Consensus is but one of six types of decision making. It is a worthy goal WHEN you have the time and ability to reach true consensus where each member can bring perspective, creativity and insights not available or understood by an individual acting alone. This, along with other benefits, make consensus a default choice for many groups and teams. However, too many organizations choose it without also considering what true consensus is as well as the risks of a consensus being the typical choice.
Working through layers can help today’s Covid-era organizations adapt to change and may result in less ghosting, more commitment. Process tools including advisory teams can help by providing engagement that is crucial in our volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world (VUCA), They can also help access insights easily missed in layers or styles of management.
The No Shows – Ghosting and Staffing problems, Photo by Skylar Kang on Pexels.com
These are a sign of the times we’re in: disrupted supply chains, shortages of everything from toilet paper and pool chlorine to baby formula, and labor shortages. Part of this is job candidates refusing high stress, low pay jobs that they tolerated in the past. Ghosting, a term applied to dating, is now used to define no shows both for employer AND employees. What used to be a term applied to dating now defines disappearing from: 1) a scheduled job interview (both job candidate and employer1), 2) one party vanishing from the interview process, and 3) not showing up the first day on the job and not being reachable, therefore finding yourself “ghosted.”
There’s a great place of respite from the weight of world events and dispiriting local noise, and that place is the garden. Even the soil itself has been recently shown in studies to bring energizing catharsis to one’s spirit. To that end, Winter Sowing (WS) is one of the most joyful and hopeful tasks I do after packing away holiday decorations. That gardening and spending time in nature is restorative, especially for chronic stress, is now illustrated in science. So here we are in prime season for Winter Sowing: January – February. This post features ten (10) lessons I’ve learned about the process. If you are new to Winter Sowing, also check out the basics of why, how, when, what and where to Winter Sow in my SlideShare below.
This is my second lifestyle article, written for the purpose of celebrating gardening, travel and other lifestyle pursuits that support happiness, health and wellness. More photos and details of resources to come are on the Reveln Gardens page.
Post-pandemic planning and work: It isn’t just about the money in this survey of 4K+ workers who want better work-life balance and will change jobs if they cannot get it:
Photos: Tony Schnagl, Ivan Samkoy, Pexels.com
A new survey from the flexible and offsite/remote jobs site FlexJobs is out with results from over 4,600 workers about their jobs, careers and what they are looking for next. The number one reason people want to change careers is to be in a job or field with a better work-life balance(56%), ahead of a higher salary (50%). Other reasons respondents listed included:
Wanting a more meaningful or fulfilling career (49%)
To expand their professional skill set (43%)
Lack of advancement or growth opportunities in their current career (27%)
Approaching retirement and looking for a career change as a “second act” (19%)
A few decades ago I came home thoroughly exhausted from my day at work. I was bone tired, and signaled my goal to take a rare 20 minute nap before dinner while my husband kept an eye on the kids. Then, the most remarkable thing happened. As I found myself outside looking at a few weeds in a flower-bed next to the driveway, I thought I’d pull a few out and then take that nap. What happened? Thirty minutes later the bed was weeded and every trace of tiredness was gone. Vanished. It was like mother earth had injected me with some kind of energy tonic as I dug in the dirt.
This is a departure. This is my first lifestyle article, written for the purpose of celebrating what has been and still is a lifeline for many in these days of the Covid pandemic. Learning about gardening and enjoying the journey of developing a beautiful, well-kept garden is healing and deeply, almost mystically restorative.
What wins the race? It is the leadership quality and finesse of multiple factors that wins, not the novice conceit of speed, or the number of hours of practice. From the book, “Inner Speed Secrets: Mental Strategies to Maximize Your Racing Performance,” by Ronn Langford and Ross Bentley share insights into the nuances that also apply to leadership.
How do leaders make sense of things, especially difficult, urgent, strategic things that may include shock, pain, tragedy, as well as stress and churn? There are many lessons learned about continuously verifying and updating our information, our data, and the need to clarify, test and refocus on our organization’s purpose. The 2021 update of this is seen in the passing of former Secretary of State and General Colin Powell and his lessons learned involving the data he trusted leading to decisions on the Iraq War.
Featured: Five key concepts and supporting research and tools will help you lead through adaptive change in a VUCA world, one that is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous, as presented in Mexico City for CPA firm leaders at the Russell Bedford International conference, yet applicable for any leader.
Leaders know that good data is essential to good decisions. But what data? Finding the right data, at the right time, from the right sources is critical. Data is the first of four elements from a simple acronym DPPE that stands for Data, Purpose, Plan, Evaluate.
DPPE is an easy way to describe and categorize project phases as well as many small to complex leadership tasks. These may include:
Updating strategy and programs
Making a policy or process change
Implementing new initiatives,
Educating leaders for 21st century and/or emerging new needs
Building a house the suits the neighborhood as well as the buyers (photo above)
Leadership skill is built upon skilled listening, including listening to yourself for health and wellness. Busy leaders know intellectually that taking care of yourself is how you are best able to take care of others. The challenge, in this part three of our series, continues to be putting this principle into disciplined, regular practice. Leadership coaching, as my clients have told me, has helped leaders:Continue reading “Seven Ways New NonProfit Leaders Succeed the First Year on the Job”
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