During the next few weeks signs of Spring such as March/Spring Breaks are breaking out in school districts across many areas of North America. There are also promising signs of global economic recovery – “green shots” – breaking out and starting to grow. But indicators point toward a long and challenging recovery.
A key issue in organizational recovery and growth is productivity. Real productivity growth takes disciplined management and strong leadership. Politicians, economists, and media commentators often talk about productivity growth from capital investments in equipment, technology, and other physical assets. Those are important factors in increasing productivity, profits, and quality of life.
But it’s an organization’s “soft” culture and leadership behaviors that will ultimately decide whether those “hard” investments will cause productivity to sink or soar. Many departmental, divisional, or corporate management teams proclaim their commitment to productivity improvement. But there’s commitment and then there’s commitment.
We developed our “Commitment Continuum” when helping Clients with service and quality improvement as outlined in my book, Firing on All Cylinders: The Service/Quality System for High-Powered Corporate Performance . The continuum shows that as we move across the first three stages – service, quality, productivity or other organizational results may slowly increase. It’s only when management teams break through to stages four and five that the results or changes they are shooting for really take-off.
Here’s the five stage continuum applied to a management team’s focus on productivity growth:
1. Permission – provides capital/technical investments and authorizes managers, outside experts, or support staff to implement productivity improvement programs such as Lean/Six Sigma.
2. Lip Service – gives speeches and writes e-mails exhorting everyone to improve productivity. Budgets and resources are allocated to a piecemeal series of programs. There is no strategic improvement plan integrating these efforts, the improvement process is not part of operational management’s responsibilities, and the senior managers are not personally involved in education or training.
3. Passionate Lip Service – senior managers may get an abbreviated overview of the training program being given to everyone else. Some elements of an implementation plan may be partially in place. Senior managers ramp up their rhetoric urging everyone else to make big changes and improvements while their own management methods and leadership behaviors remain unchanged.
4. Involved Leadership – senior managers attend training first in its entirety then often deliver (or co-facilitate) sessions to everyone else. The improvement process is actively integrated with management team decision making, daily operations, and other strategic key initiatives. Follow-ups, regular reviews, and re-adjustments are used for learning, recognition, and holding everyone accountable for their contributions. The management team is visibly using the tools and approaches and leading the way.
5. Integration – there is no longer a stand-alone effort or special initiative/program. The approaches and changes originally taught are now part of daily operations and strategies. The majority of senior management’s time is spent with customers, suppliers, staff, and supervisors supporting the work of frontline individuals and teams.
The degree of commitment builds and accumulates from #1 through to #5. Most management teams don’t make it past stage #3. The effectiveness and lasting impact of any improvement or change effort is exponential in stages #4 and 5. That’s why smart investors look most closely at a company’s management team or “leadership brand” when deciding where to place their money.
A key part of this discussion involves culture. CLICK HERE to peruse a series of articles on Culture Change. Click on the article entitled “Bolt-on Programs versus Built-In Processes” for a chart we often use with management teams to show the critical difference between stages #1 – 3 and 4 and 5.
You can also go to Lean Leadership: Energize Lean, Six Sigma, and other Quality/ Productivity Improvement Initiatives for an outline of services The CLEMMER Group provides to integrate the “hard” elements of management with the critical “soft” issues of leadership.
Check Out My Coming Events
I have a series of public sessions in various Canadian locations coming up over the next few months. CLICK HERE to check them out.
By admin
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Posted in management
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Tagged commitment continuum, culture change, firing on all cylinders, global economic recovery, leadership, leadership brand, lean leadership, Lean/Six Sigma, march break, organizational recovery, productivity growth, productivity improvement, service and quality improvement, soft culture, Spring break
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Are meetings or conference calls a good way for you and your team to get work done or are they black holes sucking vital energy and scarce time out of your day? Many managers, project, or team leaders practice very poor “meeting hygiene.” People drift in and out, side conversations distract from the main discussion, discussions drift off track, meetings don’t start or end on time, decisions and next steps are unclear, there’s a mini-meeting happening among a small group of participants with everyone else as spectators, conflicts simmer and occasionally flare up to burn group members, or sessions are a meeting of the bored.
Whether meetings are with everyone in the same room, on a teleconference call, or coordinated online, the most effective ones follow disciplined processes. Whenever you’re running a physical or virtual meeting, use this checklist to keep you on track. If you’re a participant, raise questions or make suggestions for what you think will help your group have the most productive time together.
Meeting/Conference Call/Online Process Checklist
• Each session has adequate planning and preparation around who, what, when, where, and why;
• An agenda shows the purpose (information giving, decision required, problem-solving, input needed, etc.), desired outcomes/objectives, decision-making process to be used (command, consultative, consensus), and time allocated for each agenda item;
• The agenda has been distributed far enough in advance of the session for participants to adequately prepare;
• Ground rules are clearly established and owned by the group;
• The physical setting/environment/technology for the session provides the right atmosphere, space, and equipment;
• Session roles (discussion leader, chair/facilitator, time keeper, note taker, etc.) are clear;
• Follow-through and follow-up from previous sessions ensures accountability and things don’t slip through the cracks;
• Each agenda item is summarized and actions/decisions documented before moving on to the next one;
• When the time allocated to an agenda item has been reached, but the discussion not yet concluded, the group revisits the agenda timeframes and resets priorities for the rest of the session;
• The session pace contributes to maximum effectiveness;
• Next steps and follow-up action plans are clear;
• The group periodically reviews and improves the meeting/conference call/webinar process;
• Notes are distributed within a few days of the session.
Meeting/Conference Call/Online Ground Rules
Getting a group to agree on basic ground rules describing desired and unacceptable behavior is critical to using your time together most effectively. It’s a simple and high impact step that’s often missed.
You can present a list like this one and vote on the top five you all need to especially pay attention to. Or you can have the group come up with their own list. What’s key is that you keep using, reviewing, and giving each participant feedback when you are on and off track.
• Sessions start on time with all the right participants present and ready;
• We call each other when team norms or session ground rules are violated;
• We stay focused and on topic;
• Sniping, pot shots, or putdowns are not allowed;
• Discussions focus on the problem, issue, or behavior avoiding personal putdowns, judgmental statements, or sweeping generalizations;
• Cell phones, Blackberries/PDAs, texting, and other people do not interrupt the session or divert participant’s attention;
• Everyone participates and stays engaged in the conversation;
• When discussions involve just some participants, we encourage them to have a separate discussion at another time;
• We don’t cut each other off, finish someone else’s sentences, or engage in side conversations;
• Those with dissenting opinions at least feel their point of view was heard;
• We practice “cabinet solidarity” by keeping disagreements and debates inside the session and not continuing debates or disagreement with others outside our team after the session;
• With major decisions/discussions, ending the session, or when we want a consensus decision, we go around the team and get everyone’s point of view;
• We look for lots of opportunities to celebrate, recognize, and appreciate our team/organization successes;
• We have a high laughter index using constructive, positive humor.
Please add your experiences or suggestions on how to keep your virtual or physical meetings highly productive and energizing.
Leading @ the Speed of Change Public Workshops in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, and London
Typically my Leading @ the Speed of Change workshops are highly customized for delivery inside a Client’s organization (CLICK HERE to view those options.) I rarely offer any public workshops and haven’t offered Leading @ the Speed of Change outside of my hometown (Kitchener-Waterloo) for nearly ten years. I am delighted to be working with the Canadian Society for Training and Development to make Leading @ the Speed of Change available in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and London this spring and Calgary in September. These one-day sessions are especially designed for management teams to attend as a team. CLICK HERE for more information and to register.
By admin
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Posted in management
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Tagged Calgary, Canadian Society for Training and Development, leadership, leading @ the speed of change, London, meeting effectiveness, organization effectiveness, team culture, Toronto, vancouver, winnipeg
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You probably spend large chunks of your day in meetings or on conference calls. That’s especially true if you’re in any sort of management, project, or team leadership role. Whether in person or using communication technology, meetings, conferences calls, or webinars are more important than ever in our increasingly complex and interconnected world. Research clearly shows that when run effectively, groups make better decisions than individuals. Effective team sessions involve and engage participants in problem-solving and planning.
But most group sessions are poorly run. Many are a disaster. That’s why so many people dislike them. Symptoms are comments like, “I could get a lot more of my work done if it wasn’t for all of these bloody meetings/conference calls.” Participants who continually experience poorly run group sessions see them as a waste of time. Many are. Managers, project, or team leaders who lead or participate in well run and effective team interactions get the bulk of their work done through virtual or physical meetings. These don’t get in the way of their work, this is their work.
