How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help. Part 2 of an Interview with Dr. Ed Schein

In our last episode I started an interview with Dr. Ed Schein, Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus at MIT and author of fourteen business books, including The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. Make sure to listen to that episode if you happened to miss it.

In this second part of the interview, we turn our attention to Ed's seminal yet highly practical book entitled Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help. Ever wonder why some people find it difficult to ask for help, even when they are "spinning their wheels" with the project tasks? Or why some people just won't take you up on offers to help, even when it's desperately needed?

In this interview Ed helps us understand the surprisingly complex dynamics around giving and receiving help. I strongly recommend you get a copy of Ed's books we discuss in these two episodes.

I invite you to join me next time when I interview Dr. Allen Cohen, author of the acclaimed book Influence Without Authority. Part of the complexity of projects today relates to the fact that many of us have the responsibility to deliver the projects yet don't have authority over all the people we must depend on. Increasingly project success depends on relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders, and our ability to influence those people—even when we don't have authority over them—is critical. I look forward to sharing that interview with you.

Thanks for checking out our new podcast website at www.peopleandprojectspodcast.com. I invite you to let me know what you think about it! Thanks for joining us for this episode! Have a great week!



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Labels: communication, employee engagement, leadership, productivity, project management, relationships, teambuilding

posted by Andy at 9:32 AM

Corporate Culture Survival, with Sloans Fellow Professor of Management Emeritus, Dr. Ed Schein

It happens regularly... my phone rings, I pick it up, and on the other end I'm talking with someone who's inquiring about bringing us in to deliver a keynote for a company event or training for their organization.

My first response is not whether I'm available on the dates they're looking for. My first questions are designed to help me understand the problems they're trying to solve.

Once I have a good sense of the issues they want to address, I inevitably ask a critical, open-ended question: "Tell me about the culture of your organization?"

How would you respond to that question? How would you describe your company's culture? Or the culture of your team? How about the project culture at your company--how things get done?

This is what I've found: understanding organizational culture is critical to being able to deliver projects and lead teams. If I don't have a decent idea of the culture I'm walking into for a keynote, workshop, or coaching session, I flat out won't be effective. It would be like walking in and finding that everyone speaks a foreign language.

Dr. Ed Schein is a world renowned MIT professor and expert on organizational culture, and has authored fourteen business books, including The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. When it comes to knowing how to get things done in a company, Ed is one of my heroes, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to speak with him recently. This episode contains the first part of my discussion with Dr. Schein, with the remaining to be included in the next cast.

Part 2 of my interview with Dr. Schein will focus on his book Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help.

Hey, I want to invite you to check out our new People and Projects Podcast website! Check us out at www.peopleandprojectspodcast.com. I would love your feedback on the site!

While you're at it, would you take a moment to tell a friend about this podcast? I would love to have the opportunity to help develop your friends and colleagues who have a desire to successfully deliver projects and lead teams.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of the People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!



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Labels: communication, conflict, employee engagement, influence, leadership, managing change, motivation, podcast, project management

posted by Andy at 1:40 AM

Fierce Leadership, an interview with author Susan Scott

Being an effective leader of people and projects can often come down to having a good nose... Being able to sense that something just doesn't smell quite right!

Learning to develop your ability to "sniff out problems" or "spot the tells"--those indications there are issues needing attention--is a key leadership skill developed through years of experience.

It's also a theme of Susan Scott's new book released just this week entitled Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today. I'm an enthusiastic admirer of Susan's book Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time and had the opportunity to catch up with Susan during this busy week of launching her new best seller.

Would you like a free copy of Fierce Leadership? Just be the first person to contact me at podcast@i-leadonline.com. Also, if you haven't read Susan's book Fierce Conversations, here's a link to pick up a copy on Amazon.com.

Do you have a friend or colleague who would benefit from interviews such as this one with Susan Scott? I invite you to send them a link to our podcast home page or to subscribe on iTunes.

Special thanks to Susan Scott for joining us today! You can learn more about Susan and her company at http://www.fierceinc.com/. And thank you for joining us for this edition of The People and Projects Podcast!

Enjoy the cast!

11-Fierce Leadership, an interview with author Susan Scott

Labels: communication, conflict, leadership, relationships

posted by Andy at 10:00 PM

Increasing Your Charisma, with guest Dr. Nick Morgan, author of "Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma"

You're presenting in a meeting or perhaps in front of a group. What is it that makes you more believable? More engaging? More trustworthy?

The topic for today's cast is the key to charisma. Many people think you either have the charisma gene or you don't. Tony Robbins? He got it. Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Not so much!

But is it purely a matter of genetics? Is there hope for those of us whose family tree didn't bless them with the charisma gene?

After coaching hundreds of executives I'm here to tell you there's hope for us all! Charisma is not two-state: you either have it or not. There are practical skills that you can develop to improve your ability to develop rapport and trust with people.

And let's face it. This is a critical skill to develop. As I often say, the "dirty little secret of business is that it's all done on relationships." To succeed we need to be able to convince our boss, key stakeholders, or customers to support our ideas. Being authentic, engaging, and trustworthy is foundational to our ability to influence.

Similarly, to be successful we need to be able to detect when someone is not being straight with us. I've often said that sometimes being an effective project manager (or leader) is having a good nose.... By that I mean: "Hmmm... something doesn't smell right!" Developing our instincts to know when we're being told the truth or not can be an important part of our development as an effective leader.

So, how can we be more authentic and engaging when we are communicating? That's the subject of the book Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma, written by communication guru Dr. Nick Morgan. A major focus of Dr. Morgan's work is aligning our verbals with our non-verbals--a subject that many of you will have heard me discuss if you've participated in one of my project management or leadership workshops. It's a vital component of effective communication--so simple in concept--yet too often not practiced.

In the interview with Dr. Nick Morgan you will hear about the offer for a free DVD of a recent presentation he made on this topic at Harvard. I highly recommend you snag a copy for yourself--something for you and perhaps even to show to your team. These will go fast so send me an e-mail today at andy@i-leadonline.com to get your copy.

Hey, quick question: how satisfied are you with how your organization delivers projects? We have a series of three workshops that might be exactly what your organization needs. Our Essentials of Project Management workshop helps you, your teams, and even stakeholders get on the same page when it comes to delivering projects. We're regularly told people learn more in two days than they have in any previous workshop on the topic of project management. Our Advanced Project Management and PMP Prep workshops take the next step in helping you and your organization deliver results. Give us a call toll-free at 866-88 I-LEAD (866-884-5323) or check out our website at http://www.i-leadonline.com/ for more information.

Thanks for listening to The People and Projects Podcast!

Increasing Your Charisma, with guest Dr. Nick Morgan, author of "Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma"

Labels: communication, presentation skills, relationships

posted by Andy at 11:43 AM