There’s little doubt creativity is vital in the workplace, and that idea generation is the enabler of creative problem solving and innovation. The better our teams and colleagues are at generating ideas, the better the odds of surviving and thriving in our topsy-turvy world. Yet, idea generation and problem-solving practices are stale and decidedly lacking in creativity in too many organizations.
Last week I wrapped up two different cohorts of my Experienced Manager Program. In twelve hours of program time spread over multiple sessions, the ideas and insights flowed, and I left impressed with the passion so many have for their work leading and managing. Here are some of my favorite insights from the program:
Our March Leadership Caffeine Jam Session was all about finding the magic with teams. As usual, the chat stream commentary from our attendees was fabulous. I’m sharing some insights from this 50-minute session.
If you are interested in taking that next step as a leader, it pays to silence the outside voices and spend some time mining your experiences, influences, and aspirations.
Be very afraid of the conversations on the tough topics of performance, improvement, and innovation that aren’t taking place on your team or in your organization.
There are two issues every person in a leadership role must constantly focus on and work on: (1) who they aspire to be as leaders and (2) how hard they are working at developing their skills as strategists. Anything less than daily work on these issues is a problem.
Don’t let the flak derail your transformation initiative. Instead, dive in to understand the core of any resistance better and strive to build your coalition. Transformation initiatives succeed on the strength of relationships, not ideas.
I’m excited to have a great friend and fabulous expert on career development, Julie Winkle Giulioni, join the upcoming Leadership Caffeine Jam Session: Rethinking Employee Career Development for This Era on Friday, February 11 at noon central. You can register here. (This will be recorded and the video, chat stream, and mind map distributed to all registrants.)
Clarifying your group’s values or creating a Manifesto for Success gives substance and meaning to the working environment you want to bring to life with your group members. This activity is essential and impactful whether you are leading a senior management team, a functional group, or a project team.
I find that many participants come into coaching situations unclear on what to expect and unsure how to leverage the experience. Here are some ideas to help.
