A nice one page summary on MBTI… enjoy !

About the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) – Source: MBTI Manual ®

1.What ?

The essence of the MBTI-theory is that much seemingly 'random' variation in behavior is actually quite 'orderly' and 'consistent', being due to basic differences in the way individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment.

Perception involves all the ways of becoming aware of things, people, happenings, or ideas. Judgment involves all the ways of coming to conclusions about what has been perceived. If people differ systematically in what they perceive and in how they reach conclusions, then it is also reasonable to differ accordingly in their interests, reactions, values, motivations, etc.

2.Why ?

The purpose of the MBTI instrument is to identify the basic preferences of people in regard to perception and judgment, so that the effects of each preference, singly and in combination, can be established by research and put into practical use.

3.How ?

The MBTI instrument contains four separate indices. Each index reflects one of four basic preferences which, under Jung's theory, direct the use of perception and judgment. The preferences affect not only what people attend to in any given situation, but also how they draw conclusions about what they perceive.

Extraversion-Introversion (E-I)

The E–I index is designed to reflect whether a person is an extravert or an introvert. Extraverts are oriented primarily toward the outer world; thus they tend to focus their perception and judgment on people and objects. Introverts are oriented primarily toward the inner world; thus they tend to focus their perception and judgment upon concepts and ideas.

Sensing-Intuition (S-N)

The S–N index is designed to reflect a person's preference between two opposite ways of perceiving; one may rely primarily upon the process of sensing (S), which reports observable facts or happenings through one or more of the five senses; or one may rely upon the less obvious process of intuition (N), which reports meanings, relationships and/or possibilities that have been worked out beyond the reach of the conscious mind.

Thinking-Feeling (T-F)

The T–F index is designed to reflect a person's preference between two contrasting ways of judgment. A person may rely primarily through thinking (T) to decide impersonally on the basis of logical consequences, or a person may rely primarily on feelings (F) to decide primarily on the basis of personal or social values.

Judgment – Perception (J-P)

The J–P index is designed to describe the process a person uses primarily in dealing with the outer world, that is, with the extraverted part of life. A person who prefers judgment (J) has reported a preference for using a judgment process (either thinking or feeling) for dealing with the outer world. A person who prefers perception (P) has reported a preference for using a perceptive process (either S or N) for dealing with the outer world.

4.Sixteen MBTI types

One pole of each of the four preferences is preferred over the other pole for each of the sixteen MBTI types. The preferences on each index are independent of preferences for the other three indices, so that the four indices yield sixteen possible combinations called "types," denoted by the four letters of the preferences (e.g., ESTJ, INFP).

ISTJ	ISFJ	INFJ	INTJ
ISTP	ISFP	INFP	INTP
ESTP	ESFP	ENFP	ENTP
ESTJ	ESFJ	ENFJ	ENTJ

 

For the Jaworski booklet on 10/10…

"Since reading 'Synchronicity', i've gone through the paradigm shift of no longer planning and controlling my macro-life, but to let go and to'trust' life; it will bring at various moments exactly what i will need at those moment. Things i need to achieve my full potential, to fully become who i am. I'm even prepared to let go, understanding that this letting go is also a learning process (falling down and crawling back) in itself. - Thanks Joseph !" Karl Van Hoey

Great blog by Greg McKeown: If you don't prioritize you life, someone else will !

Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/06/how_to_say_no_to_a_controlling.html

A 'no' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble." So said Mahatma Gandhi, and we all know how his conviction played out on the world stage. But what is less well known is how this same discipline played out privately with his own grandson, Arun Gandhi.Arun grew up in South Africa. 

When he was a young boy, he was beaten up twice: once for being too white and once for being too black. Still angry, Arun was sent to spend time with his grandfather. In an interview with Arun, he told me that his grandfather was in demand from many important people, yet he still prioritized his grandson, spending two hours a day for 18 months justlistening to Arun. 

It proved to be a turning point in Arun's life.I had the opportunity to apply Gandhi's example of prioritization to my own life, hours before one of my daughters was born. I felt pressure to go to a client meeting the next day. But on this occasion, I knew what to do. It was clearly a time to be there for my wife and child. So, when asked to attend the meeting, I said with all the conviction I could muster...

"Yes."

To my shame, while my wife lay in the hospital with my hours-old baby, I went to the meeting. Afterward, my colleague said, "The client will respect you for making the decision to be here." But the look on the clients' faces mirrored how I felt. What was I doing there?! I had not lived true to Gandhi's saying. I had said "yes" to please. 

As it turned out, exactly nothing came of the client meeting. And even if the client had respected my choice, and key business opportunities had resulted, I would still have struck a fool's bargain. My wife supported me and trusted me to make the right choice under the circumstances, and I had opted to deprioritize her and my child.

