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 Happy Monday
If you read last week’s issue you know that I spent time last week in Fort McMurray Alberta Canada with our newest Client, OPTICanada. It was a wonderful opportunity to work with them on organizational culture and change as they are in the midst of starting up a brand new facility. In November they had a total of 30 employees. In May alone they hired 29 new people (and I met five of the 6 that started the week I was there)! Talk about change!
And while I was there, so far north, I did experience some very short nights – let’s just say the street lights didn’t have to work very long.
This week’s article comes from a question asked in a recent workshop. I’ve been thinking about it a lot since the question was asked and my thinking coalesced this week as I read the resource I recommend below. I hope you will read both the article and the recommendation with great delight.
Have a great week, enjoy this issue and let us know how we can help you.
Yours in Learning,
Turning Your Ideas into Action
The team faced a significant challenge on the project. After a very successful brainstorming session they felt they had several ideas that would address and alleviate the problems they faced. They were truly energized by some of the ideas they generated. But soon, the glow wore off, because these ideas, in order to help, needed to be implemented, and the project was already behind schedule.
Dawn was a person you could always count on to get things done. So it won’t surprise you to know that her manager went to her often with a new idea, a new project, or a challenge to overcome. The list of ideas on her plate was overwhelming, even though she did get more accomplished than most people.
Aaron was one of those guys who were always coming up with a new idea. If you needed help brainstorming, everyone knew to call Aaron. Unfortunately for Aaron too often after the fun of generating ideas was gone, the list of ideas to implement was daunting.
Perhaps it was one of these situations that lead to someone raising a question in a recent workshop; “Kevin, how do I learn to turn ideas into action steps?”
Click HERE to read the rest of the article
and learn six things you can do.
Focus Like a Laser Beam – 10 Ways to Do What Matters Most
by Lisa Haneberg
 Lisa Haneberg is a name that longtime readers may recognize. I’ve recommended e-books she’s written on leadership and resolutions in past issues and I also read her blog. That is why I was so pleased to get a copy of her new book right when it was released.
This book is about focus and uses laser beams as the metaphor. Heaven knows, focus is something I can work on, and in my experience I’m not alone.
Given that this is an author I like and trust on a topic that matters I opened the book with great anticipation.
I wasn’t disappointed.
Lisa puts focus in to three areas that relate to how lasers actually work: Excite and Energize, Tune Your Dialogue, and Zoom In. None of the ten things will be ideas completely new to you, but you might not have thought of each of them in relationship to focus. And interestingly, the chapters you would likely most associate with focus come in the third section. By then you are completely bought into the metaphor and I found those chapters more valuable then than they would have been at the start.
This 144 page book deserves a place on the bookshelf of any leader or professional. Even if you don’t read the full book, the chapters on Focus Sessions (better meetings) and Huddles (instead of meetings) are worth the investment themselves.
I highly recommend this book.
You can learn more and order a copy at Amazon.com.
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