update - fun stuff

Lots happening lately!!

1. Netherlands job - big context and team building opportunity - Interviews happening for insight and awareness building.
2. Social networking technologies session coming up - should be fun and hopefully beneficial for our marketing, presence building needs.
3. Strategic planning, executive team building & development, execution with synergy, acceleration of results are all components - interviews in process.
4. Fear surveys still in process - learning lots of variations on impact of fear - organizational culture and personal preference seem to greatly impact perceptions of fear and its' impact on performance.
5. Coaching a global company operations leadership group for deployment and some competency development enhancement.
6. Fun presentation for OD group based on double-loop learning coming up - action learning design after initial 15 minute knowledge and awareness building.
7. Lots of presentations and speaking engagements scheduled for diversity, inclusion, women's movement, career focus, etc.

It's good to be so busy!

Chad

new computers and business turnaround

The thrill of new computers (actually used but newer than what we currently have) is exciting and fun. That is until installation is undertaken.

I lost my fervor for newness when I discovered incompatible software needs, server conflicts with e-mail, corrupted software disks, missing software license numbers, different versions of Microsoft office, etc., etc.

So, after one and half days of installing two computers with three more to go, I've lost my enthusiasm.

Despite my lost ardor, they will be completed this coming week.

Business seems to be turning around and prospects are agreeing to move forward, calling us, etc. Good stuff for the future!!!!

Chad

Busy, Busy, Busy - two reponses

You gotta love it when you're busy!!

Sometimes I unconsciously throw up barriers to being busy and don't realize these barriers are there until I reflect and become more self-aware. (a technique we teach)

The trigger for me is when I feel tense, irritable and under the gun. Typically a self-imposed tension. This causes me to reflect about what is causing me to be this way.

Lo and behold - busyness is sometimes the answer. Then I have to make a choice:

1) Fortunately, this time I immediately recognized the tension cue was based on having many customers requiring support and then it triggered a reaction other than tension - Excitement and thanks!!

Excitement that I have the opportunity to meet new people, learn something new, provide service that helps individuals and organizations excel.
Thanks that clients desire our services, continue to do business with us, and recognize the value we deliver.

So, business is good when it means new challenges, new relationships, helping others, learning new things, designing new deliverables, etc. - Excitement and thanks are appropriate.

2) Of course, sometimes busyness is self-inflicted and is not value-adding for me or for others. Awareness of this type of busyness causes another behavioral trigger - to prioritize and jettison some of the activity I have undertaken.

I'm glad our busyness is with clients and projects because it makes it easy to prioritize all the tasks required of me in that they are all high priority needs from customers.

How do you respond to busyness? What are you aware of as your initial response? Are you able to intentionally change your response before it carries you down some path you really don't want to travel.

Chad

NEO needs accredited job skills training programs

Discovery of the day!!

NEO needs accredited (contributing to a degreed program) job skills training programs.

Schools and workforce development programs need to align and collaborate to save our economy and businesses in NEO.

Board of Regents, school administrators, professors, workforce development coordinators, government funding groups, etc. need to join forces to address this issue.

Currently workforce development programs are not accredited and can not get credits awarded their programs that contribute to degrees. This is ridiculous when you look at the bigger and broader picture of the NEO economy and business environment.

Leaders who value our future will join together and start with this simple change of collaborating to see that workforce development groups receive accreditation for classes, etc.

Chad

Culture Change

CULTURE ASSESSMENT

Designing an expanded Cultural Assessment to evaluate strength of culture, values, heroes, norms, artifacts, stories, etc.

• Can be used to strengthen existing cultural components aligned with business needs
• Can be used to adjust or change cultural components to align with business needs

Strong cultures that align and link with business strategies, plans, priorities and goals enhance performance, accelerate delivery, and build confidence among all employees to act versus wait when opportunities arise.

Misaligned cultures tend to slow people down due to poor connection, mistrust, conflicts in behavior, misunderstanding of ethical issues, etc.

Call us and provide your thoughts about culture and how we can assure we cover all bases in our expanded assessment.

Chad