You are here: Home > Archives for success

Making a Difference

Written by on · Leave a Comment

My wife is a news junkie.  She knows I am less enthusiastic about the sensationalism that is shoveled out in the typical newscast, and so she has mercifully stopped subjecting me to the local news, but the NBC Nightly News is still a mainstay.  Although I generally don’t pay too much attention to the show, I have been enjoying the “Making a Difference” segment that highlights positive things individuals and communities have been doing to offset the “Economic Downturn.”  This short and sweet segment seems to overshadow no matter what  other terrible stories might have been highlighted previously.

One of the simplest and most effective things individuals, communities and the nation as a whole can do to snap us out of the recession is to think and act positively.  Simply do something for others, focus on the ways that we can improve and move forward, and remember that regardless of how bad things might seem at the moment – THEY WILL GET BETTER!

My only complaint about the timing of the ‘Making a Difference’ is that it is always followed by the uber-sensational celebrity expose ‘Access Hollywood.’  Ugh!

Teams Benefit from Slowing Economy

Written by on · Leave a Comment

A Slow Economy is Time for Business Process Improvement

You’re probably thinking “How could anyone benefit from a slowing economy?”

Well, this statement certainly needs clarification.  Not every team will benefit from economic hardship.  In fact, many teams will shrink (labor statistics are a blatant example of this sad reality) and many benefits will be cut.  Managers and business owners are ‘tightening their belts.’

For some teams, however, the slowing economy is an opportunity to test their resilience, ingenuity and team performance.  Successful organizational teams use the conflict created by the ‘recession’ to streamline their processes, create new products and move forward with renewed enthusiasm.  Rather than fearing the next year, a high performance team will see this as an opportunity.

Here are a few things teams can do to weather the economic storm:

  • brainstorming sessions to identify emerging trends
  • improve business communication with clients and customers
  • business process improvement – streamlining the way businesses perform their daily tasks
  • planning for the future – vision for the short-term and long-term
  • training and development in techniques for meeting facilitation and team building
  • innovation training to learn how to be more creative
  • focus on teamwork and collaboration – utilize and celebrate the many talents of your staff

Out of conflict comes opportunity, and taking the time to reflect on what is working and what processes need improvement will go a long way towards dealing with a tumultuous economy.

Ten Characteristics of Authentic Leaders

Written by on · Leave a Comment

Ten Characteristics of Authentic Leadership

All of us have dealt with leaders, both effective and ineffective. Sadly, many of the people in charge are the latter. What are the skills and qualities that separate a good leader from a bad one?

First of all, it is important to create a working definition for leadership. Leadership is a set of skills and qualities that helps to motivate individuals and groups toward a common goal. Leadership can come from the assigned leader of the group, or from within the group itself, and it is important to recognize and support leadership wherever it may come from.

Authentic leaders have many of the following characteristics:

1. Act with integrity
2. Encourage creativity and innovation
3. Listen actively
4. Manage time and resources (things and people)
5. Have patience and compassion
6. Value the members of the group
7. Achieve consensus
8. Forego the ego
9. Trustworthy
10. Communicate effectively

Of course, there are many other characteristics of authentic leaders, and if you asked someone else for their ‘top 10′ list it might look very different (I recently read a list of 50 qualities of leadership…), but these ten characteristics are undeniable, and the lack of these characteristics is what separates good leaders from ineffective ones.

Ten Characteristics of Authentic Leaders

Book List

Written by on · Leave a Comment

In order to improve and enhance our offerings as a team building service provider, we make a point of keeping up with trends, research and literature related to team performance and innovation.  I came up with a list that I felt was most useful for building a successful team. The following list is linked to a site that describes and sells these excellent books.  Granted, this is a long list, and much of the information found within any one book is similar to that found in many others. However, each of these books had some kernel of truth that I felt teams needed to master in order to become a ‘learning organization,’ capable of innovating to meet the future head-on.


The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
Work Like DaVinci
The Power of an Hour
The Emotional Intelligence Quickbook
The Ten Faces of Innovation
Leadership and Self-Deception
Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Eat That Frog!
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
The Speed of Trust

As time goes on, we will add other books that we hope will be of use to leaders who are interested in building a high performance team.  And, if you know of any books that you think should be added to this list, please let us know!  You can either email us, or simply add your suggestions in a Comment.

Good luck!