Space or Place…

David Zinger introduces the topic, “Space or Place: Employee Engagement or
Employee Enslavement?”

In mid December the New York Times had a short article entitled:You Won’t Find Me In My Office, I’m Working. It discussed where work gets done and it is often not the office, it is the “white space.” The white space is where we do our best thinking or strongest connecting with others. For some people it is a coffee shop while for others it is a library or even a church. Answer the following 5 questions to determine what engages you most in work and how you use space and place to engage employees: Do you have freedom in your work to move from place to space? What work do you do best in a place? What work do you do best in a space? Where is your personal best white space? Do you create the space for full employee engagement or are employees enslaved to a specific place that becomes confining? Photo Credit: An empty space by http://flickr.com/photos/riggott/8108443/

“How Have The People I’ve Met Changed My Life?”

In Question 10, Kevin Eikenberry asks us to reflect on how the people we’ve met in the past year have changed our lives.



This is the tenth in a series of 13 questions designed to help you capture the best from the past year. To learn more about this project and to download a tool to help you with your process for completing this year and starting next year more successfully, check out this post.

Here’s today’s question:

How have those people changed my life?

Taken by itself, this is a big question! Put in the context of yesterday’s question - it is a bit more manageable.

When I think of all the interesting people I’ve met in the past year, I can think of a variety of ways they’ve impacted or changed my life. This series of emails is one example.

Though I have been blogging for a long time, I learned some things in the the last month or so from some of my new friends this year. It convinced me to re-invigorate (at least in my mind) my efforts as a blogger. Several events have taken place and more are to come all designed to help this blog become a more valuable place for readers to come, read, learn and participate.

I believe this renewed focus will have a very positive impact on my business and my life, and for the advice and example of several people I am very thankful.

This is just one example of how the people I have met this year have made a difference for me. There are many other examples - and I’m sure you have many examples too. I urge you to ask yourself this question, then think about your answers. Lastly, make the time to thank those people who have made a difference for you.

Visit Kevin’s Remarkable Leadership Book site.

Who Are The Most Interesting People I’ve Met?

In this post, Kevin Eikenberry asks us to remember the interesting people that we’ve met
and learned from during the course of the past year.

This is the ninth in a series of 13 questions designed to help you capture the best from the past year. To learn more about this project and to download a tool to help you with your process for completing this year and starting next year more successfully, check out this post.

Here’s today’s question:

Who are the most interesting people I met?

I’ve been looking forward to this question! I have met LOTS of interesting people this year. Among the first that come to my mind are three people that I actually haven’t met; we’ve only converse on the phone and through email.

• These three people are all incredibly smart and nice, Jonathan Farrington, Jon Gordon, and Mike Robbins (They are great writers too!)

I also met:

• A ton of great people at the 800-CEO-Read author Pow-Wow that I could put on this list. (You can read posts about that event and the folks I met here and here.)
• One of my favorite bloggers, Lisa Haneberg in June at ASTD.
• The team at Jossey-Bass that helped me with Remarkable Leadership.
• Denis Waitley, one of my favorite authors, briefly, as well.

I could go on here, but you don’t want to read that long…

Beyond all of these wonderfully talented and interesting people I also met hundreds of workshop participants, folks in organizations we consult with, and people in audiences at my keynotes.

I’m surely blessed.

One of the reasons I propose this question to you is for exactly that insight - I believe that most of us will look back on a year and identify many interesting people that we have met. Of course, the greater value to you (and them) comes as you build a relationship and go beyond just meeting someone. I could say much more about this point, but I don’t want to give away too much about tomorrow’s question.

Come back tomorrow for my thoughts on Question 10 - and again if you haven’t yet downloaded the full tool with 26 questions to make your 2008 great, you can do that right here.

Also posted in Leadership, Learning and Training.

Hair Scare

David Zinger takes us on a hairy ride over the challenging road to Employee Engagement!

Daniel Gilbert wrote a wonderful book, Stumbling on Happiness.The line quoted below from page 4 of the book made me think about authentic employee engagement versus programs and policies that look like they foster employee engagement: But as bald men with cheap hairpieces always seem to forget, acting as though you have something and actually having it are not the same thing, and anyone who looks closely can tell the difference. Photo Credit: Wooly Bear Caterpillar by http://flickr.com/photos/noelzialee/272801420/

 

“What Did I Overcome…and How?”

In this post, Kevin Eikenberry introduces question number Eight -
“What Did I Overcome…and How?”



This is the eighth in a series of 13 questions designed to help you capture the best from the past year. To learn more about this project and to download a tool to help you with your process for completing this year and starting next year more successfully, check out this post.

Here’s today’s question:

What obstacles did I overcome?

And a followup:

And, how did I do it?

In a way it is a good thing I skipped a day before posting this one. Why? Because this question(s) has been the hardest for me to answer so far. For some of these posts I have thought a lot about what I would include here in the blog, but there were many answers in my mind or in my journal to choose from.

The same has not been true here. I can’t really identify/remember a significant obstacle in the past year (other than the one I mentioned in the post for question #7). As far as overcoming that one, that is a work in progress.

One could conclude that if a person didn’t have an answer for this question that their year has been perfect - no obstacles might sound pretty good. I’m not sure that is the case, though I have certainly been blessed throughout the year. For me it is more about perspective. I don’t typically think about obstacles. I try to see opportunities. I try not to look for events or situations to blame, but rather try to look at myself.

While I am not trying to hold myself up as a perfect example, I believe there is a message here. When we focus on what is our control, when we think about what we can do (notice today’s followup question), we have shifted focus away from the obstacles. As we become more fully functioning as professionals, leaders and humans, we are better able to work from this perspective.

None of this negates the value in identifying obstacles that we did overcome and identifying the approaches we used. There is rich learning for us in these questions when we do encounter obstacles that must be surmounted or removed.

Also posted in Leadership, Learning and Training.

Your Biggest Challenges or Obstacles?

We’ve reached Question Seven - and Kevin Eikenberry asks
“What Were Your Biggest Challenges or Obstacles?”



This is the seventh in a series of 13 questions designed to help you capture the best from the past year. To learn more about this project and to download a tool to help you with your process for completing this year and starting next year more successfully, check out this post.

Here’s today’s question:

What were my biggest challenges or obstacles?

The answer for me is clear - I need to get better at execution and implementation. At The Kevin Eikenberry Group we are excellent at surfacing ideas and opportunities, and while we do get a lot done, we don’t do as well in this area as we could. Let me rephrase that and put the focus where it belongs. I as a leader am an obstacle in this area.

If you have been reading this series of posts you will know that this issue was the core of my answer to question #4 - Knowing What I know Now, What Would I Do Differently?

I think it is completely natural that your answers to these two questions might be related, in fact in some cases after thinking about this question, you might have other, or more complete answers to #4.

Perhaps you are thinking of an external obstacle or challenge - the loss of a job, a Customer, or perhaps a change in the economy. While these things may well be obstacles, I encourage you to think about your challenges with a personal focus. Consider what role you played in creating or sustaining this obstacle. Equally important consider what you did (or can do now) to overcome that obstacle or challenge.

That last sentence is a bit of a preview to Wednesday’s question, but for now, ask yourself about your obstacles and challenges, and enjoy a very Merry Christmas!

Note - Tomorrow is Christmas Day and I won’t be posting in this series. I’ll be back on the 26th with the 8th question. (If you don’t have the tool to help you Make 2008 Great, click here.)

Also posted in Leadership, Learning and Training.

Answering the Question - “How Did I Contribute?”

It’s Question Six - and Kevin Eikenberry asks “How Did I Contribute?”

This is the sixth in a series of 13 questions designed to help you capture the best from the past year. To learn more about this project and to download a tool to help you with your process for completing this year and starting next year more successfully, check out this post.

Here’s today’s question:

In what ways did I contribute?

My goal with this post isn’t to brag or boast about the ways that I contributed in the past year. Though you won’t likely be answering this question in a public forum like I am (but if you are a blogger reading this, I’d love for you to join this series in some way!), your goal isn’t to be boastful or self absorbed either.

We all can contribute in many ways - we can give of our time, talents, thoughts, and treasures - any and all of these gifts can contribute to the lives of others in meaningful ways. I encourage you to think about this question from the different areas of your life, remembering the contributions large and small that you have made over the past year.

One way that I, my family and The Kevin Eikenberry Group contributed this year was to provide 2700 “I am Remarkable!” wristbands to elementary and middle school kids in Indianapolis public schools this fall. These were distributed in backpacks for these kids by the great folks at Jireh Sports during their Back to School Blast.

It is our hope that these bands serve as a reminder, and perhaps, for some a realization, that they truly are remarkable.

Asking yourself today’s question is critical to giving yourself a more balanced view of your efforts and results in the past year. Perhaps this question will be easy for you to answer, or perhaps it is among the harder ones I have posed to you so far - either way, your list is important, and the relative ease in answering might give you a sense of your focus in the past.

If you found this hard to answer, consider how to be of service in new and different ways in the coming year (or even yet today).

Today along with the core question of your contribution, consider the following corollary:

“What was the impact of my contribution?”

Your answers to these questions will help you get out of yourself and into a perspective of service. This perspective will serve you as a leader, member of any community, or in any part of your life.

Also posted in Leadership, Learning and Training.

Lasting Memories of the Past Year

In this post about lasting memories, Kevin Eikenberry offers a tribute to his father.

This is the fifth in a series of 13 questions designed to help you capture the best from the past year. To learn more about this project and to download a tool to help you with your process for completing this year and starting next year more successfully, check out this post.

What will be my greatest lasting memories of this year?

My most lasting memories of this year will be of my Dad. He passed away on May 11. He was my first teacher, the first leader I observed and experienced and my mentor. Of course he was my dad. He was also my friend.

Season’s Greetings

Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday Season from David Zinger and everyone at Speaking of Experts!

I hope you had a wonderful year and I wish you a great 2008.

Here is a 54 second greeting from David - standing ankle deep in snow on a 20 below day in Winnipeg. Ho Ho Ho!

Click here to see the video if it does not load on this page.

Accelerate Change Successfully

Here are four ways to accelerate change successfully in the latest post from Kevin Eikenberry.

If you read the above title from a leadership perspective you may be thinking:

“I’m really interested in that, but I don’t know if it is possible to accelerate change - with as much change as is already occurring.”

And, if you read it as an employee, you may be thinking:

“We have plenty of change already - accelerating it isn’t necessarily what I had in mind!”

Regardless of your perspective, this article will help you think about change in new ways and allow you to lead or accept positive change more readily; literally accelerating change and accelerating your success.

The four change accelerators are:

• Have an Elastic Mind
• Take Two Steps at Once
• Ecuadorians Want Ice More Than Eskimos
• Small Leads to Big

Let’s look at each in more detail to help you speed your way to greater success.

Have an Elastic Mind

People are motivated by a clear “why” - the reason a change will make a difference to them and their lives. This requires leaders to communicate a desirable vision of the future. People need to see and focus on this desired big picture; however, if you only “live” in that future, you make no progress. Progress is further hampered when people love the picture of the future but don’t know how to get there. Here is where our minds must become elastic.

We must think about the future while thinking about the steps we must take today. Often change, even change people really want, is slowed because there is no focus on what can be done today. Think big picture future and “what will I do today” at the same time. As you develop an elastic mind that can think about both now and the future, you will accelerate your speed of change.

Take Two Steps at Once

Too often leaders focus attention on communicating the change (even when they don’t do it very well) as the first step. While communication is critical, we accelerate change when we don’t consider communication as the first step by itself. Rather, greater success will occur when you communicate as you carry out actions that lead to the change.

This is a corollary to having an elastic mind. Communicate and carry out actions concurrently, rather than in an ordered, step-by-step (and perhaps slower) approach.

Ecuadorians Want Ice More Than Eskimos

This seems logical. The folks in Ecuador are warmer, and ice might be a bit harder to come by. Eskimos, on the other hand, will likely find ice (or a suitable replacement) right outside their door.

Who are your Ecuadorians? Who is predisposed to your ideas for change? Who has, in the past, been most adaptable to new change? Who are those who always seem to be the first ones that jump on board with a change?

These are your Ecuadorians, and it makes much more sense to do what you can to get them engaged in your change efforts first.

Do Eskimos buy ice? Most of them do, but they aren’t the most likely to be interested first. The message is clear: don’t give up on those who typically are slower to adopt a change, but don’t obsess when they don’t come on board right away.

Small Leads to Big

Even if the change you are leading or wanting to implement is huge, small steps are required. Break the change down into smaller projects and change elements.

Of course you need to keep the big picture in mind so all of the individual pieces will be contributing to the ultimate goal, but by creating smaller pieces you can create a positive momentum and give people a chance to see success and build confidence.

The momentum and confidence that emanates from the small pieces can accelerate progress and engagement towards the overall change goal.

While there can be magic in each of these four ideas, action and communication are key components of each of them. If you want to accelerate your progress towards change, consider these four tactics and always remember communication and action.

Potential Pointer: Too often we think change should come slowly or that resistance will be easier to deal with if we slow the pace. The reality is that accelerating change intelligently can actually increase the rate of adoption and lessen the resistance. Result? If change can be good; faster change can be better!

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