|
|
11/9/2009
Leading Transformational Change
One of my CEO leadership coaching clients needs to create a true sense of urgency in his people to better manage change. Company leaders needed to change the culture of the company by helping employees embrace change and create a more innovative culture.
The CEO believes that sustainable growth will occur when employees embrace change and execute the company strategy. He is empowering his leadership to generate solutions and help with decision-making. Our current coaching work focuses on helping him inspire his people to overcome complacency and develop a true sense of urgency.
Employees in many organizations remain complacent even in the face of bad news such as new competition, poor earnings and lack of revenue growth. In spite of bad news, getting people to embrace change and motivating them to fully engage in change initiatives are major problems.
Company leaders often underestimate how difficult it is for people to get out of their comfort zones. Management also finds it hard to create a culture of urgency to support transformational change initiatives.
Emotions play a critical role in getting people to change. People gravitate toward doing whatever alleviates their anxieties and worries, and they will go to great lengths to avoid discomfort.
Company leaders need to establish a heightened sense of urgency for people to become more motivated to implement important changes. Leaders have to deal with with resistance and a desire to not “rock the boat” and keep thing the same. When company leaders fail to create a climate of urgency, employees will not take the critical leap forward towards an uncertain future.
Complacency is endemic in the workplace. In these difficult economic times, you would think that employees would be so worried about job security to be complacent. However, many workers are in denial regarding the possible dire consequences of complacency.
Are you working in a company or law firm where change leaders understand the enterprise needs to be transformed to grow? Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leaders drive change initiatives? During difficult economic times, leaders need to create a sense of urgency to help all employees embrace change and overcome complacency.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Am I a leader who inspires people to embrace change?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who want to transform their organizations and lead successful change initiatives.
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you create an organization that fully engages its people in change initiatives by helping them overcome complacency. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.
10/7/2009
One of my CEO executive coaching clients has a very engaging leadership style. He was very candid with his senior team members that in these difficult times the leadership team needed to create a culture of urgency and help employees overcome complacency.
The CEO’s communication with his senior leaders was transparent in that they would be held accountable for significantly improving the performance of employees. He instilled trust by being open and transparent about his intentions.
The CEO needed to inspire his people to help them combat complacency and develop a sense of urgency. The culture of the company needed to be aligned with their core values of fun and teamwork .
Transparent Communications
Open and honest communications support the decision to trust. Lack of communication and transparency creates suspicion.
To increase transparency:
- Increase the frequency and candor of your communications.
- Build a relationship beyond the constraints of your official role.
- Use the word “we” more often than “I.”
- Emphasize common values and goals.
- Be clear whose goals and interests you are promoting.
- Be sure your actions support your words.
- Demonstrate a clear concern for others.
- Under-promise and over-deliver.
- Ask more questions.
- Really listen to the answers.
Are you working in a company or law firm where leadership is building a culture of trust and transparency? Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leaders become more open and trustworthy? Leaders need to model open communication for employees to fully engage.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I lead by increasing the frequency and candor of my communications?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who want to become more transparent in their communications.
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become more open increasing trust in your organization. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.
Subscribe to Working Resources Newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com. Visit Maynard’s Blog at http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com.
The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare Board Approved designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive Coaching & Leadership Development and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.
Dr. Maynard Brusman, Consulting Psychologist & Executive Coach
Working Resources
Help Companies Assess, Select, Coach, and Retain Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
Box 471525
San Francisco, California 94147-1525
Tel: 415-546-1252
E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com
Blog Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maynard_Brusman
10/5/2009
Freud basically summed life up as love and work. Well, these days it is so important to be passionate about your work and love what you do. Marketing then becomes effortless because you integrate it into everything you do. You connect with people and have conversations about what matters most to them. I believe that’s why we are seeing an explosion of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Ning and numerous other very targeted niche communities. The idea that we are all connected is becoming more real for people and certainly business.
For example: I have been talking with my law and accounting firm clients about creating their own blogs to connect with potential clients. Lawyers usually love to write and express their opinions. They are usually not shy about giving and getting feedback. Accountants can find blogging a fairly nonthreatening way to express themselves translating into better interpersonal communication skills and improved client relationships.
