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(22802, 318, '2015-03-02 06:00:51', '2015-03-02 11:00:51', '\"Karin, I get the whole <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/authenticity-transparency-trust/humility_and_leadership/\">confident humility</a> thing, I really do.\"\n\n\"But, no matter what I try, my team just waits for me to tell them what to do. They seem scared to act. We\'re in a real crisis.\"\n\n\"If they really cared, they\'d step up and do something. I don\'t really have time to fix them, we need results now. I think some of them may need to go.\"\n\nIf you\'ve tried to develop confidence in your team, but they\'re still scared, take a closer look. You may be falling into one of these 5 traps.\n\n<strong>1. Give me a new big task, because you believe in me, but don\'t give me enough support to succeed.</strong>\n\nStretch assignments and special projects are one of the best ways to build confidence and skills. Be sure you\'re also providing the scaffolding and resources to succeed. Failing at one of these big opportunities will make both of you gun shy to try it again. If they\'re scared to even try, help them get past their bad <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/communication-listening/5-ways-to-rebuild-confidence/\">last-time experiences</a>.\n\n<strong>2. Tell me I am doing great, but with no details as to what is working.</strong>\n\nIf someone\'s insecure about their accomplishments, it\'s particularly important that your praise is specific. You did a great job when __________. The presentation you gave worked so well because__________. Shallow or unspecific praise is more likely to be discounted by your team member\'s competing inner voice. If you want to build confidence, praise with specifics.\n\n<strong>3. Recognize what I do at work, and ignore who I am and what I am accomplishing on the sidelines.</strong>\n\nAlways remember the person is bigger than the job. Treat them that way. If you want to tap into your team member\'s full potential, pay attention to what they\'re already accomplishing in other arenas. A great way to build workplace confidence is to help them leverage skills they already are using outside of work.\n\n<strong>4. View me as a specialist, and over look my creative idea and what I could do to contribute to the bigger picture.</strong>\n\nThere\'s a downside to being pigeon-holed as an expert. If you only go to the finance guy for finance things, he\'ll always act like a finance guy. To build larger confidence ask provocative questions that get him thinking more strategically.\n\n<strong>5. Stay calm, cool, and collected, and show no emotion around my big wins.</strong>\n\nWhen a team member is feeling really proud and comes to you for affirmation, it\'s okay to say \"wow.\" I promise, being impressed with incremental wins will build confidence, not encourage them to settle for mediocrity.\n\n<h3>Wait - There\'s More</h3>\n\nFor a great line-up on confident humility, see what Lead Changers and others have to say in the <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/frontline-festival/leaders-share-about-confidence-a-frontline-festival/\">confidence</a> and <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/frontline-festival/leadership-pros-contribute-thoughts-about-humility-a-frontline-festival/\">humility</a> editions of the Frontline Festival.\n\nAlso, for exercises to build more confidence in your team, download my free e-book <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/publications/talking-teams/\">Talking Teams</a> featuring nine activities to inspire confident humility and achieve breakthrough results.', '5 Mistakes Leaders Make That Undermine Confidence', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '5-mistakes-leaders-make-that-undermine-confidence', '', '', '2015-03-02 06:00:51', '2015-03-02 11:00:51', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22802', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(22824, 372, '2015-03-04 06:00:13', '2015-03-04 11:00:13', 'What is the most important thing to you as a leader? Is it results? Is it service? Is it engagement?\n\nThose are all very good things to have happening regularly in your work environment.\n\nYet too few bosses focus on all three - nor do many leaders focus on the one that generates the greatest benefit, and boosts the other two.\n\nThink about your own bosses, throughout your career. What did they primarily pay attention to, among these three?\n\nWhat did your bosses, over the years, measure, monitor, and reward, consistently and regularly? What metrics were watched closely? Which of these three things, when you delivered them, received the most positive reaction from your boss?\n\nIf you\'re like many of us humans, your answer was confident and immediate. Your bosses focused on results.\n\nThey may have periodically recognized great service. They may have periodically expressed how valuable a player was that proactively solved problems or took pride in their work. Those are reliable indicators of employee engagement.\n\nBut they likely paid the greatest attention to results. They probably couldn\'t help themselves. It\'s all they knew. It\'s what their bosses role modeled to them. It\'s what the culture expected. So, they did it, thoroughly and consistently.\n\nThe challenge is that your bosses - past and present - are powerful role models. Their behavior may significantly influence how you lead, today.\n\nAnother challenge is your organization\'s culture. Does it value results more than service or engagement? Are there more dashboards that provide you with performance metrics than dashboards that present you with service ratings or employee engagement scores? That\'s a heavy influence, too.\n\nDon\'t get me wrong. Results are a good thing! Delivering on performance expectations means you and your team are making \"good\" on the promises and commitments that have been made.\n\nConsistent results generally deliver better financial impact. Every organization wants to be ahead of financial projections. In my 15 years of non-profit management, my bosses and volunteer board members were very interested in our business delivering on budgeted nets every month. Non-profits and even government agencies have budgeted commitments they must meet.\n\nThe problem lies when results are the <em>only</em> metric that gets measured, monitored, and rewarded.\n\nThat dynamic frequently causes players to shift to a self-serving mode (\"I win, you lose\") to survive the battle each day. I withhold information. I don\'t cooperate for our success. I embrace the competitive playing field and beat you - and my colleagues - at whatever cost.\n\nIn that environment, I may contribute to the team\'s failure at production and service. So long as I\'m ahead, I\'ve won the game this month.\n\nThere is a better way. By <em>adding</em> an equal focus upon service and engagement to your results focus, you can create a work environment that treats every person with trust, respect, and dignity.\n\nWhen people feel valued, their engagement level rises. When people feel trusted, they serve others - inside and outside their organization - with respect. When people feel trusted, they proactively solve problems, without waiting to be asked.\n\nThe reality is that, today, our organizations don\'t seem to treat employees with trust, respect, and dignity.\n\nTinyHR\'s <a href=\"http://www.tinyhr.com/2014-employee-engagement-organizational-culture-report\" target=\"_blank\">2014engagement and culture survey</a> found that 49% of employees are not satisfied with their direct supervisor. More than 1-in-4 report they don\'t have the tools to be successful in their jobs. Only 21% of employees report they feel strongly valued at work.\n\nThe most important thing? Employee engagement. By building an environment in your team or department or company that consistently values employees, gives them credit, gives them meaningful work, and trusts them to do the right thing, engagement grows.\n\nAs engagement grows, employees serve each other and customers more graciously and willingly. As engagement grows, people produce more. That\'s a very good thing.', 'The Most Important Thing', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-most-important-thing', '', '', '2015-03-04 06:00:13', '2015-03-04 11:00:13', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22824', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(22840, 374, '2015-03-02 11:38:19', '2015-03-02 16:38:19', 'The Lead Change Group is grateful to Rich Wellins and his team at Development Dimensions International for hosting the March 2015 Leadership Development Carnival.\n\nThis month, the contributors addressed the topic of preparing leaders for success in the future and the ways in which we can continue to escalate the quality of leadership development.\n\nAccording to Rich Wellins, in DDI’s recent Global Leadership Forecast, they found that leaders today aren’t doing very well:\n<blockquote>Of the 13,124 leaders who participated in the survey, only 40 percent say the overall quality of their organization’s leadership is high. And of the 1,528 global human resources executives who participated, only 25 percent viewed their organization’s leaders as high-quality.</blockquote>\nPlease visit the full carnival post at <a href=\"http://www.ddiworld.com/blog/tmi/march-2015/leadership-development-carnival-march-2015\" target=\"_blank\">Development Dimensions International</a> to see what others are saying about how to prepare leaders for success in the future and the ways in which they can continue to escalate the quality of leadership development.\n\nEach of the contributors would appreciate a visit to their articles, and we would be grateful if you would share the carnival among your contacts. You can easily tweet your support by using our simple <a href=\"http://ctt.ec/U77d9\" target=\"_blank\">click to tweet</a> feature.\n\nThe Lead Change Group will be hosting the April 2015 Leadership Development Carnival so stay tuned for our topic announcement in the coming weeks. We\'re looking forward to another great month.', 'March 2015 Leadership Development Carnival - Preparing Leaders For Success', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'preparing-leaders-for-success-the-march-2015-leadership-development-carnival', '', '', '2015-03-02 11:38:19', '2015-03-02 16:38:19', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22840', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(22859, 282, '2015-03-06 06:00:50', '2015-03-06 11:00:50', 'I’m a nice guy. I think so anyway. Although my kids might disagree, I’ve been told that at times I’m too nice by some of my employees and friends.\n\nI like it when I can make someone’s day, and I’m a big believer in what goes around, comes around.\n\nThe Bible puts it like this: “Remember this - a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.” (II Cor 9:6)\n\nBut is it always good to be the nice guy? Have you ever been accused of being a Grinch? Beyond that, is there a time when your employees, and your business would be better off if you were, say, a little bit mean?\n\nI say yes. If you want your team and your business to thrive, sometimes it pays to be mean. Be mean, and in more than just one way.\n\n<h3>Mean What You Say</h3>\n\nWords matter. When you speak, people need to be able to trust the person behind the rhetoric. If you consistently are walking back things you\'ve said in the past, or needing to constantly clarify what you really meant, then maybe you need to keep your yap shut until you can mean what you say.\n\nFollow through with what you promise, whether it’s rewards or disciplinary actions. People need to know that your words represent reality, not intentions. If you\'ve already developed a reputation for not being a person of your word, then go to those people and apologize, and make it better from this point forward.\n\nClarity is very important if you’re going to be known as someone who means what they say. Use simple and direct language when necessary, such as: \"If <em>x</em> happens, it means that <em>y</em> will be the consequence.” No one, and I mean no one likes a boss who plays <em>consequence gotcha</em>. \n\nYou know that person. They use failure on the part of an employee as an excuse for paybacks for the past. As the leader, they failed to provide any clear directions or consequences, and yet are ready to drop the hammer in disciplinary actions for a mistake. Don’t be that person.\n\n<h3>Be The Mean Between The Extremes</h3>\n\nIt’s incredibly important to know and accept that you can be the boss when you should be the boss. Every team needs a qualified and quality leader if their goals are progress and success. The person in that leadership role has to accept that with that role come hard and unpopular choices at times. If you can’t handle that, then you don’t need to be the leader.\n\nYou can be the friend when you can. It’s that simple. You don’t have to isolate yourself from your team socially, or sentence yourself to an island of let’s just keep it professional. Sometimes your team needs you to be an encourager, a listening ear, a friend. Be wise enough to know when those times are, and when they are not able to happen. This helps you achieve that mean position between being the Boss and being the Friend.\n\nMost of all, you have to be the Leader at all times. The fulcrum between boss and friend is Leadership. Your ability and success as a leader moves the fulcrum back and forth, helping you determine whether it’s <em>boss time</em> or <em>friend time</em>.\n\n<h3>Be The Means to Their Success</h3>\n\nThe growth of those you lead should be tied in some measure to your influence and example. Each person does have choices to make about their own progress. But as John Maxwell says, “leadership is influence.”\n\nAs a leader, be an important means to the success of your team members. Their success should be affected by you successfully matching their skills to the challenge or task.\n\nIt should be enhanced by your coaching and counseling along the way. When there are failures, discover if your leadership had a part in that and try to fix it. You are not totally responsible for the success or failure of anyone on your team. But you can be a means to either success or failure for them. Choose to be the means to their success.\n\n<h3><strong>Being The Mean Person Is Not Always A Bad Thing</strong></h3>\n\nJohn Wayne said: “Life is hard. It’s harder when you’re stupid.” Life is full of the people The Duke was talking about. You may even have to work with some of them, whether they be employees, vendors or clients.\n\nDoing the right thing is something you should never have to apologize for, but you may have to fight for. Be tough...be mean if you have to. Protect your team when necessary, fiercely if the situation demands it.\n\nYou may come to the point where all of the coaching, mentoring, explaining and reasoning isn\'t working, and an employee is running roughshod over other staff or clients. Confront it directly and boldly if you have to. If others perceive that as mean, then so be it. But do the right thing.\n\nSo maybe being mean isn’t such a bad thing, unless you’re green, and it’s Christmas. Don’t be a Grinch, but keep being mean open as an option.', 'Your Team Needs A Mean Leader', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'your-team-needs-a-mean-leader', '', '', '2015-03-06 06:00:50', '2015-03-06 11:00:50', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22859', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(22878, 251, '2015-03-10 06:00:23', '2015-03-10 10:00:23', 'Kind of funny, isn\'t it, how you can find lessons about life, love, and leadership almost everywhere, provided there’s openness to seeing them.\n\nI didn\'t expect that thought to bubble up in a spin class while pedaling furiously, breathing wildly, and trying frantically to ignore an uncomfortable bike saddle.\n\nPart of my second chance at a meaningful second act of life includes paying more attention, working to be my best self, and encouraging others to do the same. Growing into my best self includes more time at the gym.\n\nThere I spin, stretch, sweat and let my mind soar, taking in many things I used to overlook or take for granted, like these three thoughts.\n\n<h3>Purposeful Discomfort Helps You Grow</h3>\n\nI’m guilty of letting my comfort zone resemble a pair of favorite old shoes—easy, comfy but an unthinking go-to. Of course, I needed a cosmic 2 by 4 whack to shake me lose and force me into <strong>purposeful discomfort</strong>, the name I have given to intentional introspection focused on challenging and exposing self-imposed limitations. I’m pushing boundaries and giving myself permission to go slow in doing so.\n\nI want to explore, experiment, play, try on, fail, discard, regroup, savor, and try again. I like the advice from Andy Molinsky, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Brandeis University\'s International Business School, when he says, “Adaption takes time, effort, strategy, and determination. [Have] a sold plan in place and the courage to take it forward.”\n\nA plan, some time, and a dose of courage - I can do that. And you?\n\n<h3>You Have To Pursue The Right Goals</h3>\n\nAs a corporate refugee, I look back at places where I worked and see that we made things harder and more competitive than they needed to be. Competing and winning miss the point — there is, or should be, a greater purpose beyond bigger and better numbers and more money.\n\nWhen the super-buff fellow to my left in spin class challenged me to a race up the hill I shook my head no. In years past, I would have taken his challenge. Silly old me, getting caught up in the race for winning and bragging rights in pursuit of a victory without a purpose other than coming in first. First place or awesome numbers are no longer my singular goal.\n\nOf course, I want to get fit, for the umpteenth time in my life, but my eye is on achieving eudaemonia, the good life. I like how Martin Seligman, psychologist and author, sums up this concept, when he writes it is:\n\n<blockquote>\"The good life, which is what Thomas Jefferson and Aristotle meant by the pursuit of happiness. They did not mean smiling a lot and giggling. Aristotle talks about the pleasures of contemplation and the pleasures of good conversation. Aristotle is not talking about raw feeling, about thrills. Aristotle is talking about what Mike Csikszentmihalyi works on, and that is, when one has a good conversation, when one contemplates well, when time stops. You feel completely at home. Self-consciousness is blocked. You\'re one with the music.\"</blockquote>\n\nThat’s a goal worth living for.\n\n<h3 >Leadership Is The ULtimate Me/We Connection</h3>\n\nIt’s next to impossible to lead others if you aren’t doing a good job of <a href=\"https://hbr.org/2007/01/what-to-ask-the-person-in-the-mirror\">leading yourself</a>. I like the four-part leadership framework professor Keith Grint provides in <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Limits-Possibilities-Management-Organisations/dp/0333963873\" target=\"_blank\">Leadership Limits and Possibilities</a> - leadership as person, results, position, and process. The three <em>we</em> parts - results, position, and process - can’t be effective if the person part is missing.\n\n“If you seek to lead, invest at least 50% of your time leading yourself—your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, conduct,” observes Dee Hock, founder and former CEO of Visa.\n\nGetting <em>me</em> right includes being an inclusive, paradoxical thinker; having good character; being unafraid to bring heart to all that you do; and being strong enough to be vulnerable. Once you can do and be all these things, then <em>we</em> happens beautifully, powerfully, and splendidly.\n\nMay be all this is a fifth part to Grint’s framework—leadership as purpose. What say you?', 'Life, Love, &amp; Leadership Lessons In Unlikely Places', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'life-love-leadership-lessons-in-unlikely-places', '', '', '2015-03-10 06:00:23', '2015-03-10 10:00:23', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22878', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(22886, 252, '2015-03-09 06:00:57', '2015-03-09 10:00:57', 'Have you heard of Barbara Beskind? Me neither, until today that is. And I’m so glad I now know who she is because her story supports something I tell my clients every day.\n\nI coach a lot of people on what to do with their lives, whether it’s a job search or a desire to change direction completely. No matter what age, I often hear some version of: Can I do that?\n<h3>Enter The Fierce Idealist</h3>\nI hear these questions a lot:\n<ul>\n	<li>Won’t it look bad that I have this gap in my resume?</li>\n	<li>How do I explain this particular job?</li>\n	<li>Will they even hire someone my age?</li>\n	<li>Can I get that kind of job at my age?</li>\n	<li>I don\'t even have any recognized experience in that area.</li>\n</ul>\nI believe that if there is something you are skilled at or talented at, and have a passion for, there must be some way for it to fit in this big, wide world of ours. There are too many people who have achieved incredible things despite challenges.\n\nPart of their success is tenacity, but it is also optimism. They embrace that they have something worthy to offer and that it deserves to be taken seriously.\n<h3>Times They Are A-Changin’</h3>\nThis is where the story of Ms. Barbara Beskind comes in. You can scoot over to <a href=\"http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243621\">Entrepreneur</a> to read the whole story.\n\nBarbara, at 91 years old, is finally living her dream – in Silicon Valley of all places. Barbara always dreamed of being an inventor. This was not on the high school counselor’s list for a young woman of her generation.\n\nBut Barbara made it happen, finally. She’s not working a 40-hour week, but her employer found a way to work with her, and capitalize on her fine mind and ideas.\n<h3>It Only Takes One</h3>\nYou can say this is an isolated case. That she was lucky. Or they are more open-minded in California – whatever rationalization you want to offer is okay with me. This fierce idealist will keep coming back to this. It only takes one.\n\nWho knows if the next person you talk to has just the right setup for a 91-year-old would-be inventor, or whatever your impossible situation is. Does every employer have the mindset to see value in the unconventional? No, but it only takes one.', 'It&#039;s Not Too Late to Act On Your Dream', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'its-not-too-late-to-act-on-your-dream', '', '', '2015-03-09 06:00:57', '2015-03-09 10:00:57', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22886', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(22903, 329, '2015-04-17 06:00:56', '2015-04-17 10:00:56', '“Great leadership is only found in the world of business,” my seatmate on a recent flight pompously boasted, “Certainly not in the government, churches or education where we desperately need it.”\n\nI bit my tongue and waited for his tirade to settle down. Then, I quietly said, “Are you familiar with High Point University?” He was not. “Just Google it,” I suggested. A week later I got an email from him acknowledging his shortsighted view.\n\nHigh Point University is a private liberal arts college located in High Point, North Carolina. Obviously named for the town, it could have easily been named for the attitude it seeks to create in its students—a high point. When Dr. Nido Qubein assumed the presidency in January 2005, he realized the enormous potential of this academy of higher learning. After working with parents, faculty and the board a strategy was crafted to transform the college into an extraordinary center for holistic education committed to helping its graduates move on to advance with both success and significance.\n\nThe HPU focus on their customer, the student, was captured in their service vision. They call it a branding statement.\n\n<blockquote>“At HPU, every student receives an extraordinary education in a fun environment with caring people.”</blockquote>\n\nEach of these three components is expressed in a fashion that reflects a relentless emphasis on excellence, life values and maximizing potential.\n\n<h3>The Back Story</h3>\n\nThe HPU story is nothing short of a leadership tour de force. Walk the campus and Nido’s bright vision and boundless passion flow from every detail. <em>U.S. News &amp; World Report</em> picked HPU in 2014 as #1 among up and coming schools and the #1 regional college in the south. Enrollment has grown from 1450 when Nido took the reins of leadership to over 4300 today; the faculty has gone from 108 to 260. And, the operating budget has climbed from $38M to $178M. Retention has skyrocketed and SAT scores have jumped 55 points on average. HPU was named a 2013 Green College in <em>The Princeton Review</em>.\n\nExtraordinary education includes a teacher-student ratio of 1 to 14. Over 85% of the HPU faculty teaching 68 majors has earned doctorates or terminal degrees in their field. There is an <em>Early Alert</em> program that signals professors to intervene when there are signs a student is on a path to failure. Free tutoring is provided to students who need a little extra help. \n\nEven the commencement speakers reflect an emphasis on excellence—Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Queen Noor of Jordan, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. One notable year, students heard baseball legend Cal Ripken, former President Bill Clinton, best-selling author Tom Friedman, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and a dozen major CEO’s.\n\nHPU student athletes have a cumulative GPA of over 3.0 (B). One of the unique features of a student’s education is a focus on community service. HPU students annually donate 100,000 hours and tens of thousands of dollars to causes like cancer research. United Way contributions were over $200,000 in 2014.\n\n“We are more than student-centered,” says President Qubein. “We exist to bring out the very best in our students. We tell our students that this is a partnership. We provide phenomenal housing, delicious food and a wonderful student life. Their side of the partnership is to excel in the classroom.”\n\n<h3>Living Your Core Values</h3>\n\nThe fun environment component is easy to spot. The wireless campus sports an immaculate setting with a promenade displaying the flags of 50+ countries representing their diverse student body. Speakers play classical music as students change classes. However, everything about the student’s experience is done to model a value.\n\nKiosks have free snacks, fruit, and drinks that students can grab as they walk to class, modeling the core value of generosity. There is a concierge in their dorms, modeling the core value of service, valet parking at night, modeling the value of security; a free car wash on Saturday and an ice cream truck that meanders the campus on hot days,  modeling joy. There is live music in the cafeteria to attract students to stay and chat instead eat and run, modeling fellowship.\n\nHPU’s Director of Wow!, Roger Clodfelter, focuses on creating <em>wow</em> experiences for students all year long. He also works to eliminate all that is <em>un-wow</em>, ranging from cracks in the sidewalk to chipped paint. Every detail is managed to ensure the campus is decorated in the color of “extraordinary.”\n\nCaring is never taken for granted. Each student gets a birthday card with a free Starbucks card inside. A large suggestion box encourages student feedback on anything they feel needs improvement. President Qubein knows nearly every student by name, eats lunch with them in the café, and encourages them to stop by and talk anytime. Every freshman takes the President’s seminar on life skills.\n\n“We are interested in the product. We are <em>more</em> interested in the product of the product,” Dr. Qubein told us. “We do not measure our effectiveness by the size of our enrollment. We measure it by the vertical impact our graduates make on our world and how our current students feel in their hearts.”\n\nThe success of this glorious experiment is overwhelmingly obvious. A visit to the campus will take your breath away. “Our students are our best promoters,\" concludes Qubein. “And, our parents are our best advocates.” There may be a paucity of leadership in far too many places in our society but it is alive, well and growing at High Point University. Just Google it.\n\nNote: Portions of this article were originally used in <em>Take Their Breath Away</em> by Chip Bell and John Patterson.', 'Back To School Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'back-to-school-leadership', '', '', '2015-04-17 06:00:56', '2015-04-17 10:00:56', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22903', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(22944, 343, '2015-03-16 06:00:35', '2015-03-16 10:00:35', 'A leader\'s best moments are undoubtedly when their people take the mantle of leadership themselves and successfully apply it.\n\nLike parents and their children, the sense of pride that exudes from seeing someone develop and flourish is probably what attracts most of us to consider leading and influencing others.\n\nOne of the most satisfying moments for me was a number of years when a 19-year old boy stepped up and made a tremendous impact. I oversaw operations for an entertainment/theme park, and one of my foodservice supervisors had to take medical leave for the bulk of the peak summer season.\n\nShe oversaw three small but high volume units in the park, and the timing of this news was crucial. She had a very young staff that worked for her, with a few shift leaders, and her absence meant an increased workload for myself.\n\nNormally this would have been a difficult challenge and cause for worry, but hidden in her staff was a gem of a leader that I knew we could call on to hold the fort. If only I could foresee how much of a leader he would turn out to be.\n\nBonfilio was his name, a quiet kid who was reliable and steady. He always seemed to understand how to make his staff, which was mostly his peer group, motivated to work and overcome obstacles. He was a shift leader who ran a good operation, so we set the stage for him to take the reins. We promoted him to a supervisor role on a temporary basis which allowed him the scope of authority he needed to assume the role left open for a few months.\n\nBonfilio immediately started to have the operations run smoother and more expedient within a couple of weeks. He made sure that the other shift leaders knew how to train new hires, use their daily task lists, and take care of the customer. Within a month, sales and profits for those locations exceeded prior years.\n\nAs he became more efficient, I started to give him duties for scheduling, ordering, and cleaning. He effectively worked those into his routine and delegated some of the tasks to others who he thought could learn and help him out.\n\nImpressed, I started to give him more responsibility. I would give him weekly goals on cleanliness, service times, training, and other operational challenges. We would check weekly, and would ask him \"So how are you coming on A, B, and C?\" He would respond, \"A, B and C are done, here are the results. And, oh, I also did an D, E, and F for you as well, here\'s what became of those.\" I was floored by Bonfilio\'s initiative, and his ability to take on more while ensuring the operations ran efficiently.\n\nBonfilio, like many others, needed 2 things in order to exercise his leadership influence: 1) A chance to step up, and 2) The motivation to step up when the chance is presented.\n\nHis story gives us solid lessons in how to foster chances and groom people to be ready for those opportunities:\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Scan The Horizon That Is Your People</strong> - Leaders need to take the time to know their players and where they can fill in during various situations. Coaches know how their players react in a given situation, parents know their children\'s strengths and weaknesses. Get to know your people, and their talents, intimately.</li>\n<li><strong>Identify Traits, Not Personalities</strong> - Many people have been discounted from leadership roles for reasons based solely on their personality. What may be hardness might be high standards, likewise shyness could be keen observation skills. Be discerning in your assessment of your people.</li>\n<li><strong>Build Skills & Develop Their Character</strong> - Without skills, the job doesn\'t get done. Without character, it doesn\'t get done right or consistent over the long haul. Their future leadership trajectory will in part be determined by the path you set them on on these two fronts.</li>\n<li><strong>Give Them A Change To Led For Real</strong> - Start with a can\'t fail situation, then grow from there. Stretch them, push them, but get them out there so they can show their talents. Waiting for the \"right moment\" may never come, so create it for them.</li>\n</ul>\n\nIt was Bonfilio\'s vision, talents, and initiative that made an incredible impact that summer. We just merely set the stage; but he had to show up and perform each time the curtain rose up.\n\nThat summer the shops that Bonfilio operated set records on sales and margins, as well as customer satisfaction and employee engagement. When his supervisor returned from her leave in the fall, Bonfilio was ready for the next challenge.\n\nHe knew of an opening as a shift leader in our largest restaurant, and wanted to take on the challenge of learning a new concept, new skills, and work for the person who later became our executive chef for the park. While a step down from what he just accomplished, he saw even more opportunity to learn and grow as a leader.\n\nDo you know who the Bonfilios of your organization are? Have you given them an opportunity to showcase their talents? They are out there, waiting to make your business better and become dynamic leaders in their own right.', 'What The Kid Did With His Chance', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'what-the-kid-did-with-his-chance', '', '', '2015-03-16 06:00:35', '2015-03-16 10:00:35', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22944', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(22946, 387, '2015-03-11 06:00:43', '2015-03-11 10:00:43', 'The first few days of an employee’s life at a business represent a rare, untapped window of time where the new hire enters a fresh environment shining, inspired and ready to make a difference. The organization gets a shot in the arm; an instant infusion of talent and energy.\n\nProperly channeled and leveraged, this new-hire vitality and vigor can permeate the culture and positively impact people at all levels of your organization. This period of welcome and orientation is an incredible opportunity to revive your team.\n\nIt’s a one-time chance to roll out the red carpet for that new employee—to show your team that this promising, thoughtfully selected person matters. It should remind others of their first day, and if it was memorable (as it should be), then everyone will have something to share that revives them.\n\nThe process of orienting a new hire is formally called onboarding. When done effectively, 0nboarding will:\n<ul>\n<li>Set the tone for the new employee’s role</li>\n<li>Efficiently orient the person to the job and culture</li>\n<li>Cement the existing team</li>\n<li>Improve the overall productivity of your operations</li>\n</ul>\n\nMany organizations implement a watered-down version of onboarding that runs the risk of leaving their new blood feeling jilted at the altar. This is it? This is what I\'ve been waiting for? Does anyone know I was hired? Clearly, this is not the impression any leader wants a new hire to gather on the first days, or any day for that matter.\n\nEffective onboarding accelerates productivity and generates energy. An employee hits the ground running the first day because he or she connected with the company’s mindset at the first interview. The training/onboarding process began during Recruiting. Their first day was actually that initial interview, as they got to know your company better and began to learn about its culture.\n\nIn fact, onboarding is a continuation—albeit a more formal start—of the orientation that began when you opened the door to first speak with the candidate. Doesn\'t this mindset change the talent acquisition focus completely? Doesn\'t it underscore the value of a rigorous recruiting and selection process leading up to onboarding? And, doesn\'t it make sense that doing so changes the onboarding experience completely, because candidates are in the game before they ever start the job?\n\n<em>This is an excerpt from \"Talent Mindset\", available on <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0990866408/\" target=\"_blank\">Amazon</a>, and what you just read is merely the tip of the iceberg.</em>\n\n<em>I would love for you to visit me at <a href=\"http://www.stacyfeiner.com/\" target=\"_blank\">stacyfeiner.com</a> or connect on Twitter via <a href=\"https://twitter.com/stacyfeiner\" target=\"_blank\">@stacyfeiner</a> so that we can continue this conversation.</em>', 'Onboarding - Generating Energy, From Day One', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'onboarding-generating-energy-from-day-one', '', '', '2015-03-11 06:00:43', '2015-03-11 10:00:43', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22946', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(22951, 374, '2015-03-18 06:00:52', '2015-03-18 10:00:52', '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 <strong>chip shot</strong> 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/\">Chip Shots Series</a>.\n<h3>Today\'s Question</h3>\nConsider this thought: <em>Great leaders don\'t always feel ready</em>. Share about a time when you were asked to lead but didn\'t feel ready or when you thought someone who reported to you was ready and you needed to coach them through that.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/becky-robinson/\" target=\"_blank\">Becky Robinson</a> - I am more interested in <em>being ready</em> than <em>feeling ready</em>. What\'s important is to overcome any feelings of resistance and to take decisive action to do what\'s needed. As long as I can step up to do what\'s needed, how I feel is irrelevant.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/david-dye/\">David Dye</a> - Leaders who lack key skills and preparation really can do more harm than good - that’s why it’s so vital to give your people opportunities to practice influence. It’s also the case that you’re never <em>fully ready</em>. There is no perfect time; there is only now. If you wait until you feel ready, you’ll never lead. The world (and your team) needs you now!\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/mike-henry/\">Mike Henry</a> - I think often the people least ready to lead are the ones anxious to do so. Leadership is a responsibility. Our sense of responsibility causes us to take a leadership role when we\'re rather just do what we\'re told. The choice often comes down to clarity of what you want. Since leadership is service, the leader places the team and its goal ahead of their personal preferences. Great leaders are only ready to sacrifice for the good of the group. Any other readiness is secondary. If you want leadership for yourself, and you <em>feel ready</em>, you may be mistaken.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/jon-mertz/\">Jon Mertz</a> - In many ways, the short answer is <em>every day</em>. And this is not meant to be cute because it is really true. On any given day, I do not know what will really come my way. New challenges arise. New situations appear unexpectedly. The important things I always try to remember is to be the calm in the storm and offer direction with humility and empathy. There is strength in calmness, for me and others. From this point, assessing what information is available and offering a way forward are essential ways to lead, ready or not.\n\nWe thank these established leaders for sharing their thoughts about supporting new leaders.', 'Chip Shots - When A Leader Does Not Feel Ready', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'chip-shots-when-a-leader-does-not-feel-ready', '', '', '2015-03-18 06:00:52', '2015-03-18 10:00:52', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22951', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(22968, 374, '2015-03-12 06:00:59', '2015-03-12 10:00:59', 'In a post, we shared how the Lead Change Group was incubated by people who wanted to capture the idea of leadership being espoused by a group of leaders in social media and internet channels in the summer and fall of 2009.\n\nThe term <em>character-based leadership</em> rose out of this group’s efforts and eventually led to the book, <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/The-Character-Based-Leader-Instigating-Leadership/dp/145751222X\">The Character-Based Leader</a>.\n\nIn order to provide visitors to the Lead Change Group with the background about how this site came to be, and because much of the information is timeless, we are sharing excerpts from The Character-Based Leader occasionally.\n\nAn excerpt from chapter one appears <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-from-who-you-are-2/\">here</a>. An excerpt from chapter two, <em>Why Character-Based Leadership,</em> authored by <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/chery-gegelman/\">Chery Gegelman</a>, appears <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/why-character-based-leadership-a-book-excerpt/\">here</a>.\n\nWe are pleased to share an excerpt from chapter three, <em>A Crisis of Character</em>, which was authored by <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/lifeisaforkintheroad\" target=\"_blank\">Don Shapiro</a>.\n\n<h3>A Crisis of Character</h3>\n\nWhen Allan Guei graduated from Compton High School, the star basketball player received a full scholarship to college. A month before graduation, Allan competed in a basketball free throw contest that offered a $40,000 first prize to pay for college. Allan won the contest, but at his graduation ceremony he gave the $40,000 to seven other players who had competed in the same tournament, keeping nothing for himself. He said he already had a scholarship and these other athletes who were struggling financially needed the help to go to college.\n\nFor every Allan, there are far too many individuals who don’t do the right thing. Lately, too many of those who have chosen the wrong path have become national or international news. Their lack of leadership and poor choices have harmed tens of millions of people personally and financially.\n\n<h4>A Puzzling Contradiction</h4>\n\nClearly, there is more to being a good leader than well-documented techniques, methods and practices. Leadership isn\'t simply a skill or a body of knowledge that one memorizes. Leadership isn\'t about a person being given an important title and people simply following that person by virtue of their title. The increasing incidence of bad leadership in families, schools, charitable organizations, churches, research labs, associations, corporations and government cries out for a solution.\n\nAs this book will explore, the leadership crisis is really a crisis of character. And that crisis is getting worse by the day. The crisis may appear to be about leaders who are publicly visible, but this crisis isn\'t just about people in high positions. What’s important to realize here is that individuals who have attained a position of importance come from all of us. Fathers, mothers, cousins, community volunteers, members of congregations, friends, and more are all thrust into leadership roles whether they wanted those roles or not, and those who arrive at positions of importance started from the same place as the rest of us.\n\n<h4>How Bad Is The Crisis?</h4>\n\nFirst, it’s important to understand just how bad the problem really is. Although most people are aware of a few individuals in positions of power who have displayed a lack of character and can cite the damage they have perpetrated, this problem is much more pervasive than most people realize. Calling it an epidemic might be considered a stretch, yet there is no question that lack of character, bad leadership and questionable choices are rising at an alarming rate in all areas of society.\n\n<h4>Government</h4>\n\nIssues of character involving those in the government go beyond the headlines. When you Google “misconduct by government,” it produces 13,700,000 results, and “abuse of public trust by elected officials” produces 1,270,000 results. Thousands of web pages are filled with newsarticles from every US state that talk about city, county and state elected officials along with school boards and other elected bodies all reporting violations of the public trust.\n\n<h4>Medical Doctors</h4>\n\nMedical doctors are considered one of the most respected professions, yet the incidence of violations of ethics, misconduct and more appear to be higher than what one would expect from a profession that goes by the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm. A Google search for “misconduct by doctors” will produce 4,260,000 results. “Doctors losing their medical license” returns 33,600,000 results, though there is significant duplication due to stories that have gone viral. When duplicates from any of these results are eliminated, it still leaves an astounding number of cases in which doctors made bad judgments and displayed bad leadership.\n<h4>Corporations</h4>\nSince the recession, corporations have been under a microscope, with significant blame leveled at Wall Street and companies in the finance, banking and insurance sector. But questionable decisions are not limited to events during the recession or to those at the top. A Google search for “violations of public trust by corporate executives” produced 15,700,000 results such as these two:\n\n<ul>\n<li>Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd resigned for submitting false expense reports concerning his relationship with a contractor.</li>\n<li>David Sokol, rumored to be Warren Buffett\'s successor, was forced to resign for trading in Lubrizol stock prior to recommending that Berkshire Hathaway purchase the company.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h4>Clergy, Teachers, Parents & More</h4>\n\nWhile the Catholic Priest molestation scandal may be the most well known among religious misconduct, it turns out that violations of the trust that congregations place in the clergy occur in every religion. A Google search of “misconduct by religions” produces 13,500,000 results, while “misconduct by ministers” yields 5,420,000.\n\n<h4>In Search Of Character</h4>\n\nThere are simply too many people in all walks of life and at all levels of authority who are not acting with character. Character starts at home, in school, and through religious institutions. If we are seeing a lapse of character at these levels,is it any wonder that children are growing into adults who lack enough character to become Character-Based Leaders?\n\nAllan is a character-based leader. He leads from who he is, not because of any title or position. In spite of the leadership crisis, more people are actually like Allan than not. People of good character are everywhere. This crisis doesn’t require people in positions of power and importance to solve it.\n\n<h4>It Starts at a Young Age</h4>\n\nThe leadership role in the home, at school, and in the community begins the second we make it a top priority. When we think it’s important to lead, we will. When we believe that leading from good character is critical, we will apply that to ourselves and to those closest to us.\n\n<h4>The Leadership Bell Tolls For Thee</h4>\n\nWe need a lot more leaders like Allan. We need everyone to step up to the plate and to lead from positions of character regardless of who they are, where they are, or what they’re doing. This is how we solve the leadership crisis, because leadership isn’t about one’s title or position… it’s about who we are inside.\n\nLeadership is all about character. No single book, including this one, can offer all the answers. It is the hope of the Lead Change Group and all those who volunteered to collaborate on this effort that, by shining a spotlight on the heart of the issue, we might ignite a revolution. If enough people who seriously care about the future can, through their own efforts and explorations, put more focus on character itself… who we are as people and how we develop that in others… we can start a revolution that changes our world for the better.\n\n<img src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/CBL-Cover.png\" alt=\"The Character Based Leader\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 437px;\"/></a>\n\n<em>Note, this post is an edited excerpt of The Character-Based Leader. Modifications have been made due to space constraints. To order a copy of the book, please visit the <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/The-Character-Based-Leader-Instigating-Leadership/dp/145751222X\">Character Based Leader</a> page on Amazon.</em>', 'A Crisis of Character - A Book Excerpt', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'character-based-leader-four', '', '', '2015-03-12 06:00:59', '2015-03-12 10:00:59', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22968', 0, 'post', '', 2);
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(22976, 276, '2015-03-13 06:00:50', '2015-03-13 10:00:50', 'True leaders are hard to come by. When you have one, you must do your best to keep that person, because they will grow leaders in your organization and increase your organization’s overall capabilities.\n\nGreat leaders are like fuel that keeps things going and sustains a level of performance that makes the company successful in achieving its goal.\n\nHerb Kelleher is a perfect example of a true leader who cares about his people. He believes that if he takes care of his employees, their customers will benefit from the employees being treated well. His employees are happy and eager to make a difference to their customers and always go above and beyond to serve their customers.\n\nHis leadership skill, coupled with his dynamic personality, dedication to higher purpose, love for his people, and will to succeed, as well as his lack of ego, has made Southwest a very successful company.\n\n<h3>At Times of Leadership Transition</h3>\n\nLike anything else in life, all good things must come to an end. That is also true in leadership. At some point a succession plan must be prepared to ensure that the company continues to be successful. A great leader will make this his/her priority. They understand that sustainability is key to the success of the company. They know that they need to leave the company in good hands to continue to succeed.\n\nGreat leaders will be on the lookout for talent that can take over their spot. This would be a top priority for the leader to ensure the continuity of service and sustainability of the organization.\n\nThe following are key to success of the transition:\n\n<ul>\n<li>A proper plan must be in place to enable the successor to learn the ropes and step in when the time comes.</li>\n<li>Clarity of the type of leader must be defined in order to select the appropriate candidate.</li>\n<li>The successor must be provided the opportunity to take on increasing challenge to test the water and should be coached accordingly. The leader understands that an organization must continue to exist regardless who is at the helm.</li>\n<li>An ongoing assessment utilizing logical measurement methodology must be taken to ensure the success of the training.</li>\n</ul>\n\nA leader often knows when to yield his position to his successor. At that point, either the leader is moving on to perform a role for another organization, or the leader will be stepping down for good. Either way the organization will be in good hands to be led by a well-trained leader who can carry the legacy of the organization.\n\n<h3>Make Succession Planning A Priority</h3>\n\nIn my opinion, succession planning is a top priority for every leader. A leader is confident and doesn\'t worry about who is taking over their position, but rather they are focused on helping the organization sustain its performance.\n', 'Succession Planning - A Critical Priority', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'succession-planning-a-critical-priority', '', '', '2015-03-13 06:00:50', '2015-03-13 10:00:50', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=22976', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(24215, 307, '2015-03-19 06:00:35', '2015-03-19 10:00:35', 'It happened again. I’d just finished a leadership program with a group of caring, committed professionals. They asked great questions, made important decisions for their own influence, and then it happened.\n\nA middle level manager approached me and asked a question. It’s a common question. I hear it every time I speak – in the Q&A, in the comments afterwards, in emailed follow-ups.\n\nThis manager asked: “David, I really appreciated the program today. How can I get this information in front of my boss’s boss?”\n\nIf you’ve ever read a book, attended a seminar, or heard a speaker and desperately wished your supervisors would learn how to do what you just heard, you’re not alone. In fact, the phenomenon is so common that I’ve given it my own name. I call it <strong>SASRNT Syndrome</strong>.\n\n<em>SASRNT</em> stands for <em>So And So Really Needs This</em> – it’s the reaction you have when you encounter really good information and immediately want to give it to someone else.\n\n“This is awesome – my boss totally needs this!”\n\nThere’s just one problem: your boss didn’t receive the information. You did.\n\n<h3>Don’t Fail Before You Start</h3>\n\nI call <em>SASRNT</em> a syndrome because it can hurt you if you let it. When you rush off to share good leadership information with someone else, you neglect the most important step - to use it.\n\nThat other person - your boss, your colleague, your spouse - may need what you want to share, but think about how you would react if the roles were reversed.\n\nYour employee comes to you and says: “Hey team leader, I think you’d be a much better team leader if only you’d read this book or attend that seminar.” How would you react? Honestly?\n\nIf you’re like most people, you’d immediately be on the defensive. None of us like being told we’re not good enough. We resist whenever we feel we’re being sold - even if it is something that would help us.\n\n<h3>It’s Tough Out There</h3>\n\nI get it. There are tons of poor business leaders out there. The statistics are hard to argue and I see it all the time.\n\nThe manager who had asked me about sharing the information with her boss’s boss had a very tough work environment with a notorious reputation that extends beyond the walls of her company.\n\nYou may be in a similar environment. I know you want to change it – and I’m glad you do, but here’s the thing:\n\n<ul>\n<li>You can’t change them. </li>\n<li>You can’t change the company.</li>\n<li>You can only change you.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>Be The Leader You Want Your Boss To Be</h3>\n\nThis has been my leadership mantra for many years. The only way we change the world is for you to lead well. The one and most powerful thing you can do is to apply what you\'ve learned and create a pocket of influence and excellence around you.\n\nWhen your managers treat you poorly, treat your people well. Where your managers tolerate mediocrity, act with and expect excellence. Where they act like victims, empower yourself and your team.\n\nHave compassion for them and for your people. They may not know what you know, but they’re doing what they can. In time, they may even ask you for help. Lead first, where you are, with what you have. Then invite others to join you on the journey.\n\nRemember, the most effective leaders don’t try to push ideas on people. They take what they’ve learned; they use it, and then invite others to join them.', 'Leaders - Change This To Change Everything', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'leaders-change-this-to-change-everything', '', '', '2015-03-19 06:00:35', '2015-03-19 10:00:35', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=24215', 0, 'post', '', 5),
