The Consultant School

Did you know that facilitation is really important for organizational transformation? We've just completed an overview of the entire organizational transformation model, containing all the ingredients for organizational transformation that Ray and the Genysys group have identified over the years.

The secret ingredient to organizational transformation is really how information is presented, or how it is facilitated. So simply knowing the information is not enough. In today's episode, Ray and Amy talk about the art of facilitation, and they also discuss developing the skill of facilitation and why that really is so important for organizational transformation.

Show Highlights:

• Ray explains what the art of facilitation is.
• It takes a minimum of three years for change to become a part of a culture, so you need to have sustained engagement from the people.
• Patience and persistence are necessary, but sometimes contradictory with each other when guiding the process of sustained engagement.
• Guiding the process of sustained engagement can be likened to conducting a jazz ensemble.
• There are many different elements, which are all different all the time, involved in the process.
• Are people born facilitators? Or is it a skill that can be learned? Ray explains.
• The change often comes with the letting go of the facilitator.
• Why engagement is a part of facilitation.
• Some of us are wired to be more patient and some of us are wired to be more persistent.
• Managing one's own personality is vital to facilitation.
• Someone who is keeping their eyes open makes a successful facilitator.
• Rhythm is a big thing, and change has its own, unique rhythm.
• Why learning the skill of facilitation is important.
• With change comes ambiguity.
• The neutral zone.
• Being clear about the vision and related roles.
• Looking at patience.
• Ray announces the course, in the art of facilitation, that he and Andre have been working on. And it's really for everybody!
• What's to be found in the course that they have developed.
• Why Ray thinks the majority of people are 'engagement agnostics'.
• How understanding how human development works really builds engagement.
• How facilitation really matures and develops an organization, and keeps it healthy and energized.

Links: For more information about The Art of Facilitation or any of the Genysys products or services, follow us, The Genysys Group, on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

Our homepage: www.thegenysysgroup.com

Establishing solid and serviceable relationships is lucrative to the transformation process. Today's conversation explores the basic components of creating partnerships and the fundamental elements of developing an operative team. Dr. Rood also shares the necessary steps to help individuals evaluate how to divide and dedicate their energy. Tune into this episode of How to Transform with your host, Amy Hoppock, and Dr. Rood as they discuss the important aspects of constructing fruitful partnerships that often get overlooked and how you can implement this process into your own life.

Show Highlights:

• Identifying partnering as an essential step in the transformation process
• Vision based strategic planning
• How to work with another group that has a different vision
• Helping individuals develop a relationship with the community
• The process for building strategic partnerships
• Identifying critical relationships
• Engaging your partners in your vision
• Managing change and differences between people
• Implementing the notion of active listening and empathy
• Evaluating and celebrating progress
• Finding common ground with others
• Establishing a foundation of values
• Taking advantage of differences and similarities
• The art of team building and team development
• Creating an effective team
• Using conflict as a learning opportunity
• Looking at conversation as a tool for self-development

Links:

https://thegenysysgroup.com

http://theartofpoweringdown.com

How intentional do you want to be for creating your future? And are you aware that the more intentional you are, the more responsible you have to become? Today, we continue to move through the Organizational Transformation Model (OTM) that Ray has developed over many years of working with organizational and personal transformation.

In today's episode, we will be discussing the element of planning. Ray will be giving us an overview of planning and he will talk to us about the connection between planning and transformation. He will also share some stories with us about the lessons he has learned along the way about the importance of planning.

Show Highlights:

• What planning has to do with transformation.
• What Ray has come to learn about planning.
• Planning is critical for you to be able to achieve what you seek.
• Learning from Elise Boulding about the power of vision, back in the early '80s.
• Seeing a pathway to the future from a visionary perspective, as a basis for your plans.
• Ray gives an example of using a visionary pathway to the future as a basis for planning.
• Integrating vision work into long-range planning.
• Ray has learned that planning is probably one of the most powerful intervention tools and it engages people to the point of ownership of the vision.
• The four aspects of planning.
• Our goals give us direction.
• Identifying the critical objectives of your goals.
• Assessing, re-assessing, and aligning how you are operating.
• Ray talks about one of the great mistakes that are made in organizational life.
• Employee engagement in the planning process is essential.
• The importance of evaluating and celebrating progress.
• The benefits of drawing everyone in with the different elements of planning.
• Creating a culture of learning in organizations.
• Learning comes out of planning.
• Ray explains why he has amended the notion of living in the first year of your plan to living in the first 90 to 180 days of your plan.
• Choosing to be intentional means having to be responsible.

