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Community Builders

Evergreen Leadership’s 2016 Community Builders Retreat

When the 2016 Community Builders were packing their bags for Evergreen Leadership’s Connect & Create Retreat, they knew two things.

1.) They had been nominated and chosen as one of Evergreen Leadership’s 2016 Community Builders Award winners. 2.) They were heading to Wooded Glen Conference Center to meet their fellow award recipients at a 24-hour retreat filled with the promise of building relationships and developing leadership skills.

Learn more about our 2016 Community Builders and our exciting time at the Connect & Create Retreat by clicking the link below!

Goals

SMART goals or HEART goals?

Lately I’ve been wondering if SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based) goals only represent a tiny part of what really matters, what really makes a difference, what really makes for a life worth living. For I’ve seen what happens when we create SMART goals, especially when we are going to be measured (and rewarded) for them in a work setting. We think small – remember they must be achievable. We divide our work into small fragments, losing sight of the overarching purpose. We document the doable into a tiny time box.

I wonder what would happen if we also created HEART goals, ones that are: Holistic, Enduring, Aspirational, Really matter, and Timeless.

The reason SMART goals are effective is that they provide a way to break big things into smaller pieces that can be measured. However, you have to know what the BIG thing is. My suggestion: start with a HEART goal and then, and only then, create SMART goals in support of it.

Some examples …

Goals

Simplifying Life and Work: 12 Things to Shed NOW

The idea of having less, doing less, and managing less, runs contrary to our consumer-based market economy. Yet as Henry David Thoreau discovered at Walden Pond, it can be a marvelous thing. It can free us up for more important things. To relax. To breathe. To do the things that really matter.

Yet many of us just don’t know what to shed or how to begin. We’ve fine-tuned and socially encouraged our “more” mentality – and spent scant energy on the reverse. So in today’s post I’m providing you some specific thought starters in four categories you might consider shedding. This is not an all-inclusive list, but merely a start. I’m only going to hint at the HOW to do this… but know that you’ll find ample on-line details about purging these items from your life.

I’ve listed four categories you might consider: things, tasks, thoughts, and toxic relationships. For each category, I’ve provided three suggestions. That gives you a starting point of 12 places you might begin to shed. …

Change

Three Sure to Fail Tactics for Surviving Today’s Work Environment

I don’t need to tell you that things are busy at work. You know it, feel it, live it. There is more work and fewer people to do the work. Your email box has reached its limit. You are continually asked to go faster. You are connected during work, after work, and perhaps on your vacation. You are bombarded with new information, processes, and industry breakthroughs.

No matter your industry, the story is the same. Restructuring, reorganizations, market changes, technology innovations and globalization have resulted in more work to be done by fewer people in shorter time-frames. As a result, many of us relay on three strategies to manage:

WE GO FASTER

We speed up, sometimes to warp speed. We dash between meetings. We charge through our work and personal life at top speed, barely able some days to catch our breath.

WE HUNKER DOWN

We come in early. We stay late. We eat lunch at our desk. Or we skip lunch. We take work home. We continue to find time wherever we can to squeeze in one more thing.

WE FIND PRODUCTIVITY SHORTCUTS

We multi-task. We automate our inbox. We download new apps and implement new technology. We search for ways to shave minutes, and sometimes seconds, from any “to do” list.

Any of these tactics, in the short term, can work. There are days we need to speed things up a bit. There are periods of time where we just need to hunker down and get through a busy patch. And who does not love to find ways to do routine tasks quicker and easier?

Our problem is that we are in a perpetual state of change, speed, and turbulence. No matter how fast we go, we are unable to go fast enough to outrun it. We can only stretch ourselves so thin until we have nothing more to give. None of these three tactics are sustainable over time, especially when just as we speed up, our world does too. …

Leadership

Why What Millennials Want is Exactly What We Need

A lot of energy is being spent on the topic of how to manage Millennials. There is angst as they come in and expect a different workplace – one that works for them as well as their employers. There is eye-rolling as their older workplace peers snicker a bit and wonder how they can be so naive, self-centered, and immature. There is a whole lot of “things don’t work that way here” going on.

As with all generalizations, they hold some truth in the macro sense, while exceptions abound when looking at a population case-by-case. Nonetheless, trends across this age demographic are evident. A recent INC article, called the Quick Guide to Motivating Millennials, points to six things that this younger, tech-savvy generation are looking for in their work. And I am struck by the degree of alignment between this list and what research is showing us about emerging highly performing organizations. …

Leadership

Three Emails Leaders Should Never Send

As a leader, you set the tone for communication in your area. What you do and say is modeled. An email from you carries more weight than those from peers. As such, your email etiquette and behavior can either help your team be more productive or totally trip them up.

Here are three types of emails that a leader should never send. And I do mean never!

Dynamics

How to Tell a Good Consultant from a Great One

I started consulting 14 years ago. It’s not always been easy. Most times I’ve been good, a few times I’ve been mediocre, and on occasion I’ve done great work with my clients. I’ve worked with other consultants, some of whom have been consistently good, some great, and some… not so much. I’ve taught consulting to others – I’ve seen their struggles and their successes, and just how challenging it is to do great work for their clients.

As I aspire to be consistently great, it is helpful to differentiate good from great. Here is how I define the difference…

Change

Divergent Thinking Does Not Come Easily

In organizations today, divergent thinking is becoming an imperative to sustainability – rather than an impediment to organizational stability. Disruption has become a competitive advantage, much in the same way market dominance was in the past. Organizations that regularly challenge the status quo in order to create new products and services stand a much better chance of surviving.

Yet those organizations know just how difficult it is to disrupt the existing order. We chastise ourselves for failing to raise our voice in meetings in which yet another ill-conceived project is launched. We shrug in resignation and halfheartedly carry out flawed plans that waste time, money and energy. And we are not alone.

Leadership is About Who You Are and What You Do

At times people are startled when I refer to them as a leader. “But I’m only an employee, a student, or a volunteer,” they say in protest. For they believe that leadership is defined by role, position, age or appointment. I don’t.

I believe leadership is about who you are and what you do. It is seeing a way to create a better future, stepping up to make that happen and engaging others in the pursuit of that goal.

To illustrate my point, let me tell you a story about Lilly…

Challenges

Let’s Put Humans Back in Charge

– and Relegate Technology to its Rightful Place

Ever feel like you are working harder and longer, yet getting less done? You are not alone. A recent article in HBR by Michael C. Mankins sheds some light on why. In his article “Is Technology Really Helping Us Get More Done?” Mankins, a partner at Bain, combed through email and meeting schedules using data mining and people analytics to confirm what you already know in your gut:

The easier it is to leave or send a message, the more messages you have to deal with
The easier it is to schedule a meeting, the more that get scheduled
The more meetings it takes to get work done, the slower the work gets done
The broader your network, the greater the number of interactions and requests for your time and attention

The net result is that a decreasing amount of time is spent on real work. We are meeting more, communicating more, and getting less done. And it takes longer to get things done. As a result, most everyone feels overwhelmed, stressed and overworked. A few simple actions can help…

Evergreen Leadership Blog