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	<title>Leadership Consultant - Bill Hogg &#187; Culture</title>
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	<link>http://www.billhogg.ca</link>
	<description>Leadership That Excelerates Performance!</description>
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		<title>How To Assess Your Organizational Leaders And Their Capacity To Lead</title>
		<link>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/05/how-to-assess-your-organizational-leaders-and-their-capacity-to-lead/</link>
		<comments>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/05/how-to-assess-your-organizational-leaders-and-their-capacity-to-lead/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2012 14:15:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Hogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Customer-Focus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Employee Engagement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Measurement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Attitude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Behaviours]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Competitive Advantage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Great Leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[High Performance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inspirational leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Performance Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transforming Team]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[True Leader]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=2771</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
											
											
										This is the third in our series that looks at leadership capacity and its impact on organizational growth. The full series will be available for download as a white paper once it is completed.
In our last article, we discussed the characteristics of transformational leadership that impact organizational growth. Now we want to investigate how to effectively assess a leader’s capacity to lead their company.
Rarely is a great leader born. Developing leadership capacity and the “must have” leadership characteristics does not happen by accident. Organizations cannot sit back and hope leaders ...]]></description>
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										</div><p><em>This is the third in our series that looks at leadership capacity and its impact on organizational growth. The full series will be available for download as a white paper once it is completed.</em></p>
<p>In our last article, we discussed <a href="http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=2758"><em>the characteristics of transformational leadership that impact organizational growth</em></a><em>.</em> Now we want to investigate how to effectively assess a leader’s capacity to lead their company.<strong></strong></p>
<p>Rarely is a great leader born. Developing leadership capacity and the “must have” leadership characteristics does not happen by accident. Organizations cannot sit back and hope leaders develop.</p>
<p>Building leadership capacity is a process that starts with understanding the concept of leadership capacity, defining the expectations of leadership within your particular organization, and then building intentional, implementable steps that help leaders assess and develop their ability to be a leader.</p>
<p><strong>Assessing your organizational leadership</strong></p>
<p>Here are three techniques that will help you assess leadership capabilities as an initial step to developing future leaders within your organization:</p>
<p><strong></strong><strong>1. Clarify organization leadership standards: </strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">In order to develop the type of leaders you want in your organization, you first need to decide what a leader looks like in your organization &#8212; to define an organization wide standard for leadership. Take the time to develop and refine a leadership model that will lay out the skills, behavior and “must have” characteristics that are desired by the leaders within your organization.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Leadership standards will vary company by company and will need to address the specific needs and fit within your organizational culture. Since organizational culture is based on the leadership team, leaders need to take the following steps to define a standard for leadership:</p>
<ul>
<li>Assess your personal leadership style</li>
<li>Ask other senior leaders to assess their personal leadership style</li>
<li>Have the leaders in your company assess each other’s leadership style</li>
<li>Define the most important leadership standards and characteristics you want to embed into your culture</li>
<li>Work with other leaders to define the standard characteristics for leadership that best fits your company and its culture</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>2. Assess leaders against the standards: </strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Once you have a clear picture of what the ideal leader looks like, develop feedback channels to assess your leaders. Gathering feedback about the current performance of potential and current leaders will help companies assess the current state of individual leaders against the standard. Through the use of assessment tools, companies have the ability to monitor their leadership capacity &#8212; individually and collectively &#8212; to determine where gaps lie. Consider using some of these tools to garner feedback about your leaders:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Self-assessment</strong>: Who knows better what is needed for a specific position then the person who is currently in the position. Provide individuals with the opportunity to perform a self-assessment to determine which skills and training they require to improve and develop as leaders.Consider developing feedback or self-assessment forms that leaders can fill out on a quarterly basis to ensure they are in tune with the company’s standards for leadership.</li>
<li><strong>Feedback channel</strong>: Provide employees with a feedback channel to solicit input and understand their perspective of your organizations leadership performance. Place the box in a high traffic area, or create a special email address for easy input. Make sure to encourage honest, constructive feedback and reward employees with effective and implementable ideas.</li>
<li><strong>Employee surveys</strong>: Polling employees is an effective way to get information about the leadership structure of your company. Gather input from all levels of the organization to get a holistic assessment of organizational leaders and their capacity to lead. Consider having a yearly company survey to assess the state of leadership within your company.</li>
<li><strong>Open channels of dialogue</strong>: Create an open line of dialogue for employees to talk with leaders about leadership capacity and its impact on organizational culture. Consider setting aside a block of time each week or month to allow brainstorming sessions or meetings related to leadership.</li>
<li><strong>360 Degree Assessments:</strong> Solicit input from peers and subordinates in all formal assessment process. This ensures that each leader has a fully objective viewpoint of their strengths and areas for improvement as part of their personal growth and development. This is often the most honest and therefore the most useful of all assessments.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong></strong><strong>3. Develop a meaningful review process: </strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Many organizations have review processes in place &#8212; some similar to those mentioned above.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Unfortunately, for too many organizations, they are just another task that must be completed rather than seen as a valuable tool. In order for reviews to be a valuable activity, leaders need to take action based on the insights and implementable actions they discover during the review process.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Here are three review process ideas that leaders can implement:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Leadership review process</strong>: Allow your employees to assess people that currently hold leadership positions. Turn the tables on leaders and allow employees to ask questions and provide open and honest opinions about where leaders are strong and need improvement. Leaders can set up this leadership assess in a number of ways:
<ul>
<li>Emailing a questionnaire to employees</li>
<li>The creation of an internal discussion board</li>
<li>Creating a leadership seminar</li>
<li>Having an internal leadership conference</li>
<li>Having a town hall meeting</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Project reviews</strong>: Once a project is complete, it should not be the last we hear of it. Review the performance and leadership capacity of the project lead and strategic initiatives through:
<ul>
<li>The development of a project review process or committee</li>
<li>Having the project lead/team assess their performance as a leader in addition to ways they could improve project inefficiencies</li>
<li>Don&#8217;t just focus on areas of improvement &#8212; make sure that you also highlight areas that went well &#8212; to ensure they are embedded into future initiatives</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Yearly performance reviews</strong>: Review the body of work of all the leaders within your organization. It is these insights that will help to set the strategic direction and lead to the continued growth of your organizations leadership capacity and development of a leadership culture. For the reviews:
<ul>
<li>Set up a review committee</li>
<li>Compare the defined company leadership to a leaders performance</li>
<li>Discuss leadership strengths and weaknesses with all leaders</li>
<li>Suggest areas to improve</li>
<li>Have leaders teach and discuss the leadership areas where they excel</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Effective organizations have an internal structure in place to assess organizational leaders and determine their capacity to lead. It is this assessment process that identifies people who have the knowledge, skills, and potential to step up and take on a larger leadership role.</p>
<div class="attachments"><dl class="attachments attachments-large"><dt class="icon"><a title="Article-HowToAssessYourOrganizationalLeadersAndTheirCapacityToLead" href="http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/05/how-to-assess-your-organizational-leaders-and-their-capacity-to-lead/?aid=2962&amp;sa=0"><img src="http://www.billhogg.ca/wp-content/plugins/eg-attachments/img/flags/pdf.png" width="48" height="48" alt="Article-HowToAssessYourOrganizationalLeadersAndTheirCapacityToLead" /></a></dt><dd class="caption"><strong>Title</strong> : <a title="Article-HowToAssessYourOrganizationalLeadersAndTheirCapacityToLead" href="http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/05/how-to-assess-your-organizational-leaders-and-their-capacity-to-lead/?aid=2962&amp;sa=0">Article-HowToAssessYourOrganizationalLeadersAndTheirCapacityToLead</a><br /><strong>Caption</strong> : <br /><strong>File name</strong> : Article-HowToAssessYourOrganizationalLeadersAndTheirCapacityToLead.pdf<br /><strong>Size</strong> : 190 kB</dd></dl></div>
<p><em>The next article in our leadership capacity series will build on these leadership assessment methods and examine how leaders can work to build a culture of leadership within their organization. </em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>How to Deal with Your Worst Employee</title>
		<link>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/05/how-to-deal-with-your-worst-employee/</link>
		<comments>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/05/how-to-deal-with-your-worst-employee/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 May 2012 14:19:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Hogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Employee Engagement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recognition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recruiting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tips and Techniques]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Attitude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Balanced Performance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Behaviours]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Competitive Advantage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corporate Values]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Critical Success Factors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Empathy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Great Leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[High Performance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Performance Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Profitability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Team Members]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transforming Team]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[True Leader]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=3076</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
											
											
										If you are like many businesses, you may have a couple poor employees &#8212; consistently under-performing.
Some would suggest that they need to be pruned in order for the business to remain healthy and grow. Philosophically I agree &#8212; however, before pruning ask yourself why they are under-performing. Here are a couple thoughts for consideration.
Is it because they are a round peg in a square hole. Do they have all the character elements but yet still aren&#8217;t successful in their role. Maybe you need to consider a change in role to ...]]></description>
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										</div><p>If you are like many businesses, you may have a couple poor employees &#8212; consistently under-performing.</p>
<p>Some would suggest that they need to be pruned in order for the business to remain healthy and grow. Philosophically I agree &#8212; however, before pruning ask yourself why they are under-performing. Here are a couple thoughts for consideration.</p>
<p>Is it because they are a round peg in a square hole. Do they have all the character elements but yet still aren&#8217;t successful in their role. Maybe you need to consider a change in role to one where some of their strengths may have the opportunity to shine.</p>
<p>I once had a team member who had all the character elements but just wasn&#8217;t succeeding in the marketing area. His attention to detail wasn&#8217;t strong, which was fundamental when proofing ads and hitting deadlines. So we moved him into a sales role where he had administrative support. Because of his character and personality, he quickly rose to become one of the top performers in that new role. If we had pruned too early, we would have lost a valuable asset and who knows what we would have gotten in return. If they have the right character &#8212; look for a win. Remember, most skills can be taught.</p>
<p>Or perhaps they made an error at a critical time. Maybe they failed to hit a deadline or blew a key initiative &#8212; resulting in a loss of confidence. The residual effect over time, is that fellow employees will see them as a weak link. Possibly you will too.</p>
<p>Ask yourself what it would take to rehabilitate that team member. Remember, at one time they were considered a valuable member of the team, but once they have fallen from grace, it may be too much for them to get back on track on their own.</p>
<p>What can you do as a leader to help lift them up? If they are worth saving, how could you help them become successful again. Maybe a special assignment that leverages their strengths. Maybe they just need a show of confidence from the key leader to help them over the hump and let others take notice of your faith. This doesn&#8217;t mean you lower your standards or expectations &#8212; maybe just a little personal coaching to get them over the rough spot.</p>
<p><strong>My Perspective:</strong> Before you prune, make sure that is the best step.</p>
<p>The key thing to remember is that at one time virtually every employee was deemed to be a good fit &#8212; that&#8217;s why they were hired in the first place. So before you take the harsh step of pruning &#8212; look for the upside.</p>
<p>After all, if you spent time working to improve a high performer, you might get a little incremental improvement. However, if you can help a poor performer become a high performer &#8212; think of the positive impact on the organization and the time saved to find a new person to replace them.</p>
<p>Then if it still doesn&#8217;t work, when you prune you will know you have given them the best of yourself  personally &#8212; and that is a sign of a great leader.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Are Weekly Status Meetings a Waste?</title>
		<link>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/04/are-weekly-status-meetings-a-waste/</link>
		<comments>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/04/are-weekly-status-meetings-a-waste/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:22:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Hogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Communication]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Employee Engagement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tips and Techniques]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Behaviours]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corporate Values]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Critical Success Factors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Great Leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[High Performance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inspirational leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Organi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Organizational Change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[True Leader]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=3063</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
											
											
										Most of us have regularly scheduled meetings that were created to provide updates on something to someone. Initially they were intended to communicate, inform and move the business forward &#8212; but lately you have been wondering whether they are a valuable use of time. Some have degenerated into boring and unproductive time wasters &#8212; but they continue because they were once deemed important.
One of the main reasons standing meetings degenerate is that they become common place and people tend not to prepare for a standing meeting as much as for ...]]></description>
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										</div><p>Most of us have regularly scheduled meetings that were created to provide updates on something to someone. Initially they were intended to communicate, inform and move the business forward &#8212; but lately you have been wondering whether they are a valuable use of time. Some have degenerated into boring and unproductive time wasters &#8212; but they continue because they were once deemed important.</p>
<p>One of the main reasons standing meetings degenerate is that they become common place and people tend not to prepare for a standing meeting as much as for a specific meeting that has been called for a specific purpose.</p>
<p><strong>My Perspective:</strong> Here are a few tips to get those standing meetings back on track.</p>
<ol>
<li>Re-evaluate the purpose of the meeting. Is it inertia that has keep them going or is there still a purpose in getting together. If so, get clarity of the expected outcomes that are expected.</li>
<li>Make sure people have a specific role in the meeting. If they don&#8217;t &#8212; maybe they don&#8217;t need to be there and could use their time elsewhere to add more value. Too often we invite people  just to keep them &#8220;in the loop&#8221;. Look around the room and evaluate what value each person is adding and receiving for their attendance &#8212; and then pare back the invite list.</li>
<li>Insist that every meeting has specific topics for discussion that have been identified in advance &#8212; versus the  standard &#8220;update agenda&#8221;. Put the onus on attendees to commit in advance to the topic they will be sharing. Monotonous &#8220;updates&#8221; don&#8217;t do anyone much good.</li>
<li>Make sure action items are identified and summarized at the end of the meeting &#8212; then hold each other accountable for delivery. Too many meetings are &#8220;updates&#8217; and never seem to generate any action. If no action is required, you have to wonder what the purpose was for the meeting.</li>
<li>Be prepared to cancel the meeting if there is no reason to meet. When people leave a meeting feeling they have wasted their time &#8212; they feel dis-respected and dis-engaged. However, if they know that real movement takes place &#8212; then they will arrive energized and engaged, ready to get something done.</li>
</ol>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>10 Tips to Improve Your Customer Experience</title>
		<link>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/04/10-tips-to-improve-your-customer-experience/</link>
		<comments>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/04/10-tips-to-improve-your-customer-experience/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:11:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Hogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Communication]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Customer Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Customer-Focus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Employee Engagement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tips and Techniques]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Attitude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Behaviours]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Competitive Advantage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Great Leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[High Performance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inspirational leaders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Performance Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transforming Team]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[True Leader]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=2905</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
											
											
										Today, customers are no longer looking for great customer service &#8212; they want more. Today customers demand a great customer experience and will not settle for anything less.
It is no longer good enough for companies to provide good customers service &#8212; rather, companies need to create memorable interactions with customers that help establish a loyal relationship and promote brand advocacy.
