Category: Blog | Page 18 | Mariposa Leadership

June 7, 2013 / Ask Mariposa

Ask Mariposa: A Tough Transition: Stepping Up to Managing Peers

Talin asks: Since my promotion to a Sr. Director level, one of my former colleagues has refused to acknowledge that I am now her manager. This power struggle has been going on for two years. I am so frustrated that I have a hard time controlling my temper. At the same time, I’m acutely aware that my inability to work with this person has cast me in an unfavorable light with management. How do I solve this problem?

Sue Bethanis, CEO responds:

Hi Talin,

Tough and very common challenge! The root cause of difficulty in stepping up to manage peers can certainly vary, but is often related to a team member feeling slighted that the peer was promoted instead of him or her, feeling that he or she can’t really “learn anything significant” from this peer, or feeling that the peer is not effective or qualified for the new bigger role. It sounds like you’ve been trying to improve this situation for some time. Here are some questions to think about:

Empathy: Have you truly put yourself in her shoes and given thought to what this experience was like? Tried to understand why she is resistant? Listened for her real objections?
Acknowledgment: Were you curious about and have you acknowledged her contributions, her expertise? Did you openly discuss the potential difficulty of this transition?
Leadership Style: How do you try to lead her? Are you directive, a pace-setter, hands-on, a coach, or?? A coaching approach would probably work best as long as she is very competent. (See our ITM Coaching Model for more)
Impact: How significantly is this issue affecting you, the employee, the team, the company?

Here are some suggestions for actions to take:

Acknowledge the difficult relationship and its impact on all parties
Acknowledge your contribution to it
Ask if she is willing to work together to design a better working relationship because it is required for success – for both of you
and really LISTEN
Make clear working agreements

Good luck!

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June 7th, 2013|Categories: Ask Mariposa|

On “5 Ways Big Companies Can Pivot Like Lean Startups”

We share this article by Brian Millar because we really like the concepts of pivoting and repurposing – they make innovation more accessible to anyone – not just start-ups and creative geniuses.

Considering the failure rate of new products (about 70%), innovation makes or breaks companies, big and small. Drawing on Twitter, Groupon and Paypal’s road to success, the Fast Company article 5 Ways Big Companies Can Pivot Like Lean Startups offers pivoting as a concept for stimulating innovation in big companies.

Pivoting means repurposing ideas, prototypes, products or technology to meet an unmet need. And, to be successful at it, five concepts are introduced:

Force innovations to evolve rather than die
Gain insight into what consumers want
Play with technology – don’t test it – to uncover its purpose
Tell the right stories
Your company is also a prototype

Read it.

Think about it – what’s tripping up your organization? Stage gates? Too much of the wrong research? Not enough playing, prototyping, looking wide?

Comment below! Or pose a questions via Ask Mariposa.

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June 5th, 2013|Categories: Articles We Like, Recommended Reading|Tags: FastCompany, innovation, pivoting, prototype|

June 3, 2013 / Articles We Like / Recommended Reading

On “Clearing Hurdles to Employee Engagement”

We share this article by Razor Suleman because a disengaged workforce is detrimental to business success. Recognition is a timeless, cost-effective leadership tactic, which leads to employee success therefore engagement, and yet organizations face hurdles when implementing a recognition program. The article featured on TalentCulture, Clearing Hurdles to Employee Engagement, identifies six common hurdles:

Employee participation
Making time
Securing executive buy-in
Engaging managers
Budget
Measuring Success

Tips for clearing these hurdles can be found in the article’s Infographic towards the bottom of the article.

Consider this: How does your organization recognize employees? What challenges do you face in clearing the hurdles in your organization?

Comment below! Or send us your questions via Ask Mariposa.

