Leadership Retreats

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In the face of this severe, take-no-prisoners economic downturn, far too many organizations are responding in knee-jerk reaction to the thought of holding all but the smallest of meetings. Training budgets are slashed. Employees hunker behind their desk, hoping that no one from HR can find them or else they're huddled around a PDA, text messaging about possible layoff scenarios, pending mergers, or hiring freezes. Performance? Productivity? I think not.

Now more than ever, managers at all levels of the organization need to do that which separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom: TALK!

Here's why:

(1) In the absence of information, we connect the dots in the most pathological way possible.

(2) E-mail works fine for data but when emotions are involved, only face-to-face really carries the day

(3) There's a huge benefit when people gather to share ideas, brainstorm new procedures, learn more about team members, have questions answered, or explore ways to streamline work loads.

(4) Smart companies will use this downtime to cross train, to coach for performance and career development, and involve employees in corporate decisions.

(5) Diverse perspectives are critical for innovation and these are best gleaned through conversation.

Bottom Line: The organization will have a solid, committed employee base, poised to move into front position when the turnaround comes.

But this will only happen if TALK becomes the preferred vehicle of communication.

Four Communication strategies to increase your Talk Quotient (TQ).

STRATEGY # 1: CONDUCT A TALKING STICK MEETING

A talking stick meeting allows everyone to hear a wide variety of ideas and inputs because each person who "holds the stick" is assured free speech, no reprisals, no humiliations, and no interruptions. Many native American tribes used the stick as a way of allowing all voices to be heard.

Talking Stick Meeting Checklist:

(1) Create a focus question to present to the group, assuring them that all are invited to speak, without interruption or humiliation.

(2) Form a real circle with everyone in the circle. This brings equality

(3) When everyone who wishes to has spoken, summarize the conversation and what you will do with the information.

STRATEGY #2: SEEK OUT THE "ORANGE BATONS"

If you happen to get a window seat on a plane that is coming into the terminal, look out and find the man or woman who is guiding a 737 aircraft (weighing over 90,710 pounds) into position. Those small orange batons wield plenty of authority in the moment. And well they should.

You see, there's a line painted on the tarmac to show exactly where the front wheel of the 737 MUST stop. Otherwise, passengers at the gate literally would have a pilot in their laps. The problem: the pilot sits too high to see that line. The pilot depends upon the "orange Batons" -those closest to the situation-to move the craft into position.

Everyone has orange batons in the workplace. The higher up an organization a manager sits, the more crucial is the conversation. As customers, we've all been privy to disgruntled customer service reps who can't help us because senior managers have created practices that tie their hands. Recently, I asked to speak to the support service personnel on a Delta Sky Miles Account. The agent informed me that even THEY can't TALK to support personnel. "We can only use FAX and Courier service," was the response. I was angry and so was the agent. "They" had made decisions without asking the Orange Batons what the ramifications might be.

STRATEGY #3 PAY ATTENTION TO LITTLE DAVIDS

When Patrick Harker, now the former Dean of Wharton School, was asked what made the critical difference in the school's most successful fund-raising campaign ($425 million in six years), he replied that he made it a priority to engage the next generation of alumni leadership.

Listening to the voice of David is a tradition from the Middle Ages and the Benedictines. The abbot of a monastery made decisions after getting the input from all the monks, beginning with the youngest monk. Had the elders in the Old Testament listened to the young kid with the slingshot, the giant Goliath would have been dispatched quickly. Little David was right, but it took time for the tribe to understand that young (or new) did not mean "unskilled."

Who are the newest and/or youngest on the team-your David's? It is often the newest members who ask the most discerning questions. They are not jaded by politics, the past, or protocol. Ask them for their opinions. Tell them that you expect them to teach you something at the end of three months. I guarantee that those employees will search high and wide to bring you innovation or, at the very least, an insight into some of your procedures, products, or services.