Links:

Ray's website: https://thegenysysgroup.com/

Amy's website: www.theartofpoweringdown.com

It doesn't have to be difficult to get out of bed every morning. Finding what energizes and excites you to reach your potential will have you motivated beyond belief. But how to achieve that is what we're all searching for. Todays' episode takes the mystery out of finding your energy by introducing methods to identify misalignment and how to fuel your motivation. Tune into this conversation between Amy Hoppock and Dr. Ray Rood as they discuss this aspect of the personal transformation model and share insight on how you can embody all the positive energy in your life.

Show Highlights:

• What is energy and what makes it necessary for the transformation process
• Personal preference related to expectations in a given job
• The vitality of having a perception of support
• What feeds and drains your energy source
• Consulting experiences which energy
• The danger of misalignment
• How to identify if you are in or out of alignment
• Exploiting ally relationships
• Finding congruency between your goals and work goals
• How to deploy and know ourselves in a meaningful way

Links:

https://thegenysysgroup.com

http://theartofpoweringdown.com

We're here again with Ray Rood, the architect of the Organizational Transformation Model that has been central to the work of Genysys and we have another conversation with him about organizational transformation and how to transform. Today's episode is all about Vision, and how to use it to create your future reality. Listen in to find out what Ray has to share about his process called Strategic Futuring, which requires using your imagination to create your future.

"Do enough people in your organization share and own a clear and compelling picture of the organization thriving in the distant future?" is the key question that Ray uses in the Genysys group when it comes to discussing Vision with organizations. This is a great question and it's also a really significant one to ask. Listen in today as Ray unpacks the question and explains how important it really is for creating a shared vision for the future.

Show Highlights:

• Ray explains just how important this key, organizational question really is.
• The more that people are able to share a common picture of themselves in the future, the more likely transformational change is to take place.
• Why individual agendas within an organization are likely to conflict with each other and cancel each other out.
• Ray explains how an organization, or a group of people, can get a shared vision for the future.
• The results that can occur when people are able to rally a shared, common vision for the future, within an organization.
• How Ray shared his Vision approach with the director of a library.
• Identifying the stakeholders who are to be part of your shared vision.
• What Ray means by stakeholders.
• Ray has found that about eighty percent of what people come up with, as their vision for the future, is very similar.
• The way that Ray's Vision Process works with groups of five or six people.
• Ray is always surprised to find that people tend to come up with a similar vision for the future.
• One of the greatest sources of organizational energy is a shared vision.
• A shared vision becomes like a magnet, pulling you into the future.
• Why imagination plays so much into vision.
• Why so many adults find it difficult to use their imagination in a positive way.
• Some important aspects of vision, both within organizations and for people personally.
• Vision work starts with your history and your vision is a part of a story.
• Creating a vision is anchored in who you are at your core.
• Questions are really important for Strategic Futuring because they frame what you want to focus on, using your imagination.
• Many organizational leaders tend to confuse mission and vision.
• Why you have to go beyond five years with a vision.

Links:

The Genysys Group website: www.genysysgroup.com

Amy blogs and writes at www.theartofpoweringdown.com

We've been working through the Genysys Group Organizational Transformation Model and discussing the real elements that are vital for both organizational and personal transformation. Ray Rood is the architect of the Organizational Transformation Model that has been central to the work of Genysys. Listen in to find out what Ray has to share on the show today.

In this episode, we are going to be dealing with Generative Leadership, which is the final element of transformation. The Generative Leader is a very significant kind of leader and this model was Ray's last discovery in terms of the Transformational Model. Ray often has an unusual take on things which causes people to think a little differently, so listen in today as he explains what he means by Generative Leadership, the skills that are necessary for a Generative Leader, and how Generative Leadership works within the process of transformation.

