VE Group Leadership Workshop - Session 1

VE Group Leadership Workshop

1. Leadership
3 October 2024
www.shifft.com.au

2. “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one
who does the greatest things. He is the one
that gets the people to do the greatest things.” – Ronald Reagan

3. Today
START – 9AM
1.Introductions and Getting started
2.Where are we now?
3.Recap on previous sessions
4.Building Trust
5.Focused Execution
6.Your 90 Day Plan
7.Next Steps
FINISH – 3:30PM

4. The 5
Dysfunctions of
a Team
Patrick Lencioni

5. THE FIVE
FUNCTIONS
•Build Trust
•Master Conflict
•Achieve Commitment
•Embrace Accountability
•Focus on Results
TRUST
CONFLICT
COMMITMENT
ACCOUNTABILITY
RESULTS

6. What is Trust?
•Trust can be defined as the willingness to be vulnerable
to another’s actions, with the expectation that they will
act in a manner beneficial or at least not harmful to you.
•Trust is essential in leadership because it allows team
members to work collaboratively, share ideas openly, and
take risks without fear of exploitation or failure.

7. Check In and
Your Superpower
•How are you today? Give it a
score 1 = Low and 10 = High.
•If you could have a superpower,
what would it be and how
would it help you in a business
context?

8. Where are we now?
The current reality

9. Strengths:
•Values
•Resilience
•Communication/Networking
•Results
Leadership Diagnostic
Weaknesses:
•Business Acumen
•Strategic
•Self Confidence

10. Strengths:
•Values
•Purpose/Passion
•Communication
Culture Diagnostic
Weaknesses:
•Training
•Recruitment
•Performance

11. Key Strengths
1. VALUES AND PURPOSE:
MOST LEADERS
DEMONSTRATED STRONG
ALIGNMENT WITH THE
ORGANISATION’S VALUES AND
A CLEAR SENSE OF PURPOSE.
THIS IS A CRITICAL STRENGTH
THAT FOSTERS COHESION
AND A SENSE OF MISSION
ACROSS THE LEADERSHIP
TEAM .
2. RESILIENCE: THE ABILITY TO
COPE IN HIGH-PRESSURE
SITUATIONS IS CONSISTENTLY
RATED HIGH. THIS RESILIENCE
ENABLES THE LEADERSHIP
TEAM TO MANAGE STRESS
EFFECTIVELY WHILE
MAINTAINING PERFORMANCE
DURING CHALLENGING
PERIODS .
3. PROBLEM SOLVING AND
VISION DEVELOPMENT: MANY
LEADERS RATE THEIR
PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS
AND ABILITY TO SET A VISION
AND STRATEGY FOR THE
BUSINESS HIGHLY. THIS IS
ESSENTIAL FOR DRIVING
GROWTH AND MAKING
CRITICAL BUSINESS
DECISIONS .
4. INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS: STRONG
RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEERS
AND TEAMS ARE ANOTHER
HIGHLIGHTED STRENGTH.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
AND NETWORKING WITHIN
AND OUTSIDE THE
ORGANISATION ARE KEY
FACTORS IN MAINTAINING
COLLABORATION AND
POSITIVE TEAM DYNAMICS .

12. Key Weaknesses
1. Delegation and Trust: Many leaders struggle with delegation, preferring to handle tasks
themselves rather than trusting their team members to take responsibility. This limits their ability to
focus on higher-level, strategic activities .
2. Time Management: Leaders face challenges in managing their time effectively, often caught up in
operational tasks and struggling to prioritise long-term, strategic objectives .
3. Training and Development of Team Members: There is a lack of structured onboarding and
continuous development for new staff, leading to performance gaps and higher turnover within the
team .
4. Accountability and Performance Management: Several leaders noted difficulty in holding team
members accountable for their performance, leading to inconsistent results and a lack of clarity in
performance expectations .
5. Consistency in Leadership Communication: There is confusion around the strategic direction
communicated by Senior Management, which affects alignment and execution within the team

13. Feedback from the
Trenches
What sits behind the screen?

14. What’s going well?
•Strong teamwork and high standards among teams.
•Winning work with a high-quality team.
•Successful reinvention of the group, good collaboration with external partners.
•High standards – e.g. Maintenance programs are working well, good quality equipment – sets the standard.
•Enjoyment of job roles, diversity in work, and a sense of contribution and value among team members.
•Positive culture and growth opportunities within the organisation.
•No visible barriers for advancement (i.e. no glass ceilings).
•Strong individual curiosity and drive for professional growth
•Great people with good attitudes within the team.

