Thus, I am delighted to be  one of 20+ contributing writers to the just released publication,

42 Rules for Successful Collaboration

What do Cisco, Disney, Toyota, Mindjet, Adminstaff, Joire De Vivre have in common?

RULE #29   Use Leaders as Collaborative Strategists

2009, ©Shera R. Sever & SuperStar Press

Get the right people on the bus and in the right seats, with a commitment to building a best-in-class collaborative culture.

Focus on internal-facing collaboration that encourages collective intelligence (simple yet intentional engagement).

Recognize those within the organization who consistently share information, resources, responsibilities, while engaged in and committed to organizational and personal excellence.

Start with Talent Management

• Get the right people on the bus. Build a superior team by recruiting those who have a track record of working and playing well with others, and communicating with transparency, while confronting brutal facts.

• Make collaboration a core competency for any position. Define the specific functions and expectations in the professional development plan.  When collaboration is a core value, employees are able to see the results of their work and the impact it has on company, clients, and colleagues. This in and of itself is the reward.

• Create a Collaboration Manager/ Coordinator position to promote, coordinate and manage your internal systems for knowledge sharing, skill and learning development. Look beyond HR, Marketing or Corporate Communications for this collaboration evangelist. Design the position around competencies and overarching organizational goals and objectives.

• Engage all your people in “big picture” solutions. Interestingly enough, a 2008 study available through the Society of Organizational Learning shows that fewer than 35 percent of employees from 100 companies surveyed, know or are clear about how their role fits into the bigger picture—the overall business objectives and strategic plan. Best leaders motivate with questions, not initiatives.

• Focus on “internal facing” online communities. Awareness Networks released their 2008 white paper, revealing that 82 percent of over 162 leaders surveyed have seen that Web 2.0 technologies (particularly “company branded” Wikis) increase knowledge sharing, employee collaboration, and improved internal communications, and help employees “find” each other.

• Continue to make Learning & Development a top priority. Optimum learning and development occur in systems where there is a rich web of interactions—and this is collaboration. As organizational leaders, ask where collaborative learning communities could be built or expanded upon?*

What new leadership and communication skills are needed cross-functionally to allow for full collaborative engagement in your organization?

*Note:  Some of the most impressive learning communities are being birthed in the non-profit sector. Paul Hawken’s WiserEarth.org site encompasses shared knowledge and learning communities from more than 13,000 organizations worldwide.

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I recently introduced Jim Collins’ Leadership Diagnostic tool in a Leadership Seminar for Non-Profit Executives. The participants response was very positive and the results were stellar for designing new organizational development plans and leadership strategies.

Whether you’re leading a community group, social profit, or a senior management team, Jim Collins has created a beautiful leadership diagnostic for a no-nonsense, honest evaluation of your leadership skills and strategies.

His diagnostic is based on 5 Levels of Executive Leadership.

What do Level 5 leaders do differently?

Ask First Who. . .Then What? (Once you have the right people in place, then figure out the right path)

Confront the Brutal Facts (Create a climate where truth can be heard- lead with questions, not answers-engage in dialog)

Utilize the Hedgehog Concept (Understand what your organization can be best at and then Do It!

Create a Culture of Discipline (Disciplined People, Disciplined Thought, Disciplined Action)

Technology Acceleration (Application of carefully selected technology- thoughtless reliance on technology is a liability, not an asset).

For more information, click here and download the Good to Great diagnostic tool. If you are looking for leadership training within your organization, contact me to discuss an initial needs assessment.

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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!

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