I will have the pleasure of facilitating "The Camino": The Way to Personal Leadership Workshop on March 16th at the 6th Global Pharma SFE Forum in Lisbon Portugal, March 15 - 16, 2011. For those of you interested in learning more about this conference, click here!
While in Europe, I will be conducting workshops for other clients as well, but still have a few open dates. If Personal Leadership (values, vision, focus) and/or Change Leadership is a need in your organization, I would like to talk to you about the possibility of facilitating a workshop for you and your organization as well.
I have one week in which I still have open dates (The week of March 21st). I would be happy to offer either "The Camino" or Change Worskhop at a a 50% discount per participant to you for booking that week.
Of course, if the week of March 21st does not work for you, we can explore other dates as well. For example, I am also currently booking dates in Europe in late May and early June 2011.
Please feel free to contact by clicking the email address below if you have interest in a program in March, May or sometime in the future. I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards!
James Gehrke
Showing posts with label effective leadership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label effective leadership. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Servant Leaders
Happy Holidays!
I believe the holiday season and the end of the year is an excellent time to step back from our day-to-day routines and reflect upon what I like to call our personal self leadership "pilgrimage."
A key personal leadership lesson I address in the "Camino" workshop is about becoming a Servant Leader. This time of year is an excellent time for us to strive to become a more effective "servant" to those we serve and/or lead.
A perfect example of such a leader is Aaron Feuerstein, the 3rd generation owner and CEO of Malden Mills, the New England manufacture of "climate control" materials like Polertec and Polarfleece.
Feuerstein was a business leader who had built his business based on Talmudic teachings and values that extended far beyond the minimum legal responsibilities he had toward the shareholders of the company. He also built a business that focused on assisting his workers and the community where they lived.
However, when a fire destroyed the company's New England factories in 1995, Feuerstein faced an ethical dilemma. Prior to this time, he had maintained his factories in Maine even though most other fabric manufacturers were closing plants in the US and moving their facilities overseas in order to improve profitability. Now that his factories were destroyed, he had to decide whether to take the opportunity to follow the trend and move overseas where manufacturing costs would have been less, or rebuild in New England.
When asked about his decision, Feuerstein explained that his religious beliefs and heritage guided him in his decision. In other words, he made the decision he made not only for economic reasons, but because he was firmly anchored to core values and guided by a strong moral compass. He stated in an interview with Parade Magazine in 1996 that "I have a responsibility to the worker; both blue-collar and white-collar...I have an equal responsibility to the community." Even though it would have been easier to move overseas, he re-built the plants in the same communities and kept all the employees on the payroll through the period of reconstruction!
What a striking difference this story provides in comparison to the all too common headlines where only the bottom-line, self aggrandizement and greed seem to be the focus of our leaders!
While they may be on a smaller scale, we all face similar dilemmas at one point or another in our careers. What makes Mr. Feuerstein's story memorable is that not only did he give lip service to core values; he acted on them by creating a corporate culture that was securely anchored to core values and was personally guided by a clear moral compass.
We should not be surprised by unethical behaviors of those around us if our only focus is the bottom line, personal aggrandizement or selfish pursuits. If that is our main focus, then we should not be surprised if our actions and the actions of those we influence only focus on ways to improve profitability or increase sales or power at the risk of everything else!
We could all benefit from having the same moral courage shown by Mr. Feuerstein. Let us take the time this season to anchor ourselves more firmly in core values and become more aligned to a clear moral compass so that when we are faced with ethical dilemmas our actions are just as admirable and memorable as Mr. Feuerstein's!
Share your examples of Servant Leaders!
Too often it is the bad examples of leadership that gets our attention. I am interested in gathering from examples of leaders who were anchored to core values, guided by a moral compass and could be considered "servant" leaders. By submitting your example, you will be entered into a drawing for a copy of my book: Magnify Change Leadership: A Practical Guide for Leading Teams in Times of Change! I will announce the winner and share some of the examples in January's newsletter. Click the link below to submit your ideas and/or add your suggestion by commenting on our blog:
http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e36fvnewgh85wx9y/start
I would be happy to facilitate "El Camino" The Way to Personal Leadership and/or other Magnify L&D workshops for you and your organization or as a public workshop in your area. Don't hesitate to contact us for more information.
Happy Holiday Season!
James Gehrke
5442 South 900 East Suite 203
Murray, Utah 84117
801-266-0849
Europe: (34) 91 829 5109
james.gehrke@magnifyleadership.com
www.magnifyleadership.com
I believe the holiday season and the end of the year is an excellent time to step back from our day-to-day routines and reflect upon what I like to call our personal self leadership "pilgrimage."
A key personal leadership lesson I address in the "Camino" workshop is about becoming a Servant Leader. This time of year is an excellent time for us to strive to become a more effective "servant" to those we serve and/or lead.
