Posts Tagged ‘Accountability’
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011
What can we do to help each other face the challenges of an economic climate that changes with the weather?
There are no safe havens. Sears has been around forever and is closing stores. Old brands are dying, yet new ones will always come along to replace them.
What do we want from our leaders to help us with the tides of change?
The following article gives food for thought. So does my response. Enjoy.
Bringing the immigrant perspective to business leaders
Tags: Accountability, Behavior, Business, Conflict, Economy, Ethics, Huffington Post, Leaders, Leadership, Politics, Power
Posted in Accountability, Business, Character, Conflict, Economy, Ethics, Integrity, Leaders, Leadership, leadership development, Politics, Power | No Comments »
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
Lots of deaths of powerful men in the past year. Many have been dictators who had tons of money and little integrity.
Think about these 3 questions:
- Ever wonder why we permit these men to “rule” us?
- Ever wonder why millions will stay quiet and let those who have found the path to brute power to keep it?
- Ever think about how we can make a better difference and make a better world?
Vaclav Havel was an actor, a playwright, an artist. Maybe there is a clue there. The arts are a way to the heart. Even the word eARTh gives us a clue. Expressing oneself through music, movement, painting, poetry, theater touches the deep core of who we are. Maybe, just maybe, we should be finding leaders who have a different kind of power to lead us. Havel had that mysterious and important blend. What about you?
Click above to read the article by Barry Wood, Economics Journalist at HuffPost World.
Tags: Accountability, art, Economy, expression, History, Huffington Post, Leaders, Leadership, Politics, Power, Psychology, Yaclav Havel
Posted in Accountability, Economy, History, Integrity, Leaders, Leadership, Politics, Power, Psychology, Reflections | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
This insightful blog brings up a multitude of questions about active leadership.
What do you do when things are tough and the “kids” are fighting?
Betsy's Page
-This is leadership? by Betsy Newmark
http://betsyspage.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-is-leadership.html
Tags: Accountability, Economy, Leaders, Leadership, leadership development, Management, Politics, Sylvia Lafair
Posted in Accountability, Decision Making, Economy, Integrity, Leaders, Leadership, leadership development, Leadership Strategies, Management, Politics | No Comments »
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
The “new” politics is happening. It is a return, or maybe a new turn to participatory human scale democracy. It is what is blossoming all around this country, all around the world. Modern technology is being used for good, not just fun or stimulation. The world is coming together in a new way, and as Robert Reich states, apathy is taking a hike!
The wave of involvement includes local grassroots initiatives, a redefining of power, and a way of getting to the core of issues that impact all of us. This is not about the 99%, it really is about the human desire for reaching potential and being altruistic; helping each other.
The “new’ politics is expressed by an “organic” worldview; it is inclusive rather than exclusive. The balance is between “CARE and DARE
” which is the meeting place of male and female ways of thinking and being.
It is in everyone’s nature to care and it is in everyone’s nature to dare, to take risks and make a difference. The evolving worldview that is being shaken loose is seen in the camaraderie of young and elder, diverse folks from diverse backgrounds who no longer are willing to be told what to do and how to live.
The statements from Berkeley California to Manhattan New York are one and the same. We all matter. The perspective is eclectic in detail, yet, generally affirms the human need for far more that material well-being alone. There is an exciting emphasis on holistic values that are life affirming and involve both inner trust in one’s deep beliefs of connectedness as well as group wisdom that we are all connected and no one wins unless we all do.
This is the core of what we teach in our Total Leadership Connections four session program. Come join us in the new wave of transformational leadership. Our new program begins in March 2012 and promises to be amazing and important at this time in the way the world is turning.
Tags: Accountability, Behavioral Patterns, Collaboration, Communication, Education, Leaders, Leadership, leadership development, leadership programs, Management, Politics, Psychology, Relationships, Sylvia Lafair, Total Leadership Connections, Transformation, Workplace Relationships
Posted in Accountability, Character, Collaboration, Communication, Community Relationships, Conflict Resolution, Consulting, Economy, Education, Equality, Integrity, Leaders, Leadership, leadership development, Leadership Strategies, Management, Politics, Psychology, Relationships, Total Leaders, Transformation, Workplace Relationships, Young Leaders | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
The following guest blog by Marty Wolff truly resonates with our view of leadership, it’s equally important to have the business skills and the inner skills to really be an effective leader. Enjoy his guest blog on the “Inner Game”.
Many of the master teachers have been reminding us that success, both personal and professional is an “inner game”. What happens on the inside will reveal itself on the outside. We have heard these comments from so many wise people over time, yet many of us still don’t understand the power of learning how to make this inner game work for our success.
In this context, success can be defined as achieving a certain tangible or intangible goal. Let’s avoid any detailed definitions of what goals are, let’s suffice it to say a goal is something you want to achieve, a place you want to be, or a state of mind that keeps you calm through good and not so good times.
I believe in the inner game. I have learned about it, practiced it and gained by the implementation of what I have learned. This knowledge has helped me stay on my game both personally and professionally.
So, here are the 10 steps that I believe will help you achieve YOUR success. These steps will also help you maintain a level of desired performance.
- Take 100% responsibility for everything that happens to you and the actions you take everyday. Don’t blame your spouse, your boss, the weather, the stock market or anything else. No matter what happens, if you have the right frame of mind you will take the right actions to move you to a different and better place.
- Read everyday. John Maxwell tells us that our success is the result of our daily agenda. Read something about business, the world, building relationships or other positive literature everyday. Feed your mind just like you feed your body.
- Mediate everyday. I have finally discovered the power of meditation. John Assaraf and Jack Canfield convinced me “success leaves clues”. If these two very successful people meditate everyday then it’s good enough for me. The funny thing is, the more my mind is going in circles, the longer I meditate. This takes real discipline on my part. For full disclosure and to keep your expectations in line, I meditate in the morning for any where from 15 to 45 minutes. This practice will help you focus on what is really important.
- Plan and take action on a business opportunity or personal goal that will benefit you in 6 to 12 months. Because we are so busy, we tend to let the day’s activities pull us along. That will find us at the day exhausted and with little satisfaction. If you are a business owner or a sales person this is very important. Thinking and planning for something to occur several months out, pulls you toward the goal. It energizes you. And when the time comes, which will come whether you planned or not, you will be so pleased that you set a goal and achieved it.
- Send out a gratitude note everyday. There is ample evidence that being grateful to people that you interact with has a positive effect on your thinking. Positive thinking leads to positive behavior, positive behavior leads to positive results.
- Work on a proposal everyday. If you don’t have one, create one. In business this is easy. If you do not have an active client you are working on, start to write a proposal on an account you have not even contacted yet, you will see yourself developing a plan to make them a client. For your personal life you may want to plan for a family reunion, a vacation, a new car or anything else you want to have or create 6 to 12 months down the road.
- Visualize your success. “See” it in your mind as if it is already accomplished. Athletes do this all the time. Statistics validate that athletes that “see” their success are in fact more successful than their competition.
- Exercise. Get physical everyday. For most of us our work days are very sedentary. We sit and work on a computer or some similar work.You need to move around as much as possible during the day. Take a walk at lunch, go to the gym before or after work. Try to get a minimum of 30 minutes vigorous exercise everyday. For me that is a brisk walk just about every morning. I’m describing physical exercise, however it is the “mind game” that gets you moving.
- Keep the promises you make to yourself. This practice can jump start your success plan. If you promise yourself to spend specific time with your family, then do it! If you promise yourself to make that extra sales call today, then do it! If you promise yourself you will lose 10 pounds in the next 60 days, then do it! Keep your promises to yourself. This will lead to you being a trusted family member and business associate.
- Finally. Affirm your worthiness. If you don’t believe you are worthy or deserve the success you seek, you will not get to where you want to go. If your self esteem needs work, then learn how to think better about yourself. You deserve peace and happiness.
I have been mentored by so many people over the years. They don’t know that, however through books, webinars, white papers, magazines etc. I have tried to learn how to improve. Improvement and excellence is never an accident, you need to work at it everyday. I suggest you pay attention to folks like John Assaraf, Jack Canfield, John Maxwell, Seth Godin, Bob Burg, Febienne Fredrickson, Janet Attwod, and Robin Sharma to name a few.
Good luck on your journey.
Marty is the CEO of Marty Wolff Business Solutions (MWBS). “We help people and their organizations perform better than they ever imagined”. Marty can be reached at marty@martywolffbusinesssolutions.com and his website is http://martywolffbusinesssolutions.com.
Tags: Accountability, Business, Coaching, Consulting, Leaders, Leadership, leadership development, Management
Posted in Accountability, Advice, Business, Coaching, Consulting, Integrity, Leaders, Leadership, leadership development, Leadership Strategies, Management, Reflections | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
What do we learn from competition? Is this where we get our self-esteem? What do we do when we lose? How do we handle setbacks? What does it mean when the mantra is “winning is everything”? Now in the legal system, Lance Armstrong does not say he took anything to make him able to go faster, to be stronger. All he said is “I did not test positive”. Is that like Bill Clinton’s famous refrain “I did not have sexual relations with that woman?”.
We need to start asking the hard questions before there will not be anyone left who is living life for the joy of it, win or lose, just for the delight of growing and learning. Let me know what you think.
The Armstrong Enigma by James Moore, contributor to the Huffington Post.
“If you live in Austin, you can almost breathe the Lance Armstrong legend in the air. Everybody intimately knows the tale and its grand parameters. Who has such athletic accomplishments; especially after cancer? His greatness and, indeed, humility were made even more manifest when he established a foundation to help in the global quest to end cancer. We have in our midst, many Texans believe, an individual who is exceptional in character and achievement.
The Armstrong profiled by interviews and narrative in the 60 Minutes report on CBS is difficult, if not impossible, for many people in Austin to process. The arc of Lance’s story has been always upward from the time he was pronounced cancer free. He got healthier, faster, fitter, wealthier, and more magnanimous with time. Every chapter of this American tale was written with bold strokes through nothing more than focus and determination.
There are now, however, several of Armstrong’s teammates during the period of his ride to glory, who are sketching out an anti-hero. The young man they describe thinks of regulations and rules as opponents to be defeated. Each of Armstrong’s teammates, meanwhile, is being attacked for a lack of credibility, and, in fact, their own confessions about doping turn them into liars. Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis, Stephen Swart, Frankie Andreu, and, if CBS is correct, George Hincapie, were all part of a deception to use performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to win. The points of attack are pretty easily established for Armstrong’s legal and public relations team.
But is Lance the only person telling the truth? Are most of his teammates jealous and petty and pathological liars? They seem to have created an alternative reality with their words.
Armstrong is dismissing Hamilton, as he has other accusers, for lacking credibility. The level of detail described by Lance’s former teammate, however, is difficult to ignore even for casual observers of this controversy. Hamilton, who appeared drawn and a bit emotionally tortured during the taping, told of flying in a private jet to Spain with Lance where they were both transfused with their own red blood cells, a process called blood doping, which improves endurance. He also claimed Armstrong shipped him drugs, that they both put drops of testosterone oil into each other’s mouths after a race, and that he was in the room during conversations with a controversial doctor who was teaching them how and when to use PEDs. Lunch bags of goodies, according to Hamilton, were given to riders that had earned their way into the inner circle. He also said he saw Armstrong use EPO and indicated there was a program driven by Armstrong and the team coach Johan Bruyneel. A similar description was provided by Swart to Sports Illustrated. Regardless, Tyler Hamilton either has a very active imagination or he has opened the door to ignominy for an American icon.”
To read the full article, Click Here.
Tags: Accountability, ask hard questions, CEO Inc., Character, Communication, Conflict, Creative Energy Options, Huffington Post, Integrity, Lance Armstrong, Leadership, leadership development, personal growth, Sylvia Lafair, Will Power
Posted in Accountability, Character, Communication, Community Relationships, Conflict, Integrity, Leaders, motivation, Will Power | 1 Comment »
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
I have to go to court. That is a rarity for me. Long ago when I worked in the field of child abuse I was called to testify as an expert witness. The courtroom is never a pleasant place; it has to do with winners and losers. My work is about how to find that sweet spot of connections and collaboration, no matter how contentious a situation may seem.
However, I feel strongly that when we give our word it is binding and we need to live up to contracts. The dictum is to say what we mean and do what we say.
I am going to court because a client (in over 30 years this is new for me) has stiffed me on paying for services rendered. I have called, sent notes, sent emails, and now it is time for action.
What is so fascinating is that this case has gotten some attention in the news and while all I have said is “I believe what I teach in our Total Leadership Connections program, that we are all accountable for our word.” That’s it. I have said nothing more.
I have received several dozen emails thanking me for what I am doing. These responses are from individuals I have never met. That is the power of the web to connect. The theme of the response has been “Thank you for doing this; just because someone has been in the news does not make them above the law.”
I have also been thanked for the simple statement of accountability, one that many of the email responders suggests is lacking in our world.
My program, Total Leadership Connections and book “Don’t Bring It to Work” are based on universal principles about relationships. I do believe that when we think about our actions and do not render others invisible (done to me by the constant ignoring of the bill) we show up at a level of leadership that truly matters. The court case is soon. It is not one of my favorite things to occupy my time, yet it is important for me to stand and be counted. I do this for myself and appreciate those who have encouraged me in this frustrating legal dispute.
Tags: Accountability, client, court, Don't Bring It to Work, matters, rarity, respond, thank you, TLC
Posted in Accountability, Advice, Avoider, Business, Coaching, Communication | No Comments »
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
There is a wonderful on-going discussion on the TED group of Linkedin that really gives pause to think about values and integrity. How do we stay in the realm of doing the right thing and what constitutes living by healthy values that limit contention and the need for lawyers to solve our issues?
I am wondering who out there has ever been in a contractual agreement with someone with a sentence or a handshake that has later been blown off. What are the ramifications of this type of behavior? Does it then mean a lawsuit or is the matter shoved under the rug and forgotten?
I believe the days of a handshake are sadly behind us and I wonder why this is. In our leadership program, we dig down, way down when we teach about accountability and the ideas of alignment between thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Did you ever wonder what business would be like in a “Say what you mean and do what you say” world?
I am sorting out the fact that when there is too much trust people have a tendency to “forget” agreements. Is it vital to always have a paper trail? What kinds of agreements can be made with verbal acknowledgment or a handshake?
I’d love to hear your comments and some real life stories about people doing the right thing for the right reasons.
Tags: Accountability, Handshake, Integrity, LinkedIn, TED, Verbal Agreements
Posted in Accountability, Character, Integrity | No Comments »
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
There are so many abstract words that assault us every day. Words like love, hate, loyalty, betrayal, success and failure. Here is one word that we all need to think about as this year comes to a close, accountability.
What does it look like, sound like, and feel like when we are accountable? Since it is winter I’ll give you a visual that may help. It is a snowman. We use this image in our Total Leadership Connections program. Think about building a jolly, rotund ice guy with a carrot nose, raisin eyes and little bits of cut up strawberries for a smiling mouth.
Usually don’t in three parts; base, middle and top. Now think about accountability. Top to bottom; think about what you think, what you say, and what you do. If they are all in alignment you are there, a master of accountability.
If however, what you think is “this will never work” and what you say is “Sure that’s a good idea” and what you do is procrastinate because you are ambivalent, your accountability goes down the drain.
Here is another ; what you think is “this is amazing and I know it is possible” and yet you don’t want the one who came up with the idea to get all the credit you say “Well maybe, not sure, let’s check it out” and then you hold back because this was not your original idea, you internal accountability meter is on the way low side.
Think about it as a way to limit the need for a chiropractor. If you SAY WHAT YOU MEAN and DO WHAT YOU SAY you are in alignment and your accountability quotient will always hit the bell.
Give yourself a gift of working on this most important level of being accountable. It is what makes a leader one to follow.
At CEO we are redefining leadership for the 21st Century and it starts with the integrity of accountability.
Brought to you by: Online MBA Rankings
Tags: Accountability, CEO, Holidays, snowman, TLC
Posted in Accountability, Advice, Coaching, Communication, Conflict Resolution | No Comments »
Friday, May 7th, 2010
All workplace relationships include personal stories that are often buried under the stresses and strains of getting the job done. We then never get to know each other past a quick “hello” and “see you tomorrow”. When a situation occurs that is life changing it not only changes the individual or individuals involved, it can also change the entire organizational culture. Jay Steinfeld shows us the power that rests with individuals who are willing to become self aware, explore the connection between personal and professional life, and make changes that are deep and profound. The courage to change, a core of all leadership development, is written in his words and actions.
How Empowering My Staff Powers My Business
by Jay Steinfeld, as told to Jennifer Alsever
After running two Houston window blind stores for more than a decade, Jay Steinfeld and his wife and business partner moved most of the business to the Web in 1996, founding Blinds.com, now a $50 million business and the No. 1 seller of blinds online. Yet after his wife’s death in 2002, Steinfeld underwent a personal transformation that changed how he did business.
Blinds.com CEO Jay Steinfeld
Ten years ago, I wasn’t as nice of a guy as I am now. I seldom complimented anyone. I wanted everything done my particular way, and I reamed out people when they failed, even if they did 90 percent of the job right. Then my wife Naomi died in 2002. We were married for 26 years. She was my best friend and my partner in business. Naomi’s death devastated me, but it also woke me up. At that point, both my parents had died, I had three kids to raise and I had a business to run. I realized I could not do everything alone.
