San Francisco Bay Area Executive Coaching: 5 posts from October 2014

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5 posts from October 2014

October 29, 2014

Edge Walkers and Resonance

Edge Walkers

Come to the Edge

“Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It's too high!
COME TO THE EDGE!
And they came,
And he pushed,
And they flew.”
- Christopher Logue

Resonant leaders have a growth versus fixed mindset, and are optimistic and forward thinking. They come to the edge and create innovative and sustainable companies helping everyone soar to the greatest heights.

One of my CEO executive coaching clients confided in me this week that he was struggling to convince several of his senior executives on changing their company culture. The data from a recent company engagement survey indicated that far too many employees weren’t engaged with the mission and vision of the company.

The CEO wanted to execute a new cutting edge strategy for the company, but was encountering a lot of resistance from some executive team members fearful of change. We engaged in a pretty fierce coaching conversation about how to help his leaders develop a more growth-oriented mindset. They needed to learn how to create resonance, and embrace the new strategy and change.

At our next coaching meeting, the CEO reported that his senior executives found the new strategy provided rresonance and were on board. The members of the executive team thought that if he was so passionate about his belief in creating a new culture and strategy, that they began to pay attention to their own habits and patterns of behavior that were counterproductive to creating a high performance culture.

Resonance

Resonance is defined as the following:

Awareness
Alignment
Attunement
Integration

Resonance is the true alignment of energy in relationship with someone or something else. It gives us clarity for how we show up physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually in our life. It calls us to become more of who we really are, to show up whole and open our eyes a little wider to the world.

Resonance inspires and moves us – powerfully, passionately and purposefully – to fulfill our potential. It enables us to embrace life completely.

With a greater understanding of resonance, we can create powerful connections and effectively drive transformation and conscious change in our personal lives, professional careers and even global organizations.

Developing resonance is foundational for your ongoing success. And best of all, when developed energetically, changes made in your life are not only profound – they are sustainable.

Emotionally intelligent leaders know that creating a positive workplace culture and climate where emotions are appropriately expressed increases engagement and moves things forward. In order for people to be fully engaged, they need to feel they are following leaders who inspire them emotionally.

You can develop a more resonant mindset by working with an executive coach. The investment is well worth the reward: your ability to influence the future, your career and your personal-development capabilities.

Are you working in a company where executive coaches provide leadership development to help leaders put mindful leadership into action?Does your organization provide executive coaching for leaders who need to be more positive? Positive leaders tap into their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills to create a more fulfilling future.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Am I a resonant leader who helps individuals and organizations achieve their highest potential, flourish at work, experience elevating energy and achieve levels of effectiveness difficult to attain otherwise?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching to help leaders develop more positive teams.

Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I, CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help leaders nurture resonance in the workplace. You can become a more positive leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.

Working Resources is a San Francisco Bay Area Executive Coaching Firm Helping Innovative Companies and Law Firms Assess, Select, Coach, Engage and Retain Emotionally Intelligent Leaders; Executive Coaching; Leadership Development; Performance-Based Interviewing; Competency Modeling; Succession Management; Culture Change; Career Coaching and Leadership Retreats

...About Dr. Maynard Brusman

Dr. Maynard Brusman

Consulting Psychologist and Executive Coach|
Trusted Advisor to Executive Leadership Teams
Mindfulness & Emotional Intelligence Workplace Expert

Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist and executive coach. He is the president of Working Resources, a leadership consulting and executive coaching firm. We specialize in helping San Francisco Bay Area companies select and develop emotionally intelligent leaders. Maynard is a highly sought-after speaker and workshop leader. He facilitates leadership retreats in Northern California and Costa Rica. The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded Dr. Maynard Brusman "Board Approved" designations in the specialties of Executive Coaching and Leadership Development.

“Maynard Brusman is one of the foremost coaches in the United States. He utilizes a wide variety of assessments in his work with senior executives and upper level managers, and is adept at helping his clients both develop higher levels of emotional intelligence and achieve breakthrough business results. As a senior leader in the executive coaching field, Dr. Brusman brings an exceptional level of wisdom, energy, and creativity to his work.” — Jeffrey E. Auerbach, Ph.D., President, College of Executive Coaching

For more information, please go to http://www.workingresources.com, write to [email protected], or call 415-546-1252.

