Blog Posts — Page 4

To Build a Strength or Fix a Weakness?

One of the hot topics in Leadership Development is something called Strengths Only Leadership … or some variation thereof.

Personally, “Strengths Only” development planning makes me cringe. Too often I’ve seen it used as an excuse for not working on a weakness that if improved, even just to the point of being “good enough”, would accelerate performance.

In choosing development focus areas, the mistake is made when leaders start the process by analyzing their own strengths and weaknesses. This is the wrong place to begin! Rather you should start by analyzing the key competencies required of your current job or desired future role.

Some of your weaknesses (or strengths) may be immaterial to the current role you have or the future role you want. Spending valuable development efforts on strengths (or weaknesses) could be a waste of time if they don’t directly apply to the job you have or the job you want.

I’m aligned with developing strengths; it should definitely be part of your development planning. But start with key competencies required first … then don’t be a fool and ignore weaknesses that might derail your performance.

Understand what’s important first … then answer the question …

“To build a strength or fix a weakness?”

“I Told That Guy That!”

Why don’t your people do things the way they’re supposed to?!? It may be because you didn’t set clear expectations in the first place. Learn how to set expectations that are crystal clear, and use them as a tool to manage performance. Become a Wily Manager member today and get the full story from Bob and Jed. Is that clear?

Many managers having uttered the words, “I told that guys that!”, become truly amazed when people don’t live up to their expectations. There are hundreds of reasons why leaders end up being disappointed when their expectations aren’t met, but here’s our list of the top five:

Thinking you can tell people something once. You may have “told that guy”, but if you haven’t done it multiple times, by multiple media, your job isn’t yet done. Much like teaching your children new habits, it takes time and effort to integrate new expectations into consistent behaviors.

Thinking that expectations last forever. You also need to periodically remind people about expectations. I once worked for client that had very specific expectations for travel expenses. As months and years passed without any consistent reminders or reinforcement of those expectations, people deviated substantially from the policy. When a new manager came in and called people on their expenses, he had an uphill battle. For years people had done what they wanted, and now this new guy was trying to hold them to account for expectations that were set long ago.

Acting Inconsistently. “Do as I say, not as I do…” doesn’t work. A former client made the decision to move to an open office concept from enclosed offices because they wanted to set an expectation of an open, accessible corporate culture. It all went horribly wrong as soon as the senior leaders locked themselves behind closed doors, after creating the expectation that everyone should embrace the idea of the open concept. There is also no faster way to eliminate any credibility you have as a leader than to say one thing, and do another.

Having a laundry list. If you hand people a list of expectations that numbers in the hundreds, you are asking (if not begging) to be let down. Public sector organizations are famous for this. Due to their risk aversion, they want to cover off any and all contingencies, so they create expectations for things that could not be more impossible. Keep your expectations clear and manageable – and never hand your people a laundry list.

Assuming people understand. Sometimes people say they understand when they don’t. Much like the English-speaking tourist in a foreign country who simply yells louder at the nodding cab driver, you’re still not going to get what you want if the other person doesn’t understand. Part of setting expectations is to ask clarifying and confirming questions to ensure the other fully understands.

If you are regularly disappointed when people don’t perform according to your expectations, perhaps you aren making one or more of these common mistakes. Avoid this unnecessary frustration – watch this week’s video about Setting Expectations.

Become a Wily Manager and get instant access to more than 100 leadership videos and cheat sheets. We add a new one every week. Next week Bob and Jed will show you how to smoothly handle an employee who says they’ve been offered more money elsewhere. You won’t want to miss out – become a Wily Manager member today.

Weekend at Bernie’s

Providing great customer service is important even if you’re not in a retail industry. Become a Wily Manager member and you’ll get instant access to Bob and Jed’s discussion about good and bad customer service practices you can apply to any business.

Recently there was a story in the news about two women who were arrested in the UK for allegedly trying to get a dead person aboard a plane. The deceased was propped up in a wheelchair with sunglasses on, and passed off as “sleeping”. Of course, this is both hilarious and troubling on a variety of levels.

One of the questions few seem to be asking about this bizarre case is, “what would compel someone to attempt such an outlandish feat?” My own theory is that they needed the departed’s mortal remains to be somewhere else, and the red tape and bureaucracy involved in making the transfer was only slightly less complicated than bringing back the dead to make the move, and then returning him to the hereafter.

This case was both amusing and personal for me as I dealt with a death in my own family. My dad was a client of a mobile phone carrier that shall remain nameless (Bell Mobility). About a month after his passing, I called to cancel his mobile telephone. I can only conclude that my father was the first one of Bell’s customers ever to have died. Perhaps we should all be advised to become a Bell customer to enjoy the benefits of immortality.

