Leaders not using this crisis to repurpose and reposition their organizations are wasting a good crisis. If you are preoccupied only on surviving these critical times, you are missing out on the opportunity to do something bigger, to play a bigger game.

Strategic leadership is not about “how will we come out of this in six or nine months?” It is about, “how are we using this crisis to strengthen our position?” It is about looking beyond the current obvious situation and asking “what vision if any, are we pursuing?”

Here are some questions leaders must ask themselves at this time:

1. What do you see your situation to actually be?
2. What are the “constants” and what are the “changeables”?
3. What new opportunities can emerge in this crisis?
4. How are you using this downturn to strengthen your position? Your people? Your focus? Your value proposition? Your alliances? Your execution?
5. What is your vision?
6. What are the crucial questions you must answer to realize your vision?
7. What do you want to be known for? Where do you want to be when the upturn begins?
8. What changes do you need to make? What competencies must you focus on?
9. What investments are critical?
10. How can you help bring about a recovery of confidence for your people? What specifically will you do?

Call us to find out about breakthrough coaching for you and your team.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Feb.23.2009 :: Entrepreneur, Leadership :: No Comments »

Following my post on the movie Man On Wire, Josh asked: “How did he get such commitment and effort from his friends to assist him in this task, in fulfilling his dream? Even those who could not speak his language…”

What Josh is really asking about is the anatomy of enrollment – what is the process of engaging, enticing and enrolling others to join and support your vision, your endeavor to realize a dream? What do you do to attract and recruit people to join your cause?

Here are a series of thoughts about the process of enrollment – attracting and rallying others to join you. What we already know:
1. People don’t remember what you say, but they never forget what you made them feel.
2. People join something because of what it makes them feel about themselves, because of how it transforms their self-concept.
3. More than anything, people hope to join something greater, in which they may be able to lose themselves and to re-find themselves anew.
4. Many people wish to feel that their lives have a meaning beyond the immediate fulfillment of carnal needs. The innovator, the leader they join provides a vision and meaning which alleviates the fear of emptiness.
5. The charisma of an adventurous vision is in stepping into an unknown to break an impossible barrier. There is a spiritual dimension to this and the desire to escape temporariness, to touch eternity.
6. A bigger vision and endeavor provides for all involved a sense of being bigger themselves.
7. We tend to think in terms of number One’s and number Two’s (and Three’s and Four’s) – the founder, the inventor, the leader are the number One’s. Their assistants and helpers are the number Two’s. Well, nothing big in this world could have happened without number Two’s. We tend to focus on the One’s; this is where the story is told. But there is an over emphasis in this stance – a pedestal personality sensationalism.
8. Here is a thought experiment. Try to take the reversed view – try to shift from the person’s view to the task’s view – try to step into the view of the invention, not the inventor. The view of the achievement – the vision’s view. Imagine for a minute that the task has a “consciousness,” that the vision has its own “consciousness” – that it wants to be achieved and that it has the power to rally and enroll whomever it needs for it to be realized. For the task to succeed, for the vision to be fulfilled – it needs to enroll not just the central character – it needs support characters too. It cannot be accomplished without them.
9. History is mostly told through the eyes of number One’s – we assert that they are the authors of history. The truth is that the number Two’s (and Three’s and Four’s) of most big things held indispensible roles and made irreplaceable contributions. Great revolutions, the founding of nations, business achievements, scientific discoveries, innovation breakthroughs, artistic accomplishments and great triumphs in world explorations – would not have come to fruition without these close supporters. The Two’s feel a similar sense of mission and realization even though they are not acting in the number One role.
10. John Lennon and Paul McCartney needed George Harrison and Ringo Starr to make the Beatles. Michel Jordan needed Scottie Pippen. Lance Armstrong needed his team. Barack Obama needed the rivalry of Hillary Clinton to make him a better candidate. He now needs a series of supporting characters to realize the potential of his Presidency.
11. What is the anatomy of enrollment? We have just witnessed one of the greatest popular rallying and enrollments in modern history. Obama is the 44th president of the US because he successfully caused this rally.
12. There is an invisible energetic component to the act of enrollment. Attraction and rally is fueled by magnetism. The power of contagion that emanates from the can-do confidence of a leader.
13. The same mechanics apply to good causes and to some of the worst things that have happened in history.
14. A leader who is able to rally support and enroll others to a cause brings together many things. Conviction. Creativity. Organizational power. Long view. Determination. Where others see stars, they see a constellation. More than anything they mount a concentration of focus and confidence in their envisioned outcome. A concentration which creates an irresistible field of power. The field gets ratified and magnified by enrollees who join the cause.

Finally, we are each here for a variety of lessons and roles. We did not all come here to do the same thing, act in the same capacity or share in the same destiny. There are different functions and roles wherein all can play a part inside greater whole.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Jan.31.2009 :: Entrepreneur, Organizational Development :: 1 Comment »

Abraham Lincoln is known to have said that “the best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.” That was true back then. Now, the future arrives one tsunami after another, continuously, without a pause.

