Friday 30 December 2016

Every Moment Matters

Successful leaders have always been aware of the power of defining moments.

Long ago Procter & Gamble recognised two such moments:

FMOT - First Moment Of Truth is just before the customer buys.

SMOT - Second Moment Of Truth is when the customer first begins to experience what they’ve bought.

More recently Google created ZMOT - Zero Moment Of Truth - the crucial moment that happens before we buy.

And Brian Solis captured a hallmark of our age with UMOT - Ultimate Moment Of Truth is when the customer shares the experience.

“We have 50,000 moments of truth every day.” said Jan Carlzon, former CEO of Scandinavian Airlines, in his famous book ‘Moments of Truth’

For me it’s EMM - Every Moment Matters, and particularly personal moments of truth.

This is what Appreciative Leadership is all about.

If you mess up one moment, you can get back on track in the next.

If you make a mistake in one moment, you can immediately learn and act on your learning in the next moment.

If you say the wrong thing in one moment, you can make amends in the next.

Lots of good advice from Derek Sivers here.

One of my favourites from him below


Whenever I feel like I've lost my way, or I'm uncertain about what's next, I reflect on the above and then this


Then I get back on my horse through this

One quantum leap at time is the best way that I know of to regain or sustain positive momentum.


The great thing about small jumps from here to there is that when we mess up we don't get hurt, and can learn from the failure moment. 

Every Moment Matters. 

Be remarkable.
Ian


Find out more here and then telephone me on +61 418 807 898.


Wednesday 28 December 2016

Purpose at work and in work are key to the future success of your business

There are many great insights (all around the general theme of purpose) from the speakers in the video below. My favourite is from 51 minutes where Chip Conley, currently Global Head of Hospitality at Airbnb, speaks about the purpose of your business ("at work") and the personal purpose of employees ("in work").



Because my clients lead purpose driven businesses I am privileged and honoured every week to see the powerful positive impact that alignment between business and personal purpose has.

To ensure 2017 is your best year yet I highly recommend doing work that better aligns the purpose beyond profit of your business with the personal purpose of each of your employees.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

PS If you'd like some help please give me a shout on +61 418 807 898.

Monday 26 December 2016

Resolve rather than resolutions are the key to your success

2016 ends in 6 sleeps and many people will then make New Years resolutions.

Not me.

On New Years eve I hold a little ceremony where I express gratitude for the remarkable, the great, the good, the bad, and the ugly, of the past year.

Then I reaffirm my reason (purpose) for being, and review my plan for the first 90 days of 2017.

I learned from Jim Rohn there's a fool-proof formula for success and it takes resolve to follow it not resolutions.


Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 23 December 2016

Time to make a brave change - guest post by Winston Marsh

This is a guest post from my mentor and friend Winston Marsh.

Whatever you've already decided you'll do next year, or if you're still doing some deciding, I reckon the following advice from Winston is highly valuable.

Let me ask you a question. If you do what everybody else does what result must you get? And the answer is pretty simple… the same as everybody else. And being the same as everybody else… is being average.

That’s somewhere between the cream of the crop and the cream of the crap, somewhere between the bottom of the best and the best of the bottom. Being there is crazy!

Being average is like having one hand in a bucket of freezing water and one hand in a bucket of boiling water and saying that, on average, you feel fine! And that’s garbage... one hand you’ve got frostbite and the other you’ve got blisters.

So in business you must change your thinking and…

Do what others don’t do!

If you do what others don’t do you’ll get the results that others don’t get. You’ll get sensational profits, great staff, fantastic customers and premature retirement to the beaches of the world.

Let me warn you that adopting this step, doing what others don’t do, isn’t easy… at first.

I call it the “loneliness of leadership”.

You know what happens. You go to a seminar or read a great book and you roar into your factory, shop, office and tell the team, “Things are going to be different around here.”

They will look at you and think “We’ve heard all this before and nothing ever happens if we ignore it” so they’ll probably snigger. You’ll persist and tell them, “No I heard this speaker or I read this book. We’re going to do some things differently. We’re going to do this and this and this.”

They’ll immediately respond with, “You can’t do that…”

You’ll ask, “Why not?” to which they will smugly reply, “Because nobody else does it.”

And that’s the opportunity…

When you do what nobody else does you get results that nobody else gets!

So, when somebody else tells you it can’t be done because nobody else does it, learn to respond this way. Shake your head backwards and forwards in agreement and slowly say “Go-oo-oood… now we can get results that other people don’t get”.

Wednesday 21 December 2016

It's not about technology, rather enhancing the human experience

The following headline from an article by Andrew Lafontaine, General Manager, HCM, Oracle Australia, grabbed my attention - 'Disruption and innovation come from collaboration, not technology.' 

