Turning Overwhelm and Fragmentation into Focused Success

By Mark Samuel

Why is it that most people don’t like change, but do like to make a difference (in their job) that is valued and respected by others? Why is it that organizations are questioning the work ethic of younger employees, while many employees are putting more effort and time into their jobs than ever before? Why is it that many people are bored or tired with the monotonous routine of their jobs or problems on the job, even though they are constantly faced with change? Why do organizations spend considerable time developing clear vision statements and strategies, yet have no sense of purpose or a way to identify accomplishments from the previous change effort before embarking on the next flavor- of-the-month change? Read more

Committing to Less and Accomplishing More

By David Rodgers

In many organizations, I see people being burned-out and defeated by the constant pressure to “do more with less.” If this feeling is pervasive in your department, it can pull you down with the others. When you see this happening, you need to change the game. You need to meet the challenge with confidence and clarity. I call it “Accomplishing More by Committing to Less.”

Groups become paralyzed when they can’t see how their day-to-day efforts contribute to the big picture. Clarifying priorities will help; however, priority lists don’t paint a big picture. Read more

Commitment and Clarity of Intention

By Richard Noble

If you ask what qualities people respect in employees and leaders you will likely hear a list that includes commitment. It’s common to see posters on office walls attempting to inspire commitment, along with other values such as excellence or teamwork. The question that comes to mind is, “to what are we being asked to commit?”

Certainly, in today’s downsized organizations, commitment to tasks and priorities is needed. Yet, that form of commitment is more like dedication to the requirements of the organization, which frequently leads to resentful compliance. Read more

Personal Vision

By Mark Samuel

While organizations and teams have been creating Vision statements to more or less clarify direction and purpose to their members, we have found creating a personal Vision is critical for individual fulfillment in our personal lives. Vision statements assist us in making important decisions, prioritizing our activities, and assisting us in corrective action when we do things that sabotage our long-term personal fulfillment.

A personal Vision is an intention rather than an expectation, and is therefore a process of unfolding that gets updated as we clarify our true desires and goals in life. There are three primary steps to creating your personal Vision: Read more

Personally Preparing for Change

by Mark Samuel

Whether we like it or not, change is all around us. The organization embarks on a new change effort, and just as our new processes are steady enough for us to come up for air, another change effort is announced.

Change efforts are inherently disruptive, and we must cope with disruption effectively for the change to succeed. We must avoid victim behaviors, like finger pointing, and be prepared to assume our role in the change effort, even when changes seem to come from outside our sphere of influence. Read more