Hmmm, how do I say this without sounding confused? I recently participated in two very different but similar meetings. The focus of each of the meetings was exactly the same, but the complexity of each group was completely different.
In one group, the people embraced a very similar philosophy and mindset on the proposed topic. The other group was filled with people who represented very different perspectives, viewpoints and backgrounds.
I gained a lot from both experiences, but after a while, I became very bored with the similar group. They definitely had every viewpoint from A to B well represented, but beyond that, it was hard to find any value. Unfortunately, we didn’t make much progress in accomplishing our purpose.
The diverse group challenged my thinking. There were view points represented that were difficult for me to comprehend because they were so different than my own. The meeting participants were energetic and courteous. They were not afraid to have their views questioned or examined by the others. They were very open to learning from the other group members. Continue reading » »
Whether CEO, CFO, employee, spouse, spouse-ette, baker man, thief – we all want to know: How can I make him/her/them behave differently, the way I want them behave? The answer: You can’t, they must. OK, you saw that coming.
Disclaimer: I wanted one, badly, but I have none. As I started this blog, I spent an hour writing a caveat that would protect me from you and your potentially challenging points of view. After all, once the blog is out there, it is fair game and so am I. My draft disclaimer started out “I may change my mind at any moment, but for now, I think…” and then I continued with some mumbo-gumbo, blah-blah. How nuts is that? How un-blog like! How un-leaderly!
Because even the greatest managers can generally benefit from a bit of self assessment, I have decided to share this assessment tool with you.