You can read the article here.


Is the focus in your business on technology or how technology can be used to enhance the human experience of your employees, customers, and all your stakeholders?

Your answer to this question will be a key to your success in 2017 and beyond.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 19 December 2016

The 3 key actions real leaders take every day

Get Kevin’s book here. He suggests 20% assess, 10% decide, 70% execute.

What I see over and over is leaders spending far too much time, energy, and money assessing and deciding, and nowhere near enough in executing. And worse, no agreed, transparent decision-making process being followed.

The consequence for such leaders is being run over by your competitors because they were quicker than you in assessing and deciding. And, they’re executing, while you’re still contemplating. You never catch up. Suddenly you’re out of business.

“How did you go bankrupt?
Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”
Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Possible Actions

1) Before you take a break ask your employees for feedback and feedforward about your assessing, deciding, executing.

2) Some time before you return to work, schedule an hour by yourself to develop an improvement plan and execute it from the moment you're back at work.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Founder The Appreciative Leader Community
Helping business owners and leaders increase the positive difference your leadership makes, and to create more leaders in your business.

3 Personal and Business Development Experiences to guarantee 2017 is your best year yet

Online seminar 6 - 7.30 pm AEDT 20th February 2017. Register here. Special early bird offer expires 20th January 2017.

Full day in person master-class in Ballarat 28th February 2017. Register here. Special super early bird offer expires 20th January 2017.

A one-of-a-kind bespoke leadership elevation experience just for you and your leadership team awaits. Find out more and apply from here.

Friday 16 December 2016

Please tell me what you feel/think I don't want to hear

This is an excellent article by GE's Beth Comstock.

The best leaders I witness behave as Beth does:

In my own work as a manager at GE, I make it a regular practice to ask my colleagues to tell me something they think I don’t want to hear, and then I take action to address it and communicate back what has changed. It’s valuable not just because of the new information I learn, but because it reinforces a culture of openness.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 12 December 2016

Why accountants, lawyers, and engineers, rarely make remarkable leaders

For the tenth consecutive year I'm thrilled to be a part of Gihan Perera's Expect More ebook along with 19 other writers.

My contribution 'Why accountants, lawyers, and engineers, rarely make remarkable leaders' is on page 6.

You can download the ebook here.

Be remarkable
Ian

Friday 9 December 2016

Silence and Solitude Are Keys To Your Creativity

Innovation of course is preceded by creativity.

Often we equate creativity with being busy and active.

Yet silence and solitude are actually paramount.

Over the next month make time for silence and solitude and then as you begin 2017 make both habits.

This great TED talk by Susan Cain will help you



Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 7 December 2016

Joy is an inside job

One of my all time favourite speakers is Amanda Gore.

Invest an hour with Amanda by watching the video below. I reckon you'll then have actions you can immediately take to bring more joy into your life.



Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 5 December 2016

Stay focused on reasons, relationships and routines. Results follow

I have a gift for you on the subject above.

It's a 4 videos and a workbook, mini leadership development experience, that will yield you maximum results, when you take action in your own best way.

It's all here waiting for you.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 2 December 2016

The Power of Positioning

Who do you serve? What is the value you deliver to these people that they demand, desire, and feel that they deserve?

Your carefully considered answers to these questions determine your positioning in the market place.

Image Courtesy of Linkedin

In my case I only work with enlightened business owners and leaders. I make this very clear by making the following statements visible, and crystal clear when I meet with prospective clients.

Enlightened business owners and leaders are salt of the earth people who put the delivery of value to other people (employees, customers, all stakeholders) ahead of profits.

You understand profit is not a reason for being in business, rather a result of being good at business. Paradoxically of course you make more money!

As all elite sports people do you engage mentors or coaches to help you to enhance your gifts. You fully appreciate that although you do the work, you cannot do it alone.

You get that perpetually working on yourself and on your business are prerequisites to doing well in your business.

You understand that you’re actually in the differencemaking business. Your product/s and/or service/s are important, what really matters though is the difference they make in the lives of other people.

You’re committed to building and growing a 21st century business where employees feel valued, live values, and deliver value that other people demand, desire, and feel that they deserve.

Who is your ideal customer/client?
Are you truly focused on serving just them?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 30 November 2016

The five keys to a successful Google team (and likely yours)

There's a lot of highly valuable insights in this post by Julia Rozovsky, Analyst at Google People Operations (their term for HR).

Who is on a team matters less than how the team members interact, structure their work, and view their contributions.


Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 28 November 2016

The higher purpose of leadership

There's one thing I notice above all in the most remarkable workplaces - more people are leading and being accountable than in other workplaces.

Image Courtesy of Shutterstock

How are you creating more leaders in your business?

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Should you be looking for some help, there's two unique ways we can work together.

Option One

At midnight AEDT this Wednesday 30th November, my one time only offer to mail you The Appreciative Leader handbook, and conduct a 1:1 mentoring session with you online, expires. Membership in the exclusive Appreciative Leader community is part of the package. It's just $99 all up, a price I will never be making available ever again. Find out more and apply from here.

Option Two

A one-of-a-kind leadership elevation experience awaits you and your leadership team. It’s my way of helping you, in your own best way, to create more leaders in your business, and therefore guarantee 2017 is your best year yet. Only available for 13 teams. Find out more and apply from here.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 25 November 2016

Work/Life Balance Is BS


Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Words certainly do have power. In the case of the term 'work/life balance' powerlessness would be more apt in my view.

I meet lots of people feeling stressed because they can't seem to get what they tell me is the elusive balance. Momentarily they are not happy with me either when I suggest that the idea is a myth, BS in fact!

The following extract from my Changing What's Normal book is what I often give to people as an alternative. You can download a digital copy of this book here.

The word balance for me implies equal. I prefer the word harmony, therefore life/work harmony.

My personal and business life are not equal or in balance, and are never likely to be.

They are in harmony with one another, that is, they work together like a symphony, two sides of the same coin

Here are my 11 laws of life/work harmony. I trust they will help you live a more harmonious life.

1. The Law of Harmony 

Opposites attract. There are always at least two sides to every story.

Possible Action/Results: Always think both/and, rather than either/or; accept the good with the bad; appreciate pleasure, gain from pain; focus on the positive, learn from the negative; and you will soon begin to find harmony in your life.

2. The Law of Possibility

The opportunities life offers us are endless. There are no limits, except those we place on ourselves. There is nothing we cannot achieve.

Possible Action/Results: Adopt the Wayne Dyer mantra "You'll see it when you believe it."

3. The Law of Personal Responsibility 

No one else can make us feel or think glad, sad, bad or mad. How we feel and think are choices we make.

Possible Action/Results: We must own our feelings and thoughts and not get tangled in other people’s feelings and thoughts. We must let go of attachment to what other people feel and think. Soon we eliminate guilt and worry; two of life’s most useless and most debilitating emotions.

4. The Law of Attraction 

Success is not something we attain, rather something we attract.

Possible Action/Results: Commit to life-long learning; focus on insight more than information and wisdom more than knowledge. The more we become who we are capable of becoming the more we attract success.

5. The Law of the Farm 

You find fertile ground, plough it, seed it, and nurture it, and more often than not you reap a harvest. We get what we give. What goes around comes around. These are modern ways of describing an old adage; we reap what we sow.

Possible Action/Results: The message of this law is that we must focus on proven processes and detach from outcomes. If we are taking the right action, results take care of themselves.

6. The Law of Relationships 

We gravitate to those we like, know and trust.

Possible Action/Results: Establish shared values with family, friends and work colleagues, and agree on how they will be lived; have shared goals and agree on the key strategies to achieve them; practice non-judgment; give genuine attention to others. Before you know it your relationships will be stronger and the great door of opportunity will open more often.

7. The Law of Service 

Giving without attachment to getting back creates one of life’s great paradoxes; we get more back.

Possible Action/Results: Fully understand what others need and provide it; go the extra mile

By adding value to every transaction and interaction; co-create wow experiences at work, home and play. Before long others will be serving you in ways beyond your wildest expectations.

8. The Law of Confidence

Confidence is to maintain a positive inner and outer image and display them. The problem can be that confidence is often perceived as arrogance.

Possible Action/Results: Demonstrate openness to learning and not asserting your way is the only way while at the same time believe in yourself; believe in others; speak and communicate from your heart; and confidence will rarely get mistaken for arrogance.

9. The Law of Actual Communication

Not all talk is communication. We often talk just for the joy of it. To actually communicate is to agree on some course of action even if it is to agree to disagree.

Possible Action/Results: To communicate better speak with a specific goal in mind and listen simply to understand, and when speaking and listening ask for feedback to ensure message effectiveness. You will most likely find you will speak less and listen more. The result however is to eventually eliminate misunderstanding, one of the great negative stress causes in life.

10. The Law of Adaptability 

I heard a great saying one time “better to adapt than be a sitting duck and get run over”

Possible Action/Results: Our willingness to adapt, be flexible, and go with the flow are keys to a negative stress free life. A key seems to be to realize it is not what happens to us that is important rather our response to what happens. Take responsibility for your responses to life and life will respond to you.