(24616, 282, '2015-03-23 06:00:28', '2015-03-23 10:00:28', 'My mom served as a County Commissioner for several years, and my dad retired after serving as the president of a university for 28 years. \n\nNeedless to say, both had a ton of experiences in dealing with the teams they led during their tenures. Some good, some not so good.\n\nMy parents had a tremendous influence on me as a leader.\n\nI remember a lesson I learned from my mom, Sondra Cole, about keeping my mouth shut. She called it a <em>recipe for disaster</em>.\n\nMy mother would say say:\n\n<blockquote>\n\"The ingredients and instructions are simple. You only need to include two ingredients, and leave out two ingredients. The ingredients you include are your foot and your mouth. Insert your foot into your mouth, and spin vigorously. And whatever you do, leave out your brain and your ears.\"</blockquote>\n\nI must confess, I’ve made this recipe more times than I would like to admit. If we’re going to lead well, sometimes it involves keeping our mouths shut. Yes, your team needs to hear from you. But sometimes maybe you should just keep <em>shout outs</em> like these to yourself?\n\n<strong><em>“It was Bill’s fault.” = I\'m blaming you</em></strong> - Most of the time it’s fairly obvious to everyone involved who bears the blame for a failure or a crash. Time spent assigning blame is time taken away from working on repairs, restoration or moving forward.\n\n<strong><em>Instead</em></strong> - Ask the team what they think the problem is or what went wrong, and for suggestions on how to fix it and prevent it from happening again. It’s important that you as the leader keep your team positive, and don’t allow them to start the Blame Game either.\n\n<strong><em>“I don’t care what you think.” = I\'m disrespecting you.</em></strong> - Leaders who fail to respect and show respect to their team members don’t deserve it for themselves. Remind yourself that tearing others down is no way to build yourself up.\n\n<strong><em>Instead</em></strong> - Show authentic respect by inviting constructive input from everyone on the team. This doesn’t mean to take everyone’s advice, but do listen and be polite.\n\n<strong><em>“If things don’t change, we may have to lay off/fire some people!” = I\'m threatening you</em></strong> - Leadership by intimidation is a coward’s way to lead. What’s more important, is that this kind of leadership casts a spotlight on the insecurity of the leader who uses intimidation to club his team into submission.\n\n<strong><em>Instead</em></strong> - Help your team set some obtainable short term goals, and then partner with them in making those goals a reality. Success breeds success, and you can set your team on that path.\n\n<strong><em>“That has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” = I\'m shaming you</em></strong> - Why would anyone, including you, ever want to work for a team leader that shames instead of encourages, humiliates instead of helps? What’s truly shameful is a leader that focuses on embarrassment and shame as tools of the trade.\n\n<strong><em>Instead</em></strong> - Ask team members for further clarification, or more questions about their perspectives. They might actually have dumb ideas, or maybe it’s the person who’s listening to them that needs to be a little sharper? People like Galileo, Newton and Tesla had their ideas mocked too…who’s laughing now?\n\n<strong><em>“I don’t have time to deal with this.” = I’m undermining your value</em></strong> - The greatest way to show your team they matter to you and your organization is to make time for them. Bill Clinton has been complimented as a person that can make you feel like you’re the only person in the room while you’re talking to him. That’s a skill that successful leaders must continue to develop in our own leadership skill-set.\n\n<strong><em>Instead</em></strong> - Stop looking at your computer screen, your smartphone or anything else while your people are talking to you. You don’t need to scan the room or look for a file. You need to pay attention. Listen. Ask thoughtful questions. Engage.\n\n<strong><em>“No one on our teams likes you.” = I\'m isolating you</em></strong> - If you’re a normal human, your response is probably, “Really? Someone would actually lead like that?” It’s disappointing, but yes, there really are people in leadership roles that are that cruel, and that clueless. For them leadership is about control, whether by force or by fear. Intimidation and shame are favorite weapons in their arsenal. Don’t be that guy or gal. Just don’t.\n\n<strong><em>Instead</em></strong> - It might actually be true. Maybe no one does like them. But if you’re the leader, it falls on you to affect positive change in the situation. Maybe this team member does need some tough love or correction. Then give it. Only give it in a way that is fair, fact based and with a measure of grace and a way through it. People backed into a corner usually come out swinging. Find a better way, and lead them there.\n\n<strong><em>“You’ll never believe what I heard about Susan.” = I\'m gossiping about you</em></strong> - The pettiest of minds go to the playground to gossip. Seriously, are we in grade school? When you gossip about one team member to another, you not only lose respect in their eyes, but you deserve less respect. Gossip only accomplishes one goal. Division. It separates your team, it divides them into us/them camps. Painting gossip with a thin veneer of concern for the object of gossip doesn\'t make it any better. That only makes you a gossip and a phony. Stop it now.\n\n<strong><em>Instead</em></strong> - In the words of that great philosopher Barney Fife, “Nip it...nip it in the bud.” When you have the inclination to pass on gossip, walk away. When someone else starts it in your presence, politely stop them. Yes, there are times as a leader where you need to know or need to share facts. But you know where the line is, and you know when you’re crossing it. Don’t go there.\n\nAvoid a <em>recipe for disaster</em>. Determine which of these <em>shout outs</em> you’re guilty of, and resolve to change your recipe.', 'Seven Shout Outs Your Team Can Do Without', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'seven-shout-outs-your-team-can-do-without', '', '', '2015-03-23 06:00:28', '2015-03-23 10:00:28', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=24616', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(25220, 327, '2015-03-20 06:00:11', '2015-03-20 10:00:11', 'Fifteen years ago, I reinvented myself and started a new career in faith-based social services. I have had the privilege of building innovative social service programs for at-risk children and families.\n\nOne of these programs is <a href=\"http://www.childrenofinmates.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Children of Inmates, Inc. (COI)</a>. Initiated at a brainstorming session with four of my colleagues, COI began implementing services in Miami-Dade County, Florida in 2007 with a collaborative team of eight community, faith, and professional organizations.\n\nThis core team has been meeting and coordinating services for 95 months. COI has grown to 12 collaborative organizations now serving children residing in 11 of Florida’s 67 counties with a focus on the metro areas of South Florida, Tampa, Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Since 2007, COI has worked with over 2,500 children.\n\nThis month, COI is undertaking an ambitious Earth Day project titled, <a href=\"http://iamthriving.org/2015/02/kidpower-earth-day-project-2015/\" target=\"_blank\">KidPower2015 Earth Day Project</a>, with the goal of encouraging COI kids to be leaders in the movement to protect the Earth for future generations. COI kids will be participating in this joint project with fourth graders at Hollywood Central Elementary School and the children at the <a href=\"http://iamthriving.org/2014/10/building-their-own-school/\" target=\"_blank\">Light of Future School #1</a> in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.\n<div class=\"alignnone\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\"><img class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Linda-School.jpg\" alt=\"Linda School\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" /></div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Children at Light of Future School #1, Phnom Penh, Cambodia</em></p>\n\n<h3>Learning Activities Planned For KidPower2015</h3>\n1. Construct bicycle generators to power laptop computers. They will develop engineering and math skills while learning a simple, clean energy technology to generate electricity.\n<div class=\"alignnone\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\"><img class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/linda-four-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"linda four\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" /></div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>My husband &amp; I test the equipment in our KidPower2015 Lab.</em></p>\n2. Explore environmental protection and conservation needs in their countries.\n\n3. Share learning experiences through video-conferencing.\n\n4. Utilize the creative arts (music, visual arts, and dance) to express <a href=\"http://www.earthday.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Earth Day Network’s</a> 2015 theme, “It’s Our Turn to Lead.”\n\nChildren with incarcerated parents often struggle with mental illness, poor school performance, and antisocial behaviors. Many of the infants and younger children suffer from attachment disorders, malnutrition, and lack of attention from remaining caregivers. Using family-based interventions, COI helps the children and families to connect with each other and with appropriate community resources. The majority of COI participants reside in low-income communities where they face a plethora of risk factors and social stigmas, overlooked by both the criminal justice and social services systems.\n\nI have learned that if program participants can transition from being recipients of services to servant leaders, the trajectory of their lives begins to dramatically change. Destiny, Annabelle, and their mom, Maria are examples of this transition. Maria, Destiny, and Anabelle enrolled in COI four years ago. At that time, they were struggling as a family, but Maria had hope. She not only began to attend the quarterly COI Bonding Visits so the girls could visit their father, she began to bring the girls to our weekly family support groups. The girls also became active in our summer camp program and out of school programs.\n\nOver time, Maria decided that it was time for their family to give back. She and her daughters added weekly volunteer hours in our Sunday morning children’s program, KidsZone. Rather than viewing themselves as at-risk children needing to be enrolled in a social service program, the girls have begun to see themselves as leaders. When I started to develop the KidPower2015 Earth Day Project, I immediately thought that Destiny and Annabelle would make great project KidPower2015 Ambassadors. A few days ago, Annabelle and Destiny took one of our new bikes out for a test drive.\n<div class=\"alignnone\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\"><img class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Linda-Girls.jpg\" alt=\"Linda Girls\" width=\"450\" height=\"400\" /></div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Annabelle and Destiny ride the new bicycle.</em></p>\nThis was the first of three bikes that have become bicycle generators for the KidPower2015 project. The girls were able to be the first kids testing the equipment.\n<div class=\"alignnone\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\"><img class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/linda-three-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"linda three\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" /></div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Annabelle and Destiny with the bicycle generator and computer.</em></p>\nThe bicycle generators traveled to Hollywood Central Elementary School on Monday, March 16, 2015. Eighty 4th grade students had the opportunity to test the equipment and learn about converting physical energy to electrical energy. The classroom served as the project\'s \"proving grounds.\"\n<div class=\"alignnone\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\"><img class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/linda-four-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"linda four\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" /></div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Kids use a volt meter to explore the bicycle\'s ability to generate energy.</em></p>\n\n<div class=\"alignnone\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\"><img class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/image-2-e1426829203120.jpg\" alt=\"image (2)\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" /></div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>In Ms. Nunez\'s class, we made a protein shake with the\nelectrical energy generated by the students.</em></p>\nOn March 23, 2015, the bicycle generators begin two weeks of travel across the State of Florida with COI. The COI families will participate in the learning activities that were developed at Hollywood Central Elementary by Ms. Nunez. Finally, one of bicycle generators will be installed at the Light of Future School in Cambodia. The children there will also participate in the same learning activities. As our Ambassadors, Annabelle and Destiny will lead our Skype conversation with the kids at Light of Future School #1 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia who will be participating in the same project. The big difference is that for the children at the Light of Future School, the bicycle generator will not only be a great classroom learning opportunity, it will be the first source of electricity in the school.\n\nIf you would like to get involved in positively impacting the lives of children through the Children of Inmates, Inc. program or the KidPower2015 Earth Day Project, please consider making a financial donation to COI. The Children of Inmates, Inc. is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit organization and all donations are tax-deductible. Children of Inmates, Inc., 1835 E. Hallandale Beach Blvd. #387, Hallandale Beach, Florida 33009\n\n&nbsp;', 'KidPower 2015 Earth Day Project - Coaching Kids to Lead', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'kidpower-2015-earth-day-project-coaching-kids-to-lead', '', '', '2015-03-20 06:00:11', '2015-03-20 10:00:11', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25220', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(25249, 374, '2015-03-24 06:00:31', '2015-03-24 10:00:31', 'I spent an hour today participating in the <em>Becoming A Dare to Serve Leader</em> webinar with <a href=\"http://cherylbachelder.com/about/\" target=\"_blank\">Cheryl Bachelder</a>, CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc.\n\nCheryl presented the information in such a compelling way. I walked away feeling like I, too, could use the principles she discussed to make a difference in the world. \n\nCheryl Bachelder has chosen to make a difference in the food service industry. The three core principles she espoused can apply in any industry.\n\nIt occurred to me that our <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/\">Leading Voices</a>, <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/\" target=\"_blank\">Instigators</a>, and Lead Change Group Members have touched on these principles in many of their writings. Let\'s take a peek.\n\n<h3>Declare A Bold, Daring Destination</h3>\n\nCheryl stressed the idea that having a bold destination builds confidence. When she first assumed her role at Popeyes in 2007, things were not looking good. At least six major metrics, including sales, guest traffic, and profitability, were declining. She and her team decided to embark on a <em>grand experiment</em>. It\'s not like there was much lower they could go at that point; there was nothing to lose by choosing boldness.\n\nLead Change Instigator <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/bill-benoist/\">Bill Benoist</a> wrote in his <a href=\"http://www.leadershipheartcoaching.com/bold-innovative-leadership/\" target=\"_blank\">Bold, Innovative Leadership</a> article:\n\n<blockquote>\"This is what bold, innovative leaders do. They lead you to a better place.\"</blockquote>\n\n<h3>Choose To Serve Others Well</h3>\n\nCheryl\'s decision to lead Popeyes in a direction of<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/6-facets-servant-leadership-diamond/\" target=\"_blank\"> servant leadership</a> was born early on in her tenure. The original focus group of leaders who she asked about what needed to change all answered that they wanted to be leaders different from <em>them</em>. Them is defined as the kinds of leaders who spread negativity, toxicity, and fear. Those first meetings led to a focus from Cheryl on leadership characterized by bravery and humility.\n\nIn her article entitled <a href=\"http://sharonereed.me/2014/11/29/the-more-we-serve/\" target=\"_blank\">The More We Serve</a>, Lead Change Instigator <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/sharon-reed/\" target=\"_blank\">Sharon Reed</a> echoed Cheryl\'s concepts:\n\n<blockquote>The more we seek ways in which to use our gifts for a greater good than just our own self-promotion, the more opportunity arises to share these gifts. In placing the needs of the whole above the self, we position ourselves as leaders; and through thoughtful leadership, we create openings for others to grow.</blockquote>\n\n<h3>Perform & Deliver Results</h3>\n\nCheryl emphasizes that our results focus is not once a year, it is every day. She notes it is a daily battle to track and perform your results, but it is a worthy battle if you want to create an organization that serves people well and outperforms the rest.\n\nLead Change Instigator <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/sean-glaze/\" target=\"_blank\">Sean Glaze</a> values results/ It\'s right there in his website\'s name - Great Results Teambuilding. In his <a href=\"http://greatresultsteambuilding.net/smart-teams-focus-incremental-improvements/\" target=\"_blank\">Smart Teams Focus on Incremental Improvements</a> post, he stresses the importance of incremental improvement:\n\n<blockquote>If you are interested in truly lasting team success, you will want to focus on incremental improvements over time instead of overwhelming and immediate change. Smart teams know that small changes, over time, provide great results.</blockquote>\n\nI left my hour \"with\" Cheryl feeling optimistic that there are organizations out there who don\'t abandon a caring attitude about their people in order to maximize profits. When you Dare to Serve, the two can co-exist fruitfully.\n\nNow that you have had a taste of Cheryl\'s approach as well as a glimpse into our Lead Change Instigators\' take, I am sharing the full webinar with you below. In addition, I am sharing a request from Cheryl.\n\nShe would like you to visit her website, <a href=\"http://www.cherylbachelder.com/leadership-story\" target=\"_blank\">www.cherylbachelder.com</a>, and share a story about a leadership lesson you\'ve learned around these principles in the real world.\n\n<a href=\"http://cherylbachelder.com/leadership-story/\"><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DTS-Button.png\" alt=\"cheryl Bachelder Dare To Serve Leadership Story\" width=\"315\" height=\"298\" /></a>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Here\'s the full recording of the webinar!</p>\n\n<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bkd3MQj3EGk?modestbrowsing&rel=0&amp;controls=0&amp;showinfo=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe>', 'Daring To Serve', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'daring-to-serve', '', '', '2015-03-24 06:00:31', '2015-03-24 10:00:31', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25249', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(25256, 376, '2015-03-27 06:00:53', '2015-03-27 10:00:53', 'What do you do easily and with little thought? As leaders, we are usually very aware of what takes conscious effort on our part, but less so about other things. Those things you do unconsciously and easily are important, although they probably range from trivial to essential actions.\n\nMaybe we learned something so long ago that we have forgotten any effort required to gain the skill in the first place. Think tying your shoelaces or checking the rear-view mirror before backing up.\n\nThis is why teaching our young citizens basic skills and behaviors is so important. We create our future by how we teach those who are just learning how to read, talk, and think.\n\nMaybe our first leadership experiences came so early in our lives or careers that we have to focus on remembering the influence of those early experiences on our current leadership behavior.\n\nMaybe we have done something so often that it does not require conscious thought on our part. Repetition etches a behavior or a process into our brains. We do something on a regular basis or frequently, so that the steps and the feel become part of us. We know what to do intuitively\n\nWe go on auto-pilot as some say, although when we truly know a thing, we still easily sense when things are not going correctly. An error or misstep should quickly bring us to full consciousness and initiate a problem-solving process. We lead as we have learned to lead, and hopefully notice when that leadership is not working.\n\nMaybe we have learned to do a thing so well that it has become second nature to us. Think about master coaches who seem to effortlessly shift into <em>coach mode</em> as needed, and when appropriate, given a situation. The visible ease probably reflects years of learning and practice to make it look easy. Those who cannot smoothly shift from working mode to human being mode may be seen as stilted or stiff.\n\nOn the other hand, when as someone one remarked to me, “Well, all you seem to do is sit around and talk to people. I do that all day too”, comparing my work with dually diagnosed patients in a hospital treatment program to their hanging out at the local coffee shop every day.\n\nA truly effective leader is not always the person you notice or the one who broadcasts their leadership. Leadership can be quiet, unobtrusive, and natural, yet also highly effective through one\'s influence on others.\n\n<h4>The Curse Of The Professional</h4>\n\nThis is the curse of the professional - we make doing something look so easy that those who do not know the underlying skills think that the thing is actually easy. So easy that anyone could do it, without all that fancy training, education, and practice.\n\nCounselors, coaches, teachers, and other helping professionals know this curse. Highly effective leaders and managers also suffer from this condition.\n\nYes, I am talking here about the <a href=\"http://www.businessballs.com/consciouscompetencelearningmodel.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Conscious/Unconscious Learning Model</a> familiar to most of us. As we continue to move behaviors and actions to the unconscious competence stage, we create an image that what we do is easy to do, because we make it look that way.\n\nGetting back to my original question, the responses you give to that question is what the world sees as your skill set.', 'The Curse Of The Professional', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-curse-of-the-professional', '', '', '2015-03-27 06:00:53', '2015-03-27 10:00:53', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25256', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(25276, 380, '2015-03-25 06:00:38', '2015-03-25 10:00:38', 'If you are searching for an effective event facilitator to help with any group productivity meeting, there are a number of things you should consider.\n\nA strong facilitator will discuss goals with the meeting planner and have a thorough understanding of the meeting’s purpose prior to his or her arrival. It is vital that the facilitator understands expectations.\n\nHe or she will also be skilled enough to create a feeling of safety and trust in order to foster more honest and productive communication throughout the event, and establish effective ground rules for productive feedback during the event.\n\nBut as much as each of those items can impact your event, they are not the MOST important or the greatest qualities of an effective event facilitator.\n\nIf you want to ensure the success of your leadership development or team building event, there are five specific things that an outstanding facilitator will do:\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Find Ways To Include All Members</strong> - Many team building facilitators will use the term <em>challenge by choice</em>, which means that participants can choose to include themselves or simply observe. That is important, but even when people choose to observe early on in a program, a successful facilitator will find ways to involve them as well – either by asking for their input as an observer to provide insights on the activity, or by providing activities that are so enjoyable and relevant that people who at first hesitate to join the group eventually jump in with both feet.</li>\n<li><strong>Stimulate Creativity & Improved Awareness</strong> - People have two fears when it comes to group dynamics – the fear of rejection and fear of embarrassment. Great facilitators will provide a safe and encouraging space for people to share ideas and let down their hair long enough to laugh together and then discuss issues. The key is to convince your group that it’s not just <em>okay</em> to expand our awareness and challenge assumptions, it’s incredibly productive and profitable to collaborate and share information and ideas.</li>\n<li><strong>Encourage Conversations & Embrace Conflict</strong> - Producing quality, productive interactions is the key to any successful program, and sometimes growth requires temporary discomfort. At times, your group may need to address issues that cause conflict to become more productive. Always remember that conflict is sometimes necessary, but combat is not. It is your group’s diversity of perspectives that provides the strength of your team and a strong facilitator will maintain focus while helping to draw out and explore disagreements.</li>\n<li><strong>Summarize Insights & Key Take-Aways</strong> - After each of the activities are completed, an effective facilitator will debrief the experience with your group to ensure that it is not only having fun, but it is making progress toward improved interactions and productivity. A skilled and effective facilitator will use these conversations to turn the enjoyable <em>ha-ha\'s</em> into interesting and unexpected <em>a-ha’s</em>, and then will review and summarize the lessons to help your people internalize and apply them.</li>\n<li><strong>Create Actionable Next Step Plans</strong> - Finally, after all of the fun and challenging event activities are completed, and the magical debriefing discussions have been had, an effective facilitator will end your workshop or retreat event with one very powerful exercise – a call to action. Just as an advertisement asks an audience to do something different to improve, a good facilitator will finish by asking your people to review what they have learned during the time together. And then they will ask for each participant to write down one thing that he or she will do differently as a result of the improved awareness that the event provided.</li>\n</ol>\n\nThere are many qualities that an effective facilitator must have to make your event worthwhile and memorable, but those five are certainly at the top of the list. Be sure that your team building events are led by someone who can ensure the experience is valuable for everyone involved.\n\nYou want someone who can inspire candid conversations that will move your team forward. You want someone who will be prepared and understand your situation and needs well enough to keep people focused. You want someone who is energizing and engaging that can keep their attention from wandering.\n\nThere are a great many terrific and talented facilitators who will help you to make your next event a success. When you are planning an event, take the time to ask questions and check on references so that you get the greatest facilitator you can – it truly makes a difference in the quality and impact of your next meeting.', 'The Five Greatest Qualities Of An Effective Event Facilitator', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-five-greatest-qualities-of-an-effective-event-facilitator', '', '', '2015-03-25 06:00:38', '2015-03-25 10:00:38', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25276', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(25286, 274, '2015-03-26 06:00:27', '2015-03-26 10:00:27', 'As my workday begins, I pop into our Facebook group, my team\'s virtual water cooler, to say good morning. I often add the request: Let me know how I can serve you today. As I do it, it feels, at times, like an empty offer.\n\nMy team is scattered across several time zones. We are each working from our home offices, on varying schedules. What does it mean to serve a dispersed, virtual team?\n\nHow can I live out the values of servant leadership in directing my team day to day? This is a work in progress, and I am daily working out the answer. Here are a few ways I\'ve found to serve my virtual team:\n\n<strong>Communication</strong> - Virtual workers want to feel connected, and sharing information consistently is one way to serve them. What do people want to know? What helpful information can I provide to help them be successful in their work? One way I communicate is with a regular Monday morning email, outlining the priorities for the week ahead. It\'s the first thing I do when I arrive at work on Mondays and it sets the pace for communication.\n\n<strong>Availability</strong> - I can serve my team by making myself available to help them in their day to day work. This is tricky, though, because they can\'t just pop their heads into my office and plop down on my couch for a chat. Nor can I guarantee availability to contractors in different time zones; one of our team members is working in <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/weaving-influence/living-our-core-values-flexibility/\" target=\"_blank\">China</a> this month, which means we have to get very creative to find a time to connect by voice. To me, being available to my virtual team is not about instant or all the time, it\'s about making time for people.\n\n<strong>Encouragement</strong> - A well-timed text message, tweet, or handwritten note is another way I can serve my virtual team. I give thoughtful consideration to ensure I reach out to team members over time. I can\'t possibly reach out to every team member each day — or even each week — but I look for ways to recognize people\'s hard work and contributions to our work.\n\n<strong>Creating Opportunities</strong> - Perhaps the most significant way I serve my virtual team is by working to create a stable, viable business to provide work they enjoy. Though this seems obvious, creating opportunities for people to do work they love is the first action that makes the others possible. As I put my head down to grow this business every day, my work is service to the team. Every day, I choose to work in service to the team and our shared goals.\n\nThe intention to serve frames my days. I want to be one of a new breed of servant leaders, who finds ways to serve my dispersed team, with excellence.', 'How Can A Leader Of A Virtual Team Express Servant Leadership?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-can-a-leader-of-a-virtual-team-express-servant-leadership', '', '', '2015-03-26 06:00:27', '2015-03-26 10:00:27', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25286', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(25300, 282, '2015-03-31 06:00:06', '2015-03-31 10:00:06', 'Once there lived a man, a man like no other before him or since. This man was made completely out of air. No bones, no skin, no vital organs pumping and digesting. Only air.\n\nAlthough his very nature made him somewhat unique, those who lived, worked and interacted with him didn’t seem to pay any particular attention to him. Most days as he breezed into work, he felt like his boss and co-workers looked straight through him.\n\n“Maybe I just need to blow my way into discussions?” he wondered.\n\nHis comments on group projects rarely seemed to rustle the pages of anyone’s work portfolio.  His input seemed to whisk right past other staff unnoticed. At times he felt unimportant, ignored and, well, invisible.\n\nAs the weeks, months and years dragged on, his anger grew until finally it reached a tempest level. The only time anyone ever seemed to acknowledge his existence were those rare occasions where his blustering might leave a bit of mess behind it. So if a storm cloud was the only way to get people to pay attention, then a storm cloud is what he would give them.\n\nAfter being repeatedly ignored and passed over, his anger and frustration had built up like an angry spring cyclone. An eruption of epic proportions ensued. In the aftermath of his eruption others were quick to point out the storm damage in his wake he left behind. Although they’d received a sound soaking of ideas and input from him, none of it seemed to matter to them.\n\nThe quality of his input was <em>rain wrapped</em> in anger and confrontation. Suddenly he had more attention than he had ever wanted, but none of it was healthy or happy.\n\nAir Man began to question his impact or purpose in even being a part of the team. The next day as he was pondering whether or not he should blow on to the next job and start fresh, something caught his attention. He noticed another employee, quiet and demure, much like his previous self. He noticed him struggling with a project similar to one Air Man had worked on months earlier. He moved closer, and after a deep breath to steady his nerves, he asked his coworker if he could help in any way.\n\nHis fellow worker gladly responded that any and all help would be welcome. They talked for quite some time about the project, the problems and the possible solutions.  Air Man offered a flurry of ideas for his new friend to consider. What had only a few short hours before seemed like a cyclone of confusion and chaos had now become calm, focused and directed.\n\nAir Man discovered a new truth about himself. His desire to be on the blustering front edge of the company and the group had blinded him to where his real impact could lie. Rather than in the center of the spotlight leading the charge, maybe there was another way he could make a difference.\n\nWhat if he could be the firm, steady force behind the sails of others? What if he could be the powerful but controlled strength that powered others, much like the spring winds move the giant blades of a wind farm? Strength to power others.  Power to move others. Moving others one at a time to accomplish what they might not have been able to do without his help. He breathed a thankful sigh of contentment.\n\nAnd what do his co-workers think of him now? They all say the same thing as he invests in each of them with encouragement, questions and observations that build up and inspire them: “Air Mman? He’s like a breath of fresh air.”\n\n<ul>\n<li>Feeling like you don’t matter? Don’t give up, you do matter.</li>\n<li>Upset that you’ve blown it by losing your cool? Join the crowd. We all have.</li>\n<li>Wonder if you’ll ever have an impact on your team, your company? You will.</li>\n</ul>\n\nLook for the best place (big or small, large group or individual) to breathe life into someone else’s sails. Be that guiding force, or the cool refreshing that your input can bring. Be the breath of fresh air another person needs today.\n\nGo be that person this week, like no one before you or since.', 'The Legend Of Air Man', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-legend-of-airman', '', '', '2015-03-31 06:00:06', '2015-03-31 10:00:06', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25300', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(25313, 386, '2015-04-01 06:00:32', '2015-04-01 10:00:32', 'One definition of synergy is the cooperation of two or more people to create something greater than the sum of the individuals.\n\nThat’s what I think Lead Change Group is all about - creating something bigger than what any one of us can do on our own.\n\nIn a recent article, Becky Robinson of Weaving Influence asked <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/how-can-a-leader-of-a-virtual-team-express-servant-leadership/\">How Can A Leader Of A Virtual Team Express Servant Leadership</a>?\n\nIn the post, Becky highlights being available, encouraging her team, and creating opportunities. While these are all powerful ways to be a leader, I think the best synergy, and thus leadership, is created when we are challenged to grow outside our comfort zone.\n\nMy most powerful growth as a leader has been when I have been challenged to do something that I know I can never do. With the help of others, again there is that notion of synergy, I have been able to push through challenges that baffled me.\n\nPeople that I have mentored tell me that over and over again I asked them to do things that in their heart of hearts they could never do. Every time, they found a way to do what it was that they thought they could not do. It was my belief combined with my connection to these people that let them overcome their fears and move into their next challenge.\n<h3>Practical Ways To Create Synergy</h3>\nWhat are the practical ways that you can create synergy in your community? Here are a few ideas:\n<ul>\n	<li><strong>Connect</strong> - There is a leadership maxim - <em>connect, then forward</em>. Until there is trust between two people, there is no chance for synergy or growth. You have to put the in the time and effort to a relationship so that you can connect. What are you doing today to connect to those you lead?</li>\n	<li><strong>Shared Vision</strong> - As Jim Collins tells us in his book <em>Good To Great</em>,getting everyone on a team pushing in the same direction is how we overcome challenges. He compares it to pushing a flywheel. For a long time nothing happens, but when sustained effort is made in the same direction, the flywheel eventually breaks free. There is deep connection in having everyone pushing together towards the same vision.</li>\n	<li><strong>Challenges</strong> - Life is full of challenges. Helping someone overcome his or her challenge or working together to rise to a great challenge creates fabulous synergy and connection.</li>\n	<li><strong>Control</strong> - Put you and your team in a situation where you are not in control. One of the reasons I love sailing, especially across oceans, is that all you have is your boat and the people with you. Everything depends on you creating synergy together to overcome whatever comes up. While you might not want to go to this extreme, find ways to take those you lead into situations where you have to work together as a team in order to respond to circumstances beyond your control.</li>\n</ul>\nIn work and in life we create something magical when we are challenged to work together. When people are growing together, there is indeed synergy creating something special and much greater than the individuals involved.', 'Synergy', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'synergy', '', '', '2015-04-01 06:00:32', '2015-04-01 10:00:32', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25313', 0, 'post', '', 6);
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(25324, 389, '2015-03-30 06:00:14', '2015-03-30 10:00:14', 'As humans we are driven to make connections, find patterns, and establish associations in places where they may not inherently exist. We are compelled to bind ourselves to the external world and have a fundamental motivation to believe that our perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors are correct.\n\nWhen elements of our perceived reality change or are shattered, a disconcerting sense of fundamental incongruity motivates us to reestablish a sense of normalcy, coherence, and certainty.<sup>1</sup> This feeling of incongruity can be deeply unsettling, for example, when men set off explosives at a marathon race or open fire in a movie theater; that is not how our world is supposed to operate. We seek to make sense of the situation and reconfirm meaning elsewhere in our lives when such tragedies occur. We need to be certain of something, anything, in moments following such heinous events.\n\nAlbeit to a lesser degree, obviously, the same phenomenon happens when we destroy an employee’s sense of certainty. For today’s business, which deals with change at increasingly rapid rates, an employee’s sense of certainty is corroded at the same rate that change is mismanaged. Poorly handled change management causes employees frustration, discomfort, disengagement, and a hasty search to reconnect with other more meaningful frameworks in their lives. The fast-growing company can ill-afford the halting and even paralyzing effects of change poorly handled.\n\nWhen change is happening to us, the natural instinct for us as humans is to work feverishly to reconstruct our new reality and to recover our sense of certainty about the world we are operating in. Studies show it is important for us as humans to make sense of the way things are about to be. Psychological doubt about what the change will mean leads to higher turnover and lower job satisfaction.\n\nMost importantly, organizational psychologists have discovered that if employees can’t make a link between change and their own personal goals and values, or worse, if a direct conflict exists between them, the significance, meaning, and associated intrinsic motivation derived from work disappears.<sup>2</sup>\n\nSimilarly, change can challenge the identities employees have built, also draining felt significance and meaning in the process. For example, plant technicians that have proudly built mastery with one machine type, for example, may find their identities as experts challenged with the influx of the next generation of machinery. Their expertise just became meaningless.\n\nEmployees simply must be able to make sense of and assign personal significance and meaning to the changes taking place, or their sense of certainty is compromised and they will resist the changes in the short term, and spiral downward in the longer term.\n\nAnd the fundamental problem behind change doesn’t make things any easier. Companies are worried about sustaining the business during change, while employees are understandably worried about keeping their jobs. Interests are aligned but they aren’t mutual. This adds to the likelihood that change will be executed in a fashion that simply doesn’t work for the employee.\n\nWhile much has been written on change management, what follows will focus on how to maintain a sense of certainty and how to allow employees to assign personal significance and meaning to change taking place. Being cognizant of meaning-maintenance during change is the surest way to not only bring about acceptance of the change, but to ensure the change integrates into an overall plan for sustained performance over time. In this sense, the mismanagement of change can be avoided.\n<h3>5 Ways To Get It Right</h3>\nHere are five ways, then, to help employees assign personal significance to change and accordingly maintain meaning and motivation during the process of change management:\n<ol>\n	<li><strong>Defuse Fear Of The Unknown</strong> - An upfront commitment to be upfront in communicating change is essential. Providing the information needed at the onset of change and even over communicating, while being honest about what isn’t known yet, what will have to be given up, and what work will be required can keep change management from negatively changing the meaning derived at work. Our minds fill in the blanks when information is lacking; new realities that employees begin to construct might be built on the wrong foundation. In the absence of proper information and context, as employees try to make sense of the change, emotional and rational reactions can swing wildly out of control. Frequent updates throughout the process of change, even when everything isn’t known, can go a long way to defusing fear. You shouldn’t underestimate the maturity of employees to be able to handle work in progress communications; nor should you underestimate the immaturity that can take hold in the face of radio silence. All in all, committing to a disciplined communication plan behind change can eliminate fear of the unknown, fear of hidden agendas, and even fear of failure.</li>\n	<li><strong>Make A Clear Case For Change</strong> - Without such a case, it will look like what change management expert Jim Clemmer calls “management by whim.” <sup>3</sup> An abundance of clear, sound logic can help employees to make sense of the change. Helping them understand the risk of staying stagnant vs. changing can also help on this front. With a clear cut case for change well communicated, employees can quickly buy in and move on to reconstructing their new reality in a way that enhances the personal significance they assign to the change and preserves the meaning they derive from work.</li>\n	<li><strong>Frame the Change</strong> - Helping employees to see how change links to their personal goals and values and how it can strengthen the identities they are building is one of the most powerful ways to maintain meaning during the change management process. Employees need to understand not only how change affects them, but how change can affect an even better version of them. Clearly linking the change to learning and growth opportunities can magnify meaning during the process. This is also true of helping employees understand how the rewards will match or exceed the efforts that will be required as a result of the change. Employees obviously play a big part as well in maintaining or bolstering meaning during the implementation of change. They may need to get out of their comfort zone, adapt their identity a bit, or adjust their goals a little.</li>\n	<li><strong>Involve Them in the Construction of Change</strong> - I\'ve heard it said and found it true that a change imposed is a change opposed. Change that happens to people, rather than change they are a part of, is perceived as a loss of control. Making an effort to involve those affected by change early and often (as much and as widely as is practical) maintains the deep seated need for a sense of control. It also provides more time for those to be affected by the change to process what it will mean and how they might forge positive links to their personal goals, values, and identities. Those involved in the construction of change can also help create effective mechanisms to carry out the change in an acceptable, non-chaotic fashion.</li>\n	<li><strong>Equip Them for Change</strong> - When people don’t feel they are ready for change, it can challenge their felt competency, which in turns effects self-confidence and strips the intrinsic motivation of work. Feeling ill-equipped for change is inconsistent with the meaning-making goals and values of learning and growing. Resources and training required should carefully be mapped out before change is even announced. And change agents can be recruited to help role model the new skills and behaviors required, thus providing much needed reassurance.</li>\n</ol>\n<div><small>(1) Heine, S.J., Proulx, T., &amp; Vohs, K.D., <em>The Meaning Maintenance Model: On the Coherence of Social Motivations </em>(2006), Personality and Social Psychology Review, vol. 10, No. 2, 88–110.</small></div>\n<div><small>(2) Schreurs, B.H.J., Bakker, A.B., Schaufeli, W.B., <em>Does Meaning-making Help During Organizational Change? </em>(July 6, 2009), Career Development International<em>, </em>14(6), 508-533.</small></div>\n<div><small>(3) Clemmer, J., <em>Mastering Change Through Continuous Growth, Learning, and Improvement, </em> www.clemmergroup.com.</small></div>', 'The Mismanagement Of Change &amp; 5 Ways To Get It Right', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-mismanagement-of-change-and-5-ways-to-get-it-right', '', '', '2015-03-30 06:00:14', '2015-03-30 10:00:14', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25324', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(25336, 372, '2015-04-13 06:00:07', '2015-04-13 10:00:07', 'The Aurora, Colorado city manager\'s job is on the line. At issue is his <a href=\"http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_27811258/aurora-city-manager-council-meet-behind-closed-doors\" target=\"_blank\">purported mistreatment</a> of female members on the city council over the past year.\n\nFive of the six female council members say the city manager yells at them, treats them condescendingly, and doesn\'t listen to them when discussing city business.\n\nThis week, an outside consultant is facilitating a closed-door meeting with the ten council members and the mayor. There is hope that the meeting will resolve these issues and help the council move forward.\n\nThe city manager\'s behavior seems to be consistent with classic workplace bullying. The <a href=\"http://www.workplacebullying.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Workplace Bullying Institute</a> (WBI) defines workplace bullying as repeated, health-harming abusive conduct that is threatening, humiliating or intimidating, or work sabotage, or verbal abuse.\n\nWorkplace bullying is epidemic in organizations around the globe. Their <a href=\"http://www.workplacebullying.org/wbiresearch/wbi-2014-us-survey/\" target=\"_blank\">2014 Workplace Bullying Survey</a> found that over 72% of US workers - estimated at over 65 million players - have been affected by bullying. <a href=\"http://ilera2012.wharton.upenn.edu/refereedpapers/cobbellen.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Ellen Cobb\'s 2012 Study</a> found similar prevalence of workplace bullying in other countries.\n\nFor many of us, simply reading the statement \"workplace bullying\" conjures up memories of abusive behavior from bosses and colleagues. We get emotional and angry just thinking about our treatment at the hands of these bullies.\n\nWhat do companies do when reports of workplace bullying occur? The Workplace Bullying Survey found that 72% of US employers deny, discount, encourage, rationalize or defend workplace bullying.\n\nWhy do companies tolerate workplace bullying? They may not know any better. They may never have tried to address bullying. Or, they tried, but the effort blew up in their faces.\n\nA very common issue that inhibits companies from addressing workplace bullying is that companies do not have formal values or valued behaviors in place. In the absence of clear values standards, companies let players do whatever they want to gain the results the companies desire.\n\nHowever, if you only measure results, people have no qualms about behaving badly to get those results. We\'ve all seen it. People intimidate their peers to grab the best sales leads or to gain access to people in power, whom they can impress. People withhold information so they win while their colleagues lose.\n\nPeople berate others or throw tantrums because they\'ve seen their bosses berate others and throw tantrums. It\'s the norm in their organization. Without values guidelines, the only things that naturally happen in organizations are anger, frustration, and fear.\n\nA work environment that treats everyone with trust, dignity, and respect doesn\'t happen by default; it happens only by design. Leaders need to be as intentional about values alignment as they are about performance traction. Leaders need to implement an organizational constitution.\n\nAn organizational constitution is a formal document that specifies the organization\'s present day purpose, values and behaviors, strategies, and goals. By clarifying values expectations in behavioral terms, people learn what a good job looks like in terms of how they interact with others.\n\nA good job is no longer just hitting performance targets. It\'s about being nice, interacting cooperatively, and serving peers and customers along the way.\n\nCould the city of Aurora, Colorado have been able to eliminate all possible bullying behavior - by everyone in city administration and the council - by crafting an organizational constitution and aligning all plans, decisions, and actions to it? Yes, they could.', 'Deal With Workplace Bullying', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'deal-with-workplace-bullying', '', '', '2015-04-13 06:00:07', '2015-04-13 10:00:07', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25336', 0, 'post', '', 11),
