This column is about leading change and that's what I elected Barack Obama to do. I am one of the milions of independent voters who embraced Obama in 2008 and still have high hopes for him. Scott Brown is our next message to Washington. I hope Barack is listening.
Absolutely huge amounts of good will, dollars, people, and time are wasted on partisan bickering. The circus in the Congress is a source of constant consternation and pain for those of us who still hold idealism for the highest offices in the land. What we have seen in the first year of our new president is a series of moves that banked on a Democratic Congress. Scott Brown is our wake up call.
It's time for America to get beyond the angry posturing and mud-slinging. One would think the stakes are finally high enough that real work must be done. Stakeholders must be courted regardless of their party. Silos need to be broken down. In the name of our children and the sacred trust of leadership, it is time that consistent, systematic, and far-reaching efforts are put in place to engage all sides in dialogues that matter.
I don't - and I don't think the majority of Americans - trust the US Congress. Obama has to change that if he is to lead this country - it's a Herculean task, and I believe he is up to it. However, it is a feat he has not been able to do as long as the majority are his hometeam.
Obama's recent activity has put too much reliance on support from within his party. He should not be appealing to Democrat majorities, but to honest-to-God engagement with all sides that surfaces the challenges we are facing and frames them in ways that bring people together.
We have sent a signal to Washington from Massachusetts - this is a bellwether move if ever there was one. Get on it, Barack. Bring everyone into the tent. Republicans and Democrats alike - get them all in there. It's time to deal. This is what every good change leader is faced with sooner or later. Your time has come.
The
longer version: I have known Dan Pink just over seven years. In 2002 we
were both designated by the Center for Association Leadership as
Visionaries. As a result, we spent a little time together addressing
executives and met for coffee a couple of times. It has been a pleasure
to watch him take the world stage through his writing and speaking.
It's been a win-win-win: his audience enjoys it, he deserves it, and
the world needs it.
His first best-seller, Free Agent Nation: the Future of Working for Yourself,
alerted us to the decline of the Organization Man and brought us
face-to-face with the replacement model: people of all stripes striking
out on their own, forging their destiny along with their income. He
spotted this trend years ago, wrote about it in 2002. It remains
relevant and an excellent read.
In 2006 he gave us, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the World.
This runaway best seller (WSJ, NYT, Washington Post, BusinessWeek)
describes the new world that is rising up around us along with the core
traits of the creative personalities who are today's most successful
activists, entrepreneurs, economists, trend spotters, and provocateurs.
Just a few days ago he released the next in his series of culture-changing books. It is another jewel. In Drive
he has taken on the essence of human nature and pointed us toward what
really works, which is not what is mostly put into widespread practice.
Further, if we pay attention to what Pink has found and relayed, we may
just have a shot at the creativity and motivation necessary to address
the world's toughest problems.
Here is what is remarkable about
Pink: he does his homework impeccably and then writes about what he
discovers in ways that have the power to transform how we act. Most
important, he does this in entertaining and provocative ways. This
means he actually has a good chance of reaching many people and
changing the way things are done, improving widespread results. Pink is
a social activist par excellence.Drive does not disappoint.
As I write this, I am literally sitting in an aisle of Politics & Prose in Washington, DC, where Dan is speaking to a standing room only crowd. It is the local stop on his ambitious book tour. The crowd is sprinkled with Washington movers and shakers, some of our regional intellectual treasures. Jeneanne Rae, standing next to me, raises her hand and asks Dan, "How
many people in the world today are living in work systems or
relationship systems that are in healthily motivating systems, where
they are fostering their bliss?"
He answers, "It's hard
to say, but data recently came out that says 55% of people are
dissatisfied at work. One of the things we know is that traditional
management is very good at getting compliance, but terrible at getting
engagement. It is interesting to note that while we see engagement
plummeting in the workplace, we see that it is rising elsewhere, for
example, in volunteer activities."
As he fields questions,
one example after another tumbles out of his mouth. Each is both
startling in its simplicity, yet powerful in impact. He is ripe, ready
to share his discoveries.
Pink says tonight, "There is this
notion out there that human beings are essentially lumps, that if we
didn't have carrots and sticks, we would sit around doing nothing. I
don't believe that. That is not human nature. We are active and curious
right out of the box.
