Leader's Beacon | The Leadership Experts

City councils, boards of administrators and other governing systems demand a performance management framework that focuses on what outcomes employees will achieve, and how success is going to be measured. This tool reveals how to construct an integrated performance management framework that takes into account the many different functions which a city or a county needs to administer. Continue Reading

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In the book Straight Talk: Turning Communication Upside Down for Strategic Results, Eric Douglas describes four different communication styles: the director, expresser, thinker and harmonizer. Each different style is based on a unique set of assumptions. Here’s a quick snapshot: Continue Reading

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• Conflict and Change Co-exist
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• Praise their Process Over their Competence
• Perseverance is not just a cheesy motivational poster
• Leaders, Take A Slice of Humble Pie

This tool is useful for visualizing the steps in a typical strategic planning process, from the initial environmental scan to the narrowing of strategies and developing of related performance targets. Managers and leaders can use this tool to communicate their planning process to other managers, employees, board members and other stakeholders.

This tool is best used in conjunction with Leading at Light Speed, our strategic planning book that helps leaders build trust, spark innovation and implement the 10 best practices of high performing organizations. Continue Reading

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• This Year…What is Your “Edge for Development?”

This tool defines the 20 qualities of leadership that researchers have identified as common to virtually all organizations. It may be used to determine the leadership qualities people revere most within the organization. It can also be used to aid an individual leader gauge his or her own leadership skills. Continue Reading

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• Hot Air and Management: Is There a Connection?
• All the World’s a Stage…and Sometimes for Leaders too
• How Safe Are Your Perceptions?
• The Danger of Distance
• Is Laziness a Powerful Motivator?

More than 40 percent of the leaders in our surveys say they spend too little time working with individuals to help them unlock their creative energies. Asking yourself, “Have I found my own creative flow? Am I helping other people find their creative flow?”

Take this free work survey to assess your organizational strengths and weaknesses.

Leading at Light Speed is a groundbreaking leadership book by Eric Douglas describing the 10 Quantum Leaps which build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization. Chapter 6 covers how to Stimulate the Creative Flow. On page 159-160 Eric talks about how recognizing success is critical. Continue Reading

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• Stimulate Local Innovation
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Leading at Light Speed is a powerful leadership book by Eric Douglas for businesses, public agencies, and nonprofits revealing the 10 Quantum Leaps to build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization.

Quantum Leap #6 is all about how to Stimulate the Creative Flow.

With rare exception, teams and work groups should be empowered to develop the plans and strategies for achieving the organization’s strategic focus. After all, they know the local operating conditions. Intense power of top quality with new inventions have been demonstrated by the GE company. In his now famous “workout meetings,” CEO Jack Welch brought hundreds of employees together with their managers and asked them to suggest ways to make the business better. Welch put his managers to the test by saying they had three choices: Accept the employee’s idea on the spot, reject it on the spot (but only if they could justify their decision), or study it for ten days. If, after ten days, the manager still hadn’t approved the innovation, it went into effect automatically. Continue Reading

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• Stimulate Creative Flow By Recognizing Success
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In my new book Leading at Light Speed I talk about the concept of leading through others to relieve pressure in the workplace. What do I mean?

Think of flying on an airplane with an open seating plan such as Southwest. You’ve come across an aisle seat. The middle and window seats are open next to you. As people stream down the aisle looking for a place to sit, what do you do?

If your orientation is toward other people, you make eye contact, inviting them to take the seat next to you. Continue Reading

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You can use the following anonymous survey to assess team communication.

Use the following scale to answer each question: A score of 1 means you do not agree with the statement; 4 means you agree with it; a 2 or 3 means your opinion falls somewhere in the middle.

Your survey results are confidential. Keep the survey anonymous, don’t write your name on it. Continue Reading

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I have written before about the “First Five Percent.” That’s my approach to strategic change management that says the quality of the first five percent determines what happens in the rest of the process.

I was in Los Angeles last week, working with a large association, on a strategic plan for their organization. It was the start of a year-long process to build a high-performing organization. One of the rules of the First Five Percent is to engage as many people as possible early on. You never know who may have an excellent idea. The more people you engage early on, the quicker you can identify the best thinking and the hidden resources. Continue Reading

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• Change Management Model – Three Principles

I worked recently with the Board of Directors of a large public power company. They needed stronger governance systems. I mentioned how efficient boards operate. I broke down our approach.

“With our framework,” I told them, “the board expresses exactly what it wants the organization to achieve in the form of policies. By defining what it expects in writing, and by regularly monitoring those policies, the Board can do its job, staff can do its job, and the organization can achieve high levels of performance.” Continue Reading

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• Oversight – A Tale of Leadership Lost
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When people ask me to describe our change management model at LRI, I tell them it boils down to three principles.

Principle number one: Focus on the first five percent. To guarantee a successful outcome you must gather champions, set expectations, how extensively you engage stakeholders, and how well you paint a picture for people of the decision-making process. Let me stress here the importance of engaging with those who will be affected early on, and enlisting the help of those with the right expertise. When ideological stances are strongly opposed it is best to engage early instead of shutting people out of the process.

Principle number two: Focus on defining the root problem. A solution is only useful if you have defined the problem correctly in the first place. We employ a systems approach. People too often say things like: “We need more sales,” or “staff isn’t working hard enough,” or “we need better products,” without looking into the reasons why. Very often, the answer lies in looking in the mirror – at what you’re doing or not doing. One systems approach is to identify the organizational core values – or that which is essential for its success. Tough decisions are easy to make when you ground them in well-understood core values.

Principle number three: Find a good guide. An experienced guide can set the tone, identify key issues, keep minds open, articulate the points of agreement, and keep things moving along. Make sure your guide is able to offer examples and models from other organizations. A healthy sense of humor and the courage to face tough problems and uncertainty are key qualities to look for. It is not easy to find a good, experienced guide. But they are absolutely essential to our change management model.

Other articles you might like:

• Leading With Purpose
• Allow Team Members to Find Their Place
• Oversight – A Tale of Leadership Lost
• A Framework For Performance Management
• Formal Strategic Planning Process