In our initial conversations, I became aware of his caring and his expertise. In addition he had some ideas for the bank that he was not communicating due to his sense of inadequacy at the executive leadership meetings. As we went through his routine he began to talk about his open-door policy. As you might imagine, he was extremely well-liked by all and spent his day getting interrupted constantly. This, to me, is an example of the collaborative leadership premise that, one of the least successful modes used for communication; is the “drop in” meeting.

We all appreciate a sense of control over our lives, but in reality the drop-in meeting creates interruption, a lack of preparation, and can lengthen into a long period of time where the person who has dropped in has abdicated his/her responsibility for reflection, research and decision making.

Scheduled meetings on the other hand, even short ones, can be valuable and connective. It is clear that the mindset surrounding meetings will be part of the change that occurs in a collaborative leadership culture. The word “meeting” has from time-to-time been thought of with distaste, irritation and sometimes dread. But effective communication and connection can only happen within a meeting, where the meeting process is a focus prior to and during discussion of agenda items or initiatives. Leadership, in the context of the meeting process, and in general, is not a role as much as it is a behavior. Therefore, everyone in the room has the opportunity to demonstrate leadership and to contribute to the meeting purpose.

As I worked with my client, we set up a new routine which included having available hours posted on the door so that appointments could be made for those times. A positive consequence of this routine was that the members of his team began to talk more to each other, and to arrive at his office with more organized thinking and with decisions for approval rather than beginning discussions.

In addition, my client was able to organize his day and set aside time on the calendar for thought projects that he wanted to do, which also gave him confidence to discuss his ideas in the Executive Leadership meetings.

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss how the Process Focus of meetings can help you create more effective communication within your organization, please contact me directly at patricia@bridgingassociates.com. In the meantime, I’ll be discussing the process further in my next post.

Often we think of communication as the sharing of information, our opinions and sometimes our new ideas. Have you found that this sharing is not always successful in that you do not receive the responses or results you intended? You are not alone. In my experience you must first have the intention for connection before true collaboration can take place. When you set your intention to connect by using the four parts of speech outlined below, you begin to see how you can engage others and be more engaged yourself and be part of a vibrant team that has the courage to communicate and connect with respect and trust for the process.

The four parts of speech that develop connection are: *

Framing – the process of creating the agenda for a meeting or conversation. It includes framing what is to be discussed, what are the preferred outcomes and how the conversation will proceed.

Illustration – provide familiar examples of what is being discussed to create reference points so people can personally relate to the discussion. This makes what is being said easier to relate to and something others can see themselves doing.

Advocacy – this is often the reason a conversation occurs in meetings especially when the leader has an agenda. When you allow for advocacy to occur from others, making it a part of the agenda, you empower your team and provide a stronger opportunity for expression. This part of speech is often a given but sometimes becomes too big a part of the conversation or agenda; make sure you manage the time well  so that involvement and buy in of others can occur.

Inquiry – this is the least used part of speech and the most important component for connection, participation and buy-in. It means that every meeting and conversation is set up to include inquiry throughout. The questions are not challenges or asking for information, so much as inquiry about what they think about what you are saying and any questions they may have.

*Action Inquiry, Bill Torbert et al

Stay tuned for more information from the class series on creating collaborative, high-performing teams that are solution-focused.

Want the full high-performance jump-start process for your teams? Be sure to register form my Interactive, Online Series, starting May 15: Collaborative Leadership: High-Performance Model

Do you have any collaborative teaming experiences you’d like to share? I’d enjoying hearing from you; please be sure to leave a comment.

If you are a leader struggling with team productivity and results, you don’t want to miss my upcoming interactive teleclass series: Collaborative Leadership: How to Harness the power of your People, starting on May 15, which provides 4 practical steps for jump-starting your team’s results.

In this interactive teleclass series you will learn:

• New information on neuroscience, it’s relation to High Performance and how to use it to jump-start your team
• Detailed 4-meeting jump-start collaborative program that you can implement today
• Communication techniques on how to create connection and alignment
• How to use the four Parts of Speech that create partnerships for greater results
• Accountability as a process that can be implemented with specifications and partnerships
• Solution Focus and how it relates to High Performance

Dates: Tuesdays; May 15, May 22, May 29, June 5, and June 12
Time: 10 AM Pacific, 11AM Mountain, 12 Noon Central, 1PM Eastern

Sign up today: http://bit.ly/GTtjs9

I look forward to “seeing you” online and sharing the effective Team Alignment process for creating teams who communicate more effectively, with solution-focus and accountability.

Stay tuned for my next blog post which dives deeper into the aspects of creating new pathways in the brain that create higher performance and changes in mindset.

In today’s business environment companies must produce greater results with less woman/manpower. Organizations focusing on creating collaborative leadership with more aligned team environments are discovering that by fostering communication, accountability and a solution-focused culture, they create more dynamic and sustainable results. Their employees/teams are contributing more ideas, are more engaged in results, and are more vested in the bottom line than ever before.

Join me on March 27, 8am PST/9am MST/11:00am EST, for my free webinar, Collaborative Leadership: How to Harness the Power in Your People, and learn how your organization can create teams who produce more results!

In this webinar you will receive:

1. A 4-meeting method to jump-start the collaborative process for your teams
2. Tips for fostering contribution and productivity from every team member
3. A plan for moving your team forward and keeping the momentum going

Sign up today!

Collaboration as a process in organizations is crucial for success now more than ever. In today’s business environment motivation and productivity are down. The lack of teamwork contributes to loss of money, loss of direction, slow or shrinking growth and smaller market share. These challenges occur in executive leadership teams and in management and project teams. Though today’s business climate is challenging, it also contains opportunities to jump start results.

