Blog — Page 10

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.

4 Secrets to Management Success

‘Distributed Leadership‘ is the latest management buzzword. Is it a good idea or just another ‘Flavor of the Month’ management mistake? Discover the pros and cons of Distributed Leadership and the potential pitfalls that could derail both your company and your career by becoming a Wily Manager Member today. Our newest video and cheat sheet gives you the scoop. You’ll get instant access to this career saving guide and over 90 other vital management topics immediately.

I once did a one-year project for an enormous insurance company.

They had some significant challenges – they were hemorrhaging cash, it took them way too long to process a claim, they had ridiculously high levels of staff turnover, and they had a remarkably poor public and brand image. This organization was to insurance what Twinkies are to fine pastries.

They tried a number of things to attempt to improve the situation.

They reorganized every few months, thinking that if they arranged the boxes on the org-chart differently, it would magically change results.

They read the latest management books, and within a five-year period, they implemented:

Self-directed teams
Democratic leadership
Co-managers (having two managers cover one portfolio to ensure adequate coverage)
Business unit autonomy
Total quality management
Continuous improvement teams
Lean manufacturing methodology
Six-sigma

After working in the organization for several months, it became clear to me that despite significant rhetoric to the contrary, the single most important organizational value was to maintain the status quo.

The entire organization, from the CEO to the janitor, desperately wanted different results – as long as they personally didn’t have to do anything different to get those results. It’s kind of like yelling in anger at the speedometer in your car, because you’re going too fast.

Flavor-of-the-Month management practices work about as well as a chocolate teapot. If they really wanted to succeed as an organization, they would need to do a few simple, but fundamental things:

Value leadership – you need to hire, develop, promote and reward people for being great leaders.
Set clear direction, and create crystal-clear expectations of people.
Hold people accountable for those well-understood expectations.
Continually reward and reinforce the things you want.

Most of the “Management by Best-Seller” crowd get parts of this right – but they think that the latest stuff the gurus are talking about is going to somehow make the four things above easier.

It won’t.

The truth is, there’s NO flavor-of-the month technique that will make your job easier. The only route to management success is to diligently focus your efforts on the basics.

You can safely ignore what the latest best-seller is saying…that’s just a distraction you don’t have time for.

You won’t have to worry about missing anything important, because we read all the latest management books and journals, so we’re up-to-date with what’s new. Every week we focus on a different management or leadership topic, and give our members bite-size chunks of information and advice about that topic. It’s quick to digest and easy to understand, and you’ll keep up-to-date in less than 20 minutes a week.

It’s the best of both worlds – you’ll save time and energy by zeroing in on what’s really important, but you’ll still be informed about the latest management trends.

Try out a Wily Manager Membership – it’s only $17 per month or less, and it’s absolutely risk-free

Next week we’ll be talking about Performance Appraisals. These don’t have to be stressful time-wasters – you’ll learn how to structure them so they lead to the behavior changes you really want to see. You won’t want to miss out – become a Wily Manager Member today.

Conquering Career A.D.D.

Avoid the 8 Fatal New Manager Mistakes if you’re considering or recently made a career move. Often it’s sink or swim, and Fast Start ensures you properly position yourself for longer-term career success in 90 days or less.

In the old days ( i.e. 1850 – 1995), you’d get an entry-level job, work your way through an organization, and peak just above or below your highest potential skill level.

You’d then begin your transition to cranky old (usually) man — counting the years and months to retirement, until such time as you were presented with a gold watch that you took home to help you keep track of the relatively short time you had before you died.

That concept of work looks more outdated than orange shag carpet, and acid-washed jeans – and about the same level of comfort, too.

There is a credible argument that this all changed because of the decline of large employers, and the increasing irrelevance of labor unions.

But I wonder if it’s a result of our collective Career Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.)

Virtually the entire workforce was raised on television — that in addition to encouraging ADD, teaches us some very powerful lessons that we come to expect in the workplace:

Work should always be fun! They told us all we had to do was go to college and study hard, and we’d be ultimately and indefinitely fulfilled by our work.
Any problem can be sorted in 22 minutes. Remember Freddy “Boom Boom” Washington’s drug problem on Welcome Back Kotter? Probably not – but it lasted 22 minutes. He was fine the following week.
Tomorrow’s problems are someone else’s problems. Any episode of The Apprentice will make it clear that you just need to do whatever it takes to win today’s challenge, and don’t worry about tomorrow’s.
If you’re having a conflict with someone, just yell at them. Your passionate argument will win them over, they’ll say they’re sorry, and you’ll be best friends from then on (see #2 for further detail).

After a lifetime of having these messages reinforced, we become part of a workplace that has absolutely no resemblance to a TV sitcom, and we become more shocked than a Wheel of Fortune game show contestant that accidentally ends up on Jeopardy.

As a result, many of us end up with ‘Career A.D.D.’ — we listlessly wander from employer to employer, looking for the Holy Grail of fulfilling work that was promised to us by the TV.