The following are ten competencies I have found to be especially important when developing a new mindset or story that marketing is about building relationships and serving clients to improve their condition.
Marketing Competencies
- Confidence - Trusting in your own abilities and the value you provide.
- Resiliency - Recovering quickly from change.
- Perseverance - Persisting in adhering to your purpose or mission.
- Optimism - Expecting the best possible outcome for you and your clients.
- Resourcefulness - Acting with imagination especially in difficult situations.
- Action-oriented - Creating a process or state of sustaining momentum.
- Result-focused - Focusing on specific measurable outcomes.
- Creative - Seeing possibility and being original and authentic.
- Curious - Learning more with excitement and have a beginner’s mind.
- Energetic - Focusing on your strengths and allowing your power to flow.
Are there any additional marketing competencies that you would add to the list?
Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist, executive coach and trusted advisor to senior leadership teams.
We provide strategic talent management solutions to select and develop emotionally intelligent leaders and lawyers.
The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare “Board Approved” designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive/Leadership Coaching and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.
Subscribe to Working Resources FREE electronic newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com
Visit Maynard’s Blog at http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com
P.O. Box 471525
SAn Francisco, California 94147-1525
Tel: 415-546-1252
Fax: 415-721-7322
E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com
Web Site: http://www.workingresources.com
Blog Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maynard_Brusman
9/28/2009
One of my CEO leadership coaching clients naturally has a very open and transparent leadership style. However, in this tough economic climate he made a strategic decision to be much more authoritative with the members of his senior leadership team. He was very transparent with his senior team members that he was going to be much tougher on them to be accountable for results. He needed to instill a sense of urgency and combat complacency.
The CEO also needed to be very clear with his senior leaders that they would be held accountable for substantially improving the performance of employees. He inspired trust by being transparent about his intention and being open to answering questions and addressing any lingering concerns.
The CEO needed engage his people emotionally to help them overcome complacency. The culture of the company needed to re-focus on its core values of fun and team work.
Creating a Culture of Transparency
Trust entails unavoidable risks. As a species, we are hardwired to trust others, especially those who appear similar to ourselves and who have similar interests. Trust is essential for both business and personal success, and it’s the foundation of our relationships.
But as recent financial scandals reveal, we sometimes trust too easily and trust the wrong people. To trust wisely means starting with small acts that foster reciprocity. By communicating your willingness to trust, you give others the go-ahead to do the same.
There’s no way to enforce transparency in an organization. Honesty at the top is only a first step -and for some, an excruciatingly difficult one. As with letting go of control and micro-managing, releasing information can be rewarding, but it requires an ongoing effort, sustained attention and constant vigilance.
A transparent decision-making process leads to higher levels of organizational trust. Opaque decision-making processes appear to serve special-interest groups, regardless of whether they actually do, and they breed distrust.
Are you working in a company or law firm where leadership creates a culture of trust and transparency? Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leadership develop transparency and trust? Leaders need .to lead model open communication for followers to fully engage.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I lead by being open and trusting others?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who want to become more transparent thereby increasing the level of trust.
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become more transparent increasing trust in your organization. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.
Subscribe to Working Resources Newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com
Visit Maynard’s Blog at http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com
The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare Board Approved designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive Coaching & Leadership Development and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.
Dr. Maynard Brusman, Consulting Psychologist & Executive Coach
Working Resources
Help Companies Assess, Select, Coach, and Retain Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
Box 471525
San Francisco, California 94147-1525
Tel: 415-546-1252
E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com
Blog Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maynard_Brusman
9/25/2009
Talent Development
Are you working in a company or law firm where executive coaches are hired to help high potential leaders develop their leadership capability? Does your company or law firm provide leadership development for high flyers? One of the most powerful questions you can ask is “What are you so passionate about that drives you to succeed?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent leaders at the top make executive coaching and leadership development available for leaders at all levels of the organization.
What Drives You?
Talent does not necessarily determine success.. Rather, those who are the most enthusiastic about their work are the most likely to succeed. Peak performance depends on the choices we make with with our lives and the passion that energizes us.
Research on motivation describes our main drives in three primary areas:
- Achievement
- Power
- A sense of community and desire to help others
Regardless of your driving force, you have to tap your passion to work hard enough to become exceptional. You have to be totally committed to an endeavor to have both feet in and fully engaged.
