I was surprised to see a page in my fourth-grader’s school folder describing roles that are common in effective meetings. Titled “Cooperative Group Role Cards,” the page was created by the International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English.

The categories include Leader, Recorder (note-taker), Time Keeper and the Presenter who, in the case of student groups, shows the finished work to the rest of the class. One additional role caught my attention: Errand Monitor.

In the classroom, that person may leave the group to get supplies or to request help from the teacher. I immediately imagined how that role might fit into the business world.

Think about how many times in a meeting someone says “I’ll check on that and get back to you.” How much time could you save and how many follow-up meetings could you eliminate if you designated one person to find those answers immediately—during the meeting?

Of course, the ideal situation is to have everyone you need in the meeting in the first place, but unforeseen questions do pop up. It’s also not always possible to get answers immediately, but I think this is a meeting role that merits consideration. What do you think?

Are your meetings sapping everyone’s time with few results to show for it? Check out the Meeting Makeover Training Kit.

[Image Source: Susan Cain]

Catalyst and McKinsey have both shown correlations between gender diversity in leadership and bottom-line results. Catalyst has shown that Fortune 500 companies with more women at the “C-level” and on boards of directors have higher returns on equity, capital and sales. McKinsey reports that European companies with more women in positions of influence outperform their competitors on both qualitative and financial measures including stock price growth. Neither McKinsey nor Catalyst asserts that there is a causal link between profits and having more women in management. But, McKinsey concludes, the facts argue in “[favor] of greater gender diversity.”

I suggest two explanations for why companies with greater gender diversity do better. First, gender diversity in a group makes it more likely that there is a balance of masculine and feminine approaches to work. That balance leads to better decisions and outcomes. Second, the fact that an organization has gender diversity in leadership is an indicator that the culture is inclusive and, therefore, engagement is broad and deep. Both inclusiveness and high levels of engagement have been shown to drive bottom-line results.

A balance of masculine and feminine approaches

Both men and women use both “masculine” and “feminine” approaches to work. If an organization is run primarily by men, the masculine approach is likely to dominate. If an organization is run by both men and women, it is more likely there will be a balance of the two approaches. And that’s good for the bottom line.

Both masculine and feminine approaches have strengths—and downsides. When an organization is dominated by either approach, you are more likely to see the downsides of that approach. When there is balance, the organization is more likely to get more of the upsides, and less of the downsides, of both.

So what are masculine vs. feminine approaches? When I describe the feminine approach, I am not saying all women do that—but that the average woman is more likely to do that than the average man. The masculine approach is how the typical man is more likely to think and act. Here are examples of the differences in a few areas of workplace behavior:

Structure: How one structures organizations, teams and work

Masculine approach: Hierarchy; levels and status matter; power and information flow top to bottom.

Feminine approach: Network; relationships matter more than status; roles overlap; power and information are shared.

Work focus: What is forefront in making a decision

Masculine approach: Goal focus; keeps focus on the goal/result; pushes aside distracting ideas.

Feminine approach: Process focus; focuses also on the process to get the result; gathers multiple inputs; considers related issues.

Influence: How one gets others to do what he/she thinks is important

Masculine approach: Commands; gives orders; tells; is direct, clear.

Feminine approach: Persuades; makes requests, asks; is indirect, polite.

Work style: What is energizing when working with others

Masculine approach: Competes; sees work as a game to be won; coming out on top is key.

Feminine approach: Collaborates; gets results through relationships, involvement and sharing power.

Hierarchy is great for some situations, for example, when consistency is required; a network structure is better for others—like when creativity or buy-in are needed. Keeping focus on the goal is critical in some circumstances; taking time for more process is important in others. Influencing by giving clear orders is necessary in some circumstances (for example, when there is urgency); using persuasion to influence works better in others. A competitive approach can lead to great outcomes; a collaborative approach can, too. A wise leader knows the value of both approaches and when to leverage each. But that leader is more likely to have both available to leverage if there are both men and women at all levels.

