by Deborah Leverett | Sep 30, 2011 | Blog, Uncategorized
It’s been several months since last post. Did you know a blog could be broken? I wrote for several posts before I knew that no one was able to access. I am not sure it is fixed, but here we go! Just noticed that time on the posting site says 9:41 pm. It is 4:41pm in Texas. Oh, well; if you write a blog that nobody reads, does it still exist? Being disconnected – feeling disconnected- is not an anomaly in the workplace. In the midst of a hundred cubicles, where people appear to be productive, there is little to no communication, collaboration or connecting. Isolation exists in the boardroom, on the executive team, in the employee cafeteria as well and is a serious symptom of benign neglect. With collaboration being a critical component of innovation as well as a marker for a healthy environment, why can executives and managers do to foster connectivity? Most say they don’t really see it or that there are other more pressing issues with which to deal. 3 Tips to Facilitate Collaboration: 1. Create dependencies: organize work so that it is dependent on several people to produce total product. 2. Recognize and Reward teamwork: make it a point to highlight those who do work in teams and give perks to those teams who produce. 3. Brainstorm to teambuild: Bring in a selection of individuals from a cross-section of departments and ask them to solve a problem. What does your organization do to break down...
by Deborah Leverett | Feb 25, 2011 | Blog, Uncategorized
Run down this list: it can be a valuable tool to use to identify gaps or obstacles keeping your organization from high productivity, innovation and customers as advocates: 1. Organizational values, mission and vision are ignored. 2. Lack of organization-wide service philosophy. 3. No company-wide hiring strategy. 4. Inadequate or inconsistent training. 5. Employees are unable to connect day-to-day activities with the goals and overall mission of organization. 6. No measurement of performance = no feedback = no personal accountability = no improvement= status quo. 7. Culture does not allow employees or customers to give input. If input is received, it is ignored. 8. Leadership does not daily live out the values of the organization. 9. No investment in development of employees. 10. Leadership does not see the strong connection between a service culture and the bottom...
by Deborah Leverett | Jan 12, 2011 | Blog, Uncategorized
Our capacity, or potential, is unlimited. But few people reach their potential because they don’t understand that in order to grow, you must change. And change, as we all know, is uncomfortable, stretches us beyond what we know; even going to points of perceived pain. In our culture of seminars, development programs, leadership books, we are not want of information. Yet we can deceive ourselves and think because we have read it, our job is done. A huge lie! it is not until you begin to practice new behavior that you will grow. The process of true change requires certain attitudes: 1. Desire. If you don’t wanna you ain’t gonna. 2. Humility. You must admit you haven’t reached perfection, and you don’t know it all. (Ahem, don’t think you need to show this to your boss/spouse/etc. Stay focused.) 3. Awareness. You must find out what is not working. You really don’t need someone else to tell you. You can just take stock of what is going right in your and what is going wrong. You don’t even need to spend a week in the mountains. You can begin immediately by asking these after an important meeting, after a heated discussion or at the end of your day: What went wrong/right? What part did I play? Did I make it worse? Better? What could I have done differently? 4. Take responsibility. Once you’ve asked these questions of yourself, make a quality decision to find out how how to do it better. Books, internet, peers, mentors, etc. No excuse that you don’t have access to the information you need. 5. Do....
by Deborah Leverett | Jan 6, 2011 | Blog, Uncategorized
Every once in a while, it doesn’t hurt to do a little shameless promotion. I often get asked, “What exactly do you do?” Answering with industry jargon e.g., organizational development or we help companies create a culture, can be pretty vague if you’re in another industry. So, if you have ever wondered, what is it Entera+Parnters does, here are some problems that have been solved for recent Entera+Partners clients in the area of team performance: 1. Team was not focused on mission because they either did not know it or did not understand it. 2. Team meetings were boring, tense, ineffective. 3. Lots of talk but little communication. 4. After meetings, team members aired disagreements or frustration. 5. Vague role and responsibilities or there are competing roles on team. 6. Team does not have any way to measure progress, so does not know when they are achieving. 7. Leader of team makes all decisions. 8. Much internal conflict, distrust, or hidden agendas. There you have it – now you know – 873.8500 p.s you can look for Shameless Promotion II and III coming...
by Deborah Leverett | Jan 5, 2011 | Blog, Uncategorized
People love the new year because it brings hopes of new beginnings and change for the better. Diets always top the lists as people seek ways to look and feel better, and they know the way to do is to change what food they are eating. Athletes understand that if they want to get to the next level, their training must include changing the fuel they put in their body. Why is it we have to much trouble understanding that our growth-or stagnation- as a person is tied to what we ingest intellectually, spiritually, creatively, emotionally? What are you feeding on in these areas? When you are not feeding on proper food, you will not develop in these areas. You might need to change your diet. Do you persistently have trouble managing conflict in your relationships? Functioning well in times of crisis? Solving problems? How is your creativity? If answering these questions is painful, perhaps you need to look at what and who you are watching, listening and reading. These activities too often cause passivity and foggy thinking. Think back to the fall of 2008 and early 2009. I had several clients who experienced intense anxiety and fear, even depression. Their thought life had been influenced by what they were hearing, watching and reading. Critical thinking skills and the ability to solve problems were slowly eroding as negative thoughts and emotions took over. How do you think this impacted their organizations? We all agree that there is nothing more mind numbing than television which is exactly why many people watch. Nielsen reports adults now watch an average of 35...
by Deborah Leverett | Jan 2, 2011 | Blog, Uncategorized
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered: Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives: Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies: Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow: Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable: Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest people with the biggest ideas will be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds: Think big anyway. People follow top dogs, but favor underdogs: Fight for some underdog anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight: Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you help them: Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have got, and they may kick you in the teeth: Give your best anyway. Author...
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