A strengths-based review of your 2012

Posted on 8 December, 2010 by jasbindar.singh

Christmas holiday is a great time for rest, renewal and reflection. The year-end underlines a natural point for a stock take – how things shaped up and what we are up to in our lives.  With the advent of the New Year and the promise of new beginnings, pausing to take time for reflection and thoughtful intent for the New Year is most natural.

The seers have repeatedly pronounced – an un-reflected is an unlived life!  This year, I would like to encourage a strengths based approach to your reflections.

And why not record your answers to the following questions in your journal?  Not only will this give you a sense of achievement and consequent good feelings but it will also provide you with directional clarity for the coming year.

You could ask these questions in relation to your team, business, leadership and personal life as well.

Continue reading →

Posted in Careers, Emotional Intelligence, leadership, Personal development, Strengths-based approach | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

5 essentials when making career or life changes

Posted on 7 December, 2010 by jasbindar.singh

Change is one of the few certainties in life. Yet we can still feel daunted when confronted with it.  Even changes we choose to make bring forth emotions and reactions not quite anticipated.  If you are on the threshold of making some changes  here are some guiding principles and touch points to consider.

1)    Meaning and Purpose – Identify and do what gives you a sense of satisfaction, joy and fulfillment.  As Joseph Campbell so aptly expressed “follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls….”   Do what is deeply satisfying for you and gives you a sense of ‘rightness” or even “this is what I am here for” feeling.

Continue reading →

Posted in Careers, Emotional Intelligence, Integrity and Values, Spiritual Intelligence, Strengths-based approach | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are you leading with a sense of entitlement?

Posted on 25 October, 2010 by jasbindar.singh

Whether you are a manager, leader or an employee, having a sense of entitlement can be a dangerous thing. I am not referring to certain entitlements we all have as per legal, contractual or basic moral rights. But more the sense that comes through one’s role and place in society, organization or political life, where one gets used to a level of position, power, privilege and perks. “Who I am” takes precedence over “what I do” (or how I perform). Continue reading →

Posted in Emotional Intelligence, Integrity and Values, leadership, Personal development | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The eight lessons Paul Henry teaches us about leadership.

Posted on 5 October, 2010 by jasbindar.singh

Whichever way one looks at it, Paul Henry’s recent comments asking the Prime Minister whether the next Governor-General is going to “look and sound like a New Zealander” are insulting and racist. It falls way below the mark in his role as a TVNZ breakfast host.

The basic requirement of any job including those in leadership is that we deliver what is expected of that role and take full responsibility for our actions.  When managers, leaders and politicians fail to do this, their leadership including the organization’s culture and ethos are – quite rightly – questioned.

Prejudice and stereotypes invariably blind us. Never mind Sir Anand’s background, calibre and merit in having been an almost perfect fit for the job. He is “culturally different” or more to the point “not white.”  So everything else becomes irrelevant. This is a not a recipe for  building and leading a team, organization or country. Continue reading →

Posted in Careers, Emotional Intelligence, Integrity and Values, leadership, Spiritual Intelligence | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

7 Insights into Employee Engagement

Posted on 26 September, 2010 by jasbindar.singh

1. Employee engagement is a three-way process and requires responsibility, accountability and ownership from employer, employees and the organization.  We talk about employee engagement including the kinds of things employees need to feel engaged and what the managers and leaders need to provide. The latter certainly have an active role in harnessing the best of their talent and creating a rich culture that people want to be part of and enjoy coming to work.  There is certainly a lot that can be done at the level of leadership engagement behaviours.  However, employees aren’t mere passive receptacles of these initiatives but are also active players who have a role in shaping a great workplace. Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, Emotional Intelligence, Employee Engagement, Integrity and Values, leadership, Personal development, Work and life engagement | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How managers and leaders can encourage a strengths-based approach

Posted on 23 September, 2010 by jasbindar.singh

strengths-based approach

A very natural tendency for the human mind is to focus on problems and what needs fixing.  If we are given feedback that is mostly positive, we still gravitate towards the one negative in the mix. The mind is a problem-solving apparatus and zeroes in to resolve the ‘incomplete” or unresolved.

In our work, with the ever expanding “to do” list and multiple projects on the go, it is easy to ignore what is working well and acknowledge milestones and progress made.  In the pursuit of the incomplete, we easily overlook the complete!  

This is not to say that we overlook the risks or what else may need addressing but more that we acknowledge and build on the strengths. That we have that as a strong reference point to build on rather than the default negative  weakness focus.

In our careers too, we are much more effective when we are driving off our strengths and putting these to good use in the service of others while also gaining a sense of personal fulfillment.

A colleague asked me, “How do we get organizations and managers recognizing and acting on the strengths concept, rather than the negative weakness focus we see so regularly?” Continue reading →

Posted in Careers, Coaching, Emotional Intelligence, Giving and receiving feedback, leadership, Personal development, Spiritual Intelligence, Strengths-based approach, Work and life engagement | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

How managers can give and receive feedback more effectively

Posted on 17 September, 2010 by jasbindar.singh

giving and receiving feedbackGiving and receiving feedback whether at work or home can be challenging. In the work setting, whether it is giving feedback during a “coachable moment” or a more formal context such as performance appraisal or review, there are some principles – discussed below, which make the giving and receiving of feedback positive and constructive. While there is a move towards feed forward now, especially in the work setting, giving and receiving feedback is still something we find ourselves doing. Continue reading →

Posted in Careers, Coaching, Emotional Intelligence, Giving and receiving feedback, leadership, Personal development | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Sir John Whitmore on Coaching, Leadership and Change

Posted on 17 August, 2010 by jasbindar.singh

Sir John WhitmoreSir John Whitmore is a pre-eminent thinker in leadership and organisational change and works globally with international organisations and leading multinational corporations to establish coaching management cultures and leadership programmes.  He has written five books on leadership, coaching and sports, of which Coaching for Performance is the best known having sold 500,000 copies in 17 languages. He is also the former British and European motor racing champion and the Executive Chairman of Performance Consultants.

I interviewed him recently on the role of coaches and leadership in the changing business and economic environment.   Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, Integrity and Values, leadership, Spiritual Intelligence | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

5 leading steps to moving beyond your comfort zone

Posted on 1 August, 2010 by jasbindar.singh

leadership courage, moving beyond comfort zoneBeen out of your comfort zone lately? Can you recall how you reacted and its impact on your problem-solving or decision making? My business coaching client, the CEO of a SME, related the fascinating story of his recent trip to China where he met up with other key players from around the globe. The city they visited was no Beijing or Shanghai. It was smaller in size and his hotel was in an area specified as the “government zone.” As foreign nationals they were advised not to venture out of this. However, in need of much exercise and fresh air, my client did venture forth one day and soon found himself walking beyond the edges of familiarity. He noted that suddenly the scenery had changed dramatically. Continue reading →

Posted in Emotional Intelligence, Integrity and Values, leadership, Personal development | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The All Whites – a team of individual champions or a champion team?

Posted on 3 July, 2010 by jasbindar.singh

Great team work and leadership - All Whites 2010The All Whites performance at FIFA has been remarkable; a demonstration of great leadership and excellent team work. With the World Cup they have –  rather suddenly, sprouted in our sporting consciousness and totally captured the nation’s imagination. After being an insignificant seventy eight in the world rankings, who would have expected them to do as well as they did? Here’s a team that did not have the support, backing and resources such as the All Blacks and yet they made every Kiwi feel proud by remaining unbeaten and scoring the goals they did – firstly with Slovakia and then against the World Cup holders, Italy! And we could go on here…. Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, Integrity and Values, leadership, Personal development, Work and life engagement | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments