Read "The Seven Arts Of Change"

David Shaner's compelling, The Seven Arts of Change, shows business leaders that transforming a business only happens when each employee equates organizational change with the process of deep personal growth.

"The bottom line is that, despite how technological and automated organizations have become, at their core they remain a collection of human energies that are merely being applied in an organized environment," explains Shaner. "Resurrecting and guiding that human core of your organization is the secret to leading and sustaining change," he adds.

Shaner pulls from his vast professional and personal experiences, including having been a member of the Olympic Valley USA Ski Team and a former Harvard University teacher, to lay out a seven-part "spiritual guide" for change:

The Art of Preparation (Assessment)
The Art of Compassion (Participation)
The Art of Responsibility (Accountability)
The Art of Relaxation (Clarity, Focus, Visibility)
The Art of Conscious Action (Execution)
The Art of Working Naturally (Sustainability)
The Art of Service (Generosity)

Even if you don't fully appreciate his blending of Western business savvy with Eastern philosophy, the 184-page book, readable in an afternoon, is pertinent and timely. Most important, he teaches business leaders and nonprofit executive directors why they need to change the way they lead change.

Some of my favorite parts of the book are:

Most leaders miss the fact that every employee possesses a latent willingness to change. Leaders often ignore the fact that personal progress is one of our strongest human desires. Your job as the leader is to connect the new business need with an opportunity for personal progress.
Organizations that evidence compassion listen to each other in order to understand and connect to more effective outcomes, not in order to place blame or assert their own way of doing things. Listening is the root of collaboration, root-cause analysis, and effective teamwork. It is also the single greatest source of establishing unity from top to bottom and bottom to top.
Regardless of the conditions surrounding your change, your employees will perform to the peak of their ability if they are driven from a collective inner strength brought on by clarity of purpose, focus of requirements, and visibility of progress.
Your employees' daily actions must be consciously meaningful to both the business initiative as well as to them personally.

The book came out earlier this month. It's joined my Top 10 leadership books list! And, I much appreciated the complimentary review copy.

Comments

Effective Listening: Do's And Don'ts

Here are some great tips from Michelle Tillis Lederman's book, The 11 Laws of Likability . They are all about: what to do and what not to do to be a leader who's an effective listener : Do : Maintain eye contact Limit your talking Focus on the speaker Ask questions Manage your emotions Listen with your eyes and ears Listen for ideas and opportunities Remain open to the conversation Confirm understanding, paraphrase Give nonverbal messages that you are listening (nod, smile) Ignore distractions Don't : Interrupt Show signs of impatience Judge or argue mentally Multitask during a conversation Project your ideas Think about what to say next Have expectations or preconceived ideas Become defensive or assume you are being attacked Use condescending, aggressive, or closed body language Listen with biases or closed to new ideas Jump to conclusions or finish someone's sentences

The Science Of Personality In The Workplace

In the book, Good Judgment , author Richard Davis , PhD , explains what the science of personality is and how it works, and how all of us can use it to improve our working relationships, careers, and lives. “Understanding the science of personality and how to utilize it is the key to exercising good judgment, shares Davis. “The ability to read others’ personalities quickly and accurately, overcoming biases and prejudices that might skew our perception, is critical when making decisions and managing relationships both professional and personal.” Psychologists widely agree that five key traits define our personalities : Intellect : How people think. How people process information, make decisions, and solve problems. Emotionality : How people express emotions. How people typically experience and/or express their emotions. Sociability : How people engage with others. How people tend to interact, communicate, engage, and get a...

Use A Board Of Advisors

David Burkus often provides valuable comments to my various Blog postings, and he's a person who effectively uses a board of advisors, instead of mentors, to help him achieve success. "I've found that in my life, it was easier and more effective to set up a board of advisors," said Burkus, the editor of LeaderLab . "This is a group of people, three to five, that have rotated into my life at various times and that speak into it and help me grow. I benefit from the variety of experience these people have." LeaderLab is an online community of resources dedicated to promoting the practice of leadership theory. Its contributors include consultants and professors who present leadership theory in a practitioner-friendly format that provides easy-to-follow explanations on how to apply the best of leadership theory. Community users can download a variety of research reports and presentations about leadership and leadership versus management. For example, a pr...

How To Embrace Change

If you want to learn how to more effectively embrace change, read Build For Tomorrow , by Jason Feifer , Editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine and host of the podcasts Build For Tomorrow and Problem Solvers . “My book is for anyone facing down an uncertain future, as well as a practical guide for every entrepreneur and aspiring entrepreneur,” says Feifer. Organized around the four phases of change, Feifer shares personal insights and learnings from his interviews with success entrepreneurs and changemakers who have experienced tectonic shifts in work, culture, and life. The four phases of change are: Panic Adapt New Normal Wouldn’t Go Back – When we gain something so new and great that we wouldn’t want to go back to a time before we had it. “Change is coming. It’s here. It cannot be stopped! And when it comes for us, we really only two choices – to embrace it, or to fight a losing fight,” explain...