Let me illustrate how having a balance of masculine and feminine approaches leads to better results. If a project is being managed by people (men and women) who all think in a masculine way, they will look to the person with the most power for direction and follow his or her lead. They will focus on the task or goal, avoiding being distracted by what they see as collateral issues. They may overlook critical information or issues—or pursue one idea when another would have been better!

If the same project is handled only by people who operate in a feminine way, they will consult and involve more people, gather lots of input and ideas, and take the time to build consensus and buy-in. They may get paralyzed by process. In any case, they are likely to take longer to reach the goal. If the team has a balance of masculine and feminine approaches (again, as it is more likely to have if both men and women are involved), the masculine thinkers will keep the group moving toward the goal, and the feminine thinkers will bring in issues and perspectives that will improve the outcome and assure the result is more sustainable!

Diversity, inclusiveness and engagement

When both men and women reach their full potential and progress to the top of an organization, it is likely that the organization (a) has a high level of engagement, and (b) is “inclusive.” Both are associated with better results.

In inclusive cultures, difference is appreciated. Inclusive cultures do better on retention, customer satisfaction, productivity and profitability. (See Business Case for Diversity and Inclusion). In inclusive cultures both men and women, whether they have a predominantly masculine or feminine approach, will feel valued, included and supported. As a result, they will be more engaged. Higher engagement is linked with higher retention, productivity and profits. (See, for example, Gallup’s employee engagement survey and The Effort Dividend: Driving Employee Performance and Retention through Engagement by the Corporate Leadership Council.)

The two explanations come together in a virtuous circle. Engagement and inclusiveness themselves drive results. And they make it more likely that women (as well as men) will stay with the organization, do their best work and reach their full potential. The result will be gender diversity at all levels, which will give the culture a balance of masculine and feminine approaches, which will contribute to the best outcomes.

Caroline Turner began her career as a successful lawyer in a private practice, becoming partner in a large regional firm in the demanding area of securities law and mergers and acquisitions. Later, she climbed the corporate ladder at Coors Brewing Co. and its parent company (now MillerCoors and MolsonCoors) to become the company’s first female senior vice president.

Turner is now a business consultant, advising clients on creating cultures of inclusion, facilitating workshops and delivering speeches. She is a member of the board of directors for Women’s Vision Foundation, which provides leadership development for corporate women and helps its corporate members engage, retain and promote women. She has served in leadership roles in several other organizations and initiatives, including Warren Village, the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, Women’s Forum of Colorado, the University of Denver College of Law, The Mentoring Company, the National Hispana Leadership Institute, and the National Council of La Raza. Turner was named the Corporate Woman of the Year by the Women’sVision Foundation in 2000 and Outstanding Alumni from the University of Denver College of Law in 1999.

Her book Difference Works: Improving Retention, Productivity and Profitability Through Inclusion is available for purchase on Amazon.com and at other major online book retailers.

Learn more at www.difference-works.com.

Walk up to five employees today and ask them what your organization’s mission is. Can you recite your organization’s mission statement without looking it up? Has your organization even formally defined its mission?

Our company, Briefings Media Group, recently adopted a mission statement that I love. Part of a one-page roadmap for the company, our “purpose” is this: “Help people do their best work.”

It’s short enough to remember and broad enough to apply to every job in the company, no matter which product an employee is working on or whether the person directly serves internal or external customers.

I’ve seen mission statements that fill a page and are full of grandiose words that no one remembered. They did nothing to inspire employees. Does your mission statement succeed at leading employees to do their best each day?

Share your mission statement in the Comments below.

People are always asking me about to-do lists. Do they need to maintain them? How can they go about fixing them? I don’t know anyone in this interruption-based world who doesn’t use some kind of list as a tool for getting things done. I’m neither for nor opposed to any type of system you use to stay efficient.

The super-long strategy

The primary dilemma you face is balancing short-term versus long-term tasks and activities. I maintain a 12- to 14-page to-do list! I have hundreds of things on my to-do list arranged by major life priorities. How do I keep from going crazy? Most of the items on the list are medium- to long-range activities.

