What Employees Need from Leaders

Just ran across an amazing little article from the Harvard Business Review entitled What Employees Need from Leaders. It was written by Dr. Cleve Stevens of Owl Sight Intentions Inc. I thought it was a great summary. In short, employees need:

• To love and be loved--defined as focused concern and action
• To grow
• To contribute
• Meaning

This list certainly resonates for me, and I can do better at helping the employees I work with find those needs better met with my leadership.

Ten Steps to Greater Self-Confidence

Consultants often live on one of those great "merry-go-rounds" of life. When we are busy, helping our clients, and making money, we are on top of the world. When times are not so great, we struggle with why and how bad times happen.

No matter what your current level of self-confidence, you can learn to improve it. There are many self-help books out today focusing on confidence building and self-esteem. This article focuses on ten key strategies for keeping your self-confidence high and your outlook bright.

1. Know what you do well. Sometimes in the bustle of daily life, we tend to dwell on our weaknesses rather than our strengths. When you break the chain and start giving yourself credit for the things you do well, you will find more confidence in working on difficult issues.

2. Please yourself. Business professionals often fall into the trap of trying to please others. However, it is a truism that you cannot please all the people all the time. The most important person to please is yourself. Make more time in your schedule for doing things that you do well and enjoy. And never compromise your values. You are more likely to feel confident when your behavior is congruent with your values.

3. Reward yourself. Look for ways to reinforce confident behavior. When you finish that big project on time and on budget, treat yourself to a favorite leisure activity. When you reinforce the good, your subconscious can help you do it right the next time.

4. Look for small victories. Let's face it: the big successes only come around once in a while. It you can't count a small accomplishment as a victory, you will be waiting a long time for success. Even if things seem to be crashing down around you in one area of accomplishment, look for successes in another.

5. Learn from your mistakes. When the inevitable failure happens, realize that the situation was a failure; you are only a failure if you fail to learn. See mistakes as a learning experience. Let them improve your wisdom about yourself and the world.

6. Look confident. Regardless of how you might feel when you get out of bed in the morning, dress and groom yourself as you would if you felt at 110%. Stand tall, walk purposefully, and maintain eye contact when you speak to others. Exude confidence, and it will tend to develop in you.

7. Sound confident. Practice using positive terms rather than negative ones, regardless of your doubts and concerns. Avoid using tentative phrases like "but" or "maybe." Affirm your abilities in your commitments.

8. Prepare for discussions. Even with small buildings, the plans are created on paper before the first footing is excavated. Plan your business discussions with the same care an architect takes in designing a building. Write notes, research and anticipate concerns. When you are prepared, there is no need to fear the outcome.

9. Initiate conversation. Don't wait for people to talk to you; take the initiative and start up a conversation with someone you meet, whether you know them or not. Starting a conversation is an evidence of self-assuredness, and will be perceived that way by your conversation partner.

10. Imitate self-confident people. My guess is that the people you admire the most have an innate sense of self-confidence. Watch what they do, how they walk and talk. Select a visible behavior and model it in your own life.

Take these suggestions and make them yours, and watch that confidence quotient rise!

Unlocking Your Personal and Professional Potential

All of us remember (some more fondly than others) opportunities in our youth to be acquainted with a great coach. He or she may have been involved in coaching a youth soccer, baseball or football team. Some of us may identify with great coaches represented in the media or in movies like Hoosiers or the recent Remember the Titans.

Often, the things we remember about coaches involve things like how they helped us push ourselves toward excellence, how they cared about us as individuals, how they were "there for us." We might recall that they were great teachers, or great motivators, or simply great role models.

Some of us with less than positive experiences might remember coaches who did not contribute to our self esteem–those who belittled us or made light of our abilities (or lack thereof). While these people might have had the title of "Coach," they do not compare favorably with coaches who were more positive influences.

And, in some cases, the greatest coaches were not called by that title at all. Sometimes they were teachers, big brothers or sisters, music teachers, scoutmasters or clergymen. But in all cases, those who truly merited the title "Coach" were those who lifted us, taught us, and helped us be better than we could have been without them.

