015-12-11 06:00:32', '2015-12-11 11:00:32', 'As we mentioned in our November <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/featured-instigator-sean-glaze/\" target=\"_blank\">Featured Instigator</a> article, we have decided to help our readers get to know our Instigators and their incredible work on a more personal level by highlighting a new Instigator each month.\n\nThis month we are featuring Founder and President of DialogueWORKS, <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/john-stoker/\">John R. Stoker</a>.\n\nJohn first got involved with Lead Change when Becky Robinson, Founder of Weaving Influence, managed the relaunch of his book, <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Fake-Talk-Conversations-Relationships/dp/0071815791\" target=\"_blank\">Overcoming Fake Talk</a>.\n\nHe has a BA in English and Philosophy, a Master\'s of Organizational Behavior (MOB), and a Juris Doctorate degree, what he calls big speak for attorney. After finishing his MOB degree, John worked for a few companies. Then he went back to school to obtain his law degree. He practiced law for a few years and then was talked out of his law practice by some professors that he had been a graduate assistant to. After working in their consulting and training firm for over five years, he became tired of the politics and broken promises and set out on his own.\n\nWhen asked about one leadership lesson he learned from his first job, he shared: \"Having strong relationships with a number of people is the key to getting things done when you don\'t have authority. Knowing how to influence others can be more powerful than authority.\"\n\nJohn says one of the best moments he has had professionally was the day his book arrived in his office from the publisher. John and his wife sat down on the office floor, opened the box, and wept. It had taken great sacrifice and the project had finally come to fruition.\n\nWhen asked about the strangest question he\'s ever been asked in a job interview, John said, \"Someone once asked me, \'Why I had run the river in Grand Canyon so long?\' which was rather surprising.\"\n\nJohn recommends <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/What-Got-Here-Wont-There/dp/1401301304/\" target=\"_blank\">What Got You Here, Won\'t Get You There</a>, by Marshall Goldsmith as the most helpful professional book he has ever read. One thing John feels should be taught in school that isn\'t already is effective conversation skills. He explains: \"Folks are still afraid to talk about what matters most, so they don\'t.\"\n\nOne of John\'s favorite quotes is:\n\n<blockquote>\"We don\'t see things for how they are, but for how we are.\" He says the best advice he\'s ever been given is, \"Don\'t let the bastards grind you down.\"</blockquote>\n\nJohn loves trying new things and doing things that he hasn\'t done before. Doing such things becomes the impetus for thinking differently. He continues, \"I was involved in a large change project to help LMCO build the F-16 more quickly. Watching how individuals and teams worked together and candidly shared what wasn\'t working was an amazing experience. Collaborative efforts really increased everyone\'s ability to make the needed changes that greatly improved their results.\"\n\nIf money was no object, John would spend all day writing and discovering new ways to help people be more effective. He considers leading by example, compassion, courage, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication to be the most important qualities in a leader.\n\nIf he had to hashtag his life, John\'s would be: #dontgiveup.\n\nThank you, John, for this opportunity to get to know you better!\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 <strong>Instigator</strong>, 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<strong>Previous Featured Instigators:</strong>\n\n11/2015: <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/featured-instigator-sean-glaze/\">Sean Glaze</a>', 'Featured Instigator - John Stoker', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'featured-instigator-john-stoker', '', '', '2015-12-11 06:00:32', '2015-12-11 11:00:32', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28550', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(28565, 406, '2016-01-13 06:00:46', '2016-01-13 11:00:46', 'True leaders at any level of the totem pole show their leadership primarily through managing their own emotions. After all, the only things we can control in life are our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and if we can manage those, we can lead our organizations from anywhere in the hierarchy.\n\nTrue leaders show <a href=\"http://www.danielgoleman.info/topics/emotional-intelligence/\">emotional intelligence</a> by learning about the science-based patterns about how our emotions work and how to manage them.\n\nIf we know about how our minds work, we can <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://intentionalinsights.org/?orderby=ts_published&amp;direction=DESC&amp;limit=5&amp;page=2&amp;flush=1\">be intentional</a> about influencing our own thinking and feeling patterns. We can evaluate reality more clearly, make better decisions, and improve our ability to achieve goals, thus gaining greater <a href=\"http://intentionalinsights.org/living-intentionally-3-steps-to-gaining-agency\" target=\"_blank\">agency, the quality of living intentionally</a>.\n\nHow do our minds work? Intuitively, our mind feels like a cohesive whole. We perceive ourselves as intentional and rational thinkers. Yet <a href=\"http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/work/how.html#4\" target=\"_blank\">cognitive science research</a> shows that in reality, the intentional part of our mind is like a <a href=\"https://books.google.com/books/about/Switch.html?id=WruLfIEVtgMC&amp;hl=en\" target=\"_blank\"> little rider on top of a huge elephant</a> of emotions and intuitions.\n\nRoughly speaking, we have two thinking systems. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman\" target=\"_blank\">Daniel Kahneman</a>, who won the Nobel Prize for his research on <a href=\"http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Behavioral_economics\" target=\"_blank\">behavioral economics</a>, calls them <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyM3d4gQGhM\" target=\"_blank\">System 1 and 2</a>, but I think <em>autopilot system</em> and <em>intentional system</em> describe these systems more clearly. The term <a href=\"http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/papers/intentionalsystems.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">intentional system</a> in particular is useful as a way of thinking about living intentionally and thereby <a href=\"http://intentionalinsights.org/living-intentionally-3-steps-to-gaining-agency\" target=\"_blank\">gaining greater agency</a>.\n\nThe <em>autopilot system</em> corresponds to our emotions and intuitions. Its cognitive processes take place mainly in the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala\" target=\"_blank\">amygdala</a> and other parts of the brain that developed early in our evolution. This system guides our daily habits, helps us make snap decisions, and reacts instantly to dangerous life-and-death situations, like <a href=\"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melanie-harth-phd-lmhc/success-and-motivation_b_3881279.html\" target=\"_blank\">saber-toothed tigers</a>, through the <a href=\"http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/transforming-suffering/201301/todays-saber-tooth-tiger\" target=\"_blank\">freeze, fight, or flight stress response</a>. While helping our survival in the past, the fight-or-flight response is not a great fit for modern life.\n\nWe have many small stresses that are not life-threatening, but the autopilot system treats them as tigers, producing an unnecessarily stressful everyday life experience that undermines our <a href=\"http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm\" target=\"_blank\">mental and physical well-being</a>. Moreover, while the snap judgments resulting from intuitions and emotions usually feel true because they are fast and powerful, they sometimes lead us wrong, in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias\" target=\"_blank\">systemic and predictable ways</a>.\n\nThe <em>intentional system</em> reflects our <a href=\"http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rationality-versus-intelligence\" target=\"_blank\">rational</a> thinking, and centers around the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefrontal_cortex\" target=\"_blank\">prefrontal cortex</a>, the part of the brain that evolved more recently. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow\" target=\"_blank\">According to recent research</a>, it developed as humans started to live within larger social groups. This thinking system helps us handle more complex mental activities, such as managing individual and group relationships, logical reasoning, probabilistic thinking, and learning new information and patterns of thinking and behavior.\n\nWhile the automatic system requires no conscious effort to function, the intentional system takes deliberate effort to turn on and <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Willpower-Rediscovering-Greatest-Human-Strength/dp/1594203075\" target=\"_blank\">is mentally tiring</a>. Fortunately, with enough <a href=\"http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mind-design/201108/willpower-is-not-resource\" target=\"_blank\">motivation</a> and appropriate training, the intentional system can turn on in situations where the autopilot system is prone to make errors, especially costly ones.\n\nHere’s a quick visual comparison of the two systems:\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Gleb-Table.png\" alt=\"Gleb Table\" style=\"height: auto; max-width: 640px; width: 100%;\" />\n\nThe autopilot system is like an <em>elephant</em>. It’s by far the more powerful and predominant of the two systems. Our emotions can often overwhelm our rational thinking. Moreover, our intuitions and habits determine the large majority of our life, which we spend in autopilot mode. And that’s not a bad thing at all – it would be mentally exhausting to think intentionally about our every action and decision.\n\nThe intentional system is like the <em>elephant rider</em>. It can <a href=\"http://intentionalinsights.org/coming-out-of-the-mental-health-closet\">guide the elephant</a> deliberately to go in a direction that matches our actual goals. Certainly, the elephant part of the brain is huge and unwieldy, slow to turn and change, and stampedes at threats. But we can train the elephant. Your rider can be an elephant whisperer. Over time, you can use the intentional system to change your automatic thinking, feeling, and behavior patterns, and <a href=\"http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/people/michael.wooldridge/pubs/ker95/subsection3_2_1.html\" target=\"_blank\">become a better agent</a> in taking charge over your life and <a href=\"http://intentionalinsights.org/stop-live-the-life-you-want\">reaching your goals</a>!\n\nI hope this information fills you with optimism. It does me, since you can use these strategies to <a href=\"http://intentionalinsights.org/video-3-steps-to-getting-what-you-want\">get what you want</a> and achieve success in life.\n\n<ul>\n<li>What steps do you think you can take to evaluate where your emotions and intuitions may lead you to make mistakes?</li>\n<li>What can you do to be prepared to deal with these situations in the moment?</li>\n<li>What can you do to be an elephant whisperer and retrain your elephant to have thinking, feeling, and behavior patterns that match your long-term goals?</li>\n</ul>', 'What True Leaders Know About Emotional Intelligence', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'what-true-leaders-know-about-emotional-intelligence', '', '', '2016-01-13 06:00:46', '2016-01-13 11:00:46', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28565', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28606, 343, '2015-12-22 06:00:22', '2015-12-22 11:00:22', 'Have you ever had one of those <em>aha moments</em>? One of those that you look back and know you should have noticed a long time ago?\n\nI had one this week while watching my four stepkids in their weekly karate sessions.\n\nOver the past year, I have seen the progression of them learning the basics as they attained their yellow, then their orange belt in two different age levels.\n\nNow that they\'re ready to step up to the purple belt level, the stakes are higher and the training becomes more intense.\n\nOver the course of these months I\'ve seen the various routines and moves be practiced over and over. I always knew the moves would come together at some point. whether they were for range of motion, strength, or actual defensive moves. This week I saw even more how those foundations have been well laid, rehearsed to come together to a great symphony of martial motions and routines.\n\nIn realizing the thought of the basics of laying solid foundations, I also thought of my own son and his theater pursuits. Through all of the script memorization, choreography and mental rehearsal of getting into character, it is thrilling to see the tapestry of hard work pay off in a great production either at his school or in the local community theater.\n\nWatching success in the making does not happen by accident. As leaders we must work tirelessly to lay solid foundations of fundamental principles in order to gain that modest amount of success on which more success is built. Every day we can shore up the foundation or cause it to crumble. Here are three anchors to hold true to in your leadership roles:\n<ul>\n	<li><strong>Grounding Of Core Values</strong> - Knowing who and what you are is vital to ensure you don\'t become something you can\'t identify down the road. When organizations and leaders drift, the whole boat and crew goes with them. Core values can be the abstract words that are given a head-nod, or the firm guardrails placed to ensure you can speed down the road safely intact. Shore these up and commit to infusing them into every touch point of your culture and systems. My stepkids\' dojo teaches values such as rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, and honor and intertwine them with their physical training.</li>\n	<li><strong>Fundamentals Of Character</strong> - Regardless of what position a person is, anyone with a rogue character can undermine an organization. From the hiring process through training and beyond, companies that focus on building character and integrity throughout their people have less aberrant behavior and more people committed to doing things right. Systems and strategic plans will always come apart with the wrong character, whereby a solid character will enhance the values and mission already in play.</li>\n	<li><strong>Basics Of Execution</strong> - My son practices his part daily and then twice daily the week before the big performance. Rehearsals are stopped and started again in the pursuit of getting the part just right. In our organizations, it\'s those parts (there are no small parts, just small actors) that may operate separately at times but in large come together for a great performance that wows our audience, our customers, and sometimes even ourselves. In sports, business, symphony, or the medical profession, all the training done right and perfected will soon come together and create the desired result.</li>\n</ul>\nMy <em>aha moment</em> for you as we close 2015 and look toward 2016 is this: What are the foundations you are laying down?\n\nIf you\'ve laid them down and not seen measurable results, keep the faith. Those pieces ultimately come to fruition, much like the bamboo plant that for months never sprouts but then shoots up for 90 days of explosive growth. Those roots needed time to grow and be ready to nourish the plant to take on the exponential growth over that period.\n\nIf you haven\'t laid any solid foundations yet, now is the time. Don\'t wait for 2016 to start. Begin today, modestly, but lay down something that will stick today. Leadership is not the momentary height of success, but the steady plodding of values, character, and execution in small incremental steps that bring lasting influence to those around you.\n\nDevelop a daily mindset that makes your foundations solid and keeps them solid. When those days of disruption come, you\'ll help your organization and your people weather those storms and still stand for your values at the end of the day.', 'How To Lay A Successful Foundation One Day At A Time', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-lay-a-successful-foundation-one-day-at-a-time', '', '', '2015-12-22 06:00:22', '2015-12-22 11:00:22', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28606', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(28619, 409, '2015-12-30 06:00:57', '2015-12-30 11:00:57', 'We can all take a leaf out of  Google’s book when it comes to building happy teams. Having recently read the book <em>How Google Works,</em> I realized it comes down to two things: employing the very best people and giving them the very best tools to work with. Get those two elements right, and you’ll have a happy team which, by coincidence, will knock your socks off in terms of productivity.\n\nHappiness comfortably beats impressive job titles and increased wages. Deep down, most of us know that it is all too easy to reach a stage where the stress associated with work trumps any additional earning potential. In short, there is a point at which <a href=\"https://www.wilsonfield.co.uk/the-work-life-balance-how-much-money-is-too-much/\" target=\"_blank\">you <em>can</em> earn too much money</a>. We’d all rather be happier than rich, wouldn’t we?\n\nIf that last sentence hasn’t forced you to reach for the \"close\" button, you’ve stayed for the right reason - congratulations! Now for your reward: I’ve got 5 tech tools which will help you lead your team on to a future of happiness and ultra productivity.\n<h3><strong>Project and task management</strong></h3>\nMost successful teams are able to deal with multiple projects and their constituent tasks. And by \"deal with,\" I mean really deal with them - i.e. not spend most of their working lives crying into mounds of spreadsheets, printed emails and Post It notes.\n\nTechnology can be your friend here. Conversely, it can also be your enemy, for there are rather too many project management apps out there which you’ll spend more time configuring than actually finishing the work you’re trying to project manage. To avoid this trap, take a look at <a href=\"https://trello.com\" target=\"_blank\">Trello</a>, which strips project management down to its core and, crucially, makes it an enjoyable, addictive process. You’ll be able to invite your team in and watch as they share files, chat about individual tasks and get stuff done!\n<h3><strong>Team communication</strong></h3>\nEmail. Phone. SMS. Messenger. Twitter. Facebook. There are so many ways in which we can communicate these days. Too many, in fact. How often have you been blinded by multiple unread message notifications and tiny red circles with huge numbers in them? Your team may be experiencing the same anguish. Get rid of it. No, really - it’s incredibly simple. By implementing a communication platform such as <a href=\"https://slack.com\" target=\"_blank\">Slack</a>, you’ll rid your team of wasted communication and give them a single platform within which to collaborate. Say goodbye to email!\n<h3><strong>File management</strong></h3>\n“I’m sure I left it in the ‘P’ drive, John!” How many times have you and your team scoured your local network for that all important contract only to find it has completely disappeared? If that sounds familiar, you’ll be glad to hear that local networks are fast becoming a thing of the past. Which is nice, because they only ever seemed to cause arguments. Enter <a href=\"https://www.dropbox.com\" target=\"_blank\">Dropbox</a>, which allows your team to store everything in the cloud and access their files from pretty much any device they have to hand. That’ll make them happy!\n<h3><strong>Backup</strong></h3>\nThis might seem like an odd choice for a happiness-making tool, but it’s one of the best. What’s worse than a lost file? You guessed it - a lost backup. Services like <a href=\"https://www.backblaze.com\" target=\"_blank\">BackBlaze</a> are low-cost and ensure all of your team’s important content is safe and instantly accessible should the original copy disappear. Plus, you’ll no longer have to burden someone with the task of taking the backup tapes home every evening.\n<h3><strong>Collaboration</strong></h3>\nAt the heart of any successful and happy team is effective collaboration. Working together to achieve a single goal is a great feeling and one of the best team building exercises you can invest in. Happily, investing in it won’t break the bank, because with free tools around such as <a href=\"http://www.google.com/docs\" target=\"_blank\">Google Docs</a>, your team can easily collaborate on documents and spreadsheets, again from any device of their choosing, no matter where they are.\n\n&nbsp;', 'Lead Your Team to Happiness with These Tools', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'lead-your-team-to-happiness-with-these-tools', '', '', '2015-12-30 06:00:57', '2015-12-30 11:00:57', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28619', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(28641, 329, '2016-02-17 06:00:48', '2016-02-17 11:00:48', 'Few American presidents were more fun loving than Theodore Roosevelt. He hunted wild animals in Africa and, as a naturalist, started the U.S. Forestry Service. The Nobel Peace Prize winning president was a championship boxer at Harvard and the author of thirty-eight books. He occasionally skinny-dipped in the Potomac River after a strenuous winter nature walk. On his honeymoon he climbed the Matterhorn. Colonel Roosevelt was also posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Battle of San Juan Hill. Elected at 42, he was our nation’s youngest president.\n\nWhen he died in 1919, the Vice President of the U.S. announced, \"Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight.\" But, my favorite quote about Roosevelt came from a New York police captain at Roosevelt’s funeral (Roosevelt had been the NY City Police Commissioner). “It was not only that he was a great man, but, oh, there was such fun in being led by him.”\n\nI have always been a fan of that great question: “Would you buy from you?” It reframes the perspective to focus on how a prospect views you. I offer a similar question to all leaders: “Is it fun being led by you?”