It’s a new year and this is a great time to take a look at some of the areas within your organization that might need a little sprucing up (or total renovation). We got the opportunity to take a tour of a local company in Atlanta called High Road Craft Ice Cream. They are doing some really “cool” things around there. And there was a great idea that popped up and we wanted to share with you guys. Specifically, they have some new space that connects to their offices and manufacturing plant. And they get to dream big about what to do with it! Check out this explanation of their fun creative process:

What are the areas within your organization that need an overhaul?

How are you dreaming ideas to make this happen?

How are you involving your entire team in the brainstorming process?

Here are some pics from behind the scenes at High Road Craft Ice Cream:

Left to Right:
1 – Keith showing the machines that create the custom ice cream mix that makes their product so great.

2 – Lorenzo making some ice cream that will end up in one of the local restaurants in Atlanta. Lorenzo is one of three professional chefs that make all the ice cream at High Road.

3 – Machine that packs each pint of ice cream. You’ll notice the funnel on the right side of the machine is fairly small for an assembly line. That’s to ensure that the product remains as fresh as possible on it’s journey to you!

For the live stream, click HERE.

We’ll be broadcasting LIVE from The Orange Conference throughout the entire event. You’ll get to watch the opening session, meet our speakers, see some odd things that happen backstage, AND you’ll get in on some pretty cool offerings-just by watching the live stream. And for you deal-seekers, this one is a freebie. Check out what you’re in for (Oh…just come back here to watch this all go down).

There is a TON that happens backstage, but you’ll only be seeing the good stuff. Go ahead….you should bookmark OrangeLeaders.com now.

So did you know that by signing up for Orange, YOU are providing jobs for real people that are trying to make a better life for their families? And if you are in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area these people might just be in your backyard.

This year, we have partnered with an incredible organization called Plywood People to create the conference bags for each attendee. Plywood as joined forces with a group of refugees in North Carolina to take used billboards and turn them into your conference bags. We’re using part of your conference fee to pay them a fair wage for their product and services, and they’re providing jobs and E.S.L. classes to this incredible group of survivors.

Two weeks ago, our own Angie Bogen took a trip with Jeff Shinabarger (founder of Plywood People) up to Charlotte to check on the progress of this project and meet the people who are working to make these bags for YOU! Check out this short video of Jeff talking with one of the women in the project (the audio is very difficult to hear, but Jeff does a great job highlighting the key points) then browse through Angie’s photographs below.

Your eyes do NOT deceive you….we are giving away TWO AirTran tickets! Of course you can use them for any vacation your trip that you’d like. But we hope that you’ll use them to get to Atlanta and attend The Orange Conference!

Here is the scoop…

Send us your creative fund-raising ideas that you’ve come up with to get to The Orange Conference. Now…be sure that these are ideas you’re actually going to implement….not just the first great brain spark that happens. We’ll pick the winner of the two tickets by February 25, 2011, and post an announcement right here. Just drop an email with your ideas to the Orange Concierge.

Nitty Gritty Details…

• If you have any links or artwork that goes along with your fundraising idea, send it along too. We would love to show off your work!
• Be sure to include details about how long you’ve been working to implement this plan and how it’s going (or when you plan to implement it).
• By submitting your idea, you give permission to the staff of The Orange Conference to share the details with other people.
• If you are the contest winner, AirTran Airways is pleased to provide you and a guest with two round-trip tickets to anywhere they fly in the US, including Atlanta! You will receive two certificates to redeem two confirmed coach class tickets on AirTran Airways. All travel must be completed by November 30, 2011. Routes and cities subject to change without notice. Some nonstop routes indicated operate seasonally and/or less than daily. Travel is subject to AirTran Airways contract of carriage, rules and regulations. Travel is non-refundable and non-transferable. Round-trip travel must be booked between the same city pair. Expiration date will not be extended or renewed. Reservations are subject to availability and capacity control restrictions. Holiday blackout restrictions will apply. Should you need to make any changes to your itinerary, a $75 change fee will apply. Changes and cancellations can be made up to one hour prior to the scheduled departure time. Certificates will not be replaced for any reason including certifcates that are lost or stolen. Certificates are valid for domestic travel only.

