Aviv's Blog

The KEY: Decision-Making Blind Spots – Part II

Aviv Shahar — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:36:54 +0000

Personal mastery is one of the objects of life’s journey. You face challenges and are given opportunities and you learn how you respond, and how to make decisions. We’ve all made smart and also not so smart decisions.

Decision making should be taught early in life as a fundamental skill. But unless you’ve had an enlightened mentor it’s unlikely you practiced the knowhow to avoid the blind spots of decision making. I know I didn’t and I had to learn the hard way. Discover Part Two in the series of Decision Blind Spots.

New York

Aviv Shahar — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:29:12 +0000

A view from the Palace Hotel New York

Central Park

The KEY: The Future of Coaching

Aviv Shahar — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 02:05:45 +0000

As coaching entered the business arena, coaches were asked at first to offer remedial help. They were hired to help “fix” people with “problems,” especially individuals whom managers did not know how to manage or motivate toward higher performance or creativity.

Coaching became mainstream in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when companies realized that the best coaching application and ROI was to support top talent. If you wanted to become a top performer or to get into a bigger game, you sought out a coach to help you.

As the Internet exploded, two classic counter-trends followed: Coaching ubiquity and institutionalization. Many who wanted to become a coach seemed to decide one Monday morning to start calling themselves one, so coaching became ubiquitous. Some people tried to establish the “profession,” to build credentials for the “discipline” and define the “field.” Coaching schools, academies, institutions, federations and conventions were popping up all over the place. It was a smart business model, too. Licensing the hope for prosperity and independence was highly lucrative.
Click here to read more about the future of Coaching.

The KEY: Your Spring Reboot

Aviv Shahar — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:07:40 +0000

It’s time for a spring clean-up, tune-up and reboot to make this the year of dramatic improvements. What got you here clearly served you well but it will not be sufficient to create the future you are capable of realizing – the future you were born to manifest. You now need to build new practices, engage new “muscles,” and embark on new possibilities. Discover in this KEY eight levers to create renewal and momentous progress. To produce breakthroughs choose the lever you can pull and take action immediately.

The Future of Leadership

Aviv Shahar — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:28:37 +0000

Here are some highlights about leadership from the Davos Global Shapers panel:

The young leaders were asked: What does leadership mean for you? What leadership are you looking for?

Their comments about what Leadership is about included the following:

Facilitating others in achieving the best results together
Bringing forward wisdom and inspiration
Creating a culture of mutual support and generosity that allows people to flourish
Enabling speed of collaboration and integration
Listening
Enabling non-linear scalable solutions
Removing roadblocks

The KEY: The Future of Work

Aviv Shahar — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:13:53 +0000

The difference between market leadership and chapter 11 is the ability to attract and retain the best people. With rapid change accelerating, leaders must develop practical strategies to recruit, develop and collaboratively engage five generations in the workplace. This has never happened before, so coalescing these generations at work in the dynamic environment ahead presents extraordinary opportunities and challenges. Companies that are not prepared to meet these opportunities risk their viability. In this KEY you will discover five forces shaping the future of work.

The Global Business Context: A Davos CEO Panel

Aviv Shahar — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:01:40 +0000

Here are key themes from the Davos panel about the strategic, organizational and operational issues that are reshaping how businesses operate worldwide. The CEOs on the panel included:
• John T. Chambers, Cisco
• Thomas Enders, Airbus
• Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa
• Duncan Niederauer, NYSE Euronext
• Ferit F. Sahenk, Dogus Group
• Patricia A. Woertz, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
• Hans-Paul Bürkner, The Boston Consulting Group

Themes:

24/7 mindset is yesterday. The volatility and velocity of change requires a 25/8 mindset.
We are going through rapid market transition, economic transition, and technological transition… the big question for organizations: how do we reinvent ourselves? Unless you can reinvent, you will have your “Kodak Moment” and die.
Deleveraging is here to stay. Together with higher capital requirement this chokes credit and makes for a tough environment for small and medium businesses.
You must build flexible organization with dynamic human capital.
We all want to live better and do better.
Think One World.
Think collective wisdom.
We are all watched in real time.
A quarter of global aircraft orders is for china.
Maintain a bifocal focus on short and long term. Be realistic about what is possible in the short term. But for the long term strategy you must plan for growth with two billion people entering global market and aspiring for urban life style. You cannot entrench and grow. Manage the short term with the long term in mind. Work on the long term by capitalizing on opportunities here and now. You must earn the right to grow.
The potential for upside breakout is in better collaboration between government and the private sector.
Most successful needs to give back most.
Execution is leadership.
The only sustainable competitive advantage is your people and having the brightest talent.

The KEY:Top 5 for 2012

Aviv Shahar — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:19:48 +0000

The top lesson I propose you take forward into 2012 is to be surprised by nothing. Always expect the best and believe in possibilities, but be prepared for any eventuality, wild card and setback. Anything and everything you assume is stable and safe may not be. Look at the world with new eyes. In the next five years there will be very few institutions and structures, if any, that will be left unchanged. Read more about my top 5 for 2012 here.

Panama City, Panama

Aviv Shahar — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:17:11 +0000

My immersion and acclimatization to Panama City, Panama is through rhythm and is immediate. The Taxi driver who drives me from the airport to the hotel taps the rhythm of the music his radio plays. This is a short work visit and I ask him to take me directly to the Canal. We tour the city and the Panama Canal and we both tap the rhythm. Music is the fastest way to get to know people and to feel what moves them. The music tells the story of people’s attitude to life, challenge, joy, love and more… Panamanians’ pride is different to the way Mexicans or Brazilians express their pride. The Brazilian pride is about the national character and how they express it. The Mexican pride is expressed in the beliefs they hold and the stories they tell. The Panamanian pride is about resilience and what they are able to do.

Here are some photos from the city and the canal.

The Panama Canal

The KEY: Your Biggest Choice Ever

Aviv Shahar — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:48:57 +0000

We are entering the most critical period of our lives. This coming decade is perhaps the most crucial time of all times. Immense struggles everywhere indicate that Planet Earth and Humanity as a whole are experiencing a transformative change. The promise of this change is a birthing into a new time. We are all called to take a stand, to choose in small and big ways to make a difference. Your biggest choice ever defines you as a leader. The default option chosen by most is easy but dangerous. If ever there was an important resolution to make, this is it. Click here to discover your biggest choice ever.