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Roger Ingbretsen Articles
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Resistance to Change Is a Fact of Life. - Click To Read Article The stress faced by workers is substantial. For many workers, it is intrinsic to the job itself, where competing demands and pressures cannot be escaped. The sheer volume of work can also be overwhelming at times, whether one is a social worker, teacher, doctor, sales person, factory worker, supervisor or manager. Anyone in this kind of job knows, either from their own direct experience or from observing colleagues, that stress can have very serious consequences. Those With the Best Talent Win - Click To Read Article In a talent war there’s only one way win. And that is to hire and retain the best talent! Can you imagine a sports coach hiring average talent! As a manager you need to develop a real distaste for average. Board Basics for Non-Profits - Click To Read Article For most non-profit boards, governance remains simply a series of routines such as overseeing budgets, receiving audits, hearing reports, approving strategic plans, and so on. This is the traditional thinking that guides most non-profit boards. If boards are to be successful this approach must change. The board is where corporate policy is made, where project priorities and goals are set, where capital (yes, nonprofits have capital) is allocated and where the values of the organization and the community it serves are exemplified. Why Succession Planning - Click To Read Article Succession planning is not just a nice thing to do, but rather it is a necessary process that should be in place to protect the overall health of the organization – big or small. Who is going to step into your shoes when you get promoted, have a major medical problem or leave the organization? What is your retention strategy for the individuals who are important to the success of your organization? How to Build a Great Team - Click To Read Article Success in the workplace is no different than success in sports. It’s about having the best talent and using that talent, knowledge, skill and strength in the right place at the right time so you and your team can win the game. Do you know who your best talent is? Have you told them? Are you taking care of them? If not…Why not? Delegation - Click To Read Article As you step into a leadership role, your job is to get things done through others. But what if they don’t do it correctly? Or they may not get it done on time and now you are still responsible when they mess up. Yes… just like the coach of a sports team, you are putting your future in the hands of others. It can get pretty scary. Sometimes it might seem easier just to do it yourself. And, that’s the trap. It might be safer to do it yourself, but like the sports coach you cannot get it all done by yourself. Delegation (or coaching) is the only answer. Leadership Its All About People - Click To Read Article This brief overview of leadership is designed to paint an overall picture of what it is going to take for leaders to advance the performance of an organization from good to great. You will no doubt use much of what is provided in this article plus add your specific talents and strengths to the leadership equation. This is how it should be as there is not a magic formula for leadership in today’s complex environment. The key is to absorb all that is presented in this article and other books on leadership and connect with what works best for you in the context of your organizations’ strategy of developing great leadership capabilities. Conflict Resolution - Click To Read Article Most conflict is not right or wrong, it just is. It is a natural reaction when we or others feel challenged, pressured or threatened. Conflict is indeed needed to help individuals and organization grow, develop and mature. There are several basic needs such as security, identity, self-actualization, bonding and recognition that result in conflict and drive the need for conflict resolution. Organizational Cultural Values to Consider - Click To Read Article Every organization has a culture, the way things get done, how people react and how people are treated. Most organizations do not spend time truly creating a desired culture, but rather, leave its creation to chance. Oh there may be statements on the wall that were created at a one day off-site meeting, but sadly they remain just that...statements. This article provides insight into "values" which can be used to begin the process of truly creating the culture which will best serve your organization. The Art of Effective Listening - Click To Read Article Listening is a very attribute for all of us to have or at the very least be working on. Listening is especially a key skill for individuals in a Leadership role because of the complexities of today's work environment Sustainability Growth and Talent Are Key - Click To Read Article All organizational stakeholders need to be thinking and driving toward the big picture, while still mastering the details. With this objective in mind, the organization must also build a dream team of talent. This allows the organization to be both compliance (sustainable) and performance (growth) oriented. Organizational Excellence - Click To Read Article Excellence everywhere does not just happen simply because an organization has a good product or offers a needed service. The underlying purpose of all organizational actions must have excellence built into them. It must become “how we collectively do things.” Why Invest In Leadership Development - Click To Read Article There is a growing leadership crisis in America. Large numbers of "baby boomer's" are reaching retirement age. As a country we decimated mid-level management for the past several decades. We did not spend the time, money and effort to groom the next generation of leaders. Many organizations will now have to play catchup if they are going to have the leadership to remain competitive. Leadership or executive coaching is a viable path forward. Aggressive Recruiting And Retention - Click To Read Article Recruiting and retention are one of the major concerns of organizations of all types and size. It will take new ways and much more aggressive action to hire and retain the talent required to be remain competitive in today's environment. Develop Your Executive Presence - Click To Read Article Individuals in an executive position should develop their executive presence (a person’s manner of carrying themselves) if they want to be more successful. Certain characteristics and behaviors are signs of executive presence and can be developed. Attitude Have It Hire It - Click To Read Article Attitude is one of the most important traits you need to develop and one of the most important traits to look for in hiring and promoting people. It is virtually impossible to fix a bad attitude. “CHANGE! – Need I Say Anymore!” - Click To Read Article As we navigate the 21st century, the workplace landscape will be littered with ambiguity, revolutionary change and opportunity. Many businesses will perish because they find themselves unable to constantly adapt to the environment within which they exist. Others will do well because they are ready to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves. The same will hold true for you the individual. Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time. What we want is for things to remain the same...But change and get better. A “Knowledge Strategy” For Your Organization - Click To Read Article A knowledge strategy is of critical importance to the overall strategy of an organization. It is our collective organizational knowledge that gives us the edge over our competition. “Brain is in… brawn is out.” An organization should determine the value of its collective intellectual capital and market it! How to Encourage Inclusiveness and Diversity - Click To Read Article Diversity is much more than a program, hiring a few people of different gender or ethnic backgrounds or allowing a few diverse opinions to surface from time to time. It is actively searching out and embracing the uniqueness, strengths and talents of all people, so the organization can have a collective impact on the greater good of the individual, organization, customer and the community. Break The Rules - Think, And Be Adaptive - Click To Read Article Organizations and their leadership must be prepared to throw away their insecurities and embrace new unconventional thinking. They must do this to deal more effectively with situations, which are complex, ever-changing, and for the most part uncontrollable. Mark McCormack states it very nicely in his book What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School, when he says, “Have you noticed that the best-run companies all seem to be managed unconventionally?” He goes on to state, “Their success is attributed to breaking the rules, not following them. Inspired Leadership at All Levels - Click To Read Article In a traditional organization, followers look to, and expect, their leaders to set direction, lead change and in general have all the answers on how to run the organization. However, in many of our organizational tasks, the line between leader and follower is a blur because of the complexity of situations and the need for quick decisions. Beliefs, Feelings, Emotions: Leaders They Must Be Understood By Leaders - Click To Read Article One of the characteristics needed in the new complex work environment is having the wisdom and broad perspective to see the big picture. By seeing the interrelationships of beliefs,feelings and emotions, rather than linear cause-effect chains and by seeing the overall processes required to accomplish the end rather than snap shots in a vacuum, most people will have a stronger and more valid belief in what he or she is doing. They will feel more connected and be better prepared to emotionally support the organizational effort. The Soft Side of Managing Talent is About Making Hard Choices - Click To Read Article One of the greatest barriers to optimum team performance is having people on the team that are not capable of pulling their weight. Keeping the wrong people around is unfair to the right people because they see their hard work impeded by those who cannot or will not perform as needed. Customer Service, Customer Satisfaction - Click To Read Article Customer attraction, satisfaction and retention, to knowledge, products and services (both internal and external) are driven by the customer’s perception of the value of the offerings relative to the competition. They are also driven by the connection the customer makes to the “real” or practiced organizational culture. Do they like doing business with the organization? What Can Managers Do To Instill Excellence - Click To Read Article Excellence everywhere does not just happen simply because an organization has a good product or offers a needed service. The underlying purpose of all organizational actions must have excellence built into them. It must become “how we collectively do things.” UNDERSTANDING YOUR ROLE AS LEADER - Click To Read Article The purpose of this article is to help you develop an awareness of your role as a leader. Unlike the typical role of a manager, leaders are expected to have a greater impact. Knowing how effective leaders think and act can help you the manager communicate more effectively with the key leaders in your organization and also communicate the desires of the leader to those who report to you. Powerful Presentation Strategies - Click To Read Article Learn how to prepare for presentations that will have impact on your audience. Presentations can be a big time waster or a highly effective way to disseminate information. Effective presentation skills can enhance your effectiveness as a leader and manager. Challenging the Status Quo - Click To Read Article Challenging the status quo receives its first life when there is a recognized awareness of the need to change. The individual and the organization must see itself differently and from a perspective that points to a definite need to change. This typically begins to happen when we question the premise upon which we have viewed ourselves in the past, ask thought provoking questions, and then begin to support formulating a new direction for the future. Continual Process Improvement - Click To Read Article Organizations need to look at challenging the status quo as a way forward, the pursuit of fresh, innovative ideas, and a process to develop both the individual and collective organization agility. Challenging the status quo is a way to embrace change, and facilitate the endless search for new possibilities. How to Develop a Commitment to Teamwork - Click To Read Article To be most effective teamwork needs to be embraced in principle and in practice through mutual support, encouragement and accountability, believing that by working together as a team and sharing knowledge, the organization can achieve