The kids will be headed back to school soon – and it may be the perfect time for you to learn some new subject matter as well. Two of The Wunderlin Company’s most popular workshops are being offered this fall. See if one of them is just what you need to sharpen your facilitation skills.

ADVANCED MODELS OF FACILITATION
September 9-11, 2008

A master-level workshop for those interested in taking their facilitation skills to the next level.

For experienced facilitators, Advanced Models of Facilitation exposes you to the latest in facilitation practice. It also gives you hands-on experience with new and more advanced facilitation skills. You’ll come away rejuvenated with ideas, skills, and tools that you can immediately put to use with groups.
Click here to learn more and to register!

FACILITATING FOR RESULTS
December 8-10, 2008
An introductory workshop that provides critical skills needed to plan and facilitate great meetings.

Facilitating for Results is a three-day experiential training class with a participant to faculty ratio of 9 to 1. Persons completing this class will be ready to:
• Shadow facilitate an in-depth problem-solving meeting
• Assist in the organization and planning of problem-solving meetings
• Facilitate most day-to-day meetings
• Become an internal leader of the cultural change initiative
• Take a facilitative approach to his/her own work
Click here to learn more and to register.

Both workshops will be held in Louisville, exact locations to be determined. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me, kw@wunderlin.com, or 502.895.3689.

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Michael Bloomberg

• What’s the best advice you ever got?

Mayor of New York City, founder of Bloomberg LP

“I can’t remember who told me this, but I certainly didn’t grow up knowing it, so I must have gotten this advice at Salomon Brothers in the 1970s. The advice was, first, always ask for the order, and second, when the customer says yes, stop talking…” Fortune Magazine, May 12, 2008

On a long flight recently, I was catching up on some reading. An article in Fortune’s May 12 issue got my attention: The Best Advice I Ever Got, featuring responses from 19 very successful people including Larry Page, the founder of Google, Tina Fey, Gen. David Petraeus, and Robert Iger, CEO of Disney. (Click on the article name to read all 19 pieces of advice.)

And it got me thinking about the best advice I had ever gotten…

From Rollie Tillman at University of North Carolina’s Business School
“Separate the decision of what to do from how to pay for it.”

So frequently in strategic planning sessions with clients or when making personal decisions, the tendency is to go immediately to the shortage of current resources. This sage advice from my professor has frequently helped facilitate first the conversation about “What is the right action to take here?; What do we really want?; What is our vision for our best future?” Then, armed with a compelling view of what we want, we can begin to think about how to achieve it, and how to pay for it.

From another business school professor
Professor Rader at the Darden School taught Rader’s Rules and they had a profound impact on my husband, David. He has often shared them with me and the one I have found most useful is: “Get the facts or the facts will get you.” Harold Geneen, CEO of ITT called this “shaking the facts”. He told the story of buying a tract of land in Canada because of the plentiful and high quality lumber. After purchasing the land, someone finally went to see the land… and learned that the trees were all very small and thin because of the short growing season, and were many many years from being harvested. A graphic example of the need to verify the facts!

So often a conversation or problem-solving session roams from opinion to opinion. Those who know me know I am not always right, and I am rarely in doubt! Life has taught me to look for the facts in a situation and to base my decisions on them. If ignored, the facts have this incredible way of showing up when my actions contradict them.

From my Aunt Alean
“Don’t expect anyone to take care of your financial needs except you.”

My aunt had a difficult life as a single parent in the 1960’s. She and my three cousins even had to come live in our three bedroom house for a time - and it already had seven people in it! Her determination to provide for her girls when life threw her some serious curve balls helped me see the value of being able to take care of oneself.

It was the same important lesson that Maria Shriver shares in her book: Ten Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Went Out in the World.This short book is based on a commencement speech she gave at the College of the Holy Cross. It is full of wisdom and insight for young folks begining their careers. Now, how do we transmit that value to our children? It is a question that has real meaning as our children, Julie and Ed, become young adults.

So, what is the best advice you ever got? Please share it here by hitting the comment button… we’ll compile all the responses and share them later this summer!