(25387, 318, '2015-04-02 06:00:26', '2015-04-02 10:00:26', 'He oozed with confidence as he shared his techniques and stories. I wrote down most of what he said. Until his next words, which turned my attitude of respect to annoyance. \n\n\"Oh, I never look at smile sheets. Frankly, I never listen to unsolicited feedback. If I want to improve, I\'ll ask people I know well and respect\"\n\nOf course the obvious implication is that he did not respect the prestigious audience to whom he was currently presenting. I looked on the table. Nope. No smile sheets. Apparently he\'d nipped that in the bud.\n\nHe then launched into advice on how to use Twitter. I positioned my smartphone under the table. As I suspected, nearly 10K Twitter followers. He follows no one. I cringed as folks wrote down what he said.\n\nMy friend laughed as we approached our post seminar lunch. Can\'t wait to hear what <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/MagneticHumility_v21.jpg\">Ms. Confident Humility</a> has to say. \"I\'d never hire him,\" I shared matter-of-factly. Neither would she. He\'d lost us at I know.\n\n<h3>4 Reasons You\'re Not Getting the Feedback You Need</h3>\n\nThis was not his first rodeo, and I\'m quite sure he didn\'t need my work. But I wondered who else he was turning off with his \"I\'m perfect just the way I am\" stance. I\'m in the opposite camp. I always want to hear the feedback. What I do next is up to me.\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>You Make It Clear You Don\'t Want It</strong> - It\'s not usually this obvious. But I\'ve seen many executives and managers take this stance. They work so hard to APPEAR confident and decisive that they send off a clear signal that no feedback is necessary. No words are needed to have this impact. Your body language and facial expressions can do it for you. If you\'re serious about being a great leader, stay sincerely open to improving and role model this behavior for others.</li>\n<li><strong>You\'re Not Asking</strong> - I was recently interviewed for a <strong>T</strong><strong>ime Magazine </strong>article, <a href=\"http://time.com/3763241/5-questions-feedback/\" target=\"_blank\">5 Questions to Ask When Looking For Feedback</a>. If this is a struggle for you, try out these questions.</li>\n<li><strong>You React Poorly</strong> - I see this all the time. An employee asks their team, or peers, or their boss for feedback, only to get defensive at the response. Your first best response to feedback is thank you. If you need clarifying questions be sure they are in a spirit of seeking to understand and not confrontation. If you need time to regroup before asking more, say thank you and come back later.</li>\n<li>You Over-Do It - I\'ve had employees wear me out with their constant (let\'s call it what it is \"needy\") request for feedback at every turn. Give the feedback some time to steep before asking again. See also <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/learning-development/development-deluge/\">Developmental Deluge</a></li>\n</ol>\n\nGreat leaders make it easy for people to give them feedback. They understand that leadership is never handled or done. It is an ongoing process. If you get one of these leaders, fantastic. If you don\'t, hopefully these four tips will help you make the most of your feedback experience.', '4 Reasons You&#039;re Not Getting The Feedback You Need', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '4-reasons-youre-not-getting-the-feedback-you-need', '', '', '2015-04-02 06:00:26', '2015-04-02 10:00:26', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25387', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(25404, 274, '2015-04-06 13:00:11', '2015-04-06 17:00:11', 'Welcome to the April 2015 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival. The College Basketball championship game will be played tonight.\n\nOver the last few weeks, social media has been abuzz with people who wanted certain outcomes. They hoped favorite teams would win, a <em>cinderella</em> would emerge from the lower seeded teams, and in some cases, that friendly wagers would go their way.\n\nNo matter how much research you do or how fervently you hope for a certain outcome, reality tends to dish out different outcomes sometimes than the ones we want or hope for.\n\nAs leaders, we are constantly dealing with the equivalent of <strong>busted brackets</strong>. Management changes, or our strategic plan is rebuffed, or people simply don\'t perform the way we think they will.\n\nWe appreciate these 23 leaders who have incisive ideas about how to succeed when complications arise, and how to nurture teams who can then thrive.\n\n<h3>Let\'s Get Started</h3>\n\n<strong>Anna Farmery</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.theengagingbrand.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The Engaging Brand</a> contributed <a href=\"http://www.theengagingbrand.com/2015/03/point-of-difference.html\" target=\"_blank\">Define Your Point Of Difference Like Van Gogh</a>. She paints a compelling picture of the way to define your point of difference - what it is that makes you stand out. Find Anna on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Engagingbrand\" target=\"_blank\">@engagingbrand</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n\n<strong>Anne Perschel, Ph.D.</strong>, of <a href=\"http://germaneconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Germane Consulting</a> submitted <a href=\"http://germaneconsulting.com/women-redefine-leadership/\" target=\"_blank\">5 Ways Women Redefine Leadership</a>. She shares: \"Women have improved and redefined leadership in a number of important ways, which men have also adopted. But women but get little credit for these contributions. Read this to change that. Follow Anne on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bizshrink\" target=\"_blank\">@bizshrink</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Bruce Harpham</strong> of <a href=\"http://projectmanagementhacks.com/#sthash.Zeperxcx.dpbs\" target=\"_blank\">Project Management Hacks</a> submitted <a href=\"http://projectmanagementhacks.com/team-appreciation/#sthash.JfqVwSxt.dpbs\" target=\"_blank\">Why Showing Appreciation To Your Team Makes A Difference</a>. Bruce says, \"Appreciation is a powerful leadership tool. Learn five different ways you can show appreciation to the people you work with. Your team will be happier and more productive as a result.\" Follow Bruce on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PMPhacks\" target=\"_blank\">@PMPHacks</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://management.about.com/od/managementskills/fl/How-to-Give-Feedback.htm\" target=\"_blank\">How To Give Feedback</a>. He reminds readers, \"Feedback can be one of the most powerful ways to develop employees and improve performance,\" then asks, \"so why are many managers so hesitant to give it?\" Find Dan on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/greatleadership\" target=\"_blank\">@GreatLeadership</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Dana Theus</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.inpowerconsultingllc.com/\" target=\"_blank\">In Power Consulting</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.inpowerconsultingllc.com/dealing-with-difficult-people/\" target=\"_blank\">Dealing With Difficult People</a>. In her article, Dana explores how relationships can improve by getting alignment on three areas: emotions, beliefs, and intentions & expectations. Follow Dana on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanaTheus\" target=\"_blank\">@danatheus</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>David Couper</strong> of <a href=\"https://improvingpolice.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Improving Police</a> contributed <a href=\"https://improvingpolice.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/are-you-a-quality-leader/\" target=\"_blank\">Are You A Quality Leader?</a> David\'s article outlines 12 principles of quality leadership. Although his site is specific to law enforcement, you\'ll see how the principles can transfer to many areas of business.\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/mar-2015/\" target=\"_blank\">10 Questions To Ask When No One Will Listen</a>. In this article, David reminds readers \"If you’ve communicated something once, you haven’t communicated.\" The 10 suggested questions in the article help leaders to truly listen. Discover David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/davidmdye\" target=\"_blank\">@davidmdye</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jeff Harmon</strong> of <a href=\"http://brilliancewithincoaching.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Brilliance Within</a> contributed <a href=\"http://brilliancewithincoaching.com/servant-leadership/the-single-most-important-leadership-lesson\" target=\"_blank\">If I Could Only Teach One Leadership Lesson</a>. In this article, Jeff explains the crucial role of true listening. He continues, \"Service can come in a variety of forms, but whatever form it takes, take great care to ensure that you’re genuine in your interest.\" You can locate Jeff on Twitter at<a href=\"https://twitter.com/jeffdharmon74\" target=\"_blank\"> @JeffDHarmon</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/situational-team-decision-making/\" target=\"_blank\">Collaboration Does Not Require Consensus</a>. Jesse summarized: \"Pushing for consensus when it’s not needed actually makes collaboration more difficult. The best collaborative environments are situational in their approach to team decision-making.\" 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/2015/03/15/five-ways-to-serve-your-organization-and-build-your-leadership-skills/\" target=\"_blank\">Five Ways To Serve Your Organization & Build Your Leadership Skills</a>. Jim uses this article to discuss the five pursuits people should pursue in order to integrate the personal aspects of leadership growth with organizational needs. 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 <a href=\"http://careeradvancementblog.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Career Advancement Blog</a> contributed <a href=\"http://careeradvancementblog.com/women-leadership-roles\" target=\"_blank\">Women In Leadership Roles: Are They Perceived Differently?</a>. Joel has some great tips, including \"learn from successful role models or mentors.\" Find Joel on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JoelGarfinkle\" target=\"_blank\">@JoelGarfinkle</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>John Hunter</strong>, on behalf of the <a href=\"https://www.deming.org/\" target=\"_blank\">W. Edwards Deming Institute</a>, provided the podcast <a href=\"http://blog.deming.org/2015/03/transforming-the-organization-deming-podcast-with-david-langford/\" target=\"_blank\">Transforming The Organization - With David Langford</a>. In the podcast, David Langford emphasizes why it is best to focus where you actually can have influence and discusses the fact that to transform you need to change the system. Follow The Deming Institute on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DemingInstitute\" target=\"_blank\">@DemingInstitute</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=\"http://www.thindifference.com/2015/03/the-uncomfortable-truths-about-generational-culture/\" target=\"_blank\">The Uncomfortable Truths About Generational Culture</a>. Jon continues: \"Do we build bridges between generations and cultivate an environment where everyone can excel? To lead more fully, we must listen to diverse voices and engage different generations.\" Follow Jon on Twitter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThinDifference\" target=\"_blank\">@ThinDifference</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Julie Winkle Giulioni</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/company/\">Design Arounds</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/blog/career-matters/is-it-time-to-kill-off-career/\" target=\"_blank\">Is It Time To Kill Off Career?</a>. In this article, Julie asks, \"Has the term career outlived its usefulness in today’s business lexicon and is its continued used threatening employee engagement?\" Follow Julie on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Julie_WG\" target=\"_blank\">@julie_wg</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Karin Hurt</strong> of <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/\">Let\'s Grow Leaders</a> submitted <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/communication-listening/weak-ties/\" target=\"_blank\">5 Ways To Strengthen Trust With Weak Ties</a>. In her article, Karin encourages each of us to be that guy. Read the article to find out who that guy is and why they are so critical to true collaboration. Follow Karin on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LetsGrowLeaders\">@letsgrowleaders</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Linda Fisher Thornton</strong> of <a href=\"http://leadingincontext.com/\">Leading In Context</a> contributed <a href=\"http://leadingincontext.com/2015/03/25/authenticleadership/\" target=\"_blank\">What Is Authentic Leadership?</a> She says: \"I believe that 14 personal, interpersonal and societal dimensions together form what we think of as <em>authenticity</em>. They involve overcoming the internal and external barriers to living an intentional, aware and ethical life. See if you agree.\" Follow her on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/leadingincontxt\">@Leadingincontxt</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/how-leaders-can-identify-and-establish-core-values-that-connect\" target=\"_blank\">How Leaders Can Identify & Establish Core Values That Connect</a>. He asks, \"If you asked your employees what the organization\'s core values are, could they tell you? Most cannot, which results in lower levels of connection and engagement.\" His article contains four steps that can help leaders to identify and establish core values that are meaningful and encourage connection across the entire organization. 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://mappingcompanysuccess.com/\">Ramp Up Solutions, Inc.</a>, shared<a href=\"http://mappingcompanysuccess.com/2015/03/influence-persuasion-and-manipulation/\" target=\"_blank\"> Influence, Persuasion, and Manipulation</a>. In the article, Miki discusses Influence, persuasion, manipulation. Despite the various words used, each one still carries power, and calls for caution on the part of the person wielding it. Find Miki on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OptionSanity\" target=\"_blank\">@OptionSanity</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Neal Burgis, Ph.D.</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/\">Burgis Successful Solutions</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/2015/03/25/beyond-the-obvious-to-create-breakthrough-results/\" target=\"_blank\">Beyond The Obvious To Create Breakthrough Results</a>. In this article, Neal discusses how organizations can innovate by harnessing the power of new ideas and \"shifting gears into thrive.\" Find Neal on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Exec_Solutions\" target=\"_blank\">@exec_solutions</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Randy Conley</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.leadingwithtrust.com/\">Leading With Trust</a> submitted <a href=\"http://leadingwithtrust.com/2015/03/22/6-steps-to-leading-like-a-badass/\" target=\"_blank\">6 Steps To Leading Like a Badass</a>. Randy shares: \"There’s a part of every leader that wants to be known as a badass, but being a badass leader isn’t exactly what you think it is.\" Follow Randy on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RandyConley\">@randyconley</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Robyn McLeod</strong> of <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Chatsworth Consulting Group</a> presented <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/2015/03/19/eight-tips-for-having-that-difficult-conversation-with-your-boss\" target=\"_blank\">Eight Tips for Having That Difficult Conversation With Your Boss</a> from <a href=\"http://chatsworthconsulting.com/thoughtful-leaders/\" target=\"_blank\">The Thoughtful Leaders Blog</a> where she shares that while having a difficult conversation with your boss is never easy, taking the plunge can pay off in a big way if you follow a few simple tips for making it a productive discussion. Follow Thoughtful Leaders on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThoughtfulLdrs/\" target=\"_blank\">@ThoughtfulLdrs</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>S. Chris Edmonds</strong> of <a href=\"http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The Purposeful Culture Group</a> contributed <a href=\"http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com/one-companys-values-journey/\" target=\"_blank\">One Company\'s Values Journey</a>. In sharing this article, Chris explains: \"I love learning about values-aligned organizations. Here’s my interview with <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarkSFernandes\" target=\"_blank\">Mark S. Fernandes</a>, Chief Leadership Officer of the Luck Companies, on their evolution to embracing Values Based Leadership.\" Follow Chris on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/scedmonds\" target=\"_blank\">@scedmonds</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 <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/recognizing-leadership-in-action/\" target=\"_blank\">Recognizing Leadership In Action</a>. Susan asks us to consider the people we are around every day, then to look for acts of leadership we can recognize in them. She notes: \"Great leaders become great by taking one act of leadership at a time over time.\" 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 Naseer Leadership</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.tanveernaseer.com/transforming-our-leadership-from-getting-to-giving/\" target=\"_blank\">Why Successful Leaders Focus On Giving Over Getting</a>. In this article, Tanveer shares a story of a comedian and how he made a mental shift from \"not looking to take, but looking for an opportunity to give.\" Follow 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=\"https://www.envisialearning.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Envisia Learning</a> sent <a href=\"http://blog.envisialearning.com/leadership-development-fat-smoker/\" target=\"_blank\">Leadership Development & The Fat Smoker</a>. In this article, Wall observes, \"In other words, everybody talks about leadership development, but hardly anyone does anything.\" He encourages the reason this may be the case, and encourages us to \"Stop just talking about leadership development and start doing something about it.\" Follow Wally on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wallybock\" target=\"_blank\">@wallybock</a>\n\n<h3>Until Next Time</h3>\n\nWe appreciate everyone who submitted articles for this month\'s carnival. We are pleased to announce that <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/about-the-author/\" target=\"_blank\">Susan Mazza</a> of <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Random Acts of Leadership</a> will be hosting the May Leadership Development Carnival. We will send submission details later this month.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/ldc_rectangle.png\" alt=\"\" />', 'April 2015 Leadership Development Carnival', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'april-2015-leadership-development-carnival', '', '', '2015-04-06 13:00:11', '2015-04-06 17:00:11', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25404', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(25418, 374, '2015-04-03 06:00:09', '2015-04-03 10:00:09', 'Greetings to you on this Friday, April 3. Many of our Lead Change Group readers may have ducked out early as they participate in holiday observances.\n\nGrocery stores are undoubtedly stocking up on eggs as families prepare to color them in advance of egg hunts. Dozens of white eggs, uniform in color and needing some attention to give them each an individual personality.\n\nLooking back over our 2015 Lead Change Group posts to date, I noticed some of our own <em>white eggs</em> ... posts with fascinating viewpoints on leadership, management, and development. I am writing to ask your help to liven them up by commenting, sharing, or both.\n<h3>Here\'s Our Dozen</h3>\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/pete-friedes/\" target=\"_blank\">Pete Friedes</a>, in his article <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/setting-employee-expectations/\" target=\"_blank\">Setting Employee Expectations</a>, says \"a good manager sets expectations in six areas and then follows through.\" Which of the six areas resonates most with you?\n\nLast month, we went golfing with a Chip Shots post called \"<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/chip-shots-when-a-leader-does-not-feel-ready/\" target=\"_blank\">When A Leader Does Not Feel Ready</a>.\" In this post, <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/david-dye/\">David Dye</a> asserted \"you\'re never fully ready.\" We hope you\'re ready to share <strong>your</strong> thoughts on this topic.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/david-greer/\">David Greer</a> in his article <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/living-a-purposeful-vision/\" target=\"_blank\">Living A Purposeful Vision</a>, explains how he has a goal of getting \"entrepreneurs to step into the biggest thing that is blocking them from going forward.\" What advice would you give someone who is struggling <img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/bigstock-Gold-Fish-67664323-300x200-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" />to live out their purposeful vision?\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/mary-schaefer/\">Mary Schaefer</a> in her article <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/is-your-culture-big-enough/\" target=\"_blank\">Is Your Culture Big Enough?</a>, asks \"do you want growth or do you want to be right?\" We are fishing for more thoughts on this topic. What are yours?\n\nIn January, we revisited <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/meet-instigator-chery-gegelman/\">Chery Gegelman\'s</a> article <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/why-character-based-leadership-a-book-excerpt/\" target=\"_blank\">Thoughts On Character-Based Leadership</a>. She asked, \"Would it surprise you to realize that our leadership needs today are the same as they were thousands of years ago?\" What are your leadership needs?\n\nAnother January contribution came from <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/will-lukang/\">Will Lukang</a> in his article, <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/attitude-is-not-everything/\" target=\"_blank\">Attitude Is Not Everything</a>. Will said, \"I still believe in attitude as key to people’s success, but I also value people who are committed to continuous learning and making it happen.\" What are your thoughts on the role of attitude in success?\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/page-cole/\">Page Cole</a>, in his article <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/your-team-needs-a-mean-leader/\" target=\"_blank\">Your Team Needs A Mean Leader</a>, discusses when \"it pays to be mean.\" Be nice and give us your thoughts on the topic, okay?\n\nIn <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/character-based-leader-four/\" target=\"_blank\">A Crisis Of Character</a>, we looked back at <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/don-shapiro-the-character-based-leader-co-author-interview/\">Don Shapiro\'s</a> observations of the poor outcomes that result when leadership is in short supply. Read over his examples of leadership challenges in government, medicine, business, and the clergy. Then, tell us about some success stories. We could use some good news.\n\nJust as the whole Easter egg decorating production requires an interdisciplinary effort, so do almost all of our endeavors in the world. In a Chip Shots post, <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/the-power-of-interdisciplinary-efforts/\" target=\"_blank\">The Power Of Interdisciplinary Efforts</a>, several of our leading voices discussed how interdisciplinary efforts contribute to better products and experiences for everyone. Have you seen interdisciplinary efforts thrive?\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/chris-edmonds/\">Chris Edmonds</a> got to the core of what makes organizations tick with <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/the-most-important-thing/\" target=\"_blank\">The Most Important Thing</a>. Quick, if you haven\'t read it, what do you think is most important to make an organization run well? Now hop over to the post and learn from Chris.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/david-greer/\">David Greer</a> sailed onto the Lead Change Group seas a second time with <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/synergy/\" target=\"_blank\">Synergy</a>. He shared some fantastic ideas, such as deciding on a shared vision and facing challenges head-on, to create synergies within communities.  What do you believe has to be in place for synergy to occur?\n\nRounding out our dozen eggs we have <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/john-smith/\">John Smith</a>\'s post, <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/a-few-words-about-participation-awards/\" target=\"_blank\">A Few Words About Participation Awards</a>. Still with us? If so, here\'s a thank you!\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/file7901236552504-e1424909807462-300x300-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" />\n\nBut there\'s more! If you will be a super-participant, and help put some <em>color in our eggs</em>, you will be eligible for a free copy of <a href=\"http://daretoserveleaders.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Dare to Serve</a>, the inspiring book by <a href=\"https://cherylbachelder.com\" target=\"_blank\">Cheryl Bachelder</a>, CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.\n\n<img class=\" size-full wp-image-22384 aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Dare-to-Serve.jpg\" alt=\"\" />\n<h3>Here Are Your Instructions:</h3>\n<ol>\n	<li>Comment on at least three of the posts featured here. Make sure to comment <strong>on that specific post</strong>, not here on this post. AND/OR</li>\n	<li>Share at least three of the posts via <strong>your social  media channels</strong>. THEN</li>\n	<li>Let us know in the comments <strong>here on this post</strong> that you commented or shared</li>\n</ol>\nWe want you to be quick as a bunny to do this, so this activity is for today only. We will check the comments section at 6:00pm ET on Friday, April 3rd, to create the pool of contenders. And thank you for helping us take our eggs from plain to technicolor.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px;\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/file0001197634274-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" />', 'Color Our Eggs!', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'color-our-eggs', '', '', '2015-04-03 06:00:09', '2015-04-03 10:00:09', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25418', 0, 'post', '', 12),
(25430, 389, '2015-04-15 06:00:38', '2015-04-15 10:00:38', 'Unfortunately, research shows that as managers we can unwittingly destroy an employee’s sense of meaning with our behaviors that correspondingly drain a sense of certainty, completion, confidence, or community.\n\nWhen this happens, employees seek to migrate the derivation of meaning to alternative pockets as part of an internal balancing act.  The shocking loss of meaning at work is energy draining. Alternative sources of energy are correspondingly and desperately sought.\n\nSuch is the impact of a manager’s corrosive behavior on the energy flow of an organization. In fact, it is helpful to think of an organization’s energy as expressed within a formula – a formula that serves as a useful conceptual tool. This formula contains 4 self-questions to ensure you aren\'t draining meaning at work.\n\n<h3>The Organizational Energy Formula</h3>\n\n<strong>Et = E<sub>1</sub> +/- E<sub>2</sub> – E<sub>3</sub></strong>\n\nThe formula reads like this: The total energy that an organization has (Et) is equal to the energy of the employee (E<sub>1</sub>) plus or minus the energy the manager brings to the table (E<sub>2</sub>: The manager can be a positive or negative ion, minus the forces that drain the energy of the organization (E<sub>3</sub>).\n\nSo the idea is to ensure that you are contributing only positive ions to the energy formula, and helping to neutralize the negative ions of energy that can gain critical mass all around you in the organization.\n\nOf course, bring all the positive energy you can to the job and to those around you.  But also ask yourself these four questions to ensure you are not unknowingly sapping the organization’s energy:\n<ol>\n<li>Am I adding to the sense of certainty others feel in their jobs, or detracting from it? Do I provide clear vision and direction?</li>\n<li>Am I adding to the sense of completion others feel in their work, or detracting from it? Are you allowing others to complete their work without changing direction, giving them autonomy to do so?</li>\n<li>Am I adding to each person’s sense of confidence, or destroying it? Are my behaviors overly critical? Do I fail to show appreciation?</li>\n<li>Am I adding to the sense of community or violating it? Are my behaviors callous, withdrawn, or inauthentic?</li>\n</ol>\nOur job as managers is to control variables in the organizational energy formula such that it becomes an equation for a winning, meaning-rich, and fulfilling workplace.', 'The Organizational Energy Formula', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-organizational-energy-formula', '', '', '2015-04-15 06:00:38', '2015-04-15 10:00:38', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25430', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(25482, 251, '2015-04-10 06:00:03', '2015-04-10 10:00:03', 'Most of us have an inner critic, the little voice in our head that—depending on the degree of power we give to it—can be an inhibiting enemy or a good, supportive friend.\n\nAfter a long career in business, I turned to writing as one part of my second act. Recently I read several early blog posts and was horrified. I knew I had lots to learn about the craft of writing when I began, and those old posts were dreadful evidence of how little I knew.\n\nMy inner critic accelerated to warp speed, chastising me for every dangling participle, adverb, and run-on sentence.\n\nInner critics are pesky that way.\n\nThey trash-talk us, specializing in shame, fear, negativity, and inadequacy. They have a knack for identifying our vulnerabilities and have the audacity to use that knowledge to beat us over the head when we fall short. Often, the inner critic takes the voice of an authority figure in our lives. While browsing my early posts, I heard my dad and Mr. Prouty (a demanding but beloved high school English teacher) expressing their disappointment.\n\nMercifully soon their disapproving voices were edged out by Mary’s, my writing coach. “Of course those early writing attempts were bad,” she murmured. “Don’t focus on the mistakes. Instead, look at how far you’ve come and how much you’ve learned.”\n\nInner critics can be helpful that way, too, if we let them.\n\nMost of us are quick to give others the benefit of the doubt. However, we’re usually slow to do the same for ourselves. As the old slogan goes, we deserve a break too.\n\nKristen Neff, professor and author, offers a way to give ourselves that break. She suggests ditching the super-sized portion of self-criticism we serve ourselves and replacing it with a healthy portion of <a href=\"http://self-compassion.org/the-three-elements-of-self-compassion-2/\">self-compassion</a>. She says self-compassion is “a courageous mental attitude that stands up to harm, including the discomfort that we unwittingly inflict on ourselves through self-criticism, self-isolation, and self-rumination when things go wrong.”\n\nTo practice self-compassion, Dr. Neff advises doing three things:  be kind to ourselves, recognize our own humanity just as we would that of anyone else, and be mindful about excessively beating ourselves up—getting caught in that nasty cycle of “not enoughs.” She notes this is tough stuff to do, “The problem is that it’s hard to unlearn habits of a lifetime.” No kidding. However, there’s a great payoff to be had from all that unlearning:  her research shows being self-compassionate helps us stop taking things so seriously and so personally, feel less self-conscious, and do less social comparison in which we invariably come up short.\n\nMoving from horror to humility is a matter of mindfully shifting perspectives:  <strong>from</strong> not allowing ourselves to feel belittled by the inner critic <strong>to</strong>, with some help from our inner coach, giving ourselves permission to be inspired and perform our best\n\nSometimes that perspective-shifting process takes a lot of edits. Time, too. And that’s OK.', 'How to Move from Horrified to Humble to Celebratory', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-move-from-horrified-to-humble-to-celebratory', '', '', '2015-04-10 06:00:03', '2015-04-10 10:00:03', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25482', 0, 'post', '', 4);
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(25492, 243, '2015-04-06 06:00:08', '2015-04-06 10:00:08', 'I’m a big fan of leadership and how the best leaders inspire people. Great leaders create an atmosphere where the energy for the team’s success comes from within the team members.\n\nEnergy flows from the team to the stakeholders and customers. The energy, excitement and creativity are organic, natural and authentic.\n\nThat energy is also very fragile. It doesn’t take much to deflate a team. Like a big balloon, insensitive attitudes and actions can deflate team members, but when those actions are honest mistakes, most people can, and will, overlook them for a while.\n\nBut when those mistakes come from the leader’s true character, they kill the team. The behavior is what I call un-leadership and the actions themselves are <a title=\"Demotivation at Despair.com\" href=\"http://www.despair.com/demotivation.html\" target=\"_blank\">demotivators</a>.*\n<h3>Top 12 Signs Of Un-Leadership</h3>\nSo I thought we’d have some fun with the idea. Here are my top 12 signs of un-leadership or demotivators. See if you agree or disagree or maybe you can add some of your own.\n<ol>\n	<li>Make yourself the purpose of everything the organization does.</li>\n	<li>Withhold information and then criticize others for not being as smart as you.</li>\n	<li>Compensate yourself (or a small, inner circle) exponentially better than the team.</li>\n	<li>Reward suck-ups and brown-nosers.</li>\n	<li>Answer questions someone asks of your team members.</li>\n	<li>Interrupt people. Finish their sentences</li>\n	<li>Insist on being right. Never admit fault, or always have an excuse.</li>\n	<li>Show team members where they fall short. <em>It\'s only for their good...</em></li>\n	<li>Remind them how you helped them by showing them where they fell short.</li>\n	<li>Change direction or priorities regularly.</li>\n	<li>Shoot messengers.</li>\n	<li>Ask people to do something but, before they can do it, do it yourself because they weren’t moving fast enough..</li>\n</ol>\nIf you’ve ever worked with me, you know I’m capable of every one of these and a few others. Hopefully, I’m developing my character so these happen less and less. Character-based leaders can always improve, not just their behavior, but their who-they-are.\n\nWe can become the people who just don\'t do these things. We can become the kind of person others want to join. Then, when we make these kinds of mistakes, like I did last week, some people cut us a little slack. And we can all use a little slack.\n\nSo, what would you add? Don\'t name anyone, except maybe yourself. But take a minute and help us make a great list. Then we can get back to being the leader we really want to be.\n\n<em>This post is a hat-tip to <a title=\"Despair.com\" href=\"http://www.despair.com\">http://www.despair.com</a>, the most creative workplace tool I\'ve ever seen.</em>', '12 Signs Of Un-Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '12-signs-of-un-leadership', '', '', '2015-04-06 06:00:08', '2015-04-06 10:00:08', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25492', 0, 'post', '', 37),
(25496, 276, '2015-04-14 06:00:19', '2015-04-14 10:00:19', 'I’ll start this post with the quote by John Donne who said, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.”\n\nGrowing up I was taught that my grades were based on how I performed in school. I embraced the concept of single performer because I controlled my destiny.\n\nIn essence, I get what I put in. In order to be successful, I needed to compete with others. After each grading period, they would publish the ranking of the top 10, but folks knew where they stood.\n\nIn middle and high school, we learned to work on team projects. In this situation, the team’s success is based on the collective work the team produces. This is rather challenging because not everyone has the same goals and aptitudes. At times, a few folks have to pull things together because they don’t want to settle. But this exercise taught everyone how to work with one another and, through shared vision, to achieve a common goal.\n\nThroughout my academic journey, I learned a lot about myself, my strengths and my weaknesses, and my ability to bounce back from each fall and stumble along the way. I also learned that there are subjects or topics that I struggled with. I did well enough but cannot be called an expert. At the same time, my classmates were doing well on those subjects that I struggled with. At that point, I learned about the need to ask other people for help to enable me to understand the material better. Study groups were of use while I was doing my MBA; I used them to review the material while adding value to others.\n\nWhen I started my career, I was a single performer as a programmer. I excelled because of the hard work that I put in, acknowledging the fact that there are many folks that are smarter than me. I put in the time and burned midnight oil to catch up with everyone.\n\nAs I moved up the management ranks, I started forming my inner circle. What’s the basis for my selection?\n\n<ul>\n<li>Technical expertise that I don’t have</li>\n<li>Business knowledge</li>\n<li>Honest feedback and assessment to ensure that we are heading in the right direction</li>\n<li>Industry insight that can help the team</li>\n</ul>\n\nOnce you form your inner circle, you need to hold them accountable to ensure that all of you are heading in the right direction. Why is this important? If everyone shares the vision, it is easy to make progress, grow and develop. It is important to note that when a member does not share the common vision, they will be removed and replaced with someone else. This exercise of pruning and cleaning is essential to make sure that your inner circle is strong.\n\nAs I progress in my career, I make sure that I add value to my inner circle. I urge you to start forming your inner circle. Start learning from your inner circle and complement one another. Remember the power of collective knowledge will propel you to the next level.\n\nWriting is labor of love. If you like this post, please share it with your friends.', 'Growing Your Inner Circle', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'growing-your-inner-circle', '', '', '2015-04-14 06:00:19', '2015-04-14 10:00:19', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25496', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(25509, 252, '2015-04-08 06:00:25', '2015-04-08 10:00:25', 'This phrase popped in my head the other day: <em>everyday leadership</em>. You can demonstrate personal leadership without the title. At the Lead Change Group, we are all about that.\n\nIt\'s easy to underestimate the way we <em>lead</em> our own lives or inspire others. A seemingly small gesture of support or a word of encouragement can make such a difference.\n\nI asked my community of colleagues what they do, or aspire to do, in daily life that displays <em>everyday leadership</em>. Check out this inspiration for your <em>everyday leadership</em>.\n\n<h3>You Can\'t Afford For Compassion To Be Inconvenient</h3>\n\nThere is no one way to express everyday leadership. From a colleague and fellow local entrepreneur, Chris, it means, “Showing compassion, even when it might hurt today’s execution!” That’s a tough one. How do you balance treating humans at work humanly, and still get the work done?\n\n<h3>Make Sure Other Are Heard</h3>\n\nChristine Odunlami, an aspiring HR professional, told me this: “I exercise leadership by helping and encouraging everyone\'s opinion and presence to be welcomed openly. I believe that everyone in a team has valuable input - and I aim to allow a positive space for input to be voiced and recognized.”\n\nWhat a gift. Our world is in such a hurry. It can be difficult to find a space to voice your much-needed opinion. Thank goodness Christine is working to make room for you.\n\n<h3>Service With Integrity & Trust</h3>\n\nA fellow Lead Change Group instigator, Jeffrey Heinichen says he aims to lead every day like this. “Through service to others with integrity and trust, through the changes that are occurring daily, with no regard to who gets the credit.” Yes, humility and integrity play a big role.\n\n<h3>Stand Up For Someone Else</h3>\n\nPaula Kiger, the gifted and resourceful coordinator of our online Lead Change presence, reminds us that everyday leadership can play out like this. \"It can happen in any age group or environment. Having seen my share of bullying behaviors among my kids\' peers, I would say it can be something as simple as a kid saying to another kid who is being unkind: \"Hey, lay off him, let\'s go get a snack (or whatever diversion works).\" Good idea! Everyday leadership can occur at any age and in just about any circumstance. Adults can learn from this example too.\n\n<h3>Put Judgment Aside</h3>\n\nAnother fellow instigator and advocate of unconditional positive regard, Jane Perdue, put it this way. “I see everyday leadership as being kind, giving people the benefit of the doubt, and seeking to understand rather than judging. Embracing vulnerability.” Thank you, Jane. Your example continues to inspire me.\n\n<h3>Everyday leadership Of Myself, My life & Others</h3>\n\nLead Change instigator Page Cole makes it easy for us with a list. To Page, everyday leadership means that his day is a success if he\'s done one of the following:\n\n<ol>\n<li>Learned something new.</li>\n<li>Looked for someone to encourage or help.</li>\n<li>Invested in the success of some person or organization beyond me.</li>\n<li>Belly laughed.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<h3>Acknowledge The Invisible.</h3>\n\nWhat’s my own personal goal for everyday leadership? It may be a stretch to call this leadership, but it is my goal for every person I encounter, to make their day better because they ran into me. I particularly like to acknowledge those that may seem invisible in our daily lives.\n\nExamples for me are people who provide services. Like the clerk behind a cafe counter or the person keeping a parking lot clean. I want them to know they matter, at least to me.', 'How Are You Committed to Everyday Leadership?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-are-you-committed-to-everyday-leadership', '', '', '2015-04-08 06:00:25', '2015-04-08 10:00:25', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25509', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(25535, 390, '2015-04-07 06:00:20', '2015-04-07 10:00:20', 'While it is a scene that was re-enacted in Christian churches throughout the world last week, one need not be a Christian to have heard the biblical account of Jesus washing the feet of the apostles.\n\nThirteenth-century Dominican friar Thomas Aquinas, revered by Catholics as both a saint and Doctor of the Church, identified in this gesture of Jesus a number of essential, and as it turns out, timeless elements of service.\n\nWe all profess to understand the importance of giving great service. But would the service we provide pass the \"St. Thomas Test?\"\n<h3>Check Your Posture - He Rose From Supper</h3>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">\"A servant should be careful to keep before him the numerous details in which his service may so easily fall short. For a servant to sit or lie down during his service is to make this necessary supervision impossible.\"</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ St. Thomas Aquinas</div></blockquote>\nOur posture, physical and otherwise, is the first message we send to our clients. How do we want them to see us? On our toes, eyes and ears wide open, nimbly able to respond to their needs?\n\nWhile there is something to be said for a casual demeanor putting people at ease, a very little bit goes a very long way, and in any event certainly does not telegraph what the client wants to hear: \"I am ready to serve you.\"\n\nPicture every depiction of a butler you\'ve ever seen: erect stance, perhaps bent slightly forward. We should adopt this posture of solicitude. Another biblical nugget on this topic is in the Old Testament book of Judges, wherein Gideon eliminated those who knelt when drinking from the river as unfit for military service. Too concerned with their own comfort, they would be unable to react to the unexpected.\n<h3>Know What To Do &amp; When - He Laid Aside His Garments</h3>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">\"A servant should show dexterity in doing at the right time all the things his particular office calls for.\"</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ St. Thomas Aquinas</div></blockquote>\nIf my office is serving my clients, I must develop a deep understanding of their needs and position myself, and my organization, to address them. Jesus knew that his dinner garments would get in the way of the task of washing feet.\n\nWe should come to know what, specifically, our clients could at any time require, and clear a path - be it a process improvement, communication channel, approval for outside-the-box handling, maybe even a pricing concession - between those needs and our solution.\n<h3>Well-Equipped: Having Taken A Towel, He Girded Himself</h3>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">\"A servant should be prompt, having ready-to-hand all the things he needs.\"</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ St. Thomas Aquinas</div></blockquote>\nDo we approach clients holding, and ready to hand over, appropriate responses to their needs? Sales people in particular are notoriously opposed to being nuts-and-bolts product-knowledge experts. \"I know enough to sell it\" should be replaced by \"I know it so I can sell it.\"\n\nTrue, nobody can know everything. But while there is a measure of honor in admitting to a client you\'d like to consult with an expert to avoid giving an incomplete or incorrect answer, there is much more in knowing the right answer to begin with.\n\nThe client may appreciate that you have a specialist on the staff who can supply the information, but you should know that he really wishes that person to be you. Because we should have gotten to know our clients, we should know what tools to bring to every encounter and not to leave the toolbox outside in the trunk.\n<h3>Forget About Equality - He Poured Water Into A Basin &amp; Began To Wash</h3>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">\"Humility is set for our example...this was the lowest kind of service of all.\"</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ St. Thomas Aquinas</div></blockquote>\nParisian waiters, it is said, expect to be treated as being of completely equal standing with their customers. This is not Thomas-style service, because it lacks the key element of humility. Those who would serve must first be able to say, and mean, \"In this relationship, I am the servant and you are the master.\"\n\nIf my company makes billions and my client barely makes payroll it doesn’t matter. If I have an MBA and my client has a GED, it doesn’t matter. How many meetings have you attended where the one to be served is, before anything else, subjected to the server\'s resume? Accommodation of your pride is not a necessary ingredient of the relationship. Eliminate it as an expectation, and all the rest becomes far easier.', 'Thomas-Style Service', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'thomas-style-leadership', '', '', '2015-04-07 06:00:20', '2015-04-07 10:00:20', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25535', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(25538, 282, '2015-04-09 06:00:17', '2015-04-09 10:00:17', 'In days gone by, wisdom was passed from generation to generation by shamans and minstrels, poets and bards. Many great life lessons were handed down by story tellers like those in Grimm’s Fairy Tales.\n\nFor instance, <em>The Boy Who Cried Wolf</em>reminds us that humor carried too far diminishes our credibility.\n\nRemember the story of <em>The Emperor’s New Clothes”</em> The morals abound: never surround yourself with yes-men, pride can be your downfall, and oh yes, don’t go out in public naked no matter how good someone tells you that you look.\n\nSongs were also a tool used in history to pass down ancient legends and valuable truths. In modern Western culture, songs continue to be a vehicle for some amazing truths to be shared with us even today.\n<h3>9 Leadership Truths From Song Lyrics</h3>\nConsider these nine truths from memorable song lyrics as you develop and grow as a leader:\n<ol>\n	<li>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">“All lies and jest, still, a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.”</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Simon &amp; Garfunkel</div></blockquote>\n<strong>Be Accepting, Listen Well</strong> - Even to the hard stuff. Character based leaders are far from perfect. We will make mistakes, we will fail. Wise leaders listen to constructive criticism, challenging co-workers and questions to their leadership. Just like a sharp pain in the chest gets our attention about our health, painful criticism can point out those trouble areas that are crying for attention.</li>\n	<li>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">\"Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself.\"</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Eric Clapton</div></blockquote>\n<strong>Be Cautious, Judge Slowly</strong> - Sometimes our mouths run ahead of our brains as we’re assigning blame. Slow down and do some honest self-evaluation and soul searching before looking beyond yourself to criticize. Own your failures. It takes courage to face the problems staring you in the face.</li>\n	<li>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">“Even the genius asks questions.”</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Tupac Shakur</div></blockquote>\nKeep Growing, Never Stop Learning - Leaders are learners. Leaders are readers. Leaders have an insatiable yearning to know more, grow more and broaden their knowledge and experience horizons. Leaders who believe they\'ve arrived really haven’t. They’ve only taken a lazy detour into ignorance. If we learned like we were going to live a thousand years, and lived like this was our last day on Earth, how would that affect our decisions?</li>\n	<li>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">\"For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught. To say the things he truly <em>feels, and not the words of one who kneels.\"</em></div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Frank Sinatra</div></blockquote>\n<strong>Be Passionate</strong> - Stand up for what you believe in. Leaders may not know exactly where they are going, but they know they are going somewhere. Leaders with a vision and passion to match are not bowing to others words, or being someone who kneels. Beyond the where leaders are going, they always know the why regardless of what other voices are saying. If you\'re leading, know why.</li>\n	<li>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">“Freedom, well, that\'s just some people talking. Your prison is walking through this world all alone.”</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ The Eagles</div></blockquote>\n<strong>Be Sociable, Relationships Matter</strong> - Some leaders self-impose a no-friendship rule in the workplace out of fear. Fear that others might take advantage of them, fear that they can’t trust themselves to be impartial. Leaders who operate in a vacuum of authentic relationships do a great injustice to their team and to themselves. Payoffs for investments in relationships are huge for everyone.</li>\n	<li>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">“It seems to me, sorry seems to be the hardest word.”</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Elton John</div></blockquote>\n<strong>Be Repentant, Apologize Authentically</strong> - Do a quick count in your personal history. How many times have you made a mistake or been on the wrong side of an argument? Now count again. How many times did you apologize when you were wrong? Same number? Step up and speak up. Admit it when you’re wrong and then move on.</li>\n	<li>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">“Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da, life goes on.”</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ The Beatles</div></blockquote>\n<strong>Be Hopeful, Tomorrow Is A New Day</strong> - Admit it. Some things - lots of things - are out of your control. It’s called life. When challenges throw you or your team into a tailspin, or maybe a total failure, you have two choices. You can let it overwhelm you, or you can learn from it and move on. Life goes on.</li>\n	<li>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">“You better start swimming or sink like a stone, cause the times they are a-changing.”</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Bob Dylan</div></blockquote>\n<strong>Be Adapatable, Learn To Roll With It</strong> - Leaders know it takes more than working hard to succeed. You have to work smart. Plan well. Adapt. Work harder and smarter. Change some more. The only thing constant in this world is change. Tomorrow will be a new day full of its own challenges. Roll with it.</li>\n	<li>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">\"You can\'t always get what you want, but if you try sometime you just might find, you get what you need.\"</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ The Rolling Stones</div></blockquote>\n<strong>Be Content, Embrace The Difference Between Needs &amp; Wants</strong> - We all have this ideal in our brains of how we want our career, our family and our life to go. Few ever realize those ideals. And you know what? It’s OK. Happiness isn\'t some impossible state of nirvana - it’s the natural result of enjoying the life you make. Go make yours something incredible.</li>\n</ol>\nGrowing as a leader means more than attending conferences and reading books. Try listening to the radio.', 'Lead With A Song', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'lead-with-a-song', '', '', '2015-04-09 06:00:17', '2015-04-09 10:00:17', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25538', 0, 'post', '', 7),
