Cultivating Connection

Here are some helpful articles (and a few videos) related to this topic. You can also search via keyword at the navigation bar on the right or by the tagged bullets below. Enjoy!  If you find something you like, please leave a comment.   Thanks…

Branding

Once Upon a Time…The Best Brand Stories Ever – from the Volusion Blog.  This blog post from Volusion captures the inspiring brand stories of companies like Nike, Tiffany & Co., and Whole Foods Market and how we can learn from their experiences.

Change This.org

The Silent Revolution: Peter Drucker’s Voice Still Resonates – by Edersheim. “Amid all the change we see in companies, what hasn’t changed is the genius of Peter F. Drucker’s council to management. What matters is asking, observing, imagining tomorrow, and taking time to invest in people that can help you create that image. It is designing and building our future, while being pragmatic and ethical.

Coaching

Peer Coaching-Learning Partner Overview by Marshall Goldsmith. Peer Coaching was originally developed as a cost-effective way to provide quality coaching to mid-level, high potential and emerging leaders. The process was originally developed by Andrew Thorn who later partnered with Marshall Goldsmith to extend many of the benefits of the Goldsmith Coaching Model. Marshall Goldsmith’s personal involvement and extensive experience of helping successful leaders get even better gave energy and momentum to this unique process.

Peer Coaching Overview – by Peter Cole, Cole Consulting. In peer coaching, two leaders come together, share in conversations, reflect on and refine their professional development, usually immediately upon observing & participating in a shared team meeting. Their relationship is built on confidentiality and trust in a non-threatening, secure environment in which they learn and grow together; therefore, peer coaching is always an intentional, even exchange.

Peer coaching model – a Cole Consulting collaborative model by Peter Cole. Peer coaching provides the opportunity to share ideas and techniques that have been effective in building relationships and creating a meaningful dialogue. Everyone is able to impact the performance of their peers by modeling behaviors that increase authentic communication!

Peer Coaching Process Agreements – by Peter Cole, Cole Consulting.  A template for getting started (feel free to use and/or edit).

Communication

Difficult Conversations Summary – by Douglas Stone.  What is a difficult conversation? Conversations we dread, and often handle clumsily as a result, are part of all our lives: in boardrooms and family rooms, across the negotiation table and the dinner table. Now, Difficult Conversations teaches us how to handle these dialogues with more success and less anxiety.
Difficult Conversations Prep Sheet –  After reading through the summary, use this sheet to help organize your thoughts and prepare for a difficult conversation.

Difficult Conversation Assumptions and Goals – Helps identify the assumptions and goals of three different types of difficult conversations: The “What Happened?” conversation, the Feeling conversation, and the Identity conversation.

Tell The Whole Truth – by Clinton Korver of ChangeThis.  How can you use truth to turn ordinary relationships into extraordinary ones? The answer is to grasp
the truth in its fullest sense, and then practice using it skillfully, with discretion and wisdom.

Cultivating Connection

How to Facilitate Rather than Lead – by Cole Consulting. This is a great explanation of what it means to facilitate as a leader and some steps and guidelines as the facilitator for you to follow.

Fundamental Meeting Roles  – by Peter Cole. Laying ground rules, assigning roles for each member of the meeting, and building mutual respect are all important parts of running a successful meeting.

Brene Brown – on YouTube. Researcher/Storyteller talks about The Power of Vulnerability (from TED Talks).

Leadership Development, Brene Brown style – a one-page guide to what constitutes leadership in today’s world.

Mentoring

Best Practices of Mentoring – Chart – from Women’s Leadership Alliance. Tips for Mentors, Mentees, and both parties, as well as reminders for effective meetings.

Building a Successful Mentoring Program – by Lois Sachary. Do you want to create a mentoring culture at your organization? These are eight easy steps to follow to ensure you’re on the right track.

Demystifying Mentoring – by Amy Gallo. Are you not quite sure you know what mentoring is? Do you feel any fear or trepidation about pursuing a mentor/mentee relationship? Well, you don’t need to according to Gallo, who reminds us that mentoring can be helpful for all kinds of people and is a mutually beneficial relationship. She also includes principles to remember and a case study for you to see for yourself how this could work for you.

Mothering

Work-life Balance for Moms – by Alexa Cole, Cole Consulting. This article frames the three things that often come up for working moms in our coaching practice: time management, stress reduction, and cultivating balance/finding support.

Organizational Assessment, Organizational Development

Criteria for Performance Excellence by Baldridge – The 2006 assessment and review tool by Baldridge National Quality Program. This document is 68 pages and a great resource for organizational development work.

Scrum
– a framework within which people can address complex problems, and productively and creatively develop products of the highest possible value. It’s a tool organizations can use to increase their agility.

The Scrum Handbook – by Jeff Sutherland.  Scrum is an agile method designed to add energy, focus, clarity, and transparency to project planning and implementation.  Today, Scrum is used in small, mid-sized and large software corporations all over the world. It is being used in more and more areas beyond software.

Characteristics of a Great Scrum Team – by Barry Overeem.  A good overview of the three main roles within Scrum.

Strategic Communications

Being Strategic: The Antidote to Fear – by Erika Andersen of ChangeThis.  Anderson considers being strategic as simple as getting clear, accurate information about the situation and then articulating what a successful future looks like. Use this tactic to tap into hopeful energy and turn that new possibility into a reality.

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can – begin it… boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
– Goethe