Think about your mentors, those people who have helped you and your career along the way. They found somewhere deep inside to motivate your strengths and help you realize your goals. They didn't make it about them, they didn't impart their goals on you. They pushed you to be a better you.
Malcolm Gladwell opines in his book Outliers there is no such thing as a self-made person. Those who have come before us have afforded us opportunities to succeed. None of us does this alone no matter how it may appear. Marcus Buckingham reminds us that we need to stop working on our weaknesses and focus solely on our strengths.
Imagine an organization where your good work is encouraged and your shortcomings are turned into prospects for others on the team who thrive where you may not.
Asking the Right Questions
How are you preparing your team for success and leadership? Is it a collaborative atmosphere or one of fear? Are strengths celebrated more than weaknesses highlighted? Does everyone have a clear vision on culture and objectives? Is your mind open to their opinions and ideas?
Balance and fairness look good on a well crafted business plan but in the heat of the battle, they can be tough to maintain. But they must remain top priorities because without them, you will be left with managers and bosses while leadership will be accidental at best. Success will left up to guesswork.
If you are in a lead position, make time for your people or watch the very thing you are working to build begin to crumble. Leadership is not on an organizational chart or an email signature.
It resides within every member of your team
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Showing posts with label Outliers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Outliers. Show all posts
March 30, 2016
March 2, 2014
We are Outliers and Mentors
Think about your mentors, those people who have helped you and your career along the way. They found somewhere deep inside to motivate your strengths and help you realize your goals. They didn't make it about them, they didn't impart their goals on you. They pushed you to be a better you.Malcolm Gladwell opines in his book Outliers there is no such thing as a self-made person. Those who have come before us have afforded us opportunities to succeed. None of us does this alone no matter how it may appear. Marcus Buckingham reminds us that we need to stop working on our weaknesses and focus solely on our strengths.
Imagine an organization where your good work is encouraged and your shortcomings are turned into prospects for others on the team who thrive where you may not.
Asking the Right Questions
How are you preparing your team for success and leadership? Is it a collaborative atmosphere or one of fear? Are strengths celebrated more than weaknesses highlighted? Does everyone have a clear vision on culture and objectives? Is your mind open to their opinions and ideas?
Balance and fairness look good on a well crafted business plan but in the heat of the battle, they can be tough to maintain. But they must remain top priorities because without them, you will be left with managers and bosses while leadership will be accidental at best. Success will left up to guesswork. If you are in a lead position, make time for your people or watch the very thing you are working to build begin to crumble.
Leadership is not on an organizational chart or an email signature. It resides within every member of your team, so maintain an open-mind policy.
The results will astound you.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.
webster
October 23, 2013
Are People Important to You?
We marvel at those who appear fearless in their pursuits. We look for inspiration from individuals who seem to know exactly what they want to do. We may think they've done it all on their own but if you believe in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers theory (which I do), none of us is self-made. Conversely, none of us need to do it on our own. In fact, we need each other to help us get there.
No Experience Necessary
To make the dangerous assumption you don't require experience and perspective from others can only hurt you. To create a matrix that you have it all figured out, your way is always best, or worse, you need to figure it all out, can hold you back. It often personifies in arrogance which makes the climb even more difficult and lonely.
Look at the people in your life offering to help and thank them. Extend your hand to help others. Collaboration is not a hashtag or a word to put on a t-shirt. The realistic optimist in me thinks you want a better work culture while the recovering cynic hopes you mean it. It takes a village to raise a child and a network to grow a career.
Four words we shouldn't forget – can you help me.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.
knealemann
July 12, 2013
Are You Happy at Work?
We are stressed and overwhelmed. Information and deadlines are coming at us faster than our minds can comprehend them. Multitasking has become the new badge of honour. And being busy is apparently a good thing. The reason why unhappiness in the workplace has become an epidemic may not be about the work. It may not be those around us. It may be the attitudes we bring to our work. Leadership and culture are key components to how well we enjoy what we do and with whom we do it.
The numbers prove it
Overwhelming data show our relationship with the people around us profoundly affects our work and careers but it's what each of us brings to the relationships that remains the key element.
Shawn Achor is a psychologist who shares his experience with happiness, work, people and the magic of unicorns.
Find time in your busy to watch this.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture strategist, writer, speaker, executive coach engaging leaders, collaborative teams, and strong business results.
Lattitude | TED | Shawn Achor
March 5, 2012
Leadership and Introverts
It’s often said that you need to be strong to be a leader and in order for others to see that strength, you need to show it outwardly. Since almost half of the human population is reserved or shy, we may miss the person who solves problems and creates solutions in solitude rather than on a large well lit stage.
Seclusion is where many of our greatest ideas are born yet we feel we must present them to others with panache. Culture has often favored action over quiet brilliance.
When you think about how you navigate your ideas, they often thrive when you are alone. And that is the same with some of the most lauded people who have created some of the most important ideas in history. Yet something happens when the quiet one shares their ideas with the rest of the team. If the company prefers a bottom line approach rather than a human approach, those ideas may never go any further.
Susan Cain studies introverts and talks about leadership, summer camp, and quiet time in her TED2012 talk.
Kneale Mann
visual credit: TED | Susan Cain
Seclusion is where many of our greatest ideas are born yet we feel we must present them to others with panache. Culture has often favored action over quiet brilliance.
When you think about how you navigate your ideas, they often thrive when you are alone. And that is the same with some of the most lauded people who have created some of the most important ideas in history. Yet something happens when the quiet one shares their ideas with the rest of the team. If the company prefers a bottom line approach rather than a human approach, those ideas may never go any further.
Susan Cain studies introverts and talks about leadership, summer camp, and quiet time in her TED2012 talk.
Kneale Mann
visual credit: TED | Susan Cain
February 11, 2012
Work Won’t Make You Happy
We are stressed and overwhelmed. Information and deadlines are coming at us faster than our minds can comprehend them. Multitasking has become the new badge of honour. And being busy is apparently a good thing.
The reason why unhappiness in the workplace has become an epidemic may not be about the work. The cause could be something other than the economy. It may not be those around us. It may be the attitudes we bring to our work.
Shawn Achor is a psychologist who shares his experience with happiness, work, people and the magic of unicorns.
Find time in your busy day to watch this.
Kneale Mann
visual credit: TED | Shawn Achor
The reason why unhappiness in the workplace has become an epidemic may not be about the work. The cause could be something other than the economy. It may not be those around us. It may be the attitudes we bring to our work.
Shawn Achor is a psychologist who shares his experience with happiness, work, people and the magic of unicorns.
Find time in your busy day to watch this.
Kneale Mann
visual credit: TED | Shawn Achor
October 5, 2011
The Power of the Human Network
Our People are Important to UsI am what some might call a realistic optimist. I go into each situation with hope but know that the world is not made of lollipops and rainbows. I want everyone to get along and treat each other with respect. That is not always the case, not everyone operates from a place of integrity. We need to be strong. We need to move business along. But we can do it with compassion. This goes beyond customer service.
The social web is a wonderful place to meet people who think like you and share your values and passions. They can live next door or across the world but the connection is there on a level you can't easily explain. There are human beings behind each blog post and tweet. They have hopes and fears, stress and victories. And we can connect with them if we give the process its due care.
What Do You Do?
Since I am not a painter or a plumber, the answer is not always clean and tidy. I help businesses do business better. My offering is not as a social media guy or a marketing guy. My first step is to decipher how I can help improve what you are doing. We can get into social channels and websites and marketing plans and strategy after that is established. Without our desire to get there, we will never know when we arrive.
With channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus or Empire Avenue, we have the opportunity to lead blended lives. If we connect with authenticity, work and develop friendships at the intersection of collaboration and then pick up a phone once in a while to connect on my favorite social network - person to person.
Admiring Trailblazers
We marvel at those who appear fearless in their pursuits. We look for inspiration from individuals who seem to know exactly what they want to be doing. Yet we call them self-made and if you believe in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers theory (which I do), none of us is self-made. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes true human collaboration to clear a path to our passion.
Thank you for dropping by here. And thanks to those who have invested their time in helping me get better. Look at the people in your life offering to help and thank them. Then extend your hand to help others. Collaboration is not a word to put on a t-shirt.
Are You Ready to Inspire?
Kneale Mann
image credit: onebrowncow
original posted May 2011
May 14, 2011
Collaboration | The Human Experiment
Our People are Important to Us
I am what some might call an realistic optimist. I go into each situation with hope but know that the world is not made of lollipops and rainbows. I want everyone to get along and treat each other with respect. That is not always the case, not everyone operates from a place of integrity. We need to be strong. We need to move business along. But we can do it with compassion. This goes beyond customer service.
The social web is a wonderful place to meet people who think like you and share your values and passions. They can live next door or across the world but the connection is there on a level you can't easily explain. There are human beings behind each blog post and tweet. They have hopes and fears, stress and victories. And we can connect with them if we give the process its due care.
What Do You Do?
Since I am not a painter or a plumber, the answer is not always clean and tidy. I help businesses do business better. My offering is not as a social media guy or a marketing guy. My first step is to decipher how I can help improve what you are doing. We can get into social channels and websites and marketing plans and strategy after that is established. Without our desire to get there, we will never know when we arrive.
With channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and the latest one to get the buzz, Empire Avenue, we have the opportunity to lead blended lives. If we connect with authenticity, work and friendship meet at the intersection of collaboration.
Admiring Trailblazers
We marvel at those who appear fearless in their pursuits. We look for inspiration from individuals who seem to know exactly what they want to be doing. Yet we call them self-made and if you believe in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers theory (which I do), none of us is self-made. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes true human collaboration to clear a path to our passion.
Thank you for dropping by here. And thanks to those who have invested their time in helping me get better. Look at the people in your life offering to help and thank them. Then extend your hand to help others. Collaboration is not a word to put on a t-shirt.
Who will you inspire today?
Kneale Mann
image credit: flickr
The social web is a wonderful place to meet people who think like you and share your values and passions. They can live next door or across the world but the connection is there on a level you can't easily explain. There are human beings behind each blog post and tweet. They have hopes and fears, stress and victories. And we can connect with them if we give the process its due care.
What Do You Do?
Since I am not a painter or a plumber, the answer is not always clean and tidy. I help businesses do business better. My offering is not as a social media guy or a marketing guy. My first step is to decipher how I can help improve what you are doing. We can get into social channels and websites and marketing plans and strategy after that is established. Without our desire to get there, we will never know when we arrive.
With channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and the latest one to get the buzz, Empire Avenue, we have the opportunity to lead blended lives. If we connect with authenticity, work and friendship meet at the intersection of collaboration.
Admiring Trailblazers
We marvel at those who appear fearless in their pursuits. We look for inspiration from individuals who seem to know exactly what they want to be doing. Yet we call them self-made and if you believe in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers theory (which I do), none of us is self-made. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes true human collaboration to clear a path to our passion.
Thank you for dropping by here. And thanks to those who have invested their time in helping me get better. Look at the people in your life offering to help and thank them. Then extend your hand to help others. Collaboration is not a word to put on a t-shirt.
Who will you inspire today?
Kneale Mann
image credit: flickr
