A few days ago, I decided to change a photograph that’s been on display for the last several years in one of the picture frames which currently grace my desk. The photograph was a picture I had taken of my girls several years ago on one of those days from summer which we tend to look back on fondly through a soft-focus lens. Of course, in the time since that photograph was taken, my girls have grown up and it seemed overdue for this photograph be replaced by a more recent memory of our time together.

Although the act of replacing this photograph was fairly mundane, I still found myself being much more aware of this picture frame’s presence on my desk. Naturally, my first assumption was that this was simply a result of the new image staring out at me from that frame. However, what I realized was that this greater sense of awareness regarding this picture frame on my desk had less to do with the image itself and more to do with the fact that it had changed from something familiar and consistent, to something new and different.

What’s also interesting is how Click here to continue reading »”Taking Another Look at Leadership and Change”

Recently, I read a wonderful post by fellow leadership blogger Gwyn Teatro where she wrote about what Jazz can teach leaders about the value of improvisation in their organizations. Being a big fan of this musical genre (one of my daughters’ drawings found on my site is of the blue cat mascot from our city’s famous Jazz festival), her piece really resonated with me and it also got me thinking about some of the other lessons that Jazz offers to the field of leadership.

Granted, for some Jazz can sound like a mass of contradictions, especially in those sections where the various musicians play their own variations/motifs. And yet, if we focus less on the separate elements and instead listen to the piece as a whole, there’s a definite connectedness that can be heard despite these individual expressions.

I think this is where the Jazz analogy plays well in terms of today’s business world. For the last few decades, we’ve been used to the classical orchestra model of leadership – with a single conductor at the helm directing all the players to create and repeat the same message over and over. However, what many businesses are beginning to discover now is that it’s no longer feasible or desirable to maintain such rigidity of structure; that what’s needed instead is a greater fluidity and movement where the message can change and ebb and flow.

With this in mind, here are three lessons Jazz offers on how to keep your leadership in step with today’s ever-changing world: Click here to continue reading »”3 Steps To Help Get Your Leadership Groove On”

Recognition.

It’s something we all seek in our workplaces and yet, it’s the kind of feedback so many of us find noticeably absent in our interactions with those who lead our organizations.

There’s been numerous studies that show how making time to recognize the contributions of others helps to create both a positive environment and a more productive workforce. So why then are there so many employees who feel under-appreciated or under-valued by their organization’s leadership? To answer this question, we need to examine two aspects which are behind this quandary.

The first part of the problem is the misguided notion among leaders that their employees already know how good a job they’re doing and as such, there’s no need to point out the obvious to them. However, the problem with such thinking is that it’s self-centric, in that the leader’s focus is only on their own perceptions, as opposed to taking into consideration how their team members perceive the situation.

This leads to the second part of the problem over why there’s this lack of genuine recognition in the workplace. In cases where recognition efforts are made, leaders tend to concentrate on how offering such feedback benefits the company’s image, rather than as a gesture of appreciation or acknowledgement for the contributions of their team members. Indeed, for many leaders, providing recognition to their team is something that is addressed only in annual performance reviews or through formalized processes like ‘employee of the month’ programs. As most employees can attest, it’s a rare if unheard of practice to have leaders providing spur of the moment recognition for their efforts.

So how then can leaders address these two problems which are responsible for this lack of recognition in the workplace?

To find out my answer to this question, click on this link to read this guest post over at ReadyToFeedback.com.

Image courtesy of Life Magazine

Recently my wife and I took advantage of the school summer break to take our kids on vacation at one of our country’s most popular tourist destinations. As it was the first time we’d taken our kids there, it was only natural that we wanted to check out the various sites and attractions found throughout the area. Going from one tourist activity to another, it was interesting to note the subtle, as well as not so subtle, differences in how these different attractions were managed and the resulting lasting impressions each one made.

Granted, the issues facing companies in the tourism/entertainment business can differ greatly from those experienced in other industries. However, like all businesses, these companies also have to grapple with the challenge of not only encouraging repeat business, but fostering good word of mouth in order to attract new customers as well.

With this in mind, I want to share with you two stories from our family vacation and through it, the lessons businesses can apply today to better manage their companies, both in terms of their employees and their customers. Click here to continue reading »”A Tale of Two Businesses – Some Lessons on Improving How You Manage Your Company”