STORIES FROM THE FIELD
Our November e-newsletter is out today and we have a lot to share with you! If you don't receive our newsletter each month, sign up for our mailing list and then click here to read the November edition.
Feel free to leave us a comment on this post or email us at info@floricane.com.
Based on our purchase history of our patented Floricane orange envelopes and note cards, I’ve written more than 1,500 thank you notes since the business launched at the end of 2008. It’s a challenging practice to stay on top of – and I probably owe everyone who reads this post a card that hasn’t been written.
I’d like to blame my mom for this habit, but it’s really not her fault. No, Charles and Charlie Luck – the owners of Luck Companies – are to blame.
During my 12 years at Luck Stone, I probably received three dozen handwritten notes from Charles or Charlie – in fact, Charles has sent me two notes since I left Luck in 2008. Believe me, I was not the only employee to receive an old-fashioned thank you for a job well done, or a milestone achieved.
I know how much each of those notes meant to me when I opened and read them – less for the words written, and more for the intent behind the note itself. Each note meant that someone was paying attention to me as a person and to my work as an employee.
As I continue to grow Floricane, I never want our friends and clients to feel that we’re not paying attention to them – as people, and as partners.
It’s hard being the middle child. That’s one lesson we’ve learned over the years from work with the state affiliates of national nonprofits with local chapters. The state affiliates are at risk of Middle Child Syndrome, getting tangled in the potentially blurry lines of role clarity, member management, fundraising and program delivery.
When we’re able to walk into a room and have a different sort of conversation, that’s a good thing.
Something along those lines happened last weekend when we spent the better part of a gorgeous Saturday indoors at Maymont with the Virginia Audubon Council. Rather than getting entangled in conversations about memberships and dues and chapter relationships, we talked about something Virginia has that is unique, important and powerful – Important Bird Areas (IBAs)
There are about 3.5 million acres of IBAs in Virginia – 20 large, forested swaths that are a refuge and home to hundreds of migratory bird species. IBAs have historically been at the heart of the Virginia Council’s work. And during our retreat, the Council realized that IBAs were a “core product” – something no one else had, and something that could help the Council, and the six state chapters, thread together funding, public awareness and mission delivery in a powerful way.
We started building the outlines of a plan on Saturday. The local chapters will add color to the framework in the coming weeks. Watching a small board leave a planning session with enthusiasm for an emerging plan is no small thing. It’s what makes a working weekend worthwhile.
Listen, we love infographics. They can make even the most complicated of concepts seem way simpler (and they're usually pretty easy on the eyes, too).
Last year, our summer intern interviewed a ton of our past clients and worked with graphic designer Ben Dacus to create a visual representation of our beliefs about leadership. It's so nice to have this visual reminder of Floricane's unique approach to leadership development!
If you have any questions or additional thoughts, please comment below! Oh, and here's a link to download your own copy, if you want to hang one up in your office like we have.
It's so nice to see an article-- written by someone other than us-- about the importance of self-awareness in leaders. This post from Psychology Today asserts that the most effective executives have a "realistic assessments of their own abilities." We couldn't agree more, which is why we love using Insights® Discovery as a self-awareness and personal effectiveness tool. It's a simple way to reveal to someone their personal strengths, potential weaknesses, and ideal work environment (among other things). We've seen the combination of an Insights® profile and Intro to Insights workshop completely transform the way people show up at work. We've seen it change teams for the better, and we've seen it alter an individual's career path in a huge and exciting way.
“Self-awareness isn’t one of those big marquee leadership qualities like vision, charisma, strategic thinking or the ability to speak eloquently to an audience the size of a small city… but it’s a quieter ancillary quality that enables the high-octane ones to work. To use a chemistry concept, it’s a psychological catalyst.”
Understanding what drives you, what motivates you, and what drives you crazy, is the foundation for becoming a better team member, manager, and leader. Lucky for you, we offer Intro to Insights workshops every few months. Sign up yourself, or sign up your entire team.
Good consultants spend a lot of time… well, consulting. But they also spend a fair bit of time developing relationships, and connecting with new faces.
The Floricane team is big on relationships. In fact, we think a large measure of our success is tied to the depth of the relationships we create with our clients.
As a team that tilts heavily introverted, however, we don’t generally jump up and down with joy when we’re gearing up for conferences or other big public events.
So, for me, it’s been refreshing to have had significant, and fun, opportunities to be out and about in new environments this fall. The environments have run the gamut – from two days of facilitation with a group of association CEO’s in Williamsburg to a major Greater Richmond Chamber meet-and-greet to a packed crowd at the Richmond Society of HR Managers strategic leadership conference. The next month gets even more varied – two full days with entrepreneurs and business owners under the umbrella of the Henrico Economic Development Authority, and a sit down conversation with the Richmond chapter of the International Coaching Federation.
Bumping elbows and making eye contact with hundreds of people is not a recipe for deep, meaningful relationships. But from each event, I walk away with personal connections to five or ten people. And time has shown that most of the connections continue and deepen over time.
The funny thing I’ve discovered? Whether I’m presenting, chatting with someone at the Floricane marketing booth, or connecting at a reception, I’m consulting. And that makes the networking much more meaningful.
Leadership sits at the heart of so much of our work at Floricane. Whether we’re working on strategic planning, organizational change or coaching, a focus on leadership is front-and-center.
I’ve said for years that we believe two things about leadership:
I’d like to add two more beliefs to my list:
After six years of working with thousands of people in hundreds of organizations, I’ve seen consistent evidence that leadership and management skills are at the heart of the most good and engaged organizations.
We need more better managers. You need more better managers.
In January, we’re launching a new management series focused on front-line managers and supervisors – and young, high-potential employees who yearn for solid skill development.
During the multi-month program, we’ll talk about the difference between leadership and management, and emphasize that everyone in the room has opportunities to lead and influence within their organizations. But we’ll emphasize basic management skills – effective communication, meeting management, providing in-the-moment (and job specific) feedback, strategic thinking and building results-focused teams. If you’re interested in learning more about the program, email me or stay tuned to your email in-box.)
Maybe I can sum all of our thinking up with one simple belief:
Effective leadership and management skills are at the non-negotiable heart of any organization interested in thriving in the 21st century.
As we move forward with our work at Floricane, we will be increasing our emphasis on developing and supporting good managers – and understanding the value of core management skills.
