Defining Moments, AH HAs and Turning Points in Business

What are the turning points in your life? Business? Team?

How did these defining moments change your life?

What was the connection between the turning point and getting clear on what you value?

Athena Katsaros is a Leadership Coach who is passionate about helping people use all their gifts, skills and talents. Her website is http://www.ideatribe.com/

And, she was my guest on one of my recent radio shows Conversations with Charmaine  - 
She talked about the wake up moments or defining moments that change us and take us on a different path in life. Her life changed dramatically when in 2001 when Athena discovered she was content in her marketing business, but not really happy. She went through a number of courses and coaching programs and learned about creating work that you love, and to be paid well for doing what you love. She created a three month program for women who lost their husband in 911. She leaned to be a coach- and saw first hand the transformation that occurred for these women as they came together and formed a community as they worked through their grieving process.  Through this defining moment, Athena discovered that having the life you love involves a few things:

1) Identify what is most fulfilling for you.

2) Values- identify what is most important for you then the values will drive your decisions and actions

3) Be crystal clear on your values as they drive the micro decisions.  She asked a great question... how do your start you morning.  Are you rushed and choking down your  breakfast on the way out the door, or are you grounded and taking time to enjoy time with family or time for you before heading out the door.  When you are clear on your values, you live life differently.


You can learn more about our conversations by listening to:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/06/13/guests-richard-schultz-and-athena-katsaros

5 Lessons About Teams from the Movie Avatar

I have now seen the movie Avatar several times, and each time I learn something new, and gain a new perspective.  This time when I watched it I found myself thinking about the parallels between the story line, and business.  In the movie Avatar, there were examples of the following, which I believe are essential for organizational success:


Relationships

Teams and communities can endure and move through a great deal of change, crisis and adversity when the relationships are strong. Relationships can be restored with work, and when both parties are willing to understand, build the relationship, forgive, and move forward. Trust can be broken as quickly as it is formed so ongoing attention to nurturing trust and relationships is essential.


Values

Trust, honesty, honour, family and respect for the land and its creatures was critical, just like in organizations, these are often the key organizational foundations. When deeply rooted values are compromised, or challenged, it can create conflict and division in the community, in the team.

Importance of rituals and legacy

In the movie Avatar, legacy, tradition and rituals were the backbone of the people. Decisions were made based on history and rituals that keep the community strong. In workplaces there is often a culture, and when the team connects with tradition and rituals, there is a sense of synergy that forms.

Community

When there is a goal and a purpose, communities (and in the case of Avatar... Tribes) come together to support the mission. Community is not just people living or working in a certain geographic area. Community involves relationships. In Avatar, when the safety of the community was threatened, other communities came to lend support. We have seen this in our own community natural disasters such as forest fires, floods, etc. Other communities reach out to lend support, resources, and assistance. Social responsibility and respect for the land is a hot issue in many workplaces and organizations, as it was in the movie Avatar.

Leadership

Every community, tribe, workplace and team needs a leader. Leaders are the vision keepers, uphold the goals and mission, even when the going gets tough, and create cohesion in a time of crisis. As David Irvine (author and speaker on leadership and trust) says, leadership is a decision, not a position.




Next time you watch Avatar, watch for the parallels you see between the movie and the team or organization in which you work. Look forward to hearing your perspectives.

Workplace Values..... the value of values

Richard Schultz and I enjoyed a great conversation about values when I interviewed him on my radio show http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/06/13/guests-richard-schultz-and-athena-katsaros



In our conversations, Richard talked about two important words that are essential. You probably used these words all the time...I AM. These two words are very important in a value based workplace and in describe the team and business goals. These words are also very important in shifting mindsets and overcoming discomfort. Richard gave an example of making difficult calls, sales calls (something that causes discomfort and even fear and procrastination for some). Instead of focusing on the dread of the phone call or the face to face conversation, Richard suggested you could say something like: "I am calm and personalable”, "I am smiling” or “I am clear in message and effective in building rapport”

Setting the intention of success, picturing a favourable outcome and using affirming statements can be helpful in conversations where you are typically uncomfortable or nervous.

Have the outcome clear in your mind, what does the end story look like?


