Embracing Opposites
I’m an ENFP. One of the senior leaders at a client is an ISTJ. That makes working together very “interesting” – the way in which I naturally interact, the way in which I typically make decisions seems to be the “right way” but Katie thinks and decides and works in a very different manner. Thus, […]
Ask Dumb Questions
Why ask dumb questions? For the same reason that Dillinger robbed banks – “That’s where the money (results) is!” We’re accustomed to “telling” our employees what to do. But does that give us the results we want? What would happen if you started thinking of dumb questions that you could ask your employees? A customer-facing […]
What Makes a Team High-Performing?
What makes a team high-performing? Some would say they should follow the rules for effective team meetings: · Send out an agenda in advance, showing the amount of time for each topic and the person responsible for that topic, · Start on time, end on time, · Someone recording decisions and action items, · All […]
FEAR
Fear can be good. Fear of predators kept our early ancestors alive. Fear of future problems keeps people from signing contracts that could create financial difficulty. However (and you knew this was coming), fear can also stop people from moving forward when it would be to their advantage to do so. True story: a division […]
Scariest Part of Leadership
The scariest part of leadership is letting go of control and trusting others to do the right things and make the right decisions. The concept of control underpins hierarchical organizations – the person above controls the actions and decisions of the persons below. This structure has been used for millennia by military, religious, and commercial […]
Wisdom – Worth More Than Gold!
Most decisions in organizations are made (or at least are purported to be made) based on logic. And while logic is absolutely necessary, it is not sufficient to assure good decisions and therefore successful results. Logic ignores the deeper truths that wisdom incorporates. What is wisdom? How does it work? Wisdom comes from your inner being, your […]
Walking the Tightrope
Leaders walk a tightrope – balancing the need for change against the willingness and ability of the organization to implement those changes successfully. Since “change imposed is change opposed”, how can a leader bring change into their organization? Especially if the change will add even more load to key individuals who are already stressed out. […]
Forget Independence!
I broke my foot when I was hiking recently. My foot is in a walking boot, which is better than a cast because I can remove it when I want. However, the doctor said that if I want my foot to heal, I have to stay off it. Thus, I cannot do myriad activities that […]
Time Management – an Oxymoron
Time management is an oxymoron. We cannot manage time; we can only manage how we use time. Additionally, when we try to manage by measuring results in a time period, we can unintentionally harm our organizations and ourselves. Let me explain. Ancient Greeks had 2 words for time: Kronos and Kairos. Kronos is the root word for […]
Jumping to Conclusions
Several years ago, I was consulting with Division X of a large company; the president of the division had a reputation of being against change. Corporate had decided to implement a new system, starting with 2 other divisions, then coming to Division X. During an initial meeting at Division X, the division president was “not […]