Some of the largest companies in the world have found themselves in hot water because the nature of their business has changed and their predominant Leadership Style has restricted them from altering their direction.  How the people in leadership, consciously and unknowingly shape the organizational culture,  form and engage multi-generational teams, create agreements, and react now is radically different from how it used to be. Companies like, Paper Jam, Amazon.com, Google, Apple, Premier Payment Sytems, and Woot were giving hints about the changes that were coming. In the past, it was known that large companies had difficulty in changing strategies in mid stream, but at Internet speed changing course has become nearly impossible albeing vitally important for them. Leadership Styles are evolving to fit the changes.

Leadership development programs created as recently as five years ago need to be reaccessed and radically changed. The cost of entry into business has come down and there is plenty of talent available for hire, be it as consultants or staff.

Positively Powerful is creating a new set of Leadership Development Programs specifically for Entrepreneurs and Women.  Our objective is to prepare people for the new Leadership Styles that are paramount today.

We point to the NFL Conference Champion games this weekend because it is usually the best weekend of football and one of the purest examples

Team Commitment Happens Before the Coin Toss

of team alignment we get to see in action. Most of us admire sports teams and football teams in this country have the most team alignment challenges you will likely encounter in any organization anywhere. Each game is like executing a one year strategic plan that has been  compressed into sixty minutes, where feedback, collaboration, creativity and coaching  happen in real time. When the team (all 45 players) takes to the field there can be no question about buying in or understanding the goal — which is always winning the game. The question is did they spend enough time working on their being aligned, do they know where they need to be when each play is called, do they know their role in every given situation.

Football and chess, the perfect game is a draw! There will be no draws this Sunday! There will be two champions this weekend (NFC and AFC) and these teams will have won because they were the best aligned. Sure some things will look like luck had a hand in the results of the game and we counter that with only people and teams who are the best prepared can benefit from luck.

Our company Triad West prepares corporate teams to be Aligned, let’s talk and see how we can help you. 

Dr. Joel P Martin

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“Layoffs attributed to business demand factors (especially slack work or insufficient demand) accounted for more than

Recently I spoke to a woman who was one of those separatees. We spent a long time talking about how she landed on her feet. Her name is Linda Michaels and she is the new Managing Director of eWomen Network of Phoenix, AZ an international women’s networking organization. Linda is vivacious and visionary two of my favorite attributes. She also has great professional skills, another fav. Though she wouldn’t tell me the name of the organization that released her, she said that as their regional HR director she was responsible for over 4,000 people – the hiring, firing (ironic), benefits, compensation, training and other generalist areas. On a personal note, she’s an avid bowler and dancer, hails from Sheffield Lake, OH (Cleveland), and is in a serious relationship.

I’ve coached and trained many people in finding their passion and power in the midst of upset. Here are the tips she and I discussed about how to transition from being a laid-off separatee to someone gainfully employed in an occupation that fits their passion and purpose:

1. Take time to grieve. It is a loss that you will likely remember forever. Your identity is not your job.
2. Don’t panic! Even though you are in upset, do what you can to keep grounded. Remember in this crazy time of ours you have a lot of company.
3. Reassess your skills, what you are passionate about, and your marketability. If it isn’t a yearly thing that you do (and I highly recommend this) get out the resume and go over it with an expert. You may be too emotionally attached to what was vs. what could be.
4. Take action! There are many reasons for this. Sitting at home eating bon bons with not get you back on your feet. Go to the gym – do something to keep the body moving. Not only is physical activity fundamental to disease prevention but it lessens depression.
5. Create your own happiness.
6. Get out of your own way. Bust through your own box. It will be uncomfortable. Deal with it.
7. Take risks. Be willing to not know how it will turn out. That’s what transformative leaders do.
8. Be authentically willing to give and receive. In this know what will support others, as Linda Clemons said at Linda Michaels’s intensive MD training, “Listen so hard that you can hear what is not being said.”
9. Be nice to others. People do business with people they like.
10. Don’t be afraid to be a rookie.
11. Network and socialize with people that inspire, empower, educate, and are great to be around.
12. Never give up! You are much too precious and your contributions too important. You are the only you our world has.