Calling all designers….or really anyone with a great t-shirt idea! We’re getting into the creative/brainstorming phase for our Orange Conference t-shirts. And we realized that our readers probably have some really incredible ideas. So, we’re opening up the submission process to YOU! What are you going to win? Well, how about a free conference t-shirt for everyone in your group at the conference (up to 20 people). If you’re not planning on attending Orange 2011, well, you should. But if you just can’t pull it off, you can still submit a design, and we’ll send you your free t-shirts!

Here’s the scoop….

Submission Deadline: Friday, March 4, 2011
Submission Email Address: hjoiner@rethinkgroup.org

DESIGN SPECS:
Please read through these details….it will make the task of evaluating your great submissions much easier…

• The design needs to go with the theme “It’s Your Move”.
• The design can be just a picture, it can have text, but doesn’t have to – the design should not be “dated” (for example, it should not say 2011).
• The design has to have orange in it.
• Feel free to submit as many designs as you would like.
• Files should be submitted in either .tiff or .eps format.

LEGAL MUMBO JUMBO:
By submitting a design to the email address above, you are indicating that your design meets the following criteria…

• The design is not owned by anyone other than yourself.
• No part of the design is copyrighted.

THE REALLY FINE PRINT:
The winner of this contest is not guaranteed the design of the conference T-shirt, but is guaranteed to win a really great prize.

We are thrilled to bring back a project that we experimented with last year called “Making Of Orange!” We want to share the experience of planning this great conference with our audience so we’ll be pulling back the curtain and showing you guys some video clips of speakers, meetings, and little tidbits along the way.

On Friday, January 28, we got to grab a few minutes with Jeff Shinabarger. He’s involved with Orange in a couple of different ways, and we wanted to give you a little peek into how you’ll get to benefit from Jeff and his organization, Plywood People. Enjoy!

Strategy is really the foundational principle of Orange (that’s why we often refer to our philosophy as the “Orange Strategy”). One of the most overlooked ideas in leadership is the importance of meetings – maybe we already consider ourselves experts on this topic because meetings already take up a lot of time on our schedules! In reality, it’s important that our time is spent in purposeful and productive meetings with the right people.

So we’ll be looking at two themes this month: controlling your own schedule (instead of letting it control you) and scheduling consistent meetings with your team to keep everyone on the same page.

This month on Fridays- we’d love to highlight your favorite tips and tricks to having a better meeting. Maybe it’s a new technology or maybe it’s something you do to get everyone back on track. Share your ideas in the comments of any post this month and you might be spotlighted on Friday Favs!

We know that you lead in several ways at any given time. You lead yourself, you lead volunteers, you might lead a staff, and you often lead up. So here’s what we have in store for you in our premium You Lead content. We will follow also be talking about the same topic here on the always free Orange Leaders blog. If you have the Orange Leader Handbook- this focus is from p. 45- Consistent Meetings.

A BOOK REVIEW on The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working by Tony Schwartz.
This new release takes a hard look at how leaders and employees are expending their energy as well as how we are RECOVERING our energy.

A PODCAST Interview with Matt McKee and Jeanne Stevens.
Jeanne Stevens has to keep her schedule under control in order to keep her priorities in check. In addition to having two kiddos, Jeanne and her husband recently started Soul City Church in Chicago, Illinois AND she’s an author, speaker, and one of the lead pastors.

A VIDEO of Anne Jackson.
Anne’s a church leader and an author who’s experienced burnout and come back from it. Check out what she has to say about being a leader and remembering that your schedule is only a piece of paper or a lot of pixels. You’re the one that gets to drive it…not the other way around.

A REAL LIFE Case Study of Southwest Airlines.
Whether or not Southwest Airlines flies out of your nearest airport, we all have lots to learn from their organization. Take a look at the way they organize their entire scheduling and meeting processes.

As a BONUS: STAFF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT.
We’re including another book review with this portion of YouLead because we felt that it would be a great tool to reinforce this month’s topic.

BOOK REVIEW:
Orange Revolution by Adrian Gostick & Chester Elton
Not only does this book have a fantastic title, it also has some pretty good information in it as well! We all want high-performing teams, and there are lots of ideas to help you reach that goal; such as motivating team members, trust among your team, leadership at all levels and recognizing successes.

