May 19, 2012

Posts |  

Business Leadership: Ten Essentials For Effective Meetings

August 11, 2011 By Theresa Froehlich Leave a Comment

http://www.dreamstime.com/free-stock-image-business-meeting-rimagefree1999182-resi2394692

Business Leadership: Ten Essentials For Effective Meetings

All content on this website is copyrighted.

Leadership effectiveness is measured, partly but importantly, by the leader’s effectiveness in facilitating meetings. Asian American leaders can leverage our background of communal culture and hone our consensus-building skills in team meetings.

Both you and I have been to badly led and managed meetings. You come out of the meeting feeling you have wasted your time, you have not been heard, or you have been manipulated or dominated. Let me describe one of the most memorable meetings I sat in. The chairperson had no agenda and the conversation was random. By the time two hours were gone, I asked myself: why are we meeting anyway?

There are seven essentials for effective meetings, regardless of whether you are part of a for-profit business organization or a not-for-profit community organization.

1. Announce the purpose of the meeting at the beginning of, or before, the meeting. You should be able to articulate the purpose of the meeting in one short sentence. If you can’t articulate the purpose in a short sentence, you’ve got work to do. Announcing the purpose of the meeting ahead of time will stimulate team members to do some advance thinking.

2. Prepare an agenda. Plan out the logical flow of the agenda items. Solicit input for this agenda so your team members get a sense of participation.

3. Make sure that team members know their roles and responsibilities. If there is advance preparation they need to do, they need adequate and clear notice.

4. Begin each meeting with a serendipity question. Encourage each person to share something personal, even if it’s “what did you have for breakfast.” This helps break down barriers.

5. Pay close attention to group dynamics. Beware of the dominators who monopolize the conversation; sharpen your skill for tactfully setting limits on these dominators. Learn to draw out the quiet ones by asking good questions.

6. Affirm each person’s input with encouraging words. Instead of criticizing or shooting down a person’s idea, identify the positive contribution and then respectfully ask questions about the problematic portion of the idea. Adopt an open posture when you’re listening for the answer.

7. Make a habit of summarizing what has been said. Several times during the meeting, you should summarize precisely and succinctly the key points that have been said. The end-of-the-meeting summary should also recapture the responsibilities of everyone involved.

8. Thank everyone present for their contribution. Show your genuine and deep appreciation for each one.

9. Set their expectation for the next meeting. Announce the date or how often you will meet.

10. Where possible, speak personally to each one after the meeting, to show your appreciation and to clarify some thinking.

What other ideas do you have for running effective meetings?

Please leave me a comment and feel free to ask me a question by clicking the button “Ask Me A Question” in the sidebar.

VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , ,

Asian American Leadership: Leverage Your Asian Values For Effective Leadership

August 4, 2011 By Theresa Froehlich Leave a Comment

http://www.dreamstime.com/free-stock-photography-the-power-of-yin-yang-rimagefree17216751-resi2394692

All content on this website is copyrighted.

Asian American Leadership: Leverage Asian Values for Effective Leadership

Asian Americans carry two sets of cultural values, the values of their Asian upbringing and those of the predominantly Western American society at large, because they are bicultural people. These two sets of cultural values can work for or against them. In this article, I am going to name several dominant Asian values and suggest some adjustments so Asian American professionals can make their cultural values work in their favor.

1. Collectivism. Use this as an asset for team-building. Build and honor community, but not to the detriment of you as an individual.

2. Interpersonal harmony. Be sensitive to where other people are, but learn the skill of speaking the truth with integrity and diplomacy.

3. Placing others’ needs ahead of your own needs. Be willing and prepared to serve and to share, but set appropriate boundaries so you are not neglecting your own domain while attempting to help others.

4. Deference to authority figures. Authority figures at work are to be respected, but not to the extent of unquestioning obedience. Your supervisors will trust and respect you more if you engage them in conversations about how projects should be done. It is not disrespectful to share your ideas.

5. Educational achievement. Graduating from the best colleges and universities is an important door opener to the professional world, but this is just the beginning. Continue to develop yourself: leadership, public speaking, emotional intelligence, communication and other skills.

