I think she did a great job…really cool and collected. She looks great on camera and is very polished.  And…you can see the rap video on the same show last night here.

In the book EDGE! A Leadership Story, we paint the picture of a modern day CEO, Mitchell James…a man who has excelled in the global trade industry but who is losing his edge with his team. The players on his team are losing their interest, and they are jumping ship right and left.Shortly following the publication of EDGE, I had a leader call me. The man had read the book, and he wanted to brainstorm with me on how to motivate his team. You see, he was a lot like Mitchell James…he had recruited some highly sought-after talent, and they were jumping ship right and left. I immediately asked him what the team said was the reason they were losing motivation, and the man could not answer the question. He seemed baffled at the question.

You see, I don’t really believe in motivational strategies. To me, motivation is a pushing mechanism, and I am just not a big believer in motivation or in cheerleading to try to get a team to work together. I am on the other hand a big fan of inspiration and of playing to people’s strengths and tapping into the dreams they have for their life, career and the world at large.

If you are a leader who is listening to this audio today, and if your team morale seems to be low, or your key team members are starting to jump ship, I would ask you to sit down with each team member and ask the following questions.

1) As the leaders of this company, what have we done to tick you off, and what do we need to do to change it?

2) When you think about your strengths, which ones are you not being asked to apply in your current position, and how can we use those strengths, starting today?

3) When you step out of bed each morning and get ready for the day, are you dreading coming to work or are you dancing out the door, because you are excited about this company? If you are dreading it, what are you dreading, and how can we fix it? If you are dancing out the door, what is it that gets you excited and how can we do more of that?

4) When you are alone, and you are thinking of your dream team, what does it look like? How much does our current team stack up against your dream team? How can you help us create that dream team?

5) If you could use all of your resources at this company to change the world, what would you do, and how would you do it?

You see, these questions have nothing to do with a pushing mechanism.  These questions are those based in inspiration.  They get at the root of people and what makes them tick.  These questions ignite a sense of desire and vision and “pull” people in the direction of building a cohesive team.

Once you have asked each player on your team these questions, it’s time to take a bold step in the direction of making some very important changes to the way you do things in your company. You have to be willing to play to your employees’ strengths, give them the tools they need to make radical changes in the world and begin to leverage your collective wisdom to build a dream team.

Pick up a copy of EDGE! A Leadership Story today.

Listen to the audio of this blog post below.

 

 Building Team chemistry [6:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Senators Obama and McCain will sit down tonight for the last time before the election on November 4, and I have to say that I am still undecided (yes…my friends…I am still undecided.)

The main reason I am undecided has to do with what I feel like is a muddy, cloudy vision of what the next 4 years will be like and look like.  I am truly concerned about which candidate can pull us out of our financial situation and who can also get the US strongly positioned in the murky international waters we are swimming in at this time.  On the economic side, I still don’t hear a plan from either the Republicans or the Democrats that I can really sink my teeth into.  It still sounds like it’s up in the clouds.

McCain makes me feel confident on foreign affairs.  Obama somewhat has me on the financial side, really because of the changes he promises to make, but some of what he is suggesting also makes me wonder how much involvement the government will have in our future (and if that is a positive or a negative.)  Maybe we do need more involvement…the lack of involvement certainly has not seemed to help us, but when does the government’s involvement become too much?

From where I sit today, Obama does indeed come across as presidential.  I would be proud to have him speaking on my behalf in front of other nations and heads of state (and I do think he can inspire on camera…and this is still the only way our leader can reach the masses during a crisis.) On the other side is McCain…I want someone like that in Washington standing up to people and making the waves I know will be required to shake things up a bit, but he could certainly use a few tips on his executive presence.

I suppose at the end of the day, I do have more questions than answers.

As I end this post today, I encourage everyone to sit down today and write out the questions you have about each candidate, and do everything you can to get those questions answered.  And…above all means…make sure to go out and vote on November 4.  We are so fortunate to have that right!

I have been working with several leaders and their teams recently on the topic of building trust.  For the most part, the teams I work with do quite well on this topic, and they are highly productive, but my question always is “What would be different on your team if you completely eliminated any and all doubt or mistrust from your team?”  People usually respond by saying “We would get a great deal more done during a day!”

Think about this for one minute.  When you don’t trust another team member, this is usually manifested in the following behaviors:

1) Withholding key information

2) Avoidance

3) Gossip

4) A reluctance to ask that person for help

5) Resentment

6) Lack of communication

7) Leaving certain people on your team out of the “loop”

Time spent worrying about all of the above

What happens in even the most seasoned teams is that trust issues usually ends back up on the leader’s desk.  He or she spends valuable time dealing with employees who gossip, back stab or who don’t communicate effectively.  At the end of the day, the leader is often exhausted, yet there is one thing that is so important to know…as a leader, if your team does not trust each other, then to rebuild trust starts with you.   The first thing I recommend you do is to look at your own behaviors and ask yourself if you are engaging in ANY of the following behaviors:

1) Shooting the messenger

2) Playing favorites

3) Gossip

4) Poor communication

5) Arrogance

6) Closed-mindedness

7) Unwillingness to listen

Harsh tone

9) Unwillingness to see your own blind spots

10) Saying one thing and doing another

I could certainly list more behaviors, but these are the big ones.   The best approach is to perform both a self assessment and a 360 Degree Review to find out if your team spots any of these behaviors in your leadership style (remember…their perception is your reality!)  From there, you will want to begin to implement a few key strategies to open up discussion and to begin building trust with your team:

1) Design a strong communication plan.  Make sure that you are over-communicating.  Don’t make any assumptions  that something is crystal clear when it may in fact be quite muddy.

2) Begin the process of open debate.  Allow your team members to openly discuss with you the issues that they feel might be holding your team back from being as successful as possible.

3) Walk your talk.  Do what you said you were gong to do, and practice underpromising and overdelivering.

4) Establish team agreements.   Team agreements should be established which describe exactly which behaviors you want your team to live out loud and which are not tolerated. As an example, gossip is a behavior that can greatly hurt team trust while learning how to engage in open debate can build trust.

5) Design a rock solid accountability process.  Once you have started the process of building trust and living by team agreements, there is no turning back.  You have to be willing to hold people accountable by implementing both rewards for achievement and consequences when the trust process fails.  It’s just that simple.

If you are a leader who may be challenged by trust on your team, I invite you to contact me at bea@beafields.com to start the 360 Degree Feedback Process or for a team evaluation.  I also encourage you to pick up a copy of EDGE! A Leadership Story as a way to learn more about how the executive coaching process works.

We are quickly approaching a new decade. The year 2010 is just around the corner, and I don’t know why, but I always feel like a new decade brings about thoughts of change, growth and improvement.

Over the last two years, I have been speaking to both large and small groups about Generation Y and the new face of leadership development. My question continues to be this “Are you making the changes necessary to lead your organization and people in the direction of tumultuous change?”

Last week, I had the opportunity to interview Chuck Hester, the Corporate Communications Director for i-Contact. You can listen to the interview here. Chuck is of my generation…he and I are about the same age, and he is of the Boomer Generation, and he is out talking to business leaders every day about both i-Contact (a Gen-Y led company) and also about how to use Linked-in to get connected and to build a brand. Here is a man who could have just thrown up his hands and said “To heck with technology…I’m done!” But instead, he embraced a younger generation of workers, his boss (Ryan Allis) is half his age (and he loves this!), and he is now a Linked-in Guru. He got with the times and is now using his expertise with new technology to lead others.

As you are reading this blog, I would ask you to consider how you might be able to use the following as leadership development tools.

Blogging: Do you have a stand, and are you willing to give that stand a voice? Some of the top business leaders are now blogging, and they are using their voice and opinion as a way to engage their customers and employees. Just check out Jonathan Schwart’z blog if you want to get a few ideas on the topic.

Facebook: I guess you have probably figured out by now that Facebook is not just for social reasons anymore. It is now being used as a business tool, and the majority of young, hot talent will want to know if you are using Facebook in your company to connect, share and brainstorm.

Twitter: Did you know that Twitter is now being used to gather research, ask compelling business questions, as a recruiting tool and to alert people of impending crises? It is also being used to bump up company rankings on Google, so don’t take this little tool for granted…it’s powerful! Read this article on Business Week by the topic of Why Twitter Matters.

The Long Tail: (If you have not read this book, it’s time to read it!) Everyone knows about top keywords, but what about the “little keywords”…you know…those little words that people search for every day that might not seem important but that can give you huge insight into how to develop out your next generation of leaders. Just go to http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com and type in the words “leadership development.” Look down the list of words…look down to the bottom and ask yourself how those “tiny searches” can provide you insight into your next leadership development opportunity.