Leadership is About Purpose, Not Position:

Jack Gottleib, The Total Solutions Group, Incg

by Mertro H. Robinson, SPHR

Jack Gottleib, experienced as a Strategic Consultant with Dale Carnegie Training prior to starting The Total Solutions Group, Inc., offered a humorous and insightful presentation entitled, Leadership is About Purpose, Not Position: "Driving Relevant Change & Engagement". His ultimate goal was to educate the participants&making sure time spent at his session was relevant, valuable and that they had a memorable experience.

As he began his talk, he stated that in business we use scorecards. "The scorecards are like dashboard in a car thus, they keep you focus". He presented three new keys that can foster success of the 21st century HR professional and organizations: results, capability and experience all tied together as a process as we shift from a paradigm that focused on time, information and product/service that kept recycling in "The Past Economy and Organizational Culture".

Asking the participants, how many of their employees' still focus on time (task or to do's) and NOT results? He explained each one of the terms through great visual aids and group participation using entertainment called "The White Game" and "TOPS". As he later revealed, the games the participants' played cause them to change their point of view or perceptions. In other words, they were experiencing "lack of clarity" as their employees do when they are trying to obtain results of the business strategy. So, why aren't employees engaged? Leadership and HR professional need to create a common language of results and NOT initiatives (tasks). He expressed, the first critical factor is that title or position matters internally, not externally. The most important characteristic of leadership is accountability.

n closing, he asked the participants was the session a good use of their time, did they get great ideas, are they leaving with some action steps, and did they have fun? Unanimously, the answer was YES!

Wrapping up the presentation, he offered a relevant poem by Edgar Guest, "Sermons We See; I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way." You may find the poem in its entirety on the following URL address: http://www.sofinesjoyfulmoments.com/quote/sermon.htm.

Recalling what Jack said, "When people laugh, that means they really agree with you". The participants of this session laugh a lot! They came away with an outcome and action steps that they could focus on.

By Mertro H. Robinson, SPHR
Senior Consultant, M.H. Robinson HR Services
Providing coaching, recruiting & training to individuals and groups