"If we go back to our nature, we
will do more extraordinary things - if we could tap this at work, we
could fill our lives and our world with exceptional achievement. More
and more successful companies are not only profit maximizers, they are
purpose maximizers! This is the kind of thing that can make this world
better."
Pink is right. That is what will happen... after everyone reads his book. So, what are you waiting for?
It’s the last day of the year… the decade. It’s time to do something that can only be done once in a lifetime: stand on the shoulders of the last 365 days, or the last 3,650 days, and peer into the future. Where was your initiative a year ago? Where was it ten years ago?
For some of us, it was in full swing. For others, it was just beginning. And for stil others, it was only a glimmer in someone’s eye. Do not look only at how much has been accomplished, but how much the world has changed. There are many factors that lead to this moment.
Joanna Macy, in her book World as Lover World as Self, says, “…things do not produce each other or make each other happen, as in linear causality; they help each other happen by providing occasion or locus or context, and in so doing, they in turn are affected. There is a mutuality here, a reciprocal dynamic. ”
As you look back ask yourself these three questions:
How did this program come to be?
What factors in the environment made it possible?
What new context emerged that gave birth to my initiative as a solution?
Now, transport your answers to today and ask these questions:
What has changed?
What do these circumstances look like today?
How are they the same and how are they different?
And finally, to squint and look into the foggy mystery of tomorrow, ask:
What appears to be forming?
How can my program best address the emerging needs?
What needs to change to sustain relevance?
In your response to these last three questions, you can look keenly into the mist of what is to come, unformed as it is. Today is a day to take stock and peer into the uncertain future. It is also a day to celebrate the achievements of the past. Tonight the two will meet on the bridge of a new dawn. Happy New Year!
Seth Kahan (Seth@VisionaryLeadership.com)
is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and
executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell,
World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of
Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike
Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder
of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a year-long learning experience for
CEOs in Washington, DC. His next book, Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out, will be published in May 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blogs, GettingChangeRight.com for content from his upcoming book, and FreelanceFortune.com for techniques on how to succeed as a free agent. Follow Seth on Twitter and learn more about Seth's work at VisionaryLeadership.com
Michael Margolis is a story/brand/marketing expert with the emphasis on story. He once brought me in to an engagement he had with an international hotel, helping revitalize the brand of one of their chains by doing a customized story assessment - an amazing process in which he applies the elements of story to understand and evaluate the brand's mythology. It was powerful and had immediate, positive impact, improving the client's situation.
Michael recently authored, Believe Me: Why Your Vision, Brand, and Leadership Need a Bigger Story, a story manifesto he is using to kick off a global campaign to make 2010, The Year of the Big Story. To be part of his master plan, visit his site and sign up. When you do, you will immediately be taken to a page where you can help yourself to a free download of his book - Merry Xmas from Michael! You can also order it from Amazon if you prefer to go that route.
Believe Me is yet another example of Michael's genius. Act 1 is called, How Ideas Become Reality, which in itself is worth the price of admission. In it, Michael says,
"The value of narrative exists far beyond just an investor pitch, illustrative vignette, or inspired speech. The stories we choose literally make our world. Our identities, our beliefs, and our values all live and breathe in the matrix of stories. It's the prima materia of how each perceive reality - our culture's collective agreements. A search for answers begins to show how the dots are connected. It is not hard to see the huge implications of storytelling in an increasingly brand-driven, and experience-based economy. It's all about the stories."
He goes on to address big topics like Disbelief, Culture, Leadership, Change, Identity, Evolution, and Prophesy. If you are looking for something to activate the big thinker in you, or simply ready to tune in to a broad frequency of perception, pick up Margolis' book. As Michael is fond of saying, Get Storied!
Seth Kahan (Seth@VisionaryLeadership.com) is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell, World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a year-long learning experience for CEOs in Washington, DC. His next book, Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out, will be published in Spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blogs, GettingChangeRight.com for content from his upcoming book, and FreelanceFortune.com for techniques on how to succeed as a free agent. Follow Seth on Twitter. Learn more about Seth's work at VisionaryLeadership.com
You must engage in periodic strategic reflection. It is the only way to consistently increase your effectiveness. After all, you are the only one who lives your life, knows your experience, and is capable of truly changing yourself for the better. The end-of-the-year is the perfect time for strategic reflection. The calendar's conclusion is a natural time to look back.