Show Highlights:

• What Ray means by the term Generative Leadership and how it relates to transformation.
• We have talked before about Catalytic Leadership, which is the most dangerous type of leadership because it is disruptive and it initiates change.
• Transformational Leadership is the most difficult because it deals with time, patience, and perseverance, in order for that change to become rooted into an organizational system or within a person's own self.
• Why Generative Leadership is the most important kind of leadership.
• Ray believes that any person can develop skills and understand some of the skills and tasks that are involved with the three types of leadership.
• Some of us are more wired, in terms of our temperament and experience, towards one specific form of leadership.
• Why Generative Leadership relates to wisdom.
• Ray explains the skills that make an effective Generative Leader.
• Ensuring the relevance of the soul of an organization, or of a person.
• Asking meaningful and relevant (and sometimes irritating or uncomfortable) questions is probably, on a functional basis, the most important thing that a Generative Leader does.
• Ray tells a story to illustrate the role of a Generative Leader.
• A Generative Leader is a mentor- and a mentor askes the mentee questions.
• The third skill of a Generative Leader- capturing, modeling, and applying learning - is the most difficult.
• The Generative Leader is really the ultimate learner.
• Until you understand something fully, you can't use it.
• The fourth skill is about the future. It's the task and the knowledge that is necessary to ensure and prepare the leadership for the future.
• The future leadership is likely to be of a different form to the leadership.
• Why it is so challenging to be a Generative Leader.
• Ray's biggest challenge, and his greatest joy, as a Generative Leader.
• Development takes place between challenge and support.
• The role of the horse, in Ray's story of the Golden Feather, is a Generative Leader.

Links:

The Genysys Group website: www.genysysgroup.com

Amy blogs and writes at www.theartofpoweringdown.com

Did you know that Transformational Leadership is not an individual task? It's the task of a team, a community, or a committed group of people because it requires a conspiracy. Today, as we are working our way through the Genysys Organizational Transformation model that Ray has developed, we are going to be talking about Transformational Leadership. Transformational Leadership is difficult. It results in a deep form of change and in people thinking and behaving differently. Listen in today as Ray explains what the role of a Transformational Leader entails.

Ray's description of Transformational Leadership is a little different from the one we usually think about. In today's episode, he defines his model of Transformational Leadership and he discusses the role of a Transformational Leader in a process of transformation within an organization. Listen in to find out more.

Show Highlights:

• Ray gives his definition of Transformational Leadership and he explains the role of a Transformational Leader in a process of transformation, within an organization.
• Ray identifies the three different types of leadership that are critical in the process of transformation.
• Transformational Leadership is the kind of leadership that Ray has identified as the most difficult.
• Transformational Leadership is the kind of leadership that is necessary for the kind of change that is to be sustained until it becomes a part of an organization or a culture.
• Why Transformational Leadership is so difficult.
• The results of Transformational Leadership.
• Why it takes a minimum of three years for a change to become rooted in a culture.
• There are more attributes necessary for Transformational Leadership than there are for Catalytic Leadership.
• Some of the qualities and attributes that are necessary for Transformational Leadership.
• Vision really drives Transformational Leadership.
• The job of the Transformational Leader is to make the vision as visible as possible so that the vision is reinforced and planned for.
• The aspects of Transformational Leadership.
• What makes up a transformational team.
• A Transformational Leader is really the carrier of a vision.
• Ray gives examples of really good Transformational Leadership, from his own experience.
• Ray discusses whether Transformational Leaders are chosen, identified, or self-selected.
• Why it takes a critical mass to bring about and to sustain any kind of change process.
• Two questions to ask yourself when getting started on the journey of becoming a Transformational Leader.

Links:

You can find out more about the work Ray does at www.thegenysysgroup.com

You can find Amy at www.theartofpoweringdown.com

Our online course for Strategic Futuring will be released soon!

Do you know what a catalytic leader is? Today we have a really special episode where Ray will be sharing the story of the Golden Feather, based on a Grimm brothers' fairytale, which relates to catalytic leaders. This is a story that Ray has told many times before, and he often uses it as a metaphor for the work he does. Listen in to find out more.

In a recent episode, we discussed catalytic leaders and explained what catalytic leadership is and how it works. So it really made sense to share this story today, in order for you, the listener, to understand what references to 'the feather' mean when listening to future episodes of the podcast. Listen in to hear the story.