Career and internal role changes are a fact of business life today. Our Fast Start program is a 90-Day Onboarding Plan for the transitioning leader. It leads and supports you through the critical first 90 days in your new management position. Coincidentally, each of the 6 Training Videos included in the Fast Start program is approximately 22 minutes long, just like a TV sitcom…and they will solve critical problems every new leader experiences.

Bullied at Work? Hug It Out!

Bullies don’t disappear when they become adults. They just move to a new playground.

You’d think in an era as political correct and risk sensitive as ours, that bullying in the workplace would be a more distant memory than a stadium full of screaming fans for Huey Lewis and the News. However, it still exists for a variety of reasons – not the least of which is that bullying tactics often work. Ask anyone who has ever worked in retail, and they’ll tell you that the people that most often get what they want are those that are the rudest and the nastiest.

There is only one way to deal a bully, and it requires taking him or her out at the knees before they get entirely worked up and out of control. When confronted by a bully it is good to have some ready-to-go responses that will make the bully more confused than your dog when you pretend to throw the ball, but hide it behind your back.

Here are some suggestions:

“Have you had your rabies shot, because that foam coming out of your mouth is bad sign.”
“If I was as (short/fat/bald/ugly) as you, I’d probably be angry too”
“Does someone need a hug? Come on over here, you big lug.”
“And that’s what happens when we don’t get our meds adjusted right.”
“My best suggestion would be that you move to a jurisdiction where marijuana is legal, and you keep a 3-finger baggy available for times like this.”
“If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!” (clap, clap)
“Mama always said, ‘Stupid is as stupid does’”
“Let’s use our words in a way that people will want to listen to us.”
“The anger-management class is two floors down, and doesn’t start for another hour.”
“I’m telling my mom”

In the best case scenario, such a comment should shut the bully down. But even in the worst case scenario, it will put them off guard long enough for you to call security.

We’re joking here, of course. A bully in the workplace is a serious issue that causes havoc and stress for everyone involved. However, a skilled manager can successfully gain the upper hand and take control of the situation.

The Dealing With Bullies at Work Video and Cheat Sheet combo was just added to the Wily Manager membership area, and it’s one of over 90 topics available now.

In it, we explain how to deal with the two radically different types of bullies you’ll encounter on the job. Armed with this insight, you’ll be able to shut down a bully’s attack and restore peace at work.

Become a member and get 8 free bonus gifts worth $187, plus instant access to all the existing tools and advice already available in the members-only area. It’s jam-packed with Videos, Cheat Sheets, and other tools…and new content is added each and every week.

Next week we’ll be talking about Career Transitions, and you’ll get the advice you need to ensure you don’t compromise your success by fumbling through critical career changes. You won’t want to miss out – become a Wily Manager Member today.

Managers – The Ultimate Renewable Resource

Many organizations plug a new manager into a vacant position without having done anything to develop the talent required for that job, then insist the manager work 60 to 80 hours a week. When the manager burns out, they replace him with a younger model, and the cycle is repeated. Managers – the Ultimate Renewable Resource.

I once worked for such an organization. We called the head office Jurassic Park because:

It was full of dinosaurs, and
It seemed like an appropriate location to produce a horror film

In this organization, the only way to advance was to have started when you were sixteen years old, and then work excessive hours your entire working life.

Education was actively discouraged. If you had any aspirations to better yourself through post-secondary education, you had to keep it a secret or risk being put on ‘student status’ which meant your benefits were curtailed, and you were ineligible for advancement.

This company didn’t infuse their management ranks with talent from the outside, either. They very much believed that if you did not ‘grow up’ with this company then you didn’t have any experience worth considering. They didn’t believe their competitors had any talent, nor were skills learned in any other industry worth anything.

It was so inbred, it made the kid on porch playing the banjo in Deliverance look like a Rhodes Scholar.

Interestingly, this company was in a highly competitive industry with a number of new, aggressive entrants to the market. Yet I was once told the company was doing well because it only lost 5% of market share and 2% of revenue in the previous year. That’s right – they measured their success by how little their performance sucked.

You can imagine how this all ends.

In such a company, all the highest potential people leave to go where they can advance their skills and their careers. The few who remain become more overwhelmed than George W. Bush at a Mensa meeting, and sooner or later just give up.

Until now, organizations have been able to get away with treating managers as the Ultimate Renewable Resource. But demographics are quickly turning the tables. The Baby Boomer mass workplace exodus has begun, and many companies are shocked to discover that they are having trouble filling those vacant positions, especially management roles.

If you work for a company where the senior leadership looks anything like the characters from Jurassic Park, how can you evolve from the age of dinosaurs?

Smart organizations have realized that they need to proactively develop potential leaders in-house. When a vacancy arises, they have a pool of qualified talent to choose from, instead of scrambling around trying to find a warm body to fill the position.

The first step is an organizational commitment to ongoing development of leadership skills in employees at all levels.

A Wily Manager Corporate Membership gives you and your co-workers practical, ‘in-the-trenches’ leadership advice that’s actually fun, requires less than 20 minutes a week, and doesn’t take you away from the office.

And best of all, your organization pays. They’ll be happy to foot the bill when they see how inexpensive it is, how easy it is to get started, and all the ways it will benefit the company.