The condensed version of the story is that after four calls to their call center (each lasting over 30 minutes each), and five requests from the agents to speak with the account holder (apparently the off-shore call centre folks had never heard the English words “dead”, “deceased”, “expired”, or “passed away”), I was given a fax number to put my request in writing, along with a Death Certificate to have the phone discontinued. Of course, the fax number was wrong.

I tried a retail location for Bell, but was told that it was their job to sell the phones and the plans, and for all other “services”, I needed to contact the call center.

This a great example of how many companies conduct their customer “service”. I know that if Bell can’t get this right, that I could never trust them to do anything complicated.

Organizations end up in this unfortunate space because they are not willing to hire or develop employees capable of consistently making good decisions. Instead, they have thousands of rules and regulations that they think will protect the company from losses, when in fact they make those losses worse.

I have no doubt that the decision makers in this organization will point to how much money they save by off-shoring their call centers, and how they monitor calls to ensure quality.

I hope they’re saving a whole lot of money – they’re going to need it.

Top 3 Excuses to NOT Have Regular One-on-Ones

The whole idea of meeting one on one with their direct reports on a regular basis is scary for many leaders. There are a variety of reasons for this, none of which hold much water.

Excuse #1: I don’t have time. This is the most common excuse managers cite for not meeting regularly with their people. Interestingly, they don’t have time to meet with their people individually on any regular basis, yet they seem to have time for an unlimited series of drop-in (or “drive-by”) meetings every day. Here’s an idea: buy yourself an hourglass that has two-minutes worth of sand. Next time one of your direct reports asks you if you’ve got a minute, reply, “For you… I’ve got two minutes.” Then turn over the hourglass.

Excuse #2: It’s too intimate. When we suggest one on one meetings, we’re not suggesting that you light some candles, dim the lighting, and put on some John Tesh at Redrocks bootleg music. Rather, have your direct reports be responsible for planning, scheduling and running of your one on one meetings. If possible, go to their office or station to have the meeting – it’ll do you good to get out of your office.

Excuse #3: I don’t like my direct reports. If you don’t like your directs, it’s probably a condition of the prejudice you’ve developed about them because you don’t interface with them very often. It makes no sense not to like people, just because you don’t know them. If you take the time to really get to know your people, you’ll find all kinds of legitimate reasons not to like them – and this would make sense. Besides… one of the conditions of sitting at the big-kids table is dealing with the fact you have to deal with people you don’t like.

I would never suggest you have to like all your direct reports – but you do need to communicate with them, and there’s no better way to do so than with highly-structured, highly-focused, regularly scheduled one on one meetings.

Introducing Yourself as a New Leader

Make a strong first impression in your new management job with Fast Start, our 90-Day Onboarding Program. It will help you avoid the 8 Fatal New Manager Mistakes.

People start new jobs everyday, and most are well aware of the first-impressions they are making upon others. When you start as a new leader, that scrutiny is amplified simply by virtue of being the boss. There are many cues as to the tone that a new manager sets, and leaders should take control of that messaging to ensure that the impressions they make upon people are what they intend.

As such, here are a few ideas on how to set the tone, when you join a new organization as a leader:

Lock yourself in your office, and have someone start a contest to guess what you look like.
Keep a low profile for a couple of days, and then unannounced, run through your new workplace screaming loudly, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel – to the tower!”
Begin the first week on the job by hosting a series of 3-martini lunches, and ask people to confess as to what really goes on in the organization.
Dress up as a different Disney character everyday for the first two weeks, and then hold a contest to see if people can guess which one is your favourite.
Hire a string quartet to serenade you to your desk every morning.

These ideas would definitely give your people an indication of what to expect of you.

As ridiculous as it sounds, doing one or all of the above is probably a better course of action than simply showing up as a new leader and hoping that things go well. You can increase your odds of success as a new leader by doing just a little bit of planning prior to showing up.

It’s either that, or get out the Minnie Mouse suit.

Make a strong first impression in your new management job with Fast Start, our 90-Day Onboarding Program. It will help you avoid the 8 Fatal New Manager Mistakes.

Onboarding Checklist – Check Your Zipper

Hit the fast-forward button and quickly turn new employees into positive contributors. Get instant access to the Onboarding Employees Video and Cheat Sheet by becoming a Wily Manager member today.

Some organizations do an outstanding job of integrating new people into the mix. Other organizations let people fend for themselves. My most memorable orientation was literally my first day on the job – any job. I was fifteen years old, and I got a job bagging groceries at the local supermarket. Ron Grant was the manager on duty, and he met me at the door.

Ron toured me through the whole store, stopping along the way to introduce me to everyone on staff that we met, and to point out the things I might need to know for my new career wrapping groceries. He also doled out advice that was very useful and well intentioned, but easily could have been included in the best-seller, “Sh*t My Dad Says.” Needless to say, I learned some new words and expressions that came in very handy when I recycled them back at high school.

