Welcome to Resonance, Conversations on Leadership.  I am Richard Magid, President of the SoundBoard Consulting Group.  At SoundBoard it is our belief and passion that true Leadership is collaborative; a shared responsibility! It embraces a set of principles, primary of which is to tap into the full talents and experiences of the people that drive the organization. When integrated into and embodied by an organization, these principles help improve motivation, produce greater degrees of productivity and ultimately lead to better bottom line results.

We will share many pieces of advice, lessons, experiences and success stories all around these principles, we hope that you will check back regularly to learn, comment and/or share your experiences as well.

The Principles of Collaborative Leadership...

1. Listen to all perspectives.  Understanding the current environment is a critical step.  This starts with self-assessment of current leadership and includes an evaluation of all team members using an "ability/willingness" framework.  Listen to all perspectives and identify the gaps, you must fully understand  the context for change before taking action.

2. Present a compelling vision.  Create a greater sense of clarity around vision, mission and values.  Companies that have a clearly defined vision will be able to stay focused and "on-task"; minimize distractions and understand when “detours” are appropriate.  Establish short-term and long-term objectives.  Clarity leads to focus which leads to increased group energy and power.

3. Think strategically.  Elevate the level of strategic thinking; the mental process of selecting an appropriate course of action to achieve desired results.  Strategic thinking achieves competitive advantage through differentiation and the delivery of unique value; develop a plan that delivers a competitive advantage.

4. Facilitate and build agreements.  Apply a facilitative process; the structures that help people build understanding, trust and agreement.  Facilitate connections and group thinking that identifies clear and beneficial change for all participants.  This will support greater levels of accountability to agreements.

5. Delegate and trust.  Share power and responsibility; the principle that everyone needs to play an active and positive role in producing meaningful results. Identify Informal leaders and develop a clear succession plan; capture and transfer critical knowledge.

6. Foster innovation.  Learn to embrace new ideas. Create structures that solicit those fresh ideas. Uncover and harness passions and talents; make people talk and throw out their ideas. Create an environment that allows for risk-taking and accepts failure as an acceptable outcome.

7. Review and develop.  Recognize and reward for meeting goals and exceeding standards/expectations.  Implement a performance management system. Consistently provide timely, accurate and constructive feedback.  Become a learning organization; embrace ongoing training and development.