"Words of wisdom are spoken by children at least as often as scientists." -James Newman, American Astronaut

STRATEGY #4 LAUGHTER LIFTS THE LOAD

In tough times, humor is an essential survival skill. Talk can also be funny. Not the sarcastic biting humor of put-downs and inside jokes, but rather the humor that can lighten a difficult situation or put something in perspective.

A travel agency was known for helping its agents get through difficult customers by awarding the Order of the SALMON. At the end of the week, agents would know which agent had the most challenging week with customers yet still managed to keep a positive interaction going.

With much fanfare, the agent explained the challenge and was urged to exaggerate and use as much humor as possible. She was then awarded a plastic salmon for her ability to SWIM UP STREAM. Being able to talk about the week, laugh at the difficulties, and be rewarded for staying calm helped generate both fun and connection within the office.

Laughter can put people at ease if it is used to acknowledge what everyone is thinking. I was asked to speak at a convention in which the main session room temperature hovered around 50 degrees. People were wrapped in tablecloths. By the end of the second day, it still had not warmed up. When it was my turn to talk, I welcomed them by saying, "Welcome to the land of the frozen chosen."

Gales of laughter and applause burst out. It made a point. The attendees were CHOSEN to be there. It was a privilege.

Humor also lets us divide the serious from the mundane. Yes-the room was way too cold. But in the scheme of things, it was not as important as gathering to work out a new marketing strategy. Humor can also point out the trite and the silly things we all do in work, relieve tension, and probably improve a process. When one group acted out a very funny skit around the various voice mail doom loops a customer had to go through in order to get to a human being, everyone laughed...and the system changed in short order.

BREAK THE SILENCE

The last challenge will be pulling people away from their PDAs and text messaging to actually have a conversation. A number of organizations are experimenting with "topless" meetings-as in laptop-less meetings. San Francisco design firm, Adaptive Path, has also put a crackdown on "crackberries", as President Todd Wilkens calls them in his company-wide blog. He claims that people now look each other in the eye, develop closer connections and meetings are more productive.

Productivity? Performance? If the talk quotient is increase, you bet. Talk might very well become the golden key.

© Eileen McDargh, McDargh Communications. All rights reserved. You may reprint this article so long as it remains intact with the byline and if all links are made live.

Since 1980, professional speaker and Hall of Fame member Eileen McDargh has helped Fortune 100 companies as well as individuals create connections that count and conversations that matter. Her latest book is Gifts from the Mountain-Simple Truths for Life's Complexities. Her other books include Talk Ain't Cheap...It's Priceless and Work for a Living and Still Be Free to Live, one of the first books to address the notion of balance and authentic work. A 59 year-old grandmother, she recently returned from climbing among the highest mountains in the world. Find out more about this compelling and effective professional speaker and join her free newsletter by visiting http://www.EileenMcDargh.com.

Imagine a crusty group of seasoned professionals standing, applauding and cheering a 28 year-old leader who has turned a same-old-same-old product into something fresh and exciting! This does NOT happen-particularly when the professionals are members of the Israel Philharmonic. But under the baton of young Maestro Gustavo Dudamel, orchestra members did just that.

Now, Southern California music lovers are witnessing the same magic of a man who started as a tot playing in El Sistema, the publicly funded program for children in Venezuela. Talk about team work. Talk about taking an old product like Beethoven's Fifth and turning it into something that has the young and old talking. Dudamel is entering his second season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the fall of 2011, beginning his twelfth year as Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra and his fourth season with the Gothenburg Symphony.

In a recent interview, Dudamel's leadership genius jumped off the page as something that leaders in all industries can practice.

The secret: love the music and the musicians who play it!

Dudamel makes every player a star, asking them to play their best and then-just a little more and still more. He is a persistent and disciplined communicator. This means he delivers the same message, evoking over and over again the possibility of amazing outcomes and a belief in the individual strength of each player that only become better when joined with others.