Subscribe to Working Resources Newsletter: http://www.workingresources.com Visit Maynard's Blog: http://www.workingresourcesblog.com

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Posted by Maynard Brusman on October 29, 2014 in Leadership Development | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: passionately and purposefully – to fulfill our potential., Resonance inspires and moves us – powerfully

October 22, 2014

Edge Walkers and Culture Change - Corporate Culture Drives Results

Culture Change

Come to the Edge

“Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It's too high!
COME TO THE EDGE!
And they came,
And he pushed,
And they flew.”
- Christopher Logue

I’ve learned over the years that my most effective executive coaching leadership clients know the “why” of what they are passionate in achieving. They get excited in my office telling me inspiring stories of their hopes and struggles. They have a growth versus fixed mindset, and are optimistic and forward thinking. Mindful leaders come to the edge and inspire followers.

One of my CEO executive coaching clients confided in me this week that he was struggling to convince several of his senior executives on changing their company culture to be more collaborative and compassionate based on cultivating mutual respect and trust. The data from a recent company engagement survey indicated that far too many employees weren’t engaged with the mission and vision of the company.

The CEO wanted to create a new high performance culture for the company, but was encountering a lot of resistance from some executive team members fearful of change. We engaged in a pretty fierce coaching conversation about how to help his leaders develop a more growth-oriented mindset.

The executive team members needed to become less resistant, and learn how to embrace the new culture and be open to change and new possibilities. Being mindful language modeled on non-violent communication would be key to emotionally connect with and engage their workforce.

“When nothing is sure, everything is possible.” ― Margaret Drabble

Corporate Culture Drives Results

“The person who figures out how to harness the collective genius of their organization is going to blow the competition away.” ~ Walter Wriston

If your people continue to think and act as they do now, can you expect to achieve the results you need? If your answer is no, then changing your organizational culture is not an option—it’s an imperative.

Research shows that the right culture champions high levels of performance. When organizations design and support a culture that encourages outstanding individual and team contribution, they achieve amazing bottom-line results. By harnessing the power of culture, you can change the game by growing faster than your competitors and improve your value proposition.

Employee accountability and engagement are the driving forces behind achieving great results. As a mindful leader, it’s your job to help employees see how their participation contributes to your organization’s success. Employees become engaged when they can describe their role in outcomes and desired results.

In a culture of accountability, people step forward to become part of the solution — often when they begin to see others doing it. Managers should seize every opportunity to model this behavior with their own attitudes and actions, which will create a trickle-down effect.

Remember that cultures are powerful, and persistent, and that people are entrenched in their habits and work routines. If you want to achieve new or different results, you will need to create a new culture. To do so, you must define the needed shifts in the way people think and act so they can create new experiences that will translate into new beliefs and actions.

When everyone buys into creating new results, you are accelerating the necessary cultural transition. It doesn’t happen easily. It requires dialogue, engagement, debate and leadership.

Your culture produces your results. If you need a change in results, then you need a change in culture. Your culture is always working, either for you or against you.

At our subsequent coaching meetings, the CEO reported that his senior executives found the strategy questions provided clarity and were on board. The members of the executive team thought that if he was so passionate about his belief in creating a new culture and strategy, that they began to pay attention to their own habits and patterns of behavior that were counterproductive to creating a high performance culture.

You can develop a more positive mindset by working with an executive coach. The investment is well worth the reward: your ability to influence the future, your career and your personal-development capabilities.

Are you working in a company where executive coaches provide leadership development to help leaders put positive leadership into action?Does your organization provide executive coaching for leaders who need to be more positive? Positive leaders tap into their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills to create a more fulfilling future.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Am I a positive leader who helps individuals and organizations achieve their highest potential, flourish at work, experience elevating energy and achieve levels of effectiveness difficult to attain otherwise?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching to help leaders develop more positive teams.

Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I, CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help leaders nurture positivity in the workplace. You can become a more positive leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.

...About Dr. Maynard Brusman

Dr. Maynard Brusman

Posted by Maynard Brusman on October 22, 2014 in Leadership Development | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: culture change, emotional intelligence, executive coaching, leadership development, mindfulness

October 15, 2014

Edge Walkers – Making Strategy Everyone’s Job

Edge Walkers

Come to the Edge

“Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It's too high!
COME TO THE EDGE!
And they came,
And he pushed,
And they flew.”
- Christopher Logue

One of my CEO executive coaching clients confided in me this week that he was struggling to convince several of his senior executives to create a new business strategy. The data from a recent company engagement survey indicated that far too many employees weren’t engaged with the mission and vision of the company.

