Cortex Leadership Consulting

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I Will Find My Genius Zone

I Will Find My Genius Zone
And Learn to Live in It!

By:  Lynda McNutt Foster, CEO
Cortex Leadership Consulting

Raising our Conversational Intelligence© with others is important.  Changing the conversations we’re having with ourselves is the vital first step to breaking through to discover the genius that lives within all of us.

According to research at Cleveland Clinic Wellness, 95% of our thoughts are habitual.  80% of those are negative.  This pattern of thinking may keep us safe, yet does little to help us grow.

Repairing our thinking involves becoming aware of what beliefs we have that may not be serving us.  These beliefs could be the cause behind the “two steps forward, one step back” experience we keep having each time we try to break through what Gay Hendricks calls our Upper Limit in his book The Big Leap.

4 Main Activity Zones

Incompetence – these are things we are not good at and that can be avoided or delegated.  Look for team members and others that are great in these areas and move them off your plate.

Competence – You can do these tasks, but so can others.  This is the activity zone we get stuck in when we take on too much and are feeling overwhelmed.  Yes, you can do it.  That doesn’t mean that you should be doing it all.

Area of Excellence – The world finds this activity valuable in some way and you are rewarded because of this zone.  This is probably the activities you make money from.  If you are successful right now, this probably your current comfort zone.  If you lead a team, this is the first area you want to strive to have each of your team members reach.

Zone of Genius – Your Zone of Genius is the set of activities you are uniquely suited to do.  These are derived from your special talents and gifts.  When fully realized you will experience abundance, love, and creativity and levels not possible in the other zones of activity.  When you apply this principal to your team, this is where the real organizational greatness comes from.

Barriers to Reaching Your Zone of Genius

  1. Feeling fundamentally flawed
  2. Thinking you will have to leave others behind in order to truly get ahead
  3. Believing that you are a burden and more success would only bring more hardship on those around you
  4. Being afraid of outshining others

Ways we sabotage ourselves that hold us back are things like worrying about things we can’t control, squabbling over the small stuff, blaming others when things don’t go our way, deflecting compliments and getting sick or hurt as soon as things start going in the right direction.

How these show up are when we lie, break promises and withhold truths.

Questions to consider regularly:

Are you telling yourself the full truth about which actions you are taking that are and are not serving you at work?

What are you willing to risk in order to experience much more joy and abundance from the work that you do?

What do I need to:

Stop doing?  Start doing?  Keep doing?

In order to break through my Upper Limit?  If you lead others, what methods of coaching can you use to help them identify their Upper Limit and find their Zone of Genius?

Do you have an accountability partner to help support and encourage you to break through your Upper Limit?

I can.

I will.

Today.

www.cortexleadership.com
www.gomonti.com

For more information call:  540.776-9219 or [email protected]

 

 

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Turning March Madness into a Culture Build for Your Organization

By:  Richard Hammer, Senior IT Consultant, Enterprise Architect
Cortex Leadership Consulting

March Madness could be quite the distraction for team members.  My experience with Interactive Achievement taught me how it can actually be used to build your corporate culture.

Quick history:

I started working with Interactive Achievement (now PowerSchool) in December, 2011.  Interactive Achievement was built by educators for educators.  It’s primary offering was an assessment platform to help teachers discover the strengths and areas of growth for their students, ultimately in preparation for high stakes assessments.  I was brought on as a technology expert and managed, directed, and eventually became the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) for the development, maintenance, and infrastructure for their national expansion and ultimately, acquisition by PowerSchool in 2016.

Culture Build - March MadnessWhen March Madness came around in March, 2012, the office was a buzz.  I thought nothing of it.  Then the email came.  “All employees must fill out a bracket.  Team leaders will be selected and you will be placed on a team.  We will need a team name.  We are clearing the lobby and installing televisions in all the workspaces in the building again.  March Madness everyone.  Let’s get excited!”

Imagine the shock. I had been hired to pivot and roll out a new version of the platform to a national audience, built with new technology on new hardware, that was 11 months behind schedule at the time, immeasurable dollars over budget, and proven not to work … and we are engaging in March Madness across the entire office.   Madness indeed.

As it turns out, it was one of the most amazing team building, culture building, and healing ideas I had ever seen implemented across an organization.  

Here is how it worked for each of the next 5 years:

  • Everyone submitted a bracket (some took it seriously, some did not – one year, someone allowed their dog to select the winners)
  • If you beat your boss, you got an extra day of vacation
  • If you beat the CEO, Jon Hagmaier, you got an extra day of vacation
  • If your team wins, they get an all expenses paid vacation (think beach, mountains, cruise, etc.).
  • If you win, you get the grand prize … “Destination Unknown” … essentially an extravagant, all expenses paid, mystery vacation.
  • Each week there is a catered meal.  Sometimes breakfast, sometimes lunch.
  • One year there was a debate over who made the best bacon.  Jon ordered something like 30lbs of bacon from all over the world and we had a “bacon-off” to determine which bacon was indeed the best.
  • There were also team competitions (think corn hole, connect 4, etc.) for prizes
  • There was also trivia for prizes (think cash, vacation days, or an opportunity to change one of your picks in the brackets).
  • There was also the Benny Gibson Memorial Wheel of Death (or something like that) where every couple of hours, one of the exec team would take it around the office, ask someone if they wanted a spin.  The wheel had prizes and hazards on it.

All of the TVs on the offices were always on, showing different games at different times.  We still did our work, but we also engaged our peers and coworkers, we discovered fun facts about one another (I didn’t know you were fans of 80’s hair bands!).  It clearly became a work-family event

Destination Unknown was the prize to win though.  Once a winner was identified, our administrative assistant Debbie would plot and plan for days.  Eventually, 12 envelopes would be delivered and a departure date/time would be set.  Envelopes could only be opened in specific places, at specific times.

In 2014, my wife Catherine and I won the prize.  We made a video of our adventure: http://y2u.be/x2F1LUapD6s

Maybe your company can’t go to the lengths that Interactive Achievement did, no problem.  Get creative.  Lean into something that your employees find fun and exciting and use it to build team engagement and excitement.

 

 

 

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3 Steps to Building Your Confidence Muscle

Not getting what you want can be painful sometimes.  You wanted that promotion or raise and didn’t get it, perhaps.  Maybe you wanted to be chosen to give the speech or represent your team or industry in an important initiative.  It could be as simple as you needed something like a day off and you were frozen when you went to ask for it from your boss.  We all have areas where we are confident and where we aren’t.  The trick is to build your confidence muscle in the area that will pay off the most to get what you want more often.

3 Steps to Building Your Confidence Muscle - Lynda McNutt FosterWhat I notice about leaders that attend our leadership programs and that get coached by us, is that they seem to feel much more confident after a session than when they arrived.  I know why that is.  Confidence tends to occur when you build certain skills.   To build your confidence muscle you need to take action to work on building your competence, prepare for defining events that can move you quickly forward towards what you want to achieve, and knowing how to look and sound the part with the people you need to influence.  When you are armed with those skills, you naturally feel more confident which leads, more often, to you getting what you want.

Here are the 3 steps to building your confidence muscle:

  1. Build competence.   Start by becoming competent in the skills you need in order to get what you want whether it be a raise, a promotion, or autonomy in the job you are being paid to do.  Determine which skills will net the biggest return on investment for the goal you want to reach and focus on those first.
  2. Prepare for defining moments.  Whether it is a crucial conversation or a presentation you need to give to influencers, make the time and ask for help so that you are fully prepared to reach your goal and slay any dragons. Stressing over all the small stuff will lead to burn out.  Understanding, by asking and observing, what events will have the most impact on your ability to influence others or raise your status as work is critical.  Don’t guess.  Ask someone you trust who is at a higher level than you are or has experience in the situations or job you are in.  Any event that involves your senior leadership team matters.  Contact with your CEO, if you rarely come in contact with her/him is important.  Being fully prepared for the most important contact points will pay big dividends for your advancement towards higher levels of authority.
  3. Look and sound the part.  Yes, you need to look and sound like “them” – those people who have what you want and whose help you may need to get it.   The easiest way to do that is to dress like them.  Keep your individuality for off the clock activities.  At work, when you want to get noticed, let it be for your work, not your wardrobe.  Need proof? Here’s study published in the Wall Street Journal that may be helpful.

Making a statement by wearing casual clothes when everyone else in higher positions than you are and who make more money than you do is wearing button downs, is not going to endear you to the people who have the authority to give you that raise or promote you.  Why would you want to make it harder for yourself than you need to?

As important is “sounding” part.  Looking the part can occur from simple observation and feedback.  Listening for certain language that the people you need to influence is critical.  It’s one thing to get in the room, it’s a whole other thing to stay there and be invited back.  Each industry has certain “lingo” and acronyms they use.  Every organization has a certain “tone” to the way people talk to each other.  Listen closely for the words you do not understand or don’t know how to use effectively in a statement.  It’s not stupid to ask someone what they mean.  It is dumb to act like you know what someone meant when you really don’t.

It takes time and effort to build confidence that is backed by competence.  Some people get stuck on building competence and ignore the other two steps which lead to being stuck at a certain level in of influence or authority at your organization or in your industry.  Identifying those skills that you need to build and asking for help from a coach can speed up your progress towards what you want to achieve.

