Category Archive: Career Development

Team Operating Principles

Posted by on May 27, 2009

The first thing I look for in putting together any team is the right chemistry for the particular task at hand.  If the team is responsible for completing a construction project I need expertise and great project managers.  When the assignment is to create a new vision statement I want very creative people that are willing to think outside the box.

One of the best books on team building is The Performance Factor by Pat MacMillan.  He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Team Resources Inc. an international consulting firm specializing in organizational and team development.

Regardless of the team dynamics and the task assignments there should be some guiding principles that give direction to all teams.  The following list from MacMillan is the best one I have found and creates an environment of mutual respect that drives participation and performance:

1.       We are open and honest with one another.

2.      We treat each other with dignity and respect.

3.      We listen to and respect each other’s ideas and opinions.

4.      We hold confidences.

5.      We honor our commitments.

6.      We support and invest in each other’s development.

7.      We routinely critique our processes.

8.      We have fun.

If the team leader can model and get everyone to buy into these principles then the potential for a great outcome has dramatically increased.  When teams often break down it has very little to do with the task at hand but with the way members communicate and relate to each other.

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Weisure Lifestyle

Posted by on May 26, 2009

Welcome to the latest new term to describe the tension that exist between life and work balance.  According to Dalton Conley a New York University sociologist, “increasingly it’s not clear what constitutes work and what constitutes fun time.”  You can read the entire article on CNN.com/living.

More and more people are using their smart phones and other technology to keep up with their 24-7 lifestyle that keeps them in almost constant contact with others.  At one minute we may be quote at work and receive a text message about last night’s game and then later while at quote home get an important email on major project.

It’s one thing to watch a fellow employee scroll through email during a meeting you are attending but now to see the same thing happening during the evening meal is a little harder to swallow.

Apple is probably not going to come up with an app that will schedule time everyday to unplug from all the information that is available to spend time with people who really matter in your life.  We are going to have to discipline ourselves to set some boundaries so that we can have the time we need to wind down and even quietly think without interruption.

Technology can be an incredibly good thing if we use it as a tool to improve our lives.  If we let it though it can easily change from a means to the end into the end itself and when it does that we all lose.

 

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My Boss Does Not Get It

Posted by on May 22, 2009

I spoke this week at an annual conference for the utility industry on the subject of change.  The major takeaway was that when this recession cycle is over we are never going back to the way things used to be.

The world has permanently changed the way we live and especially the way we work.  The power of technology and the globalization of world economies are driving change in an unprecedented way.

At the end of both my presentations we had a question and answer session.  The dominant question from everyone was what do you do when you know change needs to occur but your boss either does not see the need or simply will not give up on the status quo?

The first thing you must do is to continue to respectfully continue to tell the truth.  The moment you give up and become a yes man you have stopped doing your job.

The second thing you must do is check your motives. At the end of the day if I have tried to be helpful and share my perspective in the right way then I can go home knowing I did it right.

The third thing is to realize that it is not in your job description to change your boss any more than it is to change your mate at home.  When we hit the wall is when we assume responsibility that was not given to us and become frustrated when the people above us don’t seem to get it.

After several months of respectfully communicating what you see from your perspective and nothing seems to be changing and you get the impression that they don’t want to hear it anymore.  The you must realize that in the end you will either change the corporate culture you are working in or if you stay too long it will change you.

When I have reached this point the change that needs to occur is not in my boss but where I am working.  I will not settle for a paycheck becasue the world is in a mess and I want to make a difference.

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The Five Phases of Project Planning

Posted by on May 20, 2009

One of the most recognized experts in the field of productivity is David Allen.  He is the author of many books but probably is best known for Getting Things Done.

The reason I like his approach is that in our day of many complicated business planning models and powerful software applications to back them up he just keeps it simple.  When a project is very large and complicated with many moving parts bring on Project Manager with all the charts and spreadsheets.

However, most of the things that we need to get done must start with the core principles of basic planning.  If what we are doing cannot be defined in these simple steps then maybe it does not need to be done at all.

For every task that would be large enough to fit into the project category there are five key phases:

1.       Defining purpose and principles

2.      Outcome visioning

3.      Brainstorming

4.      Organizing

5.      Identifying next actions

 

We must take the time to clearly define What we are doing and Why.  Then we need to see that the end result will be better than our current reality.  Once the vision is set then we need a comprehensive plan on How to get there and Who is responsible for every major action item.  Finally and probably most important what are the specific goals that need to be accomplished by the next meeting.

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Circle of Influence

Posted by on May 19, 2009

Several years ago Stephen Covey wrote one of the all time best selling leadership books The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It is a book that I have read several times and refer to often.

The first habit in the book is to be proactive and take responsibility for leading our own lives.  He writes, “It means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives.  Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions.  We can subordinate feelings to values.”

One of the most practical tips for doing this on a daily basis is what he calls the circle of concern in our lives vs. the circle of influence.  The circle of concern represents all the things we really care about but have no control over to change the outcome.  If we are not careful we can spend most of our day here with nothing to show for all the emotional effort.

The circle of influence though contains all the things that are important to us as well but we do have the ability to control the outcome.  When we focus on what we cannot control during the day that just means there were many things that should and could be done that were not.

The amazing thing about this principle is that the more you prioritize the things you can do and start accomplishing them the things you cannot control proportionally diminish in their importance. 

When we are doing the things we know we should do it not only allows us to  accomplish something but it also gives us the needed perspective to deal with all the things that are beyond our control.

To quote another Covey principle:  WIN WIN

 

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Feedback

Posted by on May 18, 2009

One of the most successful executive coaches in the country is Marshall Goldsmith.  He wrote a great book that I would highly recommend What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.