Here are five simple and effective ways to make the most of December's end to improve your life and business:
1. Do a Day-by-day Review of the Year. I pull out my calendar for the past year and write down every engagement I had, listing them all on a single sheet of paper. For each I include (a) the length or date of the engagement, (b) my client's name, and (c) what I earned. Then, I look at the whole sheet and ask myself what I want to do more of and what I want to do less of. I put little pluses (+) next to those that represent what I want to do more of. This is part one of my New Year Strategy.
2. Identify A New Area You Want to Master. Two years ago it was writing for me. I found writing a challenge, difficult. My first 1400 word article ruined a perfectly good week-long vacation with my wife. I really struggled. But, I knew that writing was an important way to communicate and I determined that I would master it. Today I write 12 blog posts per week in less than 3 hours, keep a personal poetry journal, publish the FreelanceFortune newsletter twice per month, and I just finished the final edit of my first commercially published book, coming out this May. I wrote the book in 2 1/2 months of disciplined writing, about 90 minutes in the morning 5-6 days/week. It is not always easy. But, I have watched myself improve steadily. I am not yet where I want to be, but I have made real progress. What will you choose? Pick something that you want to master and make the commitment. This is part two of my New Year Strategy.
3. Identify Your Business Growth Intentions for the First Half of the Next Year. I like to work with a six-month timeline because I find it manageable. In order to achieve my goals I have 2-3 months to ramp up and 3-4 months to get results. In the second half of 2009 I focused on reaching two groups: association CEOs and Independent Consultants. I now have significant and growing penetration with both. What are your growth intentions for the first half of 2010? This is part three of my New Year Strategy.
4. Use Downtime over the Holidays to Reflect. I count on slow moments, naps, reading quietly, early morning walks, bird watching, and special times with family to bring me the distance and peaceful joy I need to take a wider view of life. I look forward to these personal experiences, knowing their power to be both immense and subtle.
5. On New Year's Day Create a 2-page Document that Pulls All This Together:
The one-page list of all your engagements
A new area to master
Business growth intentions for the next six months
Personal reflections on life
This short doc is a great reference for gong forward. There is something powerful about the simple act of documenting your intentions. In fact, each of these five simple acts is profound in its impact and the synergy of the collection is extraordinary. Time to reflect and listen to your inner wisdom is irreplaceable - you must do it. To achieve an exceptional life, reflection is mandatory. The time when the end of one year meets the beginning of another is perfectly fitted for it.
This work is deep and elemental, with a quiet power. Draw on the natural rhythm of the calendar and use it to your benefit.
Seth Kahan (Seth@VisionaryLeadership.com) is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell, World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a year-long learning experience for CEOs in Washington, DC. His next book, Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out, will be published in Spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blogs, GettingChangeRight.com for content from his upcoming book, and FreelanceFortune.com for techniques on how to succeed as a free agent. Follow Seth on Twitter. Learn more about Seth's work at VisionaryLeadership.com
According to then World Bank president Jim Wolfensohn, communities were “the heart and soul” of the bank’s Knowledge Management (KM) initiative in the mid-1990s. Inside the bank, we called them Thematic Groups.
I was on the team that championed KM and when we started the initiative, we found five communities inside the organization that had figured out how to survive despite what I would call a community-toxic environment—one that was hostile to groups of people getting together outside the hierarchy to discuss what mattered most.
Our team saw the potential in what were then being calledcommunities of practice, a new idea that identified the power in groups of people who share a common set of goals. We set about building a community-friendly environment, and within two years the organization had over 120 communities.
People everywhere were advancing KM in the course of their work. Best of all, there was almost complete alignment. This means they thought not so much about KM but about what they wanted to achieve in the context of Knowledge Management.
By virtue of the ways communities operate, they pushed forward on thousands of fronts simultaneously, shifting the culture and taking the people along with it. This was a mighty force, accelerating change not just within the organization but also throughout the world because many of the bank’s communities crossed the organizational boundary.
