I'd like to share with you what I've been up to, which obviously hasn't been blogging! I may have taken a hiatus from blogging, but it was for good reason.
I've needed to get real with my self in a couple of areas. I will share more about that later, and what I learned about my leadership as a result. For this post, I'd like to simply share one thing I've been focused on during these past 30 days of learning and reflection.
Have you thought about why it is so bloody difficult to get anything more than an incremental change in the results you and your team produce? It is a virtually endemic problem: leaders everywhere push-push-pushing for the next level of results. It works for a little while. They make progress, a lot or a little. And then, over time, all they can seem to manage is to eke out small, incremental changes. Or they plateau. Or, worse case, entropy or inertia sets in.
When they hit the diminishing returns, plateauing or backsliding, many leaders try to "shake things up." Not a bad idea, sometimes. But often this isn't a very considered approach--more like an act of desperation, frustration or both.
Helping leaders produce better results is my business, so I spend a lot of time not just thinking about this, but actively working with it. One of the things I did during my blogging hiatus was to really pause, stop and reflect on the products and services I offer and how they can support a breakthrough in results as opposed to incremental improvement. In the past,
I could not articulate with precision the overall approach I use--it was just "natural" to the way I did things. But it has dawned on me that I need to be able to articulate the "big picture" so the leaders I work with can understand the interconnected, interrelated and interdependent nature of the different things I recommend they do.
I captured the overall approach and the ideology on which it is based in four pages. And what I will do is share it with you here. And I want to be very specific about why I am sharing it with you before I begin sharing it over several blogs that will follow this intro.
The reason I want to share my overall approach with you is so you can inventory where your approach to improving results may be lacking. I want to be clear about this: I am not taking on any new clients right now. I am blessed with a full business. I am not sharing the approach to "sell" you. I am sharing it because I am excited to think that the comprehensive and integrated nature of the approach may help you evaluate whether your approach to 2009 needs shoring up. And, if so, you can take action on that your self.
Even if you have worked with me in the past or are currently working with me, I believe you will find this overview very worthwhile and useful. I hope so.
Whoever you are, I'd enjoy hearing from you if you find the overview helpful. Whether you agree, or disagree. Whether you have a compliment, or a suggestion. And most importantly, if, as a result of reading my approach, you decide to change your own... well, gosh, I'd truly enjoy hearing from you. Because the core purpose for this blog is to "give back" and "give away" what I know to leaders who are determined to forge themselves today into the leaders tomorrow requires. The only thing I ask in exchange is to hear from you from time to time if I am accomplishing that purpose.