(25600, 374, '2015-05-22 06:15:25', '2015-05-22 10:15:25', '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\n<h3>Today’s Question</h3>\n\n<em>Independent contractors now comprise 30-40% of the workforce. How do you build and lead team in these work environments?</em>\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/david-dye/\">David Dye</a> recommends:\n\n<ol>\n<li>Hire people who can apply the why. In addition to hiring for the technical expertise they possess, screen for their ability to interpret why they are being asked to do particular work and how well they respond to the reason for the work. People who lack this ability can be particularly frustrating contractors.</li>\n<li>Keep the why in front of your people. With independent contractors and remote teams it becomes even more critical than usual to continually revisit why everyone does their work. Practice accountability to the why. Celebrate when everyone succeeds in achieving or making progress toward the why.</li>\n</ol>\n\nCreating a true team where everyone succeeds or fails together in a common cause is difficult with contract workers. Leaders who are able to create a unified sense of purpose will excel as more people move to self-employment.\n\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/mitchell-levy/\">Mitchell Levy</a> shares:\n\nI\'m a big fan of Odesk for building external contractors. I occasionally user Fiverr for one-off projects. Having clear documentation and expectations as well as providing continual feedback is the best approach for managing a virtual team.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/susan-mazza/\" target=\"_blank\">Susan Mazza</a> contributes:\n\nIndependent contractors have both more risk and more choice. If you want to attract and keep the best of them honor them by treating them as partners in achieving a shared future or goal. While you are at it treat your employees the same way. The employment agreement has changed for everyone regardless of the legal structure of the agreement Your leadership must adapt to empower and engage people by tapping into their intrinsic motivations and honoring those who choose to own the future with you.\n\nThank you David, Mitchell, and Susan for your leadership wisdom.', 'Chip Shots - Leading Independent Contractors', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'chip-shots-leading-independent-contractors', '', '', '2015-05-22 06:15:25', '2015-05-22 10:15:25', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25600', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(25628, 343, '2015-04-16 06:00:50', '2015-04-16 10:00:50', 'Do you remember those fill-in-the-blank questions on the tests and quizzes you took in school?\n\nThose questions where we had to fill in the missing word, phrase, or other answer to show that we understood the subject matter.\n\nYou realize all along that the teacher had the answer, and they never gave it to you. Why? Because it was your job as a student to study and know the material.\n\nDoes this sound in any way like your organization? Are there areas in your workplace that employees struggle with their jobs, because the leaders of the organization simply haven\'t given them the answers?\n\nMany workplaces have this culture of gaping holes, or blanks in their organizations. It\'s these organizations where the staff tend to fend for themselves. With a lack of support, information, or flow, employee are put in positions to fill in the blanks alone.\n\nThere are those in certain leadership camps that do this purposely, to strengthen their people. They claim that if their staff are forced to be resourceful, come up with solutions, and become decision makers, then they have identified the strong employees from the weaker ones. Many also feel that it\'s the employees\' job to get the information or resources they need.\n\nThe truth and consequences of this attitude, however, is disengagement, loss of productivity overall, and misinformation. When employees are left to fill in the blanks, it\'s anything goes.\n\nDoes there exist in your company an undercurrent of \"that\'s your job, you figure it out\" or some other fall-back statement that weakly absolves leaders from giving staff the answers they need?\n\nIt\'s remarkable that the similarity between teachers and leaders continues from here, but it\'s the key point that ineffective leaders make. Just as it\'s the teacher\'s job to make sure her or his students are taught the material so they can pass the class, it is likewise a leader\'s responsibility to make sure that each employee has been given everything they need to succeed in their work.\n\nA good leader will work diligently to make sure those blanks are identified and filled in. They see their role not only as a teacher, but as someone who makes sure every system is smooth, communication flows, and processes are thorough. Great leaders work with open eyes and utilize continuous improvement processes and the like to prevent blanks from developing.\n\nHere is a brief checklist to help you start looking for blanks in your organization:\n\n<h3>Communication</h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Does leadership communicate consistently?</li>\n<li>Are there rumors or potential for rumors that need to be addressed (such as around budget time or before mergers are announced)?</li>\n<li>What is the temperature of the team; what do they know, how do they feel?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>Training & Job Knowledge</h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Has every staff person been given full training that has not been truncated by time or budget?</li>\n<li>Do people fully know what is expected of them?</li>\n<li>Does each and every employee know and have full access to all the tools they need to succeed at their jobs?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>Staffing</h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Are there holes in the schedule that employees are asked to fill, resulting in overtime or additional stress to their current roles?</li>\n<li>What is leadership doing to temporarily fill those holes with themselves, and permanently have those staffing voids filled?</li>\n<li>Are there potential gaps in staffing down the road? Are these good gaps due to promotional opportunities, or bad gaps due to attrition?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>Work Processes & Systems</h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Do your customers fall through the cracks of processing orders?</li>\n<li>Is there transparency in the ordering process for customers to know what their order status is in real time?</li>\n<li>Does any workflow process have an \"unwritten rule\" for nonstandard situations?</li>\n</ul>\n\nPass the test that you give, and set your folks and your customers up to succeed by filling in the blanks for your people.', 'Are You Filling In The Blanks?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'are-you-filling-in-the-blanks', '', '', '2015-04-16 06:00:50', '2015-04-16 10:00:50', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25628', 0, 'post', '', 5),
(25660, 307, '2015-04-20 06:00:06', '2015-04-20 10:00:06', 'If you’ve been leading for any length of time, you know you should delegate. My earliest leadership memory is of delegating household chores to my younger brother and sisters when I was eleven.\n\nEven then, I knew I should delegate…and you know it now.\n\nYou know you should delegate because:\n\n<ul>\n<li>You can’t do it all yourself.</li>\n<li>Other people have talents and abilities beyond yours.</li>\n<li>When you share responsibility, it helps your people to grow.</li>\n</ul>\n\nYou know you should delegate, but it’s a struggle to do it well.\n\n<h3>Three Delegation Mistakes Most Managers Make</h3>\n\nIn my work with thousands of leaders I consistently see three delegation mistakes that lead to countless hours of lost time, frazzled nerves, and frustrated leaders. If you make these mistakes, you’re not alone. I have done them all more than once.\n\nThe good news is that when you address these mistakes, your people grow, your team gets more done, and you have more time for the work only you can do.\n\n<h4>Mistake #1: Delegate process, not outcome.</h4>\n\nEffective leaders delegate the outcome. Here are a few examples:\n<ul>\n<li>We need a new product prototype that meets these engineering specifications…</li>\n<li>The task is to come up with a solution to the problem where we do both x and y.</li>\n<li>Your team needs to be trained on the process so they can complete it accurately within ten minutes each month.</li>\n</ul>\nWhen you delegate, be clear about the outcome. What is it they are responsible to achieve? Don’t delegate the process – that’s micromanaging or training. If they’ve never learned how to do something, it’s training. If it’s training, call it that. Delegate outcomes, not process.\n\n<h4>Mistake #2: Don\'t Define Success</h4>\n\nEffective leaders are clear about what success looks like.\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">One should aim not at being possible to understand, but at being impossible to misunderstand. </div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Quintilian</div>\n</blockquote>\n\nBe clear about what a successful outcome looks like, feels like, smells like; what it does and when it is due.\n\nMany leaders, especially the Type A driven folks, delegate a task and mentally expect it to be completed instantly if not sooner but don’t give their people an actual due date. Then they’re frustrated that it’s not done.\n\nWhen you delegate, be clear about what success looks like, why the task is important, and when it needs to happen.\n\n<h4>Mistake #3: No Accountability</h4>\n\nThis is the killer mistake – the one that makes so many leaders give up on delegation or to do it, but with ulcer-causing frustration.\n\nHave you ever delegated a task, then three weeks after it was due you haven’t heard a word and wonder what happened?\n\nWe’ve all been there. Now you’re frustrated, upset with the employee, have to carve out more time to figure out what’s happened, and everything is behind schedule. You don’t have time for that.\n\nWhen you have to chase after assignments, the missing ingredient is accountability. Effective leaders build accountability into the assignment; they don’t leave it to chance.\n\nTo build accountability into the assignment, schedule a mutual appointment where you will receive the assignment back from the other person.\n\nFor example: “This is due June 30. Let’s meet for 15 minutes at 3:00 pm on June 30. The agenda for the meeting is for you to share the final product/findings/outcome and we’ll discuss follow up and questions.”\n\nBoth of you schedule the meeting on your respective calendars. The principle is that when you delegate, there comes a scheduled time where the other person completes the assignment and returns it to you. That’s built-in accountability.\n\nIf the project is a longer assignment, you might schedule a status update 1/3 of the way through where they are responsible to share their approach, early obstacles, and clarifications.\n\nDon’t leave accountability to chance. No matter how responsible your people might be, if you don’t clearly define how the task or project will be returned to you, other work can get in the way. You might assign something else. They might face competing priorities from another leader.\n\nSchedule a time on both of your calendars where you look each other in the eye…and your days of chasing missed deadlines are over.\n\n<h3>Your Turn</h3>\n\nRemember, delegation is a powerful tool to get more done and help your people grow – but only when you delegate outcomes, clearly define what success looks like, and mutually schedule the follow up.\n\nLeave us a comment and share your delegation tips – in particular: How do your effective leaders delegate to you? Be the leader you want your boss to be.', 'Do You Make These 3 Delegation Mistakes?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'do-you-make-these-3-delegation-mistakes', '', '', '2015-04-20 06:00:06', '2015-04-20 10:00:06', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25660', 0, 'post', '', 15),
(25680, 282, '2015-04-21 06:00:17', '2015-04-21 10:00:17', 'It\'s out there - the headlines are printed, the paper is printed and the world is reading the news over morning coffee. Information once hidden is now fairly public. Someone has messed up and the consequences are splashed across the information landscape.\n\nThe conversation might be as broad as the news media, or as narrow as the office gossip around the snack machine. So how do you react as a leader when this happens? OMG! How do you react as a leader when this happens and it\'s you that messed up? I\'ve been there and done that.\n\nBefore you start scanning this article for juicy details, this isn\'t a true confessions post. I\'m just a normal guy who has messed up before, sharing with some fellow travelers about his journey back from the land of stupid choices. Whether you\'re traveling the same road, or helping someone else navigate this trip, hopefully these suggestions can help.\n\n<h3>Own It - Accept Responsibility</h3>\n\nNo one, I repeat no one, likes to hear blame and excuses. First and foremost, it\'s critical for you to own your mistakes. No whining, no justification, no excuses, no rationalizing is beneficial, so don\'t do it. You messed up. You chose and acted poorly.\n\nJim Rohn says \"You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.\" Admit it, It\'s a cleansing that that takes place when you\'re brave enough to say, \"I was wrong.\" Be that kind of brave. It\'s the best place to start changing yourself.\n\n<h3>Fix It - Make Amends</h3>\n\nIt\'s been said that you can\'t un-ring a bell and it\'s true. What\'s said is said and what\'s done is done. But just feeling badly for the consequences of your failures isn\'t the end of the process, it\'s the beginning. The next step needs to be working towards reconciling your bad debt, and trying to fix what you broke.\n\nIn AA, principle #9 acknowledges this crucial part of the process of making amends. It states, \"Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.\"\n\nIf there is a way to make amends, and it\'s not going to cause greater damage, then the challenge is simple. Grace received is the natural result of grace given by broken people to broken people. Just do it. Swallow your pride and do it.\n\n<h3>Take It - The High Road Is the Best Road</h3>\n\nThe road to restoration isn\'t a paved road. It\'s full of potential potholes. It\'s lonely, isolated at times, and you may even wonder if you\'re on the right road. One road sign to keep you on course is to ask yourself this key question: \"Am I taking the high road, doing the honorable thing\"?\n\nThe high roa\" was a term used to describe the road that was built for and dedicated exclusively to nobility. Built higher than the other roads, it gave the leaders a better perspective on the landscape. We need to step above the circumstances to see what is truly critical for restoration to take place. \n\nPettiness, playing the blame game and attacking others is not healthy. It\'s certainly not taking the high road. Be better than that. Take the high road.\n\n<h3>Expect It - Make a Plan for Next Time</h3>\n\nRegardless of what your challenge or failure may have been, it\'s likely that the opportunity for a similar situation will present itself again in your life. Set some controls in your life to protect yourself from making the same choices over and over. Find someone you trust to ask you hard questions from time to time.\n\nLearn the value of transparency. Giving another person an open window to your weakness may be the strongest thing you\'ve ever done. Ask yourself, \"What\'s my plan for next time this comes up?\" If you don\'t have a plan, then you\'re vulnerable.\n\n<h3>Know It - You\'re Human</h3>\n\nMany people fail to move past their mistakes and forward with hope. It\'s not because their boss won\'t forgive, or their coworkers won\'t forget. It\'s because they refuse to move beyond their own failure. Call it a self-inflicted punishment or out of control regret. It\'s futile and you\'ll never move past it until you accept the fact that you are human. People make mistakes. So move on already.\n\nThoreau said, \"One cannot too soon forget his errors and misdemeanors; for to dwell upon them is to add to the offense.\" Own your mistakes. Fix them where you can. Take the high road every time you can. Expect the same challenge again, so make a plan and be ready.\n\nAnd dude, give yourself a break. A comeback is possible in this go away world. Today is your day. I\'ll see you on the road back.', 'Making A Comeback In A Go Away World', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'making-a-comeback-in-a-go-away-world', '', '', '2015-04-21 06:00:17', '2015-04-21 10:00:17', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25680', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(25706, 343, '2015-04-24 06:00:42', '2015-04-24 10:00:42', 'One of the most tremendous truths about being human is how our thoughts, feelings, and desires interconnect.\n\nThrough our internal connectedness of mind, body, and soul, we can harness greatness within ourselves and develop each aspect to become stronger and more in tune with the other aspects.\n\nYet our humanness comes with a flaw, in that we can get our feelings out of proportion to rational thinking. When that occurs, we are governed by only one part of us which, if not checked and balanced with the rest of our being, can lead us and others astray.\n\nFeelings are great for motivation, inspiration, and drive. But many people that live solely off of motivational seminars find themselves flat when they try to be in touch with their feelings much to the exclusion of their thoughts.\n\nThis can also be true of those who spend time in fear or worry and let those emotions override their actions. Too many times leaders are led by their feelings, and not their minds.\n\nThat is where leaders need to consciously and consistently track their thoughts, and not just their feelings.\n\n<h3>Real Life Scenarios Based on Leading By Feelings</h3>\n<ul>\n<li>A senior executive afraid of unfounded circumstances that calls meetings to solve problems that don\'t exist</li>\n<li>A new department manager who is agitated that things are done a differing way than what they\'ve done in other companies</li>\n<li>A shift supervisor who is worried that certain company actions mean they will be laid off</li>\n<li>An employee who doubts the sincerity of leadership even though there is open and clear communication</li>\n</ul>\n\nIn each of the scenarios, the following feeling-statements took over rational thinking...\n\n<ul>\n<li>\"I feel...\"</li>\n<li>\"We\'re afraid...\"</li>\n<li>\"We suspect...\"</li>\n<li>\"I can\'t believe...\"</li>\n<li>\"You don\'t see...\"</li>\n</ul>\n\nThese feelings, without being run through the proper process of thought and facts, can cause wrong actions, disengagement, and toxic culture to manifest. What is needed to happen with each feeling is to manage the feeling-statements through thinking-statements such as the following...\n\n<ul>\n<li>\"This shows...\"</li>\n<li>\"We know that...\"</li>\n<li>\"The studies reveal...\"</li>\n<li>\"Our culture supports...\"</li>\n<li>\"The reality is...\"</li>\n<li>\"I have found...\"</li>\n</ul>\n\nWhen you or a colleague start to descend into making decisions driven by irrational feelings, it\'s best to practice this two-prong approach as a standard action:\n\n<h3>Stop & Think</h3>\n\nBy stopping how we feel long enough to think through our emotions and process the facts at hand, one can find a balance between gut feelings, emotions, sound process, and being rational. We can bring our feelings into their proper place, and then use the right feelings to propel our plan of action.\n\nAs leaders, we should be in touch with our feelings - and those of our people -  but be governed by sound thinking on what we always know to be right. When our emotions take us away from what we know to be true and correct, we fail to utilize our entire selves in our influence.\n\nFear has its place when it spurs us away from complacency. Excitement is right when it opens the doors to goals and innovation. Our feelings have their place when they intertwine with right thinking to create a stronger rope which we can give our teams to help us pull together.\n\nBe led by right thinking. Infuse people with the right feelings. Help you and your teams stop and think throughout their day.', 'Lead By Thoughts, Not Feelings', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'lead-by-thoughts-not-feelings', '', '', '2015-04-24 06:00:42', '2015-04-24 10:00:42', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25706', 0, 'post', '', 3);
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(25709, 274, '2015-04-22 13:00:55', '2015-04-22 17:00:55', 'At the Lead Change Group, we are thrilled to host the Carnival of HR again. As our turn to host approached, we started thinking about Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day 2015 or TOSADTW. This year\'s event will take place tomorrow, April 23.\n\nIn honor of that, we asked bloggers to send in submissions that address timeless lessons, things a child could see at work while visiting their parent for TOSADTW that will still hold true for when they enter the workforce. We weren\'t looking for technology, but rather for values that held true yesterday, hold true today, and will hold true tomorrow.\n\n<strong>Ben Eubanks</strong> of <a href=\"http://upstarthr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">UpstartHR</a> gets things started with <a href=\"http://upstarthr.com/how-to-ruin-credibility-in-one-easy-step/\" target=\"_blank\">How To Ruin Credibility In One Easy Step</a>. This post discusses one of the most timeless attributes of all - integrity. Find Ben on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/beneubanks\" target=\"_blank\">@beneubanks</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Dan McCarthy</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Great Leadership</a> provided <a href=\"http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2013/08/15-timeless-work-habits-for-career.html\" target=\"_blank\">15 Timeless Work Habits For Career Success</a> that he learned over 30 years in the workforce. Find Dan on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/greatleadership\" target=\"_blank\">@greatleadership</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>David Richter</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.octopus-hr.co.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">Octopus HR Software</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.octopus-hr.co.uk/hrmoz/article/five-truths-i-have-learned-in-my-time-in-hr.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">5 Truths I Have Learned In My Time In HR</a>. These truths differ from what he believed when he started a career in HR. Find David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Octopus_HR\" target=\"_blank\">@octopus_hr.</a>\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Doug Shaw</strong> of <a href=\"http://stopdoingdumbthingstocustomers.com/\" target=\"_blank\">What Goes Around</a> shared two posts which build off of each other. The first, <a href=\"http://stopdoingdumbthingstocustomers.com/engagement/career-opportunities/\" target=\"_blank\">Career Opportunities</a>, sets the scene. The second, <a href=\"http://stopdoingdumbthingstocustomers.com/learning/dreams-of-children/\" target=\"_blank\">Dreams Of Children</a>, he discusses lessons learned at his office after Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day. Find Doug on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dougshaw1\" target=\"_blank\">@dougshaw1</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jesse Lyn Stoner</strong> of <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/blog/\" target=\"_blank\">The Seapoint Center For Collaborative Leadership</a> contributed <a href=\"http://seapointcenter.com/mother-goose-management/\" target=\"_blank\">Mother Goose Management</a>, six lessons from childhood stories that show us how to be better leaders. Find Jesse on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JesseLynStoner\" target=\"_blank\">@jesselynstoner</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>John Hunter </strong> of <a href=\"http://www.johnhunter.com/\" target=\"_blank\">John Hunter Management Improvement</a> passed along <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2015/04/06/lessons-for-managers-from-wisconsin-and-duke-basketball/\" target=\"_blank\">Lessons For Managers From Wisconsin &amp; Duke Basketball</a>. These lessons include one people inevitably discover as their careers progress: raw talent alone won\'t succeed. Find John on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/curiouscat_com\" target=\"_blank\">@curiouscat_com</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Kate Achille</strong> of <a href=\"http://devonpr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The Devon Group</a> contributed <a href=\"http://devonpr.com/blog/gone-girl\" target=\"_blank\">Gone Girl</a>. In this post, Kate explores the role of social media in her life and how she made choices about her use of social media to keep  her main asset, her brain, in tip top shape. Find Kate on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/devongroup\" target=\"_blank\">@devongroup</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Paula Kiger</strong> of <a href=\"http://biggreenpen.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Perspicacity</a> submitted <a href=\"http://biggreenpen.com/2013/12/29/fathers-daughters-and-careers/\" target=\"_blank\">Fathers, Daughters, and Careers</a>, a post about perennial lessons fathers pass down to their daughters, such as speaking your opinion. Find Paula on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/biggreenpen\" target=\"_blank\">@biggreenpen</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Susan Mazza</strong> of <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Random Acts Of Leadership</a> shared <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/a-leadership-method-available-to-everyone/\" target=\"_blank\">A Leadership Method Available To Everyone</a>, commenting that leading by example is something everyone can do - regardless of age, training, or skill level. 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/blog\" target=\"_blank\">Three Star Leadership</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.threestarleadership.com/success/the-successful-people-i-know\" target=\"_blank\">The Successful People I Know</a>. Wally says, \"I\'ve known many successful people in my life. They\'re successful in many aspects of their lives and they\'re happy with the life they have. They have several things in common.\" Find Wally on twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wallybock\" target=\"_blank\">@wallybock</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\nWhat will today\'s sons and daughters find at their workplaces in 2020 and beyond? Hopefully they\'ll find some of the values discussed here, such as integrity, persistence, fairness. Hopefully they\'ll find someone, or actually be someone who makes work better. Actually that\'s something we adults should aspire to as well.\n\nHere is a picture from one of the posts Doug Shaw shared:\n\n<img class=\"wp-image-25715 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/doug-makes-work-better.jpg\" alt=\"doug-makes-work-better\" width=\"605\" height=\"422\" />\n\nI hope you have enjoyed today\'s carnival. For future carnivals, consult the schedule at the <a href=\"http://carnivalofhr.com/?page_id=8\">Carnival Of HR</a> website.', 'Carnival of HR - April 22, 2015 Edition', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'carnival-of-hr-april-22-2015-edition', '', '', '2015-04-22 13:00:55', '2015-04-22 17:00:55', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25709', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(25738, 374, '2015-04-23 06:00:44', '2015-04-23 10:00:44', 'Tomorrow, the Lead Change Group will hold a conference call at which members and interested parties can learn about Lead Change and contribute to the group\'s future direction. Before I give you the specifics and a personal invitation, a bit of background.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/mike-henry/\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Henry, Sr. </a>founded the Lead Change Group in 2009 as a non-profit dedicated to instigating a leadership revolution. Mike’s passionate belief that we bring energy, even life, to our world when we bring the best of who we are and give it away fueled this movement.\n\nUnder Mike’s leadership, the Lead Change Group became one of the most socially shared leadership blogs and published a multi-author book about character-based leadership, <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/The-Character-Based-Leader-Instigating-Leadership/dp/145751222X\" target=\"_blank\">The Character-Based Leader</a>.\n\n<h3>Becoming A Part Of Weaving Influence</h3>\n\nOn October 1, 2014, the Lead Change Group, no longer a non-profit, became a division of <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Weaving Influence</a>. The vision of <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/becky-robinson/\" target=\"_blank\">Becky Robinson</a> when Weaving Influence assumed the Lead Change Group was to continue to develop the website as a powerful resource to help people make a bigger difference through their lives and leadership.\n\n<h3>The Future of The Lead Change Group</h3>\n\nAlthough I was peripherally involved with the Lead Change Group for a few years, I did not assume any role for its administration until I began working for Weaving Influence in October 2014. I became an <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/paula-kiger/\" target=\"_blank\">Instigator</a> and I assumed responsibility for coordinating blog posts from Lead Change Group participants every business day.\n\nOne comment I started getting from friends and peers when I would tell people about Lead Change was: \"I don\'t completely understand it.\"\n\nAs with any feedback that is sincerely given, I had to respect the fact that there was something about Lead Change that more than one person did not get. I suspect that Lead Change is still in the process of finding itself after the change in October 2014.\n\nWe have the potential of a vibrant, growing community within our <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/\" target=\"_blank\">Leading Voices</a>, <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/\" target=\"_blank\">Instigators</a>, and <strong>Members</strong>. Helping visitors to our site get it is going to take all of us unifying around a shared vision.\n\n<h3>Lead Change Conference Call</h3>\n\nWe will be holding a 30-minute conference call on <strong>April 24, 2015 at 1:00pm ET</strong> to give existing Lead Change Group participants an opportunity to touch base and bond, as well as give people who are interested in Lead Change a chance to learn more. Can we do it all in 30-minutes? Probably not, but it\'s a start, and a reason to be enthusiastic.\n\nIn addition, attendees will have a special opportunity to become Instigators for a reduced rate. We will share the information at the end of the call.\n\n<h3>Join The Lead Change Group Conference Call</h3>\n\nTo join the call from your computer, tablet or smartphone, go to: <a href=\"https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/909081477\" target=\"_blank\">https://global.gotomeeting.<wbr />com/join/909081477</a>.\n\nYou can also dial in using your phone by calling +1 (408) 650-3131 and using access code 909-081-477.\n\nIf you are unable to attend, we still want your feedback and involvement. Feel free to share in the comments, or to contact me directly to share your thoughts.', 'Let&#039;s Talk About Lead Change', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'lets-talk-about-lead-change', '', '', '2015-04-23 06:00:44', '2015-04-23 10:00:44', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25738', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(25748, 268, '2015-04-27 06:00:23', '2015-04-27 10:00:23', 'Do you hold on to opinions like a pit bull, even when new information suggests it’s time to rethink your position? Are you quick to say no to new ideas?\n\nDo you hold tightly to corporate policies and procedures, even when it’s clear they aren’t working well?\n\nIf yes, you create barriers for yourself and others that may be damaging your career, your organization’s results, and people’s job satisfaction - yours included.\n\n<strong><em>Here are ways you hold yourself and others back...</strong></em>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Procedural Barriers</strong> - This is how we do things here.</li>\n<li><strong>Barriers Of Refusal</strong> - That is out of the question. I will not do it, because __________. I will not listen to him, because _________. I will not consider this, because __________.</li>\n<li><strong>Political Barriers</strong> - If I do this, I’ll burn a bridge I can’t afford to burn.</li>\n<li><strong>Barriers Of Belief Or Assumption</strong> - There is insufficient time for this approach to work. The people we have now don’t have the right skill set to complete this project successfully. We need to do things in a certain sequence.</li>\n<li><strong>Psychological Barriers</strong> - I’m afraid of failing. I don’t like the feeling of hanging out on a limb. This might hurt.</li>\n<li><strong>Knowledge Barriers</strong> - I don’t know how to do this differently.</li>\n<li><strong>Capability Barriers</strong> - This is beyond my intellectual or physical ability.</li>\n<li><strong>Technical Barriers</strong> - No technology exists to help with this.</li>\n</ol>\n\nEach of us has the choice to create barriers or question them, to accept barriers or search for ways around them.\n\n<strong><em>Consider these two portraits...</em></strong>\n\nLet’s leave Corporate America for a moment to meet two senior citizens. At 105 years of age, <a href=\"http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/24/us/facebook-114-year-old-user-dies/\">Anna Stoehr</a> was actively gardening—planting trees, cultivating strawberries, and coloring her world with lovingly-tended flowers.\n\nAt 113, she enthusiastically embraced technology. Rather than harboring an attitude of “that’s for young people; I’m too old for those new-fangled gadgets,” she wielded an iPhone and an iPad and eagerly absorbed how-to lessons from a Verizon rep.\n\nAt 80, and young enough to be Anna’s daughter, Billie Singer’s* world was shrinking. Her mind still sharp, she busied herself with a long to-do list, but rigidly insisted the list must be completed in a specific order. When her doctor prescribed physical therapy to improve her balance and mobility, she added it as #7 on her list, even though it would have made items #1 through #6 easier.\n\nWith a walker, Billie navigated the neighborhood to accomplish brief errands. But one day, road construction obstructed the sidewalk ramps at several intersections. Unable to navigate curbs with her walker, three-block jaunts became 12-block expeditions.\n\nShe stopped going to the library, rather than walk the extra distance, or get the prescribed physical therapy that might have eliminated the need for a walker. Her outings became shorter and less frequent. Wind, rain, snow, flu outbreaks, and unsolved area crimes became reasons to stay home.\n\nA concerned relative sent an iPad as a gift so Billie could stay connected with family, friends, and breaking news. Her response? “It’s mean to expect older people to change their communication methods.”\n\nWhat kept Anna forging ahead? And what caused Billie to postpone physical therapy and reject technology, allowing her mobility and connectedness to decline? Answer: the way they handled barriers. Anna did not let age, her husband’s death, or lack of know-how get in her way. Billie created barriers for herself by stubborn adherence to “doing life” in a specific sequence and dismissing technology.\n\nBack to Corporate America...\n\nHeel-digging is a habit, forged in childhood, refined in the workplace. And habits tend to harden with age unless you make a conscious, concerted effort to modify them.\n\nBe brutally honest with yourself. What barriers have you created or accepted, at work and at home? What are the consequences of these barriers in your career and life? What barriers do you need to remove so that you and others can make their best contributions?\n\n<em>Note that Billie Singer is a pseudonym.</em>', '8 Barriers Worth Questioning', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '8-barriers-worth-questioning', '', '', '2015-04-27 06:00:23', '2015-04-27 10:00:23', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25748', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(25756, 376, '2015-04-28 06:00:47', '2015-04-28 10:00:47', 'We who would help others be more effective leaders might need to watch our language. One of my pet phrasing peeves is the currently popular business phrase <em>all in</em>.\n\n I am regularly asked if I am <em>all in</em> with regard to some project, initiative, or cause. I\'ll bet you have been asked this or a similar question, or maybe you even use the phrase yourself sometimes.\n\n“Are you all in on this?” is a question with the unspoken implication that being all-in is a sign of commitment and engagement. You really do not have an option to respond “No, I\'m just mostly in, thanks,\" because that sounds like you are not supportive.\n\nI suspect that this phrase is much like <em>110 Percent</em> - it sounds great and stirs up some folks quite nicely, but does not make any sense when you think about it.\n\nWhether is is phrased as a question or not, we regularly experience those who demand that <em>above and beyond</em>effort or insist that they themselves always work at the mythical <em>110%</em>. Motivational speakers who have nothing new to offer often seem to fall back on this idea. Either you are <em>all in</em> or you are <em>out</em>.\n\nFor those who feel I am stomping on good, old-fashioned American initiative and drive, think about it. When you pour maximum effort into something, you are burning energy at a high rate. You may burn bright, but you will not usually burn for very long.\n\nIf you are completely devoted to a work project, you have little or nothing left over for other aspects of life which should claim some of your attention and energy. Who wants to be around someone who is <em>all in</em> for work goals and neglects relationships?\n\nOn the other hand, someone who values relationships above getting the job done is not really all that popular either, except when the relationship is with a narcissist. The point here might be that being <em>all in</em> for anything carries the risk of over-emphasis and being out of balance with all the aspects of life.\n\nHere\'s my suggestion. Maybe a better way exists if we redefine <em>all</em> to be less absolute and more of an inclusive term.\n\nConsider being <em>just enough in</em> to accomplish our goals in the areas of life which are important to you. This allows the person who cares about career success to focus on achieving that goal, but not to the cost of having very small attendance at their celebratory events as they smash record after record.\n\nThe person who values relationships above all else is to concentrate on growing a healthy relationship without the burden of trying to work excessive hours to the exclusion of all else.\n\nCan we have it all? Only if we have it reasonably. Forget <em>all in</em> and be <em>just enough i</em> to make it all work reasonably well.\n\nModeration in all things probably does mean no stars on Hollywood Drive or mentions in the history books, but it just might mean you are pretty successful with work, family, friends, and your community. That ain\'t so bad.', 'All In Or All Out?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'all-in-or-all-out', '', '', '2015-04-28 06:00:47', '2015-04-28 10:00:47', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25756', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(25784, 389, '2015-04-30 06:00:34', '2015-04-30 10:00:34', 'Each and every one of you is currently in a pivotal moment. You just might not know it.\n\nIs your business languishing in the face of an unprecedented level of challenge from a particularly fierce competitor? Are you being forced to continually do more with less, pushing you beyond the brink of effectiveness?\n\nPerhaps your friends and family are quietly suffering because you are simply working too much, or you are not present enough when you are with them.\n\nWhatever the circumstance you find yourself in, you may well be in a pivotal moment; you just have to recognize it and decide it’s time to take control of the kind of legacy you leave.\n\nIt may be time to envision a greater legacy, then get after it with such energy that it recasts the challenges you are facing and expands the impact of your future moments in meaningful ways.\n<h3>Five Footprints Of Legacy</h3>\nIntroducing The Five Footprints of Legacy – the ways we tend to leave legacies behind at work and in life. Get to work on making such imprints, even a few, each day and enjoy the daily doses of meaning that go along with those efforts.\n<h4><strong>Enduring Results</strong></h4>\nThese are major accomplishments that you envision, invest in, drive to realization, and ultimately leave behind that you can look back at years from now with pride and say, “I did that. That simply would not have happened if it were not for me.\" And by major accomplishments I don’t just mean you restructured your company. Major can certainly be impressive results but also can simply mean real things you did that touched real lives of real people\n<h4><strong>Transfer Of Knowledge</strong></h4>\nWhen we take the time to share what we have learned with others, it is one of the most direct ways we can have a lasting impact. At work, this takes the form of the investment we make in coaching others and in sharing information beyond what’s merely required for employees to do their jobs.\n<h4><strong>Passing On Values and Life Lessons</strong></h4>\nThe values we choose to live and exemplify and the lessons we pass on have a reverberating impact on those who we interact with every day – more resonant than we can imagine. Said another way, the little daily impressions we make, inspired by or in spite of our values, makes a huge permanent impression.\n<h4><strong>Relationships and Lives Serviced</strong></h4>\nWhen we invest in relationships in our lives, it produces meaningful connections. Yet for many of us, hectic days, which can be spent doing tasks bereft of meaning, prevent us from making even little investments in relationships ripe with meaning. Putting energy into relationships that matter to us will matter in the end. Relatedly, to touch lives is to live in service of others. A simple truth is that people don’t remember us for what we do for ourselves, they remember us for what we do for them. Want to leave a legacy behind? Live in service of others with a desire to touch the lives of as many as you can in your time on this planet. There is a wonderful proverb that says: “If you are intentional about living a meaningful life and leaving a legacy behind, you never really die. Instead, you break into 1000 pieces, each of which stays alive within the people whose lives you’ve touched along the way.”\n<h4><strong>Stories Told About You</strong></h4>\nThe last way we tend to leave a legacy behind is through the stories told about us. What are the big, sweeping tales that characterize who you are? What will be said about you from the heart, when no one is looking? How did you live your life?\n\nMake no mistake. Stories will be told about you. As author Charles de Lint said, “We’re all made of stories. When they finally put us underground, the stories are what will go on.” Find out what your narrative is, then hire yourself as an editor of the eternal and rewrite as necessary.\n\n&nbsp;', 'The Lighthouse Of Legacy', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-lighthouse-of-legacy', '', '', '2015-04-30 06:00:34', '2015-04-30 10:00:34', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25784', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(25792, 270, '2015-05-01 06:00:36', '2015-05-01 10:00:36', 'Last week I received a cartoon by Artell, over social media. The cartoon showed a group of people sitting around a conference table with this caption:\n\n<em>I need your sales forecasts by Monday, your updated client list by Tuesday, your expense reports by Wednesday and your budget plans by Thursday.  And by the way - why aren’t your people making more sales calls?</em>\n\nImmediately I smiled, nodded and found myself transported back in time. I was serving a team that was feeling a lot like that.\n<ul>\n	<li>The number of objectives the team was responsible for and the goals for each objective were increasing.</li>\n	<li>We’d expected that a new database was going to increase our efficiency. And instead it significantly increased our workload.</li>\n	<li>At the same time our volume of customers was rapidly rising and their service expectations were growing.</li>\n</ul>\n<strong>Like every team under pressure, we had choices:</strong>\n<ol>\n	<li>We could throw our hands up and surrender.</li>\n	<li>We could make a case for changes to be made to the new database and provide detailed notes to help developers.</li>\n	<li>We could analyze every part of our current processes and look for opportunities to improve our efficiency.</li>\n	<li>We could benchmark with our customers and suppliers in an effort to discover solutions we had not considered.</li>\n</ol>\nAs we weighed those choices, numero uno was quickly dismissed. Failure was not an option. Then we did everything else on the list. We called a special meeting so everyone on the team could help to create a detailed list of the processes we used the database for, where data should link that didn’t, how long it took to complete each task and how much time we actually had for those tasks. We recommended solutions. And then we shared our document. And shared it. And shared it again.\n\nAt the same time, we took an intentional step back so that we could go forward and began printing lots of documents in advance of our peak times, and used paper, instead of technology. Gasp! That decision made us significantly more efficient, more effective and provided better customer service than if we used the database that crawled and didn’t link as it should have.\n\nThen we met with customers and they validated what we already knew. Our current tools were not going to help us meet their evolving needs. So we called one of our vendors and asked if we could come for a tour of their organization, deeply believing that answers existed.  <strong>Within a few hours we had an idea to restructure our team in such a way that it would decrease the number of times that each person had to change their focus, which would increase their efficiency and effectiveness, and decrease burnout.</strong>\n\n<strong>Our restructure was different:</strong>\n<ul>\n	<li>It took some time for the team to warm up to the idea.</li>\n	<li>And it sounded nuts to the rest of the organization.</li>\n</ul>\n<strong>And then the RESULTS started coming in: </strong>\n<ul>\n	<li>The team had more focus, less stress and more energy.</li>\n	<li>And they consistently met, and much more, frequently exceeded their goals.</li>\n</ul>\nYes, the team deserved better tools and a higher level of support from the company. However, we could afford to wait for that to happen so we did what we could, with what we had, right where we were. The decision to seek the wisdom of others and the courage to make a bold change energized each person on our team and our fueled our results.\n\nIf you are in the midst of an energy sapping challenge and struggling you are not alone. This struggle is real all over our world.\n\n<img class=\" size-thumbnail wp-image-25795 alignright\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Energize-your-leadership-cover1.png\" alt=\"Energize Your Leadership Book\" />For the past two years, I’ve been working with <a href=\"http://www.energizeyourleadership.net/authors/\" target=\"_blank\">15 Dedicated Authors</a> from different parts of our globe&lt; to create a book that would offer real help and hope to anyone in the midst of those struggles. Last week our new book, <a href=\"http://www.energizeyourleadership.net/about-2/\">Energize Your Leadership</a> was released.\n\nEach author is an experienced corporate professional, working mother and/or a small business owner that has dealt with things like this:\n<ul>\n	<li>The increased use of technology that has you \"plugged in\" to work more often.</li>\n	<li>Economic changes that increasingly require you to produce more with less.</li>\n	<li>Stress caused by environment, health, and/or personal choices.</li>\n	<li>The struggle to be physically and mentally present and engaged at home while still producing at work.</li>\n</ul>\nAnd each one has survived those energy-depleting seasons and emerged softer, stronger, wiser and more energized. If you are in the midst of an energy-depleting season, don’t let your struggle overwhelm you.\n\nPick up your copy today and prepare to <a href=\"http://www.energizeyourleadership.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Energize Your Leadership</a>.\n\nGet your copy of on <a href=\"http://buff.ly/1H7mVkd\">Amazon Kindle</a> or <a href=\"http://buff.ly/1JYFXaX\">Paperback</a> sent to you from Amazon today!', 'Finding The Energy To Do More With Less', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'finding-the-energy-to-do-more-with-less', '', '', '2015-05-01 06:00:36', '2015-05-01 10:00:36', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25792', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(25806, 274, '2015-04-29 06:17:48', '2015-04-29 10:17:48', 'Two years ago today, I stood in my kitchen talking to a few team members via video call on GoToMeeting. My home phone rang. I let it go, and it ended, then started again.\n\nThe caller ID indicated a local number, and I had a brief flash of concern that it might be my daughters\' school, so I stepped away from the computer screen to pick up the call.\n\nThe voice on the other side of the call shared some devastating news. I can\'t work, she said. I just got a call. My husband. Plane crash. Afghanistan.\n\nI barely knew what to say. I asked a few questions. I fumbled with supportive words. The call ended quickly.\n\nThe young woman who called me had only worked a few weeks as a subcontractor in my company. We had met in person a couple of times. Though I am not sure exactly what transpired for her that day. one of her instincts, upon learning that her husband had been tragically killed in a terrible accident, was to call me.\n\nA boss of mine used to talk about how influential a leader\'s words are for the people who work with them. He described a person\'s supervisor at work as one of the most influential people in their lives, with incredible opportunity to be a determining factor in each person\'s life and happiness.\n\nI heard him say or write it a dozen times — or more. While it connected to me, on some level, I always listened from an employee\'s perspective, thinking and considering how my bosses at various jobs had shaped me and observing my husband to see how much he seemed affected by the leaders in his organization.\n\nI saw my boss\'s words more from the negative perspective: a bad boss has the power to make a person\'s life exceedingly miserable. Those negative experiences are the ones people share more often, the ones that loom as significant.\n\nBecause of that, despite my boss framing his perspective in the positive difference leaders can make, I didn\'t understand his perspective clearly until I began leading others as the owner of my own company.\n\nAnd the depth of a leader\'s influence didn\'t really touch me until the day my team member lost her husband.\n\nWhile I had been happy to get to know her, and hopeful about our work together, this team member viewed me as important enough to reach out during the most devastating moments of her life.\n\nI\'ve stayed in contact with this team member over the years since her loss. We shared lunch in my kitchen, months after her loss. She is exceedingly brave and resilient. She is making a huge difference in the lives of the other women who lost loved ones in that day.\n\nHer presence in my life is a poignant reminder of the difference I can make as a leader, in a positive way, for the people who work with me. While being present in the worst moments matters, every word and interaction matters.', 'The Power Of A Leader', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-power-of-a-leader', '', '', '2015-04-29 06:17:48', '2015-04-29 10:17:48', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25806', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(25840, 372, '2015-05-04 06:00:57', '2015-05-04 10:00:57', 'I\'ve been a student of leadership for over five decades. I learn every day from leaders - but my foundational learning came from four gentlemen.\n\nI spent fifteen years in non-profit management. I had some good bosses, some OK bosses, one great boss, and three really lousy bosses.\n\nOne of my lousy bosses made grand promises – to staff members, to volunteers, to customers. Yet, he kept few of his commitments. I learned his word was not trustworthy.\n\nAnother lousy boss was skilled at pointing out my mistakes and failures. Yet, he was quiet when I exceeded expectations and moved the organization forward. I learned to insulate myself from his presence because all I heard from him was disappointment.\n\nMy worst boss asked me to lie. My branch team and I worked our butts off to raise $25,000, which was double what they had ever raised before. But at the campaign’s closing dinner, with 300 people in attendance, my boss told me to get up in front of everyone and tell them we had raised, not $25,000, but $30,000. I refused, and announced the real total. He wasn’t happy. I didn’t care – and left that job as quickly as I could.\n\nAgain, I’ve had a handful of good bosses – but it took one gret boss to really open my eyes to the power of inspiring leadership and a values-based culture. I met Jerry Nutter early in my non-profit management experience while he was facilitating a week-long career development session.\n\nDuring that week, he held us to high standards, praised our progress, and called us on ￼our crap. He set up clear ground rules for how we’d work together and he held us accountable. I felt supported and inspired. I couldn’t wait to get to each morning’s session.\n\nAt the end of that week I told Jerry, \"I am going to work for you someday.\"\n\nHe replied, \"Thanks for the warning, kid!\" We both laughed - and knew it would come to fruition.\n\nIt took me a couple of years to find a job working for him, but it was worth the wait. Being on Jerry’s team, day in and day out, was exactly like the experience in that week long program. I loved coming to work.\n\nEventually, Jerry handed me the project of a lifetime. He wanted me to take the ideas he used to build his team culture, and teach them to the non-profits in the country’s roughest neighborhoods.\n\nI built a team of talented, committed leaders across the US. We crafted teen programs built upon character and values. We took these concepts to branches all over the country, including inner city branches, places with heavy teen gang influences. It was our job to make these non-profits a compelling enough place so that teens would leave the gang life.\n\nOur program offered what teenagers wanted then and now: a sense of belonging, cool activities, and meaningful contribution. Gangs serve the same needs. We were crafting a service-based life built on these needs.\n\nSlowly, our ideas for creating a service culture based on clear values started taking hold. Branches began seeing teenagers return to their programs and buildings. Some of those kids became camp counselors, bus drivers, and camp directors. Others became branch program directors and even executives.\n\nJerry, my best boss, taught me how powerful culture is, driving performance and values-alignment. I was so transformed by my experiences with Jerry that I wanted to expand those ideas out as far as I could. I knew that if having a more values-aligned culture could turn around gang members, perhaps it could work in our workplaces.\n\nTwenty-five years ago I started teaching these same principles in corporations, helping leaders to serve kindly and helping organizations be inspiring places to work. What have your lousy bosses and great bosses taught you about leadership and culture?', 'What Three Bad Bosses &amp; One Great Boss Taught Me About Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'what-three-bad-bosses-and-one-great-boss-taught-me-about-leadership', '', '', '2015-05-04 06:00:57', '2015-05-04 10:00:57', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25840', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(25858, 374, '2015-05-05 06:00:47', '2015-05-05 10:00:47', 'Today we congratulate Instigator <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/ken-blanchard/\" target=\"_blank\">Ken Blanchard</a> and his co-author, Spencer Johnson, on the launch of their book, <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/New-One-Minute-Manager/dp/0062367544/\" target=\"_blank\">The New One Minute Manager</a>. It is being released for sale today, May 5th.\n\nWhile our world has changed substantially since the original One Minute Manager was published in 1982, this book reminds us that common sense and simplicity still play vital roles in successfully managing people.\n\nHere are a few highlights that stood out for me:\n<h3>One Minute Goals</h3>\nOne Minute Goals are the first of the book\'s three secrets to <em>One Minute Management</em>. A One Minute Goal should take no more than a paragraph or two to express, so it can be read and reviewed in about a minute.\n\nThe part of this section of the book that most struck home for me was the discussion of how to home in on a One Minute Goal. In the midst of the discussion, the leader who was explaining the <em>One Minute Management</em> concept explained that it was critical to think about the real problem, and not yourself.\n\nThis section made me recall times in my career when I had difficulty seeing past defensiveness and fear of how my choices would be perceived rather than the root cause of a problem. When I was involved in contact center work, a problem like reps spending too much time on the phone could easily lead me to feel backed into a corner.\n\nThe conundrum of call center work, though, is that it is more effective at times to spend longer on a call and achieve first-call resolution rather than to have a caller repeatedly call back, seeking a solution not achieved in the initial call because they felt rushed off by a rep under pressure to keep call length down. In these cases, the real problem was management\'s need to be educated on the effectiveness of first call resolution, not the fact that reps were taking too long.\n<h3>One Minute Praisings</h3>\nThe second secret to <em>One Minute Management</em> is the ability to dispense One Minute Praisings. A One Minute Praising involves giving an individual specific feedback, as immediately as possible, about something they have done right.\n\nTwo parts of this chapter resonated with me:\n<ol>\n<ol>\n	<li>First, the phrase it\'s awful to have to wait to know how you\'re doing. The <em>New One Minute Manager</em> stresses the importance of consistent, immediate, feedback. Anyone who has ever sat in their office, knots in their stomach, awaiting the annual review which can make or break their career plans or convey the likelihood of a merit increase, knows it is no fun to be in the dark. This book provides a suggestion that can untie those knots and encourage positive productivity.</li>\n	<li>Secondly, there is a conversation about the One Minute Manager who is so admired by everyone. He does not have the newest equipment. He actually has some of the most outdated equipment. As a parent, I have spent many a wasted breath trying to explain to my son that better equipment, such as for speed skating, won\'t make a difference if he isn\'t putting in the training work. I have heard countless people, including myself sometimes, say this would be so much better if we had new equipment or in some other way blame unsatisfactory productivity or conditions on not having the best equipment. Success lies much more in the outlook of the people than it does in the condition of the machines.</li>\n</ol>\n</ol>\n<h3>One Minute Re-Directs</h3>\nOne Minute Re-Directs are the new name for the previous One Minute Reprimands. This chapter provides the companion concept to catching people doing things right. Since of course errors and mistakes occur in business, it is critical to have an efficient and clear way to handle these errors and mistakes when they occur. One Minute Re-Directs provide specific information about the problem to be solved, allow the staff person to process what was said, and reinforces the individual\'s inherent worth as an individual and team member.\n\nI can\'t say that I have ever had a supervisor who practiced a true One Minute Re-Direct. I know there are issues I had when I supervised people that could have had more positive outcomes, for me as the supervisor and them as the employee, if I had applied these principles. Hesitating to address an error or mistake never brings that error or mistake closer to resolution.\n\nI have two favorite passages to share with you, after which I will simply encourage you to find out for yourself by visiting the book\'s site and considering buying it.\n\nI loved the reminder that the number one motivator of people is feedback on results (page 55).\n\nIn addition, I wholeheartedly occur with this sentiment:\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/share_03.png\" alt=\"\" />\n\nI invite you to visit <a href=\"http://newoneminutemanager.com/\" target=\"_blank\">http://newoneminutemanager.com</a> to learn more about the book, download a sample chapter, and explore more of the <em>New One Minute Manager</em> concepts.', 'Introducing The New One Minute Manager', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'introducing-the-new-one-minute-manager', '', '', '2015-05-05 06:00:47', '2015-05-05 10:00:47', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25858', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(25870, 374, '2015-05-05 13:00:33', '2015-05-05 17:00:33', 'The Lead Change Group is grateful to Susan Mazza of <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Random Acts Of Leadership</a> for hosting the May 2015 Leadership Development Carnival.\n\nThis month, the contributors addressed the topic of leading yourself.\n\nSusan shares, \"We asked for recent posts that offer wisdom to people who need support in leading themselves and encouragement to walk their talk as leaders.\"\n\nPlease visit the full carnival post at <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/may-2015-leadership-development-carnival/\" target=\"_blank\">Random Acts Of Leadership</a> to see what others are saying about one of the most challenging of leadership tasks.\n\nEach of the contributors would appreciate a visit to their articles, and we would be grateful if you would share the carnival among your contacts. You can easily tweet your support by using our simple <a href=\"http://ctt.ec/42ITM\" target=\"_blank\">click to tweet</a> feature.\n\nThe Lead Change Group will be hosting the June 2015 Leadership Development Carnival so stay tuned for our topic announcement in the coming weeks. We\'re looking forward to another great month.', 'May 2015 Leadership Development Carnival - Leading Yourself', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'may-2015-leadership-development-carnival-leading-yourself', '', '', '2015-05-05 13:00:33', '2015-05-05 17:00:33', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25870', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(25886, 282, '2015-05-14 06:00:10', '2015-05-14 10:00:10', 'One of my all time heroes is Dr. Martin Luther King.  Born and raised in a culture where he and other African-Americans were treated as second class citizens, he could have become a much different person than he did. His circumstances could have easily made him bitter and resentful. They could have just as easily forged him into an angry and violent anarchist, lashing out at an unjust and bigoted culture.\n\nHe chose peace instead. Especially now, in times of high tension, conflict and uncertainty, we do ourselves, our communities and our nation a disservice if we ignore his wisdom from the past. It is as relevant and dynamic today as it was nearly 50 years ago.\n<h3>Refuse to Hate</h3>\nDr. King said, \"Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.\" In business, in politics and in every facet of our lives, it\'s easy to resort to an \"us/them\" mentality. I catch myself doing it all of the time! I promise, I\'m trying to get better, and not let my mouth run ahead of my convictions! Of course we\'re going to disagree, sometimes passionately, with others who cross our path. Y0u, and you alone are in charge of your heart. Hate your boss? DON\'T. Hate someone who abused a relationship? DON\'T. Hate someone of a different color, different religion, different political ideology? DON\'T. This counsel is for me as much as anyone. If you\'re not good at the biblical admonition to \"speak the truth in love,\" then either get better, or stop speaking.\n<h3>Do What\'s Right</h3>\nDr. King challenged us, “Never, never be afraid to do what\'s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society\'s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”\n\nWow... is it really that simple? Do the right thing? The answer is yes, it really is that simple. We do the right thing, not only because it helps others, but because to do anything other wounds our own souls. It was obvious to Dr. King as it is to us that doing the right thing isn\'t always easy. Anything worth having never is. DO IT ANYWAY.  Another biblical principle is in play here. The Bible teaches that if a man is going to build a house, first he must \"count the cost.\" The principle of \"counting the cost\" was not about determining whether or not he could afford it. It was to prepare him for a cost that was inevitable. It laid the groundwork for the challenge to the soul, the potential cost in conflict and peace capital. Count the cost. Prepare yourself. Do what\'s right.\n<h3>Choose Creative Maladjustment</h3>\nRead this quote: “Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.” Now read it again. What does being \"creatively maladjusted\" mean to you? I believe it means as we come across those things that are in conflict with our character and values, we purposefully focus our creativity and \"holy discontent\" on addressing those issues, working for wholeness, peace and progress. Are you a part of the solution when it comes to \"human salvation,\" in working for the betterment of the world you touch? Be innovative. Look for and create solutions and remedies where no one has looked before. Make a difference. Be creatively maladjusted.\n\nThis world... it\'s ours. As leaders, let\'s spend our passions, our moments and our resources in changing a world that we will be happy to leave to our children and grandchildren!', 'Let No Man Pull You So Low...', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'let-no-man-pull-you-so-low', '', '', '2015-05-14 06:00:10', '2015-05-14 10:00:10', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25886', 0, 'post', '', 14);
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(25890, 389, '2015-05-06 06:00:04', '2015-05-06 10:00:04', 'Inconsistent behavior is a silent killer in the workplace. Inconsistency from leaders confuses people, erodes trust, causes fear, and can lead to a sort of learned inertia where the employee, paralyzed by uncertainty, just avoids or shuts down interactions with the offending manager.\n\nHow does it happen? How does inconsistency come into play? Surely we don\'t set out with the goal of keeping our employees guessing.\n\nThe hard truth is that we are often unaware that our behaviors are being perceived as inconsistent. It does not help that as managers we live in a fishbowl, where our every action is seen by all.\n\nFurthermore, we may not realize how damaging our unintentional inconsistencies may be. To help, here are a half-dozen ways to overcome any tendency of inconsistency.\n<h3>Put Your Priorities On A Pedestal</h3>\nNothing will create more uncertainty and confusion for an organization than inconsistent messaging on strategies, vision, and goals (organizational priorities). The same holds true when you act inconsistently relative to your personal priorities at work, such as your stated beliefs, personal purpose, or desired legacy.\n\nPutting these priorities on a pedestal and constantly filtering decisions and actions relative to these priorities is what I call demonstrating critical consistency. It may require a personal campaign to strengthen your resolve. It might require an effort to stop trying to please everyone and being mindful to not always let the last word in your ear, well, last.\n<h3>Camera In The Corner</h3>\nThis is a simple exercise to help you spot your own inconsistencies. Imagine there is a camera in the corner of the room every time you are giving direction, making a decision, or interacting with someone in a certain situation. Reviewing the film later should not unveil a host of continuity problems; the world should see you acting in a manner consistent with your beliefs, actions, strategies, and goals.\n<h3>Think See-Say</h3>\nIn advertising parlance, when developing a commercial it is critical that what the words are trying to communicate in each frame match what the picture is communicating, i.e., the see and the say match, otherwise confusion sets in; after all, you only have thirty seconds to get your message across.\n\nIt\'s the same for us as managers. Our visible actions should always match up with our words or else people will become confused and begin to tune out. Relatedly, a brand that doesn\'t follow through on its promises will never be bought again. And managers who don\'t follow through on what they say they will do will never have anyone buy into them, their decisions and direction, again, either.\n<h3>Mind Your Mood Swings &amp; Impulses</h3>\nInconsistent moods yield tentative employees and can even cause fear if the mood swings toward downright nasty. Everyone, of course, is allowed different temperatures on different days. It\'s about being aware and minimizing the height and depth of the peaks and valleys, and perhaps even acknowledging when you are not your usual self. When someone\'s foul moods keep popping up periodically, other people may avoid or overly agree with the person, conceding and nodding in an effort to not trigger an explosion.\n\nSimilarly, acting on impulse, either positively or negatively, can create touchy situations. Suddenly laying praise on someone loudly and openly when that\'s not your usual MO can cause suspicion. That\'s not to discourage acts of positivity, but you may have to telegraph why you are doing it now and reconcile why it\'s different from how you usually approach such situations. On the other side of the coin, impulsive outbursts of negativity can create fear and self-doubt.\n<h3>Same Situation, Different Treatment Doesn\'t Work</h3>\nPeople will remember if similar situations produced different results and if managers interpret rules and policies differently to meet their own desired end; these inconsistencies may even raise doubts of integrity. This call for disciplined behavior shouldn\'t be viewed as at odds with the need for open-mindedness, the need to react to new data, or the need to flex your leadership behavior according to different situations.\n\nRather, it is about the need for you to heighten your situational awareness and to be cognizant of the consistency of your behaviors and actions. The same goes for treatment of people; employees want to be treated fairly, not fairly inconsistently. Favoritism will fester into resentment, as will punishment that\'s not equally administered.\n<h3>Put Repeatable Processes In Place</h3>\nYou shouldn\'t let your crazy calendar and overpacked days dictate how you make decisions. Nor should you let such factors breed an environment where inconsistency is a natural by-product of harried actions. Counter this phenomenon by implementing a disciplined decision-making and activity process.', 'Overcoming Inconsistency', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'overcoming-inconsistency', '', '', '2015-05-06 06:00:04', '2015-05-06 10:00:04', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25890', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(25896, 386, '2015-05-07 06:00:20', '2015-05-07 10:00:20', 'In my blog post <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/living-a-purposeful-vision/\">Living A Purposeful Vision</a>, I stated my intention to get 100,000 entrepreneurs to step into their single biggest challenge by December 31, 2017. I now want to make an offer that shows I am prepared to walk the talk of my goal.\n\nI have been inspired and changed by listening to powerful speakers. I want to reciprocate by offering either of my keynote presentations for free as long as you cover my travel expenses from now until August 31, 2015.\n\nWhether your audience consists of entrepreneurs themselves or is composed of people who are entrepreneurial in nature, each of these presentations focuses on a specific aspect of personal or team development.\n\n\n<h3>The #1 Entrepreneur Challenge</h3>\n\nThroughout Lead Change Group, we see our influencers talking about how we need to look at ourselves in order to fully lead those around us. Recently Becky Robinson shared <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/the-power-of-a-leader/\">The Power Of A Leader</a> and how her leadership style meant that when a critical life event happened for one of her subcontractors, Becky was one of the first people she reached out to.\n\nHow do you show up like Becky in a way that those you lead will trust you? My talk, <strong>The #1 Entrepreneur Challenge</strong> (which could be subtitled the #1 Leadership Challenge), is all about what you do to both look after and grow yourself. After this presentation any entrepreneur or leader will be clear on what challenges they face, what they can do to face them, and the actions that they can use to achieve peak performance, while showing up for all those they lead.\n\n<h3>Slow Down To Speed Up</h3>\n\n<img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/share_06.png\" alt=\"share_06\" />In today’s world the very thought of slowing down can create anxiety. Yet great leaders know that the only way to create great teams and fantastic team performance is to first slow down. Only then can you speed up. As <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/chris-edmonds/\" target=\"_blank\">Chris Edmonds</a> wrote in <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/team-building-sometimes-isnt/\">Team Building Sometimes Isn’t</a>, you must be conscious about how you go about creating synergy in your teams.\n\nThis presentation focuses on how a team slows down to clearly articulate goals, measures, communication, and the strategy for what it is you want to do. It then explains how you use this process to accelerate the entire team, making sure that there are pulse points and measurements all along the way to keep everyone on track.\n\nIf you lead a team, manage projects, or help people improve their performance in a group, we will leave with specifics you can use to improve your teams and how they work together to achieve organizational goals.\n\n<h3>My Promise</h3>\n\nIf you attend one of my keynotes you will have 3 concrete action items that will shift and accelerate you and your organization within 90 days. I want to make a difference in the world. Help me by getting me to speak to your audience for free as long as you cover my expenses before August 31, 2015.\n\nPlease contact me via the email option on my <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/instigators/david-greer/\" target=\"_blank\">Lead Change Instigator Page</a> to talk further about the possibilities.', 'The #1 Entrepreneur Challenge - An Offer', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-1-entrepreneur-challenge-an-offer', '', '', '2015-05-07 06:00:20', '2015-05-07 10:00:20', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25896', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(25904, 252, '2015-05-08 06:00:41', '2015-05-08 10:00:41', '\"Mary, I need some inspiration.” This is what I heard one day from one of the staff members when I walked into my favorite local coffee shop. I know them well. I\'m their unofficial den mother.\n\nThe word often puzzles me, especially when we are looking to someone else for inspiration. Lists of leadership traits often include the ability to inspire.\n\nCan we actually inspire someone else deliberately or is it just the outcome of being ourselves?\n\nWhat does inspiring some one involve?\n\nI asked several of my cohorts in planting seeds of leadership from the Lead Change and Google+ communities. Here’s a whole batch of wisdom I got from them. Some themes emerged.\n\n<h3>Lead From Who You Are</h3>\n\n“Be positive, share who you are, uplift yourself at every turn and let it show. Share your vision profusely,” says Monica Diaz, fellow character-based leadership instigator, coach, educator, and passionate advocate of human connection.\n\nPaula Kiger, Lead Change Group community manager, suggests to remain true to yourself. Don’t just change direction because of what the group wants or because of criticism. Be consistent day in and day out so people know to trust you will be there.\n\n<h3>Be Transparent, Show vulnerability.</h3>\n\n“I like to share how I may have failed and what I learned from it. I find that people respond well when they realize you are sharing something that isn\'t necessarily easy for you to discuss,\" says Christopher Zaucha, leadership aficionado in the construction industry.\n\n“Be authentic. No faking. Be vulnerable. Prove you are human and that you make mistakes. Show that you learn from them and you grow,” says Chery Gegelman, Lead Change Group instigator and lead at Giana Consulting.\n\n“Share your personal stories of overcoming challenges,” states Karesa Blagrove, inspiring team lead at The CBI Group.\n\n<h3>Encouragement Is Key</h3>\n\n“I might just encourage them to live their passion, share that passion with others, and show the world their joy,\" says John E. Smith, educator, facilitator, writer and fellow instigator.\n\nDavid Dye of Lead Change Group Leading Voice and founder and president of Trailblaze, Inc. tells us, “The ability to inspire is not charisma. It\'s the message to another person that they can. Your confidence in your people becomes their belief in themselves,”\n\n“We inspire when we do things that help others believe they can achieve their greatest goals. When we believe we can, we are inspired. When others help us believe, they inspire us.” says Mike Henry, Sr.,  founder, Lead Change Group.\n\n<h3>Look To Your Own Experience</h3>\n\n“Think about what has inspired you personally. I feel inspired when a leader includes me in decision-making, asking my opinions and considering my input. I feel inspired when I see a high-level leader work alongside the mailroom personnel to get a big job out the door… I feel inspired when a leader makes sacrifices… such as coming over to help clear the mud and debris from an employee\'s flooded house,” says Leigh Steere, co-founder of ManagingPeopleBetter.com.\n\nSusan Mazza, Lead Change Group Leading Voice, author and founder of Random Acts of Leadership offers: “If you want to be inspiring to others be inspired BY them. My daughter’s lacrosse coach is masterful at this. He has created an upward spiral of energy. It is not hard to find things to be inspired by when you observe these girls as each year they live into a legacy of expectation for them to be great and do great things.”\n\n<h3>What About You?</h3>\n\nBack to my buddy in the coffee shop. I asked him what he meant when he was asking for inspiration. He said he needed motivation, not only at work, but in his personal relationships too. I would go so far as to say he was looking for encouragement – a mindset shift that would allow him to carry on with energy and confidence.\n\nThere are so many interpretations of inspiration. Next time someone uses that word, ask them what it means to him or her, and how you can help.', 'Do You Have What It Takes To Be Inspiring?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'do-you-have-what-it-takes-to-be-inspiring', '', '', '2015-05-08 06:00:41', '2015-05-08 10:00:41', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25904', 0, 'post', '', 7),
(25930, 329, '2015-05-18 06:00:41', '2015-05-18 10:00:41', 'Just one sleepless night on my new $1500 sofa bed purchased for my then getaway lake house was way too much. The sales person neglected to tell me that the pull out sofa bed had a pretend mattress guaranteed to give you a morning backache, even after a night of hard partying.\n\nSo, I elected to call the furniture store to purchase an upgrade mattress. I collided with Mr. Rules ‘R Us. The sales person was not happy that I was even suggesting this product was less than satisfactory.\n\n“An upgrade double-sized mattress will cost you $250,” he staunchly asserted as though reciting the penalty for landing on his part of the Monopoly board. He also informed me that the pretend mattress that came with the sofa could not be returned nor would there be a credit. He curtly labeled the mattress soiled.\n\nI agreed to dispose of the inferior mattress and go forward with the purchase of an upgrade. Then came another rule. There would be no free delivery of the upgrade mattress. I would have to pick it up at the furniture store. Mattresses do not fold up to be neatly transported in the back seat of a car.\n\nA friend with a truck and a half-day off came to my rescue. With prior agreement from the furniture store, I mailed a check for the amount I was told to pay - $267.50 - so my friend could pick up and transport the new mattress to my lake house thirty minutes away. No one called later to learn if the new mattress worked better.\n\nTwo weeks later, I received a bill for two dollars and fifty cents with a note from Mr. Rules ’R Us: “You failed to pay the proper amount of tax on the upgraded mattress. Remit immediately so we can balance our books.”\n\nI called the store manager. He silently listened to my entire story and at the end of my saga flatly said: “The salesman was following the rules. You will have to pay the bill.” Guess where I did not buy the bedroom suite and patio furniture for my next home.\n\nManagement is about the administration of stuff. Managers plan, organize, staff, and control. Managers ensure rules and policies are followed. They worry about the efficiency of the organization and the quality of its output. They tend to be cautious and careful. They oversee compliance with form, focusing on budgets and/or bottom line. They preach the sermon of doing things right, as in correct. All these are valuable functions necessary for the well being of an organization, particularly in today’s rule-constrained business landscape.\n\nLeadership is about the influence of people. Leaders inspire, encourage, coach, mentor, empower, and discipline. They worry about the effectiveness of the organization and character of those who guide its direction. They pay attention to vision, values and the productivity and well being of associates. They preach the sermon of doing things right, as in consistent with values, and doing the right thing. Integrity always trumps greed. Great leaders tend to be courageous and compassionate.\n\nNow, before you critique my uproar of absolutes and extol me for painting a picture of either-or, let me state again that organizational success requires both efficiency and effectiveness; management-thinking and leadership-thinking. Successful CEO’s find ways to instill the proper blend of wise caution with courageous risk-taking; consistency-producing standards along side an entrepreneurial spirit. However, when the pendulum heavily favors management thinking, the enterprise yields far too many employees like Mr. Rules \'R Us.\n\n“There is a good way to tell if a company is run by a manager or by a leader,” a friend once told me. “Just examine if crucial decisions are made by someone in a line unit or a staff unit.” That might be overly simplistic; we clearly need staff or support units. But the crux of his diagnostic was whether crucial calls required forward-thinking courage or simply follow-the-rule compliance. Are pioneers revered more than policy wonks? Would the people who live inside the organization characterize it as a bold enterprise or a bureaucratic one? Would customers view the organization as customer-centric or bottom line-centric?\n\nJohn Ellis in his article <em>Strategy</em> in Fast Company wrote:\n\n“Here’s what real business leaders do. They go out and rally the troops, plant the flag, and make a stand. They confront hostile audiences and they deal with the press. If the issue is confidence, they conduct themselves confidently. If the issue is trust, they make their company’s business transparent. If the issue is character, they tell the truth. They do not shirk responsibility; they assume command. Because a fundamental ingredient of business success is leadership. And the granular stuff of leadership is courage, conviction, and character.”\n\nThe title of this piece was purposefully overstated to make a plea for more leaders. It was also the title of a poem by Barry Wishner. Managers count value; leaders create value. Managers have subordinates; leaders have followers.\n\nLeaders at the core of an organization nurture spirit and encourage determination. They elevate the power of people over the efficiency of procedure. They return us to the soul of commerce and remind us of the virtue of contribution.\n\nLeaders are the engines of enduring living companies, not just those that survive until they are purchased. They kindle purpose and awaken passion.', 'Let&#039;s Get Rid Of Management', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'lets-get-rid-of-management-2', '', '', '2015-05-18 06:00:41', '2015-05-18 10:00:41', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25930', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(25940, 251, '2015-05-11 06:00:14', '2015-05-11 10:00:14', '\"You are my follower.” His inflection caught me off guard. Put me off a tad, too. In my mind, we had simply connected via social media.\n\nYes, I had clicked a button labeled follow on his page. By doing so, I committed to learning more about him, but I certainly wasn’t thinking in dictionary terms of being an adherent or devotee of a particular person, cause, or activity.\n\nShoot, I hardly knew the guy. The coffee meet-up was supposed to change that.\n\n“Interesting. Could it also be said that you’re my follower? Something reciprocal?”\n\n“No, I connected with you first. I took the lead, you followed.”\n\nGiven my fascination with power and stereotypes, what a fascinating comment. One that highlighted an outdated and misdirected mindset: the view that the leader is dominant and the follower subordinate.\n\nThe rank, authority, and blind obedience thing. Ugh. An orientation that’s ego-based, not character-based.\n\nIt’s an outlook that’s also out of step with the reality of today’s flatter, more technologically driven workplaces. As Carnegie Mellon professor Robert Kelley notes:\n\n<blockquote>“Most of us are more often followers than leaders. Even when we have subordinates, we still have bosses…so followership dominates our lives and organizations, but not our thinking, because our preoccupation with leadership keeps us from considering the nature and the importance of the follower.”</blockquote>\n\nEven if a boss/employee relationship does exist, taking orders and direction doesn’t automatically make someone a follower. Being a follower is a conscious choice, one rooted in managing from the mind and leading from the heart.\n\nKelley describes effective followers as competent, courageous, honest, and credible people who are self-directed, self-motivated, and take risks. Don’t leaders do those same things?\n\nTo me, leadership and followership are the two sides of the same coin. One can’t exist without the other, and one isn’t better than the other. I see both as intentional attitudes that require us to be self-aware and to self-regulate our actions.\n\n<h3>12 Thing Leadership & Followership Have In Common</h3>\n\nBoth roles have many things in common:\n\n<ol>\n<li>Both require us to stand up for what we believe and stand up to those who would hold us back.</li>\n<li>Neither is a status to be entered into blindly, passively, or indifferently.</li>\n<li>Neither condition is a job title. They’re roles we willingly choose to fill.</li>\n<li>Both come fully loaded with negative stereotypes and connotations to be overcome and changed.</li>\n<li>In either leading or following, we can expect days where our best efforts won’t be enough and will be under-appreciated and under-valued.</li>\n<li>Both require fluidity of thought and a willingness to practice reciprocity as we shift between filling both roles.</li>\n<li>Both require equal paradoxical focus on results and relationships, structure and consideration, and individual and team.</li>\n<li>The best of both practitioners intuitively understand that the less ego that’s involved the better.</li>\n<li>Both roles recognize the value of moral courage.</li>\n<li>Neither status is hung up on labels or categories of who should or shouldn’t take the initiative to make things so. They just do it.</li>\n<li>Both require us to practice critical thinking as well as active participation and engagement.</li>\n<li>Leading and following are both an art and a science in which we use our heads to manage and our hearts to lead.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">“Increasingly, followers think of themselves as free agents, not as dependent underlings.”</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Barbara Kellerman, Harvard\'s JFK School of Government</div>\n</blockquote>\n\nIn effective leadership and followership, there’s no keeping score about who went first.', 'Connect Is The New Follow', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'connect-is-the-new-follow', '', '', '2015-05-11 06:00:14', '2015-05-11 10:00:14', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25940', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(25945, 276, '2015-05-13 06:00:16', '2015-05-13 10:00:16', 'Leading an organization is not a simple exercise. It requires a leader to be connected with his people, and to understand the business landscape and its shifting priorities based on the market movements.\n\nIt is a complex matrix of challenges to juggle on a daily basis. It ranges from being strategic as well as being ready to handle tactical stuff on a daily basis.\n\nWith the constant challenges to meet certain targets, it creates a leadership dilemma. What do I mean by that?  A leader who knows what to do to get the team from point A to B can either do one of two things:\n\n<ol>\n<li>The leader can tell the team what to do,  how to do it, and when to do it</li>\n<li>The leader can guide the team.</li>\n</ol>\n\nEach path varies depending on the competency of its people, the time horizon available to get it done and the paramount goal of the leader. By paramount goal I mean does the leader want to cultivate the talent or just use existing talent? That means grow or maintain. All these choices have varying degrees of outcome that can significantly affect the future of the organization.\n\nAssuming that the time horizon line is adequate and the talents are significantly better, a leader can easily accomplish the goal by providing the roadmap of detailed step-by-step instructions of what needs to be done. This is followed by a strict mandate of achieving the dates slated to be completed.\n\nWith a smart group of constituents, it will ultimately get done and another successful campaign can be had by the leader. However, is this really the best path to grow talent in the organization? I argue that this is the least beneficial path if you’re a leader, because you’re not challenging your people and not harnessing their abilities to come up with better solutions.\n\nThe optimum approach is for the leader to engage the team and present the problem statement and let the team come up with an approach to get it done. It is important to time-box it to ensure that it will be done to address the business needs, because timelines are really important. A right decision in the wrong time will also yield a negative outcome. It is akin to producing a summer outfit for winter when there is clearly no demand for it during the wintertime.\n\nWhile engaging the team is the best and ideal approach, the leader is still faced with the dilemma of which approach to use, depending on the time horizon of the problem. At times a great leader has a gut feeling to use the optimum approach because they trust their people.\n\nAs I write this paragraph, the quote comes to mind of John Maxwell.\n\nHe says, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”\n\nA leader shows the way and guides his people to get it done. At the end of the day, the leader shoulders the dilemma. The approach they use will greatly affect the overall strength of the organization.\n\nIt is my belief that leaders always surround themselves with smart people who can help the organization grow and increase its capacity. If a leader finds herself to be the smartest person in the room, she either should hire new people or move on to another organization.\n\nWhat would you do if you were in the same situation? Would you engage your team? Or would you be so focused on the goal that you would tell them what to do because it is the easiest thing to do?', 'Leadership Dilemma', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'leadership-dilemma', '', '', '2015-05-13 06:00:16', '2015-05-13 10:00:16', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25945', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(25966, 243, '2015-05-12 06:00:48', '2015-05-12 10:00:48', 'I attended <a href=\"http://www.leadercast.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Leadercast 2015</a> last Friday. The conference topic was The Brave Ones.\n\nI had some major takeaways from the simulcast that I wanted to share. I confess I wasn’t excited about going. I was not inspired by last year’s event.\n\nHowever, this year’s event challenged and energized. It was the best day I’ve spent in quite a while.\n<h3>Andy Stanley</h3>\nBold leadership comes from clarity around an unreasonable commitment to what should be. Bold leaders refuse to be cowed by how. Transform how to wow.\n<blockquote>Start moving. Take chances. Don’t get cowed by “How?”</blockquote>\n<h3>Rorke Denver</h3>\nRorke had several good points, but the key for me is that bravery is a team sport. Bravery is like a muscle. We develop it by leaning into the pain.\n<h3>Malala Yousafzai</h3>\nI was impressed by her commitment to her ideals. She simply refused to participate in the tyranny and terror around her. She demonstrated how natural bravery becomes when we simply decide something bigger than ourselves is more important than the possible consequences.\n<h3>Peyton Manning</h3>\nThrive on being uncomfortable. My own note related to the fact that my greatest objectives lay on the other side of my own discomfort. Also, invest in a coach. Become a master observer. Understand the power and influence that can come from others and their perspectives.\n<blockquote>Lean into, thrive on, and be present in the discomfort or the tension.</blockquote>\n<h3>Seth Godin</h3>\nIt’s always too soon. Gutenberg invented the printing press when Europe was 93% illiterate. When the automobile was invented, it was illegal to drive. What did they do with the first fax machine? Every great invention happens before its time. The first principle of change is we must be present in discomfort. We must also be unreasonable in our responsibility.\n<h3>Ed Catmull</h3>\nWhat forces block creativity? Creativity is problem solving. New ideas are fragile. Remove the forces that block creativity. Make the future.\n<blockquote>Remove the forces that block creativity.</blockquote>\n<h3>Aja Brown &amp; Rudy Giuliani</h3>\nI got their notes a bit confused. I’m not sure which one made the statements: Don’t live in a prison of others judgments, or complacency or fear. Pursue a vision bigger than yourself.\n<h3>Rudy Giuliani</h3>\nKnow what you believe.\n<blockquote>Connect and create a team around an idea that’s bigger than yourself.</blockquote>\nEvery character-based leader will have a slightly different application, but one idea remains: The only thing separating you from your ideal future as an inspiring leader is your own inaction. There are plenty of problems to solve. Don’t focus on the obstacles, focus on the objective. Pursue an idea bigger than yourself and find a way. Our world needs you.', 'Inspired To Bravery - A Leadercast 2015 Recap', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'inspired-to-bravery-a-leadercast-2015-recap', '', '', '2015-05-12 06:00:48', '2015-05-12 10:00:48', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=25966', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(26006, 391, '2015-05-21 06:00:03', '2015-05-21 10:00:03', 'Positive Leadership, based on positive psychology, makes a tremendous difference in any workplace no matter how hierarchical its structure may be, or how plain the tasks at hand.\n\nRecently, some great books have been published about new organizations for the 21-st century, such as <em>Reinventing Organizations</em> by Frederic Laloux and <em>My Steam Engine is Broken</em> by Mark Powell & Jonathan Gifford.\n\nI’ll discuss them in a later blog post, but the point is reinventing organizations takes time and some people may be discouraged when they think of applying this to their workplace. Great idea - but it won’t work here. That’s where positive leadership comes in.\n\nJust because you can\'t reinvent your organization overnight to turn into a self-organizing, vibrant, fulfilling and energizing workplace doesn\'t mean you are powerless! You can always apply positive leadership.\n\n<h3>What Is Positive Leadership?</h3>\n\nHere\'s something you can do right away to develop your workplace: apply positive leadership and kindness, whatever your role is. The simplicity of the positive leadership ideas always strikes me, yet the research evidence is so compelling. This really makes a difference.\n\nPositive leadership departs from an abundance mindset. It has faith that there will be enough for everyone. It aims to enlarge the pie instead of dividing its parts where you will create winners and losers. Co-creating a bigger pie will make everyone a winner.\n\nInstead of aiming for the default baseline - there are no problems - positive leadership is looking to realize positive deviance. We are performing beyond expectations and we are living up to our greatest potential as an organization. We are the best version of ourselves that we can be.\n\nIt builds on what is already working well. It appreciates people for their unique contributions. It means trusting people so that they will surprise you in a positive way with their projects. It means acknowledging small but good things and actions.