Monday, April 13, 2009

Poetry on Leadership


which are you...?

Tearing Down Or Building Up?

I watched them tearing a building down,
A gang of men in a busy town;
With a heave-ho and a lusty yell
They swung a beam, and the building fell.

I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled,
And the men you’d hire if you had to build?"
He gave a laugh and said, "No, indeed,
Just common labor is all I need;
I can easily wreck in a day or two
What builders have taken a year to do."

And I thought to myself as I went my way,
Which of these roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by the rule and square?

Am I shaping my deeds to a well-made plan,
Patiently doing the best I can?
Or am I a wrecker who walks the town,
Content with the labor of tearing down?

Roe Parham Fulkerson (1870-1949)

Monday, April 06, 2009

We Want More Conflict!


An article in the latest issue of Profit Magazine reports on a new Canadian survey where 57% of respondents report that they have seen conflict lead to better solutions to challenges. 40% also report conflict can lead to higher team performance, 77% say it helps with a better understanding of others and 31% says it increases motivation.

So what does this mean to organizations? Should we be encouraging conflict? Definitely not! But we should accept conflict as a natural part of the process of people working together and instead of focusing on eliminating it, focus on training and coaching employees on how to deal with it effectively.

At Advance Corporate Training, we have more than 15 different customizable courses to help people in your organization cope effectively with conflict. Call us at 604-521-5473 to find out more.