Check Out Our New Blog

Our new and updated blog has now been embedded within our website. This blog will stay up, though updates will all occur at:

http://www.bigrivergroup.com/pages/BRUCESLEADERSHIPBLOG/

Got Plans?

My clients have been asking for a training session on planning, so here it is. Chainsaw Planning© is an effective and efficient way to develop a strategic plan or goals in waaaay less time while providing clear direction that employees can understand & follow. You are invited to attend a Train-the-Trainer session by Dr. Bruce Miles who has trained more than 8,000 leaders on Chainsaw Planning©, and has personally helped clients develop almost 1,000 Chainsaw Plans. The session will be help on Thursday, March 3rd, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Radisson Hotel in St. Cloud, MN. Participants will receive all materials necessary, and will work through hands-on simulations that will allow them to return to their organizations & facilitate their own planning. EARLY REGISTRATION: If you register before February 20th: 1-2 people $90 per person 3-5 people $70 per person 6+ people $60 per person After February 20th: 1-2 people $95 per person 3-5 people $80 per person 6+ people $70 per person To register for this session, click here. Call me @ (800) 500-7017, or e-mail me (bruce@bigrivergroup.com) if you have any questions.

Educational Leaders: Are you a fixer or a multiplier?

Are you A Fixer or A Multiplier?

Of course, we'd love to think of ourselves as both. In reading an article by Douglas B. Reeves about selecting and assessing superintendents, it was evident that the information applied to more than just the 'person at the top'.

So what is A Fixer?

The Fixer is always several steps ahead of everyone in the room and has a bias for action. Let's just get it done - is their mindset. In the short term, organizations love The Fixer. The long-term implications for this are that this person never builds leadership capacity and the district is poorer for it.

What about The Multiplier?

The Multiplier is willing to share intellectual and emotional ownership of new strategies with teachers and others. This allows the process to proceed, perhaps not with lightning speed, but in a manner that is far more likely to endure.

To read more, click here:

http://www.asbj.com/MainMenuCategory/Archive/2010/September/What-Type-of-Superinendent-Do-You-Need.aspx

Strengths Based Leadership is a Fantastic Resource for Leadership Development or Retreats

Just wanted to take a minute to send a note re: Strengths Based Leadership (http://www.strengthsfinder.com).

This is an incredible, data-based tool with an assessment that identifies your top 5 strengths (out of a total of 34). Research indicates that leaders have waaaay more to get from using their strengths than trying to learn to make their weaknesses stronger. The book also has a great section on strong teams, and a section on what followers need from leaders.

StrengthsFinder came along after all of the Gallup leadership research (First, Break All The Rules, etc.). StrengthsFinder is now part of the Gallup organization

I have used this with teams in business, medicine, & education & it is really an exceptional tool.

To order the book: (http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=strengths+based+leadership).

Rather than take up space here, call me (320-260-2612) or e-mail me (bruce@bigrivergroup.com) if I can provide any other info that will help you decide if, or how to use it with your team.

Four Things Your Employees Need From You

Hope this finds you well & enjoying your summer.

I have blogged about the Harvard Business Review Management Tip of The Day before, but yesterday's post was very good & deserves a wider audience. You can sign up to receive the tip each day (addresses below). Today's tip contains ideas similar to the research from StrengthsFinder re: what followers need from leaders (Trust, Compassion, Stability, Hope).

Have a great week!

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--- MANAGEMENT TIP: JULY 13, 2010 ---

4 Things Your Employees Need From You

Traditional leaders see the employee-boss relationship as a transaction: money in exchange for labor. Transformational leaders know and recognize that employees want much more than that. Here are the four things your people need to succeed:

1. Love. This may sound touchy-feely, but love simply means focused concern that is exclusively for that person's good. Show your employees you care about them and their futures.

2. Growth. No one wants to be exactly where they are forever. Create a culture that allows your people to grow and expand.

3. Contribution. To feel fulfilled, employees must know that they are contributing to the whole. Emphasize the ways that their work matters to the organization.

4. Meaning. We are meaning-seeking creatures. Share a vision that demonstrates that all of your employees are engaged in a larger purpose.

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Welcome to Management Tip of the Day, a free daily alert with quick, practical management tips and ideas from HBR.org.

Follow the Tip: RSS (http://link.email.hbr.org/r/CIZ4/JJXTF/FXEY2U/4P6OS/CSVNO/JE/t) or Twitter (http://link.email.hbr.org/r/CIZ4/JJXTF/FXEY2U/4P6OS/K1WB5/JE/t)

What's Your Leadership Brand?

Hope this message finds you well. I always like to pass along great resources when I find them. Here's one from the Harvard Business Review. Click on the link below to read more.

What's Your Leadership Brand?

A leadership brand tells people what is distinctive about you as a leader and communicates what you have to offer. Summarizing your brand in a statement is a useful and often enlightening task. First, answer two important questions:

1. What do you want to be known for?
2. What results do you want to achieve in the next 12 months?

Take these two answers and put them into the following statement: I want to be known for ______ so that I can deliver ______. Once you have your statement, be sure that you are living up to it. Ask others for input on whether you are achieving your goals and whether they see your leadership brand in the same way you do.

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/03/define_your_personal_leadershi.html?cm_mmc=npv-_-MANAGEMENT_TIP-_-MAY_2010-_-MTOD0524&referral=00203

Big River Chainsaw Planning Videos are Now Online

Hope this message finds you well. I am really excited to send this out. A Chainsaw Planning video - check it out by clicking on the links below!

Big River Group Channel

All seven videos (below) are to be used by clients that have gone through Chainsaw Planning w/ Big River. All are between two & three minutes & contain a few ideas to get the most out of your plan.

One Week After Planning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQtc1GsGZnc

One Month After Planning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzvPEFJDxMQ

Two Months After Planning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsCg_VOp0Jg

Three Months After Planning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNvgBlgJzKU

Six Months After Planning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_pdRfYcKCo

Nine Months After Planning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD5XjOesBko

One Year After Planning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaXOMK7EoDM

Good luck & contact me if I can provide any additional assistance.