Francie Van Wirkus's Blog, page 10
February 13, 2019
Can Everyone Hear Me?
Yes, we can hear you.
Starting your speech, meeting, or call with “Can everyone hear me?” is a basic but very common mistake.
Committing to stopping this little bad habit is a small change you can make this year, one meeting, one speech at a time.
February 11, 2019
Not Feeling it
Okay, so you’re not feeling it today. Is it your brain telling you that, or your body? They are very different.
As a yoga instructor and endurance athlete, I believe it’s important to listen to your body’s messages. But our brains are a little different. Our brains are protective, comfort-loving, and usually like the familiar.
We can tell ourselves we’re not feeling it, when in fact there is no…
February 6, 2019
Support
It’s easy to say you support someone. Much harder to actually do it.
People who support you come in all different packages. This is good, because you need support from many angles. Advice, encouragement, promotion, hands-on help, financial backing, networking…Likely, they all have a place in your small business or indie startup.
Spend your precious energy with these people.
February 4, 2019
The Meter is Running
Your teams are very resilient; they can roll with a lot of ups and downs in their work.
But all teams have a limit.
Surveys and bonuses can help, but true change comes from your vision and mission.
What are we becoming as an organization?
How will we get there?
Who must do what?
January 31, 2019
Agile is for Leaders
Recently, I spoke to a group of high level executives who wanted a motivational talk, and wanted me to weave agile into it.
I loved the chance to meet with them! I did the best I could to illuminate key agile leader concepts.
In the end, they didn’t find much that they could take away from my talk about seeking to understand, meet people where they are, what vs. how, and the five tenets of lean…
January 28, 2019
Hire Right
Organizations put incredible pressure on leaders to move quickly and have all-or-nothing thinking when hiring employees.
Might moving quickly and making an all-or-nothing decision be in direct conflict with each other?
Take a breath, and encourage those wanting to “ramp up” to take a breath as well.
January 23, 2019
Agile is for Leaders
Agile.
Scaled agile.
Business agility.
Scrum.
DevOps.
If you’re thinking about teams changing the way they work, that’s good.
If you’re thinking about teams and leaders changing the way they work, that’s great!
January 21, 2019
Leaders Make Boundaries
Poor performers survive when leaders do not make boundaries for them…to improve, or to move on.
What is the boundary?
Start with your vision, your team’s values, and work into it from there.
January 16, 2019
Win with Local Change
“We just need them to tell us what’s going on.”
Before you blame the problem on a person, stop and take a look.
Is your work environment in direct conflict with collaboration?
What is in you control to get the collaboration you need?
January 14, 2019
Vision is King, Again
A shared vision makes a clear path for everyone.
Relentlessly sharing vision makes it challenging for people to remain stuck.
This work is a practice, and it takes time. Commit to begin practicing today.