much greater results than by working as individuals. Commitment: It Must Be Leveraged by the Organization - Click To Read Article Commitment is that attitude which if employed in an orchestrated strategy, with highly capable well-trained people, and led by obsessive visionaries (leaders), can be the power, which assures success in almost any venture. To be most effective, commitment should start at the top. In his book Firing On All Cylinders, author Jim Clemmer states, “It’s not enough for senior executive team members to be “committed” to service/quality improvement; they must be visibly seen to be obsessed with this as their top priority.” Change: Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! - Click To Read Article Change can exhibit itself in many different forms and in many different ways. A thing, system, process, etc., can be altered, converted or replaced by giving it a different form through transformation, reengineering or reinventing. The reason for change occurring can also be reactive or proactive. The point being, change has become our constant companion in many different forms and from many different directions. Those people and organizations that can develop the capacity to undergo spontaneous change will most likely be the ones who will be best prepared for the future. Business Knowledge to Shape Your Future - Click To Read Article We are living in a “customer driven economy.” People are walking into car dealerships with an internet invoice price list in hand and stating what they will pay for a vehicle and in some cases stating exactly how they want the vehicle equipped and when they want it. In this new environment; Time – want it now, Money – want it cheap, and Quality – expect it in product, sale and service, is the admission price to do business. The Future Workplace - Click To Read Article Where and how people work in the future will have little resemblance of what we have today. A crystal ball view of the future does not exist, but many forces will dramatically change the workplace. For sure, organizations will go through constant experimentation as they struggle to stay competitive. What will appear chaotic to some – specifically those presently employed – will seem natural to other, especially the “Y” Generation, our next American workforce. You Get What You Reward - Click To Read Article More often than not an organization says one thing in its literature, on nicely formatted signs in hallways and conference rooms, but unfortunately does not practice what it preaches. As your organization decides what it wants its culture to be, look closely at what it will reward. Remember…You get what you reward. Eight Tips in Dealing with Performance Problems - Click To Read Article Eight bullet-proof tips are provided for dealing with an individuals performance problems. 21 Secrets of Shared Leadership - Click To Read Article A list of 21 leadership secrets provides you insight you can use as you continue to form your leadership core competencies. Organizational "Strange Actractors" - Click To Read Article We have for the most part looked at organizations in a traditional linear view and constantly put people, teams, departments, divisions and organizations in general into boxes often connected with lines. This is fine when trying to show where individuals reside within the context of organizations; however, it is not how organizations work. 21 Secrets of Establishing Effective Teams - Click To Read Article Teams and team work can be very effective in many organizational settings if, and only if, they are formed correctly and used to solve problems that are best resolved by several people working together. This article provide 21 items to think about to establish effective teams in your organization. SMART Organizational Goals - Click To Read Article This article is designed to provide you with a tried and true approach to organizational goal setting. The best goals are smart goals. SMART is a handy acronym for the five characteristics of well-designed goals. SMART goals make for smart organizations. In our experience, many supervisors and managers neglect to work with their employees to set goals together. Eight Critical Leadership Questions - Click To Read Article In a traditional organization, followers look to, and expect, their leaders to set direction, lead change and in general have all the answers on how to run the organization. However, in many of our organizational tasks, the line between leader and follower is a blur because of the complexity of situations and the need for quick decisions. Inclusiveness Expands Our Knowledge - Click To Read Article Diversity can easily be treated as a buzzword, numbers game or as a program. When this happens, the full power and impact of its meaning is lost. Diversity is much more than a program, hiring a few people of different gender or ethnic backgrounds or allowing a few diverse opinions to surface from time to time. It is actively searching out and embracing the uniqueness, strengths and talents of all people Tips When Taking Over (Or Transformational Leadership) - Click To Read Article If you have just arrived in a new organization, received a promotion to a new position or are new to the management game; this article is designed to help you get a good solid start in your new role. Why Develop the Internal Leadership Coach? - Click To Read Article The fundamental purpose of this article is to provide insight, concepts and a solid results-driven strategy for implementing a highly effective internal leadership coaching process. Many of the practices explored are also consistent with those employed by an experienced external coach. The information provided will work in virtually any type of organization. My basic intent is to articulate a holistic or integrated approach of organizational leadership development using the skill of an internal coach. RETHINKING THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FUTURE - Click To Read Article The future lies in creating and inventing tomorrow. This can mean inventing new and exciting markets, products, services and methods…and an organizational culture capable and driven to take advantage of opportunities as they appear. These new organizations must become acutely sensitive as to who they are, what they are all about, what their culture is and then work hard to adapt to a new flow of ideas. Selection Considerations for Leadership Development/Coaching - Click To Read Article My research and that of others has