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Cultural Leadership:
Strong Leaders Strengthen Spirit and Meaning |
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Like
the weather, team/organizational culture ("the way we do things around
here") is something every manager talks about, but very few do anything
about it. Unlike the weather, we can change team/organizational
culture. Shifting the culture is both one of the more difficult and yet
highest impact things a team/organizational leader can do. Here are
some resources to help you:
- Review a one minute video clip as I explain how leadership is "Caring for the Context" at http://www.clemmer.net/video (scroll to this title about 2/3 of the way down the page).
- Three
columns/excerpts you can use for personal reflection or circulate to
your management team for further discussion and action:
Purposeful Leaders Make Meaning
As
we contribute our work to our team or organization, we also need to
contribute a deeper sense of meaning or purpose. If we're going to be
leaders, we need to take ourselves and others to the Emotional and
Spiritual levels.
Team Spirit Built from the Top
Team spirit is the catalyst every organization needs to achieve
outstanding performance. Strategic plans, marketing, technology and
capital investment are clearly important, but emotional commitment from
the people using the tools and executing the plans is what determines
whether companies sink or soar.
Leadership on Purpose
Pursuing profits without a higher purpose, or pursuing a purpose
without profit, are equally fatal strategies. Profits follow from
worthy and useful purposes. Fulfilling the purpose comes first, and
then the profits follow.
Contact me to explore how I might customize a half, one, or two-day workshop for your management team on Leading a High-Performance Culture: How to Foster an Energizing Environment That Inspires Peak Performance.
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Thoughts that Make You Go Hmmmmm...
on Building Team/Organization Culture |
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"Corporate
culture, like personal character, is an amorphous quality that exerts a
powerful influence...in fact, corporate cultures—and not just the
strong ones—influence employees' leadership styles more than any other
aspect of their jobs, according to our recent analysis of thousands of
executive assessments for more than 100 corporations."
- Thomas Kell and Gregory T. Carrott, "Culture Matters Most," Harvard Business Review
"One
more myth must bite the dust: At its core, corporate culture is never —
never — an organizational phenomenon, the kind that has been played up
by dozens of CEOs. In reality the culture of an organization is a
multifaceted entity, with as many identities and variations as there
are managers and work groups. That's right: Each manager and work group
has its own culture."
- Curt Coffman and Gabriel Gonzalez-Molina, Follow This Path: How the World's Greatest Organizations Drive Growth by Unleashing Human Potential
"An essential factor in leadership is the ability to influence and organize meaning for the members of the organization."
- Warren Bennis and Joan Goldsmith, Learning to Lead: A Workbook on Becoming a Leader
"Good
moods prove especially important when it comes to teams: The ability of
a leader to pitch a group into an enthusiastic, cooperative mood can
determine its success. On the other hand, whenever emotional conflicts
in a group bleed attention and energy from their shared tasks, a
group's performance will suffer."
- Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee, Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
"Emotions
are contagious. Research shows that they determine 50% to 70% of the
organization's climate, which in turn, determines 20% to 30% of a
company's performance. What's more, Emotional Intelligence accounts for
85% of what distinguishes the stars in top leadership positions from
low-level performers."
- Loren Gary, "Becoming a Resonant Leader"
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| Keys to Implementing Organization Improvements |
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After receiving the following Improvement Point,
Joanne sent me the e-mail below. She brings practical experience and
insight to this vital leadership issue. I welcome your perspectives and
advice on this topic at [email protected].
"Don't
let consultants or staff professionals impose a top-down organization
improvement plan on everyone. One size does not fit all. However,
everybody can't go off doing their own thing. There needs to be some
organization-wide coordination and consistency in your improvement
effort. This involves clarifying what is mandatory and what's optional
in your change and improvement effort."
- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Improvement Planning Pathways and Pitfalls (Part 1 of 2)" Read the full article now!
"The best process improvements come from the people who actually do the job. The two biggest hurdles to overcome are:
- Having them accept that this is actually part of their role and job.
- Being
able to connect the dots between the task at hand and the business
impacts. This is often due to training only on 'the how' of the task
and not 'the what' of the business impact.
Once
you get #1 agreed to then you can start making progress with #2 during
phase one of your improvement process plan. A properly developed
improvement process plan is not static, but must grow and change. You
can't hit a home run until the player learns how to hold the bat (phase
1) and then hit the ball (phase 2) and so on.
Another
important element of the development is the linkage to the employee
objectives and annual performance review. If you are serious about this
and want your staff to spend time and energy on this, then it has to be
an important part of their daily routine.
The
second last important element is the various roles that everyone within
the team plays, including you. Here's what we did in our team:
- Staff
members had to submit an improvement idea once every two weeks. It had
to save time, money, or increase the service to our internal or
external customers. This was the perfect time to address 'if there is
something about your job that you don't like, find a way to eliminate
or change it.'
- The
manager would review and consider the impacts to other departments and
corporately. If approved, then this was passed up to the Director or VP
of the area.