6. Self-effacement. Accept compliments when others give them. Instead of denying your accomplishments, thank your colleagues and supervisors for their kind and encouraging words. Don’t be shy to let people know about your capabilities. If you have skills to offer, your employers and colleagues would appreciate being able to tap into your skills. Think of it as a service you offer.

7. Conformity to family and social norms. In the workplace, you need to be aware of the village customs, but you must never leave your opinions outside the door when you enter a board room. Blindly capitulating to group norms will be seen as an innate inability to lead. If your supervisors see you as someone incapable of independent thinking, your career will come to a dead end.

What are some of your Asian values at play in the workplace? How are these values shaping your behavior? How are your value-driven behaviors shaping your work life?

Please leave me a comment and feel free to ask me a question by clicking on the button “Ask Me A Question” in the sidebar.

VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , , ,

Asian American Leadership: Distinguish The Urgent From The Important

July 28, 2011 By Theresa Froehlich Leave a Comment

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-time-runs-rimagefree2342888-resi2394692

All content on this website is copyrighted.

Asian American Leadership: Distinguish Urgent From Important

Effective leadership requires the ability to distinguish the urgent from the important. An Asian American professional enhances his leadership effectiveness not only by distinguishing the urgent from the important, but also by being aware of how such priorities are shaped by values.

Let me share an example. A leader with a Western upbringing may assign a high priority to relationship-building, and thus takes time for socializing at the coffee machine. An Asian American professional, however, may have been taught by parents to get tasks done and everything else was unimportant. For the Asian American professional, then, getting the job done is urgent and important. However, if this Asian American professional works in an organization populated by upper level executives who are Westerners, he may be seen as attending to many urgent and important tasks but neglecting the important (though not urgent) task of building relationships.

To enhance their leadership effectiveness, therefore, Asian American leaders need to do a few things:

1. Develop self-awareness. Know which baskets you are putting your eggs in and why.

2. Recognize what your organization, your supervisors, and your coworkers count as important.

3. Cultivate your flexibility regarding definitions of urgent and important. Be ready to adapt to other people’s definitions so you can build bridges to reach them.

4. If you find yourself resisting the idea of becoming flexible, ask yourself why. Name these emotions.

5. Have meaningful conversations with individuals from cultures other than your own. Understand their worldviews. Learn from them how they adapt in intercultural situations.

What is your definition of urgent? What is your definition of important? How do your definitions shape your use of time? How do they shape the way you relate to others? What is this doing to and for your leadership effectiveness?

Please leave me a comment and feel free to ask me a question by clicking on the button “Ask Me A Question” in the sidebar.

VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , ,

Asian American Leadership, Model Minority, And Mental Health

July 21, 2011 By Theresa Froehlich Leave a Comment

http://www.dreamstime.com/free-stock-photography-young-woman-looking-back-rimagefree2364095-resi2394692

Historically, Asian Americans had had to deal with being stereotyped as the lowest of the social totem pole. During the last few decades, they have been thrust into the limelight by being stereotyped as the “model minority”. This, supposedly affirmation, has come at a cost to many young Asian Americans.

At the fifth annual Asian American Leadership Conference at Yale in November 2010, Amy Cheng, Yale Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, spoke of the disproportionate level of psychological distress among Asian American college students, and the high visibility cases of mental illness: Elizabeth Shin at MIT and Seung-Hui Cho at Virginia Tech.

Asian American students face pressures from several directions: societal, parental, and self. To protect the mental health of our young and promising Asian Americans, some actions will need to be taken.

1. Parents need to affirm their children for all efforts, not just for grades or other outcomes.

2. Parents need to accept each child as “good enough” and not impose excessive expectations on the child to achieve perfection. In most cases, perfection means straight A’s in every area of studies.

3. Students must learn to separate themselves from the stereotype. When the students are unable to influence their parents or society, they need to develop certain perspectives to protect their mental health. For example, they must learn not to own societal stereotype of “model minority” as their obligation to become one of this perfect tribe.

4. Students can self-organize into support groups. They are empowered to develop, without placing undue pressure on themselves, when they have a safe place to band together with other Asian American students, to share their struggles, and to feel accepted and supported.

5. Students will serve themselves well if they take some time to reflect on the topic of success. Too many Asian American parents overemphasize academic achievements and neglect the quality of parent-child relationship. If students have a clear picture of their own definition of success, they will be guided by their values as they move through their college education and later their career development.

What is your definition of success? What might you do to protect your child, your friend, or yourself from psychological distress?

Please leave me a comment and feel free to ask me a question by clicking on the button “Ask Me A Question” in the sidebar.

VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , ,

Asian American Leadership: Adjusting Power Distance To Enhance Leadership Effectiveness

July 14, 2011 By Theresa Froehlich Leave a Comment

http://www.dreamstime.com/free-stock-photography-one-of-many-rimagefree1241135-resi2394692

Asian American Leadership: Adjusting Power Distance To Enhance Leadership Effectiveness
All content is copyrighted.

Asian American professionals, being accustomed to hierarchical structures in their native cultures, may view their relationships with employees with the “I am above you” kind of attitude. Placed in the American context of egalitarian society, the hierarchical style of relationships may not work so well.

To become more effective in the North American context, Asian Americans in leadership positions will need to decrease their power distance to enhance the interpersonal closeness. When Caucasian subordinates sense that you are the high and mighty supervisor, they may not respond to you as well. You will be far more effective if you shorten the power distance and view yourself as one of them, instead of one above them.

Revising the power relationships with those you are leading may be challenging for Asian Americans.
1. Practice visualizing yourself as an equal, a friend, a collaborator, and a fellow team member. Picture yourself walking alongside the others.

2. Ask yourself this question: “What are the barriers to visualizing in #1?” Write these down and work through each one with a professional coach.

3. Write down these three ways to motivate your employees: authority, power, and influence. What percentage of time do you rely one authority in order to motivate those you lead? Divide a piece of paper into three columns. In each column, write down the three headings: authority, power, and influence. In each column, write down at least one case scenario e.g. a meeting you’re leading next week, where you will rely on authority, power, and influence to lead. Ask yourself in each situation how you can adapt your power distance so you can rely more on influence.

What has been your experience with power distance as you lead? What changes can you make to improve your effectiveness?

Please leave me a comment and feel free to ask me a question by clicking on the button “Ask Me A Question” in the sidebar.

VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , ,

Asian American Leadership: What Is Your Life Plan?

July 7, 2011 By Theresa Froehlich Leave a Comment

http://www.dreamstime.com/free-stock-photography-map-with-compass-rimagefree12501367-resi2394692

Asian American Leadership: What Is Your Life Plan?

Asian American professionals have been culturally conditioned to have great aspirations for education, but their life direction seems to come to a halt once they graduate from college and graduate school. To grow as leaders, Asian American professionals need a strategic life plan, and an Asian life plan in particular.

What is a strategic life plan? It is a life plan that encompasses the eight major areas of your life (physical health, family relationships, social relationships, your relationship to yourself, spirituality, mental wellness, career, and finances). This plan, even though you may be revising it every year or every six months, gives you a compass for the next year or six months.

For Asian American professionals, your life plan needs an extra dimension. This is the dimension of intercultural development. While this can be subsumed under the topic “Your relationship to yourself”, it should include probing questions such as: how am I doing in the area of cross-cultural sensitivity and skills? What new tools can I pick up to become more effective in a multicultural environment? How comfortable am I in my Asian American skin? If I am not comfortable, what is causing my discomfort and how can I improve my condition?

Please leave me a comment and feel free to ask me a question by clicking on the button “Ask Me A Question” in the sidebar.

VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , ,

Asian American Leadership: Leadership Is About Choosing To Influence

June 30, 2011 By Theresa Froehlich Leave a Comment

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-man-on-the-world-rimagefree1752370-resi2394692

Asian American Leadership: Leadership Is About Choosing To Influence

To develop into effective leaders, you begin with understanding the relationship among three things: you, your behavior, and your world. These are interrelated and each one has a domino effect on the other two. For Asian American leaders, this understanding is particularly critical because you straddle between two cultures. Your bicultural background requires you to relate to two worlds all at once.