The new consulting specialty of personal and professional coaches seeks to provide people today with a similar mentor: a "coach" in the true sense of the word. In this article, we examine the new coaching profession and how it fills a special niche in management consulting: consulting not for an organization, but for individuals.

Definition

According to Eric Parsloe, the director of the Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring, coaching is "a process than enables learning and development to occur and thus performance to improve. To be a successful coach requires a knowledge and understanding of process as well as the variety of styles, skills and techniques that are appropriate to the context in which the coaching takes place."

The Coaching Fact Sheet at Coach U defines coaching similarly, as a "powerful, collaborative relationship between a coach and a willing individual which enables, through a process of discovery, goal setting, and strategic actions, the realization of extraordinary results."

How Coaching Works

For an individual, a coach is a mentor, motivator, planner and consultant rolled into one. The coach works privately with an individual, typically in person or by telephone. They usually begin with a personal strategic planning process, in which the coach assists the individual in assessing his or her strengths and weaknesses, exploring opportunities for success and inherent challenges that threaten success. The individual, led by the coach, sets goals, personally and professionally. The coach then periodically meets or consults with the individual in reaching their goals. The coach will assist in eliminating doubts and removing barriers to peak performance.

Modern coaches may use various technological means to manage the success process including telephone, e-mail, web interfaces and accountability mechanisms. In any case, the value of personal and professional coaching is in the ability to have an external impetus to internal focus; accountability and flexibility are keys to successful coaching.

Corporate Coaching

Applying the coaching model to various levels of an organization can improve organizational performance by improving individual development. Establishing a core group of people in an organization with coaching competency and using their skills can enhance morale, improve motivation, stimulate productivity and reduce turnover. Coaching is more than training, however; it is the practical application of the training process.

Conclusion

As Timothy Gallwey, the author of The Inner Game of Tennis, observed, "Coaching is unlocking a person's potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them." Coaching is designed as a way of unlocking potential through a systematic approach to success. It has shown great promise in the lives of individuals and organizations in improving productivity and programming for success.

Successful Team Management (Part II)

In Part I, we discussed the stages of team development and how consultants can help groups determine their purpose and direction. This part deals with enhancing groups' skills in achieving their purpose.

Decision Making

In my experience in consulting and leadership, reaching a decision through consensus can be most difficult, but, in my opinion, worth the trouble. The business world seems to program employees with a "win-lose" mentality. Group members can often, without intervention, polarize into camps based on this paradigm, and never reach consensus. Some ways consultants can help groups reach a decision making point are:

The Thumbs-Up Method: All group members are asked to vote when a decision point appears to be approaching. Members are asked to vote with a "thumbs-up" if they can live with the decision, even if it is not their first choice. If they cannot bring themselves to live with the decision, they must vote with a "thumbs-down." The group has not reached a decision if all parties cannot vote affirmatively.

Pro and Con Evaluations: In this scenario, a group leader assists in posting all pros and cons in a given decision as given by group members. This process can happen in person, in writing, or via electronic means. Then the group meets to evaluate and score the pros and cons on a scale of 1 to 10. The totals are then tallied, and the group can make a decision based on the scores. This process helps prioritize the positives and negatives of any given course of action, and brings more logic and less emotion to the table.

Communication

How can a group leader manage conflict between two or more headstrong individuals with differing views? Often these types of conflict can plunge a group into frustration and inaction. In my experience, these steps have proven effective in resolving these differences.

1. Meet individually and privately with the group members in the conflict. Seek to understand their position and feelings. Try to narrow the focus of the conflict: is it over ideas, implementation, or personalities? Often, just the process of getting the concerns out in the open with the group leader will be enough to defuse the hostility.

2. Use open-ended questions in your facilitation. Forcing positions with questions such as "Don't you agree that...?" or "Will you support this option?" often put people into uncomfortable corners. Instead, use questions that give freedom to participants to express their concerns for the whole group. You might consider themes such as "How do you feel about...?" or "What are the pros and cons of this course of action?"

3. Develop and explore a worst-case scenario. Examine the risks associated with a given decision and its implementation. As this process occurs, participants often come to understand objections that seemed unreasonable before.

