Defining How We Treat Each Other

But Don’t Say It Unless You’ll Live It…

I consider the most important values of an organization to be those that define how we treat each other.  Here’s an example of such values that I developed with one of my clients. How we treat each otherPerhaps there are some useful points here that you can adopt (or adapt), but be careful:  Never claim a value as your own unless you’re willing to live every word of it.  Don’t destroy your credibility by saying something’s important that you’re not willing to be held accountable to.
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Why Can’t I Say “No”?

Even When “No” Is The Right Answer

(Video version available here.)

Excessive busy-ness is the most common complaint I hear from clients.  Is it possible to manage our workload in a way that leaves us fulfilled but not burned out?  Let’s scratch the surface of that question by shining a light on our motivations and suggesting some methods to deal with it.

Motivation

Our first problem is that we often wear our busy-ness as a badge of honor. NoImportant people are expected to be busy; we want to be important; so we don’t want to admit (to ourselves or others) that we’re not busy.  We fill our plates to keep our importance badge. Continue reading Why Can’t I Say “No”?

That’s Not What I Wanted…

Getting the Results You’re Looking For

I spent the early part of my career as a software developer. The nice thing about software is that it is highly predictable. Barring hardware problems, software does exactly what the developer tells it to do. Even bugs aren’t the software’s fault – it’s just doing code-944504_640exactly what some developer (either of the application, the compiler, or underlying operating system) told it to do. Not necessarily what the developer wanted, but what it was told to do. The developer’s job is to provide thorough and accurate instructions so the software behaves correctly.

If only human interactions were that straight-forward.
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When “Excellent” Isn’t

Why “Excellence in Everything” Produces Excellence in Nothing

Like most people, I’m a fan of excellence. But when everything gets labelled “excellent”, rolls-royce-526054__180we devalue the word to where it doesn’t really mean anything. And it certainly doesn’t create the motivation we’re trying to inspire when we use it in our mission, vision, and value statements.

The problem is that no one can be excellent at everything. Continue reading When “Excellent” Isn’t

Success From the Start

Leveraging Your Personal Values

Andrew CROPOur guest blogger, Andrew, is currently serving as an intern at enLumen Leadership Services.  Andrew wrote this article about his older brother, Timothy, who continually inspires Andrew toward excellence as he pursues his career in the music industry.

Timothy was nineteen when he landed the job in Community Care, a public relations branch at Action Property Management Company. Typical kid, typical entry-level job. What set Timothy apart were the values behind his work ethic. Timothy is the sort of person who will not rest until he has done the best, most efficient job possible. From day one, he demonstrated this through his tireless pursuit of excellence at Action. Continue reading Success From the Start

If You Think Leading Today Is Tough…

Wait ’til Tomorrow!

Three generations.  Global cultures.  Diverse values.  Blending them together for a common goal? Diverse PeopleLeadership today is tough. What if you had to knit together four generations of even more multi-cultural, more diverse values?  That’s what our next generation of leaders has to look forward to. Millennial values are no more permanent than those of any previous generation, although no one knows yet what the values of the Millennial+1 generation will be. Continue reading If You Think Leading Today Is Tough…

Future-Focused Leadership

Tapping Into the Values of a New Generation

By some definitions, Adolf Hitler was a leader.  So were Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot.  Leading PeopleBut would you have chosen to follow them?

The most fundamental characteristic of a leader is the presence of followers.  You might be a manager or an entrepreneur, but until you have followers, you’re not leading. Continue reading Future-Focused Leadership