Deciding How to Decide
Many groups get tripped up by confusion around whether and how decisions are made. There are three basic ways along the “3 C continuum” for a team or group to make a decision:
Command – made by the manager, project or team leader with little input from other team members.
Consultative – made by a team member (often the manager, project or team leader) after consulting others who have knowledge or who must be committed to the decision.
Consensus – made by the entire team as a group either through “majority rules” or unanimous agreement.
The further the team moves toward the consensus end of the continuum, the more buy-in or commitment there is to the decision. Decision-making time is longer. But implementation time and effectiveness dramatically improves.
A common source of frustration and conflict in teams is when the type of decision-making method being used is not clear to everyone at the outset of the discussion. Managers, project, or team project managers will often add to the problem by leading what seems to be a consultative or even consensus discussion when he or she has already made up his or her mind. This comes across as a “guess what I am thinking” exercise. Or it can look like the leader is trying to manipulate the team into the “right decision.” Some less effective managers, project or team leaders with weak leadership skills will intimidate team members into “forced consensus” (an oxymoron) and leave the discussion genuinely believing that the team is united in the decision.
Some agenda items are for information and some are updates. But whenever decisions are needed, avoid confusion – and lots of frustration – by ensuring everyone is clear about the type of decision making process you’re using.
Leading @ the Speed of Change Public Workshops in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, and London
Typically my Leading @ the Speed of Change workshops are highly customized for delivery inside a Client’s organization (CLICK HERE to view those options.) I rarely offer any public workshops and haven’t offered Leading @ the Speed of Change outside of my hometown (Kitchener-Waterloo) for nearly ten years. I am delighted to be working with the Canadian Society for Training and Development to make Leading @ the Speed of Change available in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and London this spring and Calgary in September. These one-day sessions are especially designed for management teams to attend as a team. CLICK HERE for more information and to register.
By admin
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Posted in management
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Tagged Calgary, kitchener, leadership, leadership development, leading @ the speed of change, London, organization effectiveness, organizational culture, team development, Toronto, vancouver, waterloo, winnipeg
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Now that the writing, publishing, and launch of my latest book Growing @ the Speed of Change is through its busiest phase, I am able to spend more time indulging my passion for reading. I generally have a novel of historical fiction, a book on spiritual/philosophical/meditation, and one or two personal growth/leadership/organization effectiveness books on the go.
As part of building out my LinkedIn profile, I’ve recently added 18 book reviews. These are mostly favorite books on personal growth, leadership, and organization effectiveness. Some reviews are from past blog posts or previous issues of The Leader Letter. Other reviews are drawn from the book’s inclusion in Growing @ the Speed of Change. CLICK HERE to visit my profile. If you have a LinkedIn profile and we’re not already connected, please mention your connection to me (through my blog, newsletter, books, speaking engagement/workshop, etc) and send me an invitation to connect.
Currently Reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Strong historical fiction like Pillars of the Earth is highly entertaining and very enlightening. Ken spent years studying how cathedrals were built throughout medieval England. He then spins a gripping tale (it took him three years of writing) of good and evil, treachery and intrigue, violence (the most revolting parts of the novel that shows just how brutal life was in those times), and architectural beauty. The story shows how the human spirit, love, loyalty, and friendship can shine through during times of war, religious strife and power struggles, which tear lives and families apart.
In the fictional town of Kingsbridge we experience firsthand the ups and downs of life in a typical British town during early medieval times of the 1100’s. The book provides deep appreciation for what builders and artists accomplished with very basic technology over decades (generally more than 30 years) to construct towering cathedrals that still stand majestically many centuries later. It also shows just how good we have life now! CLICK HERE to visit The Pillars of the Earth section of Ken Follet’s web site.
An eight hour TV mini-series is currently in post production based on this epic novel (400,000 words.) Early video clips and Ken’s blog updating this work in progress really make this look like a “must see” once it’s available. CLICK HERE to visit the series web site.
Practical Leadership Development for Peak Performance Archived Webcast and Slides Download Now Available
The webcast is my voice through an audio broadcast synchronized with slides full of the usual animations and transitions I use when presenting in front of a group. We now have the broadcast available on our site for viewing as streaming audio and video on site or download the WMV file here. When you click on this link you’ll also see the agenda of what was covered in the webcast.
