The challenge is how to achieve “team smarts” when you might have relied on individual performance, authority and delegation. Having played and continue to play on many different sports teams including soccer, volleyball, softball, basketball and tennis I know firsthand what made the difference between the teams that were high performing and those that were not. I know what allowed me to contribute at my highest level and what teams resulted in my minimum contribution. I also have participated in many work teams with the same results, some that were high performing and others that were not. The common threads for what made the teams high performing were the following:

• Shared vision and mission
• Appreciation of each team members strengths
• Trust
• Open communication
• Willingness to work through conflict and differences of opinions
• Shared commitment and accountability

Intellectually we all know that is what is required; those qualities are no different than what has been written about in books and articles on team work over the years. So if we all know what is required why it is so hard to deliver? My beliefs, based upon my personal and professional experience, are the two foundational qualities of trust and open communication. We all know we need both but we may be looking for different characteristics that would qualify as trust and demonstrate open communication when we participate on a team.

Absence of trust among team members is a result of team members not willing to be vulnerable, admit to mistakes and to only be concerned about their own personal goals and agenda. Failure to build trust is damaging and interferes with the ability to engage in open, honest communication and dialogue. The answer to being a good team member is each team member’s willingness to take personal responsibility to create trust and continue to work on developing their communication skills; it is a journey not a destination.

So the questions I pose to each of you are the following:
• Have you participated on a high performing team?
• What type of team was it?
• Who selected the team members?
• What was it about the team that made it high performing?
• What did you do to influence the team’s performance?

Insights4Results is an official partner  with the World Business Executive Coach Summit.

The lineup for this year’s paid 2012 Summit is unquestionably the most powerful and influential lineup that has ever been brought together for the Business and Executive Coaching industry and includes:

- Dr. Marshall Goldsmith – Voted World’s #1 leadership thinker by Harvard Business Review

- Sir John Whitmore – Pre-eminent thinker in leadership and organisational change

- Prof. Vijay Govindarajan – Voted World’s #1 strategic thinker by Harvard Business Review

- Verne Harnish Named one of the “Top 10 Minds in Small Business” by Fortune magazine

- Janet Harvey – President, International Coach Federation

- Ben Croft – WBECS President, Business and Executive Coach Event Marketing Expert

- Dr. Susan R Meyer – President, International Association for Coaching

- Karen Kimsey-House – CEO and co-founder, The Coaches Training Institute

- Katherine Tulpa – CEO, Association for Coaching

- John Leary Joyce – President, Academy of Executive Coaching

- Michael Bungay Stanier – Author, Do more Great Work, speaker for Authors@Google

- Joseph O’Connor & Andrea Lament, Founders, International Coaching Community

- Shirzad Chamine – Chairman, The Coaches Training Institute

- Dr. Brian Underhill – CEO, Coachsource

- Lise Lewis – President, European Mentoring and Coaching Council

- Dave Buck – CEO, Coachville

- Carol Wilson, Global Advisory Panel, Association for Coaching

- Dr. John L. Bennett, president, Graduate School Alliance for Executive Coaching (GSAEC)

- Suzi Pomerantz – Co-Founder, Library of Professional Coaching

- Darren Robson – Director, Innovation & Partnerships, Association for Coaching

- Jason Jennings – Wall Street Journal, USA Today and New York Times Bestselling author

- Mike Myatt – CEO Coach to the Fortune 100, one of the world’s top 25 leadership experts, Forbes columnist, author of Leadership Matters

- Dr. Mark Rittenberg – Faculty Director, Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute

- Ian Brodie – Founder of the Rainmaker Academy

- Dr. Cathy Greenberg- #1 Best Selling Author, Executive Excellence “Top 100 – Coach”, CEO Read Business Book of The Year, Co-host “Leadership Development News”

- Karl Bryan – Successfully Built The Worlds First 7 Figure ‘Online Business School’ Specifically For Start ups and Established Small Businesses

- Taki Moore – Business and Executive Coach Marketing Expert

- Rob Nixon – 7 figure Business Coach

Be sure not to miss this groundbreaking series full of the highest grade learning.