15. What’s not going so well?
•Tendency to take on too much, say “yes” too often, and not delegate enough.
•Struggles with managing up and down, as well as dealing with protected territories or internal silos.
•There is a lack of strategic alignment due to missing or unclear systems and processes.
•Too many priorities, creating a struggle with time management and collaboration.
•Need for greater finesse in dealing with people and a shift away from micromanagement.
•Reporting systems are inconsistent, and metrics/data are unclear, making it difficult to act on.
•There is a need to automate systems and provide more clear communication across teams.
•Onboarding of new employees could be improved

16. What should we be working on
as a SLT?
•Addressing the identity crisis between family-owned vs. corporate: structures, systems and processes.
•Focusing on clear decision-making metrics, reporting cycles, and defining responsibility.
•Improving leadership consistency in delivery, resourcing, and delegation.
•Strengthening team collaboration and focusing on clearer priorities.
•Developing a structured format for Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meetings.
•Emphasising strategic resourcing and aligning opportunities with the right people and skills.
•Implementing a more systematic approach to ensure better reporting, clearer goals, and accountability across all levels.

17. What are your key
takeaways from this?
What are the lessons and issues?

18. Recap on previous
Sessions
Update from 2020

19. Shifft Leadership Model
Self
TeamTools

20. Self
Focus on us as Leaders

21. What is Leadership?

22. VE Group Leadership
Expectations
1.Integrity - Leads by example with honesty and respect
2.Accountability – execution by doing what you say - following
through and taking responsibility
3.Communication – actively listens, set clear expectations and
collaborates with their team
4.Values–stays true to personal and company values
5.Consideration – shows up mindful of their emotions and
those around them
6.Growth – to strive for improvement within the business and
ourselves to reach our goals

23. Personal Brand Proposition

24. The Productivity Challenge
Find an extra 8 hours in every week

25. TIME
MANAGEMENT
PYRAMID

26. THE BIG
PICTURE:
SETUP A
“4 THINGS”
FRAMEWORK
What are the 4 key areas
of activity that you must
focus on in your role to
be successful?

27. STOP
DOING
MATRIX

28. POMODORO
TECHNIQUE
https://my.timestream.app/ or Pomodoro Time apps

29. Getting away from email

31. Leveraging Asana

32. Harrison
Assessments

33. Team
Leveraging your leadership

34. The 5
Dysfunctions of
a Team
Patrick Lencioni

35. Example: Value driven behaviours
Value: We value quality.
Definition: We deliver quality products and develop people, our
teams and our culture to ensure a high standard of product and
service is the end result.
Positive Behaviours:
•Leads by example and insists on the processes to be followed in
all situations.
•Endeavours to a develop their knowledge on policies and
procedures so they can encourage and enlighten team members
on up to date information.
•Takes pride in the quality of their work
Negative Behaviours
•Has “tick and flick” approach to record keeping and quality

36. HONEST POSITIVE RESPECTFUL UNDERSTANDING RELIABLE
COMMUNICATION RESPONSIBIITY
EXCUSES NEGATIVE DEFENSIVE DISMISSIVE SELFISH
COLLABORATIONACCOUNTABILITY
• Delivers on agreements
• Asks clarifying questions
• Actively listens without
interupting
• Always looks for solutions
• Doesn’t follow through
• Makes rash decisions
• Talks over and
disrespectful to others
• Avoids di!cult
conversations
• Controls personal
emotions
• Listens to reponses
• Remains objective
• Gets to the truth of issues
• Open to new ideas
• Reacts emotionally
• Defends own ideas
• Criticises others
• Fixed views and opinions
• Talks more than listens
• Considers consequences
• Considered spending
• Simplifies complex matters
• Can lead others to rational
decisions
• Overcomplicates
situations
• Unaware of spending
• Fixed operational views
• Lacks context and
connection with strategy
• Focus upon shared goals
• Fosters team engagement
• Seeks out others
knowledge
• Actively finds positives
• Celebrates others success
• Operates in silo
• Withholds information
• Demands own way
• Gaslighting
• Creates conflicts
OUR BEHAVIOURSOUR BEHAVIOURS
THE BEHAVIOUR LINETHE BEHAVIOUR LINE
ABOVE THE LINE
BELOW THE LINE

