As you approach the annual resetting of the calendar and contemplate how you will make this year different, better, and complete, here are some thoughts on how you can rethink your approach to your goals and turn them into growth and gold.
In the best of times, leading and managing is hard work. In this era, the demands are unceasing, and it's easy for fatigue to set in and dull a leader's thinking. Here are seven ideas to help combat this sense of creeping fatigue:
There's a simple, powerful exercise you can run with your group that will transform the working environment for the better and provide you with the critical framework for coaching you've been lacking. You need to Write the Rules for Success with your group.
Creativity—the ability to look at complicated situations and identify novel solutions that solve problems, advance initiatives, or rewrite old rules—may be the most critical skill of all in our workplaces. As leaders, we need to foster it, stimulate it, and do everything we can to ensure we're not the ones suppressing it. Sadly, creativity is something that many leaders trample all over in their daily activities.
Any event that brings people together and doesn't tap into the knowledge and ideas of the participants is an event that misses the mark. It's time for something different! Introducing the Leadership Caffeine Jam Sessions!
Our organization changes don’t feel like the work of transforming a shoreline or beach, but maybe they should. Imagine if the transformation team members viewed themselves as stewards of the environment and not experts playing with boxes on an organization chart in pursuit of trivial outcomes. I suspect more of those initiatives would succeed.
If you consider the myriad activities that form the role of manager, including the novel and often vexing situations presented by humans in the workplace, it's easy to see where attempts at classroom training inevitably fall short. Use the time initially to teach them to think differently about their roles and their work at start-up using these five sets of operating instructions
Here's a Fun-Fact from my Career Reinvent Boot Camp programs: 50% of participants would prefer to reinvent their careers (change what they do) without leaving your organization. Unfortunately, most of them end up leaving your firm. Here's why and here are some ideas you can rethink your approach to career development in your organization:
Now is not the time for the dominant logic surrounding managing and leading to prevail. That's how we got here, and "here" isn't so great. It's essential we find better ways to inspire, motivate, and engage great people who want to make a difference in our organizations. Here are twelve places to start:
While many individuals deliberately keep their work personas and their personal personas separate, I checked, and each of us is one person. Yet, the faster you grow comfortable letting them see you as that whole person, the faster they’ll trust you. And yes, trust is the critical foundation for high performance.
