Tag Archives: Phil Jackson

Concentration Champions: Creating Your Team Thinking Room

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By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to enhance your ability to concentrate. Reading time: 2:52.

In the comic strip Family Circus a little girl is sitting in a movie theater with her mom. Mother and daughter are watching the coming attractions. Suddenly a ghost screams across the screen. The little girl gasps at the scene from a horror movie. Frantically, she climbs into her mother’s lap.

“Mommy, mommy, hold me. I’m scared.” Her mother comforts her. Sniffling and rubbing her eyes, the little girl blurts: “I don’t mind the scary stuff on TV at home because I can put a blanket over my head.”

Effective leaders always have that proverbial blanket at hand to block out any distractions. They preserve and protect a secure and safe environment for their staffs to work more creatively and comfortably despite the occasional “scary stuff.”

The most effective leaders I have known even designate Thinking Rooms -creative concentration centers -where staff can escape the rigors of the workday and focus their thoughts.

These effective leaders think of these Thinking Rooms the way Winnie The Pooh regarded his Thoughtful Spot: as a haven to concentrate with all the vigor of Auguste Rodin’s famous 7-foot tall bronze sculpture The Thinker.

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Feeding Off Each Other in a Friend-zy

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By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s are idea to strengthen the bond of teamwork in your staff. Reading time: 3:58

“So happy together…” I was humming that old Turtles song the other day and I recalled an allegory on teamwork that I often used in the mentoring seminars I conducted for a large company.

The moral of the story always seemed to strengthen the bonds between mentor and mentee. Maybe this allegory can be of some utility to you in your team building.

There’s a legend about two neighboring cities that shared the same contaminated water source. All of the residents fell victim to a disease that stiffened their elbows.

They could move their arms but could not bend their elbows.

All of the people in one of the towns starved to death. Yet most of the people in the other town — though still paralyzed- survived. How? They fed each other.

Yes, leaders feed each other in a kind of feeding “friend-zy” that nourishes and fosters growth. they create a shared environment where their staffs feed OFF one another rather than feed ON each other. Continue reading →