Agile Strategy

“Plateaus are death in business because they ultimately erode. The only way to avoid downturn is to keep growing. But that growth doesn't need to be a blind leap of faith.” – Alan Weiss

The CEO and I discussed several questions focusing on strategy that the CEO would explore with his executive team.

1. What value do we want to provide a year from now? What are we passionate about and great at, which will help clients in a year's time?

2. Who are our ideal clients for that value?

3. What mechanisms do we choose to use to reach them and convey value.

At our next coaching meeting, the CEO reported that his senior executives found the strategy questions provided clarity and were on board. The members of the executive team thought that if he was so passionate about his belief in creating a strategy for the company, that they began to pay attention to their own habits and patterns of behavior that caused resistance and were counterproductive to creating an executing the new strategy.

So what’s right for your company? Theorists want to make universal statements that would be prescriptions for every business. But it would be more relevant to look at a company’s unique situation and then assess its position in the industry, its internal capabilities, and then the fit between them.

Successful strategy implementation requires commitment and perseverance. It requires teamwork and integration across traditional organizational boundaries and roles. The message must be reinforced often and in many ways. Strategy should be everyone’s everyday job.

Good strategies are not enough. They have to be operationalized:

They have to be the focus of everyday actions
They have to be everybody’s job
They have to be made a continuous process
They have to be mobilized through effective leadership.

Emotionally intelligent leaders know that creating a compelling business strategy increases engagement and moves things forward. In order for people to be fully engaged, they need to feel they are following leaders who have a clear strategy for success.

You can work on your strategy ideas with an executive coach as a trusted advisor and thought partner. The investment is well worth the reward: your ability to create a sustainable future.

Are you working in a company where executive coaches work as a thought partner to help leaders put their strategic initiatives into action?Does your organization provide executive coaching for leaders who need to be more persuasive? Persuasive leaders tap into their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills to create a more fulfilling future.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Am I a persuasive leader who helps individuals and organizations achieve their highest potential, flourish at work, experience elevating energy and achieve levels of effectiveness difficult to attain otherwise?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership consulting to help leaders develop a compelling strategy.

Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I, CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help leaders create a shared strategy. You can become a more persuasive leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.

...About Dr. Maynard Brusman

Dr. Maynard Brusman

Posted by Maynard Brusman on October 15, 2014 in Leadership Development | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: edge walkers, emotional intelligence, executive coaching, leadership development, mindfulness, strategy

October 08, 2014

Executive Presence - Leading with Intention, Connection and Inspiration

Executive Presence

Whether you call it charisma, confidence or compelling leadership, executive presence is the new corporate “it” factor.

We’re talking about more than making a great first impression. Presence is multifaceted, builds over time, and is reflected in everything you say, feel and do.

In today’s competitive business environment, executive presence can make or break your ability to influence others during periods of uncertainty and change. It encourages people to seek you out and opens doors.

The concept of presence is nebulous for most people, but we all have it to a degree—and we know it when we see it in others. But most of us are unsure of how to increase our presence and develop it in others. Many people assume it’s about showmanship, charm, unabashed confidence and smooth speaking skills, but this only scratches the surface.

Fortunately, a spate of new books do a good job of covering the topic. Three of the best ones are:

Leadership Presence: Dramatic Techniques to Reach Out, Motivate and Inspire,by Kathy Lubar and Belle Linda Halpern (Penguin Group, 2004)
The Power of Presence: Unlock Your Potential to Influence and Engage Others,by Kristi Hedges (Amacom, 2012)
Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success, by Sylvia Ann Hewlett (HarperBusiness, 2014)

Specific Criteria

Sylvia Ann Hewlett, founder and CEO of the Center for Talent Innovation, surveyed 4,000 college-educated professionals (including 268 senior executives) to find out what coworkers and bosses look for when evaluating executive presence.

Three criteria proved critical:

How you act (gravitas): 67%
How you speak (communication): 28%
How you look (appearance): 5%

Gravitas signals intellectual expertise, but also confidence and credibility. Senior executives picked projecting confidence and grace under fire as presence’s most important qualities.

You communicate authority through your speaking skills and ability to command a room, the top presence picks by senior leaders. Eye contact matters enormously, according to executives surveyed, as do voice, bearing and body language.

The 5% importance attributed to appearance is misleading. Standards of appearance for leaders matter, but those being judged for executive presence already meet entry-level requirements. After that, polish and grooming contribute most.

Research from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital suggests that colleagues size up your competence, likability and trustworthiness in 250 milliseconds, based simply on looks.

