Teach for America CEO Wendy Kopp speaks in conversation with Stanford University Political Science professor, Robert Reich.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Take "the Other" to Lunch
Elizabeth Lesser is the co-founder of Omega Institute, the US’ largest lifelong learning centre focusing on health, wellness, spirituality, creativity and social change. She’s the author of Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow
In this talk, she explores the two sides of human nature within us (call them "the mystic" and "the warrior”) that can be harnessed to elevate the way we treat each other. She shares a simple way to begin real dialogue -- by going to lunch with someone who doesn't agree with you, and asking them three questions to find out what's really in their hearts.
In this talk, she explores the two sides of human nature within us (call them "the mystic" and "the warrior”) that can be harnessed to elevate the way we treat each other. She shares a simple way to begin real dialogue -- by going to lunch with someone who doesn't agree with you, and asking them three questions to find out what's really in their hearts.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Core Values
Leading from your own deepest core values is going to increase your performance and the performance of your company.
This means:
This means:
1. understanding your core values
2. sharing them with your team
3. showing your team why bringing them into work makes life better for them
3. encouraging them to bring their core values to work
4. demonstrating that the emotional commitment will greatly increase your team’s performance
5. ensuring your company responds well to increased performance.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Get Buy-In by Keeping It Simple
When presenting a new idea or proposal, chances are that you know more about the topic than your audience. When this is the case, it can be tempting to bombard them with data and analysis. But rather than being convinced, your audience is likely to feel overwhelmed. Forget the hundreds of pages of numbers you have to back up your argument and keep it simple. Present your point in a short, uncomplicated, and clear manner. Focus on what the audience cares about and use common sense — not fancy charts and complicated analysis — to win their approval.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Setting Up in Business - The Importance of Integrity
In the rush to start a business, keep it running and make money, there’s one important detail that can get lost in the process: integrity. Integrity isn’t something easily monetised, but when it’s implemented into a business’s DNA, there is plenty of money to save and the great potential to make more.
It’s easy to overlook the quality of integrity when running a business -- but incorporating it into all of your business dealings and decisions can advance your company to greater levels of success.
Integrity is synonymous with trust in the business world. After all, clients have to trust the people they do business with to keep them, so owning up to every responsibility is paramount.
The bottom line is consistency. A company needs to maintain what it says it does, and who it says it is. There shouldn't be an external impression of the business that is dramatically different from the internal version. Especially in rough economic times, to be someone the buying public can trust is priceless. So while it might not seem immediately top on your list, your business can't afford to compromise its integrity in this competitive market. When people choose to lead with integrity they position themselves at the top of their industry. All the other details, like the product, or service, or whatever, come after integrity because people do business with people they know, like, and trust.
Here are a few thoughts on how to keep your integrity at the forefront of your professional life:
Remember that your reputation and relationships are all you really have. So nurture them and care about how you treat people from housekeeping to the most senior person. The proprietor is the best spokesperson for the brand as he/she has put his/her blood sweat and tears into their business and as the face of the brand, the reputation of the owner of the company is as and sometimes more important that the products or services offered.
Be likeable. You don’t have to be buddies, but you should be respected for the person you are – again it comes back to how you treat people. “If you set the example and treat your employees well, you minimise the conflicts involving HR. There’s no issues with sexual harassment, there isn’t stealing of materials, padding expense reports. When you feel you are cared about and you have a voice and an identity in the workplace, it’s easy to put integrity into practice.
Keep a positive online presence. With consumer driven content and social networking dominating the Internet, there’s nowhere to hide. So it’s imperative to keep that integrity through and through. The Internet seems to reveal those who aren’t trustworthy. It’s no longer the case of asking for a recommendation for a plumber from your neighbour. It’s pages upon pages of comments and reviews on various sites -- some more trust worthy than others -- that will really give insight into the experience the customers of the brand had.
Take the defensive out of the equation. You can feel the energy of a dysfunctional and therefore integrity-lacking company by just listening to how people at work communicate. “The tone with which HR and senior management communicate to their employees sets the stage. When integrity is in place and people respect one another details like being on time to work and with deadlines fall into place. It’s not about Big Brother watching over you, but it’s suddenly about you watching over yourself. The power is in the employee. That’s what you get to have control over – how you conduct yourself. It’s behaviour modification in the workplace. And a better workplace ends up being ripe with loyalists working together to grow the business.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Effectively Manage Your Mistakes
Perfection is unrealistic. If you are attempting to perform to your greatest ability, you are going to make mistakes along the way. It is not the mistake but rather the manner in which you handle it that shows your strength as a leader.
- Acknowledge your mistakes. As soon as you realise that you have made a mistake or as soon as someone brings it to your attention, acknowledge it. The absolute worst thing that you can do is ignore or attempt to hide it. What is bad today will only be worse tomorrow!
- Attack your mistakes head on. Spend time mapping out your corrective course of action before you start blindly trying to fix your error.
- Take responsibility for your mistakes. Attempting to divert attention or shift the blame onto someone else will only make you look worse.
- Learn from the experience. Reflect upon your mistake. Ask yourself what you can do to avoid making the same mistake in the future.
- Don’t beat yourself up. Mistakes, even big ones, happen. You may be upset with yourself. Others may be disappointed. But at the end of the day, you cannot undo what has already been done. Go forward knowing that you are a wiser person for it!
Learn to effectively manage your mistakes and you will set an inspiring example for others!