You can help – put us in touch with the right person at your workplace, and we’ll suggest a Wily Manager Corporate Membership for you and your co-workers.

5 Ways to Influence Your Boss

Back when I had a real job, I had a boss that just wouldn’t do what I needed him to do. I set out my expectations clearly, I continually clarified and reinforced what I needed him to do, and I tactfully drew attention to those areas where he wasn’t meeting expectations. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, and I had to let him go. On paper, he was still my boss, but I essentially minimized my relationship with him because he failed to perform.

Oddly, I’m only partially kidding about the above. It did get me thinking about different ways we can influence those over whom we have no control. In ascending order of desperation, here are some ways to influence your boss:

Do what you say you will. To influence, you need credibility. The best way to be credible is to consistently deliver on what you promise. If you have a reputation for being as reliable as a 1970s model Ford Pinto, then you’ll end up the same way: in a ball of flames at the bottom of a freeway off ramp.
Address your boss’s concerns. You need to frame whatever it is you want in terms that matter to your boss. If all he wants for Christmas is the GI Joe with the Kung Fu Grip, then link what you want to that wish.
Go Eddie Haskell: Be a boot-licker. With some people, sucking-up actually works. If you’ve got a boss that isn’t repulsed by oral-anal attention, then pucker-up and go for it.
Frame or blackmail him/her. This option is easiest if you’ve already got dirt on your boss. If you don’t, bring in hash-brownies or poppy seed muffins (shows up as opium in the blood stream), and then tip-off HR and suggest that a random drug test might be in order.
Sleep with him/her. It’s drastic measure, and one that becomes complicated if sexual orientations are not compatible. It is also fraught with moral hazard. However, it may quite likely yield the result you’re looking for.

After reading this list, if you feel dirtier than a coal miner at a brothel, remember that the best way to influence your boss (or anyone else), is to create expectations of them, and continually manage those expectations.

At the very least, you should expect your boss to:

Offer timely feedback
Communicate the larger picture to you
Assist with your developmental goals

There’s one very easy way for your boss to assist with your professional development – a Wily Manager Corporate Membership for the whole company.

You and your co-workers get instant, practical advice that allows you to confidently handle leadership situations. You’ll be a better boss and get ahead in your career. And best of all, your company pays.

Your company will be happy to foot the bill, because they get an ongoing, relevant, and engaging leadership development program that’s very low cost, easy to follow, and doesn’t take employees away from the office.

Put us in touch with a decision maker in your organization so we can get to work arranging a Wily Manager Membership for you and all your co-workers.

We’ll use our powers of influence…and hopefully we won’t have to sleep with your boss. We’ll try blackmail first.

Deciding What Sucks The Least

Back a few years ago, I was on the road more than twenty days per month.

In an effort to instill some element of normalcy to my life, I decided that every Thursday, no matter where I was, would be ‘movie night’. As a result, I saw some truly awful movies.

I remember one summer evening in particular, standing in the lobby of a movie megaplex in Warrenville, Illinois, staring up at the marquis trying to make a decision about which movie sucked the least. I selected “Planet of the Apes”, and quickly realized I’d made a horrible decision.

This is a parable for two lessons that have been instructional to me as a manager:

1. Sometimes, you don’t always get to pick the best alternative, but you need to choose the one that sucks the least. A case in point: voting. For most of the Wily Manager audience, voting rates are less than 50%, and with due respect to the Australians – yours would be lower too, if voting weren’t required by law. People need to stop looking for the best alternative, and vote for the one that sucks the least. It’s a primary requirement for democracy: reel in your expectations!

2. Delaying a decision often doesn’t improve the quality of the outcome. If I had agonized over the “Planet of the Apes” decision, and sent it to committee, and then deferred it until better information was available, I still would have ended up seeing a crappy movie – it might have just been with different actors.

Of course, the other obvious element to this story is that the movie actually didn’t matter all that much. It was incredibly minor, and the net outcome of going to a movie, or not (or how bad that movie was) matters very little. Yet, in organizations, we see minor decisions agonized over all the time. People end up spending more time debating where to hold an offsite meeting than they would spend talking with a friend contemplating suicide.

New Rule (with full credit to Bill Maher): If you’re going to spend more than one minute on inconsequential decisions, flip a coin. If you end up being wrong, you can correct course quickly.

In my case, I could have left the movie, and gone for a walk along the river in Naperville. But then, I never would have seen Charlton Heston dressed up as a filthy, stinking ape.

Often you’re forced to make quick management decisions that are more consequential than which movie sucks the least. You’ll need to do more than flip a coin, because making quick decisions can be dangerous. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to step right into one of the common pitfalls, like ‘Going With Your Gut’ (which can make you appear reckless).

The Good Decision Making Video and Cheat Sheet combo were just added to the Wily Manager membership area, and it’s one of over 90 topics available now. In it, we show you how to avoid 7 common ‘quick decision pitfalls’, and make quality decisions when you don’t have the luxury of taking a long time to gather information.

Next week we’ll be talking about Influencing Your Boss – you’ll learn how to get your boss to do what YOU want, without being a manipulator. You won’t want to miss out – become a Wily Manager Member today.