Making Destructive Comments

One of the hallmarks of leadership in the 21^st century is participative team building and problem solving.  We have moved from the old top down decision making model to one that allows and encourages everyone’s involvement in the process.

If you are a good leader then you will make sure that everyone has an opportunity to give their opinion and respectfully discuss and even debate the issues so that the best possible solution can be reached.  For some people this type of give and take environment comes easy and for others it is very hard to open up and participate.

As a team leader one thing I watch very carefully is when someone starts to take on another team member personally rather than dealing with their ideas.  This can be very subtle in the beginning but eventually something is said that really stings.

There is a big difference between I do not agree with what you are saying and here is the reason compared to you are wrong and just don’t get it.  Certain people with strong personalities will go after another person when they feel threatened because they know they can intimidate them to back off.

During the meeting when I see this happening I will usually make a point to come back to the person who was attacked and draw them out again.  After the meeting, I will go to the person making the destructive comments and make sure they understand that type of behavior will not be tolerated.

After clearly communicating with someone privately and they continue to demonstrate this type of behavior then they will lose their seat at the table and everyone will know why.

Teamwork

Most leaders agree that we have moved from a leadership model that prioritized the positional power of the leader to one that involves the input of others included on their team.  However, there is still a lot of misunderstanding about the changing role of the leader and the appropriate role of the team members.

One of the best books I have read on this subject is The Performance Factor by Pat MacMillan.  The book not only deals with all of the philosophical issues involved in this major leadership transition but goes into great detail about practical execution.

The critical characteristics of all high performing teams are:  clear and common purpose, crystal clear roles, accepted leadership, effective team processes, solid relationships and excellent communication.

As in all current accepted leadership theory, they place an extremely high priority on getting the right mix of people on the team.  The key here is diversity of skill sets and experience so that the combined synergistic effect will reach its maximum potential.

The leader’s role is still very critical because they have to be able to draw everyone into the project at hand with passion and then be able in the end to reach a decision that works best for bottom line.  This is not a personality contest or group therapy it is still about producing outstanding results that accomplish critical priorities.

The Five Practices Of Leadership

 

I am constantly reading new materials on leadership and occasionally I review great books from the past.  One of the all time classics is The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner.

This very exhaustive book centers around these five simple but very powerful practices:

 Model The Way-Find your voice by clarifying your personal values and set the example by aligning actions with shared values.

 Inspire a Shard Vision-Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities and enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations.

Challenge The Process-Search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow, and improve and experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes.

Enable Others to Act-Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust.  Strengthen others by sharing power and discretion.

 Encourage The Heart-Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence and celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.        

   

Don’t Shoot The Messenger

Every leader likes to hear good news.  We all want to be positive people who inspire others through our can do attitude.  If we are not careful though we will surround ourselves with team members who will start to tell us what we want to hear and not what we need to know.

When you create a culture within your organization where the truth can be told you must not make the mistake of reacting every time you hear bad news or something negative.  If you do, you are shutting yourself off from critical information that you must know and you have created an environment where your best people will eventually leave.

Jack Welch calls the lack of candor the biggest dirty secret in business.  Avoiding conflict and hoping things will get better is the formula for failure especially in the realities of the new economy.

I am not talking about chronic negative whining people who never really want to solve the problem.  They should not be tolerated within any organization because they are a cancer to your creativity and morale.

So the next time that person walks into your office who you know is drop dead loyal and they need to talk about a problem that must be addressed be grateful and listen they have got your back.

 

Peter Principle

Every leadership expert that I have read in the last five years understands that the most important asset for any organization is the people who are on your team.  If you have not transitioned from the industrial age to the information age in how you are leading your people you will not be able to compete in the new global economy.

Good to Great makes the point about getting the right people on your bus and making sure you get the wrong ones off.  There is also a priority on verifying that everyone is in the right seat on the bus.

This is where the Peter Principle can create blind spots within your organization.   Just because someone has been a very effective employee in the past does not mean they can continue to be effective in the future.

The natural tendency is when someone does a good job they eventually assume even greater responsibility.  They were the best customer service representative you had when your company started and there were less than one hundred accounts.

When the company reaches three hundred accounts then other customer service representatives are brought on board and now your best practices representative just became a manager of other people.  After all they deserve the job because they have tenure, expertise and loyalty to organization.

There is only one major problem; they are not gifted or passionate about managing a customer service department that one day will grow to over one hundred employees.   These once great team members who are no longer effective have been promoted beyond their capabilities and that is why they are failing.

Never assume that because someone is great in one discipline they can naturally transition to leading others in the same area.  If you do not watch this one very carefully you run the risk of a dysfunctional customer service department and tragically loosing a once great employee in the process.

 

Hiring Right People

I just finished writing a recommendation for someone on Linkedin that reminded me of what is absolutely critical when considering someone for your team.  When I hire someone I am always looking for three major things that are very important to me.  If anyone of these is missing then I know no matter how qualified they may be in the other two areas it is still a no deal for me:

1.       Character—According to all the research Jim Collins has done this qualification has moved to the top of the list.  When someone has the right kind of character you will not have to worry about having to over manage them they are self motivated and will only settle for excellence in everything they do.  Talk is cheap in this area and I want someone who has demonstrated over time they have the foundation that can withstand the problems that will surely come in the future.

2.      Competency—There is no doubt that everyone you add to your team needs to be qualified to fill the positions you have available.  The more technical and specialized the skill set the more demanding you must be in this area.  However, in Collin’s research  and my own personal experience, if I find the right person I will hire them first and figure out what they are going to do later.

