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Prides, Herds and Teams: THe Vaule of Working Together

May 2, 2018
Priscilla Archangel
Collaboration, Communication, teamwork

Prides, Herds and Teams: The Value of Working Together

How well can you accomplish your goals by working alone?

Scrolling through my newsfeed recently, I came across an intense video of animals in the bush, fighting for survival.

In it, a herd of 20 to 30 buffalo rounded the bend in the path, their hooves thundering on the well-worn dusty ground as they approached their watering hole. Suddenly they stopped in their tracks, the blowing dust settling around them. They came face to face with a pride of lionesses, 6 or 7 of them, hungry and looking for their next meal. The fact that one buffalo was more than twice their size was unimportant to the lionesses. These large mammals are typical prey for the pride, as they had hungry cubs and several male lions to feed. Their goal was to isolate one animal from the others, then pounce as a group, using their powerful jaws to deliver a decisive strike to the throat, and thereby suffocate the buffalo.

The standoff began with each group eyeing one another. The buffalo knew this routine and they knew they had strength in numbers. Several buffalo at the front of the herd took turns rushing forward a few yards to butt the lionesses, more of an offensive measure than really trying to jump on them. The lionesses responded in kind, crouching, half pouncing, looking for an angle to get in between a lone buffalo and the rest of the herd.

The buffalo could only survive by working as a team. Similarly, the pride of lionesses’ only hope of finding dinner was to operate as a team. On this day, the buffalo won. Their supportive strategy worked, and they made it safely to their watering hole.  (more…)

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Good Leaders Follow the Right Instinct

April 4, 2018
Priscilla Archangel
Behavior, Decision Making, Leadership, Relationships

Good Leaders Follow the RIGHT Instinct

Kelley is stressed. He and his team are on a tight deadline to bring a project to market that could significantly boost his company’s revenues for the fiscal year. The hand off from the development team to them was delayed due to technical issues, and the whole project is now backed up. The pressure is intense as the executive committee is now asking for weekly progress reports to ensure their promises to prospective clients and the shareholders will be met.

At the same time Kelley is exasperated with his team for several errors they’ve made, along with their pushback on part of the strategy that was previously agreed upon. It reached the point that this morning he blew up and let them have it. His words in the brief team meeting were partly uncontrolled anger and partly controlled manipulation. He wanted to make a point and motivate them to stay sharp and move quicker, and to understand the pressure he is experiencing. (more…)

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Life Interrupting Work

March 7, 2018
Priscilla Archangel
Life Work Balance, Priorities, Relationships

Life Interrupting Work

For most leaders who are results oriented, high powered and fast paced, life is work. But what happens when life interrupts work?

Several weeks ago, one of my best and oldest friends passed away. I had the privilege of spending the last few days of her life with her, as I canceled my role in leading a meeting and rushed to the airport in tears to catch an earlier flight than originally planned to see her. It was a precious time that I wouldn’t trade for anything. But it impacted me more than I realized. Only several weeks later did I realize some of the work-related things that totally slipped my mind while I was supporting her family and processing my loss.

About 8 months ago, I was facilitating a meeting of women business owners and casually stated that I wasn’t at an earlier meeting because…then I suddenly burst into tears….sobbing! The good news is that I was in a “safe space” where they were very supportive, though confused because it came with no warning. I was finally able to communicate that the memory of missing their earlier meeting triggered the recognition that it was because my husband was having a heart transplant at that time. And for some reason, my emotions came pouring out uncontrollably. (more…)

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Fear@Work

February 7, 2018
Priscilla Archangel
Communication, Leadership

Fear@Work

A CEO recently expressed concern that there was an environment of fear among his employees in the workplace. He was trying to understand the underlying issues driving this, to determine how to address it. His sincerity was commendable, and it provided an opportunity to identify drivers of fear by starting at the top of the organization.

Fear can be paralyzing, creating an environment of indecision as employees try to figure out what their leaders “want” them to hear or to do, and preventing diverse perspectives that serve as possibilities for achieving organizational objectives. Employees’ internal insecurities (“Am I meeting others’ expectations of how I’m performing in my role?”), bump up against external uncertainties (“Will I become a victim of how the environment is shifting around me?”). They contemplate issues of job security, job performance, leadership changes, industry direction and business capability. While all these factors are beyond any one person’s control, the role of leadership is to build an environment of trust and avoid fertilizing seeds of fear.

Trust is built on relationships (knowing people well), transparency (understanding underlying motives), and predictability (ability to correctly anticipate behavior). (more…)

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Faith@work

January 3, 2018
Priscilla Archangel
Faith Based Leadership, Leadership

Faith@Work

Does faith have a place at work? CEOs at some major corporations think so.