\n<h3>Why Fun is Important Today</h3>\nThe last thirty years of business history have been characterized by giant leaps in quality. We all went to school on how the Japanese transformed a rotten “made in Japan” reputation synonymous with junk into one that represented the pinnacle of zero defects products. We learned the quality lessons of Edward Deming, Joseph Juran, and Phil Crosby as well as the lean thinking lessons of James Womack. We got our black belts in six-sigma; words or acronyms like Kaizen, PDCA, TQM, QC and ISO became everyday parts of our work language.\n\nThe benefits were significant. Customers today assume what they buy will be laced in high quality. Mediocre today does not mean just disappointed customers; it spells impending bankruptcy. We have a workforce that has largely embedded quality into the ethos of all production. But we have also reached the outer edges of success through incremental improvements in quality.\n\nStrategy guru Gary Hamel wrote in the Harvard Business Review: \"Corporations around the world are reaching the limits of incrementalism. Squeezing another penny out of costs, getting product to market a few weeks earlier, responding to customers\' inquiries a little bit faster, ratcheting quality up one more notch, capturing another point of market share--those are the obsessions of managers today. But pursuing incremental improvements while rivals reinvent the industry is like fiddling while Rome burns.\"\n\nWelcome to the era of growth through innovation. And, with it comes the requirement for a work environment focused on reinvention and ingenuity. That new work world requires a playful spirit, a high tolerance for risks, and an observable encouragement of experimentation in the pursuit of a compelling mission. It means leaders must be willing to be sometimes silly not always somber. It requires leaders who are perpetrators of happiness, not carriers of stress. It takes leaders gifted at letting go, turning on, and ramping up. This is not the heyday of the leader as circus clown; it is more the time of leader as circus ringmaster.\n<h3>Fun Leaders Are Real</h3>\nWhen I first met then Southeast Airlines CEO, Herb Kelleher, we were both working the booth at the 1997 BookExpo at Chicago’s McCormick Center. Kevin and Jackie Freiberg’s great book, Nuts! Southwest Airlines\' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success, had just been released. The Freibergs had asked me to help with book promotion so Herb and I spent hangout time together. I knew his reputation for being a bit of a wild man. I had also heard stories of his innovative approach to building a culture of employees who loved Southwest, a sentiment that engulfed their customers.\n\nWhat I learned in the booth was that Herb was completely authentic—what you saw was precisely what you got! His excitement came from a genuinely ecstatic space, not a feature he donned like a mask to attract attention or influence an outcome. And Kelleher’s fun-filled manner communicated all things were possible and all ideas were welcome. You wanted to be in the aura of his captivating joyfulness.\n\nAuthenticity creates trust; trust is a must-have ingredient in the risk-taking recipe required for innovation. Albert Einstein wrote, “If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” In a work environment laced with quick critique, intolerance for idiosyncratic ideas, or fidelity to “the way we have always done it,” employees are unlikely to willfully posit absurd ideas. No one wants to be labeled a buffoon or not ready for a higher role or greater opportunity. In a work world of acceptance and trust, there are few barriers to partially baked ideas that could potentially fuel breakthroughs.\n<h3>Fun Leaders Are Light</h3>\nI was about to teach the customer segment of a Six Sigma class near Palmdale, CA, for Lockheed Martin. The audience was comprised of leaders from their Skunk Works division—the R&amp;D innovators who focused on air defense 25-30 years out. I was a part of a consulting team bringing six sigma and lean thinking to Lockheed-Martin. The LM21 program would be a key part of their success in winning the $200 billion defense contract to build the F-35 (or Joint Strike Fighter aircraft).\n\nA noticeably happy man walked in as students were taking their seats. His countenance lit up the room and was mirrored by everyone present. He was obviously someone important to this class. My co-instructor, a retired brigadier general who recognized the visitor, asked if he would like to speak. He smiled, shook his head “no,” and took a seat at one of the small group tables. When I spoke with Mr. Big at the first break, he was humble, attentive and extremely optimistic! His responses to questions made you aspire and dream like the “what do you want to be” questions you heard as a child. I later learned he was EVP in charge of the entire Aeronautical Division and highly regarded by the thousands under his leadership.\n\nFun leaders are about light. That word carries a double meaning—weight and radiance. “Light” leaders don’t take themselves seriously; preferring to channel focus toward the mission. They are quick to spotlight others, not themselves. “Light” leaders illuminate a vision and brighten the path toward vital results. “Light” leaders are champions of fair-dealings and wholesome relationships. They drive fear out of the workplace. This Lockheed-Martin celebrity could have taken a seat in the back as an observer and authority. He opted to be a partner with other learners at a table.\n\nLeaders of innovation are ambassadors of happy. They look for ways to shake up the place with quirky events, silly signs, and celebrative occasions. They constantly seek the moments and methods to convey encouragement for ingenuity. And, even with serious work they make certain no one is excused from a belly laugh once in a while. In the words of the character Michael Scott on the TV program <em>The Office</em>, “Sometimes you have to take a break from being the kind of boss that’s always trying to teach people things. Sometimes you just have to be the boss of dancing!”', 'Is It Fun Being Led by You?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'is-it-fun-being-led-by-you', '', '', '2016-02-17 06:00:48', '2016-02-17 11:00:48', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28641', 0, 'post', '', 8),
(28649, 282, '2016-01-06 06:00:31', '2016-01-06 11:00:31', 'We’re all just hanging around to hear what our death sentence is. Morbid, right? Before you quickly move away to something more upbeat or happy, hang in there for a minute.\n\nWe all get on this ride as a bouncing baby, and move into the carefree years of childhood, the angst-filled era of being a teenager and finally we’re thrust against our will into the world of adulthood. But it’s not as bad as it seemed, and there are days we even seem to enjoy it.\n\nMarriage. A career. Buying that first house. Then it’s upgrading to a mini-van, soccer games and school programs. Life is hectic; it’s frenetic. But always moving forward it is. As the kids get older, so do we. We’re mortified at the first gray hairs, until those gray hairs start turning loose. Visits to our doctor become more commonplace than our days at the gym… and maybe that’s why.\n\nThe train we’re on just keeps moving, some days it seems slowly, but more often than not it seems to be picking up speed. We blaze past bar mitzvahs and births, graduations and weddings. We hardly slow down to enjoy the stops, let alone the scenery. Bones are a little more creaky this year than last, and the spring in our step seems, well, a little sprung.\n\nThen we sense something is wrong - just a little off. A trip to the doctor and few tests later we hear the news we thought would never come. “It’s Cancer.” “You have heart disease.” “It’s the beginning stages of Parkinson’s.”  It slowly, painfully sinks into our soul and our psyche. This is how it’s probably going to end.\n\nOf course, your diagnosis may not be terminal, but your diagnosis reminds you of this important fact - you are terminal. This ride has an end point on this side of forever, and although you may not be at the last station, you may be able to see it from where you are.\n\nI know, like I said, maybe a downer. But wait. We cannot forget, we must not forget. Life, and the living of it are ours to seize. Every moment, every breath. To be certain there are things that are way beyond our control. Our mortality is one of those. But our humanity is under our influence, and how we spend the moments doled out to us are ours to manage, to spend and to embrace.\n\nDaily choices about our health, our happiness and our passions - we can abdicate our responsibility to champion through each of those with courage and intent by letting life happen to us. Many people do. I would rather choose to embrace my family, my friends and my future in the moments I will live. I refuse to watch the days check off on my calendar with anything less than an exclamation point on each one.\n\nI will chart a course for my marriage, my kids &amp; my career that captures those moments rather than endures them. I will open my heart each day that I open my eyes, and in doing so I will allow my faith in my place in the cosmos to fire my soul and my steps. This is my choice. This is my destiny. This is my legacy.\n\nThis is the kind of employer I will be. It is the type of leader I must be. It is the decision I make today and each day. When that day comes and I hear my death sentence, it will be hard. But the joy of knowing that I embraced my life sentence in the days before will matter more. My life will have mattered.\n\nMy life will have made a difference. Will yours?\n\n<img class=\"wp-image-28650 aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Fire-My-Soul-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Fire My Soul\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" />', 'Waiting For A Death Sentence', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'waiting-for-a-death-sentence', '', '', '2016-01-06 06:00:31', '2016-01-06 11:00:31', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28649', 0, 'post', '', 28),
(28661, 381, '2015-12-23 06:00:03', '2015-12-23 11:00:03', 'When I began my career, I set my sights on one day being a manager, maybe even a director. My ambition was to become a reputable leader who had influence and ability to motivate people to achieve their goals. What I learned within a short span of time is that titles and org charts are invisible to the definition of leadership. I read recently that if you are influencing, you are leading. If we accept that as truth, we are all leaders in some aspect of our lives – no title required.\n\nIn his book, <em>Leadership is an Art</em>, Max DePree asks the question, “Do your employees walk around like they own the place? They should.” Reading that book changed my perspective in the roles I played in every position I held, regardless of the organization or its culture. Maybe it was easy for me to slip into that \"ownership\" mode because I was born with the spirit of an entrepreneur and the heart of a follower. I often asked myself, “If this were my company, what would I want me to be doing right now?” If I was distracted and not using time wisely, my answer to that question helped divert me back to the task.\n\nWhen you join an organization, don’t you want to know everything about it? I admit I’m am information junkie and my appetite for knowledge is insatiable, but when I work for someone they deserve my loyalty. That means taking a dive into the center and learning my way through regardless of title, how high my office walls are, or status on the org chart. Beyond products and services, I wonder who their customers are,  what divisions and departments produced the work, what vendors they use, what systems are in place, how can I gain expertise, and how I can level the learning curve. I was the new employee in a number of organizations, and can therefore tell you orientation covered very little about the company, not even a view from 65,000 feet. This is a problem. Opportunity is just a problem waiting for a solution.  \"Do your employees walk around like they own the place?\" I had an idea.\n\nIn my position as Employee Specialist, my job description was open-ended. One of my responsibilities was to help the Employee Relations Manager with New Employee Orientation. I saw this as an opportunity to depart from the ordinary. We were using slide shows and generic, motivational videos produced outside our company with no reference to our own operations.  Why not produce our own video to introduce new employees to the organization? They could see for themselves how the people, departments, processes, and pieces fit together. Selling the idea was more like jumping off a cliff than falling off a log. My role was to be the helper and follow the leader, not change the program. I suggested that we not upset the New Employee Orientation program. We could keep all the current parts of the presentation, but add a segment for New Employee Assimilation. We advanced a few squares; still no total buy-in, but tenuous acceptance.\n\nThe idea involved two components. The first involved taking photographs through all the departments and buildings. The second involved interviewing each manager, then asking them to talk for 15 to 30 seconds on the responsibilities their departments performed within the organization. Using energizing music, I would create a photo and video extravaganza to educate new employees on the merits and services of their newly adopted company.\n\nThe pushback: Nobody will want their pictures taken. Managers are not going to agree to a video.  There is no budget for any of this, but if you want to try it, go ahead.\n\nThe result: I knew employees who wanted to someday be photographers. It was an affirmation and compliment for them to be asked to participate. Each of them wanted to use their talents and said yes when asked to photograph people in their areas. Employees eagerly agreed to pose for more photographs than would ever be needed. When I asked managers if they would be willing to talk about their teams’ contributions, there was no reluctance; not one said no. The last hurdle was finding someone to shoot the videos. When the time is right, the miracle occurs. One of our web developers spent his weekends doing videography for his church and volunteered to be part of this venture. He had every piece of technical equipment needed to shoot and record the videos, and he was an expert video editor too. I had purchased my own software initially to create a video of our family vacation – using it for this video presentation just raised the value of my investment up a few notches. Every person graciously volunteered their time and talents to step up and be part of the New Employee Assimilation video.\n\nThe end: New Employee Assimilation introduced every aspect of the organization through manager introductions in video and photographs of employees at their desks, in conference, and participating in hilarious team building activities which demonstrated our informal culture. What music did we use? Rockin’ tunes like <em>Nothing\'s Gonna Stop Us Now</em>, Mandisa’s <em>Good Morning</em>, and <em>Party Rock is in the House Tonight</em>!\n\nSome might say this was a follower to leader transformation, but to me it was seeing a problem and doing something about it. Max DePree would call this filling a role as a roving leader. He said, “Roving leaders are those indispensable people in our lives who are there when we need them. They take charge in varying degrees every day.”\n\nI’m content to be a follower. In being an indispensable follower, natural leaders emerge just at the time they are needed.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\nEditor\'s Note: The Lead Change Group will return on Monday, December 28, with another exciting post! For those of you who celebrate Christmas, wishing you the very best of holidays!', 'To Lead, You Must Follow', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'to-lead-you-must-follow', '', '', '2015-12-23 06:00:03', '2015-12-23 11:00:03', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28661', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28664, 374, '2015-12-21 06:00:34', '2015-12-21 11:00:34', 'As this week kicks off, many people are undoubtedly finding their schedule off kilter.\n\nPerhaps you are finishing up your work so that you can enjoy a few days off. Maybe your personal to-do list is top-heavy with gifts to buy, treats to bake, homes to decorate.\n\nWhatever the case with 10 days left in the year, we are taking advantage of Kevin Eikenberry\'s <a href=\"http://blog.kevineikenberry.com/leadership-supervisory-skills/five-ways-to-make-your-december-more-productive/\" target=\"_blank\">Five Ways To Make Your December More Productive</a> to make the last ten days of 2015 the best ten days of 2015.\n\nJust like your passport gets stamped every time you go somewhere new, consider each of these five steps a stamp toward destination productivity 2016.\n\n<img class=\"wp-image-28670 aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Kevin-Infographic-Big-1.jpg\" alt=\"Kevin Infographic Big\" width=\"640\" />\n\nHere are a few highlights from our Lead Change community to rack up those productivity stamps:\n\n<h3>Move While Others Rest</h3>\n\nWhy not gift yourself some 12-minute segments of focus between now and December 31? Read <a href=\"http://www.fridgemagazine.com/productivity/why-focussing-on-12-minute-bursts-can-improve-your-productivity/\" target=\"_blank\">Why Focusing In 12-Minute Bursts Can Improve Your Productivity</a> by Weaving Influence Founder Becky Robinson for ways to structure those segments. In twelve minutes you could make a dent in an email backlog, draft your next blog post, or touch base with that contractor to make sure that question they asked last week was answered. You could buy yourself a little bit of peace of mind and a lot of satisfaction.\n\n<h3>Learn From The People You Are With</h3>\n\nWith this concept, we are reminded to move beyond small talk in order to explore the ideas of others. Many in our Lead Change community are in businesses which aspire to provide excellent customer service. For Leading Voice Cheryl Bachelder, CEO of Popeye\'s Louisiana Kitchen, the <a href=\"http://cherylbachelder.com/servant-leadership/tell-me-the-why/\" target=\"_blank\">Why Question</a> is as important for adults as it is for toddlers.\n\nShe says, \"Knowing why you are working on something elevates the importance of the work and your engagement in the work. If the why energizes you, then the work is energizing.\"\n\nTake a moment to dig deeply into the why of one of your work tasks or work relationships. If you are a leader, take time to nurture an interest in the why among your staff.\n\n<h3>Capture The Energy Of The Season</h3>\n\nNoting the heightened energy of this time of year, we are encouraged to soak up the positivity and goodwill around us. Leading Voice Susan Mazza has a captivating and motivational take on energy in <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/7-steps-to-break-the-cycle-of-inaction/\" target=\"_blank\">7 Steps To Break The Cycle Of Inaction</a>.\n\nShe shares, \"once you are in action, with each action you take toward your goals, you gain momentum.\"\n\nHas a particular cause or initiative captured your imagination this year? Why not surprise yourself by taking the first step to get involved?\n\n<h3>Reflect On The Past 11 Months</h3>\n\nDoesn\'t January 2015 seem like an extremely long time ago? If you want to take a quick tour through the year and test your recall, take the <a href=\"http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/08/farewell-2015-a-year-end-special-news-quiz/\" target=\"_blank\">New York Times Farewell 2015 Quiz</a>.\n\nOne suggestion from a Lead Change Instigator which can inform your approach to 2016 comes from Sean Glaze, in <a href=\"http://greatresultsteambuilding.net/maps-cheap-great-tour-guides-invaluable/\" target=\"_blank\">Why Maps Are Cheap & Great Tour Guides Are Invaluable</a>.\n\nSean talks about why it can be worth it sometimes to invest in the \"tour guide who knows that they are talking about\" rather than trying to be frugal and settling for a pre-printed map.\n\nWhich did you do in 2015? Consider investing in the kind of professional support for 2016 that can help you be the best you possible.\n\n<h3>Use The Golden Week</h3>\n\nHow will you spend the week between Christmas and New  Year\'s? Kevin suggests taking advantage of the fact that fewer people around you are working. Fewer interruptions may mean more productivity. We can\'t think of anyone better to spur us on to <a href=\"http://www.hyrumwsmith.com/why-time-management-is-important-in-life/\" target=\"_blank\">use time effectively</a> than Instigator, Hyrum W. Smith, co-creator of the Franklin Planner.\n\nThere you have it. Five constructive tips amplified by five expanded thoughts from our dynamic Lead Change Community.\n\nIn closing, thank you to <a href=\"http://www.kevineikenberry.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Kevin Eikenberry</a> for the use of this infographic. Lastly, thank you to Instigator Chery Gegelman for a sentiment she shared in a blog chronicling the opportunity she had to fulfill her <a href=\"http://consultgiana.com/what-if-you-said-yes-to-a-challenging-change/\" target=\"_blank\">lifelong dream</a> of interacting with a lion when she visited Africa earlier this year.\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">Your perspective will become your prison or your passport.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Steven Furtick</div></blockquote>\n\nHere\'s to a world of possibilities in 2016!', 'Your Passport Out Of 2015', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'your-passport-out-of-2015', '', '', '2015-12-21 06:00:34', '2015-12-21 11:00:34', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28664', 0, 'post', '', 8);