3.      Chemistry—The clear issue here is how well this person will fit into the team dynamic that is already in place.  I always in the interview process find a way to get a person into a casual environment so I can observe them and see who they really are unscripted.  I want people with a heavy dose of personal humility and equal amount of personal determination that do not care who gets the credit but will make sure it all gets done.

The people who are going to do great things in this new global environment are going to be the ones with the best people on their team.  There is no greater responsibility for the leader than making sure you get the right people on the bus and the wrong ones off as quickly as possible.

Teamwork Chemistry

I have probably learned more from Pat MacMillan on this subject than from any other writer.  His book The Performance Factor is still a must read if you want to fully understand all the dynamics involved in leading a successful team.

When selecting team members you must have the right combination of competency and character.  You really need people who are experts in their area of responsibility that can bring great factual accurate information into the discussion.  However, the ultimate success of the team in my opinion will be even more driven by how people interact with each other showing mutual respect and humility.

I want everyone engaged and passionate about their contribution to the discussion but I do not want anyone attacking another person rather than debating their ideas.  I have found the following list to be helpful for setting the right tone:

1.       Treat each other with dignity and respect

2.      Listen for understanding

3.      Don’t take things personally; don’t mean things personally

4.      Ask, but do not assume motives

5.      Avoid degrading language; do not attack each other credibility

6.      Everyone has input, regardless of position

7.      We will not take ourselves too seriously

There is a big difference in being professional vs. being negatively personal toward another person.  We must separate their ideas and comments from who they are and even though we may disagree we always value the individual.

 

 

 

First and Lasting Impressions

I have had two very bad experiences with customer service this week.  Not only was I the recipient of this bad “service” I also saw several other people having the exact same horrible experience.

In both situations the people assigned to dealing with the problem made promises they did not keep.  For example setting pickup times and assuring you that if they did not call it would be ready, status updates that did not happen and the approach let’s just try this and I am sure it will work when they really did not have a clue about what to do.

Here is the interesting part at least for my situation.  With both companies only because of my pushing I was eventually given to a supervisor to help me resolve hour’s worth of wasted time and finally fix the problems. 

When I communicated with these new people they had a much better attitude and brought product knowledge that the front line people did not know.  They did simple things like returning my calls on time and then committed to do whatever it took to resolve my issues.

Here is my question?  Why not set the bar for all of the front line people in your organization at the same level where the supervisors were operating either in technical training, people skills or the authority to make it happen.

You will never convince me that it is cost effective for any company to pay less than qualified people to take hours of their time and your customers offending people that will probably never come back unless they get the slim chance to talk with their boss.

The front lines of your organization where interaction takes place with the people who are experiencing what you have to offer will always be the place where you want to make the best impression.  If you’re weakest and newest team members are given these roles thinking they will grow into the job eventually the problem will solve itself because you will not have any more customers to deal with.

Performance Review Systems

All of us at some point in time have waited with anxiety for that wonderful time of the year when we receive our annual performance review.  Even if you know that you have had a great year you are never really sure what is going to be said and how pleased management is with your performance.

To a great degree this whole process is a major problem within most organizations.  On the one hand poor performers are not dealt with on an ongoing basis and sometimes they are even given good reviews because their direct supervisor does not want to admit that they also have failed.  Sometimes employees think things are going great only to have the big bomb dropped with no real explanation as to why they were not told before.

On the other extreme top performers are left in the dark about what they are doing well and they only get the one time a year serious conversation about where they stand and what is next in the area of development.  The bottom line there should be ongoing informal times for evaluation and at least twice a year if not quarterly a brief review of exactly where everyone stands in regards to expectations.

I have seen performance reviews that are literally 20 pages in length with a tremendous amount of worthless information.  Most in my opinion should not be more than two to three pages that only deal with key objectives and some type of quantitative analysis on success.

I also prefer some type of 360 feedback system in place so that in a non-threatening way immediate supervisors can be told what they need to do to help improve their direct reports performance.  This should be a time where an honest exchange of information takes place so that everyone knows what they need to do to improve day to day performance and lay out a clear plan for professional development for all involved.

We really need to change the culture of the performance review process from going to the dentist mentality to meeting with my coach who I know has my best interest in mind and is passionately committed to helping me reach my potential.

 

When To Quit

As Seth Godin points out we have all heard the expression winners never quit and quitters never win.  In real life that is simply not true because knowing when to quit something that is clearly not working is the secret to winning because it gets you one step closer to the one thing that you were meant to do with your life.

Many times we take jobs thinking that we have finally found the answer to what do I want to do with my career?  Many months later we realize that what we expected was wrong.  We should never quit just because the work is challenging and the people with whom we work are not the best.

However when you have done your best and the day to day responsibilities that you have been assigned are not bringing any challenge or lasting value then you need to find something that you can be passionate about doing.  Our work should be something we care about to the point that we look forward to going in every day because what we do really matters.

Sometimes we really like what we do but the team of people we are doing it with are merely takers and not givers.  They are out for number one and there is an atmosphere of backbiting , constant stress and negative criticism that drives the culture of the organization.  No matter how much you like what you do if you cannot enjoy the journey with the people you are doing it with it is simply not worth it.

Becoming a serial quitter for all the wrong reasons can be a fatal character flaw that will negatively impact your entire life.  Quitting for the right reason can be the best thing you have ever done because it can lead you to a brighter future.

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