Owner: GottaGettaBlog! URL:http://www.ggci.com/blog Join Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 15:26:13 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A life coach and leadership blog focused on helping you get more from your untapped potential - at work and in life. Plus news, notes, and (admittedly some) nonsense from ICF-Certified Master Coach Barry Zweibel and GottaGettaCoach!, Inc. Site statistics:Click here
Leadership Move #22: Stop Trying to BE a Leader and Just Lead 2007-08-01 16:00:00 Here's the thing: You don’t need to prove you’re in charge – by virtue of your title and position, you already are in charge. Said another way:“You have a right to lead; you've been given the responsibility to lead; so lead." Whether you happen to feel confident, or not, in any particular moment is entirely irrelevant – all that matters is what you do, or don’t do, next. So lead. Decide what a totally confident and capable leader would do ... and go do that.Will you make some mistakes? Absolutely. Will you be perfect? No. But that's okay because leadership isn't really about getting everything right, anyway - it's about leading. And if you don't lead, you're doing yourself, your immediate organization, and your company, a great disservice ... and shirking your responsibilities, all at the same time.Remember: You have a RIGHT to lead; you've been given the responsibility TO lead; so LEAD. Read more:Leader
, Leadership
Leadership Move #15: Be Bolder 2007-07-31 13:13:00 Here are seven leadership mini-moves to help you Be Bolder: Purposefully push the envelope - Show what you've got .. and to see what happens. You can always apologize later if someone thinks you went too far.Be more visible - Let them get to know who you really are and what you really stand for ... they're going to form their opinions about you anyway so you might as well have a say in what they decide. Keep focused on what people are counting on you for - Be relentless in delivering exactly that ... up, down, and across the chain. Take a stand - Get passionate about possibilities ... especially with peers and superiors ... let them know you're alive, engaged, and ready to make some magic happen. Jump in sooner, rather than later - You don't always have to wait for everyone to stop talking before saying something ... learn how to interrupt while still being polite.Innovate through experimentation - Dare to try new things and don't be afraid to fail ... you'll get more mileage fro Read more:Leadership
Leadership Move #31: Use Your Authority to Make Good Things Happen Sooner 2007-08-03 07:42:00 Here's an idea - use your authority to solve some important problems for your staff.Is a meaningful project stuck? Use your authority to move it forward.Is there a roadblock slowing everything down? Use your authority to clear it away.Is there some annoying thing that's making your staff particularly agitated? Use your authority to make it better.Whatever it is, hit it head on. Make some waves if you have to, but show your staff you're willing to go to bat for them. Then, with that in its rightful place, challenge your staff – and their staff – to use their authority to surprise and delight you with what they can now accomplish. Read more:Authority
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, Things Happen
Leadership Move #10: Be Courageous 2007-08-02 16:24:00 Often times, unlike most people, leaders are truly fearless - the circumstances, whatever they are, create no fear for them whatsoever. But that's not always the case. But sometimes, they feel LOTS of fear. You'd never know it though.The ability to move forward, notwithstanding fear, is what courageousness is all about. And courageousness is an essential component to being a good leader. (Note: courageousness is not the same as being irresponsible. You 'get' that, right?)So be courageous:Quit waiting for permission – you've already got it! Articulate what you see, even if they don’t see yet. Say what needs to be said, whatever ‘it’ is.Tell staff things like: ‘Here’s what I want you to think about’ and ‘Here’s what I think you're missing.'Speak from your experience – you've got good things to say. Speak from your gut – you really do have good things to say! Speak from an informed point of view by keeping your eyes on what’s important, not just on what’s Read more:Leadership
Check Email MORE Regularly 2007-08-09 08:10:00 Time, again, to play the Contrarian.Much talk these days about how email is a huge time-management saboteur. As such, many experts are recommending that we only check emails twice/day ... to minimize our interruptions. But I think that's a pretty bad idea. Here's why:Check
ing for emails only twice a day will likely result in an inability to keep our inbox current. The resultant Inbox Overload, which I believe is one of the main triggers of workplace overwhelm and procrastination, is a centerpiece of poor time management.Checking for emails only twice a day will likely result in us missing important, time-sensitive, communications that, quite possibly, could save us from a LOT of unnecessary make-work ... if we only knew that priorities had changed ... before we did all that work we just did.Checking for emails only twice a day signals to your coworkers that you don't really care much about what they have to say. Being so disrespectful (intentionally or not) is hardly a smart move fo Read more:Email
