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We help maximize the effectiveness of individuals and organizations by helping them improve their ability to lead, work together, select and develop their people. Some of our related business services include: executive coaching, executive team coaching and executive assessments for development and selection.
Carl Robinson, Ph.D., Managing Principal
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Seattle, Washington
206-545-1990
carl@leadershipconsulting.com |
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The Power of Small
This entertaining, story-driven book, written by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval (Broadway Books, 2009), is a best seller that has earned its stripes. The main message is that our smallest actions and gestures often have an impact on our biggest goals.
The authors entreat us to take the time to help others, even in the smallest ways, such as holding a door, making copies for a colleague who is in a hurry, or taking an extra minute to review an email before clicking the send button.
The Power of Small shows us all how we can "improve or reinvent" our lives through the power of small gestures. The writing style is conversational and the use of anecdotes throughout the book show the reader real examples of how we can utilize "the power of small" in our own work and personal lives. This title gets two thumbs up!
>Buy at Amazon.com
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Optimisim - Leaders MUST Have It and It Can Be Learned
I hope you enjoy the article - Optimism: Leaders MUST Have It and It Can Be Learned - that I wrote for the innagural issue of a new national business magazine, President&CEO. The magazine is geared toward the middle-market CEO - 90% of businesses are middle-market. Middle-market businesses are the real backbone of our economy. The article is available online or in print.
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>Click here to read the article in President&CEO magazine
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Increase Effectiveness with Better Self-Management
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“Progress has little to do with speed, but much to do with Direction”
You manage small scale projects in between the larger, more far-reaching projects. You strategize to integrate the right resources for all of your projects, and you also spend a lot of time managing your subordinates. You are there to encourage or educate them when things go wrong, you take the time to recognize their efforts when they excel, and you still take time to manage long-term planning processes for next year and beyond.
But are you managing yourself?
It’s common for business leaders like you to be “too busy” all of the time, running faster and faster. They are living life from problem to problem, and as a result, there is no opportunity to enjoy all that you have fostered in other people and all the ideas you have developed while excelling at your job. Regardless, a business or even a department within an organization is a reflection of the person running the show. So if that person is stressed or poorly organized, then these characteristics will be reflected in the business.
Get on the path to better self-management:
1. Clarify your personal goals.
Many of us lose sight of these as we get immersed in rush of day-to-day life. Do your personal goals complement your business goals? Asking yourself this question will root out any dissonance between these two areas of your life. And remember, you DO have two areas; professional and personal. If they are not in harmony, determine whether the business goals can be re-oriented or modified to support what you would like to achieve personally.
2. What role do you want to have?
Imagine yourself three or four years from now. Think about who you want to be. What role do you want to have in the business? Thinking about what you want in the future can give you great insights into what strategies you may need to put in place now.
3. Carefully consider how you are actually spending your time.
This is where the rubber meets the road. If you really are true to yourself when you do this exercise you will learn a lot about where the potential lies for making changes. How are you really spending your time? Break your day down into at least half hour slots and write down exactly what you do in each 30 minutes. Imagine that you are on a diet and your doctor has asked you to keep an honest food journal, to reveal your major calorie intake times of the day. This is what you want for your time journal.
This is your life. Be conscious of how you are living it.
There is never a better time than right now for planning to do things differently. Take charge of yourself and your business by choosing a direction that allows you to meet both your personal and business goals, and still retain your sanity!
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Escape Career Fear
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Fear holds us all back, whether it is from the next position or doing well in your current one. What can we all do to recognize our fears, put them in the proper place, create solutions for what scares us most, and even use it as career–boosting fuel?
In his book “Face It” (Amacom, 2004), performance consultant Art Horn provides us with six character types as they pertain to dealing with fear.Where you put yourself into this mix will help you move beyond the same hackneyed patterns that you have been playing out.
As you are reflecting on this information, ask yourself: Is this me? These are archetypes, and you may not fall squarely into one category. In one situation, you may see that you embody the thought patterns and habits of the Faker, and in another situation you may begin to realize that you are a Controller. As you let your fears go, you will find that more choices open up for you as a leader and successful communicator, both at work and in life!
The Controller
Controllers tend to accomplish goals. Unfortunately, it is at the expense of professional relationships, because their motivation is a desire to be in command of all areas.They feel tremendous stress when faced with a situation they can’t control. Controllers tend to live with the irrational perception that no one around them can get done what must be done.This is perceived as patronizing by others and conveys a lack of belief in the team, coworkers or subordinates. It leads to constant and inevitable conflict.
The Fake
Everyone sells themselves on something that they know is false, at least in some part. The Fake goes through the day feeling inadequate and undeserving of respect. This feeling is unconsciously conveyed to others and results in less buy–in from team members or customers.
The Attention Seeker
We all know one. This character will work hard to make others take notice, and actively looks to be judged – though they may be oversensitive to the judgment given.
The Prisoner
This character harbors resentment, anger, guilt, and other assorted personal baggage. Prisoners can be seen complaining about being trapped in their jobs, and they tend to catastrophize when they fail to capitalize on opportunities.
The Worrier
The worrier expects something unfortunate to happen, disrupting productivity and leading to dissatisfaction in their professional and personal lives. The Worrier is comforted by this toxic thought pattern and a fear of success is often toggled with their worry. What a combination!
The Victim
Victims tend to attribute their problems externally. Rather than saying, "I failed to avoid this mess," victims say, "Responsibility for this mess cannot be attributed to me." The focus and subsequent effort is put squarely on avoiding any potential blame. Any time spent on blame (especially blaming others) is wasted energy that should be spent on finding solutions and moving ahead.
By dealing with fears head on, we can more quickly and effectively develop productive, positive behaviors. Increasing self–acceptance, reducing the fear of failure, taking responsibility, and improving our confidence can reduce the emotions that attach themselves to fear and help us aspire to transcendent performance.
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Situation Room
A executive team for a large company sent their senior managers to a seminar on quality. Understandably, the executives were fully expecting that quality, productivity and overall performance would improve as a result of having sent their senior managers to the seminar.
As time marched on, enthusiasm for the seminar waned, because the executive team could not identify any quantifiable quality-related improvements. They couldn't figure out why the such a well-known and respected program didn't work for their own organization. They even resorted to sending a subgroup of managers back for a refresher course, but the results remained flat.
Why did this initiative fail? What could have been done to avoid the disappointing outcome in this situation?
Send in your solution!
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Featured Tool |
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The Complete Mentoring Program
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The Complete Mentoring Program is a comprehensive, unified, video-based mentoring system.
Key Benefits:
By developing managers into mentors, an organization can create a credible succession strategy built on a foundation of inclusion, self-improvement, and loyalty.
This program provides all the tools you need to establish a system that nourishes high performers, who, in turn, will help develop the next generation.
Key Features:
The number one video-based mentoring program in the world. Over 90 minutes of video realistically models essential mentor behaviors in 6 dimensions. A series of organization readiness inventories enables the OD professional or trainer to ensure smooth integration of mentoring into the organizations unique environment.
An assessment for mentors prepares them for their role by evaluating their own skill readiness to take on mentor responsibilities. All the materials the program coordinator/leader needs to competently implement this mentoring—solution!
Description:
The Complete Mentoring Program is an all inclusive, turnkey package of tested materials for use by program coordinators, managers and trainers. This program offers a mentoring self-assessment inventory and provides the mentor and the mentee each with a separate handbook to guide them as informed participants. This program is centered on the mentoring model of interpersonal learning as a planned collaborative initiative.
This program includes:
1 copy of Becoming a Mentor: A Video-Based Workshop Series (6 videos)
1 copy of The Step-by-Step Guide to Starting an Effective Mentoring Program
1 copy of the Assessment of Organizational Readiness for Mentoring
10 copies of the Principles of Adult Mentoring Inventory
10 copies of The Manager's Pocket Guide to Effective Mentoring
10 copies of The Mentee's Guide to Mentoring
10 copies of the Guide to Mentee Planning
1 copy of the Principles of Adult Mentoring Inventory
Leader's Guide PowerPoint Presentation
Purchase Now!
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