The book describes the journey of Captain Abrashoff when he takes command of the USS Benfold as a newly promoted Captain. The USS Benfold at the time was considered the worst ship in the Navy. Captain Abrsahoff was committed to leading differently, having experienced working for both good and poor managers during his career, and took command of the ship with a drive to be leader of change. His philosophy can best be described in the chapters of his book which make up his formula for success:

* Lead by example- Walk the talk, your employees notice the congruency

* Listen aggressively- Especially to those who have opposing points of view and what you might not want to hear

* Communicate purpose and meaning- Let all your employees know the role they play and the difference they make in achieving the vision and mission for the organization

* Create a climate of trust- As a leader you must give trust to earn trust

* Look for results not salutes- Do things for the right reason; leave your ego at the door

* Take calculated risks- To be innovative and do things differently you must be willing to take risks that are thought out and strategic

* Build up your people- Focus on the strengths of your employees, encouraging them to develop and expand their capacity

* Generate Unity- Remind your employees that you are here to achieve a shared mission and to perform as a team working together

* Improve your people’s quality of life- You need to replenish your employee’s energy and investment in the work by allowing them to re-energize and experience a greater work life balance

I was truly inspired reading this book as Captain Abrashoff demonstrated an example of how someone can turn around an organization by believing in their employees, having a clear vision and knowing what was possible. He wasn’t in a position where he was able to recruit the best and the brightest but instead inherited the staff that often times were in their positions to escape bad situations back at home. He chose to believe in them and their potential, communicated his vision and his belief that they could help him achieve it, and allowed his employees to be part of something bigger than themselves and gave them an opportunity to maximize their own potential.

I would encourage anyone in a leadership role to consider reading the book and implementing his strategy. The results he achieved in his 2 years as the commander of the USS Benfold speak for themselves and assure you that if you commit to the approach, that you too may exceed your own expectations of who you are as a leader.

4.11.11 – Susan Curtin spoke at Tech Coast Angels on “Collaboration: How to Do More With Less”

4.12.11 – Susan Curtin spoke on the Mentoring Panel for ISPI (International Society for Performance Improvement) in Orange County, CA

5.11.11 – I4R presented a Leadership Workshop for SPBT (Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainers) on “DM as Coach: Lofty Vision or Pipe Dream?” in Orlando, FL

7.22.11 – I4R presented at ASFE in Kansas City, KS

Having attended the International Society for Human Resource Management conference and heard from inspirational speakers and leaders that included Sir Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington and Tony Hsieh I now believe it is culture that determines who wants  to work for your organization and it is the leadership who defines and implements the organization’s culture. Tony Hsieh, in particular, brought this to life as he shared his story on how he had created a “Culture of Happiness” at Zappos. He crafted organizational values that reflect the input of all the employees working at Zappos; he listened.

* Zappos’ first core value is to deliver “WOW” through service.

*Zappos gives a great deal of freedom to pursue team decisions and for people to self-organize in groups around areas of personal “passion” outside of regular duties.

*Zappos has empowered employees to make meaningful changes and decisions at all levels without a lot of supervision.

*Zappos’ creed is delivering happiness and therefore building customer loyalty at every step of the way.

*At Zappos, open and honest relationships are built with communication at all levels, at all times.

*Zappos strives to encourage learning across functions and across the company by sending employees to visit their different facilities and inviting other companies to tour their facility to learn together.

*Zappos has its own web TV channel for employees and every year creates a yearbook with employee input and photos.

According to Denning’s new book, The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management: Reinventing the Workplace for the 21st Century, he likes Zappos, which he described models the changing workforce of tomorrow.  Statistics show that companies who are value-centric and focused on creating a great culture, are highly innovative and grow at 4 times the rate of companies with low employee engagement.

Aside from leaders having a clear vision for the future that inspires others to follow, it is critical to recognize how employees feel about working for the organization. Yes, I did say “feel” not “think” about the organization since feeling is where our passion resides. We know employee engagement is the result of doing work that we are passionate about and being recognized and valued for our contribution. It is the day-to-day experience of how employees are treated and valued that will determine their commitment to the organization short-term and long-term. According to research done by Manpower, 84% of employees are looking for another job this year. What is this figure saying about the work cultures of the organizations where these employees are currently employed?

So if culture determines who wants to work for your organization, and in turn your talent pool to ensure the future success of the organization, what are you doing as a leader that triggers the passion of the employees who work for you? How are you defining the culture of your organization?

The training was followed by a coaching session I had with another client who had just participated in a 360 Feedback process. In reviewing their 360 report results, the consistent theme expressed in the written comments by each of the rater groups was poor listening skills. The leader was surprised and disappointed that they were not seen as an effective communicator due to their listening skills. Their initial reaction was, “Maybe it is not my listening, but more about their not wanting to hear my answer, especially if I am have to tell them no.”

This consistent theme of poor listening caused me to reflect further on why listening is so difficult. I thought about my own experiences, knowing when I am truly listening to someone I have to be 100% present in the conversation and focused entirely on them. To do so requires a great deal of energy and discipline. It means staying present in the experience and being truly interested in learning more about the person. I also recognized that my ability to listen is what promotes trust in the relationship. Then I thought about what happens when I feel someone is genuinely listening to me and I recognized it resulted in my being much more open, often times sharing information at a deeper level, and in turn having a stronger connection to the person who demonstrated active listening skills. I also realized that certain relationships require stronger listening skills until you have created the level of trust.

