Here's the SELF-ASSESSMENT you can take to learn IF you're creating an inspiring workplace.

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Create an Inspiring Workplace

Have you ever scheduled time to work on a project while in your office? You know, two or three hours in the morning to write or research something; the time you need to get your mind wrapped around something new.

Then, someone asks, "Do you have a minute?"

You can relate.

AND, you know that it always takes "more than a minute."

Interruptions at work are a major cause of people working late hours, not finishing things on time, and having to take work home to do late at night or on the weekends. The results areyou may feel like work is never done, there is always something more to do, and whenever we see someone, or see their name in our e-mail inbox, we get stressed about what is coming our way!

This is NOT an inspiring workplace!

What are people REALLY asking for when they ask for "just a minute?"

In our workshops, participants tell me people are asking for advice, opinions, permission, ideas, information, and approval. When I ask what they really WANT when they ask you for a minute, people sayattention, focus, friendship, camaraderie, and understanding.

That's why it takes more than a minute!

Leadership means minimizing the number of times people interrupt you and maximizing the time you DO spend with people.

Here are TWO ways to MAXIMIZE interruptions:

1. Write everyone's name on a 3X5 note card.

If you work in an office with more than 3 people, start there. Each morning, flip through the cards and add something to talk about or share with them.

I recommend you add a project to ask them about, a compliment to share, and a few words of praise for work well done. Once per day, make a point to speak with them one-on-one, and let them see you review the card.

Make a point to let them know you're "bunching" the items to talk about. The message you send is that you think it's important, once per day, to preempt any issues as well as celebrate good work.

2. Memorize this mantra:

"No, I'm sorry, I can't talk right now, I'm in the middle of something I need to focus on. When can I come and talk with you later today?" It's going to take practice, especially for those of us whom people count on to always give them "just a minute."

Give yourself a month or so to practice these tips, and you'll soon be enjoying longer blocks of study, writing, thinking, and research time—without the barrage of interruptions. Management thinkers and business coaches have for years explained the importance of collecting larger chunks of time to focus on significant projects.

These blocks of time rarely just "show up."

We actually have to schedule and use them wisely.

 

Imagine that you could learn the skills required to be a better, more effective and more productive leader.

When would you want to start? How about now!

Two brothers who died within a day of each other...

In 2011 I achieved an Historian's Dream*...

I got to visit France on the anniversary of the D-Day Invasion:

Operation Overlord.

Of everything I saw there, the one picture I can see without having to look. Two brothers, side by side, laid to rest in the national cemetery in Normandy, France.

I can close my eyes and see this picture, flowers at the base of each Cross.

I remember how I felt; I thought about how my parents might have responded if they'd lost their two sons to a military operation.

(Look carefully, you'll see their shared last names...and, if you ever heard of the movie Saving Private Ryan...they're the ones who inspired the film.)

* You know I taught US History and World History back in the ‘90s, right? For one year, I taught 7th grade, and for another 4 years I taught 10th and 11th grades.

When I was a teacher, I’d hoped that Memorial Day wasn’t JUST seen as “a day off school and work.” I asked students to pause sometime that day, and reflect on what we’d learned together.

And, now that I am an Adjunct Faculty Member at Air University, USAF Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, AL, I continue teaching what I've learned about our country's military history.

Today is Memorial Day, 2017

Originally known as Decoration Day…it was officially claimed on May 5th, 1868 by General John Logan, commander of the Grand Army.

(Learn about Gen. Logan here.)

Why May 5th?

At that time, it wasn’t the anniversary of a specific battle.

It originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.

Later, in 2000, President Bill Clinton signed a proclamation asking Federal Employees - and as many Americans who would - to pause for one minute at 3PM local time.

No matter what time of day you’re reading this, consider taking just a few minutes at History.com or USMemorialDay.org to learn a bit more about the significance of today...

Do they inspire you? (By they, I mean your BOSS...)

Jodi gave the biggest speech of her life on Thursday.

It was an hour #keynote to 750 people at the Path to Agility conference in Columbus, Ohio.

She shared the story of working for a boss who to the outside world was beautiful, charismatic and successful.

But to those in the office, Jodi's boss was a #BULLY whose leadership style was one of public humiliation and #shaming.

“I must have hired the HANDICAPPED,” she’d say aloud if one of them made a mistake.

It was awful.

She must have thought it would motivate us to work harder to not make ANY mistakes.

But... it had actually the opposite effect.

• Jodi and her coworkers didn’t ask for help.
• They didn’t bring things up when they noticed a problem.
• They certainly didn’t do anything to bring extra attention to themselves or their projects.

++++++++++++++

Jodi knew she couldn’t live her whole professional career in fear and dread.

She eventually made the leap and left that well paid and “stable” job that was killing her slowly.