With affirming statements, Richard said they take work, and frequent repetition to be effective in fact, he suggested we need to repeat these statements about 200-300 times to create a belief and mindset change in our subconscious programming. He says that VALUES =Beliefs plus Behaviour

The process of walking the talk in creating a value based workplace is to:


1) Choose to be aware- leaders check in with your behaviours. Are the results you want, the results you are achieving?


2) Tools and behaviours- for example if you get stressed about doing business presentations, or cold calls, your subconscious brain is likely repeating messages such as "I can’t stand doing this","I am not good enough to win the trust of the top executives", "I am up against tough competition". Instead identify what you do want, not your fear or what you are trying to avoid. Turn the unwanted behaviour into a statement of belief by using these two words I Am.... and then stepping into action.


Listen here to learn how you can put more focus on values in your team and workplace: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/06/13/guests-richard-schultz-and-athena-katsaros

Insights to the tough choices and hard decisions

I just finished reading The Book of Hard Choices, and appreciated the many examples of the tough decisions in business. We can probably all relate to the tough decisions that keep us awake at night.


Autry talked about the four types of clients:

1) Reasonable and fair clients

2) Unpredictable and troublesome clients

3) Difficult and Demanding clients

4) Bullies


We have all probably dealt with several types of these clients. Autry discusses the challenging dilemma of dealing with these situations involving the more difficult clients, while maintaining your integrity and self respect.


He also talks about the importance of never being driven by fear in terms of making important decisions and to remember the long term impact of what we say and what we do.


I very much enjoyed the author's comments about living in the "learning zone" instead of the comfort zone. This was an insight that I think is most important for business. Complacency can smother a team's morale, productivity and success.


Autry's comments that life experiences and how you cope, shape you are is so true. It also provides hope that we can change the outcomes of situations by how we respond, and who we are being in those moments.

Finally, his examples of ensuring ground rules before agreeing to confidentiality were so well written, and so important. As a trainer, facilitator and former mediator, I witnessed firsthand the necessity for ground rules around communication and confidentiality.

A good read.

To find out more about tough business decisions and the choices that challenge our integrity, and what to do about it, check out:

What kind of leader are YOU? Part two.

John Maxwell's Five Levels of Leadership.... tips from a leadership expert

This is part two of the Leadership posting. Last post I shared a summary of John Maxwell's levels of leadership, so clearly defined in his new book The Five Levels of Leadership.  Maxwell offers a few tips for leaders in these different levels. First, is that it is not a given that all leaders will transform through these levels. I have worked in organizations, and have met lots of leaders who are still in a positional leadership level despite having been a leader for 15 years. They have not transformed, nor has their team. They use their position to lead people. You would hear language like “I’m the boss”, or refer to employees as subordinates (not team members). You can like the people that you are leading however; you cannot effectively lead people that you as a leader don’t like. This is an important concept as I have heard many leaders say things like “I don’t have to like people on my team” or “I don’t have to like them, I just have to respect them.” The challenge is for leaders to find something that they like or appreciate about the team members, otherwise it will shine through.

Leaders will be well served to create a good environment and great relationships, and of course, get things done. This ensures that profits go up while turnover and team issues go down. The bonus is that leadership and work becomes more fun and leaders become agents of change because they are making difficult decisions that ultimately create big outcomes. As a corporate trainer and consultant I have seen many leaders shy away from important decisions, because, it may not be a favorable decision. Ultimately this can hurt their credibility, the relationship and the culture of environment of the team. Making these decisions requires some risk taking.

Empowering others, your team, will serve you well as you refine your leadership skills and approach. Empowering others allows leaders opportunity to “reproduce” themselves as they make a high investment in others’ development which also deepens relationships. Essentially as Maxwell explains, leaders change the lives of those they lead!

Maxwell talks about three types of values: ethical values (doing the right thing for the right reasons), relationship values (how to build an atmosphere of trust and respect for others), and success values (deciding on the goals that are worthy of spending your life on). These are great questions to explore as a leader, “am I doing the right thing for the right reasons?”, “how do I build and maintain an atmosphere of trust?”, and “what goals are worthy of me spending my life and time on?” The concept of values is a frequent discussion topic in corporate training and the team building processes I facilitate. And, values are often at the root of many workplace challenges and communication challenges.

This week, what are three actions you can take to empower others, build relationships and create an environment where the team becomes champions for the corporate goals and mission?

To add this book to your leadership training program or corporate library shelves, visit: