Dare to Engage

It’s here! We’ve just released our new product “7Questions You MUST Ask Yourself to Lead Your Team Well…And Get Things Done Quickly.” For a free recording of the call, transcript and a quick start “cheat sheet” - sign in on the upper right hand corner of this blog (under my picture), with your name and email address, OR go to www.daretoengage.com and sign in for your free report.  Hope you enjoy it. The questions are simple, to the point and, when applied, indeed game changers.

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How do you keep your team engaged? How do you personally stay engaged? In your work? At home? In your personal life? In your fitness regime? It’s easy to “check out”…especially with so many competing demands. So how do you stay “fully engaged?” 

I had a meeting yesterday with a colleague who shared with me that she “didn’t like how something was going, so she changed it.” That simple. The simplicity of her statement reminded me of how often we unconsciously (or consciously) build it up to be something so much bigger than it is, and the simple idea of “just changing it” gets lost/taken for granted. Sometimes it is just that simple. We find ourselves feeling disengaged (or notice that someone on our team is less than engaged) and we can either continue the trend; wonder “why”, make stuff up, create more disengagement, throw in the towel, OR we can simply change it. Ask questions. Get curious. Change it.

Something not working for you in your life? Change it.

A team member or direct report not engaged? Change something.

Change one little thing. Name the “disengagement.” Get involved. Ask how you can be helpful. Make a shift.

Sometimes just asking the question (of yourself or other) creates the shift.

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Have you ever had any of these experiences?

~ You drive home from work and then don’t remember how you got there.

~ You sit through a meeting and can’t account for what happened in the meeting, the outcome or the details.

~ You read a book to your child or grandchild and can’t recall what the book was about.

~ You workout and have so much mind chatter that you’re not even sure what muscles you were working.

~ You have a conversation with a colleague and miss the important undercurrents of that conversation because you’re mind was elsewhere.

~ You give a presentation but miss the impact you’re having on the audience because you’re too busy wondering “how am I doing?” ~ You have an argument, but you’re so busy proving your point, you miss the others’ point completely AND an opportunity for alignment.

~ You go home at night and spend time with your family, only to think about everything that happened at work today and what’s happening tomorrow.

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Last week I was in Tucson, AZ working with my business coach and a couple of my master mind colleagues. We get together a couple of times a year, in person, and regularly (on the phone) to discuss our businesses, plan, work through challenges and stay focused in creating results and outcomes in our companies. 

I’ve been involved in Master Minds in one way or another for about 6 years now and I find them an essential part of my success as a leader in my business. I’ve also found them to be an essential part of my client’s successes in the group programs and master minds I’ve hosted in my programs. It’s the power of people and the power of 5 brains (or 3 or 8 or 10) that is even better than just one. The support, ideas and solutions that come out of these groups is nothing short of fascinating. The Master Mind (MM) Experience isn’t for everyone, some prefer the private and individual attention of private coaching or even a combination of the two, but when the MM resonates, it resonates!

For me, this all ties into the power of relationships, having allies, leveraging strengths and getting support. Whether I’m on the participant side as a client or the coach’s side WITH my clients, there is always an opportunity for learning ten-fold. Some of the necessary components? Trust; being trustworthy and trusting. Committment; to yourself and others. “Out of the box thinking”; this is where the magic lies. An insatiable hunger for growth, and stepping out of comfort zones, combined with a willingness to be vulnerable and ask for help. Of course, sprinkle in a willingness to get, stay and be in action, and you have a pretty potent combination.

These are some of the characteristics I consider necessary components for group work and/or the master mind experience. And you? Where could you benefit from learning and growing in a group setting? And what do you need to make it successful for yourself and your peers?

So here’s to the power of multiple brains, shared learning, caring, support and accelerated results. This is so worth thinking about…

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Stressed out about the economy right now? Politics? Housing? Business expenses? Taxes?
Waiting, hoping, praying it will all just go away?

Colluding with friends, family and co-workers about how bad it is? Regurgitating stories? Gathering evidence? Again, waiting for someone else to do something about it?

Things are uncertain right now. No doubt. The economy is down. Things we care about are certainly taking a hit. It can be easy to get fixated on fear, frustration and hurt. It can be easy to find what’s not working and speculate on how much worse it’s going to get.

Despite a positive attitude, even the most optimistic can be challenged during times like this.

But there is something you personally can do. As a human being, as a leader, as a parent, partner or spouse.

You can get into action and dare to engage in the face of challenge and uncertainty.

We’re all being impacted by this in one way or another. We’re all feeling it. Fortunately we can do somethings to support ourselves and the people we care about right now.

No matter what’s happening in our lives and in our world, we have the gift of free will and we do have control of certain things. Some people say we create our reality. I believe we co-create it. Life is in relationship, we’re in relationship with the people and events around us. The question is, how do we want to be in that relationship? For example, we can control how we show up, what we choose to do with information, and how we take care of ourselves. We can control how we treat other people, what we say and what we do. We can control how much we contribute to helping things go better or worse. We can control whether we hang back or whether we lead. All of these things are gifts, they make a difference. Used well, they support powerful leadership.

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Are you getting my bi-monthly articles, tips and business & leadership dares? If not, PLEASE sign in on the box on the right (enter your name and email address) and we’ll get you set up. I’m publishing at least twice a month and the articles are filled with immediately applicable information you can apply to your life and leadership NOW.

Today’s article was on daring to create opportunity in times of challenge, change and uncertainty. I discussed 7 sure ways to create, maintain and even boost momentum despite whatever turbulents may be happening in your life right now. We can’t control everything, much is in fact out of our control, however we can control  quite a bit, and that is a BEAUTIFUL thing. Here are the 5 tips (and a bonus) in a nutshell:

1) Revisit your mission, 2) Engage your team, 3) Take excellent care of yourself, 4) Nurture your relationships, 5) Be grateful, 6) Set intentions and be intentional, and 7) Eliminate “stinking thinking.”

Want to learn more? Subscribe on the right and get the next release. Have a fantastic week! 

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I’ve been playing with implementation and how long it takes myself and
clients to move from talking about something to actually doing it. It’s an
interesting experiment, one I highly recommend exploring for yourself and
for your team. Here are the guidelines: as soon as you have an idea or start
talking about a plan - notice how quickly you move into action. You can
actually put it on a basic timeline. The timeline might look like this:

Idea - 9/25; Research complete - 10/1, Plan created (with timelines) and
roles assigned - 10/1; Plan implemented - 10/8.of course this all depends
on the scope of the plan, but it’s a useful exercise to find where you stop
in your own planning and perhaps get in your own way.

What I’ve noticed for myself, and for many of my clients, is that the best
laid plans are born, acted upon and implemented in under a week. Now
implementation may not mean it’s complete, but it’s on it’s way and
it’s “grounded” - it’s been made real to folks on the team and the leader of
the project. When we go over the week to 10 day mark, the plan is almost
guaranteed to get pushed back again and again. That said, if a plan must
spend more time in the “processing stage” - that’s fine, just make sure that
someone owns it and is keeping it ALIVE.

So try it. Are you a “talker” (sitting in the plan, thinking about the plan,
putting off the plan, making plans to plan) or a “do-er” (getting into
action, learning from the plan, and making it happen)? The plan won’t always
be perfect. In fact if you’re lucky, it won’t and you’ll get some great
learning early on so that you can course correct. But if you sit on the
plan, talk about and get into “navel gazing”.you risk missing great
opportunity.

Getting into action means engaging people. Engaged people means better
business results. Better business results means - good stuff. Last thought -
when you create that plan and get into action.Make sure your team can see
how the plan and the desired outcome of it, tie directly to the big picture,
the importance of the company’s mission and to their roles specifically.

