Showing posts with label teams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teams. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Shaping a Culture

Shaping a corporate culture is something that has to be done consciously. It requires purpose, aligning with values and ethics and the active engagement and participation of everyone involved. One of the things that struck me when in conversations with some of the leaders of Lockheed Martin was how important behavioral standards were, for their staff, leaders, suppliers and consultants. For a predominantly military and engineer-based organization, this focus was (for me) unexpected and one I applaud.

Hearing J.D. McFarlan's story and the insights of the FLiTE Team (Future Leaders in Training Experience) further cemented my opinion of how this company is run. I'm proud to have their stories shared in my book (Chapter 7: The Sky's The Limit).

In it J.D speaks about their roadmap to guide all leaders to develop the skills to be the type of
leader they want everyone to be. "We normally measure leadership in terms of what the numbers were and how they performed at delivering results. This balances that with how we want leaders to exhibit strong leadership behaviors. We have a set of Full-Spectrum Leadership imperatives:

• Number one is shape the future;
• Number two is build effective relationships;
• Number three is energize the team;
• Number four is deliver results; and
• Number five is model personal excellence, integrity and accountability.

It's about building effective relationships, being socially aware of how you interact with people, and understanding how people see you."

Monday, November 29, 2010

Diversity is Key to Creative Teams

One of my best lessons learned was when I was speaking to a client of mine who was looking at moving to a different position in the federal government. He wanted to expand his horizons and learn new skills. As the government looks to be an increasingly diverse public service, one can identify themselves as a visible minority. I asked my client "Would you identify yourself as a visible minority?" to which he replied "Donna, I'm brown. Haven't you noticed?" and continued..."You are colour blind. That's great from one perspective but at the same time, remember we shouldn't ignore differences and make everyone 'the same', we should celebrate the difference and bring them all to the table."

I have never forgotten that conversation. I look at each person as someone unique who brings a specific flavour, unique skill set and perspective to the table. I also know, that diversity brings a richness to the conversation that can't exist in an organization or team that is a sea of sameness.

In his article Why Diversity is the Mother of Creativity, Jeffrey Baumgartner talks about "The best thing you can do is to diversify your thinking" and "It is essential that your people are diverse in background, education, knowledge and experience".

Sameness just doesn't cut it.This really does bring home how we're 'better with, not better than".