Here is the first of what will be a series of videos on Leadership Zingers.
These videos will be 1 to 3 minutes long and offer you quick tips or perspectives on leadership. The primary focus will be on the topics of strength based leadership and employee engagement.
Watch for more videos on this site and better videos as we progress into 2008.
Employee Engagement Monday Morning Percolator #33
This is part 3 of a 5 part series on leadership strength development embracing the application of StrengthsFinder 2.0.
Click here to read the first article in the series.
Here is the schedule outlining my strength focus:
Here is a review of the process we are following:
Review Week 2: Your Second Strength (Strategic)
I was able to work a lot with my strategic strength this past week. I find the times before flying in airports an excellent time to use strategic thinking for the variety of projects requiring my attention. My ideas are flying long before the plane takes off.
Two specific projects had 4 significant external developments and I was able to use my strength to navigate through some of the changes that will be required because of development from competitors and the business environment. I believe that I would have missed out on my strategic strength resources had I not had a specific focus for this strength last week.
Outline Week 3: Your Third Strength (Positivity)
People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.
Positivity Action Plan
Keep enthusiasm alive for the variety of projects and initiatives and ensure that I communicate this with my partners and my students.
I will keep a focus on this strength to prevent a positive drain when I have too many demands or feel high levels of stress.
I will navigate around negative people who will not be responsive to a constructive or more positive outlook so as not to sap my own positivity.
I will also take time to express thanks and gratitude immediately after seeing something I am thankful for.
How did things go with the application of your second strength and what are your plans for to apply your third strength next week?
Next Week: Review and Strength#4 – Ideation.
Photo Credit: Free Running Belfast by http://flickr.com/photos/jettloe/1314858172/
Written by David Zinger, M. Ed.
Employee Engagement Monday Morning Percolator #32
This is part 2 of a 5 part series on leadership strength development through the application of StrengthsFinder 2.0.
Click here to read the first article in the series.
Here is the schedule outlining my strength focus:
The process of working on your strengths includes the following steps:
Click here to download a concise and colorful one page PDF form to work on your strengths during our 5 weeks of strength training.
As we work together, you will move from weak to week to strength!
Review Week 1: Your First Strength (Maximizer)
I was able to put my maximizer strength to good work this week. A network project with one of my parnters had very rapid and acclerated growth the past week with each of us raising the bar. I was also able to spend some maximizer time with my oldest son helping him to maximize his strengths during his first year of university.
I did lose sight of numerous opportunites to apply the strength – I call this strength myopia. We have our strength right in front of us and often fail to use it in obvious situations. Before reading about the strategic strength I will review maximizer one more time.
I also learned that the combination of Maximizer and a work mantra I call GEMO (Good Enough Move On) is very significant in creating tremendous progress in projects in short periods of time. Click here to read my article on Finding GEMO. GEMO helps me get projects started and to keep them moving while maximizer help me continually make them better.
Outline Week 2: Your Second Strength (Strategic)
People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
Strategic Action Plan
Rather than being amused by external entertainment I will seek and nourish muse time. I need to take time to be think over projects, patterns, and pathways. One terrific place to do this will be before and during two flights I will take this week.
In two meetings this week I will ensure that I think about the initatives from my strategic strength and offer different pathways to accomplish results.
Strategic thinking can seem like inaction at times so I will ensure I place a high value on this strength and give it the time it deserves to unfold. I will also carry a tape recorder and paper to capture any strategic insights while spending time between activities.
I have much experience in blogging and online management/leadership development and I will seek out 2 opportunites to offer my strategic perspective to others in this rapidly growing field.
Next Week: Review and Strength#3 – Positivity.
Photo Credit: 3 payers chessboard by http://flickr.com/photos/slip/272995622/
Written by David Zinger, M. Ed.
Employee Engagement: Monday Morning Percolator #31
I invited you to join me in a 5 week strength building and training regime.
You won’t end up with more muscle but you will end up stronger and more engaged in your work.
Each week we will focus on one of our strengths from the StrengthsFinder 2.0 inventory. We will work at developing a greater understanding of the strength, determine applications of the strength for the following week, and review how we performed on the last strength before moving on to the next strength on the list. [Read more…]
Trombone Player Wanted is a strong 6 DVD series on putting our strengths to work by Marcus Buckingham. If you would like to learn more about this series I encourage you to read the review available below.
A free 18 page detailed PDF E-review of this series was on this site but it became unavailable when the site was revised. I have put the resource back on the site and apologize to anyone who had difficulty accessing the resource.
Click the link below to get a copy of this review:
Photo Credit: Trombone Player by http://flickr.com/photos/ubikwit/1333825025/
