environment

Seven Facilitation Strategies for Leaders

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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What Does Your Culture Look Like?

What Does Your Culture Look Like?

We live on a corner and almost every summer day as part of my morning exercise, I walk down the side street of our home. The sun is still rising. The dew hasn’t yet vanished from the grass. Everything looks fresh and green. The bushes that we so carefully planted around the perimeter of our home several years ago have grown substantially since the lawn service gave them their spring trim. As each day goes by, I realize that some parts of the bushes are REALLY growing out, and maybe it’s time for a mid-summer trim earlier than we anticipated. (more…)

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4 Keys to Thriving in an Unpredictable World

4 Keys to Thriving in an Unpredictable World

Fortune Magazine recently published its annual list of the largest U.S. corporations. Among the top 500, the names are all familiar. Only about 5% of the overall companies are newcomers or returnees. But understanding the challenges some of these companies have faced over the past years tell a clearer story of the shifting headwinds. One popular acronym today is VUCA which stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. According to writers Nathan Bennett and G. James Lemoine in the January-February 2014 issue of the Harvard Business Review (What VUCA Really Means For You), your level of VUCA reflects how much you know about your situation, and how well you can predict the results of your actions. (more…)

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Ideation Space

Ideation Space

The optimal environment where you form ideas or thoughts, where dreams crystalize, desires are birthed, problems are solved, and creativity blossoms. A place where your senses are heightened as you connect deeply with your inner motivations and interests, and block out external distractions. Purposefully spending time in this space requires disconnecting from the daily demands of the urgent and immediate, to connect with the important and meaningful. It involves moving from the emotions of the moment, to reflecting on the underlying values and beliefs that govern your life. Time spent in your ideation space can rejuvenate you to become more productive, focused, and innovative. (more…)

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An Abundance Mindset

An Abundance Mindset

In Peter Diamandis’ book, Abundance, he tells the story of the discovery of aluminum. According to the tale, around 2,000 years ago, a goldsmith brought an unusual dinner plate to the court of the Emperor Tiberius. It was made from a shiny, lightweight, bright new metal that was the color of silver. The goldsmith said that he had used a secret formula to extract this new metal from clay. Tiberius was very interested in it because he had a massive amount of gold and silver as a result of his many conquests across Europe. He believed that if this goldsmith helped others to extract this rare new metal from mere clay, it could substantially decrease the value of his fortune. Rather than risk that happening, he had the goldsmith beheaded.

Aluminum did not reappear until around 1825 when once again, a complex process for extracting the metal was discovered. Since then, technology has improved the process so much that the price has been drastically reduced and it is easily available. You see, aluminum itself isn’t rare; it’s the third most plentiful element on earth and represents 8.3% of the weight of the world. There’s an abundance of aluminum, but it was initially scarce due to the difficulty in accessing it.

Abundance Vs. Scarcity

The Emperor Tiberius had a scarcity mindset. He feared loss of position and power from this precious new metal that he knew little about. Individuals with a scarcity mindset focus on lack and insufficiency and therefore make decisions based on what’s best for themselves, even at the expense of others.


Had he known the abundance of aluminum as compared to gold (all the gold that has ever been mined would only fill about one-third of the Washington Monument), he might have made a different decision, and somehow harnessed the power of aluminum for his benefit. Individuals with an abundance mindset focus on having an extremely plentiful supply, more than enough to go around.

This mindset of abundance versus scarcity plays out in other ways in our lives. As we face challenges and opportunities in our work, our mindset will dictate the approach we take and impact the results we achieve. It will dictate whether we are inclusive in our approach to problems in a way that invites cross-functional perspectives, and solicits inputs from others who may not normally be involved in particular issues. Abundance thinking invites new ideas and possibilities. It provides a foundation for innovation and creativity based on a positive outlook for the future; and is the basis for solving many of the difficulties we face today. This mindset drives our behaviors.

WeWork

A modern day example of behaviors that support an abundance mindset is WeWork, a four year old company that provides co-working office space, primarily targeted at startups and younger companies who want (and need) heavy interaction. They lease large blocks of office space and subdivide it into smaller parcels; then charge monthly memberships to businesses who want to work, network and share ideas in a collaborative environment. All office services are provided and planned activities enable them to pitch ideas, gain business from one another, and share advice. The founders, Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, each grew up in communal living (in Israel and Eugene, OR respectively) and thus saw the value of a shared and collaborative environment.

