The Thoughtful Leaders Blog
Posted by Robyn McLeod on December 15, 2011
We have shared our perspectives on employee engagement and positive, thoughtful leadership in previous posts. Here’s a piece that cites great research on the direct correlation between positive employee perceptions of their organization and company performance. This Harvard Business Review blog post describes Organizational Identification – an individual’s connection with a company’s character or reputation – as a factor in why employees are attracted to certain organizations and how that connection builds loyalty in retaining employees and customers. (Continue reading…)
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on October 27, 2011
I’m not sure where I first heard these two sentences combined. I do know that I repeat them, over and over, to my clients. Many of us grew up to Yoda’s (from Star Wars), “There is no try, only do.” We thought the little “guy” was cute, enjoyed his coaching Luke Skywalker, and maybe, every now and then, thought about not trying but instead just hunkering down and doing something. But taking things the next step by adding the second sentence, “There is no do, only be,” makes this concept even more real, and more pertinent to leadership.
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Posted by Robyn McLeod on October 20, 2011
In teaching the elements of high-performing teams, we use a model called GRPI (developed by Noel Tichy and Ram Charam among others) that has as its base – interpersonal relationships. It tells us that no matter how technically skilled a team is and how clear its purpose and goals are, without a foundation of great working relationships the team will not perform at its maximum ability.
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on October 13, 2011
Many years ago I taught an MBA presentation skills class and I included a section on audience analysis. I shared that it was important to determine how the intended audience of any presentation felt about the topic…and the tension in the room was always palpable. I began to call “feel” the “F word” – as if it was something that couldn’t be discussed in a business setting.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on October 10, 2011
“How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things, but how well we are understood.” Andrew Grove
How often do you have absolute surety that you’ve clearly, specifically stated what it was you needed to share. That you’ve posed simple questions, offered explicit directions, clarified unambiguous expectations, and communicated everything that you needed to. And that any misunderstanding is therefore completely and totally the fault of the people who simply didn’t hear what you so carefully said.
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on September 1, 2011
Years ago I was leading a group through our Increasing Performance through Strategic Thinking seminar and things were going great…until the end. The participants were all fired up about their new ideas. They were excited to make things happen for themselves and their organization with the innovative problem solving they’d engaged in and the strong solutions they’d developed, except for one little problem. “How will we convince all of ‘them’ to go along with our idea?” they asked. “How can we sell this to our team, or senior management?” they posed. “How can we really, actually, make this happen?”
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Posted by Robyn McLeod on August 25, 2011
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver tackled school cafeteria food in the “unhealthiest city in America” – Huntington, West Virginia – in his television show, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. A recent article in Booz and Company’s Strategy + Business examines how Oliver’s journey toward promoting healthier ways of eating in Huntington provides great lessons for leaders looking to effect change in their organizations.
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on August 4, 2011
Have you ever noticed that there are times you’re really engaged at work and times you’re not? There are projects that fire you up and projects that drain you. There are people you love to work with and people whom you simply can’t seem to stand being in the same room with.
In order to be your best at your job, in order to lead most thoughtfully and effectively (whether you “lead” from the top, bottom, or middle of an organization) you need to find and follow your own passion. You need to fuel yourself with projects and people that keep you engaged and connected to your work.
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Posted by Robyn McLeod on July 28, 2011
Talk to anyone in any workplace and it never fails that the topic of endless, pointless meetings comes up. It seems that the number of meetings – whether face-to-face, conference call, or video/web-based – is on the rise. One executive I worked with shared her calendar with me to demonstrate the point. She had a week full of meetings, many of which overlapped. “How can you be in two places at one time?” I asked. “Well, I’ll start out in this meeting and then leave early to catch the last half of that meeting,” she answered. Sounds awfully stressful and unproductive to me!
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on July 21, 2011
The other week I went to see Midnight in Paris, which, by the way, I wholeheartedly recommend. It is laugh-out-loud funny whether you love Woody Allen (I am a die-hard fan) or simply appreciate great comedy.
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A great way to stretch our brain and have fun. Thank you for sharing your insights. Great seeing you, Lisa! Happy holidays, Sue Karlin
Hi Sue
Thanks for your thoughts. We’re all about brain stretching and thinking in new ways.
It was great to see you! Lisa