11. The Law of Synchronicity/Interconnectedness

Everything is connected in some way to everything else.

Possible Action/Results: Seek coincidence, follow your heart, “do what you love” says Steven Farber “in the service of people who love what you do”; and your life will soon change for the better.

Have a personal sustainability plan (thank you Adam Werbach for the idea from his book Strategies for Sustainability) i.e. do what you can personally for the good of people and our planet. Imagine if everyone did this. We would have universal harmony.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable
Ian

Wednesday 23 November 2016

Knowledge is no longer power

More than a decade ago I interviewed my colleague Jim Cathcart.

At one point I enquired of Jim whether or not he thought that knowledge was still power? He gave an empathic no and said:

"Trust is power."

Regardless of who's being elected and who's not into political office, and why, I reckon Jim is still right. You?

Below is some advice from Jim that I think is priceless.


Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 21 November 2016

"Price is what you pay; value is what you get"

The Appreciative Leader Master-class and Wine and Wisdom Evening on 30th November in Ballarat, Australia (my birthplace), are the final events this year (maybe ever) where you can receive your copy of the signed, numbered, limited edition handbook, The Appreciative Leader (only 150 printed), and be inducted into the exclusive Appreciative Leader community. You can register for the master-class here, and the wine and wisdom evening here.

Should you not be able to participate in one of these events, up until midnight AEDT Wednesday 30th November, I'm keeping open my one time only offer to mail you the handbook, and conduct a 1:1 mentoring session with you online. Membership in the community is part of the package. It's just $99 all up, a price I will never be making available ever again. Find out more here.

The Appreciative Leader Monday Morning Momentum Wisdom Series 
Every Monday at 8 am AEDT November 7th 2016 - 30th January 2017.
Image Courtesy of Shutterstock


In a great book, which you can purchase here, Masami Sato asks: "So what makes the difference between businesses that are simply doing well and those that are creating exceptional value and are loved by their customers?"

Masami provides 3 answers:
"1) The type of value you create.
2) The way you deliver that value.
3) The way you connect with the stakeholders."

As a part of my life-long partnership with Buy1Give, the organisation that Masami founded, when you get your copy of The Appreciative Leader handbook, and become part of the community, 12 families in need receive 3 nourishing meals.

Who will you become? What will you do next? 

Be remarkable.
Ian

Helping business owners and leaders increase the positive difference your leadership makes, and to create more leaders in your business.

Friday 18 November 2016

Innovation is change that adds value

There's a lot of valuable insights in this article by Chris Pash.

I'm sure you'll agree that the 215 billion mentioned is a big number!

What I found particularly insightful was the following:

The top three traits of innovating companies are:

Process — encouraging employees to ask questions that challenge (13%)
Adapting — adapting your products and services to make the most of opportunities (13%)
Philosophy — expecting employees to offer creative ideas for improvement (11%).

Yet the simplicity of innovation often eludes people. Dr. Amantha Imber nails what's needed.


Who will you become?  What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 16 November 2016

"The system will prevail." What if it won't!?

In an attempt to calm the anxiety, frustration, and in some cases anger surrounding the election of Donald Trump, some pundits are saying "The system will prevail." What if it won't!?

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 proved beyond any doubt that most of the systems we have come to rely on in our society are shaky at best.

I'd suggest that evolution, and in some cases peaceful revolution, of our systems and structures is essential because:

not every citizen is afforded basic human rights
some citizens are not living in harmony with our planet
some citizens don’t have fresh water to drink
some citizens don’t have a livelihood
some citizens don’t have a home
some citizens can’t get an education
not all citizens have a say about our future
not all citizens have equity of opportunity
some citizens are still engaging in the futility of political and/or religious violence
some of our younger citizens are being abused
some of our citizens are dying everyday of preventable diseases
some of our female citizens are being exploited and abused
some citizens have no health care
some citizens are hungry ...

I could make a long list, as I'm sure you could too, of what's wrong with our world.

Awareness of what must be better is important, however what really matters is the quest we're on individually and collectively to make a difference.


Regardless of what our institutional status quo sustainers or status quo shifters do or don't do, my choice is to focus on the difference I can make, and to collaborate with others to make a difference together.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian


Monday 14 November 2016

What's The Story?

The Appreciative Leader Monday Morning Momentum Wisdom Series
Every Monday at 8 am AEDT November 7th 2016 - 30th January 2017

To receive these short and succinct insights into increasing the positive difference your leadership makes direct to your inbox, sign-up here for my Monday Morning Momentum Musings. A bonus is that you will be able to download my Changing What's Normal book.

