Tag Archives: Leadership development

January 17, 2013 · 4:45 pm

Affective Leadership Development Workshop Demonstration to be Conducted on February 15th, 2013.

For Immediate Release

Performance Transformation, LLC™ and community advocacy group Lead With Giants will host an experiential demonstration for the proprietary Affective Leadership Development workshop at SMART from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on February 15th, 2013.

Leadership Workshop Round Pen 1 lo resJan. 17, 2013 – Performance Transformation, LLC™ (Venice, FL) announced today it will conduct a complementary, experiential demonstration of its new workshop, “Affective Leadership Development” on February 15, 2013 in Bradenton, FL.  The workshop demo is being sponsored by Lead With Giants and hosted by the Sarasota Manatee Association for Riding Therapy (SMART).

Affective Leadership is a mindful approach to engaging, guiding, and motivating human beings to perform at their optimal capacity.  The approach employs insights garnered from peer-reviewed research from affective neuroscience, social neuroscience, performance psychology, emotional intelligence, applied behavioral economics and creative thinking.

“Affective Leadership is first about understanding the emotional and psychological affect we have on those we lead, simply by showing up,” said Terry Murray, Managing Parter of Performance Transformation (http://www.performtransform.com).  ”Are we congruent and consistent in what we say, what we do, and how we are being present?  How we act and interact has a biochemical and neurological impact on everyone we encounter.”

Leadership Round Pen 2 lo resMr. Murray goes on to add, “Second, it is about leading with empathy.  People that lead with authenticity, compassion and vulnerability are powerfully engaging. Research from more than a half dozen scientific disciplines clearly demonstrates the biological response people have to both positive and negative emotional stimuli.  This response either triggers engagement and creative thinking or disengagement and apathy.  In today’s Ideas Economy, leading with compassion drives profitable growth.”

 Lead With Giants (http://leadwithgiants.com) is a community organization founded by Dan Forbes in Sarasota, Florida.  The group focuses on supporting and expanding leadership throughout the community.  Dan is also a Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in Sarasota.

SMART (http://smartriders.org) is a 501(c)(3), Therapeutic Riding Facility serving children with developmental disabilities in the Sarasota/Manatee community for over 25 years. SMART and Performance Transformation partner to conduct personal and professional development workshops employing Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning.

Leadership Round Pen lo res“We’re thrilled to be working with Gail Clifton, her wonderful team and the exceptional herd of horses at SMART,” commented Terry.  ”We love the business model. By partnering with SMART, a significant percentage of our clients’ investment in workshops goes to support programs for children with special needs.  It’s a win/win/win.”

Affective Leadership evolved out of Performance Transformation’s original program, Transformational Leadership.  The approach represents more than four years of research, development and validation.  The work is grounded by more than two decades of real-world leadership experience.

“When we view the world through the lens of empathy, clarity emerges,” said Terry.  ”Empathy is an under utilized learning tool in our culture.  It enables us to learn through the experiences of others.  It allows us to engage.  If we think about it, out of all the creatures born on this Earth, humans are the most vulnerable at birth.  We were born to be cared for; and neurologically and biochemically, we evolved to care for others.”

Terry and Kana - Hawaii“The first step is to recognize our own conditioning.  Our culture and institutions influence our natural orientation.  Our workshops enable participants to gently strip away that veneer and begin to cultivate self-awareness and social awareness. From there we can impart the skills of self-regulation and relationship management.  The ground-based, experiential exercises with the horses has proven to be a remarkable accelerant for this process.”

The importance of empathy is recognized by thought leaders in other fields as well.  David Kelly, the founder of design firm IDEO, helped usher in a process called Design Thinking.  Design Thinking began as an approach to industrial design that centered around empathy; a deep understanding of the human experience and the interaction design has with that experience.  The approach was heralded by Steve Jobs and Apple, contributing the Apple Experience to many of their breakthrough products.  The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford is now the epicenter of this thinking and approach which has expanded to include social initiatives.

 Leadership Round Pen 3 lo res“We quite literally, and quite recently, stumbled across Mr. Kelly’s work and the Design Thinking approach being taught at Stanford,” said Terry.  ”It’s validating. Philosophically, we’re in remarkable alignment, and, to a certain extent, what we do could accurately be referred to as Design Leadership.”

 The event is complementary.  To register, please call (941) 485-7428.

Time:  3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., February 15, 2013.

Where:  SMART, 4640 C.R. 675, Bradenton, FL

© 2013, Performance Transformation, LLC™.

1 Comment

Filed under Leadership

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

April 3, 2012 · 3:49 pm

The Three C’s for Small Business Success in the 21st Century

Key Concept ~ We’re all looking to succeed and grow our businesses. We’re also all well served to keep this simple statement in mind:  Creativity creates cash-flow.  The challenge is learning how to lead for creativity advantage; whether you’re a sole entrepreneur or running an investor-driven startup.

I know, it’s a bit redundant.  I could have just as easily written, creativity cultivates cash-flow, but I really want to emphasize the strategic imperative of creativity in today’s, and more importantly, tomorrow’s global market.  This accelerating driver of value creation offers both challenges and tremendous opportunities for small business.

If you don’t see yourself as actively in the global marketplace you may wish to look again.  Just yesterday I was speaking with a client, who is located in Hawaii, about her next steps for her new startup.  We both concurred that it was time to launch a blog site, to cultivate engagement and open the door for new relationships to emerge, yet she saw this as a cost impediment cost.  I told her I knew of two or three very reputable companies in India (whom I met on LinkedIn because of my own blogging and social media strategy) that can customize a WordPress site for her in a matter of days and at a labor rate of $10 per hour.  What was once a $3,000 to $4,000 cost of doing business is now a few hundred dollars because we’re all in the global marketplace.

This represents a creative solution to what was once seen as an impediment.  This is just an example of the type of creative thinking that is now necessary at every touch point throughout our organizations.

On the opportunistic side, this growing need for creative, adaptive thinking for competitive advantage is easier for a small firm to cultivate and leverage than for our large competitors.  The prevalent leadership style in big business is still well entrenched in the transactional approach to leadership of the last century.  They are often diverse but rarely as inclusive as they could be or should be, for that matter.  The proof that this approach to leadership no longer is appropriate for our business climate is evident in the endemic employee disengagement crisis.  Seventy percent of employees are cognitively and emotionally disengaged with their current employer (for more research statistics on just how badly transactional leadership is out of alignment with employees, please click on the slides throughout the pages of the Igniting Creativity in Business blog site).  Without engagement, there is no creativity.

Small businesses, on the other hand, can more readily embrace and act upon a fresh approach to leadership and strategic planning in order to cultivate and sustain an engaging, creative culture.  Two things must happen in order for this competitive benefit to emerge.  First, we, as entrepreneurs, must decide to embrace and support this new perspective towards business culture and associate engagement.  Second, we must hone our leadership skills to the same level of granularity as our technical skills.

Most entrepreneurs are technical experts in a particular endeavor.  In service industries, it is this expertise that is often the entrepreneur’s stock and trade.  Scientists, research physicians, engineers, inventors, consultants are all technically expert in their fields.  Because of the way we are educated and trained, the further we go, the more technically specialized we become.  The trade-off for this level of focused granularity of knowledge is breadth.  The breadth of skills, both technical and subtle, that effective, authentic leaders need going forward is only growing.

Rarely are entrepreneurs exposed to much in the way of leadership development, so we often follow the patterns that were placed before us.  But those patterns are not working.  McKinsey & Co. issued a major study of 5,560 senior executives last summer and only 1% scored excellent in five of eight key competencies.  Ninety percent scored below average.  What’s so discouraging is the competencies they are testing for are not necessarily the competencies leaders need in the 21st century.

The takeaway from creativity creates cash-flow is simple.  Even if you’re servicing a local market, you’re still in the global one.  If you don’t think you are, just ask if your competitors are leveraging rapidly emerging, creative, global capabilities?  Embrace the opportunities these shifting tides afford small business owners.  Finally, invest in your own leadership development.  Remember, it’s been demonstrated that a dollar invested in advertising delivers a two dollar return, but a dollar invested in education delivers a forty dollar return.  For entrepreneurs, they themselves are often their best investment.