The first page of my list represents only the short-term activities. The first items on the list represent things I’ve chosen to do now or this week. I continually draw from the 14-page list, and move items to the top as it becomes desirable, or necessary, to tackle them.

I maintain a dynamic to-do list in the sense that it contains everything on this earth I want to get done, but I need to look at only one page, and it’s always on top. Although I am forever updating the list and running a new printout of it, its advantages outweigh this task. I wouldn’t think of doing it any other way.

All the anxiety about the things you want to get done diminishes once you put everything down on paper. My list is long, and it will stay long. I don’t worry about all the things on the list, because I know I can only do so much in one day or one week. I know that I’ll periodically review the entire list, and continually move items from page 8 up to the front. My anxiety stays at a rather low level.

Not everything every day

Many days, I don’t look at pages 2 through 14. Virtually all word-processing programs contain word-search capabilities. If I’m working on something during the day and it appears that there will be a breakthrough in my ability to tackle something buried on page 9, I put my word search on, and I quickly come to the item. There is no need to pour extensively through the hundreds of items listed.

Maintaining such a long to-do list helps me to become more proficient in managing long-term or repeated tasks. If something represents a long-term project, I can continually draw from it those portions that can be handled in the short term and move them up to the front page. Likewise, if something is a repeat or cyclical project, something that I need to do every month or every year, I can move the portion I choose to do in the short term up to the front page.

Consider using the super long to-do strategy. At the least, you’ll have identified everything you face and have it all on one gigantic roster. At the most, you may have a tool that will support you for years to come.

Short-circuiting the to-do list

On occasion, you may wish to short-circuit the to-do list and do something without entering it on your list. Here’s how it works. Most people who encounter information they believe worth retaining make a note or add it to a list. The information stays there for days, weeks or months.

Since whatever information you encounter usually involves communicating about it with someone else, rather than adding that to your to-do list, go ahead and call, text or email the person to whom the information pertains. Communicate the information to them on the spot, rather than adding that task to your to-do list indefinitely.

Paper and pencil still work

Despite all the online options for group scheduling, a simple system to stay on top of your goals, that works surprisingly well, is to go to your nearest office supply store and buy one of those washable wall charts or an oversized set of monthly calendars in cardboard stock or paper. You can mount your calendars on the wall and use markers, sticky notes, gold stars and red seals, so that you are able to visually mark down what you want to or have to accomplish.

This isn’t news to you if you work in an office where the use of a number of people, vehicles or goods need to be scheduled for optimum efficiency. On a personal basis, such calendar plotting works well, if for no other reason than you’re the boss of the calendar. You get to move things around in a one-second maneuver.

Consider this: Honoring your priorities is an efficient way to run your life. The price of being successful, however, of being affluent, of traveling about, or of meeting the demands of a busy schedule is losing things. Be kind to yourself when this happens.

Jeff Davidson, “The Work-Life Balance Expert®,” has written 59 mainstream books, is an authority on time management, and is an electrifying professional speaker. He is the author of Breathing Space and Simpler Living. He believes that career professionals today in all industries have a responsibility to achieve their own sense of work-life balance, and he supports that quest through his website www.BreathingSpace.com.

1. How well does my use of time match my priorities?

2. What am I doing that doesn’t really need to be done?

3. What am I doing that could/should be done by someone else?

4. What major things should I be concerned about in my department, and in what sequence should I tackle them?

5. What three things should I be doing to further my career?

6. What should I focus on next week in order to move toward my personal goals?

7. What process can I follow to solve the problem I am facing?

8. What future problems can I avoid?

9. What am I doing that wastes time of others?

10. What is the next action I must take toward my goal?

Join Bruce for an intense two-day Productivity Training Camp in June and discover how to become a master of time management. 

You will discover how to get more done, in less time, with less stress!

