Starters and Finishers

In my work as a corporate trainer, speaker and facilitator, I get the chance to learn a lot about working styles, communication patterns and the principles of success. One interesting dynamic I notice in many teams is that there are “starters”, and that there are “finishers”. The challenge is that often the starters don’t seek help of the finishers.

From a Working Style (Hal Stack) perspective the starters are often the Expressive Working Style people... the visionaries, creators, the idea’s people. They are superb at generating ideas, creative solutions and collaborations however; they sometimes lose their focus and ambition towards the completion of the project. This is where the finishers come in very handy. This working style, often the driver, can help the expressive move the idea from concept, to plan, to implementation to completion. I would describe myself as a starter, I am an Expressive and Driver working style, however, my business and the exciting journeys we are on right now have required me to refine and even develop a stronger finisher (driver) approach to my work. Being able to “dance” within the working styles, and ask for help will really advance the work of the starters.

Recently I spoke at the AWE Conference on the topic of Your Leadership GPS. The audience had the opportunity to complete the working style inventory. In addition to being a fun exercise, the learning is quite powerful. Hal Stacks describes four Working Styles: Expressive, Driver, Amiable and Analytical. On a team, all four styles are very important to the team’s success. The key to supersized success is being able to dance within the styles, and carefully choose the working style that will be most appropriate in specific situations. For example, as an Expressive Driver, I often solicit the help of my Analytical Working Style colleagues as they will carefully review my ideas, ask a number of questions (which will be very helpful to me in planning and implementation), and be strategic in their assistance.

To find out more about AWE and the Leadership GPS presentation, visit: www.awebusiness.com and

http://www.awebusiness.com/pages/News/Newsletter.aspx?id=922


In my upcoming blog, I will speak to the other two Working Styles from Hal Stack’s Working Style inventory.

Is Giving An Interaction or a Transaction?

Jessica Jackley is a successful business woman, and also the co-founder of Kiva.org, a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. “By leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.” (source: Kiva.org)

Jessica Jackley- entrepreneur, successful business owner and change agent!

At a recent Alberta Women Entrepreneurs Conference where I was speaking I also had the opportunity to hear Jessica’s presentation. She shared the moving and powerful story of Kiva, and how small loans such as $25 can support an entrepreneur in another country to move out of poverty into business. The stories were rich with the reminder of how a little giving, empathy and understanding, can make a big difference in the world. Stories, according to Jessica, drive us to act!

Jessica talked about the importance of knowing your mission and your business identity…that is who you are and what you do. She also stressed that in business and leadership you must listen well, and to make something from whatever you have (any action is better than none at all). Lesson #3 was to co-create and include people on your journey.

When describing the process of giving, she stated that community service and giving is about an interaction (e.g. relationship) vs. transaction (providing a check). I thought this was a wonderful way to define being in service to others.

If you were to describe your lessons in community service and giving, what would they be?

To find out more about Kiva and the loans that change lives, visit: http://www.kiva.org/

A Dragon With Heart

A Dragon with a Heart is one way to think about Arlene Dickenson, an incredible business woman and celebrity on the Dragon's Den television show.  One of my bucket list items was to meet Arlene, and on May 3 I was thrilled to meet her at the Alberta Women Entrepreneur Awards night. Arlene was awarded the Celebration of Achievement Award, one that was very well deserved.

Arlene Dickenson and I in Edmonton at the AWE Awards Event.

Listening to Arlene speak at the event was inspiring and affirming. One comment that really struck me was when Arlene talked about emotion having a place in business. One of the qualities I appreciate about Arlene as a business woman is her authenticity, and how she shows up in life... real.... and integral!  Part of that involves emotion. I have always struggled with the concept of leaving emotion out of business or checking emotion at the door. Business is about relationships, risk , responsibility, loss, success, all of which involve emotion. The key is to manage emotion and show up real, and it was affirming to hear Arlene say "how do you keep emotion out of business?"  The saying goes that people do business with those they know, like and trust. When you are authentic, and show up as the best version of you, you make it easier for people to trust you and build relationships that are key to business.

As a leader, how do you want to show up in business... and in life?  How you show up really matters.
I have read Arlene's new book Persuasion, and highly recommend it. The book is full of business advice and tips to help business women succeed in business, and in life. Arlene's authentic, down to earth writing style makes her so relatable. Check it out here, I highly recommend this book!





According to Alberta Women Entrpeneurs, there are currently "over 900,000 of the 2.6 million self-employed workers in Canada are women, with businesses that represent over $117 billion per annum of economic activity." Alberta Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) is a not-for-profit organization that provides unique programs and services to women at all stages of business through advising, skills development, financing and networking opportunities, ensuring women entrepreneurs are supported and continue to establish profitable businesses that contribute to the economy.