In Linda’s case, number nine assisted her in getting the position. She attended an eWomen meeting as the guest of Rosemary Price the previous Managing Director. Some one sent glowing comments about her to the corporate representative, and she was immediately hired. Good choice for all. Linda wants to increase membership. She said “I want to involve and expose the members, to make them look good, because that’s how we all win!” Her next big eWomen event is Fearless Women Day featuring keynote speaker and trainer Dr. Joyce Mills author of Butterfly Wisdom and the Fearless Women book. Catherine Anaya, three-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and anchor CBS 5 News will also be at the podium. That will be a big event with women and men who are all about number 11 on the list above. Number 12, well that’s what I speak about and want all people to get.

What else should be on this list? Let me know, I’d be happy to share what you have found works. JPMartin@TriadWest.com

If you feel your faults and defects prevent you from seeing the faults and defects of others, remember, you may be the only contact with God someone may have today. Be proud of that.” Iyanla Vanzant

I read that quote this morning. It is from Iyanla’s One Day My Soul Just Opened Up. One Day… is one of my ‘bedside books’, a stack that I have beside my bed and use nightly to clear off of the daily news of fear and anguish that is so prevalent at ‘Live at 10.’

This quote answers the question I’ve gotten several times from others and ask myself occasionally: How can I coach someone when my life is in disarray. How can I lead others when I am not walking my talk? And so on. These are tough questions for any leader. Leaders are coaches who motivate, who see-feel-hear and inform on someone else’s action. They are role models. They are supposed to know “the path” to fulfillment, to ask the questions that support someone’s goal accomplishment. Yet there are those times in ones life when the choices one makes deliver up a situation that ‘may have him/her not look’ good – not be the role model he/she desires to be. For example, I have a friend who is a great trainer and coach. Recently he and his wife got a divorce. I hadn’t heard from him for a while and when I finally did I asked where he’d been and how he was doing. He answered, after the divorce he felt like a sham (fake). In his thinking, he was asking himself “How can I coach others on having a committed relationship when I just ended mine?” When he is in front of the room leading a training, his focus isn’t on all that went “wrong” but how can I serve. It is only afterwards that he doubts.

In this challenging economy, there are leaders going through tough times. Coaches who are struggling for whatever reason. Not all people, not all leaders and not all coaches all of the time. So if you are one of those finding yourself doubting yourself, remind yourself of Ilyanla’s great quote. You can also  paraphrase it to this: “If you feel your faults and defects prevent you from seeing the (magnificence) of others, remember, you may be the only contact with God someone may have today. Be proud of that.” Then remind yourself of what Mark Twain said, “…when all is said and done, the one sole condition that makes spiritual happiness and preserves it is the absence of doubt.”

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I began my work in this industry about 10 year ago when I won the ABHOW consulting contract. David Ferguson personally challenged me then when he said, “Joel, I want you to create the kind of home you’d want for your mother. With that in mind know that you are not alone. I am honored to be on this journey with you.” With those words I began. Since then, AAHSA granted Dave Ferguson its 2009 Award of Honor at the association’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Chicago in November. The award is AAHSA’s highest honor and recognizes “both (David) Ferguson’s recent contributions to the profession and his ongoing devotion to mission-driven service.”

Between then and now, I’ve created their Leadership Alignment training, worked with Leslie Warren – at the time their Vice President Human Resources – on the Diversity University, spoken before industry groups, and other activities. Though Mom never got to see one of their homes before her passing, I know she’d be proud of the work we’ve done together.

Some other people I would love you to meet are our ABHOW Board Chairperson, Randall L. Stamper, J. D. Randy has an effective way of facilitating our governance model and the contributions of the other experts from different disciplines who serve with me. Kay Kallander, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning. Kay is one of my sheroes. Kay is designing ABHOW’s new Leadership Academy and is the catalyst for the highly successful AAHSA Fellows program. If not for her I expect a lot of memory support units would not have been created She is tireless! There is also Ancel Romero, Senior Vice President, Affordable Housing – a vitally important commitment to seniors. The incoming AAHSA Board Chairperson is Winthrop Marshall. I expect he’ll keep us all busy during his tenure. There are so many others I would like to name so visit the links to meet them.

What can you do? Contribute in whatever way works for you – donate, volunteer, serve on a board, attend an aging conference, ask the experts what else is needed and wanted, and take a stand for what you want done on health care. Also post your ideas for being proactive on aging with this blog. Beyond that, age gracefully with health and contribution. As my mother would have said, “consider the alternative.”

