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“Creating Successful Leaders”

Tag Archives: Healthy Workplace

February 6, 2014 The Simple Power of the Smile

I just watched this great TED talk and feel it’s definitely worth sharing.

Smiling is such a no-brainer that we often forget to appreciate its immense power.

Speaker Ron Gutman points out that smiling is a sign of longevity. Those who smile wide and often live longer.

But beyond being a sign of good health, smiling has the power to encourage, to unite, and to inspire. Smiling is contagious. A genuine smile transforms both the smiler and the people around him/her.

Don’t believe me? Take a day or two to really pay attention to your facial expressions. I promise that if you tend to frown, and make a point to smile instead, you’ll feel better. You’ll notice that those around you will respond more enthusiastically as well.

Try it out!

Further reading: An article in Psychology Today describing the science behind smiling.

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January 22, 2014 How to conduct a killer brainstorm session

One of my favorite parts of business is brainstorming. I love getting all my people in a room together and letting them unleash their ideas and opinions. The energy level in these types of meetings is usually sky high, as laughter and enthusiasm for upcoming projects abound.

I’ve had a lot of experience conducting successful brainstorm sessions, but there was a time when I wondered whether these types of meetings were useful. After all, how often do they result in off topic digressions, scattered tidbits and unorganized, unfocused planning? A bit too much, if truth be told.

I had to learn that as the person guiding the brainstorming, it was my responsibility to keep the ideas pushing forward toward the end objective. To do that, I developed a few techniques:

1. First and foremost, keep the atmosphere light and low-pressure. Your team is with you for a reason. You trust their ability and their input. However, there are always those of us who are less eager to speak up. To get the ball rolling, make it clear that the brainstorm is a safe place to get creative without fear of judgement.

2. Lay out the objectives of the meeting beforehand. Giving your team time to think things through on their own before the meeting will help keep them focused and realistic. While improvisation and wild ideas are part of the fun of any brainstorm session, specifying clear objectives up front will enhance the meeting’s productivity.

3. Provide a visual map of the meeting as you go. I like using big sheets of paper and a box of colored markers. Friends of mine swear by a good old white board, while still others have gone digital and taken notes with a laptop and a projector. It doesn’t matter what medium you use, but I highly recommend guiding the meeting visually to keep the team from being bored, confused or disengaged.

4. Ask specific questions of each of your team members. Show them that they are valued by tailoring questions to their skill sets and asking their opinions.

5. delegate the work once a solution is reached, and email the notes you took for the team to go back to for reference.

Good luck, and have fun!

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January 8, 2014 Are You Here? 3 Questions That Help Keep You In The Present

Reflecting on my corporate experiences, a great deal of time was spent in meetings. These meetings ranged from one-on-ones to teams of ten or twenty to business reviews that involved hundreds. Each meeting was an opportunity—but I did not always see them that way. Instead, I viewed them as an interruption preventing me from getting to the real work.

I wasn’t engaged in the moment, fully devoted to what was happening right then and there. Because I let my thoughts go elsewhere, I lost the chance to contribute my best self to the coworkers in those meetings.

It’s easy to get lost in the past or be worried about the future. It’s easy to go off into daydreams. But when you get into the habit of living in the past or future, you miss out on the now. And when you think about it, we’re always in the present. Right now is always, well, happening right now. Which means that when we aren’t in the habit of being present, we limit our ability to live to our fullest.

I’ve started using a technique to help me stay present. I make a point to ask three questions:

1. One that offers support and encouragement

2. One that asks for clarification of a particular subject

3. One that demonstrates the vital inclusionary behavior of successful leaders

You probably noticed that these questions aren’t cookie cutter, copy and paste solutions. That’s the point. In order to ask these questions, you’ll need to be paying attention. You’ll need to know your coworkers’ strengths and weaknesses. Asking these questions shows your team that you’re there, engaged, and ready to dive in.

book_coverFor more on staying present and other vital leadership principles, get your copy of my new book, The 10 Minute Leadership Challenge today.

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