Business trips can provide great opportunities—or excessive stress and frustration. The following services will ensure that your upcoming business travel is painless and productive:

1. LugLess. A representative from this delivery service will come to pick up your luggage, ship it to your destination via FedEx, and coordinate drop-off with your hotel or other accommodation. That can save you the hassle and cost of checking bags. And LugLess guarantees that your luggage will arrive safely and on time. Bonus: Want to squeeze in a round of golf while on your trip? LugLess can deliver your golf bag (or other specialty luggage) as well. Cost: Prices start at $39 for a small bag.

2. MileWise. This free site allows you to track all of your travel rewards (frequent-flyer miles, credit cards, hotel points and so on) in one place. And when it’s time to use them, MileWise helps you determine the best bang for your buck, er, reward points. You just enter your destination, and the site will provide you with a list of options, rating them on a 100% scale. Bonus: MileWise will alert you to any airline fees, so you aren’t surprised. Cost: Free.

3. TripIt for Business. This online service organizes business trips for your whole office. TripIt makes it easy for you to create itineraries for all of your travelers, who can then view them online or on their smartphones. Bonus: In addition to creating itineraries, TripIt also tracks travel expenses, helping you stay on budget. Cost: Starts at $29 per month for up to 10 users.

4. TSA Pre✓™.  If you are a frequent flyer with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines or US Airways, or a member of a CBP Trusted Traveler program, you can opt-in to participate in the TSA Pre✓ program. If the Transportation Security Administration determines that you are eligible to participate, information is embedded in the barcode of your boarding pass, which can then allow you to go through an expedited screening process at airport security checkpoints. Note: You won’t be informed that you’ve been cleared before you travel. It will be a happy surprise when TSA scans your barcode at the airport.  Bonus: TSA plans to expand both the eligible airlines and the participating airports in 2012. Cost: Free.    

What’s your favorite service for business travel?

Learn about time-saving websites and gadgets every month in The Organized Executive.

Innovation is the name of the game in many industries, certainly in all of those that we at Martens & Heads! recruit for. Innovation fosters new products, new categories and new consumerism—which leads to what we are all in business for: to make money. After all, this is America—we are a capitalist society. I believe that some of the most innovative endeavors come not only from those million-dollar ideas (or million-dollar investments), but from people.

I recently read an article on habits by Janet Rae-Dupree, and one line in particular struck me: “You cannot have innovation unless you are willing and able to move through the unknown and go from curiosity to wonder.” It made me think about people and how often their fear of the unknown causes them to miss opportunities to grow as individuals.

As executive recruiters, we “helicopter” people into new environments all the time. It’s an incredibly stressful situation for all involved. When it’s successful, it’s amazing—but so often, times of great opportunities are missed because of a person’s inability to be open-minded when it comes to forming new relationships, and in turn, forming new corporate cultures.

When you are starting a new job, it’s so much simpler to rely on what you already know. It’s easier to surround yourself with people you have had success working with in the past, rather than entering into a situation where you’ll have a new team. However, in order to foster innovation, it’s necessary to be open to new people—as they’ll bring innovative ideas, challenge preconceived assumptions and offer a fresh perspective to a situation.

Executives must fill in the blanks

In terms of executives’ personalities, it’s important to understand what your company has in excess as well as what it is lacking. Not every worker will be equally analytical, creative, procedural or rational. It’s important to understand what a person’s strengths are, as well as their weaknesses. What’s more, it’s necessary to keep this in mind when hiring more staff, as it’s beneficial to make sure that one person can make up for what another may lack.

Great leaders must create roadmaps that identify where their organizations currently stand, where they want the organizations to go in the future and how they will possibly get there. There should be an assessment of what skills their company as a whole possesses, along with what is missing. Sometimes it’s difficult for people to admit what they’re lacking. However, a great leader will understand that where there are blanks there are opportunities.

It’s important that when your company comes to a fork in the road, not necessarily to choose the easier path but to understand where both roads may lead. Are you going to choose the route that makes you more comfortable? Or will you take the road that has bumps and challenges along the way, but may ultimately foster a culture that will prove beneficial in the long run? The choice is yours—It always has been.

