Leverage Your “I” For Better Team Collaboration

I in Team Accelus Blog

There is no “I” in team. But every individual in every team needs to have awareness of their “I” in order to be a strong and contributing team member. “I” in this case is knowing your strengths, weaknesses, preferences and your common stress responses as you work in a team. It sounds like: Teammate 1: I am good at seeing the big picture and can lose sight of the details. I prefer working more of …

Perception & The Power of Feedback

perception & feedback

Early in my career, I had no clue that at least one of my colleagues perceived me very differently than the warm, caring and friendly colleague I considered myself to be.  Out of the blue, and not part of a performance review, a colleague shared that I gave the impression of being an “ice maiden.”   Shocked by his feedback, and still trying to reconcile the vast difference between his perception and the one in my …

Managing Stressful Situations

Man stressing at work desk

The drop or churning in your stomach, the sweaty palms, the flushing of the face. Full-on signs that something or someone has just sent you on a path of worry, frustration, fear, or panic. While not always appreciated, our bodies send us instantaneous signals of our state of being. The trouble with these reactions is that they served us well when we needed to outrun the saber tooth tiger, but most of us are not …

Why is Communication so Challenging? 

The Latin base of communication is communicare, which means to share. To share something, you must hold or know it, and recognize that sharing will benefit you and the other party.  It then needs to be presented in a way that others will want to partake or engage. If the other party is not interested or does not know why they should be, the message will fall on deaf ears. This gives us three distinct …

Leaders, Can You Identify Your Blind Spots?

  Driver’s education provides hand-on experience maneuvering a vehicle on roads and through traffic. Warnings about blind spots are given in training, yet the reality of their existence is hard to fathom. “How could you not see another large vehicle to your side?” Yep, we all know that feeling of “oh my gosh…a near miss!” That is the blind spot. Newer model cars include a blind spot detection system that activates to warn the driver …

Self-Assurance, Last on the List of Strengths…Really?!

  Imagine awakening each morning with a deep knowing – confidence in your ability to manage your own life – that you possess an inner compass that affirms the decisions you make throughout the day are the right ones. That would be a reassuring feeling, wouldn’t it? Why Does Self-Assurance Rank Last on the List? Self-Assurance® is the talent theme described above and identified by the Clifton Strengths Assessment®. The assessment identifies 34 distinct talent …

Talent & Trust = The Building Blocks of a High Performing Team

teams, high performing team, high-performing team

What do you see in the photo above? A team that appears to be interested and engaged in what is being discussed. But a picture can be misleading…very misleading. What if the leader is simply telling the other members of the team what will occur? That changes the entire dynamic of what we think we see. And that is just what many have experienced when working as part of a team. Perhaps you can relate. …

What Leader Wouldn’t Want to be Known as an Achiever?

leader, achiever, leadership, Clifton Strengths

Can you think of a leader who wouldn’t want to be known as an achiever? Most of us – leaders or not – would appreciate that moniker following behind our name. And for the 6 million plus people of the 20 million who have taken the Clifton Strengths® assessment, they can rightly claim the talent of Achiever®. But wait…isn’t “leader” synonymous with “achiever”? Specifically, Achiever® is defined by Gallup as: People especially talented in the …

How Relating to Others Makes a Good Leader Great

leader, leadership

Genuine. Authentic. Natural. You’re used to seeing these words on the labels of leather shoes or handbags. Yet, these adjectives are also used to describe great leaders. When you are with them, work with them or are simply influenced by them, their style of leadership is often described by how it feels: Genuine. Authentic. Natural. Some Leaders are Naturally Authentic. While any leader has the potential to engender these feelings in others, those with the …

How do you keep the right talent at the table?

team, table, talent

With the U.S. economy supporting over 167 million workers, unemployment levels are low and stable, averaging between 3.5 and 3.7 percent over the past year. While that’s great for our economy, it strains resources and creates challenges to find, recruit and retain talent. Strong salary, benefit and signing offers tempt employees to jump ship. Turnover and recruitment are expensive. So, just how do you keep the right talent at the table? Do you know talent when …

Are you a Strategic leader?

strategic leadership, strategic leaders

Strategic™ as a talent theme occurs frequently in the population, showing in the top 5 for 4 million of the 18 plus million people who have taken the Clifton Strengths® Assessment. That is a really great thing. Why? As we learn from the full definition, the ability to sort through the clutter and find the best route is not a skill that can be taught. Strategic leaders shine at establishing a path forward. Just ask …

Power Dynamics: How to Get YOUR Seat at the Table

gain a seat, seat at the table, power dynamics

Like the childhood game of musical chairs, getting a seat at the table can seem like a rare mix of chance and luck. Colleagues and friends pull out a chair for one another socially. In the real world of business, however, this rarely applies. Getting a seat at the table can be complicated Instead, you often find there is not an available seat – or it is obvious (not to mention awkward!) that you are …

Magic Happens When You Capitalize on Everyone’s Talents

team, table, talent

Need a solution to a problem? Find someone on your team with the talent theme of Restorative™. The short definition of this theme is: People especially talented in the Restorative theme are adept at dealing with problems. They are good at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it.* Not only are they adept at solving problems – they can get energy from it! The talent theme of Restorative ranks #9 of the 34 themes, …

3 Key Coaching Skills for Leaders (and How to Implement Them)

“Coaching conversations” are all the rage for leaders, especially when providing feedback on performance. Case in point: in 2013 Deloitte replaced “performance review” with coaching conversations that focus on an employee’s learning and performance. Major organizations are implementing “coaching conversations” Many other major organizations have followed suit, including Microsoft, Google, Accenture and Adobe. These are large organizations with “large” resources making it easy for them to implement, right? Not so fast. This is something you …

What’s your leadership style?

Leadership, Leadership Style, Leader

  Do you know your leadership style? Do you understand why others follow you? Are you looking to become a leader?   We are all leaders in some form or another You’ve heard the platitude that we are all leaders in some form or another. If we accept the generality of that statement, then we accept that leadership is a talent that we all possess. Yet is it really that generic? If we all have …

Significance: A Rare and Powerful Leadership Talent.

Significance | CliftonStrengths

Significance. The word conjures up an impression of importance. “It was a significant milestone in his life” or “She played a significant role in the product launch.” Not a bad thing indeed. Significance and the CliftonStrengths® Assessment Until Significance™ shows up in the top 5 or 10 talent themes of someone who has taken the CliftonStrengths® assessment. People especially talented in the Significance theme want to make a big impact. They are independent and sort …

The Best Leaders Focus on What is Right

Leaders | Leadership strategy

Leaders, I have a question for you. I want to know what the outcome was of your most recent: Performance review Team retreat Strategy meeting Did it close with energy, enthusiasm and expectation? Be honest here… Or was it “Rah-rah! See you at the office tomorrow.” “Thank goodness this is over.” We’re leaders. We aim to inspire and unite. But… For so many workplace activities, the latter response is prevalent. As leaders we want to …

Transitioning into a new leadership role? Get in and get known!

leader | leadership | team | relationships

A client recently took on a new position in an organization. She has been identified as a potential leader and is given the task of rebuilding a department decimated by turnover. Those remaining are there not by choice; they are there for the paycheck. Stepping in to a “new” leadership position To top it off, the “new” of the position means it is new to my client. She is coming in from the outside with …