Why did I do it? I have two confessions:

First, I allowed social awkwardness to trump making the right decision. I wasn't forced to attend the meeting. Instead, I was so anxious to please that even awkward silent pauses on the phone were too much for me. In order to stop the social pain, I said "yes" when I knew the answer should be "no."

Second, I believed that "I had to make this work." Logically, I knew I had a choice, but emotionally, I felt that I had no choice. That one corrupted assumption psychologically removed many of the actual choices available to me

What can you do to avoid the mistake of saying "yes" when you know the answer should be "no"?

First, separate the decision from the relationship. Sometimes these seem so interconnected, we forget there are two different questions we need to answer. By deliberately dividing these questions, we can make a more conscious choice. Answer the question, "What is the right decision?" and then"How can I communicate this as kindly as possible?"

Second, watch your language. Every time we say, "I have to take this call" or "I have to send this piece of work off" or "I have to go to this client meeting," we are assuming that previous commitments are nonnegotiable. Every time you use the phrase "I have to" over the next week, stop and replace it with "I choose to." It can feel a little odd at first — and in some cases it can even be gut-wrenching (if we are choosing the wrong priority). But ultimately, using this language reminds us that we are making choices, which enables us to make a different choice.

Third, avoid working for or with people who don't respect your priorities. It may sound simplistic, but this is a truly liberating rule! There are people who share your values and as a result make it natural to live your priorities. It may take a while to find an employment situation like this, but you can set your course to that destination immediately.

Saying "yes" when we should be saying "no" can seem like a small thing in the moment. But over time, such compromises can create a life of regrets. Indeed, an Australian nurse named Bronnie Ware, who cared for people in the last 12 weeks of their lives, recorded the most often-discussed regrets. At the top of the list: "I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me." Next on the list: "I wish I hadn't worked so hard" and "I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings." (Read the Top 5 Regrets here).

We may not develop Gandhian levels of courage immediately, but surely we can do better than having to look back on our lives and regret that we lived by someone else's priorities.

My favorite top 3 'internal' coaching skills !

Listen with empathy and without prejudice:  ability to focus completely on what the collaborator  is saying and is not saying, to understand the meaning of what is said in the context of the collaborator's desires, and to support collaborator's self-expression.

Use powerful questions:  ability to ask questions that reveal the information needed for maximum benefit to the coaching relationship and the collaborator's performance.

Be fully present and conscious: ability to be fully conscious and create spontaneous relationship with the collaborator, employing a style that is open, flexible and confident. With other words, you question and listen with the intend to understand, not with the intend to reply.

Have a  nice coaching-session !

Karl

A nice example of a nice coaching-session !

Karl: coach

Jim: coachee

Purpose:

Karl: What topic would you like to talk about during this coaching session; what objective would you like to reach ?

Jim: Over the last weeks i've felt my commitment going up and down, independent of what i was precisely doing or with whom i was working, and it's not very clear to my why this is happening...

Karl: Ok, so if i understand correctly you want to gain insight in the WHY of your commitment's being 'unstable', is that it ?

Jim: Yes, that summarizes it correctly...

Existing situation:

Karl: So tell me, Jim, what do you feel or think when it's happening again; your commitment going up and down...

Jim: Hard to explain Karl, but sometimes i get into a certain 'mood' that is not really helping...

Karl: A 'mood' Jim ? Tell me more about it...

Jim: Well, at days for example when there is first a lot of traffic, then afterwards way too much email and unexpected calls and questions, i sometimes get the feeling that nothing ever proceeds, that nothing ever gets solved, no matter how hard i work... That's the mood i'm talking about...

Karl: I think i understand what you're saying... You mention traffic, mails and unexpected questions as causes for this mood...What eventually other circumstances may also cause this same mood Jim ?

Jim: well in general... when 'too much' - whatever the source - is overwhelming me, i feel my commitment having a tough time....

Karl: Could you describe this 'too much' more precisely ?

Jim: Well, in fact, it says probably more about me, dealing with all this 'too much', than about the 'too much' itself, i mean... sometimes i seem to find myself in a situation where i'm not willing anymore to deal with 'too much'

Karl: What would 'dealing with too much' look like ?

Jim: Dealing with it would mean me being able to distinguish the important and urgent from what's not and manage appropriately, no matter how much there is...

Resistances:

Karl: So Jim, what's withholding you from managing the 'too much', rather than allowing it to bring you in this 'mood'...

Jim: I think it's about energy, i feel less energy to again, and again and again, keep on managing it...

Karl: Jim, i get the feeling that there's a certain 'tiredness' inside of you, perhaps something more fundamental than just 'not be able to manage' ? Please share your thought on this...

Jim, i'm not sure, perhaps yes, perhaps no... i really don't know...

Karl: Then what do you know about what's holding you back form managing 'too much' ?

Jim: Well i know that sometimes i just feel the need to stand still a bit, to reflect a bit on these situations, to complain about it, i guess...

Karl: standing still, reflecting, complaining...