A founding member of Martens & Heads!, Kate Benson has 15+ years of executive search expertise in retail, fashion and luxury for global iconic brands like LVMH and Prada, as well as start-ups. Her experience within brands and in executive search gives her a keen understanding of client needs and unsurpassed access to industry talent. She is active in industry associations including the Fashion Group International, Cosmetic Executive Women and the Society for Human Resource Management.

Learn how to empower your team and unleash employees’ creativity, with Inspired Leadership.

I’m in the process of moving. We’re renting out our former house and buying a new one about an hour and a half away. During the past month, I have had many of the lessons we talk about in The Organized Executive reinforced.

When our lives are out of whack, it is easy to forget the knowledge we’ve learned through the years—even when it can help us through tough times. Here are some life lessons definitely worth revisiting whenever you start a new venture—or adventure:   

1. Expect everything.We were hoping to rent out our place quickly, but we weren’t expecting the very first person to see our home to want to rent it and move in earlier than we anticipated.

Lesson: Before you take on a new project or plan an initiative, it’s smart to anticipate a worst-case scenario, and plan a recovery. However, you should also plan for the best-case scenario. Example: If the product you’re testing files off the shelves, do you have enough inventory to keep up with sales? Enough customer service reps to respond to inquiries? Enough warehouse employees to fulfill orders?

2. Have a backup to your backup plan. When hiring a moving company fell through because of our short timeframe, we decided to rent a truck and move ourselves. The day before we were to pick up the truck, we received a call—right before closing—that our truck wouldn’t be available. Luckily, “just in case” we reserved a truck at another company. That decision saved us.

Lesson: Know all your options. If one plan falls through, you’ll have multiple to choose from to keep the project moving without losing time or money. It is always a good idea to have a Plan A, B, C—and even D, just in case.

3. Don’t underestimate your time and manpower needs. We were convinced that we could move all of our stuff in two days with just four people. We were dead wrong. Two days of rain slowed our move, and we felt silly afterward for thinking we could accomplish so much with so little time and manpower.

Lesson: Whenever possible, give yourself more time than you think you will need. If you finish early, great. More than likely you’ll need that time to resolve issues and overcome obstacles.

4. Anticipate growing pains. Less than four days after turning our home over to the tenant, the hot water heater began leaking and flooded the basement. As new landlords, this debacle was a nightmare for us. Luckily, home warranties, good insurance and a laidback tenant are making the process easier to deal with.

Lesson: No plan is without flaws. If you expect everything to run smoothly without any challenges, you are going to be sorely disappointed when you inevitably hit that first bump in the road. When problems do surface, don’t lose sight of your ultimate goal and the benefits you’ll realize later. Focus on finding solutions instead of feeling sorry for yourself or complaining.

Has life recently reminded you of an important business lesson? Please share it in the Comment section.

I caught only a glimpse, but it was enough to horrify me. As an acquaintance opened a program on her laptop, I saw that her desktop was littered with files and shortcuts.

I’ve worked with other people who kept their desks tidy but filled their computer desktops with clutter. I’m not a stickler for pristine conditions, but I do hate inefficiency. With dozens of icons on the screen, there is no way to quickly find a specific file or shortcut.

If your computer desktop is full right now, I challenge you to take a few minutes to delete what you no longer need. Then if you still have many icons, organize them in folders. Right-click on a clear area of your desktop and then choose New and Folder to create new ones.

For a quick cleanup, hide your desktop icons. Right-click on a clear area of the desktop and choose Arrange Icons By or View, depending on your version of Windows. Then uncheck the line Show Desktop Icons.

What other tips do you have for making computer work more efficient?

Good intentions can lead to bad outcomes in business. This is especially true in organizations that have toxic cultures in which leaders tout worthy values—and then put up roadblocks that prevent employees from living those values.