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(28707, 376, '2015-12-28 06:00:33', '2015-12-28 11:00:33', 'Like most of the known universe, I recently saw <a href=\"http://www.starwars.com/the-force-awakens/\" target=\"_blank\">The Force Awakens</a> ...\n\nThis film is mostly just plain fun, with fascinating special effects and well-paced action.  This imaginary, yet sort of familiar, universe gives us a large and wonderfully diverse group of beings who exist, live, interact, struggle, and die.  It\'s just techie enough and just emotional enough to satisfy most anyone.\n\nThe overall story for all seven<a href=\"http://www.starwars.com/\" target=\"_blank\"> Star Wars films</a> is loosely based on <a href=\"https://www.jcf.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Joseph Campbell</a>\'s concept of the <a href=\"http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero\'s_journey.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Hero\'s Journey</a>, which endows each film and the series with a stronger and deeper framework than most sci-fi and adventure flicks.\n\nHowever, this is not a post about the film itself, but about one particular aspect:  The Followers.\n\nBriefly, two large groups of followers exist in the current Star Wars universe - one group in the film and another intently watching:\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>The First Order:</strong>  A nefarious and fairly large group of people devoted without question to several shadowy and very evil leaders, who attempt to \"restore order\" to the universe by stomping out freedom, democracy, and the right to dress as you please. These are actors in costumes.</p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>The Fan Base:</strong>  A sometimes fractious and also large group of people devoted to keeping the faith of the Star Wars universe. These folks are most diverse, ranging from lone individuals posting arcane theories about what will happen next to organized groups who replicate the images and activities of the films as homage. These are real people, who sometimes wear costumes.</p>\nOther groups exist, but these two are examples of following blindly, rather than courageously. In both cases, the followers are responding to someone else\'s concepts and direction. The First Order is doing so in a fascist and malevolent way, while the Fan Base is more egalitarian, unstructured, and social, but in both cases, they are just working with what they get, without stopping to question or clarify, beyond quibbling over trivialities and technicalities.\n\nMost of the followers in each group are accepting their basic motivations and goals without real questions.\n\nThese two distinct groups come to mind as I read <em><a href=\"http://www.courageousfollower.net/\" target=\"_blank\">The Courageous Follower</a></em> by <em><a href=\"http://www.courageousfollower.net/about-ira-chaleff/\" target=\"_blank\">Ira Chaleff</a></em>. After completing a more recent book by the same author entitled <em><a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Disobedience-Doing-Right-Youre/dp/1626564272\" target=\"_blank\">Intelligent Disobedience</a></em>, my interest in his ideas about how leaders and followers might ideally interact led me to this interesting title.\n\nThe ideas in the book are clear, simple, and powerful, as in this statement:  \"<em>If we practice being courageous in our mundane interactions with leaders, we will be prepared if one day we are called upon to display extraordinary courage in our relationship with a leader.</em>\"\n\nIn other words, a good follower is courageous, not just compliant.\n\nChaleff looks at interactions between leaders and followers with clarity, candor, and a mutual respect for each role. It is not about how to get rid of bad leadership, although poor leadership will lessen and even vanish, when followers act courageously.\n\nThis book starts with some painful reminders of how followers fail to confront leaders when they should, with negative outcomes. I found myself remembering specific instances and events where lack of courage among followers led to disaster for both leaders and followers. In one case, I failed to say anything repeatedly during formal meetings, even while learning that others saw the situation as I did and were supportive of the change I would propose.\n\nWhile other leadership books call for us to take bold action and speak out strongly when necessary in our workplaces, most do not address the realities that exist within our workplaces and the dynamics that determine our actions.\n\nChaleff even directly talks about possibly the most important reason why followers do not always speak up or speak out:  They are afraid of the consequences.\n\nI would imagine we all could contribute our own evidence that lack of courage by followers is a bad thing in our organizations and institutions.\n\nChaleff aims to create awareness in us of how to become powerful followers working in concert with our powerful leaders for the most mutually productive ends. I\'ll have more to say about the Courageous Follower model another time, but I have some questions for us now:\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">As a follower, how do you rise above your instincts for self-preservation and the tendency to avoid conflict with those above you in the hierarchy?</p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">As a leader, how do you foster a culture that encourages your followers to approach you bravely and with candor about critical issues?</p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">As human beings, how do we increase our ability to build positive relationships between leaders and followers?</p>\nI look forward to hearing your thoughts!', 'Courageously Following Where No Man Has Gone Before', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'courageously-following-where-no-man-has-gone-before', '', '', '2015-12-28 06:00:33', '2015-12-28 11:00:33', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28707', 0, 'post', '', 8),
(28716, 410, '2015-12-29 06:00:35', '2015-12-29 11:00:35', 'What do leaders need to know right now?\n\nIt’s really a simple question. Or is it? I suppose it depends on whom you ask. Some will say service. How do I lead my employees and serve them at the same time? Others may say that a leader’s focus needs to be on how to motivate productivity. How can we help the company reach the bottom line? And still others may say a leader must know how to inspire their employees. What can I do to make my employees feel valued and desire to do their job well?\n\nPerhaps the best answer to that question is not just one thing. Perhaps it is some combination of them, some attainable format for effective leadership that requires work, certainly, but that also works.\n\nTo help us piece this together, I’ve invited fifteen different thought leaders, authors, editors, and CEOs to collaborate with me to parse this question and share their opinions. Their answers will come in the form of emails delivered directly to anyone who registers to receive them, and through these emails I hope to give you the opportunity to start your new year on your way to becoming a new leader.\n\nWould you like to meet my team? Here they are:\n\n<a href=\"http://www.danpink.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Daniel Pink</a> - In 2015, London-based Thinkers 50 named him, alongside Michael Porter and Clayton Christensen, as one of the top 10 business thinkers in the world\n\n<a href=\"http://amycuddy.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Amy Cuddy</a> - She is known around the world for her 2012 TED Talk, which is the second-most-viewed talk in TED\'s history. She is a professor and researcher at Harvard Business School who studies how nonverbal behavior and snap judgments influence people.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.tomrath.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Tom Rath</a> - Tom is an author and researcher who studies the role of human behavior in business, health, and well-being. He has been described by business leaders and the media as one of the greatest thinkers and nonfiction writers of his generation.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.adamgrant.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Adam Grant</a> - He is Wharton’s top-rated teacher. He has been recognized as one of the world\'s 25 most influential management thinkers, HR’s most influential international thinkers, the world’s 40 best business professors under 40, and Malcolm Gladwell’s favorite social science writers.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.billgeorge.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Bill George</a> - He has taught leadership since 2004 and is a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, where. He has been named one of \"Top 25 Business Leaders of the Past 25 Years\" by PBS, among other awards.\n\n<a href=\"http://marshallgoldsmith.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Marshall Goldsmith</a> - Dr. Goldsmith was recognized as the#1 Leadership Thinker in the World and the top 5 Management Thinker in 2015, as well as one of the top ten Most-Influential Business Thinkers in the World.\n\n<a href=\"http://dorieclark.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Dorie Clark</a> - Dorie is a marketing strategy consultant, professional speaker, and frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, TIME, Entrepreneur, and the World Economic Forum blog.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.emmaseppala.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Emma Seppälä</a> - Her areas of research include positive organizational psychology, health psychology, cultural psychology, well-being, and resilience. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Fulfillment Daily, a news site dedicated to the science of happiness.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.leadershipchallenge.com/about-section-our-authors-jim.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">Jim Kouzes </a>- Jim is a bestselling author, an award-winning speaker and, according to the Wall Street Journal, one of the twelve best executive educators in the United States.\n\n<a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawmu\" target=\"_blank\">Shawn Murphy</a> - He is a writer and Co-founder/CEO of Switch and Shift. He is a promoter of workplace optimism and believes work can be a source of joy. He is the top ranked leadership blogger by Huffington Post.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.toddhenry.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Todd Henry</a> - Todd teaches leaders and organizations how to establish practices that lead to everyday brilliance. He speaks and consults across dozens of industries on creativity, leadership, and passion for work.\n\n<a href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/experts/ron-friedman-phd\" target=\"_blank\">Ron Friedman, Ph.D. </a>– Dr. Friedman is an award-winning social psychologist who specializes in human motivation and has consulted for some of the world’s most successful organizations.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.jamesdasilva.com/\" target=\"_blank\">James DaSilva</a> - James is a senior editor at SmartBrief and manages SmartBlog on Leadership. He edits SmartBrief\'s newsletters on leadership and entrepreneurship, among others.\n\n<a href=\"http://scottoldford.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Scott Oldford</a> - He is the founder of Limitless Business Group, a recipient of the 2013 American Express Innovator Award, and is widely respected for his leadership and business innovation acumen.\n\n<a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/TedCoine\" target=\"_blank\">Ted Coiné</a> - Ted is one of the most influential business experts on the Web, top-ranked by Forbes, Inc., SAP Business Innovation, and Huffington Post for his leadership, customer experience, and social media influence.\n\nWhether you\'ve been in a leadership role for several years, you\'re a brand new leader, or you\'re just an aspiring leader looking to grow your skills and influence, the start of a new year is a great time to focus on personal and leadership development. I’m excited to hear what this tremendous team has to share with us about leadership.\n\nLearn more or register by clicking <a href=\"http://davidburkus.com/newyearnewleader\" target=\"_blank\">here</a>.', 'New Year. New Leader.', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'new-year-new-leader', '', '', '2015-12-29 06:00:35', '2015-12-29 11:00:35', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28716', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(28741, 392, '2015-12-31 06:00:56', '2015-12-31 11:00:56', 'Have you ever been in a situation where you felt all odds were against you? What about a situation where you had to take a risk and the numbers or your experience did not meet up to the standards required or needed?\n\nWhen I think of the quote “Throw me to the wolves and I\'ll return leading the leading the pack,\" I think of just that, someone had  to be put in a situation where they felt unwarned, intimidated, afraid, and unprotected.\n\nWe all know when we are put in a situation like that, our # 1 number goal is to prove to ourselves and others \"I can handle this.\" Now here you are smack dab in the middle of an attack and don’t know what to do. To top it all, people are watching and waiting to see what are you going to do. There are two sets of cheerleaders on the side, those praying you will make it and those saying you won’t.\n\nThe word “throw\" means to propel something with force, to enter suddenly in a particular state or condition.\n\nWolves, largest members of the dog family, have a long adversarial history with humans; they are considered one of the animal world’s fearsome and natural villains. Wolves live and hunt in packs. They can roam perhaps 12 miles in a single day.  They do not eat in moderation; they can consume 20 pounds of meat at a sitting. Scary, right?\n\nWolves are far stronger and far faster than you can imagine. It’s said to defend yourself without a weapon against a wolf is impossible. Knowing that, are you going to be eaten alive? No, with faith all things are possible. You have just been put in a situation where you have to come up with a plan quickly.\n\nMy strategy would include this thinking:<em> I have to get these jokers on my side</em>. I would need a unity strategy, so I looked at some Military Strategies:\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Counter-Offensive</strong> - The term used by the military to describe large-scale, usually strategic offensive operations by forces that had successfully halted the enemy\'s offensive, while occupying defensive positions.</li>\n<li><strong>Incentive</strong> - Something that motivates an individual to perform an action. Ultimately, incentives aim to provide value for money and contribute to organizational success.</li>\n<li><strong>Win Without Fighting</strong> - The one that really got my attention. This strategy originated with Sun Tzu, the Chinese military general.</li>\n</ul>\n\nForbes Magazine wrote an article entitled <em>Sun Tzu\'s 33 Best Pieces Of Leadership Advice</em> in May 2014. Many concepts from that article apply to those who want to emerge from being thrown to the wolves as leaders of the pack.  While it was challenging to choose my favorites, here are the ones which inspired me the most:\n\n<ol>\n<li>You have to believe in yourself.</li>\n<li>The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.</li>\n<li>Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.</li>\n<li>Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.</li>\n<li>He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.</li>\n<li>Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.</li>\n<li>There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.</li>\n<li>Know yourself and you will win all battles.</li>\n<li>Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.</li>\n<li>When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.</li>\n</ol>\n\nAlthough I shared ten highlights, all 33 pieces of advice seemed victory-destined for me. Visit the entire article, <a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2014/05/23/sun-tzus-33-best-pieces-of-leadership-advice/\" target=\"_blank\">Sun Tzu\'s 33 Best Pieces Of Leadership Advice</a>, at Forbes.\n\nAs we leave 2015 and enter into 2016, remember some battles you were not supposed to fight, but rather learn from to become a better, wiser and more strategic leader in 2016.', 'Throw Me To The Wolves &amp; I&#039;ll Return Leading The Pack', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'throw-me-to-the-wolves-and-ill-return-leading-the-pack', '', '', '2015-12-31 06:00:56', '2015-12-31 11:00:56', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28741', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(28748, 372, '2016-01-05 06:00:52', '2016-01-05 11:00:52', 'Amidst the resolutions we make at the start of the new year are the old standbys. Lose weight. Quit smoking. Exercise more. See the world. Be kind.\n\nOur mind is made up. We make these resolutions clearly and intentionally. Yet too few of us change our behaviors to ensure those resolutions come to fruition. We don’t do the hard work, so the results we desire don’t happen.\n\nYet success is within reach. All we have to do is tweak our habits a bit and refine our actions a bit so we do enjoy a better way. I suggest that each of us needs to add one more resolution to our list - to be a positive force in our home, community, and workplace. I’ll help you with some proven behavioral tweaks.\n\nFirst off, why be a positive force? Why invest time in your positive well being? What’s in it for you?\n\nThe benefits are quite astounding. People with high well being are 31 percent more productive than people with low well being. They have triple the creativity. They are ten times more engaged. They generate 37 percent more sales. They are three times more satisfied. (Tom Rath &amp; Jim Harter, <a href=\"http://www.gallup.com/services/177050/economics-wellbeing.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">The Economics Of Wellbeing</a>, Gallup Press, 2010; Shawn Achor, <a href=\"https://hbr.org/2012/01/positive-intelligence\" target=\"_blank\">Positive Intelligence</a>, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2012)\n\nThere are five pillars of well being: five areas that we humans need to invest time and energy in to boost positive well being regularly. (Lisa Zigarmi &amp; Chris Edmonds, <a href=\"http://www.thinkaha.com/positivity-at-work-tweet-book01/\" target=\"_blank\">Positivity At Work</a>, ThinkAha, 2012). They are positive emotion, positive relationships, meaning and purpose, positive accomplishment, and positive physical health. Let’s take a brief look at each pillar.\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Positive Emotion</strong> - When we express positive emotion, stress is reduced and optimism increases. Positive emotions include appreciation, gratitude, inspiration, awe, joy, and amusement. Laughing with colleagues, not at colleagues, is a powerful emotion - as is expressing thanks for peers’ efforts.</li>\n<li><strong>Positive relationships</strong> - They enable us to experience trust, kindness, support - and even challenging conversations to push us higher. Humans are wired for social connection. Positive relationships are the single most important source of well being. Nurture relationships with those you trust - and repair poor relationships where you can. Getting those to civil is a big gain on the well being scale.</li>\n<li><p><strong>Meaning &amp; Purpose</strong> - This is the extent to which people perceive their actions - at work, at home, in their community - create lasting worth for everyone, not just for themselves. Daniel Pink’s book, Drive, explains the power of purpose as the yearning to do what we can do in the service of something larger than ourselves. One of the best selling books of all time says that, “Without vision, the people perish.\"</p>\n\nHow can you craft meaningful purpose? Create an avenue for people to volunteer in the community - ten hours a year isn’t much but will do a great deal of good. They don’t have to volunteer as a team, though that’s a powerful relationship benefit. Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity or a local soup kitchen, every month.</li>\n<li><strong>Positive Accomplishment</strong> - This is about developing mastery and demonstrating competence in service to others. People who know their strengths and deploy them daily experience greater well being than those who do not. Doing your best matters - your fingerprints are on everything you do. Focus and apply your skills intentionally so you are proud of your products and services daily.</li>\n<li><p><strong>Positive Health</strong> - Thisis more than the absence of sickness. It’s a foundation of energy, vibrancy, resilience, stamina, and fitness. Physically fit people live longer, happier, more successful lives. Exercise improves your immune system and fends off stress, dementia, and depression.</p>\nWhat\'s a good gauge of your positive health? Check your <a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obesity/in-depth/bmi-calculator/itt-20084938\" target=\"_blank\">body mass index</a>. Get a step counter to track your daily activity. Monitor the calories you burn and those you take in daily. Fuel your best self with a <a href=\"http://gizmodo.com/5709913/4-hour-body---the-slow-carb-diet\" target=\"_blank\">slow carb diet</a>, eating lean proteins and vegetables.</li>\n</ol>\n\nStart small. Embrace some of these practices in your home, workplace, and community. It’ll take some time to embrace this new positive force strategy and embed new habits.\n\nYou’re going to be at work, at home, and in your neighborhood anyway. You may as well boost your well being while there.', 'Be A Positive Force', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'be-a-positive-force', '', '', '2016-01-05 06:00:52', '2016-01-05 11:00:52', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28748', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(28754, 323, '2016-02-25 06:00:52', '2016-02-25 11:00:52', '<h3>Conscious Choices</h3>\nIs being a leader a choice? Or does it just happen?\n\nI believe that leadership requires making conscious choices. Ongoing. Everyday.\n\nI learned this idea of <em>conscious choices</em> from a mentor in the context of coaching others.  He explained that when working with leaders who are in development it is important to help them peel pack the layers of their decisions to uncover why they do the things they do.\n\nBecause by creating awareness of the motivations behind our decisions we are able to make better ones.\n\nI loved this idea so much that I made it my new personal mantra: <em>Make conscious choices. </em>And now, when faced with an action, I find it helps to pause and check in with myself:\n<blockquote>Hey, self, why are you doing this thing you are doing?</blockquote>\nDoing so forces me to mentally scroll through a myriad of questions.\n\nFor example, am I doing this thing because I\'ve analyzed all the angles and possible outcomes and decided this is the best choice? Or, am I doing this because this is how we\'ve always done it? Because this is what other people do? Because someone told me to do this? I can\'t think of anything else? I\'m in a hurry? I don\'t want to be different or unpopular?\n\nAnd so on…until I\'m confident I\'m making a conscious choice.\n\nWe go about our days making millions of big and little decisions. But how often do we think – <em>really</em> think – about those decisions we make and why?\n\nWhat about this idea of choosing leadership? I believe you either choose it or you don’t. Simple.\n<h3>Practicing Leaders</h3>\nI’ve met many who have chosen the path of leadership. I call these the <em>Practicing Leaders,</em> because, like doctors and their medicine, I believe what we do in leadership is both an art and a science and requires practice to get right - daily. I\'ve met three types:\n<ol>\n	<li>The <em>neo-leader</em> becomes a new manager through a combination of hard work, potential and desire. They’re on the cusp between individual contributor and leader, but making daily choices that help them grow.