Jim: Yes, that's precisely what i sometimes seem to need in order to... continue afterwards

Karl: So, is this complaining mood withholding you, or precisely helping you to continue afterwards ?

Jim: Both i guess, but i would really like to be able to skip that 'complaining' part; i think it's that what's costing so much energy...

Fishing for resources

Karl: So Jim, tell me, what could you do, to 'skip' that part ?

Jim: I think i would have to find other ways to sometimes get rid of frustrations...

Karl: What could those other ways look like ?

Jim: I don't have any concrete ideas yet, but it has become clear to me that finding other ways to lighten frustrations is probably the key to solving my commitment issues

Options

Karl: so, how would you like to use that key ?

Jim: I think it would be good if we started talking more systematically on this, let's put it on the agenda every meeting from now on; i feel this conversation has already helped me a bit further...

Karl: and what more could you do ?

Jim: Try to build-in some kind of reflex: whenever i feel that 'mood' coming up, i should be able to say to myself: 'stop wasting energy in sticking into such a mood, talk positively about it with someone, if needed'

Roll out plan

Karl: Now, going back to your initial purpose Jim, and what you've learned during this session, and the options you consider, how will you put this into practice ?

Jim:....

Measurement

Karl: How will you know you've been successful ?

Jim:...

Employee Value Proposition ? Get real !

Great blog form Teresa Collis, at http://enviableworkplace.com/employer-value-proposition-get-real/?goback=%2Egde_1787589_member_115000174

The concept of an Employer Value Proposition (EVP) has gained much popularity in recent years, the idea being that if you can clearly articulate the WIIFM (What's In It For Me) of working for your company, you will be able to better attract and retain good people.

Put simply, an EVP is what a company offers its employees in return for their performance and discretionary effort. We're not just talking about tangible things like salary, leave entitlements, the gym at the office or the insurance perks, but also less tangible aspects such as values and culture.

Every company has an EVP, whether they realise it or not, and current thinking is that when an EVP is "uncovered" and clearly defined and communicated, employees are more engaged with the organisation and therefore put in more discretionary effort and are less likely to leave. A well constructed EVP will also be the basis of any successful employer branding campaign, and will play a key role in attracting the right people to your company – people whose values and goals are aligned with yours.

Of course, all this will only hold true if what you say you are offering is (a) relevant, i.e. what employees actually want, and (b) real – so how do you know if all the time, effort and money that you are investing in your EVP is actually paying off?

Let's take engagement. If we are saying that having a clearly articulated EVP improves engagement, doesn't it make sense to ensure that what is driving the engagement is in fact the EVP? Look at it this way…….you and your partner have had a bit of a disagreement, and you want to put things right. You take him out for dinner at the most expensive restaurant in town, have a fabulous evening, and all is forgiven. Great, you think. Dinner at a posh restaurant is the perfect strategy to deal with any future falling out. And so, despite the battering that your bank account is subjected to over the next few months, you use this strategy a couple more times and seem to get the same positive result. Much later, you share your strategy with your partner, and he laughs at you……and tells you that the posh restaurants had nothing to do with it. You could have taken him to the local pizza place….the thing that really made the difference was that over dinner you really talked together and that meant more that any culinary extravagance.

In the same way, you could be spending a fortune on programs promoting an EVP that in reality has nothing to do with what is engaging your employees.

Worse still, you could be claiming to be something or to offer something that you are not, which in itself can seriously damage trust within the organisation – a sure-fire way to disengage employees.

And what about attraction? It's all very well to have a sensational employer branding campaign that promises creativity, or social responsibility, or work-life balance, or career progression……these may be the things that potential employees want, but if once they join your company they find that their expectations are not met, you can very quickly have engagement issues on your hands.

And it's not just your Employer Branding campaign that needs to have integrity. Anything that an employee says to potential new employees could be interpreted as a "promise", and if it is not a true representation of the reality of working at your company it can result in unmet expectations. I have seen recruiters who, in their enthusiasm for hiring the best people, make sweeping statements about what fabulous opportunities there are for overseas postings, or how the company encourages and pays for further education, or how diversity is highly valued – only for the new employee to discover when they actually join the company that these things are perhaps not quite right. Yes, overseas postings are possible……but happen only rarely. Sure, the company might pay for further education……but only in specific areas of study. And the company believes in the principle of diversity……but 95% of senior managers are male. Small wonder that a new employee might feel like they ordered chocolate mousse for dessert, and were served up crème caramel. In the same way that there is nothing actually wrong with the crème caramel other than the fact that it is not what was ordered, there is nothing inherently wrong with rare overseas postings, limited education possibilities and a high proportion of male managers…….it's just not what was promised.