Team Leadership

While one of the recent buzzwords of management is "self-directed teams," the truth is that teams eventually need someone to emerge as a leader. Some ways for formal or informal leaders to steer group work include:

1. Focus on roles. Help the group members understand the various roles of group members (creativity, organization, strategy and reality-checkers) and to see that each role is important. There is a place for every member.

2. Demonstrate how team effort builds on prior efforts. If all members are important to the group process, a leader or facilitator must help the team members understand their interrelationships.

3. Use good listening skills. Follow the recommendation of Steven Covey to "seek first to understand, then to be understood." Only when a member is satisfied that he or she has been understood in his or her intended context will the member feel valued and involved.

Conclusion

The principle of synergy is the idea that groups together functioning properly can accomplish more than the sum of the efforts of the individual members. Synergistic groups should be the aim of every consultant, and by using many of the tools outlined in this article, synergy can be an achievable goal.

Successful Team Management (Part I)

Many years ago, I was asked to be chairman of a team which was tasked with developing a proposal which would be controversial. The results were something less than ideal. I learned through sad experience in this setting the importance of understanding team process and the stages of team development.

Much of the work which management consultants do involves working in teams, or supporting teams used by our clients. A basic understanding of team development and how successful teams succeed is critical to success as a management consultant. This article addresses the processes of successful teams and also discusses helping teams set proper purpose and direction.

In the mid-1960s research done by Bruce Tuckman of the Naval Medical Research Institute explored group dynamics and explained how teams develop and mature. Tuckman's research led him to conclude that groups develop through four stages. He identified in the stages as forming, storming, norming, and performing.

Forming is the stage in which the group first comes together and begins to become a team. The behavior of team members, prompted by a their feelings of excitement, anxiety, and dependence, raise issues which must be resolved if the team is to become productive. This is a stage of turmoil , and therefore teams at this stage usually do not make much progress on their task.

In storming, the second stage of team development, team members begin to realize the amount of work that will be required and often start to panic. They begin to see the disparity between the their initial hopes and the reality of the work ahead. Successful conflict resolution techniques are needed in this stage to help the team resolve its differences.

Stage 3, identified as norming, helps members get used to working together. They start helping each other rather than competing. Most of the conflict begun in stage two has been resolved. During this stage, the task of the team leader is to help the team adjust to its newfound identity and develop members' self-confidence.

The final stage is the performing stage, in which team members have developed a comfort level with each other and with their assignment. At this stage, they are an effective working unit, and the team begins to perform competently. In this stage, the main task of the leader is to help members develop group maintenance skills.

By understanding these four stages of team development, a consultant may assess how the team is functioning and what needs to happen in order for the team to be successful.

Purpose and direction

When team goals and are not clear, teams often get bogged down as individuals pull in different directions. Members may be unclear as to the team's mission, or they can be uncertain about the urgency attached to reaching a specific goal. Conversely, teams become so caught up in "getting along" that nothing is accomplished.

Odette Pollar, the founder of Time Management Systems, recommends four steps in helping groups solidify purpose and direction.

Step 1 is to summarize the progress of the group to date in a non-threatening, non-evaluative manner. In this way, group members will see the consultant's perception of their current status and be able to evaluate its accuracy.

In the second step, the consultant should ask for an assessment of the current situation. Pollar recommends the question, "We seem to be unable to reach clear decisions. What part has our team building process or our structure or played in this?"

The consultant should then determine the group's perceptions and review them with the group.

In step four, the consultant should suggest changes in group structure or process to improve the situation. These suggestions, as well as team's specific goals, should be written down. They should be distributed to members and posted throughout the following meetings to help focus the group.

No work done by consultant is more important than helping groups reach their potential. As management consultants sharpen their skills in this area, they will better serve their clients and their profession.

A Blueprint for Effective Presentations

Presentations skills are the lifeblood of a successful consultant. No matter how good a consultant is technically, if he cannot communicate his qualifications to be hired or his findings once retained, his success will be limited.

