Marjorie's Blog

Thursday, January 01, 2009

A New Start

The New Year is off to a flying start here at Team Fusion.  It feels like 2008 shouldn’t be over yet the calendar tells me differently!

2009 brings major changes to the programs I’ll be offering, and the way I’m structuring my business.  Be on the look-out for an announcement on January 14th!  Now, I believe I know myself fairly well and I’m somewhat surprised about personal behaviors that were revealed during my recent design time.  Here is what I discovered:

1) TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR EVERYTHING! It’s not enough to plan and only implement part of it.  You will have some sense of accomplishment, and still feel unsatisfied.  See each task through to the end.

2) CLAIM YOUR POWER! Question the thoughts that invade with, ‘You can’t do that.’ Negative statements may come from people closest to you which make them more hurtful.  Decide - right now - who you will allow to control your success.

As you begin the New Year, my hope is that you believe in your worthiness as a leader:
* to be significant
* to be seen in the world
* to be powerful

Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie

Friday, December 05, 2008

Living on Purpose

The snow season has begun here in Milwaukee, and it would be so easy to make excuses and fritter the day away. It would be easy to reward myself with a day off simply because I shoveled the driveway—twice.

Yet, behind all behaviors is MOTIVATION. Motivation usually comes from two different perspectives:
1) You can be motivated out of fear.
2) You can be motivated out of purpose.

Being motivated out of purpose is what drives you to success—it means serving others, giving back, paying good deeds forward. Your success is directly related to how well it fulfills its purpose in serving others. Ultimately, it’s in the serving that your organization will weather the economic ups and downs.

So, when you start thinking about letting tasks slide, ignoring return emails, or stalling on phone callbacks that is the time to pull out your arsenal of motivational techniques. It begins with knowing and remembering your purpose—in business and with your team.

Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Losing Something You Enjoy

Last night was my final board meeting for the Southeastern Wisconsin chapter of ASTD (American Society for Training & Development).  Today I’m filled with a feeling of sadness and loss.  Forget the fact that I’ve looked forward to this day for the past year.  In fact, I spoke with a certain amount of glee about the end of my tenure as president.

What I realize now is that I will miss seeing like-minded professionals working for the same cause.
I will miss the energetic brainstorming sessions.
I will miss the power of my circle of influence.
I also realize it is the best thing for the association. 

As a leader, it is often difficult to make the decision to let go and leave a team, department, or organization.  There is great satisfaction in achieving goals, getting people to work together, satisfying customer needs, and contributing to the growth of a company.  It is wonderful for your ego.

The caution, however, is to not let the job define you.  You are not the job title and your self-worth should not be tied to it.  Remember - because of your leadership ability you are able to create momentum in whatever role you take on.

As one board member reminded me, “Marjorie, you can run but you cannot hide!” I’m now looking forward to seeing how else I can serve the chapter.  If ever you find yourself in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area and want to meet other learning and development people, please checkout our events at http://www.sewi-astd.org.

Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Don’t Set Time Limits on Your Goals

I’ve been a proponent of SMART goals for years. SMART is an acronym for writing your goal as Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Results-Oriented, and Timebound. In the last decade alone, I’ve taught hundreds of managers exactly how to create SMART goals for themselves and their team. I’ve advocated the necessity for including a time limit to ensure you have a concrete date in which to judge the goal as either ‘completed’ or ‘not completed.’

Then I got involved with a project - where I was not the leader (I don’t know why I’m compelled to tell you that) - which just concluded. An elderly aunt and uncle of mine are retiring to Atlanta. Many people came to help pack up their belongings, move furniture into a shipping container, and hug them good-bye one final time. To give you a better picture—there was a project timeline, a leader, and 13 able-bodied helpers. I began to notice lots of “down” time between packing and purging. Helpers starting to do their own thing when communication slowed down.

Let me get back to the time factor since this isn’t a blog on communication. I realized one of Murphy’s Laws came true—the project was completed in the exact amount of time designated for it. What else could this crew have accomplished if everything had been completed in half the time rather than what the project plan designated? That spurred my thinking around how leaders apply time limits in the workplace.

Consider these things that hinder goal accomplishment:
* Communication of the overall plan to team members who are added later

* Knowing what each individual is working on at any moment

* Identifying and implementing efficiencies in spite of the plan

* Listening to team members who have no immediate task and are observing

* Asking enough questions when delegating a task to a new team member

* Being comfortable in receiving advice when it goes against the project plan

* Managing generational differences during the project

* Rewarding and celebrating the achieved goal

Here is a suggestion: Stop setting a time limit on goals and see what innovations come from your team when you let them live up to their potential.

I’d enjoy hearing your viewpoint on this strategy. Now, I’m off to drive my uncle’s Buick down to Atlanta.

Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie

Monday, November 03, 2008

Key to Motivation

I spent the month of October feverishly finishing a teambuilding book manuscript which has now gone on to the editor.  Have you ever worked on a large-scale project that totally consumed all your waking hours?  I discovered between researching and writing the difficulty of staying motivated—in spite of enjoying the project and all the tasks associated with it.  During October, the US financial crisis and presidential election were major areas of concern.  It was interesting to notice what I began thinking about during the endless negative talk going on around me.

Motivation usually comes from two different perspectives:
1) Out of fear
2) Out of purpose

Being motivated by purpose allows success through accomplishment - serving others; giving.  Fear motivation is the opposite - serving only yourself; taking.  How do you, as a leader, keep yourself living with purpose in the midst of chaos?  How does that translate to your team?  Consider these ideas…

How to Keep Yourself Motivated
* Have a clear vision of success.
* Live the behaviors that lead to success.
* Find ways to stay informed (avoiding the massive negativity on the news) and still remain effective.
* Decide to be optimistic and focus on solutions.

How to Keep Your Team Motivated
* Communicate what behaviors leading to success look like.
* Motivation is all about your attitude.  Demonstrate the attitude you want your team to mimic.
* Always acknowledge great work.
* Don’t be an absentee leader - encouraging individual success means you know each person.

Did you find the Key to Motivation above?  It’s your attitude.

Until next time...live like you mean it (with purpose and passion)!
Marjorie