Creating a memorable customer experience is based on the creation of an ideal experience that your customers would want to have throughout their relationship with your company. These interactions take place ...]]></description>
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										</div><p>Today, customers are no longer looking for great customer service &#8212; they want more. Today customers demand a great customer experience and will not settle for anything less.</p>
<p>It is no longer good enough for companies to provide good customers service &#8212; rather, companies need to create memorable interactions with customers that help establish a loyal relationship and promote brand advocacy.</p>
<p>Creating a memorable customer experience is based on the creation of an ideal experience that your customers would want to have throughout their relationship with your company. These interactions take place on a number of channels such as in person, over the phone, through email, and on social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.</p>
<p>Successful customer experiences are scalable and can be managed consistently across multiple channels. Your customers experience must be unique. And, for it to be successful it needs to be clearly defined so that each one of your employees understands how to deliver the experience you want to create for your customers.</p>
<p><strong>10 tips to improve your customer experience </strong></p>
<p>Here are 10 ways that you can improve and refine your customer experience and improve your relationship with customers:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Make your customer experience clear:</strong> A great customer experience must be scalable across your company, consistent, and be easily understood and implemented by your employees. Have you defined the key elements that must be delivered to every customer? Review your customer experience documents and ask your employees if they understand what is expected of them.</li>
<li><strong>Make your customer experience simple</strong>:<strong> </strong>If your customer experience is too complex, your employees will have difficulty delivering a consistent experience. Keep it simple. Do your employees understand what is expected of them? Are there too many rules? Consider relaxing the constraints on your employees so they can focus on creating an experience that creates a positive customer outcome rather than simply following a list of rules.</li>
<li><strong>Define customer experience by channel: </strong>Customer experiences will vary by the channel that customers use to interact with your company. In person and online experiences are different and this needs to be reflected in how companies approach their customers on each channel.<strong> </strong> Does your ideal customer experience vary by channel? If not, clearly outline the experience you want to create for each platform and point of interaction with your customers.</li>
<li><strong>Address the emotional need</strong>: The focus of customer experience management needs to be on addressing your customer’s emotional need. Do you understand your customer’s emotional needs? What are you doing to ensure their emotional need is addressed?</li>
<li><strong>Make sure all levels of your organization are involved: </strong>Creating a truly great customer experience is a company wide effort. There needs to be a consistent experience across the board.<strong> </strong>Does your company have an internal feedback process in place? How do you know your customers experience is consistent? Implement a regular review process and collect feedback about the customer experience.</li>
<li><strong>Get your employees to buy in</strong>: If your employees do not buy in, your customers experience will suffer. If employees are not buying in, it is often a sign that your customer experience is too complex, or worse, isn&#8217;t relevant to the customer. What are you doing to ensure that your employees are buying in and creating the experience your customers want?</li>
<li><strong>Talk to your customers: </strong>Ask your customers what they want. Be direct &#8212; ask them what your company can do to improve their experience. These conversations will help to build relationships. What can you do to better understand your customer’s emotional need? Create feedback channels that will help you capture and respond to your customer’s emotional needs.</li>
<li><strong>Test your customer experience: </strong>Before launching any new customer experience initiatives, ask some of your customers to test drive your approach and provide feedback. You will be surprised what you will learn and uncover some of the oversights that you have missed. Plus you&#8217;ll avoid the expense of a false start that doesn&#8217;t really resonate with customers.</li>
<li><strong>Narrow your focus</strong>: If you do not understand your ideal customer, then the experience you have created for them will be off target<strong>. </strong>Who are your customers? Do you have an ideal customer profile? What do your customers want to get out of their interaction and relationship with your company? Offer incentives to customers to get their opinion through surveys and focus groups.</li>
<li><strong>Measure the experience: </strong>Measure, measure, measure. If you do not have the tools in place to measure your customer’s experience, then you will not have the ability to refine the experience and gain new insights. What tools are you using to measure your customers experience? Develop a system to measure your customer&#8217;s experience.</li>
</ol>
<div class="attachments"><dl class="attachments attachments-large"><dt class="icon"><a title="Article-10TipstoImproveYourCustomerExperience" href="http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/04/10-tips-to-improve-your-customer-experience/?aid=2961&amp;sa=0"><img src="http://www.billhogg.ca/wp-content/plugins/eg-attachments/img/flags/pdf.png" width="48" height="48" alt="Article-10TipstoImproveYourCustomerExperience" /></a></dt><dd class="caption"><strong>Title</strong> : <a title="Article-10TipstoImproveYourCustomerExperience" href="http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/04/10-tips-to-improve-your-customer-experience/?aid=2961&amp;sa=0">Article-10TipstoImproveYourCustomerExperience</a><br /><strong>Caption</strong> : <br /><strong>File name</strong> : Article-10TipstoImproveYourCustomerExperience.pdf<br /><strong>Size</strong> : 147 kB</dd></dl></div>
<p>Creating a highly engaging customer experience will lead to better relationships with customers that will not only generate consistent income, but also develop brand advocates out of current customers that will help generate a new stream of business.</p>
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		<title>Stop Emailing and Pick up the Phone</title>
		<link>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/03/stop-emailing-and-pick-up-the-phone/</link>
		<comments>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/03/stop-emailing-and-pick-up-the-phone/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:36:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Hogg</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=2406</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
											
											
										Recently I was working with a client and was reminded just how destructive email can be when used incorrectly.
Like many companies, their standard form of communication is email. They are spread across Canada and internationally. People work together who never meet, and the default form of communication for all issues is email.