© 2012, Terry Murray

Leave a Comment

Filed under Associate Engagement, Leadership, Productivity

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

February 14, 2012 · 2:13 pm

Finding Your Way Into Professional Journals ~ Performance Transformation, LLC™ Featured in MPI’s Meeting Planners Guide to Hawaii

Key Concept ~ A few months ago I posted a blog entitled, “Building Your Market Presence Brick-by-Brick”.  The process is one defined by persistence, and in my opinion, authentic intention.  By putting your firm out there, to generously provide your products or services for the parts of our community that are in need or at risk, good things can happen.  Not only for the community, but for your firm as well.  By bringing our pro bono Warriors in Transition program, which we began back in 2009, to Hawaii last October, we found ourselves in a feature article of ONE+, the professional journal of Meeting Planners International.  Positive intention, not from the ego but from the heart, resonates with others.  In expressing our intention to support combat veterans and their families, we found our message in the hands of 30,000 professional meeting planners we may have never reached in any other way.

Here’s our press release discussing the article in the MPI Meeting Planners Guide to Hawaii.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Performance Transformation, LLC™ (Venice, FL) announced today their founder and Managing Partner, Terry Murray, is to be featured in February’s edition of MPI’s  Meeting Guide to Hawaii.  The professional journal ONE+ has monthly circulation of 30,000 professional meeting planners.  The article, written by Elaine Pofeldt, focuses on the value of revisiting Hawaii as a viable and economical option for professional meeting events.

“We were really excited to receive the call from Elaine to be interviewed for her article,”  commented Terry Murray.  ”The series of workshops we conducted last October in Hawaii couldn’t have been more successful.”

In the article, Terry is quoted as saying, “Hawaii is a perfect setting for our programs.  Our developmental approach focuses on building competencies in emotional intelligence to improve leadership and team cohesion.  So, for us, the Aloha Spirit reflects and aligns with our philosophy and approach.”

The root meaning of Aloha comes from three Polynesian words.  Alo,which means sharing in the present moment.  Oha, which means joyous affection.  And Ha, which means the life energy of the breath.  The traditional greeting of Hawaiians involves an exhale of breath with each other to emphasize the Aloha Spirit.

“The traditional approaches towards leadership development and team building are no longer delivering the results our rapidly changing, multi-cultural business world demands, ” comments Terry.  ”Our evidence-based programs are designed to build presence, rapport and authentic empathy in our next generation of leaders.  These are the keys to inspiring teams of knowledge workers, to creating genuine engagement  Cultivating competencies the embrace inclusion and ignite cohesion are the keys to unleashing human creativity, the key driver of value creation in the 21st century economy.”

Performance Transformation was brought to Oahu by the nonprofit Palmarie Community Transformational Alliance to provide leadership development and team building workshops for their leadership team and launch Performance Transformation’s award-winning “Warriors in Transition” program.  The program is designed to assist active duty military personal, veterans, and their families successfully navigate the stress of the deployment cycle and eventual transition back to civilian life.  The program received a formal commendation by General David Petraeus in 2010 for “helping to create emotionally resilient families.”

“By the time our involvement in the the wars in the Afghanistan and Iraq finally wind down approximately two million of our fellow citizens will have been deployed in these combat zones,” adds Terry. “The VA is simply overwhelmed by the needs of so many of our veterans that are returning home with PTSD, or with the poly-traumatic effects of PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury.  It’s up the community to step up and lend a hand to help these brave Americans transition home and find their way back to living successful and fulfilling lives.  To be able to once again enjoy the things their service has enabled us to enjoy, undisturbed these past eleven years.”

The VA estimates the rate of PTSD to be somewhere between 18% to 24% with OEF/OIF combat veterans.  Additional research indicates combat stress is impacting spouses and family members as well.   Performance Transformation’s innovate approach partners with licensed therapist to conduct Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy.  The approach enables Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to be conducted in real time, and with horses, instead of a traditional office setting.

“We discovered the CBT benefits during our presentation at the 18th Annual Military and Civilian Combat Stress Conference in L.A. in 2010,” adds Mr. Murray. “Most recently, we’re discovering our approach to working with horses also aligns seamlessly with Gestalt Therapy as well.  It’s an exciting time to be involved in Equine Facilitated Learning and in support of Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy.”

The concentration of the military in Hawaii presents unique challenges in the community.  It is estimated that 40% of Hawaii’s homeless population is comprised of veterans.  During their visit, Performance Transformation had the opportunity to introduce their approach to Councilman Tom Berg, who is working diligently in support of the islands veteran community.

“To come to the islands with such positive intention, and to have felt the Aloha Spirit directly in support of our work truly resonated with us all,” said Terry. “Last year we conducted various professional development workshops in Florida, Montana, and Colorado, but Hawaii was truly special.  The fact that we were able to conduct our programs at Equine808, the islands’ first and only horse rescue organization in support their mission added to our Aloha Spirit experience.”

