Dear Leader: Spring is a time of renewal and new beginnings. A perfect time for Leadership Training Room to debut its new image to represent the quality services we provide to help leaders level the playing field.

In addition to a new name and look for the LTR e-newsletter, we've totally revised www.LTR-NYC.com. LTR’s new Programs Manager, Carrie Gravenson, played an instrumental role in developing the LTR brand. You can read more about Carrie by selecting "Why LTR?" on the website and then clicking on the ‘accordion’ with her name.

Although there is a lot new on the surface at LTR, our commitment to you and your company remains the same. We deliver on our promise: to bring out the potential in individuals as well as organizations without sacrificing productivity or profits. LTR specializes in realizing potential by providing leadership development programs, facilitation for board or organizational retreats, individual coaching for advancement with intelligent intention, and inspiring leadership or motivational presentations.

For those of you in the New York City area on Monday, June 4th, I'm presenting an evening workshop for frustrated professionals who want to renew their commitment to seeking a career of their dreams. Visit the LTR home page at www.LTR-NYC.com for details on the program.

Leading a team is the focus of this issue of Dear Leader. I chose the topic because of a challenging project that I’m involved in now, the renovation of my co-op apartment in Manhattan. I’ve given the client the name “Rose” because the final result will be a stunningly beautiful home. And I share my own challenges because they mirror what my clients express about their own teams at work. Hope you find this personal experience helpful with your own projects!

Lead with your best, Leigh

• Work from the Same Page: Rose took the time to have individual conversations with each member of the project to set down the standards of expected behavior that would complement the work of others members of the project. The contractor worked from his mental notes and refused to commit to writing the schedule for the project. Rose expanded her personal project tracking sheet in Excel and shared it with key people. The Excel worksheet recorded each element of the project with details of what was to be done, the responsible parties, the estimated time due, the amount allocated for this item, and the next steps to completion.
• Quality Assurance Process: In addition to weekly telephone calls, Rose instituted weekly on-site team meetings to review the status of the project. Using her project tracking sheet, the team reviewed each element to check that it was being completed to the agreed-upon specifications and if it wasn’t, why it wasn’t, and what was going to be done instead.
• Professional Approach: Rose especially had to take a very hard line with some of the men to tell them their performances were not acceptable and that they needed to improve their communications skills. When Rose spoke with the office manager with corrections to send to a sub-contractor, the manager said, “I can’t tell the vendor that; it would be like punishing her.” The manager, who is employed by the contractor, said she takes comments personally. Rose told her that anything she said was about her performance as part of the team and had nothing to do with her personally. It became an ongoing conversation to lead the manager to learn how to separate out workplace performance from personal behavior.

• Attend Leigh's workshop, "Get a Satisfying Career," on Monday, June 4th, from 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. in LTR's conference room. Register with Carrie Gravenson.
• Find out, “How Level is Your Playing Field?” by clicking here to take a free self-assessment. Remember to provide your name, email address, and phone number if you’d like to be contacted with the results.
• Sign-up for “Leigh’s Leader Offer” that consists of a self-assessment, “Coaching Report for Leaders” PLUS a half-hour coaching session to review the assessment. Click here for more information.

• The Employee Assistance Professional Association — Women’s Issues Committee, “The Leader in You: Owning Your Power to Make a Difference.”
• Zicklin School of Business, City University of New York, member of a panel speaking on leadership.
• The Connections Place, a non-profit organization assisting individuals with their career search, “From Wence I Came: Leigh's Journey to Leadership Expert and Writer."

To book Leigh for a speaking engagement or an interview, please contact Carrie Gravenson.

Leader Resources: Want to know about the growing field of Information Risk Management? I’m editor of Spyglass, the e-Newsletter for Shattered Magazine, a publication targeted to a global audience of professional women. Click here to read the latest edition of Spyglass which profiles the new faces in Information Risk Management, a term that includes global issues of outsourcing and offshoring, business continuity and resiliency, security, technology, etc.