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June 3rd, 2013|Categories: Articles We Like, Recommended Reading|Tags: effective leadership, employee engagement, employee recognition, Razor Suleman, TalentCulture|

June 1, 2013 / Book Reviews

Book Review: The End of Competitive Advantage

The End of Competitive Advantage: How to Keep Your Strategy Moving as Fast as Your Business
By Rita Gunther McGrath

Head: (5 out of 5)
Heart: (3 out of 5)
Leadership Applicability: (5 out of 5)

The gap between traditional approaches to strategy and the real world has grown. The markets in which companies compete today are dynamic, which have made traditional models for strategy outdated. Those models reflect a different era in business with a single strategy goal: to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. However, the author contends high-growth business opportunities are transient now, making competitive advantage transient as well. New tools and strategies for seizing these waves of opportunities quickly and decisively are needed.

Rita McGrath, a professor at Columbia Business School in New York and a globally recognized expert on strategy in uncertain and volatile environments, has written the new playbook for strategy, based on the notion of establishing a transient competitive advantage. Her approach is fresh, offering tools and practical advice based on extensive research to help companies compete and win in an uncertain business environment. Rich with company examples culled through extensive research, readers will understand the organizational shifts necessary to successfully seize transient business opportunities and thrive:

Continuous Reconfiguration: How companies can build the capability to move from arena to arena, rather than defending existing competitive advantages
Healthy Disengagement: How to move out of an exhausted opportunity to free up and repurpose resources.
Using Resource Allocation to Promote Deftness: How to manage assets and organize for a transient advantage.
Building an Innovation Proficiency: How to establish the right processes for continuous, well-managed innovation.
Leadership and Mindset: In a transient advantage world, prediction and being ‘right’ will be less important than reacting quickly and taking corrective action.
Personal Meaning of Transient Advantage. How to think about your personal career strategy in light of transient advantages.

Leaders who want a new perspective on strategy to quickly exploit and move in and out of advantages for a competitive edge will want to add this book to their reading list. Buy the book

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June 1st, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|

May 31, 2013 / Ask Mariposa

Ask Mariposa: Distracted Or Do I Need Listening Training?

James asks: I’ve received feedback several times in the past that listening is one of my strengths. However, a colleague recently suggested I attend listening training. I have a lot going on at the moment, but is listening training the answer?

Tawny Lees, COO responds:

If you are like most of our clients, you face a great deal of pressure and demand on your time. Perhaps you have taken on a new role or have been tasked with an important initiative. Without realizing it, you might be encountering moments of distraction that prevent you from being fully present and listening as well as you would normally. Before you pursue listening training, try these tips before your next meeting:

Become present. Before your meetings, take 5-6 deep belly breaths. Take a moment to get clear on the focus areas for the discussion.
In the conversation, keep your focus on others as you listen. Try to match their pace, tone and energy.
Repeat back key words said to demonstrate you are listening.

These resources might also be helpful:

Huffington Post Article: Eden Kowalski, 3 Simple Ways to be More Mindful at Work
Harvard Business Review Blog Post: Ram Charan, The Discipline of Listening
Harvard Business Review Blog Post: Marshall Goldsmith, Look Like You’re Listening

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May 31st, 2013|Categories: Ask Mariposa|Tags: ask mariposa, communication, distraction, executive coaching, feedback, Harvard Business Review, listening skills, listening training, Mariposa Leadership, Tawny Lees|

May 21, 2013 / Ask Mariposa

Ask Mariposa: How to Coach Someone Who Doesn’t Want to be Coached

Saul asks: How do you coach an employee that doesn’t want to be coached, but is part of his PDP obligation to be coached for 4 months? What power suggestions or questions would you use in this situation to motivate behavior or start thinking about the pressure to change?

Tawny Lees, COO of Mariposa responds:

Hi Saul,

Tough situation! As a coach, you know that openness to the coaching process is a pre-requisite to it being effective. So hopefully you can enroll this employee before committing to the engagement!