A CHALLENGE for your next big Meeting:
Pull out your calendar and schedule an upcoming staff meeting to discuss this topic with your team. We’ve already done the legwork of brainstorming creative ideas to engage your team and questions for challenging everyone to discover how your organization can take one more step in the right direction. Won’t it be great to have a strategy for the time that you spend with these great folks?

Last but not least, a SENIOR LEADERSHIP PODCAST Interview with Jeff Henderson & Gavin Adams.
Jeff has made a career of organizing teams. He’s the campus pastor for Buckhead Church in Atlanta, Georgia and his team is one of the most productive groups around. Listen in as they talk about the value of having effective and consistent face-to-face time with the most important leaders in your organization.

REGISTER TODAY FOR ORANGE CONFERENCE 2011 for just $240 PER PERSON until 11:59 pm tonight! That’s $60 off regular rates! An EXCLUSIVE OPENING DAY PACKAGE for Orange Leaders just like you.

For the fifth year in row, thousands of leaders will gather in Atlanta to talk, not only about what they are learning, but what they feel compelled to do about it.

These are leaders who dare to rethink and who are willing to move in radical ways to influence the next generation.

Some have created unique churches.
Some have sacrificed immensely to rescue those in crisis.
Some have launched innovative ministries.
Some have recently stepped out of their comfort zone,
to start over.

They are pastors, leaders, parents, educators, and innovators who have a burning passion for the faith of the next generation.

We want to invite you to join them.

So now, it’s your move.

We know that registration isn’t the only cost to attend The Orange Conference, so we went to local businesses and asked them to pitch in to save you money on things you’ll need and want when you’re here (and even before you get to Atlanta).

When you register between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on October 5, you’ll get this great discounted registration rate AND you’ll receive a package with vouchers for savings on real expenses.

*Local restaurants are offering great savings for The Orange Conference attendees who register on opening day (Chick-Fil-A even wants to give you some free food right now!).

*Stone Mountain Park is hosting a Friday night “Wrap Party” after the conference ends on April 29. See the laser show and hang out with your new best friends. Visit www.StoneMountainPark.com to see the park.

Click here for everything you want to know about this year’s Orange Conference in just one place!

This is it…our last week of reading “Making Ideas Happen.” If you’re just joining the conversation, you can catch the first three installments here, here and here. This week we read the following section:

Reading for Week 4: Pages 164-220

Scott Belsky does an incredible job wrapping up this book. There were so many fantastic talking points in this final reading that it is hard to narrow it down to the key points for this post. Here’s my best shot at the topics that rise to the top….

Leadership Focus
“To successfully lead your team (and yourself) through bold creative projects, you must find ways to re-engineer your reliance on traditional reward systems.” (page 169)
A lot of attention is paid by Scott to the plan that a good leader has for rewarding team members. The first main point is that traditional incentives don’t necessarily work the way we have always thought. Most organizations reward with raises and bonuses, but there are alternative plans that work as well or better. One suggestion is to plan rewards at small increments in order to keep incentives always within reach. Another idea is to use different rewards….here are a few thoughts on why this is a great idea:

• Research has shown that monetary rewards are actually less productive than rewards that create a better climate or culture for people to work in (not climate as in “rain forest”…climate as in “flexible work hours”). Have you seen this video illustrating this point? It’s FASCINATING!

• Teams that have fun together actually become more productive. Introducing more time to have fun can be a subtle reward to accomplishing goals as a group.

Last thought on the rewards overhaul: “Success is more than a personal reward for leaders; it is a valuable currency that can be distributed to the team.” (page 176)

The Creative Team
Scott spends the first chapter about creative teams talking about the importance of team chemistry and emphasizing some important characteristics to consider when hiring:

• Does this person have initiative? Have they demonstrated it in other roles?
• What is the chemistry between this person and the rest of the team?

The last senior pastor I worked with always said that the success we experienced among our staff could be attributed 100% to hiring people that we LIKE and TRUST as the first priority….secondarily was their skill set.
“Getting people excited about your idea…is just the first phase of sharing ownership. The second and much more challenging part is empowering team members to push the idea forward rather than micromanaging them every step of the way.” (page 191).
This is exactly why it’s important to hire trustworthy people that also have a lot of initiative….no micromanaging necessary!

Self-Leadership
The last portion of this week’s reading focuses specifically on self-leadership. Scott begins by making the statement that it is imperative to realize that we have to be self-aware – “It is not about our actions but about the emotions that trigger our actions.” (page 203). Because we are often leading the process of making our own ideas happen, it’s our natural tendency to become overly emotional and make poor decisions. This has to be acknowledged by healthy leaders and dealt with in order to either kill a project early or keep involving other people and depending on them.
“The best leaders…don’t go nuts over the unknown, and they don’t lose patience when dealing with disappointments. They are able to work with what they know, identify what they don’t know, and make decisions accordingly.” (page 205)

WHAT REWARDS SYSTEMS HAVE YOU FOUND TO WORK THE BEST?

WHAT IS THE MOST CREATIVE REWARD THAT YOU’VE GIVEN OR RECEIVED?

We’re in third week of this great book reading experiment with “Making Ideas Happen.” If you’re just joining the conversation, you can catch the first two installments here and here. This week we read the following section:

Reading for Week 3: Pages 107-163

I’m not sure if this happened to anyone else, but I felt especially challenged by the concepts in this section. I think that it’s because the key principles Scott talks up are all opposite of my natural tendencies. This is uncomfortable for two reasons: (1) They don’t seem to make sense at first and (2) I don’t like finding out that I’ve been wrong. Mostly the second reason is the one that really pushes me over the edge. Let’s talk about these ideas from Scott that are pushing the envelope…

Dreamers and Doers Need to Join Forces
I used to categorize myself strictly as a doer…that was my job – to make the ideas that fly around our office happen by any means necessary. And I was good at it. But I’ve realized over the last few years, that I am really energized when I come up with an idea (or work with a group to conceptualize an idea) to make something happen more efficiently, to communicate more clearly, to deliver something bigger, better or unexpected to our audience. So I have realized that dreamers aren’t limited to those people that come up with the grandiose ideas. Dreamers are also people that come up with creative and new ideas to make the grandiose ideas come to fruition.

That was just a side note.

The real point to this principle is that doers like to be surrounded by other doers that can check things off all their lists. And dreamers like to be surrounded by other dreamers that can appreciate their ideas without shooting holes in them. But this is not healthy. These two roles are actually quite complimentary and need each other to thrive. The trick is to find the balance of dreaming (too much is overwhelming for doers) and evaluating (being critical too early is destructive).

Share Your Ideas – Liberally
Wow…this principle really doesn’t jive with me naturally. I like to keep my cards pretty close and when I have a fairly solid plan, I like to throw it all out on the table and see if anyone around me is impressed. But I miss a key component of continual improvement when I do this….feedback. Scott discusses the value of not only seeking feedback from people, but involving other people in the process of implementing your plan. My senior pastor makes a point a few times every year that there are other people in our lives that are probably better at our jobs than we are. And if we can open up long enough to get their input, they would probably give us advice that would improve our ideas in areas that we didn’t even realize needed improvement.

Seek Competition
Ask anyone that knows me, and they’ll tell you that I THRIVE on competition. I took the StrengthsFinder test with the rest of my department a few years ago and discovered for the first time that I was the only person who was competitive at work. All the time before that realization, I had been trying to outperform everyone…complete tasks sooner, better, with fewer mistakes, and be nicer the whole time. Little did I know that no one was competing against me.

This principle of seeking competition actually is easy for me, because I view everyone as competition. But actually learning from them is the hard part….viewing their contributions as something valuable to me is not natural. It reminds me of this story I read on Dan Cathy’s blog recently.

Again, this section is filled with great ideas – Promoting yourself in order to build your network; The Start/Stop/Continue idea; Creating systems for accountability. I wish I could cover them all. But you’ll just have to read it for yourself. Next week will be the last installment of this book review, and we’ll cover the last section:

September 23: Pages 163-218

Enjoy your week! And try to make some ideas happen!