Credit, Ceiling and the Cliff - 3 "C's" for the USA to Tackle

The United States seems to find itself in a continued fiscal mess and now is not the time to play politics.  The ceiling, the cliff and a possible downgrade to their credit rating have investors selling and holding cash.  Companies, hereto, are sitting on a lot of cash, and rightly so.  I am watching the 200 day moving average and hoping that the volatility index stabilizes or further selling is likely to continue into January 2013.  Some investors are heading to gold stocks.... I am not.  Some are actually buying Research in Motion stock...  I am not.

"Thelma and Louise" comes to mind as the cliff  deadline approaches......  The unanswered question is: "Is the cliff the Grand Canyon?"  I don't believe so.....  January will see Bush tax cuts go and a new policy begin; it is the uncertainty that is killing everyone!

Looking at the various polls, more than 54% of US residents agree to increase taxes, cut spending and pay down the debt - so if the majority can agree why can't the political leaders get this done?

4 Ways to Improve the Health of your Organization

For some time now I have been a big fan of the Crossan, Fry and Killing - brilliant strategic thinkers! In their 8th edition of 'Strategic Analysis and Action' they include measuring operational performance  and organizational health.  Think about the areas of Learning, Enthusiasm, Boundaries, and Sustainability when looking at Organizational Health and I ask that you expand from the qualitative headings and ask yourself the following questions.

1.  Are "Lessons Learned" captured?  How do the people in the organization currently learn from each other?

2.  How do your employees feel about their work?  How enthusiastic are they?  How often do you survey employees?

3.  Do individuals stay in small sub-groups?  Or are teams created that enable "openness"?

4.  How much capacity does your staff have?  Or Are the "tanks empty"?

In the following weeks I will explore each of the areas in more detail.

Rhonda

Recognize the Power Shift and How

Executive Leadership Requirements are Changing

Working in the social era requires leaders to embrace: team work, shared leadership, thought development and innovation by unlikely contributors – Are you prepared to enable them and drive power up versus down?

The so called: “Bosses” need to recognize that their true power lies beneath them on the organizational chart.  Real power comes from your ability to harness the resourcefulness of others by collaborating, sharing authority rather than dominating it.  People, your people, are connected and it is in those networks where problems are solved much more rapidly than in the past.  Understanding this shift may have a direct and positive impact on how you serve your staff and customers – This can be a Bottom-Line Booster and Competitive Advantage so why do some managers, leaders, supervisors… people in position of responsibility, hold on to the old paradigm?  Title?  Ego?  Both, I suspect, yet new organizations are throwing out the old titles:  the head of Honest Tea is the “TeaEO” – Seth works at all levels. 

What’s really in a title?  http://www.banffexeclead.com/AcumenPDF/Leadership%20Articles/Leadership%20Acumen%2027%20V10%20Job%20Titles.pdf

It’s worth the read and when you are done, think about the “network”, not vertical or horizontal alignment, or the “matrix”, but rather the social era and how today’s young leaders are tossing out the old paradigm of top-down.

Client Success for Community Consultants 2012

I often write about the sadness that I feel at the end of the semester when my consultancy students complete their client engagements and are eager to graduate.  From September to December I witnessed firsthand how a rocky team dynamic can shape and better a team in the end.  I saw clients both grateful and amazed at the work that had been done.   And, I sat proudly during a presentation where the message was a difficult one – ‘You Must Change’.

Each year the communityconsultants seem to take the program to new highs – for that I am grateful to all who taught these men and women before me and to the consultancy students for they allowed me to stretch them even further.

Well Done and Thank You!