First impressions matter, of course, but after that, it’s up to you to fill in the rest of the story by exuding executive presence. Your ongoing choices and actions (or lack thereof) have a considerable impact on your presence. Improvement requires you to shift your mindset, develop new behaviors and leave your comfort zone of safe habits.

An Inside Job

Presence comes from within. Your mindset creates the platform from which you speak, act and express emotions.

Begin by paying attention to how you “show up” and go about your day. How do you:

Connect with people?
Express your feelings?
Listen?
Behave?
Inspire others?

Next, clarify your intentions:

Which core values and guiding purpose truly matter (for you, for the company)?
Who do I intend to be (as an individual, as a member of the company)?
How do I intend to contribute?
What will I do now? What will I do next?

Intention, Connection, Inspiration

At the core of leadership is connection with others. The relationship you have with your subordinates determines how effectively you’ll influence them toward desired outcomes.

If you foster trust and empathy in your relationships, you’ll no doubt build higher-quality connections. But authentic connections can be tricky: Access to others is granted, and not automatically. A leadership position may ensure obedience (if you’re lucky), but it doesn’t guarantee trusted connections.

Winning over hearts and minds requires a nuanced approach to each individual. There are no timesaving ways to accomplish this, nor should you do it simply because “it’s good for business.”

Making individual connections is the only way to have a finger on the pulse of corporate culture and keep communication lines open.

The PRES Model of Leadership Presence

The three previously mentioned books offer different models for developing presence, albeit with some overlap.

Lubar and Halpern developed the “PRES” model in Leadership Presence:

P = Presence: the ability to be completely in the moment and flexible enough to handle the unexpected
R = Reaching Out: the ability to build relationships with others through empathy, listening and authentic connection
E = Expressiveness: the ability to express feelings and emotions appropriately by using all available means (words, voice, body, face) to deliver one congruent message
S = Self-Knowing: the ability to accept yourself, be authentic and reflect your values in your decisions and actions

These elements build upon each other and contribute to establishing overall presence. There are interior and exterior aspects for each component. Presence starts with mindset and radiates outward towards others.

Also important is what the PRES model is not:

Being Present—not pretentious
Reaching Out—not looking down
Being Expressive—not impressive
Being Self-Knowing—not self-absorbed

Self-knowledge separates leadership presence from self-centered charisma. You must understand your values and ensure your actions conform to them (words and deeds). Only then can you inspire others to act similarly.

You can develop the qualities of positive leadership by working with a professional coach. The investment is well worth the reward: your ability to influence the future, your career and your personal-development capabilities.

Are you working in a company where executive coaches provide leadership development to help leaders put positive leadership into action? Does your organization provide executive coaching for leaders who need to be more conscious, and tap into the intrinsic motivation of followers? Positive leaders tap into their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills to create a more fulfilling future.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Am I a positive leader who inspires individuals and organizations to achieve their highest potential, flourish at work, experience elevating energy and achieve levels of effectiveness difficult to attain otherwise?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching to help leaders develop more positive teams.

Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I, CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help leaders nurture mindful conversations in the workplace. You can become an inspiring leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.

...About Dr. Maynard Brusman

Dr. Maynard Brusman

For more information, please go to http://www.workingresources.com, write to [email protected], or call 415-546-1252.

Subscribe to Working Resources Newsletter: http://www.workingresources.com Visit Maynard's Blog: http://www.workingresourcesblog.com

Connect with me on these Social Media sites.

http://twitter.com/drbrusman
http://www.facebook.com/maynardbrusman
http://www.linkedin.com/in/maynardbrusman
http://www.youtube.com/user/drmaynardbrusman
http://google.com/+maynardbrusman

Posted by Maynard Brusman on October 08, 2014 in Leadership Development | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: connection, emotional intelligence, executive coaching, executive presence, inspiration, intention, leadership, leadership development

October 01, 2014

Emotional Expressiveness for Mindful Leaders

Emotional Expressiveness

How well do the leaders in your organization express their emotions? What about you? Do you appropriately articulate your feelings?

While research has demonstrated a strong link among excitement, commitment and business results, many leaders stumble at emotional expressiveness. They hesitate to express both positive and negative emotions in an effort to maintain credibility, authority and gravitas. Consequently, they’re losing one of the best tools for achieving impact.