He uses the power of words to express the results he seeks. It's not the language of the bottom line and shareholder return, but rather words that turn a symphony into human terms: blood, meat, happiness, magic. Every player can sense an emotional component to the end result. Imagine what would happen if leaders could translate a product or a service into something that resonates emotionally with team members. I can make a case for software technicians as surely as a team of surgical nurses.

According to close observers, Dudamel's eyes radiate joy and energy when working with the orchestra. He admits that having fun with the "product" and the players is what allows him to create a musical experience that brings the "buyers" of the product and the "makers" of the product to their feet.

Fun. Energy. Joy. These aren't words that one normally associates with work. Results without joy, fun (however one defines it) and energy create a disengaged workforce and a perfunctory leadership style.

In a competitive arena, where every orchestra can select the same product, imagine the difference a great leader makes. It's why lines formed to buy tickets for Dudamel's first concert in October in Los Angeles. What would happen when lines formed to buy a company's product or service because the leader's behavior showed the world that he loved the "music" and the "musicians" who made it?

Let the trumpets swell on that final note!

© McDargh Communications. Publication rights granted to all venues so long as article and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are made live.

Leadership expert and professional speaker, Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE, is an award-winning business author and a consultant to national and international organizations. Eileen shares tools and techniques to help others meet their professional and personal goals. Visit http://www.eileenmcdargh.com to read her frequently updated blog, register for her free quarterly newsletter, read her articles and purchase her books and other products.

Senior leadership team shifts from conflict to alignment

Situation: An international organization suffered financial setbacks, resulting in a major reorganization, a new leadership team, and an urgent need to regain lost ground in the marketplace quickly.

Challenge: The reorganization thrust together long-term employees and new employees, all seeking to understand roles, goals, and responsibilities. The organization's vision was unclear, communication spotty, and interpersonal conflicts had erupted.

Solution: Eileen conducted three months of intensive research into pertinent issues. She designed a 2 1/2-day off site retreat to help the leadership team focus on issues, gain alignment, and understand individuals and their respective roles. Eileen's methodology built in so much team insight and perspective at the front of the process that the short time frame for the actual retreat produced better-than-expected results. Departments aligned quickly, communication improved markedly, and issues were addressed systematically. Eileen continues to gently monitor the organization's process and provide coaching as necessary.

Think of all the money spent on designing office buildings, moving cubicles around, consolidating locations. Capital expenditures take a big budget chunk.

But what if you literally had the cart before the horse. What if you're moving people, materials, and merchandise but have forgotten to move what really matters: the human spirit-invisible to the human eye but deeply experienced in relationships, customer outcomes, and performance.

Before you laugh and think this sounds too "soft"- let me tell you about an incredible presenter/thinker/scholar/and guru in the health care industry and beyond: Joe Tye.

I read one of Joe's books, a> in preparation for my keynote address to some 1000 operating room managers. The story resonated with every part of my belief system and consulting practice. As Joe says, "Loyalty is to an organization what gravity is to the earth."

But how does one get loyalty? The answer is invisible: shared values. Values influence behavior and behavior influences outcomes. If employees don't value the same thing then negativity, distrust, and poor performance can be the result.

Joe is the original values coach. He and his team have transformed numerous organizations by creating a contagious spark of shared values: values like integrity, courage, respect, perseverance, just to name a few. And yes, values can be taught.

I had the wonderful opportunity of watching Joe begin to teach these concepts to operating room managers. They nodded their heads in agreement when he talked about lack of courage in confronting negative behavior in a surgical setting. They stood and told of their own story about employees who said "not my job." Obviously the value of teamwork was not present and ownership was tremendously absent.

This is what makes leadership so difficult. Management is left brain, linear, statistical, and logical. Leadership is right brain, creative, empathetic, spontaneous, and inclusive.

Easy to say. Much harder to do. We have far too many managers in our organizations and on the political front. I wonder where are the leaders?

You can read more about Joe's thoughts on value and how they mesh with mine on radical resilience in this