Imagine this working for you: a new kind of community in which people work together with colleagues, stakeholders, business partners, and in some cases even competitors to share what they know, achieving results far beyond what any one person can accomplish alone.
Members determine the community’s concerns, representing their combined interests and goals. This is where the value resides.
The concerns of the World Bank’s Highways Thematic Group included everything from the deterioration of asphalt in high humidity to the development of intelligent policy for using roads to enhance economic development, and everything in between. For this community to be happy, healthy, and productive, they needed to be sharing experience, know-how, and information on highways. They wanted to see the impact of their work on knowledge in their field. Very little could come between them and these activities, or they would quickly become concerned that their community was deteriorating.
Here are three ways to channel your community's value to serve your business
1. Create a statement of purpose and a set of goals tied directly to community concerns. These are all effective forms of a community mandate. The process of creating the mandate is an exercise in itself. Valuable issues will be raised, such as, Who is in and who is out? What constitutes progress? What are the limits of our reach?
2. Anchor all activities specified in the document to the community's concerns. For example, it is not enough to specify, “Build a Web site. ” The value of the Web site needs to be primary(that is, more important than the site itself). Instead, the activity should be specified in this way: “We will build the relationships among our members, improving our capacity to share what we know and contribute to the field. This includes the development of a Web site that will provide a directory to all of our members as well as an initial document repository for papers past and present. ”
3. Use the community mandate as a tool. Turn to it to periodically evaluate progress and raise issues of innovation, new circumstances, trends, and expanded or contracted scope.
Seth Kahan (Seth@VisionaryLeadership.com) is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell, World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a year-long learning experience for CEOs in Washington, DC. His next book, Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out, will be published in Spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blogs, GettingChangeRight.com for content from his upcoming book, and FreelanceFortune.com for techniques on how to succeed as a free agent. Follow Seth on Twitter. Learn more about Seth's work at VisionaryLeadership.com.
It is my pleasure to introduce guest blogger, James Allan. Enjoy his post below! -Seth Kahan
Visionary leaders have the ability to look into the future and create a map to a new area. Then, they get others to follow until the vision is a reality.
Terry Matthews is, by all rights, a visionary leader. He co-founded Mitel in 1972, and led it to a huge buyout by British Telecom in 1986. He then founded Newbridge Networks, and again turned his magic into a 7 billion dollar buyout by Alcatel in 2001.
He told his children that if they provide for their family, then they’re doing a wonderful thing. If they create a business which provides for many families, then they’re doing a truly great thing.
But this visionary leader is not satisfied merely manifesting his own visions. He has helped to create many more visionary leaders through his affiliate program. He has so far created 86 new businesses through this program, with an incredible success record: only 4 have failed.
So what system has the Welsh billionaire, who has earned his living in Ottawa, Canada, for the last 40 years, used to create this amazing record?
1.Get a Strong Leadership Team. Mr. Matthews doesn’t like to leave too much up to chance. Getting a strong leadership team means the deck is loaded in favor of early success. Not only does he want a committed management team, he also wants to have a strong board of directors to assist the management team as needed.
2.Hire New Grads. Since 1990, young people have had an incredibly hard time finding full time work. This is not due to Terry Matthews. He loves them fresh out of school. Their energy, enthusiasm, never-say-die attitudes and lack of external commitments are the perfect ingredient for start-ups. Once the leaders are ready, he lets the new grads go wild with the ideas they have.
3.Connect With Customers Early. Terry re-purchased Mitel back in 2001, and now can count on a global base of customers to connect the affiliate companies with. He’s got every vertical covered: hotels, schools, telecom, retail, beverage companies, etc. It’s important to connect with customers early so the technology stays focused. As well, cash flow is good for both employees and investors.
4.Let Employees Share in the Success. Mr. Matthews believes in allowing employees to be owners as well. His companies often distribute stock options to employees so that they can gain financially when the company does well.
5.Report to Shareholders Quarterly. Rather than hiding bad news, Mr. Matthews insists that employees and shareholders are kept up to date on successes and failures of the company. He believes that at least once every three months, those with a vested interest in the company should know the status.