With 31 locations, 15,000+ members and estimated gross earnings of $150 million this year, they have a current valuation of $1.5 billion, with plans to grow 3 to 4 times that size over the next year. In short, there’s a heavy demand (and a waiting list) for this type of working environment. And the companies that rent this space recognize that collaborating and sharing increases their value.

Your Abundance

As we consider our U.S. Thanksgiving celebrations over the past week, hopefully this has been a time of reflecting on the abundance in our lives. It also provides an opportunity to enhance our perspective on where we exhibit abundance or scarcity in our mindset and behaviors. It’s not simply about accumulation of financial reserves, friends, or material goods. It’s the way we approach life and behave.

Abundance is driven by a mindset of considering future possibilities.

       Scarcity is driven by mindset of complacency with the current state.

Abundance suggests sharing because there will always be enough to go around.

       Scarcity suggests hoarding what you have.

Abundance mindsets look for creative opportunities to integrate with the work of others.

       Scarcity mindsets believe there is little opportunity for improvement on their work.

Abundance thinkers focus on adding value to others first, and thus add value to themselves.

       Scarcity thinkers focus on promoting oneself first, and thus overlook the value of others.

So be abundant in your mindset.

 

References:

Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler. www.Abundancethebook.com

Read the story of WeWork in Forbes Magazine here.

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Your Brand of Influence

Your Brand of Influence

How do you grow and use your brand of influence? Anna Wintour provides an interesting example for us.A recent issue of the WSJ Magazine  profiled Wintour in an article called The Business of Being Anna by Joshua Levine.As editor of the U.S. edition of Vogue since 1988, she is arguably the most powerful person in the fashion industry. Her boss says that “she has a remarkable ability to impose her will”. Another friend says “you can make a film in Hollywood without Steven Spielberg’s blessing, and you can publish software in Silicon Valley without Bill Gates’s blessing, but it’s pretty clear to me you can’t succeed in the fashion industry without Anna Wintour’s blessing.”Another famous designer said “If I get a request (from Wintour) for something I don’t want to do…now I don’t even bother to say no.”

Wintour has influence and impact not only in the fashion world, but in industries such as film, sports, art, retail, music, business, politics and food. She’s a major fundraiser, has developed a role that is broader than simply editing a magazine, and is described as “a kind of consigliere to the entire fashion and retail industry.”She’s not only intuitive in leveraging the power of fashion in many aspects of society, but she carefully crafted her image, her persona, her personal brand, and leverages her influence to impact her arena.

As I learned more about Wintour, I couldn’t help but wonder how others build and use their influence.My observation is that she, and others like her, don’t pursue a job or a career.They have a different perspective on their life and work that drives them to transform their environment.They pursue a revolutionary approach to their area of expertise, rather than try to fit in to the established norms. They don’t accept status quo.This means that they must be fully confident in themselves, their abilities, and their point of view. They know how to sell others on their perspectives, and sincerely believe that their actions are for the greater good of many.

So that causes me to pause and ask; how are you growing and using your influence? What are you doing to impact your environment, your business, your company, your organization?Are you responding and reacting to the norms, practices, and culture already established; or are you proactively taking it to the next level?Do you see possibilities that no one else sees?

The most valuable leaders in my estimation are those who influence their environment for Christ. They focus on bringing others into an intimate relationship with the Most High God in a way that transforms the lives of many. Ministers such as Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, Joel Osteen, T. D. Jakes, and Joyce Meyer are well known for their accomplishments in this arena. But there are many other Christian leaders of great influence in areas such as;

PoliticsMike Huckabee – former Governor of Arkansas; Charles Colson – evangelist, cultural commentator, former chief counsel for President Richard Nixon and one of the Watergate Seven; Martin Luther King – civil rights activist.

BusinessDavid Green – founder Hobby Lobby stores; S. Truett Cathy – founder Chick –Fil-A food chain; Sam Walton – founder Walmart.

SportsTim Tebow – Heisman Trophy winner; Payne Stewart – Golfer; Tony Dungy – Superbowl Winning Football Coach.

Each of these men (and many women as well) pursued creative opportunities to share their faith in God, and to influence others to commit their lives and their futures to Him.They have excelled in their God given gifts, developed a personal brand based on their beliefs, and leveraged their influence to change the lives of those around them.

So what is your brand? Where is your influence?What environment can you impact in a way that is uniquely you?What is God placing in your spirit that is bigger than you? Let Him lead you into His plan for your life, so that you can use your influence to make a difference for Christ with those around you.

Copyright 2011 Priscilla Archangel, Ph.D.

Photo Courtesy of IStockPhoto

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