Effective presentations start with effective preparation. As Steven Covey often states, all accomplishments are first created mentally before they are created physically. Architects and contractors understand that a good set of blueprints (the mental creation) are a prerequisite to a good building project (the physical creation). A good presentation is no exception to this rule. The following keys to good presentations will help develop the "blueprint" for a successful experience as a presenter.

1. Develop an Outline. The outline is the initial framework for a presentation. It is the equivalent to the structural design portions of a blueprint. The outline should lead logically from point to point, constructing the logic as it goes. Take the time to develop a good outline and you will see the benefits in both preparation and delivery. Directing the preparation with an outline keeps the logic of the presentation flowing; recalling the outline during the presentation will keep you focused and on track.

2. Prioritize. Clearly identify your key points in the outline and emphasize them. Often, even with good preparation, time can run short. If your points are prioritized and the most critical ones are highlighted, a presentation can be shortened without significant damage to the goal.

3. Focus on Time. Every architect must develop his design plans to fit within the owner's available resources such as money and land dimensions. To fail to so plan will result in the architect going hungry! So must presenters work within their allotted time–the audience's most precious resource. No audience appreciates a long-winded speaker. It is a sign of poor preparation and disorganization–and what consultant wants to communicate that message?

4. Prepare a "Script" for Some Points. While preparing a "word for word" script for an entire presentation generally results in a presentation that is too "stiff," you should consider a more precise presentation for the most important or complicated parts of your message. But beware of overdoing it–you want to seem natural and prepared without being perceived as being arrogant or stilted.

5. Carefully Select Audiovisual Tools. Remember that audiovisual tools are just tools; they are not the presentation itself. Prepare the presentation, and then enhance it if appropriate with audiovisual tools such as Powerpoint, Corel Presentations , or overhead transparencies. If you choose these tools, use them wisely. If you are not a graphic designer, use predefined templates so that the colors and graphics you select don't distract from your message. And make sure that the presentation venue can support your AV tools. There is nothing worse than depending on a venue's digital projector only to find out it doesn't work with your laptop!

6. Utilize Handouts. Effective handouts can be a real asset to a presenter. Well constructed handouts can help keep an audience focused and with you; not too far ahead or behind. Consider using handouts that encourage note taking by your audience members. The "fill in the blanks" model works well and is often used by the best known presenters. Avoid simply printing the slides of your electronic presentation, however. Audience members tend to jump ahead and miss much of your message.

7. Refine Your Presentation. Never, never use your first draft of a presentation. Construction design concepts are always refined multiple times before they become workable blueprints. When your preparation is done, review it carefully for clarity, content and organization.

8. Practice! Always review and rehearse the presentation. Just like builders understand that it is better to measure twice and cut once instead of measuring once and cutting twice, presenters should rehearse prior to the actual presentation. Consider recording a practice run on video or audio tape and then critiquing your own performance. Ask a trusted advisor who will be honest with you to comment candidly on your rehearsal.

If you plan well by developing a blueprint for a presentation, you can craft that product into your own masterpiece!

Monkey Management

Imagine one day that you are walking down the hallway at your organization, and a subordinate approaches you with a problem about one of his subordinates. "I cannot believe how Jane is acting toward our customers. She is curt, unfriendly and sometimes downright difficult. I have told her several times that her behavior is just not acceptable, but it doesn't seem to help. Can you visit with her and see if she takes it better from you?"

As a manager, you have a number of choices. Which is the right choice for you, for the supervisor, and for Jane?

In a classic article in the Harvard Business Review in 1974, authors William Oncken, Jr., and Donald L. Wass offer a theoretical framework for seeing this situation in its true light and making the right decision. In the article "Who's Got the Monkey?" the authors tell the tale of an overburdened manager who allows his employees to delegate upward. When a manager takes an unsolved problem from his subordinates, he is allowing a figurative monkey to leap from the employee's back to his back. When a manager has too many monkeys, he is increasing his own load, failing to develop his subordinates, and probably not solving the problems effectively in the final analysis.

Oncken and Wass offer a well defined basic law for managing monkeys. It is:

At no time while I am helping you will your problem become my problem. The instant your problem becomes mine, you will no longer have a problem. I cannot help someone who hasn't got a problem. You may ask my help at any appointed time, and we will make a joint determination of what the next move will be and who will make it.

