Getting Started

Indicators that it might be time to ask for help:
  • It is increasingly difficult to obtain agreement among senior staff.
  • Leaders are showing signs of fatigue.
  • The same issues surface repeatedly.
  • “Partner” organizations are making life difficult.
  • There are more and more conversations at the water fountain and fewer in meetings.
  • You feel out of balance and less effective than you used to.
  • Leadership isn’t fun any more.


If you would like to start talking:

Please answer the questions in the form below or you may also email me at spmagill@comcast.net. 
I’ll get back quickly to set up an exploratory appointment.

For Deeper questions, deeper insights see the Leadership Challenge Worksheet below

If you could change one thing in yourself as a leader, what would it be?
If you could change one thing in your leadership team, what would it be?
The greatest challenge facing you is
The greatest opportunity for you is
You will know you have successfully made needed changes when
The most compelling book you have read in the last six months is
Questions you would like to ask me are
Questions you would like me to ask you are
Three possible times for a phone conversation are
Name:
Area Code/Phone:
Email:
Address:
City, State, Zip:
How do you prefer to be contacted?
How did you hear about Sam?
Other Comments or Questions:
      

Don't like forms? Email Sam. spmagill@comcast.net


Deeper questions, deeper insights.

If you are ready to tackle the really tough issues, consider the following questions. Chances are there will be some surprises. And, don’t forget to take a very hard look at how you, the leader, are both helping and hindering the work of others. If these questions challenge you, or in less formal language, make you wiggle a bit, give me a call (425-787-0846). The wiggle is a hint that you’re looking at the right questions.

Leadership Challenge Worksheet
  1. Where are you finding that stakeholders have to adjust their plans, values, relationships or ways of working to make progress?

  2. Where are stresses to quickly solve problems at odds with the problem’s complexity?

  3. Where could you hand over work (instead of controlling it directly) to those individuals affected by the problem so they could fully engage the issue?

  4. Where might a shift in authority be needed to achieve a goal?

  5. What shifts in perspective might YOU need in order to get the job done?

  6. Where are there gaps between aspirations and the reality of the situation?

  7. Where is strong authority needed to keep the issue from overwhelming the resilience of the group affected?

  8. Where are the real issues being avoided and disguised by other work?

    (Adapted from Leadership Without Easy Answers, Ronald Heifetz, Harvard Press)