The simple thesis of the book is you competency and skill set is what has got you to where you are now as far as promotions are concerned.  What it will take to get you where you need to be in the highly participative leadership culture of the future will be your people skills.  This area is where the overwhelming majority of executive men and women hit the wall.

A key tool in helping people with people skill problems is to use some form of 360-degree feedback. This should involve superiors, peers as well as subordinates and sometimes even clients.

If you are one of the executives that clearly sends the message that I don’t like bad news and you consistently shoot the messenger who delivers it then you are probably in the dark about all your serious blind spots.

Everyone involved in the process must commit to the following four things:

1.       Let go of the past-forgive.

2.      Tell the truth-even if it hurts.

3.      Be supportive and helpful-not cynical or negative.

4.      Pick something to improve yourself-so everyone is focused more on “improving” than “judging.”

Feedback will tell us what we need to change.  Then the moment of truth, Are we willing to do it?

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The Doom Loop

Posted by on May 13, 2009

In sharp contrast to the breakthrough impact of the companies that practiced the flywheel effect all of the organizations that could not transition from Good to Great were caught in The Doom Loop.  Instead of the consistent daily movement of the flywheel they went for the big impact event that would give the immediate impression of progress only later to regress into failure.

They were not willing to use the deliberate process of figuring out what needed to be done and then simply doing it.  “The comparison companies frequently launched new programs-often with great fanfare and hoopla aimed at motivating the troops-only to see the programs fail to produce sustained results.”

They wanted the big event or the grand program or the new celebrity CEO that would allow them to skip the daily discipline of the flywheel and move immediately to breakthrough. The repeated pattern of this cycle consistently produced disappointing results and then reaction without understanding starts the loop all over again.

Peter Drucker commented on these companies, “The drive for mergers and acquisitions comes less from sound reasoning and more from the fact that doing deals is a much more exciting way to spend your day than doing actual work.”

The Doom Loop is a classic example of an organization continuing to do the same wrong things over and over again and yet somehow expecting different results.  At the core of this problem is a leadership team that is more concerned with short term personal success than what is best for the long term benefit of everyone involved?

In the end this is not a strategy problem but a character one.

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The Flywheel

Posted by on May 12, 2009

The concept of the flywheel was used by Jim Collins in his best selling leadership book Good to Great.  The major point of the illustration is that significant change occurs when you do the right things repeatedly over time and eventually you will have a breakthrough that results in significant success.

We all would love to have the quick fix strategy work instead, we want instant culture change.  For every company that moved from Good to Great there was no single defining action, no grand programs, no celebrity leader and no one killer innovation that produced the results.

“Good to great comes about by a cumulative process—step by step, action by action, decision by decision, turn by turn of the flywheel—that adds up to sustained and spectacular results.”

A great example that really makes the point is used is from the legendary coaching career of John Wooden at UCLA.  Most basketball fans know that he won ten NCAA Championships in twelve years and at one point had a sixty-one-game winning streak.

What most of us do not know is that for fifteen years coach Wooden worked in relative obscurity at UCLA before he ever won his first national title.  During that time he was building the foundation for the program of great recruiting, player discipline and refining his style of playing the full court press style of defense.

The real character question for leaders today is how many are willing to pay the price of not demanding short term success at the expense of long term sustainability for the organization?  It may keep you off the front page of the business section of your local paper but in this economic environment that can be a very good thing.

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Timing Is Everything

Posted by on May 11, 2009

In many situations leaders know what needs to be done to move forward and even how it should be done but they fail on the when it should be done question.  If you try to put a major change initiative in place that is really needed but the climate for change is not urgent then a very good idea is going to die and the organization will continue to fail.

In John Maxwell’s book on The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership he talks about the Law of Timing.  According to Maxwell great leaders recognize that when to lead is as important as what to do and where to go.  Every time a leader makes a move, there are really only four outcomes that can result:

1.       The wrong action at the wrong time leads to disaster.

2.      The right action at the wrong time brings resistance.

3.      The wrong action at the right time is a mistake.

4.      The right action at the right time results in success.

Timing is also very important in our personal lives when we are faced with a major decision or even a relationship issue that needs to be resolved.  Sometimes because we think we are right about something that gives us a blank check on saying something to the other person whenever we want.

We must say the right thing in the right way but most important at the right time.  When our teenagers come home with very bad test score in tears, it is probably not the right time for the thirty minute lecture on WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO STUDY!!!!

 

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Communicating New Vision

Posted by on May 8, 2009

 

After you know that you have top down buy in to the new vision for your organization, you need to create a team that can develop a strategic plan for the change you need that will allow you to move into the future.  I cannot tell you the number of times I have reached this point in the process with great new ideas and the approval to implement the necessary changes only to fail.

The next step is that is extremely important is communicating the change vision.  In all my years of doing this I think this is the beginning point of where the process starts to break down.  We all have served on teams and worked for months on change initiatives and come out of the process totally together and passionate only to meet one year later trying to decide why the plan died.

What we simply fail to remember is that we have thought, discussed, and even hotly debated these ideas for literally hundreds of hours and the people who are on the front lines for execution have had no exposure whatsoever.  We always undervalue the process of bringing everyone else up to speed and wonder why in the end they simply don’t get it.

There are several key criteria for effective communication.  They are: keep it simple, use multiple forums and methods, repetition, repetition, repetition, and environments that allow give and take.  The only way I have found to know that people have got it, is to let them hear everything they need over time and then let them ask questions and give back to me in their own words what we want them to understand.

Another very important aspect of communicating vision is that the leaders must be prepared to immediately walk their talk.  John Kotter writes based on his research, “Nothing undermines the communication of a change vision more than behavior on the part of key players that seems inconsistent with the vision.”  If the vision is empowering teams and the top leaders of the company are still micromanaging everything you can be sure the plan is dead.

 

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