What's The Story
One of the 8 roles Appreciative Leaders play remarkably well is that of being a Story-sharer of significance.

My colleague Colin James, a master-story-sharer himself, has written a great little ebook to help you. You can download it here.


Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.

Ian
Founder The Appreciative Leader Community

Friday 11 November 2016

3 key must do's when the status quo is no longer serving you

The Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, the large vote for non traditional political parties in the recent Australian election, which almost toppled the Government, and the election of Donald Trump, are just three examples of many that indicate widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo (normal).

Trump is actually calling this a movement, which is one thing I would agree with him about.

Closer to home to your business, the rise of organisations like UBER, Airbnb, and a zillion other technology enabled companies, are showing every day what happens to traditional businesses who ignore dissatisfaction with the status quo.

3 key must do's when the status quo is no longer serving you, and better still before it stops serving you!

1) Disrupt yourself

In your business there are areas where employees, customers/clients, and other stakeholders, are dissatisfied.

You already know where there's trouble.

Appreciate it, acknowledge it, and start taking collaborative corrective action today.

2) Begin today to ensure that you are systematically, and forever onwards, reviewing processes

Processes include policies, procedures, practices, and systems. These are the stuff of modern management. Review everything in the light of this question - Does this mean it's simple for people to bring the best version of themselves to their work?

Wherever the answer is no to this question, take immediate collaborative corrective action.

3) Make imagining what can be and moving there, one quantum leap at a time, part of your cultural DNA


Life and work are a continuous journey of moving from what is to what can be. Yet, as Eckhart Tolle has so wonderfully observed, "stress is caused by being here, and wanting to be there."

One quantum leap at a time action significantly reduces stress and resistance to change.

The above is the change process I use in the beginning of my work with individuals and teams. Then over time I help my clients to create your own change process.

What is your change process? You must have one if you're to thrive in a world where movements are rapidly replacing the status quo when sameness is no longer serving.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

PS My Changing What's Normal book may help you. During the release of my latest publication, The Appreciative Leader handbook, you can download Changing What's Normal with my compliments simply by signing up for my Monday Morning Momentum Musings here.

Wednesday 9 November 2016

When it comes to values behaviours are far better than words

There's a lot to like about this book. You can read my Amazon review here.

One of many takeaways for me was the 10 value statements of Jack's business The Entourage as follows:

1) Be wow - seek to amaze in everything you do.
2) Make it happen - be outcome orientated.
3) Everything's world class.
4) Have a growth approach - take ownership of your own growth.
5) Have fun, bring quirk.
6) Do more with less - become a master of leverage.
7) Live in the extra mile - good enough isn't good enough.
8) Come from heart - stay humble, respectful and compassionate.
9) Take initiative - don't wait.
10) Dream out loud - have dreams and goals, and celebrate personal milestones.

Use these 10 to turn your values words into behaviours. When it comes to values behaviours are far better than words.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 7 November 2016

What do you do that your competitors aren't prepared to do?

Image Courtesy of Shutterstock. 

The Appreciative Leader Monday Morning Momentum Wisdom Series
Every Monday at 8 am AEDT November 7th 2016 - 30th January 2017

The full article from Bernadette Jiwa is here.

Who will you become. What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Founder The Appreciative Leader Community
Helping business owners and leaders increase the positive difference your leadership makes, and to create more leaders in your business.

Friday 4 November 2016

The 9 types of intelligence are all critical leadership skills

Below is a useful infographic I found here.


Intra-personal and interpersonal or as I prefer to call them, self-awareness and awareness of others, are the top two leadership skills in my view. They influence how we grow in the other seven areas.

Perpetual learning, unlearning, and relearning in all 9 areas, and then plugging in the results of these direct to your business operating system, are essential for you to increase the positive impact of your leadership, and to create more leaders in your business.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 2 November 2016

The future of your money

You can download an excellent report here from TomorrowToday about how Financial Technology (FInTech) is disrupting the world of Financial Services, and by definition your world, and your money.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 31 October 2016

The Appreciative Leader handbook and Community

The 1 minute 57 seconds video below introduces my latest publication, The Appreciative Leader handbook, and the one-of-a-kind Appreciative Leader Community.



I'm only printing 150 copies of the handbook. You can get your copy by participating in a special online or in person event in November, or by working with me personally.

If increasing the positive difference your leadership makes, and creating more leaders in your business are among your top priorities, then this is for you.

All the details (and where you can also watch the video) are here.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 28 October 2016

Two essentials for ensuring learning and development leads to better performance

There's a lot of really great insights in this DDI Global Leadership Forecast.

