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We help maximize the effectiveness of individuals and organizations by helping them improve their ability to lead, work together, select and develop their people. Some of our related business services include: executive coaching, executive team coaching and executive assessments for development and selection.
Carl Robinson, Ph.D., Managing Principal
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Seattle, Washington
206-545-1990
carl@leadershipconsulting.com |
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| Featured Tool |
50 Activities for Coaching/Mentoring
-Introduce mentoring concepts and peer guidance techniques
-Develop skills to express performance improvement goals clearly
-Create open, trusting relationships
-Refine managers' skills in providing constructive feedback
Learn More!
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Are You an Adaptive Leader?
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CEOs and executives everywhere have been practicing white knuckle management for almost two years now. Your organization may have seen rapid and extreme changes in this time; still, we all are looking ahead to the emerging "cooling off" period.
Is the economy finally getting back to "normal?" And what is “normal” these days, anyway? All indications are that the new normal may not look at all like what we are used to. Amongst other things, consumers are likely to remain thrifty and the new appetite for simplicity is not likely to fade away soon. This new paradigm will affect all of us, from small and large part and product manufacturers to service-oriented businesses.
With that in mind, management will take on a new feel. Like they say, you can never go home again. So let’s take a look at what your digs might look like from here on out:
An essential part of your role will be to foster new leaders. Instead of taking on all of the issues and challenges yourself, as a leader of the company, you will need to let a strata of problem solving, which you likely have been taking care of for a number of years, go to new leaders.
Mobilize everyone to generate solutions.
Your input will be much better spent on looking ahead at what is coming down the road or making contingency plans for the next pot hole or construction zone. You will be best served by letting the new leaders take care of the daily challenges of your organization’s best practices while you focus on “next practices.”
Streamline development processes.
Even more importantly, should your organization continue to develop the same products and services at all? Do your legacy partnerships still make sense? How can your organization answer current business needs in this fluctuating environment?
These are the “someday” questions that you probably never gave yourself time to address in the past. Now they must become part of your everyday work. So, get comfortable with the new normal. If you do, you (and your organization) will come out ahead of the pack.
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Become an Influence Maverick
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How do you shepherd your employees through the roadblocks and challenges that they face? How can you increase the chances of seeing the desired outcomes for the plans you put into place?
Make more than one plan, that's how.
Studies show that the use of four or more sources of influence in combination is ten times more likely to succeed than relying on a single source of influence. That being said, are you facing organizational issues or career challenges that seem to hang on, no matter how you try changing the force of inertia?
Change initiatives can be approached in a variety of ways, many of which are valid. The key learning here is to enlist more than one method. Perhaps you have a lack of accountability, consistently low morale, or a quality issue that seems to be endemic to the organization. Maybe you have been trying to get recognition or a new position, without success.
All of these issues can be most successfully dealt with by offering up more than one solution.
Don't know where to look for new potential solutions? You are probably just stuck in a rut. You have been using the same sources for a while; sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, keeping you waiting in the lunch line forever. Starting today, use a multi-pronged approach to your challenges.
Combine the multipronged approach with the following tactics:
1. Enlist peer pressure and social support as your allies.
2. Change the work environment.
3. Take a cue from your first grade teacher; use rewards and accountability.
4. Build personal motivation in others.
Implement these tactics to help the herd move together, and reach your desired destination or solution, with each situation you face.
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Situation Room: Integrating Change
You are the Human Resources Manager for an auto parts manufacturing plant. One of the line managers quit and you replaced him with an innovative thinker who has already come up with two efficiency ideas since he started, two weeks ago.
You hired Jim in the hopes that he could help reinvigorate the team. There is a lot of cynicism on the floor, and Jim's attitude could help change the atmosphere. However, instead of acting as a catalyst, the rest of the floor managers have not accepted Jim. His presence seems to antagonize them.
What would you do?
If you send me your answer to this situation, I'll reward you by allowing you to take the Emotional Intelligence Profile leadership assessment and receive a developmental report - Free!
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