Submitted by Sal Silvester on January 7, 2012
The first week of January is over. Are your people aligned?
Is every team member, from your front line employee to supervisor to mid-level manager and above, clear about the strategic direction of the organization? In most companies, it’s well into the calendar year before team members understand the vision and strategy. If this is the case on your team, you'll probably notice a lack of clarity, confusion and unspoken expectations. The business results you'll experience are lost productivity, low employee engagement, and missed opportunities.
Submitted by Sal Silvester on August 29, 2011
Here is the third excerpt from our recent article on 3 Ways to Derail Team Formation. In Part 1 of this post I talked about the first mistake that derails team formation - Ambiguity of team purpose and vision for the future. Part 2 focused on the mistake of - Hiring a warm body instead of the right person Here's Mistake #3... Dis-orientation Most team members are hired and then thrown into the fire.
Submitted by Sal Silvester on August 10, 2011
Another common and costly leader mistake that can result in a loss of credibility and trust.
MISTAKE: Leading with answers instead of questions.
Jim Collins said it best in Good to Great:
Submitted by Sal Silvester on August 3, 2011
What is your team's purpose?
What is your team supposed to do that no other team does?
These are important questions for all teams - whether you belong to a management team, a functional team, a project team, or other.
The challenge in most organizations is that teams don't have clarity about their purpose. They brush it off as something too fluffy to consider. Or, for other teams, their purpose ends up on a pretty poster in a conference room and does nothing but take up wall space.
Submitted by Sal Silvester on July 1, 2009
How many SOPs does your organization have? Do you have SOPs on how to write an SOP?
What core values guide the people in your organization? Are those values real as you hire people, work together, and serve your clients? Or, are they just pretty posters on a boardroom wall?
How do you handle your training? Do you give people a list of the 791 things they can do, a list of the 427 things they can't do, and then have them sign the bottom of the page indicating they understand it all (I've heard it called "check a box training")?
Submitted by Sal Silvester on June 16, 2009
Last week I had an amazing hiking, camping, canyoneering trip in Zion National Park. I "took the plunge" so to speak in some beautiful canyoneering routes. Check out the video on this post.
Submitted by Sal Silvester on May 18, 2009
Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Time: 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM MDT
Submitted by Sal Silvester on April 29, 2009
Climbing at 19,000' in Ecuador
Just because you have the title of "leader" doesn't make you are a leader. And just because you don't have the title of leader doesn't mean you aren't a leader.
People are called upon to do many things - both inside and outside of the workplace. Those who have the courage to do the right things, especially when the right things are difficult to do, deserve the title of leader.
Consider the following:
