"Five Surefire Recovery Strategies"
Microsoft Web Seminar
May 11, 2004 from 9-10am PT (12-1pm ET)
This free seminar will help you assess how ready you and
your team are for the next growth wave.
Special guest: Jim Cathcart, best-selling
author and Founder, Cathcart Institute
Register
now to qualify for a free bonus valued at $445! **Sorry,
event has ended**
Audio Conference with Special Guest Marshall Goldsmith
Registration Fee: $59 (includes streaming audio replay)
Topic: "Help Your Best People Get Better"
Do you know what behaviors get in the
way of your own success?
Do you know what specific things you can do to achieve positive,
long-term changes for yourself, your teams, and your bottom
line?
Marshall's philosophy is that all successful leaders (like
you) succeed because of a specific set of beliefs and behaviors.
Here's what you'll gain in this session:
- Why the same beliefs that make you
successful can make it hard for you to change
- How the feedforward process which is
being used by leaders around the world can help you improve
yourself and those around you.
- Techniques for "Team Building
without Time Wasting"
Marshall has been recognized in The Wall
Street Journal as one of the top ten executive educators,
Forbes as one of five most-respected executive coaches,
and Fast Company as America's preeminent executive coach.
Marshall has published 18 books on leadership.
Registration limited to first 100 respondents.
Marshall's corporate workshops are worth thousands--you
get to experience his wisdom for a fraction of that
fee!
You cannot afford to miss this opportunity
to spend an hour with Marshall. Join us on June 1 from 2-3
pm PT/5-6 pm ET.
Register
Online Now! **Sorry, event has ended**
"Growth Guidance from Stephen Covey"
I have been looking for answers to what
it takes to create a winning corporate culture in the midst
of today's confusing economic indicators. Historical economic
indicators are not too reliable. Company profits are up,
yet job growth figures are in question. The percentage of
patents filed by U.S. companies, one innovation barometer,
has slipped to 52%. Communication happens at breakneck speed,
yet we often feel less connected to our peers than we ever
did.
That's why I was especially eager to interview
Dr. Stephen R. Covey, Chairman of FranklinCovey, last week.
Dr. Covey has taught leadership principles and management
skills for more than 30 years. He has worked with more than
150 of the Fortune 500 companies and thousands of smaller
organizations. His work in principle-centered leadership
has been successfully adopted by thousands of organizations
to improve business results.
I began the interview by sharing my dilemma
with Dr. Covey. I told him that I work with professional
services and technology companies, and that I see a major
disconnect between how we design our companies, and the
expectations of today's educated workforce. Worse yet, the
disconnect seems even more acute among companies who view
themselves as technologically enlightened and operationally
efficient. Although we pride ourselves in hiring "knowledge
workers," we are running our companies using older
industrial business models. Many of us (myself included)
have been treating our employees as things that can be moved
and removed. We dictate policies and procedures from our
corner offices and expect people to comply.
The Data Proves It
FranklinCovey's
recent survey of 12,182 workers further fueled my concern.
They measured employee perspectives on how sharply they
focus and execute on their company's key strategic objectives.
The disturbing findings tell us that most
companies suffer from major "execution gaps."
In fact, only 48% of the workers say their organization
has a clear strategic direction. Only 44% of workers say
their company has clearly communicated its most important
goals (usually fewer than three). So much for technology
delivering on its promise to streamline communication.
I asked Dr. Covey what is causing this
dichotomy. Says Dr. Covey, "the industrial system that
still runs most of today's organizations and people is a
'thing' model. We fail to realize that when we deal with
people, we are dealing with four aspects: body, heart, mind,
and spirit."
Does your company really, truly understand
and embrace this model? Here is a way to test it. Dr. Covey
continues with a four-question assessment any leader can
use:
1. Does your company pay you fairly? (body)
2. Are you treated kindly and respectfully? (heart)
3. Are you given the opportunity to continue learning and
growing, both personally and professionally? (mind)
4. To what degree do you find your work meaningful? (spirit)
As we shared thoughts on these questions,
Dr. Covey handed me an oatmeal cookie. In hindsight, I realize
he was demonstrating these principles through that simple,
graceful action. I had no need to question his beliefs,
because he was practicing what he preached.
I immediately wondered what else I could
ask Dr. Covey. Let's face it-when you're 71 years old, have
40 grandchildren, and hold the Chairman title at a publicly-traded
company, you don't have much more that you need to prove
or say. The wisdom just leaks from your pores. The interview
could have concluded nicely right there. I continued anyway.
Three Growth Accelerators
What actions can you immediately take
to bridge the gap between your knowledge workers and these
industrial age business models? He suggests three strategies
to help you get started.
1. Start with yourself and learn your
own style. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "We must
become the change we want to see in the world." Surround
yourself with advisors and employees who share your desire
to create a knowledge-based business model. Hire a coach
who can accelerate your own ability to identify what is
truly important to you. Your old community and circle of
friends usually want you to maintain status quo, and don't
always have your best interests in mind. Dr. Covey continues,
"If you want to know what really matters to you, write
your own epitaph. What do you want your tombstone to say
when you die? Also, write a mission statement with your
family. This will help you determine what you can say "no"
to in your life, versus what is important."
Use
this free mission statement builder on FranklinCovey's website.
2. Build on your integrity by keeping
a small promise. This helps you begin living a life
of workability. Focus on four areas of your life and get
them 100% handled. Look at your current relationships throughout
your communities, your health and wellness, finances, and
every environment where you currently operate. What areas
are messy, broken, or neglected? The faster you get them
handled, Dr. Covey says, "the more prepared you are
to be a person who is known to keep a promise." Then
you'll be ready to keep big promises.
3. Involve your teams in the problems
you are facing. That's right-be truthful and vulnerable.
Be willing to admit when things are not "fine."
If you have been trained in industrial-era management models,
this will be a challenging feat. One of my clients had the
courage to do this. He's the General Manager of a rapidly
growing software company, yet he didn't let success and
complacency stop him. He sat down with his key managers
and asked for their input. He knew that his employee performance
plans were inconsistent with the business model they needed
to ensure profitable growth and high client retention. Within
a few months, they revised their performance and compensation
plans to ensure they rewarded the right behaviors while
driving financial results. Since that time, three of their
new hires have proven to be excellent contributors, and
they secured another $7.5M in sales.
FranklinCovey's research will shake the
core of many business foundations, and leave some paralyzed.
I am honored to have shared this dialog with someone who
leads the knowledge worker revolution. Borrowing again from
Gandhi, I see Stephen Covey as a man who is "the sum
of his actions, of what he has done, and of what he can
do." His leadership gives us the courage to help each
of us transform ourselves and our organizations during these
confusing economic times.
To order your own "Growth Readiness
Assessment," contact
us. Just put "Growth Readiness" in the Subject
line with your contact information. It may be the most critical
15 minutes of your company's life.
--Lisa Nirell
http://www.energizegrowth.com/