6.Timing is Everything. You can’t go back to a customer a year after they’ve made a major purchase, and tell them you’ve got something better today. Mr. Matthews was infamous at Newbridge Networks for turning out requested technology with incredible speed, if it would attract key customers into long-term relationships.
Terry Matthews has created a system to allow visionary leaders to flourish. His system has turned the statistics (80% of most companies fail in 5 years) on their head. With technology being developed at breakneck speed, his record of turning out successful technology companies is even more incredible. But does he even think of resting on his laurels? Not a chance. He loves what he’s doing, and he’s enriching the business community while doing it.
Sources: http://www.vimeo.com/5064860, « Innovation in Tough Times with Sir Terry Matthews », MaRS Discovery District
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James Allan is President of SHM Consulting, a firm devoted to improving human and organizational performance. Clients include Cisco Systems, Costco Wholesale, TD Ameritrade and the Montreal Canadiens. Visit his website at http://www.shmconsulting.net.
Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. – John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the USA
It’s easy to believe in the status quo. The existing state of affairs can seem so intractable. Forces can feel beyond your control or ability to influence in any way. Yet, that is exactly what leaders seek to do: change the future. And to do that, they invent it.
Inventing the future sounds like a mysterious and magical process, but actually each of us is engaged in this activity every day. The problem is that most of us invent a future that matches our yesterday. We take the past, and believing it to be the way things are and have to be, we reinforce it with our expectations and behavior.
There is another path. Here are four ways to create a better future: 1. Invent What You Know to be Possible.
It should be possible to master supply chain and logistics management to create an Internet buying experience that beats bricks-and-mortar. All the pieces are there. Jeff Bezos put them together.
When everyone else was skeptical and he lost money year-after-year, he did not deviate from what he knew to be true. Now he has succeeded.
Answer this question:What future is calling to me that requires my participation to emerge?
2. Where There is Pain, Go for Gain.
For decades economic development was measured only in numbers. Though agencies trotted out spreadsheets to prove their effectiveness, all it took was a visit to a school, a hospital, a home, to see if real progress was being made.
Jim Wolfensohn was president of the World Bank when he introduced the Comprehensive Development Framework that gave equal weight to social indicators.
At first he was chided for his naïveté. Then, he was told it wasn’t his idea. Through his persistence social indicators are now de rigueur and today the world is one giant step closer to measuring success by the smile on a child’s face.
Answer this question:Where have we failed that we now know enough to succeed?
3. Put Your Resources Where It Makes a Difference.
What are you working for? Do you spend more of your income propping up your mortgage company than building the future our children will inherit? Take a look at your bank register to find out.
Lynne Twist, a founding executive of the Hunger Project, pioneered a new wealth paradigm that helps ordinary people invest in what they care most deeply about. Her work has brought her shoulder-to-shoulder with Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama as well as corporate giants.
Answer this question:What am I spending my life on that is worth such a high investment?
4. Use Your Mind's Innate Power
Look around you. Chances are almost everything you see was invented by a human being: your clothes, the chair you are sitting in, the art on your wall, the computer at your desk, the vehicles that surge around you. At one time, they were only a thought in someone’s mind.
Physicist, David Bohm, recognized the power of thought to construct our world and spent the last years of his life urging people to develop mental proprioception.
It is proprioception that allows you to know your hand is clenched when you make a fist behind your back. You can’t see it, but you can feel it. Bohm was concerned that people did not know what their minds were doing, and that humanity was wreaking havoc by blundering around in unquestioned mental constructs.
When you appreciate how much of our world first sprang from the imagination of others, you see the great power of thought to bring new forms into the world. This happens when you dream, think, discuss, and imagine.
Answer this question:Where is my attention and where could it be?
The future is not certain. If it were, we’d all be at the race tracks. Yet, day-to-day most of us behave as if the possibilities were limited. The future belongs to those who know otherwise. For our children’s sake, join their ranks.