To learn more about how to create jump-start results for your organization join me on March 27.

I look forward to “seeing” you online!

Recently published neuroscience research connects High Performance to many of the same elements contained in our Collaborative Leadership Model: Communication, Accountability and Solution Focus; all elements that stimulate the brain into creating new functional pathways, and creating more productivity for your organization.

Please take a few minutes to enjoy the latest video on Collaborate Leadership: How to Harness the Power in Your People and let me know your thoughts.

 To view the video click here:

For more information on creating High Performance within your organization visit: http://bridgingassociates.com/. If you have questions or would like to contribute to the discussion, I would enjoy hearing from you. Please be sure to post a comment.

PS: Stay tuned for an announcement regarding the availability of my new eBook which takes a closer look at Neuroscience, Collaborative Leadership and High Performance!

I see two important focus points in 2012 for executive leaders who want to improve their organizations productivity and results:

1. Collaborative Leadership
2. Creating new brain pathways to create High Performance

I am happy to report that the two are intrinsically related; the latest Neuroscience on activating the brain for high performance discusses connection and feedback, as well as solution-focus as major activators.

The work I have shared with you earlier this year on Collaborative Leadership and the elements of Team Alignment has been on this path. I am currently working on two publications; an e-book which will be announced soon and available on my website in early 2012, and a business book, Collaborative Leadership: How to Harness the Power in your People. Both address the relation of neuroscience and collaborative leadership and provide the how-to that will achieve High Performance in your organization. I have been busy interviewing some well known leaders who have used these principles, sometimes intuitively to create great results.

In the meantime, I want to encourage you to implement the four-meeting schedule I shared with you in the previous posts and to share your results:

• The First Team Meeting is focused on Communication.  Click here for more details.
• The Second Meeting is critical in establishing a system of consistent follow up and accountability. It should occur one week after the first. Click here for more details.
• The Third Meeting is a continuation of the process introduced in Meetings 1 and 2: Click here for details.
• Fourth Meeting is solution -focused.  Click here for more details.

2012 is the Year of Collaboration and Implementation using both the High Performance Model for making new pathways and the Collaborative Leadership Model.  If you have questions or would like to contribute to the discussion, I would enjoy hearing from you. Please be sure to post a comment. For more information on creating cultural change within your organization visit bridgingassociates.com.

• Proactive vs. Reactive
• Focus vs. Interruptions and Distractions
• Alignment and Collaboration vs. Competition
• Implementing Strategic Goals

In today’s post I’d like to address Alignment and Collaboration vs. Competition

I approach this area just as a way to invite consideration. I am aware that this could be an entire book of discussion about business practices. There are many references to the importance of the Leadership Team such as Jim Collins, Good to Great, and Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of the Leadership Team and Zaffron and Logan, The Three Laws of Performance.

In my experience, there are many cultures where ideas and discussion are discouraged unintentionally whereby leaders and developing leaders miss an opportunity to contribute. Part of that is fostered by the competition created among peers. In the LAI 360 Assessment given to participants at Linkage’s Global Institute of Leadership Development (GILD), the peer relationships are often where the lower scores occur in evaluating leadership behaviors. Some of that comes from the lack of time spent in teams of equals especially at the top. Also, there are concerns about conflict, thinking that it is dangerous when in fact if done with process, conflict can create great solutions, with thinking” out of the box”.

This area, if developed, will revolutionize business to allow leaders to be in a continual state of development. Imagine a leadership team meeting where members actually asked their peers for solution suggestions for issues within their own department; eliminating the need to look good. The available assistance from one’s peers as well as the head of the organization is invaluable.

Coaching which fosters collaboration as a goal, on an individual level and for teams creates the willingness to risk as a group and to lay issues on the table. Changing the culture to be solution oriented rather than placing blame strengthens the team. In addition, it acts as a support to the Top Executive to move into greater visioning and networking, trusting the team of leaders to fulfill the goals of the organization

My next post will address the fourth culture behavioral aspect, Implementing Strategic goals. For more information on creating cultural change within your organization visit: bridgingassociates.com.  You can register for news on Collaborative Leadership: How to Harness the Power of Your People.

If you have questions or would like to contribute to the discussion, I would enjoy hearing from you. Please be sure to post a comment.

There are four aspects of culture and culture change that can be affected by daily behavior changes:

• Proactive vs. Reactive
• Focus vs. Interruptions and Distractions
• Alignment and Collaboration vs. Competition
• Implementing Strategic Goals

Today I am focusing on Proactive vs. Reactive cultures.

Many executives define their culture as reactive vs. proactive and express a desire for more proactive thinking. In order to have this occur, a simple set of changes across the leadership stream can often make a big difference.

At present, many have developed cultures of interruption which consist of constant e-mail checking, drop-ins or drive-bys and a sense that every issue must be dealt with immediately. This creates a lack of focus on projects and a sense of overwhelm. These patterns start at the top executive level and can be changed within the entire organization when the mandate comes from the top both in words and actions. As we all know, behavior change is a challenge so creating processes for this change from the top down is vital.

When the job description of the CEO is given it always includes proactive thinking and networking with other executives to create cutting edge business practices. With a reactive culture, the top executive is often caught up in internal affairs so that priorities are often delayed and time for visioning is lost.

Just the daily pattern of coming to the office, opening the computer and immediately being drawn into the inbox creates the reactive pattern. Often planned work, meetings or projects can be overruled by the contents of an e-mail. Just the simple act of bringing up the calendar first can begin the change to proactive thinking.

Stay tuned for more information on Focus vs. Interruptions and Distractions cultures.  If you have questions or would like to contribute to the discussion, I would enjoy hearing from you.  Please be sure to post a comment. For more information on creating cultural change within your organization visit bridgingassociates.com