Emotional Intelligence

“The role of emotional maturity in leadership is crucial.” ~ Kathy Lubar and Belle Linda Halpern, Leadership Presence: Dramatic Techniques to Reach Out, Motivate and Inspire(Penguin Group, USA, 2004)

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your — and others’ — moods and emotions.

Every message has an emotional component, so leaders must learn to articulate and express their feelings. Mastering this objective inspires your team in five essential domains

1. Developing collective goals
2. Instilling an appreciation of work’s importance
3. Generating and maintaining enthusiasm, confidence, optimism, cooperation and trust
4. Encouraging flexibility in decision-making and change management
5. Establishing and maintaining a meaningful organizational identity

Leaders create authentic relationships by expressing interest in their people and showing empathy. They must also learn to express their emotions publicly.

Myths about Emotions

When leaders communicate, they often focus on message clarity and overlook its important emotional component. To generate excitement, they need to master their emotional expressiveness.

But most leaders demonstrate resistance. They cling to long-standing assumptions that showing emotions:

Is unbecoming
Undermines authority
Reveals a lack of control
Conveys irrationality
Indicates weakness and vulnerability
Isn’t masculine (and is, therefore, too feminine)

Men in leadership positions don’t want to come across as dictatorial, angry or moody. Their female counterparts avoid showing emotions because they believe it plays into stereotypes about women being high-strung.

Does Your Head Overrule Your Heart?

In business, we’re highly respected for our sharp minds, to the extent that we frequently squelch our emotional voices.

Peter Bregman addresses this issue in “Don’t Let Your Head Attack Your Heart,” a July 2014 Harvard Business Reviewblog post:

“We are trained and rewarded, in schools and in organizations, to lead with a fast, witty and critical mind. And it serves us well. The mind can be logical, clear, incisive and powerful. It perceives, positions, politics and protects. One of its many talents is to defend us from emotional vulnerability, which it does, at times, with jokes and quick repartee.

The heart, on the other hand, has no comebacks, no quips. Gentle, slow and unprotected, an open heart is easily attacked, especially by a frightened mind. And feelings scare the mind.”

It’s no wonder that leaders become entrenched in a comfort zone of data, facts and ideas. But failure to show emotions makes leaders far less effective. Without recognizing our feelings, our ability to make wise decisions is impaired.

3 Basic Techniques

Lubar and Halpern offer three guidelines for developing expressiveness that inspires others, influences change and drives business results.

1. Generate Excitement

Creating excitement begins with showing enthusiasm and fighting the urge to suppress it. You’ll deepen your bond with others by revealing your humanity and vulnerability.

Anger, frustration and pain, when properly expressed, also bring us closer to one another. Never forget, however, that expressing emotion has a powerful effect, so think before you emote.

2. Put Nonverbal Cues to Work

While the words you choose play an important role in your message’s emotional impact, research tells us that facial and body cues may be even more significant.

Albert Mehrabian, a professor emeritus of psychology at UCLA, conducted studies that revealed:

Words account for only 7% of a speaker’s impact.
Vocal tone is responsible for 38%.
Body language trumps them both at an astounding 55%.

Despite these game-changing findings, most of us spend 99% of our time on crafting language when planning a presentation — and a mere 1% on how we’re going to convey our message.

You lose credibility when your face and body send different messages. You may not even be aware of your “tics”: unconscious movements or gestures that are out of sync with how you truly feel.

Speak from your core values to achieve alignment. If you’re struggling, consider hiring an experienced executive coach. The challenge is too important to ignore. Your overall leadership presence ultimately determines whether you’re perceived as a strong candidate for promotion.

3. Find and Express a Passionate Purpose

Leaders generally try to explain or relay information. This very act lacks energy, passion and/or tension. Instead of using dry, colorless verbs to convey your point, substitute action words that carry emotional intensity.

For example, don’t “make an announcement to explain upcoming changes.” Instead, “challenge people to make some adjustments” or “overcome obstacles to success.” Focus on what truly matters: your passionate purpose.

Connect with your inner passions by asking yourself:

What am I fighting for?
What do others want?
What are the obstacles?

Use your answers to choose verbs that capture your passionate purpose.

Never forget that every human interaction — from meetings and presentations to memos and face-to-face conversations — involves needs and desires, real or potential conflicts. These pivotal moments are opportunities to change minds and influence behavior. Your goal is to identify the desired change or problem to be overcome and invest it with energy and passion.

Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I, CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help leaders nurture mindful conversations in the workplace. You can become an inspiring leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.

...About Dr. Maynard Brusman

Dr. Maynard Brusman