So you can catch the webcast on your own time, show it at your next team meeting, or bring people together for a shared learning experience and do the assessment/discussion exercises recommended in the presentation.
Leading @ the Speed of Change Public Workshops in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, and London
Typically my Leading @ the Speed of Change workshops are highly customized for delivery inside a Client’s organization (CLICK HERE to view those options.) I rarely offer any public workshops and haven’t offered Leading @ the Speed of Change outside of my hometown (Kitchener-Waterloo) for nearly ten years. I am delighted to be working with the Canadian Society for Training and Development to make Leading @ the Speed of Change available in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and London this spring and Calgary in September. These one-day sessions are especially designed for management teams to attend as a team. CLICK HERE for more information and to register.
By admin
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Posted in management
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Tagged Calgary, Growing @ the Speed of Change, Ken Follett, kitchener, leadership, leading @ the speed of change, London, medieval England, organization effectiveness, personal growth, Pillars of the Earth, Toronto, vancouver, waterloo, winnipeg
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Positive psychology is an exciting new and rapidly expanding movement pioneered by Martin Seligman, Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology in the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Psychology and director of their Positive Psychology Center. His book, Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment, is one of the best ever written on the topics of happiness, learned optimism, and positive psychology (CLICK HERE to read my review of it.)
On the cover of Positivity, Martin declares Barbara Frederickson, “the genius of the positive psychology movement.” She is Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Barbara defines “positivity” as “the whole range of positive emotions – from appreciation to love, from amusement to joy, from hope to gratitude…although some of this may sound like the vocabulary of greeting cards, the term positivity points to vital human moments that have now captured the interests of science. And the new scientific discoveries about the importance of positivity are stunning.”
What’s especially compelling about the genre of positive psychology books is that they are not just giving us warmed over platitudes or emotional stories on positive thinking. Positivity is grounded in solid research while being very easy to read and chocked full of practical and very useful how-to advice. In her first chapter, Barbara presents six key points she labels as facts and then provides deep research throughout the book to support them:
Fact 1: Positivity feels good
Fact 2: Positivity changes how your mind works
Fact 3: Positivity transforms your future
Fact 4: Positivity puts the brakes on negativity
Fact 5: Positivity obeys a tipping point
Fact 6: You can increase your positivity
In her chapter on “The Positivity Ratio,” Barbara gives a detailed account of how she co-researched and co-developed a mathematical model showing that for “individuals, marriages, and business teams, flourishing – or doing remarkably – comes with positivity ratios above 3 to 1.” She defines our positivity ratio as the amount of heartfelt positivity we feel relative to our heart-wrenching negativity. “Stated formally, your positivity ratio is your frequency of positivity over any given time span, divided by your frequency of negativity over that same time span.”
The second part of the book is all about raising our positivity ratio. It starts with a Positivity Self Test. You can take the test online at http://www.positivityratio.com. This is followed with two excellent chapters on improving our positivity ratio through decreasing negativity and increasing positivity. Here Barbara helps readers apply the highly successful and well researched applications from the rapidly growing field of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The last chapter, “A New Toolkit,” provides 12 very concrete and useful techniques to permanently raise our ratio.
This is a very stimulating, practical, and useful book. I highly recommend it.
Practical Leadership Development for Peak Performance Archived Webcast and Slides Download Now Available
The webcast is my voice through an audio broadcast synchronized with slides full of the usual animations and transitions I use when presenting in front of a group. We now have the broadcast available on our site for viewing as streaming audio and video on site or download the WMV file here. When you click on this link you’ll also see the agenda of what was covered in the webcast.
So you can catch the webcast on your own time, show it at your next team meeting, or bring people together for a shared learning experience and do the assessment/discussion exercises recommended in the presentation.
Leading @ the Speed of Change Public Workshops in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, and London
Typically my Leading @ the Speed of Change workshops are highly customized for delivery inside a Client’s organization (CLICK HERE to view those options.) I rarely offer any public workshops and haven’t offered Leading @ the Speed of Change outside of my hometown (Kitchener-Waterloo) for nearly ten years. I am delighted to be working with the Canadian Society for Training and Development to make Leading @ the Speed of Change available in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and London this spring and Calgary in September. These one-day sessions are especially designed for management teams to attend as a team. CLICK HERE for more information and to register.
