The 4 P’s of Olympic Gold: Grooming the Next Generation of Shaun Whites in your Organization
March 15th, 2010 by Jeremy Lurey
Whether it’s a skater or skier or snowboarder or other, everyone who won a Gold Medal in Vancouver recently is a role model for us all. Practice, patience, persistence, and passion – the 4 P’s of Olympic Gold – are likely mantras for all these winners. Shaun White, in particular, is a true living example of exactly what every senior executive and business leader should be focused on creating in their organizations – not because he won gold on the half pipe, but because he won gold after winning gold on the half pipe!
That’s right. Shaun White was standing at the top of his second and final run when the results came in, and he found out that he already won the gold medal without even completing his last run. In that very moment, he had a choice- (more…)
Best Recognition and Rewards Programs for the Post-Recession Economy
February 23rd, 2010 by Jeremy Lurey
At Plus Delta Consulting, we are committed to creating a brighter future for those seeking to improve individual, group, and organizational performance as well as those focused on transforming organizations in ways that produce better business results. Broadly speaking, we are part of “OD” (Organization Development), but we also push the boundaries of the field and what many call “new OD” to connect communities of organizational professionals from other arenas. We not only seek but also strive to share new theories and practices that serve the 21st century organization with others. Towards that end, we launched a LinkedIn group called the “Future of Organization Development (OD)” last fall (see http://bit.ly/FutureOD) and regularly participate in other online conversations to facilitate these discussions.
Here is an excerpt of a recent discussion about the Best Recognition and Rewards Programs for the Post-Recession Economy:
[Jeremy Lurey]: A couple weeks ago, I facilitated a great session with a local NHRA (National Human Resources Association) chapter. The topic was Recognition and Rewards programs, and we used a World Cafe (see www.theworldcafe.com) format to bring everyone – and their richly diverse perspectives – into the room. During the World Cafe rounds, groups were asked the following 3 questions:
1. What are the top three MONETARY recognition and rewards approaches that you use in your company?
2. What are the top three NON-MONETARY recognition and rewards approaches that you use in your company?
3. What are the underlying assumptions of your recognition and rewards system, and does the absence of receiving a reward equate to PUNISHMENT?
Provided below are some of the key themes that emerged from the group. I’m curious if this is in line with your experiences or if you have other “best programs” you would recommend.
FREE 360-Degree Survey Offer Extended Another 30 Days – Act Now and Get Started Today!
February 15th, 2010 by Jeremy Lurey
Due to the popular demand we received from our clients last month, we are extending our New Year’s offer for FREE 360-Degree Leadership Excellence Surveys for anyone who starts a new Executive Coaching program. Plus Delta’s coaching programs range from 6 months of rigorous support to help you and your senior leaders develop the skills you need to ensure the success of your organization to our much more targeted “Quickstart” program. Either way, Plus Delta’s talented executive coaches will help you leverage the tools and insights you need to bridge the gap between more traditional managerial roles and your new responsibilities as business leaders in this post-recession economy. And to make sure these programs deliver long-term sustainable results, we’ll include not only a FREE 360-Degree Leadership Excellence Survey but also a one-year subscription to ThinkBox – one of the most powerful online, on-demand learning and development resources around today – with every program.
Interested in learning more? Ready to invest in yourself and invest in your leaders? With Plus Delta’s Executive Coaching programs, you can improve the performance of an individual leader or an entire executive team. Give us a call at 866.PLS.DLTA (757-3582) or send an email to info@plusdelta.net and get started today. Believe it or not, our Quickstart programs begin at just $1950 per leader, so you don’t want to miss this amazing opportunity!
Every major consulting or research firm has the data to prove it. Engaged employees are not only happy employees, but they are much, much more productive employees. They make companies more profitable, and shareholders richer. (Click here to download a Gallup white paper on the power of employee engagement as a core business strategy.)
I think that most leaders are coming around to believe that this is a truth: engaged employees are a good thing for the business. The problem is that many leaders have trouble figuring out what it takes to get those employees “engaged”.
Let’s make it clear. “Engaged” employees are emotionally involved with their job, their company, and their co-workers. Some of their co-workers become friends outside the workplace, and they care about and support one another.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that HR departments in companies should start planning weekly company picnics or make a return to “fermentation Fridays”. I’m not suggesting that we run a “social Meet Up” application on the company intranet.
We don’t need to run “team building” meetings and ropes courses in every department to get employees engaged. And no, we don’t need executives to do a weekly “lunch with the President” meeting (UNLESS the “Pres” is willing to stick with the program and actually follow through on his/her commitment to meet with employees, get to know them, and do something about their suggestions).