The problem is that people will often say things by email they would never say to your face. People use email to avoid dealing with conflict &#8212; it&#8217;s easier to fire off an email than deal with the issue ...]]></description>
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										</div><p>Recently I was working with a client and was reminded just how destructive email can be when used incorrectly.</p>
<p>Like many companies, their standard form of communication is email. They are spread across Canada and internationally. People work together who never meet, and the default form of communication for all issues is email.</p>
<p>The problem is that people will often say things by email they would never say to your face. People use email to avoid dealing with conflict &#8212; it&#8217;s easier to fire off an email than deal with the issue head-on. Plus, there is always a record &#8212; the ultimate &#8220;cover your ass&#8221;.</p>
<p>Too often emails don&#8217;t get at the substance of the issue &#8212; or important elements do not get addressed because they rightly should not be put on paper. Words on paper can often be misunderstood by the recipient, causing escalation when none is needed.</p>
<p><strong>My Perspective:</strong> Leaders build rapport based on emotional connections. If you really want to build relationships &#8212; you won&#8217;t do it unless you create an emotional connection with people &#8212; and that requires individualized interactions.</p>
<p>Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind the next time you think about sending an email when a phone call might work better.</p>
<ol>
<li>When you speak to someone personally, you have the opportunity to build rapport with your colleagues. The emotional context of the conversation is much easier to communicate. Too often the tone of an email is misunderstood. On the phone you have the modulation of your voice and it&#8217;s easier to communicate the feelings behind the words.</li>
<li>The phone allows you to listen and build on their contribution more efficiently.</li>
<li>If you misspeak, you have the opportunity to immediately address the situation. It doesn&#8217;t create an opportunity for the recipient to fester and contemplate their response. Although email does offer time for reflection, it too often is used to launch a counter-attack.</li>
<li>Email prolongs discussion. I am sure we have all experienced entire conversations played out via email, with the entire company copied, looking for input from anyone and listening to no one.</li>
<li>It&#8217;s not always what you say, but how you say it. Electronic communication removes the emotion and personality and we are left with the stark words. This is especially problematic when people are trying to resolve problems or communicate the subtleties of thought or emotion.</li>
</ol>
<p>I agree that email has an important role in communicating &#8212; as do Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and a host of other electronic channels. They have fundamentally changed how we communicate. They may deepen and broaden and existing relationship &#8212; but they cannot, on their own, create a deep relationship with a real emotional connection.</p>
<p>The digital channels cannot replace the live emotional connection we can create face to face or on the phone. That&#8217;s hard to replicate electronically.</p>
<p>Often if you ask a colleague who is having some difficulties with another colleague if they have picked up the phone &#8212; too often the response is &#8220;no&#8221;.</p>
<p>So the next time you are preparing to dash off an email &#8212; ask yourself, could this situation be better served through a phone call (or even a face to face). Then pick up the phone and build a relationship.</p>
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		<title>10 Characteristics of Transformational Leaders</title>
		<link>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/03/10-characteristics-of-transformational-leaders/</link>
		<comments>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/03/10-characteristics-of-transformational-leaders/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:42:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Hogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=2758</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
											
											
										This is the second in our series of articles that looks at leadership capacity and its impact on organizational growth. The full series will be available for download as a white paper once it is completed.
In our last article, we discussed how leadership impacts your organizations ability to grow. Now let&#8217;s discuss some of the characteristics that leaders need to impact the growth of their organization.
There are certain core characteristics the majority of leaders possess. However, there are also an additional set of characteristics that define transformational leaders &#8212; leaders ...]]></description>
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										</div><p><em>This is the second in our series of articles that looks at leadership capacity and its impact on organizational growth. The full series will be available for download as a white paper once it is completed.</em></p>
<p>In our last article, we discussed <a href="http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=2741"><em>how leadership impacts your organizations ability to grow</em></a>. Now let&#8217;s discuss some of the characteristics that leaders need to impact the growth of their organization.</p>
<p>There are certain core characteristics the majority of leaders possess. However, there are also an additional set of characteristics that define transformational leaders &#8212; leaders that have the ability to make an impact on organizational growth.</p>
<p>It is an organizations ability to develop this next level of leadership capabilities through training programs, mentoring, and skill development programs that put organizations in the enviable position to grow year over year without experiencing dips in performance.</p>
<p><strong>Core leadership characteristics</strong></p>
<p>There are certain leadership characteristics that, while important, do not inspire organizational change and growth that help companies develop into innovative, consistent industry leaders.</p>
<p>Examples of these core leadership characteristics include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Good judgment</li>
<li>Communication skills</li>
<li>Competence or knowledge</li>
<li>Interpersonal skills</li>
<li>Confidence</li>
</ul>
<p>We hear about these leadership characteristics all the time and in many different contexts. While they are very important for leaders to have, there is another level of leadership characteristics that are &#8220;must haves&#8221; for transformational leaders. These are the leadership characteristics that make an impact and spur growth.</p>
<p><strong>Transformational Leadership characteristics that impact organizational growth</strong></p>
<p>In order to put your organization in a position to grow effectively and on a consistent basis, leaders with the following characteristics not only make them an effective leader &#8212; but also a transformational leader:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Internal motivation and self-management</strong>: Transformational leaders find motivation from within and use that as the driving force to effectively manage the direction of the company. The best natural form of motivation is to love what you do and ensure that your values are aligned with the organization you work with.</li>
<li><strong>The ability to make difficult decisions</strong>: Difficult decisions are a part of being a leader. Transformational leaders do not back away or put off tough decisions. Difficult decisions are made easier when decisions align with clearly defined vision, values, goals, and objectives.</li>
<li><strong>Check their ego</strong>: When placed in a position of power, it is easy to let your ego get the best of you. However, transformational leaders keep their ego in check and do not let it get in the way of doing what is best for business. The benefit of checking your ego ensures you put the company first over personal gain and encourages the best input from others within the organization &#8212; because when the company succeeds, you as a leader also succeed.</li>
