Shera R. Sever: Igniting the Spark™

It’s Spring, and there is, most assuredly,  something NEW in the air!

Life as we know it,  has changed. Many concur that we are in possibly the greatest paradigm shift in the history of human kind.

With EarthDay, 2011 upon us, what commitment can you make (in your personal practices, with your business, and in your communities)  to redirect the trajectory we are on?  I’d like to invite you to start by sharing your vision and making a comittment along with thousands of others at FourYears. GO.

The Evolution is On. . . Are You?

It’s happening with consciousness shifts, on-line communities, new paradigms for learning and education,  and mobile technologies that are allowing more innovation, mobility, connection and knowledge sharing than ever before.

We have the tools to Ignite the Spark- where are you directing your flame?

In loving honor of Gaia

Read more about the “Evolution”  here

What’s Inner Ecology?

It’s inner balance, clarity,  & motivation. It’s personal integrity. It’s an alignment of your desires and life purpose.

How’s Your Inner Ecology? Is it time for a tune-up?

Do you need a grounding chord, a compass, or a new lens?

Are you in transition? Are you ready to reinvent yourself?

Through March 31, 2011, I am offering you an opportunity to contribute to a healthier, greener economy while giving your” inner ecology” a spring cleaning by investing in any one (or all!) of my 3 coaching programs:

You, Inc. Career Coaching

Demystifying Social Media Marketing

Awakening Entrepreneurs Business Consulting

I believe that the future of America depends upon an assertive commitment to creating a environmentally sustainable, social just, and personally fulfilling presence on our planet.  Aggressive investing in Clean Energy,  Sustainable Technologies, and Green Building is essential.

As part of my personal commitment to this, I am donating 20% of my business consulting & coaching revenues from Feb. 15- March 31  to a Micro-Grant Fund supporting

Van Jones’s Green Jobs For All Initiative.

Are you ready to invest in your own inner ecology AND a greener economy?

Click here for more information on my 3, 6 , or 10 week coaching programs.

In our coaching sessions, I can promise you a potent, focused,  transformational journey with on-going support to reach extraordinary goals in your business and your personal life.

If you are a new client, I offer complimentary sessions.

You can also give the gift of coaching to a friend, colleague, or loved one, by purchasing a gift certificate .

Transform your life, change the world!

February 15- March 31: 20% of your investment is tax-deductable

and will be donated to the Green for All Micro-Grant Fund which supports 100 grant recipients across the USA

Thank you for contributing to a healthier, greener economy.

Where do your gifts, passions, and purpose intersect?

Dave Pollard calls this the “Sweet Spot” of Entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship need not be stressful, risky, expensive, lonely, exhausting or require great skills, ideas or self-confidence.  Right now, when the economy is falling apart, is the best possible time to start your own enterprise, and doing so could propel you into work that’s more responsible, sustainable and joyful than what you’re doing now.  Dave Pollard calls those who recognize this “Natural Entrepreneurs”.  I call them “Awakened Entrepreneurs.” It’s the same.

Read what these entrepreneurs do differently to thrive regardless of  economic swings.

What’s your big dream?  Now is the time to put it into action. Contact me.  I’d love to help you build your own inner economy.

In the past few weeks, probably like you,  I have received hundreds of messages inviting  me to participate in workshops, teleseminars, meetings and groups for setting intentions this new year.

THE AWAKENED ENTREPRENEUR™

These invitations inspired me to create an overarching  theme for the year by declaring this to be “The Year of the Awakened Entrepreneur™.  An Awakened Entrepreneur understands that it’s not just about YOU OR ME any longer. We have entered a whole new game of interdependence and collaboration.  Vision is the Soul of our Business, and Committed Action, the fuel.

Read more. 

Last week, along with approximately 20 others,  I started my vision board for 2009- with images of actions I commit to this year. I’m sharing just a few of these commitments here:

FOSTER a CULTURE of TRUE COLLABORATION

In December, I attended the year end San Francisco Women in Consulting meeting. Of the 70 or 80 women business owners in attendance, I discovered that many were offering similar or complimentary services and targeting similar audiences.

Many attendees was asking for leads or referrals to clients, yet I wanted to hear more about what their clients wanted and needed. I was looking for introductions that answered these key questions:

What do I do best? Who am I serving?  

