Several people commented on my article last week and thought that I should give some suggestions for how to keep a team from becoming dysfunctional.  So, here's what was requested, “Five Characteristics of a Highly Functional Team.”

     Dennis
 
 
     With this week’s article, “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” you'll be able to make a quick assessment of the health of your team.  If you want more, pick up a copy of Patrick Lencioni's book; it contains a fifteen-item assessment that will give you more perspective.

     Dennis
 
 
     Do you have the privilege of influencing a young man or woman, aged 10-14?  Would you like to help that young person understand and explore his or her natural interests?
     Perhaps your encouragement would contribute to clarifying visions of future opportunity.  Read this week’s article, “Invest in Your Child’s or Grandchild’s Future,” to learn of an inexpensive way you can leverage your role as an authority figure in guiding a developing life!
     Dennis
 
 
     Who among us has not asked the question associated with this week’s column, "What Should I Do with My Life?"
     Do you know someone whose answer you genuinely admire?  Do you know someone who has devoted his or her life to something deeply important--and who loves doing it?
     I've written the article hoping to have some local responses, but I certainly welcome your response, too.  I'm sure there are people all over the world who have a high sense of self-awareness and who have a deep understanding of what activities are right for them.  Frankly, I admire them!  I've searched my entire life for my answer--I think that's why it's relatively easy for me to relate to my clients when they struggle with the question.
     Dennis
 
 
     We all find ourselves at times making requests of others.  Maybe we want to delegate some responsibility, or maybe it's merely asking someone to complete a simple task.
     Today's article, “’Requesting’ Is an Activity You Can Improve,” deals with "how" to approach the individual and make the request.
     Another article I wrote back in 2002, “Delegating Well,” is a beneficial complement to this week’s article.
     Together, the two articles give you, respectively, how to approach the other person and what specific content to communicate to him or her.
     Dennis
 
 
     As a leader, folks expect you to know “the truth” about everything!  If you comply with that expectation, however, you'll be repetitively deceived.
     It's especially difficult when you have that expectation of yourself.  Your past experiences program you to "see" in ways that distort the truth.
     We go through life wearing figurative glasses that modify how we "see."  This week’s article, “Take a Look at How You Look at Things,” encourages you to take off those glasses and examine them, becoming more aware of how your vision is being filtered.
     Dennis
 
 
     Unless there is conscious attention paid to your organization's results, processes, and culture, you can't expect intentional improvement.  Yet pausing to reflect on these characteristics of the organization is not important to some leaders.  Oh, I hope that's not true of you!
     Consider sharing this article, “Reflecting on Your Organization’s Health,” with other leaders you support and who support you.  Think deeply about how you can increase your awareness.  Become more intentional about how frequently and deeply you evaluate what's happening in your organization.
     Dennis
 
 
     When I started exploring the concept of values and unexamined beliefs about a month ago, I never expected the concept to be as revealing for me personally as they have been!
     It has been exciting for me to gain clarity on the items in the attached article, “My Underlying Beliefs in Helping Leaders Improve.”  Further, it has been enlightening to share these concepts with the clients with whom I've spoken in the past weeks.
     Dennis
 
 
     This week's article, “When Your Behavior Doesn’t Align with Your Values,” springboards off of last week's.  As soon as you spend some time articulating your values, you start recognizing discrepancies between what you claim is important and what you actually do.  Maybe you can get by with that dissonance, but it bugs me!
     You may be tempted to believe it is a unique flaw, but I think it is universal among us humans.  Over time, you can continue to refine what's really important to you, so that there is greater consistency between what you claim you value and what you actually do.  (People you work with will see that consistency, too---and appreciate it!)
     Dennis
 
 
     Over the past few years, each time I've worked with a leader to identify his or her values, I've said to myself that I needed to write an article such as this one, “How to Identify and Articulate Your Values.”
     With my two most recent articles, in which I emphasize the power of compelling beliefs (some of them clearly qualify as "values"), the timing seemed especially right.
     If you are among the great majority of leaders who have never taken the time to articulate your values, I strongly encourage you to add this activity to your "to do" list.  It is a powerful example of "reflection" time.  There is no better way to seek potential improvement in the way you see the world (and your role in it).
     Dennis