Archive for the 'Teams' Category

What Can Leaders Learn By Spending The Day With Their Team?

I recently presented a three day workshop for a bi-lingual manufacturing firm. The entire team attended the programs, senior leadership though supervisors. Although the topic we explored was Problem Solving, what stood out for me was how the team grew to understand one another. By tackling each of the exercises and learning together, so many critical issues emerged by accident. Here are a few of the noteworthy “aha” moments:

 

  • We have a language challenge: When the program began, some of the more senior leaders felt that team members were lazy and not communicating information. Information was constantly getting lost and oftentimes never shared. During our small group discussions and activities it became apparent that information
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Published on Tuesday October 4, 2011 in Communication, Leadership Development, strategic listening and Teams. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

Attention Leaders! Create Your Dream Culture

How do you create a culture of openness so everyone feels they can share their ideas? How do you make sure that team members offer up their top-notch suggestions and not hold back for fear of being belittled? The success of our leadership depends on our ability to foster an inviting environment so every person actively participates and wants to be part of fulfilling the team goals and vision. We want our followers to be present and perform.

In this weekend’s New York Times article, there was an interview with Robin Domeniconi, senior vice president for Elle Group who shared her wisdom on creating a culture of transparency. She explained, “You… Continue reading

Published on Monday January 17, 2011 in Building Trust, Communication, Leadership Development and Teams. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

What Can Leaders Do When Team Members Spar?

Teams by nature can be very vulnerable to different members’ styles of communication. And one of the surest ways for a team to become dysfunctional is for a leader to be unaware of their members’ communication interactions. Recently, there was an article written in Harvard Business Review by Amy Jen Su and Muriel Wilkins that discussed passive-aggressive behavior amongst co-workers. They discussed the frustration of a peer agreeing to an idea at a meeting and then ignoring their commitment. I have witnessed this type of “swing behavior” as I am sure you all have at one point. But is there anything a leader can do to either prevent or alleviate this disruptive communication style and behavior?

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Published on Wednesday January 12, 2011 in Communication, Dealing With Crises, Leadership Development and Teams. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , .

How Can Leaders Become Better Communicators?

There are so many technically competent managers and leaders who seem to have so much trouble leading successful teams. One might think that a leader’s superior expertise in an area would be good enough for their followers to support them. But that is not the case. At the heart of a leader’s success in inspiring their team members, is their ability to communicate their dreams and create a path to achieve them. How can a leader do this without the skill set to be an effective communicator?

According to Brian Tracy, “Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bike. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life”. So if one can learn and… Continue reading

Published on Tuesday September 28, 2010 in Communication, Leadership Development and Teams. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

How Can Leaders Prepare for Coaching Moments?

There is nothing worse than feeling an opportunity to help someone grow gets away from us. Have you ever experienced that moment when you wished you had said something to coach a team member in a certain direction, but the interaction dissolved? One of the reasons we allow these important sessions to escape is because we are not actively listening. We may think that we know what our colleague is saying, but we are not taking the time to invest in understanding what is being communicated.

In Sunday’s NY Times Corner Office discussion, Miki Leondakis, chief operating officer of Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group explained:

“One of the things that has evolved in my leadership style is learning to listen first when there’s a problem. Rather than sitting… Continue reading

Published on Wednesday June 16, 2010 in Coaching, Communication, Leadership Development and Teams. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .