Posts Tagged ‘winning results’

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Virtual Success: Team Trust

April 23, 2012

On a traditional team, trust evolves as a function of demonstrated actions over time. However when working virtually, members typically do not have the opportunity to develop trust in the traditional gradual, cumulative way. The challenge for you, as a leader, becomes how to build trust rapidly across boundaries and borders.

The stark reality is that virtual team members do not usually have time to get to know each other. Typically, the team needs to focus quickly on critical tasks and has little time to build relationships. Despite this fact, virtual teams require a high level of trust in order to be successful.

You can’t compel team members to trust one another.  It’s asking a lot of people to protect the interests of their virtual team – initially total strangers with different ways of thinking and acting. Because of this, building trust and a cohesive team culture from a variety of national norms, values and traditions can be overwhelming. Without high levels of trust virtual team members quickly lose morale and motivation. You need to foster a sense of trust in each members’ competence and a commitment to team goals. Each member must believe that the entire team is doing their work conscientiously – with the team’s goals at the top of their priority list.

Building trust on virtual teams may not be easy, but it can be done. If the following guidelines are incorporated into attitudes and work practices, trust is likely to emerge:

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Posted in Global, Leadership, Multicultural Teams, Team Building, Trust, Virtual Teams | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Virtual Success: Leading Well

March 29, 2012

In order for virtual teams to succeed, organizational leadership must establish a culture that values teamwork, communication, learning and capitalizing on geographical and functional diversity. The key to developing an organizational culture that supports virtual teams is that everyone across the organization is encouraged and enabled to embrace change and be open to virtual teams right from the start.  This starts with senior leadership support and sponsorship – without it,  virtual teams are DOA (Dead on Arrival). It is critical that virtual teams are positioned at the highest levels as vital, value-add resources that provide sustainable competitive advantage for the corporation.

From an organizational perspective, you need to encourage four aspects of leadership that are known to positively impact virtual team performance:

  1. Facilitating open communications
  2. Establishing clear expectations
  3. Allocating resources
  4. Leveraging cultural diversity

Not so different from co-located teams, but considerably more complex in virtual environments. In order to be successful, you will need to enable virtual leaders with the autonomy to get things done and the authority to impact organizational change.

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Posted in Communication, Cross-cultural, Global Leadership, Leadership, Multicultural Teams, Strategic Planning, Value Creation, Virtual Teams | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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Virtual Success: Teams and People Policies

March 26, 2012

Human Resource policies have a critical impact on virtual team success. They need to support geographically dispersed teams by integrating and aligning them to recognize, support and reward the people who lead and work in virtual environments. Here are a few ideas to think about when preparing to shift your organizational culture to support virtual teams:

Securing Systems Support

When a virtual team is formed, you, as a virtual leader, and HR (along with IT) need to partner to consider the technologies teams will need to be successful. Options must be assessed, justified, approved by HR and made available to all virtual team members. Coordinate with Human Resources to ensure training on how and when to use these communication technologies is provided to every team member.

One of the most important things you can do for your virtual teams is to ensure that they have the technical support they need for working remotely.  Never forget that IT should be supporting the business – not the other way around. HR policies should dictate that every team member has equal and immediate access to systems, technologies, training and support. As the leader of geographically dispersed teams, you need to partner with HR and IT to make sure formal standards are set for technology, ensuring everyone has the same access to hardware and software applications, as well as intranet and internet connections. If there are tools and technologies that your teams need to be successful, but HR policy doesn’t support what you need, inquire into the business justification for the omission. Build your business case and/or identify alternatives. Do the research to find out how to alter HR policies and initiate meetings with HR and IT to discuss how to get your teams what they need.

Once you have established what you need and have developed the formal standards and budgets necessary, make sure you negotiate the full support of your Information Systems Group. It is essential that they are fully prepared and equipped to support your teams as they work across boundaries and borders.

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Posted in alignment, Communication, Cross-cultural, Development, Education, Leadership, Virtual Teams | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments »

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Communicating Brand YOU

March 10, 2012

If you’re not appearing, you’re disappearing…

~ Art Blakey, Legendary Jazz Musician

 In order for you to increase your chances of success, people need to know about you and what you have to offer. They need to meet you, see you… hear from you. If you want people to talk about the remarkable things you do, then you need to give them the opportunity to experience you. This doesn’t need to be a sleazy car salesman pitch (no offense to any reputable car salesmen!), but it does mean you need to get out there and have the capability to produce  clearly choreographed 30, 60, and 90 second “elevator” speeches that will serve as an introduction to Brand YOU.

Once you know how you will introduce your brand, start attending networking meetings (both social and professional) and getting involved in external organizations in your field. However, one of the best (and least recognized) opportunities you have to communicate Brand YOU is to expand your involvement to organizations not in your industry or field of expertise. Some of your best contacts may come from quite unexpected places, but you will never know unless you get out there and share your brand.

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Posted in alignment, Communication, Development, Global Leadership, Innovation, Networking, Planning, Potential, Strategic Planning, Value Creation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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Packaging Brand YOU

March 5, 2012

Companies spend a lot of money to define and package the goods and services they want to sell. Superficial or not, people make judgments based, in part, on appearances. As most us have been told – You never have a second chance to make a first impression. Your “packaging” has to attract, inform, and persuade … However, the packaging of Brand YOU consists of much more than what is explicitly visible.

So then, what makes your brand not only attractive as a first impression, but memorable for the value and content you bring to the wider landscape? The marketplace is crowded and more competitive than ever. To establish yourself and rise above the noise, you need to have a clear idea what you are about, what you have to offer and to whom.

Here are some ideas of things you may want to consider when developing your Brand portfolio:

Appearance: Obviously, you need to make sure you are representing on the outside the value that you want people to perceive on the inside. Do you look and behave in a way consistent with how you would like others to perceive you?

Content: 
It’s critical to give your audience something that interests them and leaves them wanting more. The idea is to create content that makes people want to become what Seth Godin calls raving fans… of you. If you’re passionate about your brand, your enthusiasm will come across in everything you do – and that’s the most important thing you can communicate to anyone.

Messaging: How do you demonstrate what makes you different? Is Brand YOU a brand of substance? How will you communicate that substance? What do you have to offer that is demonstrably better, faster, or stronger than other brands? Dig deep inside yourself and search for answers to these questions – they are very important and will impact multiple areas of your life. Once you have an idea of what you would like to promote, develop a clear and concise message that promotes how you would like to show your audience what you are all about and how you can be of service.

Once you have put everything together, double check yourself and make sure you are accurately reflecting what you hope to achieve.  Contemplate the following aspects of your packaging:

  • Your space: Does it reflect who you are?
  • Your business card: Does it indicate your expertise or area of specialty?
  • Your personal style: Does it align to what you want people to perceive about you?
  • Your communication style: Does it really reveal what you want to communicate?
  • Your presentation style (including your visuals): Do your presentations represent you well?
  • Your (social) media presence: Are you conscientious about how you present your packaging in all forums?

I know this is a lot to think about… and even more to execute on. However, the results of going through this in- depth exercise in self-discovery will pay off BIG – it will become your competitive advantage. Not only will you know yourself infinitely better, but people will see and understand your packaging in exactly the way you would like them to.

Does your packaging say what you want it to?

Please engage the discussion and let us know how your packaging has affected you. Always feel free to contact me at Sheri.Mackey@LuminosityGlobal.com or by visiting our website at www.LuminosityGlobal.com. Check back next week for the next installment of Leadership Across Boundaries and Borders, when we will discuss how to communicate Brand YOU.

Posted in alignment, Communication, Development, Global Leadership, Leadership, Planning, Potential, Sales, Self Development, Strategy, Value Creation | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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Defining BrandYOU

February 25, 2012

The word “branding” began simply as a way to tell one rancher’s cattle from another by means of hot iron stamp. The meaning has actually not changed too much at all – while not typically a physical marking, your “brand” identifies you and defines who you are as unique from anyone else…

By taking the time to develop a good brand, you will:

  • Deliver your message clearly
  • Confirm your credibility
  • Connect your audience to you emotionally
  • Motivate your audience to respond
  • Deliver long-term loyalty

A strong brand is invaluable as the marketplace continues to intensify. To succeed in branding yourself, you need to understand the needs and wants of those people you most want to influence – but more importantly, you need to understand yourself. The most important outcome of personal branding should be a clear, deep, and insightful understanding of who you are and what you stand for, just as much as what you want to be known for.

It is not enough to be known for what you do — you must be known for what you do differently, or better, than anyone else. You want people to perceive that you are the ONLY solution…

There are three critical areas you should focus on when creating “BrandYou”:

(1) Developing your brand

(2) Packaging your brand

(3) Communicating your brand

This week we will focus on developing Brand YOU, with subsequent weeks examining what it means to  package and communicate your brand.

The development stage of your brand-building strategy is the most important. This is where you determine who you are and what you stand for. As the CMO of Brand You, you need to ensure that you have the passion, persistence, experience and background to expertly show the world who you are. However, you also need a solid foundation and a strong framework that illustrates your overall identity.

The foundation of every reputable brand is authenticity, consistency, and clarity. These foundational pieces will guide you as you develop your brand. By embarking on a journey of self-discovery throughout this process and working hard to define who you are and what you stand for, your brand will become both authentic and clear – consistency will come from  repeated use of the brand and always presenting yourself in the same light. Brand You will become clear to others because it is the authentic you and will clearly demonstrate who you are. Every good marketer knows that a clear message is a message people can trust.

In order to gain clarity and authenticity, you need to leverage your background and experience to shape a perception that targets your specific audience. If your brand is not built on a solid foundation with a strong framework, no one will understand the value that you bring.

To expand on last week and help you along on your journey of self-discovery, ask yourself some important questions:

  • What are your values?
  • What do you love?
  • What are you insanely great at doing?
  • What are you most proud of?
  • What do you most want to be?
  • What is important and valuable to you?
  • What do you most want to be known for?

These may seem like basic, fundamental questions, but often these are the most difficult to answer. However, it is critical to your brand that you do answer them honestly and in depth.

As you formulate your brand, realize that it will serve as the basis for everything that connects people to you – logically and emotionally. Your image is important, but an image is just a reflection of your brand and your core values.

Brand management should aim to build into the minds of your target audience a set of perceptions and attitudes relating to what you want people to perceive, leading to your desired outcomes. To achieve this goal, you must know a great deal about those you wish to influence. It’s important to spend time investing in researching, defining, and building your brand with the end in mind. After all, your brand is the source of a promise to your consumer. It is the foundational piece to your marketing communications – and one you do not want to neglect.

Once you are explicitly clear on what your brand is and how it should look, it is your job to ensure your brand resides within the hearts and minds of those you most want to influence. It must become the sum total of their experience and perception of you, molding their thoughts and feelings to determine that YOU have what they are looking for. The power of your brand can only be measured by its effect on those you seek to influence. Your brand should be strong enough to convey a message and a feeling in an instant. And thats where packaging and communication come into play…

How Will You Define Brand YOU?

Please engage the discussion and let us know how you will develop your brand. Always feel free to contact me atSheri.Mackey@LuminosityGlobal.com or by visiting our website at www.LuminosityGlobal.com. Check back next week for the next installment of Leadership Across Boundaries and Borders.

Posted in alignment, Communication, Development, Innovation, Leadership, Planning, Potential, Strategic Planning, Value Creation | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Destinations: You Have Arrived

January 26, 2012

The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one’s opportunities and make the most of one’s resources.

 ~ Marquis de Vauvenargues 

Wherever your most desired destination may be, one thing is for sure – if you don’t get on the road, you will never arrive.  Once you decide to embark on the less traveled path of pursuing your personal goals, it it important that you set achievable milestones in order to successfully enter the narrow gate of your desired destination. It may feel like a long journey, but with perseverance and dedication to fulfilling your potential, you will arrive…

When you have achieved that goal you have steadily been working toward, ensure you take the time to congratulate yourself and enjoy the satisfaction of having achieved what you set out to do. Absorb the implications of the achievement, and observe the progress that you’ve made towards other goals. At the very least, achieving your milestones will fuel your motivation to propel you toward your next goal – ultimately guiding you to where you want to be.  Achieving even small goals (milestones) along the way will give you the self-confidence to pursue new and exciting destinations.

Whether the goal was small or large, STOP and take a little time to enjoy the moment and reward yourself appropriately. Recognize your success for what it is…SUCCESS!

Now, with the positive experience of having achieved a goal, and taking the time to properly acknowledge your accomplishment, review the journey to date and determine:

  • Was the goal too easily attained? If so,  make sure your remaining goals (or your next goals) stretch your capacity so that you continue to grow and arrive at new and exciting destinations.
  • Did the goal take a daunting length of time to achieve? Ensure your next goals are a little more  time-bound, and check the distance between your milestones.
  • Did you learn something from your journey? If so, leverage your learning and use it to facilitate the journey toward future destinations.
  • Did you perceive a deficit in your skills, despite achieving the goal? Think about incorporating some of the more challenging aspects of the journey onto future roadmaps in order to allow you to hone that particular skill for future journeys.
  • Have you derived as much pleasure from the journey as you have in arriving at the destination? I hope so – life is all about the journey after all…

Now that you have arrived at your desired destination, it is time for you to reset your navigation system and set that next big, audacious goal that will take you on yet another exciting journey toward the fulfillment of all of your most “desired destinations”…

Where will you go next?

I hope this series has provided some useful guidelines toward helping you to manage your journey toward your ultimate destination. Please engage the discussion and let us know how you will travel toward your next personal goal. Always feel free to contact me atSheri.Mackey@LuminosityGlobal.com or by visiting our website at www.LuminosityGlobal.com. Check back next week for the next installment of Leadership Across Boundaries and Borders.

Posted in Development, Goal Setting, Leadership, Personal Goal Setting, Planning, Potential, Strategy, Value Creation, Winning | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Destinations: Preventing A Wrong Turn – The Seven Sins of Goal Setting

January 9, 2012
Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; While others, on the contrary,obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.
~Herodotus

Goal setting sounds simple right? Well it is, but it can go downhill very quickly. You have committed to your personal goal-setting journey, but there are some roadblocks to watch out for. The first rule of the road is, “keep on moving!” Despite honoring this mantra, you may still fail to reach your desired destination because you (consciously or unconsciously) take some critical wrong turns that keep you off course:

1.    You just won’t follow the process through because:

  • You can’t think of a good reason to set goals: This is your future we are talking about here – goal setting defines your destination and how you will get there, so that one day your dreams becomes reality. Keep this in mind when you are deciding how to proceed…
  • You are in control of your own destiny: You are where you are now because of the action [or inaction] you have taken in the past. Where you’ll be in the future is determined by the actions you take today. Is there any better reason to start setting goals and having some control over your future?
  • You don’t see how goal setting will help you: Maps help you get where you want to go, right? That’s all goal setting and action planning really are – the roadmap to your future.  Of course it will help.
  • You haven’t got time: Goal setting is about working smarter, not harder. Yes, it will take some of your time and energy, you may even have to make some sacrifices. However, the end results are truly worth the effort. Surely you can set aside a small amount of time each day to move toward your life’s purpose and take the actions necessary to get there?  The sad reality is that many people procrastinate all their life and never achieve what they really want to achieve. Don’t be one of those people. Visualize what life will be like when you arrive at your desired destination and use this vision to give you the motivation and “drive” to get there.
  • You believe it is too hard: Goal setting is simple, but not easy. It takes some time and you need to do some soul searching to determine what it is that you really want out of life – but it is not hard. It may seem overwhelming, however by managing the process with relevant mile-markers, you can continually move in the right direction and ultimately achieve everything you want.  The other thing to remember is that goal setting is a skill. Like all skills, goal setting takes exposure and time to develop.
  • You are afraid of failure: What is fear? False Expectations Appearing Real.  You determine what you are capable of, and more than likely you are your biggest constraint. What is the worst case scenario of not achieving your goals? You may achieve some of your goals or, perhaps, a portion of a goal. You will know that you gave it your best effort and as a result achieved something… Now, what is the most likely outcome of not setting any personal goals? Not going anywhere - far worse, by my estimation.  Fear of failure is real. It is critically important to come to terms with this, as fear of failure can result in a complete lack of action… resulting in failure to achieve anything meaningful. Learn to grow from failure, rather than fear it.
  • You don’t take your goals seriously enough to fully commit: You need to take goal setting seriously if it is going to work for you. You have probably tried New Years resolutions in the past – did you take them seriously? Did you succeed?

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Posted in Personal Goal Setting, Planning, Potential, Strategic Planning, Strategy, Value Creation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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Destinations: Staying On Course, Personal Goal Setting Part VII

December 19, 2011

Our goals can only be reached through the vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.

 ~ Stephen A. Brennan

So, now you have committed to your goals, but how will you ensure continued forward motion toward your desired destination? The sad fact is that in spite of so much information being readily available on personal goal setting, in spite of this skill even being taught in some schools… most people do not – will not – decide exactly what they want out of life… ever! Personal goal setting is one of the most useful and satisfying activities a person can engage in, yet it something most people  just will not typically do.

How can you score points if you don’t know where the goal is? Chances are, if you don’t know where you’re going… you end up somewhere you never intended to be. How can you arrive at your desired destination without a reliable road map?  Action without planning, is just activity… busyness… an unproductive waste of energy and time. Personal goal setting is like fuel injection for your mind. When SMART goals are properly incorporated within the context of your personal journey, they will produce effective, self-perpetuating action.

In order to have the best chance at successfully achieving your goals, here are some tips that will help you to stay on track and moving in the right direction:

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Posted in Destinations, Development, Goal Setting, Planning, Potential, Strategy, Value Creation | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Destinations: Set Your Coordinates For Success, Personal Goal Setting Part VI

December 5, 2011

Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. There’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.

~ Jim Rohn

Many people, often senior leaders, feel as if they’re adrift in the world – not sure what their ultimate purpose or legacy might be. They work hard, they get the promotions, and advance somewhat successfully through life from day to day, but they don’t seem to get anywhere worthwhile – anywhere that is self-fulfilling.  One critical reason this happens is because they typically haven’t spent enough time thinking about what they want from life  - and they haven’t set their coordinates for success!

Goal setting is much more than simply saying you want something to happen. Unless you clearly define exactly what you want and understand why you want it the first place, your odds of success are significantly diminished.

Here are some broad guidelines to help you not only to set effective, achievable goals, but also to keep the focus on the why:

  • Make each goal a positive statement – Express your goals positively – “Execute this initiative to my highest standards, while remaining on schedule and 10% under budget” is a much better goal than “Don’t fail to execute this initiative.”
  • Be precise: Set precise goals, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement. This provides a mechanism to know exactly when the goal is achieved, and you can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it.
  • Set clear priorities – When there is more than one goal, give each a priority. This will help you to avoid the feeling of being overwhelmed by having too much to focus on at any one time – while also directing your attention to the most important priorities.
  • Clear, purposeful steps that are taken along the way will guide you to where you want to be. Your big, scary  audacious goal may take a year (or significantly more), however shorter – daily, weekly or monthly – excursions will help you to stay on course and focused in the right direction.
  • Keep tactical goals small – Keep the low-level goals that you’re working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too big, it may seem that you are not making adequate progress. Keeping goals incremental, marked as milestones, provides the means to keep you motivated – not to mention more opportunity for reward.
  • Set performance goals, not outcome goals – Set goals within your control as often as possible. It can be discouraging to fail for reasons beyond your control. If you base your goals on personal performance, then you maintain control over the achievement of your goals, and draw personal satisfaction from your successes.

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Posted in alignment, Destinations, Development, Goal Setting, Planning, Potential, Strategy, Value Creation | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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