Develop by Overcoming Personal Constraints

One of the best ways to develop one's self is to discover and overcome things that hinder or constrain you from advancing. The Flipside (2007) gives you strategy for overcoming your greatest constraints.

The Strength’s Finder 2.0 has been criticized for only focusing on a person’s strength and the Flippen Profile has been criticize for focusing only on a person’s weakness referred to as constraints. The commonality of both assessments is that they both acknowledge that a strength or a weakness used to an extreme becomes the opposite. The Flippen Profile (TM) identifies behaviors that constrain a person from fulfilling their greatest potential.

Discover and Develop Your Strengths

Good employees proactively develop themselves personally and professionally. It is important to increase knowledge and skills. "Hard skills" are learning specific things such as new computer programs, marketing, accounting, working on cars, laws and regulations (e.g. OSHA, HIPPA), styling hair, medicine, operating machines, etc. "Soft skills" include listening, communicating, managing emotions, time management, leadership, team building, empathy, self-motivation, goal setting, etc. Developing soft skills are as important as developing hard skills.

Many companies have development programs. Most development programs exist to develop skills that address the organization's needs. Employees should also manage their development separate from development for the company. There are many ways to develop yourself, one is to discover your strengths and develop them.

BR: 5 Gears: How to be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time

What would it be worth to your organization to find a way where employs could function together better, be more productive, and people could connect better?  àPriceless!!

Have you ever been focused on a major project or trying to beat a deadline when some one comes into your work space and wants to visit? Or have you been in a social environment and a fellow worker wants to talk shop? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to get in sync with others at work? 

Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram wrote 5 Gears: How to be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time to shed light on workplace behavior that hinders a companies relationships and efficiency. This book has been called "a game changer" by many people. In fact, that was what I thought when I first heard about this book.

Crucial Conversations

Crucial Conversations are critical for the health of an organizational. 

You cannot fix what you don't talk about!

I have witnessed organizations where the atmosphere was full of toxic energy. Managers have disputes with other managers and subordinates, employees don't get along with management and conflict abounds. Often groups begin to form around individuals and sides are made. If issues surrounding the negativity are not discussed, they will continue to fester until an amputation or severing of the organization's members is necessary. 

TO AVOID CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATIONS, CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS ARE NECESSARY!

Employees Must Understand Change

The previous blog stated that employees must change or die. This may seem to be overstated, but the it is close to reality. Employees must understand change and the necessity for change.

Organizations do not change for the sake of changing. There are several factors that make change necessary.

First, technology is changing. There are many engineers and computer geeks sitting around thinking of innovations to make tasks easier and more efficient. Companies that embrace these changes will surge ahead of their competition. 

Second, markets are changing. Things that are popular and marketable yesterday are not popular today. Things that are popular and marketable today will not be popular tomorrow. Inventors and innovators will rule tomorrow's market.

Third, society is changing. We live in a very informed society. Companies must be in tuned with society and adapt. 

Fourth, there is more competition because of globalization and this will continue to increase resulting in an increasing need for change.

Finally, change will also be necessary to keep products and services relevant to the local and global markets.

BR: "Good to Great by Jim CollinsDisip

The sub-title of "Good to Great," Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't, reveals the purpose of this book. Collins determined to find out why some companies made the leap from good companies to great companies and others did not.

To find how companies go from good to great, he first needed to identify great companies. He looked for companies that had 15-year cumulative stock market returns at or below the general market with a transition point followed by a period of returns above the market over a 15-year period. The companies needed to exhibit a "good-to-great" pattern. All companies were compared to the other to ultimately determine what distinguished good-to-great companies from the others. Eleven good-to-great companies were identified: Abbott, Fannie Mae, Kimberly-Clark, Nucor, Pitney Bowes, Wells Fargo, Circuit City, Gillette, Kroger, Philip Morris, and Walgreens. Collins found numerous celebrated factors. I found that "Good to Great" is one of the most referred to books in leadership study.

BR: The 8th Habit

Book Review: The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness (1989)

Please add this book to your development library.

 Stephen Covey follows his best selling book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by naming a 8th Habit. Covey wrote the 8th Habit to address changes in the world that took place in the 15 years after he wrote the 7 Habits. Coincidentally, the 7 Habits was released the same year that the Berlin Wall fell (1989). In 1989, the internet was in its adolescence and people were just beginning to use email.

BR: 7 Habits of Highly Successful People

Book Review: 7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Steven Covey

Introduction

Stephen Covey wrote this best selling book in 1989. Twenty-eight years later it holds up and is as relevant today as it has ever been. I first read Covey's book about twenty years ago and have integrated many of the principles into personal development strategies. The purpose of this book review is to extract the main principles to be applied to employee development. However, no review can ever capture all of the information in a single book. It is suggested that this book be added to your personal development library.