By admin
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Posted in management
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Tagged Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment, Barbara Frederickson, Calgary, Canadian Society for Training and Development, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, kitchener, leadership, leading @ the speed of change, London, Martin Seligman, positive psychology, Positivity, Practical Leadership Development for Peak Performance, The Positivity Ratio, Toronto, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, vancouver, waterloo, winnipeg
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February 25, 2010 – 6:54 pm
We’ve heard a number of inspiring stories and seen many examples of personal and team excellence during the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
“The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.”
- Vince Lombardi
“At the winter (2002) Olympics the difference between gold medal and no medal was often less than 2%. Against truly global competition, a lot of stunningly good performers were just not good enough. In the men’s 10,000-meter speed skating, the difference between a gold medal and no medal was 1.9%. In the women’s giant slalom it was 1.1%; in the four-man bobsled, 0.2%.
A lot of managers claim their companies will ‘bring home the gold’ this year. Terrific, but remember that many excellent competitors went to Salt Lake City and were 98% or 99% as good as the best – and brought home nothing. By all means try to bring home the gold, but don’t delude yourself about how hard it is.”
- Geoffrey Colvin, “Think You Can Bobsled? Ha!” Fortune magazine
“The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because philosophy is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”
- John W Gardner, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Lyndon Johnson and author of books on improving leadership in American society
“National Quality Institute has tracked these award winners since 1990, and the results show that many Canada Awards for Excellence recipients have consistently out-performed the TSE, Dow Jones, and Standard & Poor’s indices by almost double. CAE recipients have reported results such as a 91% reduction in employee turnover, a 215% increase in cost savings, and an overall 90% increase in customer satisfaction. Companies in the manufacturing sector have also reported a welcome 57% decrease in workplace injuries.”
- National Quality Institute, Toronto, ON Canada
“Your preoccupation should be on doing what you do as well as you can. What your co-workers say about you, what your opponent is doing – that doesn’t matter.”
- Jay Leno, American comedian, (retired and then rehired) host of “The Tonight Show”
“I read a story that conveyed to me what (excellence) means. It is a story of the greatest sculptor of ancient Greece, Phidias. He was commissioned around 440 B.C. to make the statues that to this day stand on the roof of the Parthenon, in Athens. They are considered among the greatest sculptures of the Western tradition, but when Phidias submitted his bill, the city accountant of Athens refused to pay it. ‘These statues,’ the accountant said, ‘stand on the roof of the temple, and on the highest hill in Athens. Nobody can see anything but their fronts. Yet you have charged us for sculpting them in the round – that is, for doing their back sides, which nobody can see.’ ‘You are wrong,’ Phidias retorted. ‘The gods can see them.’
- Peter Drucker, “My Life as a Knowledge Worker”, Inc magazine
Practical Leadership Development for Peak Performance Archived Webcast and Slides Download Now Available
The webcast is my voice through an audio broadcast synchronized with my slides full of the usual animations and transitions I use when presenting in front of a group. We now have the broadcast available on our site for viewing as streaming audio and video on site or download the WMV file here. When you click on this link you’ll also see the agenda of what was covered in the webcast.
So you can catch the webcast on your own time, show it at your next team meeting, or bring people together for a shared learning experience and do the assessment/discussion exercises recommended in the presentation.
Leading @ the Speed of Change public workshops in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, and London
Typically my Leading @ the Speed of Change workshops are highly customized for delivery inside a Client’s organization (CLICK HERE to view those options.) I rarely offer any public workshops and haven’t offered Leading @ the Speed of Change outside of my hometown (Kitchener-Waterloo) for nearly ten years. I am delighted to be working with the Canadian Society for Training and Development to make Leading @ the Speed of Change available in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and London this spring and Calgary in September. These one-day sessions are especially designed for management teams to attend as a team. CLICK HERE for more information and to register.
New Coming Events Section on Our Web Site
Our business is almost exclusively customized internal sessions for specific Clients. I’ve typically done very few public events that have open attendance. However, over the next six months I do have a higher level of Canadian presentations and workshops with open attendance. So we’ve added a Coming Events section to our web site. CLICK HERE to access it.
By admin
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Posted in management
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Tagged athens, Calgary, canada awards for excellence, Fortune Magazine, geoffrey colvin, greece, Inc magazine, jay leno, john w gardner, kitchener, leadership, leadership development, leading @ the speed of change, London, national quality institute, parthenon, Peter Drucker, phidias, president lyndon johnson, society for training and development, the tonight show, Toronto, vancouver, vancouver winter olympics, vince lombardi, waterloo, winnipeg
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February 23, 2010 – 4:41 pm
Val Kinjerski’s engaging book, Rethinking Your Work: Getting to the Heart of What Matters is a perfect way to blend personal/career development with the Olympic spirit radiating from the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Most athletes competing at the games are deeply committed to pursuing a dream of excellence. While some have golden visions of fame and fortune that will come from winning medals, many athletes are fulfilling a deeper sense of purpose. They’ve invested years of incredibly hard work to push themselves to their very peak – and then a bit beyond – of performance excellence.
Most people have a job. Some people have fulfilling careers. A few people have a sense of calling or deeper purpose that lives through their work. Val’s excellent book, Rethinking Your Work shows that what matters most is not what work we do, but how we think about it. Drawing from her speaking and consulting work in employee engagement and building spirit at work, Val starts with a diverse variety of stories that illustrate spirit at work and the varying paths each person took to develop a deep sense of purpose in their work.
The main part of Rethinking Your Work provides practical actions and how-to steps to deepen our sense of purpose or spirit at work. This includes helpful “Reflection Questions” at the end of each chapter.
The book is built around a simple four part Spirit at Work framework. Here’s how Val describes the model:
• Engaging Work – involves the belief that work is meaningful and has a higher purpose. Our values and beliefs are aligned with our work. We are authentic and experience a profound sense of well-being at work.
• Sense of Community – arises from sharing a common purpose with others and being connected through feelings of trust, respect, and love.
• Spiritual Connection – being connected to something larger than self that has a positive effect on the workplace. It often involves a sense of love for others.
• Mystical Experience – those times in which we feel vital, energized, and have a sense of joy and bliss at work.
I’ve studied, worked to personally apply, and written extensively about Deepening Spirit, Meaning, and Purpose. This book is an inspiring, entertaining, and very practical addition to this vital topic. The closest most of us will ever come to the Olympics is cheering on our favorite athletes from our living room. But we can capture some of that magical Olympic Spirit in our work.
Visit Val’s blog at http://www.rethinkingyourwork.com/blog for further insights handily by topic area related to employee engagement and spirit at work.
Practical Leadership Development for Peak Performance Archived Webcast and Slides Download Now Available
The webcast is my voice through an audio broadcast synchronized with my slides full of the usual animations and transitions I use when presenting in front of a group. We now have the broadcast available on our site for viewing as streaming audio and video on site or download the WMV file here. When you click on this link you’ll also see the agenda of what was covered in the webcast.
So you can catch the webcast on your own time, show it at your next team meeting, or bring people together for a shared learning experience and do the assessment/discussion exercises recommended in the presentation.
Leading @ the Speed of Change public workshops in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, and London
Typically my Leading @ the Speed of Change workshops are highly customized for delivery inside a Client’s organization (CLICK HERE to view those options.) I rarely offer any public workshops and haven’t offered Leading @ the Speed of Change outside of my hometown (Kitchener-Waterloo) for nearly ten years. I am delighted to be working with the Canadian Society for Training and Development to make Leading @ the Speed of Change available in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and London this spring and Calgary in September. These one-day sessions are especially designed for management teams to attend as a team. CLICK HERE for more information and to register.
New Coming Events Section on Our Web Site
Our business is almost exclusively customized internal sessions for specific Clients. I’ve typically done very few public events that have open attendance. However, over the next six months I do have a higher level of Canadian presentations and workshops with open attendance. So we’ve added a Coming Events section to our web site. CLICK HERE to access it.
By admin
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Posted in management
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Tagged building spirit at work, Calgary, Canadian Society for Training and Development, career development, employee engagement, leadership, leading @ the speed of change, London, personal development, rethinking your work, Toronto, val kinjerski, vancouver, vancouver winter olympics, winnipeg
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February 18, 2010 – 5:33 pm
Last Friday we had over 500 sites log on and view my (no charge) 57 minute webcast on Practical Leadership Development for Peak Performance. During this “City Tour” of leadership, change, and organization effectiveness, I covered:
• Change Challenges and Choices
• Keys to Leading Change
• The High-Performance Balance: Managing Things and Leading People
• Soft Skills, Hard Results: Emotional Intelligence
• Timeless Leadership Principles for Enduring Team and Organizational Success
• Leadership Development Workshops
We had over 1,100 sites originally registered to participate. In retrospect, we likely should not have chosen the Friday afternoon of what was a long weekend for many areas in North America! We also found that many participants had trouble accessing the live webcast and were not able to participate (we won’t be using this webinar provider again.) So if you were not able to log on – or you missed the live event – it’s now available for viewing on our web site.
The webcast is my voice through an audio broadcast synchronized with my slides, full of the usual animations and transitions I use when presenting in front of a group. We now have the broadcast available on our site for viewing as streaming audio and video on site or download the WMV file here. When you click on this link you’ll also see the agenda of what was covered in the webcast.
So you can catch the webcast on your own time, show it at your next team meeting, or bring people together for a shared learning experience and do the assessment/discussion exercises recommended in the presentation.
Leading @ the Speed of Change public workshops in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, and London
The webcast drew from and condensed my most popular workshop – Leading @ the Speed of Change. Typically my sessions are highly customized for delivery inside a Client’s organization (CLICK HERE to view those options.) I rarely offer any public workshops and haven’t offered Leading @ the Speed of Change outside of my hometown (Kitchener-Waterloo) for nearly ten years. I am delighted to be working with the Canadian Society for Training and Development to make Leading @ the Speed of Change available in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and London this spring, and Calgary in September. These one-day sessions are especially designed for management teams to attend as a team. CLICK HERE for more information and to register.
February 16, 2010 – 8:42 pm
A big challenge for many organizations today is providing learning and development opportunities when many managers, supervisors, and staff are extremely pressed for time. It gets even more challenging when many people are spread out among a number of locations. Gerry Parker, Lead HR Advisor for Rural Areas at Vancouver Coastal Health, has a major geographic challenge with this.
Gerry first pulled together a number of people at various sites to view my December Thriving in Turbulent Times webcast (CLICK HERE to view). This learning event worked so well for them that he and members of the group decided to use webinar technology to connect each other with a book club. Over the years we’ve seen other teams and organizations use similar approaches using leadership/personal development books and/or corresponding workbooks.
Using a webinar service, everyone was connected through the Internet with audio and video connections. Gerry has made the slides they used available to show how they organized their club. CLICK HERE to view them.
You can also get more background on their approach and how they used Growing @ the Speed of Change (CLICK HERE to view), from Gerry’s e-mail at the end of this blog posting.
Leading @ the Speed of Change public workshops in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, and London
Typically my Leading @ the Speed of Change workshops are highly customized for delivery inside a Client’s organization (CLICK HERE to view those options.) I rarely offer any public workshops and haven’t offered Leading @ the Speed of Change outside of my hometown (Kitchener-Waterloo) for nearly ten years. I am delighted to be working with the Canadian Society for Training and Development to make Leading @ the Speed of Change available in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and London this spring and Calgary in September. These one-day sessions are especially designed for management teams to attend as a team. CLICK HERE for more information and to register.
Hi Jim,
Thought I’d send this along to you. We had our Leadership Book Club discussion today. The feedback was that the book was very packed full of information and numerous people plan on buying copies for people they know.
On a more personal note, thanks too for that “Thriving in Tumultuous Times” webinar as that inspired me to use a webinar format (a first time for me) for presenting this Leadership Book Club. While I didn’t record it, I am happy to send along the PowerPoint that was used. I also had someone from our Management and Leadership Development team on the webinar and they’re interested in the book so we’ll see what happens.
One person described using your book as follows:
“I met with a nurse who was wallowing in hurt and disappointment on the Bitter Bus on her way to Pity City. As we talked I slowly introduced some concepts associated with self- leadership. Clemmer talks about imagining how things could be different and what could be and the nurse began to describe so clearly a more positive environment that she truly wanted. From there we began discussing some steps she might need to take. At the end, it seemed her bus had turned around and she was heading in a new direction.”
In terms of additional book feedback, I’ve sent along this comment:
As this month’s host of a Leadership Book Club, I selected “Growing @ the Speed of Change” for discussion. Described as a type of tour where readers take a quick look around at the topic at each stop and then head along to the next stop is effective and important to keep in mind. Jim called it a City Tour but I liked calling it a “stopic”. It definitely left many of us wanting more. The nice thing is that more was available.
