Aviv’s Blog

The KEY: Four Things A Leader Must Do

You are a leader not because of your title. You are a leader because you help the people you work with. To thrive as a leader you have to do and be four things. You have to be: Informational, Motivational, Inspirational and Transformational.

Read the KEY here.
Listen to the podcast here:

Aviv Shahar :: Jul.01.2010 :: The Key :: Comment Now »

Overcoming Procrastination – Best Practices

In our recent teleconference: Smart Goals & Wise Aims we covered the following topics:

Creating first-hand experiences, goals and aims.
Five strategies to overcoming procrastination.
Aligning the short and long terms.
Coupling SMART Goals with WISE Aims.
Creating whole person goals and aims.
Adjusting your financial thermostat to increase your income.

Access here the complete series. Listen below to the first two strategies to overcoming procrastination. Enjoy!

Aviv Shahar :: Jun.14.2010 :: Podcasts :: Comment Now »

Rituals – Directing Your Orchestra

The human is a bit like an orchestra. There are many parts, each playing its own score. Your brain needs its food and plays its musical score. Your stomach wants its food and plays a different musical score. Your emotions have multiple voices like the orchestra has oboes, clarinets, trumpets and trombones. But that is not all. You have a body, a mind, and a soul. You have desires, hopes and needs. Then it gets even more compound, you have multiple roles: you are a parent, a spouse; you have your professional roles and community roles and many more.

You are the totality of all the parts and roles. Your orchestra is made up of all these parts and the tune that they each play. If each part plays without listening to other parts the result is a total cacophony. That is why your orchestra has an orchestrator. That’s the job of your soul. But it’s not enough to have an orchestrator. The orchestrator needs a musical score. Part of the score is given at the start, before birth, such as: survive and thrive. Your soul will do whatever it needs to keep you alive and to thrive. The other part of the score is not given at birth. It is not automatic. That part of the score is up to you and your choices. You write this score with your choices. You instruct your soul with your awareness and your consciousness.

What do rituals have to do with this? Rituals are how you bring to focus and attention your choices. They are a way to practice your desired musical score. Rituals are your way of telling your orchestrator, the soul, how and what you want it to conduct the orchestra to play.

Aviv Shahar :: Jun.11.2010 :: Rituals :: Comment Now »

The KEY: Thrive in the New Normal – Part II

In a recent KEY we shared with you the first five commandments to Thriving in times of uncertainty. This month we bring you the second set of five commandments to help you turn the New Normal into a radical opportunity for growth and development.

The financial recovery is uneven and uncertain. Encouraging signs are mixed with nervous doubts and fear. Will the DOW test the recent low or will it hyper-inflate? How do you thrive during unpredictable and tumultuous time?

The first five practices we focused on in Part One included:

Take care of # 1
Focus on your C-Field
Lead in your I-Field
Work on the main thing
Create overwhelming value

Discover here the second set of five practices and commandments.

Listen to the KEY here:

Aviv Shahar :: Jun.01.2010 :: The Key :: Comment Now »

The Thrill of Breakthroughs

There is something quite thrilling in the can-do power a team of brilliant hard working executives can create when they coalesce. The three comments below capture that exact sense. Most teams operate at a sub-optimal level and miss the greater knowledge and wisdom available for them at a higher level of collaboration. High level of trust and breakthrough collaboration make the impossible possible and the hard to achieve easier. Last week, in our strategy summit with a global team I witnessed and experienced the power of creative collaboration and it was a thrill. Here is what they say:

Greg Shoemaker, VP General Manager – Hewlett Packard

Wolfgang Zenger, Director Hewlett Packard

Jason Pollock, Hewlett Packard

Aviv Shahar :: May.25.2010 :: Consultant Journal :: Comment Now »

Seeing The Invisible Layers

Do you see the invisible work created around you? Are you fully aware of the invisible layers of your own work?

This podcast draws your awareness to the invisible work of your endeavors. That’s where the transformative power lies; this is where the quality and essence of something is fashioned and preserved.

You enjoy a red apple you picked up at the produce section but you do not see the tree and all the hands that touched the apple to get it to the store for you. “But I have my own apple tree that grows in my garden” you say. And there, too, you don’t see the roots underground holding the tree in place.

The invisible work is the essence of change and transformation. All great endeavors and all great success stories had great invisible work behind them. Discover the point of leverage and engage in the invisible work you are here to create!

Aviv Shahar :: May.16.2010 :: Personal Growth, Podcasts :: Comment Now »

The KEY: Flying Over Volcanic Iceland

I am writing this Key flying at 36,000 feet, just north of Iceland. After trying for five days to escape Europe with numerous flight cancellations, I am finally heading home to Seattle. What an adventurous journey!