You’re welcome to click here to learn more about Performance Transformation’s leadership development and team building workshops they conducted in Hawaii with a sequence of photographs of their approach with the horses.

Photo courtesy of Precision Photography of Honolulu.

© 2012, Performance Transformation, LLC™.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Brand Management, Customer Engagement, Marketing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

November 14, 2011 · 5:44 pm

Strategically Leveraging the Leadership Gap

Key Concept ~ RogenSi just released their Global Mindset Index survey of employees from around the world, and not surprisingly, the results align with the recent research from IBM, McKinsey, Gallup, Maritz, and other leading institutions.  The long shadow of subpar leadership continues to exacerbate employee disengagement during these highly volatile times.  Companies that recognize, embrace, and act upon the need for a fresh approach to leadership will win the coming talent war and create a flourishing, competitive advantage.

One of the key themes I continuously discuss with entrepreneurs and business leaders is the need to align leadership, strategy, and organizational culture in order to create sustainable, breakthrough results.  Aligning authentic, transformational leadership, mindful strategy, and a creative organizational culture is the recipe for success in today’s dynamic business environment.  Engaging the mind, heart, and spirit of your employees is critical because it is their passion, creativity, and intellectual horsepower that drives the creation and commercialization of intellectual property in today’s economy.  They are the source of competitive advantage, yet from the recent research, it appears this message is failing to find its way to the corner office.

Global consulting firm RogenSi just released the results from their Global Mindset Index survey, and their findings warrant discussion.  Here are some of there findings:

● Fourteen percent of employees say their leaders are inspirational.

● Twelve percent of employees are optimistic about their future opportunities.

● Nine percent of employees state their leaders are creating a motivational work environment.

● Ninety-two percent of employees feel their emotions are being controlled by their achievement at work.  Fear is a significant motivating factor.

● Ninety-one percent of employees are experiencing unstable motivation.  This is due to poor leadership communications, clarity of a shared vision, and a lack of feeling authentic engagement.

● Twenty-three percent of employees are showing five or more symptoms of depression.

These findings align seamlessly with the results published by McKinsey (only 1% of “C” level & “one step down” executives score “excellent” in eight key leadership competencies – 90% score below average), Gallup (nearly 3 out of 4 employees are emotionally and cognitively disengaged with their employer), and Maritz Research (approximately 10% of employees trusts their leadership and believes their honest and ethical – 12% of employees feel their company actually listens to them and cares about them – 14% of employees feel their company shares their own, personal values).  It also supports the disconnect that is apparent when we compare what CEOs say that they want and how they actually behave (the IBM Global CEO Survey found that the single most important leadership attribute CEOs are looking for in future leaders is creativity and the ability to cultivate creativity throughout the organization – yet a study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology reports that the careers of people that consistently express creative thinking are sidetracked on their way up the ladder).

This slash and burn harvest mentality; of leading by creating fear, may have worked during the Great Recession, but as we slowly pull out of the global, economic malaise it will eventually reach a tipping point.  We may already be seeing signs of this event.  The Department of Labor recently revised the productivity growth figures downward for the year, from 2.7% to 2%, and they’re forecasting growth of only 1.5% to 2% in the foreseeable future.  We’re seeing a point of diminishing returns from business as usual.

The problem with creating a culture of fear is that it triggers the fight, flight, or freeze response from our Core Mammalian Emotional System.  These emotions (seeking, fear, panic, rage, caring, playfulness, and lust) are part of our primary survival mechanisms that helped us evolve over time.  We share these hard-wired, ancient emotional systems with all mammals.  For the past several years, we’ve seen the freeze response emerging through poor engagement levels throughout the workforce.  People have hunkered down and gone into survival mode.  As the economy improves, and competing job opportunities arise, it will be the best and brightest associates that have the mobility to move on to fresher pastures.  For many organizations, they’re about to reap that which they have sown.

Herein lies the opportunity.  Organizations that lead with authenticity and approach the management of their organizational culture like the strategic asset it is will flourish.  Rather than cultivating a culture of fear, creating a culture that promotes seeking (i.e. professional development plans, employee education, etc.), caring (the expression of authentic empathy by leadership), and playfulness (most juvenile mammals learn survival behaviors through play; depressed mammals don’t engage in play) will engage the hidden workforce that lies just below the surface in many organizations.  Doing so will also create a talent magnet for high potentials seeking opportunities to join the firm.