For example, you hold dear the value of serving your neighborhood through random acts of kindness, your value motivates you to take action to pick up the garbage on your street. Since your behavior has a positive impact on others, it will also create more positive relationships with them. This positive outcome will also reinforce your core value of serving your neighborhood through random acts of kindness. On the contrary, individuals who focus mostly on serving themselves, e.g. Uncle Scrooge, will have the opposite effect. These individuals want only to reap personal benefits at the cost of others; they destroy community and create a hostile world.

We all influence our world, sometimes positively and other times negatively. If our desired outcome is a positive impact, we need to take a close look at ourselves and our behavior, and take stock of how these impact our world. This involves a conscious process of becoming self-aware, self-observing, and self-evaluating. I list here a few questions to spark this process.

1. What are the core values that drive your daily behavior?

2. What are some limiting beliefs that keep you from behaviors that will positively influence the world around you?

3. How do you handle unattractive tasks? If they are tasks necessary for reaching your destination or goal but conflict with one or more of your core values, how do you motivate yourself?

4. When you begin to observe yourself (your attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors), how do you measure your score on influence? What significance do you assign to relationships with others?

5. If you were to list the values that are important to you, can you do this without hesitating? If not, why not? If you can list these values (which in turn govern your attitudes and beliefs), how would you prioritize them in the event of conflict among those values?

What is your current understanding of the relationship between you, your behavior, and your world? Where in these three arenas do you find room for development and change? How would you go about changing?

Please leave me a comment and feel free to ask me a question by clicking on the button “Ask Me A Question” in the sidebar.

VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , ,

Asian American Leadership: Benchmarks for Effective Leadership

June 27, 2011 By Theresa Froehlich Leave a Comment

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-measuring-tape-rimagefree584369-resi2394692

What are the measures of effective leadership? What sets great leaders apart from the average ones? What benchmarks do we look for when we speak of leadership effectiveness?

According to Wikipedia, “The term benchmark originates from the chiseled horizontal marks that surveyors made in stone structures, into which an angle-iron could be placed to form a “bench” for a leveling rod, thus ensuring that a leveling rod could be accurately repositioned in the same place in future.”

Based on this definition, a benchmark is then a standard to count on, to measure by, and to rely on. I have listed below some of the benchmarks of effective leadership. I welcome your joining in the conversation on the topic.

1. An effective leader is willing to go where he wants his people to go.

2. An effective leader is at least a bit ahead of his pack.

3. An effective leader is willing to walk alongside his people.

4. An effective leader is prepared to set aside his personal comfort and interests when necessary.

5. An effective leader is able to empathize with his people.

6. An effective leader values his followers as people, not just as means of production.

7. An effective leader, along with his followers, creates a shared vision.

8. An effective leader is able to think in terms of “we”.

9. An effective leader is able to communicate the vision clearly.

10. An effective leader has eagle’s eyes, the ability to see a panoramic view of where the pack is going.

11. An effective leader is willing to take risks.

12. An effective leader leads his team to accurately calculate risks.

13. An effective leader exercises wisdom.

14. An effective leader knows his strengths yet acknowledges his weaknesses.

15. An effective leader acknowledges he does not have everything it takes to get the job done; he surrounds himself with a team of followers who complement his lack.

16. An effective leader is cognizant of his people’s emotional and social needs.

17. An effective leader is a “people developer”. He understands his most important job is to develop leaders.

18. An effective leader is flexible enough to adapt his leadership style to suit the situation.

19. An effective leader is a lifetime learner.

20. An effective leader gives credit to the “we” when a mission is achieved.

21. An effective leader is able to inspire a team spirit.

22. An effective leader is able to trust his people.

23. An effective leader is prepared to delegate responsibility.

24. An effective leader knows he is not indispensable.

25. An effective leader is humble.

26. An effective leader has eyes to see the local and global trends that affect the team.

27. An effective leader is quick to show appreciation and slow to criticize.

28. An effective leader is courageous. He does not allow fear to govern him.

29. An effective leader is prepared to make tough choices.

30. An effective leader is able to spot talent when he sees it and is ready to put such talent to use for the benefit of the mission.