Whether you work in a toxic environment (like Jodi did) or you're in a fantastic and supportive job (like she is now), learn how to make it even better, starting June 1st.

June’s theme could be a life-saver, we’ll coach you to focus on:

CREATING AN INSPIRING WORKPLACE.

Click HERE take the SELF-ASSESSMENT.

[GET MOMENTUM MasterMind] One idea from you can help someone to become a better presenter

Think about it…

• Delivering the Keynote at an industry conference,
• Updating your team on next years projections in the conference room,

…and even…

• Talking to your spouse about your ideas for weekend/dinner plans.

What do they ALL have in common?

You’re presenting yourself, and influencing others.

If you’ve taken the GET MOMENTUM Self-Assessment (click here) you know where you need to IMPROVE as a presenter.

GET MOMENTUM members, be sure to join the MasterMind group coaching call this week!

On Thursday, May 11th GET MOMENTUM members will share their insights on becoming a better presenter.

Join & share a “lesson-learned.”

Who knows, youcould be the inspiration someone needs to become a better presenter themselves!

STEP 1:

• Open your Momentum Journal to a fresh page.
• On top write, “A Lesson I Learned.”
• Write a few lines describing where you were, the presentation you gave where you learned something and whether it was a POSITIVE or NEGATIVE experience.
• Finally, respond to these 3 questions:

1. What happened?
2. How did it impact you?
3. What was the REAL lesson?

STEP 2:

• Add your MasterMind group coaching call to the calendar.
• Call in for 3-5 minutes and share your experience…and the lesson you learned.

Just think, if you share what you learned (maybe even learned the hard way!) you may help a fellow GET MOMENTUM member avoid that hardship sometime in the future.

That is was the GET MOMENTUM community is all about!

From around the world, GET MOMENTUM members gather once a month in a real-time MasterMind to share ideas with one another.

The theme for our next meeting is: Present Like a Pro

 

Please do STEP 1 of this note because we know sometime this month you’ll have an opportunity to share that lesson with someone you know.

And, we invite MEMBERS to bring their answers to the MasterMind group coaching call on Thursday.

(Not a member? Join today, click here: www.GetMomentum.com/get-momentum. We’re here for you!)

GET MOMENTUM Master Class recap

Around the world, members of the GET MOMENTUM Leadership Academy tuned in to this month's Master Class titled:

"Present Like a Pro"

As you can see in this short introduction video (scroll to the bottom HERE), there are two VERY specific goals for this month's theme:

1. Practice identifying key points in EVERY presentation.
2. Utilize ALL the resources you have access to.

The Master Class is a 45-minute executive summary of the GET MOMENTUM Course Work:

Immediately after the program, I heard from THREE members about the impact and importance of this month's Master Class:

"I get it now, everything is a presentation."

"I learned that I can present the same thing in different ways to different people. Easier."

"I need to video record myself presenting. Not to show anyone else or publish, but to watch and study myself."

(We do have ONE big announcement, read all the way to the bottom to find out!)

Now, some of you may be thinking, "How is 'presenting' a leadership skill?" Think about what you could do, if you were more effective at bringing your ideas to the people you hope use them the most. You're presenting all the time, you are!

+ On a stage in front of dozens

+ In a conference room of just a few 

+ Across the table from your family

+ On the phone with a friend, client or vendor

Over the course of just one month, you'll learn to "win over" the people you're speaking with. You'll practice organizing your main points that are backed up with and by research, as well as have some call-to-action. Finally, you'll practice lining up your message with the facts with the stories with the suggestions that make it easier for people to believe: "Your ideas matter."

Who is GET MOMENTUM for? I always look to our current members to help us answer that question. So, here is a list of the most recent leaders to join:

• The co-founder of a recently-sold communications company in Tennessee.
• 19 Associate Professors at a university in Alabama.
• A designer in Australia.
• 3 recently-promoted Directors in New York City.

Are you a member? If so, log in here and watch the recording (or, download the audio as an MP3 to listen to in your car or while you're exercising). Would you like to see the Table of Contents for the Master Class? Here you are:

• Introduction and Welcome
• Get the Most From Your GET MOMENTUM Membership
• Practice Makes _______ (be careful here!)
• MEMBER Spotlight "Kinds of Presentations"
• Everyone Has a Story
• Jodi's Perspective: "The Energy Flows Through Me."
• 1: The Ingredients of a Presentation
• 2: Resources at Your Fingertips
• 3: Going Beyond the Basics

Not (yet) a GET MOMENTUM member? It's ok, Start Your Membership here, we're ready to serve you as your coaches!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:

As a GET MOMENTUM member, you get access to the Video AND Audio recording of the Master Class. Well, NOW you can see we have transcribed and closed captioned the presentation...you'll love it!