It seems the speed of our working environments continue to increase. No one would argue that the chief executive of today is faced with the task of prioritizing many more demands, more rapidly addressing concerns of constituents or stakeholders, and held accountable for more complex decisions, more far reaching consequences and more complex interactions. In contrast to these increased demands for rapid, accurate actions (or, perhaps as a result of them) our collective attention spans have seemed to shorten even further – our “financial news” cycle has shrunk from annually to quarterly to monthly to daily and sometimes even, unbelievably hourly or minute-to-minute! And, in this environment, leaders at every level must operate.

To imply that “leadership is easy” is like stating, “solving world hunger is simple: produce enough food for everyone and get it to them.” The objectives are clear enough, but the methods of reaching them are complicated by economic, political, and environmental challenges – all impacting food production and delivery (in the case of world hunger) and goods/services production and delivery (in the case of industry.)

With the increased demands for attention and the decrease of decision-making time, is there really any short-list of leadership “must do” behaviors? The answer is yes. Here are several, well supported, clear actions leaders can employ which are associated with personal and organizational success:

1. Surround yourself with talented individuals. It is impossible for any single individual to master the domain of knowledge that is embedded in the task of running a large organization. Having talented individuals who have the responsibility and authority for planning, executing and evaluating strategic goals is a requirement.
2. Practice honesty and openness. Information and trust are the balms that keep organizations and teams running smoothly. Conversely, practicing deception or obscurity is akin to throwing sand into the gears of a machine. Develop skills in soliciting and delivering performance feedback (yes, it is necessary at senior levels in organizations!), clearly connect performance to consequences, and maintain a willingness to hear unpopular opinions, make difficult decisions and address difficult situations/relationships.
3. Be the “good example” (even when no one is looking.) Integrity, diligence, and hard work are personal leadership characteristics that influence the entire organization. These characteristics should be readily visible to everyone in the organization and expected of everyone in the organization. Strategic HR initiatives may reinforce the culture of the organization, but it is the senior leaders who create and constantly reshape the culture.
4. Practice strategic thinking. Strategic decision making determines the where, when and how to spend limited resources to determine the main directions of the business, ensuring its continued viability and success. Strategies are typically conceptual and general, ideas that can be spread over the entire enterprise and have a extended life. Tactical decisions, while necessary for goal accomplishment, are concrete ideas that are task/operation specific.

Do these four practices hold the key to achieving any goal? Unfortunately, no. Simply put, following these principles is not a guarantee of success, but failing to follow them is the quick path to failure. Think of Leadership Made Easy as “necessary but not sufficient”, providing a foundation from which a successful team or organization may operate.

We all spend so much time in meetings and we all wonder why! We also wonder why aren’t meetings effective and how can we make them more effective.

Having effective meetings is a multi-faceted challenge, and therefore requires a multi-dimensional solution.  In my presentations about effective meetings, I tackle 4 dimensions ranging from 1) skill development, 2) using technology more effectively, 3) working more strategically, to 4) uncovering and addressing underlying root causes that are specific to your team or organization. In this article, I will address the skill development dimension.

The 7 skills that can help make meetings effective

Skill #1: Having clear agenda. This goes beyond the list of agenda items. A clear agenda needs to include the “type” of items, the owner, and the allotted time. The most common types are “fyi,” “discussion,” “input,” or “decision.” Clarifying the type of each time creates clarify and focus, and therefore efficiency and meaningful outcomes.

Skill #2: Having a clear decision making process. Teams and organizations who aren’t skilled in decision making spend a lot of time spinning their wheels. When tackling a decision item, the owner of this item needs to clarify how the decision will be made. The most common types are “one person making the decision” (this may not require a meeting), “consultative decision,” or “consensus based.”

Skill #3: Active facilitation while staying flexible. An active facilitator asks questions, makes suggestions, keeps everyone engaged, and stays flexible. Easier said than done and can only happen with diligent practice!

Skill #4: Active participation while staying flexible. An active participant makes suggestions but he/she lets the facilitator facilitate. He/she stays engaged throughout, helping move the items forward, and helping create compelling outcomes.

Skill #5: Capturing and finalizing action items. Enough said!

Skill #6: Pre and post-meeting preparation. The meeting time is precious time. A lot needs to happen before the meeting to make the most of everyone’s time and leverage everyone’s expertise. Educating participants ahead of time about the issues and providing background material can go a long way. Continuing this process after the meeting is just as critical.

Skill #7: Leveraging online tools to your advantage. This refers to information sharing tools and virtual meeting tools. These tools can help reduce meetings and shorten meeting times and allow us to focus meetings on the important issues rather than the basic information that can be shared offline.

After going through these skills, one participant asked me: “But how do I handle a meeting participant who ‘highjacks’ my meeting!” This ended up being a great discussion on facilitation skills and managing difficult participants.

One aspect of this discussion that I would like to mention relates to skill #3 and it is the one thing that I believe facilitators must do above all: “Step into the facilitator role, claim it, and be it.” This translates to your tone of voice, your eye contact, the content of what you say, among other things. Give yourself permission to be the facilitator. If you are not normally comfortable with some of the behaviors that are associated with this role, practice and role-play ahead of time. This can go a long way in setting the tone of the meeting, and paving the road for being effective and for creating amazing results!

If you’re like most people, then you probably know that interpersonal conflicts cannot be avoided, and if you’ve given it any thought, then you probably also know that there is no personal, industrial or social progress without some modicum of struggle.  If fact, I think it is safe to say that without conflict there would be no motivation for anyone to ever embrace change or consider doing anything differently.  Conflict can prevent stagnation; stimulate creativity, curiosity, and interest.  However, conflict is most important because without it, intimacy, team cohesion, and attunement cannot be achieved.  Developmentally teams need to learn to engage conflict knowing that it is normal and if executed effectively can produce qualitatively better outcomes.  Failure to engage conflict forces issues underground diverting precious energy from productive action while also inadvertently creating a culture of apathy.

That said it’s important to note that not all team conflicts are productive.  Realistic or functional team conflicts are generally based on opposing needs, goals, means, values, or interests.  Whereas, nonrealistic or dysfunctional team conflicts generally stem from ignorance, error, tradition, prejudice, ineffective organizational structures, win/lose type of competitions, or a need to release tension.

To ensure that your conflicts are productive, work to model respect for yourself through assertion (not aggression), show respect for others, and implement the following:

• First and foremost, manage your feelings and behavior effectively.  You cannot manage a conflict well if you have not learned to manage yourself first.
• Practice active listening and empathy to address feelings first using open-ended questions (e.g., How did you interpret things?)  This will help to de-escalate any difficult conversation.
• Seek first to understand the other’s feelings, thoughts, wants, and needs – understanding does not mean you have to agree.  Then work to make self understood.
• Surrender the win/lose dynamic – instead work toward a win/win.
• Use “I” statements (e.g., I feel frustrated.). “You” statements tend to trigger defensiveness (e.g., Your frustrating me.).
• Remember that intent does not equal impact. Even when we have good intentions it is possible that others may feel hurt and visa versa.
• Define the conflict in terms of needs (i.e., the problem you are trying to solve), not solutions.
• Build on areas of agreement, before you address areas of difference.

About: Eugene Dilan, Psy.D. is the Founder and President of the Dilan Consulting Group. For more on negotiating team conflicts productively, go to our Conflict Management page or our facilitated team development page.