Today’s blog is from Australian contributor, Dr. Tom Verghese. Tom is Principal and Founder of Cultural Synergies. His work helps organizations perform at optimal levels, improving cross-border staff engagement, communication, diversity, equity and inclusion.
We have recently been engaged to work with a client that is experiencing rapid growth and has partnered with a global leader in their field. The leadership contacted us, as they felt it was a good time to revisit their organizational values and ensure that they are aligned and in place as they expand. Having recently worked with another external organization, the leadership noticed that some of the behaviors of the external staff had influenced their staff, shifting behavior towards being less inclusive. As an organization that values diversity and inclusion, the leadership swiftly decided and saw value in taking steps to alleviate this shift and ensure that it didn’t continue on a trajectory that could lead to challenges is this space.
The next steps involve engaging the team in a workshop to review their values, redefine them if necessary and as future growth happens, ensure that the organization and staff commit to upholding these values.
It is wonderful to see organizations taking a proactive stance when it comes to diversity and inclusion. It demonstrates excellent leadership, foresight and vision. In some ways it is very much like a health check, making sure all is well and making the changes you need before an issue arises or becomes serious. Too often some of the “symptoms” of exclusion are not listened to or ignored by leadership and it can snowball into greater issues for the organization affecting recruitment, staff performance, staff retention and client interactions. The response then becomes reactive and usually requires significant effort and work to recalibrate and realign the organization.
How are your organizational values aligning with your culture? Are you taking a proactive or reactive approach and what are the impacts of that for the organization?
“We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.” – Kofi Anan
Guest Author: Mike Ulwelling, excerpted from his blog
Mike Ulwelling is an accomplished Senior Executive, Advisor, and Board Member with more than 16 years of success across the consumer goods, consumer services, and information technology industries. His broad areas of expertise include leadership, sales generation, business development, go-to-market strategy development, business process improvement & methodologies, and product development.
Several years ago, I was asked a simple question, “What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?”
My answer was relatively straightforward: Ask for help.
Since that time, I have come to understand how often people and organizations ignore those simple words. People almost never ask. In our pursuit for excellence, we wrongly assume that we need to develop solutions ourselves. Somehow, we convince ourselves that no one else has ever faced the challenges we are tackling. Worse, we assume we can do it better, even without the relevant experience.
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The following blog is from Tom Verghese of The Cultural Synergist. Tom has generously agreed to let us share his insights with our readers.
Story telling is a vital skill for leaders. Being able to convey compelling stories helps build culture, spark change and modify behaviors. It can also inspire, provide examples or communicate a subtle and indirect point. As a leader, sharing stories of your own experiences can demonstrate authenticity and vulnerability which is important in building trust and rapport. It can also communicate who you are, transmit values and develop high performing teams.
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It may seem like a cliché to say that employees are the most valuable asset in any organization, but if your organization has felt the pain of losing a MVP who failed to transfer their knowledge before leaving, then the cliché rings true. The need to develop a knowledge transfer strategy is not new, yet only a small percentage of CEOs report their organization has implemented an effective knowledge transfer program. And while the “war for talent” certainly is a cliché, the reality is that recruiters and headhunters are targeting your top talent heavily right now and they’re one phone call away from developing their exit strategy. So, if you haven’t invested heavily in your engagement and retention strategy, the holes in your knowledge transfer process will become expensive mistakes.Read More
There is no steeper learning curve in leadership than your very first frontline leadership position. Perhaps the only comparable experience in terms of needing to hit the ground running and quickly close skills gaps is in parenting. Many first-time management experiences parallel first time parenting. Here are 10 of my favorite similarities:Read More
It may seem odd to find lessons in leadership from a TV show, but I contend that the leadership (and life) lessons drawn from Ted Lasso are far more inspirational than any book I’ve read in the past few years. If you haven’t watched Ted Lasso, it’s time to subscribe to Apple TV and catch up. The heartwarming comedy follows Ted Lasso, a small-town college football coach who is hired to coach an English soccer team. With no experience or expertise in soccer, he joins the team with nothing but optimism and a belief that he will bring something positive to the team. But Ted Lasso brings so much more than sheer optimism and a good attitude to the table.
Spoiler alert: Here are a few Ted Lasso quotes that exemplify great leadership.
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