Refusing to accept problems that subordinates try to delegate upward, and instead giving them opportunities to meet with you to "feed the monkey" is the best choice for both the monkey and for its keeper. The employee who is closest to the problem usually has the knowledge and skill to solve the problem, if empowered to do so. Consultations with the manager will serve to broaden perspective and offer new ways of seeing the problem. And as the employee feeds and eventually solves the problem, he or she learns important skills that make them more valuable to the organization and to the managers.

In addition to the law of monkey management, the authors list six rules of managing monkeys that are instructive to managers. These include:

1. Monkeys should be fed or shot. No one likes the consequences of a starving monkey. They tend to be very disagreeable and squeal and raise a ruckus. Monkeys must be fed periodically; in this analogy, the problem must be dealt with between the manager and the employee with the problem on a regular basis. If the monkey can be shot (the problem solved quickly), then feeding times are not necessary.

2. Every monkey should have an assigned next feeding time and a degree of initiative. After a feeding session, the manager should select an appropriate time for the next feeding and should have a number of action steps for the employee to take. "Can we meet next Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. to see how things are going and what we should do next?"

3. The monkey population should be kept below the maximum number that the manager has time to feed. The authors suggest that it should take 15 minutes to feed a monkey, and that managers should keep the list of problems that are in various stages of solution at a manageable number.

4. Monkeys should fed by appointment only. Allowing employees to bring problems to you on their timetable increases the chances that the monkey will move from the employee to the manager. By setting specific times for addressing the problem, managers empower employees to make interim decisions about the problem, and still report back.

5. Monkey feeding appointments may be rescheduled but never indefinitely postponed. Either party, the manager or the subordinate, may reschedule a feeding appointment for any reason, but it must be scheduled to a specific time to avoid losing track of the monkey.

6. Monkeys shall be fed face to face or by telephone, but not in writing. Holding feeding sessions via e-mail or memo transfers the monkey to the manager. An employee can pass the monkey to the manager by simply requesting a response. Feedings that take place in person or on the phone require the monkey to remain with the employee unless the supervisor takes an affirmative step to take it.

Proper delegation skills, properly applied as suggested in this creative approach, can help managers better solve problems and develop their employees' problem solving skills. Visualizing each problem as a monkey that is impatient and noisy can help managers see problems as they really are and address them in the best possible way. Beware of the monkeys that may come into your life today!

Negotiating: Your Own Peace Summit

As Middle East tensions rise, as they periodically do, we find U.S. and other world leaders intervening in the negotiation process between Israeli leaders and the Palestinians to broker a peace agreement. The process of reaching a settlement between parties with divergent interests can be very delicate and the parties often have very significant vested interests.

In organizations, the process of negotiating between two competing parties is just as delicate, although most often not as public as an international peace accord. The processes are similar, and reaching a solution that is a "win-win" for all parties concerned is often a true managerial challenge. The following actions and attitudes, when used by both parties, can result in a mutually beneficial experience and conclusion. But in any case, if one party follows these guidelines, the process can still be significantly enhanced.

1. Be prepared. Understand the issues and interests that each party is likely to bring to the negotiation process. This is undoubtedly the most important single step in effective negotiations. Come with a tight grasp of the key issues that will be discussed. Understand the environment in which you and the other parties will operate.

2. Understand your interests and the interests of the other parties. Take the time to thoroughly research your interests: what do you hope to gain through the process and what are you willing to do or to give up to reach your principle objective. Do you understand what the other parties bring to the table and what they hope to gain? Do you know what questions to ask to get to the "bottom" of the interests of all parties?

3. Always be honest. Credibility is the most important value that any party brings to the negotiating table. Fabricating facts, or shooting from the hip without all the facts only serve to undermine your ability to communicate and to deliver on commitments. Avoid making promises that you are not sure you can keep.

4. Focus on fairness. For most parties, the polar star of negotiating principles is fairness. Fairness is receiving every advantage you are entitled to, but no advantage that you don't deserve. If all parties agree to work fairly and equitably at the table, there is a solid chance for a win-win solution. If fairness is not a given, then mutual distrust will minimize the chance for settlement.

