How do you really hear from everybody? How do you ensure that you’re getting a diversity of views? That it’s not just the people who are comfortable to make their points in a group discussion? What do you do about those voices that are a little bit held back or maybe need a little bit more reflection time?
How you start a meeting is so important! It really sets an energetic tone and a space for the entire conversation, which is so critical. I think it’s an area where I’ve been noticing a lot of people are just blowing by how we start a meeting and often not doing it as well as we could.
When you think about taking the kinds of meetings that we used to have when we were meeting in person and making them virtual, it’s challenging. People are feeling a lot of pressure with that, there’s a lot to communicate, there’s a lot of information to share, there’s a lot of decision making that needs to happen.
When we decide to meet virtually online, let’s not just make it a default knee jerk reaction, some habit that we used to have when it was easy for us to grab people into a boardroom, peel them away from their work and their email, and get folks in a room talking together.
We need to really value people’s time and attention and use all of the tools at our disposal to solve problems together.
For too long in our society, we have relentlessly pursued wealth and power as the key metrics of what makes up whether you are successful or not. The driving and striving to get ahead, to beat out the competition, and to win in life and business no matter what the stakes have been costly.
Do you ever feel stuck? Find it hard to see your way ahead? We’ve all been there, done that. In a world where you can pay the really big bucks for the high-powered business and leadership coach, I’ve instead been learning a ton from lately from a very understated but powerful teacher: the UnBlockMe iphone app.
Communicating your ideas, points of view and requests to others is something we all do every day. Whether it’s negotiating a deal, enrolling a new client, or settling an argument between two hormonal adolescents, being able to communicate effectively and being understood is crucial not just to your success, but to your peace of mind and well-being too.
We all know the story of how Hansel and Gretel laid a trail of bread crumbs out to help guide them out of the deep, dark woods and back home safely. Great plan, but not optimal execution. Unfortunately for them, the bread crumbs were left out too long and the birds ate them up, leaving them in the woods and the clutches of the witch.
Leaders need to be masterful communicators. How you communicate is crucial to your success and influence. We can’t lead alone. When you speak as a leader, it becomes easy to magnetize team, new possibilities and even other leaders to help you fulfill your mission.
Having been a pretty seriously academic and analytical person for most of my life, claiming my creative muse in the past few years has been a delight and a revelation. Embracing my innate creativity has helped me learn how to “go with the flow” instead of sticking to rigid agendas.
5 minutes. 7 questions. Find out where you are and where you need to be leading from.