found that leadership development and succession planning is by nature a long-term effort and it is far from being a risk-free activity. Additionally, like most things of importance, there’s more to it than meets the eye. Too often organizations jump into leadership development and succession programs without giving thought to key issues and the criteria to be used. Leadership Coaching Based On Organizational Values - Click To Read Article Within a leadership development coaching process it is important to know and understand what the stated and actual organizational values are, so both the coach and the colleague can better understand how people fit or align themselves within the organization. A leadership coach needs to be sensitive to how things are actually done within the organization in which they are going to be coaching leaders and other key individuals. Organizational Culture Employee Survey - Click To Read Article This article contains an excellent and proven set of sixty-eight survey questions to evaluate the culture of virtually any type of organization - profit or non-profit. Culture does count and this survey can help you benchmark your organization. Organizational Talent You Need To Succeed - Click To Read Article No organization can continue to prosper and grow without having the right people in the right jobs. Quoting Jack Welch of GE fame, “Winning is about having the best people on your team. It doesn’t help if you’re surrounded by people who are less talented than you are.” So much of leadership is about accomplishing results through others. It’s Not about Unemployment – It’s about Employability - Click To Read Article Employers are discovering increasing numbers of high school graduates who cannot do “applied” math, perform basic measurements and fill out job applications. In other words, “they are graduates who are not employable.”Our culture and our education system are only producing a small percentage of individuals who are taking a “challenging curriculum” so they are truly prepared for the rigors of college or a knowledge-based workplace.” We must understand that our new concern is not unemployment but “employability!” Personal Responsibility and Work - Click To Read Article As the work world becomes more complex personal responsibility is also becoming very important both for the individual and for the organization he or she works for. We live in an age of excuses for our action and see them played out in our news constantly. Yet in the "knowledge" workplace individuals need to become a company of one, held to the highest standards of responsibility, if we are to remain competitive. A Talent Driven Organization - Click To Read Article “Winning is about having the best people on your team. It doesn’t help if you’re surrounded by people who are less talented than you are.” So much of leadership is about accomplishing results through others. The building of a great team starts with developing great leadership or a “great coaching staff” – a staff that gets rewarded for building a great, high performance team. “Building an Innovation Strategy” - Click To Read Article If an organization is to sustain and grow, each member of the organization should see a clear line-of-sight from the innovation strategy to his or her job. People in all areas must develop a high degree of commitment and passion to create and capture the future! Innovation must become a process of object-driven change, which remains flexible with regard to both objective and the path to get there. Seven Drivers of Organizational Success - Click To Read Article The seven statements provided and what they imply set the stage for insightful and proactive thought. They provide the building blocks needed to enhance the possibility of creating and building organizational success. They are the “touch-stones” that leaders can continually go back to when seeking a higher level of personal and organizational achievement. YOUR ROLE AS SUPERVISOR AND MANAGER - Click To Read Article This article is designed to help you develop an awareness of your role and duties as a supervisor and manager. It is the first of the many building blocks you will need to help you better manage the resources of any organization. It is designed to jump start you’re learning with regard to the essence of your role as a supervisor and front-line manager. Leadership by Example - Click To Read Article How can you encourage people in leadership roles throughout your organization to be more fully engaged in the leadership process? As a CEO, Vice President, Director or any other “KEY” leader, you play a very important role in developing a corporate or organizational mind-set...a mind-set that embraces the kind of leadership at all levels that will take your organization from good to great... Reality Check - Click To Read Article The real world is highly competitive and moving on with or without you. Life is not fair, everyone has a bad day, life is a constant test, and you will get paid what the market thinks your skills are worth. There are winners and losers in all walks of life, you are accountable for your own mistakes, and the world will expect you to accomplish something significant to increase your self-esteem. Whats Your Mission - Click To Read Article A useful mission statement is normally very brief, specific, memorable, and written in plain language. It is also understood, and actionable by everyone who needs to use it for decision-making purposes. A mission statement should require little or no explanation and its length is less important than its compelling, passionate and energizing power. Do you have Vision - Click To Read Article Visioning is about imagination and discovery versus analysis and forecasts. Vision, coupled with passion, are key aspects of leadership because they inspire people to be creative and innovative. One of the distinguishing characteristics of a good leader is the ability to create an exciting picture of the future or a strong vision, which can capture the imagination. So Whats Your Strategy - Click To Read Article When a serious attempt is made to transform any organization, the return on investment in the building and linking of strategies to accomplish the mission and vision of the organization will be substantial. Strategic thinking and planning will allow the organization to both sustain itself and grow. Strategy is where the rubber meets the road. Great strategies begin with solid leadership! 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