The following  addresses the 2 very distinct styles of listening, each having their place, with Level 2 requiring the most skill and discipline. The descriptors are intended to provide clarity on knowing when you are listening at what level so you can be more intentional when you are in the role of listener.

 Level 1 Listening – “To”:  

• Our focus is on what is being said means to us
• Can be fun and relaxing
• Conversation stays at the surface level
• Often times we are waiting to talk
• We focus our thoughts and our comfort or discomfort with the situation the person is in, and how we would handle it, on our judgments and feelings about the situation and the people in it
• We interrupt and chime in frequently
• We ask leading questions

Level 2 Listening – “For”:

• Our focus is on the other person
• We stay in the present moment
• Listen for the meaning behind words and the underlying beliefs and mindsets of the person speaking
• Paraphrase for clarity
• We pay attention to the persons’ words, expressions, emotions and areas of conflict. Notice what makes them “light up” and what makes them lose energy.
• We use good eye contact and head nods
• We ask open-ended questions

In closing, I am providing some examples of when it’s the best time to rely on your Level 2 listening skills:

• In your role as Manager/Supervisor  to learn more about your employees’ strengths, aspirations and goals
• In your role of providing customer service to better understand your internal or external customers’ needs
• When you are in a new role in an organization and want to learn the culture and values
• When you want to build trust in a new or ongoing relationship
• When you want to understand the source of  conflict or friction in your relationship
• When you are communicating with someone from a different background than your own

 So… do you notice yourself listening “To” or listening “For”?

Definitions: 

• A disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable
• Rigorous rejection of anything less than perfect.
• Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that perfection can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable. At such levels, this is considered an unhealthy belief, and psychologists typically refer to such individuals as maladaptive perfectionists.
• Hamachek describes two types of perfectionism. Normal perfectionists “derive a very real sense of pleasure from the labors of a painstaking effort” while neurotic perfectionists are “unable to feel satisfaction because in their own eyes they never seem to do things [well] enough to warrant that feeling of satisfaction”. Burns defines perfectionists as “people who strain compulsively and unremittingly toward impossible goals and who measure their own worth entirely in terms of productivity and accomplishment”
• In the Big Five personality traits, perfectionism is an extreme of conscientiousness and can provoke increasing neuroticism as the perfectionist’s expectations are not met. Perfectionists always put their goals ahead of everything.
• Stoeber & Otto (2006) recently reviewed the various definitions and measures of perfectionism. They found that perfectionism comprised two main dimensions: perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. Perfectionistic strivings are associated with positive aspects and perfectionistic concerns with negative aspects. Healthy perfectionists rate high in perfectionistic strivings and low in perfectionistic concerns, whereas unhealthy perfectionists rate highly in both strivings and concerns.
• Greenspon considers perfectionism to be unitary combination of a desire to be perfect, a fear of imperfection, and an emotional conviction that perfection (not “near-perfection”) is the only route to personal acceptance by others. Perfectionism itself is thus never seen as healthy or adaptive. Greenspon makes a distinction between perfectionism and striving for excellence. The difference is in the meaning given to mistakes. Those who strive, however intently, for excellence can simply take mistakes (imperfections) as inducements to further learning and work. Perfectionists take mistakes as signs of personal defects that make them less acceptable.

I don’t know if you can relate to any of the definitions provided, or if one resonates with you more than others, but I appreciated the distinction between “normal/healthy perfectionists” and “neurotic/unhealthy perfectionists”.

Recently I was asked for my feedback on how someone can address their perfectionism, which they believed interferes with fully accepting others and self. I thought more deeply on the word, its implications, and realized it was a question only they could answer for themselves so I suggested they journal their response to the following questions: 

1. What does perfectionism mean to you?
2. What would perfect look like in yourself and others?
3. Is perfection achievable in self or others?
4. How is holding onto perfection serving you?
5. Can you forgive yourself for not being perfect?
6. Can you forgive others for not being perfect?

Then I suggested they explore a new standard for themselves and others if perfection is not working for them. I suggested journaling on what they value and appreciate in themselves and others. How can they take steps in looking for the strengths in self and others along with accepting the imperfections? Then commit to how they want to show up differently in their relationships.

The ultimate recognition is knowing when perfectionism is serving you versus hindering you living your life fully and joyfully.

http://www.astdsandiego.org/blog/2011/4/4/a-story-of-two-members-astd-sds-nationally-recognized-mentor.html