I learned in the months and years to come, that Ron oriented me to my new workplace completely of his own initiative. The organization really had no process for bringing people on besides the requisite signing of the official paperwork.

At the end of this orientation, he returned me to the front of the store, where I’d spend the next several years bagging groceries.

“Any questions?” asked Ron.

“Nope… I’m ready to go.” I replied.

“Great”, he said, as I turned to get started. “Hey Brad,” he asked, not quite getting my name right.

“Yep?”

“Your fly’s open”, he said without cracking a smile, and turning to walk away.

Presumably, he’d noticed this before he’d toured me through the whole place, but had waited until now to share this news with me. It’s been a while since I’ve been teenage boy, but I’m assuming at the time I would have had checklist of basic hygiene items – such as making sure one’s zipper was properly secured. Apparently, first day job jitters successfully eclipsed basic personal maintenance items.

Walking around in a public place with your fly open — I suppose that’s one way to make a first impression on when starting a new job.

Next week we’ll be talking about introducing yourself as a new leader. You won’t want to miss out – become a Wily Manager member today.

Be a Game Show Contestant and Win Future Leaders

The 9-Box is a simple tool that helps you make better talent management decisions (for example, who to assign a special project). Get instant access to the 9-Box for Succession Planning Video and Cheat Sheet by becoming a Wily Manager member today.

There are many who find it distasteful that organizations have big war-rooms full of maps where they move their people around like pawns on a chessboard. It depersonalizes the people, and treats them more like material assets. General Electric pioneered the idea of putting people on a 9-box grid ranking them in their performance and their potential, as an integral part of the talent management process. Now many leading organizations use similar systems.

Even if you find such practices distasteful, it is easy to see their utility when managing a large organization.

Why not have a bit of fun with it? A 9-box grid looks a lot like a tic-tac-toe board, and that has been the foundation of many a game-show. Of course, in a viable organization, you wouldn’t want the over-manicured pretty-boy game show hosts, the mentally impaired contestants, or the “celebrities” desperately using the show as venue to launch their big come-back.

But you could have managers competing to get 3 high-potential, high-performers in a row. You could find a washed up HR guy with a nice haircut to facilitate, and you could over hear a District Manager say, “I’ll take Paul Lynde for the block”! (YouTube the Original Hollywood Squares if you don’t get the reference).

Not every manager would be comfortable managing their talent this way, but for those that either don’t like the idea, or don’t manage to compete well, we have some lovely parting gifts – including a one-year supply of Orville Redenbacher Gourmet Popcorn – most every kernel pops!

Next week we’ll be talking about onboarding new employees. You won’t want to miss out – become a Wily Manager Member today.

My Two Brains

Like many people, I seem to have two often competing, and sometimes complimentary hemispheres to my brain. When I did my undergraduate degree, I had the rather strange combination of a major in Business Administration, with a minor in English Literature. This typically meant I annoyed my Business Student peers by pointing out their dangling modifiers; and annoyed my Liberal Arts peers by continually questioning the economic utility of the arts.

Overall, it meant I was generally someone to avoided at cocktail parties.

Once I entered the work world, the correlation between the disciplines of Business and Liberal Arts became much more tangible. There are many business people who have had their careers derailed by not being able to construct a coherent sentence, or by being too linear in their thinking. Likewise, those who fail to move past “art for art’s sake” usually condemn themselves to a career of leaning out a drive-through window, wearing polyester work clothes with a bright nametag, and asking their clients if they’d “like fries with that”.

So with that preamble, I going to attempt to demonstrate a key business problem by using art as an example.

Imagine yourself spending thousands of dollars to go to London or New York to take in major theatre production. When you get in the venue and seated, you notice there are no sets, props, or costumes – just an empty stage. The actors are sent on stage not knowing anything about the story they are trying to tell. There are no writers to give them any lines.

Being an optimist, you may think this in an improvised production, but the performers don’t do anything – they just stare blankly at each other. Eventually, you feel confused and cheated, and you just give up and leave the theatre.

This is the equivalent to what many organizations do when it comes to role clarity. They spend thousands of dollars to hire and onboard talent. They then send them to the stage (in this case to an office or workplace) without any idea what the story is about. People are not told about the vision, mission or values of the organization, and how that might guide their work on a daily basis.

There are non-existent, or poorly written job descriptions and other feedback mechanisms that help people refine what they do. This is the business equivalent of not having any written lines.

There are no training or developmental opportunities that will help sharpen the skills to better perform in their roles – a parallel to no sets, costumes or props.

In such organizations, shareholders feel confused and cheated, and abandon the production, much like the theatre patron above would. One of the simplest things we can do to help people be successful is to help them define and refine their roles – yet it is often left undone.

Creating a RACI Responsibility Chart is one simple but effective way to clarify workplace roles. There’s no confusion when everyone is clear about their responsibilities. The ‘RACI Analysis’ Video and Cheat Sheet was just added to the membership area. Become a member and get instant access– it’s truly risk-free.

Raw Courage Drives Workplace Performance

“What’s wrong with everyone nowadays? What is it that makes everyone seem to think they are qualified to do things far beyond their technical capabilities?” – Prince Charles, heir to the throne of 16 Commonwealth nations.

Many years ago when I was in grade-school, we used to hate getting our report cards. Mostly because they were perceived as a testament to our inadequacies. More recently, we stopped telling children they needed to improve at anything, so every child is wonderful at everything. It apparently helps their self-esteem. We’ll just ignore the fact for now, that the reality of a big, bad world is going to clip these poor kids in the head like a drunk Edward Scissor-Hands at the beauty parlor.

When I progressed on to post-secondary education, I was introduced to the rather Darwinian concept of the grading curve – the quality of your work didn’t matter as much as how it compared to others. Such methods of evaluation were brutal in their own way. They were also very instructional. I got used to the idea early that I was very average at just about everything I did. It also meant the one or two things (and not many more) I was truly good at, I could leverage to my advantage.

I don’t think kids coming up today will have that same advantage. They expect to be told they great at everything, which they are not.

Of course, this is already wreaking havoc in the workplace.

Performance Appraisals have become a ridiculous exercise to keep the HR folks off our backs, rather than something that will drive the performance of an organization. Every employee survey tells us that people want more feedback. In reality, they want more positive feedback. Corrective feedback is about as welcome as Ike at the Tina Turner fan club meeting.

Yet, one thing that the few truly great organizations do consistently is provide honest and regular feedback both informally, and in the form of Performance Appraisals. The one truly great manager I had when I had a real job, was also the guy who was brutal in his assessment of me. He could have taken the easy way out, and given me a rosy review that would have changed nothing.

It’s a courage that is as rare as steak tartar; but is also the only thing that will drive improved performance.

Performance appraisals don’t have to be a painful, time-wasting exercise done simply to satisfy HR. We show you how exactly how to conduct a performance appraisal so its more than just a report card, and leads to the behavior changes you want to see in your employees. Become a member and get instant access.

Delegate – Unless You’d Rather Be a Martyr

Are you a martyr…or are you using delegation to get more work done with less effort?

The ‘Delegate Effectively and Get More Done‘ Video and Cheat Sheet was just added to the website. In it, we lead you through the exact 5-step process you need to follow to delegate effectively. Get Instant Access Today.

Everyone knows an Office Martyr.

These are the people that absolutely refuse to let go of any of their tasks, thinking that no one can do them as well as they can. This refusal to delegate makes about as much sense as taking your summer vacation in Damascus.

Yet this kind of self-destructive behavior is actually encouraged. As a society, we’ve decided that many other behaviors that were acceptable only a few decades ago, are now completely out of the question. A careful viewing of any episode of Mad Men will confirm how much has changed in a relatively short time. Gone are the days of getting completely plastered at lunch, and then driving back to the office to finish up your day. Same goes for smoking, recreational drug use, gambling, gluttony, and virtually all other forms of excessive, self-destructive behavior.

The one glaring exception is workoholism. How many times have you been bombarded on Monday mornings with tales of alleged heroism about how someone successfully avoided their family all weekend, so they could work right through to finish some insignificant office project? The same people will drone on about how they get to the office before 7.00am, and work past 6.00pm on a regular basis.

This refusal to delegate is something to be embarrassed about, not something one brags about. Not many people entertain people at the water cooler boasting about their other vices:

“I spent the weekend gambling away my kids’ tuition money!
“I ate 12 boxes of Krispy-Kreme’s in one sitting on Saturday. Then I purged, and did it again.”
“I keep a bottle of vodka, along with a toothbrush and mouthwash in my purse for mid-day emergencies.”

All of these sound as ridiculous to me as, “I work 80 hours per week on a regular basis”. Congratulations – you’re completely dysfunctional, and probably need to see a mental health professional – top speed.

There are only two situations that I could envision someone working an 80-hour week:

The exceptional project, event or occurrence that will quickly pass to return to a more reasonable way of working, or
You are a farmer – in which case you have my gratitude and respect.

If you’re consistently overworked (and you’re not a farmer), then there’s a good chance you should be delegating more of your responsibilities.

In the ‘Delegate Effectively and Get More Done‘ Video and Cheat Sheet, we explain why many managers don’t delegate (and why they should), which tasks are appropriate for delegation, and the exact 5-step process you can follow to delegate effectively.

Become a member and get instant access.

Unless, of course, you don’t want to ruin your reputation as the office martyr.