On the way home he asked me if what he did was wrong. I asked “What were you drawing”? “An elephant that can make rainbows appear around him,” he answered.

Interesting! To the naked eye what he was doing seemed to be the work of an under-developed child who may not have the skills to conform, but if you understood his intention then it’s a different story all together.

How many times have you have heard in your business, “that’s not how it’s done,” “you’re doing it wrong,” or “that won’t work?”

Everyone’s talking about doing more with less; how about if we do different to do more? Our business processes of the past may not be appropriate for the present or future. The goal of reinventing business and business culture will be difficult to achieve with a “not invented here” mentality.

Mergers, acquisitions, change, or culture clashing are just a few of the challenges driving us to innovate. Teams, team leaders and corporations may want to look at ways to “color outside the lines” to solve new difficulties or problems.

I told my son, “not only were you not wrong, you were brilliantly correct.” Keep coloring outside the lines buddy.

Does this make sense to anyone else?

While on the face of it this might seem very polite, considerate and even down-right neighborly, maybe it’s not.

I watched this happen the other day outside of Boston on a rainy, 50-degree day. The problem was that the rest of the cars behind this person fully expected the driver to exercise the right of way as the law states.

As I watched the ensuing five car pile up in front of me, I immediately traced my thoughts back to business and the impact on other members of a corporate team when someone doesn’t adhere to outlined processes and plans.

What really caused this accident? Was it lack of communication, breeched trust, myopic thinking or just a lack of teamwork?

Aren’t these the same core competencies that effect us in business? From the perspective of some team members (like the driver in front of me), they may think they are helping, or that no one else will be impacted by their actions, but the reality is that every action, decision and behavior impacts the team and its ability to function successfully.

Maybe we should reincarnate the old TQM battle cry, “Plan the Work…Work the Plan.”

What do you all think?

A person whom I respect very much once told me, “When you make visible to others your grumpiness, then they are paying the price for something they had nothing to do with. Consider how selfish it is when you impact others in a negative way and create awkwardness and backlash.

What Rondo did was all about Rondo. Exposing his frustration and bumping the referee was all about him, not the team and what is best for the organization, in a playoff game no less.

What about the rest of the teammates who worked hard to get to the playoffs? Do their efforts count? Does their desire for success even matter?

It’s the same in business; when one deviates from processes put in place, or swims in other teammates’ lanes because of control issues or lack of trust it impacts the success of others, the team and the organization. Ultimately it creates rework and requires others to work harder to achieve the same goals.

Paul Peirce had a good game and stepped up and the Celtics won Game 2, 87 -80. We don’t need selfish stars on our teams; why put your team (organization, business or social) in that position?

What are your thoughts? We’d love to hear them.

Someone brought up an interesting question in the LinkedIn group “Building Better Teams” on how to deal with customers who want to push a concern to the supervisory level. It prompted a discussion on how to deal with irate customers and went from there.

It got me thinking. When we deliver a leadership approachability training program, this concern comes up often. How do you diffuse an otherwise emotionally driven angry situation?

A colleague and friend of mine named David Alba shared this model with me years ago and we use it today in our Leadership Approachability Training Programs as well as in some Team Effectiveness Programs. Its called Take the LEAD and it goes something like this.

When customers, associates and even family members are so angry that reason has been taken over by emotion, what do you? You LEAD them:

Listen – Don’t respond, don’t give rebuttal or defend your position. Just listen.

Empathize – Make statements that actually agree with them, “that would be frustrating”, “I can see why you’re so angry”, “that is discouraging”.

Action – Define a solution. Have an action to remedy or make the situation better. For a customer at the Ritz Carlton this might be an immediate call to action or compensation. To an associate or employee it may be to provide choices or solution options. To a family member it may be to satisfy or compromise because you love them.

Do – Do, do, do what you said you would do. Follow through with something, anything, everything. Make it visible and obvious. If you don’t then all trust will be lost.

Take note that you never actually apologize or take blame because frankly it may not be your fault or a situation of fault. In my next blog I’ll share an example. Until then, please feel free to email or call with any questions about “Taking the Lead”.

($55/person value).

Contact us Today!  800-446-1172

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator will help Improve team performance

The MBTI® is the most widely used instrument in global business.  It is used to develop individuals, teams, and organizations to meet today’s challenges in the areas of communication, team building, and leadership.

When used with our guidance it can help improve how your teams function, from interpersonal communication to leveraging individual strengths, and understanding, appreciating and learning to work with individual differences in others.

With the MBTI® we bring advanced levels of understanding to team dynamics. Your company will benefit from a detailed assessment of type for individuals on your specific team,  as well as more informed conflict resolution and executive coaching. You will quickly discover areas of improvement for your team, and your team will realize its potential like never before.

Consider Catalyst for your next program

Catalyst offers training and development programs that help organizations improve team and leadership dynamics and realize their high performance potential.  We offer many tools for both individual and team measurement and assessment, including the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®).

Free MBTI Assessment for your team

Free MBTI Assessment for your team If you book a program with us between October 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012 we will provide the MBTI® for each member of your team for FREE. ($55/person value).

Call Today!

800-446-1172

Jeffrey Pfeffer, the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business shares his thoughts on the matter in his recent column ”Management a Profession? Where’s the Proof?”  Pfeffer suggests that “. . . the public and private organizations where management gets done . . .  must cultivate in their people the belief that good decisions depend on relevant evidence and data. They should compel managers to draw on sound research and learn deliberatively from experience.”

It’s a great column.  Take a minute to check it out and let me know your thoughts on the matter.

Let us know what you are doing to set your company up for a new dawn.

1. Determine your needs and objectives for ending the calendar year and beginning a new one.
2. When determining these objectives, borrow from Stephen Covey a little bit and “begin with the end in mind.”  In other words, what does success look like?
3. Don’t hold off.  If you have the capital budget and you have a need then “getter done.”
4. Make sure whatever training you do has strong follow up.  Development is not an event, but a process.

Good luck to everyone and let us know how we can help. 800-446-1172.