The diagram below is from the forecast. It highlights key barriers to learning and what I think are two essentials for ensuring learning and development leads to better performance, 1) ensure post learning feedback, and 2) make sure learning and development is relevant to people's roles.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

As always if you'd like some help with this please contact me on +61 418 807 898.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 26 October 2016

Self-governing organisations outperform those who aren't

I like this article from Dov Seidman. I recommended downloading The HOW Report referenced and from where I've taken the images above and below.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 24 October 2016

You only need to matter in the hearts and minds of a few people


Invest half an hour of your time today and watch this conversation between Marie Forleo and Seth Godin. You matter. This will remind you.

To succeed in life and business you only need to matter in the hearts and minds of a few people.

Who are they? How are you making a difference to them?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 21 October 2016

3 simple yet profound ways for dealing with silos

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

There are silos in every business. This Switch and Shift article by Kyle Ferguson provides 3 good fundamental ways to deal with them.

When you have these 3 in place, ongoing candid and convivial conversations are paramount. There are 8 critical conversations which I explore in detail in The Appreciative Leader handbook. Find out more here.

A key to your success in all these conversations is having focusing tools like role clarity statements, agreed performance plans, anything that captures agreements about performance.

If you'd like help with such tools get your copy of The Appreciative Leader handbook or contact me on +61 418 807 898.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 19 October 2016

Not something different, something that creates a difference

How can I best help my clients to standout from the rest? is the perpetual question I'm asking.

A key part of the answer is helping my clients to be valued as differencemakers by their employees, customers, and other stakeholders.

In the wonderful book Difference, which you can get here, Bernadette Jiwa explains this in a very powerful way:

They don't want something different, they want something that creates a difference.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 17 October 2016

No-one needs a change program; Everyone wants a change process

Change management like strategic planning and performance management are in my view the 3 great oxymorons of business. Please read more of my thoughts on these here.

Change leadership, strategy and execution plans, and performance leadership on the other hand, are crucial to achieving your best results.

A framework these 3 can operate successfully within I call a change process. No-one needs a change program; Everyone wants a change process!

The change process below is the one I use initially in work with my clients. My objective is always to help my clients to co-create their own process with employees, thereby guaranteeing innovation and ownership.

I am deeply indebted to the work of many people who use the concept of Appreciative Inquiry, the work of Duarte, and to my Grandfather Sherriff for teaching me the law of the farm.

The fertile ground is Appreciating what is (the remarkable, the great, the good, and the bad and the ugly).

The better you Appreciate what is, the more fully you can Imagine what can be (the ploughing).

Clarity around what can be enables precise planning around the tiny shifts (Quantum leaps - the seeding) that you will take to move from what is to what can be.

Leaping (the nurturing) leads to the harvest of positive momentum, which is the key to achieving better business results, at less personal cost.


Inside The Appreciative Leader handbook are considerations and possible actions you can take to co-create and implement a change process for your business. You'll never need to think about a change program ever again.

The handbook, associated companion resources web page, and private community, are only available to 150 people who participate in special online or in person events in November 2016, or work with me personally.

All the details are here.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 14 October 2016

Your one and only leadership style that really matters

When I begin to design leadership development programs with clients, one question is always part of the conversation - "what leadership style inventory/profile do you use/advocate?"

My answer, "none", takes many people by surprise.

I go on to say "leadership style inventories, profiles etc can have value, yet they are merely possible tactics for winning the main game, that being that the one and only leadership style that really matters is for people to be the best version of themselves, that one-of-a-kind human being that each of us is."

Shakespeare put it best in my view in his Hamlet play, "This above all: to thine own self be true."

Shakespeare's timeless message lies at the heart of The Appreciative Leader handbook that is now at the printers.

Most people whom I've showed the cover (pictured), say it's an unusual cover. I'm glad of this because the handbook is an unusual work!

What's also unusual is that what I say in the handbook is important, yet nowhere near as important as what you hear yourself say to yourself, and then do your own unique work.

To help you in your unique work there's a companion resources web page to the handbook, and a private community to involve yourself in.

All the details are here for you to arrange to get your signed, numbered, limited edition copy of the handbook, of which only 150 will ever be printed.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 12 October 2016

The Employee Experience Index

There's a lot of very valuable insights in this research study by IBM’s Smarter Workforce Institute and Globoforce’s Work Human Research Institute.

Their research validates what I'm experiencing and observing in the best workplaces, that what it means to be human is front and centre, and that treating people as they want to be treated, is a key to superior performance.

Get the research study yourself via the link above.