Seth Kahan (Seth@VisionaryLeadership.com) is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell, World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a year-long learning experience for CEOs in Washington, DC. His next book, Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out, will be published in Spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blogs, GettingChangeRight.com for content from his upcoming book, and FreelanceFortune.com for techniques on how to succeed as a free agent. Follow Seth on Twitter. Learn more about Seth's work at VisionaryLeadership.com
It is my pleasure to introduce guest blogger, Andrea Meyer. Enjoy her post below! -Seth Kahan
Many leaders are described as "visionary" -- I'm always curious as to how they got that way. Is it something they're born with, or something we can we all learn? I had a chance to participate in a Silicon Flatirons Q&A with media mogul Ted Turner as we probed this question with Ted.
Before CNN, people didn't think that a 24-hour-a-day news channel was viable. How did Ted prove them wrong? "It helps to see over the horizon," Ted said. "Most people can't do it, but I think your brain is like a muscle. And just like any other muscle, you can use it and your brain will improve."
Ted elaborated: "I have a 128 IQ, but 140 is genius. I was in the 97th percentile, so that means 3 percent of people were smarter than me. I knew I was going to have to work hard if I wanted to accomplish something in life. So I read a lot -- classics, warfare, Alexander the Great -- I used my brain all the time. Everything I did was education. Others just shot the breeze, wasted time -- nothing wrong with that, but you can't get to the top doing that."
Ted's answer points to a combination of aptitude and hard work. (I think it's interesting that Ted thought being in the 97th percentile meant he'd have to work hard if he wanted to accomplish something -- it reminded me of Andy Grove's "only the paranoid survive" philosophy.)
What did Ted see over the horizon? As Ted described it, the idea for CNN was born of his own desire to stay on top of the news but, as a busy executive, not having time to watch the news during the two times a day it was on during the 1970s. "I knew I was gambling with CNN, but I knew it would work," Ted said. "At the time, the news came on at 6:30 and again at 11pm. I never saw the news -- it was inconvenient. I knew that having news on 24 hours a day so you could check in anytime was something that people would want."
Beyond CNN, Ted was also working to build a multichannel universe. CNN fit into this universe perfectly. In the 1970s, three broadcast networks -- ABC, NBC and CBS -- controlled the programming people could see. For example, sports games across the country were televized, but they couldn't be seen outside the local area because the broadcasters had a monopoly. "The broadcasters had carved up the games," Ted said, dividing the NFL, AFL and Monday Night Football between them. "Everyone paid the same prices and made the same profit. All three networks were happy, but I wasn't happy" -- customers weren't being served, and incumbents had no incentive to change.
This is where Ted's reading and habit of learning came into play again. "It was in early 1975 that I saw an article about communications satellites in Broadcasting magazine," Ted recalled. Reading the article, Ted realized that he could use one satellite "antenna" in space to cover all of North America. He'd found a way to compete with the established networks.
There'd be more hard work along the way -- "We sweated payroll for ten years," Ted said -- but Ted relished the challenges. "The way to lead is with infectious enthusiasm, get everyone enthusiastic about what we're doing."
Call Me Ted, by Ted Turner and Bill Burke, Grand Central Publising, 2008
Andrea Meyer researches and writes about innovative people and companies. She tailors actionable ideas to clients' specific situations. Author of more than 450 company case studies and contributor to 28 books, she creates custom content for websites, blogs and executive education courses. Her clients include MIT, Harvard Business School, McKinsey & Co., and Forrester Research. Visit her blog, Working Knowledge® and follow Andrea on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AndreaMeyer
Do
you have a message deep in your soul that you need help getting out into the
world? Do you have a calling, a vision that you want to articulate with more
power? Do you want to learn how to express your inner intents in ways that
effectively communicate while at the same time motivating people to act? Then,
I have the book for you: Transformational Speaking - If You Want to Change
the World, Tell a Better Story by
Gail Larsen.
This
is no ordinary book, but an alchemical read that will transform your
relationship to your voice via the deepest stirrings of your soul. Larsen
combines her personal insights - she is former Executive VP of the National
Speakers Association - with a distinctly spiritual approach to help you explore
and uncover your most compelling material. She also provides valuable guidance
on execution. From her point of view technique is always second to the
inner resource from which your authentic self emanates.