Such unmet expectations not only lead to poor engagement, but can result in new employees leaving the company fairly soon after joining. This not only costs money – some estimates put the cost of replacing an employee at up to 100% of that employees annual salary – but effects productivity, morale, and can even damage that sensational employer branding campaign. An unhappy ex-employee is far more likely to tell others why they left your company, rather than why they joined you in the first place.

 

In a nutshell, to reap the benefits of an EVP it needs to be relevant and it needs to be real.

 

So, how do you make sure this is the case?

First, when uncovering your EVP, do it in collaboration with employees.

This will go a long way to ensuring that it's relevant, and something that your employees can buy in to. Sure, an EVP is that fine balance between what is reality now and what you aspire to be, but those aspirations need to be possible, and you need to be actively and obviously working towards them. Employees will forgive a lot if they feel you are being open and honest with them. When we defined our EVP at Siemens, we invited over 50 employees from different locations, seniority levels and functions across the company to a workshop where we learned from them what it is about Siemens that defines who we are and what we offer employees. By involving and listening to such a diverse cross section of employees we believe we now have an accurate picture of what it means to work with us, and this is a wonderful, and genuine, basis for all our Employer Branding activities.

Second, measure it.

A couple of clichés come to mind here – "you can't manage what you don't measure", and "inspect what you expect". Use an engagement survey, but be specific. If your EVP says you have a culture of open communication, ask your employees if they feel this is true. Many engagement surveys use standard questions, often designed so you can benchmark yourself against other companies or national norms, but if your EVP is unique, your engagement survey should be unique too. Benchmarking against other companies can be very useful, but when it comes to your EVP, you should be benchmarking yourself against the expectations you have set. At Siemens, part of our EVP is having a culture of curiosity and openness – we value it and encourage it in all our employees – but there was no question in our annual engagement survey that asked employees if they felt this was actually true. It's not surprising that there was no benchmark question about curiosity – quite comforting really, as we like to think our EVP is unique – but as we wanted to know whether this desired culture of curiosity and openness was real, we have added a couple of questions to the survey so we can find out.

Third, get detailed feedback.

Surveys are a wonderful way to take the pulse of the organisation, but if you want an accurate diagnosis, you need to take a more comprehensive history. One of my previous managers had a fabulous way of describing getting feedback from new employees – he called it "have you checked the children".  Too often we expend a huge amount of time, effort and money recruiting the best person for the job, and then once they are in the company we just leave them to their managers and assume everything will be OK. Sometimes it's not. As the old saying goes, "people join companies, and they leave managers", and by checking in on new employees during their first few months, you can quickly get a feel for whether the EVP that helped them make the decision to join your company in the first place is actually being lived by their manager and their colleagues around them.

And what if you discover that your carefully constructed, eloquently communicated EVP is not being lived up to within your organisation? Put in place an action plan to close the gap between what you say you are and the way your employees see you, or change the EVP message. Either way, you need to get real.

Over Joseph Jaworski en synchroniciteit

Over Joseph Jaworski en synchroniciteit

 

Interessant fragment uit: http://www.mt.nl/1/15154/home/joseph-jaworski-over-synchroniciteit.html, van Dominique Haijtema

 

Kern van Jaworski's theorie is dat de wereld een open systeem is, dat vooral uit relaties is opgebouwd. Alles en iedereen staat in verbinding met elkaar. Volgens hem is het daarbij vooral belangrijk om na te gaan welke dromen wij hebben. Waar verlangen wij naar? Wat zijn onze motieven en interesses? Bij welke activiteiten lijkt de tijd stil te staan en gaat alles vanzelf? Als we dat eenmaal weten, kan de reis naar de ware bestemming beginnen en zullen we veel onverwachte steun ontvangen, ook al is het een reis van vallen en opstaan. 

Synchroniciteit, niet toevallig ook de titel van zijn grootste bestseller, is en blijft een van zijn lievelingsthema's. Het begrip duidt volgens hem op het gevoel dat alles klopt, dat informatie op de juiste momenten binnenkomt en de communicatie onderling open en effectief verloopt.

De voormalige topadvocaat vertelt hoe hij als 18-jarige na een zware tornado in Texas met een groep vrijwilligers tussen het puin naar overlevenden zocht. Er hing elektriciteit in de lucht, zegt hij, "de groep werd letterlijk één. Iedereen wist precies wat-ie moest doen. Het bewustzijn was buitengewoon scherp en de communicatie ging moeiteloos." 
Waarmee hij maar wil zeggen: "Dat het mogelijk is buitengewone resultaten te behalen blijkt vaak in crisissituaties. Maar ik heb het ook meegemaakt tijdens gewone rechtszaken als ik het gevoel had dat ik het bij het rechte eind had en voor rechtvaardigheid kon zorgen. Dan leken mijn ondervragingen bijna vanzelf te gaan."

