Here are pics from this workshop of 2 days covering two separate groups of leaders of a manpower outsourcing organization. In this particular workshop, the focus was on the topics of Risk Management, Decision Making, and their relation to delivering Customer Experience. We also covered a few tools for innovation including SCAMPER.
This was another workshop customized as part of the Leadership Learning Journey for this group of enthusiastic learners.
Here are the pics from Batch One
Batch two pics:
I had a lot of fun and learning while designing these workshops ensuring that they positively and curiously engaged with the content and each other.
Contact me on +919820155778 if you want to conduct similar leadership journeys for your leaders.
Here are some captures from a recent workshop on stakeholder management for two batches of leaders held over two days.
We covered topics related to identifying and managing stakeholders, particularly on building trust, influencing and negotiating with them. Role plays and exercises for reflection formed a critical part of this workshop.
Batch 1 pics
Identified and explored the skills of a successful negotiator
This is the next part of the Learning Journey for the two batches of Leaders, where Behaviour (Social) styles, The Tuckman Model, and Team management were covered. We also worked on how to make performance discussions effective and discussed how to make our teams more effective and productive. This organization is in the field of HR outsourcing.
This was the participants first experience of a workshop where a PPT was not used. Participants felt more engaged and enthusiastically shared their perspectives during the discussions - thus enhancing their own learning. This was made possible through some facilitative processes and lots of simple interactive discussion questions.
Here are some pics of the action from the workshop with the HODs:
Here are some pics of the action from the workshop with the direct reports:
The workshops ended with participants committing to ensure that they do their best to create environments where their teams are able to perform effectively and have effective performance discussions.
Do contact me on +919820155778 if you would like to have Leadership Development Workshops for your organization.
Here are some glimpses of Workshop on Leadership Quotient - Emotional Intelligence conducted for the leaders of a Mumbai-based large organization.
There were 2 days of two separate batches of leaders, and let me say that the enthusiasm and curiosity of the participants in both batches really made the learnings more powerful.
We covered how Emotional Intelligence affects the leader's ability to build relationships with their team members and their peers, in addition to naming emotions, and what goes on in the brain. The participants also went through a facilitated process on how to create positive emotions at the workplace.
Do connect with me on +919820155778 for conducting leadership workshops for your organizaion.
I just saw this video today, and was struck by the candidness of the speaker Malcolm Gladwell. He talks about what he got wrong in his book, The Tipping Point.
Here are some of my reflections (in no order of importance) on this video:
"This is what happened" - The way the world works is not as certain as it is in one's mind.
An outstanding and thought-provoking line - "This is what I believe happened now".
The ability to admit to yourself that you are or were wrong is critical for your growth.
The ability to admit that you are are or were wrong to a public audience where you are being recorded for the world to see, is priceless.
The willingness to be held accountable for errors in your work, make you an outstanding colleague or leader.
While it's easier to say than do completely, we should do our best
What would the world be like if all influencers, particularly those in positions of power, would willingly admit their errors and work towards rectifying them? Wishful thinking, I know.
Journalists and writers need to be more accountable for the content they put out.
What would make a person (at any level) more accountable?
As a coach, how can we encourage such authenticity in our clients?
What thoughts come up for you as you watched the video? What would you like to add to this list.
I'd love to have your points of view.
If you as a leader or influencer, have been sparring with some of these thoughts and questions for a while, and want to have a Strengths-coach as your sounding board, click this link to set up a pro-bono 30 minute Zoom call at a convenient time.
If the time slots don't work for you, please write to me personally on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com and we will decide on a mutually convenient time slot.
Who do you consider to be a leader worth admiring? By admire I mean that you are so impressed by them (vision, accomplishments, style, etc) that you celebrate them, become their fan and would like to adopt some of their behaviours into your life.
So... Gandhi? Hitler? Churchill? Your neighbourhood businessman? A preacher / priest? A film actor? A family member? A friend? Well, that's your choice.
Now, consider this Ted Talk by Martin Gutmann (the trigger for this short article) that tries to understand this by asking if, by actually celebrating the wrong leaders, we are thereby creating an aspiration to become what might actually be an ineffective leader? If so, what could be the repercussions (on self / team / organization / society) when we celebrate the only shiny (media / social media) side of leadership?
There's a lot of food for thought in this video. For me, one of the most provoking ideas was about what are the measures by which we tend to judge leaders. Or rather, which measures are most appropriate to evaluate leaders?
This further reminded me of discussions I have had during my corporate days while hiring candidates at any level or promoting employees. Practically everyone at the discussion had a different criterion preference when evaluating the person, and it would frequently take us time to understand the other person's perspective when we didn't understand and disagreed with the evaluation.
Things moved forward only when we shared our perspective on the factors we looked at when evaluating the candidate.
And the two final thoughts that struck me from this video:
Is there a leader authentic enough to be worth admiring, particularly when we look at the current behaviours of some of the world's politicians and business leaders?
How do I leverage my strengths to become a leader authentic enough to be admired?
Ethics and leadership are regularly discussed together, especially over the past decade or so. Corporate scams that have led to C-suite leaders facing jail time are in the news often.
One often wonders what if any ethics were considered and why ethics were not followed by those leaders.
Here's a superb and practical article on how to develop #ethicalleadership.
I love the questions for self-inquiry provided in it.
From the article: "It’s important to remember that whatever we think, say or do has consequences on ourselves and others – however small our actions are."