\n\n<h3>Kindness</h3>\n\nWhat if you role model kindness? You know that everyone tries their best, and everyone can make a mistake every now and then. You show compassion. You don’t take things too personally. You don’t make things weigh more than they do. You see disappointments as information. You’re open to welcome all kinds of information, but you handle anything with a positive-leadership mindset. That means it’s safe to share anything.\n\nYou are there for your coworkers and teams. You give genuine attention. You compliment people and you mean it. It costs nothing. All it takes is you - the best version of you. You can start today - no matter how busy you are or how challenging it may be to see something good in your workplace.\n\n<h3>What if Kindness Is Not Easy?</h3>\n\nSeveral people objected to this idea. It is not easy to be kind in our organization. That’s right. It\'s not always easy in an environment that does not do kindness. Yet, we can uplift the others and choose positive leadership and kindness anyway. But it takes courage. You may be labeled as weak, idealistic or you may be mocked. How kindness is perceived, depends on the culture and the leadership team. But then again, it starts with one person displaying “normal” human kindness.\n\nIf you need more inspiration, you can download the Positive Leadership and Change Collection #1. It contains 10 articles, one of them an interview with professor Kim Cameron about Positive Leadership, who said:\n\n<blockquote>\"It is the duty of a leader to help create an organization where it is easy to be kind and supportive.\"</blockquote>\n\nIt’s normally the price of a coffee, but it will be free until May 23rd. Grab your copy today and spread more positive leadership: <a href=\"http://bit.ly/positive-1\" target=\"_blank\">Download collection #1</a>.\n\nThe Kindle collections on Positive Leadership, Culture and Change are also readable for non-Kindle-owners. Simply download a free Kindle reading app for any device.\n\nAll it takes to develop the workplace and the world is you.', 'Positive Leadership Toward Reinventing Organizations', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'positive-leadership-toward-reinventing-organizations', '', '', '2015-05-21 06:00:03', '2015-05-21 10:00:03', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26006', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(26012, 392, '2015-05-15 06:00:28', '2015-05-15 10:00:28', 'The call went out about 2pm on April 27. Social media sites such as Twitter were at high velocity proclaiming a shut-down in Baltimore due to a threat of a possible riot. Major companies like T. Rowe Price, Legg Mason, and several others felt fear for their employees and advised them to get home quickly. I\n\nwas in class and our teacher was asked to step out of the room because of an emergency. She came back in and said, \"Go home, class dismissed.\" Once home, our local news stations was broadcasting live as teenagers exiting school threw rocks and boulders at police officers.\n\nWhat was going to happen next? People were being taken out of their cars as they drove down the street, stores being broken into. Malls were being robbed in daylight as all of Baltimore and America watched. Police officers were nowhere in sight. Fear began to get in the hearts of many.\n\nAll of a sudden I yelled, \"Where is the leadership? Why are they not stepping up?\"\n\nI am sure I was not the only one asking that question. Strong leadership is needed for this type of outspoken action. Was this all a result of injustice for Freddie Gray or was this a chance to take because you feel so much was taken from you? Was this a chance for you to tell the leadership in Baltimore and all over the world how you feel? I am a firm believer of what was meant for bad will be turned around to work for good.\n\nAll of a sudden in the midst of all the turmoil, a group of pastor’s began marching in the middle of the street singing, “We Are Marching”! The unity was so strong that some people that who had been rioting and gang members joined in. Who are these brave souls? How were they able to stand in the midst of fear and danger?\n\nA sense of peace and protection came over the scene. The news reporters followed them and felt a sense of protection and peace too. Not only do America and Baltimore need bold and compassionate leaders, but wise leaders full of wisdom.\n<h3>Wise Leadership</h3>\nA wise leader will come up with a strategy, know who to call for assistance, and speak in a way that will bring order. The younger generation is looking for that leader. I often wonder what would happen if I let my children do whatever they please when they please. They would not only damage their lives, but the world around them. Young people do not mind boundaries. The only thing is it’s hard to teach an old or young person new tricks when they have been doing it the way they know so long.\n<h3>King Solomon\'s Example</h3>\nFirst let’s start by looking at King Solomon. He asks for wisdom to govern the people, so he can know well from evil. I know we will never have the wisdom of Solomon but at least the cry will get God’s attention. Then let’s be positive role models for our young people.\n\nI know they get tired of people not doing what they say they will. I do too. Then let’s treat them like modern day Josephs and produce an atmosphere where they are free to dream and talk about making it better without throwing them in a pit. A wise leader sees the problem but uses it as an opportunity for teaching and developing.\n\nOne of the marching pastors, Bishop Johnson, said “Problems are the Prelude to New Discoveries.\" I agree.', 'A Cry For Wise Leaders', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'a-cry-for-wise-leaders', '', '', '2015-05-15 06:00:28', '2015-05-15 10:00:28', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26012', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(26040, 307, '2015-05-19 06:00:39', '2015-05-19 10:00:39', 'Is your team stuck? On a recent trip to the mountains, one of my daughter’s friends drove his car into a ditch. To be fair, there was nearly two feet of snow on top of slick mud.\n\nHe slid right into the ditch and his wheels sunk as he tried to back out. It was time for a tow.\n\nFortunately, he had a tow cable and my SUV has low ratio four-wheel drive. We secured the cable to both vehicles and then he asked what would happen next.\n\nHe had never been on either end of a tow before, so we discussed how you hook the cable to the cars, what direction we would go, and how to gradually build momentum. We talked about how failure to do these things would end up damaging one or both of our vehicles.\n\nAs we talked, it occurred to me that towing and leadership share some things in common. If your team won’t follow you, there’s a good chance you’re making one or more of these mistakes:\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>You Lack A Strong Connection</strong> - Don’t hook your tow-cable to the bumper. You can find many videos where someone rips the bumper right off of their friend’s car. They didn\'t attach their cable to the car’s frame and when they pulled, they tore apart the car.\n<div>&nbsp;</div>\nAs a leader, your influence depends on the strength of your connection to the team. Do you share the meaning and purpose behind the work? Do you know what your people value and connect those values to their daily tasks?\n\nThe most meaningful connections you make are with shared values and clear reasons why activities must happen. Without these connections, you’re probably asking your team to do something that makes no sense to them (with little chance of success).\n\nYou can strengthen your connection to your team by getting their input. Ask what they think the team is capable of, why they do what they do, and how they would improve the results they produce.</li>\n\n<li><strong>You’re Pulling The Wrong Direction</strong> - When you tow, you don’t want to pull the car sideways or you could rip off a tire or an entire axle. Once again, there are plenty of videos available showing you what happens. Instead, you start by pulling the vehicle in the direction it was going or else directly opposite of that direction. This minimizes stress on the car and gets the wheels rolling.\n<div>&nbsp;</div>\nWith your team, you have to know their current capacity, training, and priorities. If you ask something of them that they don\'t know how to do, or that their current workload can’t accommodate, or something that is in conflict with their current priorities, you’ll end up frustrated.\n\nI’ve worked with many managers and supervisors who respond to this scenario by pulling harder (they yell, belittle their people, and get upset). Naturally, the team loses respect for their leader.\n\nWhen you need to get your team going a different direction, start by examining the capacity, training, and priorities. What can you remove from their plate? What training can you get for them? How can you help reprioritize and gradually get them rolling in the new direction?</li>\n\n<li><strong>You Go Too Fast</strong> - Don’t slam on the accelerator. When I pulled my daughter’s friend out of the ditch, the dirt road was very muddy. If I had accelerated too quickly, my tires would have spun and dug into the mud – trapping both of us.\n<div>&nbsp;</div>\nHad the road been dry and I went too fast, I probably would have ripped something off one vehicle or the other. If you’ve never seen this, it’s easier to watch than to describe. Check out <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw1xZxUssfs\" target=\"_blank\">this video</a> and then keep reading. As a leader, you have a vision for your team. You’ve got a clear picture of where you’re going and what needs to happen to get there. It’s obvious to you.\n\nBut what’s obvious to you won’t be obvious to your people without significant communication. I’ve worked with countless numbers of frustrated managers and team leaders who told their team about a change in procedure once, six months ago, and are now angry that their team isn’t implementing the change.\n\nTo pull gently and build momentum, you’ve got to frequently communicate what is happening, why it’s happening, the specific tasks each person is responsible for, and then check for understanding. At the end of discussions, ask team members to share what they understand the expectations to be.</li>\n</ol>\n\nSlow down just a little bit and you’ll see huge results in how fast your team is able to build momentum in the new direction.\n\nRemember, you give your team a chance to follow you when you clearly connect their work to meaning, purpose, and shared values; ensure they have the capacity to do what’s needed; and slow down to communicate and check for understanding along the way.', '3 Reasons Your Team Won&#039;t Follow You', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '3-reasons-your-team-wont-follow-you', '', '', '2015-05-19 06:00:39', '2015-05-19 10:00:39', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26040', 0, 'post', '', 8),
(26051, 393, '2015-06-09 06:00:26', '2015-06-09 10:00:26', 'A leadership career isn’t like a regular career. You don’t go to school for it, you can’t find many summer internships focused only on making you a better leader, and developing your leadership skills may not lead directly to a paycheck.\n\nIf you can’t merely read a book or take a class to hone your leadership skills, why do we put so much emphasis on them? The answer is simple: you have the opportunity to be a leader every single day.\n\nIf you intentionally cultivate your ability to make sure the example you’re setting is good, you’ll be a valuable asset wherever you go.\n\nIf you’ve noticed people eyeing your work and following your example, continue reading about how you can intentionally begin your leadership journey.\n\nYour first entry into the <a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathryndill/2014/09/23/15-websites-to-jump-start-your-career/\">workforce</a> is an excellent time to begin developing your leadership skills. In addition to basic <a href=\"http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/11/04/how-to-get-hired-when-youre-just-starting-your-career\">job preparation</a>, you need to think intentionally about how you are going to lead with your actions. It’s too easy to blend in with everyone else as soon as you start getting the hang of how things are done at your workplace; leadership takes initiative.\n\nBefore you can lead anyone else, you have to be able to lead yourself. Self-instigation can be scary, but if you’re willing to risk occasional failure, you’ll see amazing results when you <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/3-steps-that-will-help-you-start-leading/\">initiate your own growth</a>.\n\nAnother part of self-leadership is taking responsibility for your own development. Ask yourself honest questions to see where you need to improve, like “How is this situation connected to my prior choices?” or “What am I going to learn today?” This gives you a greater sense of accountability for your own life and helps you find <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/how-are-you-committed-to-everyday-leadership/\">everyday ways to lead</a>.\n\nOnce you’ve stopped waiting on directions and learned to lead yourself, you’re in a position to lead others. You can be a <a href=\"http://www.peoplediscovery.co.uk/2013/01/18/7-uncommon-ways-to-be-a-positive-influence-on-you-and-your-team/\">positive influence</a> by acknowledging the good in your teammates and refusing to act in a volatile situation until you’ve had time to gather the facts.\n\nIn dealing with your superiors and senior co-workers, don’t be afraid to defer to their judgment and ask for their advice often; a good leader is always a <a href=\"http://www.blackenterprise.com/career/tips-young-professionals-replace-baby-boomers-retirees/\">good follower</a> first. This will win you a lot of respect from people who might otherwise write you off as the newbie.\n\nLastly, as your influence grows and people start to recognize your leadership, even if you don’t officially hold a supervisory position, do not let yourself get a big head or try to throw your weight around. Your <a href=\"https://hbr.org/2014/05/the-best-leaders-are-humble-leaders/\">humility</a> is the best measure of your security as a person and your worthiness to lead.\n\nBeing a leader doesn’t mean bossing around your colleagues. A true leader will be the first to tackle a difficult project and invite everyone to help. A poser will see a problem and demand that someone else fixes it.\n\nHas leader always sounded like a mystical title to you, and you aren’t sure where natural leaders get their confidence? Have you been told that you have some leadership skills, but you just don’t see them? Tell us about your own leadership journey, and how you plan to start building your influence where you work.', 'How To Jump Start Your Leadership Career', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-jumpstart-your-leadership-career', '', '', '2015-06-09 06:00:26', '2015-06-09 10:00:26', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26051', 0, 'post', '', 1);
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(26057, 376, '2015-05-20 06:00:29', '2015-05-20 10:00:29', 'As someone who takes leadership and coaching seriously, I have been reading up on goal-setting, aspirations, and all that change stuff.\n\nAs a coach, I help others identify, clarify, plan for, and achieve goals. Throughout my careers, goals have always been important elements of my work. However, as an employee and manager, I was usually responsible for meeting someone else\'s goals.\n\nSo my experience was heavy on the \"<em>planning how to do it</em>\" side, but rather light on the \"<em>dream a little dream</em>\" personal side. As I focus more intentionally on the art and science of goal-setting in the context of coaching, two distinct camps seem to emerge:\n\n<h3>Dream Big or Don\'t Dream At All</h3>\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">\"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.\"</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Walt Disney</div>\n</blockquote>\n\nThe idea behind thinking big is that anything is possible, with the proper will. Therefore, you ought to think in large terms when thinking about your goals. In this mindset, smaller changes are not as useful as big screen goals.\n\nThe value of dreaming big is that your goals and the actions you take to reach those goals are more impactful and life-changing than otherwise. If we do not dream beyond what we have, we will only have what is already here, and that is not enough.\n\nA danger here is that thinking big without paying attention to the smaller components of change may not provide the foundation for true change.\n\n<h3>Dream Big But Celebrate Small</h3>\n\nAs Justice Sotomayor so eloqently writes, large change is often comprised of multiple smaller actions, which deserve recognition and celebration:\n\n<blockquote>\"You cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. Their real value is in stirring within us the will to aspire. The proper measure of success is not how much you\'ve closed the distance to some far-off goal, but the quality of what you\'ve done today.\"</blockquote>\n\nFor example, some folks celebrate every graduation of a family member, whether from kindergarten or graduate school. While the relative value of the accomplishments are not equal, the value of the celebration is equally important, when viewed as steps acccomplished along the way to a larger goal\n\nIn all educational examples, the best goals are not degrees, diplomas, or certificates, but enhanced thinking skills and more effective abilities to be a productive person.\n\nA danger here is getting so wrapped up in the small victories that we lose focus on the larger goal.\n\n<h3>More Thinking Around Goals</h3>\n\nMaybe we need to think in terms of both rather than either/or. A currently popular and useful concept in organizational change is around the idea of <a href=\"http://changetheorists.pbworks.com/w/page/15475038/Ron%20Heifetz\" target=\"_blank\">Adaptive Change\nVersus Technical Change</a>, popularized by <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwWylIUIvmo\" target=\"_blank\">Ron Heifetz</a>< and based on an early article by <a href=\"https://hbr.org/2001/12/the-work-of-leadership/ar/1\" target=\"_blank\">Heifetz & Donald Laurie</a>.  I think of these as <em>tactical versus strategic</em> changes.\n\n<h3>Tactical Changes</h3>\n\nTechnical changes are not earthshaking upheaval, but smaller fixes and tweaks that may leave us thinking we have really worked hard, changed many things, yet have not engaged fully in transformational change.\n\nThey remind me somewhat of <strong>Bob\'s Small Baby Steps</strong> in the classic film <em>What About Bob</em>, a tale of change and growth. Tactical changes are not critical in and of themselves, but they can result in change on a less epic scale.\n\nA value of technical change is that it provides momentum and creates the foundation for adaptive change. Well-chosen small changes create the basis for a culture of continual change.\n\nA danger is when we make a few tweaks, which cause a little discomfort and some resistance. This makes us stop and fret about further change, instead of moving forward.  In some cases, we actually make a few tweaks and think we have already done the heavy lifting of real change. The result is either inertia or a false sense that we have done what we can.\n\n<h3>Strategic Changes</h3>\n\nAdaptive change is deep cultural change, where the person and the organization shift in profound, ongoing, and permanent ways to better meets needs, achieve goals, and create a more collaborative work environment.\n\nAdaptive change is hard, creates intense emotional and psychological dynamics with which we must deal, and does not easily or quickly produce the results we want much of the time.  Adaptive change is epic change and it is not easy.\n\nA value of adaptive change is that this is deep bone change, which offers the opportunity for long-term growth for both a person and an organization. If you engage in adaptive change, you know beyond any doubt that things are different in significant ways.\n\nA danger is that we will not stay the course, while navigating the uncomfortable period as we move from what we knew to what we are becoming. Since adaptive change is hard, forces work against the forward movement, through fear, doubt, and similar demotivators.\n\nOf course, real change is not a trip or a destination; it\'s a way of being. We never finish changing, and both technical and adaptive changes are part of the culture in which we must learn to live. Adaptive change should prepare us to continue to change on a regular, permanent basis.\n\nAs a coach, I need to be sensitive to both types of change, in order to help keep the client identify which type of change they are planning and doing, and encouraging them to change deeper and longer through questions and every once in a while, remind them to throw a little party to celebrate.', 'Thoughts About Big Changes Vs. Little Changes', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'thoughts-about-big-changes-vs-little-changes', '', '', '2015-05-20 06:00:29', '2015-05-20 10:00:29', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26057', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(26081, 268, '2015-06-02 06:00:58', '2015-06-02 10:00:58', 'If you’re in human resources or people management, you’ve likely met a chronically discontented worker - the employee who keeps asking for role tweaks, reassignment to a different team, project, or boss, relocation to a sunnier climate, and a desk in a quieter location.\n\nThe employee’s internal dialogue?\n\n“If only I could work with different people/in a different group/in a different office/in a different role, I would be happy.”\n\nThe problem? Dissatisfaction re-emerges shortly after making each change.\n\nIf you see a pattern of discontent in a staff member, the kindest thing you can do is pull the employee aside for a frank, tough-love conversation that covers some or most of the following points:\n<ul>\n	<li>“I notice that you keep asking for changes in your environment. Even though we have accommodated some of these requests, you are still unhappy.”</li>\n	<li>“It may be tempting to blame other people or external circumstances for your discontent, but if you keep changing your environment and the disappointment persists, it’s time to look in the mirror with the help of a coach or counselor.”</li>\n	<li>“To succeed at this company, you need to demonstrate a pattern of positive attitude and cheerful willingness to contribute on whatever team, on whatever project, and with whatever boss your skills are needed at a particular time.\"</li>\n	<li>\"There are going to be moments in any workplace where the project isn’t your favorite or a teammate has a style you don’t care for. We need flexible people who can look at the bright side, even in imperfect circumstances.”</li>\n</ul>\nChronic discontent can have its roots in any or all of the following five areas, and these are not typical areas of expertise for a manager or human resources representative:\n<ul>\n	<li><strong>Upbringing</strong> - Which includes defenses, coping strategies, boundaries or lack thereof, indulgences that create unrealistic expectations, family pressure to pursue a particular career path, etc.</li>\n	<li><strong>Hereditary</strong> - Or environmentally-induced mental health issues such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, etc.</li>\n	<li><strong>Communication Skills Deficits</strong> - Particularly deficits in active listening skills and the ability to read body language, interpret social cues, and step into others’ shoes.</li>\n	<li><strong>Intelligence</strong> - Gifted individuals with an IQ of 130 or higher - or twice-exceptional individuals who have high IQ coupled with a diagnosed or undiagnosed learning disability - often have a hard time figuring out where/how to fit socially and professionally.</li>\n	<li><strong>An Unconscious Goal</strong> - One that cannot be achieved through current means. For example, one employee longed for fellowship/community and was trying to get that through professional achievements, like winning awards, giving speeches at conferences, etc. Achievement may bring momentary kudos, which can feel like fellowship, but the kudos do not represent true connection with others. The means don’t get to the end. Ever.</li>\n</ul>\nIn my experience, chronic discontent often involves a dance of two or more of the five areas above. The more areas that are involved, the tougher it is to sort through what’s going on and arrive at a long-lasting resolution.\n\nAs a manager, you are not responsible for psychoanalyzing employees and determining root causes. The most important thing you can do is hold up a mirror and suggest that the employee get help to solve the mystery of what’s driving the dissatisfaction.\n\nThere is a high probability that the chronic discontent extends beyond work hours and affects the individual’s personal life, too. The mirror you hold up can help the employee find a path to a more positive future.', 'The Chronically Unhappy Employee', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-chronically-unhappy-employee', '', '', '2015-06-02 06:00:58', '2015-06-02 10:00:58', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26081', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(26117, 385, '2015-06-05 06:00:36', '2015-06-05 10:00:36', 'Will had worked hard for the company for about two years. Not once in that time had his manager spoken with him about his development. Somewhat concerned, Will approached his manager and asked if they could discuss his career development. The manager said, “I’ll have my assistant reach out to you next week to schedule some time together.” Nothing happened, so Will brought up the issue with his manager again. This time the manager scheduled the appointment himself about two weeks out.  When the time finally arrived, the manager canceled the appointment about an hour before the meeting. Frustrated, Will rescheduled the meeting, but his manager missed the meeting to attend a “more important” meeting with the CEO. Will put his resume on Monster.com and in two weeks, he was gone.\n\nI never found out if Will’s manager was ill-intended or if he was just not well organized, but his actions spoke louder than his words.  Everyone is busy these days. Priorities change, meetings have to be rescheduled, and some fires just won’t wait. But the fake talk Will’s manager engaged in and his inability to manage his schedule and keep his commitments led to the loss of a stellar employee.\n\nThe old adage around personal engagement used to be, “Managers trump companies!”, meaning that individuals joined a company, but left their boss. In the last several years, the high engagement of an organization’s employees has drawn even more attention. Recent research on engagement shows that high engagement drives financial results. Additionally, the notion of engagement has come to encompass more than just the people skills of a manager. Employees are engaged by an ever increasing number of factors that serve to attract and retain quality performers.\n\nBefore providing you with a number of factors that increase employee engagement, it is important to understand that each element has at its foundation the ability to hold REAL conversation rather than what I call Fake Talk. Fake Talk would include any conversation where the desired result is not achieved. In order to create and address the factors that create a highly engaged workforce, a manager has to be able to explore and identify the needs of each employee. Here are a number of questions that will help you assess the quality of engagement that you or your organization provides.\n<h3>Are your mission and values clearly stated?</h3>\nEmployees are constantly asking themselves, “Do I fit in here?” The “fit” question is answered for employees by the presence of clearly defined goals and priorities, by leaders who live the company’s espoused values, and by knowing that they can make a contribution. Younger employees want to know that the work they do, while being demanding, will be fulfilling. Employees are highly engaged when they know that they will be able to add value, innovate, and collaborate toward a mutually beneficial goal.\n<h3>What is the quality of the work environment?</h3>\nThis factor includes not only the physical working conditions, but also the culture within which the work is done. The work conditions need to be modern with up-to-date equipment. Employees want the company to understand what physical obstacles exist and be working on removing them. They also value transparency; they want to know what is going on. Employees also seek flexibility in how and where they complete their work. Finally, they desire effective teamwork, trustworthy peers, and fairness of treatment. All of these conditions contribute to the culture of the work environment.\n<h3>Are there opportunities for talent development and upward mobility?</h3>\nCompanies that provide opportunities for individuals to grow and develop either through training or varied work assignments retain employees who clearly feel that the organization is interested in them and their professional growth. Obviously employees are also interested in opportunities to advance their careers rather than being stuck in a dead-end position where they do the same thing over and over again. Employees want opportunities to learn new skills and advance based on their expertise. Variety of assignments and opportunities to grow are highly valued by today’s employees.\n<h3>Are you hiring the right people?</h3>\nIndividuals want to work with a more diverse workforce who is capable, interested in doing the assigned tasks, and are fully committed to the company’s goals. They also want to know that people are hired based on their ability to fit the company’s culture and to perform the requirements of their position. Some of the latest research indicates that peers can have a greater impact on employee commitment and retention than individual managers. Hiring competent people that will work and play well together impacts employee engagement.\n<h3>Is the leadership committed to the success of the company and its employees?</h3>\nLeaders need to lead and support the people that work for them. Employees want to know that their leaders will support them, trust them, and coach and develop them. They want their leaders to be part of building an organization where the work is exciting, fulfilling, and fun, rather than only “engaging” or talking to them from time to time.\n<h3>Does the company take care of its people?</h3>\nEmployees want to know that the benefits and compensation are fair and commensurate with similar positions in other companies. They want to know that rewards and bonuses are calculated based on contribution and performance and not a system where only a small percentage of people may be recognized and receive a performance bonus based on predetermined norm.\n\nEmployee engagement encompasses more than having effective communications skills. Managers and leaders must effectively articulate a clear vision and live the values that are tied to what people do. The quality of the work environment is created by the leader who knows how to speak and treat people with respect and who inspires others to achieve their full potential. Likewise, an effective leader believes in and invests in the development of his or her people and spends the time and money to make growth happen.  REAL Talk leaders know how to hire the right people through the questions they ask and what they come to understand about high potential candidates.  Finally, leaders who are committed to the company and the success of their people speak and act in such a way that there is no doubt about their commitment and what they are trying to achieve. A leader’s ability to hold REAL conversations is critical to all factors that impact employee engagement which ultimately determine the company’s financial success.', 'How to Cut Through Fake Talk to Increase Employee Engagement', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-to-cut-through-fake-talk-to-increase-employee-engagement', '', '', '2015-06-05 06:00:36', '2015-06-05 10:00:36', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26117', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(26124, 243, '2015-05-26 06:00:03', '2015-05-26 10:00:03', 'I don’t have enough time. We’re too busy. I’ll call you in a few weeks. I keep meaning to get over that way. We were rushed.\n\nI don’t have enough money. It’s not in the budget. We can’t afford it. It costs too much.\n\nI’m too tired. I overslept. After work, I just get sidetracked. I’m out of shape.\n\nI don’t like to go to the gym in the morning, but I’d rather go in the evenings. In the evenings, the gym’s too crowded.\n\n<h3>We Do What We Want Every Time</h3>\n\nAnd every time I write about this, people argue with me. If you spent an hour on Facebook today, it was more important to you than anything else. Or at least you treated Facebook like it was the most important thing.\n\nI can waste a lot of time watching TV. It’s not the most important thing to me. In fact, I dislike so much of what’s on that I watch reruns and old movies I’ve memorized. I really would like to write more. I really would like to spend more time with friends. I really would like to work out more, eat less and read more. I really would like to make a difference.\n\n<h3>We Do What We Want Every Time</h3>\n\nWell, maybe not every time. Are you waiting for someone to put you in charge of something? Have you ever wished you could get promoted so you could lead? Have you ever thought your excuse for not fixing a problem was because it wasn’t yours to fix?\n\n<ul>\n<li>They won’t listen to me.</li>\n<li>They won’t let me do anything.</li>\n<li>Who am I?</li>\n<li>The people in charge should?</li>\n<li>They should...</li>\n<li>Someone should...</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>We each have the power to change. We can always do something.</h3>\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Edward Everett Hale</div>\n</blockquote>\n\nWe each have the ability to take our turn. We each have a chance to use our time to make our space in the world a better place. In that moment, we lead. We don’t need permission. We make our own space. We take our own chance. In the moments between when you start and before success or failure is determined, in that time, we’re leading. We’re a leader.\n\nSomething’s bugging you. What bugs you the most? What causes you the most animation, the most grief, the most disappointment? What one thing can you talk about? What must you do? Do it. You can do something.\n\n<h3>Do One Thing</h3>\n\nThere, wasn’t that easy? What’s next? Do another. Get in the habit. Do the next thing. One step every day. What can you do? Do it?\n\nYou don’t need permission to make the world better. Decide today to beat the TV and the pull of the world, the <a href=\"http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/quieting-the-lizard-brain.html\">resistance</a>, and fix something.\n\nMake something better. Pay for someone else’s meal. Pick up some trash. Write that thank you note. Start your blog or your book. Or if you’ve started one, get back to work on it. Finish your opus. Do your work.\n\nWe need you. Now get to work.\n\n<em>Note, don\'t take any offense. This is a note to myself. Any application or references to you are merely coincidental.</em>\n\n&nbsp;', 'What&#039;s Your Excuse?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'whats-your-excuse', '', '', '2015-05-26 06:00:03', '2015-05-26 10:00:03', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26124', 0, 'post', '', 10),
(26128, 343, '2015-05-29 06:00:59', '2015-05-29 10:00:59', 'The realm of leadership, particularly in social media, gives a lot of time and attention to topics on the forefront of today\'s world:\n<ul>\n	<li><strong>Employee engagement</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>Communication</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>People development</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>Driving results through culture</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>Authenticity</strong></li>\n</ul>\nA lot of focus on leadership naturally gravitates towards business, government, or non-profit segment leaders:\n<ul>\n	<li><strong>CEOs and executive leadership</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>Senior and middle management</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>Entrepreneurs</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>Senators, state representatives, city officials</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>Public relations, civil servants, and law enforcement</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>Military, coaches, and doctors</strong></li>\n</ul>\nWhen we think of leaders, these roles are the ones that likely run to our mind. And while there is nothing wrong with building those leaders up, there are many more roles of leadership that we need to recognize.\n\nSo it is with the timing of this month, sandwiched between Mother\'s Day, Memorial Day, Father\'s Day, and school/university graduations, that we should take time to remember those unsung leaders who round out our world:\n<ul>\n	<li><strong>The 1st grader who defends his/her friend from the playground bully</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>The family in town who visits and cares for sick friends in need</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>Pastors who faithfully and tirelessly serve their congregation</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>Students who run organizations for community and school activities</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>The teacher who makes an impact in the hearts of her students to better themselves</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>Citizens who reinvigorate the culture and climate of their town or city</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>A neighbor who cares for those around them as their own family</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>The employee who diligently arrives on time, provides consistent service, and is always cheerful</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>The motorists who stop to pull passengers out from a car accident</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>The single parent who has to provide for their children after a spouse\'s death</strong></li>\n	<li><strong>A retiree, <a href=\"http://upwardsleader.com/2014/03/19/still-leading-at-94/\">such as my uncle Pret</a> (he is 95 years old!!), who still volunteers and leads an active lifestyle</strong></li>\n</ul>\nThese people, who lead from wherever they are, are the epitome of what we promote here at Lead Change Group. By leading in the sphere of their lives, they encourage, energize, and equip those around them with their character and commitment to make their world better every day.\n\n<em><strong>Let\'s take time out each day to recognize - and thank - the unsung leaders in our lives. Where would any of us be without them?</strong></em>', 'Remembering The Unsung Leaders', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'remembering-the-unsung-leaders', '', '', '2015-05-29 06:00:59', '2015-05-29 10:00:59', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26128', 0, 'post', '', 5),
(26141, 394, '2015-05-27 06:00:57', '2015-05-27 10:00:57', 'Attitudes toward work are changing. Younger people entering the workplace want different things than people did a generation ago.\n\nThey expect different opportunities from their employers, and they want to work differently than their employers want them to. As leaders, we have to ask ourselves, will we change or will they?\n\nThe millennials aren’t exactly new anymore, but their influence on the workplace is - and it’s mixed. The millennial generation of workers is more educated, tech savvy, and prepared than ever before.\n\nIn preparing for work, however, they have been coached, taught, protected, and academically shielded from the real world. While they offer speed and global access to information, they come across as impatient and insolent. While they yearn for interesting projects and more free time, they are labeled as entitled and impractical. While they crave direction and feedback, they are perceived as unimaginative and needy.\n\nLeaders can complain about millennial workers all they want, but they are here to stay and savvy leaders will be on the forefront of change rather than scramble to catch up. At the same time, millennials need to better adapt to the workplace as well, and leaders can help them do that.\n\n<h3>How Will The New Generation Of Workers Change Today’s Leaders?</h3>\n\nMillennials are making the workplace a much more pleasant place to be. While modern work motivation theories have already called upon leaders to make work more fulfilling for employees, millennials are furthering this trend. They refuse to settle for menial work. Instead, they move on when they feel bored or stagnant. This is evidenced by the lower median job tenure for millennials of <a href=\"http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2013/06/04/why-millennial-employees-are-leaving-sooner-than-youd-like/\" target=\"_blank\">two</a> to <a href=\"http://www.cnbc.com/id/102094043\" target=\"_blank\">three</a> years - quite a bit lower than for other generations.\n\nFlexibility and work-life balance have also gained momentum in recent years, but the <a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/millennials-want-a-work-life-balance-their-bosses-just-dont-get-why/2015/05/05/1859369e-f376-11e4-84a6-6d7c67c50db0_story.html\" target=\"_blank\">millennials</a> are taking it to the next level. Leaders will have to be more responsive to workers’ demands for flexibility and work-life balance or they will lose the best people. In fact, lack of flexibility is the number one reason millennials quit jobs today.\n\nMillennials also want more praise and rewards for jobs well done. While their reputation for wanting trophies for just showing up often generates chuckles among leaders, their quest for recognition isn’t all bad. The rest of us are benefiting from <a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2012/06/13/new-research-unlocks-the-secret-of-employee-recognition/\" target=\"_blank\">employee recognition programs</a> as well, and company profits are too. What leader wouldn’t see this as a positive change?\n\n<h3>How Will Today\'s Leaders Change The New Generation Of Workers?</h3>\n\nOn the other hand, let’s face it; many of the millennials’ demands are impractical. The workplace can only bend so far to accommodate individual desires for pleasant, self-fulfilling, interesting, rewarding work that fits conveniently around leisure and family time. There’s only so far we can indulge employees before profits erode to an unsustainable level.  At some point, the millennials will have to learn to endure hardship to survive in the cutthroat world economy and today’s leaders need to teach them how.\n\nLeaders have the ability to help the new generation of workers be more <a href=\"http://flexibleworksolutions.com/2014/08/11/bill-treasurer-5-criteria-for-evaluating-whether-a-risk-is-right-or-wrong-for-you/\">independent</a> and need <a href=\"http://flexibleworksolutions.com/2014/03/17/empowering-millennials/\">less feedback</a> and direction to get their work done. Leaders can help millennials develop the resilience to get through <a href=\"http://weavinginfluence.com/events/joanie-connell-flying-without-a-helicopter/\"> boring and unpleasant circumstances</a> because they are inherent in work life. Leaders can also help millennials <a href=\"http://flexibleworksolutions.com/2014/02/18/failing-to-succeed/\">bounce back from failures</a> and not depend on rewards and recognition to get them through the day.\n\n<h3>Who’s Right?</h3>\n\nAre millennials too entitled and demanding? Or is it that we leaders are too stuck in our old ways of thinking that we can’t come up with ways to make work more flexible and fulfilling? There’s a case on both sides, but let’s take the best of both worlds, not the worst, and lead positive change for the workforce.', 'Leaders Vs Millennials - Who’s Changing Who?', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'leaders-vs-millennials-whos-changing-who', '', '', '2015-05-27 06:00:57', '2015-05-27 10:00:57', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26141', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(26168, 376, '2015-05-28 06:00:50', '2015-05-28 10:00:50', 'I would like to tell you I developed the following thoughts while deep in study of man\'s ethical imperatives and decision-making processes, while considering weighty and erudite reflections on how we co-exist, or even reviewing my notes for moral development in the vein of <a href=\"http://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/kohlberg01bk.htm\">Lawrence Kohlberg</a>.\n\nI\'d like to do that, but the truth is I was browsing videos on Facebook …\n\nAs I allowed myself to be distracted by the myriad and wonderfully diverse mini-movies that proliferate on this and other social networks, I was struck by several thoughts about human nature and behavior. The last of these thoughts relates directly to our responsibilities as leaders:\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>1)  I am not alone …</strong></span></h3>\nI share my distractibility with many other people, based on the number of views that many of these little clips receive. Apparently many people spend some time doing exactly what I was doing … watching short, usually non-professional, and awkward videos.\n\nWe like our entertainment and distractions bite-sized … easy to digest and with minimal useful background or context.\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>2)  The world is fascinated with many different things  ...</strong></span></h3>\nI saw soldiers reunited with families, cute kittens by the bushel, breathtaking human behavior and near-accidents, weather phenomena, and people being kind to other people in unusual situations and places. One thing that truly disturbs me is the popularity of videos showing people surprising us by being generous or nice to another human being.\n\nA person being generous or kind should not be cause for fascination or viewed as an extraordinary event, even as my logical mind tells me that people are not always generous or kind to each other. It is a shame that many of us feel the need to share these occurrences, trying to spread the word that a better way exists. Wish we did not have to do so.\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>3)  “Going Viral” is not necessarily a good thing ...</strong></span></h3>\nA great danger exists in this post-modern world, where most of the world has access to whatever someone chooses to record and share. Watching someone else suffer embarrassment or discomfort is apparently a fascination for many, judging by the popularity of some videos showing exactly that.\n\nI will not further cause pain to those involved by identifying or linking to the videos that caught them being human in some very embarrassing and unattractive ways. Let me just say that I myself sometimes have misjudged the distance, been caught unawares, done something silly, stupid, or dangerous, and even had my body betray my sense of decorum ... as have we all.\n\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>My Point:  Our penchant for instant and visual stimulation carries with it the risk that we will reduce all that a person is to this one moment in time.</strong></span>\n\nWe do not see the lifetime of struggle, work, learning, family, and just living that are part of who this person is. We only see the moment captured for apparent eternity, and every share increases the pain of that person who has been reduced to a few seconds of entertainment for others.\n\nConsider for a moment if you were caught … on video … at your worst or even just at an off-moment. Does this represent your sum and worth?\n\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Reality:   We digest our news in much the same way as we do our entertainment… in small and often non-representative slivers.</strong></span>\n\nI will use <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson,_Missouri\">Ferguson, Missouri </a>as an example here, not because it is unique, but simply because I know the area well.\n\nThe visual images shared during the height of the protests around issues of racial equality, economic opportunities, culture, and the relationships between law enforcement and the community captured moments, in much the same way those YouTube videos show us the thinnest of slices of someone\'s existence...\n\n… and we reflect, consider, judge, and decide based on those slender slivers.\n\nSome saw pointless urban violence, while others saw bravery in the face of injustice. Some saw despair and hopelessness, while others saw heroic acts and generosity. Some saw the essence of being Americans, while others saw a threat to that essence.\n\nUltimately, each person saw what they expected to see, what they feared, and what they were shown. Yes, each sliver is reality, but it is not the only or the complete reality.\n\nFew saw the totality …\n\nI know I draw with a broad brush and many good and beneficial uses exist within the social networking and video world. However, as leaders and people who would help others become leaders, I would like us to consider this a little more carefully.\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Points to Ponder:</strong></span></h3>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>What are you making decisions about, based on a sliver of information?</strong></em></span>\n\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>How might you do so differently and more effectively?</strong></em></span>\n\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>How might you influence others to consider things more holistically?</strong></em></span>\n<h4></h4>\n&nbsp;', '&quot;I See You ...&quot;', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'i-see-you', '', '', '2015-05-28 06:00:50', '2015-05-28 10:00:50', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26168', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(26179, 274, '2015-06-01 13:00:51', '2015-06-01 17:00:51', 'Welcome to the June 2015 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival. As summer kicks into gear, people look forward to vacations and breaks from routine.\n\nAlong with this sun-drenched opportunity to take a breath, we also are sending along links from 21 leaders to warm up your thoughts on leadership.\n\nSome of this month\'s posts deal with perpetual leadership topics, such as trust. Others share personal stories that brought teachable moments.\n\nTake this opportunity to peruse them all, then let us know which posts triggered a new angle or idea for you.\n<h3>Let\'s Get Started</h3>\n<strong>Bruce Harpham</strong> of <a href=\"http://projectmanagementhacks.com/#sthash.Zeperxcx.dpbs\" target=\"_blank\">Project Management Hacks</a> submitted <a href=\"http://projectmanagementhacks.com/how-to-build-trust-at-work/#sthash.nrHOHowh.dpbs\" target=\"_blank\">How To Build Trust At Work</a>. Bruce says, \"Being trustworthy is a key trait of admired <span class=\"il\">leaders</span>. Fortunately, building trust is no mystery. Learn how you can build trust at work and work better with those around you.\" Follow Bruce on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PMPhacks\" target=\"_blank\">@PMPHacks</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://management.about.com/od/leadership/fl/11-Ways-for-Leaders-to-Encourage-Innovation-from-Their-Employees.htm\" target=\"_blank\">11 Ways For Leaders To Encourage Innovation From Their Employees</a>. In contributing this post, Dan says, \"Regardless of what kind of company you may work in, here are 11 things a leader can do to create an environment where employees are encouraged to be innovative.\" 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/dontneglectyourmostimportantleadershiptool/\" target=\"_blank\">Don\'t Neglect Your Most Important Leadership Tool</a>. In this article, David shares how a relatively routine domestic chore drove home a leadership lesson and he works in some Abraham Lincoln wisdom too. Discover David on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/davidmdye\" target=\"_blank\">@davidmdye</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jennifer McClure</strong> of <a href=\"http://unbridledtalent.