I suggest you start with open questions and deep listening to truly understand the resistance. “Tell me about you…tell me about what’s going around here…tell me about this PDP plan…”

Often the resistance is fear of the unknown, and an assumption that the coach is working for “others” who have an agenda. Establish rapport and explain the coaching process/relationship (including confidentiality) using positive language like “you and I would focus on what’s most important and helpful for you” or “clients use me as an objective sounding board as they work on their goals and tackle tough problems.” Address any specific objections, questions or worries. Your objective would be to help the employee see that you are there to help him/her be successful. Period.

If/when you see an opening, you could try specific questions about goals and begin motivating. Here are some ideas:

“What are your toughest challenges right now?” “What would it be like if you were able to handle those with more ease?”
“I find most people like to continually grow and stretch themselves. Tell me about anything at which you are currently trying to get better?” “What benefits would come from getting better at ____ ?”
“What could we work on that would have a big impact on your career/work life?”

Good luck! Let us know if we can help further. More on rapport and assessment questions can be found in our ITM coaching model.

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May 21st, 2013|Categories: Ask Mariposa|Tags: ask mariposa, coaching, communication, effective leadership, executive coaching, ITM Coaching, Mariposa Leadership, questions, rapport, Tawny Lees|

Get the Most Out of Brainstorming as Part of the Design Thinking Process

Faced with a challenging business problem to solve? You need an idea. Not just one idea, but many useful ideas. In our experience, leaders who think like designers by using a design thinking process for solving business problems generate more potential useful ideas than those who do not.

In our work, we take our clients through a design thinking process using our Breakthrough! model. This 4-step process helps leaders generate and execute innovative ideas because it blends practicality with imagination. Through the brainstorming step, it is possible to generate a vast number of ideas – if the session is set up properly. To get the most out of your brainstorming session, consider these critical success factors:

Be clear about the specific problem upfront. Clarity on the problem guides the brainstorming process.
Encourage imagination. Unconstrained thinking is the backbone of innovation!
Break the large group into smaller groups. A large group format limits idea generation as well as lends itself to groupthink and creates a potential scenario in which one person might dominate while others remain silent.
Each small group member produces an idea…and another…with limited time. First individuals generate ideas alone on sticky notes. Then, in a small group format, the ideas are shared/posted aloud quickly without commentary. Members are then challenged to add a large number of ideas in a limited period of time. With several small groups, the net is cast wide for maximum idea generation potential.

For additional tips on frenetic brainstorming as part of a design thinking process, culling the list of ideas, and other steps in the Breakthrough! model, download our Free Executive Guide to Design Thinking.

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May 16th, 2013|Categories: Design Thinking / Creativity / Innovation|Tags: brainstorming, breakthrough!, business, creativity in business, design thinking, design thinking model, design thinking process, executive coaching, innovation, leaders, leadership, Mariposa Leadership, problem-solving|

May 10, 2013 / Blog / Coaching Skills / Influencing Skills

The Power of Matching

In his book To Sell Is Human, Dan Pink writes about the importance of attunement as part of selling, whether the selling is formal (actual sales) or less formal (influence and persuasion). One approach to attunement is matching. By subtly matching body language, tone of voice and choice of words, you can create greater attunement and more trust with people you talk to. Dan points out—and there is research behind this—that people’s mannerisms automatically attune when they feel connected to each other.

If you watch friends talking over coffee, you’ll see similar movements happening at the same time. Similarly, studies have shown that if one person at a table reaches for a glass of water, it’s more likely that someone else will also reach for a glass of water—if not at the same moment, then soon after. We match each other because we are social animals, and it’s one of the ways that we stay in sync, that we feel safe and connected.

I often talk to clients about matching to build trust and communicate more effectively with diverse stakeholders. You can match in three main ways:

1. Body language.

2. Vocal inflection.

3. Word choice.

Read More on Eric’s Blog

Matching is also a powerful part of Mariposa’s In-The-Moment Coaching model. For more on this model, visit our ITM Workshop and read our article on ITM Coaching in Action.