Organizations need to get better at allowing people to choose projects where there is intrinsic motivation to reach desired goals. to Unfortunately, organizations may actually inhibit people from developing their passionate abilities by providing extrinsic motivations..
Talent Is Insufficient
In addition to talent, there are other capabilities that are essential to drive for results.
- Belief in yourself unleashes talent.
- Initiative sparks your talent.
- Laser focus channels your talent.
- Preparation provides the foundation for your talent.
- Practice improves your talent.
- Perseverance energizes your talent.
- Character showcases your talent.
You must still prepare, practice and persist to achieve success. High performance is fueled by a strong purpose and a passionate desire to produce extraordinary results. Research is conclusive that talent and hard work are necessary for high performance.
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help company leaders tap the passion that drives success. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.
Subscribe to Working Resources Newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com Visit Maynard’s Blog at http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com
The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare Board Approved designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive Coaching & Leadership Development and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.
Dr. Maynard Brusman, Consulting Psychologist & Executive Coach
Working Resources
Help Companies Assess, Select, Coach, and Retain Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
Box 471525
San Francisco, California 94147-1525
Tel: 415-546-1252
E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maynard_Brusman
9/23/2009
One of my CEO leadership coaching clients naturally has a very participative and coaching leadership style. However, in this difficult economic climate he made a strategic decision to be much more directive with the members of his senior leadership team. He was very transparent with his senior team members that he was going to be much tougher on them to get through this difficult economic period. He needed to instill a sense of urgency.
The CEO also needed to be very clear with his senior leaders that they would be accountable for removing any obstacles impeding the performance of employees. He inspired trust by being open about his intention and answering any and all questions.
The CEO needed engage his people emotionally without instilling any fear. The culture of the company needed to retain its’ fun and playful atmosphere where people could be optimally productive.
7 Steps to Transparency
Warren Bennis and James O’Toole offer seven steps for developing a culture of transparency in your organization:
1). Tell the Truth
While this is the most obvious step, it’s also riddled with nuances. Each of us has the impulse to tell others what they want to hear. Instead, keep it simple, and be honest. Leaders who are candid and predictable tell everyone the same thing, and they have no need to revise their stories.
Consistency and truthfulness signal that the rules of the game are the same for everyone and that decisions won’t be made arbitrarily. When people are reassured of this, they’re more willing to stick their necks out, make an extra effort and help leaders to achieve goals.
2). Encourage People to Speak Truth to Power
It’s never easy for us to be honest with our bosses. It takes courage to speak up, as it entails risk. But encouraging people to share their honest opinions is crucial if leaders want to build trust and open communication. Of course, this sometimes means executives will hear unpleasant information.
How you frame questions is paramount. If you fail to ask your people crucial questions in a manner that encourages openness and frankness, you’ll never uncover the truth.
How you respond - whether you can keep an open mind and a clear head-is vital. Trust is a symbiotic relationship. Leaders must first trust others before the favor is returned.
3). Reward Contrarians
How easy is it for people to challenge company and leaders’ assumptions in your organization? If you make it acceptable, are willing to listen to opposing points of view and promise to consider the merits of others’ arguments, you pave the way for a culture of transparency.
Your company won’t successfully innovate if you refuse to recognize and challenge your own assumptions. Find colleagues who tend to be oppositional, listen to them intently, and create conditions for thinking differently. “Thinking outside the box” should have a pragmatic meaning, even if the slogan is frighteningly overused.
4). Practice Having Unpleasant Conversations
Few people excel at delivering negative feedback during performance appraisals. Offering negative feedback upward, to one’s boss, is even more challenging - and that’s why it rarely occurs. There’s no way to make negative feedback fun for either the bearer or the recipient.
The best leaders learn how to deliver bad news kindly so people don’t get unnecessarily hurt. It’s certainly not easy, unless practice opportunities are provided. Training and practice can help people learn to deliver constructive feedback.
5). Diversify Information Sources
Journalists and anthropologists know that if you want to truly understand a culture, you must talk to a variety of sources who have distinct biases. Everyone’s biased - no exceptions! - and everyone has an opinion. Communicate regularly with different groups of colleagues, workers, customers and even competitors to gain a nuanced and multifaceted understanding of others’ perceptions.
6). Admit Mistakes
Candor is contagious. When you admit your shortcomings or errors, it paves the way for others to do the same. Simple admissions can disarm critics and encourage others to be transparent, as well.
7). Build Organizational Support for Transparency
Protect whistle-blowers - but don’t stop there. Other norms and sanctions should encourage truth-telling, including open-door policies, ethics training and internal blogs that give a voice to people lower down in the hierarchy.
Executives are more often selected for their success in competing against their peers than for their demonstrated teamwork. Thus, they’re not commonly willing to listen to contrarians or to share information freely. This requires a different mindset.
Are you working in a company or law firm where leadership creates an environment of trust and transparency? Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leadership develop open communication and trust? Leaders need to model openness for followers to fully engage.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I lead by being transparent and trusting others?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who want to become more transparent in their communications thereby developing trust.
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become more open and transparent increasing the level of trust in your organization. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.
Subscribe to Working Resources Newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com Visit Maynard’s Blog at http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com
The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare Board Approved designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive Coaching & Leadership Development and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.
Dr. Maynard Brusman, Consulting Psychologist & Executive Coach
Working Resources
Help Companies Assess, Select, Coach, and Retain Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
Box 471525
San Francisco, California 94147-1525
Tel: 415-546-1252 E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com
|
9/22/2009
Are you constantly feeling overwhelmed with the pressures of information overload? Does it feel like information is just stacking up in endless piles or are you energetic and highly focused and productive?
One of the most powerful questions one can ask oneself in the present moment is What is the best use of my time right now? You need to focus on what is important based on your values and purpose.
How effective are you at managing your mind to manage action?
Manage the Mind to Manage Action
Now, for the good news: You can train like an athlete to be faster, more responsive and more focused on your work. You can learn to think more creatively and effectively, with greater ease and control. You can minimize loose ends and open loops, leading to increased productivity with decreased effort.
That said, you cannot have more time. You cannot stop the deluge of incoming information. You cannot manage priorities; you can only have them.
The answer lies in managing your actions: what you do with your time, your information, and your mind, body and focus. You must decide how to allocate your limited resources. You must answer the question: How do I make appropriate choices regarding what to do at any given point in time?
We get stuck when we fail to define our next steps. The real problems are lack of a clear vision and an inability to define what a project truly entails, as well as its corresponding future action steps.
No Defined Steps
On its face, this problem is an obvious hurdle to progress. But most people have not adequately determined next actions in their commitments and projects. They leave key steps undecided and vague.
Most of us think the major issue is lack of time. In reality,
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a less stressed and more purposeful and productive leader. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and self-management, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.
Subscribe to Working Resources FREE electronic newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com
Visit Maynard’s Blog at http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com
Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist, executive coach and trusted advisor to senior leadership teams.
We provide strategic talent management solutions to select and develop emotionally intelligent leaders and lawyers.
The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare “Board Approved” designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive/Leadership Coaching and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.
Dr. Maynard Brusman
Working Resources
P.O. Box 471525 San Francisco, California 94147-1525
Tel: 415-546-1252 Fax: 415-721-7322
E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com
Blog Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maynard_Brusman
9/21/2009
Achieving Goals
Are you working in a company or law firm where leadership requires people to establish goals when engaged in an executive coaching relationship? How do leaders in your company or law firm assess an individual’s success in achieving goals in their executive coaching program?
One of the most powerful questions one can ask is “Does our company leadership encourage participants in an executive coaching program to link personal and business goals?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent leaders are excited about further developing their leadership skills by achieving both personal and business goals.
Linking Personal and Business Goals
There may be insufficient time and attention during the contracting phase in defining goals and outcomes for the coaching relationship. Surprisingly enough, many executives have trouble defining what they want out of coaching.
There are two kinds of goals for leaders to work on in executive coaching - business goals and personal goals. Getting external results is linked to what the leader has to do differently in order to get business results. The personal goals must follow the external business goals.
During the contracting phase with the executive, it is the executive coach’s responsibility to ensure that the goal-setting conversation is sequenced for best results.