A new mindset, just in time
I got counseling and poured myself into books on business and psychology. My favorites: “Good to Great” by Jim Collins and “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Victor Frankel. I realized my 70 employees weren’t my servants. I worked for them. They needed to be encouraged to take risks and empowered to do their jobs.
I sought out smart, top-level people for chief operating officer, chief marketing officer and chief technology officer so I could rely on them to develop their own departments. By giving them more leeway, I had more time to think about the future of the company, and we were all free to be more creative and come up with more ideas. I wanted them to seek continual improvement and experiment without fear of failure. I owe my company’s survival to that shift.
Boosting sales through brainstorming
Our company’s sales hit $50 million this year and profit went up 17 percent. But for the past two years, the market for window blinds has been in a tailspin. Dismal new home sales means dismal blinds sales. Two large regional blinds manufacturers recently filed for bankruptcy, numerous retailers closed their doors, and the industry’s sales are again down 25 percent this year. To grow, let alone survive, we knew we had to do something. But I didn’t take it on alone like I might have a decade ago. It had to be all of us innovating and trying new ideas.
Some of the risks we took were complete flops. One crazy idea that failed miserably was advertising on dry cleaning hangers. We tested three different messages, and each was worse than the other. We tried revamping the category pages on our website, spent a lot of time asking customers what they wanted, did internal focus groups, and went live showing the new page to half of our visitors, and the existing page to the other half. We saw zero change in sales.
Solving customer problems pays off
One of easiest ways to rev up innovation was simply thinking about our customer’s problems. What might prevent someone from buying blinds online? We figured out that customers get overwhelmed by the thought of measuring and installing blinds themselves, so we made about 65 two-minute videos that explicitly show how to measure and install blinds. My daughter, Esther, our PR manager, regularly searches Twitter for tweets about installing blinds. She responds with links to our videos. So far, the web pages on our site with videos bring in about 15 percent more revenue than the ones that do not.
We also spent $150,000 and six months building a widget that helps buyers who don’t know what they want. They answer questions such as if they have kids or pets and what’s more important to them, price or blocking out light. That tool gave us another 15 percent lift to our sales.
Finding partners for profit
Letting my chief marketing officer, Daniel Cotlar, and his team run with ideas has been huge. By doing cross promotions with Flowers.com, Cooking.com and OmahaSteaks.com, they helped boost our gross margins per customer visit by 25 percent over the past two years. Someone who buys a certain amount of blinds get discounts from other companies, and vice versa. This turned out to be a really low-cost way of marketing.
My senior leadership team also drove the boat on an idea to partner with big-box retailers — an idea that for years was pretty scary. We worried that if we partnered with big-box stores, offering them technology so their online customers could buy blinds, we would create big new competitors. But whether we helped big-box stores or not, they would eventually get into the blinds business, and the bad economy was a good time to do it. We wound up striking deals with Office Depot, Linens & Things, Window World, Rugs Direct, and Overstock.com. We do all the selling, fulfillment, customer service, technology — everything. It’s been a pretty good deal for us: It’s looking like it might increase sales by 10 percent this year.
Testing, testing, testing
I could not have done this alone. Free-flowing ideas are key. Risk taking is key. It’s all about testing and retesting ideas in small ways and then continually improving them. We set 90-day goals and check in with each other every 30 days. Today, we get more done in 90 days than we did in all of last year. It’s a complete culture shift – one of clear and focused execution. I know it because when I come to work every day, our employees are energized. And we still have jobs. In fact, we’re hiring.
Sylvia’s Response:
Thanks Jay for sharing so openly. Your desire to search for meaning is powerful. The fact that it changed the way you do business is a great example of my hypothesis that we can change the world of work as we become more self aware.
In “Don’t Bring It to Work” there is a list of the 13 most common difficult behavior patterns in the workplace as well their complimentary positive opposites.
As I read about you I saw how the “persecutor” aka bully boss can morph into a visionary. Instead of pointing a finger at people that same finger can be pointed upward toward a vision of better ways to work together. That is exactly what you did. Also the super achiever in you turned into a creative collaborator. And the fruits of your personal search are being felt throughout your company.
I would classify you as an “elegant leader” and just want to acknowledge how out of the ashes of your personal tragedy there is a whole company that has benefitted.
Well done!
Tags: Accountability, Behavioral Patterns, Book, Coaching, Collaboration, Communication, Conflict, Education, Family-Based Patterns, leadership development, leadership programs
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
