Management Craft

My Interview on Spark Radio - Breakthroughs, Management, Hip and Sage

I had the pleasure of being Melanie's guest on her radio talk show called Spark Radio last night. We talk about a lot of things including management, staying competitive in the workplace, and generating breakthroughs. You can check it out here.

Key Take-Aways from the ASTD International Conference in DC Last Week

I am sorry that I have been a little quiet on this blog recently. I was in DC at the ASTD conference all last week and felt like I was always running from one thing to another. I thought I would take a moment and reflect on the key messages that are sticking with me:

First, although training and development professionals tend to be a bit behind the curve in terms of technology (often encouraged by their IT departments), I found this year's conference, and many of the 8,000 attendees, much more hip and "with it." Excellent! Lots of people were talking about using Web 2.0 for learning and a bunch of people were twittering the conference.

And I was reminded of the kindness of occasional acquaintances. I saw and reconnected with so many cool people and it was good to feel a part of a partner group. I think all professionals should have the opportunity to schmooze with their "kind" (in terms of functional expertise) on a yearly basis. I know that a lot of companies have cut travel budgets but please try to keep some dollars earmarked for professional conferences.

The overwhelming theme I heard at ASTD this year was - get more involved in informal learning. At a great talk by the CLO Sun Microsystems, we learned that 78% of learning is informal. I think we all know that most learning is informal, but this is a big number. AND, the point of knowing this number is to highlight a problem: many training, OD and HR professionals ignore or fail to impact or manage informal learning. Personally, I love working within the informal space, but I have worked for some organizations that thought the bulk of their training dollars and attention ought to go to formal classes.

I attended an awards reception and heard summaries of all the award winners and runners-up. They had done some really cool work making workplace learning pay off in driving organizational excellence. It was interesting that a few organizations were mentioned many times - the US Navy, HP, Sun Microsystems, Santyam, etc... I bet there is more great work goign on in many organizations who don't consider submitting their projects for recognition - might YOU consider sharing your best practices? I chatted with the Navy folks for a while and they were smart and delightful - so sharp and applying their passions to serving the country. Cool.

I saw Marshall Goldsmith talk about Mojo and Keith Ferrazzi talk about support networks. My favorite presenation was the Town Hall type discussion with the lengendary John Kotter. What a lovely, intelligent, and witty sage! He reminded us of the simple but profound nature of true leadership and that leadership occurs throughout our organizations. I got John Kotter to sign a copy of A Sense of Urgency even though I already have a copy (hear my podcast with John Kotter here). One more point about Kotter - he received a lifetime achievement award at the awards reception and he echoed how nice it is to recognize great work and that we ALL ought to do it more often and for great work that occurs throughout our organizations. Agreed.

And one more thing. This is not unique to the ASTD conference, in fact, it seems to occur at ALL conferences. The line at Starbucks was too dang long! Why can't they have more than one location in the conference hall or double the staff? Rediculous long lines. I could walk from the DC conference center to the White House, shake Obama's hand and walk back in less time than it took to get my vente hazelnut latte. Why is that?

Thank you to everyone who attended my session on Hip and Sage. It was very fun for me and I hope you enjoyed it.

Quarterly Newsletter - Next One Coming Out Next Week

If you do not currently get my quarterly newsletter called, Lead Well, please use the link below to sign up. It is free and you don't have to worry about getting spammed all the time. The newsletter comes out every three months.

The content is not a duplication of what's on this blog (although I sometimes revive topics from older posts or build on topics with a new twist). For example, in next week's newsletter, I offer a 45-60 minute exercise you can do to help your managers and leaders see the actions and behaviors they need to take on the build the desired organizational culture. It is a great little tool and you will get it all, including a downloadable handout and facilitation instructions, if you get the newsletter.

Other features of the newsletter include five great questions (that change each time) and a quote of the quarter. This coming issue will also has an article about reputations.

You can sign up here. Select "OD and the Lead Well Newsletter."

Great Stuff from My Online Pals - Dwayne, Deb, Dan, Sharlyn and Wally

It is time for a little link love. Here are several posts or updates worth checking out!

My pal Dwayne over at Geniune Curiosity offers this post called, Two Good Discussion Tools. I love the first set of 2 questions, and I think we should all ask our boss/peer these questions this week. I am not so keen on the second suggestion - I think it is weasel language that people will see through right away. Thoughts?

This sounds fun and helpful: My online pal [and fellow coach and trainer] Deb Owen is offering a cool new course called "Creative Pathways", ideal for thoughtful do-ers who are unclear of what their ideal life looks like – or what steps to take to get there.  If you are ready to figure out what you really want and GO for it, check it out here. She has a great blog called 8 hours and a lunch, too.