Getting a SLANT on Doing Better 2007-08-30 09:08:00 A while back, the University of Kansas created a "Starter Strategy" to help students learn how to engage more thoroughly in their classes, called SLANT.S - Sit in the front of the roomL - Lean forwardA - Ask questionsN - Nod your headT - Talk about the materialAs with SMART goals, there are several variations as to what the letters in the SLANT mnemonic actually stand for, and I've used the ones that resonate best for me. Regardless, the idea behind SLANT is that if you do the five things more consistently, you can't help but do consistently better in class.But not only does practicing SLANT make the student a better learner, it also makes the teacher a better teacher! Why? Because when students sit toward the front of the room, lean forward, ask questions, nod their heads, and talk about the materials they're learning even after class has officially ended, well, how can a teacher not be jazzed be by that?! Given such a receptive audience, who wouldn't want to prepare more thorough
Is That Me Really Me? 2007-08-27 15:30:00 I don't remember the source, but I do remember that we each have three me's:The 'me' that we think we areThe 'me' that others think we areThe 'me' that we really areAnd while we'd like to believe that all three me's are one in the same, they often times are definitely not. Take, for instance: The boss who doesn't think we're nearly as competent or capable as we think we areThe coworkers don't think we're nearly as helpful or collaborative as we think we areThe friends who don't think we're nearly as available or giving as we think we areThe family members who don't think we're nearly as loving or supportive as we think we areThe thing is this: In each case, there's probably some truth in what they're saying, even though our 'me' may think otherwise. So what does it all mean? It means we're human. But its implications can be far more reaching because if we don't allow for the possibility (probability?) that the 'me' we like to think we are ... isn't, then we'
Leadership Move #24: Micromanage ... Yourself 2007-08-31 10:23:00 No one likes to be micromanaged. And why would they? It implies that their boss doesn't trust or respect them. Now that might not be what the boss actually believes, but it's sure what it looks like - when someone gets an assignment on Monday that's not due until Wednesday, and the boss comes asking about it on Tuesday, well, what else can that look like?!But in all fairness to bosses, micromanagement isn't always grounded in a boss's lack of trust or respect for an employee. More often, it's rooted in a boss's abysmal organizational, planning, and delegation skills!If you think about it, there's really no reason for a boss to micromanage if s/he has good organizational, planning, and delegation skills - even if s/he doesn't trust or respect a particular direct report. Providing consistently clear, concise, meaningful, and deadline-driven assignments is an easier and more efficient method for sifting the lumps out of the flour, as it were. But, it requires that a boss:Be bett Read more:Leadership
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Top/Down Hubris: Bottom/Up Winfrey 2007-09-19 10:54:00 According to a Business Week survey of 2,000 executives ... 1. Are you one of the top 10% of performers in your company? 2. Which person would you most like to be your direct boss?These answers are just too much! And with 97% of all executives surveyed believing that they're in the top 10% of performers in their company, no wonder why so many people would rather work for Oprah - as least she admits her show has commercial breaks! Read more:Bottom
, Winfrey
Leadership Move #28: Maintain Strong Fiduciary Controls 2007-09-18 08:11:00 There's no quicker way to undermine your credibility as a boss than by poorly managing your budget. But note, this does not mean that the goal is simply to come in under budget whenever possible, as this, too, shows that you're unable to properly manage your monies. Rather, strive for your actuals to come win 5% - plus or minus - of your budget*. That shows you know how to pay attention to what matters.Other tips to help you maintain strong fiduciary controls throughout the year:Review your financial reports within 8 hours of receiving them. If you aren't receiving your financial reports on a timely basis, complain to someone who can do something about it.Note any variances +/-8%, or more, off of expected amounts* and request an Explanation of Variance (EOV) for from the appropriate manager(s) each and every line item variance.Make sure you actually receive those EOVs from your managers (because you often won't) and make sure that their EOVs make sense (because they often won't).A Read more:Leadership
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What Goes Around, Comes Around 2007-09-12 14:23:00 Which is really harder?To be creative enough to create a hit song out of thin air, or to take that song on the road and play it consistently and passionately, night-after-night-after night?To do what it takes to drive a high-profile project through to its successful completion or to seamlessly operationalize the significant changes likely resultant from that project's completion?To lose 20 pounds, or to not regain them?To get a new job when you're unemployed, or to stay positive when you're unemployed and not getting any job offers?To significantly improve your performance or to ably sustain those improvements over time?There's a tendency in business -and in life - to judge others by what they do, or don't, do particularly well. Prematurely. Repeatedly. Unfairly. Given that you're, quite probably, already familiar with what it feels like when others - prematurely, repeatedly, and unfairly - judge what you do, how might you actually be prematurely, repeatedly, and unfairly judging
Creative Listening, redux 2007-09-04 17:07:00 Back in March of 2005 I wrote a post titled, "How are you at Creative Listening
?" I mention it here, again, because, just today, the idea that employees might not communicate as clearly as we might hope came up - not just once, but twice. Here, then, is an expert from that post:"People are always telling us things. And more times than they probably realize, WHAT they tell us doesn't always make sense - at least not at first. One way to deal with that is to ignore whatever doesn't make sense. But that's a lesser strategy."The stronger approach is to become a Creative Listener, listening not just to what IS said, but to what might be MEANT by what is said, as well. This is particularly important when the subject matter is emotionally-charged." So the next time that someone says something to you that doesn't quite make sense, give them the benefit of the doubt. Be patient. Ask questions. Say back what you're hearing to see if it's correct. Assume that there is an excellent nugget th
Cubs 2007 To-Do List, Part One 2007-10-01 07:54:00 Win Central Division ... successfully completed Win National League Division SeriesWin National League PenantWin World Series
Higher Understanding through Ping-Pong 2007-10-11 08:52:00 An absolutely wonderful article in today's Chicago Tribune titled, Mastering the art of Ping-Pong: Sensei says you must become 'calm and rushed' by By Kevin Pang:Young Grasshopper hopes to one day become master of the Ping-Pong realm, but Young Grasshopper lacks the wisdom of Ardy S. Taveerasert, flower shop owner by day, sensei by night. Listen to the words of the sage in T-shirt and short shorts:"Table tennis is like chess and running at the same time," Taveerasert dispenses, encapsulating 30 years of Ping-Pong perspicuity into one sentence.Young Grasshopper nods. He absorbs. He understands. Everything Young Grasshopper has learned about Ping-Pong must be unlearned.The setting: A warm, pastoral evening at Daley Bicentennial Park, steps from the Pritzker Pavilion, an iron monkey's leap from Lake Michigan.The apprentices: Members of the Chicago Slam Table Tennis Club, a faction of all ages and nationalities. Five nights a week, they clash in the struggles of competition (and ostens Read more:Higher
, Understanding
4qtr2007 of "Not Just Talk!" now available 2007-10-09 06:16:00 There's an interesting paradox to personal growth. On the one hand, we need to get out of our own way so we can step more fully into our Best Self. On the other hand, we need to accept who we already are because being one's Best Self cannot occur without acceptance of self, as is.The 4qtr2007 edition of Not Just Talk! - the quarterly newsletter from GottaGettaCoach!, which is now available
at http://www.ggci-quarterly.com/ - looks at this paradox from a few different angles to see what we see.First up is The Real Reason People Won't Change, a review of a Harvard Business Review article of the same name that looks at getting off the dime in terms of understanding the "why" behind our inaction ... and the "how" in front of our future actions.Next, we flip over the coin with Authentically Munch, a piece about Richard Belzer's SVU character and consider how we might better embrace who we already more readily to show up more completely in the world around us.The Ask the Coach segment fo
Visual DNA Assessment 2007-10-05 16:46:00 Some Friday Fun: Visual
DNA assessment."What does your choice of images say about you," ask the folks at imagini.net? "See how you compare to over 4,000,000 other people from all over the world who've done this simple and fun test."Take it yourself and see what you see. It only takes a few minutes and it's visually quite appealing. Just click on whichever picture best completes the sentence for you and follow the sequence through to the end.----Thanks to The Ladders for pointing this one out. Read more:Assessment
, Visual DNA
For Future AND Incumbent Executives - Today 2007-10-03 08:00:00 What are the most desired management abilities for Future