- The
Director or VP of the area would then look at this and consider the
impacts to the area, division and corporate strategic objectives.
One
critical element was connecting the dots between the business and the
task. This process also became an excellent training tool. It was
important to recognize the success of the program both within the team
and with management. Regular team meetings and management reports
served as tools for this recognition.
Jim, this is very high level. You are absolutely correct in saying 'one
size does not fit all.' No two teams are comprised of the exact
individuals, are at the same point or development, or have the exact
same requirements."
- Joanne Vallat, Regina, SK
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| One-Day Leading @ the Speed of Change Workshop in Winnipeg |
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Leadership
is clearly THE key to success. That's why it's such a popular topic.
But despite all the talk about leadership and change, many "change
fatigued" people are still struggling with just how to
strengthen their personal effectiveness and leadership. Many
supervisors, managers, and executives are confused by the multitude of
leadership grids, charts, formulas, jargon, fads, charismatic stories,
and buzzwords. Front line staff often end up with a sense of "there
they go again on another tangent." Or "they are doing it to us again."
The
Manitoba Quality Network/QNET has arranged for me to be in Winnipeg on
April 11, 2007 for a rare, one-day workshop (my last Winnipeg one-day
public workshop was in 1999). Please join me for a fast-paced, highly
interactive, very inspirational and practical learning session featuring my most popular topic area: Leading @ the Speed of Change: How to Align People, Processes, and Personal Effectiveness for Continuous Success. Check out the session or download a PDF workshop brochure here.
This session is especially powerful when groups from the same organization participate in the workshop together.
As
we'll discuss, there are no instant answers, quick and easy steps, or
guaranteed approaches. What's more important than what's new in the
leadership field, is applying what works. That's why I am
constantly distilling my decades of research, thirty years of
experience, and collection of best practices into easily understood,
highly energizing, and practical applications. This Leading @ the Speed of Change
workshop continues to be very popular because it inspires action and
provides 'how-to' steps that – when used as directed – can dramatically
boost results.
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| Intensive Two-Day Leading @ the Speed of Change Public Workshop |
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For the past twenty-five years, I have been helping thousands of managers and management teams apply the practical
leadership principals and practices that catapult them to peak personal
and professional performance. I have taken that experience and the
research from writing my five leadership and organization effectiveness
books, and boiled it all down to a two-day, high energy and intense
workshop that I call Leading @ the Speed of Change. It's jammed full of practical tips, tools, and techniques on how to align people, processes, and personal effectiveness for continuous success.
We
only have one two-day, public session scheduled for all of 2007 (most
of my work is internal to organizations). Please join me for my only
two-day public session, right here in my hometown, Kitchener, Ontario,
on May 30 - May 31, 2007. You (and possibly your colleagues) will be
inspired to action and provided with practical 'how-to'
steps that dramatically boost personal, team, and organization results.
Each day is packed with practical guidelines, powerful systems, and
personal growth strategies.
Check out information about the session or download a PDF workshop brochure at http://www.clemmer.net/events/lsc.aspx. There are special discounts for bringing colleagues along so you can learn and apply these principles together.
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Permission to Reprint: You may reprint any items from The Leader Letter in your own printed publication or e-newsletter as long as you include this paragraph:
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"Reprinted with permission from The Leader Letter,
Jim Clemmer's free e-newsletter. For over 25 years, Jim's 2,000+
practical leadership presentations and workshops/retreats, five
bestselling books, columns, and newsletters have been helping hundreds
of thousands of people worldwide. His web site is www.clemmer.net."
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| Feedback on Our Revamped Web Site and New Marketing Director |
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Hi Jim,
"As a long time subscriber to your Leader Letter
– to which I credit much of my redefined thinking about leadership both
professionally and personally – I think the changes to your site have
catapulted your services into an entirely new stratosphere!
Furthermore, it would appear that Aidan Crawford will be a wonderful
addition with regards to reaching and teaching more leaders and
potential leaders. I would like to wish you continued great personal
success as I believe the professional success will surely follow."
- Doug Walker, Manitoba Hydro, Winnipeg, MB
Doug, thanks very much for your feedback on our site. I am delighted to hear you've found The Leader Letter
so helpful and see our revamped site as taking us to a new level. I
also share your enthusiasm for Aidan joining us and am confident he
will make things even better!
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| One-Hour Complimentary Podcast Available for Download |
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To listen to this interview, see the first item in the "News and Events" section on our home page at www.clemmer.net.
In
this fast-moving interview with Jan Schleicher of Inside Business
Success, we mixed some light and humorous ideas with deeper
points-to-ponder covering:
- My roots and how I started in this business
- Growing @ the Speed of Life – what it means and what it takes
- Applying my timeless leadership principles to leading ourselves and others
- Moving beyond inspiration, theories, and clichés to practical leadership
- Our choices to be navigators, survivors, or victims of change, loss, and setbacks in our personal or professional lives
- Change management is an oxymoron
- How I have worked to make my leadership books unique, given the tens of thousands available
- The two biggest challenges I believe organizations are facing today
- Servant leadership
- Taking action now by clarifying and applying the three key questions at the core of our Leadership Wheel
- What I see as a key future trend
- A few of my goals for the next year or two
- Three 'next steps' to put all we covered into action
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| Growing the Distance Spurs Reader On |
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"I have just finished reading Growing the Distance.
