9 Ways To Positively Impact Leadership Team Meetings

From Dysfunction to Impact and Influence in Leadership Teams One thing that continues to surprise me with senior leaders is how many do not contribute to senior leadership meetings. Having worked with thousands of team leaders, I notice typical behaviours and one of these behaviours is to remain silent in meetings. Of course, there are many reasons for their silence. Kate, one of the leaders I spoke to, let me know what affects her: Without meeting protocols, others talk frequently...

What creates vibrant team culture?

I Iove the energy in the room, Matt says in our first Executive Presence group session. What is that? And how is ‘energy’ created, you might ask? Energy can be stored and transformed, but what is the form of energy among people? Energy among people is the interpersonal connections that create movement among people – either drawing them closer together or pushing them apart from one another. When the flow of feeling among people is positive, warm and those there accept one another,...

Fresh Flowers and Great Leadership Teams

Group facilitators work in all sorts of venues, most of them sterile and without inspiration. In my very first workshop, I took a bunch of tulips and asked for a vase. I was given a large jug. In went the tulips. In spite of the mismatch, several participants commented on the flowers. Three things struck me: Participants’ delight in seeing something bright and fresh in the room Their capacity to shift from what was at hand to something immediately in...

The Family Dinner Table’s Influence on Leaders

Who would have thought the family dinner table shapes leaders’ abilities to influence? A microcosm of family life repeated over days, weeks, months and years as we grow up has significant influence on how we are in groups. Whether we converse easily, disagree without offending others, remain silent or dominate, one likely influence is earlier experiences and habits of family dinner time. Last week, I was working with a group of leaders discussing turning points in their careers. One leader...

Leadership is Similar to Sudoku

I love doing sudoku, particularly the tough ones. I love seeing the patterns of numbers emerge from nothing, and logic slowly dawning. Sudoku has simple rules; the numbers 1-9 in each of the 9 boxes, numbers 1-9, horizontally, vertically, and at times, diagonally. Every few months, tougher sudoku become possible as I learn new patterns of thought and analysis. I love the experience of being completely absorbed in the puzzle. I don’t emphasize my failure to resolve a particular puzzle....

The Interpersonal Language of Leadership Engagement

This week, I had a digital meeting with Jim. He was heading into a performance discussion with a team member. Jim had done a lot of background work, sought feedback and reflected on his experience with this manager and his team. He had written his comments relating to various objectives and he wanted my perspective on the clarity of his message. He read, “You need to lead your team more, you need to keep them better informed, and you need...

Maintain your Mojo to be an Effective Leader

Maintaining your mojo means giving yourself time to rest so that you can continue to be the most effective leader for your team. I’ve met too many executives who continue to work ten-hour days and seven-day weeks. Why is this? Mostly, they don’t want to be judged by their boss or peers as weak or not resilient. The thrill of being on top of something new, making rapid decisions and innovating brings rushes of adrenalin. As inevitable complaints and criticisms...

Three Tips for Personal Care in a Crisis

Being resilient means getting enough sleep each night, eating well and remaining hydrated. When you are under pressure, it is easy to forget to eat lunch, or to pause and think, breathe and drink water. However, self care must not slide by the wayside. Ensuring your brain has plenty of oxygen enables you to think clearly. Keep a supply of low carb high protein energy bars keeps hunger at bay. Have fresh fruit like mandarins, bananas available each day as...

Know Where You Stand – Emotional Pain and Leadership

Discovering you were closer to someone in your team than they were with you can hurt deeply. This hurts even more when you realise that others knew this before you did. When information within informal networks of interpersonal relationships overrides formal structures, trust is broken. Emotions run high as the true structure of relationships are revealed. You know where you stand, and how close or distant others are in relation to you. Remember Carlos Ghosen, Chair of Nissan, Japan and...

Quit the Blame Game – Glitches and Roadblocks are Normal

Hindsight, and reflection: Insights into Learning Hindsight; I find unhelpful. Reflection, I rate. What is the difference? Hindsight leaves me feeling inadequate, and with a sense of failure, that my effort was not good enough. Hindsight encourages fault finding, blame and criticism. Each is entirely unhelpful in any learning process. Reflection enables me to identify causes, helps me reset a vision of what is possible, identify what I want to learn, and apply. Why is reflection valuable? Setting out to...