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Beginning in the 1960′s to the present we’ve heard and read the word Diversity. Most thought that it meant race and gender. When a research study brought back the results that 75% of America’s corporation had a diversity policy in place, what they meant they were measuring was the race and gender of their employees…This is not diversity as we practice it in my tribe. For us it is bigger then that and as simple as an idea: We are creating an environment where every person can be their most productive. We believe in giving everyone respect. Through training, coaching, and education, we are committed to creating positive life and work environments. My tribe is growing. Back to Seth…

What does it take to change the world? Tribes: Leading and connecting people and ideas….Finding the true believers.

Today, faced with world wide instant communication, via blogs, social networks and the like we are communicating with cultures and in ways that we did not know existed in the sixties. Many  don’t fully understand how to use that access even now.  There exists amongst these cultures – and the Boomers are a culture who got the world going in the “make a difference” mode -  people who want to connect, form new relationships and new tribes as Seth defines them. There exist groups of people who share a common interest in how and why they want to change the world. be it stopping Black kids from killing Black kids, ending hunger,  ending abuse, transforming dysfunctional families, creating revolutionary ways of doing business,  finding a cure for cancer, they  have issues that they are passionate about and problems they want to fix. Tribes are not limited to borders and are nourished through ideas. Tribes are led by leaders. I know several and I’ve chosen into their tribes and have started a tribe of my own.

So, if you have gotten to the end of Seth’s video and I hope you have,  and you have read this post, what is the movement you’ve begun that answers his request? What are your tribes? I would love to know.

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Maria Arnold-Hayden Party Events

In our next Positively Powerful Breakfast Meeting we will take on the challenges of “Turning Contacts Into Contracts.“ Given today’s dynamic business environment, this is the ideal time to have this conversation. We will share the best practices and supplier diversity strategies. We will include how diversity and cultural norms can impact the ways we do business in a positive  and powerful way

Please join us at Heidi’s Events & Catering in Tempe AZ, for our second “Positively Powerful Breakfast” for the 2009 – 2010 season.

Register $25.00

Presenting Sponsor: Southwest Gas Corporation
Selecting Heidi’s comes from our commitment to support local businesses. Check out Heidi’s Events & Catering for your next event. Enjoy fresh fruit, juice, breakfast breads, rolls, and scones from scratch. Also visit our Event Planner Maria Arnold-Hayden’s Site

Heidi’s Events & Catering
2095 W. 15th Street Tempe, Arizona 85281
480-491-5254

Words for leaders from Brian W. Kenney, Human Capital Performance Consultant, Austin, Texas:

Interpersonal Clarity: Openness, “Reflective-ness,” Impartiality, Listening, Transparency

Leaders listen first and speak last. Leading others requires that we also find ways to connect and understand them. We must clearly understand their needs, wants, and motivations and be open to their ideas and perspectives. We must balance our convictions with the views of others to avoid the inflexibility of dogma. The strongest leaders listen to and actively reflect upon the opinions and viewpoints of the people around them in order to create a free flow of information and mutual understanding. In doing so, they are better able to clearly understand differences and more clearly focus on our common ground. It is on common ground that we find common purpose.

Operational/Environmental Clarity: Information, Knowledge, Expectations, Analysis, Acumen

To successfully lead ourselves and others from where we are along the path of common purpose to where we want to be we must be able to clearly see the path and the destination. The environments in which we work and live are not static- they are dynamic. As such, there will always be unexpected challenges, obstacles, and opportunities. This rapidly changing environment is continuously sending us new information and feedback that we must understand- clearly- in order to make the proper adjustments. We must know not only what this information says but also what it means. Our plans, processes, and performance expectations must be easily understood to prevent confusion and uncertainty. We create clarity in our environment by using our knowledge, experience, and acumen to translate information into actionable knowledge. Clear purpose without clear direction or action is chaos.

About Brian W. Kenney. Austin, Texas.  Brian is a Human Capital Performance Consultant specializing in Leadership/Management development, executive coaching, professional development, and performance management. He is a the Human Resources Leadership Association 2008 winner for Innovation and thought leadership in the field of performance management. Visit Brian’s blog for more of his insights by clicking here.