Manage Relationships

“If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together”      African Proverb

In keeping with our recent theme of tracing the steps to success from our imapMyTeam success model, we have arrived at step three – Manage Relationships.

It is not a stretch to say that people are naturally social creatures; we need friendship and positive interactions with others as much as we need food, water and air. It only makes sense that the better our relationships at work, the more productive we are going to be.

We also need good working relationships with others in our chosen field of endeavor. Customers, key stakeholders, suppliers, vendors and other external relationships are all essential to our success. You simply must be effective with a wide range of people, internally and externally, in order to succeed. Interacting with others in a positive way helps you more quickly achieve your organizational goals.

If you missed the first two steps of the process they are Self-Awareness and Self-Management. The third step involves an increased awareness of the diversity of behaviors people respond positively to which enable them to collaborate instead of resist their colleagues. To manage your relationships and help other people succeed, you need to adapt your behavior to these needs of other people and to be willing to accept any differences between what you define as important and what others define as important.

In essence, good solid relationships give us freedom and efficiency – instead of burning time and energy overcoming problems associated with negative relationships, you can focus on the job at hand. In today’s highly competitive global economy you need to unleash people’s creativity, not suck the energy out of them through dysfunctional relationships.

The art of building and maintaining positive relationships can be learned. For you, as a user of imapMyTeam®, we’ve made that as near to a slam dunk or tap-in putt as possible. All of the relational reports are written to other’s motivational needs. So when you pull up a ‘How to Talk to’, ‘What to Avoid’, ‘Management Tips’, on so on – you are getting insight directly to that other person’s motivational needs.

In the imapMyTeam survey, they are telling us exactly what they respond to best and we convert that data to easy to read and apply reports for yours and their benefit.

Go far together with imapMyTeam as your guide.

Self-Manage Your Success

There was a study done in 2010 by Green Peak Partners and Cornell’s school of Industrial and Labor Relations across a group of 72 executives of successful companies with revenues ranging from $50 million to $5 billion.  Among the leadership study’s detailed conclusions, having a high self-awareness score was the strongest predictor of overall success. 

Last week’s Tuesday Tip asked the question “Who Are You?”  

We learned that we are a complex mixture of diverse behaviors and, while we might like to think we are consistent in how we interact with others, when we encounter peoples’ diversity we often lose that controlled, predictable behavior.

Having a keen sense of self awareness is only the first step.  Step two on our path to success is Self-Management. Successful leaders are ones that have learned to make choices about their behavior based on the needs of the people or the business.  This adaptability is the most important skill to add to your leadership toolbox. Recognizing situations where your strengths are not working for you and then choosing to adjust, adapt and take a different approach is the skill that leads to success. 

Self-management requires recognition and willingness.  Recognition of when a course correction may be necessary and the willingness to try a different approach.  The power to consciously choose to manage your behavior so that what you do is in the best interest of the relationship as well as the best interest of your business goals and objectives enables you to succeed in any situation. 

Fortunately, the imapMyTeam ® reports take the guess work out of how you need to adapt to your team members, direct reports or even your manger.  These are at your disposal to give you some quick insight into the most effective ways to succeed with colleagues.   

Review and apply some of that learning today to give you a head start on your path to success.  

Who Are You?

“Know thyself.” an ancient Greek saying, one of the Delphic Maxims inscribed in the Temple of Apollo.

It sounds like such a simple question, but it really isn't, is it?

Who we really are is a complex mixture of various behaviors. Some of those behaviors show themselves rather frequently, while others surface only on occasion. Then there are yet additional behaviors that may never be revealed.

We might like to think we are consistent in how we operate and interact with others, but this is rarely the case as we encounter diversity in other people.

Most imapMyTeam users have been in one or more of our facilitated programs and may remember our four step process for success. According to the first step in our process, self-awareness, it’s critical for you to develop an accurate and authentic picture of yourself you can then articulate to others. Taking time to get this first step right gets you off to a solid start on your journey toward success.