Photo by Wallace Chuck from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wooden-chair-in-dark-room-3842213/
From the article - "The world is not black and white, and the really good CEOs will need to draw on curiosity and conviction to navigate this,”
For me - more than traits, these are actually things that the future #leader must do pretty much daily, irrespective of their level in the organization. So a lot of skill will have to go into delivering on these areas.
By the way - it wouldn't hurt individuals and aspiring leaders to adopt these traits as early as possible.
Photo by Marta Nogueira: https://www.pexels.com/photo/
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on-opposite-colors-top-down-view-flat-lay-with-empty-space-for-text-17151677/
If you are human, cognitive bias comes with the territory. You cannot beat it, but you can fight against it. In a new white paper,
we explain why it is particularly important for organizational leaders
to understand and check their cognitive biases, especially when making
critical decisions.
Cognitive biases present a serious risk to organizational leaders who
bear any responsibility for high-level decision-making. Educating
yourself and your team on these five common mental traps will help you
neutralize them for improved decision-making, team dynamics, and
workplace culture.
First - you set an example by showing how you are accountable in your role.
Next - you set expectations according to the capability of your team and the results you need. Applying the Situational Leadership Model is an excellent way to do this. (Ask me how)
Then - convey your willingness to listen to suggestions from them. Allow them this facility so that both they and you can learn, even if you already know a better way. If you have to reject their ideas, please do provide a clear explanation. This will allow the team to grow confidence & share ideas that will benefit the department & organization.
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Finally - set up formal review dates and times, along with the option for your team to come to you anytime for clarifications / updates / emergencies. Informally, talk to the team everyday (morning or evening as per their convenience) so that you and the team are on the same page.
This question came up on LinkedIn and I am one of the people who contributed to it. You can view it here.
Why I answered it like this? - because leaders get best results when they lead by example.
What it means to lead by example? "QBQ - The Question Behind the Question" is the name of a great book by John G. Miller where he describes personal accountability in clear terms. I have used his wisdom in workshops (with positive results) where Personal Accountability is part of the topics to be covered. Do check it out. Disclaimer- I don't earn from endorsement of the book. I am just recommending a great resource to those who want to improve their personal accountability.
Want to improve leadership skills in your organization? Let's talk. Connect with me on +919820155778
For a lot of managers and leaders, giving feedback is a challenge because they don't really know how to, haven't been through positive feedback experiences themselves, or just don't like to be the bearer of "bad" news.
Here are #practicaltips on how to deliver #feedback that lasts. FYI - the Sandwich method isn't one of them.
#practicaltips on how to deliver #feedback that lasts. FYI - the Sandwich method isn't one of them.
Getting answers that are useful means you have to frame the question appropriate to the topic you want to know more about. Asking quality questions is a topic that doesn't get adequately covered in the education system, while there is an excessive focus on the 'right' answer..
Here's an intriguing topic - "Clean Language Interviewing". From the article - "As leaders have significant authority, this is compounded by the “acquiescence effect”, whereby people respond with what they believe the questioner wants to hear."
I recently got to design and deliver one of my favourite workshop topics "Managerial Effectiveness for First Time Managers" for recently promoted employees for a financial institution.
This was a two day workshop, with a followup plan. The participants were energetic and full of questions - as they agreed to as part of the Ways of Working they created at the start of the workshop. I loved the way in which they participated in all the discussions and facilitation processes.
For me, I did my best to incorporate different facilitation processes (and an Improv exercise) into the design for both days, and didn't use a PowerPoint Presentation (much to participants surprise). Here's some of the action from the two days.
The participant learning expectations which they wanted to apply immediately after the workshop
Sorting out the competencies of the leader
After a detailed discussion, the competencies of a leader, as they defined and understood it.
What they picked up from Day 1
And here's the overall learning from two days.
I'm thankful to Mr. Rajesh Almeida, Head - HR, for the opportunity to work on this assignment, design the session and his team who supported me during the workshop.
I'm looking forward to more such assignments with those organizations that want to build their leadership pipeline. Please connect with me on ryanbbbarretto@hotmail.com or +919820155778 to schedule a discussion.
A really practical article that can help you improve your #listeningskills , even if you aren't designated as a #leader
From this interesting article - "Most speakers average 150-175 words per minute while most listeners can consume 400-500 words per minute. Distracted leaders allow their excess brain capacity to dialogue internally about the conversation and miss meaning by relying only on the words spoken (which account for only seven percent of #communication)."
Here's a must read article if you want to develop yourself as an "Authentic Leader".
From the article - "Authentic leaders are always investing in strengths -- their own strengths as well as those of their followers."
When you think about it, you realize that trying to fix weaknesses wastes time, causes unhappiness, dissatisfaction and disengagement, and building on strengths can accelerate growth while having a positive energy experience.
If as a leader / learning / HR professional, you are thinking about making #coaching and #mentoring available for more people instead of only leaders, this article will help you work out the benefits of this approach.
From the article - "With employee demand increasing for more customized learning and development experiences, coaching can help boost learning, especially in digital or hybrid environments."
A fascinating article on addressing the #gendergap gaps for #women in #leadership
From the article - "Too frequently, in evaluating #leaders, we mistake confidence for competence. People often allow the most vocal and confident person — rather than the most competent person — to gain undeserved influence."
Fascinating read on how leaders have to be vigilant.
From the article- "What manager has not said at some point,
“My plate is full” and proceeded to ignore a signal of a potential problem that
they later regret."