<li><strong>Willing to take the right risks</strong>: Anyone can take a risk. Transformational leaders take calculated risks that more often than not result in positive outcomes. Trusting your instinct, as well as your team to gather the necessary intelligence is important. Trusting your gut is easier when you have taken the time to research, evaluate and inform your decisions with input from those around you. Failure to take the appropriate risks and make these difficult decisions will inhibit change and your ability to grow.</li>
<li><strong>Organizational consciousness</strong>: Transformational leaders share the collective conscious of their organization. They understand what actions to take to evoke change, spur innovation, and make decisions that will create growth. Since their own values are aligned with the organization they share a joint purpose with the organization and do not just view their position in the company as just a job.</li>
<li><strong></strong><strong>Adaptability: </strong>Transformational leaders are willing to adapt and are always seeking new ways to respond to a constantly changing business environment. They know that the second they stand still is when they will be passed by their competitors; which means they are open-minded to change and lifelong learners.</li>
<li><strong>Willing to listen and entertain new ideas</strong>: It is a rare individual who can build an empire. Transformational leaders understand that success is a team effort and growth is derived from the willingness to be open and listen to ideas from all levels of their organization. Transformational leaders create intentional ways to listen to their team and incorporate their insights.</li>
<li><strong>Inspirational</strong>: People want to be inspired. Transformational leaders have the ability to make those around rise to the occasion. Inspiration comes not just from a formal motivational speech or simple recognition for a job well done, but by treating people as individuals and taking the time to understand what motivates and inspires their team.</li>
<li><strong>Proactive</strong>: Transformational leaders are proactive decision makers. They do not wait around for others to make decisions and then react. They are willing to take risks, try new things and take an innovative approach to growing the organization. However, they also understand how to manage risk and make decisions that are backed by research, multiple insights and are well thought out.</li>
<li><strong>Visionary</strong>: Being a visionary is about setting a realistic and concise company mission, vision, and values that fit the culture of your organization. Transformational leaders have the ability not only to effectively communicate the vision, but also get every person to buy in and work toward that vision by communicating with passion and clearly emphasizing the direction they want the company to pursue.</li>
</ol>
<p>Transformational leaders constantly strive to have these characteristics. Developing these characteristics is what separates companies that are led by managers versus leaders.</p>
<div class="attachments"><dl class="attachments attachments-large"><dt class="icon"><a title="Article-10CharacteristicsOfTransformationalLeaders" href="http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/03/10-characteristics-of-transformational-leaders/?aid=2960&amp;sa=0"><img src="http://www.billhogg.ca/wp-content/plugins/eg-attachments/img/flags/pdf.png" width="48" height="48" alt="Article-10CharacteristicsOfTransformationalLeaders" /></a></dt><dd class="caption"><strong>Title</strong> : <a title="Article-10CharacteristicsOfTransformationalLeaders" href="http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/03/10-characteristics-of-transformational-leaders/?aid=2960&amp;sa=0">Article-10CharacteristicsOfTransformationalLeaders</a><br /><strong>Caption</strong> : <br /><strong>File name</strong> : Article-10CharacteristicsOfTransformationalLeaders.pdf<br /><strong>Size</strong> : 180 kB</dd></dl></div>
<p><em>The next article will build on these must have characteristics and examine how leaders can assess organizational leadership to improve their companies’ ability to grow. </em></p>
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		<title>Do You Encourage Disagreement?</title>
		<link>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/03/do-you-encourage-disagreement/</link>
		<comments>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/03/do-you-encourage-disagreement/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Mar 2012 14:33:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Hogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Disagreement]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Thoughts And Ideas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=2311</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
											
											
										When discussing leadership, we often hear words like teamwork and collaboration. People tend to shy away from words like conflict and disagreement. But are these bad?
Strong leaders encourage disagreement, because it ensures that everyone on the team is using their full potential to ensure decisions are bullet-proofed.
We are all trained from an early age to defer to authority. however, people who are closer to the issue or opportunity often have a different, more informed, perspective than more senior people.
My Perspective: If you are always getting agreement to your thoughts and ...]]></description>
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										</div><p>When discussing leadership, we often hear words like teamwork and collaboration. People tend to shy away from words like conflict and disagreement. But are these bad?</p>
<p>Strong leaders encourage disagreement, because it ensures that everyone on the team is using their full potential to ensure decisions are bullet-proofed.</p>
<p>We are all trained from an early age to defer to authority. however, people who are closer to the issue or opportunity often have a different, more informed, perspective than more senior people.</p>
<p><strong>My Perspective:</strong> If you are always getting agreement to your thoughts and ideas, then your people aren&#8217;t contributing their own valued ideas. As a leader you need to ensure that your team feels safe disagreeing and challenging your thinking. If your team automatically defers to the boss, then you and the team will miss out on critical input and thinking.</p>
<p>Make it easy for people to speak up with a dissenting opinion in a safe environment. Actively ask for their input &#8212; and then ask again to demonstrate you are serious about hearing their thoughts. Disagreeing with the boss requires courage, so recognize people when they voice a dissenting opinion and challenge your thinking with good ideas of their own.</p>
<p>When discussing projects, share your  comments as initial thoughts as opposed to formed ideas, then ask for input in developing the ideas further. This will encourage people to build on the thinking versus just agree.</p>
<p>Make sure that you don&#8217;t react negatively if someone disagrees, even if you think it is a bad idea. This will just shut people down in the future. It&#8217;s much better to allow the group to determine that the idea doesn&#8217;t make sense based on evaluation &#8212; and better ideas that come forward.</p>
<p>Lastly, never confuse dissent or disagreement with disrespect. Disrespect doesn&#8217;t belong in any discussion.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>7 Must Have Transformational Leadership Qualities</title>
		<link>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/02/7-must-have-transformational-leadership-qualities/</link>
		<comments>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/02/7-must-have-transformational-leadership-qualities/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:02:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Hogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=2901</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
											
											
										Today, more than ever, we need courageous leaders who empower others to reach heights they never thought possible. We need our leaders to expand their capabilities and move outside of the transactional space and into a transformational space that focuses on long term solutions rather than short term gains.