5. Be creative. Look for different ways to achieve your objectives in the negotiating process. Look for opportunities to make trade-offs and for areas in which the parties can be flexible. Often, the best solution to an impasse is a solution that neither party thought of in the beginning.

6. Focus on objectives, not on victory. In seeking for a win-win arrangement, negotiators must avoid the win-lose mentality. The process of negotiating is not about winning; it is about crafting a solution that works effectively. Identifying common interests and working to meet them can help avoid the win-loss paradigm.

7. Know when to quit. A sure way to sabotage a negotiation process is to become greedy. Particularly if things seem to be going your way, avoid the temptation to reach for too much. If a party to negotiations is seen as being unreasonable or uncompromising, then a lasting agreement can be difficult. Be aware of the feedback of the other party, and you will know when you have achieved all you reasonably can in one process.

8. Finally, beware of damaging ongoing relationships. If the other parties in the negotiations are part of a long term relationship (employee groups, clients, business partners, etc.), remember that the future of your ability to get along with the other party is more than winning or losing one isolated negotiation. Souring relationships for the future is rarely a good outcome, even if in one negotiation, you feel successful.

Just like the parties in the Middle East conflict, parties to effective negotiations must work toward a mutually satisfactory solution and preserve the ability to peacefully coexist in both the short term and the long term. Focusing too tightly on the immediate issues and ignoring the need to meet all parties' critical interests will doom the process to failure. But effectively working toward a win-win solution will build relationships and result in a positive and meaningful solution.

Developing Your Charisma

Several years ago, I left an executive position under fire. This was a difficult personal experience for me; I had never really failed at anything before. I thought I was pretty adept at weathering political storms, but this situation caught me entirely off guard. During the four months in which I sought new employment, I began to lose perspective and my positive view of humanity.

That all changed when I applied for and secured a position working for an executive that I had admired from afar, but with whom I had had little first hand experience. This executive was Utah's former Governor and former US Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt. For me, working for Governor Leavitt was at once challenging and inspiring. I was captivated by his philosophy of government and governance, and by his innate ability to be led by and to be true to principles and values. He embodied for me the traits I have since come to recognize as charisma.

While Mike Leavitt was neither the first nor the last leader who has impressed me with his charisma, he is one whom I observed closely during the time I was on his staff and have followed closely since then. Ever since that first experience, I have wanted to emulate his style, his commitment to values and his uncanny ability to inspire and motivate others. While my sphere is significantly more limited than his, I have tried to be as committed, as optimistic and as principled in my sphere as he is in his.

What is Charisma?

I suspect that all of us know what charisma is, but may have difficulty defining it adequately. Generally, we tend to define charisma in terms of the people who have it. While Mike Leavitt defines charisma for me, many others may define it by recalling John Kennedy , Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , or Mahatma Gandhi.

Dr. Tony Alessandra defines charisma as "the ability to influence others positively by connecting with them physically, emotionally, and intellectually." He also quotes Harvard anthropologist Charles Lindholm's definition: "Charisma is, above all, a relationship, a mutual mingling of the inner selves of leader and follower."

Can Charisma Be Learned?

I believe that charisma can be developed; that it is not a genetic trait. To some extent, much of the profession of coaching is based on the premise that effective leadership skills, including charisma, can be developed in people. The expression, "Leaders are made, not born" is a mantra of the coaching profession. If in fact a person can become more charismatic, what are the foundational steps to achieving personal charisma?

The three dimensions cited by Dr. Alessandra seem to provide a useful framework: physical, emotional and intellectual. Let's explore some possibilities of skills to learn and develop within each of these three areas.

Physical. Some people simply have a commanding presence. I recently attended a seminar which was led by a trainer who was 6'8" tall and weighed 280 pounds. He clearly had a commanding presence, which contributed something to his charisma. Now, I can't grow seven inches onto my stature (with enough high fat foods, I could probably get to 280 pounds, however!), but I can improve my physical skills to enhance my charisma. Physical ideas might include:

• Improving my overall health and vitality
  
• Enhancing my ability to look people in the eye
  
• Developing a firm yet non-bone-crushing handshake
  
• Investing in a better tailored wardrobe for business activities
  
• Carrying myself better–holding my head erect (not looking at my feet all the time!)
  