</li>\n	<li>The <em>fit-leader</em> has been doing it a while and remains passionate about leading. They’re comfortable in the role and know how to achieve success through others.</li>\n	<li>The <em>sensei-leader</em> has been-there-done-that and feels continued growth comes from paying their lessons forward. Their passion is now centered on mentoring the next generation of leaders.</li>\n</ol>\nThese individuals are far from perfect, but they’re living the life of a practicing leader because they know the positive impact they can have. They choose leadership.\n<h3>Leaders-in-Waiting</h3>\nAnd then we have the <em>Leaders-in-Waiting</em>. These are the individuals in the shadows, waiting to lead:\n<ol>\n	<li>The <em>paused-leader</em> somewhere along the way became disenchanted and chose to stop leading. They go through the motions, but have more to give; they just need to be re-ignited.</li>\n	<li>The <em>adrift-leader</em> has a management job but loses their way because they were not prepared for the journey. They’re trying, but are just not sure how or where to lead, or lack the true desire to do so. They need a map, a compass and a guide.</li>\n	<li>The <em>undiscovered-leader</em> has an unlit fire, and is unaware of their untapped potential. They may not have found the right opportunity or don’t yet even know their capability.</li>\n</ol>\n<h3>Choosing Leadership</h3>\nWhere do you find the <em>Leader-in-Waiting</em>? Anywhere and everywhere.\n\nHow do they transform into the <em>Practicing Leader</em>? That journey may be different for everyone, but my belief is it begins with a choice – a conscious choice. You have to ask yourself a simple question, no matter what type of leader you are:\n<blockquote>Do I want to lead?</blockquote>\nWhen the answer is yes, the next questions are about uncovering the obstacles – whether real or perceived – blocking your path:\n<ul>\n	<li>Do I have confidence in my abilities?</li>\n	<li>Are my experience, knowledge and skills a match?</li>\n	<li>Do I fear acceptance of my peers or new team?</li>\n	<li>Am I worried about failing?</li>\n	<li>How do I find a mentor that can help me?</li>\n	<li>Is my personal brand and reputation helping or hindering me?</li>\n	<li>What opportunities can I seize?</li>\n</ul>\nWhile this list is not exhaustive, it is a good start. Find your personal obstacles and make a plan – a choice – for overcoming them.\n\nI believe leadership is a choice. We choose to follow the path of leadership and, every day, we make choices that define the kind of leader we are and the legacy we will leave behind.\n\nSo, as we pick up speed in 2016, I ask, are you a <em>Leader-in-Waiting</em>? What leadership choices will you make this year? Who and how will you choose to lead?', 'Choosing Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'choosing-leadership', '', '', '2016-02-25 06:00:52', '2016-02-25 11:00:52', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28754', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(28765, 274, '2016-01-04 06:00:30', '2016-01-04 11:00:30', 'Welcome to the January 2016 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival!\n\n2016 has been declared the <a href=\"http://www.fao.org/pulses-2016/en/\" target=\"_blank\">International Year of the Pulses</a> by the United Nations General Assembly. Why would a year be dedicated to beans? It has to do with making sure everyone worldwide gets fed. We appreciate how each of you does <strong>your</strong> share to \"feed\" and inspire leaders. Just like with legumes, great potential exists within small unassuming seeds!\n<h3>Let\'s Get Started</h3>\n<strong>Anne Perschel</strong> of <a href=\"http://germaneconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Germane Consulting</a> submitted <a href=\"http://germaneconsulting.com/leading-with-a-pause/\" target=\"_blank\">Leading With a Pause</a>. Anne shares, \"More than ever, leaders with whom I work are expressing the need to \'Step back,\' \'Stop and think,\' and \'Be more intentional.\' They\'re practicing solutions I created called Door Knob Moments and Leading with a Pause.\" Locate Anne on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bizshrink\" target=\"_blank\">@bizshrink</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Art Petty </strong>of <a href=\"http://artpetty.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Art Petty Group</a> sent <a href=\"http://artpetty.com/2015/12/06/leadership-caffeine-its-time-to-become-better-informed-leadership-consumers/\" target=\"_blank\">Leadership Caffeine: It’s Time to Become Better Informed Leadership Consumers</a>. Art says, \"There’s a lot of happy talk in books, on blogs and in articles about leaders and leading. From revisionist histories of yesterday’s great CEO warriors to the feel-good advice that is so eagerly consumed by the masses of workers yearning for liberation from the tyranny of lousy managers and cubicle kingdoms, there’s no shortage of opinions on how to get this act and role of leading right. I applaud the efforts, but I decry much of the advice—it lacks the critical connection to reality that we need to get leadership right in an era rightly characterized by overload, ambiguity and conflict.\" Find Art on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/artpetty\" target=\"_blank\">@artpetty</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LeadershipCafn\" target=\"_blank\">@leadershipcafn</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Bill Treasurer</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.giantleapconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Giant Leap Consulting</a> contributed <a href=\"http://giantleapconsulting.com/personal-growth/so-you-want-to-be-mentored/\" target=\"_blank\">So You Want to be Mentored?</a>. Bill recaps, \"Many people complain about not having a mentor. But mentoring works much better when the mentee takes responsibility for choosing a mentor. The first place to start is: get yourself a mentor!\" Follow Bill on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/btreasurer\">@btreasurer</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Chery Gegelman </strong>of <a href=\"http://consultgiana.com/giana-consulting/\" target=\"_blank\">Giana Consulting</a> shared <a href=\"http://consultgiana.com/truth-freedom-and-people-need-you/\" target=\"_blank\">Truth, Freedom and People Need You - A Call to Action from our Shaking World </a>. Chery writes, \"Leadership is not about us and it’s not just about our workplaces. It’s about using our knowledge, our relationships and our passion to make a difference. Check out the 5 tips at the end of this post that will help you create positive change in your company, your community, your nation and our world.\" Chery is on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GianaConsulting\" target=\"_blank\">@gianaconsulting</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/your-leadership-teams-true-purpose/\" target=\"_blank\">Your Leadership Team\'s True Purpose</a>. Chris summarizes: \"Does your department or division or company’s leadership team see it’s core \'reason for being\' to drive results? Results and profits are important but they are not the primary reason for a leadership team’s existence. That team’s primary purpose is to create workplace inspiration which drives results and service. Tweak your leadership team’s purpose to serve employees first. Learn how in this post.\" Follow Chris on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/scedmonds\" target=\"_blank\">@scedmonds</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>David Dye </strong>of <a href=\"http://trailblazeinc.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Trailblaze, Inc.</a>, shared <a href=\"http://trailblazeinc.com/resources/engage-newsletter/is-servant-leadership-bulls-t/\" target=\"_blank\">Is Servant Leadership Bullsh-t?</a>. David writes, \"It’s the most common question David hears when he speaks: If human-centered, character-based leadership works, why don’t we see more of it? David answers the question and shares cautionary traps to avoid.\" Discover David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/davidmdye\" target=\"_blank\">@davidmdye</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Hollis Thomases</strong> of <a href=\"http://reinventionworks.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">ReinventionWorks</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.reinventionworks.com/mega-reinvention/\" target=\"_blank\">Mega-Reinvention 2016</a>. Hollis tells us, \"January is National Reinvention Month and shares a resource interested learners can use to take control of their next future.\" Follow Hollis on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hollisthomases\" target=\"_blank\">@hollisthomases</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jesse Lyn Stoner</strong> of the <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Seapoint Center</a> provided <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/how-to-create-a-dynamic-strategic-plan/\" target=\"_blank\">How to Create a Dynamic Strategic Plan in an Unpredictable World</a>. Jesse summarized: \"The traditional approach to strategic planning is obsolete in today\'s fast-paced, unpredictable world. (60-80% of firms fail to execute their strategies). But planning is essential to success, if you do it right. Here are 5 guidelines to create a \'Dynamic Strategic Plan\' that will enable you to respond quickly and to be creatively proactive.\" Follow Jesse on Twitter at <a href=\"http://twitter.com/JesseLynStoner\" target=\"_blank\">@JesseLynStoner</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jim Taggart</strong> of <a href=\"http://changingwinds.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Changing Winds</a> submitted <a href=\"https://changingwinds.wordpress.com/2015/12/14/a-female-warrior-leaders-journey/\" target=\"_blank\">A Female Warrior Leader’s Journey</a>. Jim says, \"This is a leadership story about a woman who as a young teenager almost lost her life. But she not only survived but went on to become an outstanding First Nations female leader who represented Canada later in life at the Olympics. She has maintained her focus on improving the conditions for Canada’s First Nations peoples. Her life has been one of contribution and steadfast principles.\" 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/technology-addiction-fomo\" target=\"_blank\">FOMO Sufferer – “Fear of Missing Out” &amp; Addicted to Technology?</a> Joel recaps: \"FOMO is why teens text while driving, while having dinner with their parents, and probably while sleeping. Heaven forbid that a friend might be going to a party, a movie, or the mall—and they missed it. You have the same attitude toward your work. You truly believe your job, your boss, and your co-workers can’t get along without you.\" 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  <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog</a> shared <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2015/12/28/culture-change-requires-that-leaders-change-their-behavior/\" target=\"_blank\">Culture Change Requires That Leaders Change Their Behavior</a>, which touches on several authors and books who have influenced him. He says, \"I believe for significant changes to culture transformation of the individual is required; I have seen this take place many times. Changes to the culture come from significant changes in how people think.\" Follow John on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/curiouscat_com\" target=\"_blank\">@curiouscat_com</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>John Spence</strong> of <a href=\"http://blog.johnspence.com/2015/12/intolerance-mediocrity/\" target=\"_blank\">Achieving Business Excellence with John Spence</a> contributed <a href=\"http://blog.johnspence.com/2015/12/intolerance-mediocrity/\" target=\"_blank\">On the Intolerance of Mediocrity</a>.  John shares insights from a top chef\'s four-step formula for excellence. Find John on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AwesomelySimple\" target=\"_blank\">@awesomelysimple</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jon Mertz</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.thindifference.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Thin Difference</a> sent <a href=\"https://www.thindifference.com/2015/12/compromise-vs-compromising-more-of-the-first-less-of-the-latter/\" target=\"_blank\">Compromise vs. Compromising: More of the First, Less of the Latter</a>. Jon summarizes: \"How can we compromise without compromising? It\'s a fine line leaders must navigate.​\" Discover Jon on Twitter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThinDifference\" target=\"_blank\">@ThinDifference</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Linda Fisher-Thornton</strong> of <a href=\"http://leadingincontext.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leading in Context</a> contributed <a href=\"http://leadingincontext.com/2015/12/09/were-all-padawan-learners/\" target=\"_blank\">We\'re All Padawan Learners</a>. Linda recaps, \"Have you ever noticed that<strong> </strong>no matter how many times the forces of good overcome the forces of evil in the Star Wars movies, there is always another challenge? There is never a moment when the characters \'arrive\' and are exempt from ethical challenges. They can never let down their guard.\" 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/thoughtful-leaders/\" target=\"_blank\">The Thoughtful Leaders<sup>TM</sup> Blog</a> provided <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/2015/12/07/three-reasons-to-dance/\" target=\"_blank\">3 Reasons to Dance</a>. In this piece, Lisa shares: \"why dancing is a best leadership practice, and how leaders can learn and allow themselves to dance.\" Follow Lisa on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThoughtfulLdrs\" target=\"_blank\">@ThoughtfulLdrs</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Mary Ila Ward </strong>of <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Horizon Point Consulting</a> submitted <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/blog3/item/why-you-should-schedule-think-week-to-begin-2016\" target=\"_blank\">Why You Need to Schedule a Think Week for 2016</a>. Mary Ila writes, \"The best leaders schedule time to plan and develop ideas in order to drive innovation and direction. To put your best leadership foot forward in 2016, schedule a week to do so.\" 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, LLC</a> contributed <a href=\"http://www.aspire-cs.com/moving-into-hond-possibility/\" target=\"_blank\">Moving into Possibility and Potential</a>. Mary Jo says, \"It’s all too easy for leaders to get so dragged down by those they view as underperforming that they can miss the possibility and potential in them. Here are some ways to notice and bring out the best in those who just might surprise you with their latent abilities.\" Find Mary Jo on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mjasmus\" target=\"_blank\">@mjasmus</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> sent <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/2016/01/05/start-being-creative-in-the-new-year-2016-2/\" target=\"_blank\">Start Being Creative in the New Year-2016</a>. Neal writes, \"With the New Year just starting, now is the time to begin getting creative in order to help your business thrive beyond survival mode. Helping you with this journey, I can consult with you about getting started on the How and Where of creativity.\" Follow 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=\"http://upwardsleader.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The Upwards Leader</a> contributed <a href=\"http://upwardsleader.com/2015/12/06/leadership-accountability-is-a-two-way-street/\" target=\"_blank\">Leadership Accountability is a Two-Way Street</a>. Paul continues, \"Accountability organizations are popular and effective. The best ones, however, work when leadership goes out of their way to be held accountable themselves. Here are some strategies on how to do so.\" Discover Paul on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/paul_larue\" target=\"_blank\">@paul_larue</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<div class=\"divide\">\n\n<strong>Susan Mazza </strong>of <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Random Acts Of Leadership</a> submitted <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/3-incredibly-powerful-words-for-leaders/\" target=\"_blank\">3 Incredibly Powerful Words for Leaders</a></span>. Susan summarizes, \"It\'s great to thank people for what they do. However, if you want to leave people feeling truly appreciated, the key is going beyond their deeds to focus on who they are and what they uniquely provide.\" Find Susan on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SusanMazza\" target=\"_blank\">@susanmazza</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Wally Bock </strong>of <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Three Star Leadership</a> shared <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/communication/presentations-tips-to-help-you-do-better\" target=\"_blank\">Presentations: Tips to Help You Do Better</a>. Wally writes, \"Read this if the thought of giving a speech makes you break out in a cold sweat or feel like you\'re going to throw up.\" Follow Wally on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wallybock\" target=\"_blank\">@wallybock</a>.\n\n<em>Thank you to everyone who submitted articles for this month\'s carnival! If <strong>you</strong> would like to be on the distribution list for submission calls, please contact Paula Kiger (paula @ weavinginfluence (dot) com)!</em>\n\n</div>', 'January 2016 Leadership Development Carnival', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'january-2016-leadership-development-carnival', '', '', '2016-01-04 06:00:30', '2016-01-04 11:00:30', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28765', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(28785, 252, '2016-01-08 06:00:13', '2016-01-08 11:00:13', 'I overheard a conversation at a cafe. One man was complaining to another how a dating relationship had fallen apart.\n\nHe said, “I was trying to be mature about it but then she said ____, and I told her off. I mean, what did she expect?”\n\nIt sounded as if he thought her reaction gave him permission to go off. My question is, “What do you expect of yourself?”\n<h3>What Do You Expect?</h3>\nWe can be so tempted to be drawn into the drama. Have you ever heard yourself excuse your actions with:\n<ul>\n	<li>What else could I do?</li>\n	<li>How was I supposed to react?</li>\n	<li>What choice did he/she leave me?</li>\n</ul>\nYou might feel as if you are painted in a corner. You were given no choice but to defend yourself. You needed to lay some truth on them. They need to understand how they were out of line. I get it. I\'ve been there.\n<h3>Is It About Them Or You?</h3>\nI remember a lengthy talk, long ago with a manager about his habit of verbally abusing his co-workers or subordinates for making mistakes. He would humiliate them to the point of saying things like, “I can’t believe you are that stupid.”\n\nWe talked about the purpose that served. Were they hearing him? Was it having the desired effect?\n\nHe kept bringing the conversation back to how important it was that they know they made the mistake. He literally thought he had no choice but to point it out to them, in his way. The more “stupid” the mistake or oversight, the more he thought he was entitled to ramp up the humiliation.\n\nHe knew it was not in his best interest from a career standpoint. He still felt very righteous in his choice of response. I think we get in a rut sometimes.\n<h3>Ask Another Question</h3>\nI distinctly remember the moment I asked him these questions. What do you want to think of yourself in this situation? Who do you want to be?\n\nHe was silent for a good 30 seconds. He said he had never thought of that before. This doesn’t happen very often, but I saw a light bulb go off over his head.\n\nI want to be clear that I’m not criticizing this manager. I do want to be clear how easy this question is to overlook, particularly when we are pumped up.\n\nHe and I discussed at length what the answer to this question could mean for him. We talked about dignity, respect and integrity. He did not connect his purported values to these types of situations. After all, what choice did these people leave him?\n\nWhat he came to was realizing there were choices that were his to make. We went so far as for him to visualize looking in a mirror and asking, “Who do I want to be in this situation? What do I want to think of myself?”\n\nWe talked through how his values applied in these recurring situations. We had to talk it through because this was so new to him. He was not in the habit of looking for his choice points in these situations.\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Albert Einstein</div></blockquote>\n<h3>It Takes Practice</h3>\nHe needed to practice making conscious decisions in these situations. I’d love to report that his career life was rosy from that point on. I know he continued to struggle for the few months we continued to talk.\n\nWhat I also know is that continuing to ask the question, “Who do I want to be?” serves all of us who aspire to be character-based leaders.', 'Avoid Excuses &amp; Rise To The Occasion By Asking This Question', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'avoid-excuses-and-rise-to-the-occasion-by-asking-this-question', '', '', '2016-01-08 06:00:13', '2016-01-08 11:00:13', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28785', 0, 'post', '', 10);