About the author:

Eric Nitzberg, is the Principal of Sierra Leadership and an Executive Leadership Coach for Mariposa Leadership, Inc.

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May 10th, 2013|Categories: Blog, Coaching Skills, Influencing Skills|Tags: attunement, communication, connection, Dan Pink, Eric Nitzberg, ITM Coaching, Mariposa Leadership, Matching, persuasion, rapport, selling, trust|

Ask Mariposa: A Design Thinking Approach Can Help Solve Problems

Michael asks: We could use more creative thinking to solve a problem we’ve been working on. Could a design thinking approach help?

Sue Bethanis, CEO responds:

Thinking differently and coming up with new ideas for tough problems is at the core of design thinking. Design thinking taps into imagination and practicality, which taken together form the backbone of creative problem-solving and innovation.

Our design thinking workshop is a working session for teams tasked with solving any product, service, or experience challenge. The team is led through a clear design thinking process, which starts with empathy (something most groups skip) and includes brainstorming to generate and cull as many ideas as possible. The ideas most likely to produce breakthrough solutions are prototyped using creative, 3-D methods utilizing right brain thinking. Getting messy and creative cultivates new thinking! The models can be used to test the ideas with others and refine with a more sophisticated prototype from there.

Once you grasp the principles of design thinking, you’ll see that they can be applied to any business problem. To learn more, check out these resources:

Leader as Designer article by Mariposa Leadership
Breakthrough! workshop offered by Mariposa Leadership
How to Design Breakthrough Inventions, David Kelly interview. CBS 60 Minutes, January 6, 2013. http:// www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50138327n
Martin, Roger. (2009). The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage. Boston, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

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May 8th, 2013|Categories: Ask Mariposa, Design Thinking / Creativity / Innovation|Tags: creative thinking, David Kelly, design thinking, design thinking process, design thinking workshop, empathy, Mariposa Leadership, problem-solving, Roger Martin|

May 2, 2013 / Book Reviews / Strategy

Article Review: Strategic Thinking – Exercises and Tools for Creative Thinking and Strategy

Strategic Thinking – Exercises and Tools for Creative Thinking and Strategy
By Mike Brown, The Brainzooming Group

Strategic thinking is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process, involving critical thinking skills, creativity and an overall perspective all organizations must cultivate and apply daily to successfully innovate and compete in business. Defining and implementing a successful organizational strategy relies on a solid strategic thinking approach, and the online resource, Strategic Thinking – Exercises and Tools for Creative Thinking and Strategy, outlines the characteristics of strategic thinking and contains tips, tools and tactics to help readers think strategically and creatively on an ongoing basis.

The content of Strategic Thinking – Exercises and Tools for Creative Thinking and Strategy includes:

The 4 Characteristics of Solid Strategic Thinking

Strategic Thinkers Seek Perspectives from Multiple Sources
Strategic Thinking Goes Beyond Today’s Reality
Strategic Thinkers Question Both the Familiar and the New
Strategic Thinkers Display Both Patience and Impatience

Applying Strategic Thinking Daily

Using Rich Strategic Questions
Anticipating Future Issues
Finding Ideas with Intriguing Connections
Generating Many Ideas Quickly
Innovating Amid Constraints
New Thinking with Old Ideas
Addressing Unknowns
Focusing on Efficiency and Results
Envisioning Possibilities
Telling a Strategic Story
Working Across and Up an Organization
Managing Challenging People

The Brainzooming Group is a catalyst for business people needing to successfully identify and implement strategic, innovative ideas. Mike Brown is the author of the extensive Brainzooming daily blog, including the Strategic Thinking article and the free eBook, Taking the NO Out of Innovation.

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May 2nd, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews, Strategy|Tags: Brainzooming, creative thinking, creativity, creativity in business, innovation, leadership, Mariposa Leadership, Mike Brown, strategic thinking|