37. The importance of
setting expectations

38. Tools
Problem Solving Tools

39. FORCE FIELD
P
O
S
I
T
I
V
E
N
E
G
A
T
I
V
E
I
S
S
U
E
Growth
FundingProducts / Serv.
PeopleSales
Segmentation
Top 3 from Mindmap
1.People
2.Funding
3.Sales
Force Field each issue
Put into a One Page Plan
T I M I N G - Who & When A C T I O N P L A N SS T R A T E G I E S
One Page PlanW H E R EN O W
HOW
Mindmap the issuePareto the Mindmap for top 3Powerful Problem-
Solving
Sequence

40. Range of tools for
improving
decision making
GAP ANALYSIS
DECISION MATRIXMUST SHOULD COULD
5 WHY’S

41. EXERCISE: What has stuck
with you from those
sessions?
How often do you apply them?

42. Today’s Focus
•Trust – start building trust – being vulnerable within
SLT - “Team #1”
•Priority Management
•Focus, Discipline, Control
•Assertiveness - Language Choice – Saying “no”
•Setting expectations
•Build a quick Plan for the next 90 Days

43. Morning Tea

44. Trust

45. The 5 Dysfunctions
1.Absence of Trust
2.Fear of Conflict
3.Lack of Commitment
4.Avoidance of Accountability
5.Inattention to Results

46. What is Trust?
•Trust can be defined as the willingness to be vulnerable
to another’s actions, with the expectation that they will
act in a manner beneficial or at least not harmful to you.
•Trust is essential in leadership because it allows team
members to work collaboratively, share ideas openly, and
take risks without fear of exploitation or failure.

47. Trust Equation
Trusted Leader = Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy
Self Orientation

48. The Trust Equation
•Credibility: The leader’s words and expertise. Are they knowledgeable and capable? Do their words match their actions?
•Reliability: The leader’s consistency and dependability. Can the team count on them to follow through on commitments?
•Intimacy: The emotional safety a leader provides. Are they approachable? Do they foster open, honest conversations? Do they show genuine care for others?
•Self-Orientation: The extent to which a leader focuses on their own interests versus the interests of others. Leaders who are overly self-focused often erode trust because people perceive them as self-serving.

49. Key questions around trust
•How can leaders demonstrate credibility in their day-
to-day interactions?
•What are behaviours that signal reliability to a team?
•How does a leader build intimacy and emotional
safety in professional relationships?
•Why is a leader’s self-orientation such a critical factor
in building or destroying trust?

50. Trust Equation exercise
•Rate yourself on each of the four Trust Equation factors using a 1 to10 scale, where 1 is poor and 10 is excellent for areas except Self Interest: 1 is low Self Interest and 10 is high self interest.
•Credibility
•Reliability
•Intimacy
•Self interest
•Pick the area where you are strongest and weakest and make some notes on why this is so. Discuss with your neighbour.

51. Understanding
Ourselves
The Johari Window

52. The Johari
Window

53. Exercise: Sharing
Make a list of your answers to the following questions:
•Your birthplace
•first job
•worst job – why?
•number of siblings and your position in the hierarchy
•something that nobody else knows about you.
•As we share with the group make a note of where each of these items sits in the Johari window for you on this person – open self and hidden self.

54. Exercise: Your Johari Window
1.Set up the manila folder as shown
2.Group exercise – Be honest and objective. In the
middle and rear page of each person’s manila
folder. Add 3 to 5 strengths, weaknesses, and
blindspots for that person from your perspective.
3.Blindspot: A strength or weakness that the person
is probably unaware of

55. Exercise: Johari synthesis
1.Take the time to review the strengths, weaknesses, and blindspots – collate and summarise onto your front page.
2.Note your strength and weaknesses that relate to your blind self quadrant
3.Take the time to plan some actions that enable you to leverage your strengths, overcome your weaknesses and manage your blindspots.
Discuss with your neighbour.

