Nothing in this presentation is groundbreaking. But sometimes we need to be reminded of what is right in front of us.

Time is my most valuable commodity. Time management is a killer.

I don't want to work longer hours. - Studies say it is a waste anyway.

Getting stuff done.

Technology interruptions.

Intiative overload.

Drop-in visitors

Unproductive meetings

Procrastination

Obvious that this a is a problem in the digital world
Electronic resources, catalogs, too many places to search for similar or complementary things

Also happens with departments or people

Frequently discover different departments working on the same or similar problems but they aren't communicating and sharing therefore creating redundancy, wasting time and possibly coming up with two inferior solutions

One unsolvable problem for me might be have a super obvious answer to someone else

Most decisions are not made in meetings.

Decisions are made before meetings in more informal conversations and then presented at meetings like they are up for discussion.

Frequently I don't know what a meeting is about until I get to the meeting.

My brainstorming isn't that quick. I need time to soak in a problem and rattle it around in my head before I can come up with any possible solutions.

What is a meeting?

Is it a discussion?

I think we lose focus of why we are having a meeting all to often.

Even if I am given meeting information in advance- I frequently do not have time to read it, which means I'm a waste of space at the meeting table.

No one answers the phone any more and leaving a voice message is considered criminal to many

Email is even worse because it is so easy to become overwhelmed with the onslaught of messages that responses are frequently not timely or relevant

IT might seem like you are sending way more time getting up and going to see someone in person but you may be saving time in the long run:

1. You are building a real life relationship with that person.
2. The conversation can progress quickly as you receive real time responses
3. You get to judge a person's body language
4. Exercise
5. Because you can see body language and hear tone, it reduces communication breakdowns/ misunderstandings
6. You frequently resolve problems or get answers instantly.
7. Your presence reinforces that you really care about your topic. That it is important and requires immediate attention.
8. Your presence also says that you thought this person was important enough to get up and visit.

Not really enemies, but anyone that disagrees with you

Waste of time to talk to your friends- they already agree with you.

Talking to enemies has several advantages:
Learn about their perspective
Persuade them to your point-of-view
Compromise
Take their point-of-view because you are not always going to be right

Think about this sea turtle. He moves slow on land, but put him in the water and he is in his element. I think sometimes preceived enemies are people who are not comfortable with a new idea. They may have different strengths than you.

If you are going to talk, you need to be willing to listen.

Listening is the most underrate skill of all time.

Or I think most people get how important it is to listen. But most of us forget to do it consistently.

If you are sitting in a meeting starring at your phone, are you really listening?

We don't trust non-managers with much.

This isn't the CIA. We need to start trusting staff and let them get involved in the company

Each staff member needs to be treated as a stakeholder.

We all need this place to succeed. everybody backs off and stops engaging

The secrecy comes across as a lack of trust and that lack of trust destroys moral

Staff frequently feel like they have no idea what the company's vision really is

Where are we going next?

A lack of hard information and transparency = the rumor mill

The rumor mill breeds fear

Hand in hand with trust.

The lack of perceived trust turns into a feeling of disrespect

Staff have hear managers say things like, "If you don't like it here, get another job."

But they aren't going anywhere. A good number of them aren't going anywhere until they retire. Ageism in the job market exists and even if a lot of our staff members want to move on they can't because of their age.

Back in high school, when I had to go to Spanish class my stomach would cringe. I never studied and so I was never prepared. That meant Spanish class was hell. I spent the time before class fearing that I might get called on, or humiliated in front of the class.

During class I tried to disappear into my seat. I made eye contact with no one.

What this my fault? Yes. But this isn';t a class room where the teacher can ignore me if she wants to. We need every staff membmer to be productive and to do
there job.

So we end up with a bunch of staff members who hate their jobs because they don't know what they are doing and they don't know how to get help to figure out what they should be doing.

If you think a staff member is worthless, they know you think they are worthless.

That's an awful way to feel. It's an awful way to have someone who sits on a desk and deals with the public feel

Everyone has value. Maybe you just don't see it.

We need to figure out what people are passionate about and what they are good at or could be good at and bring them back into the productivity fold.

This isn't easy. And I have no idea how to start.

Money not a real motivator

What is?

Acknowledgement, respect, trust, food

Innovation ideas is amazing. Let's anyone from any level use their brain and go wild. I was inspired by this.

There is nothing worse than being an entry level employee and constantly reminded that you are entry level and you can't do that because it isn't in your job description.

People who do, and do well should be rewarded with opportunities to expand their knowledge bank.

One of hte best things you can do to improve your leadership is become self aware. Do you know what your strenghts and weakness are? Even if you don't want to admit them to others, you should admit them to yourself.

What are my plus and minus?

Not always a clear communicator
Talking before I'm ready
Lack of preparedness

Example:
I need to tell a coworker about an idea. I think about my idea all the way to her office and then start mid thouht and she doesn't know back story.

Know your audience

Empathy

Pay attention to reactions

Communication breakdowns lead to
Rumor mill

What is it we are all striving for?

We also see things differently, so leaders must craft a vision in such a way that everyone is inspired to adopt it.

The starting and end points of a journey is going to look different to everyone. We need to focus on what we do agree on and build from there.

If everyone involved in the building of these wonders of the world did their own thing, these would not be wonders at all.

That said, slavery and dictatorship aren't something to strive for.

We just need to be building the same structure.

Everybody needs to be on board.

They need to be held accountable if they don't engage

This doesn't work if someone drops their side of the parachute.

Working here is a team sport.

This game only works if everyone participates

Go into a situation thinking it will work

You need to know obstacles and what to do, but think about solutions, not just the problems

Identify problems, but have some solutions too

End on a positive note. We aren't hopeless. We can do this. Hard, not easy.

Can't always make it work but at least you tried.