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(28802, 251, '2016-01-11 06:00:19', '2016-01-11 11:00:19', 'The beginning of a new year, coupled with chilly, wet weather that traps me indoors, always prompts me to revisit old friends - people, places, habits - with whom I’ve lost touch for whatever the reason.\n\nIn rummaging through the bits and pieces of my life, I was delighted to rediscover my <em>7 C’s Of Leadership</em>.\n\nDelight dueled with disappointment in myself for letting talking and teaching about the package of capability, character, cognition, commitment, compassion, confidence, and connection go unpracticed.\n\nBecause many lists of leadership traits are cumbersome, the 7 C’s approach is a helpful shortcut in leading ourselves and others—succinct enough to be remembered yet deep enough in hard and soft skills to impact both thoughts and actions.\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">Leaders help people turn on their internal lights and allow their skills and abilities to shine brightly.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Anonymous</div>\n</blockquote>\n\nIntroducing my old friend to others is in my routine once again. Here’s hoping you enjoy the re-introduction!\n\n<h3>7 C\'s Of Leadership</h3>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Capability</strong> - You dare yourself to stretch the limits of your potential and inspire those around you to do the same. You practice accountability with yourself as well as those around you. You’ve gotten comfortable oscillating between collaborating and competing, being confident and humble, and knowing when to keep control and when to empower others. You know when to go fast and when to go slow. You equally value people, principles and profits, not sacrificing one for the other. You are skilled at the fundamentals of conducting business—planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. You walk the leadership walk by bringing a win-win orientation, trust, respect, motivation, inspiration and a feeling of collaboration and partnership.</li>\n<li><strong>Character</strong> - You walk the talk for being good and doing well. You’ve chosen to be a role model for integrity, ethical behavior, authenticity, and transparency. You have a moral center and radiate positive energy and determination. You’re self-disciplined and treat those with or without power the same. You invite the elephant in the room to dance. You’re unafraid to show you care. You are tolerant of and embrace differences. You embrace possibility with childlike wonder, practice inclusion without judgment, and turn dreams into reality.</li>\n<li><strong>Cognition</strong> - You’re self-aware and pro-actively use your self-knowledge to relate to, and interact with, others. You know what you want to do and be. You know your strengths and put them to good use for both yourself and in service to others. You know your weakness, and work to minimize any negative impact they may have. You seek out feedback and reflect on what you hear. You practice simplicity yet know when to take the deep dive. You know when to be mindful and when to take action. You manage to allow stability while stimulating change. You celebrate and have fun. You set boundaries and appreciate what\'s mandatory and what\'s discretionary.</li>\n<li><strong>Commitment</strong> - You hold yourself responsible and assist others in doing the same. You seek out. You live up to your potential.  You pursue mutual understanding and respect even in the presence of opposing opinions. You touch hearts and balance that with solid management practices to assure the work is done. You dedicate yourself to finding connection, communicating, reaching for your potential, celebrating, and being courageous, sincere, caring and authentic.</li>\n<li><strong>Compassion</strong> - You smile, laugh, and are fearless in showing love and joy. You know when to speak with candor and when to use diplomacy. You care for yourself, your team, organization, community, family and whatever else you hold near and dear, and are secure enough to show that you care. You display empathy without sacrificing accountability and ownership. You know when to enforce the rules and when to bend them.</li>\n<li><strong>Confidence</strong> - You take a stand for what\'s good and right, even if doing so is unpopular. You show grace under pressure. You acknowledge your fears without letting them rule your life. You are joyfully spirited. You show strength of mind and will. You believe in yourself. You know you bring value and help others believe the same about themselves. You make a positive difference.</li>\n<li><strong>Connection</strong> - You know the values and beliefs that are important to you, and you practice them in your daily living in doses large and small. You’re there for others. You make the time to communicate and connect with others. You actively listen to them with your head and heart because understanding their point of view is important. You say thank you to someone every day. You share grins and gratitude. You freely share what you know. You listen actively, engage in two-way dialogues, and assure messages are accurately conveyed.</li>\n</ol>\n\nWho in your circle would benefit from knowing about the 7 C’s of Leadership?', 'How To Put The 7 C&#039;s Of Leadership To Good Use', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-put-the-7-cs-of-leadership-to-good-use', '', '', '2016-01-11 06:00:19', '2016-01-11 11:00:19', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28802', 0, 'post', '', 10),
(28813, 389, '2016-01-07 06:00:20', '2016-01-07 11:00:20', 'Scholars have long held that when we see ourselves learning and growing, it creates an increased sense of competence, which in turn provides a great sense of meaning in one’s work.\n\nWhat a great gift to be able to provide for your team – an ecosystem that nurtures learning and growth.\n\nBut not all learning is created equal – at least not when it comes to how adults learn.\n\nFacilitating a meaning-rich environment of learning and growth in the workplace starts with being mindful of what adult learning principles have taught us about how adults learn.\n\nFollow these principles to turn your conference room into a classroom:\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Draw On Their Experience & What They Know</strong> - When adults receive new information, they will compare and contrast that new information with what they know; this process of reconciliation helps them to learn. You can help the adult worker draw similarities and differences between old and new experiences to help cement learning. Likewise, you can provide context on the bigger picture to further facilitate the connection to what the adult learner already knows.</li>\n<li><strong>Attend To Attention Spans</strong> - There is a known data point that says the adult mind can maintain rapt attention for about 20 minutes of time. In today’s fast paced digital reality, however, that span has plummeted to about 8 seconds. For any classroom or training program that relies on a speaker/audience approach, it is important to be mindful of this reality to maximize the power of the learning experience. Breaking up lectures or presentations with visuals, videos, audio, discussions, and stories can substantially expand the mind’s ability to stay engaged. Great content and context can further expand attention spans.</li>\n<li><strong>Provide Opportunities For Immediate Practice</strong> - Adults want to put what they’ve learned to use, fast. Creating opportunities for adults to practice and play with what they’ve learned at work makes the learning stick and is more likely to create a feeling of increased competence.</li>\n<li><strong>Make Clear The Personal Relevance/Value Of The Learning Opportunity</strong> - While children will most often simply accept the process of being taught, adults need to understand why they are engaged in a learning process and how it benefits them. This is especially true in a work environment, where many priorities press at the would-be learning adult each and every day.</li>\n<li><strong>Ensure Self-Directed Learning</strong> - Adults want to be more self-directed and active in the learning process, whereas children are more passive in the process and dependent on an adult instructor to feed them the requisite learning. Adults don’t need or want a lot of supervision. For you, this means facilitating the learning process versus overdoing oversight of the process. Micromanaging the learning experience will drain the potential fulfillment and meaning to be derived.</li>\n<li><strong>Leverage Mistakes As Learning Opportunities</strong> - Adults view learning from mistakes as one of the most valuable, potent learning experiences of all. That is, as long as the fear of being reprimanded for those mistakes is completely absent from the potential learning environment.</li>\n<li><p><strong>Take Into Account Different Learning Styles</strong> - Here are a few of them...</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Divergers learn by watching and looking at things from differing perspectives</li>\n<li>Accommodators are hands-on, relying on intuition rather than logic</li>\n<li>Assimilators prefer a logical, precise approach to learning that includes explanations and logical theories</li>\n<li>Convergers first think through a problem and then use their learning to resolve that problem.</li>\n</ul>\n</ol>\n\nGo to <a href=\"http://www.sierra-training.com/pdf/adultlearning.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Sierra Training</a> for more information on the source of these principles. You can create a learning and growth environment in your place of work. Just be mindful of the lesson plan outlined in this article and go ahead and open up those classes.', 'Learn About Learning', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'learn-about-learning', '', '', '2016-01-07 06:00:20', '2016-01-07 11:00:20', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28813', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(28815, 389, '2016-01-25 06:00:06', '2016-01-25 11:00:06', 'In my last post, <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/learn-about-learning/\" target=\"_blank\">Learn About Learning</a>, I talked about the importance of learning how adults learn, so that we might better craft true learning and growth environments in our workplaces. There is another underlying condition to crafting such an environment I’d like to discuss now.\n\nThe truth is, the extent to which people in your shop are learning and growing in their role doesn’t solely depend on the subject matter. It also depends on the extent to which you believe the subject matters. You have a choice whether or not to prioritize your employees\' growth.\n\nLet me strengthen the case for you. Doing so not only is the right thing to do for the employee, it is an imperative thing to do for the business.\n\nRay Stata, former chairman of Analog Devices and a pioneer in creating learning organizations, said: \"The rate at which individuals and organizations learn may become the only sustainable competitive advantage.\" For more background on that quote <a href=\"http://cf2015.bhcarroll.edu/files/session-1-congregational-development/what-is-organizational-learning.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">go here</a>. A <a href=\"http://www.tiptopwebsite.com/custommusic/personnelstaffinginc3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">study</a> by the Brookings Institution revealed that 60 percent of an organization\'s competitive advantage is derived from internal advancements in knowledge, innovation, and learning.\n\nSteve Shifman, CEO of Michelman (a fast-growing specialty chemicals company), told me the need for a learning organization is an absolute essential: \"Otherwise the bell curve shifts to the right with today\'s rate of change and our knowledge base slides toward the average middle.\"\n\nIn other words, what we know today that provides competitive advantage will be cost-of-entry knowledge tomorrow, and without continual learning, we\'ll soon fall behind. In fact, studies such as <a href=\"http://www.leadershipeducators.org/Resources/Documents/Conferences/Milwuakee/Boyd-Williams%20FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">this one</a> show that knowledge gained in college becomes obsolete in two to five years for many disciplines.\n\nShifman further described learning and growth as the centerpiece of his company\'s operating model and believes it is the very definition of facilitating a sense of meaning from one\'s work: \"Meaning at work comes from knowing I am providing for learning and growing experiences that people just wouldn\'t have if it were not for their time at Michelman. It can shape their lives.”\n\nWorking in a learning and growth environment is right for the employees, and right for the employer. Now it’s a matter of true commitment from you as a leader. The good news is that there is plenty you can do to foster a sense of discovery for your employees. A list of time tested and research proven ways to be conducive to learning follows:\n\n<ul>\n<li>Have patience and empathy for the learning process and tolerance for mistakes.</li>\n<li>Have a \"not yet\" mindset vs. a \"you failed\" mindset.</li>\n<li>Put emphasis on assets, not deficits.</li>\n<li>Listen for understanding, not for convincing others.</li>\n<li>Focus on being interested, not interesting to encourage learning and sharing.</li>\n<li>Enable ownership of ideas (don\'t do too much for them).</li>\n<li>Use data to go from \"I think\" to \"I know.\" But don\'t let \"I know\" get in the way of \"I think.\"</li>\n<li>Talk openly about the importance of learning. Role-model the priority you give to learning.</li>\n<li>Encourage \"the sky\'s the limit\" thinking, not limited thinking.</li>\n<li>Commend, not condemn, the person who brings conflicting information.</li>\n<li>Don\'t rewrite history, remember it. Then use realizations to move forward.</li>\n<li>Change \"we\'ve tried that before, sorry\" to \"let\'s try that again, smartly.\"</li>\n<li>Show a genuine interest in each individual\'s unique learning journey.</li>\n<li>Take the time to teach in teachable moments.</li>\n</ul>\n\nConducting business with an undertone of constant learning requires conductivity from you, the leader. The evidence is conclusive – be conducive!', 'Be Conducive To Learning', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'be-conducive-to-learning', '', '', '2016-01-25 06:00:06', '2016-01-25 11:00:06', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28815', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28817, 389, '2016-02-09 06:00:09', '2016-02-09 11:00:09', '<div class=\"quote\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>People may not remember exactly what you did,</em></div>\n<div class=\"quote\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.</em> ~ Maya Angelou</div>\n<div class=\"quote\" style=\"text-align: left;\"></div>\n&nbsp;\n\nMore than one CEO has said, \"Leadership is 90 percent communication,\" and <a href=\"http://www.rethinkingyourwork.com/2010/02/05/employee-engagement-what-is-an-employer-or-employee-supposed-to-do/\" target=\"_blank\">research</a> bears them out by showing that the way in which managers communicate with employees is one of the most important factors in driving employee engagement. The late Maya Angelou pinpoints the key to communication that engages and makes meaning: make people feel something. Inspire a felt sense of confidence. Build certainty and community. It makes the difference between compliance and commitment, meaningless work and meaningful work.\n<h3>Here are five ways to ensure your messaging will truly matter.</h3>\n<strong>1) Articulate a compelling vision that resonates with people\'s identities</strong>\n\nResearch shows that compelling visions make membership within an organization feel special, enriching, and meaningful in and of themselves. They also create meaning by appealing to and resonating with members\' identities. Identities are formed through self-definition of core values and association with the organization\'s values. If you make evident how the vision supports known personal and company values, you\'ve thus reaffirmed individual and collective identities. Similarly, when you communicate the vision in a way that strengthens the sense of community, the \"we\'re in this together-ness,\" it further enhances the message\'s meaning.\n\n<strong>2) Drive mission fit</strong>\n\nMessaging directed towards helping employees understand how their work fits into the broader mission is powerful and meaningful. By taking time in your messaging to help connect the dots for your employees, you enhance their feelings of self-worth and certainty. Your employees also want to understand that what they are specifically being asked to do really matters and that it is worthy of their time and energy. Addressing these basic human needs is effectively helping to answer the deeply held questions: What\'s the point? Where do I belong? How do I Fit in?\n\n<strong>3) Be confident when communicating</strong>\n\nThere is an old adage in leadership that says, \"An organization is never more confident than its leader.\" When you communicate with confidence, it breeds belief and a sense of certainty. Even in the face of mistakes, your confidence should show up in the form of unswerving accountability as well as self-confidence in course correction, while excuses should be absent. As a confident leader, you can communicate hope even as you are outlining reality. You\'ll help create a sense of community as optimism translates into a pride of being involved in an organization with promise. Furthermore, when you communicate your confidence in the troops and their ability to carry out the mission, it nets an increase in your employees\' sense of self-efficacy.\n\n<strong>4) Tell stories of significance</strong>\n\nOrganizational behavior researchers Tom Lawrence and Sally Maitlis indicate that <a href=\"http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Faculty/People/Faculty_Members/~/media/Files/Faculty%20Research/OBHR%20Division/Maitlis/lawrence%20maitliscarepossibility2012.ashx\" target=\"_blank\">storytelling is a vital meaning-making leadership skill</a>. You can make meaning when you share stories of \"sparkling moments\"--when the team really nailed it, when they overcame adversity, or when they achieved accomplishments that have been more broadly taken for granted. Such stories allow the protagonists a moment in the sun and motivate others to become the protagonist of future stories. Such stories provide hope and engender resiliency.\n\n<strong>5) Share goals with intrinsic, not just extrinsic, value</strong>\n\nHow many times have you found yourself introduced to a big, honking goal and walked away uninspired? Odds are the goal was \"for the man\"--that is, to make more profit, to drive ten points more of sales, to deliver something that, in all honesty, you didn\'t really personally connect with. You can make meaning when you ask yourself a few simple questions before articulating a goal to the people in your organization:\n<ul>\n	<li>What\'s in it for them?</li>\n	<li>How will this goal connect with them personally and emotionally?</li>\n	<li>How might accomplishment of this goal help them to grow, and what else might it mean to them personally if the goal is achieved?</li>\n</ul>\nIf you communicate goals with heavy extrinsic value only, you effectively say to the people in your organization, \"You need to hit this goal because it\'s important to my advancement,\" when instead you should be implicitly saying, \"Here\'s a goal that will advance what I need, what the company needs, and what you need in order to derive a greater sense of meaning, fulfillment, and accomplishment in your work.\"\n\nAs a leader, you spend a substantive amount of time messaging the troops. Therefore, you might as well make it meaningful and resonant.', 'How Leaders Can Make their Messaging Meaningful', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-leaders-can-make-their-messaging-meaningful', '', '', '2016-02-09 06:00:09', '2016-02-09 11:00:09', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28817', 0, 'post', '', 10),
(28819, 389, '2016-03-02 06:00:22', '2016-03-02 11:00:22', 'Not all forms of Rewards &amp; Recognition (R&amp;R) are created equal. In actuality, as human beings we aren\'t profoundly motivated by the tangible reward or recognition itself. It\'s about the meaning behind the reward. In fact, an international employee survey by <a href=\"http://maketheirday.com/\">Make Their Day!</a> found that almost 60 percent of the most meaningful recognition is free.\n\nEmployees are looking for meaning, not things. That is the distinction I make about rewards and recognition programs that are \"done right.\" It is all too easy to drain the meaning out of R&amp;R and miss the opportunity to create fulfillment and further inspire elevated contributions.\n\nHere are five principles to help you execute rewards and recognition in a manner that will matter.\n\n<strong>Personalize so that you don\'t trivialize</strong>\n\nA cookie-cutter approach to R&amp;R can make recipients feel as unappreciated as if they weren\'t getting rewarded or recognized. Great managers take the time to understand how each employee likes to be recognized and what makes each individual employee feel valued. You can start by asking your employees:\n\n● How do you like to be recognized? (e.g., formally or informally, in private or in public, as an individual or as part of a group, from a one-up manager/two-up manager/peer/direct report, verbally or in print)\n\n● What form do you like the reward to take? (e.g., words of appreciation, increased responsibility, salary increase, more autonomy, challenging new work, opportunity to showcase good work, time off, being leveraged as an expert, promotion, celebration events).\n\nTake the time to ask. You might even share your own preferences. Flesh out the many forms that rewards can take. Discuss similarities, differences, and new insights gained about each other. Identify specifically what you and your employee can do to fully value each other.\n\n<strong>Get everyone in on the act</strong>\n\nManagers don\'t have to be the only ones handing out R&amp;R. Encourage employees to practice peer-to-peer recognition and you will create a virtuous circle of meaning. The good news is that stimulating such powerful recognition can be relatively simple. When you catch people in the act of recognizing someone else, let them know how much you appreciate it--reward rewarding. Remind people of the pay-it-forward effect their efforts will have. Provide simple recognition resources like thank-you cards or low-budget themed rewards. Simply choose to add peer-to-peer recognition to your options for rewarding and recognizing.\n\n<strong>Be frequent, but not frivolous</strong>\n\nOdds are you will never hear people complaining that they are receiving too much recognition. And interestingly enough, the best workers that get the most praise are often the most insecure--it\'s what drives them to perform (so don\'t assume they are being over-recognized). For anyone, missed opportunities to reward and recognize are missed opportunities to energize. However, remember that frequent, not frivolous, is the goal. Be clear about establishing what the important things are to reward and recognize (for the business and cultural mission). Whether it\'s leadership, risk taking, collaboration, or any other important behavior/accomplishment, clarify the kinds of behaviors that will be rewarded. And to maximize motivation linked to higher performance, be sure to celebrate results, not just activity. Identify anchor events that, when recognized, would derive memorable meaning and motivation for the employee. Such events as a heartfelt celebration when an employee leaves a work group, making a fuss over a new employee\'s entry, or a thoughtfully executed recognition of an employee\'s anniversary can increase the frequency of R&amp;R in a meaningful manner.\n\n<strong>Celebrate first downs and touchdowns</strong>\n\nBeyond supporting the right frequency of R&amp;R, it is important to support the right breadth as well. When major results are achieved, there are invariably important milestones that happened along the way that enabled the major achievement. The supporting cast and results that led up to the major result should be celebrated in addition to the major result itself. In this way you maximize the number of rightful participants in the meaning-making efforts.\n\n<strong>Deliberate the delivery</strong>\n\nHow you deliver rewards and recognition to employees can stick the landing or crash the landing. Don\'t kill the intent. You should think through the delivery with attention to detail. For example, sincerity is key; if it comes from the heart it sticks in the mind. Also remember that \"Specificity is a must; general praise leads to a general malaise,\" and “Timeliness is critical. Drift creates a rift.\" Let R&amp;R drift past the time a praise-worthy event occurred and you create a rift between receipt of the recognition and any potential for associated meaning.\n\nFinally, you should start from a core of a strong relationship with the recipient if at all possible, otherwise rewards and recognition from you won\'t matter much.', 'Rewards and Recognition Done Right', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'rewards-and-recognition-done-right', '', '', '2016-03-02 06:00:22', '2016-03-02 11:00:22', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28819', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(28821, 389, '2016-05-06 06:00:10', '2016-05-06 10:00:10', 'I often wonder why we’re called human beings. We should be called humans doing. Go, go, go, do, do, do - we are so caught up in our routines, our responsibilities, our commitments that we barely have any time to be, let alone become. It’s all too easy to get stuck in a rut at work (and in life), a state where we become complacent, where we don’t hold high hopes for things changing for the better or for our ability to affect that change.\n\nWhen a Gallup poll shows an astonishing 70% at work are disengaged, and among that 20% are actively disengaged, that’s a whole lot of records stuck in a groove on the turntable of life.\n\nIt’s time to change the tune.\n\nYou have the power to get yourself, and others, unstuck.\n\nYou just need a little know-how and an attitude of no-more. Here are 6 ways to get unstuck and leave that rut behind.\n\n<strong>1. Take responsibility</strong>\n\nUnstuck starts with “U,\" and You. You have to realize you’re in a rut before you can pull yourself out of one. American humorist Will Rogers said “The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces”. Be honest with yourself if you’ve put it in “park” and take ownership to get it back in “drive”.\n\n<strong>2. Ascertain the pattern, then airlift yourself out</strong>\n\nWhen we get stuck, by definition we are caught in a pattern of some sort. This is about being self-aware enough to recognize the specifics of the pattern that you’ve fallen into and the corresponding habits that are weighing you down. If someone else was examining your behaviors that have you stuck – what would they point out? Are you repeatedly telling yourself “just a few more years of this”? Are you continually avoiding new challenges when they arise or dodging conversations with friends on how you are doing? The critical first step is to embrace a state of awareness about the patterns and behaviors that get us stuck. Then, and only then, can you change your behaviors and begin working to yank yourself out of it.\n\n<strong>3. Recommit to the concept of challenge</strong>\n\nThink of what it means to challenge – it’s to put opposition against or test the abilities of something. When we’re stuck in a rut, we tend to push the very idea of challenge out of our peripheral zone so we can numbly stay in our false comfort zone. We’re in a mode of repetition and path of least resistance. We aren’t challenging much of anything – our assumptions, the status quo, or ourselves. We weren’t always like this – we can remind ourselves of how exhilarating it is to be challenged by starting small. But mostly, just start – think of challenge as a curious notion in and of itself and pique your interest in the idea and its potential once again.\n\n<strong>4. Look through a higher order lens</strong>\n\nMuch about getting unstuck is to reframe the current state, to look at it from a new angle in an effort to see things from a more promising viewpoint. There may be no more powerful lens for getting someone to change their worldview then to help them find meaning in what they do. When we find a way to give work greater personal significance, to assign it meaning, we change our relationship with that work. When we discover a sense of purpose in what we do or are able to articulate the lasting legacy we want to work towards, it rips us out of our malaise.\n\n<strong>5. Get “next” going</strong>\n\nIt’s hard to change course if you don’t have a destination. We can get stuck at times simply because we haven’t had any discussions with anyone on what could be next in our work path – in terms of growth opportunities, job rotations, new projects, expanded responsibilities, or even entirely new jobs. This is about finding out what you can get excited about in the near term and reminding yourself what your longer term aspirations are. But you have to take that step to get the discussion going (and be firm about it). Even an initial conversation on what could be next can spark renewed interest in one’s work and help move things from a rut to a route – to something reinvigorating.\n\n<strong>6. Make change easier</strong>\n\nGetting unstuck often requires change. Change can be hard, really hard. So make change easier. There are many ways to go about this. Break change into small, manageable steps, take them one at a time, and take time to appreciate each bit of progress. Start with the assumption that change will fundamentally lead to good things. Remember the last time you went through change – odds are you made it through! Examine those who have managed to pull off change successfully and learn from them. Be mindful of your inner dialogue and don’t talk yourself out of change. Imagine the positive scenario on the other side of change. And perhaps most importantly, simply have faith that you will indeed figure it out and adapt along the way.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<em><strong>How you can take action on this article:</strong></em>\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>', 'How to Get Out of a Rut at Work', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-get-out-of-a-rut-at-work-scott-mautz-5', '', '', '2016-05-06 06:00:10', '2016-05-06 10:00:10', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28821', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(28823, 389, '2016-06-02 06:00:26', '2016-06-02 10:00:26', 'We’ve all been there – when you are there but you’re not really there. You may be physically present but your mind and energy are elsewhere.\n\nBelieve me, people all around you notice.\n\nAnd it happens far too often. A <a href=\"http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/11/wandering-mind-not-a-happy-mind/\" target=\"_blank\">Harvard study</a> showed that our minds are not focused on what’s in front of us a whopping 47% of the time, and in these times, our happiness level is at its lowest – a wandering mind is not a happy mind.\n\nBabies have it figured out, believe it or not. Ever notice how charismatic babies are, how they seem to capture the room with their presence, without uttering a word? Psychologists will tell you it’s not because of their magnetic personality, which isn’t even fully formed yet. And set aside their cuteness, which is only part of it. It’s because of how present they are in the moment, wide-eyed and fully engaged in everything that’s right in front of them. There is something undeniably <a href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/i-can-relate/201408/3-steps-boosting-your-charisma\" target=\"_blank\">magnetic</a> about someone who is giving 100% attention to what’s in front of them in the here and now.\n\nIt’s no different for leaders – you too can be just as magnetically present.\n\nWhen you are, you carry light with you everywhere you go. People are drawn to you, but more importantly their own unique energy is drawn out of them. You become a conduit for the pent up expression of creativity, ideas, and thoughts that so many have buried inside them as they live days of transaction vs. transcendence. The power of human connection kicks in and words, gestures, and facial expressions become emotional glue, not mere by-products of going through the motions. Each encounter offers the opportunity to unlock greatness.\n\nBut, as with prizes at a raffle drawing, to win you must be present.\n\nNow admittedly, it is actually easier to not be present. However, with a little effort and intentionality, you can make your presence a present to those you interact with. Here’s how – 5 musts for being mindfully present:\n\n<strong>1) Accept that Multi-tasking is a Myth</strong> We sacrifice our power of full presence when we are multi-tasking. Forget for a moment that it can often be incredibly rude; we are not actually accomplishing what we think we are – we fool ourselves. The truth is <a href=\"http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120430124618.htm\" target=\"_blank\">research</a> indicates multitaskers are actually less likely to be productive, yet they feel more emotionally satisfied with their work, thus creating an illusion of productivity.\n\nIn fact, <a href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/enlightened-living/201106/5-steps-being-present\" target=\"_blank\">research</a> also shows that multi-tasking, i.e. trying to do two cognitive things at the same time, simply can’t be done – the mind doesn’t work that way. Many people truly fool themselves, mistakenly believing that they are effective at multi-tasking, when in reality what they are good at is what researchers call task-switching.\n\nEarl Miller, a professor of neuroscience at MIT, says that we simply can\'t focus on more than one thing at a time. Period. But what we can do is shift our focus from one thing to the next with astonishing speed. Says Miller, \"Switching from task to task, you think you\'re actually paying attention to everything around you at the same time. But you\'re actually not.” The brain is <a href=\"http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95256794\" target=\"_blank\">forced to switch</a> among multiple cognitive tasks as these tasks use the same part of the brain. And the catch here is that this task switching, despite how fast it occurs, is incredibly unproductive in reality; research indicates up to 40% of productivity could be lost. It actually takes <a href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-wise/201209/the-true-cost-multi-tasking\" target=\"_blank\">more time</a> to complete the tasks you’re switching between and you make more errors than when you focus on doing one task at a time in order.\n\nThe key is to accept the fundamental fact that the mind can only do one thing at a time. And ditch the device – often the primary co-conspirator in our <a href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-wise/201209/why-were-all-addicted-texts-twitter-and-google\" target=\"_blank\">multi-tasking offenses</a>. Draw a line in the mental sandbox and commit to one thing at a time.\n\n<strong>2) Catch the Drift</strong> I don’t mean make sure you understand, although that’s always good. I mean make a point to notice when your attention is drifting. Excuse yourself and admit where you are mentally if you have to - faking it is frustrating and people will see through it. Write yourself simple reminders to <a href=\"http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2012/05/16/aurelia-flores-be-present-at-work/\" target=\"_blank\">stay present</a> like “Don’t zone out, zone in,\" or “Be mindful, not mind full,\" or “Run your mind, don’t let it run you.\" Anytime you catch yourself drifting, ask yourself, “What has my attention right now?”\n\nTo further stay focused, commit to cease and desist with your inner monologue – simply stop the self-conversation. Or think of those you are interacting with as your customers. You’d never drift off on a customer, for fear of losing an important sale. You can also find an anchor for your thoughts, tethering your mind so it doesn’t wander and you can better focus on the task at hand. For example, one psychotherapist suggests enabling refocusing by slowly breathing through your nose, which induces a relaxation response and helps settle the mind. This is why some martial arts instructors have their students train with a mouthful of water.\n\nPlain and simple, don’t assume future moments are more important than the one you’re in. The only thing that is real is the moment you are actually in – so live it.\n\n<strong>3) When Frazzled, Freeze</strong> It’s so easy to zone out when you are tired, when you are running into your sixth back to back meeting on something that requires attention. If you find yourself in this spot, don’t let that next meeting get started without freezing for a moment. Ask for a pause, a moment to go get water and clear your head. End the previous meeting a bit early to allow space for this if you’re starting to feel burnt out. If you don’t, once that next meeting starts, you’ll quickly fall behind, and it’s hard to catch up without alerting everyone to the fact that you haven’t been paying attention. Plan for these breathers up front by putting space in between meetings – it will be more efficient and boost the quality of presence in the long run.\n\n<strong>4) Feel the Meeting </strong>Don’t just passively take in information during a meeting. Notice what’s in front of you – the people, the passions, the emotions, the energy, the intention of the information being transmitted. Observe others for what they are (the good things), not for what you want them to be. Find a memory to take from each meeting, even if a short term one. Research shows that the habit of noticing new things and deeply engaging in the nuances of the <a href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200811/the-art-now-six-steps-living-in-the-moment\" target=\"_blank\">present moment</a> puts you emphatically in the here and now. It even reduces aggression because the ego doesn’t come into play as you’re focusing on what’s in front of you, not what it says about you.\n\n<strong>5) Send Signals of Absorption</strong> When you’re fully present and truly comprehending what others are saying, they’ll know. But it doesn’t hurt to put physical reminder mechanisms in place to help you share and show your full-on presence. Remember to maintain eye contact, nod at important points, stop to clarify, take notes, and openly demonstrate that you are really listening. Such triggers send the right message and help you fully receive messages.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-28934\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MAUTZ-GRAPHIC-300x157.jpg\" alt=\"MAUTZ GRAPHIC\" width=\"400\" height=\"209\" />\n\n<u>3 ways you can take action on this article:</u>\n\n1)     Comment on it and get the conversation going\n\n2)    Share this article to help others and build your own credibility\n\n3)    Get my free newsletter <a href=\"http://scottmautz.com/newsletter/\">here</a> for more leadership building insight', '5 Musts for Being Mindfully Present', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '5-musts-for-being-mindfully-present', '', '', '2016-06-02 06:00:26', '2016-06-02 10:00:26', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28823', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(28857, 385, '2016-02-01 06:00:50', '2016-02-01 11:00:50', 'Not long ago I was reflecting on a conversation that I had with my spouse. I thought that I had not been a very good listener in a conversation that we had about an hour earlier.\n\nKnowing that she was in the next room, I called out to her, “Stephanie, I was thinking about that conversation we just had, and I was thinking I need to apologize for not listening or giving you my full attention when you were talking. Will you forgive me?”\n\nShe responded, “For which time?” I thought I had blown it, but I had no idea of how bad of a listener I had been. That is the problem. Most of us think that we are average to good listeners. Unfortunately, that is the status we all occupy in our own minds.\n\nMost of the time, our thoughts are what get in the way of being an effective listener. We have this little voice in our head that is constantly judging, evaluating, criticizing, analyzing, and editorializing everything that we hear. When I did research among a number of managers and asked them why they didn’t listen, they gave the following explanations:\n\n“Sometimes I listen to see if I agree or not.”\n\n“I usually am thinking about what I should say in response.”\n\n“I listen to understand if what the person is saying will have a negative impact on me.”\n\n“I don’t listen to some people because I already know what they are going to say.”\n\n“I know I don’t listen because I am thinking more about what I am thinking than to what the person is saying.”\n\nNotice in all of these responses, the individual is preoccupied with their thoughts. When this happens, they are obviously not listening nor capturing the sum total of the messages that are being sent.\n\n<strong>Here are some easy-to-use strategies that will help you become a fantastic listener:</strong>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Recognize & Suspend Your Thinking</strong> - If your thinking is a distraction, then you must learn to manage the voice in your head. Recognize that the little voice is competing for airtime and set it aside. If you can’t do it, it would be better to excuse yourself from the conversation and reschedule when you can give your full attention. Listening and attending to others is not something that you can fake until you make it. People know when you are not present.</li>\n<li><strong>Don’t Assume Anything</strong> - If you find yourself making negative judgments about what the other person is saying, shift to asking questions that will confirm or dis-confirm your thinking. For example you might ask, “What data led you to that assumption? or Help me understand how you came to your opinion.” Asking good questions will add depth to your understanding and a richness of learning about the individual. This won’t happen if you make assumptions and never ask a question. Ask yourself, “What will I miss if I don’t ask?”</li>\n<li><strong>Eliminate Distractions</strong> - We are so preoccupied with the use of electronic gadgets today. It is a wonder that anyone can give their full attention to another individual. Close your laptop and silence your phone and put them outside your reach. Giving your attention to a person and then allowing your electronic devices to interrupt the conversation is highly disrespectful. You wouldn’t want to be interrupted by someone answering their email or an incoming text in the middle of a conversation that you wanted to hold. Do people the service of giving them your full attention.</li>\n<li><strong>Demonstrate Good Body Language</strong> - Use clusters of nonverbal behaviors to show interest in what people are saying. For example, mirror the eye contact that is being given to you by the person who is speaking. Lean slightly toward the person to show interest. Use your hands in a gesture of making an offer when sharing an idea, or gesture with your fingers that you want to hear more. Sit on the same level as the person to whom you are speaking. Turn your body to face the person and allow for ample spacing so that they will feel comfortable. Using your body to demonstrate interest in what the other person is saying will put the other person at ease and communicate that what they have to share is important to you.,/li>\n<li><strong>Clarify Your Understanding</strong> - At any time during the conversation, don’t hesitate to summarize what you believe you have heard. Doing so demonstrates that you are trying to understand the individual. Don’t worry if the person tells you that you have not entirely understood what they were saying. They will correct any misinterpretations that you may have made. What is important is that you demonstrate your understanding while checking the clarity of your understanding.</li>\n<li><strong>Listen More Than You Speak</strong> - We were given two ears and one mouth. We ought to listen twice as much as we speak. As you listen, don’t steal the other person’s talking turn. Stealing a turn occurs when you grab the focus of the conversation away from the speaker and then share your experiences or stories to complement the message of the speaker. People with different conversation styles may do this as a way of establishing common ground. But such behavior is unusually looked upon as very disrespectful. If you are not asking questions to deepen the conversation or to clarify your understanding by summarizing, then you are probably talking too much. Additionally, those who are more assertive frequently cut people off or finish their sentences. Such behavior is also not acceptable.</li>\n<li><strong>Be Patient</strong> - Learning to listen and give your full attention to another person is not easy even for a practiced listener. Learning to give your full attention to someone over a longer period of time if you are preoccupied with all the things that fill up your agenda requires patience and focus. Before you listen to another, you would do well to assess the amount of time you can give to listen to an individual. If you realize that you may not have the time because of other concerns, then schedule a time when you will have the time. For example, you might say, “This is a really important conversation and I would like to talk about it more. Unfortunately I have another meeting scheduled in a few minutes.  Would it be alright if we picked up the conversation when I return?” You need to take responsibility to manage your listening more effectively.</li>\n<li><strong>Ask For Meaning</strong> - One of strategies that will help you become a more effective listener is to realize that there is meaning behind the feelings, words, and actions that people express or display. If you are in doubt about the meaning of a person’s message, then ask for the meaning. For example, if you observed that someone seems to become defensive, you might say, “I am noticing that you are beginning to become upset. Tell me why.” Or if someone said something that you didn’t understand, you might offer, “After the meeting I heard you say, ‘Oh great! Now what are we supposed to do?!’ Can you tell me what you mean by that?” What is important is for you to observe what people are feeling, saying, and doing and then try to gain further understanding about what all of that means. Notice that this skill really requires that you give your full attention to the person and notice what messages they are displaying. The challenge is uncovering the meaning hidden behind the message.</li>\n<li><strong>Apologize When In Doubt</strong> - It is not difficult to become unconsciously conscious in a moment and quit listening and attending. If someone calls you on your behavior, admit your distraction, apologize, and reengage. Offering a heart-felt apology will go a long way to building your relationships and establishing your sincerity.</li>\n</ol>\n\nBecoming a fantastic listener requires skill and practice. It also requires a degree of awareness on your part of where and with whom you need to improve your listening ability. We don’t intentionally go out of our way not to listen to people. We must realize that becoming an exceptional listener requires a conscious and deliberate effort to understand and connect with others. After all, everyone wants to know that they are heard and understood.', '9 Strategies To Become A Fantastic Listener', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '9-strategies-to-become-a-fantastic-listener', '', '', '2016-02-01 06:00:50', '2016-02-01 11:00:50', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28857', 0, 'post', '', 14);