56. Lunch

57. Focused Execution
Taking Personal Productivity to a new level

58. My Productivity Journey
•In the last 10 years, I have gone from working over 70 hours each week to less than 35 hours with more revenue.
HOW:
•A combination of better attitude, tighter focus, improved processes and systems and leveraging technology and my team

59. Lessons from 40 years as a
coach
•You are the problem when it comes to productivity – good systems and processes will only take you part of the way
•“Present is not productive”
•Your “self talk” is critical for improving your personal productivity
•Using a Journal is essential for Leaders
•My most productive clients work to a simple plan that cascades so they have detail at the right level.
•Most people can increase productivity by 50% to 200%
•“Busyness”, not “productivity”, has become a badge of honour

60. Busyness v Productivity
•Busyness refers to the state of being actively engaged in a multitude of tasks or activities, often without necessarily being productive or achieving meaningful outcomes. It is characterised by constant activity, a full schedule, or the feeling of having many things to do, but it doesn’t always correlate with progress or effectiveness.
•Productivity is the measure of how effectively one uses time, energy, and resources to achieve meaningful outcomes and complete important tasks. It goes beyond simply being busy; it focuses on the quality of output relative to effort, ensuring that time and energy are spent on activities that contribute directly to specific goals or results.
•In short, Productivity is the efficient and effective use of resources to produce desired results

61. Journals for
Leaders
•Not a diary or daily
Journal
•It is a repository of ideas,
thoughts, plans, issues
and solutions
•It is not for sharing

62. TIME
MANAGEMENT
PYRAMID

63. Focus Discipline Control
The elements of success

64. Focus
Where should you be putting your time?

65. Managing
Activities
The Must Should Could framework

66. Productivity for Teams
A Simple Model:
1.Create a list of all the tasks you need to do to complete a
Project
2.Set a ”scrum cycle” e.g. Week, fortnight, month
3.Decide on the Tasks you will complete in the next cycle
4.Have daily team meetings to discuss:
•What did you do yesterday that moved you towards the
goal?
•What will you do today that will move you toward your
goal?
•What is getting in the way of you achieving your goal?

67. Scrum for Individuals
1.What is the list of tasks you must do in the next
90 days, Month, Week?
2.For example: If you need to get certain activities
completed in the next Month to achieve your 90
Day Plan, what are they?
3.What are the Weekly tasks you ”must do” to meet
your Monthly Plan?
4.What MUST you do today I you are to achieve this
Week’s Plan?

68. Must Should Could
A simple tool for managing priorities

69. MSC – How we use it?
Apply the tool at monthly, weekly and daily levels.
1.Look at the tasks you need to complete – your list
2.Determine the MUST DO tasks
3.Allocate other tasks to SHOULD and COULD
4.Complete the Musts then move onto the Shoulds
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:
•MUST – Tasks that are mission critical and within your control
•SHOULD – Important Tasks that are not Mission Critical
•COULD – All other tasks
•You shouldn’t have any more than 2 or 3 MUST DO’s in a day unless
they are very small and quick to complete.
•MUST DO’s are tasks to be done that are in addition to Business As
Usual and will cascade from your higher order plans.

70. MSC – Why does it work?
•In every day, there are lots of tasks that could be done but there are very few that must be done.
•As as managers and leaders, we often load our day with many tasks that increase our busyness, not our productivity.
•We often focus on the tasks we were preferred to get done, rather than the tasks we must get done.
•When we are time poor, we often focus on completing smaller tasks that we know we can get done, rather than breaking our bigger task down in bite-size chunks that we can work on. As a result, we often spend days working on “shoulds” and “coulds” rather than “musts”.
•We often have a task list that includes 10-20 tasks to be done in a day when only 2 or 3 of them are musts. This sets us up for failure and has a cumulative effect on morale and motivation.
•It involves changing your language/self-talk to be focused on “what must you deliver?” as opposed to “what are you working on?”