I live in Calgary and I am a member of The Canadian Association of
Professional Speakers (CAPS). I am unable to attend your presentation
on March 8th due to a prior work commitment. I hadn't discovered your
books before, but all the CAPS members are so excited about your visit
that I investigated your work online and got a copy of Growing the Distance and have been unable to put it down since.
I wish I had read your book Growing the Distance
many years ago, but better late than never. It is life-changing. I have
never before read a "self-help" (I don't like that term) book that made
practical sense, was funny, and was honest about our natural
weaknesses.
I am very
disappointed that a previous work engagement prevents me from coming to
the presentation you are making for CAPS in Calgary on March 8th. This
book will spur me on to greater things in my life. I wish I'd written
it! Thank you so much."
- Val Carter, CHRP, Calgary, AB
Thanks very much for your feedback on Growing the Distance. I am delighted to hear that you found it so entertaining and useful. You might have already discovered that there is a Personal Implementation Guide and Self-Study System CD available for Growing the Distance. You can check them out at http://www.clemmer.net/books.
I
am sorry you won't be able to join us for the CAPS presentation on
March 8th. You can view video clips of some of the material I'll be
covering on our web site at http://www.clemmer.net/video.
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If you're enjoying this e-newsletter, inspire and help friends and colleagues grow by forwarding a copy.
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| Special Leading @ the Speed of Change Presentation in Toronto |
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The
Toronto Chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers
(CAPS) is hosting this featured afternoon, as I deliver my most popular
keynote presentation, Leading @ the Speed of Change followed by
a special overview of The CLEMMER Group's business model. This
interactive presentation will be on May 14. 2007 from 1:30 p.m. - 4:00
p.m. at the Travelodge Hotel, 925 Dixon Rd., Eatonville Room. It is
just North of the 401, close to the Pearson airport. After a short
break, I will continue with a 45 - 60 minute overview of how my career
has evolved in this industry and how we currently run The CLEMMER
Group. This section is designed for current or aspiring professional
speakers, trainers, and facilitators, however, anyone is welcome to
join us.
I
will have copies of my books and other leadership resources available
at deep discounts. For more details and to register, go to the Toronto
CAPS website at http://www.canadianspeakers.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=232.
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| Favorite February Improvement Points |
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Improvement Points
is a free service providing a key thought or quotation from one of my
articles, provided three times per week, directly to your e-mail inbox.
Each complimentary Improvement Point links directly into the full article on our web site that spawned it. If you'd like to read more about that day's Improvement Point,
you can choose to click through to the short article for a quick
five-minute read. This is your opportunity for a short pause that
refreshes, is an inspirational vitamin, or a quick performance boost.
You can circulate especially relevant or timely articles or Improvement
Points to your team, Clients, or colleagues for further discussion or
action.
Here are my personal three choices of the Improvement Points we sent out in February:
"At
least once per year management teams need to get away from the daily
flurry of activities, step back, and look at the bigger picture. We
need to reassess if we're on the right track or if we're making good
time — in the wrong direction. We need to look at our full improvement
effort and discuss, debate, and decide if it has the right focus,
priorities, approaches, and the like. We need to celebrate progress and
reenergize everyone to push forward even harder. And we need to set new
plans and directions for the next stage of our improvement process."
- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Stepping Back to Step Ahead Through Reviewing and Assessing"
Read the full article now!
http://www.clemmer.net/articles/article_169.aspx
"Too
many 'energy vampires' suck out the energy of others with criticism,
pessimism, and apathy. Highly effective leaders boost the energy of
others with their optimism, passion, and appreciation."
- from Jim Clemmer's article, "The Power of Recognition, Appreciation, and Celebration"
Read the full article now!
http://www.clemmer.net/articles/article_171.aspx
"Good
intentions are useless if they stop there. Unless we act on them,
they're nothing more than warm, fuzzy thoughts in our own heads. When
it comes to leadership, the messenger must be the message."
- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Changing Me to Change Them"
Read the full article now!
http://www.clemmer.net/articles/article_12.aspx
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| Feedback and Follow-Up |
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I am always delighted to hear from readers of The Leader Letter with feedback, reflections, suggestions, or differing points of view. Nobody is ever identified in The Leader Letter without their permission.
I
am also happy to explore customized, in-house adaptations of any of my
material for your team or organization. Drop me an e-mail at [email protected].
Keep learning, laughing, loving, and leading – living life just for the L of it!!
Jim
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| Copyright 2007, Jim Clemmer, The CLEMMER Group |