My recent carnival appearances
March 9, 2010
Ok, I do not perform any tricks worthy of joining the circus, but a couple of recent blog posts have been published by two Blog Carnivals – monthly collections of noteworthy articles on specific topics.
First, my article 10 Essential Tools for Change Agents was posted in the Carnival of HR: Mardi Gras Edition.
Most recently, Monitor Your Organization’s “Non-Verbal” Communication was published in the March 7 Leadership Development Carnival: Academy Awards Edition. It was an honor just to be nominated.
Check out both of these Carnivals for articles by some great bloggers!
Win a copy of Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional
February 22, 2010
One of the books I believe is required reading for organizational change agents is the wisdom-packed book about personal accountability, QBQ: The Question Behind the Question.
Bestselling author of QBQ and Flipping The Switch, John G. Miller has a brand new book: Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional.
I told John in last week’s interview on The Change Agent’s Dilemma radio show that with Outstanding! he “had me at hello,” since the dedication of the book says: “To everyone who cares enough to improve the place. You are outstanding!” The book is chock full of stories and ideas of things individuals at all levels can do to improve their organizations. It’s the perfect book for the person who wants to make a difference at work.
While you can purchase the book at Amazon by clicking the book image (affiliate link), I have 5 copies to give away, courtesy of John Miller himself!
There are three ways to enter to win a free copy of Outstanding!:
- In the comments below, tell me how you are making your organization exceptional! (2 copies)
- On Twitter, retweet the following message: “RT @enclaria: Enter to win 1 of 5 copies of Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional by @QBQGuy: http://bit.ly/ctW2j9.” (2 copies)
- Become a fan of Enclaria on Facebook and post on the wall: “I am Outstanding!”. (1 copy)
Other details: Winners will be selected at random from qualified entries. You may enter using all three methods, and you will only be counted once per method. Each person can win at most one book. Valid e-mail address required. U.S. mailing addresses only.
Entries must be received by Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. Winners will be contacted the next day.
How are you making your organization exceptional?
Get your step-by-step change guides before prices increase!
January 26, 2010
I first created my line of step-by-step change guides in order to provide organizational change agents with practical workbooks to help work through common challenges.
Since I wanted everyone to have access to them, I priced them to be very affordable. Upon reflection, the current prices do not mirror the value of the workbooks, and do not adequately convey how much these workbooks can help you influence change in your organization. So, I have decided to raise the prices on the workbooks.
I am giving valued blog readers like you the opportunity to purchase the workbooks at the current low prices before I raise them on February 1, 2010.
So far, I have published three titles:
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The Beyond Buy-in workbook walks you through five straight-forward steps to figure out how to gain the most important ingredient for change success: the support of leadership. More than just how to get to “yes,” Beyond Buy-in answers the question, “How do I get leaders to do what they need to do to drive the change forward?” | Old Price: $14.95 New Price: |
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The Pinpoint Communication Kit, which includes customizable PowerPoint templates, provides a practical step-by-step process for creating a communication plan for your change initiative. Pinpoint Communication answers the question, “How do I get the appropriate message to the right people?” | Old Price: $24.95 New Price: |
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The Change Starts Here workbook guides you through four steps to clarify your change initiative. Change Starts Here answers the question, “What am I really trying to change, and how am I going to do it?”
(The Change Starts Here workbook is available free with a newsletter subscription.) |
Old Price: $14.95 New Price: |
Take advantage of this opportunity to grab some practical step-by-step guides before prices go up on Monday, February 1, 2010. Visit www.enclaria.com/publications to acquire these valuable resources.
Influencer: Required reading for change agents
October 15, 2009
I just finished reading a book that all change agents should have on their shelves: Influencer: The Power to Change Anything
The book further subdivides Motivation (Will it be worth it) and Ability (Can I do it) into three categories – Personal, Social and Structural – that form a framework for how to influence change:
- Personal Motivation: Make the behavior desirable.