71. “The art of leadership is saying no, not
saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.”
– Tony Blair

72. Description MUSTSHOULDCOULD
Big Rock #1
Big Rock #2
Big Rock #3
Big Rock #4
1.Review my Monthly Plan, Task List and Diary
2.For each Big Rock (Goal/Project) define Must-Should-Could Tasks
3.Stop, Prop and Reflect – be rigorousMy
Weekly
Plan

73. My Daily Plan
1.Review the Weekly Plan and your Diary
2.What are the Tasks you Must-Should-Could do today? Estimate the amount of time required to complete the MUST tasks.
3.NOTE: I exclude operational/BAU tasks that must get done for that day from MSC list.
4.Look at my calendar for that day that includes meetings, calls, etc and timeblock my MUST tasks into the day.
5.Stop Prop and Reflect – is it achievable? If you day is fully booked – is that reasonable?
6.Reflect on your day. Did you get your must do tasks completed?

74. EXERCISE: Plan
tomorrow
1.Take 5 minutes to reflect on your plan for tomorrow.
2.Assess your task list, diary and plans
3.Identify 2-3 MUST DO activities and allocate them in your diary
4.What are the SHOULD DO activities?
5.Everything else is a COULD
6.Reflect on your Plan – where could it fall off the rails? What changes do you need to make?
•Discuss with your neighbour.
•What changes do you need to make so you implement this system?

75. Discipline
Making it happen

76. Making it happen
•Been productive requires “personal discipline” to maintain your focus
•This is not a “light switch” and requires a transition and a change in habits, processes, systems and techniques.
•Set Clear Goals and Plans
•Establish a routine with good habits
•Hold yourself accountable – stop, prop and reflect
•Embrace failure as feedback
•Use the Pomodoro Technique

77. POMODORO
TECHNIQUE
https://my.timestream.app/ or Pomodoro Timer apps

78. Control
Take control of the environment

79. Turn off distractions
•Turn off notifications for email, phone, etc
•Set up your phone with different modes for work, leisure, travel, etc.
•Close your door or use a quiet room or noise cancelling headphones
•Use a Pomodoro timer to minimise interruptions and take control.
•Don’t be unavailable for more than 1-2 hours at a time.
•Stop saying “Yes” – be prepared to say “not now, is it ok if I get back to you in X minutes?”
•Set expectations with your Team – you can’t be accessible 24/7

80. Exercise: What is going to get
in the way of improving your
productivity?
•Make a list of the “things” that will get in the
way of you being productive?
•Discuss with your neighbour

81. Afternoon Coffee

82. Building your
90 Day Plan
A simple plan for the next 90 Days

84. Your NOW
•Summarise your NOW in a couple of
dot points
•What are the key issues in your
department?

85. Your WHERE
•Where do you need to be in 90 Days?
•Top level outcomes for your Role/Department
•What are critical measures/KPIs? Now? Target?

86. •Define 2-3 Strategies that will focus you over the next 90 Days
•Strategies: actions that are large in scope – big picture actions
Examples:
•Increase sales by $X
•Complete Project Z
•Refine System Y
•NOT: Write a blog article, Complete EoM – these are BAU activities
•Keep at least one Strategy for Growing your Team and/or Yourself
•Example: Build engagement in my team, Improve my Leadership SkillsThe
HOW

87. Action Plans
•For each Strategy, define a series of 2-3 actions required to deliver the Strategy
•Define “Who?” is responsible and the Month when the activity will start (Oct/Nov/Dec or M1/M2/M3)
•Note: the end date for all of them is prior to end of Quarter.
•Use a tiered numbering system to keep track of relationships
FOR EXAMPLE:
Strategy 1: Refine System Y
Actions:
1.1 Review system and ID gaps – Jack – OCT
1.2 Engage contractors to fix issues – Jack – OCT
1.3 Evaluate system and refine - Mary - NOV

88. Your Growth Plan
•Review your Notes from today
•Identify any actions that you need to take.
•Make a plan and add it to the template

89. Reflect
•Take 5 minutes to reflect on your Plan
•What is missing?
•Is it achievable within the timeframes? Adjust…
•What are risks?
•Discuss with your Neighbour

91. Actions
1.I will compile resources from this session and send you the web link
2.Review the resources and notes from this session and the previous sessions.
3.Send me an image of your Plan and I will have it typed up for you
4.Share your Plan
5.Start working on improving your productivity
6.Contact me via phone or email if you have any questions

92. Thank You
Russell Cummings
Business Consultant
M: 0414 929 585
W: www.shifft.com.au
E: [email protected]