John Tyson, Chairman of Tyson foods doesn’t believe that faith needs to be checked at the door when you come to work. He believes that “(His) faith is just an ongoing evolution, trying to understand what faith in the marketplace looks like, giving people permission to live their faith seven days a week…If people can talk about the football game on Monday, why can’t they talk about their faith?”1 Tyson Foods employs chaplains to provide support to employees of all faiths, whether Christian, Jewish or Muslim. 2

Conrad Hilton, founder of Hilton Hotels had a deep devotion to God that permeated his business decisions and personal life. Upon his death, he left most of his fortune to a Catholic charity with the statement that “There is a natural law, a Divine law, that obliges you and me to relieve the suffering, the distressed and the destitute.”3 (more…)

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Pivot to Purpose: Moving From Career to A Calling

December 6, 2017
Priscilla Archangel
Change, Coaching, Consulting, Faith Based Leadership, Leadership, Process, Purpose

Pivot to Purpose: Moving from a Career to a Calling

What were you doing as a teenager that really excited you and that you continue to do today?

A speaker asked this question years ago while talking to a group about understanding their strengths and passions in life. Several years later, when I was at a pivot point in my career, trying to decide whether to take the “safe” route, which required less faith, or the “risky” route, which required a lot of faith, it helped me make my decision. I recognized four key things I did during my teens that I was passionate about and how I continued these themes later in life.

Writing – When I was about 14, I decided on my own to read 1 and 2 Corinthians in the Bible and write down, chapter by chapter, what it meant to me. I was analyzing and trying to understand it and relate it to current life. Thirty years later, I continued that theme by writing a book of insights reflecting a faith- based approach to leadership. And I’ve followed that by writing a monthly commentary for individuals, teams and organizations focused on development of successful leadership skills. For me, the creativity of writing is intellectually stimulating and has become a passion and a priority in life. (more…)

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Your Pain Point: The Motivation for Change

November 1, 2017
Priscilla Archangel
Change, Discipline, Leadership

Your Pain Point: The Motivation for Change

I had a conversation with several leaders recently about changes they needed to make in their organization. They said that they wanted to change, but their behavior didn’t align with that statement. After further discussion, it became apparent that for them, the perceived pain they would experience to change their present situation, was greater than the actual pain of continuing in it, even with an impending negative impact for others involved.

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Leadership Stamina: The Priority of Self-Management

October 4, 2017
Priscilla Archangel
Leadership, Presence, Stamina

Leadership Stamina: The Priority of Self-Management

How often do you find yourself working long hours on a major organizational project, leading your team, managing diverse stakeholder opinions, or facing a looming deadline with nowhere near enough resources (time, people, money, technology) to meet your goals. Then somehow, it all comes together, and you’re a hero! A superhero! Or so you think. In reality, you realize that you’ve thrown all your energy into this one facet of your life and work, and other facets (family, relationships, other projects, personal finances, exercise, life goals, etc.) are now suffering from lack of attention. (more…)

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Seven Facilitation Strategies for Leaders

September 6, 2017
Priscilla Archangel
Collaboration, Faciltate, Leadership

Seven Facilitation Strategies for Leaders

In your leadership journey, you will increasingly find yourself at the front of the room. You’ll be standing there with the goal of influencing anywhere from five to 5,000 people in a particular course of action, sharing corporate policy decisions, facilitating a learning experience, discussing business challenges, developing and integrating business plans, and more. You’ll be faced with managing external compliance goals, internal policy decisions, varying leadership opinions, and diverging employee preferences. Your desire generally will be to broaden the perspective of the audience, and gain consensus around a set of values, strategies, and actions.

Walking into the room solely focused on your agenda is a recipe for disaster. You must anticipate every aspect of the topic, environment, and attendees to properly prepare for and address your subject matter. Your approach may be interactive and participatory, or more formal and direct. But building a relationship with your audience is always critical for success. As a leader, part of your growth is understanding how to facilitate others’ learning experiences, to accomplish organizational objectives. In the process, it’s important to be open to continuous learning from those around you. (more…)

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Six Steps to Collaborative Problem Solving

August 2, 2017
Priscilla Archangel
Collaboration, Leadership, Problem Solving, values

Six Steps to Collaborative Problem Solving

Many years ago, when I began my career in human resources, a colleague gave me a piece of valuable advice. He told me that when working with our business partners, I should avoid being a “no” person, but instead find ways to say “yes.”

Now, you must understand the context of this conversation. There were times when our business partners would make what I call “end” requests. That means when the business partner had a problem, they decided what action needed to be taken, then came to us and told us what to do. Obviously, in our humble yet expert opinion, their solution wasn’t the appropriate way to resolve the issue. Our partners weren’t necessarily trying to be difficult, or to violate policies or procedures, they simply wanted a quick resolution that fit their expectations. As HR professionals, the temptation for us, at least periodically, was to take charge of the situation and to do the proper thing. But the better result always included collaborating with them in understanding how to assess the problem and in finding the best solution. (more…)

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