- Encourage the high potential leader to name the business results needed.
- Find out what team behaviors need to be different to accomplish the results.
- Explore what personal leadership challenges the executive faces in improving these results and team behaviors.
- Identify specific behaviors the leader needs to enhance or change personally.
The goal setting process is not as easy as it may appear. Many busy executives have a bias for action and operate in a fire-ready-aim mode. It may be necessary for the executive to slow down long enough to establish clear goals. Sometimes a business situation is ambiguous and it is difficult to clarify what work process or human relationship goals would support achieving the bottom-line result. The coach who persists in inquiring about these specific goals will help an executive toward better focus and effective action.
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a leader who links personal and business goals. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged and aligned with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.
Subscribe to Working Resources FREE electronic newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com
Visit Maynard’s Blog at http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com
Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist, executive coach and trusted advisor to senior leadership teams.
We provide strategic talent management solutions to select and develop emotionally intelligent leaders and lawyers.
The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare Board Approved designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive Leadership Coaching and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.
Dr. Maynard Brusman
Working Resources
Box 471525 San Francisco, California 94147-1525
Tel: 415-546-1252 Fax: 415-721-7322
E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com
Blog Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maynard_Brusman
9/18/2009
One of my CEO leadership coaching clients normally has a very participative leadership style. However, in this turbulent economy he made a strategic decision to be much more directive with his senior leadership team. He was very open with his senior team members, that he was going to be much more hands on to get through this difficult economic period.
The CEO also needed to be very clear with his senior leaders that they would be accountable for achieving results. He inspired trust by being transparent about his intention. The CEO needed to be firm, but at the same time engage his people in a positive fashion. The culture of the company needed to retain its’ fun and playful atmosphere while still creating a context for maximum achievement.
Inside and Out
Broadly defined, transparency should mean the degree to which information flows freely within an organization, among managers and employees, and outward to stakeholders.
A company cannot be transparent to its shareholders without first being transparent to its workforce. A January 2009 Harvard Business Review survey revealed that, over the last year, readers reported having 76% less trust in U.S. companies’ senior management and 51% less trust in non-U.S. companies. (Of the 1,000+ respondents, 60% were based outside the United States.) That’s a significant drop in confidence levels.
Roughly half of all managers don’t trust their leaders. Exact figures and study results vary, but no data compiled over the last seven years have shown more than 50% trust for company leaders.
When people experience such distrust, they describe their working environment as:
- Threatening
- Divisive
- Unproductive
- Tense
In contrast, when working in a trusting environment, people report the experience as:
- Fun
- Supportive
- Motivating
- Creative
- Comfortable
- Productive
Companies that foster a culture of transparency and trust clearly have a competitive advantage for sustainable success.
Companies cannot innovate or rapidly respond to new challenges unless all employees have access to relevant, timely and valid information.
Easier Said Than Done
The obvious question remains: Why wouldn’t companies promote openness and a free flow of information?
Several issues seem to arise:
- Can people communicate upward and do so honestly?
- Are teams capable of challenging their own assumptions?
- Can boards of directors communicate important messages to company leadership?
Transparency issues can involve a leader who won’t listen to followers, as well as followers who won’t speak up. They also occur when team members are ensconced in “groupthink,” usually without awareness. People on the same team don’t challenge each other.
Sometimes, they like each other too much. Other times, they simply don’t know how to disagree with one another.
Shared values and assumptions play a positive role in groups that work well together. But when a team of senior managers suffers from collective denial and self-deception, its members cannot unearth and challenge their shared assumptions. Such blinkered thinking leads to disasters, in both a business and ethical sense.
Are you working in a company or law firm where leadership models trust and transparency? Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leadership develop trust? Leaders need .to lead by example for followers to fully engage.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I lead by inspiring transparency and trust?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who want to become more transparent in their communications.
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a more effective at being open and transparent increasing the level of trust in your organization. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.
Subscribe to Working Resources Newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com Visit Maynard’s Blog at http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com
The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare Board Approved designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive Coaching & Leadership Development and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.
