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Agile Balance – What it is… What it does… How to get it, part 2 of 2

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As in nature, Agile Balance requires an organic inside out commitment to stay on course. That’s why I always suggest planting my The Four Commitment QuestionsTM deeply to keep every Jack and Jill on plan, on target and in engaged collaboration. The Four Commitment QuestionsTM (What Can I Do More of, Less of, Start and Stop?) become part of the bedrock to insure commitment to the organization’s vision remains consistent and strong.

Once rooted into an organization’s culture, The Four Commitment QuestionsTM transform the workplace. Based on more than 20 years of research from The Leadership Practices InventoryTM (LPI) created by colleagues Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, these simple, yet effective questions take common sense and turn it into common practice allowing Agile Balance to flourish.

With Agile Balance, the individual and organizational benefits are plentiful:

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About the Author

Robert Thompson is the author of The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable. To learn more about Agile BalanceTM, contact Robert at [email protected], follow him on Twitter @RobertHThompson or subscribe to his Leadership Path newsletter at www.leaderinsideout.com.

Want to learn more about Robert Thompson and The Offsite? Listen to the StrategyDriven Podcast interview during which Robert shares with us his insights on the unique leadership challenges associated with today’s business environment.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:01 — 42.6MB)

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StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 46 – An Interview with David Axson, author of The Management Mythbuster

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StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 46 – An Interview with David Axson, author of The Management Mythbuster explores the common errors made when executing time-honored strategic planning and business management practices and how to avoid these mistakes; subsequently improving management’s effectiveness and the organization’s bottom line. During our discussion, David Axson, author of The Management Mythbuster and President of the Sonax Group, shares with us his insights and illustrative examples regarding:

  • whether many time-honored business principles need to be changed or the way in which they are implemented needs improvement
  • the role of the mission statement and the qualities of a good mission statement
  • circumstances when consultants should be hired and the actions managers should take to ensure their consultants add real value
  • principles to follow when using forecasts as a planning tool
  • how to motivate prudent long-term risk-taking even at the realization of near-term costs
  • why there is no such thing as an IT project
  • what should be done to enhance the value of financial information such that it creates real, value-adding decision-making information for executives and managers

Additional Information

In addition to the outstanding insights David shares in The Management Mythbuster and this special edition podcast are the resources accessible from his website, www.DavidAxson.com.   David’s book, The Management Mythbuster, can be purchased by clicking here.

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About the Author

David Axson, author of The Management Mythbuster, is President of the Sonax Group, a business advisory firm. He is a former head of corporate planning at Bank of America and was a co-founder of The Hackett Group. He is a sought-after speaker and writer on business strategy and management and is widely regarded as a thought leader in the industry. To read David’s complete biography, click here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:56 — 48.0MB)

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Management and Leadership Best Practice 2 – Providing the Tools

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At one time or another, we have all been told that we should use the right tools for the job. And it’s easy to understand how using the proper tools and possessing the appropriate skills helps a given assignment proceed at optimal efficiency; which is also to say at the lowest cost.

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Agile Balance – What it is… What it does… How to get it, part 1 of 2

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Once upon a time, Jack led Jill up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Subsequently, they found the slope a bit slippery. There was a bit of a spill. After that crown-breaking calamity, Jack vowed to become so nimble that he could easily jump over any candlestick, lit or unlit.

Okay, so that’s not quite how the children’s storybook tells it. But, hopefully, like any good leader, Jack, learned from experience. Bouncing back from the fall, he was exposed to “Agile BalanceTM.” (Jill was quick to follow).

What is Agile Balance? Agile is defined as nimble or mentally quick. Balance is defined as steady, maintaining equilibrium or poise. So, Agile Balance might be defined as someone or something that is nimble, quick, steady and self-assured.

But that’s just the start.

When we peer into nature, perhaps viewing the plants and trees on the hill that Jack and Jill fell from, we won’t see a perfect moment of balance. We see Agile Balance. There is no stasis in nature. Change is constant and everywhere. Plants and animals are growing, waning or dying.

That’s the rhythm to life. And that’s the rhythm to great success, both organizationally and personally. That’s Agile Balance. There is no stasis in individuals or organizations. Whether growing, waning or dying, we change each day. And it’s our choice whether the struggle from that process makes us stronger, or nudges us along as we slip slide down the slope.

As they meet on the garden path in my book The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable, guru/gardener Sam Arthur responds that he is “perfect” when Gwen Kelly asks the polite question, “How are you”. I’ve found that every reader defines Sam’s comment about “perfect” differently. Is it possible that Sam is talking about Agile Balance?

When thinking of Agile Balance, a few of the words that spring to mind are: strength, flexibility, speed, endurance and grace. These are just a few of the qualities everyone should seek and embrace as they reach for the results they desire around performance, productivity and profits.

Let’s take a deeper look at these qualities.

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About the Author

Robert Thompson is the author of The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable. To learn more about Agile BalanceTM, contact Robert at [email protected], follow him on Twitter @RobertHThompson or subscribe to his Leadership Path newsletter at www.leaderinsideout.com.

Want to learn more about Robert Thompson and The Offsite? Listen to the StrategyDriven Podcast interview during which Robert shares with us his insights on the unique leadership challenges associated with today’s business environment.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:01 — 42.6MB)

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StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 45 – An Interview with Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential Performance Review Handbook

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StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 45 – An Interview with Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential Performance Review Handbook explores how to conduct personnel performance reviews that are a positive experience for employees and that helps them and the organization excel. During our discussion, Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential Performance Review Handbook: A Quick and Handy Resource For Any Manager or HR Professional and Founder of Sharon Armstrong and Associates, shares with us her insights and illustrative examples regarding:

  • what is at the heart of manager and employee anxiety over personnel performance reviews
  • why some managers and employees approach the performance review process with a high degree of cynicism
  • key principles and methods managers and employees should practice when preparing, executing, and following-up on performance reviews
  • the most effective periodicity for conducting performance reviews
  • how executives and managers can ensure performance ratings are consistently defined and applied

Additional Information

In addition to the outstanding insights Sharon shares in The Essential Performance Review Handbook and this special edition podcast are the resources accessible from her websites, www.SharonArmstrongAndAssociates.com and www.TheEssentialPerformanceReviewHandbook.com.   Sharon’s book, The Essential Performance Review Handbook, can be purchased by clicking here.

About the Author

Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential Performance Review Handbook and The Essential HR Handbook, is the Founder of Sharon Armstrong and Associates. Sharon has served as director of human resources at a law firm and several other organizations in Washington, DC. Since launching her own consulting business in 1998, she has provided training and completed HR projects dealing with performance management design and implementation for a wide variety of clients. To read Sharon’s complete biography, click here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:41 — 42.2MB)

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