Karl Van Hoey: ik heb zelf ook het boek "Synchroniciteit" gelezen en was tijdens en na mijn lectuur behoorlijk diep getroffen doordat ik bepaalde 'toevallige', vaak ongeveer gelijktijdige gebeurtenissen in mijn leven ben gaan 'linken' ('connecting the dots' zo je wil). Dit gebeurde evenwel NADAT alles al plaatsgevonden had: pas toen, en na lectuur van dit boek, werden patronen zichtbaar. Uitdaging is nu om, gegeven mijn doel/droom, dat 'connecting' proactief te kunnen gaan doen. Te zien, en voelen, wat voor realisatie van mijn doel van 'belang' is en wat niet, in alles wat er gebeurt ! Bijzonder confronterend soms, maar beklijvend boeiend ;-))

Over Joseph Jaworski en synchroniciteit

Interessant fragment uit: http://www.mt.nl/1/15154/home/joseph-jaworski-over-synchroniciteit.html, van Dominique Haijtema

Kern van Jaworski's theorie is dat de wereld een open systeem is, dat vooral uit relaties is opgebouwd. Alles en iedereen staat in verbinding met elkaar. Volgens hem is het daarbij vooral belangrijk om na te gaan welke dromen wij hebben. Waar verlangen wij naar? Wat zijn onze motieven en interesses? Bij welke activiteiten lijkt de tijd stil te staan en gaat alles vanzelf? Als we dat eenmaal weten, kan de reis naar de ware bestemming beginnen en zullen we veel onverwachte steun ontvangen, ook al is het een reis van vallen en opstaan. 

Synchroniciteit, niet toevallig ook de titel van zijn grootste bestseller, is en blijft een van zijn lievelingsthema's. Het begrip duidt volgens hem op het gevoel dat alles klopt, dat informatie op de juiste momenten binnenkomt en de communicatie onderling open en effectief verloopt.

De voormalige topadvocaat vertelt hoe hij als 18-jarige na een zware tornado in Texas met een groep vrijwilligers tussen het puin naar overlevenden zocht. Er hing elektriciteit in de lucht, zegt hij, "de groep werd letterlijk één. Iedereen wist precies wat-ie moest doen. Het bewustzijn was buitengewoon scherp en de communicatie ging moeiteloos." 
Waarmee hij maar wil zeggen: "Dat het mogelijk is buitengewone resultaten te behalen blijkt vaak in crisissituaties. Maar ik heb het ook meegemaakt tijdens gewone rechtszaken als ik het gevoel had dat ik het bij het rechte eind had en voor rechtvaardigheid kon zorgen. Dan leken mijn ondervragingen bijna vanzelf te gaan."

Karl Van Hoey: ik heb zelf ook het boek "Synchroniciteit" gelezen en was tijdens en na mijn lectuur behoorlijk diep getroffen doordat ik bepaalde 'toevallige', vaak ongeveer gelijktijdige gebeurtenissen in mijn leven ben gaan 'linken' ('connecting the dots' zo je wil). Dit gebeurde evenwel NADAT alles al plaatsgevonden had: pas toen, en na lectuur van dit boek, werden patronen zichtbaar. Uitdaging is nu om, gegeven mijn doel/droom, dat 'connecting' proactief te kunnen gaan doen. Te zien, en voelen, wat voor realisatie van mijn doel van 'belang' is en wat niet, in alles wat er gebeurt ! Bijzonder confronterend soms, maar beklijvend boeiend ;-))

How Introverts Can Become Better Innovators - great blog from Francesca Gino

FRANCESCA GINO

Francesca Gino is an associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. She is the author of the forthcoming book Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How We Can Stick to the Plan.

How Introverts Can Become Better Innovators

11:33 AM Friday April 20, 2012 
by Francesca Gino | Comments (0)

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Whether you are trying to create a new product, solve problems more effectively, become the most successful company in your industry, or find creative ways to meet your customers' needs, innovation is likely one of your most critical objectives at work. But a factor often overlooked may get in the way of your expressing and implementing your excellent ideas: You are an introvert.

About 50% of U.S. residents are introverts, according to a study by psychologists Stephan Dilchert and Deniz Ones. What are the signs that you are one of them? Introverts have a tendency to be drained by social encounters and energized by solitary activities. They are generally inward looking and less concerned with the outside world. They enjoy reflecting on their own thoughts and feelings, and they often prefer to avoid social situations.

When it comes to generating innovative ideas, introverts and extroverts may be on par. Yet introverts' inward-looking nature can hold them back from having their creative ideas accepted since they may be disinclined to share them with others.

But compared to extroverts, introverts may be more open to others' creative ideas. Adam Grant of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Dave Hofmann of the University of North Carolina, and I conducted some research that shed light on this possibility. We asked managers and employees at 130 franchises of a U.S. pizza-delivery company to fill out a survey, and we obtained data on each store's profitability. Managers answered questions about their own personality. Other employees answered questions about their attempts to introduce improvements in job procedures. We found that in stores where employees tried to proactively introduce their creative ideas for improvements, introverted managers led stores to higher profits than more extroverted ones did. In franchises where employees stayed quiet and didn't offer their ideas, extroverted managers led stores to higher profits than more introverted managers did.

We further examined these relationships in a laboratory experiment in which we encouraged participants to adopt either a more introverted or extroverted behavior. We found that introverts tend to listen carefully to the creative ideas suggested by others, and they help others feel valued and motivated to do their work. By contrast, extroverts tend to feel threatened by the innovative ideas proposed by others and are thus less receptive to them.

These results highlight two potential problems that you may experience, depending on where you stand on the introvert-extrovert personality continuum: If you are an introvert, you may not feel very comfortable talking openly about your creative ideas with others; but if you are an extrovert, you may be too reluctant to listen to good ideas proposed by others. Here are three steps you can take in order to avoid these problems:

1. Reflect on your creative moments and seek out an environment that triggers them. By reflecting on your most creative moments, you may come to realize you have more of an introverted or extroverted style and, moreover, that context plays a significant role in your creativity. You may realize you tend to be the most creative while working in silence by yourself or that your innovative ideas are commonly the results of group brainstorming sessions. Understanding which environments are more conducive to creative sparks will help you make sure you are exploiting your full creative potential.

2. Recognize the pros and cons of your own personality. An introverted personality brings benefits: During a brainstorming session, you are likely to be one of the best listeners in the group, thus enabling you to thoroughly evaluate the quality of the ideas being suggested. At the same time, you may need an extra push to put forth your own good ideas. You may not be ready to think innovatively on your feet, but you can certainly generate innovative ideas when you are on your own. Use this to your advantage. You can prepare for brainstorming sessions in advance, so that you can become ready to suggest your ideas at the right moment.

3. Try to adapt your personality to the context. We can't always choose whom we work with. If you are in a group that tends to be very quiet and where members seem to be as introverted as you are, you might try to adapt a more extroverted style: You can be the one asking questions, shaping the creativity process so that others feel comfortable taking risks and offering their ideas. Adapting a more extroverted style may also help you talk about your own innovative ideas more openly in such a group setting.

By following these guidelines, you can be sure to tap into your own creativity in addition to bringing out the innovative ideas of those around you.

Hoe lang houdt 'Verbinden' nog stand ?

Nogal wat collega's hebben de mond vol dezer dagen over "Verbinding", "Verbindende Communicatie", enz...

Ik krijg de indruk dat 'verbinden' HET nieuwe woord aan het worden dat andere woorden, die hun tijd gehad hebben, vervangt. Ik denk dan aan woorden zoals:
-motiveren
-'klikken met'
-relatie onderhouden
-psychologisch contracteren (het menselijk of relationele contract 'achter' de juridische arbeidsovereenkomst)
-inspireren
-in beweging zetten
-...

En ik vind dat verdorie goed: ik vind 'verbinden' inderdaad een woord met een potentieel 'holistischere' betekenis dan vele van die andere woorden.

Niet goed vind ik de hele tsunami die we erover maken in de media, want zo wordt dat betekenis- en beloftevolle woord binnen de kortste keren weer dood geklopt (net als een hit die kapot gedraaid wordt op de radio). En nu hebben we eens een goed woord, laten we dat dus koesteren, eerder dan het kapot-gebruiken.

'Verbinden', en het verhaal er rond, lijkt me een een zinvol antwoord te kunnen (gaan) bieden op dat ander cruciale en relatief nieuwe woord: "Waarom ?"

Waarom in vredesnaam (willen) wij werken ?

Een klassiek overzicht vinden we snel bij onze vrienden de hygiëne en motivatie-factoren van Goold Old Herzberg, maar een veel genuanceerde visie kan m.i. op termijn geboden worden door dat VERBINDEN verder uit te zoeken en uit te werken.

Op voorwaarde dat we't niet vroegtijdig beu worden omdat er alweer een andere term komt opdraven...

We zouden nog heimwee kunnen krijgen naar onze verbindingen ;-)

Creëren samen met- en vanuit het... "niets" !

Een geweldige blog van Alan Seale over "creatie": creëren samen met- en vanuit het... "niets" !

Transformational Leadership – Co-Creating With Everything, Even When There Is Nothing There

I'm just back from three weeks of work in Europe – speaking at the ICF Romania conference in Bucharest, and then 2 1/2 weeks of teaching and speaking engagements in The Netherlands. Both places, I was talking about and teaching things that are dear to me. Yet it was a packed three weeks with barely any time just for myself. In fact, it's been a packed two years. Having made the commitment many months ago to write a weekly blog post, as I sit down to honor that commitment, I realize my tank is empty. And furthermore, next on my list after this blog post is to write a newsletter article (he says, gently curious as to what he will find to write about from this empty place!).

Transformational leadership involves co-creating with everything that comes along, including the emptiness. In fact, co-creation was a huge theme that kept showing up in nearly every presentation, workshop, and training on this last trip. And so here I am sitting with "empty" as my co-creative partner of the moment, and reminding myself that "empty" is never actually empty. However, right now, it sure feels like it! And when I pause to sit with this feeling, the first thing that seems to want to be co-created is being ok with feeling empty.

Just "being" in the emptiness, taking a few deep breaths and letting myself feel where I am, a beautiful sense of peace begins to wash over me. With that peace comes a permission to rest. I've been in this empty and exhausted place before, and many times it has brought great gifts. When I give myself permission to be empty – to just be still – I can sometimes "get out of the way" even more fully and allow what needs and wants to be said to come through. The key is to not fight being tired, and certainly to not fight being empty. Just be with what is in the moment.

A while back I wrote about "flowing with" instead of "pushing against." I'm very much settling into a "flow with" place right now as I write. In the flow, I'm finding that several things are possible. First, I can stop stop trying so hard. Second, I know that I will get some much-needed rest in the next few weeks as I have intentionally created a lighter schedule. And third, I'll trust that what needs to be said in the newsletter article will come through. (It seems that the blog post has just taken care of itself!) My job is to be present, focused, and real. And then trust that something will flow.

I know from experience that, in fact, it will. I just have to trust it. I've spent a lifetime studying and creating. And so have you. We have each spent a lifetime learning from our experiences, sometimes flowing with and sometimes pushing against, sometimes succeeding grandly and sometimes not, yet somehow in the end finding what it takes in every situation for the next step.

And so, co-create with everything, even when it seems that there is nothing to co-create with. When "nothing" is what you have, then co-create with the "nothing", or in my case right now, the "empty." Even the "nothing" is full of something. Just pay attention, listen, feel, intuit, and take another step. I can do it, and so can you. And in the meantime, it is important to get some rest in the coming days and weeks, or whatever it is you need right now in order to be at your best. Take care of yourself. I'll do the same. Through the process, it is amazing what can happen.

Te vinden op: http://transformationalpresence.org/alan-seale-blog/?p=224

People of HR of Talent of Competenties.. ?! Help !

HR Professionals, soms zijn het rare wezens, ik beken ;-)

"Ik ben People Development verantwoordelijke"

"Ik ben HR Development manager"

"Ik ben head of Talent development"

"Ik ben Leadership en Organizational development manager"

4 verschillende titels; 4 functiebeschrijvingen die mogelijk onderling een beetje verschillen...

Maar wedden dat deze 4 'jobholders' in praktijk zo ongeveer hetzelfde doen ?

Ik doe een oproep aan mezelf en aan al mijn HR collega's om een beetje meer eenduidigheid en consistentie in ons 'jargon' te pompen, want de business die we moeten bedienen wordt er knettergek van.

Zo nog een leuke: er is overduidelijk een verschil tussen talent en competenties: het tweede wijst op 'vaardigheden', 'kennis' en 'gedrag' die je al beheerst; het eerste wijst op een potentieel tot het verwerven van competenties (die je dus nog niet hebt).

Hoe vaak worden in praktijk Talent en Competenties niet dwars door mekaar gebruikt ?

En het lijstje is lang:

-assessment en development centers

-people leadership en people management, om nog maar te zwijgen over coaching

-het nieuwe werken en thuiswerken

-functiebeschrijving en profielbeschrijving

-performance management en evaluatiesysteem

-training en workshop en teamcoaching

-...

Je hoort mij niet beweren dat we vanaf nu voor alles één definitie moeten hebben, maar wel dat we dezelfde vlag niet voor verschillende ladingen mogen gebruiken: zodra we - specifiek voor ons eigen bedrijf of klant - samen met de business bepaald hebben wat bijv. "Talent" is, of wat "Coaching" is, laten we ons daar dan aan houden en geen termen verwisselen...

Voor HR professionals is "toch duidelijk" wat we bedoelen ?

Jazeker, maar voor de business niet...

Reacties/gastblogs welkom via karlvanhoey@me.com

 

Groetjes,

Karl

No such thing as "retention" management ?!