To engagement - have a fabulous week!

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Take a moment to ponder all that you are involved with in your life. Your organization, your family, your personal goals and commitments, health, finances, soccer games, etc.

Thinking about all that we have to do, and all we’re committed to, can create a sense of overwhelm just in itself (although, our thoughts about what we have to do and how we “feel” about overwhelm are actually more stressful and overwhelming than the real tasks to be done - but that’s a whole other article.)

In fact, thinking about your “to do” list too much can disconnect you from the greater game you’re playing, the bigger impact that you want to have in your life. So better than to get lost in the minutia of all that has to be done, it’s best to find ways to support you in staying connected to the bigger vision and keeping your eye on the ball WHILE you make sure that the details get taken care of.

One way to do this is to engage your team. And this comes with many benefits; all in service of you, your vision and even them.

When you read the title of this article, my guess is you automatically went to “engage a team” as in a work team. That’s great, and important, AND I also want to invite you to think about another team in your life and that’s your “personal team.” This is the team, outside of work, who helps you bring the best of yourself to your work and life. Who helps you create the impact you’re here to create and engage with the people in your life (including your work team) more fully and more effectively. Read more »

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I just got back from the Inc 500 Conference in Washington D.C. Quite an amazing group of people, great speakers, inspiring stories, lots of new friends.  Tom Peters and Seth Godin got into a lively conversation “in the entrepreneurial mind.” Tim Ferriss talked about getting it done, all done, in 4 hours a week. Jim Collins talked about level 5 leadership and making sure that you have the “right people” filling the “key seats” (do YOU?) Marilyn Carlson Nelson discussed how “how we lead matters”, and Paul Bennett talked about happiness being essential in creating successful engaged organizations (true true true!) All great and all good food for thought (and implementation – hint hint…) Many others who I’ll be referencing in upcoming posts, and those are the ones on my mind this a.m.

A common theme I was thrilled to see over and over again, one you’ve heard me talk and write about for years: People….it’s all about the people. Whether I was listening to a speaker or engaging in a conversation with a successful exec on the list, most (and I do have some good stories here that live on the other side of “most”), pay great attention to the people element. There are other common factors that contribute to success, mindset being KEY, and people is a huge element of this. So how are you engaging your people today? How are you bringing them into the shared mission of your company? How are you supporting them? How are you helping to create a happy and healthy workforce? Are you a company that will be recognized for it’s fantastic business results AND for being a fantastic place to work? If you pause on the second part of that equation, it’s worth reconsidering.

People make the world go round. Your people are who will build and sustain your business. If you’re not engaging them, evoking more of their strengths, giving them opportunities to learn and shine, and acknowledging how important their contributions are to the bottom line…you might want to start. For if I’m good to my team and they feel valued, “seen” and engaged…they’ll be happier, they’ll be “nourished”, they’ll tap into that extra 5-10-15% effort and creativity in our work together, and they’ll be really nice and great with our customers. I’d say a super investment, wouldn’t you?

BTW, Tom Peters stated that blogging is one of the best things he’s ever done for his business and for inviting people into a lively conversation, let’s start those conversations here please! Have a super day…and go engage your people in an even richer way. I dare you to….

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I’m so excited! We’ve officially opened the doors to registration for the Dare To Engage Infusion 90 Day Program! This experience starts October 24th, 2008 with an in person, highly productive, kick-off retreat in Lisle, Illinois, and follows up with 90 days of coaching, training and accountability via telephone and on-line methodology! 

Please, take a peek, and if this is for you, sign up now! We’re limiting participation to ensure a highly personalized experience, AND the early bird incentive will expire at midnight on October 2nd ($500 off tuition.)

So join me for your infusion…We’ll be infusing business and life, with leadership and personal sustainability, we’ll be making things happen, and we’ll have a blast! 

Here’s the link: http://www.daretoengage.com/infusioninvite/

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