While imapMyTeam is a fabulous tool to understand and get the most from your relationship with your manager, peers and direct reports, you will benefit from regular doses of turning that spotlight back on yourself. Spend some time on the center page of the site looking at your reports in the drop down menu titled “my reports.” This will help you speed up the process of knowing yourself and will surface some areas that may benefit from a closer look.

That is a lot to consider, understand and apply. It is no wonder that through time so many great thinkers and philosophers have come to respect the ability to know oneself.

Who are you, indeed!

Orchestrating a Powerful Performance

“I don't feel that the conductor has real power. The orchestra has the power, and every member of it knows instantaneously if you're just beating time”.
                                                                                                              - Itzhak Perlman

If you’ve ever attended the performance of an orchestra or symphony you have likely been exposed to some of the world’s most complex music performed by amazing and highly talented musicians.

Throughout the performance, everyone on stage is multitasking. Musicians are focused on their sheet music, flawlessly executing/sounding each note, while listening to be sure they are in sync and in tune with the other musicians; all while also keeping a close eye on the conductor.

The conductor meanwhile has his or her own carefully annotated copy of the sheet music to follow. With the right hand the conductor sets and maintains the pace of the music, while with the left hand, volume levels are set, notes are emphasized and instruments enter and exit. The conductor must also be carefully listening to the orchestra at all times, not just to check everyone is keeping up or in the right place, but to ensure the delivery of the best performance of the musical piece possible.

When the musicians play in synch with each other and trust the conductor to provide just the right timing and direction, the audience is usually rewarded with a unique and wonderful performance.
What others expect of you in the context of your work environment is similar to the orchestra. Your challenge is also complex as you have your own type of sheet music or plan you are asked to execute against, using and adapting your own unique style and skill set to work in concert with others on your team; all while trusting the vision and direction of those in leadership.


The reports in imapMyTeam® are designed specifically to keep teams focused on the business goals and objectives necessary for success. Like the orchestra, teams have the power to perform well, or not.

Whether you are a team member striving to be in synch with others, or a leader charged with providing just the right direction, imapMyTeam® is the tool you can rely on to ensure you are all delivering your best performance possible each and every time.

Don’t just beat out time (cost, schedule, metrics) conduct in a way that results in harmony on your team and a pleasurable experience for those in your audience.

Caution! Your Brain May Be Shrinking

This morning I read an interesting, and on some levels disturbing, study organized in 2012 at Yale University’s Department of Neurobiology.

Extensive testing and brain imaging conducted on 103 otherwise healthy individuals showed that exposure to stress can reduce gray matter in critical regions of the brain that regulate emotion and important physiological functions.

In discussing the results, the professor went on to say that the findings suggest these differences are apparent soon after stressful events occur and may serve as warning signals of future chronic diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes.

“The brain is dynamic and plastic and things can improve — but only if stress is dealt with in a healthy manner,” the professor said. “If not, the effects of stress can have a negative impact on both our physical and mental health.”

So experiencing stress makes it harder to deal with future stress! Sounds like a vicious cycle to me.

Don’t be too discouraged; because there are a few important things to keep in mind here:

1. This study focused on what we traditionally think of stressful events in our lives – death in the family, divorce, loss of job and the like. These events are universally stressful.

2. imapMyTeam defines stress as a reactive behavior triggered by an unmet need. That means for one; what causes me stress may not be stressful to you at all and two; you can learn to avoid that stress by making sure your needs are met. Three; imapMyTeam includes reports to develop your skill to respond to stress. You can learn to manage yourself out of that reactive behavior.

3. The Succeed under Pressure report (center pane drop down menu) helps you understand the type of pressure you likely experience and the stress it creates. It then follows that description with a prescriptive tip that will help reverse the negative effects of the stress reactive behavior.

Don’t stress out! imapMyTeam® is available to serve you well and can be used to help you keep your brain sharp. Make managing your stress a higher priority and your brain will reward you by functioning properly over the long run.
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"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." 
                                                                                                                         -William James