I find most leaders are eager and hungry for ways to expand their skills and capacity, and not just at the time of traditional New Year’s resolutions.

However too many people go about self-improvement simply by making a list of a couple of items they wish they could do better - often things that are outside of their natural talents or interests, but are perceived as weaknesses. Even if accomplished, doing the items on the list may not be of lasting value.

So what kind of personal change really has impact? One size does not fit all, and in this article you will find seven different types of change to consider, spanning from specific types of action to changing how you think about the world.

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Here are seven of the books I am most likely to recommend to my clients:

• Good to Great and the Social Sectors, Jim Collins (2005)
  A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great, Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t, Jim Collins (2001)
• Crucial Conversations
  Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler (2002)
• The First 90 Days
  Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders At All Levels, Michael Watkins (2003)
• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
  How Successful People Become Even More Successful, Marshall Goldsmith (2007)
• Accelerate
  20 Practical Lessons to Boost Business Momentum, Dan Coughlin (2007)
• Getting Things Done
  The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, David Allen (2001)
• Presentation Zen
  Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery, Garr Reynolds (2008)

See Book Reviews on the Think Leadership Ideas website

Your team sits around a conference table. You need some creative thinking, ideas that are original, fresh, engaging.
You say, “Give me your best thinking on…” or “What is your most creative solution to…”
What are the changes you’ll get back pretty conventional stuff? ...or blank stares?
The request for “best” and “most creative” ideas pre-supposes that any idea suggested must at least be good. Therefore, ideas that do not meet a conventional and quick analysis of ‘good’ are mentally screened out, both consciously and unconsciously.
A better method is to set up a scenario for generating LOTS of ideas, creative ideas – without screening for them to be ‘good’ ideas. Judgment, screening, and analysis are appropriate (and necessary) later, when it’s time to sort, choose, and apply ideas.
This coachcast covers techniques you can use for brainstorming to generate “off the wall” ideas that on later analysis may trigger useful insights.
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Leaders under-utilize facilitation techniques. Too often leaders have a one-size-fits-all approach to get input and discussion at meetings... the leader opens the floor for anyone who wants to speak. This approach is problematic when:

• either the leader and one or two people do all the talking, others rarely speak up;
• everyone participates in a freewheeling discussion and everything gets fully discussed, so the group runs out of time before getting to really important matters.

A few simple facilitation techniques, applied in the right circumstance can make these kind of meetings much more productive. These techniques are useful to bring balance to participation, to get meaningful input without taking a lot of time for discussion, and to separate what topics need deeper discussion from those that don’t.

Leaders are often reluctant to try these techniques, but doing so can give a huge boost to meeting productivity, not to mention reduce frustration of meeting participants. This week’s coachcast discusses seven facilitation techniques you can try at home... or at least at work:

1. Roundtable - the most basic technique get everyone to participate, go around the table and each person takes a turn speaking.
2. Check-In – a quick “how-are-we-doing” roundtable. When everyone uses their voice at the beginning of a meeting, they are more likely to continue participating. This technique is also useful in the middle and at the end of meetings.
3. Written List Roundtable - before the group starts, have everyone list their key ideas, points, etc. Then go around and let people say one idea at a time until all lists are exhausted. This techniques can help prevent one person from talking too much, and helps cut down or idea repetitions.
4. Top-Three Roundtable - great when there are diverse stakeholders and complex issues, in this roundtable each person is invited to present a limited number of key points in a limited time. (e.g., each person has three minutes to talk about their top three priorities.) Combined with flipcharts or index cards, this method can get everyone’s top ideas on the table for further grouping, sorting, or prioritizing as well as discussion.
5. Metric Roundtable - a roundtable where everyone is asked to rate an idea or proposal, typically on a 1-100, 1-10, or 1-5 scale.
6. Instant Metric - similar to the previous technique, but rather than a roundtable, everyone reveals their rating to the group at the same time. Ratings can be written on a sheet of paper, or a hand can show a 1-5 rating.
7. Three Buckets Instant Metric - a version of the instant metric, the group is asked whether they fully agree, disagree, or have questions by showing one, two, or three fingers (e.g. one=agree/positive, two=questions/mixed, and three=disagree/negative). This method lets the leader and group immediately know the level of agreement in the room. If everyone agrees (whether for or against), discussion won’t add much value. Limited discussion time can then be used for items where there are diverse opinions.

If you liked this coachcast, you'll love the resource guide...

Are meeting where real work takes place, or something that keeps people from getting work done?

This session provides you with questions to assess how your meetings are doing - your answers will inform you about where you need to use your influence to improve your meetings.


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This 7 Ideas Coach session discusses ways to show appreciation and say thank you to the people in your organization that make a difference.

Click below for the 7 minute “coachcast,” session outline notes, and links.

THANKS!
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Optimism is about keeping the faith and staying in your circle of control. Optimism paired with courage to face hard reality is a formula for solid success.

7 Actions to Foster Optimism...
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Leadership ability is gained primarily by experience.
However to learn from experience, one must reflect on experience in a way that allows one to both to make changes as needed and to reinforce what is working well.
This 7 Ideas Coach podcast and article explores tools that can help you gain wisdom from your leadership experience.
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In the current financial turbulence, organizations find themselves trying to do two different things: one, to cut back, jettison anything nonessential, and become as efficient as possible; and two, use innovation to find new ways of operating that are more productive with fewer resources.
These two efforts are diametrically opposed. Innovation by nature is chaotic and inefficient, and therefore can be jettisoned by companies just when it is most needed.
This “coachcast” outlines seven practices that leaders will want to encourage strategically to keep innovation alive, even while making corresponding efforts toward efficiency.
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Your organization’s culture either advances or inhibits success.
I use the word appreciative to describe a company culture where people both contribute to a positive climate AND take care of the business. Two meanings of appreciative fit: to recognize with gratitude, and to increase in value.
This coachcast explores ways you can start cultivating an appreciative culture today!
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Because you have achieved success, it doesn’t mean you’ve mastered key skills and knowledge needed to sustain it. Click below for this coachcast of seven key arenas where you will want to keep learning and developing.
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In addition to an executive coach, speaker, and leadership consultant, I happen to be a small town mayor - of Hillsborough, NC. My role as mayor provides a great lab to practice what I preach about leadership.
My experience as a small town mayor has certainly not prepared me for national office, or to be CEO of a global corporation, or any number of other occupations. However the leadership implications of being a small town mayor is illuminating, and this coachcast discusses seven leadership insights deeply reinforced by my civic experience.

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Is there anything so valuable as the right question?
Mark Twain remarked that the difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lighting and a lightening-bug. The same could be said about the right question.
This session reveals seven questions useful for networking, customer management, or teambuilding - questions that are useful for gaining insight and developing relationships. Click here to listen and read...

We cannot stop the culture of interruption, and we best not ignore it - rather we must persistently resist it. Here are seven ways to be more productive...and sane.

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Are your collaboration efforts all talk? Here are seven questions to ask to make sure you are doing the right things in a collaboration.

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This episode discusses 7 important actions for leaders other than telling someone what to do.

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Here are 7 essential things you must do to manage people well - if you are the person in charge and you want to create an environment where people contribute their best.

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“How do I motivate the people in my organization?”
It’s a question I hear often; but what’s really being asked is how to get people to do more on their own – to be “self” motivated. Is there a way to get people to go beyond what is minimally required?
Here are seven nuggets of leadership wisdom on motivating others.

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