For more information on Alberta Women Entrepreneurs or the Celebration of Achievement, visit http://www.awebusiness.com/

Crowdsourcing..is it an option for your business?

Jessica Jackley is a Founder and CEO of ProFounder (www.profounder.com), a platform providing new ways for small business entrepreneurs in the U.S. to access start-up capital through crowdfunding and community involvement. ProFounder will launch to the public in the fall of 2010.

Prior to ProFounder, Jessica was a Founder, Chief Marketing Officer, and Director of Kiva (www.kiva.org), the world’s first p2p microlending website. Kiva lets users lend as little as $25 to poor entrepreneurs around the world, providing affordable capital for them to start or expand microenterprises. Since its founding in October 2005, Kiva has facilitated over $160 in loans across 205 countries.

I had the pleasure of hearing Jessica speak at a recent Alberta Women Entrepreneurs Conference, on May 4, 2012.  Jessica's passion for business and making a difference in the lives of others was contagious.  In her presentation, she also responded to questions about  crowdsourcing

Raising funds for a small business can be a daunting task for any fledgling entrepreneur. Whether it be from friends and family or from the general public, finding investors, setting terms of the funding, assigning equity and filing compliance documents is a challenge. ProFounder, is a stealth start up that ensures all entrepreneurs and small businesses have access to an easy and simple fundraising platform.

My book, On Toby's Terms is in development to become a major motion picture! This is incredibly exciting, and a great learning opportunity. The movie producers launched a short window crowd sourcing campaign through Indie GoGo.  You can learn more here:  http://www.indiegogo.com/On-Tobys-Terms-The-movie

It will be interesting learning more about how these sites can assist small businesses and community organizations.

Your Leadership GPS- leading with success

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of speaking amongst a great line up of speakers, including: Michele Bailey, Blazing THE Agency, Jessica Jackley co-founder of Kiva.org, Denise Leclair, Bedouin Beats Ltd, Tara Kelly, SPLICE Software, and Cidnee Stephen, Strategies for Success. Each of the speakers brought rich content and value to the event, and the incredible business women that attended!

Your Leadership GPS was the topic I was speaking on, a topic that I am most passionate about, and one that is essential for business owners. "Leadership is a decision, not a position" is a statement by an author I respect, David Irvine. He has a valuable perspective on leadership, building trust, and developing authentic leadership skills. I also spoke about some of the qualities of great leaders, such as leadership maturity, humility, the ability to forgive and to ask for help. Reminding the audience that "it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be possible" is a message I love to share, especially since I am a recovering perfectionist. As a leader, your results will give you a pretty good idea of your mindset and your leadership blueprint.

Some tips to enhancing your leadership GPS:

- create a mindset of success
- develop affirmations that are congruent with the type of leader you wish to be
- know your working style and how to work with other's whose style is different from yours
- have the courageous dialogues (the conversations that matter most and are mostly avoided)
- develop your ASK skills
- learn to forgive (self and others)
- systematize what you do


We talked about the importance of mindset, and setting your intention for the day, which is what I call "Framing Your Day". The video I enjoy sharing is titled Jessica's Affirmations, you can watch it here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rK0kZFkg

Framing your Day is making an intentional decision of how you intend to
show up in the world, what leadership you will demonstrate and how
you intend your day will go.

Read the article that Alberta Women Entrepreneurs wrote about me here:

http://www.awebusinessaspx/?id=922


To find out more about Alberta Women Entrepreneurs, their services and the incredible conference speakers, visit: http://www.awebusiness.com/


To find out more about the books that I referenced in the presentation, visit:

                  


                   

What’s Your Leadership GPS?

At a recent Alberta Women Entrepreneurs Conference (AWE) I was speaking on the topic of Leadership GPS. My presentation included three distinct topics: understanding your strengths, knowing your leadership style, and getting out of your way (and capitalizing on your strengths).

In this workshop I defined Leadership GPS as Goals, Plans of Action and Success Indicators.

Some of the qualities in exceptional leaders include:

• Knowing your strengths and how to use them to help grow your business and advance your team
• Understanding that one’s strengths can become a deficit or challenge if you are not mindful and present
• Confident, clear communicators
• Have empathy
• Are able to say no, can make decisions and stand by them
• Strong leaders can forgive themselves and move forward, they are resilient
• They decide in advance (intentionally) how they want to show up in the world and as a leader (I call this framing your day)
• When the day goes off track, strong leaders are able to reframe their day and move forward
• They know their leadership style and adapt it to work more effectively with other
• They can ASK for help

Some of the many questions that came up in the round table discussions following the presentation were about a) giving up some “control”, b) work life balance, c) difficult conversations, d) building a team. In the coming blogs, I’ll focus on the answers to these questions.
When you think of a strong leader, what are the qualities that come to mind for you?