A perfect example of such a leader is Aaron Feuerstein, the 3rd generation owner and CEO of Malden Mills, the New England manufacture of "climate control" materials like Polertec and Polarfleece.
Feuerstein was a business leader who had built his business based on Talmudic teachings and values that extended far beyond the minimum legal responsibilities he had toward the shareholders of the company. He also built a business that focused on assisting his workers and the community where they lived.
However, when a fire destroyed the company's New England factories in 1995, Feuerstein faced an ethical dilemma. Prior to this time, he had maintained his factories in Maine even though most other fabric manufacturers were closing plants in the US and moving their facilities overseas in order to improve profitability. Now that his factories were destroyed, he had to decide whether to take the opportunity to follow the trend and move overseas where manufacturing costs would have been less, or rebuild in New England.
When asked about his decision, Feuerstein explained that his religious beliefs and heritage guided him in his decision. In other words, he made the decision he made not only for economic reasons, but because he was firmly anchored to core values and guided by a strong moral compass. He stated in an interview with Parade Magazine in 1996 that "I have a responsibility to the worker; both blue-collar and white-collar...I have an equal responsibility to the community." Even though it would have been easier to move overseas, he re-built the plants in the same communities and kept all the employees on the payroll through the period of reconstruction!
What a striking difference this story provides in comparison to the all too common headlines where only the bottom-line, self aggrandizement and greed seem to be the focus of our leaders!
While they may be on a smaller scale, we all face similar dilemmas at one point or another in our careers. What makes Mr. Feuerstein's story memorable is that not only did he give lip service to core values; he acted on them by creating a corporate culture that was securely anchored to core values and was personally guided by a clear moral compass.
We should not be surprised by unethical behaviors of those around us if our only focus is the bottom line, personal aggrandizement or selfish pursuits. If that is our main focus, then we should not be surprised if our actions and the actions of those we influence only focus on ways to improve profitability or increase sales or power at the risk of everything else!
We could all benefit from having the same moral courage shown by Mr. Feuerstein. Let us take the time this season to anchor ourselves more firmly in core values and become more aligned to a clear moral compass so that when we are faced with ethical dilemmas our actions are just as admirable and memorable as Mr. Feuerstein's!
Share your examples of Servant Leaders!
Too often it is the bad examples of leadership that gets our attention. I am interested in gathering from examples of leaders who were anchored to core values, guided by a moral compass and could be considered "servant" leaders. By submitting your example, you will be entered into a drawing for a copy of my book: Magnify Change Leadership: A Practical Guide for Leading Teams in Times of Change! I will announce the winner and share some of the examples in January's newsletter. Click the link below to submit your ideas and/or add your suggestion by commenting on our blog:
http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e36fvnewgh85wx9y/start
I would be happy to facilitate "El Camino" The Way to Personal Leadership and/or other Magnify L&D workshops for you and your organization or as a public workshop in your area. Don't hesitate to contact us for more information.
Happy Holiday Season!
James Gehrke
5442 South 900 East Suite 203
Murray, Utah 84117
801-266-0849
Europe: (34) 91 829 5109
james.gehrke@magnifyleadership.com
www.magnifyleadership.com
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Need to Train Managers in Leading Teams
Because of the rapid pace of change in today's work environment, more needs to be done to train an assist leaders of organizations gain the practical skills that will assist them lead change efforts. These skills may be different than managerial skills most leaders have been exposed to in other types of leadership functions. It would be beneficial to companies to address the basic skills needed by managers at all levels of the organization to best implement organizational change. To be effective, this training needs to deal with the issues that cause organizations to fail in many change efforts. This training must help leaders understand and recognize the attitudes, reasons for resistance and challenges of implementing the overall change project.
As a training consultant, I have worked with dozens of organizations all around the world to implement change. During this time, I have also been an avid student and observer of effective leadership. In my book, Magnify Change Leadership: A Practical Guide for Leading Teams in Times of Change, I build upon change leadership research and practical work experience, in order to offer a model of change leadership which, while driven by leadership, also democratically engages employees at all levels of the organization in order to decrease resistance and shorten the time needed to improve success during times of change. The behaviors needed are presented in a practical model that can be used in leadership development in order to assist the effectiveness of managers in leading their teams to more effectively implement change.
The amount of change placed on managers by their organizations has grown at an amazing rate over the last several years. Unfortunately, few expect that this rate of change is likely to decrease anytime in the foreseeable future. In a survey conducted by the Gallop Organization of 400 executives from Fortune 1000 companies, 79 percent of executives described "the pace of change at their companies as 'rapid' or 'extremely rapid' and 61 percent believed the pace will pick up in the future." As organizations are being forced to deal with the pressures of the global marketplace, the pace of change is likely to increase, as executives look to outsource, downsize, right-size, merge, re-align or look for any way possible to remain competitive and increase earnings. Through all these efforts "the basic goal has been the same: to make fundamental changes in how business is conducted in order to help cope with a new, more challenging environment" (Kotter, 2000, p. 59).