What do they need?  How can my business fulfill that need?

I thought, “Wouldn ‘t it be wonderful if we could combine our expertise and offerings with  authentic and transparent collaborative models?”  

Successful non-profits have been doing this for years, building coalitions and networks that share resources, expertise, and human capital. Peter Senge teaches very sophisticated decentralized, collaborative models with his systems approach in the private sector. And LOHAS just published their 2009 business trends. Coalitions and affiliations are in the Top 10.

How much more could our clients benefit if WE-small businesses and consultants- created more collaborative “One-Stop Shops”, that serve our clients’ needs in all areas: Strategic Planning, Marketing & Social Media, Human Capital & Leadership Development, Technology, Legal, and Financial?

GET THE RIGHT PEOPLE on THE BUS

We have a new leader. He can’t do it alone. With the right people on the bus, small steps lead to big change and transformative results. This year I am personally committed to staying very awake and alert with each step, and thereby expanding “OUR” fields of influence.

As collaborators, having the “right” people as “power partners ” is crucial. One of my mentors, Jim Collins, author of Good to Great,  makes some interesting distinctions between “Effective” and “Great” Leadership. Great leaders, he claims, first hold a vision and attract the right executive team , BEFORE executing a strategic plan. “Effective” Leaders  create their strategic plan and then search for the implementers, which, according to Collins, can result in a lot of silo structures and organizational fragmentation.  

Stephen Covey, in his newest publication,  The Leader In Me, has taken leadership even further, by introducing personal and collaborative leadership models and practices to youth and future generations.

INCREASE value-based SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

with Relationships, Learning, and Resource Sharing

In some of my free time in past 11 months, I’ve been immersed in studying WEB 2.0 business, marketing, and collaborative learning trends, teaching myself new skills, testing collaborative technology tools, and asking for help, which I still need a lot of!  It’s been a very motivating learning curve, and I am loving it!

I took my website down about five months ago, and replaced it with this WordPress site. The template still needs  more visual customization and a banner (any wordpress geeks reading this?);   I love the collaboration inherent in WordPress.  Now, my readers (You!) can respond transparently, with added information, insights, resources, and links.  I sincerely welcome your participation.  I invite and encourage you to subscribe to my blYou can leave a comment on any post, and share them with others.  

COMMIT to EXPANSION

with new publications, course offerings, and media

With conversations birthing and potential collaborations brewing, stayed tuned for an upcoming “Awakened Entrepreneur™” course series delivered in multi-formats, aiong with on-going group coaching. To join the development conversations, and participation, I invite you stay connected via this site, Facebook and Twitter. 

Let’s invest in our “inner economies”. Take a break from the news,  and come play with me.

It’s a new world, and We are creating it!

I am working on the development of a 16 -week on-line High Performance Human Resources Management course for one of my clients.

Initially, a two- day seminar which I developed in 2007 for the CARAT Executive Leadership Institute, this course emphasizes the synergistic systems inherent in  talent management, retention, learning, and overall organizational effectiveness and growth.

According to the “2008 Ethics and Compliance Risk Management Practices Report, one-quarter of organizations have a desire to engage employees in learning, but are challenged to put their corporate values and integrity into action.

One of the key (and often times) most challenging strategies in birthing a learning culture in an organization is to discard the old paradigm of organizational “silos”.

Learning is not a one-time event. A true learning culture is based on an organization’s mission and core values where learning (human capital development) is transparently woven into all roles, functions, divisions and regions of an organization.

Understanding that Human Capital (Workforce) Development is an organization’s greatest asset is critical. Like any transformation, evolving into a Values-Based Learning Culture does not happen overnight, but rather requires strategic, thorough assessment of leaders attitudes, management approach, and current learning curricula.

Read more in this months’ issue of Chief Learning Officer.

In May, I attended the Book Expo of America in Los Angeles, where along with many authors and publishers, I met Tyson Miller, Director of the Green Press Initiative, and Julie Salisbury, world traveler and self-published author now happily settled in British Columbia.   

 Julie Salisbury, founder of InspireABook  and I  will be presenting “Transform Yourself from Writer to Author” at the WRITING for CHANGE Conference on Aug. 17 at 10:00 AM at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco.