- Personal Ability: Provide training to show how to perform the behavior properly.
- Social Motivation: Use peer pressure and existing power structures.
- Social Ability: Enlist the help of others.
- Structural Motivation: Extrinsic rewards and punishment.
- Structural Ability: Alter the physical world to make the behavior easier or inevitable to perform.
The authors feature several stories that run throughout the book and demonstrate how these six sources of influence work individually and in combination to change deep-rooted behaviors. It’s a definite must-read for change agents!
Does your change initiative need a reboot?
August 6, 2009
Perhaps it needs a Flash Point!
I’m excited to introduce the Flash Point Program, an in-depth exploration and evaluation of your change initiative in which you and I will co-design your next steps toward successful implementation.
What do you mean, “co-design?”
Fact: you know your organization better than I ever will. Chances are, you know what stands in the way of successful implementation, but perhaps you haven’t set aside the time to focus on discovering it, or no one has asked the right questions. It’s my job to ask the questions and keep you focused. If you don’t have the answers, we’ll figure out how to get them. And then together we’ll design what to do next.
It’s also a co-design because this is your job. You are not delegating your responsibilities to me. I’m not going to swoop in and do it for you. The equation looks something like this:
Your organizational knowledge & Enthusiasm +
My change know-how & Coaching techniques =
Your change know-how & Your Flash Point
How does it work?
The Flash Point Program includes six (6) 1-hour intensive conversations between you (the change agent) and me (the coach), roughly scheduled as follows:
- 1 online change readiness assessment and debrief;
- 3 hours of in depth exploration of the requirements to achieve your change initiative, and your organization’s capacity to perform them; and
- 2 personal coaching sessions for you, to discover your unique strengths and challenges as a change agent.
The sessions occur in 1-hour phone calls, once a week, for 6 weeks. This is flexible depending on how quickly you want your Flash Point to occur!
What do I get?
First of all, here’s an idea of what you will discover and learn:
- Clarity about what you are trying to accomplish;
- Greater understanding of how change works and how best to fulfill the role of change agent;
- An assessment of the factors present in your organization that will help or hinder your change initiative; and
- What to do about it.
What you physically (or digitally, really) get to take with you are:
- The results from the change readiness assessment
- Recordings of our phone conversations (for reference)
- A report of the next steps we co-design.
Prerequisites:
There are a couple of things I need you to do before you sign up:
- Review the Is This You page and make sure it sounds like you.
- Download and complete the Change Starts Here workbook. It’s free when you subscribe to my newsletter, or if you really don’t want to subscribe, you can purchase the workbook here.
Program Fee:
The total investment for The Flash Point Program is $1,540.
The deposit for the first session is $295. If for any reason, after completing the change readiness assessment and attending the first session, you do not want to continue The Flash Point Program, you can end the process there with just your change readiness assessment results. To continue the program, the remainder of the fee will be due prior to the second session.
Ready get started?
Next Steps:
- Complete the prerequisites (Is This You and Change Starts Here).
- Click the button at the bottom to pay the $295 deposit so we can get started on the change readiness assessment.
- I’ll send you an e-mail with links to the change readiness assessment and Flash Point registration form to tell me a little bit about yourself, your organization, and your change initiative.
- We’ll set up a quick call to schedule our sessions, and answer any questions you may have.
- We’ll start The Flash Point Program!
By clicking the button below, you affirm that you have completed the prerequisites. You agree to begin the Flash Point Program by completing the change readiness assessment and the registration form. Your credit card will be charged a $295 deposit.
Have additional questions? Please contact me. I’ll be happy answer them.
Lessons from a Rose
July 30, 2009
A few weeks ago, this beautiful rose bloomed from an otherwise untended, ignored and practically dead rose bush in our backyard. It surprised me one day. Glancing out the back window I caught the glimpse of the most glorious red against the backdrop of a dreary weathered fence.
That’s when this post was about succeeding through adversity. And about how something that is meant to be will just happen if you let it.