However, while top executives look at change efforts as opportunities to strengthen their companies and increase their influence, for employees "change is neither sought after nor welcomed" but rather seen as "disruptive" and "intrusive" (Strebel, 1996, p. 88). Employee resistance is likely compounded by the fact that the great majority of corporate change efforts are not successful. "While senior managers understand the necessity of change to cope with new competitive realities, they often misunderstand what it takes to bring it about" (Beer et al, 2000, p. 158), leading to many efforts not reaching the level of success as hoped and planned for. Over time and after passing through repeated failed episodes of change "the troops" go through so many of these programs that they become "skeptical" (Duck, 1993, p. 111). Hence, "companies today are full of 'change survivors,' cynical people who have learned how to live through change programs without really changing at all" (p. 112).
While leaders of the corporation may understand the reason for change and put great effort in planning and implementing the change, they often fail because of the lack of support from the vast majority of the employees (Strebel, 1996, p. 88-89). This contributes to a disappointingly large number of change efforts which end in failure. "In too many situations the improvements have been disappointing and the carnage has been appalling, with wasted resources and burned-out, scared, or frustrated employees" (Kotter, 1996, p. 4).
A more complete understanding of the principles of change leadership and team effectiveness which could be taught to managers in order to help them move their organizations successfully through change efforts could greatly improve the organizations' overall success rate at implementing changes, as well as improve the overall experience of employees and managers forced to implement the changes.
Learn our approach by ordering our book or workshop: Magnify Change Leadership: A Practical Guide for Leading Teams in Times of Change.
As a training consultant, I have worked with dozens of organizations all around the world to implement change. During this time, I have also been an avid student and observer of effective leadership. In my book, Magnify Change Leadership: A Practical Guide for Leading Teams in Times of Change, I build upon change leadership research and practical work experience, in order to offer a model of change leadership which, while driven by leadership, also democratically engages employees at all levels of the organization in order to decrease resistance and shorten the time needed to improve success during times of change. The behaviors needed are presented in a practical model that can be used in leadership development in order to assist the effectiveness of managers in leading their teams to more effectively implement change.
The amount of change placed on managers by their organizations has grown at an amazing rate over the last several years. Unfortunately, few expect that this rate of change is likely to decrease anytime in the foreseeable future. In a survey conducted by the Gallop Organization of 400 executives from Fortune 1000 companies, 79 percent of executives described "the pace of change at their companies as 'rapid' or 'extremely rapid' and 61 percent believed the pace will pick up in the future." As organizations are being forced to deal with the pressures of the global marketplace, the pace of change is likely to increase, as executives look to outsource, downsize, right-size, merge, re-align or look for any way possible to remain competitive and increase earnings. Through all these efforts "the basic goal has been the same: to make fundamental changes in how business is conducted in order to help cope with a new, more challenging environment" (Kotter, 2000, p. 59).
However, while top executives look at change efforts as opportunities to strengthen their companies and increase their influence, for employees "change is neither sought after nor welcomed" but rather seen as "disruptive" and "intrusive" (Strebel, 1996, p. 88). Employee resistance is likely compounded by the fact that the great majority of corporate change efforts are not successful. "While senior managers understand the necessity of change to cope with new competitive realities, they often misunderstand what it takes to bring it about" (Beer et al, 2000, p. 158), leading to many efforts not reaching the level of success as hoped and planned for. Over time and after passing through repeated failed episodes of change "the troops" go through so many of these programs that they become "skeptical" (Duck, 1993, p. 111). Hence, "companies today are full of 'change survivors,' cynical people who have learned how to live through change programs without really changing at all" (p. 112).
While leaders of the corporation may understand the reason for change and put great effort in planning and implementing the change, they often fail because of the lack of support from the vast majority of the employees (Strebel, 1996, p. 88-89). This contributes to a disappointingly large number of change efforts which end in failure. "In too many situations the improvements have been disappointing and the carnage has been appalling, with wasted resources and burned-out, scared, or frustrated employees" (Kotter, 1996, p. 4).
A more complete understanding of the principles of change leadership and team effectiveness which could be taught to managers in order to help them move their organizations successfully through change efforts could greatly improve the organizations' overall success rate at implementing changes, as well as improve the overall experience of employees and managers forced to implement the changes.
Learn our approach by ordering our book or workshop: Magnify Change Leadership: A Practical Guide for Leading Teams in Times of Change.
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