Jim builds on material from his previous books and his decades of experience so some prior exposure to his work is helpful but not essential. Peppered with personal examples, extremely witty and “punny”, the quick look around is enhanced by reams of additional material offered at each “stopic” for further exploration. During our discussion, we all agreed that the book was practical and realistic and we shared examples of putting the concepts of this book into action in the workplace. It’s difficult sometimes to deal with people who are on the Bitter Bus on their way to Pity City but that bus can be turned around in the space between cynicism and skepticism. It’s a choice – and as Jim said – Lead, Follow, or Wallow!
All the best,
Gerry
If I were to suggest a couple of considerations for future revision or other work, I’d develop the branding behind that City Tour concept, maybe a little picture of a bus or a bus stop at each point. Some of the readers missed that concept and, as a result, felt like the content was either missing or that they had to go look elsewhere. Those that did get the concept loved it (myself included) and really appreciated the quick stops and corresponding high volume of info and the additional resources linked right there. One reader really appreciated those links and has ordered 2 or 3 other books just based on your references. I also really appreciated and expect to continue pulling links to articles and sharing with others.
One other suggestion would be to consider a few more graphics (all involved loved your p. 60 WFL model) and to pull graphics forward from your prior work when it’s mentioned. For example, you described the Leadership Wheel on page 126 and a small insert would be recommended. I thought perhaps it was a wise marketing move encouraging readers to go get your other books.
Anyhow, the overall rating was 100% on the survey in terms of it being a book that is both practical and realistic; most of the leaders on the call had already applied some of the learning in real life situations at work. One is buying a copy to give to her son.
Thanks again for everything and I wish you all the best,
Gerry
February 11, 2010 – 1:00 am
Hey guys! Sunday is Valentine’s Day. Have you bought your card for your sweetheart yet? The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide. That makes this day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year next to Christmas. The association has found in the U.S. men spend twice as much money as women.
Passion and Commitment is one of the seven Timeless Leadership Principles in our Leadership Wheel (see my last blog post.) Passionate leaders rally people around a cause. Those leaders are often so passionate about their work that they have turned it into a cause that draws others like insects to the back porch light. The American clergyman, and personal effectiveness writer and speaker, Norman Vincent Peale, considered a burning conviction and contagious enthusiasm to be the most critical factor in successful living and leadership (listening to him speak was an inspiring and invigorating experience.) He once said, “Your enthusiasm will be infectious, stimulating and attractive to others. They will love you for it. They will go for you and with you.”
Effective leaders generate peak performance that comes from creating energy through excitement (the pull or gain of what could be), urgency (the push to avoid the pain of poor performance), or some combination of both. This creates focus, and harnesses the deep urge we all have to be part of something meaningful — to make a difference. To know that we are doing something worthwhile, that we are striving for a worthy goal.
CLICK HERE to browse a large selection of my articles, excerpts, and columns on Passion, Commitment, and Self-Discipline. Here are three short articles that deal most directly with passion and love:
- The Many Faces of Love
Highly effective leaders are in love with the organization, community, or team that they work or live in. Their love is expressed in a deep desire to see that organization, community, or team grow to its full potential. More
- The Power of Passion
Leadership is emotional. Leadership deals with feelings. Leadership is made up of dreams, inspiration, excitement, desire, pride, care, passion, and love – the areas of our lives where we show the strongest leadership.More
- Passionate Leaders Rally People to the Cause
People rally around passionate leaders with a compelling vision and purpose. Effective leaders generate action that comes from creating energy and transforming jobs into crusades, exciting adventures, or deeper missions. More
Nurture Passion, Leadership, and Peak Performance in my 60 Minute (No Charge) Webcast
February 12 – 2:00 – 3:00 (EST) -5:00 GMT
Given the popularity of my Thriving in Turbulent Times webcast on December 3rd (over 550 sites tuned in), I am partnering with the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD) to bring you another fast-paced hour of ideas, inspiration, and how-to applications on developing leadership skills on February 12th. In this unique and rare webcast, I have distilled my last 30 years of work in leadership and organization development helping thousands of people and hundreds of organizations boost their effectiveness.
In December, many locations used the webcast as a team event by gathering people in a conference or board room and projecting the presentation onto a screen. You may want to do the same with supervisors, managers, and executives for this session.
CLICK HERE to get more detailed information about the agenda and to register.
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