That stem behind it mysteriously grew straight upward until it was four feet long. Into a tree. That’s when I decided to get involved, to help nature out a little by getting the rosebuds out of the tree and into the sun. I found a plastic bucket (the kids’ kind that comes with a matching shovel) and discovered it I could hang it on the stem to make it bend just so. A day or two later the buds started to turn red and maneuver toward the sun.
That’s when this post was about knowing when something needs a nudge in the right direction. And about how you can set someone up to succeed and they will take it from there.
Then it rained a little bit. And the bucket collected some water. And the stem mostly snapped under the additional weight. And the rosebuds ended up in the dirt.
That’s when this post became about unintended consequences.
New Free Gift: Change Starts Here Workbook
July 23, 2009
After about six months of giving away the Beyond Buy-in article as the free gift with the newsletter subscription, I recently changed it back to the Change Starts Here Workbook, which it had been until February this year.
The 30-page Change Starts Here Workbook walks you through four steps to clarify your organizational change initiative: assess the current state, define the future state, identify the gap between them, and determine the actions that will move the organization forward.
If you subscribed since then, just send me a note and I’ll send you a link to the workbook. If you want a preview or more detail about the workbook, you can find it here.
NEW! Pinpoint Communication Workbook
June 11, 2009
I’m excited to offer a new workbook in my series of step-by-step organizational change guides. I collaborated with my friend and colleague Monica Nakielski of Harmeda LLC to bring you:
Pinpoint Communication: Plan to Avoid Scattershot Change
Communication is one of the primary tools you will use to bring about change in your organization, and yet we frequently see communication used in a haphazard fashion. The resulting hodgepodge of posters, newsletters and meetings yield a less-than-compelling story of change.
The workbook walks you though 5 Steps that build on each other. By the end, you will have developed a complete communication plan, including a schedule and measures of success.
The Pinpoint Communication Kit includes not only the workbook, but also high-quality, presentation-ready MS PowerPoint templates. Just complete the template with the information you developed in the workbook, and you’re ready to share with your organization.
This practical guide is truly something I wish I had back when I was an internal change agent. I would have been much more organized and deliberate about how I used communication. I’m excited that it might help you be more effective as you implement change in your organization.
For more information, a preview, and to purchase the workbook, templates or kit, visit www.enclaria.com/communication/.
Four strategies for making change
April 4, 2009
I just finished reading an interesting article in Time Magazine: How Obama is Using the Science of Change. The article discusses “behavioral economics” being used by the administration to help us make better decisions. It lists four strategies to get people to alter their behavior:
- Make it clear – provide better information
- Make it easy – ultimately, make the desired behavior the default one
- Make it popular – show that everyone is doing it
- Make it mandatory – enforce rules, or make it so appealing no one would say no
While the context is politics and economics, the ideas in this article are easily applied to organizational change. Read it, then answer this question:
Inquiry: How can you make your change clearer, easier, more popular, or mandatory?
Please share your thoughts with a comment.
Book Recommendation: The VITAL Core
March 9, 2009
In the last few days, I gobbled up the information in a wisdom-packed book called The VITAL Core, by Audrey Dorsey. In her work as a Fortune 500 executive coach, the author has identified five core focus areas of successful leaders:
Vision – Know your ultimate pursuit
Intention – Focus on clear goals and have a plan of action
Telling Your Story – Engage people and build relationships
Attitude – Hold beliefs and values that support you
Leverage – Use your resources wisely
The book contains stories that demonstrate each key point, then each chapter zeroes in on the specific steps you can take to make progress on your own toward being a more successful leader.
One new insight that is particularly useful for change agents is the value of learning to Tell Your Story. When you talk about your change initiative, do you make it compelling and draw people into the story? One of seven tips for generating impactful stories is to “convert information into impressions” – that is, win people over not only with logic but with how they should feel about the project. If you want the other six tips, plus numerous others, you’ll have to read the book: www.thevitalcore.com.
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