Executives (and incumbent leaders, too, if you ask me)?According to Right Management Consultants, they are as follows: Motivate and engage others Communicate effectively, strategically, and interpersonally Think strategically Lead change Create a performance organization Sure, these elements make sense, but let's make them relevant to you and your world. Therefore, What will you do to better motivate and engage others - today? What will you do to improve how effectively, strategically, and interpersonally you communicate - today? What will you think more strategically about - today? What will you do to more assertively lead change - today? What will you do to actually create that performance organization you've been talking about - today?!Think about it - and then do something desirably executive-like - today - whether you're an incumbent leader, or not. Read more:Incumbent
, Today
Leadership Move #20: Keep Learning 2007-10-18 10:38:00 Although much of work is about showing what you already know, don't stop learning just because you're out of school. Indeed, thinking that you already know everything you need to know is a sure recipe for disaster.When someone assumes that what worked to solve yesterday's problems is sufficient for solving today's problems, they're truly asking for trouble:That a similar solution is what's called for suggests that there's an underlying problem being left unattended - a 'quick fix' typically treats only the symptoms, and symptoms have a tendency of reappearing at regular intervals until the underlying problem is actually addressed.Today's problems are increasingly complex and subtle so simply trying to overlay 'what worked in the past' is not only unimaginative, and unproductive, it's likely fraught with several unintended consequences, which might just make things worse than they already are. While what you already know might work just fine, it leaves the opportunity of be Read more:Leadership
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Thank You Notes 2007-10-17 07:30:00 Here's a page from the Old School manual - send a 'thank you' note.Someone gives something nice to you - send a thank you noteSomeone does something nice for you - send a thank you noteSomeone says something nice about you - send a thank you noteIt doesn't have to be fancy. It doesn't have to be more than a sentence or two. It doesn't even have to be hand-written. (An email or voicemail is just fine). All it really has to be is sincere. Of course the sooner you send it the better, but, as they say, better late than never! If you're not in the habit of sending thank you notes, I invite you to try it. It's not hard to do; it doesn't even take all that much time. But it will quite likely make both you, and the person you send it to, feel pretty good. So why not?~ Read more:Notes
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Taking it Off-Line 2007-10-24 07:29:00 Scenario: You're attending a staff meeting, tensions are high, pressure is rising, and your boss turns to you and asks a very pointed, but tangential, question that the answer to which is likely to drag things (and possibly you) down further. You try to take it off-line, that is, suggest you talk about it later, but the boss says "No. We're talking about it now."What to do?~Talk about it now, responding as quickly, crisply, and in as a respectful, non-defensive manner, as possible, pushing back when necessary, but doing so because it's called-for, not just because you feel like it or don't know what else to do. And hope that it doesn't turn into an inquisition, of sorts.That said, what can you do to increase the probability that your next 'off-line' request will be agreed to and accepted ? Here are some ideas:Stay calm and composed - Nothing encourages a boss to go on the offense more than someone's defensiveness. Practice poise under pressure. It will serve you well.Frame your Read more:Taking
It's Not Still Spelled "Busy-ness" for a Reason 2007-10-30 06:27:00 It was a good idea gone bad. "Let's call it 'busy-ness'," they said, "because that's what we want people to be at work - busy." And so it was for about 200 years until, around the 14th century, some bosses started realizing that being "busy" wasn't exactly what they were looking for from their underlings. True, they did want diligence, but it had become apparent that what their minions diligently worked on made a huge difference in the profitability of the company. Who knew?!So with this subtle, but powerful, distinction now understood, a similarly subtle, but maybe not as meaningful spelling change was agreed upon. The "y" was dropped, and an "i" was put in its place, and the word "business" was born! (At least that's the story that I made up about it.)The problem, though, is that so many people are still so busy being busy, that they haven't stopped to read the memo. So for the record, there is a difference between doing 'stuff' and getting stuff done. There is a difference Read more:Reason
Julio Olalla: ICF Conference Keynote Speaker 2007-11-09 08:21:00 The opening keynote speaker and Honorary Conference Chair of the International Coach Federation's 2007 Annual Conference was Julio Olalla, MCC, founder and president of the Newfield Network, an international education, coaching and consulting company.A very engaging speaker, Julio spoke about the 'cognitive schizophrenia' that has developed in the modern world. He suggested that the world insists we focus on our exterior knowing - science, business, objects, the 'real' world, etc. - which we dutifully do. But lost in the process is our ability to connect with our interior knowledge - our hearts and souls, passions and beliefs, hopes, dreams, values, love, loyalty, appreciation for the wisdom of others and the very "cognitive possibilities" that flow from emotion.The answer is not to swing the pendulum all the way to the other side, or even learn how to ably switch between exterior and interior paradigms in an effort to achieve so-called balance. Rather, he said, the answer is in l Read more:Keynote