You are immersed in the future now. Your job is more than just to cope with it. You are trying to decipher and understand it. You work to become a vessel for it; a tool, a conduit for its manifestation. The art of living is in co-creating the future as it arrives.

Leadership is about co-creating the future. In our Future Scenarios Workshop, leadership teams create plausible futures to evaluate opportunities, risks, impacts and uncertainties. We do not try to be predictive. Instead, we explore a range of plausible futures where we can facilitate the transition from coping with the future to co-creating it.

Here is a mindset to practice: The future is here. Your work is to attempt to decipher it. To optimize your responses. To develop today the capacities you will need tomorrow. To ease the future now.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Jan.17.2009 :: Entrepreneur, Future :: No Comments »

Excerpt from the Emerald CD – Focus On Solutions Not On problems

The word solution has another meaning in the connotation of Chemistry. It’s the opposite of fixed, solid, rigid and unyielding. To solve, means to turn a substance from hard or coagulated into a fluid, moving state. To solve is to un-fix. To fix something is to make it static; to solve is to turn it into a process.

This Emerald Key points to two necessary shifts in focus. First, a shift from the problem to the solution, and second, a shift from the mindset of solution as a fixed end-product into the mindset of a fluid and organic process of continual improvement and development.

Einstein said: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” And further, we cannot solve problems at the same level where we encountered them. In other words: if you are looking at a “category 5” problem (on the problems’ Richter scale) you cannot find the solution while being at a “category 5” mindset; you have to attain a greater capacity and a higher level from which to view the problem.

If you want to handle larger problems, you have to grow you. You have to grow from being a “category 5” person to being a bigger person – a person that can generate bigger solutions with ease. A bigger solution needs a bigger person.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Jan.11.2009 :: Entrepreneur, Personal Growth :: 1 Comment »

Breakdowns herald breakthroughs. Breakdowns lead to breakthroughs.
What was is no more. Companies that were strong and stable are faltering and failing. Political, economic and social structures are collapsing. Every day brings new headlines. You wake up to find out that the world has changed.  In the darkness you begin to see the stars.

These are signs of transition; of big systemic transformation, an epoch change. Fear abounds. What was true yesterday is no more. Rapid changes bring confusion and uncertainty. Inside the chaos are the seeds of new opportunities. Wherever a door is shut, a new window opens up. Growth, hope and possibilities are found amid destruction. Breakdowns lead to breakthroughs. Stars shine in the dark.

1. Get centered. Take a deep breath. Focus.
2. Do not fight change. Relax into it. Ease into a new discovery. Move from looking backward to looking forward.
3. Be confident. Trust yourself. You have overcome greater difficulties.
4. This too shall pass. Know that all is well. Yes, all is well.
5. Take time for yourself. To think. To reflect. To re-center. To plan. Re-discover you. Reconnect to purpose.
6. Attend to your network. Give and find support. Go out of your way to help.
7. Lead. Open new doors for yourself and for others. Dare to step up.
8. Be gracious. Create a space. Make allowance. We all need our time. Some a little slower. Some a little faster.
9. Count your blessings. Health. Companionship. Friendship. Beauty. Humor. Meaningful connections and conversations.
10. Better days are coming. Greater opportunities for you are ahead.  To contribute. To be present. To find what you are here for. To Serve. To Lead.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Dec.09.2008 :: Entrepreneur, Personal Growth, Tough Times :: No Comments »

Executives in their own words…

Anurag Asthana

Laurent Poujol

Rahul Biswari

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Dec.04.2008 :: Entrepreneur, Leadership :: No Comments »

Here are three ways to begin—three starting strategies.
1. Fly to the easiest spot
2. Face the toughest part head-on
3. Chunk the whale into parts

The first strategy is best applied when you face a new domain or task that may seem difficult at first. This strategy is useful in the following cases:
1. Crossword puzzles
2. Exams
3. Networking a room full of strangers
4. A visit to a new country
5. Tidying up a messy house
The first strategy is to find the easiest entry or starting point. Identify the least challenging entry point and quickly move towards it. It will help you warm up and relax into doing the rest. As you warm up, you begin to flow. New doors open up once you begin to engage. Next steps reveal themselves as you ease into action. The system’s intelligence begins to surrender to you and guide your next moves. The wisdom of this strategy is that it doesn’t matter where you begin, as long as you do.

The second strategy is to address the greatest challenge head-on. You apply this strategy when dealing with matters of life and death, when it is critical to address the greatest threat and danger without delay. This works when the most urgent relates to the most important and you must face it head-on. There are other situations, where beginning with the toughest challenge is the way to go, even if a time factor is not involved.  Resolving a conflict is an example. The toughest thing in the world may be to get the two parties involved together in the same room. And that is exactly what you need to do. Faced with a communication breakdown, you begin at the toughest point.

For example, you could say: “look, I know you hate me, you might even want to kill me but we’ve got to be able to talk.” It can be difficult or scary to say but you present the other person with a choice: they can say: “I don’t hate you at all.” Or they can say: “It’s true; I hate you for what you’ve done” or they may say, “Don’t be ridiculous, I would not dream of hurting you in a million years.” Once you have said the worst, the toughest thing that can be said, it is not so difficult anymore. Plus, you are now talking. When two people are talking and listening to each other, hate and anger begin to melt.

The third strategy is used for large and complex projects where you can’t just begin right away because it is simply impossible to swallow the whole whale in one go or you can’t even see how big the whale is. Your approach then is to develop a plan, in which the big project is broken down into smaller projects and these are then broken out into more manageable tasks that can be planned as a series of activities on a time line. This approach is used for designing and building a house, for a large engineering project like building a bridge or an airplane and you may choose this approach for writing a book. If you need to plant a forest of trees, plant them one tree at a time.

The criterion to choosing your starting strategy is to find the point of greatest leverage. In certain situations the greatest leverage is the third strategy: Plan your work and then work your plan. In others, the greatest leverage is in addressing the toughest issue and facing head-on the biggest threat. And in some circumstances, your best leverage is the first strategy of finding the easiest entry point.
Reflect on what you have recently started. What strategy did you employ? Share with us your starting strategies and successes and what worked well for you.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Nov.09.2008 :: Entrepreneur, Strategy :: No Comments »

In good times and in tough times, the surest and safest tactic is to become the best value generator you can be.

Here are ten things you can do to generate and bring great value to your stakeholders.

1. Be clear about the most important – the vital things.
2. Identify the key people you serve.
3. Learn their concerns, needs and issues.
4. Don’t let not knowing inhibit you – ask questions to better understand until you feel you do understand.
5. Develop versatility in your communication. Over-communicate.
6. Practice situational awareness – What makes the people around you excel? What are their data-processing preferences? What are their decision-making styles? What will offer the best help?
7. Think and reason for yourself. Develop and express a viewpoint.
8. Take initiatives. Stake a position. You learn more and are more engaged once you have staked out a position. You learn most by helping others.
9. Seek feedback. Never take criticism or rejection personally. Continue to improve and optimize.
10. Find a mentor or a coach.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Nov.06.2008 :: Entrepreneur, Personal Growth, Tough Times :: No Comments »

Excerpt from the Fourth Emerald Key: Radical growth – the Learn-ability leverage
Kaleidoscoping is the practice and capacity to recognize relationships and patterns. You practice active inquiry that seeks to understand the core principles that are the basis of all systems. Kaleidoscoping is the ability to compare and correlate seemingly unrelated fields and apply concepts from one to the other. For example, using the terminology and anatomy of weather systems in organizational behavior and the season’s cycle in the market place.  You discover that building an investment and building trusting relationships are similar – they follow the same principle, both need ongoing deposits.  You observe the infrastructure and activity of a beehive to learn about promoting a culture of efficiency and excellence in execution. Kaleidoscoping is the practice of increasing your capacity to handle complexity, such as in the now 24/7 interconnectedness of the web 2.0 conversation. You kaleidoscope to discover meaning in new combinations and connections and learn to anticipate what is newly emerging. You connect the dots to see constellations where others see stars.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Aug.26.2008 :: Emerald Keys, Entrepreneur, Future, Innovation :: 2 Comments »

I agree with 93% of what Marshal Goldsmith tells us in his “Advice for the young that transcends age” in BusinessWeek.

I agree that in an era of uncertainty, we all need to think like entrepreneurs. Second I agree that it is tough out there, and it’s only going to get tougher. Third I agree that you better forget about security.
And fourth I agree that it is a fairer and better world when millions of people from around the world are and will be getting the chance their parents never had.

Here is what I disagree with:

1. I disagree that you should “strive to survive”. I believe you are better off striving for much more than survival. Unless you strive to make a meaningful impact, to unlock your opportunities and to make the most of them, you begin to die even while you survive. How about striving for greatness, for meaning, for purpose, for a meaningful contribution?

2. I disagree that you should “forget about taking a year off.” If you have an opportunity for a learning adventure, a year off the trodden path and breaking away from the rat race might be the best move you can make to help your career development and opportunities. You can make this not a “year off” but rather a “year on” about life, living and learning.

3. I disagree that you should not be finding yourself during your adult years. You can “find yourself” inside anything you do. The first creativity is in re-creating you. Beyond the great surge of the globalized economy and consumerism, we are about to see a great surge in people’s desire for connection, meaning, true impact, beauty, inspiration and for simply being able to create a peace of mind. The next two decades are about to unleash a new wave in this globalization surge – the resurgence of art and culture and integral development, with new scientific breakthroughs and innovation on all fronts to facilitate these higher human needs. Do not give up on these essentials. The price of giving up is too high. You will be thriving but dead.

Investing in what you are about, in what you believe in, and in your growth and development is the best way to invest your time and money in your future. The future is not a repetition of the past. Subscribing to the mindset that helped our grandparents to survive the Depression is not the best approach. Instead, try to glean what the future is bringing and what mindsets are useful to have now to be able to live and flourish in a global ecology, not just survive it.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar :: Aug.23.2008 :: Entrepreneur, Personal Growth :: 1 Comment »