Strategic Serendipity

I did a basic team building presentation for a volunteer organization last week and was absolutely shocked by the answers to one of my questions.  Now I will admit, I learn something from every presentation I do and pretty much every person I talk to.  But this incident stood out in my mind and really made me think. As part of the presentation, I have a slide with two columns and twelve rows titled "Which Do You Prefer?".  It is a basic checklist that I recommend using during the start up of a team to find out more about the people with whom you will be working and how their styles may differ from your own.  In addition to asking if you prefer "Agenda" or "No Agenda" I ask "why."  For instance, one person reflected that if the meeting is about something they know well, they do not require an agenda ahead of time.  If it is a new topic they may want the agenda up to a week ahead of time.  There is even a silly question as to whether you prefer...

Most organizations have a standard list of competencies that they expect leaders to have.  Every book on leadership will list the competencies that the author feels are critical to success.  Yet every successful leader has had their own strengths and weaknesses.  So how do you develop yourself for leadership success? Divide your list of competencies up into three categories: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Career Derailers . We know that you want to maximize and develop your strengths and fix any career derailers.  But what about the weaknesses? If they are completely unrelated to the job you have now or want to have next, you can pass on focusing on them, for now.  But when you are ready to round out your portfolio, I suggest you start with cultivating and developing (and listening to) those who have strengths in the areas you are weak.  Yes, you could spend hours learning a new skill.  And if it is important to future success, you probably should have...

I recently gave you one way to use a journal in your personal and professional development process but there are many more.  Journals are important because the exercise of writing things down gives you time to reflect, process, make connections, and plan future courses of action.  I know it seems like this is the last thing in the world that you have time to start, but I know it will make a huge difference if you commit to it.  My challenge to you is to journal for the next 30 days and decide for yourself whether it is indeed worth your time.  For those taking the challenge, I will post journaling prompts on my Facebook Page everyday that you can use if you don't have something to write about.  (Like the Facebook Page while you're there and select Get Notifications if you want to receive the daily journalling prompts automatically.) The first question you face sometimes seems the hardest - where will I keep my journal? If you go to your local book store ...

I am struck by the number of amazing leaders I hear lately saying "there is nothing I can do to make things better for my team given the climate in which we work today."  Times are difficult, particularly in the federal sector where employees are facing furloughs, an increased workload, or both.  But how can you expect to maintain or increase employee engagement when you yourself are slowly disengaging either through burn-out or personal advancement disappointments? Albert Einstein said, "Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others, it is the only means." If you expect your team to weather the storm, you better be the first one in line with an umbrella and a raincoat.  Seriously. When leaders say there is nothing that can be done, they convey that they have given up.  Why would an employee keep pushing forward when their leader has given up? Does this mean that you should start pumping the soundtrack from the broadway musical Annie through...