One of life’s greatest frustrations is taking charge of your destiny as the leader of an organization. Many individuals and consequently, the businesses they may come to lead, get stuck in their path to success. They mire in self-doubt, in self-sabotaging behaviors, and never truly reach their goals.
Management in organizations often entrusts a delegation of like-minded department members or community volunteers to support specific tasks to achieve an end result. As such team or committee meetings surrounding this work should be meaningful, containing elements of problem-solving, decision making, and accountability through reporting. Towards that end, they should be purposeful and participatory.
Assembling your team to accomplish your dream has never been more difficult.
It has long been purported that teamwork is dream work. But, with the wrong players, goals can oftentimes run astray. So exactly how does a great leader, put together their team who will be working cohesively to accomplish a particular project?
No matter which human resource predictions you read for 2015, leadership was the number one issue in the global workplace. Culture, diversity in the workplace, engagement and retention will also be foremost in the minds of most employers.
The four generations on the work floor there is a pronounced emphasis on moving beyond the numbers for evaluating success and focusing more on the employee’s ability to master the values-based scales of an organization.
No matter which Human Resource predictions you read for 2015, leadership was the number one issue in the global workplace. Culture, diversity in the workplace, engagement and retention will be also be foremost in the minds of most employers. Or at least they should be.
Every day we make choices. We choose how we want to present ourselves to the world through our dress and physical presentation. We choose where we are working, or how we are parenting. We are aware of the possibilities that are before us and keenly mindful of what our limitations behold.
There are key pieces of choosing that we have sole control over. The largest is our choice of words.
“They are NEVER on time…and when they do show up, they wave to everyone who has been in attendance for the 15 minutes since the meeting started and take their seat. It’s as if they are all that matters.”
It’s so disrespectful. We all know individuals who avail themselves of this behavior trait. While others show up early, prepared with their work, spending some time socializing perhaps, or, perhaps a meal, the culprits just do not respect others enough to show up on time and may affect the purpose of a team.
Blame is a very potent tool that can be used to intimidate, dishearten and sabotage the culture of a workplace. Blame shifting is a common tactic used by children when faced with difficult situations. “He made me do that… I followed her lead…” It’s a method of self-defense and self-preservation for rationalizing actions.
Have you ever heard this statement? “Nobody TOLD me to do that…” Is your workforce missing the boat?
Every day, we have choices. We choose to behave one way or another; to deliver a verdict on how an employee should or should not be accomplishing their work; or when to take a huge risk.
We choose words; we choose actions. Sometimes, we choose inaction.
How do you learn which words? Where do you learn what actions to take at what times with whom?
One of the most problematic parts of running a business, a division or a department, is human talent management. We may be really excellent at making widgets, designing new parts or providing services; but not so much as managing personalities.
You can often predict the culture of an organization by how you are received at the front desk. How do people greet you? How do they treat you while you are waiting in the lobby for your appointment? How does the lobby look? Are you made to feel welcome or treated like you are an intruder?
As a coach/consultant, you look at all evidence you can discover or uncover on the web about a prospective client. Do they have a value statement? What does their human resource department have available on their page about how people are embraced?
One need not look very far to assemble key information about women-owned business. There are several nationwide organizations that augment the information determined through Official Census.
“Board Paradox” was the name of the third report for the 2011 Daring to Lead Study (undertaken by Rick Myers, CompassPoint Services and the Meyers Foundation, San Francisco, 2011) with relation to the ongoing dilemma between top leadership in nonprofit organizations and their board of directors.
Nonprofits have been growing at a breakneck speed. The number of all nonprofits in the United States grew 25 percent while the number of for-profit businesses rose by half of 1 percent, according to the most recent figures compiled by the Urban Institute.
Last fall, Deloitte continued its research into human capital trends and summarized the results titled: Engaging the 21st century workforce. They undertook on of the largest global surveys of its kind by surveying 2532 business and HR leaders in 94 countries.
In preparation for the 2014 Leadercast, licensees across the country were provided with some compelling information.
Maeghan Ouimet, Inc. Magazine warns that, “Terrible bosses have a trickle down effect. They bring down the quality of your employees’ work and your bottom line with it.”
This single question has been included in the selection of my teams since 1985. At the time, as Executive Director of the Adahi Council of Camp Fire Boys and Girls, a board member who worked in human resources at CarTech advised me to use it each and every time I interviewed staff members, volunteers or potential board members.
“The beatings will continue until morale improves.”
Does this sound like your workplace? Does your boss believe they are a leader because they are IN CHARGE? Do you wake up every morning dreading going into work?