Transformational leadership – growing beyond transactional leadership
Developing your leadership capacity is moving beyond focusing on the day to day operations and expanding your decision making process to focus on long term strategies that are able to sustain business over time.
Leaders need to ...]]></description>
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										</div><p>Today, more than ever, we need courageous leaders who empower others to reach heights they never thought possible. We need our leaders to expand their capabilities and move outside of the transactional space and into a transformational space that focuses on long term solutions rather than short term gains.</p>
<p><strong>Transformational leadership – growing beyond transactional leadership</strong></p>
<p>Developing your leadership capacity is moving beyond focusing on the day to day operations and expanding your decision making process to focus on long term strategies that are able to sustain business over time.</p>
<p>Leaders need to focus on developing a transformational leadership style that creates positive change and growth. This begins with the goals and vision that are set by leaders and their ability to clearly communicate them to their team in a way that inspires then to buy in.</p>
<p><strong>7 must have transformational leadership qualities</strong></p>
<p>In order to get your team to buy in and be part of your vision for the company, there are certain qualities you must possess to be a transformational leader:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>A clear vision:<br />
</strong>Transformational leaders have a vision of what they want to achieve and the ability to clearly communicate this vision so that everyone in the organization understands what is needed to achieve this vision. Is your vision clear? Does it need to be refined?</li>
<li><strong>Courage:</strong><br />
An effective leader needs courage; a willingness to take on new challenges, take calculated risks, make tough decisions, and be willing to go out on a limb for something they believe in. Transformational leaders have the courage to create a vision and do what it takes to achieve their vision.</li>
<li><strong>Self-motivation:<br />
</strong>Leaders need to fuel their passion from within. Transformational leaders have passion and motivation that people can sense and feed off of it. Are you passionate about your vision and willing to do what it takes to see your vision achieved?</li>
<li><strong>Inspiration:</strong><br />
Transformational leaders, based on their personal passion, have the ability to inspire others and get them to buy into their vision and execute it on all levels of the company. How do you inspire your employees to create change? Are you effective at motivating and inspiring your staff?</li>
<li><strong></strong><strong>Know your people:</strong><br />
Personal interaction is important. The impact of a simple “hello” in the hallway or conversation in the lobby goes a long way into getting employees to feel important and want to be part of the vision a leader has created for the company.  You have the ability to impact each of your team on a personal level. When was the last time you took the time to listen to your team and get to know them as individuals?</li>
<li><strong>Set a company standard:<br />
</strong>Transformational leaders model a company standard they expect everyone to follow. They clearly communicate their vision, expectations, and how this standard is to be carried out throughout the organization. What is your company standard? What standard are you setting by example?</li>
<li><strong></strong><strong>Follow through:<br />
</strong>While it is a bit cliché, actions do speak louder than words &#8212; and when leaders live according to the standard they set, employees take notice. Leaders often promise a lot, but it is the follow through that has a true impact on a leader’s ability to evoke change and get employees to buy in.<strong> </strong>How do you follow through and ensure your standards are met?</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Tips for becoming a transformational leader</strong></p>
<p>Leaders cannot just decide to become a transformational leader. However, they can work on developing transformational leadership by implementing these tips:</p>
<ul>
<li>Craft your vision and make it the focal point of the company</li>
<li>Solicit input from senior management to ensure your vision can be spread throughout the company</li>
<li>Have a process in place that allows your frontline workers to ask questions and get clarification</li>
<li>Be clear and communicate the importance that each employees plays in the execution of your vision for the company</li>
<li>Create actionable steps that align with your vision that can be executed by employees</li>
<li>Understand what is needed to motivate and inspire your employees to buy in and become part of your vision</li>
</ul>
<p>When leaders openly accept a transformational style they move beyond day to day functions and operate at a higher level that is focused on creating change in employees and culture that will lead to innovation and growth.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>What Values Are You Communicating?</title>
		<link>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/01/what-values-are-you-communicating/</link>
		<comments>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/01/what-values-are-you-communicating/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:20:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Hogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Communication]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Core Values]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Louder Than Words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Organizational Values]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Perspective]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Senior Executive Team]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Senior Executives]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=2281</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
											
											
										Recently I executed an employee engagement survey across a client organization. When I compared the senior executive team with the blended front-line results I discovered a very troubling outcome.
The senior executives were almost unanimous in the belief that they had done an excellent job of communicating the core values of the organization &#8212; yet results from the front-line indicated exactly the opposite.
Even worse, some of the comments indicated that the values the front-line were observing were inconsistent with the &#8220;advertised&#8221; values.
Too many organizations believe that the values are clear in ...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div style="padding-top:5px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:5px;padding-left:0px;;">
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											</iframe>
										</div><p>Recently I executed an employee engagement survey across a client organization. When I compared the senior executive team with the blended front-line results I discovered a very troubling outcome.</p>
<p>The senior executives were almost unanimous in the belief that they had done an excellent job of communicating the core values of the organization &#8212; yet results from the front-line indicated exactly the opposite.</p>
<p>Even worse, some of the comments indicated that the values the front-line were observing were inconsistent with the &#8220;advertised&#8221; values.</p>
<p>Too many organizations believe that the values are clear in their organization. However, all too often, the values that are communicated are coming via actions rather than words &#8212; or the actions speak louder than the words.</p>
<p>Here are few questions to ask yourself.</p>
<ul>
<li>Have you crystallized your values and written them down?</li>
<li>Does everyone at the senior level of the organization agree and commit to live by these values?</li>
<li>Did you involve your employees? Were they involved in establishing the organizational values? Do they feel ownership?</li>
<li>Did you solicit buy-in across the organization and give them an opportunity to discuss them and what they mean in their daily lives?</li>
<li>Do you regularly communicate the values? Do you explain your decisions in the context of your values so everyone understand how the values come to life?</li>
<li>Do you live your values? Actions speak louder than words &#8212; are your values being demonstrated on a daily basis in your decision-making?</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>My Perspective:</strong> If you don&#8217;t have clearly defined core values, this is a missed opportunity to influence and engage employees. Too often organizations have a communications plan &#8212; but it doesn&#8217;t do a very good job of communicating internally.</p>
<p>Having a clear set of values also let&#8217;s people know what kind of organization is being built and they have an opportunity to decide whether they want to belong to that kind of organization. And in return, you have the evaluate people for a good fit with your team.</p>
<p>Clarity is key.</p>
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		<title>Are You Really Incubating Fresh Ideas and Thinking?</title>
		<link>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/01/are-you-really-incubating-fresh-ideas-and-thinking/</link>
		<comments>http://www.billhogg.ca/2012/01/are-you-really-incubating-fresh-ideas-and-thinking/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:46:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bill Hogg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.billhogg.ca/?p=2318</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
											
											
										Are you finding that you are not hearing the fresh ideas and new thinking in your organization that you would like. Are you often faced with sitting through presentations that sound like the same ideas rehashed again and again.
Well maybe you are burying good ideas under a bad process.
Before you hear their ideas &#8212; are your teams spending time getting them &#8220;right&#8221;? Are they vetted, reviewed, revised and debated around in circles until all the edginess and excitement has been &#8220;fine-tuned&#8221; right out of existence.
Imagine if ideas for the iPhone ...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div style="padding-top:5px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:5px;padding-left:0px;;">
											<iframe
												style="height:25px !important; border:0px solid gray !important; overflow:hidden !important; width:550px !important;" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowTransparency="true"
												src="http://www.linksalpha.com/social?blog=Leadership+Consultant+-+Bill+Hogg&link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.billhogg.ca%2F2012%2F01%2Fare-you-really-incubating-fresh-ideas-and-thinking%2F&title=Are+You+Really+Incubating+Fresh+Ideas+and+Thinking%3F&desc=Are+you+finding+that+you+are+not+hearing+the+fresh+ideas+and+new+thinking+in+your+organization+that+you+would+like.+Are+you+often+faced+with+sitting+through+presentations+that+sound+like+the+same+idea&fc=333333&fs=arial&fblname=like&fblref=facebook&fbllang=en_US&fblshow=1&fbsbutton=1&fbsctr=1&fbslang=en&fbsendbutton=1&twbutton=1&twlang=en&twmention=&twrelated1=&twrelated2=&twctr=1&lnkdshow=noshow&lnkdctr=1&buzzbutton=1&buzzlang=en&buzzctr=1&diggbutton=1&diggctr=1&stblbutton=1&stblctr=1&g1button=1&g1ctr=1&g1lang=en-US">
											</iframe>
										</div><p>Are you finding that you are not hearing the fresh ideas and new thinking in your organization that you would like. Are you often faced with sitting through presentations that sound like the same ideas rehashed again and again.</p>
<p>Well maybe you are burying good ideas under a bad process.</p>
<p>Before you hear their ideas &#8212; are your teams spending time getting them &#8220;right&#8221;? Are they vetted, reviewed, revised and debated around in circles until all the edginess and excitement has been &#8220;fine-tuned&#8221; right out of existence.</p>
<p>Imagine if ideas for the iPhone had been fine-tuned to death before they were presented to the boss. Of if space travel had been fine-tuned before making the suggestion to president Kennedy?</p>
<p><strong>My Perspective:</strong> As a leader it is your job to foster an environment where good ideas become great &#8212; not where good ideas get ground down into mundane ideas.</p>
<p>Instead of insisting that ideas are thoroughly vetted before your hear them, instead find ways to be part of idea generation sessions where you have the opportunity to hear raw, unfiltered ideas that need championing, not fine-tuning.</p>
<p>Skip the fancy presentations, remove the filters, roll up your sleeves and create idea incubation sessions where people present raw ideas and concepts that aren&#8217;t well thought out, but still hold the promise of greatness. Then embrace some of these ideas and help them grow with your support.</p>
<p>Just think, one of those ideas might turn into the next Google, Zappos or iPhone.</p>
<p>Just imagine <img src='http://www.billhogg.ca/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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