The Air Force brief is, “It’s the one you don’t see that will shoot you down.” The Black Swan message is, “Beware of the trap of preparing for the last swan (crisis) you saw. The next one will be different. Unexpected.” That’s why it’s called a Black Swan.

Read here what I have I learned on this trip.

Listen to the KEY here:

Aviv Shahar :: Apr.30.2010 :: Podcasts, The Key :: 2 Comments »

The Discipline Secret – Best Practices

Here are the elements of discipline we explored in our teleconference the Discipline Secret:

Discipline of knowledge – The building blocks and protocols that allow you to use and apply a certain field of knowledge. What fields of knowledge do you use? What new fields do you want to acquire?
Professional discipline – The discipline of your profession. How do you get results in your field of expertise? In what ways do you want to refine and improve your professional discipline?
Discipline of learning – The virtuous spiral of learning. What learning will you take from this class through the four steps of learning to teach to someone and make it your own?
Discipline of performance – Getting into your peak performance zone. What helps you create results? What do you need to do to get into your optimal performance zone?
Discipline of purpose – clarity of context. What are you about? What is the purpose you are working on at this time? How does it guide your actions?
Discipline of the next step – The discipline of initiative. Moving forward beyond setbacks. Taking the next step to break the pattern, to find a solution, to initiate change, to open a new door. What is your next step?
Discipline to build and create – Focus, consistency and relentless tenacity. What are you building?
Discipline to not destroy – Being able to contain your success and renew your purpose to create a legacy.

Enjoy!

Aviv Shahar :: Apr.27.2010 :: Personal Growth, Podcasts :: 1 Comment »

Best Practices: From Brainstorming To Mind-clustering

Mind-clustering is better than brainstorming. The brain likes to compare and contrast. The mind transcends and includes brain output and more.

Here are some best practices to help turn your brainstorming into mind-clustering. Whether what you seek is a future vision or strategic or innovation breakthrough apply and adapt these tips to optimize your session.

You are trying to:

Download ideas.
Generate insight.
See the future.
See yourselves in the future.
Create the future. (To create the future we must first see it…)

Tips to help your process:

Allow for iterative comments. You are not in the validating phase. Envisioning and creating the future is like sculpting. That’s why it’s iterative.
Defer judgment / withhold criticism (of your own and of others’ ideas). This is not a proof of concept conversation.
Avoid explanation of “why it will” or “why it won’t” work. Do not be defensive.
Create a safe environment for half baked ideas.
Welcome unusual/ wild ideas. Push boundaries.
Enable different thinking styles by enabling different speeds:
- Some prefer a few moments of quiet reflection.
- Others think while speaking out loud.
- Some create mind-maps
- Others like metaphors
- Some approach with reason
- Others are intuitive and instinctive…
- And some will draw pictures and more…
Allow repetitions that build, develop and further ideas, combinations and connections.
Include holistic and granular. Encourage thinking for the whole and include the specific, the granular function, role and viewpoint.
Depersonalize. What you say is not kept against you or is attached to you. You are a conduit to ideas and thoughts. You have no need to defend or to own ideas that come through you.
Allow for divergent ideas / views. Do not converge too early or seek harmony and agreement.

Here are helpful protocols for your brainstorming or better still mind-clustering:

Encourage personal reflection time before the session.
First brainstorm or mind-cluster the question. If you come to a few good questions prioritize and get focused on one question at a time. A clear question is the key to an impactful session.
Capture other questions that show up in your session.
Some sessions need an open ended question: “What is our future vision?” Others will get better impact with completing the statement: “Our end-state vision for 2015 is…”
Allow for pauses of silent reflection to engage other parts of the brain and mind… and encourage with: “And what else…”
Participants contribute one element, idea per round. (And without lobbying explanation).
Avoid using “I” to help depersonalize and disassociate ideas from the people expressing them
One conversation at a time. One speaker at a time.
Use brevity.
Listen Actively. Be curious and open. Allow yourself to be surprised. Allow your mind to surprise you with new insights and ideas. Enjoy.

Aviv Shahar :: Apr.23.2010 :: Consultant Journal, Organizational Development :: 2 Comments »

The KEY: Thrive in the New Normal – The First Five Commandments

Struggle is the tension between where you are now and where you desire to be. If you experience this tension, it means you are alive. Many of the managers I coach and interact with are experiencing struggle at this time. To make the most out of your challenges and opportunities you need to engage 10 thriving practices. This KEY will help you thrive in the New Normal. Discover the KEY and the first five practices here.
Listen to the Podcast of the KEY here.