A colleague was recruited by one of our clients, a large technology company, to be its senior executive in charge of government relations. The head of human resources called me and asked for a reference. I wanted to help my colleague, who I will call Mike (for the sake of privacy). “Mike is very smart, …
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The Straight Talk® survey (GoStraightTalk.com) is a great tool for helping new employees fit in. Once you understand a person’s style, you will be better prepared as a manager to coach them effectively. The basic premise of Straight Talk® is that there are four primary styles of communication: Director, Expresser, Thinker, and Harmonizer. People tend to favor …
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Often times getting the right people on the bus means changing people’s seats on the bus. There is a natural cycle to productivity. People typically learn a new job in the first year. Then they’re highly productive for the next two to five years. But at some point, they start to treat their job as …
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This tool reminds people about the difference between teams and groups. When a group is mislabeled as a team, people may have unrealistic expectations of each other. On the other hand, if a group aspires to be a team, it is useful to know what behaviors are expected of team members. This tool is best …
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This tool enables leaders to increase the level of emotional intelligence in the workplace. It shows ways to increase awareness of emotions at both the individual and team level. It also suggests strategies to help regulate emotions. This is invaluable for leaders who want to create teams where there is a healthy balance of emotional …
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The CEO of a retail chain wanted his leadership team to learn how to have tough business conversations. Too many issues were being buried, he said. Team members needed to bring their issues to the table and learn how to resolve them. He asked me to design a three-hour team-building workshop. I began the workshop …
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What are the characteristics of high performing teams? This tool, drawn from the book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni, provides you a quick look at what high performing teams really do. High Performing Teams Here are the five characteristics of highly effective teams: Attention to results: Team members regularly monitor their …
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Conflicting mental models often occur. The result is critical systems thinking blind spots. “I’ve got two vice presidents, both very good at what they do, who just can’t get along,” the executive director of a non-profit agency told us. “I spend an inordinate time mediating their conflicts. What can I do?” she asked. When we …
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Here are more examples that may help you see the benefits of systems thinking. When the Titanic set sail from England, the engineers who designed the watertight bulkheads assumed that the hull would never be breached across multiple compartments below the waterline. This led to the popular illusion that the Titanic was unsinkable. Thus, for …
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Systems thinking means having the ability to view things in different time scales simultaneously and thus resolving the paradoxes between them. Here are some systems thinking examples. We were asked to facilitate the transformation of a blighted urban neighborhood. We invited a number of “experts” to offer their views to a panel of residents. A …
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