 Julie has enthusiastically followed my marketing consultations offering her 8-week program in a NEW! teleseminar series starting in October. Adding to Julie’s curriculum, I will be leading the From Writer to Expert teleseminar series starting in November. 

Click here for more information and to register.

The most remarkable feature of this historical moment on Earth is not that we are on the way to destroying the world-we’ve actually been on the way for quite a while. It is that we are beginning to wake up, as from a millennia-long sleep,to a whole new relationship to our world, to ourselves and each other.

-Joanna Macy, author World as Self, World as Lover

The Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Initiative held it’s second Global Gathering on the campus of Mills College in Oakland, CA on June 26-29.

Nearly 200 committed facilitators (including me) from four continents ,along with guest speakers Lynne Twist, Brian Swimme, and Joanne Macy , among others, gathered to re-affirm, apply, and expand our commitment to an environmentally sustainable, socially just, spiritually fulfilling presence on this planet as the guiding principle for these times.

The Global Gathering re-ignited in me what really is important – and what I am committed to- on a personal, professional, and collective level.

It’s easy to forget that real change begins with changing oneself.

At the conference, all of us felt and agreed that this is a most amazing time to be alive, that we don’t have all the answers, and that in fact, we may or may not be successful in creating the personal and collective changes that must take place now.

If we focus our actions on cooperation, not competition, on doing more with less, (and perhaps on DOING less and BEING more), heal our addictions to consumption, and re-claim the role of world citizen founded on interdependence and respect for the dignity of all life,we may be able to “turn the wheel” towards sustainable solutions.

Turning the Wheel. . .

• WHAT can I start doing today and the rest of the year to bring more cooperation and collaboration into the company culture, our teams, client relations, and communities?
• WHO am I mentoring? WHO are my mentors?
• WHO are my”emPower partners?” Is there a team, a social network, forum, panel, or consortium that can be formed with “competitors”?
• WHAT is my role and contribution to the “Great Turning”?
• What will future generations learn from and do with your contributions?

Changing the World, One Restaurant at a Time

Earlier this summer, I had a meeting with the Director of Organizational Learning at an international software digital printing company. In our conversation, she reminded me that as entrepreneurs and business leaders, we choose our clients.

I wasn’t in total agreement with her in that moment, as I have often found clients “choosing” me to work on initiatives that were not in alignment with my passions, values, and stand in life. Yet, I understood that she was referring to focused intention and the laws of attraction.

And then the light went on! As leaders, one of the key evaluative questions we need to continually ask ourselves is what ARE our values? What DO we stand for? What ARE we committed to? How do we translate that into our businesses?

How can we develop our “relational capital” to attract and serve the clients who will benefit most from what we offer (the intangible values and commitment, and the tangible products/services)? What are our clients’ values and needs?

To assist this inquiry, I was reading an article in The Sun magazine where I was re-introduced to the business model Judy Wicks employed to develop the White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia.

Not only has Judy consistently managed to motivate, recognize, and retain skilled employees, she has also set the standard for community-building, education, and the resurgence of thriving local “living” communities, both in the USA and abroad. Judy is also the co-founder of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).

Among her guiding principles and practices, Judy speaks on the need for the business world to move away from a mentality of accumulation and competition and (back?) towards an economy based on sharing and cooperation.

She coins this model “living returns” vs. the stock market. She reminds us that investing in our community is in our self-interest and the “multiple bottom line” approach pioneered by Ben & Jerry’s (before the forced buyout to Unilever Corporation), is not only a responsible approach, but an essential and necessary action if we want to experience any form of sustainable return.

The bottom line question is : Do we want to develop and sustain businesses that are beneficial to all life and future generations or not?

We can no longer focus solely on the competitive advantage, but rather need to engage in Cooperative Advantage ™ strategies- competencies, skills, values, communication that is all inclusive, and that encourages sustainability, justice, personal and collective fulfillment.

To find out more about how you can incorporate The Cooperative Advantage ™, in your business, workplace, and community, post a comment or e-mail me directly .

