January 2010

The Leadership Fit®  Newsletter is written and emailed monthly to leaders seeking the

clarity, confidence, effectiveness and vitality

necessary for achieving their highest level of leadership fitness™.

IN THIS ISSUE

A Communication Checklist for Leaders

Getting More From Your Investment in Training

Stepping Out of Our Comfort Zone

Associates' Corner: How to Make Innovation Real

One More Thing - Harvest of Haiti

A Communication Checklist

for Leaders

When it comes to communicating, fit leaders learn early that individuals on their teams seem to thrive on certain types of communication, while with other types of communication employee engagement and trust wane. In asking hundreds of seminar participants what kind of communication they want and expect from their leaders, we hear the following on a consistent basis. Employees seek communication that is:

Straightforward and direct
Comprehensive
Clear and concise
Positive
Constructive
Timely and specific
Frequent
Face-to-face when appropriate
Professional
Big picture
Two-way
Up front

When we ask employees want they don't want, we hear the following:

Unwanted and extra information
Rambling
Non-actionable feedback
Company gossip
Interruptions that are unjustified
Non-constructive criticism
Condescension
Micromanagement
Negative attitudes
Constant changes in direction
Lack of support or commitment
Vagueness
Finger pointing
Passing the buck
Conflicting goals and priorities

Most leaders can point to examples where we have communicated in ways that are both uplifting for our people and in ways that may have sapped the energy of our teams and taken their focus off of what is most important. The opportunity for all of us is to spend more time on the first list of communication wants above and to avoid as many of the items on the second list as possible.

Stepping Out of

Our Comfort Zone

Last month I attended the annual meeting of the International Coach Federation. Resisting the temptation to attend one more left-brained session chock full of information, I decided instead to move outside of my comfort zone and experience a session entitled "laughter yoga".

I was sitting with over 100 other coaches, apprehensively waiting to see what this session was all about, when Sophie Terrasse (born in France, now living in Ottawa, Canada) suddenly broke out in laughter. Within seconds, the entire room was laughing uproariously. Sophie, a certified laughter coach, knows how to laugh. She soon shared that she was laughing "for no reason at all".

For the next two hours, we laughed, sang, danced and engaged in simple yoga postures and breathing exercises. We learned that laughter yoga is a new revolution in body-mind medicine that combines simple laughter exercises and gentle yoga breathing to enhance health and happiness. Most of us left this session feeling renewed and more balanced than when we came in.  For those of us who tend to favor the left side of our brain, we were treated to a more balanced and whole mind experience. 

Right after the session, I stopped in the hall to chat with a fellow coach and she immediately noticed that I was radiating happiness and joy and started quizzing me on what had just happened. I simply told her that "7 days without laughter makes one weak!!!!"

One More Thing

Harvest of Haiti

Given the unbelievable devastation this month in Haiti, I wanted to let you know of the efforts of one of my colleagues who will be personally traveling to Haiti on January 29 to deliver supplies to the orphanages and shelters run by Harvest of Haiti. 

Harvest of Haiti provides food, medical supplies, water filters, educational supplies and logistical support to orphanages, churches, schools and shelters in Haiti.  They work in Port-au-Prince as well as some of the more remote areas of the island.

This organization is completely staffed by volunteers who pay for their own travel and personal supplies.  

In a recent report on CNN, one of the medical doctors in New York who makes frequent medical mission trips to Haiti was asked how people should send support and she recommended reaching out to any local organizations that will actually be sending aid workers down to Haiti. 

She went on to explain that the level of corruption within the government is still pretty high, so to ensure that your donation is actually used for its intended purpose, it helps to know the individuals who will be administering it on-site in Haiti.  

Given my colleague's experience there, I am making my contributions to this organization knowing that it will be personally delivered to those in need.  If you wish to make your contribution through Harvest of Haiti, feel free to send your donation to the following address:

Getting More From Your

Investment in Training

While learning professionals have become very good at creating powerful learning experiences for participants, the number of participants who actually apply this learning to achieving important business results for their organizations is still quite small. Some researchers put that number in the 10% to 20% range. 

The authors of this month's book have identified five organizational factors that contribute to the impact of learning interventions. They believe that when learners and managers of learners attend to these factors, it is much more likely that training will contribute to business success. These factors are: 

1. Alignment: Align learning with strategic goals.
2. Anticipation: Anticipate success.
3. Alliance: Create a learning alliance between learner and boss.
4. Application: Apply learning immediately.
5. Accountability: Hold learner and organization accountable for business results.

Associates' Corner: How To Make Innovation Real