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In an effort to affect change, we frequently begin by focusing on what’s broken. We systematically list the issues then go about identifying solutions to those issues. By starting with what is not working, though, we can make the job of change more difficult. Focusing exclusively on what is wrong or broken can drain the energy, enthusiasm, and optimism from a group in its earliest stages. There’s a new way of approaching the change process that has caught the interest of organizations around the world. It involves bringing employees together to talk not about problems, but rather about their greatest successes. What is it like they are asked, when their organization is at its best? Employees are asked to share stories and review them together to glean common themes. Together they then conceive a vision of what it might achieve when the organization works at its best and, working backwards from that, they devise the changes that are required to achieve that vision. (more…)

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In my 25 years of working with organizations to implement and manage change I’ve seen, participated in, and recommended an emphasis on excellent analytical thinking: fix the systems; re-engineer processes; enhance quality; streamline procedures; flatten the organizational structure…. Unfortunately, the mechanistic analysis alone applied to problems rarely succeeds in persuading organizations to change. It simply does not take into account the complexity, the clutter, the chaos, the confusion of a living, breathing, modern organization. While it might excite the mind, it rarely touches the heart.

What I have come to know is that storytelling, done appropriately, is the key to catalyzing change. It doesn’t replace analytical thinking; it supplements it by enabling one to imagine new perspectives and new worlds. The right story can communicate complicated change ideas while generating momentum toward rapid implementation. The right story can help an organization reinvent itself by getting into the minds of individuals and affecting how they think, wonder, agonize, and dream about themselves and their organization. It can help them see things in a different light and change behavior. Simply put, a powerful story can transform individuals and organizations. It can drive commitment and action.

This issue is devoted to the art and craft of storytelling in the business environment. Settle in and journey along with us as we explore this powerful tool for managing change. (more…)

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Neither a high IQ, nor a prestigious business degree, nor technical know-how is a reliable indicator of professional success. Rather, the single most important factor in job performance and advancement is emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence refers to the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions in ourselves and in our relationships. Simply put, emotional intelligence is the intelligent use of emotions. It encompasses maturity, emotional health, and “grownupness.” You intentionally make your emotions work for you by using them to help guide your behavior and thinking in ways that enhance your results.

For leaders, emotional intelligence accounts for almost 90 percent of what sets “stars” apart from the mediocre. And organizations that build emotional intelligence in groups are the ones that are vital and dynamic today - and will remain so in the future.

Unlike IQ, EI can be developed and dramatically increased at any age. But boosting your EI takes extensive practice, feedback, and personal enthusiasm for making the change. Are you up to the challenge?

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(more…)

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The mission of The Wunderlin Company is assisting organizations to identify and implement change. With this issue of Changing Times we are honored to have Carol Schifman, a member of the TWC team, share her findings about how leaders can drive change. Carol’s change management clients have included GE, United Technologies, Northeast Utilities, the FDIC, and most recently Amersham, now part of GE Healthcare, the new GE business that encompasses GE Medical, Amersham, and other acquisitions. With over 20 years providing change leadership and organizational development consulting, she has experiences and perspectives that I believe you will find compelling. To find out more about Carol’s work, visit: http://www.wunderlin.com/ twc_team.htm#schifman.

Listen to the Voices

“I say we fight like hell to do it our way.”

“I’m finally getting it. We have been sitting here thinking it really was business as usual, and a huge wave is about to hit us.”

“It’s total chaos. No one knows what to do; people aren’t coming to work. It varies by group AND by leadership styles within the groups.”

“I really want out of this. It is becoming a whirlpool sucking out all of my energy.”

These are real “employee voices” during a recent and quite dramatic change in an organization. (more…)

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It’s a proven fact: your people will do what you talk about. So figure out what is important for your organization to accomplish this year and then make a point to talk about it every opportunity you get.

For example, if your strategic focus is growth, your employees need you to talk about it, reinforcing its importance. Or maybe it’s safety, productivity, or globalization. So often leaders identify a focus, communicate it one time and presume the job is done. If you really want people to act, you need to reinforce that focus consistently. Make sure they understand the issue, why it is essential to the organization, and how you expect them to play a role in making it happen. Provide updates at all-employee meetings, talk about it in all your staff meetings, track it in performance reviews, feature it in your newsletter, and keep it front and center as you go about your day, week, month and year. Results will surely follow.

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Last December, our family was planning a caroling party. Feeling very contemporary, I sent the invitations via an invitation website, sendomatic.com. After 10 days or so, I noticed that none of Julie (age 19) or Edward’s (age 17) friends had responded to the evite. When questioned, Ed said, “No one reads their email. I put an event on Facebook.” Facebook a whole world my children inhabit that I don’t! Try as we might, it’s hard to keep up! This experience and several like it with our young adult children and with recent college graduates entering the workforce brought to mind how significant the generational differences are for leaders.

So, this post I offer some thoughts about creating a workplace that appreciates and leverages all generations’ values, work habits and approaches. Let me know how these differences are showing up for you at work! (more…)

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