Gail
said to me recently, I worked to
structure the book so it doesn't begin with tools and techniques. Until we do
the inner work, it is difficult to show up in a whole and confident way. Even
though that work takes some time and investigation, I think it's absolutely necessary
if we're going to bring the fullness of who we are to the speaking platform.
So, I started the book by going to the heart of transformational speaking,
which is literally in the heart.
I found tremendous resource in indigenous
teachings and I share these in the book. I find these concepts, like original medicine, so helpful to
people. Once someone can put their words around their core impetus and stand in
their power, they are less likely to shrink when they step up to the stage. I
teach a creative process that allows what we care deeply about to come up
naturally. Then it can surprise us! Material we have yet to make conscious is
often the best we have to give. Great speaking to me doesn't come from
dictation from an old mindset. Instead it allows life to move through us, to
speak not only from what we have prepared but also to trust what emerges in the
moment.
Gail highlights something that is
rarely talked about - the inner resource that informs our words, our actions.
Her book is less about technique and product. It is much more about learning
how to tap into the inner source of creativity that gives expression through
the spoken word. If you are looking for a journey that leads to better
expression from the platform, or anywhere else you happen to be standing, this
book is your ticket.
Seth Kahan (Seth@VisionaryLeadership.com)
is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and
executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell,
World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of
Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike
Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder
of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a year-long learning experience for
CEOs in Washington, DC. His next book, Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out, will be published in Spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blogs, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the upcoming book and FreelanceFortune.com for tips on how to succeed as a free agent. Follow Seth on Twitter. Learn more about Seth's work at VisionaryLeadership.com
Seth Kahan
has consulted for leaders in over 50 world-class organizations that
include Shell, World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, Project
Management Institute, and NASA. His next book, Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out, will be published in May 2010. Visit his other blogs, GettingChangeRight.com, helping leaders with change, and FreelanceFortune.com for techniques on how to succeed as a free agent. Read him in the Washington Post On Success. Follow Seth on Twitter and learn more about Seth's consulting at VisionaryLeadership.com.
The short review: buy this book now, read it, talk about it with others, and pass it on. Get it here, 
Michael recently authored, Believe Me: Why Your Vision, Brand, and Leadership Need a Bigger Story, a story manifesto he is using to kick off a global campaign to make 2010, The Year of the Big Story. To be part of his master plan, 
Visionary leaders have the ability to look into the future and create a map to a new area. Then, they get others to follow until the vision is a reality. 
James Allan is President of SHM Consulting, a firm devoted to improving human and organizational performance. Clients include Cisco Systems, Costco Wholesale, TD Ameritrade and the Montreal Canadiens. Visit his website at 
Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. – John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the USA
It should be possible to master supply chain and logistics management to create an Internet buying experience that beats bricks-and-mortar. All the pieces are there. Jeff Bezos put them together.
For decades economic development was measured only in numbers. Though agencies trotted out spreadsheets to prove their effectiveness, all it took was a visit to a school, a hospital, a home, to see if real progress was being made. 
What are you working for? Do you spend more of your income propping up your mortgage company than building the future our children will inherit? Take a look at your bank register to find out. 
Look around you. Chances are almost everything you see was invented by a human being: your clothes, the chair you are sitting in, the art on your wall, the computer at your desk, the vehicles that surge around you. At one time, they were only a thought in someone’s mind.
Many leaders are described as "visionary" -- I'm always curious as to how they got that way. Is it something they're born with, or something we can we all learn? I had a chance to participate in a Silicon Flatirons Q&A with media mogul Ted Turner as we probed this question with Ted. 
Andrea Meyer researches and writes about innovative people and companies. She tailors actionable ideas to clients' specific situations. Author of more than 450 company case studies and contributor to 28 books, she creates custom content for websites, blogs and executive education courses. Her clients include MIT, Harvard Business School, McKinsey & Co., and Forrester Research. Visit her blog, 
This
is no ordinary book, but an alchemical read that will transform your
relationship to your voice via the deepest stirrings of your soul. Larsen
combines her personal insights - she is former Executive VP of the National
Speakers Association - with a distinctly spiritual approach to help you explore
and uncover your most compelling material. She also provides valuable guidance
on execution. From her point of view technique is always second to the
inner resource from which your authentic self emanates.
