Team Dynamics Articles

Your Stories, Your Culture

Author: Paul Dillenburg, Date: 9/21/2010

In the course of our work, we are asked to assess organizational culture. Common areas we focus on in our assessment of the organization are the elements of culture. While there are a number of elements, one I’ve found particularly interesting is organizational stories. Stories are defined as the written or spoken accounts that take a variety of forms including legends, myths, and sagas. These may be “official” accounts or “unwritten rules” about what it is like to work at the organization. They are the “physical” descriptions of culture that are passed from employee to employee that help define what the organization is all about. To help define what it means to work in your organization, think about the following:

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Adapting for Success

Author: Diane Hamilton, Date: 9/14/2010

When communicating with others, one of the key ways to increase effectiveness is to learn how to adapt your own style to meet the needs of the other individual. I spend a lot of time coaching people on adaptability. One of the most consistent themes in 360 feedback surveys is that managers need to do a better job adapting their style to meet the needs of other people (in particular their direct reports and peers). This is a critical leadership skill. To be influential, you need to master it. (We can’t expect them to meet our needs). Successful leaders learn this early on.

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Play to Your Team’s Strengths

Author: Paul Dillenburg, Date: 9/7/2010

Not long ago, I re-read an article written by Jim Collins, author of Good to Great (and other thought provoking books). In the article, Jim paid homage to one of his mentors, Peter Drucker. Peter, of course, has had a huge influence on the world of business and the subject of leadership. One point Jim highlighted was that Peter Drucker always felt results came from building on a strength versus putting all your energy into shoring up a weakness. As I thought about this point, I began to think about how managers often spend an inordinate amount of time on their weakest team members. Think of all the energy that goes into feedback, coaching, corrective actions, performance reviews, and performance plans. Are you focusing on your team’s “weaknesses”? You yourself may be in charge of a team member that can’t seem to “keep up” to the standards you have set. How much of your time is spent with this individual in any given week or month? How much of your “face time” with team members is spent with your poor performers? Is all the time you are spending making your team better? Is it making your poor performer better?

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How Do Others Respond to You?

Author: Paul Dillenburg, Date: 8/24/2010

I was recently directed to a book by Dr. Albert Mehrabian, a communications researcher at UCLA. In his book, Silent Messages, Dr. Mehrabian outlines the way individuals respond to the messages they receive from others. According to the research, the way people respond to you is broken down as follows: 55% is based on your facial cues, 38% is based on your tone, and 7% is based on the information you provide.

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Work/Life Balance… Work Hard, Play Hard

Author: Diane Hamilton, Date: 8/3/2010

Work/life balance is something many of us struggle with. Late nights at the office. Evening work once the family goes to bed. Or, weekend work just to keep up. I profess to regularly having “work/life balance” as a goal on my development plan.

Since I have always enjoyed work, I don’t mind working long hours; I truly believe that if you are passionate about what you do, work can be part of your life’s mission. That being said, I think it is important to make sure that there is plenty of time for family, play, volunteering, and just plain relaxation. I was reminded of how to do this when I attended a conference recently and heard Dr. Jim Goodnight speak on the issue of work/life balance.

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Beyond the Jargon – A Blog by Calibra

Author: btj-admin, Date: 7/13/2010

Welcome to “Beyond the Jargon,” a blog by Calibra. Over the years we have provided coaching, training, and consulting to thousands of leaders and managers at all levels in organizations—senior level executives, mid-level managers, and frontline supervisors. We have learned as much from them as they have hopefully learned from us. What many have told us is, “this stuff should be so simple” (meaning the concept of leadership; providing vision and clear direction; the basic principles of communication; giving candid feedback; and, coaching openly and honestly). Then, they add, “but, it’s not easy!”

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