Let me know if I can help.

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Fixing this one thing at work can solve a lot of problems – The Power of Trust

Lynda McNutt FosterThe most common challenges I hear from leaders about teams or team members that are under performing are that they lack enthusiasm and energy for their job, that their productivity is down, and that they are having to deal with constant drama that is distracting and time-consuming.  What is sometimes hard for leaders to recognize is how a lack of trust in the workplace can frequently be the core issue that needs to be addressed.  Lack of trust between individuals, their leaders, and throughout the culture, can sometimes be what is creating the drag on people’s time and energy from them at work.

The quantitative results of a trust-based workplace culture are in and can help the internal brand of organizations, like yours, create a working environment that leads to the type of results every leader wants to achieve.  This isn’t cum-bay-ya stuff.  Creating and maintaining a high-trust environment leads to significant increases in your bottom line.

Paul Zak, Harvard Researcher, Founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomic Studies and Professor of Economics, Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University, has conducted 2-decades worth of studies that had some remarkable discoveries.

The studies found that people at high-trust companies:

  • Experience 74% less stress
  • 106% more energy at work
  • 50% higher productivity
  • 13% fewer sick days
  • 76% more engagement
  • 29% more satisfaction with their lives
  • 40% less burnout

People at high-trust companies also:

  • Enjoyed their jobs 60% more
  • Were 70% more aligned with their companies’ purpose
  • Felt 66% closer to their colleagues
  • Had 11% more empathy for their workmates,
  • Earn an additional $6,450 a year, or 17% more than those working at low-trust organizations

How do you begin to create a high-trust workplace environment so that you can experience those types of results?  This article explains 8 Ways to Build A Culture of Trust Based on Harvard’s Neuroscience Research.

My favorites from the list are:

Recognizing excellence immediately.  Letting the team know when someone has done something that is “spot on” to the type of standards you are wanting to achieve when it comes to effort and results can go a long way to appreciating what is going right.

Autonomy goes a long way… and is cheaper than you think.  20% of employees say they would forfeit a raise to have more control over their work environment (I am thinking that those 20% may already be compensated fairly for their roles, perhaps). Employees tend to enjoy having freedom to select projects that align with their skillsets and an opportunity to give input on projects that are assigned to them.

Communicate often.  Being transparent about the things that you can be transparent about is helpful and giving feedback consistently so that team members know what is going write and how they could do things differently leads to clarity.  They can’t read your mind.  Don’t assume an employee knows the background of an issue or what they need to do to fix something unless you have asked them to share with you what they know or have heard from their perspective.

You can find resources on the Cortex website (just search for the word TRUST) for learning how to build trust on your team, with team members, and specific types of employees like Millennials.  Here’s an article about the 6 elements of trust and what you may be doing to jeopardize trust without even knowing it.  If you know you need to repair a relationship with someone at work, here’s an article about how to Repair Trust with Someone At Work.

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Commander’s Intent – Is yours clear to your team?

In military leadership terms, the commander’s intent describes the desired end state. It is a concise expression of the purpose of the operation and must be understood by echelons below the issuing commander. It is the single unifying focus for all subordinate elements. It is not a summary of the concept of the operation.

Courtland JamesAs a leader, it is important that you explain, with clarity and purpose, what your intention is in regard to the project or task you are having people on your team execute.  Confusion, as to your intent, will result in slower production times because team members have to be checking back with you to make even the smallest adjustments in the initial plan.  When your team doesn’t achieve its mission or isn’t doing so consistently, you can refer to the following to be sure that you are effectively setting them up for success.

If everyone on your team understands the overall objective of the initiative, then they will have the knowledge necessary to make command decisions at their level that will facilitate the achievement of that outcome.  You want your team members to be able to adapt and overcome any obstacle that presents itself as they are executing their tasks.

As General Dwight Eisenhower famously said, “In preparing for battle, PLANS are useless, but PLANNING is indispensable.”

Courtland James, Executive Coach, Cortex Leadership Consulting, will appear on tonight’s 10pm news with Bill Wadell and with Kathlynn Stone on Good Day Virginia tomorrow morning at 7:40am to discuss what he has learned about this topic from being an officer in the Marine Corp.

Make sure your commander’s intent statement:

  1. Is short and within the scope of the overall operational plan. Make sure your commander’s intent statement matches up with the overall initiative.
  2. Provides a framework for the project or task. Rather than telling them exactly what to do, the commander’s intent focuses on what needs to be accomplished for them to be successful.
  1. Can complete the following statement:

If we do nothing else tomorrow (this week), we must ____________________.  OR

The single most important thing we can achieve tomorrow (this week) is _______________.