Entries by gmader

Courage makes the world go around

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W.H. Murray, the leader of the Scottish Himalayan Expedition that pioneered the path to the top of Mt. Everest, knew something about COURAGE. He shared his experience in a known quote, which I really love: Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: That, the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and […]

Are you having or avoiding the courageous conversations?

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The senior leaders of a large and successful technology company I was working with wanted to improve their overall effectiveness as a team, including their communications and meeting productiveness. The leaders acknowledged that their conversations and meetings were not effective and that included: The short-term fire-fighting always took over meeting’s agendas and the team never got to discuss the more strategic topics of opportunity and change When the leaders did get to the discussions the same few team members always dominated the conversation and other team members felt unable to contribute The team debated issues endlessly without reaching conclusions, alignment and decisions Important decisions that affected everyone were made behind the scenes with the same […]

The four Es of making a difference with others

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If you manage people or if you are simply trying to make a difference through coaching, mentoring or supporting someone you care about, I would like to share with you some thoughts about four distinctions you should focus on.  I refer to these as – The Four Es of Making a Difference ENABLE: The dictionary defines enable as “To give someone the means to make something possible” So many people get resigned and give up too quickly when they face big challenges. They view their obstacles as bigger than them, so instead of staying the course to overcome their obstacles they quit or simply go through the motion, which is worst. In fact, too many people fail […]

Is your team evolving by default or are you shaping it by design?

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I was coaching the senior members of a new leadership team of a mid-size technology company on developing themselves a strong leadership team. We were in a collective discussion about “What is your role as a leadership team?” and people were expressing their views. At some point in the conversation, I shared some of my own thoughts and recommendations about what the role of a strong leadership team could be. I included things like: “Ensure that the strategic commitments and objectives of your organization are alive and meeting their results” “Ensure that your people are in great shape from a professional, productivity, development and motivation standpoint” and “Ensure that you, yourselves are operating and being viewed […]

It’s always the time for straight talk!

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I was coaching two senior executives in improving their trust, collaboration and communication. They were the heads of two businesses that had to work closely together. In fact, the success of the entire company depended on it. They were both seasoned, effective and knowledgeable executives who commanded large organizations and achieved great results. Both were highly respected within their respective teams as well as among their peers. However, they had very different personalities and styles, and they had an acrimonious relationship for a long time. Even though their team members had to work closely together, the two executives went out of their way to minimize their interactions and limit them to mission-critical activities. Many times […]

Promise results or don’t promise at all!

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I was coaching the marketing department of a global technology company in coming up with its strategic plan. They had identified their key strategic areas and were working on articulating the outcomes they wanted to achieve in each area. However, in several of the areas, instead of coming up with clear end results, they identified activities. For example, instead of promising to grow the number of customers and potential customers who are signed up, and actively contributing to their user-group community to a specific number, they promised to increase the number of events in which they promoted the community. Instead of promising to increase the number of high-end industry events they are invited to speak […]

6 essential steps to help you reach your next level

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A lot of my one-on-one coaching work is focused on helping leaders and professionals take themselves, their environment, performance, and results to the next level. Whether you are a beginner or veteran at your game, there are clear, powerful and practical principles that if you understand and follow will help you reach your next desired level: Get clear on your desired end state. Project yourself into your future – at least a year or two from now – and envision that you have achieved your desired end state. Then, describe what your success looks like. Write it down as clear and vivid as you can. Visualize how you are behaving and performing in your new […]

How to drive strong ownership, commitment, accountability and passion in your team

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As a leader – here are five practical things you can do to deepen the level of ownership, commitment, accountability and passion in your team: Make sure people are engaged in setting the goals early on. This practice would most likely be applied differently depending on the size of your team, and how dispersed it is. In a small team, it is easy to engage people in the strategy or goal-setting exercise. In a large organization, this principle will have to be implemented in steps. Step one – would be to get your senior team engaged and aligned. Step two – bring the middle managers on board. And step three – update and include the rest of the team. The application may be […]

The more you try to control the less control you have

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Most managers who micromanage their employees suppress their spirit and performance. Employee’s performance is directly tied to their sense of ownership, commitment, and accountability for the success of their organization. Their passion, ownership, commitment and accountability are reduced when they feel distrusted, disrespected and under-valued from a leadership and/or professional standpoint by their manager. By micromanaging their people, managers generate an environment of compliance and fear. And that typically cause people to play it safe and “cover their behinds” instead of stepping up and going beyond the call of duty to take ownership, risk and initiative. Managers who micromanage their employees are focused on the wrong things. Instead of trying to control their people they […]

Taking responsibility makes the difference

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I was working with a large technology company on transforming their organizational culture and elevating their business results to a new level. We started the change initiative with the senior leadership team, getting each of the leaders to whole heartedly believe in, and own the process and its objectives. We then extended the process to the top 100 senior managers by holding a multi-day session that also included the senior leaders. Like many companies, there was history and baggage with regard to change. There were past attempts to improve the basic organizational dynamics that everyone was frustrated about, such as transforming the silos, politics and ‘blame game’ between functions and levels into genuine alignment, trust […]

Stop stating the obvious and start taking a stand!

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I was attending a leadership team meeting where the topic of the discussion was bringing clarity to the roles and responsibilities of three of the key functions in the company who work closely together. The lack of clarity in these roles and responsibilities was causing internal and external angst; team members were competing for deals, projects and who is the lead in each scenario, and customers were feeling confused about who they should go to with their opportunities and challenges. Needless to say, this reality was hurting the company as a whole in terms of efficiency, ability to scale, morale, business results, and reputation. Instead of dictating and mandating the answer the CEO wanted the […]

How to deal with issues and problems

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How to deal with issues and problems  In last week’s blog – “You cannot bypass the truth” – I discussed the fact that if you want to fix/transform any dysfunctional or unwanted organizational condition or dynamic you have to start by being honest and telling the truth about the problem. I am sure you have heard the saying “95% of the solution to your problem is admitting that you have a problem!” Well as simple as it sounds, this powerful principle applies when dealing with big organizational issues. If you want to fix or change an undesired condition, you have to make sure all the key leaders and team members who are involved in that […]