Organizations are social systems.  All business is people business.  If an organization is having a cash flow problem, it’s not just a financial problem, it’s a leadership problem.  All organizational problems come down to people within the organization.

Most organizations still run under Pareto’s 80/20 principle where 20% of the work force does 80% of the work. This is an endemic in almost every position, in every organization and across all industries.  What does this mean?  The performance bell curve stills ends up being 10% top performers, 15% B performers, 50% C performers and 25% D performers.  This results in an almost uniform 33% human capital efficiency.

This factor in business creates the single biggest opportunity for increased growth and profit.  Your biggest asset is walking through your door every day and it’s not your customer.  Human Capital is the most important and most expensive asset of any organization.

Isn’t it time for you to invest in your largest asset?

As a leader of your organization is your energy spent enabling or disabling your workforce?  Many managers are unaware of their influence on the success of their employees.  Why?  Perhaps they never slow down enough to ask the tough questions of themselves to become aware of their contribution.  It’s time to own our actions, own our behaviours and own our level of influence.

What choices will you make to raise the capacity in your human capital?

How do you contribute to the level of success your organization is having?

Slow down and ask yourself the tough questions and if you can’t, hire a coach that will.

To your continued success!

Jenna

By: Jenna Forster

Are you Leading or are you Managing?

Turnover can cost a company 24 times a person’s salary.

More than two million workers say their bosses are so overworked they don’t really have time to manage their staff properly.

80% of people never use their greatest gifts at work.

Sound familiar?  Can you recognize this within your own organization?

What’s happening within our workforce to allow for this impact of statistics?  Most organizations are running at about a 33% human capital, aka your employees, efficiency.  Why?

We believe it comes down to poor leadership; it ripples from the top down.  We have spent so much energy creating “good managers” that we have become disengaged with what it means to be a good leader.

Managing comes from a need to produce an outcome which is a very big reality; however, when we can move to a place of leading those around us, the organizational momentum transforms.  Your employees, more than anything, want to make a contribution and be a part of something.  It’s time to lead that charge and enable your workforce through focus, alignment, action and accountability.

Jenna Forster

Director of Operations and Training

Executive Coaching University

Challenge Principle
Openness is a foundation for curiosity. It is essential for collecting a greater depth and breadth of data that can inform our choices. Openness is having the patience to suspend judgement enough to allow for the unknown to show up. It’s the courage to accept our limitations and at the same time believe there is something more to come from ourselves and others.
So…think about how you feel when making a decision. When do you charge forward, so sure about your choice, and why? What would happen if your process took a step to pause and ponder, or to just wonder “hmmm, what else is out there?”

Steps to challenge yourself to “Be Curious”

Curiosity is key in creating the information enabling effective decisions leading to action. It can be built into your decision-making process by expanding the “how”, “what”, and “where” of your questioning.

1. Take a moment to consider what role curiosity can play in your decision-making. What questions are you asking, who are you asking (including yourself), and when might you ask them?

2. Inventory your information. When you have a choice to make, acknowledge to yourself what information you are using and where it comes from. And don’t discount intuition, emotions, physical feelings, etc., account for it all.

3. Think of what you aren’t asking and where you’re not looking. What “curtains” are you drawing around your decision? Where can they be pulled back or at least peeked through? You don’t have to actually ask at this stage; the powerful first steps are to understand what you could be asking.

4. Play with “what if?” When you’ve made a choice, but before you act, take a minute to follow some possible paths on what happens next. And don’t follow just one path, take a few, just to experience that there are different potential futures from what you might do.

AND…
Curiosity is not always comfortable for us, as questions (to ourselves or others) can cause defensiveness, or ask us to access places we’ve tried to avoid. Asking effective questions, and in a way that opens and invites powerful information, is a skill that you can develop and improve. Studying critical or creative thinking, practicing coaching (the art of asking questions is a foundation of the coaching profession), or simply having someone you can practice asking questions to, are all ways to help build this skill.

I will…take a look at my ego and understand how it plays a role in my level of courage and in my motivations.

Make a commitment to begin an ”ego audit” to learn if your actions, communications, decisions, and your behavior, reflect a healthy ego (that is based on who you are), versus egotism (that is based on identifying with something outside of yourself, i.e., possessions, titles, social status).  

This challenge will consider your values and allow you to examine your thoughts and behaviors to understand the circumstances around your choices. You will develop connection with who you are, your emotions, and what you are capable of achieving. It again leverages the Challenge Principle of “Awareness”

Steps to initiate this “Ego Audit Challenge”

Our ego is key in having healthy self-esteem and confidence. It supports our personality, our interests, values, attitudes, and desires. Sigmund Freud would lead us to believe that we ARE our egos, but in the context of this challenge, our ego is only a portion of who we are. Striving to maintain a healthy balance between ego and egotism is everything. It can change our entire focus and direction. It can change the world!