• Learning to smile more
  

Emotional. The connection we tend to most identify with charismatic leaders is the emotional. I never saw the real Mahatma Gandhi, but his words and story have inspired me for years. His actions were persuasive. Ways I can connect emotionally to others in a more charismatic fashion might include:

• Enhancing my oral communication skills, including persuasion and public speaking
• Enhancing my ability to communicate effectively in writing
• Focusing more on those with whom I communicate and less on myself
• Learning to listen better
• Being more aware of body space and body language
• Work on being more optimistic
• Improve my relationships with a few close friends (including my spouse or significant other)

Intellectual. Charismatic leaders also engage the minds of their followers. Their ideas and ideals tend to raise our vision above the mundane. We have a sense that while charismatic leaders are not always the smartest among us, they think deeply about things and communicate those ideas and thoughts in meaningful ways. To enhance my intellectual prowess I might consider:

• Reading widely and deeply (don't just stuff those journals in my bottom desk drawer!)
• Taking a class in a subject I don't know enough about
• Continuing my professional development
• Learning about personality types
• Develop a better vocabulary
• Volunteer to teach or train others in my field of expertise

Charisma is an important trait for a leader in any organization. By focusing on the three key dimensions of charismatic leadership, we can enhance our charisma and use it to benefit ourselves, our organizations, our families and our communities.

United They Fly, Divided They Fall

A relative of mine is an expert in physics, and has long appreciated the way that the principles of physics operate in nature. His attention was captured one day as he watched geese flying in formation as they migrated south. Flying in a V-formation, the geese seemed to move so effortlessly through the air, even with a headwind.

His curiosity was piqued, and he made a trip to a local aviary to learn more about migrating geese. While he learned enough to make some calculations about the efficiency of the V-formation, he also learned about the instinctive behavior of these geese and how they have learned to work as a team.

He discovered from the experts at the aviary that geese fly in a V-formation because as the bird in front flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird behind, making his flight more efficient. In fact, he calculated that geese flying in the proper formation will expend 70% less energy flying the same distance as compared to a bird flying alone.

Thus, in this natural setting, geese have been conditioned to work as a team in order to work more efficiently. But what was most startling to him was the "rules" of V-formation flight that naturalists have observed over many years of observation and study, and the real life applications of those rules for the vastly inferior human teams to which we all belong.

Consider the following:

1. Given the laws of physics, whenever a geese falls out of formation, it experiences the natural resistence of the air currents that it avoids if it stays in formation. This is true also in human groups. In order for teams to be effective, each member must carry his or her own load. When a maverick leaves the formation of the group, it is usually the maverick that pays the price.

2. Whenever the goose that has been at the apex of the V begins to tire, he or she finds a place elsewhere in the V and allows another goose to fly in the lead. In human teams, leaders often tire or burnout. It is to the benefit of the entire group for the group to avoid burnout for any member, and rotating leadership, or at least spreading the workload around makes the team more efficient.

3. The naturalists my relative spoke with observed that most of honking of the geese occurred from the geese in the back of the V, while those up front focused more on flying and less on honking. You may be thinking that this sounds a lot like a team you know where the folks doing less of the work have more time to complain. But in the V formation, the lead geese tend to be encouraged by the honking, and it becomes a positive force. In human teams, we should look for opportunities to encourage the members of the team, especially those that are bearing the heaviset burdens. Members of effective teams support each other, in both obvious and more subtle ways.

4. Finally, my relative asked the naturalists what happens when a goose becomes incapable of staying the with the formation. What if one is wounded, sick or unable to keep its role in the team? The answer also startled my relative. When a goose fails to stay with the team, two other geese in the team leave the formation and follow the slower goose down. They remain with the goose until he is either able to fly again or until he dies, then they either begin their own formation or catch up with the group. Again, here is a lesson for human teams. Each member is important; each member knows that he will be supported in time of need. This attitude in a human team breeds loyalty and compassion, and knowing that one is a valued member of the team makes one more willing to give his own loyalty and compassion to the others.

Often, nature is stranger than fiction. But the lessons in teamwork from the world of nature in observing migrating geese offer some excellent recommendations for improving the functioning of teams in the workplace, in the home and in many other team settings.

Organizing a Corporate Retreat

The executives of the XYZ Corporation were somewhat ambivalent when their consultant first recommended a retreat. While they recognized the benefits that can come from such an experience, they also were concerned about the retreat being either too expensive or too unproductive.

Their consultant reassured them that with his experience with corporate retreats, he could craft an agenda that would not only be cost effective but very productive.

Successful retreats require careful planning in order to be of benefit to the organization and its leaders. What follows are the recommendations of experienced retreat consultants and facilitators, and are based on a history of successful retreats.

1. Carefully select the site for the retreat. The environment of the retreat is critical to its success. Retreats can be either on site or off site. On site retreats tend to be less expensive and provide convenient access to business resources. Off site retreats can promote more creative and expansive thinking and reduce the distractions of day to day business issues.

2. Define the retreat's objectives. Articulating what you hope to achieve by the retreat forms the foundation for the retreat's agenda and direction. Some of the issue you may wish to address in your planning include:

• What is the mission of our organization? Should we consider other missions?
• In what direction are we currently headed? How are current trends, both in our market and in the broader community, affecting our direction?
• What is the image and perception of our organization, and are we succeeding in creating the right image?
• What are our corporate objectives? Are we meeting them and can we tell from our measurement systems?
• Do our current organizational systems support our goals?

Sometimes, retreats are more about team building than about strategic direction. If the goal is to build teamwork, consider these issues:

• What are our communication patterns and how effective are they?
• Do our incentive systems encourage teamwork or individualism?
• How is teamwork at the various levels of the organization? Are we setting a good example at the top?

3. Develop the retreat agenda. Consider carefully based on your objectives how to structure the retreat. Is it best to make this a high-octane event that is all work and no nonsense, or should the retreat include some play? The idea of "Work-Play-Work" is an approach to consider for many retreats to allow some diversion and encourage creativity. Make sure that you circulate the retreat agenda prior to the retreat so that participants arrive eager and not apprehensive.

4. Use a facilitator. This is not just a pitch for consulting services, but an independent facilitator is essential to a successful retreat experience. The facilitator can assist the participants in gathering data, can use his or her skills in enhancing group participation, and can be an objective leader without any vested interest in the outcome.

5. Watch the meals. Be aware of any special dietary needs or preferences of the participants. And be particularly careful to avoid heavy meals at lunch and before retreat working sessions–keep the meals light and your participants will stay awake!

6. Create new ways of looking at old problems. Seeking the same old solutions for the same old problems could be done at the office. A retreat is the chance to see things differently. Consider some group exercises to stimulate creativity and change perspectives. One excellent resource is the popular book, A Whack on the Side of the Head.

7. Keep a good record of the event. Make sure that there is a record keeper present to preserve the outcomes of the event. The retreat facilitator may be able to provide a record keeper, or one of the participants might provide an executive assistant for this purpose. One of the major benefits of the retreat is something beyond process, while process itself can be a significant achievement. The record of decisions made, goals and objectives set, and assignments given can bring closure to the event and create a record that will be useful in the implementation phase.

8. Evaluate the retreat. Make sure to solicit honest and direct feedback on the retreat and its outcomes. Ask the tough questions to ensure that there is adequate participation. Don't be afraid of negative feedback. It may clear the air on some issues, and will certainly be helpful in crafting the next retreat.

9. Keep the process alive. Generally, there is an upswing in organizational morale and in the individual commitment of employees. Provide a continuous feedback loop after the retreat to capitalize on these benefits. Provide periodic reports as the implementation proceeds. If there was a team building approach, consider taking pictures and publishing them for the participants and others in the organization.

Effective planning and careful execution of the plan for a corporate retreat will bring significant benefits to the organization and its leadership. Look forward to your opportunity to get a fresh perspective, to strategize and to build your team–the major functions of a well executed retreat.