Organizational problems—including weak individual performance, lack of accountability, ineffective leadership, poor teamwork, interpersonal conflict and functional silos—plague many organizations, hurting their results.  In an attempt to improve their performance, organizations often attack these individual symptoms, but don’t see improved results.  The reason these attempts often fail is that the real problem is an issue that is much deeper than those symptoms.

The root cause of most organizational problems is the fact that employees often unknowingly work with an “Inward Mindset”—focused inwardly on their own, personal objectives. Organizations can only resolve internal problems and achieve breakthrough results by maximizing the extent to which their employees conceive of and execute their work with an “Outward Mindset”—taking into account their impact on others and focusing on the needs of the organization as a whole.

The 6-8 hour workshop is in the format of an interactive, facilitated discussion, punctuated by videos, individual and group exercises, one-on-one sharing, and application of the concepts to actual on-the-job situations facing the participants.

“Developing an Outward Mindset” awakens a deep, emotional understanding among the participants that they have often been unknowingly working with an “Inward Mindset”, meaning that they have been focused inwardly on their own, personal objectives. This leads participants to the powerful revelation that they bear responsibility for problems that their organizations face, as well as for the solutions to those problems.  As a result, the session helps participants develop a mentality of responsibility rather than one of blame in their work.  

The workshop equips participants with a set of tools, frameworks and maps that will enable them to:

• Deeply understand the two underlying Mindsets and their implications on results
• Learn to honestly assess—on an ongoing basis—the extent to which they are working with an Inward Mindset
• Learn ways to move from an Inward to an Outward Mindset

Michael Lazan

Michael A. Lazan is a Senior Vice President of Arbinger. 

He oversees the design and delivery of Arbinger’s services with organizations globally and specializes in working with senior leadership teams and resolving exceptionally difficult conflicts.

Possessing more than 20 years of management experience, Michael brings tremendous practical experience to Arbinger’s work with organizations.  Prior to joining Arbinger, Michael served in the White House under President Reagan, and subsequently held a number of key management positions in the United States and internationally with Procter and Gamble, Pillsbury, and Reckitt-Benckiser.

Michael earned a B.A. from Columbia University, an M.A. from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and an MBA from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania.