Redefining Leadership

There are days when leaders get overwhelmed by too much change, too much information, and too much chaos.

Some call this a tipping point. Others say they have reached the end of their rope. Some call it hitting the wall.

What ever it is called, the best leaders pause and reflect when this happens.

They ask themselves some questions.

What am I missing? 

How did I get here? 

What created this situation?

And in these moments of reflection, an opportunity to re-examine life and leadership can take place. 

As Steve Miller, Group Managing Director, Royal Dutch/Shell, shared many years ago, “Change how you define leadership, and you change how you run a company.” 

One place to discover a new definition of leadership is by participating in the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.

There is still time to sign-up.

 For more information on how to register for the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

Remember: if you change the way you lead, then ultimately your will change the company.

I look forward to seeing you at out first session on March 3!

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Raising the Collective Intelligence

Noel Tichy in his book, The Cycle of Leadership: How Great Leaders Teach Their Companies to Win, HarperBusiness, 2002, writes that “winning organizations are teaching organizations” where “everybody teaches... everybody learns.” In such highly interactive environments, knowledge and understanding is generated and it makes everyone smarter.

As he notes, “Successful leaders are given stewardship over assets in the form of people, capital, information, and technology. Their job is to make them more valuable and to keep making them more valuable into the future.... In this environment, the key to winning is a leader's ability to raise the collective intelligence of his or her team and keep its members aligned, energized and working to please customers.”

Having spent over 25+ years helping people and organizations through the world of leadership and strategic level change, I have witnessed exceptional leaders who have raised the collective intelligence, created alignment, and helped people deliver incredible customer service. These particular leaders all have one common characteristic, namely they are learners. They read constantly. They teach continuously and they seek out in-depth and quality time to explore new ideas.

If you are interested in your company becoming a winning and teaching organization, then the best place to start is to sign up for the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. Through this challenging, interactive curriculum which blends lectures, selected readings, small and large group discussions, and how to skill-building exercises, participants in this four part leadership training gain critical knowledge and skills which improve their ability to be become better leaders. 

For more information, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

Or you can click on the this link for the registration form:http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2015-From-Vision-To-Action-Leadership-Training-Regist.pdf

Participating in the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training is a good first step in the fast paced world of constant organizational change and customer service. It has the potential  to create leaders, who in the long run will help everyone become smarter.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

A Quick Reminder

Friday, December 5, is the registration deadline for the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.

We will meet for this unique learning opportunity at the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Coralville, Iowa on the following dates:

- March 3 - 4 - 5, 2015

- May 5 - 6 - 7, 2015

- September 15 - 16 - 17, 2015

- November 10 - 11, 2015

If you and/or members of your team are interested in the 2015 training, then please click on the following link for more information: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

Or you can click on the this link for the registration form: http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2015-From-Vision-To-Action-Leadership-Training-Regist.pdf

I look forward to your participation in the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

The Importance of Buy-in

For many years, I have asked clients and students of mine to read John C. Maxwell’s book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow them and People Will Follow You, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998. In particular, I wanted them to comprehend “The Law of Buy-in: People buy into the leader, then the vision.”  As Maxwell explains, “When followers don't like the leader or the vision, they will look for another leader. When followers don't like the leader but they do like the vision, they still look for another leader. When followers like the leader but not the vision, they change the vision. When followers like the leader and the vision, they will get behind both.” 

At this time period, we need followers and leaders all pulling together in the same direction. But we have to recognize, as Maxwell so aptly points out in his book, that “people become real leaders because of character - who they are, relationships - who they know, knowledge - what they know, intuition - what they feel, experience - where they've been, past success - what they've done, and ability - what they can do.” 

While it would be delightful to stop by the local corner store and pick up a box of character, intuition or ability, this is not possible. However, we can increase people’s knowledge through thoughtful education, meaningful readings, and in-depth dialogue and sharing. 

Here is where the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training fits into this equation. Through this challenging, interactive curriculum which blends lectures, selected readings, small and large group discussions, and how to skill-building exercises, participants in this four part leadership training gain critical knowledge and skills which improve their ability to be become better leaders.

Now is the time to sign people up for this in-depth learning experience.  For more information on how to register for the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

Followers who buy-in to their leader and the vision always achieve results. We need this now more than ever. I look forward to you and your team participating in the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. 

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Building Change Leaders for A Fast-Moving World

John Kotter in his most recent book, Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility For A Faster-Moving World, Harvard Business Review Press, 2014, writes “The world is now changing at a rate at which the basic systems, structures, and cultures built over the past century cannot keep up with the demands being placed on them. Incremental adjustments to how you manage and strategize, no matter how clever, are not up to the job.” 

As he continues, organizations need to accelerate innovation, productivity improvement, integration of acquisitions or global operations, any sort of key strategic change, cultural change and profitable growth. However, he notes that most are stalled by a limited number of change leaders, silo parochialism, rules and procedures, pressures to make quarterly numbers, and complacency or insufficient buy-in.

“Management is not leadership,” explains John Kotter. “Management is a set of well-known processes that help organizations produce reliable, efficient, and predictable results.... Leadership is about setting direction. It’s about creating a vision, empowering and inspiring people to want to achieve the vision, and enabling them to do so with energy and speed through an effective strategy. In its most basic sense, leadership is about mobilizing a group of people to jump into a better future.”

With the current and emerging challenges facing all companies during the next 5 - 6 years, it is vital that we expand the number of change leaders who can set direction, empower people and mobilize them to move forward toward that vision in an efficient and effective manner. The rate and pace of change will not slow down. Therefore, we need to speed up the development of key people. 

One effective way to do this is to enroll yourself and your key people in the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. Through a challenging, interactive curriculum which blends lectures, selected readings, small and large group discussions, and how to skill-building exercises, participants in this four part leadership training gain critical knowledge and skills which improve their ability to be better change leaders.  

For more information on how to register for the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

Bold leadership and effective strategy will be key to success between now and 2020. Learning to be a better change leader is the first step in this journey.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Where Is The Next Generation of Leaders?

Highly effective people in the right positions within a company can make a profound difference. They can generate focus, momentum and commitment. They can be the determining factor that makes people want to improve and to innovate when challenges arise. However, identifying and developing these current and future leaders has itself become the new challenge for everyone these days.  

Claudio Fernandez-Araoz in his June 2014 Harvard Business Review article called “21st Century Talent Spotting: Why potential now trumps brains, experience, and competencies” writes that “the sweet spot for rising senior executives is the 35-to-44-year-old age bracket, but the percentage of people in that range is shrinking dramatically. In our 2006 study, we calculated that a projected 30% decline in the ranks of young leaders combined with anticipated business growth, would cut in half the pool of senior leader candidates in that critical age group. Whereas a decade ago this demographic shift was affecting mostly the United States and Europe, by 2020 many other countries, including Russia, Canada, South Korea, and China, will have more people at retirement age than entering the workforce.”  

With the impact of the above demographics and the continued rise of globalization within the work force, it is imperative that companies, who seek to be successful on an ongoing basis, have a well developed and effect pipeline of future leaders. Yet as reported in the above article, the author notes the following: “In PriceWaterhouseCooper’s 2014 survey of CEOs in 68 countries, 63% of respondents said they were concerned about the future availability of key skills at all levels. The Boston Consulting Group cites proprietary research showing that 56% of executives see critical gaps in their ability to fill senior managerial roles in the coming years.” Clearly, the need for leadership is great but the ability to meet this need is struggling. With the pace of change accelerating, we also can not predict the key skill sets needed just a few years out.

Within Fernandez-Araoz’s research reported in the above mentioned article, he points out the following “five markers of potential” for people who could be 21st century leaders: “a strong motivation to excel in the pursuit of challenging goals combined with the humility to put the group ahead of individual needs; an insatiable curiosity to explore new ideas and avenues; keen insight into connections that others don’t see; a strong engagement with work and people; and the determination to overcome obstacles.” Once we have hired the right people and identified them as people with potential, then we need to retain them and develop them for the future. They need to grow in the depth and scope of their understanding of leadership, strategy and organizational change.

Here is where the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training fits into this picture. Through a challenging, interactive curriculum which blends lectures, selected readings, small and large group discussions, and how to skill-building exercises, participants in this four part leadership training gain critical knowledge and skills which improve their ability to lead people to generate short and long term success. For more information on how to register for the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training, please click on the following link: http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-Leadership-Training.html 

Finding and developing the next generation of leaders is a top priority during the coming months and years. One solution is the 2015 From Vision to Action Leadership Training. I look forward to you participation!

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257