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Unbridled Talent</a> contributed <a href=\"http://unbridledtalent.com/2015/05/11/20-of-the-best-quotes-from-leadercast-2015-thebraveones/\" target=\"_blank\">20 of the Best Quotes from Leadercast 2015 #thebraveones</a>. In this post, Jennifer shared 20 of the best quotes from Leadercast 2015 (she was the emcee at the Northern Kentucky host site). Find Jennifer on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure\" target=\"_blank\">@JenniferMcClure</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/vision-requires-action/\" target=\"_blank\">Vision Requires Action: 7 Tips To Move &amp; Keep Moving</a>. Jesse summarized: \"Creating a shared vision is one of the most important roles of a leader. But vision alone is not enough. Vision requires action.\" 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\">Epiphany at Work</a> contributed <a href=\"http://epiphanyatwork.com/powerful-leaders-choose-the-best-interpretation/\" target=\"_blank\">Powerful Leaders Choose The Best Interpretation</a>. Jill defines this post as \"The skill of \'giving the benefit of the doubt\' explained, and a practical way of ensuring you do so.\" Find Jill on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/epiphanyatwork\" target=\"_blank\">@epiphanyatwork</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jim Taggart</strong> of <a href=\"http://changingwinds.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Changing Winds</a> submitted <a href=\"https://changingwinds.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/three-notable-global-thought-leaders-and-why-they-matter/\" target=\"_blank\">Three Notable Global Thought Leaders And Why They Matter</a>. In this post, Jim shares the impact made on him when he encountered three leaders who \"have left indelible marks for the betterment of the world.\" Find Jim on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/72keys\" target=\"_blank\">@72keys</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>John Hunter </strong>of the <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog</a> provided <a href=\"http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2015/05/13/the-aim-should-be-the-best-life-not-work-v-life-balance/\" target=\"_blank\">The Aim Should Be The Best Life, Not Work Versus Life Balance</a>. John explains, \"Work is a big part of life. As with any system the results depend on the overall system not the performance of individual parts taken separately.\" Follow John on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/curiouscat_com\" target=\"_blank\">@curiouscat_com</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Jon Mertz</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.thindifference.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Thin Difference</a> sent <a href=\"http://www.thindifference.com/2015/05/graduation-is-just-a-phase/\" target=\"_blank\">Graduation Is Just A Phase</a>. Jon asks: \"What if we\'ve been viewing graduation all wrong? Instead of considering it a completion, what if we all agree that graduation is just a phase?\" Follow 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> submitted <a href=\"http://letsgrowleaders.com/communication-listening/weak-ties/\" target=\"_blank\">5 Ways To Strengthen Trust With Weak Ties</a>. In her article, Karin encourages each of us to be that guy. Read the article to find out who that guy is and why they are so critical to true collaboration. Follow Karin on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LetsGrowLeaders\">@letsgrowleaders</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Kevin Eikenberry </strong> of <a href=\"http://blog.kevineikenberry.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The Kevin Eikenberry Group</a> provided <a href=\"http://blog.kevineikenberry.com/leadership-supervisory-skills/avoiding-your-leadership-deflategate/\" target=\"_blank\">Avoiding Your Leadership Deflategate</a>. Borrowing from the terminology used in the sports world recently, Kevin explores four \"leadership deflators\" and how to avoid them. Follow Kevin on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KevinEikenberry\" target=\"_blank\">@KevinEikenberry</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/2015/05/07/the-importance-of-a-quiet-mind/\" target=\"_blank\">The Importance Of A Quiet Mind</a>. In this piece, Lisa shares how important it is to quiet your racing mind and make time for thoughtful reflection, as well as a few simple steps you can take in order to live and lead more effectively. Follow Lisa on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThoughtfulLdrs\" target=\"_blank\">@ThoughtfulLdrs</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/lead-responsibly\" target=\"_blank\">Lead Responsibly</a>. This post describes ways in which leaders can take responsibility. Mary Jo encourages: \"Instead of shrugging your shoulders and saying that there is nothing you can do consider if you are doing what you can.\" Find Mary Jo on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mjasmus\" target=\"_blank\">@mjasmus</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Mary Ila Ward</strong> of <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Horizon Point Consulting</a> provided <a href=\"http://horizonpointconsulting.com/blog3/item/get-a-leadership-professional-development-game-plan\" target=\"_blank\">Get A Leadership Professional Development Game Plan</a>. She notes, \"Leaders take control of their personal and professional development in order to continuously grow and maximize their contribution. As a leader do you have a professional development game plan? Here are three tips than can help you create or fine-tune your plan.\" Follow 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://connectionculture.com/michael-jordans-transformation-contributed-to-his-success/\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Jordan\'s Transformation Contributed To His Success</a>. He summarizes, \"Before Michael Jordan could lead the Chicago Bulls to the championship, he had to learn an important <span class=\"il\">leadership</span> lesson: how to connect with others.\" 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://mappingcompanysuccess.com/\" target=\"_blank\">MAPping Company Success</a> shared <a href=\"http://mappingcompanysuccess.com/2015/05/if-the-shoe-fits-reality-requires-coping/\" target=\"_blank\">If The Shoe Fits - Reality Requires Coping</a>. In the article, Miki contends: \"Coping is one of the most important leadership (and life) skills, as well as one of the most underrated and ignored.\" Find Miki on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OptionSanity\" target=\"_blank\">@OptionSanity</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Neal Burgis, Ph.D.</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/\">Burgis Successful Solutions</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.successful-solutions.com/2015/05/26/pushing-the-envelope-to-create-breakthrough-innovations/\" target=\"_blank\">Pushing The Envelope To Create Breakthrough Innovations</a>. In this article, Neal discusses how, by using your strengths, skills and talent to your maximum, you are stretching or pushing yourself to strive for greater results. Find Neal on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Exec_Solutions\" target=\"_blank\">@exec_solutions</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>Randy Conley</strong> of <a href=\"http://www.leadingwithtrust.com/\">Leading With Trust</a> submitted <a href=\"http://leadingwithtrust.com/2015/05/17/are-you-easy-to-follow-10-great-things-great-leaders-know-and-do/\" target=\"_blank\">Are You Easy To Follow? 10 Things Great Leaders Know &amp; Do</a>. Randy asks: \"Are you an easy leader to follow?\" then shares 10 things great leaders know and do to make it easy to gain the loyalty, trust, and followership of their team members.\" Follow Randy on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RandyConley\">@randyconley</a>.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<strong>S. Chris Edmonds</strong> of <a href=\"http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com/\" target=\"_blank\">The Purposeful Culture Group</a> contributed <a href=\"http://drivingresultsthroughculture.com/your-team-needs-a-caring-assertive-captain/\" target=\"_blank\">Your Team Needs A Caring, Assertive Captain</a>. In sharing this article, Chris explains: \"In the absence of <span class=\"il\">leadership</span>, teams struggle. Power, control, politics, and \'I win, you lose\' behaviors abound. If <span class=\"il\">leaders</span> want a high performing, values-aligned team, they must craft it, intentionally, every day. This post outlines how effective ship captains do exactly that.\" Follow Chris on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/scedmonds\" target=\"_blank\">@scedmonds</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 <a href=\"http://randomactsofleadership.com/embrace-the-peter-principle/\" target=\"_blank\">Embrace The Peter Principle</a>. Susan explains: \"The \'Peter Principle\' essentially states that people tend to rise to the level of their incompetence. Yet consider that embracing your incompetence is exactly what it will take for you to take a leap in your growth as a <span class=\"il\">leader</span> and realize your next level of potential.\" 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 Naseer Leadership</a> submitted <a href=\"http://www.tanveernaseer.com/how-to-build-emotional-competencies-in-our-leadership/\" target=\"_blank\">Building Emotional Competencies In Our Leadership</a>. In this article, Tanveer expresses his thoughts on how leaders can build their emotional competencies in order to help bring out the best in those they lead. Follow Tanveer on Twitter at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TanveerNaseer\" target=\"_blank\">@TanveerNaseer</a>.\n<h3>Until Next Time</h3>\nThank you to everyone who submitted articles for this month\'s carnival. We are pleased to announce that <a href=\"http://braithwaiteinnovationgroup.com/about/jane-perdue/\" target=\"_blank\">Jane Perdue</a> of <a href=\"http://braithwaiteinnovationgroup.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Brathwaite Innovation Group</a> will be hosting the July Leadership Development Carnival. We will send submission details later this month.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/ldc_rectangle.png\" alt=\"\" />', 'June 2015 Leadership Development Carnival', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'june-2015-leadership-development-carnival', '', '', '2015-06-01 13:00:51', '2015-06-01 17:00:51', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26179', 0, 'post', '', 0);
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(26209, 374, '2015-06-01 06:00:00', '2015-06-01 10:00:00', 'Several of our Lead Change Group Leading Voices, Instigators, and Members participated in the quarterly call that was held in April.\n\nOne suggestion we received during the call was to provide a theme each month. The theme is completely voluntary but it helps members who are “stuck” have some inspiration to begin writing.\n\nIn response to that suggestion, we are happy to present our first ever theme!\n\nIn this season of commencement addresses, we were captivated by this passage from a speech given by Alan Alda:\n<blockquote><em>“Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory.  Be brave enough to live life creatively.”</em></blockquote>\nThis month, we encourage posts about courage, exploring foreign territory, and living life creatively.\n\nIf you are interested in submitting original material for Lead Change, we would love to consider your contribution! You do have to be  a Leading Voice, Instigator, or Member to write for Lead Change. For information about joining, click <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/join/\" target=\"_blank\">here</a>. If you have questions that are not answered on our website, please contact Paula Kiger at paula (at) weavinginfluence (dot) com!\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo_lead_change.png\"><img class=\" size-full wp-image-18472 aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/logo_lead_change.png\" alt=\"logo_lead_change\" width=\"468\" height=\"135\" /></a>', 'Our June Theme: Unexplored Territory', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'our-june-theme-unexplored-territory', '', '', '2015-06-01 06:00:00', '2015-06-01 10:00:00', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26209', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(26229, 282, '2015-06-03 06:00:16', '2015-06-03 10:00:16', 'I don\'t know you very well. OK, I may not know you at all. But I do know this about you without ever talking to you or seeing your face.\n\nYou can go places, places farther, and wilder and better than you ever imagined. That is, unless you get in the way.\n\nSelf-inflicted limitations keep us from the life that should be.\n\nThings like:\n\n<ul>\n	<li>Poor self-image (how I see myself)</li>\n	<li>Poor self-esteem (how I feel about what I see)</li>\n	<li>Bad attitude</li>\n	<li>Debt</li>\n	<li>Unresolved conflicts</li>\n	<li>Fear</li>\n	<li>Intelligence</li>\n</ul>\n\nWait, what? Intelligence keeps me from realizing my dreams? I get that those first six items are bad, and are the stuff I need to work through and work past to move forward. But my intelligence? The answer is... yes, absolutely.\n\nDon\'t let your intelligence talk you out of the amazing things life can have in store for you, or talk you out of the incredible things you could accomplish. Rather, make the best swap out you\'ll ever agree to in your lifetime. Exchange the influence of intelligence for the invitation of your imagination!\n\n<img class=\" size-full wp-image-26232 aligncenter\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Imagination-Will-Move-You.jpg\" /></a>\n\nImagination will move you to places you only dream about. Intelligence only moves you to the next step you can see. You\'ll never embrace all that your gifts, passions and talents can do to help you accomplish your dreams if you trust your intelligence more than your imagination.\n\nListen to the lyrics of that wise sage of our childhood, Willy Wonka:\n\n<blockquote>\"Come with me, and you\'ll be in a world of pure imagination.\nTake a look and you\'ll see into your imagination.\nWe\'ll begin with a spin traveling in the world of my creation.\nWhat we\'ll see will defy explanation.\nIf you want to view paradise simply look around and view it.\nAnything you want to, do it.\nWant to change the world? There\'s nothing to it.\nThere is no life I know to compare with pure imagination.\nLiving there you\'ll be free If you truly wish to be.\"</blockquote>\n\nCut those limitations loose, and who knows what you\'ll do or become?! But don\'t you want to find out?\n\n[embed]https://youtu.be/s7M_FmpB0XY[/embed]', 'Willy Wonkinate Your Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'willy-wonkinate-your-leadership', '', '', '2015-06-03 06:00:16', '2015-06-03 10:00:16', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26229', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(26235, 372, '2015-06-04 06:00:45', '2015-06-04 10:00:45', 'How well does your team or department or company hire for culture fit?\n\nIf you’re like the organizations that were studied for <a href=\"http://www.cubiks.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Files%20ENG/Research%20Studies%20ENG/Cubiks%20Survey%20Results%20July%202013.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Cubik’s 2013 Survey</a> on job and culture fit, 82 percent said that measuring cultural fit is important - yet only 54 percent believe that their organization has a clear definition of its culture.\n\nOnly 32 percent say that their company measures cultural fit in the recruitment process.\n\nI love the definition of culture fit presented in <a href=\"http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/chatman/papers/34_MatchingPeopleOrgs.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Jennifer Chatman’s 1991 Research Study</a> which states, “Person-organization fit is defined as the congruence between patterns of organizational values and patterns of individual values.\"\n\nCultural fit, then, is best assessed by examining the degree to which the individual candidate’s values align with the organization’s values. The higher that alignment, the better the cultural fit.\n\nThat’s a difficult assessment to make if your organization hasn’t formalized its values. Most organizations have <em>demonstrated</em> values - those norms that evolve over time - but they are not formalized. And <em>demonstrated</em> values might not be the values you want lived day to day.\n\nHiring for culture fit is even harder to do when interviewers ignore the organization’s values in the hiring process. For example, in her recent<a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/opinion/sunday/guess-who-doesnt-fit-in-at-work.html?ref=opinion&amp;_r=1\" target=\"_blank\">New York Times</a> article, Lauren Rivera describes an organization where fit wasn’t about a match with organizational values, it was about personal fit with the interviewer.\n\nThe interviewers Rivera studied hired people that they enjoyed and wanted to hang out with. Individual chemistry is well and good, but if the new hire\'s values are inconsistent with the organization’s values, there will be conflicts, poor productivity, and lousy service.\n\n<h3>Ensuring New Hires Are a Great Cultural Fit</h3>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Define what a good job looks like - not just for performance but for citizenship, as well. Citizenship standards must be formalized though behaviorally-defined values. Why \"behaviorally defined” values? Because players on your team will have an easier time of modeling your values if they know exactly what behaviors are required.</li>\n<li>Align all plans, decisions, and actions to your defined values and behaviors. Simply announcing your new values and behaviors doesn’t mean they will be embraced! Leaders must model the values and behaviors in every interaction - then coach their team members to do the same, every day.\n\nThe alignment process means leaders must praise those players that model the valued behaviors and redirect those players that do not model those behaviors. Just as you must hold team leaders and players accountable for performance expectations, you must also hold team leaders and players accountable for values expectations. You can no longer tolerate bad behavior from anyone.\n\nBy crafting a high performing, values-based organization, the new hires you bring in will have the best chance to learn about and embrace your desired culture.</li>\n<li>Hire to your organization’s values. Change your interview process to include at least 50 percent of the hiring decision’s weight on the degree to which the candidate’s values match the organization’s values. Include application questions that require the candidate to share their values about work, team members, and customers. Include time for panel interviews with current team members so they can provide their perspective about the candidate\'s skills and culture fit.</li>\n</ol>\n\nThese three steps will help you hire the right players who will fit into your desired culture effectively.', 'Three Steps To Hiring Players That Fit Your Culture', '', 'publish', 'closed', 'closed', '', 'three-steps-to-hiring-players-that-fit-your-culture', '', '', '2015-06-04 06:00:45', '2015-06-04 10:00:45', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26235', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(26250, 376, '2015-06-11 06:00:13', '2015-06-11 10:00:13', 'Our <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/our-june-theme-unexplored-territory/\">suggested theme</a> this month is to find inspiration though this quote.\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory. Be brave enough to live life creatively.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Alan Alda</div>\n</blockquote>\n\nAlan Alda\'s words are stirring and quite thought-provoking. As I pondered them for inspiration, I was taken by another well-known person\'s musings on the subject.\n\n<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Portman\">Natalie Portman</a> is much prettier than Alan Alda, also very articulate and thoughtful, and not a bad actress, either. Portman is also a proud Harvard graduate with a degree in psychology, which probably comes in very handy in the creative world of film.\n\nWhat catches my attention in regard to unexplored territory is that she was asked recently to share some thoughts with the graduating class at her alma mater and she chose to talk about the value of inexperience.\n\nThis got my attention.  I do not think most people consider inexperience to be of value.  Our society and our workplaces usually look for experience and knowing <em>… while discounting those who do not know.</em>\n\nPortman had much to say about daring to do, even and maybe especially when you do not know. The complete text and some choice quotes can be found on <a href=\"http://www.upworthy.com/natalie-portman-delivers-a-powerful-speech-to-harvard-grads-about-using-inexperience-as-an-asset?c=upw1&amp;u=0cfa1ce864030d0f74ee0331b6e70ea2bfc1199d\">Upworthy</a>.\n\nPortman\'s message is deceptively simple: Let not knowing be an asset, rather than a barrier. What does this have to do with Leadership and Change? Plenty, in my opinion.\n\nOne of the strongest reasons people seem to mention when asked why they did not do something usually sounds something like “I didn\'t know what to expect” or the more popular “I don\'t like change.\"\n\nWe do cling to that which we know. It\'s what pulls most of us toward familiar faces in a lunchroom or meeting room, makes us search for a point of reference when navigating a new place or a complex document, and even has us sitting in the same seat every time we enter certain rooms. We like to know where things are and what to expect.\n\nThe problem, of course, is that life does not come in a known and predictable package. We might say: “I don\'t like change”\n\nMy response, “So, what?”\n\nIn leadership and in life, change does not depend on whether we like it or not. Life is change, always has been and always will be. We cannot live without changing, whether we desire to or not.\n\nAs a leader, you are responsible for helping others change, sometimes whether they want to or not, and whether they know much of anything about their future.\n\nIn an ideal world, change would be managed, with predictable and stable steps leading from what was to what is, with stops along the way to adjust, learn, and consider the next step … Plenty of time, plenty of support, and everyone motivated to move into our shared future.\n\nYeah, if we lived in that ideal world.\n\nInteresting side note: We spend our entire lives changing, so you would think we would be better at dealing with it, given all that practice, wouldn\'t you?\n\n<strong>Consider this:  Looking back, I might not have done many of the things I have done in my life, had I had a more accurate picture of what I was getting into. However, those things in which I engaged without adequate or realistic prior knowledge, have often been the parts of my life where the richest moments have occurred.</strong>\n\nI have three observations to summarize my thoughts around using inexperience for growth:\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>If You Have Not Experienced something, You Do Not Know What To Expect</strong> - So quit imagining that you do. Keep an open mind and gain the experience as it comes. Careful planning based on knowledge is prudent, but anticipating in a void without a solid context is not.</li>\n<li><strong>A LAck Of Experience Is Not A Reason To Feel Inadequate</strong> - >When things do not go as planned or expected, you need only recover, learn, and move on. This equates to a get-out-of-jail-free-card card to play when needed; just don\'t depend on it to win the game.</li>\n<li>Remember That Having Experience Is Not Automatically A Positive Thing</strong> - I quite enjoy and often use the statement that some people have twenty years of experience, while others have one year of experience twenty times. There is a big difference between the two, regardless of what the recruiters say.</li>\n</ol>\n\nWe have all been at places where we lack experience in what lies ahead. The questions are about how we deal with not knowing. The answers determine the quality of our experience, when we do earn it.\n\nWhat do you think about the value of not knowing versus knowing during change? When has lack of experience resulted in positive growth for you?', 'Don&#039;t Know Nothin&#039; About This', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'dont-know-nothin-about-this', '', '', '2015-06-11 06:00:13', '2015-06-11 10:00:13', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26250', 0, 'post', '', 3),
(26284, 252, '2015-06-08 06:00:27', '2015-06-08 10:00:27', 'What’s really at risk when you take a risk? I was coaching a client recently on working with his new supervisor.\n\nThis supervisor had already shown his true colors many times. He would go back on his word, drag things out, allow deadlines to come and go, and change his story from one day to the next.\n\nMy client and I looked closely at whether he wanted to continue in this position, with this employer. What was the risk? What was the reward? What was at stake? Sometimes his dignity. How much was he willing be paid, or pay, for compromising?\n\nWe discussed when and how would he stand up for himself. We pondered the likely outcome of different choices. It all came down to him having the willingness and courage to take the consequences of a particular choice.\n\n<h4>What’s The Worst That Can Happen?</h4>\n\nI notice this with others and also myself. When it comes to making a tough decision, and weighing risk and reward, we want to prevent discomfort and get our way, at the same time of course. Examples I hear include:\n\n<ul>\n<li>I need to give my employee this vital performance feedback. How can I keep the situation from heating up?</li>\n<li>I don’t want to take part in this year’s block party. How can I say no, and my neighbors still like me?</li>\n<li>I don’t like the way my boss is treating me. How do I speak up for myself and it not work against me?</li>\n</ul>\n\nI had a falling out with a colleague a few years ago. She initiated an email exchange months later. I got to the point where I didn’t even want to answer her. Given the history it seemed like the best way to end the exchange, but I didn’t feel good about it.\n\nA friend helped me sort it out. It went something like this:\n\n<blockquote>Friend: What does she want from you?\nMe: To make everything okay between us.\nFriend: Can you or do you want to give that to her?\nMe: No.\nFriend: Can you live with whatever happens?\nMe: Yes.</blockquote>\n\n<h4>Managing The Consequences</h4>\n\nThis is the beauty of talking to someone outside the situation. My gifted adviser broke the situation down to 3 simple questions. The last one being key.\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">The only person who makes no mistakes is the one who never does anything.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Eleanor Roosevelt</div>\n</blockquote>\n\nI’m not saying my decision was right for anyone else, but it was one I could live with. My friend helped me focus on the heart of what was going on, for me. She helped me consider what I was and was not willing to do. When I did, the likely outcome wasn’t pleasant, but it was one I could live with. I felt my energy shift and lift.\n\nI’m thinking about how we could apply these questions to the scenarios I listed above. Let’s think about the manager who is dreading giving feedback. Underneath this I sense a plaintive, “How can I make my employee be okay with this?” or rather, \"How can I make my employee be okay with me?\"\n\nHere’s the deal. The employee may never be happy with what you are going to tell them. They deserve to know though. Prepare for a variety of reactions. Then plan to deliver in a way that minimizes the damage.\n\n<h4>Sometimes We Just Need a Reminder</h4>\n\nI call this approach, “consequence management.” You often hear it as advice applied to worrying. You know. Describe what worries you. Ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” This may be personal and unique to you. Then do what you need to do to come to terms with “the worst thing” that can happen. Same principle.\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must first be overcome.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Samuel Johnson</div>\n</blockquote>\n\nIs this unexplored territory for you? Sometimes you are going to need to make a decision that risks ticking someone off, putting yourself at a disadvantage or even burning a bridge. What’s it going to take for you to increase your willingness to make a decision in your favor and live with the consequences?\n\nLike my coaching client who had to get clear on the risks and rewards of taking a certain path - get clear on what’s at stake for you and if you can live with it.', 'How Managing Consequences Is Key To Risk-Taking', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'how-managing-consequences-is-key-to-risk-taking', '', '', '2015-06-08 06:00:27', '2015-06-08 10:00:27', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26284', 0, 'post', '', 4),
(26310, 251, '2015-06-10 06:00:13', '2015-06-10 10:00:13', 'The thought was unexpected. My issues with the plant could be solved by simply tossing it into the compost bin. No longer would I have to deal with the spindly, frustrating thing that wilted in the sun, refused to grow in the shade, and sent out shoots that withered and died.\n\nWhat held me back from pitching it was the memory of the one beautiful flower it bore the day I received it. I imagined a glorious mass of those blossoms spilling over the container, a sight that would make me smile every time I saw it.\n\nThen, for some odd reason, I thought of David, a long ago boss.\n\nDavid had lured me to move across six states to take a new job with a new company. It took me a couple of months to flourish, so it was a good thing he didn’t give up on me. As he told me later, “I knew you’d find your footing, you just needed a little time.”\n\nDavid was a rare breed of leader - the nurturing kind. Not nurturing in the sense of cosseting, indulging, or over-protecting. Rather, David supported and encouraged us on one hand and pushed us relentlessly toward rigorous goals on the other.\n\nHe had that paradoxical both/and leadership thing nailed, especially for nurturing. He excelled in giving people the space to grow, experiment with new processes, gain new skills, and build capacity. He inspired us to better ourselves so we could better the company.\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">The main reason for leading is to help other people win.</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner</div>\n</blockquote>\n\nLeadership is about connecting. Connecting is about supporting. Supporting is about being brave enough as a leader to flex your nurturing muscle.\n\n<h3>7 Paradoxical Things Nurturing Leaders Do</h3>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Delegate & Guide</strong> - Effective leaders empower the right employees who have the right skills to do the right work at the right time. Then, those leaders check in periodically to assure all is well, answer questions, or remove barriers.</li>\n<li><strong>Hold Accountable & Create Freedom</strong> - Having the freedom to create, take risks, and disrupt the status quo is a precious gift. But this gift does come with strings: responsibility and accountability. Leaders know they must deal with the consequences, intended and otherwise, and see things through. There’s no walking away when the going gets tough.</li>\n<li><strong>Dream & Do</strong> - Work can’t always be like a spreadsheet containing perfect formula that always tally. Nurturing leaders make room, and time, for dreaming. They encourage creativity, imagination, fun, and sometimes a little silliness.</li>\n<li><strong>Champion & Oppose</strong> - Sometimes the right answer is yes, other times it’s no. Nurturing leaders don’t back away from saying no.</li>\n<li><strong>Celebrate Success & Allow Failure</strong> - Having permission to learn from failure is the one of greatest attributes a leader can bestow. The lessons of success can be superficial, not so failure. Failure brings alignment to the head and heart, heart and hands.</li>\n<li><strong>Foster The Individual & Sustain The Collective</strong> - Some activities can be all about I. Some things must be about we. Leaders know when to flex between the team and the individual.</li>\n<li><strong>Pull Back & Push Forward</strong> - Innovation is good; so is honoring stability. Nurturing, thoughtful leaders find the sweet spot in allowing just the right level of disruption that keeps things current, fresh, and relevant without creating chaos.</li>\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">Do those being served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous?</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ ~Robert Greenleaf</div>\n</blockquote>', '7 Paradoxes Of Nurturing Leadership', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'seven-paradoxes-of-nurturing-leadership', '', '', '2015-06-10 06:00:13', '2015-06-10 10:00:13', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26310', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(26316, 343, '2015-06-22 06:00:25', '2015-06-22 10:00:25', 'The opportunity was there, but I was scared to take it. I was a new department director for a large county nursing home.\n\nOur dietary and nutrition team was working hard to transform itself from the laughingstock department to a respectable operation, and we were making great progress.\n\nThere was a lot of work yet to do, as we had barely scratched the surface of our game plan. Then I heard word from our county officials.\n\nThe county jail across the street was growing unhappy with the contract management that serviced their kitchen, and they wanted to opt out of their contract.\n\nI wrestled for months with myself, knowing the opportunity to enhance operations, consolidate our purchasing power, pursue the mission of the correctional facility, and save the county and taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars was there for the taking.\n\nBut my fears crept in:\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>\"I\'ve got too much on my plate.\"</em></li>\n<li><em>\"I\'m scared to work with criminals.\"</em></li>\n<li><em>\"I\'ll neglect my core duties.\"</em></li>\n<li><em>\"I might fail miserably.\"</em></li>\n<li><em>\"I\'m crazy for even thinking about this.\"</em></li>\n</ul>\n\nOver the next few months, I hesitated to mention it. But as I slowly started to talk to others - my wife, my team, and those at the jail - my fears started to disappear and the excitement took its place and started to grow.\n\nWhen I formally mentioned this plan to the administration on both ends, they were excited at the opportunity to consolidate the operations. As the transition plan evolved over the next few weeks, my fears eroded. And as the next few years progressed we saw the following occur:\n\n<ul>\n<li>We saved the county taxpayers a large sum of money each year.</li>\n<li>We became consistently compliant in our local and federal regulatory practices.</li>\n<li>A more cohesive team culture set in.</li>\n</ul>\n\nBut what was even more amazing were the side benefits of this journey:\n\n<ul>\n<li>My fears and views about correctional facilities changed dramatically.</li>\n<li>I learned the impact that correctional institutions can make on society and rebuilding people. See this Lead Change Group <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/what-jail-taught-me-about-leadership/\">article</a></strong>.</li>\n<li>Whenever an opportunity presents itself, fears can derail the chance to make a major impact.</li>\n</ul>\n\nI realize that none of this would have been possible had I let my fears trump this chance to pursue a unique adventure. And how many other times have I, or you, missed a great way to positively influence the lives of countless others because we let our fear of the unknown keep us comfortable?\n\nUnknown, and even fearful territory, can only help us grow if we proceed forward and let the excitement of the possibility override our fears and insecurities. Challenge yourself to take that road less traveled.\n\nConquer those new paths, grow in confidence, and inspire others to do likewise. You\'ll be amazed at how your world will change.', 'Face Your Fears With New Challenges', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'face-your-fears-with-new-challenges', '', '', '2015-06-22 06:00:25', '2015-06-22 10:00:25', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26316', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(26340, 395, '2015-06-24 06:00:16', '2015-06-24 10:00:16', 'How interesting is it to start your own business? Many people say they wish to own their own businesses.\n\nSometimes people tell me “you must be so lucky” or “it must be a relief to be out of the rat race.”\n\nThe truth is that none of these statements are true. As for the rat race, while entrepreneurship is very different, it’s a competition like no other.\n\nHere is the real truth about entrepreneurship. Let’s dive in:\n\n<h3>Entrepreneurship Can Be Very Stressful</h3>\n\nIf you think attaining your boss\'s or supervisor’s deadlines is tough, try attaining your own, especially when your eyes are focused on saving resources. Maybe your credit cards are already maxed out because you took another mortgage. Or, you are on the hook to repay a large amount of money you borrowed from your friend or family member. This pressure is a fire in itself and may light up an inferno even in the most laid back people. As an entrepreneur, I have worked tirelessly to regain some semblance of comfort and financial security.\n\n<h3>Very Demanding, Unending Responsibilities</h3>\n\nWhen you work for somebody else, you can be thankless knowing that your talents and skills are making someone else a profit. With some of these other jobs, you can leave behind the workload and take some time out. You cannot dare do the same thing as an entrepreneur when you are still the HR manager, marketing guru, office manager, janitor, tech guy, sales staff, CFO and CEO. These roles are unending and there is always something left somewhere that needs to be done.\n\n<h3>The Bright Side Of The Coin </h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>It\'s Rewarding</strong> - Anything that doesn’t come on a silver platter has its own share of benefits. When you become successful as an entrepreneur, there are so many rewards to reap, both emotionally and financially. Moreover, there is simply nothing as good as seeing the product you’ve tirelessly developed begin to excel. The joy you receive from a grateful client is more than the financial benefits it brings you. I can relax knowing that I am making a difference in the lives of my customers.</li>\n<li><strong>Entrepreneurship Is Flexible</strong> - Once you test the pleasure of working for yourself, you may never turn back again or want to work in a conventional 9-5 environment again. The reason behind this is basically flexibility. Yes, sometimes you may need to work for more hours, but all this is per your own terms. You can stop working at 3 p.m. to pick your kids up from school without asking anybody for permission or you can begin working at midnight through to 4 a.m. if you are a night owl. Overall, the new freedom and flexibility can be extremely exhilarating.</li>\n<li><strong> It\'s An Opportunity To Create & Innovate</strong> - No matter what the motivation, creating something from nothing that grows and develops through the years can be almost like raising a child; it\'s your baby, and you\'ve nurtured it to its current level of success. That type of fulfillment is difficult to duplicate in any other career path.</li>\n</ul>\n\nOne of the driving factors of most entrepreneurs is the need to exploit their talents and build something great or help other people, not to mention the need to leave something behind. It could be a business that your children could join later on and grow a legacy of establishing something new that will be around for a very long time soon after you are gone.\n\nRegardless of the driving factor or motivation, creating something new and helping it grow to maturity results in a fulfillment that is difficult to duplicate in any other area of life. Having said that, pick your way but most importantly as the saying goes, “it’s better to make a mistake than to do nothing.”', 'The Unexpected Realities Of Being An Entrepreneur', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-unexpected-realities-of-being-an-entrepreneur', '', '', '2015-06-24 06:00:16', '2015-06-24 10:00:16', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26340', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(26348, 374, '2015-06-12 06:00:41', '2015-06-12 10:00:41', '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>Today’s Question</h3>\nTo align with the Lead Change Group suggested <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/our-june-theme-unexplored-territory/\" target=\"_blank\">theme</a> for June:\n\n<em>What advice would you give someone who is hesitant to explore \"foreign territory?\" (It could be work-related, personal, or a combination.)</em>\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/david-dye/\">David Dye</a> says:\n\nDo you ever wish you could go back in time and give your younger self courage? Well - you can!\n\nWhen you’re reluctant to explore new territory, it’s often because you’re scared - of looking foolish, of feeling inadequate, or of success and anxiety that everyone will always expect that from you in the future. One way to overcome these fears is to imagine your ideal self thirty years from now. As you look back on your life from thirty years ahead, are you glad you took that risk? What did it do for you? How did you respond when things didn’t go the way you planned?\n\nThis \"conversation\" with yourself often puts the current challenge in perspective and gives you the courage for that next st\n<div></div>\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/jon-mertz/\">Jon Mertz </a>shares:\n\nMy simple advice would be to just \"go!\" If the new territory doesn\'t contain life-threatening or compromising concerns, then go to experience new thoughts and interactions. Many times, new places are where long-lasting soul sparks happen. Be open. Discover.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/mike-henry/\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Henry, Sr.</a>, states:\n\nThe cost of any choice is what you give up. Which choice will you most regret not making? For me, fear disguises itself as a desire for comfort, the absence of risk, or living my life on auto-pilot. I don\'t often say no, I say wait.  Waiting is my trigger. I have learned that the desire to wait is my version of fear.  If we value living our lives well, will the comfortable, easy things be the things we appreciate most? Look back at your last 7 days.  How much of your time spent do you most appreciate? For me, I appreciate the time I did the right, hard, or one-time thing.  Everything else just feels like reruns.\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/will-lukang/\" target=\"_blank\">Will Lukang</a> contributes:\n\nIf you never tried you\'ll never know how it\'s like to explore and learn. What\'s it like to achieve something you otherwise thought you\'re not capable of. Do you want to play what ifs? Or, do you rather find out what you\'re capable of. Seize the moment and make it happen. Live a life with no regrets.\n\nThank you David, Jon, Mike and Will, for taking a shot at this question!', 'Chip Shots - Exploring Foreign Territory', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'chip-shots-exploring-foreign-territory', '', '', '2015-06-12 06:00:41', '2015-06-12 10:00:41', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26348', 0, 'post', '', 8),
(26362, 396, '2015-06-25 06:00:44', '2015-06-25 10:00:44', 'Employee turnover costs businesses a lot of money. It is costly, disruptive and ultimately it hurts the company’s bottom line.\n\nSome estimates suggest that it could cost as high as twice the employee’s salary to find and train a replacement.\n\nIn addition, there are recruiting expenses, training expenses and your own time as you interview new candidates. It also results in a workforce lacking in expertise.\n\nEmployee turnover can be very dangerous for a business. How can you reduce it?\n\nReducing employee turnover actually starts with the hiring process. There are management aspects to consider as well. Some turnover is natural; people move on for better opportunities and to explore other things. While some find themselves misfit, no matter how hard you try to keep them, once they make their decision it is impossible to retain them.\n\nHow can you keep your good employees happy? By giving them a raise? Providing them with bonuses and perks? Offering promotions? The question is how long these resources will work.\n\nDiscussed below are some very important tips that will create a place where employees will want to work. Hence, you will reduce employee turnover efficiently.\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Hiring The Right People</strong> - The best way to reduce employee turnover is to hire the right people from the start. Recruiting should be done through behavior-based testing and competency screening which can assist in selecting the right people. Interview candidates carefully, define their roles clearly, ensure that they have the required skills and determine whether they will be able to fit with the company culture and co-workers.</li>\n<li><strong>Develop People</strong> - One of the major key factors behind the success of an organization is employee development. Organizations that focus on employee development enjoy higher employee satisfaction, which leads to lower turnover. It is only possible if each employee has a concrete development plan that is reviewed on a regular basis. It must offer a variety of opportunities to grow. As a result, no employee would ever think about leaving the organization, let alone look for other opportunities.</li>\n<li><strong>Compensate Properly</strong> - In my opinion, this factor makes or breaks the organization. Equitable compensations and benefits should be set, keeping in mind the current economy, market and inflation rate. Make sure your pay rates are up to date with that of current market salary rates. Be creative and offer your employees comprehensive benefits with components like life insurance, a bonus structure and flexible work schedule. Don’t forget to review packages at least once a year.</li>\n<li><strong>Offer Rewards On Good Performance</strong> - Encourage your employees to do their best and show them that they are valued and appreciated by offering rewards on their performance with bonuses, perks or a pleasure trip on company’s expenses. This will help boost the morale of other employees as well and encourage them to do their best as well. This will also enhance productivity and lower the employee turnover.</li>\n<li><strong>Build Trust</strong> - One of the core values of every successful organization is to have a sense of trust between employees and management. A trusting environment is a productive environment. An organization cannot survive for long if there is an enmity and lack of trust between co-workers, co-managers or employee-manager. Every employee should consider his co-worker a valuable asset. The same way, every manager should trust their employees and treat them equally. This will lead to a happier work environment where no employee would even think about quitting.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<h3><strong>Conclusion</strong></h3>\nIf you treat your employees wonderfully and equally, you will definitely reduce employee turnover. Follow the points mentioned above and you will have a team of dedicated employees working with you very soon.', '5 Ways To Reduce Employee Turnover', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '5-ways-to-reduce-employee-turnover', '', '', '2015-06-25 06:00:44', '2015-06-25 10:00:44', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26362', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(26378, 385, '2015-06-15 06:00:22', '2015-06-15 10:00:22', 'As I travel around the country speaking and training people to hold potentially difficult conversations, I am frequently asked if the skills and processes which I teach can be used with one’s boss. I forcefully affirm that one can be more effective as a communicator no matter to whom they may be speaking. Many times people respond with something like, “Well, sure it works if they have had the training.”\n\nOften I am disappointed when I hear such a response because the underlying assumption is that they can’t manage the communication dynamic based on their current skills; that success hinges entirely on whether or not someone has had the class. Such a statement essentially becomes the excuse for not practicing the skills that they have learned. The statement also signals that people may be uncomfortable in a situation where they don’t know what the outcome may be. This is certainly understandable.\n\nBut let me be clear. “Managing up,” as some call it, is not about manipulation. It is really about being more influential or even selling an idea or solution in a way that helps your manager understand the situation from a different perspective. If the additional insight will have an impact on results, then any right-minded manager will be interested in what you have to share.\n\nThe challenge in holding a conversation with someone who is in authority over you has to do with the quality of the relationship. The quality of respect and relationship will have an impact on results every time. Given that the quality of the relationship is what may provide consideration for your idea, let’s consider some questions that may help you determine the status of your relationship and allow you to gauge what improvements need to be made.\n<h3><strong>What is your current standing with your manager?</strong></h3>\nIf you have been argumentative or combative each time your manager has made a decision or set a direction, then you probably don’t stand much of a chance of being heard or influencing the current situation. This can be a difficult situation which will take time and effort to correct. By following some of the suggestions below and consistently managing your behavior when you don’t agree, you will be well on your way to building a more positive relationship.\n<h3><strong>Can you create a different atmosphere with your manager going forward?</strong></h3>\nThis may take a degree of humility on your part. If I wanted to create a different space with an individual with whom I had not frequently agreed and if I had acted badly in the past, I might begin the attempt with the following statement: “I have some pretty strong differing opinions on this course of action. Would you be willing to talk about them with me?” If your manager indicated that he or she was willing to talk about the current issue, you at least succeeded in getting your foot in the door.\n\nIf they are not willing to engage with you, then I hope that you will take the opportunity to consider what you might do differently going forward. Taking the time to ask questions to enhance your understanding, keeping your emotions in check, and complaining in front of everyone that the manager’s decision is wrong are behaviors that should be eliminated if you hope to improve the relationship.\n<h3><strong>Can you set your own perspectives and opinions aside to hold the conversation?</strong></h3>\nIf you are the type of person who always has to be right, then this may be difficult for you to do. You need to recognize that you might not know everything and accept the fact that there is something that you need to learn rather than being firmly entrenched in your own views. Sometimes these types of conversations can turn into a debate. That is the last thing you want to have happen.\n\nWe have all had experience with people who continue to push their own views. When you don’t agree with them, they seem to want to push harder. Because I communicate differently, I have often wondered why they do this and have wondered, “Why can’t they recognize that no one is going to endure a barrage of ideas and suddenly come to the realization that they were wrong!” When one party insists that they are right, then the other party tends to become more defensive and reinforces their own position. This whole scenario does not lead to an exchange of ideas and a mutual collaboration of any kind.\n<h3><strong>Are you willing to prepare to hold the conversation?  </strong></h3>\nIf your manager is willing to talk about an issue, the next question I would ask is, “Would you be willing to allow me to prepare to hold the conversation?” If they answered yes, then I would ask them a few questions that would help you to think through the issues around the current situation. For example, you might ask any of the following questions, “What about the current situation should I understand? What is the ultimate goal in the current situation? Of all the issues that we are currently dealing with what takes priority? What criteria do I need to consider that would help me understand the current situation?”\n\nBe sure to establish a firm timeline for holding this conversation. Some leaders would rather talk about the issues right then in the moment. You need to control their potential impatience by identifying a specific time to talk that day.\n<h3><strong>Do you have sufficient evidence or data that would support your view?</strong></h3>\nSound data should be the basis of all good decisions. If you have information that you believe would help the manager make a different decision, be prepared to share that information in a spirit of collaboration and support. Don’t be surprised if the manager is already aware of the information you are offering. If they don’t, allow them time to consider what data you are offering and allow them some time to make their decision given the new information.\n\nIf they still don’t make the decision that you would like them to make, then ask questions to try to understand their perspective. This has to be done very carefully. If in the past you have been obstinate or contrary your tone must be calm and you must approach them in the spirit of learning. They may have a different set of priorities or a different set of criteria for making a decision than you do. If they do, then ask them to help you understand and teach you the basis for making such a decision. You may not agree with them, but you will learn a lot about how to interact with this leader going forward.\n<h3><strong>Are you prepared with a number of different solutions?</strong></h3>\nBecause many managers are Type A personalities, they are often frustrated by individuals who want to expose a problem and then have no suggestions for solving that problem. If your manager has taken the time to answer your questions, you should have been able to recognize a number of their concerns. You need to be prepared with more than one solution that addresses their concerns. If you have information that they may not have, then you have the opportunity to prepare solutions that include the information that you have. Taking time to think through and offer solutions will help you be seen more positively.\n<h3><strong>Are you willing to support them if the decision doesn’t go your way?</strong></h3>\nThis is hard for many people to do. You may be right in what you are proposing, but if you can find it in your heart to support this person, it will vastly improve the quality of this relationship. When you express support, you increase the chances of being supported later.\n<h3><strong>Can you honestly thank them for engaging you?</strong></h3>\nIf they have taken the time to explain themselves to you, answered your questions, given you the time to prepare and think through the issues, and given you more time to actually discuss the issues, I would hope you could sincerely thank them for their time and consideration. This will set the foundation for speaking with them in the future. It will tell them that you honestly want to understand and that you want to share from the perspective of improving the work or the outcome.\n\nIt is possible to manage up, but you have to do it from the perspective of being part of the solution, not part of the problem. You can disagree without being disagreeable. And you can make a difference if you take the time to understand how to approach an individual that allows them space to think and reason, rather than feel like they have to defend themselves or their ideas. When irrationality rules the day, irrationality will make the decision. We could all do a better job of understanding how to respectfully approach one another when we disagree.', 'Can You Manage Up? Eight Questions for Increasing Your Influence', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'can-you-manage-up-eight-questions-for-increasing-your-influence', '', '', '2015-06-15 06:00:22', '2015-06-15 10:00:22', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26378', 0, 'post', '', 5);