Deze week kreeg ik enkele keren "Wat is retentie management nu precies ?" op mijn bord van enkele studenten en deelnemers van trainingen.
Bij die vraag krijg ik spontaan dezelfde reflexen als een andere wereldberoemde vraag: "Wat is time management ?"
Wat dat laatste betreft is het ondertussen gemeengoed geworden te stellen dat het eigenlijk niet bestaat, en dat het eerder om persoonlijk management, assertiviteit, kiezen, enz gaat.
Tegen iemand die het over retentie heeft, is het volgens mij nog niet HR-politiek correct om het antwoord te beginnen met "bestaat niet"... Vergis ik me ?
Anyway, het is toch verleidelijk, want bedrijven die zeer goed zijn in retentie, nemen in mijn ervaring zelden het woord retentie "management" in de mond. Begin je pas met het te managen als retentie niet meer lukt ?
In mijn ervaring is het steeds een 'mix' van een heleboel noodzakelijke elementen die maakt dat iemand blijft of vertrekt. Bijv:
-goede klik met baas en collega's.
-een redelijk loon
-een goede sfeer binnen- én ruimer dan het team
-goed people management
-duidelijke en actieve loopbaanplanning voor wie die behoefte heeft
-duidelijke en actieve professionele en persoonlijke ontwikkeling
-zo nog tientallen punten die allemaal van belang kunnen zijn
-Tot slot "WALK THE TALK" inzake dit alles
Gaan we al die punten nu in een grote zak steken, daarmee schudden, en het resultaat dan "retentie management" noemen ?
Ik noem dat liever "gezond verstand".
Kenmerkend is trouwens dat wanneer er ergens iets in het lijstje begint te haperen, en men weet niet meteen hoe daarmee om te gaan, nogal snel HR wordt gekeken omdat "wij geen goed retentiemanagement" hebben.
Dan plots is onze verloning niet concurrentieel, onze werkcultuur te veeleisend, onze worklife balance niet in orde, en blijven de persoonlijke ontwikkelingsplannen toch steeds dode letter.
Dan plots lijkt het erop alsof er een totaal nieuwe HR pompier, uit het brand moet opstaan om een dosis retentionmanagement te komen toepassen om de gefrustreerde medewerker vooralsnog in huis te houden...
Zo werkt het natuurlijk niet.
Wel zou het kunnen werken, mochten HR én de business samenwerken !
Aan een goede.... euh... Talentstrategie (waarom ook niet) die hen toelaat om niet enkel dagelijks goed te managen, maar ook proactief de behoeften van medewerkers in kaart te brengen, en er proactief iets mee te doen !
Reacties welkom !
Karl

4 Interessante MBTI cases (gebruikt op EMS HUB)

Reacties welkom !

Rudy (ESTJ) is baas over een team van 4 personen:

-Sonia (INFP)

-Wim (ISTP)

-Hendrick (ENFJ)

-Marie (ESTJ)

Casus 1

Rudy en zijn team moeten brainstormen over een nieuw concept voor rekrutering. Het bedrijf verliest al een tijdje de "war for talent" van de concurrentie, en leeft met een "we hebben alle gekende methodes en processen al geprobeerd"- gevoel

Alvorens het zover is, praat Rudy eerst  met zijn HR consultant; een vorige brainstorming was niet zo goed verlopen omdat hij de indruk kreeg dat niet iedereen voldoende meedeed of interesse had; hijzelf houdt overigens ook niet zo van brainstormings. Hij vraag u om advies, omdat jullie meer dan hij expert zijn in "persoonlijkheidsvoorkeuren"

Casus 2

Rudy werft nieuwe collega Els aan (ISFP), voor zijn team. Els is nog erg junior, net van de hogeschool, en zal veel goede begeleiding nodig hebben. Rudy heeft niet de tijd dat zelf te doen en verkiest iemand in het team te vragen om hem daarbij te helpen. Maar aan wie ??

Rudy komt naar zijn HR consultant, expert in MBTI, om advies…

Casus 3

Sonia heeft het "gehad" met Rudy, en hoewel ze zoiets liever niet doet, plant ze een meeting met hem om eens goed haar gedacht te zeggen:

–Hij is dictatoriaal

–Hij luistert nooit

–Zijn kritiek is altijd "persoonlijk".

–Hij verzuipt het team in processen, methoden, rapporten

–Hij trapt alle mogelijke creativiteit, en thinking out of de box kapot

Waarom doet Rudy toch zo ??!!

Alvorens de moment supreme er is, praat ze met haar HR consultant: kan deze haar één en ander wat beter laten plaatsen ?

Casus 4

Marie en Sonia zijn privé goede vriendinnen; ze lijken wel perfect complementair…. Tot ze professioneel moeten samenwerken, dan heb ze vaak ruzie. Precies om deze reden heeft Rudy beslist van hen zoveel mogelijk op aparte projecten te zeggen, zodat de wegen niet kruisen, maar dat lukt niet altijd….

Er moeten een tiental mensen ontslagen worden over enkele dagen tijd en dit brengt met zich mee dat een goede planning en opvolging nodig zijn, en ook veel empathie: de ontslagen mensen mogen niet de indruk krijgen "keihard" op straat te zijn gezet. Die empathie mag natuurlijk niet verhinderen dat de boodschap "uw opzeg begint vandaag" duidelijk is.

Enkel Marie en Sonia zijn beschikbaar voor deze opdracht; ze zullen moeten samenwerken…

Rudy komt naar u voor advies: hoe moet hij de opdracht "verdelen"…

Karl Van Hoey

E:  karlvanhoey@me.com

M: ++32495 88 3 4 5 6