Reach Communications & Leadership Expert David Grossman Via His New App

If you haven't engaged with David Grossman's website, Blog and incredibly useful eBooks, make a point of checking them all out at his website for The Grossman Group. David just launched his new App, called " Ask David ." Via the App, David promises to bring his communications industry expert advice and wisdom right to your fingertips. Topics covered include: Employee engagement Internal communications Change management Leadership effectiveness Crisis messaging Diversity and inclusion

How To Reduce Employee Loneliness In The Workplace

Here is a book that provides workplace leaders an urgently needed methodology for helping companies to reduce worker loneliness, and it delivers a blueprint for building strong, high-performing workplace teams. The book is, Connectable: How Leaders Can Move Teams From Isolated To All In , by Ryan Jenkins and Steven Van Cohen . “72% of workers suffer from loneliness. And what was once a simmering problem shifted to a crisis when COVID-19 and the sudden transition to remove work isolated workers from each other as never before,” report the authors. “Loneliness is the absence of connection,” explain the authors. “Loneliness is not defined by the lack of people, because someone can be lonely even while surrounded by others. We require more than the presence of others. We require the presence of others to dream, strategize, and work toward commons goals.” Furthermore, “workplace loneliness is defined by the distress caused by the perceived inadequ...

How You Create An Optimistic Workplace

In the book, The Optimistic Workplace , author Shawn Murphy , explains that the following beliefs are essential to helping create a positive work experience : The team is more important than any individual . For optimism to be strong, a cohesive team is vital. People need to believe the team will be there for them when needed. A team is weakened when the first priority is the needs of each person, or when ego dictates a team's actions or inaction. And, avoid relying on the usual suspects, the same few superstars, to handle high-profile projects. There's value to experiencing joy at work . Joy can open brains to better see connections and various options to solve work problems. Joy is about playing. Play at work is useful when creativity and innovation are needed. The usefulness of creativity and innovation at the workplace is linked to increasing employees' knowledge and skills. Doing good is good for business . It's not just about philanthropy. Do good b...

How To Write An Employee Satisfaction And Engagement Survey

According to Polaris , a company that specializes in employee research, “a company’s employees are often the face and frontline of an organization and their opinion of that organization affects their attitude, thus affecting customers’ attitudes, behavior and ultimately, the bottom line.” That is why Polaris recommends that business leaders conduct employee research that allows leaders to better understand what motivates employees, drives loyalty, and makes and keeps employees happy. “An added benefit of conducting employee satisfaction research is that, in doing so, a company lets their employees know they are important, their opinions and suggestions matter, and there is a sincere desire to make the company an enjoyable place to work,” reports Polaris. Here are 10 questions Polaris recommends you ask employees as part of a wide-ranging employee satisfaction and engagement survey : For each of the following statements, indicate if you: • Strongly disagree • Disagree • Somew...

Resolve To Find A Mentor In 2011

Having a mentor is one of the best things you can do to advance your career as a leader. So, decide today to secure a mentor who will work with you during 2011. Make that one of your New Year’s resolutions. A mentor can benefit leaders new to their leadership role and they can benefit experienced and seasoned leaders, as well. A strong mentoring relationship allows the mentor and the mentee to develop new skills and talents, to build confidence, and to build self-awareness. Proper mentoring takes a commitment from both parties and it takes time to develop and to reap the rewards of the relationship. Plan to work with your mentor for no less than three months, and ideally for six months or longer. When seeking out a mentor, think about these questions: 1. Will the relationship have good personal chemistry? 2. Can this person guide me, particularly in the areas where I am weakest? 3. Will this person take a genuine interest in me? 4. Does this person ha...

How To Avoid 8 Common Performance Evaluation Pitfalls

As the year comes to a close it's likely time for many business leaders to tackle the annual performance appraisal process. So, here is a good reminder from author Sharon Armstrong about how to avoid eight performance evaluation pitfalls . These are in what I consider is the best chapter of the book The Essential HR Handbook , that she co-authored with Barbara Mitchell. 1. Clustering everyone in the middle performance-rating categories 2. Overlooking flaws or exaggerating the achievements of favored employees 3. Excusing substandard performance or behavior because it is widespread 4. Letting one characteristic - positive or negative - affect your overall assessment 5. Rating someone based on the company he or she keeps 6. Rating someone based on a grudge you are holding 7. Rating someone based on a short time period instead of the entire evaluation period 8. Rating everyone high, to make you look good There's ot...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog