Shera R. Sever: Awakening Leaders™

It’s been over a month since I have posted on this blog, however, if you have been following me on Twitter or Facebook, you know why.

Right now, rather than another 10:00PM sunset swim in the Mediterranean, OR bicycling and strolling along some of the most enchanting 13th century countryside caminos, I choose to fulfill my need to CONNECT with all of you.

When I first received an offer to spend some time “en retiro”, living on the north side of the island of Mallorca, Spain,  I was very confused  about what TO DO, fearing what I would leave “behind” if I actually left my home, community, live and social networks, and other “opportunities”for 4-6 weeks.  It was an obvious reminder of the need to LET GO!

Did you know that Americans actually take less annual holiday time (i.e. vacation) than any other ‘Western” country in the world?  Reason: FEAR that by letting go of routine that their “career/business” will fall apart or that they won ‘t get ahead!  My question- Ahead of what?  Aren ‘t we all in this global transformation together?

When is the last time you gave yourself the beautiful gift of just BEING?  For those of who have, you know how much clearer and more effective (focused and intentional) you are internally, as well as once back on the  “playing field”.

Awakened Entrepreneurs™ Create Decisions based on Needs/Values

I used an NVC method (universal needs- based process from Marshall Rosenberg) to make the decision.  What needs will be fulfilled if I go?  What needs will be fulfilled if I stay? Not only was my list longer for going, but I got more in touch with what is important to me.

Bottom line: Do what FEELS good- and in my case that meant my physical body-
(warm Mediterrannean sun &  sea,  healthy, fresh food, lots of movement outdoors) Simply YES!! Now Mallorca, is in no way Spain, unless, of course, you refer to Maui, the USA. But I used to live and work in Madrid and Barcelona, and the idea of spending time on the island of Mallorca seemed like a good choice. ( And then that night,  after taking myself through this personal exercise, I received a loud message in a dream- clear and simple:  GO TO SPAIN

DOING vs. BEING

Particularly in our fast-paced culture, DOING has much more perceived value that BEING. How often are you asked “ How are you?” – if the response is anything other than BUSY, something must be wrong. Yet, wouldn ‘t we all agree that all work and no play/rest makes anyone dull (rather than vibrant), inflexible and, well, uninteresting. How many relationships and dreams (personal and professional) are not realized as a result of this “busy/work” epidemic?

Especially in these times of information overload, including fear- based marketing and propaganda, I find “unplugging” essential in order to access one’s truth, values, goals, direction  and strategies for living in purpose in order to make our greatest contributions (to self and others)

The Awakened Entrepreneur™ understands the essential need for regular  “unplugging” -be it a long weekend retreat with no technology (yes, that!) or several weeks (3-4?!) of an actual holiday is exactly what is needed in order to optimize our engines for peak performance.  Tony Robbins claims it takes 21 days to break/change any habit, which is another way of saying it takes 21 days to drop into a new reality.

Having reinvented myself a number of times in personal and professional pursuits, I’ve consistently been a big advocate of work-life balance. Starting back in the mid- 90s, I introduced a personal needs/values assessment component in all of my leadership seminars that continues to serve as a transformative catalyst for organizational and business leaders.

I am very impressed with the models that Mallorca is advocating from progressive youth education, Transition Towns (using Appreciative Inquiry) to local organic food production, permaculture, biking as preferred transportation, reducing meat in one’s diet (and revealing the truths about the costs of the meat industry),  to a very sophisticated recycling system (including compost) throughout the City of Palma.  The official unemployment rate in Spain is over 20%, (one of the highest in Europe),  however  that isn’t stopping most from finding new ways to connect, collaborate (an inherent value in this culture), and reinvent, once again, a 700+ year old way of being.

Most importantly, the general philosophy here is TRANQUILLA- and this includes the time you take to connect with those you know  (and don’t know) throughout your daily activities.

And so here I am concluding a month of  (once again) witnessing  who I am, what I value, what I deeply desire-

The Result- a simplified life style with real time connections/dialogs that support personal and planetary health, wellness, sustainability, and collaboration-all essential elements for the Awakened Entrepreneur™.

It’s 2009. Let’s all agree- Collaboration is a Social Imperative.

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.

Back  in the mid-90′s, while launching my training & consulting company , Cross Currents Communications,  (my fourth business), I was highly influenced by two powerful mentors: William Bridges and his declaration that “the job is obsolete” and  Tom Peters, who provoked us to Break all the Rules.

Thanks to these revolutionary visionaries and the recession,  we all have the opportunity for reinvention, authenticity, and to “think and be different,”  ie to stand out IN our purpose.

We all have a chance to learn, improve, and build up our skills. We all have a chance to be a brand worthy of remark. Today, we all need to be  CEOs (Chief Enlightenment Officers) of our own companies and to be Head Marketers/Directors of Fulfillment for the brand called You.

Here are a few questions I use in working with clients ready to let go of job titles and duties as their identity, and start thinking of themselves as a company:

1. Start by identifying the positive qualities and characteristics that make you distinctive from your colleagues. What do you do better than anyone else? What are you passionate about?
2. What have you done recently to make yourself stand out?
3. What would your students, customers, clients or colleagues say is your greatest and clearest strength? If you don’t know, ask them.
4. What is your most noteworthy personal trait?
5. What is your “feature-benefit” model? (Do you anticipate and solve problems before they become crises?; Do you complete projects within the allotted budget?)
6. Ask yourself: What do I do that adds remarkable, measurable, distinguished, distinctive value?
7. Ask yourself: What do I do that I am most proud of? (What have I accomplished that I can share confidently and consistently?
8. What value do I offer? Become relentlessly focused on what you do that adds value, that you are proud of, and most importantly, that you can shamelessly take credit for.
9. Finally, ask yourself: What do I want to be famous for?

Once you have worked through the above, with the help of a coach or mentor, you should be able to answer what I call the Golden Branding Questions:

What makes you different? What is it that makes my product or service different and stand out?

After working through the answers  edit it down to 15 words- this is the beginning of your branding message- Brand You .. You, Inc.

Starting my career in the “non-profit” sector over 25 years ago, I’ve always been a huge advocate of social entrepreneurship, and an evangelist for learning and social profit leadership models. I was very encouraged to see Social Entrepreneurship Goes Mainstream as a feature article in last month’s issue of Ode Magazine.

Social entrepreneurs are change agents and pioneers for humanity who have merged their business, service and life purpose to benefit disadvantaged communities and ultimately society at large.

“Social entrepreneurs never let a crisis go to waste. These visionary leaders take this economic upheaval to be a blessing, providing a chance for business to transition from an anonymous, complex system to one that is direct and transparent.” Ode Magazine, March, 2009

I believe Social Entrepreneurship is where we all need to be focusing our business development models. It’s no longer about you  OR me, but about WE and the cooperative advantage, rather than the competitive advantage. It’s about our personal visions and our business mission serving the greater good along with sustainable practices and metrics.

“In a world where change is escalating exponentially, the only way we’ll make it is if everyone has the mindset of a social entrepreneur.”-Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka

2009: The Year of the Awakened Entrepreneur In my  January, 2009 Leading Visions to Action e-zine, I declared 2009 the Year of the Awakened Entrepreneur and listed some criteria that I believe need to be part of the mindset of entrepreneurship in these rapidly changing times. There is more need and more opportunity than ever before for Awakened Entrepreneurs. As Joanna Macy provokes us in her book,  World as Self, World as Lover,“What will you tell your great, great grandchildren you did during the Great Turning?”

So in this period of innovation and reinvention, how can you merge your life purpose and what you stand for with a business for the greater good?

Who are your power partners within  your community and network?
Do you need support in clarifying your vision, purpose, strategy, and content marketing?
What arising needs do you see your business fulfilling?

Authenticity is the key buzz word in the world of marketing. Clean, lean, and transparent systems that are both inward facing (internal partners/staff), and external facing (clients and community) is what we all need to be aiming for and creating.

One of the upsides of the recession is that more and more ecopreneurs and enterprises are utilizing the power of doing more with less by going “green”.

So many in fact, that it leaves those of us who were active in the “ecology movement” of the ’70′s  concerned with  “greenwashed ” marketing.

Read what British Journalist, Nick Rosen,  has to say about “What’s Wrong with Green?“. A fabulous media portal that I’ve been following is Worldchanging – a global network of independent journalists, designers and thinkers covering the world’s most intelligent solutions to today’s problems. Read the latest on Bright Green, Light Green, or Dark Green.

Are you starting a “Green” Business or “Green” Career?  Use my organizational development frame to determine how “green” your enterprise is:

1. 98% of all waste is generated outside of the home- through manufacturing, transportation, distribution. Does your strategic plan include Triple Bottom Line Metrics- measuring performance against economic, social and environmental parameters?

2. Ecological Footprint- What’s your personal and business footprint? The Global Footprint Network has developed one of the most comprehensive methodologies and guidebooks in measuring ecologicial footprint and overshoot.

3.  Collaborative Entrepreneurship: Rather than compete with other small green businesses or “ecopreneurs”- cooperate and collaborate.  What other small “green businesses” can you partner with to offer your clients more complete packages of sustainable products and  services?

4. What is the organization’s commitment to Personal Ecology? At the most fundamental level, start with The 5R’s: Respect, ReThink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Have you seen The Crude Awakening?

5. Citizen Education- Today, there are a tremendous amount of resources available to awaken each and every one of us to our responsibilities of living sustainably-moving from a mindset of consumer to the mindset and actions of citizen. How transparent and educational is your marketing?

6. Green Business Certification- The San Francisco Bay, where I am based, has one of the most advanced Green Business Certification Programs in the USA. Click here for more information.

7. Read and apply Peter Senge’s, et.al.: The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World.

Sustainablilty is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

The future belongs to those who understand that doing more with less is compassionate, prosperous and enduring, more intelligent, and even more “competitive”. Paul Hawken

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.

Last night, I had the opportunity to hear one of my earlier mentors, CJ Hayden ,speak as part of the monthly meeting at Spirit and Work Resource Center in Berkeley, CA. CJ, a principle at Wings Business Coaching, was a wonderful role model for me when I started Resumes That Work™ back in 1995.

Now the author of two books, CJ has found her true calling as a coach for social entrepreneurs- a calling that resonates with the core of my being as well.

In her presentation, she highlighted a very important distinction between a socially responsible business and a social entrepreneur. Social entrepreneurs are first and foremost Change Agents. Their reason for being is to lead SOCIAL CHANGE with an entrepreneurial approach. They are not merely socially conscious business owners with a desire to reduce their environmental footprint.

One of my long term clients, CEO Women in Oakland, CA is a perfect example of social entrepreneurship. Executive Director, Farhana Huq has received multiple awards and micro loans with the “Start Your Own Business” training for immigrant and refugee women.

So how do Social Entrepreneurs fund their ventures and earn a living?

• Micro-enterprise loans (Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank)
• Non-profit organizations with earned income- (Delancy Street in San Francisco)
• Teaching, writing, speaking engagements that fund their ventures
• Grants, fellowships, or awards
• Through another business that runs the social venture (examples: Paul Newman’s Own Foundation or Steven Van Yoder and the GIVE Foundation )
• Selling products and services from the social venture itself: (example: Lila Igram and Palestine Children’s Welfare Fund)
• Through a working spouse or parent (wow!- any extra spouses or parents out there to support my vision and venture?)

“Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.” ~ Joel Barker

Conscious Capitalism is what we’re talking about, and I am committed to leading social entrpreneurs’ visions to action.

“We have the ability to go within our hearts and give what we discover (there) a voice”, said internationally acclaimed author, Gay Hendricks , keynote speaker at the San Francisco Writers for Change Conference.

Gay Hendricks announced at the conference that Five Wishes will be his last book. He will now committ his knowledge, expertise, and experience to mentoring the next generation of writers. In alignment with his passion for technology, writing, and helping others awaken to their power, authenticity, and expanded relationship potential, Hendricks continues to be on the forefront of conscious relationships and new media publishing.

When working with editors, Hendricks reminded attendees that “It’s a rare person who hears what she/he doesn’t want to hear.”

Hendricks encouraged conference attendees to:

Take the time to write one good page a day. ( He has been doing so for 30 years)

Ask yourself:

• How can I serve?
• Is this true? Is this the truest way I can say this in the written word?
• How am I getting in my own way? or How is my brain getting in my way?
• As a writer, what does my audience need? What will awaken my audience to the voice and truth in their own hearts?

Many thanks to Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen, Co-founders and Directors of this 2nd annual conference, for creating such an inspirational platform for change!

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?

High Performance Volunteer Management-Recognizing Stellar Volunteers

More and more, we find organizations and small businesses depending upon volunteers, committees, and even interns to carry out their vision by providing leadership and support in marketing, organizational development and change initiatives.
How do we recruit and retain stellar volunteers? What motivates volunteers? In one word, it’s: RECOGNITION.

THE VOLUNTEER CREED
If you want my loyalty, interests, and best efforts, remember that . . .

1. I need a sense of belonging.
2. I need to have a sense of sharing in planning our objectives.
3. I need to feel that goals and objectives are clear and obtainable.
4. I need to feel that what I am doing has real purpose and contributes to human welfare.
5. I need autonomy and collaboration in setting standards for performance.
6. I need to know what is expected of me (not a laundry list of “duties”.)
7. I need to have challenging responsibilities within my range of interests and abilities.
8. I need feedback about my progress.
9. I need to be kept informed.
10. I need to have good rapport with and confidence in the leadership of the organization.
11. I need timely recognition.

Adapted from The Effective Management of Volunteer Programs, By Marlene Wilson

There are many ways to fulfill the needs of volunteer staff. High retention of volunteers starts with:

* a well-planned volunteer recruitment strategy in alignment with long-term organizational goals.
* very clear descriptions of the volunteer roles with expected outcomes.
* performance development plan and feedback system that promotes professional development.

How we as leaders provide recognition to professionals who volunteer is one of the topics I will be addressing this week in a one-day workshop with over 35 Chamber Chapter Leaders from the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“I can live on one good compliment for 2 months”
Mark Twain