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Coaching Next Level Leaders: ICF Conference Breakout Session 2007-11-08 07:35:00 Scott Eblin, president of The Eblin Group, and author of The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success, started this session by positing that a full 40% of new leaders fail within 18 months. Some of the external reasons for that include shifts in the market and organizational dynamics, but it's the internal reasons that are more often the cause:being afraid to say, "I don't know"not listening well enoughnot getting the "lay of the land"fearnot learning the new rules of the positionthe urge to control thingsnot clarifying expectations and requirementsIn looking for what to do about all this, Eblin interviewed several hundred seasoned executives, asking them two key questions: What do you recommend executives "pick up" and "put down" in order to be successful in their new roles?What did you "pick up" and "put down" that resulted in your success in your new roles?Three key leadership presence elements emerged - personal presence, team presence, and organizational presence - Read more:Breakout
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ICF Conference 2007 2007-11-06 08:00:00 Last week I was in Long Beach California attending the 12th annual conference of the International Coach Federation, along with about 1,500 other coaches from 36 different countries. International, indeed!In addition to coaches from New Jersey, Colorado, Nebraska, New York, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Maryland, among other states, I also met some wonderful coaches from Japan, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Brazil, Columbia, France, China, Australia, and New Zealand, as well. It's truly amazing to me how much the ICF - and coaching - has grown over the last several years.Over the course of the next few weeks, I'll be blogging about some of the keynotes and breakout sessions that I thought were particularly interesting, intriguing, and relevant to a wider audience.It was nice to be away. It's now nice to be back!
Done with your Performance Reviews Yet?! 2007-11-14 07:34:00 Been putting off those year-end performance evaluations because you can't figure out exactly how to say what you know needs to be said?Well help is available in the form of an easily downloadable Special Report called: Employee Performance
Discussions: 10 Important Things a Boss MUST Know How to Say.Giving effective employee performance reviews is not about being a jerk. To the contrary - it's about being respectful, caring, succinct, and on-the-money with your observations, comments, recommendations, and requests. The better you do this, the more likely your staff's performance will improve. Perhaps more importantly, though, the better you do this, the more likely your staff's improved performance can be sustained over time.Employee Discussions shows you how. In it, you'll find:10 specific conversation "clarifiers" that can dramatically improve the performance of all employees - from your very best, to weakest, and everyone in between Specific phrasings of what to say, including
Coaches and Therapists - How Different?: ICF Conference Breakout Session 2007-11-13 07:52:00 While I've been to coaching vs. therapy presentations before, they were always lead by coaches. So I thought it'd be particularly refreshing to hear about it from the other side, as it were. Enter Dr. David Orlinsky, noted professor of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago.Of all of his charts and descriptions offered, this was the one I found most helpful in articulating the differences: Good set of distinctions, don't you think? Thanks, David. Read more:Breakout
, Coaches
Vulnerability, Teamwork, and Personal Growth 2007-11-17 14:37:00 Last week I had the opportunity to spend two days on a rustic team building retreat at Joy Outdoor Education Center in Clarksville, Ohio, courtesy of a corporate client, Hill-Rom, where the group learned about their Insights® colors (courtesy of Scott Schwefel), did a high ropes course and related activities, endured gusts up to 34 mph and wind chills down to the teens (brrr!), shared emotionally-moving and personal stories deep into the night by light (and warmth) of a bonfire, slept in cabins, ate camp food, and stretched and grew in ways that were truly amazing. And that was Day One!Day Two included a morning of coaching and facilitation, courtesy of yours truly, and an afternoon of detailed departmental planning and goal-setting, led by Phillip Saxton, president of MiTowne.Initially, I perceived, and prepared for, my role as that of catalyst: "an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action," as Merriam Webster might say. But as I settled into my bunk that first nigh Read more:Growth
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