Do you think that emotions are important in business?
Give me a business decision that is made without an aspect of emotion attached somewhere, somehow! It is often played down, yet all information we process must first go through our emotion center before it is reacted to or responded to. Hence, emotions underlie, indeed, very much frame the affects, behaviors and cognitions of business decisions as is the case in every aspect of our lives.
Who are you for your clients? A mentor? Guru? Friend?
I am the person who helps them to do what they often know they need to do to “win” but don’t want to or can’t quite get themselves to.
I am the strategic thinker, the intuit helping them with what they often don’t know they need to do to “win” but need to reach that level of awareness, acquire or manage that capability
I hold them true to their vision, even if they do not quite see it yet themselves. I hold them accountable to themselves for what they envision, believe in and value.
I hold their fingers and their teams’ fingers to the fire until they, indeed, get a “hot hand”. I help them identify and make those tough, necessary but also game-changing decisions leading to their transformation as leaders … as people I help them get in touch with their inner challenges that are the root causes of their outer challenges.
I work with them to bring more out of themselves than they thought they had in them - but never quietly! Not without trial and tribulation before the triumph....so what is that ... Alchemy?
Owning or managing a company makes us want to be the best leaders we can be. Is there any secret of being a great leader?
Sure is, but if I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret! Seriously though - please read my forthcoming book that outlines the formula for to successfully assess the “best fit” leadership style to the leadership situation you are facing.
Can you do anything new with a group that you have been working with for many years?
If the group has decided to cross the threshold beyond their “business as usual” and move beyond their present state, then they can continue to benefit from my performance-oriented approach. But the group must say yes to their call to adventure. In fact, it is something that they may well have refused to do as they may not have recognized the need or they were simply too comfortable in their present state. However, life, team-life is constantly changing. To turn it into a journey of transformation,rather than a ride on a rollercoaster is where I come in.
Why do some teams work and some just don’t? How can we improve the team’s performance?
All of the team-controlled issues that block team performance can be found in the critical success factors of high performing teams. Identify which factors are dysfunctional and it is the first step to understanding the pathway back to top performance. That said, the essential stage for setting up the team’s success is in the very formation of the team. It is here where many challenges and issues within the later stages can be prepared for. Without a strong focus on team formation, breakdowns can be quite accurately anticipated based upon which CSF is being violated!