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(28871, 323, '2016-01-14 06:00:57', '2016-01-14 11:00:57', 'Curiosity is dangerous. Surely you know the phrase “curiosity killed the cat.”  As a kid, I heard this from my parents time and again. I know now they were just trying to keep me alive.\n\nMaybe it was because of that time I put my hands in the pot of water on the stove to feel how hot it was - <em>luckily, it wasn\'t boiling water and I\'m not scarred for life</em>. Or that moment when I - <em>warning: lots of alliteration ahead - </em>beat a bush of bees with a bat.\n\nYou can imagine the painful consequences of my actions. And there were many others.\n\nLet’s face it, I was a kid with an unfettered curiosity and I was dangerous. So, when espousing the cautionary tale of the killed cat, clearly my parents were simply protecting me from...well, me.\n\n<h3>Origins Of The Killed Cat</h3>\n\nRecently, I was curious (uh, oh) about the origins of this phrase, so I looked it up. I learned that its intent was to warn of the dangers of unnecessary investigation or experimentation. More so, it was used in an attempt to stop someone from asking unwanted questions.\n\nIs it a warning then - that is, a threat - against being inquisitive?  I kept researching and found this from the The Phrase Finder at <a href=\"http://www.phrases.org.uk\">www.phrases.org.uk</a>:\n\n<blockquote>Curiosity hasn\'t received a good press over the centuries. Saint Augustine wrote in Confessions, AD 397, that, in the eons before creating heaven and earth, God \"fashioned hell for the inquisitive.\"</blockquote>\n\n<blockquote>John Clarke, in Paroemiologia, 1639, suggested that \"He that pryeth into every cloud may be struck with a thunderbolt.\"</blockquote>\n\n<blockquote>In Don Juan, Lord Byron called curiosity \"that low vice.\"</blockquote>\n\nThis suggests that curiosity is a bad thing. Well, I suppose the painful consequences of dipping my hands in the pot of hot water or beating the bee bush support this idea. Curiosity equals pain. Okay, I get it - I suppose.\n\n<h3>Curiosity In Leadership</h3>\n\nIf it is true that curiosity equals pain, at what point does this idiom keep us from fulfilling our responsibilities as leaders?  If it wasn\'t for being inquisitive then how could we have advanced as a human race?\n\nConsider, for example, the caveman who discovered fire. Edison who invented the light bulb, Franklin and electricity, Bell and the telephone, Jobs and the iPod.\n\nWhat if Newton hadn’t asked why the apple falls?\n\nWhat if Einstein hadn’t asked a million questions about science? In fact, here\'s what he had to say about his own contributions to the world:\n\n<blockquote>“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”</blockquote>\n\nEinstein’s special talent was curiosity. And, given what he and many others were able to accomplish as a result of their thirst for answers - and despite what the people (and my parents) say about the killed cat - I believe curiosity is a critical trait for today’s leader.\n\nOne of my earliest leaders taught me how to channel my questioning spirit. He showed me the value of intellectual curiosity. He challenged me to look at an issue twice. To peek around corners and under rocks, to come at something from a different angle, and dig a little deeper. How not to accept the first answer and ask the same question twice or in a different way.\n\nAnd even better, how to consider the possibilities of tackling a problem in a new way.\n\nHow to ask, \"What if?\"\n\nI believe that if leaders are discouraged from asking questions then we\'d simply go about our business unaware of the innovations around us, just waiting to be discovered.\n\n<h3>Cats Have Nine Lives</h3>\n\nFor the curious among us, I have good news. What if I told you that curiosity didn’t kill the cat?\n\nIt turns out that my brief probe into the origins of this phrase led me to a new discovery.  I learned that there’s a less-commonly-known second half to this proverb.\n\nThe longer version goes like this:\n\n<blockquote>“Curiosity killed the cat, <em>but satisfaction brought it back</em>”.</blockquote>\n\nThis tells us that the cat’s risk leads to resurrection. Cats do have nine lives after all.\n\nAnd, there you have it. While curiosity might have an element of danger, that\'s what makes it worthwhile. Curious risk equals satisfactory reward, so it is okay. Ask questions. Challenge the status quo. Be curious.\n\nMaybe it will hurt a little. For example, asking questions can be unpopular. Taking a closer look at an issue will surely make someone uncomfortable. Encouraging a new perspective will generate groans. And, so on.\n\nBut, imagine how much more painful it will be when tomorrow\'s advancements pass us by and we find ourselves asking, \"what could have been.\"\n\nIn closing, Walt Disney said:\n\n<blockquote>“When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.”</blockquote>\n\nWhat if you were a little curious today? What could you discover?', 'The Cat Survived &amp; So Will You', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-cat-survived-and-so-will-you', '', '', '2016-01-14 06:00:57', '2016-01-14 11:00:57', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28871', 0, 'post', '', 9),
(28909, 411, '2016-02-23 06:00:01', '2016-02-23 11:00:01', 'Today, workplaces are undergoing a digital revolution which is helping to transform entire industries and forcing companies to change the way they operate. Digitisation has the potential to increase productivity and efficiency, while also improving communication, and remote working is no longer an exception but an expectation.\n\nHowever, in addition to the transformation of the workplace itself, the digital age is having an impact upon leadership and, more specifically, on what is expected of a leader. This will have an effect not only on existing leaders, but on future leadership development as well. How exactly is the digital revolution impacting senior business figures?\n<h3><strong>The Age of Disruption</strong></h3>\nOne of the major threats facing leaders comes in the form of \"horizontal innovation\" driven by technology. Increasingly, companies are using digital innovations to expand into entirely new markets. Indeed, for several years, business leaders have been warned that they are living in a so-called \"age of disruption.\"\n\nAccording to a 2015 IMB global C-suite study, no single business sector is safe from the threat of new entrants. This presents a challenge for leaders, who were previously able to see competition coming and take action. Now, instead, they must accept that threats could be invisible and be prepared to adapt when those threats present themselves.\n<h3><strong>Technological Literacy</strong></h3>\nWhile it is not essential for a leader to possess all of the digital skills required for their business to operate, a level of technological literacy is required in order to understand those operations and to address the requirements of the business effectively. However, research suggests there is a worrying lack of literacy among senior staff.\n\nFor example, the majority of respondents to an E-Consultancy survey on digital leadership stated that it was important for leaders to be \"technology literate\" in a modern business environment, yet almost a third of respondents deemed the leadership within their own organisation to be \"not very\" or \"not at all\" technology literate.\n\nThis would suggest that, moving forward, leadership training will need to evolve to improve this level of literacy and bring leaders up to speed with the realities of modern technology.\n<h3><strong>Digital Skills Gap</strong></h3>\nResearch conducted by Accenture Strategy found that almost three quarters of leaders expect their company to \"go digital\" within the next three years, but only one in five say their business is already digital. Therefore, it will be necessary for the majority of leaders to oversee some kind of transformational programme.\n\nPerhaps the biggest challenge is making sure they put together a workforce with the appropriate skills to manage this transformation. According to a study by Capgemini Consulting and MIT, 77 percent of all transformation programmes fail due to a digital skills gap, which prevents the required changes from occurring.\n\n\"The lack of digital skills is the one of greatest challenges [leaders] face,\" Deborah Brecher, Managing Director of Accenture Strategy, writes in the Philadelphia Business Journal. \"Only half say they actually have a strategy in place to manage and develop the skills and talent they need in this digital reality.\"\n<h3><strong>Leadership Characteristics</strong></h3>\nOne of the most interesting things about the digital revolution\'s impact upon leadership has been a change in perception regarding what constitutes a good leader. In the past, traditional leadership qualities included things like vision, conviction and a competitive drive, but views are now shifting slightly.\n\nE-Consultancy asked participants in their study to pick out key characteristics required for a leader in the new digital age and it was notable that technological literacy featured heavily. However, respondents also felt it was important for leaders to be \"data driven,\" which clearly reflects the importance of \"big data\" in modern business.', 'The Impact of the Digital Revolution on Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-impact-of-the-digital-revolution-on-leadership', '', '', '2016-02-23 06:00:01', '2016-02-23 11:00:01', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28909', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28910, 374, '2016-01-12 06:00:36', '2016-01-12 11:00:36', 'This month we are featuring <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/marcella-bremer/\" target=\"_blank\">Marcella Bremer</a>, publisher of <a href=\"http://www.leadershipandchangemagazine.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leadership & Change Magazine</a>.\n\nEducated at the Rotterdam School of Business, Marcella classifies her career as full of emergent developments. She first went to business school. She liked the diversity of subjects taught so she guessed it would satisfy her curiosity.\n\nBack in the ‘80s, with huge unemployment in the Netherlands, it was also a safe choice for anyone trying to find a job to pay the bills.\n\nMarcella says, \"I was surrounded by a majority of male students who had chosen the business school to have successful careers and make as much money as possible. That was never my intention per se – so I felt a bit displaced at times. What was more, the business world looked unsympathetic to me. I hoped that workplaces would be kinder, more collaborative, inclusive and sustainable – but they were not. It was a competitive era of make-money-while-you-can.\"\n\nRather soon after graduating, Marcella turned to journalism, writing about improving the world of work. After some years of being employed, she quit her journalism job and became an entrepreneur. From then on, she followed the flow of her energy and of opportunities that aligned with her interests. She started a communication business with her partner, then turned it into a training and coaching firm, while finally it evolved to management consulting. Her firm started working with the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) and obtained the license to provide this validated culture survey online – and all of a sudden their local consulting business became a worldwide culture business.\n\nMarcella wrote a book about her work with the OCAI and then started Leadership and Change Magazine.  She continues, \"I could not have planned it and I’m very blessed, as I love my work! I feel that I have finally arrived in a business era that aligns more with my values: a collaborative era of make-a-difference in a positive way. More organizations are trying to contribute to the common good, create a thriving workplace and embrace kindness. I’m looking forward to the 21st century at work.\"\n\nWhen asked about one leadership lesson she learned from her first job, she shared: \"In my first job I learned that my boss was a human being, too. I remember feeling wonder when he didn’t know what to do and asked me for advice (which I gladly provided). In my own first role as a leader I had to learn patience. People need time to learn. They may have other ideas than I have; they may worry about things that seem pointless to me. I had to learn to sit down with them and listen - and I didn’t find this easy with my own results-oriented style.\"\n\nMarcella tells us about one of the best moments she has had professionally: \"After a long day of work with a very angry group of employees (they were enraged with their employer), a lot of people thanked me in person for my care and attention. Though they started the day being angry with me in addition to their employer, their attitude changed completely when I was open and authentic with them. What really shifted the energy was when I showed my vulnerability and shared how aggressively they treated me - and how that made me feel. So, how would their boss feel when they acted like this? Their boss would probably not listen as I, too, felt the urge to close and defend myself. I’d let them vent their frustrations and listened to them, and next, I’d helped them see it differently and we practiced more effective responses to their frustrating situations.\"\n\nWhen asked about the strangest question she\'s ever been asked in a job interview, Marcella said, \"It was whether I had sexual preferences out of the normal range. To be honest, this was not during the actual job interview but during the security screening in the next round when they did a background check and security interview to find out whether I could be blackmailed for having strange sexual hobbies, alcohol or other substance abuse, and so on. I was appalled by the question and questioned the interviewer whether this was really a professional question or that he just got curious. I got the job, by the way.\"\n\nMarcella found it difficult to identify one book to recommend.  Therefore, it\'s a two-book recommendation this week! Brene Brown’s <em>Daring Greatly</em> about shame and vulnerability and Geert Hofstede’s <em>Cultures and Organizations</em> which presents his fascinating research about national and organizational cultures.\n\nOne of Marcella\'s favorite quotes is:\n\n<blockquote>\"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.\"</blockquote>\n\nIf money was no object, Marcella said she would do \"the same as I’m doing today: helping people make a difference at work with positive leadership, culture and change. In addition to my projects, I publish the Leadership and Change Blog and I’d still be doing that. I love to learn, to read, and write. Maybe I’d schedule more time to write my next book!\"\n\nWhen considering the important qualities of leaders, Marcella says first of all, they should be authentic. They should have a healthy self-worth so they can really serve others instead of serving their ego and interests. Leaders who are whole and healed don’t need to hurt or hinder others. From authenticity follows transparency, trust, reliability. A leader should care about people and help them reach their true potential. With that come listening, coaching, facilitating team processes to help teams overcome issues and reach their shared goals.\n\nOne question we ask our featured Instigators is \"What is the one thing that should be taught in schools that isn\'t already?\" Marcella believes children should be taught life skills! She says, \"Kids should discover who they are with their strengths and weaknesses, their talents, their dreams. Heal any undermining self-doubts. Get to know their fears, anger, doubt, grief, insecurity. Learn to love who they are. Next, they should find out how different other people can be, and value that diversity of styles, talents, and viewpoints. Plus, they’d have to learn tolerance, respect, and communication skills to work with anyone and ask thoughtful questions. They should practice compassion for themselves and others. Work on self-management, planning, how to live with uncertainty, and learn how to change. That will yield authentic people who can go beyond their ego because they have a healthy self-esteem and self-worth, who can work with others and appreciate them, who are flexible and self-reliant in these changing times.\"\n\nIf she had to hashtag her life, Marcella\'s would be: #bepositive.\n\nMarcella says the best advice she\'s ever been given was. \"Be you.\" Thank you, Marcella, for \"being you.\" We agree that\'s a pretty cool thing to be!!\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<strong>Previous Featured Instigators:</strong>\n\n12/2015: <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/featured-instigator-john-stoker/\" target=\"_blank\">John Stoker</a>\n\n11/2015: <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/featured-instigator-sean-glaze/\">Sean Glaze</a>', 'Featured Instigator - Marcella Bremer', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'featured-instigator-marcella-bremer', '', '', '2016-01-12 06:00:36', '2016-01-12 11:00:36', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28910', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28938, 412, '2016-01-19 06:00:06', '2016-01-19 11:00:06', 'Leadership is not for the faint of heart. It never has been. The essence of leadership lies within who you are and how you behave. It is character-driven.\n\nIn fact, leadership and character are one and the same. Becoming a leader means embarking on a courageous journey of strength and integrity. Not everyone is qualified, but everyone is capable if given the tools.\n\nEvery leader must reach a point where they look in the mirror and have a gut-check, asking themselves some honest questions. But before we get to the hard realities that every leader or aspiring leader must face to understand what it truly takes to successfully lead others, a caution: There are prerequisites. You don’t just arrive at great and sustainable leadership with a rub of the genie’s bottle.\n\nYou need strong foundational work and pillars that may take months if not years to develop.\n\nYou need to create a compelling vision that inspires the people “in your bus” to help you achieve it. That vision has to be stacked on top of a solid framework of personal and organizational values that are practiced in hallways and conference rooms, not just displayed as words on a wall.\n\nFinally, you need good bus-driving skills. If your geeked-up project team along for the ride doesn’t know what direction they’re headed or why they’re being steered in that direction, then you need to stop, put that bus in reverse, park, get everyone off and start over.\n\nIn all my years of coaching leaders to lead better, or being an unfortunate member of unhealthy and disengaged executive teams at former companies, I have seen firsthand some disastrous outcomes from leaders who fail to create an environment that allows people to thrive - where they are encouraged to work collaboratively, utilizing their unique talents, creativity, personality strengths and skills to achieve common goals.\n\nThe best leaders never stop learning and growing. They are introspective, look for opportunities to develop themselves, and will continually hone and fine-tune their leadership skills in order to serve others better. On top of hard managerial, left-brain skills that drive bottom-line results, they have uncanny intuition and perception to understand the emotional realities of the circumstances and people around them. They will then operate on those realities, often in support of elevating their own and other people’s behaviors and actions.\n\nToday, I am sharing three reality checks that will help you gauge your leadership aptitude and assess whether changes need to be made going into 2016. Tomorrow, I will share two additional reality checks.\n\n<h3>Reality Check #1</h3>\n\n<strong><em>Leaders Can’t Motivate People, They Can Only Inspire Them to Motivate Themselves.</em></strong>\n\nReaders of Daniel Goleman’s <a href=\"http://www.danielgoleman.info/topics/emotional-intelligence/\">Emotional Intelligence</a> will recall that the intrinsic self-motivation Goleman talks about in the “Self-Management” quadrant of emotional intelligence can only come from deep within a person. You can try to pound into a person’s noggin all the motivational-guru psychobabble a book or seminar has to offer, but none of it will stick if the person you’re trying to motivate doesn’t buy into your vision. It takes inspiration.\n\nInspiration in its most <a href=\"https://www.ted.com/playlists/140/how_leaders_inspire\" target=\"_blank\">authentic form</a> appeals on an emotional level to win hearts as well as minds. To truly engage your employees with an inspired approach, you need to capture their attention and hit the core of what motivates them. This takes the artful skill of communicating with influence.\n\nWhen you shift your leadership perspective - moving from a power structure of tasks being handed down from Mt. Sinai to a worker bee culture to a structure that communicates a compelling vision, encourages shared decision-making and empowers its tribe - you inspire team members to succeed on an emotional level.\n\nThis is when your employees will spring out of bed in the morning because they cannot wait to get to work and contribute. They are motivated.\n\n<h3>Reality Check #2</h3>\n\n<strong><em>Leaders Need to Know the Core Elements Necessary to Attract and Keep the Most Talented Employees.