What I am saying is that the major reasons employees:
- Enjoy being at work
- Are willing to give more effort to work
- Feel good when they tell their friends and family about their work
5 Steps to Improved Performance As You Kickoff the New Year
January 13th, 2010 by Jeremy Lurey
All of us at Plus Delta Consulting have been reflecting on what we will do as we enter the New Year to improve performance in our organization – and with our client organizations. 2009 was a rocky year for many, and I for one am very glad to put it behind me. With that said, I’d be remiss if I simply said, “Thank God it’s over!” without doing any planning for 2010.
As we enter the New Year then, we’d like to recommend 5 simple steps for you to drastically improve performance in your organization. What steps have you taken or do you plan to take as you begin the New Year to produce better results? Please take a moment to comment below and share your own actions and ideas with us and all of our readers. Until then, here’s our list!
1. Plan your future from the future:
If anything was possible for you and your organization in one year from now (or even 10), how would you have the future be? Suspend reality for just a moment, and don’t worry about being practical or even reasonable. Focus on defining your ideal future based on your most important values and longer-term business objectives. And don’t frame this as “fixing” something that already exists or working within your current constraints. (more…)
Managing Your Organizational Processes During the Economic Recovery
January 6th, 2010 by Michael Liskin
The following is a guest post by our own Jack Weber, Executive Consultant at Plus Delta Consulting:
At Plus Delta, we have experienced an ever increasing flow of feedback from our clients and others that the long anticipated economic recovery is happening and the pace of the recovery will increase significantly. The information we have received is corroborated by government figures and statistics – for example: the Consumer Confidence Index rose in December, the first time in over a year; the Monthly Home Sales Prices are up for the 5th straight month and over the last 3 months have risen nearly 20%; the Gross Domestic Product increased 2.2 percent in the third quarter of 2009 as compared to the 2nd quarter of 2009.
A recovering economy dictates that your organization must be prepared for changes. Our business climate dramatically changed in 2008 and early 2009 when the U.S. economy nearly came to a complete halt. Processes in your organization were also changed; people assumed multiple roles while they tried to accomplish the same amount of work as two or more downsized workers.
Getting frustrated by conflicting demands to continue to stabilize your organization through the traditional methods of cost cutting, job layoffs, hiring part time workers, early retirement of older workers, etc.– while trying to ramp up for the arriving economic recovery will do no good.
What is mandatory is that planning must start right now. Youmust begin to work with your organization to prepare for a long anticipated positive move forward. You hoped for it; you asked for it, even begged for it. Now you have got it. But what to do? Here are 5 steps to get you started:
Have you ever considered the possibility that the language we use in organizations can have a direct impact on the experience of an individual worker or larger group? How many times have you seen individuals or work groups that seem to exude a culture that undermines either their own stated goals or those of the organization as a whole? In what ways do they speak of themselves, their co-workers, and the work itself, and how has this correlated with their success?
Alternatively, have you seen individuals or groups within organizations that seem to “get it?” How do they speak about themselves and others, and what culture tends to form around them and spread to other parts of a larger organization?
Tribal Leadership, written by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright, provides a framework from which to understand the various “tribes” in an organization and the cultural stages in which they reside. One of their goals is to educate leaders on how to take a tribe (or set of tribes, if in a larger organization) from one cultural stage to the next, until they align around core values and a noble cause. This is achieved both through providing specific coaching tips and through addressing how a leader and an employee can speak about themselves and others. (more…)
Future: Unconference! Interview with Juliette Powell from OD Network Conference ‘09 – Part II
November 3rd, 2009 by Michael Liskin
As promised in part I of my Interview with Juliette Powell, in the video below Juliette discusses the future of conferences. If there was any misconception about the nature of the “unconference” versus the “conference” arising from her keynote address, or about the future of how people will interact in such settings, this video will bring clarity to that and might inspire you to go to an unconference in your city this year. I also asked Juliette to discuss more about the Leadership Engine and how that was created. We are looking forward to our next collaboration with Juliette!
What Makes Ordinary Groups Extraordinary? An Interview with Geoffrey Bellman and Kathleen Ryan, authors of Extraordinary Groups
October 30th, 2009 by Jeremy Lurey
I recently had the honor and privilege of sitting down with Geoff Bellman and Kathleen Ryan, co-authors of the new book Extraordinary Groups: How Ordinary Teams Achieve Amazing Results. What a treat! Geoff has been a personal idol of mine ever since I started my doctoral program more than 15 years ago, and Kathleen may now be my newest favorite OD consultant. Whether I’ve known them long or short, both are tremendously caring and generous souls who are ever-so-graciously giving back to the field of OD these days just as they have given to their local Seattle community for many, many years.
So why do you, our blog readers, care about Geoff and Kathleen? Because they are two leading team performance experts who just published an eye-opening book… (more…)