What might be other benchmarks of effective leadership? From you experience, which areas do you feel you need to grow? What strategies would you use to help you grow.

Please leave me a comment and feel free to ask me a question by clicking on the button “Ask Me A Question”.

VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , ,

Asian American Leadership: Forgiving Your Parents As Door-Opener To Personal Development

June 23, 2011 By Theresa Froehlich Leave a Comment

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-candles-in-a-church-no-2-rimagefree1060156-resi2394692

Asian American Leadership: Forgiving Your Parents As Door-Opener To Personal Development

Asian Americans can open more doors to personal development when we are able to forgive our parents.

As I was leading a workshop on “Life Planning” for a group of Asian Americans, I sensed the emotional temperature rising once I mentioned the relationship with parents who still expect their adult children to obey their wishes. Asian cultures are hierarchical and, therefore, adult children continue to be under their parents’ authority even though they are already self-reliant adults. Since these Asian adult children notice that their Anglo counterparts don’t have to struggle with parental authority, they feel bitter, frustrated, or stifled.

Developing as leaders is about becoming effective in managing relationships. If our primary relationships with parents are strained and difficult, these relationship patterns will inevitably spill into the environment in which we lead. It is important to resolve the strains and difficulties in these relationships so we can move forward in life in general and in leadership development in particular.

An Asian American woman asked me recently for a 1-2-3 plan for forgiving. It would be difficult to come up with a 1-2-3 plan because each situation is different. However, I would suggest a few questions to ponder on.

1. When you are ready to forgive your father or mother who has hurt you, what will forgiving do for you?

2. What are the barriers that keep you from forgiving your parents?

3. How would you handle the trust issue after you have forgiven your parents?

4. How would you communicate to your parents how their actions have hurt you in the past? How would you communicate you are forgiving them now?

5. Once you have forgiven your parents, what would honoring your parents look like?

Please leave me a comment and feel free to ask me a question by clicking on the button “Ask Me A Question” in the sidebar.

VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , ,

Asian American Professionals: Leadership Begins With Accurate Self-Assessment

June 16, 2011 By Theresa Froehlich Leave a Comment

http://www.dreamstime.com/free-stock-image-3d-balls-rimagefree2098278-resi2394692

Asian American Professionals: Leadership Begins With Accurate Self-Assessment

Leadership begins with an accurate assessment of the self, our strengths and our potential for improvement. Asian American leaders, particularly, have room to grow in the area of accurate self-assessment.

Asian Americans have been culturally trained to be humble, so we tend to downplay our strengths, our expertise and our abilities. Even when we know within ourselves we are good at something, we are not comfortable admitting it to others and sometimes even to ourselves. By the same token, an accurate self-assessment includes brutal honesty about our lack, our shortcomings, and our potential that still needs to be developed.

Leadership is about knowing who we are, what we can do, and our strengths compared to those of the rest of the community. We cannot even begin to envision ourselves leading if we do not have an accurate self-assessment. When we do not honestly acknowledge the gifts, strengths, and abilities we already have, we are merely practicing false humility. We also fail to be good stewards of such gifts, strengths and abilities because we do not readily accept our position in the community.

1. How comfortable are you acknowledging your gifts, strengths, and abilities to yourself?

2. How ready are you to acknowledge these gifts, strengths, and abilities to others?

3. If you don’t know what your strengths are, how can you discover them?

4. What are the reasons you feel comfortable or uncomfortable acknowledging your gifts, strengths, and abilities?

5. As you think about the organization in which you function: workplace, family, or civic organizations, where do you see yourself in relation to the rest of the community?

Please leave me a comment and feel free to ask me a question by clicking on the button “Ask Me A Question” in the sidebar.

VN:F [1.9.15_1155]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »
newsletter software