</em></strong>\n\nYou inspired your employees. They feel empowered. They are ready to be rock stars. Now what?\n\nOne way to find out what they need to keep going is to get schooled on the best talent management practices out there and then align them to suit your performance management plan. You can start with the <a href=\"https://q12.gallup.com/Public/en-us/Features\" target=\"_blank\">Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement Survey.</a> For decades now, Gallup has interviewed millions of workers globally as well as over 80,000 managers across a broad range of companies, industries and countries to find the core of a great workplace. Thanks to Gallup, leaders can measure the core elements needed to attract, focus and keep their most talented employees by asking simple questions like:\n\n<ol>\n<li>Do my employees know what is expected of them?</li>\n<li>Do my employees have the materials and equipment they need to do their work right?</li>\n<li>Do my employees have the opportunity to do what they do best every day?</li>\n<li>In the last seven days, have my top performers received recognition or praise for doing good work?</li>\n<li>Do immediate managers/supervisors seem to care about them as people?</li>\n<li>Is there someone at work who encourages my people\'s development?</li>\n</ol>\n\n<h3>Reality Check #3</h3>\n\n<strong><em>Leaders Need to Look in the Mirror and Ask, “Does My Behavior Increase Trust?”</em></strong>\n\nTrust is the pillar your leadership should stand on. While trust is somewhat of a subjective concept, leadership behaviors that promote trust can be defined, measured and improved upon.\n\nIn <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/The-SPEED-TRUST-Changes-Everything/dp/1416549005\" target=\"_blank\">The Speed of Trust</a>, Stephen M.R. Covey highlights behaviors that are culturally ingrained in the leadership structures of some great companies known for high employee engagement. These are just a few trusted behaviors that drive performance and define how leadership teams and employees interact day-to-day.\n\nAmong those trusted behaviors are:\n\n<ul>\n<li>Creating transparency</li>\n<li>Showing loyalty</li>\n<li>Delivering results</li>\n<li>Confronting reality</li>\n<li>Clarifying expectations</li>\n<li>Practicing accountability</li>\n<li>Listening first</li>\n<li>Keeping commitments</li>\n<li>Extending trust</li>\n</ul>\n\nTrust is certainly a reciprocal concept—it needs to be shared, extended and be mutually beneficial for it to work. You might want to take some of those bullets above for a spin. Create a quick questionnaire and toss it around for feedback to see where you and your team stand with trusted behaviors. It might surprise you.\n\nWhat questions might such a questionnaire include? Consider the bullet point <em>showing loyalty</em> for example. You might ask yourself and your employees, “Do I give credit freely?”\n\nOther examples:\n\n<ul>\n<li>Listening first: Do I show real interest in what others say?</li>\n<li>Practicing accountability: Do I blame others when things go wrong? Do I take responsibility for results?</li>\n<li>Deliver results: Do I over-promise and under-deliver? Do I make excuses for a lack of results?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<em>Please join me tomorrow for Part Two of this list.</em>', 'Reality Checks Leaders Must Give Themselves in 2016 (Part One)', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'reality-checks-leaders-must-give-themselves-in-2016-part-one', '', '', '2016-01-19 06:00:06', '2016-01-19 11:00:06', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28938', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(28984, 307, '2016-01-21 06:00:34', '2016-01-21 11:00:34', 'Horrible meetings are a cliché of the business world, and with good reason. Many meetings are a waste of time and don’t accomplish anything.\n\nThe minutes creep along while the meeting leader fritters away everyone’s time, people have meaningless conversations that don’t solve problems, and everyone is frustrated that they could be doing something more productive with their time.\n\nWhen you don’t run meetings well, not only do your results suffer, so does your credibility. Here are six tips to get rid of your bad meetings once and for all:\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>Don’t Waste My Time</strong> - One of the biggest reasons people hate meetings is that they abuse our most precious resource - our time.</p>\n\nEffective managers treat everyone’s time as a precious resource. However, when you carelessly let meetings run long, or start late, or have a meeting you never should have called, you disrespect your people.\n\nMy first rule of effective meetings is: <em>only hold meetings when they are the most valuable use of all the attendees’ time</em>.\n\nThat is a high bar to clear, I know. But really, if there were something a person could do that is more valuable, that contributes more directly to the team and to the results you’re trying to accomplish, why on Earth would you want them in your meeting where they are less productive?\n\nSo how do you make sure a meeting is a good use of time?</li>\n<li><p><strong>Clear Purpose: Relationships</strong> - Every meeting you hold should accomplish two goals that will sound familiar - build relationships and achieve results.</p>\n\nTeams require trust, and that is only built through time spent together, through solving problems, making decisions, and learning how everyone operates, sees the world, and shares information. In addition to the connections built through working together and solving problems, you can also include periodic conversations that build relationships, such as:\n\n<ul>\n<li>Cultural conversations to problem solve or celebrate: For example, “What’s really getting in the way of people using our new system?” or, “What have you seen another member do well over the last month?”</li>\n<li>Elephant-in-the-room conversations: For example, “What are the conversations we’re not having that we should be having?”</li>\n<li>Mutual-help conversations: For example, “Let’s talk about how we’re working with other departments. What’s working well? Where do we have challenges?” Give people a chance to share and help one another.</li>\n</ul>\n\nThese conversations can happen quickly and be a rich source of positive relationships as your people learn to trust each other and help one another.</li>\n<li><p><strong>Clear Purpose: Results</strong> - Your meetings should also move the mission of your group, team, and organization forward. In short, meetings should produce action. You got together to solve a problem, make a decision, or share information, and when the meeting ends, it’s time to do something. If your meetings don’t result in clear action, you’ve wasted your time.</p>\n\nResults start with a clear purpose. Are you there to make a decision? If so, is it a decision such as “where are we going” or a “how will we get there”? Keep these discussions separate from one another to ensure brevity and clarity.\n</li>\n<li><p><strong>Get The Right People In The Room</strong> - You want the smallest number of stakeholders that will allow you to make the best decision. Think about the number of people in your meeting as a continuum. On one end, you could hold the meeting with just yourself. It might look funny, but you could sit there by yourself, examine what you know, make a decision, and then share the decision with everyone else.</p>\n\nOn the other end of the continuum, you could have everyone—every single person in the organization—attend a meeting. If you have a 50-person organization, all 50 of them would attend, and that would be unwieldy, but if you work in a 10,000-person organization, it would be impossible. So the question is, what is the smallest number of people that can attend but still provide you with good, diverse, and informed input from those who have a stake in the decision?\n\nWhere most leaders go wrong is that they invite too many people who share the same perspective and fail to invite key representatives with different vantage points who might help them make a better decision if they had input.\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">In business, if two men agree, one of them is unnecessary.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ William Wrigley, Jr.</div>\n</blockquote>\n\nRemember, the goal of the meeting is to take action. When you take people away from their normal work, you do it so that all of you together can make a better decision than you would have done on your own. You’ll waste everyone’s time if you don’t invite the necessary people to the meeting.\n</li>\n<li><p><strong>Who Owns the Decision?</strong> - At the beginning of the meeting set expectations about how the decision will be made. Will you collect input then make the decision yourself? Will it be a team vote? Will you discuss until everyone can live with one idea? Establish who owns the decision and stick to that process. This eliminates guesswork, eliminates suspicion, and empowers people to make their best arguments.</p></li>\n<li><strong>Include Accountability In Every Decision</strong> - Before the meeting concludes, spend five minutes with the group reviewing who will do what and how they will pass that completed step back to the team or the next person. The accountability and next step are baked into the decision. Everyone knows what he or she is accountable to do, the team knows if it’s been completed, and no one is left waiting around for information they need.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<h3>Your Turn</h3>\n\nRemember, bad meetings are worse than no meetings at all. They’re a corrosive malaise that will eat away at your people until you have a group of zombies shuffling through their day without any meaning or purpose to their work. Use these six tips to hold meetings that are productive – and that people want to attend.', '6 Ways To Get Rid Of Bad Meetings Once &amp; For All', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '6-ways-to-get-rid-of-bad-meetings-once-and-for-all', '', '', '2016-01-21 06:00:34', '2016-01-21 11:00:34', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28984', 0, 'post', '', 9),
(28988, 322, '2016-05-13 06:00:43', '2016-05-13 10:00:43', 'Competition is everywhere: Wall Street, private industry, start-ups, technology, sports, and school. We are always working to get ahead of whomever is in our line of sight and trying to stay ahead of those that aren’t on our radar.\n\n“Are you trying to be someone else or are others trying to be you?”\n\nThe answer to this question can be a point of reference to where you are as a leader and an organization. It will help assess your strengths and opportunities.\n\nPrinciples that keep others ahead:\n<h3><strong>The Grind: </strong></h3>\nNo plays off! No days off! 24 x 7 x 365 or in the case of a leap year 366 is how often you should be grinding! Your team\'s and your success is tied to it! You want to win? Grind! What legacy are you trying to leave? If it is a legacy of doing legendary work, then Grind!\nIt isn\'t about the hours you put in, it is about what you are doing with the hours you put in.\n\n<a href=\"http://anthonyrobles.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Anthony Robles</a>, born with only 1 leg, could have used that as an excuse to not have the same opportunities as others. Instead, he used it as motivation to Grind and get ahead of others. He won a National Championship in Wrestling, 2 ESPY Awards, Nike Sponsorship, now is a ESPN Analyst, Author, and Speaker.\n<h3><strong>Impact vs. Presence:</strong></h3>\nEvery day you are working on your sentence. My sentence, you ask? Yes, you know what people say about you when you aren\'t around or when you leave to take on a new role in your current organization or another one.\n\n<em>They were dedicated and had a great work ethic because they worked more than everyone else.</em>\n\n<em>They made the coffee in the morning and turned the lights off at night. </em>\n\nThe kind of sentence that answers: <em>Did this person make an impact or were they just present?</em>\n\nEvery day is an opportunity to make an impact on someone in your life. The smallest impact to you may be a huge, even life changing impact on someone else.\n\nI was interviewing one of my employees that has been with the company for over 10 years. His exact words, \"The investment that you made in me and the leadership development you gave me is why I am still here. The only reason. And the only reason that I am interviewing for a leadership position and worked my butt off to earn one.\"\n\nThat type of impact is why I do what I do. Why I get up every morning energized and passionate. Can you say the same?\n<h3><strong>Staying Uncomfortable:</strong></h3>\nIf I were to ask you, “What are you learning right now?” or “What did you learn last week?”\n\n<em>Would you be able to answer it immediately?</em>\n\n<em>Would you have to think about it?</em>\n\n<em>Would you say nothing that would make an impact on myself or others?</em>\n\nEvery day you have to push yourself to be uncomfortable. Comfortable is easy, but it has many negative side effects. Complacency, tunnel-vision, bad routines, and other non-beneficial habits. You should set out to learn something new every day. It could come from reading, an experience you had during the day, talking with someone that you don’t you know, physically trying something different, meditating, creating something new, thinking about your business in a way that no one has before or going to school. Keep your learnings in a journal or other places that you can re-visit often.\n\nWal-Mart is closing stores and changing their distribution strategy. Who would have ever thought the invincible Wal-Mart would have to make these changes? Amazon did, when they realized E-Commerce was what consumers wanted. They went all-in and Wal-Mart made no changes. They thought that Amazon wouldn’t have this big of an impact on their business. I wonder what they are thinking now that Amazon took a leading position in Market Cap.\n\nTo stay relevant, to stay ahead, and in the words of the great John C. Maxwell to continue to raise your lid you have to push yourself to stay uncomfortable!', 'Your Success Compass!', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'your-success-compass', '', '', '2016-05-13 06:00:43', '2016-05-13 10:00:43', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28988', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(28999, 412, '2016-01-20 06:00:43', '2016-01-20 11:00:43', 'In <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/reality-checks-leaders-must-give-themselves-in-2016-part-one/\" target=\"_blank\">this post</a>, I presented three reality checks leaders must give themselves in 2016. In today\'s post, I complete the list of five with two more.\n\nBy way of introduction, a recap of why reality checks matter:\n\nThe essence of leadership lies within who you are and how you behave. You don’t just arrive at great and sustainable leadership with a rub of the genie’s bottle. You need strong foundational work and pillars that may take months if not years to develop.\n\nThe best leaders never stop learning and growing. They continually hone and fine-tune their leadership skills in order to serve others better. On top of hard managerial, left-brain skills that drive bottom-line results, they have uncanny intuition and perception to understand the emotional realities of the circumstances and people around them. They will then operate on those realities, often in support of elevating their own and other people’s behaviors and actions.\n\nHere are the last two of five reality checks that will help you gauge your leadership aptitude and assess whether changes need to be made going into 2016.\n\n<h3>Reality Check #4</h3>\n\n<strong><em>Leaders Need to Know and Understand Themselves and Others to Achieve Greatness.</em></strong>\n\nSelf-awareness, another component of emotional intelligence, is one of the most <a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-trait-every-manager-needs-learn-2016-marcel-schwantes?trk=prof-post\" target=\"_blank\">important capabilities</a> for leaders to develop. Remember, these are learned traits. Let me suggest that the first to-do on your path to leadership greatness is to know your true, authentic self. What does that look like in real life, you ask?\n\nA self-aware person will naturally exhibit traits of humble self-confidence, because that’s what it will take to change something that no longer works.\n\nA self-aware leader also shows resilience. A leader with a resilient mindset rewards himself or herself for corrective behavior, such as deciding to try it again a different way. Instead of self-defeated victim behaviors—e.g., asking “Why me?”—self-aware leaders probe and ask themselves questions like:\n\n<ul>\n<li>Why do the same issues keep coming up over and over in my business unit, marriage, life?</li>\n<li>Why do I respond to situations with anger, fear, optimism or withdrawal?</li>\n<li>What makes me think, act and feel the way I do? What makes me tick? What pushes my buttons?</li>\n</ul>\n\nHaving a complete self-understanding gives you an edge. You can manage yourself and your emotions, identify opportunities for development, and make the most of your strengths.\n\n<h3>Reality Check #5</h3>\n\n<strong><em>Leaders Have to Be Willing to Listen to Constructive Feedback—Especially the Kind They Don’t Want to Hear.</em></strong>\n\nMany leaders don’t want to listen to the ideas, opinions and constructive feedback of others. It’s hard to acknowledge something that may be true because truth sometimes hurts. We might fear loss of respect from our peers or subordinates.\n\nSo, while such leaders may appear strong on the outside, in reality, their fears and insecurities send a loud message that they don’t want anyone to disagree with their views. Unfortunately, if you’ve ever worked with this type of leader, it can be exhausting.\n\nLeaders who listen well do so with active listening. This helps to filter any criticism, strain out emotion and find the facts. They can respond appropriately, cutting out the drama.\n\nIf you’re still filtering through your emotions and can’t shake off the urge to react, it may be helpful to probe and ask questions—and keep asking them until you get clarification and understand what the speaker is trying to tell you. This means you should listen to understand and always focus on the future.\n\nAs I mentioned earlier, if you are in the infancy stages of your development as a leader, or even if you’re facing some hard truths about your leadership style from those around you, start by looking within and building up good self-awareness to define your present reality and then figure out what authentic leadership behaviors need to be learned and practiced day-to-day. This change process will take courage, but it comes with the territory of being a strong and effective leader.', 'Reality Checks Leaders Must Give Themselves in 2016 (Part Two)', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'reality-checks-leaders-must-give-themselves-in-2016-part-two', '', '', '2016-01-20 06:00:43', '2016-01-20 11:00:43', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=28999', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(29008, 409, '2016-02-22 06:00:33', '2016-02-22 11:00:33', 'If you’ve tossed and turned at night wondering how on earth you’re going to get to the bottom of tomorrow’s to-do list, you’ll doubtless have asked yourself if it’s possible to strike a better work-life balance and reclaim some of your time. Well, good news - you can.\n\nThe often heard claim that \"we all seem to be so busy these days\" is something of a misnomer; the human race has always been busy. Consider the druids who built Stonehenge or the coal-weary United Kingdom miners of the 1980s - they seem somewhat far removed from the modern age of email and video conferences, but their days were no different. Arguably, they were a whole lot worse than what we have to contend with!\n\nProductivity experts will <a href=\"http://www.susanroan.co.uk/top-5-office-time-thieves/\" target=\"_blank\">quickly point out the time-sapping endeavours and interruptions</a> which thwart our working lives, but there are other ways to balance and reclaim time. Here our five of my favourites:\n\n<strong>1. Use an app</strong>\n\nIf you know me, you’ll know I’m rather fond of answering questions relating to personal improvement with the help of software. And not software for software’s sake, either. Thankfully, I’ve saved you an awful lot of time by trying some of the best time-reclaiming apps out there. The best I’ve found is <a href=\"http://www.inboundtom.co.uk/balanced-ios-app-review/\" target=\"_blank\">Balanced</a>, which forces you to do the things you love doing whilst achieving greatness at work. Sometimes we need to be forced.\n\n<strong>2. Don’t let email rule your day</strong>\n\nI’m a big fan of email. For all its faults, I think it is still a superb method of communication. What I’m not a fan of, however, is email’s propensity to distract us from more important tasks. It shouldn’t, after all, be used as a way to get people’s attention. One of the best things about email is that it can be ignored. Don’t be afraid to do just that; set aside specific times during the day reserved for email activity and turn it off at all others.\n\n<strong>3. Get in the habit of saying \"no\"</strong>\n\nAs humans we’re largely a helpful bunch. Our yearning to assist others comes from a desire to better oneself and to impress upon others our desire and ability to get stuff done. Unfortunately, that often results in taking too much on. Carefully assess every task you’re asked to perform. If you have doubts you can do a good job in a reasonable amount of time, say \"no.\"\n\n<strong>4. Over-invest in friends, family and hobbies</strong>\n\nWork is incredibly important, of course, but it is next to useless if you don’t spend as much time as possible with the people you love and doing the things you enjoy. Force yourself to over-invest in friends, family and hobbies. It’s the easiest way to reclaim time!\n\n<strong>5. Allocate a specific time to each activity</strong>\n\nI’m a big fan of breaking my day up into bite-sized chunks. By allocating a specific amount of my day to each task, I always complete them within an acceptable time frame, and never feel I \"owe\" myself any time.\n<h3><strong>Conclusion</strong></h3>\nThe key to reclaiming time is to work yourself into a position where you don’t even have to think it necessary. The 5 tips above - when combined - represent zero-cost ways of both improving productivity whilst ensuring nothing is neglected. And that includes the time you want to spend doing the things you love!', 'How to Balance and Reclaim Your Time', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-balance-and-reclaim-your-time', '', '', '2016-02-22 06:00:33', '2016-02-22 11:00:33', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=29008', 0, 'post', '', 2);
