Inspiring Leadership Greatness
I think this says it all. There are just some days when nothing seems to work, but after some yoga or meditation, a brisk walk, a good sleep, a good laugh, or even a short break, most problems become manageable. It just takes some perspective to get out of making a habit of downward spiral thinking.
Does your team have the same conversation over and over and/or not follow through on your decisions? Clearly documenting decisions is one way to avoid this. It’s also useful to mention the decision making strategy employed and who was involved in the decision as well as the outcome of the decision. This blog is based on the three of clubs from our Teamwork Explorer cards and iPhone app.
Is this you? It’s certainly been me at times and I have gone through phases of watching too much doom and gloom on TV (and this includes the daily news – sorry all you news junkies who think you can’t live without it – you can). It’s amazing what cutting back on this sort of stuff will do for your energy, optimism and creativity.
Of course, this doesn’t include those compelling evening soaps, too numerous to name at this point 😉
Yesterday I posed a values situation … well not entirely as it was also about creativity. I think we often fail to come up with creative solutions when we think values are at risk of being compromised. We also fail to come up with creative solutions because we are thinking in the “tyranny of the OR.” We need to embrace the “genius of the AND” (Collins and Porres), and bring forward our very best “integrative thinking” (Roger Martin).
So from that perspective, here is how to have everyone’s needs met!
(Oh and just to be fully transparent myself, I chose the little old lady as that seemed to align best with my values around compassion and service.)
I have always had a slight resistance to setting SMART goals and was excited to see some research that puts them into perspective. SMART goals can keep us motivated in the short term but the researchers suggest we also need goals that “leap off the page and sing to us” to accomplish truly great things. Here’s to a year of leaping and singing 😉
visuals inspired by my 30 day challenge
Sandbox with thanks to lowlmagination
“I feel like I’m playing in the sandbox with a bunch of misbehaving kids,” lamented Pat, a very successful CEO of a large company. She was a collaborative leader who involved her executives in decision making, but the team was under stress and acting like a group of little kids in the sandbox.
“Perhaps it’s time for the adult to take over,” I suggested which led to a fascinating conversation about the challenges of being a collaborative leader. I had learned this from IDEO, a very successful design company, whose innovation teams are very collaborative, creative and emergent, and also, at the right times, directed by a few of the “self appointed adults” to complete certain tasks to ensure that they don’t spin off into complete chaos.
You know it’s time for the team leader to be the “adult” and take over when:
The key to switching between a collaborative and autocratic style is to let your team members know, ideally before, but certainly at the time, why you are using this particular style. If you don’t, you risk breaking trust with team members. If you are on a team where there is no formal leader, have the conversation about who the “adults” will be in the above situations. It will save your team time and heartache.
What style do you use? Are there times when you’ve used a more autocratic style?
This blog is based on the 10 of Clubs, Autocratic, taken from our Teamwork Explorer. Written by Tammy.