Dan, over at Great Leadership offers this post called, The Leader of the Future: 10 Skills to Begin Developing Now. I would bring #10 and put it at the top of the list - this will be what separates the good from the great (now and in the future).

Sharlyn, the HR Bartender, offers this post called Left Behind about what HR types should know and be doing with social media - she also offers several great links. I think we all struggle with how to use these great tools and not get sucked into creating permanent and expanding butt divots on our couches as real life passes us by.

And last but not least, Wally over at 3-Star Leadership offers this dead on provocative post called More Leaders VS Managers Nonsense. You, go, Wally. Wally blasts Warren Bennis and Bennis deserves it. I agree so much with you, Wally, are we twins who were separated at birth?

Those are some tasty tidbits - go read and enjoy. Have a great week.

Lisa's Upcoming Talks

Here are some of the places I will be this summer and Fall. Join in! Also, if you see I am coming to your city and would like to put a talk or training program together, send me an email. This is just a partial list, and I will update it. I have several other talks in the works in conjunction with the launch of Hip and Sage, which comes out in late May.

I have THREE trips planned to DC - I will be speaking at the ASTD International conference May 31-June 3 and then will be back for meetings mid-June and for the two-day Developing Great Managers workshop I am facilitating in late October.

I will be in Chicago July 27 & 28 to facilitate another Developing Great Managers and ASTD is thinking of adding another date in Orlando in December. This is going to be a fun workshop - I hope you can attend.

I have trainings in Leitchfield, KY in mid-may and Streetsboro, OH in mid-June. I will be doing work in Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland this summer. Cleveland again in December.

I will be back in Seattle doing an event for the city June 15. Actually, I will be in Seattle several times over the next few months.

I plan on being in southern California a couple of times in the June-August time frame.

Working on a group of talks in Jacksonville FL this Fall.

Working on a project in Newark, NJ for the Fall. Will likely be in Boston late July.

Others: Albuquerque in July. Bhutan by way of Bankok in November.

Tim Ferris - On TED - Unlocking Learning and Building Excellence

Check out this TED video of Tim Ferris (author of the 4-hour Workweek). I like it because he is a good role model for learning. The difference between success and failure is often who shows up and who sticks with it (and figures out how to do things more simply and directly).

Makes me want to try another approach for getting back to my Spanish - I have 1/2 learned it only about a million times, but am still not fluent. I endeavor to be fluent by the end of the year.

What about at work? Can we apply a different approach to helping people grow and learn at work? Sure, we can. What's the key, the construct, the context, the concept, the model that unlocks understanding? We will never know unless we search and experiment.

Washington DC - Monday Evening Events?

I am in Washington DC this coming Monday and Tuesday for business and my Monday dinner appointment just rescheduled. So, dear readers, help me out. Do you know of any great business events going on in DC or Alexandria this Monday evening? Let me know in the comments or send me an email by clicking on the link in the left column of the blog.

And if I can't find a business event, I would be open for hearing about any great events happening Monday.

Thanks! Lisa Haneberg

Need a Mental Kick? Try TED talks.

I am sure some of you have already found these talks and watch them on a regular basis, but I thought I would share a couple of talks from TED.

Here is one from Barry Schwartz on wisdom.

And here is one on collaboration from Clay Shirky.

Here's what I like about TED talks - they have a similar vibe: short, intelligent, informal, compelling. They are bite-sized ways to keep our brains bubbling. Check TED out and pass the videos along.

And if you are not familiar with TED, here is a brief description from their website:

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

As a leader and manager, what would the "talk of your life" be like? What would you say? On which topics and points would you focus? What's stopping you from giving a Ted-like speech at your next communication meeting (also meaning only 18 minutes long)?

Your Sense of Urgency - Redux, And for Good Reason :-)

I thought it would be a good time to again share the podcast I did with legendary Dr. John Kotter last November about his book, A Sense of Urgency. I love a distinction he makes in the book that matches my experience as a management consultant very well - that we are not necessarily on the same page about what a sense of urgency IS and what it is NOT.

I see:

• People who think long hours in the office indicate sense of urgency.
• People who think a frenetic pace demonstrates a sense of urgency.
• People who think "putting it on my calendar for discussion next week," shows urgency.
• People who think putting items on an action plan somehow magically makes these items a priority.

Of course, none of these are good indicators of a focused sense of urgency.

I got thinking about this topic after a short car ride with another OD professional. As we discussed various work-related topics, I got the impression that he and I had vastly different notions about what it meant to make something a priority. Neither of us are right, by the way, we just have different perspectives. And because we don't work directly together, the differences are OK.

This is important to think about this because I bet that you could find a broad range of perspectives about what it means to demonstrate a sense of urgency and which tasks should be top priority inside your organization. These intra-organizational or intra-team variances make a HUGE difference that can wreck focus and results, especially if they come from team members who work closely together.

So what's the solution? You will be well served to take the time to talk about what a sense of urgency is and is not, and the projects and tasks that you feel deserve immediate, focused, and vigorous attention. Be specific, paint the picture, talk about time lines, and then demonstrate the level of urgency you seek.

And to get you in the mood and started, check out this conversation with Dr. John Kotter. I think you will enjoy this podcast and that it will give you a few great ideas for how to enliven a sense of urgency in your organization.

What is compelling enough for you and your team to do right now? And do well? And do with vigor? And what's important enough for you shove other things aside? And in what ways might you need to demonstrate courage to catalyze a renewed sense of urgency for an important project?

Lisa Joins MPI - I'm a solopreneur no more! The draw and power of "Super Teams"

If you are a regular reader, you may have noticed a few recent changes on this blog, my personal website, and my LinkedIn and Facebook profiles (and now my Twitter page!). For the past six years, I have been doing OD, training, and HR consulting and business writing for my own company, called Haneberg Management. No longer!

I am now part of a larger group of professionals - a great group - called Management Performance International (MPI). I am the Vice President and OD Consulting Practices Lead for MPI and will head up their OD (which includes management and leadership development) operations. MPI is a 30 year old boutique consulting firm headquartered in Cincinnati, OH that has built a strong reputation for offering creative solutions that help their clients get results.

Why the change? Here is a brief story about what I call "Super Teams" and attributes of great teams.

I worked for a durable goods manufacturer early in my career - about 25 years ago. I was the training manager and I worked for the VP of HR and had several HR generalists as peers. There was something about this team that was special. Although we each had our unique tasks to complete, we often talked with and coached each other and we supported each other's larger initiatives. The chemistry was excellent and mutual respect was high amongst all members. As a result and as a team, we got a lot done and had fun doing it. Every one of the key members - all of them - got promoted and then our super team was dispersed.

Since this experience, I have had high ideals for the great work that talented teams can do. My experiences permeate my training programs for senior teams, management teams, and operational teams. And there have been times when I have felt, again, the spark of a super team experience in various jobs I have held over the years.

I know this to be true: We do our best work when we are part of a team that we feel connected to and that we enjoy. We do our best work when we are part of something bigger than ourselves.

Although my individual consulting business has been successful - exceeding my goals most every year, I have been keeping an eye open for that special situation where I could again play full out on a super team. I considered several potential opportunities before I found and joined MPI. From the beginning something felt right about this partnership. I even told Jim Taylor, the CEO of MPI, the first time we spoke that we would either be very "right" for each other or not at all right in terms of fit. 

I am excited about being a part of the MPI team. Everyone in the firm is smart and plays at the top of his or her game. What makes this change particularly positive is that I get to continue to create (and co-create) innovative OD solutions and training programs for organizations - and this is what I love to do. For example, here are just a few of the programs we are cooking up (or have recently cooked up):

Reinventing the Business - a course for managers and leaders. During tough times, leaders need to be able to look critically and creatively at their piece of the business and change it to improve short-term and long term results. This course will offer leaders and managers practice on how to approach reinventing the business and share pitfalls that could get in change's way.

The New Business Acumen - leading through tough times. This course will explain and help develop five skills that managers and leaders need more now than ever. Business acumen is a moving target as the world becomes more global, virtual, competitive, fast, and complex.

High Impact Middle Management. Is your middle management function set up for success? Middle managers can be the engine of the organization, driving results and removing barriers and dysfunction. As the link between strategies and execution, a well tuned and mentally tough middle management team can be a driving force for success and results orientation.

Great Leadership Teams. It is important that senior leaders be effective both as individuals and as a team - especially when the organization needs to make changes to stay competitive. We will offer an innovative and inspiring model for senior team excellence and help leadership teams build six important capabilities.

I have let this post go on too long, I know. Hey, I'm excited! To learn more about the changes and to see my new personal website, click on the links below:

Lisa's personal website

MPI's website

The press release about me joining MPI

One last thing about the blogs. Have you noticed the new posts over at the 2 Weeks 2 a Breakthrough and Hip and Sage blogs? Stay tuned to all three blogs for great posts each week. YES - my blogging will continue and, in fact, it will be better because you will get to read more voices and more provocative perspectives as my colleagues at MPI weigh in on occasion.