The General Services Administration scandal provides an apt example. With all the rampant spending at the GSA, one has to ask if employees were afraid to speak up, lest they upset their co-workers. Or perhaps they had become complacent in an upbeat, backslapping culture that rewarded everyone early, often and extravagantly. Time will tell. In the case of the GSA, the good intention of employees—to be solid team players—led to a very bad result. But it’s poor leadership that created that toxic culture and allowed it to drag good employees down.

Desirable behaviors such as being team players (as in the case of the GSA), or even meeting deadlines, being goal-oriented and staying on budget can get distorted and become destructive in a company driven by weak leadership values and a weak culture. That’s because leadership values drive success, not employee behaviors.

When we look at companies that have faced scandals such as recalls, ethical violations or crimes, the problem often comes down to employees whose surprisingly positive behavior was distorted by a toxic culture and clueless leaders. Here are seven seemingly benign behaviors that may come back to bite a company if they become exaggerated and throw the organization out of alignment:

1. Blind loyalty to the team. Loyalty is a good thing, right? Not when it creates a culture of “I know this is bad, but it’s not my decision.” The unethical spending at the GSA was a symptom of leadership without values. Employees were rewarded with lavish perks provided by managers who had their own interests at heart. This created a culture in which employees received the greatest benefit by staying loyal to their co-workers and generous bosses, rather than questioning their actions.

2. Commitment to meeting deadlines. One would think that a company where employees are encouraged to meet deadlines and rewarded for doing so consistently would lead to super-productivity and efficiency. In fact, it can lead to disaster. At Johnson & Johnson, the understood directive to get product to market on tough deadlines created a culture of “Don’t ask too many questions” and resulted in a series of dangerous drug recalls that badly sullied the company’s reputation.

3. Excessive optimism. When a person is sick, optimism can buoy his spirits and help healing. When a company is unhealthy, “Everything is going to be okay” is not what you need to hear from those in authority positions. Take David Myers, former controller of WorldCom. By his own account, he saw the problems of the now-defunct company through rose-colored glasses. He simply kept believing—and telling his frightened staff—that the problems would resolve themselves eventually. By the time he came to his senses, he was under arrest for accounting fraud.

4. Staying focused on a goal. Telling employees to keep their eye on the prize is not intrinsically a bad thing. But when the goal becomes more important to management than the underlying values of the organization, it can lead to a dysfunctional culture. For example, in the 1990s, Sears gave its auto repair mechanics a mandatory sales goal of $147 per hour. It wasn’t long before customers began to be overcharged or sold unnecessary repairs.

5. Having a competitive mindset. Boeing is known for its highly competitive employees and work culture. That’s a good thing, right? Not so in 1996, when the company lost billions in government contracts for ethics violations after an employee stole 25,000 pages of proprietary documents from Lockheed. Flash forward to 2005, when employees were still so competitive that their own work teams were known to keep useful information secret from other teams in the company to make sure they stayed on top. Too much competition can erode cultural values, leading to disaster.

6. Sticking to a budget. Most managers would be thrilled if their employees were doggedly determined to stay on budget and not cost the company any unnecessary money. But a good intention can go bad when financial performance becomes the only metric that matters. That was the case, many believe, behind the fatal mistake made on the BP oil platform in the Gulf. Before the explosion in April 2010 caused by a safety shortcut, BP’s Macondo project was more than $40 million over budget. You know the rest.

7. Wanting to please higher-ups. What’s more attractive than a hardworking employee who wants his bosses to approve of him, based on high performance and outstanding results? A lot, in the case of French trader Jérôme Kerviel at the Société Générale banking group. His need to be liked led to $4.9 billion in massive financial fraud by means of elaborate computer manipulations. Kerviel is thought not to have profited personally from his crimes. He said he was just working to increase the bank’s profits and make his bosses happy.

David Gebler is a nationally esteemed whistleblowing expert and lawyer, and author of The 3 Power Values: How Commitment, Integrity, and Transparency Clear the Roadblocks to Performance (Jossey-Bass, 2012). He is founder and president of the Skout Group, which helps companies determine whether and how their organization’s culture is costing them money, and what they can do to reduce risk and prevent scandals.