Leadership a-z: M is for Motivation and Micro-monitoring

Today we are a the letter M in #leadership a through z. Two words in particular jumped to mind for  me -

Motivation and Micro-monitoring

Motivation: What motivates you as a leader? What motivates your staff? A great book on this topic is Dan Pink's book Drive. In the book he explores what motivates us and proposes that we are motivated by three things - autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Questions to consider: 
Looking at ourselves, where do we get motivation from? Is it an internal driver like purpose, or an external driver like money or recognition? Consider your team members - what are their motivators? What can you do to align their motivators with tasks that need to get done?
How do goals support motivation for your team members?

Resources around motivation:
Motivation 123 website - a website dedicated to motivation. You can visit it here
Jim Riley presents various theorists around motivation including Maslow (remember his Hierarchy of Needs) and others. You can read Jim's overview here.
An animated video by RSA based on a presentation Dan Pink gave. View it here.

Micro-management versus micro-monitoring: A common statement in any leadership development training process is that you don't want to micro-manage.

As a former co-facilitator of mine, Doug McLaren, always stated "as a leader you want to micro-monitor, not micro-manage". Micro-monitoring is about being aware of what your team members are working on, and making sure that you are there to provide support, resources and troubleshooting as needed. Micro-management, in contrast, is about taking over and not letting your employees work autonomously. As indicated earlier in this post, what is a major driver of motivation? Autonomy. Consider the implication

Questions to consider:
What does micro-management mean to you? What does it look like?
What does micro-monitoring mean to you? What does it look like?
On a scale of 0-10 (with 0 being none, and 10 being high) where are you as a micro-manager? A micro-monitor?
What support does each one of your staff really need at the moment to be successful with a particular task or project?


Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Potentials Realized
Author of Effective Group Coaching and From One to Many: Best Practices of Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
Phone: (416)996-TEAM
Read more about our coaching, retreat and leadership development offerings and support
As an author Jennifer Britton is known for her thought leadership in the area of group and team coaching. She is also a former leader and team builder who spent the first 13 years of her career working within the United Nations as well as the international aid sector. From Boardroom to jungle, beach and forest to mountains, Jennifer has worked to develop teams and leaders in more than 18 countries, and virtually many more. She founded Potentials Realized in 2004 and focuses on leadership, teamwork and coaching skills training

Great Book - The Orange Revolution

I've been enjoying a great book which any team leader can benefit from. The Orange Revolution - How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization, is a must read for teams across any industry.

I really liked this book for its' practicality, as well as the research included of 350,000 participants by the Best Companies Group.

The book covers practical suggestions for leaders and team members in creating "breakthrough" teams.

Authors Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton have done a terrific job in creating a book that also provides practical approaches to building highly motivated, breakthrough teams.

You can pick up a copy at Amazon, and you may also want to check out the resources available at their site at http://www.organgerev.com/resources.

Have a great week
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)

9 Steps to Work Less and Do More Just Released

Today's the day that the Get It Done Guy's 9 Steps To Work Less and Do More is launched! Many of you will know the importance I place on time management and personal productivity.

As his microsite says, "The book's nine steps build a foundation for streamlining how you get what you want out of work (and life):

• Step 1. Live and work on purpose
• Step 2: Stop procrastinating
• Step 3: Conquer your technology
• Step 4: Cultivate focus
• Step 5: Stay organized (mentally as well as physically)
• Step 6: Don't waste time. A lot of supposedly “on task” work
• Step 7: Optimize!
• Step 8: Build stronger relationships
• Step 9: Leverage!:

While I haven't yet read the book myself, I'm really impressed with all of the supports Stever Robin's has put into his many other services such as his podcasts and audio files. Take a look at his microsite http://www.getitdoneguynews.com for some fantastic nuggets! Defintiely check it out and make sure you have at least a few minutes to focus.

You can pick up your own copy today at Amazon.com or Amazon.ca.

Looking forward to sharing more about this resource in the coming weeks!

Warm regards,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Author of Effective Group Coaching
Potentials Realized

6 Essential Skills for Today's Marketplace

I spoke last week to a group of financial services professionals on essential skills to navigate today's marketplace. I wanted to share a few of these skills with you this week at the blog.

In today's times of unprecidented change, developing your change muscle and learning to thrive in a highly complex, interconnected, unpredictable marketplace often requires a shift in the way most professionals have been doing business.

One school of thought which I was initially introduced to as a graduate student years in the early 1990s was systems theory. Systems theory really pervaded my work in the realm of international development, ecology and the environment given the interconnected and complex nature of the problems being addressed (poverty, climate change etc). I'm finding it very interesting how discussions around systems theory are now becoming quite mainstream, and influential, in the dialogue around the current economic situation. One of the gifts of systems theory is the ability to deal with these highly complex, interconnected processes/systems.

One author who have been writing on these subjects in the last few years includes Peter Senge (MIT Professor and author of The Necessary Revolution, Presence). I heard Peter speak a few weeks ago in Montreal and his message was powerful, and taken from his work in The Necessary Revolution. Peter also tied in the concept of sustainability, an older environmental adege from the early 90s, AND one that is resurfacing as a core concept for 2008.

What are some of the core skills and approaches you are seeing as essential in today's marketplace? For individuals? For Teams? As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts....

Warmly
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC
Potentials Realized
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960

Teams on Thursday: Essential Team Reads

Here are a few of my favorite books on teamwork and team issues:

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team -Patrick Lencioni

The Speed of Trust - Stephen Covey

The Wisdom of Teams - Kazenbach and Smith

Mastering VIRTUAL Teams - Duarte and Snyder

The Leadership Challenge - Kouzes and Posner (more about leadership in a team envrionment)

You can pick up several of these at the bookstore I've set up with Amazon here.

A couple of these I am particularly biased about (The Leadership Challenge and the Five Dysfunctions of a Team) as I deliver workshop programs from these models to teams, AND I also know how powerful the models can be for teams.

What are some of your favorite team reads right now?

Warm wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CHRP, CPT
Potentials Realized
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com

My Top Book Recommendations for Books this Year

I love books (even though I don’t get enough time to read having a toddler in the house)! These are some of the Top 10+ books I have been recommending to clients this year:

Team Issues:
5 Dysfunctions of a Team – Patrick Lencioni
The Relationship Cure - John Gottman
StrengthsFinder 2.0 – Tom Rath

Management/Business Issues
First things First – Stephen Covey
Good to Great – Jim Collins
7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
10 Steps to Be a Successful Manager – Lisa Haneberg
Mass Career Customization – Benko, Weisberg

Small Business Building:
Building a Dream – Walter Good
Never Eat Alone – Keith Ferrazzi (About Building Relationships)
Get Clients Now! - CJ Hayden

Relationship Issues:
7 Principles for Making Marriage Work - John Gottman

Many of these books are available at the Potentials Realized bookstore I host with Amazon here.

What books have you been reading or have found useful this year for business? What books are on your recommended reading list?

Have a wonderful weekend,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CHRP, CPT
Group Coaching Essentials.com and Potentials Realized
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960
Email: jennifer{at}potentialsrealized.com

Change Management - The World Is Flat

One of my favorite summer reads this year has been The World is Flat (Release 2.0) by Thomas L. Friedman. It's very apropos given a lot of my recent posts on change management.

Many of you may have read it already, but if you haven't it's a great book which looks at many of the forces which have "flattened the world", requiring new perspectives, paradigms and ulitmately changing the way we do business.

Friedman goes through 10 of the forces which have helped to flatten the world - looking at topics such as podcasting, community developed answers such as Wikipedia (Wikinomics is another great book on this topic if you haven't read it yet). He also has a great section on how companies can cope with this flatter world.

It's a great read, particularly if you or your business is leveraging, or looking to leverage, change in today's business world. I also enjoyed the section on "globalization of the local" which discusses how this flattening of the world is strengthening local and regional identities in many instances. As a former global manager myself when the early face of "globalization" was not quite as positive -- it is amazing to see how technology is indeed flattening the world, and giving many of us the power to compete and be heard amongst the larger giants.

I hope that you'll consider taking a peak at The World is Flat -- I've added it to my bookstore via Amazon, where it joins many of the other books I've recently enjoyed.

Have a great weekend! I'm going to be retreating this weekend, running Relationships on Fire! a one day couples retreat here in Muskoka. My colleague and collaborator, Sharon Miller, and I will be running this again in the coming months, so if you couldn't join us this weekend in Muskoka we hope to have you join us next time!

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CHRP, CPT
Potentials Realized
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960
Email: jennifer{at}potentialsrealized.com

Stress Free Performance Appraisals

Are you looking for a great resource to “turn your most painful management duty into a powerful motivational tool”?

Stress Free Performance Appraisals by HR Professionals Sharon Armstrong and Madelyn Appelbaum, is an invaluable resource to any manager or professional charged with undertaking the critical activity of performance appraisals.

The book provides a comprehensive overview of the performance appraisal process, different approaches, and is chock full of useful checklists, self-assessments and tips to take your performance appraisal from ordinary to extraordinary.

Very clearly written for the everyday manager, this book is destined to become a well used resource in your management library.

You can order your own copy at Amazon today. Visit Sharon online at Sharon Armstrong and Associates .

Have a wonderful weekend,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CPCC, CHRP, CPT

Potentials Realized

Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960

Email: jennifer{at}potentialsrealized{dot}com

Go Put Your Strengths To Work

Back in October of last year, I wrote a post on Leveraging Your Strengths. Late last year Marcus Buckingham published his newest book -- Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance.

For those of you who subscribe to an approach where strengths are are leveraged in the workplace and business, rather than weaknesses being put under the microscope, this is a must read. It's a great book for anyone in management and the field of learning and development. I used the Now, Discover Your Strengths process several years ago when I was starting my business and found the book and related assessment invaluable.

If you haven't checked out his earlier books, Now, Discover Your Strengths (2001) and First, Break All the Rules (2000), you may want to check these out as well.

I've put Go Put Your Strengths to Work and Now, Discover Your Strengths in my Amazon Associate bookstore (http://astore.amazon.com/yourbalancedlife-20) -- here's the link to these books and some other great business and management reads.

Enjoy and I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Jennifer
Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, CPCC, CHRP
Potentials Realized
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960
Email: jennifer[at]potentialsrealized[dot]com