Dr. Maynard Brusman, Consulting Psychologist & Executive Coach
Working Resources
Help Companies Assess, Select, Coach, and Retain Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
Box 471525
San Francisco, California 94147-1525
Tel: 415-546-1252
E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com
Blog Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maynard_Brusman
9/17/2009
Are you working in a company or law firm where executive coaches are hired to help high flyers develop their leadership capability? Does your company or law firm provide leadership development for high potentials?
One of the most powerful questions you can ask is “Are leaders given stretch assignments that allow them to practice new skills and gain expertise?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent leaders make executive coaching and leadership development available for leaders at all levels of the organization.
10,000 Hours or 10 Years
Malcolm Gladwell makes the case for 10,000 hours of practice to attain expertise in his book Outliers (Little, Brown & Co., 2008): “The 10,000-hours rule says that if you look at any kind of cognitively complex field, from playing chess to being a neurosurgeon, we see this incredibly consistent pattern that you cannot be good at that unless you practice for 10,000 hours, which is roughly 10 years, if you think about four hours a day.”
Almost all child prodigies in music, sports, chess and the arts seem to put in 10,000 hours before they attain expertise and produce significant results.
The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance, edited by Anders Ericsson, Charness and Feltovich, et al, compiles scientific studies to prove the point in a wide variety of fields. The trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Or, put another way, expert performers “whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming” are nearly always made, not born.
Many of us have already put in more than a decade of doing what we do. The question is whether we’re practicing the right things, in the right way. Are we designing deliberate practice that actually develops the specific skills we need to make progress toward specific results? Or, to use a golf analogy, are you going to the driving range and hitting a bucket of balls the wrong way, for hours at a time?
What Is Deliberate Practice?
Anders Ericsson and his scientific colleagues emphasize the importance of deliberate practice, which isn’t what most of us think of when applying the term to sports or music education. In fact, our habitual use of the term in these domains may prevent us from applying it correctly to the business realm.
Deliberate practice is characterized by several elements:
- It is an activity designed specifically to improve performance, often with the help of a teacher, coach or expert.
- It can be repeated frequently.
- Feedback on results is continuously available.
- It’s highly demanding mentally.
- It isn’t much fun and entails hard work.
If you think you’ve outgrown the need for a teacher or coach, it’s time to challenge this assumption. A business coach can see things a manager cannot and is trained to deliver feedback in a way that’s inaccessible to most managers.
Without a clear, unbiased view of your performance, you cannot choose the best practice activities. Most of us lack the knowledge we need to design our own practice programs, and we cannot realistically provide objective observations and feedback to ourselves. As stunt people like to say, “don’t try this at home.” Hire a coach who can properly stretch you beyond your current abilities and help you move out of your comfort zones. Otherwise, human nature dictates that you’re likely to spend your time practicing what you already know how to do.
According to Noel Tichy, PhD, a professor of organizational behavior and human resources management at the University of Michigan School of Business, our progress depends on leaving our comfort zone to enter the learning zone, where skills and abilities are just out of reach. We must force ourselves to stay in the latter, even as we make changes.
Why We Avoid Hard Work
Deliberate practice is, above all else, an effort to focus and concentrate. Recognizing unsatisfactory elements of performance is difficult and uncomfortable. When you try your hardest to perform better, you place enormous strain on your mental abilities.
Deliberate practice, in fact, can be viewed as an antonym to fun. Instead of doing something at which we excel, we intentionally work on areas where we have deficits-over and over again. After each repetition, a coach can tell us exactly where to focus so we can repeat these skills yet again.
Obviously, if the activities that require practice were easy and fun, everyone would do them. But in reality, most people won’t practice or persist long enough to improve. This is good news if you’re willing to do what most people won’t. It’s the reason you’re more likely to keep your job and thrive in this recession.
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help company leaders develop the habit of diligent practice. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.
Subscribe to Working Resources Newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com
Visit Maynard’s Blog at http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com
The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare Board Approved designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive Coaching & Leadership Development and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.
Dr. Maynard Brusman, Consulting Psychologist & Executive Coach
Working Resources
Help Companies Assess, Select, Coach, and Retain Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
Box 471525
San Francisco, California 94147-1525
Tel: 415-546-1252
E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maynard_Brusman
8 queries. 15.301 sec.
Powered by WordPress Module based on WordPress ME & WordPress
|
