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Leadership topic - engage

in clear communication throughout their organizations. Leads with questions, with an open personal presence and outstanding communications skills.  Communicates a compelling and inspired shared vision or sense of core purpose; Creates a climate in which people want to do their best;  Is effective in a variety of formal presentation settings;  one-on-one, small, and large groups; 

Roadblock – Always thinks they have the right and only answer; focuses on the answer, always the smartest person in the room

Can you engage with Joy?

Can you engage with Joy?

Apr 5, 2021 | , ,

I have spent more than a year avoiding writing about one of the most expressed emotions I have seen escalate daily… and I am not going to engage now.  I have always been more of an optimistic person, and people who know me get tired of me saying 2 phrases.  Both are aspirational, and convey a real sense that I really do want to bring to every conversation.  They are a direct antidote to that other thing that has been circulating and now has taken on a fever pitch in all areas of life… but there I go again.  Let’s spend the week on better things – let’s talk about Joy!

The Faith to engage

The Faith to engage

Mar 29, 2021 | , ,

How do you know that your team will actually deliver something for you?  Frankly, how do they know you will do the same for them?  It is well known that the number 1 reason someone stays in a job is their relationship with their Boss… and the number one reason they leave is…  It is a constant conversation with leaders at all levels, and comes in all flavors but mostly centers on a word that once spoken, freezes a conversation:  Trust.  I want to engage this week and explore a word that I believe is both easier to use, and one that can also bring some complexity worth the hassle – Faith. 

Happiness in engaging

Happiness in engaging

Mar 22, 2021 | , ,

As we round the bend on a year of many things, I was looking at my ring finger.  Being old, it takes a LONG time to heal, and about this time last year, I was rebuilding one of my flower beds.  We have a large surplus of rocks, otherwise known as living on a mountain, and they make easy garden borders.  As I was placing one, the point crushed my finger – right on the nail.  About 10 minutes of pain… followed by a year of the nail turning black, and being like that for most of the last year.  Now, it is almost back to normal, with only a few changes… an interesting metaphor.  What reminds you of what has engaged you for the last 364 days? 

engaging Differences

engaging Differences

Mar 15, 2021 | , ,

Turning to engage this week, we lost an hour… but that means we gain more evening on Wednesday … to celebrate the gift that Irish have been to the world, particularly to America.  As a mutt myself, I have a special affinity for “… your tired, your poor.  Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.  The wretched refuse of your teeming shore”.  And it gives me the excuse I need to write about one of the true giants of music, and hopefully tell some stories that are Different – which is what the musical soundtrack and this week’s theme start with.  Differences – which has received a lot of attention but…

The Value to engage

The Value to engage

Mar 8, 2021 | , ,

As the New Year is now entering the end of the 1st Quarter, the pace of work is picking up – both as the crisis appears to be receding, but also a normal part of each year.  Budget’s being finalized, and most of the year-end Performance Reviews completed, businesses and leaders are now making decisions on where to focus.  What projects need to be accelerated, those that may need to be slowed, and staffing that needs to shift.  Simultaneously, employees are engaged in the same decisions – is this really the place for them now… or?  And key to both is … Values. 

Celebrating by engaging

Celebrating by engaging

Mar 1, 2021 | , ,

As I headed west from Tyler, my destination was Dallas where I engaged in the fall of 1976 on my path to become an Electrical Engineer.  One thing about engineering was once you picked which type (EE, ME, IE, etc), your class schedule was mostly set.  To get through it all in 4 years, you had to take 18 hours a semester, and the classes were sequenced so your “planning” was mostly just filling in a few “electives” that were like ‘free spaces’ on the Bingo card.  And being a good student, I ripped into the classes, including an 8 am MWF Statics class – a tough ME class required for all engineering majors… 

engaging Performance

engaging Performance

Feb 22, 2021 | , ,

A good friend was leading a workshop for leaders, and it caused me to pause.  She enjoyed drama and theater, including music and dancing which we had discussed often… as hobbies. She was now offering training for managers on Improv, what they shortened “improvisation” to in Performance competitions. Perhaps from my days in Debate, where the Theater people were… “different” – a feeling they had about us also – I thought it was little off.  What would Improv have to do with leadership?  And then… I was called in to engage a team with…. no preparation…

engaging with Harmony

engaging with Harmony

Feb 15, 2021 | , ,

A meme popped up last fall pointing out, in February “…a whopping seven planets (the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, plus asteroid Pallas) will all be clustered together in the sign of Aquarius, creating what’s known as a stellium in astrology.  This intense influx of Aquarius’ fixed air sign energy in February will shift our focus to humanitarian issues, technological advancements, and unconventional innovations.  And these themes will guide the framework of our society throughout all of 2021 and the years ahead.”  But didn’t we hear this already – in 1967 – the dawning of the Age of Aquarius?

engaging Rhythm…by Listening

engaging Rhythm…by Listening

Feb 8, 2021 | , , ,

Balance is hard to achieve in any endeavor… until you notice you are getting slightly off-center.  When I conceived of this blog, it would be a little music, a little leadership, and a story to make it memorable. These last few weeks, the leadership insights were like many management books, “Be Like Me,” which I find… not helpful.  I needed to re-engage to establish a new Rhythm. The backbeat: it is Black History Month, so an African American artist focusing on Rhythm – what I call “Management Hygiene.” … there is only one person…