1.  Take a moment to consider how ego plays a role in motivating your actions. Are there triggers that drive your ego, (people, places, events, etc.)?

2.  Ask yourself “what do I care about?” in any situation and then determine if ego or egotism is involved. If I care about an individual relationship, I’ll communicate from a different level.

 3.  When noticing you may be coming from an egotistical position, ask yourself, “what am I afraid of?” and “are my fears based upon the reality of the situation?”

 4.  What could be different for you? It begins by understanding what you care about within yourself, what changes best support these priorities, and what effect these changes could have on your life.

AND…

If we could “pause” in the moment, how would we modify our approach to communication and action? Whenever we engage with others there are expectations around the speed of your response, but would silence for moment make a difference in outcomes for all involved?

We must be prepared to feel vulnerable if we pause, but the power of a healthy ego – knowing our intentions and confident we are coming from our values – will calm us and sustain us as we evolve.

Challenge #1 – Make a Change

I will…exercise sufficient courage to change something– my mind, my life, my behavior, my lifestyle – thus accessing and developing my ability to influence change in society.

Make a commitment to participate in a “personal change challenge” that can positively impact your life and perhaps the lives of those around you. Change has a ripple effect that could lead to changing your organization, your community or society, if others choose to make the same change commitment.

The change chosen should reflect your values, so ask yourself: what do I stand for? What is important to me? What do I care about?

Challenging ourselves to make change that matters to us, and to understand why, exercises our awareness abilities, that then influences our ability to make meaningful, deliberate decisions.

 Steps to choose and embody a “Personal Change Challenge”

1. Take a moment to consider an area of growth for yourself. What could be different for you? It begins by understanding what you care about within yourself, what changes best support these priorities, and what effect these changes could have on your life.

(NOTE: Changes may include anything from small habits, to healthy living or lifestyle choices, to environmental or social shifts. For example, eating whole foods or taking daily exercise could lead to keeping health care costs under control within a family, a community or for a nation – if a movement became successful)  

2. Make a commitment in writing to begin the “change challenge” and share your commitment with others. Ground your commitment by being clear why this is important to you. How does this change reflect who you are?  Sharing this commitment makes you accountable to yourself and others.

3. Make a plan to act, using the planning approach that works best for you (remembering all the while what you care about within this change). 

4. Act, take note, and evaluate. Check back in to see how your actions reflect your intention and make adjustments to ensure you keep aligned.

5. Acknowledge what happens. By acknowledging your success, your failures, your learning, you will develop greater awareness, more fully appreciate your efforts, and be stronger for the next challenge.

AND…

Any change that we take on in our lives has a direct effect on those around us. As we change, we may be asking (even if unspoken) those around us to change.

You may feel push back from those around you. It’s not that they don’t believe in you, it’s that change can be frightening. And when we are led by fear, our ego becomes a strong force to keep things the way they are. Be sure you understand what is important to you about the change and stay grounded in that.

Introduction…

What allows us to have the courage to take a step?  How do we feel fearful and at the same time feel very grounded that what we are pulled to do is the right thing?  There is a famous quote; “feel the fear and do it anyway”.  Do we ever truly know what’s right?  Are we trusting from an internal or external source?  Perhaps it’s a higher power we trust, or a trusted confidant that encourages us.  Join us and become your own trusted confidant, walking forward, knowing and feeling grounded.

Courage, a Fundamental in Values-Based Leadership

The concept of courage within leadership is best understood by reviewing the chart at the right.

Courage Chart Explanation

 Fear and courage are expressed here in opposing positions on a single continuum of values-based leadership development, yet they may have a direct influence upon one another. When professionals suffer fear, they may undergo physical and/or emotional reactions cited within the lower level of the chart.

Movement takes place upward from fear along the courage continuum, as we become aware of our unconscious state of a fear.

As we choose to examine our fears and then act, we continue to shift  upward.  Conscious conduct allows us to use fear as a driver toward courage.

INVITATION…

Please participate in our values based decision making “Challenge Series” to trigger and strengthen courage…

Challenge #1

Challenge: exercising sufficient courage to change – my mind, my life, my behavior, my lifestyle toward influencing change in society.

See our next blog post for your first challenge.

Sounds pretty simple, but looking at marital teams, business teams, sports teams and even family teams, putting it into action is harder than it appears. Aside from individuals not always being capable of working to their maximum efficiency, team participants may each have differing routes by which they believe the common goal must/should be reached.

Clarity of Purpose

Key to successful teams is ensuring each team player truly understands the goal, objective, outcomes desired, in terms they understand. This includes individual members of the group appreciating the differing approaches by which each team player believes the goal will be attained.