The actions recommended (see below) are common-sense to me

Recognize the unique role that leaders and managers play
in defining employees’ work experience, and enable
managers to design experiences consistent with core
values.

Ensure the organization’s actions are conveying the values
intended and nurture an environment that reinforces
mutually supportive coworker relationships.

Help employees understand the deeper meaning of their
work and how it contributes to the wider organizational
purpose and goals.

Treat performance as a continuous conversation, fueled by
social recognition, feedback and growth opportunities.

Offer employees opportunities to participate in decisionmaking
and trust them with the autonomy they need to
find the best paths to achieving success.

Who will you become? What will you do next to ensure common sense is being reflected in your daily actions?

As always should you like some help with this please contact me on +61 418 807 898.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 10 October 2016

Being/becoming a ‘lovemark’

The Western Bulldogs won their first premiership in 62 years (only their second overall) on October 1st in the Australian Football League. As 62 is my age, I know how long a time it is!

During the pre-game build up show on TV I was reading all the sport in the local papers. I was also looking at my notes in preparation for writing my Amazon review of '64 shots - leadership in a crazy world' by Kevin Roberts.

What was jumping off all pages for me was what happens in sport, business, and life in general, when people truly care for one another. Then I noticed a close in camera shot in the change rooms of Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge with his players. I remarked to my wife, he truly loves his players, and they him and each other. This was obvious throughout the game, and even more so when the final siren sounded.

What's love got to do with it?

"To get commitment in any space, give people love. It's a surprisingly obvious thought, rare in business, but the fastest way to grow."
Kevin Roberts in 64 shots

During my study of '64 shots' I went back and reviewed Lovemarks, the 2004 published book that makes my top 21 recommended reading list.

The sub-title of this book, also by Kevin Roberts, is 'the future beyond brands'.

Key points from Kevin about brands and lovemarks:

Brands are owned by companies. Lovemarks are owned by people. Brands are created by respect. Lovemarks are created by respect and love. Brands mean loyalty for a reason. Lovemarks mean loyalty beyond reason. Brands aim to be irreplaceable, lovemarks irresistible. Brands seek return on investment, lovemarks return on involvement.

"Not price, not value, but priceless value. Priceless value responds to the emotional question on lips today. "How will you improve my life?" Brands have no answer to this. Brands used to be irreplaceable. Nothing is irreplaceable now. People can replace anything from anywhere. You have to be irresistible, a lovemark."
Kevin Roberts in 64 shots


Who will you become? What will you do next?
Being/becoming a 'lovemark' is the future of your business.

Co-building a 'lovemark' is our BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) at The Appreciative Leader Community. Our limit is 150 members.

There’s a one page summary of how you can become 1 of the 150 with links to the detail here.

The Appreciative Leader Community is for lovers of leadership learning, unlearning, and relearning, creating more leaders, and leaving a lasting leadership legacy.

"A leader asks this question when the sun rises: what will I leave behind?"
Kevin Roberts in 64 shots

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 7 October 2016

When emails are nothing more than confirmation of agreements

Sending and receiving less emails is not a new idea. It can be a standout idea. More to the point less emails is a great way to better invest your time and energy.

Image Courtesy of Shutterstock

I'm forever encouraging my clients to only email when they're confirming an agreement with somebody that was made in person or using technology like Zoom, which I personally use for all meetings that aren't in person.

I'm seeing an increasing number of organisation detoxing from email like The Virgin Airlines email switch-off example here.

Determining what emails you receive and reply to is also a choice. For me personally I answer emails in the morning and evening, and only at other times if it suits me. My clients have no issue with this.

In terms of what emails I receive regularly such as newsletters, I am ruthless in unsubscribing when I feel I am not receiving value for the long term. I am equally disciplined in only reading emails when it suits me and usually move emails to files and read them later on.

What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 5 October 2016

"Family is a metaphor for the future of business"


There are many great insights in this book by Kevin Roberts. One is "Family is a metaphor for the future of business." You can view my Amazon review of this book here.

My ideal clients are either family businesses, or they're leaders seeking to operate their business as families do.

In Q & A sessions that follow a lot of my presentations I often break the ice by asking people what they are passionate about. The most common answer is family. I then go on and ask the following four questions:

1. What makes great families great?
2. What do great parents do?
3. What do great life-partners do?
4. What do you notice about siblings who really get along?

Whatever the answers I then ask: What would happen in your organisation tomorrow if you began to apply the principles behind your answers?

Who will you become? What will you do next?

As always should you like some help with this please contact me on +61 418 807 898.