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Want to Lead? Steer Clear of Rarefied Air
This extract is from an interview with Abbe Raven, president and C.E.O. of A&E Television Networks, which was conducted by The New York Times:
Q. If you had only two or three questions you could ask somebody to decide whether you’re going to hire them, what would they be?
A. Tell me about the biggest mistake you ever made at work, and how did you deal with it. And tell me what, outside of work, are you the most passionate about. And the third would be, tell me a little bit about how you grew up.
Q. Let’s say you’re on a cross-country flight, and you sit down next to someone who, it turns out, is on track to become C.E.O. at her company. And she asks you, “What do I need to know?”
A. I would tell them to avoid rarefied air.
For more, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/business/26corner.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=business
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Friday, January 07, 2011
A Positive Future - By Intent
Do you look at the future with hope and a belief that no matter what comes your way, you will succeed? Or, do you look at the future as hopeless, and there’s nothing that can be done to change it? What you believe has a lot to do with how well you weather the challenges in life. A couple of things to keep in mind: 1) As human beings, we move toward and become like what we think about; and 2) Our present thoughts determine our future.
As human beings, we are teleological or goal-oriented. Also, we are picture-oriented. We think in pictures. If you say, “red apple” you don’t see the words “red” and “apple.” In your mind, you actually “see” a red apple. You see, we don’t see with our eyes. We pick up light with our eyes and then it is translated into images in our brains, depending upon how we’ve been conditioned to translate the light. Words create pictures, and we are drawn to pictures.
So, if you believe the future is hopeless, you will be drawn to every hopeless, depressing, “it’s only going to get worse” story you can find. We are comfortable when we find evidence to prove what we believe is true, and we act in accordance with those beliefs. This is also known as a self-fulfilling prophecy. “I knew it was going to be bad, and it is.”
The same thing holds true if we believe the future is full of opportunity, and that we have the power to make it even better. We will see evidence of the possibilities, and be drawn to them because that’s what we are thinking about. It is not surprising that people who look with positive intent are healthier, happier and more successful.
So, how do we make that switch in belief? It’s all about changing that internal picture you hold, and it isn’t going to happen by accident. It is made, first, by your intent.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Poisonous Carrots, Blunt Sticks
Sunday, January 02, 2011
How to Lead (part 3)
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Preparing for the New Year
As we slowly approach the end of another year, there is once again a discernible feeling of anticipation for what the upcoming year will bring. In many ways, this is quite natural and expected since, like a present wrapped in shiny paper, the start of a New Year often stirs a sense of optimism that better times and new opportunities for recovery, growth and development await us just around the corner.
While leaders use the end of the year to focus on developing plans for what they need to achieve in the New Year, it’s also important that they not lose sight of the lessons learned over the course of the previous one. Indeed, the successes and failures incurred over the past twelve months can provide a wealth of insights that can help leaders chart a clearer path towards their organisation’s goals, provided that they take the time to reflect and review on what came out of these past outcomes.
With this in mind, here are ten questions leaders can ask to reflect and assess both their own performance and that of their employees, and how they can ensure that their team remains focused and driven toward reaching their shared goals:
1. What goals did we succeed in reaching this past year?
2. What goals did we fail to achieve and why? What obstacles did we encounter and how can I help my team overcome them now that we’re aware of these challenges that stand in our way?
3. How many failures did we encounter and did we really learn anything from them? Is there a risk that we’ll repeat them or have we properly addressed and resolved the issues behind our failure?
4. How can I encourage my employees to be more open to failure? To stepping forward with new ideas for us to test and explore without fearing that the outcome might be not what we hoped for?
5. What unexpected opportunities came up and what did we learn from them? How did my response shape the reactions of those I lead?
6. How consistent was my message to my team? Did I respond to misunderstandings by listening to what was being said and clarifying what I meant?
7. How much time did I spend outside of my office, watching how my team operates and listening to what’s going on around them? How can I make myself more aware of the challenges they face and how it impacts our goals?
8. Did I provide my team with enough opportunities for growth and development? What other measures can I use to improve the coaching/mentoring I offer to my team?
9. What events/moments during the past year opened my eyes to new ideas, insights or opportunities for growth? What can I do to learn more and explore these untapped outlets for growth?
10. Who did I often turn to for support, guidance and calls to action? Can they continue to help me as I move forward? And how can I help them succeed with their goals?
Naturally, there are other questions we can ask ourselves that can help us with assessing what we’ve done and where we can go next. But by asking ourselves these questions listed above, leaders can ensure that their focus is directed on building on their team’s accomplishments, as well as on what they’ve learned through their experiences over the course of the year, both key factors to creating a realistic guide for where we want – and can – grow in the coming year.
With such a guide at their disposal, leaders stand to benefit from not only from having a clear sense of direction of where they need to lead their team over the coming months, but also a keen appreciation for where they’ve been and the lessons learned along the way.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
How to Lead (part 1)
14 Ways to Keep Your Team Engaged
Boost engagement and motivate your employees by being warmer, more honest and less quick to anger. Your team will then judge you by your action, moods, and behaviours, not by your intent.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
The Path to Peak Performance
Dr. Edward M. "Ned" Hallowell outlines the five steps necessary to excel at work: select, connect, play, grapple and shine. He is the author of Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
What Makes Leaders Tick?
Neuroscientists and psychologists believe they can make a real contribution to our understanding of what makes leaders tick. For more, see:
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