by Deborah Leverett | Sep 22, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
If you are looking for a way to gain some perspective, see holistically or just trying to shut down the noise, try this exercise: Arrive early for a meeting (one you are not leading) and watch what people do: when do they come in? where do they sit? what mood/energy level are they exhibiting? how do they interact in the meeting? Practicing this observational activity will help broaden your perspective and start thinking in a more holistic manner....
by Deborah Leverett | Aug 28, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
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by Deborah Leverett | Aug 6, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
I called a friend yesterday and got the voice message that said: “This user’s voice mail is full.” I would say that if we are so busy that we can’t keep up with voice mails, we are too busy, mindless of our days and wasting our lives. Busyness is not a synonym for a satisfying and productive life. If you go through your day without once considering where you are in life, measured against your priorities, or where you’d like to be tomorrow, you are in a...
by Deborah Leverett | Jul 21, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
Organizational excellence is tough to achieve. At the forefront must be a great leader and a savvy executive team and At the core must be accountability. Accountability is a word, like responsibility, that everyone says is a great idea; but in the end, too many executives suffer from a head in the sand approach. The essence of accountability is personal responsibility: what can I do to make it happen? No matter what the circumstance, no matter who is not stepping up, the mindset must be I will do what I can to make it happen. The culture of blame and complain is insidious. Even the sharpest leaders and teams can fall into the trap of accepting reasons why something cannot be achieved. Excuses and a victim mindset can get the best of us. I have sat in many executive team meetings where the conversations lasted for hours with content of those conversations loaded with phrases such as: I don’t understand why (sales, operations, etc) department can’t get it together. Every month they repeat the same mistakes as last month. (poor oversight) We can’t make our numbers as long as she leads the team. (victim mentality) I think we should wait a bit and see if there is change. (denial) It’s not this team’s fault that we’re not achieving the goals. (more denial) I don’t have time to mentor that person — I didn’t have anyone mentor me, and I am doing just fine. (ego, hubris) I send them email after email and I never get a response. (poor communication skills) I find that the one behavior that does the most...
by Deborah Leverett | Jul 1, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
1. Leadership always believes the culture is better than it really is: to find the truth, go to your front line employees. 2. Culture grows one of two ways: either by neglect or by design. 3. When culture is ignored by leadership, the default mode grows complacency, dysfunction, and disengaged employees. 4. A culture by design is meaningful, mission-minded, productive, focused on people, service and continual improvement. 5. The leader sets the standard for what is acceptable and what is not: the leader’s moods, attitudes, facial expressions and actions are watched and emulated. 6. To be an extraordinary organization, there must be a culture of excellence. Excellence is not to be confused with perfection. Excellence is consistently using one’s talents and skills to the best of his/her ability with the resources that are available. 7. The positive culture promotes and rewards individual strength of character. In other words: doing the right thing. 8. The positive culture must promote organizational integrity: where the vision, beliefs and principles of the organization can be seen acted out in what happens every single day. 9. A positive culture can only exist where there is a culture of service to employees as well as to customers and vendors. 10. A positive culture will produce loyal and committed employees as well as an environment where innovation and creativity can...
by Deborah Leverett | Jun 30, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized
When leadership allows a culture to dwindle down to the lowest common denominator the results affect people, performance, productivity, brand and ultimately profit. Toxic culture is to people, products and profits what a dirty aquarium is to fish and flora that try to flourish in that environment: it damages everything! Behaviors that indicate a culture is destructive: unethical and unprofessional conduct, broken communication , back-biting and rumor-mills, favoritism, and intimidation and self-preservation instead of teamwork. Communication disintegrates into messages without any regard for the receiver. People communicate to their teams with sarcastic undertones and misinformation resulting in misunderstandings and distrust – no one feels like they are in the loop, and no one cares to motivate others to engage to do the work at hand. The absence of trust permeates everyone and everything. Toxicity grows in the space between what is said and what is actually done. There is typically a high level of confusion around goals, priorities and overall vision. Instead of feeling like a valued stakeholders, employees often feel guilty that results in high stress. Leadership is obligated to clear the air, rebuild trust, and restore integrity to foster a healthy environment where people can work with a level of satisfaction and contribution to the organization’s mission. Tomorrow: 10 Things Every Leader Needs to Know To Build A Healthy...
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