Collaboration in the Workplace
“None of us is as good as all of us.”
© Sheryl R. Sever (Coach Shera)

Fostering teamwork is creating a work culture that values collaboration. In a teamwork environment, people understand and believe that thinking, planning, decisions and actions are better when done cooperatively.

As One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard discovered, people recognize, and even assimilate, the belief that “none of us is as good as all of us.” High Five, The Magic of Working Together.

In America, many of our institutions such as schools, our family structures, and our pastimes still emphasize winning, being the best, and coming out on top. Workplaces that exemplify and reward teamwork are not yet the norm.

Organizations, however, are working on valuing diverse people, ideas, backgrounds, and experiences. As part of the social transformation that we see taking place globally, collaboration, co-creation and cooperation seem to be values that are being more readily embraced and promoted in organizational development.

Having consulted many senior managers, educational, and organizational leaders over the past 13 years, I’ve included here my Ten Tips for Building Terrific Teams as your quick guide to cultivating successful teams, encouraging creativity and innovation, and attaining optimal results within your business or organization.

TEN TIPS for BUILDING TERRIFIC TEAMS

1. Communicate Clear Expectations. It is crucial that team members know why they are working together, and how their role, functions, and outcomes contribute to the bigger picture and overall success of the organization, its clients and coworkers. As a leader, how clearly you communicate the overall vision, mission, and values of the organization will be the power driving the team forward.

2. Have an agenda with objectives at team meetings. Allow time for progress updates, discussion, brainstorming, and action plans. It can be particularly beneficial if the meeting facilitator is trained in Cross-Cultural Awareness, or Marshall Rosenberg’s NVC practices. Using these techniques will help keep a diverse team cohesive and focused, encourage everyone’s participation, and can easily diffuse and transform stagnation. Change, creativity and solutions are not birthed in a static environment. Are necessary concerns and misunderstandings raised and properly addressed on your team?

3. Include your consultants and independent contractors in your brainstorming meetings. One of the biggest mistakes some organizations make is to not include consultants and independent contractors in staff meetings, project updates, long-term goals and vision. You will get a lot more mileage from your consultants when they are included in discussions and sessions affecting your organization’s direction and growth. Consultants are typically natural networkers and wealth of resources. They can easily be a powerful contributing factor to your organization’s long-term success and expansion.

4. Cultivate an atmosphere where team members can appreciate the diversity of talent on the team, not just in skill set and areas of expertise, but from a whole person perspective. If the team is working on a long-term project consider investing in the Myers Briggs assessment, DISC or an Enneagram training for the workplace.

5. Have a rewards or recognition program in place. Giving public recognition on the company intranet, newsletter, or in a staff meeting, or rewarding high-performers with gift certificates to a spa or event, are just a few low-cost, no-cost ways to acknowledge team members for a job well done.

6. Build fun and shared occasions into the organization’s agenda. Hold potluck lunches; take the team to a performance or cultural event. Host dinners at a local restaurant, (include your associates’ families) or plan an outdoor event such as hiking, bicycling, or even river rafting.

7. Encourage collaborative leadership models within your workplace. Move away from traditional, hierarchical leadership models that are deadening to the human spirit and that can create separation, distrust, and a competitive environment. Focus on cooperative models for team performance. Rotating facilitators at your weekly or monthly meetings is one way to begin this shift. Appointing co-managers to lead a project is another effective strategy.

8. Create opportunities for giving and receiving feedback. In his recent visit to San Francisco, the Dalai Lama continually emphasized the importance of dialog, along with education and training. How well trained are you and your people in examining assumptions, active listening, asking for clarification, and other non-defensive communication models that make it safe for you and your associates to express needs, be heard, and enthusiastically create innovative solutions with and for each other?

9. Provide resources. One of the surest ways to create chaos and diminish motivation, performance, and morale is to expect people to perform without the tools and resources they need to deliver outcomes they are proud of. Be sure everyone has the basic information and tools they need to perform, including healthy, ergonomic workstations.

10. Form a Green Team at work. Help your people raise their awareness of opportunities to save energy and contribute to a healthy and sustainable environment. By allowing others to take leadership and responsibility, passion takes hold. A green team can be very motivational for employees who want to make a difference in their work environment.

Got a great organizational team story? I’d love to hear it, along with any other feedback you’d like to share.