This isn’t just about wanting happy associates…this is mission critical to the organization’s competitive positioning and ability to execute.  This is true, regardless of an organization’s size, and this factor just may be the Achille’s Heal of your entrenched, corporate competitors.

© 2011, Terry Murray.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Associate Engagement, Leadership

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

May 2, 2011 · 8:23 pm

Igniting Breakthrough Performance, Part Two – Setting A Fresh Foundation

What drives breakthrough performance?  Like most things of sustainable value, the answer is multi-dimensional.  There are no secrets or shortcuts to success. Our approach and philosophy is a culmination of more than twenty-five years of real-world leadership experience, of remarkable successes and sobering failures. Grounded in the reality of living, and sometimes seemingly dying, with the results of my executive decisions. In 2007, I embarked on a journey of focused research, experiential learning, and the exploration of what delivers differentiated performance in highly competitive markets.  What I will be sharing in the blog series is a result of that journey.

The traditional business educational path, both formal and informal, focuses on the technical skills of management; on “how to do the job”.  While these skills are invaluable, it is the “soft skills” that differentiate inspirational leadership from mediocre management.  The Center for Creative Leadership conducted a three year study in which they discovered the only statistical difference between the two was caring about people.1   Obviously, simply caring about one’s associates isn’t enough to carry the day, other skills are necessary in order to ignite and sustain breakthrough performance.  However, the consistent and authentic expression of empathy is the cohesive catalyst that binds one’s skills, tools, and experiences into a powerful, inspirational  approach for leadership.

The Employee Engagement Crisis

How our associates feel about their work is as important, if not more important, than what they think about it.  The rapidly emerging science of Behavioral Economics (which we will explore throughout series) indicates human beings aren’t as rational as business and economic theorists once assumed.  How people feel about their employer, their vendors, and their fellow associates is a defining factor in economic behavior.

Gallup, Inc.® has been studying employee engagement for more than ten years.  Their research indicates only 29% of employees are fully engaged with their employer (meaning they work with passion and are strongly connected to the mission).  In addition, 56% of employees are not engaged (meaning they’re sleepwalking and simply going through the motions at work), and 15% are actively disengaged from their employer.2   Sound familiar?

The study indicates the cost of disengagement in terms of lost productivity to be between $287 to $370 billion annually in the United States.  If we extrapolate this to a business with a $10 million payroll, and give the sleepwalkers the benefit of the doubt, that they’re contributing value 50% of the time, this business is spending $5.7 million in annual payroll with little or no return on their investment!  How many manufacturing companies would accept a 57% scrap rate?

The employee engagement crisis may be even worse than the research indicates.  An Associated Press article dated January 10, 2010 reported 45% of Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs.  It goes on to document that only 51% of employees are interested in their work, down from 70% in 1987.  I’ve read more recent articles that indicate upwards of three quarters of employees will be looking for a new position as the economy improves!  While productivity has jumped at the tale end of our current recession, with less people doing more work, we have to wonder about the long-term implications of these trends?  Can your enterprise afford the cost of turnover (often .5 to 1.5 times the salary of the departing associate) and the resulting disruption and potential loss of intellectual horsepower that often follows an uptick in employment opportunities? Alternatively, if you’re growing and looking for talent, your at an opportunistic juncture!

Why is this important to an entrepreneur?  Well, I’m willing to bet your company is built around some type of intellectual property (I.P.).  The rapid and efficient commercialization of intellectual property is the key driver of value creation in today’s economy.  How you and your resources cultivate your I.P. will greatly determine your degree of success.  My point is, your human capital, including yourself, is your raw material and how you decide to lead and care for this raw material will impact your speed to market launch, affect your ability to connect, engage, and motivate your early adopters and opinion leaders, and attract the best resources available for your firm.  The fact of the matter is, your intention is just as important as your vision, and we’ll explore that factor in the next blog post.

1.)  Robert Cooper, Ph.D., “The Other 90%”, Three Rivers Press, New York, NY, 2001, p. 18.

2.)  “Engaged Employees Inspire Company Innovation”, The Gallup Management Journal,Gallup, Inc.®, New York, NY, October 12, 2006.

© 2011, Terry Murray.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Associate Engagement, Getting Started, Leadership

Tagged as , , , , , , ,