Show Highlights:

• For years, Ray taught a graduate course called Leaders As Agents of Change.
• Ray explains the moral to the story.
• What we can learn from the story.
• We can experience transformational change with the right kind of support.
• The choice that Ray would give his students.
• What picking up the feather would bring about for the students.
• It was always interesting for Ray to see how the students reacted to the choice he gave them.
• How the story relates to catalytic leaders.
• Most of us don't have enough courage or support.
• The wise horse is a mentor or someone significant who will tell you the truth without running away.
• Seeking the truth will lead to a significant challenge.

Links:

You can find out more about the work Ray does at www.thegenysysgroup.com

You can find Amy at www.theartofpoweringdown.com

Our online course for Strategic Futuring will be released soon!

Leadership is a key element when it comes to transformation. Ray is the architect of the Organizational Transformation Model that has been central to the work of Genysys. On the show today we are going to start looking at this model, which is key to transformation within any organization. Listen in to find out more.

There are three different kinds of leaders that Ray identifies in the organizational transformation model. Today we are going to be looking at the first type; the catalytic leader. A catalytic leader is the the kind of leader who would initiate the process of change within an organization. Listen in today as Ray explains what catalytic leadership is, and how it works.

Show Highlights:

• Ray explains what a catalytic leader is.
• Catalytic leadership is the first element that Ray discovered that is critical to change.
• Why catalytic leadership is the most dangerous kind of leadership.
• Any kind of deep, serious change is disruptive to the status quo.
• The four aspects that make up a catalytic leader.
• It takes a minimum of three years for any change to become part of a culture.
• It takes courage and willingness to disrupt things.
• Strategic initiative is a quality of the catalytic leader.
• What is meant by strategic initiative.
• Some common characteristics of catalytic leaders.
• It really works well when other types of leaders stand beside catalytic leaders and assist with the transformation process.
• Catalytic leaders can also morph into transformational leaders.
• What it means to be a catalytic leader in your own life.
• In and of ourselves we are not sufficient. We really work well when we work together.
• Why people are reluctant to take on the responsibility for launching into something new.

Links:

You can find out more about the work Ray does at www.thegenysysgroup.com

You can find Amy at www.theartofpoweringdown.com

Our online course for Strategic Futuring will be released soon!

Resources:

The Glendora Castle

In this episode we talk about how Ray's model for organizational transformation has evolved over time. Ray sees himself as an explorer. This show is his "report back" about what he has learned about organizational transformation on the frontiers. Listen in today to find out about the history of how Ray went about discovering the elements and key aspects of the nature of the process of transformational change.

Today, on the show, Ray shares some teachings and some stories from the many years that he spent developing his model. We explore the difference between organizational transformation and organizational development. When Ray realized the fundamental difference he shifted his consulting practice to focusing on deep, long-term change. Listen in today as Ray explains.

Show highlights:

• How Ray discovered the model that he uses in all of his work with Genysys clients for transformation.
• The nature of organizational change.
• The difference between efficiency and effectiveness.
• Ray explains his vision.
• Ray was asked at one point if vision-based change could also relate to corporations.
• Working with a Biotech firm that had lost its vision.
• Developing a vision for the future.
• Discovering other elements that also related to his vision.
• Working with a friend who was using an assessment that he developed, called 'The Job Person-Environment'.
• How a vision can drive long-range plans.
• Realizing that the place to begin the process was also where the opportunity for change lay.
• The importance of collaboration.
• Why transformational change differs from organizational effectiveness change.
• A quick summary of the eight elements of Ray's organizational model.
• There were initially only five elements to Ray's organizational model.
• How a leadership development program that Ray was asked to develop for a bank became a clarifying process for him, in terms of kinds of leadership and change.
• The three different kinds of leadership.
• Why transformational leadership is the most difficult kind of leadership.
• What generative leadership brings about in an organization.
• What makes up the sufficiency of catalytic, transformational and generative leadership.
• The time that it takes to transform an organization.
• A book that made a big impact on Ray- Deep Change by Robert Quinn.
• Ray has an assessment called The Readiness For Change. You can take the assessment and work together with him to increase your readiness for change for the process.

Resources:

The Genysys Group Change Readiness Assessment

Books:

In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters

Deep Change by Robert Quinn