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(26382, 329, '2015-06-17 06:00:31', '2015-06-17 10:00:31', '“Doors!” the sound tech’s voice boomed. And hundreds of employees poured into the giant hotel ballroom. Room lights dimmed as the spotlights bathed the massive stage revealing a colorful, themed background. Sounding like the voice of God, the sound tech again spoke: “Ladies and gentlemen, the CEO of Acme Manufacturing, Jan Topdog.”\n\nThe CEO, carefully scripted through a teleprompter and supported by dazzling slides, gave the financial history and the projected goals. The scene was a carbon copy of a gazillion other big deal meetings held in hundreds of ballrooms around the world. But, this one was different.\n\nWithout warning the CEO moved beyond the teleprompter to the edge of the stage. The speech changed from one of pragmatism to one of passion. As the CEO began to talk about the power of the company’s vision and the value of every employee, big tears began to fall to the stage floor. Overflowing emotion necessitated several long pauses to regain composure. As the CEO completed the final sentence there was a long silence. The audience sat overwhelmed by what they had just witnessed. Then, they leapt to their feet for an awkwardly long standing ovation. Even the “way too serious” contract sound techs were on their feet!\n\nIt was not the tears that moved this audience. It was the CEO’s courage to be unabashedly authentic—to be publicly real. Whether the emotion displayed is anger, compassion, pain, or joy, the authenticity of leaders changes the nature of the connection and invites a valued link with others.\n\nLeaders too often associate their mantle of authority with a requirement for detachment. “I don’t care if my employees like me,” the swashbuckling ruler announces, “I just want them to respect me.” Such a view is often a preamble to emotional distance and calculated encounters. The headlong pursuit of aloofness as the expression of authority invites employee evasiveness, not employee enthusiasm. It triggers reserve, not respect. An open door policy is not about a piece of furniture. It is about an attitude of vulnerability.\n\nOrganizations populated by genuine leaders have more than their share of employee engagement and cutting edge breakthroughs. Turnover is lower because employees value an environment free of passive aggressive game playing, cynicism and suspicion. Customers are loyal longer because they trust what they experience. Suppliers give such organizations better breaks because they view encounters as long-term investments, not short-term transactions.\n<h3>Real Leaders Don’t Wear Rank</h3>\nCombat troops are generally much better behaved in the field (where battle is likely to occur) than in the relative safety of the rear area. As an infantry unit commander in Viet Nam, I often wondered if it was related to the fact that military leaders remove markings of rank while in the field. Enemy snipers always seek to get battlefield leaders in their crosshairs to strip their adversary of command. This left the concept of “leadership” less related to obvious authority and more with subtle influence. It also took the focus off of “whom” and placed it squarely on “what.” Those officers who resorted to barking orders in a desperate attempt to signal rank often found their edicts sabotaged or circumvented by adroit foot soldiers skilled at deception.\n\nI invited a fellow consultant to assist me with a long term client\'s group of senior executives. She had heard me repeatedly rave about the CEO of this high-tech company. Her flight was delayed and the meeting was underway when she arrived, preventing me from introducing her to the audience. After listening to the group in a lengthy, spirited dialogue over a strategic challenge, she whispered to me, “Which one is the CEO?” It was the highest compliment I could have bestowed on a leader fond of saying, “Never add any more leadership than is needed.” Leaders without rank busy themselves with the business of mission and course, not might and conceit.\n<h3>Real Leaders Care about Spirit</h3>\n“This is the best work I have ever done in my life,” said a colleague who had just completed a very difficult consulting project. What I witnessed was not the pride in his voice, but the lump in his throat and the emotion in his eyes. Chores extract toil but causes unearth spirit. Real leaders care less about toil and more about spirit. They see spirit as a light that can easily go dim and view their role as helping associates keep the rheostat turned up. They do this by constantly reminding them of the cause and by personally demonstrating passion about that cause.\n\n“Just like great service to customers, great leadership comes through creating a remarkable experience for associates,” wrote management consultant John Patterson. Real leaders know that if they constantly give employees their very best enthusiasm, zeal will be the frequent response.\n<h3>Real Leaders Invite Passion</h3>\n“You are JC Penney,” said the new CEO, Marvin Ellison, at their recent store managers\' conference. “Your customers and your associates will know they matter when you approach every encounter with them with the enthusiasm of a warrior.” The words come from a man renowned for his passion for the employees and customers at Home Depot and Target before being appointed CEO of JC Penney. Real leaders look for ways to add value “to every encounter.” Instead of shouting an order, they inspire with a story. Instead of learning about customer experiences from a sterile survey, they find out face-to-face and ear-to-ear. Instead of being quick to blame, they assume the best and avoid assumptions. They are myth-averse, preferring to unearth the facts not rely on insinuations. And, their “up close and personal” approach attracts passion for those around them.\n\n“There is more to ‘turning lemons into lemonade’ than just a positive effort,” says Dallas-based motivational speaker Ed Foreman. “Lemons take very little energy, but lemonade is a creation you have to work at.” When Foreman was scheduled to do an all-day workshop at an invitation-only event in Scotland, he arrived only to learn the sponsor had been unable to enlist a single participant. “Don’t worry,” the sponsor told Foreman. “We’ll pay your daily fee and expenses; you can take the day off.” “Not a chance,” responded Foreman. “We’re going to call on your customers together and get as many as we can to enlist in your next training event.” The sponsor learned a great lesson as Foreman’s passion turned customer resistance into customers registered.\n\nMargery Williams’s Velveteen Rabbit is a children’s book many parents have shared as a bedtime fairy-tale. The dialogue between the wise skin horse and naive rabbit contains great lessons for leaders. “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse to the rabbit. “It’s a thing that happens to you....It doesn’t happen all at once, you become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.” Realness comes through promoting others, not on preening self.', 'When Leaders Cry', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'when-leaders-cry', '', '', '2015-06-17 06:00:31', '2015-06-17 10:00:31', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26382', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(26391, 386, '2015-06-16 06:00:43', '2015-06-16 10:00:43', 'I was inspired by John Smith’s post <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/dont-know-nothin-about-this/\" target=\"_blank\">“Don’t Know Nothin’ About This …”</a> to appreciate the value of inexperience. When I look back at my life, some of the most powerful experiences came about because I just didn’t know better. Here are a few examples of times when I went into new adventures inexperienced.\n<h3>Career Launch</h3>\nIn my 20’s, when I was still in university I joined Robelle, a young software startup, as the first employee. No one told me that startups were risky. I had worked with the founder Robert Green on a project and I thought it would be fun to join him and his wife Annabelle in their new company (Robelle = Robert + Annabelle).\n\nAs part of joining the firm, I had to agree to write my first technical paper. While still attending the University of British Columbia, I took a week off to fly to San Jose, where I presented to the International Association of Hewlett Packard Users Group Meeting. I was 22, standing on the San Jose convention floor telling other computer geeks about this cool software and what it could do for them. I was too inexperienced to know that this was the essence of marketing and selling products. Or that 22 year olds never gave papers or sold software.\n<h3>Career Risk<img class=\"alignright wp-image-26410\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/20150612.david_.greer30-1-296x300.jpg\" alt=\"20150612.david.greer30 (1)\" width=\"272\" height=\"275\" /></h3>\nIn my 30’s, after having worked at Robelle for a decade, Annabelle Green, the co-founder, decided she wanted to move on to other things. I agreed to purchase her stake in the business.\n\nAt that time, Karalee and I had two young children, aged 4 and 2. Much of the purchase was on credit and had to be paid out of future profits of the company. While I did know the market and the company, the credit came with terms that were onerous if I failed to make a payment. While it all turned out okay, I am glad that I didn’t fully appreciate the risks that I was taking when I did the transaction. Thankfully, Robelle continued to grow and succeed. I stayed for another ten years, building the company into a global powerhouse, while paying off all the debt incurred to make the purchase.\n<h3>A Life Adventure</h3>\nIn my 40’s, I ended up selling my stake in Robelle. It was 2001 and the whole tech sector was melting down with the end of the dot com era. I had hardly noticed and while I was busy chasing new opportunities, I met a woman who pointed out a fundamental truth—our children would never be 11, 9, and 5 again. Did I need to work right away or should I take a break and live a life fully engaged with my children?\n\nThat was a light bulb moment in my life. Choosing to take a break, Karalee and I commissioned a sailboat in France and home schooled our three children, while traveling more than 5,000 miles in the Mediterranean. While we had sailed together for two decades, we had no idea that the Mediterranean is one of the windiest and roughest seas in the whole world. I’m thankful we didn’t know that before we went, because we may never have taken the risk of our adventure if we had known how boisterous the Mediterranean is before we left Canada.\n<h3>Trying Yoga</h3>\nWhile I live in Vancouver, a city many consider to be the yoga capital of North America, I\n\nhad res<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/20150612.david_.greer50-1.jpg\"><img class=\"alignright wp-image-26409\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/20150612.david_.greer50-1-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"20150612.david.greer50 (1)\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" /></a>isted all of Karalee’s suggestions to give yoga a try. In my 50’s, I finally agreed to start going to weekly yoga classes with Karalee. For over seven years now, I’ve been practicing yoga once or twice a week.\n\nTo me, yoga is the ultimate expression of having an attitude of inexperience. In all mindfulness practice, including yoga, the notion is to start every time with “beginner mind.” The point is that the experience you had last time has nothing to do with the experience that you are having right now. Start every yoga class as if you were a raw beginner and learn from what shows up today. The ultimate expression of inexperience.\n\nThrough four decades of my life, I’ve had the opportunity to try new things that I was completely inexperienced at. In every case, my inexperience contributed to either trying things or taking risks that I just didn’t know about forever enriching my life. May you try something new with a “beginner mind.”', 'Exploring the Unknown', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'exploring-the-unknown', '', '', '2015-06-16 06:00:43', '2015-06-16 10:00:43', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26391', 0, 'post', '', 5),
(26396, 307, '2015-06-19 06:00:27', '2015-06-19 10:00:27', 'I\'m in trouble now. I’m about to commit heresy. On a site dedicated to leadership, with the very word lead in the title, I want to address what I believe to be one of the most important aspects of your workplace leadership.\n\nIn my work with thousands of business leaders across industries, geography, and over many years, I’ve repeatedly seen people lose their influence because they don’t address this one thing.\n\nIn many leadership forums, many leadership books, and not a few social media memes, what I’m about to say would be skewered, and yet… your credibility and influence depend on it.\n\nWhat is this leadership heresy? Management.\n\n<h3>Why Management Is Vital To Your Leadership</h3>\n\nYour leadership depends on your credibility. You can’t influence people if they don’t trust you. Where does that trust come from? In addition to relational health, the foundation of that trust is your basic management competence.\n\nI don’t mean that you have to become a certified project management professional in order to have influence. What I do mean is that if you don’t have the basics in place, you create chaos and lose credibility with your people.\n\nNow, I understand that many leadership texts will tell you, “if you’re not good at management, hire it.” Hogwash.\n\nIf you run the company, by all means, lead and then hire a good operations person to manage. There’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’re like the vast majority of people with business leadership roles (99+%), the idea that you can hire someone to do your management for you is pure nonsense and dangerous as well.\n\nEven if you should become CEO, you’re responsible to make sure these things happen. If they don’t, it’s your responsibility. The good news is, the basics of management aren’t difficult.\n\n<h3>4 Steps to Manage Well & Build Credibility</h3>\n\nAt its most basic, management involves a few set of practices that are relatively simple. As the old saying goes: \"it\'s not hard, it\'s just hard work\". When we struggle as managers, it is often because we have failed to do one of the following:\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Set Clear Expectations</strong> - I’ve coached managers and team leaders in more than 2000 sessions and in 90% or more of those conversations, the problems we’re discussing happened because expectations were not clear. It happened to me again recently. I was frustrated with my colleague’s work, but when I stopped to think about it, I hadn’t shared my expectations. I had my own image of what the project looked like and when it would be completed, but we’d never discussed it. Expectations can come from many sources: the team itself, the manager, the organization. Regardless, if they are not clear, they will not be met, and I can guarantee you will be frustrated.</li>\n<li><strong>Train & Equip Your Team To Meet Expectations</strong> - After clear expectations, the next pitfall is in assuming that everyone has the knowledge or skills to meet those expectations. Ensure your team members are set up for success! Training isn\'t a one-time event. Often your people need initial orientation, then spot checks and updated instruction along the way.</li>\n<li><strong>Reinforce Expectations</strong> - This may sound redundant, but think about this for a moment. Every second your mind is inundated with eleven million pieces of information<sup>1</sup>. Think about how easily you can get distracted. In fact, I’ll bet that you’ll get distracted at least once while you read this article. Don’t worry, I’m not offended - that’s just the way we’re built. Effective leaders and managers know that they must continually reinforce expectations and keep clear priorities in front of their team. We all need reminders from time to time about where we\'re going and why we\'re going there. If your team were a rock and roll band, reinforcing expectations is like the bass line or drum that anchors the song and keeps everyone on track.</li>\n<li><strong>Celebrate & Practice Accountability</strong> - Accountability doesn\'t only mean discipline - real accountability celebrates our accomplishments and gives us course corrections as needed. We can easily demotivate our teams by failing to acknowledge success or by failing to hold everyone accountable.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<h3>Your Turn</h3>\n\nRemember - your leadership influence is built on a foundation of trust. Your basic management skills provide a strong foundation for inspiring your team to build a better tomorrow. As you wrestle with management challenges, I invite you to ask these four questions:\n\n<ol>\n<li>Are expectations clear to both parties?</li>\n<li>Does your team have the skills and equipment to succeed?</li>\n<li>Have you consistently reinforced the expectations?</li>\n<li>Do you consistently practice accountability and celebration?</li>\n</ol>\n\n<small>1 - http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/287907/information-theory/214958/Physiology</small>', 'The Leadership Heresy You Can&#039;t Live Without', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'the-leadership-heresy-you-cant-live-without', '', '', '2015-06-19 06:00:27', '2015-06-19 10:00:27', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26396', 0, 'post', '', 13),
(26429, 268, '2015-06-18 06:00:56', '2015-06-18 10:00:56', 'Aiming to jump start innovation in your organization? Go climb a mountain.\n\nInnovation is a necessity, a way of life for mountaineers. Climbers plan meticulously then innovate their way through unexpected challenges to reach a summit. With only the limited equipment on their backs, they improvise and flex, intuitively and decisively, as conditions change. They approach problems with a can-do spirit, looking for solutions that allow them to continue to move forward. Often, climbers must size up situations and make decisions in a split second.\n\nUsing the innovation skills honed as mountaineers, a group of Everest avalanche survivors recently set their sights on a new “mountain”—helping Nepal get back on its feet. The team, including 17-year-old Matt Moniz, launched a grassroots aid effort, <a href=\"https://dzi.org/\"><em>Nepal Relief: Building a Path to Recovery</em></a>, which has delivered big results in a surprisingly short time. As Matt relayed the details, I noticed 12 distinct activities and mindsets that translate to any innovation effort:\n<h3><strong>Get clear on the scope of the need.</strong></h3>\nImagine losing your home, job, local school, food supply, and clean drinking water—all in a single day. This was the situation for several hundred thousand people, following the devastating April 25 earthquake and aftershocks. In some remote villages, over 90 percent of structures were destroyed.\n\n<a href=\"www.benegasbrothers.com\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26447\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Laprak-Relief-5-resized-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"12 Keys to Dauntless Innovation\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" /></a>\n<h3><strong>Research quickly but extensively.</strong></h3>\nWhat was being done already to help people? What issues and challenges were other aid providers facing? Where were the “holes”—gaps still in need of a solution? Through asking questions and listening to experts, Matt’s team picked up insights that informed the aid strategy they eventually landed on.\n<h3><strong>Pick a specific need to focus on. </strong></h3>\nHow does a small group make a meaningful difference, given the staggering loss of infrastructure—more than 500,000 homes and 7,800 schools uninhabitable? Help one family? One village? Tackle one issue, such as providing clean drinking water? Matt’s team concentrated on developing a system to get aid to remote villages in the heavily-damaged Gorkha region.\n<h3><strong>Identify barriers to meeting the need (physical, procedural, political, etc). </strong></h3>\nDamaged roads restricted vehicle access. Mudslides and landslides destroyed key walking routes. From June to early September, the region faces a three-month monsoon season when torrential rains interfere with outdoor travel and construction.\n<h3><strong>Define resource constraints (time, money, manpower, etc).</strong></h3>\nThough Nepal has an extensive fleet of helicopters to serve the tourism industry, using helicopters to deliver aid is both expensive and inefficient. To fly at high altitude, payloads must be limited. The UN estimated it would take two months of helicopter drops to deliver one month of supplies.\n<h3><strong>Question assumptions.</strong></h3>\nAid organizations typically focus on how to transport aid to affected communities. Assumption: the burden of transportation is on the aid provider. Setting aside that assumption opened the door for a novel possibility— paying citizens to travel to pick up their own aid, equipping communities to help themselves.\n<h3><strong>Explore new ways to utilize existing resources.</strong></h3>\nWith Everest closed for the season, the porters who help mountaineers transport their gear during expeditions were suddenly unemployed. Instead of spending between US $1,200 and $4,000 per hour for helicopter services, Matt’s team opted to pay over 1,000 porters to deliver supplies to outlying villages. This provided porters a way to support their families, their own rebuilding efforts, and their local economies.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.benegasbrothers.com\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26448\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Laprak-Relief-8-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"Laprak Relief-8\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" /></a>\n<h3><strong>Get user input instead of guessing or assuming.</strong></h3>\nIn the race to get relief to hard-hit locations, and in the absence of population data for outlying areas, some aid providers experienced quantity mishaps. A 500-pound supply of rice falls far short of feeding 5,000 people. Matt’s team sent runners to remote villages to learn their specific needs. This enabled his group to tailor aid packages, making efficient use of resources and carrying capacity.\n<h3><strong>Move toward the needs.</strong></h3>\nNegative talk—such as, “I’m not qualified” or “It’s too big and messy”—is an enemy of innovation.\n<h3><strong>Be willing to endure hardship. </strong></h3>\nPursuit of personal comfort is a second enemy of innovation. Matt’s team ate rice, lentils, and potatoes, three meals a day, for days on end, and trudged miles with heavy loads in order to make a difference.\n<h3><strong>Have eyes, ears, and feet on the ground.</strong></h3>\nHearing “we have access to fresh water but it’s a bit of a hike” isn’t the same as seeing the problem firsthand. Matt and his teammate Paul spent 1.5 hours bushwhacking through a jungle to find the village spring. They subsequently arranged delivery of 4,000 meters of piping to bring spring water to the center of the village.\n<h3><strong>Improvise.</strong></h3>\nSometimes, the best solution gets a job done “well enough” instead of “perfectly.” Matt and his team saw 500 children not in school, so they put in a call for 42 tents, plus pens, pencils, and notebooks. The tent school opened in early June. Though not a permanent solution, it allows kids to regain some sense of normalcy, continue their studies, and shelter from the monsoons.\n\nAs mountaineers will attest, innovation is not some hard-to-attain, mystical process. It’s a state of mind and a learned discipline. The drive to reach new heights and conquer formidable challenges sharpens a climber’s ability to problem-solve. Just as innovation is an unconscious reflex for the mountaineer, it can become second nature for your organization, too.\n\n<a href=\"www.benegasbrothers.com\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26449\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Laprak-Relief-9-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"Laprak Relief-9\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" /></a>\n\n<strong><em>Nepal’s grave situation has faded from U.S. news headlines, but the recovery is far from complete. Please join me in helping fund the ongoing, innovative efforts of Nepal Relief: Building a Path to Recovery by donating </em><a href=\"https://dzi.org/\"><em>here</em></a><em>.</em></strong>', '12 Keys To Dauntless Innovation', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', '12-keys-to-dauntless-innovation-2', '', '', '2015-06-18 06:00:56', '2015-06-18 10:00:56', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26429', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(26457, 374, '2015-06-23 06:00:05', '2015-06-23 10:00:05', '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\n<h3>Today’s Question</h3>\n\n<em>What is a favorite app that helps you be a more effective leader and why?</em>\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n<h4>Becky Robinson</h4>\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/becky-robinson/\" target=\"_blank\">Becky Robinson</a> tees up with a reminder that simple can be best: <strong>The clock/timer</strong>. She expands on her answer: \"I use the clock/timer app to stay focused for bursts of time on what matters most. Using a timer keeps me from being distracted and propels my productivity\".\n<img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/photo-4-200x300.png\" alt=\"Clock Timer\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" />\n<div class=\"divide\" style=\"clear: both;\"></div>\n\n<h4>David Dye</h4>\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/david-dye/\">David Dye</a> recommends an app called <a href=\"https://evernote.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Evernote</a>. \"With an ever-increasing amount of information to track and manage, Evernote has become an extension of my brain. It allows me to stay organized, free up energy for thinking, rather than remembering, and is available everywhere (computer, web, tablet, phone). All of this allows me to be fully present with the person or people in front of me.\"\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-thumbnail wp-image-26460\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/evernote-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"evernote\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" />\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n\n<h4>Karin Hurt</h4>\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/karin-hurt/\" target=\"_blank\">Karin Hurt</a> of Let\'s Grow Leaders recommends: <a href=\"https://gathercontent.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Gather Content</a> and <a href=\"https://www.zoom.us/\" target=\"_blank\">Zoom</a>. Karin says: \"Both significantly help my collaboration efforts with partners and clients.\"\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26465\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/gather-146x300.jpg\" alt=\"gather\" width=\"146\" height=\"300\" />\n<div>&nbsp;</div>\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26466\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/zoom-e1434901031262-300x202.png\" alt=\"zoom\" width=\"300\" height=\"202\" />\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n\n<h4>Mary Schaefer</h4>\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/mary-schaefer/\" target=\"_blank\">Mary Schaefer</a> recommends: <a href=\"https://culturedcode.com/things/\" target=\"_blank\">Things</a>. I am person who has a lot of ideas and could have boxes full of notes, Word documents full of lists, and post-its everywhere. That was until I found <em>Things</em>.\"\n\nIt\'s an app to organize tasks by project, but also date. You can setup a to-do to come up at a particular date and setup up repetitive reminders. Other than the obvious benefits, I like that I can go there quickly to capture a to-do but also a product or post idea. I bought the licenses to sync with my iPhone and iPad so I always have this at my fingertips. It gives me peace of mind and keeps me on track so my can be clearer and I can be more present.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-thumbnail wp-image-26459\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/things-iphone-ipad-mac-11-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"things-iphone-ipad-mac-1\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" />\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n\n<h4>Mike Henry, Sr.</h4>\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/mike-henry/\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Henry, Sr.</a>, gains strength for his leadership journey from: <a href=\"https://www.logos.com/iphone\" target=\"_blank\">Logos Bible App</a> and <a href=\"https://scripturetyper.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Scripture Typer</a>. The apps I use are Logos Bible app and Scripture Typer to help me with verse memory. I try to read some of the Bible, a devotional called My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers and then I go through Scripture Typer to work on my verse memory.\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26462\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/logocmykhlg-300x85.jpg\" alt=\"logocmykhlg\" width=\"300\" height=\"85\" />\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26463\" src=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ST1-1.png\" alt=\"ST1-1\" width=\"256\" height=\"256\" />\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\n\n<h4>Will Lukang</h4>\n\n<a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/leading-voices/will-lukang/\" target=\"_blank\">Will Lukang</a> approaches the 18th hole with a different perspective:\n\nI find it sad that we have to seek the help of a tool or app to help us manage ourselves. The world has evolved and our ancestors survived having so little things in life. In spite of that, they learned to appreciate what they have and passed on the values that we now believe in. We need to ask ourselves the question, what are our priorities?\n\nBy knowing our priorities and living a purposeful life, we can learn to navigate the life challenges. It is an excuse to not appreciate the gift of a brand new day and it is also unrealistic to do many invaluable chores and expect to be fulfilled. Living a purposeful life will ultimate set us free of the demand of instant gratification.\n<div class=\"divide\"></div>\nThank you Becky, David, Karin, Mary, Mike and Will, for taking a shot at this question!', 'Chip Shots - Favorite Leadership Apps', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'chip-shots-favorite-leadership-apps', '', '', '2015-06-23 06:00:05', '2015-06-23 10:00:05', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26457', 0, 'post', '', 2),
(26472, 276, '2015-06-26 06:00:20', '2015-06-26 10:00:20', 'A leader is a person who inspires others to act and encourages others to move forward, especially during challenging times. They serve as a role model and a rock to enable others to work through tough times. While they have a burden to shoulder, they need not be the smartest one in the organization to make things happen. They need to be there for their people and show their support for them.\n\nFaith is the head chemist of our brain. It is the faith we have that sometimes helps us get through challenging times without the assurance that we will make it or be successful. Leaders, like everyone else, also need faith to help them walk through a cloudy day hoping that, when the fog is lifted, there is a better day.\n\nOne of the unique abilities of a leader is having faith in their constituents and believing in them regardless of any evidence that they will be able to see it through. A leader\'s gut feeling can give them the insight and comfort that their people have what it takes to get it done. As a result, they continue to believe in their people and support them. That ultimately will lead to their people achieving the otherwise impossible task. An amazing learning that can develop the confidence of their people.\n\nVoltaire\'s quote comes to mind, “Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.\" It believes when there is nothing that says to believe. A blind belief, in some respects, is an elevated sense of trust that their people will make it happen. For their constituents, the trust, guidance and words of encouragement of the leader help uplift their spirit and give them confidence to carry on. As a result, they end up accomplishing things they otherwise thought they could not accomplish. In the end, their constituents develop, and develop their ability to achieve greater things.\n\nWhen in your career have you trusted your team in spite of the facts that are in front of you? Why did you continue to support them and trust them? Leaders aim to serve and be there for others. It is unique relationships that can help the company grow its talent.', 'Leadership &amp; Faith', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'leadership-and-faith', '', '', '2015-06-26 06:00:20', '2015-06-26 10:00:20', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26472', 0, 'post', '', 0),
(26480, 397, '2015-07-02 06:00:27', '2015-07-02 10:00:27', 'There are two types of organizational change: Change that is mandated and change that is proactive.\n\nThe latter is easier and can be less emotional than the former. Yet, the lines often blur between the two. Frequently because proactive change launched by one group is perceived as mandated change by another.\n\nThus, both types take preparation and skillful execution if they are going to produce positive results.\n\nCore to leading any significant change effort is organizational alignment. No amount of tactical change management training will substitute for having an entire organization that has a clear vision of goals, shared responsibility, and personal accountability to achieve results.\n\nOrganizational alignment enables significant change to occur due to a culture of personal accountability and the commitment everyone shares in achieving organizational goals and quality patient care. Strong organizational alignment commands buy-in: there is no option not to be on board with strategic initiatives.\n\n<h3>8 Ways To Assess Organizational alignment</h3>\n\nHere are eight core ways to assess the organizational alignment needed to enact significant change:\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Clear Vision</strong> - All employees have a clear vision on what operational goals should be their top focus. This vision is aligned with their performance expectations and well communicated by leaders. The information required for improving work process flows freely across organizational boundaries and formal reporting relationships.</li>\n<li><strong>Clarity Of Success Metrics</strong> - The parameters for how success will be measured are clearly communicated and understood at the beginning of a project, and employees understand how they will be measured. At best practice organizations, these success metrics are included in individuals’ annual performance goals.</li>\n<li><strong>Sense Of Urgency</strong> - There a sense of urgency around the need to complete projects and firm milestones are well communicated. All employees take consistent action toward completion – the sense of urgency implies its organizational importance.</li>\n<li><strong>Firm Priorities</strong> - There are many improvement projects that require attention, yet senior leaders are personally involved in helping employees to prioritize which two or three strategic initiatives they should focus on at any given time. These priorities are in alignment across the organization.</li>\n<li><strong>Clear Decision-Making Roles</strong> - Everyone in the organization has a good idea of the decisions and actions for which he/she is responsible and the changes they can make without approval.</li>\n<li><strong>Decision Stickiness</strong> - Once made, decisions to make changes in work processes are rarely second-guessed or vetoed. Since opting out of decisions isn’t accommodated, individuals are focused on initiative implementation.</li>\n<li><strong>Change Barriers Removed To Keep Momentum</strong> - When barriers arise that block progress, leaders are quickly made aware and actions are taken to ensure momentum is maintained.</li>\n<li><strong>Empower Willing Change Leaders</strong> - The most successful change efforts include the early adopters and use internal, front-line change agents to sway the majority. Who are the willing? They are the few who raise their hand in support of any initiative – start with them.</li>\n</ol>\n\nKey to organizational alignment is the understanding of personal accountability and leadership responsibilities as well as styles of management that empower individuals to drive positive change.\n\nThere’s much more to come on this topic, and in anticipation I’ll leave you with a quote from New York Times bestselling author, leadership guru, and friend of Avantas, <a href=\"http://www.realitybasedleadership.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Cy Wakeman</a>:\n\n<blockquote>\"The job of a leader is to conserve the energy about to be consumed in drama and redirect it toward efforts that have better ROI.\"</blockquote>\n\nTo discuss your organization\'s change management needs, please email me at <a href=\"mailto:kelli.hinshaw@avantas.com\">kelli.hinshaw@avantas.com</a>.\n\n<em>Editor\'s Note: There will not be a Lead Change post on Friday, July 3.</em>', 'Organizational Alignment Is The Key To Managing Change', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'organizational-alignment-is-the-key-to-managing-change', '', '', '2015-07-02 06:00:27', '2015-07-02 10:00:27', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26480', 0, 'post', '', 11),
(26482, 397, '2015-07-22 06:00:10', '2015-07-22 10:00:10', '“Let’s wait until we know the outcome of the executive meeting in two weeks.”\n\nThis is a common and logical statement many leaders make when considering actions and decisions. It can be tempting to push pause on project implementation by falling into the thinking trap of, “This will probably change again tomorrow anyway.”\n\nThat trap is a common symptom of a larger problem – embracing ambiguity. Yet, embracing ambiguity is a core competency required to enact significant change.\n\nThe new world of big data and analytics, coupled with rapidly changing times, can cause the best leaders to the feel there’s never enough data or that there is another big event looming on the horizon to put a halt on important change initiatives. The thinking of “never enough information” causes us to believe our situation is full of ambiguity and stress, thus resulting in delayed decisions and project plans.\n\nInaction and waiting costs organizations money, productivity and leader confidence. A simple remedy to inspire action is a 2 X 2 approach that focuses on changing our mindset to embrace change and stop waiting for perfect circumstances.\n\nLeaders should focus now on coaching their teams to take action on the best information they have available, for the event of having perfect data to make decisions will never occur. This approach will help eliminate perfectionism. Leaders can reduce chaos and improve accountability by quickly establishing and coaching to key success metrics, resulting in improved self-esteem and confidence for future tasks.\n\n\n<img class=\"aligncenter flex\" src=\"https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrinknp_800_800/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAIGAAAAJDQ4MTNhM2E4LWY3ODQtNDRjMS05YzMwLTE1OGZlZGNlY2ZmMA.jpg\" alt=\"\" />\n\nA 2010 <a href=\"https://www.ache.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Ache</a> study of more than 42 organizations found that top performing leadership teams spent more time in project implementation than they did on project analysis. These organizations did not have different circumstances; all were presented with complex challenges and ever-changing times. The key difference between top performing and low performing teams was speed to action and the “we can make this work” confidence to move quickly into implementation.\n\nThe good news about achieving top performer status during changing times is that it begins with your mindset. Ambiguity is a perceived state that results from allowing your circumstances to make you think, “I don’t have enough.” When falling into this stressful thinking, you can 2 X 2 your way to inspire results:\n\n<strong>Action = (Mindset + Quick Turns) X (Clarity + Roles)</strong>\n\nTo learn more about how to manage change in your organization, please email me at <a href=\"mailto:kelli.hinshaw@avantas.com\" target=\"_blank\">kelli.hinshaw@avantas.com</a>.', 'Simple Steps To Embrace Ambiguity &amp; Lead Significant Change', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'simple-steps-to-embrace-ambiguity-and-lead-significant-change', '', '', '2015-07-22 06:00:10', '2015-07-22 10:00:10', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26482', 0, 'post', '', 1),
(26489, 376, '2015-06-29 06:00:47', '2015-06-29 10:00:47', 'Alan Alda once said: \"Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory. Be brave enough to live life creatively.\"\n\nThe above quote is serving as <a href=\"http://leadchangegroup.com/our-june-theme-unexplored-territory/\" target=\"_blank\">our inspiration</a> this month and some interesting ground has been covered by various voices.\n\nIn all honesty, I have been focused on the first line of the quote and am just now looking at the second line, which I regret because it is a powerful and thought-provoking sentence. Here are my admittedly random thoughts around bravery and creativity.\n\n<h3>Be Brave Enough</h3>\n\nWhat does the word <em>brave</em> stir in you, aside from that wonderful <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQsqBqxoR4\" target=\"_blank\">Sara Bareilles</a> song? Being brave may mean many things, depending on the context and the person.\n\nFor some people, just letting go and sliding down a short distance to the ground is brave, indeed. For others, the feat they accomplish has to be almost superhuman, such as those who climb vertical cliffs with only their hands to keep them safe.\n\nBravery involves both acts of commission and omission by leaders. Sometimes the leader should say what needs to be said and act when action is needed. At other times, we lead best by what we do not say and what we do not do.\n\nFor example, when confronting inappropriate behavior by an employee based on stereotypes or prejudicial beliefs, we must confront that behavior immediately, clearly, and with an eye toward eliminating that behavior.\n\nYet, as we confront the behavior, we do not say some things we might feel inside, related to the value of the employee or their intentions. We commit to action regarding the behavior, but omit any reference to the reasons or allow the confrontation to taint the employee. We walk a delicate line sometimes.\n\n<h3>Live Life Creatively</h3>\n\nOkay, the <em>live life</em> part is easy enough. We all live our lives, we just do not do so in the same ways. Some people feel you need to be stimulated continuously physically, psychologically, or both, in order to feel alive. Others feel fully alive while quietly enjoying the gentle summer breeze or staring at a starry universe in the dark of the night.\n\nDon’t be one of those who say \"get outside and do something\" at every opportunity. We are <em>doing something</em> when we are still and quiet, as our mind reflects on relationships, issues, or just how pleasant the moment is.\n\nOf course, you miss much of the best life has to offer, if you only sit and passively observe. Don’t be one who allows life to go by with minimal engagement. Go for a balance.\n\nAs a leader, I believe we have to strike a balance and model different behaviors at different times.\n\nAs the Bible says:\n\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"quote\">\"To everything, there is a season, and a purpose under the heaven.\"</div>\n<div class=\"attribute\">~ Ecclesiastes 3</div>\n</blockquote>\n\nSometimes we act and sometimes we observe.\n\n<h3>Now About That Creatively Part</h3>\n\nWhat does it mean to live creatively? Creativity is one of those attributes that some think is only the purview of a talented few. The gifted artist or performer who can do things most of us do not even think of doing. That is a kind of creativity.\n\nAnother type of creativity is that displayed by the leader who dares to try a new way, to say things that have not been said before, to risk based on an intuitive thought. Anyone who leads effectively is probably pretty creative.\n\nEver try to figure out a way to tell someone else news which affects them, will not be welcome, and yet must be absorbed and dealt with?\n\nIf you have, you are definitely creative, especially if you pay attention to current neuroscience, which appears to be telling us that simply demanding a person do what you want or suffer consequences only speaks to our reptilian brains.\n\nThe person you want to do what you ask of them is now busy figuring out how to stay safe in what they experience as a threatening situation. To activate a person’s neo-cortex, you have to get very creative with how you interact with them.\n\n<h3>Final Thoughts</h3>\n\nThinking about unexplored territory, a thought strikes me. Every single minute of every single day of our lives is unexplored territory, until we live it.\n\nIn other words, simply living our lives and trying to make the best of things constitutes an act both of ongoing bravery and of continuous creativity.', 'I Wanna See You Be Brave', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'i-wanna-see-you-be-brave', '', '', '2015-06-29 06:00:47', '2015-06-29 10:00:47', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26489', 0, 'post', '', 6),
(26531, 392, '2015-06-30 06:00:18', '2015-06-30 10:00:18', 'We recently celebrated Father\'s Day. As we look back on that day of celebration, let’s hear it for our Father and salute those Fathers who are not only fathers but leaders. Yes, leaders of the pack.\n\nI see more and more as an adult the importance of a father who leads. You have heard the saying, “It takes a real man to...(insert choice of responsibilities here).\"\n\nIt takes a real man to be a father who is also a leader.\n\nCould this be the answer to so many problems the world is facing? I would say one of them, yes. We need fathers who not only realize the importance of being good parents to their children, but let’s step it up a notch. Will the real leaders of home and community please stand?\n\nI have had some good and some not so good examples of fathers that lead. Let’s keep in mind, I know we have no perfect fathers or leaders. I am talking about the fathers that know they have little ones depending on them and a community that needs them. I will call this having a strong sense of accountability.\n\n<h3>My Version Of What Fathers Who Lead Look Like</h3>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Strong</strong> – Stands no matter what’s happening around him, because he knows there is a greater purpose.</li>\n<li><strong>Visionary</strong> - Maps out the plan for his family, to keep them from perishing.\n<li><strong>Faithful</strong> - Holds on to his faith, so his family can see and know they are overcomes.\n<li><strong>Wise</strong> - Seeks wisdom daily, he knows the importance of making right decisions for his family.\n<li><strong>Loving</strong> - Always showing his family how much he loves and appreciate them and return they will show the same to others.\n<li><strong>Provider</strong> - These words often come out of his mouth, “I take care of my family”.\n<li><strong>Understanding & Compassionate</strong> - showing his family mistakes happen but when they do, grace is available.\n<li><strong>Aware</strong> - He values the time he has with his family and use it to the fullest.\n<li><strong>Accountable</strong> - Not afraid to be held accountable by others; he knows it’s only going to make him a better leader.\n</ul>\n\nI have just described multiple men in my life who are fathers who lead. I am so grateful to have them in my life as well as my children\'s lives. I honor you fathers and appreciate your efforts to be not just a fathers but leaders.', 'Fathers Who Lead', '', 'publish', 'open', 'closed', '', 'fathers-who-lead', '', '', '2015-06-30 06:00:18', '2015-06-30 10:00:18', '', 0, 'http://leadchangegroup.com/?p=26531', 0, 'post', '', 2);