Varied Strengths and Approaches

Seldom do two people come to any experience with the same perceptions about a goal or outcome. One person may believe the relationship between the team members is key to the team’s success. Another may contribute problem solving skills to the initiative. A third may feel intuitive about how to accomplish the goal and be quite insistent their approach or perspective is the correct one. Still another team member may be the “bean counter” measuring the time, cost, facility space, etc. that must be accounted for in order to attain outcomes.

Effective Leadership

A team leader, not attached to a single means of reaching a goal and aware of the strengths brought to the team by the differing approaches of each team player, has a head start in truly creating a team that will strive for the leader’s desired outcomes.

A leader focused on relationships, or power plays or nifty planning may not value the detail attention of the bean counter. But, the player with attention to the details will keep the team lined up and focused on perhaps the most efficient ways and means of reaching the goal on time and within budget. Therefore all great teams require respectful, aware and recognizing team leaders who realize the value of team player differing strengths.

If you believe your leadership skills may lack necessary awareness and team building strength and you find yourself frustrated by the varying approaches to goals of your staff members, you may need some “effective” leadership training.

Jenna

Everyone is hard wired to view the world through their particular lens and everyone lens in a little bit different. Without understanding how we ourselves work and how others work it is very difficult to move our way through obstacles that may present themselves.  Do you find yourself over reacting to someone’s response in a meeting?  Do the same life challenges continue to show up dressing in different clothing?  Is there someone whom you interact with on a regular basis that you just don’t click with?   It all comes down to your hard wiring.  It has been said that all business problems are people problems.  Communication is at the forefront of all motion.

We react to everything in one of two ways; one is in response to our environment based on personality, experience and habit.  The other is based on our hard wired core values.

There is one quick means to determine if we are acting upon our own values or those of others around us, and that is to review our choices and actions of each day to determine if we are motivated from within or if we look to others for direction. No matter the role we fill in business or our career, values based function benefits us personally by reinforcing our sense of confidence and also generates greater trust from others in dealing with us. They can sense when we are ‘ourselves” as we work with them.

It takes courage and awareness to act upon one’s values.

For example… If we function from a position of honesty, it means we must back up that trait with communication skills that are not abrasive, but are necessary to successful outcomes. When an employee or a peer isn’t performing to an expected standard, if we speak from an honest value base to tell them what we see as their shortfall in performance, but do it with tact and allow them their dignity, we demonstrate leadership.  It takes courage and conviction to live by one’s values; they amplify our capacities and strengthen others by our influence.

If we take our direction from others, they may not possess the same values we do. If honor or integrity or honesty is not within their value system, following them, rather than listening to our own values may cost us more than we imagine. Aside from losing confidence in our capacity to make decisions, take action, or to encourage those seeking value-based lifestyle courses, we may lose business and leadership influence.

Just as a compass can take one off course if in the vicinity of a magnet, our lives can be quietly and subtly moved off course by leaving the influence of our trusted and proven virtues and values. Take the opportunity to check out your utilization of values in daily decision making. Then when you see you are on course, congratulate yourself and give recognition to the values that are key to your identity.

Jenna

The first possibility is that the vision cannot be accomplished by the team members, in the time frame provided or within the constraints of funding, skill sets, etc. But, more often, according to Stephen R. Covey, teams don’t meet goals because members don’t have a clear appreciation of either the goals or the priorities. In addition each member of a team may not have adequate commitment to reaching the goal, or they may not appreciate their responsibility in performance or don’t truly feel accountable for key performance increments. If team members lack a true understanding of the team’s function or the infrastructure within which they must operate to reach a goal, it may limit their performance or outcomes. In addition, lack of cohesiveness amid the team members can be very detrimental to their capacity to function on track.

We relate to each of these realities, but we forget the fact that each of us comes to any task with core capacities that allow us to approach a team with differing skill sets. If we are the only member of a team with a given core value (e.g. keeping track of each dollar and every minute of time) and more of the other team members are visionary, you may be perceived as not being a team player. Nothing is farther from the truth. Actually, your team role is to help the other team members come to appreciate your unique contribution to the team’s success.

Team leaders are famous for vision, but not all leaders are:

• equally qualified as communicators;
• gifted with attention to detail disciplines;
• mindful of reporting schedules and feedback opportunities;
• thorough about task management breakdowns and making specific assignments;
• discerning about team member values, attributes and skills;

Team members may not be:

• confident enough to ask questions;
• invested sufficiently in their team membership to become accountable;
• qualified with innate or taught skills/capacities and may not be confident enough to state that fact.
• Given the opportunity to become fully invested in the team objectives and goals and therefore may not be consistent with their performance.

If all the team players realize they must function as “one” to be successful, they’d look at the leader’s vision with greater appreciation of each team player’s role and capacity. Core values that motivate full and enthusiastic participation in team work must be encouraged. Working with a team is a learned skill and taking the time to acquire such skills benefits all concerned.

Jenna