by Deborah Leverett | May 30, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
The power of one is extreme: you can change a life, change a neighborhood, change a nation. Yet before anyone can lead the charge to make a difference in the world, personal leadership must be mastered. I have found in my own life that there are certain areas of attitude, beliefs and commitments that I have to continually practice and grow in to achieve my goals. 1. Do It Now Some people have been procrastinating for years, for decades. The way to overcome procrastination is to do it now! Fear is the attitude and belief behind this behavior. If you are afraid, you won’t leave the shore. You have to leave your place of security to grow. Change is applied effort and action undergirded by faith. What ONE THING can you do now to move forward? 2. Develop A Positive Mindset You have creative mental energies ready to be released: it will cause you to find ways that things can be done. The opposite uses exhaustive emotional energy thinking on why things cannot be done. Become aware of your mental state and challenge thoughts as they come in. 3. Live with Enthusiasm Enjoy what you are doing. Enthusiasm comes from the Greek en theos: In DGod. It is contagious. It is not a foolish attitude, but a level of positive energy that unleashes creativity and solutions. 4. Live a Disciplined Life: Create Habits and Routines It’s been said that discipline is the key to a happy life. You can change your life by changing your habits. Don’t be fooled by the 21-day theory. Set out to do something for...
by Deborah Leverett | May 23, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
Disturbing Numbers: an increase in the number of businesses folding a decrease in the number of new ones opening a decrease in the life span of current businesses We can’t finish this discussion without questioning the impact of poor leadership. Whether a large corporation or a small start-up, every successful business has leaders with certain traits: 1. Vision — If you can’t see where you’re going then you won’t need anyone to join you! The best leaders see, go first, then convince others to go along. 2. Commitment — If you’ve ever remodeled a room or a home, you’ve learned this lesson: it’s always more difficult than you expected, costs twice as much and takes three times as long. With every goal you desire to achieve, this is the pattern. Too often, a person in a leadership position finds and follows a path of least resistance resulting in a derailed vision. 3. Resilience — A successful leader will have courage, strength, will-power and stamina to see the vision realized. Resiliency is the ability to weather storms without sinking. When you think you can’t get up one more time, a successful leader gets up and goes again. 4. Focus — The word leader implies moving people in a certain direction (see #1). Management is about results. Too many leaders spend their days focusing on results only. That may keep the boat afloat, but is it moving forward? Management alone cannot create and sustain an enterprise – it will always need leadership. 5. Strength of Character — There is no substitute for honesty, wisdom, courage and compassion. People expect leaders to...
by Deborah Leverett | May 15, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
Last week in Disturbing Numbers Part One, I noted that the number of years of the life span of current businesses and the number of new businesses are trending down. In the second part of this series, I want to address a foundational issue as to why this is happening. The 2013 Gallup State of the American Workplace shows that only 3 out of 10 employees are actively engaged and committed to the success of their organization. 50% just show up, and 20% are the contrarians always looking for a reason to complain and behave in ways that negatively effect coworkers as well as customers. If 70% of your workforce is working to maintain status quo at best and actually trying to sabotage initiatives at worst, is it even possible that a company could survive? This number of unengaged employees definitely will negatively affect the work product, level of productivity and profitability. You can read in management and leadership books lists full of technical reasons why this is happening: inadequate hiring practices, poor management practices, toxic company culture; all are critical. I believe it is a much deeper issue. This is a reflection of personal character (integrity) and quality of work (excellence). By integrity, I mean: Telling the truth Standing up for what is right Keeping your word Keeping confidences Admitting mistakes By excellence, I mean: Doing the very best work with the resources at hand Taking care of details Going the extra mile Following through and following up Using time well Finding solutions to problems This is a moral compass issue that, in the workplace, ultimately effects the...
by Deborah Leverett | May 9, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
According to the Brookings Institute, more businesses have closed than opened since 2008. This is a serious number. The decline in new businesses openings is unique in the American economy, and coupled with the slow growth (2-3% ) of the economy, presents disquieting news. Another factor that must be considered is the trend of business life spans. Up until mid to late 20th century, the life span of a business was 65-75 years. Today, the current life span of a business is 15 years, and the trend continues to fall. Today’s blog is the first of a 3-part series on information that warrants attention for the business leader and business owner: The # 1 factor for a long-lived organization is the ability of that organization to respond effectively to the changing environment. Companies who are more agile with the capacity to respond quickly are those companies that will elude the fate of the dinosaur. A caveat: the change we have seen in the last 10-20 years is nothing compared to what’s coming down the pike. Several years ago Shell Oil researched big companies that had successfully gone through a major and disruptive change. The research revealed that those companies had some common themes. Every company was decentralized tolerated innovative risk taking had a strong identity fostered a strong culture had values that were lived out in the organization The resilience factor – the ability to successfully handle change of all kinds – of an organization (just as with an individual) depends first on the internal mindsets, attitudes and behaviors. What does your company need to address along these lines?...
by Deborah Leverett | Apr 28, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
A client and I were reviewing the major successes his organization had experienced during their culture initiative when he expressed his frustration that things seemed to be more complex than ever. This, in spite of the fact that the organization was moving away from hierarchical silos to a collaborative team-based work environment. One would tend to think a flatter organization would be more simple. But, actually, the opposite is true. Below are 5 major touch points that create new complexities. 1. Communication options through technology add dimensions of complexity that regular teams don’t have to deal with: distance, time differences, technology that may or may not work well, 2. A richer brain trust as organizations bring in external resources: customers, partnering organizations, external consultants. This of course brings on more points of view to assimilate. 3. More teams. These teams each have their own purpose, structure and dynamics, behaviors and learning. Competing team membership requires a higher level of political navigation as well. 4. A learning organization is critical to the flatter organization because all employees will need to grow and learn to keep up with the ever-changing market and customer needs. Up to 50% of organizations will create their own ‘corporate universities’. 5. Change happens for the entry level employees, but for the executive/leadership level, the change must be transformational. These complexities are both the collateral fruit and the seeds of change. They are necessary for an organization to succeed and flourish in the 21st century. What complexities have you seen as your organization grows more...
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