Image Courtesy of Shutterstock

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 3 October 2016

Valued, Values, and Value are essential for your sustainability and prosperity

The long term sustainability and prosperity of your business depends greatly on what your employees do every day that your competitors people aren't doing (very hard to do), or your employees must be doing every day what your competitors people are, just doing so better, differently, or more uniquely. I refer to this trilogy as your key points of difference.

I have learned over 25 years of working with over 1000 business owners and leaders, women and men, in over 40 countries, that the short and long road to achieve your key points of difference has much to do with your employees feeling valued, living values, and delivering value. Your Leadership, Management and Culture are key drivers of valued, values, and value being a reality.

Sustainability and prosperity is achievable when the above are foundational and proven principles are applied in your own best way. My clients have taught me that there are 29 such principles.


Valued, Values, and Value is one of the 11 underpinning principles of The Appreciative Leader handbook. Applying it, along with the other proven principles, in your own best way, leads to your employees feeling fulfilled and loved, delivering value to each other, and ensuring there is everyday innovation. These outcomes of employees feeling valued, living values, and delivering value, are fundamental to guaranteeing that your business is fit for the future.

There are only 150 copies of The Appreciative Leader handbook being printed. You can secure your copy and the associated membership of The Appreciative Leader Community here.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Friday 30 September 2016

Is organisational design in your top 10?

The Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends 2016 report provides valuable insights into what's crucial for the future performance of your business.

Based on more than 7000 survey responses from over 130 countries, 10 key drivers are identified as very important or important as follows:

1. Organisational design (92% of respondents identified as very important or important)
2. Leadership (89%)
3. Culture (86%)
4. Engagement (85%)
5. Learning (84%)
6. Design thinking (79%)
7. Changing skills of the HR organisation (78%)
8. People analytics (77%)
9. Digital HR (74%)
10. Workforce management (71%)

I'm not surprised that organisational design is the top driver. For me the key to effective and executable design revolves around asking people 3 powerful questions:

1) What is essential to ensuring you feel valued?
2) How can we better articulate and measure the behaviours that demonstrate we're living our values?
3) What value are you delivering, to whom, and how can we make the processes simpler for you?

Image Courtesy of Shutterstock

I will address valued, values, and value in my post next Monday. For now what would make your top 10 list?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Wednesday 28 September 2016

Every 90 seconds, minutes, and days are crucial to your performance

The first performance enhancement tool that I co-created with my clients 25 years ago, when I began my work as a business mentor, was a one page personal and business possibility plan.

It's become known as a PPP. Go on a bit of a treasure hunt here and you'll find my personal PPP that you can download.

Since 1991 I have co-created many one page documents with my clients. They all embrace the following profound idea.


More about the power of 90 day plans or projects as Gihan Perera calls them here.

All one page documents that I co-create with my clients are focusing tools that I recommend be used in 90 minute blocks of working time. I then recommend a break. More on the value of 90 minute blocks and breaks here in a excellent post by Tony Schwartz called 'The Freedom of Boundaries.'

Finally in working on your 90 day plans/projects in 90 minute blocks, focus one moment (about 90 seconds) at a time.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Monday 26 September 2016

"Key human indicators" trump the traditional and tired KPI's

Of the 30 books I’ve read so far this year, ‘Technology vs. Humanity The coming clash between man and machine’ by Gerd Leonhard has been the best.

‘Everybody Matters The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family’ by Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia, is a close second.

I've placed both these books on my top 21 recommended business books for people who want to change what’s normal should read here.

Of the many great take aways from ‘Technology vs. Humanity’ the concept of "key human indicators" as a far better way forward than the traditional and tired KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) got me very excited and led to a lot of thinking about how I can best integrate the concept in ways that benefit my clients.

Of the many great take aways from ‘Everybody Matters’ " ... process must serve the people not the other way around ..." was a favourite and also resulted in a lot of thinking about ways my clients could benefit.

More take aways from Everybody Matters here.

More take aways from Technology vs. Humanity here.

An appreciation of both “key human indicators” and “process must serve the people” are keys to finding your treasure inside The Appreciative Leader Handbook.

I know your treasure is in these places yet I don’t know exactly where. As I said in my last post “what I say is important yet nowhere near as important as what you hear yourself say to yourself, and then do your own unique work.

Be remarkable.
Ian

PS I’m currently reading ‘64 shots: Leadership in a crazy world’ by the retired long term CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, Kevin Roberts. This book too might end up making my top 21 list! Kevin introduces a wonderful idea that the COO role (insert your own role) of business is that of a plumber, someone who handles blockages and potential blockages, and prevents blockages. This is what Appreciative Leaders do. You?