Employee development

Born to Lead?

To quote Somerset Maugham:

“There are three rules for creating good leaders. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

Why Should You Care About Developing Leadership Qualities?

Promoting the wrong people is costly.
Pursuing a career that is not in alignment with how you’re hardwired is exhausting and will eventually lead to failure.
Self-awareness of your own leadership skills offers an opportunity to manage behavior.

Essential Leadership Qualities

Both nature and nurture are a consideration in developing leadership skills. If you know what skills you don’t possess naturally, it can be instructional as to what leadership skills you need to learn. Here are what we believe are the most important leadership skills to be learned:

A Predisposition to Lead. Leadership is a calling for the best leaders. Others end up in leadership positions because they were good technicians of the work. The very best leaders know that good managers are hard to find, and that leadership is the most important job on the planet.

Receptivity to Feedback. All great leaders listen carefully to what others are telling them. They may not always agree, but they do consider what others have to say, and incorporate their feedback when appropriate.

Self Awareness. The best leaders are finely tuned to their own strengths and weaknesses, and know when they’ve made a mistake. Poor leaders don’t ever think their wrong, and rationalize or make excuses when things go wrong.

Other Centered. Great leaders promote others rather than being self-centered. They champion others work, and give away as much credit as they can. This shows maturity and confidence. “Grabbing Glory” and stealing credit shows weakness and insecurity.

Trusting. Control freaks do not make good leaders. Great leaders trust their people, and allow them to make mistakes.

Calm under stress. People look to their leaders for cues in times of crisis. The leader who remains poised and calm is the one who inspires others to do the same to resolve the situation.

Superior Interpersonal Skills. The great leader is highly emotionally intelligent and aware of others’ feelings and motivations. The ability to inspire and change behavior in others, is the hallmark of a great leader.

Decisive. Great leaders need to take risks and execute decisions with imperfect information

Balance of Values and Results. A leader must insist on results, but also be very aware of how those results were achieved. If you violate organizational values, or negatively impact people unnecessarily, you will fail as a leader.

3 Things to Remember about Developing Leadership Qualities

You can test for these personality traits. Be careful when doing so, but you test people for their predisposition to the qualities above.
You’ll never find or achieve anyone who has all of the above leadership skills in abundance. Hence the need to know how to teach leadership skills.
Self awareness of one’s own abilities in the above attributes can guide leadership development, but should not serve as an excuse because one or more predispositions are missing.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Developing Leadership Qualities (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

Looking for the Full-Length Podcast/Video? …

Tales of a Recovering Extrovert

Many people have asked the question as to whether great leaders are born or made. Certainly, we equate leadership success with the same shallow charisma that we simultaneously loathe and demand from politicians. But can an introvert be a successful leader?

Other than questioning someone’s parentage, is there a faster way to insult someone than calling him an introvert? Isn’t introversion something that we need to quickly cure people of by sending them to the Dale Carnegie Course?

People hear “extrovert”, and they think: outgoing, friendly, social, capable, productive, normal.

People hear “introvert”, and they think: shy, withdrawn, anti-social, elusive, dysfunctional, wall-flower.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins reveals the qualities that his research has shown as effective in running great organizations. Interestingly, many of the qualities of “Level Five Leadership”, are found more naturally in people with Introverted preferences.

You might also be surprised who may be a closet-introvert: High-profile leaders, television personalities, sports stars, maybe even one of your friends, neighbors, or family are introverted. They’re everywhere, so beware – you never know when they’ll want to slink into the back corner of a meeting room, and silently wish everyone would stop talking at once. Or perhaps pray that someone will listen to them for 20 seconds before interrupting them. Worse yet, they may think about something before responding to a question creating that awkward few seconds of silence.

So you may be wondering where I fit on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Grid.

As someone who spends a lot of time talking to groups of people, and a person who worked in television (for a short and spectacularly unsuccessful period of time), I am rarely accused of being an Introvert.

I prefer to label myself as a Recovering-Extrovert. We might need to create a new scale for measurement.

Does Business Education Matter?

Does business education matter?

I would hope it is a strong indicator that a person has a minimum proficiency in reading and writing. It probably also means that you survived for an extended period of time on a diet of beer and pizza – excellent training for future business trips.

There is no doubt that Business degrees should be more vocational in nature than they currently are. Therefore, it is up to the individual to ensure s/he gets the most pragmatic training from any academic business program. As a service to anyone considering business education, or is part way through such a program, here are some things I wish I knew before going to business school:

Kraft Dinner is not food.
Liberal Arts degrees may be fulfilling, but they almost certainly ensure a career in a location with a drive-through window.
However, you need at least a few Arts courses so you can learn to write clearly and quickly. This is a skill you will use far more often than the stats and accounting they teach you in Business School.
Likewise, good Project Management skills will serve you much better than anything you’ll learn in an Operational Research course.
Cheez Whiz isn’t something you eat – it’s something you seek out urologist for.
Take a Gap Year between High School and Post-Secondary. This is common practice outside of North America, and it will ensure much higher focus when you do start.
Your Business School Professors have most likely never been in Business.
Take Out and Delivery are not two of the food groups.
Student loans aren’t a bad thing. While it is true that society gets an 8:1 return on any investment they make in your education, you should still pay the bulk of it – your return over your lifetime is 17:1.
Build networks – that weird, awkward guy in your lecture might be building the next Facebook in his dorm room.

Missing Business School Lessons: 10 Things They Won’t Teach You in Business School

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Of all the Business School Lessons, there are several things you don’t learn at Business School. Below, we talk about the 10 things you won’t learn through Business School Lessons

Missing Business School Lesson #1: It’s all about relationships:

The smartest, hardest-working person will not be successful if she can’t get others to work with her.
“Trumping” doesn’t work. Being cranky and disrespectful to others works for the character Donald Trump plays on TV. In real life it never works.
Networks matter. The connections you build are more important than what you know.

Missing Business School Lesson # 2: Very few business school teachers have ever actually been in business:

The study of business, and research is a very important function of business, but it’s not the same as actually running a business.
The theory, and the research is only useful when it is applied.

Missing Business School Lesson #3: Cash Matters

Presumably, you would learn this in Finance class, but there are many Business School grads who will fail to recognize that their billion dollar idea that requires a $100 million investment is only useful if you have $100 million.
Cash flow is likely the most poorly understood concept in business. Much like your household finances, businesses are limited by their ability to raise capital through equity or debt. There is a limit, and sometimes good investments need to be ignored or deferred because the cash is not available.

Missing Business School Lesson #4: Listening is the most under-rating skill in business

Listening is typically not valued in our culture. Many inexperienced business people think they will appear smarter if they talk a lot. The opposite is true.
Listening is viewed as a “passive” skill – it is not. Listening requires energy and concentration. It also needs to be practiced.

Missing Business School Lesson #5: Very few MBAs become CEOs

If you go get an MBA because you think it will be a ticket to an Executive job, you will be disappointed.
You should undertake business education because you want to improve yourself.

Missing Business School Lesson #6: All you need to do to be a hero is do what you say you will

Careful management of expectations is key. Ensure you know what you are responsible for, and be careful not to over-commit.
Follow through is required. You need to get tasks and actions completed.

Missing Business School Lesson #7: Leadership is not a democracy

Contrary to many of the Management and Leadership books, consensus is only good sometimes.
Some decisions will not be popular, and leaders need to learn to execute them regardless of popularity.

Missing Business School Lesson #8: HR is not a department

The best run organizations insist that every manager be an HR manager.
The management of performance, and development of people is the responsibility of individual managers. HR can be used as a resource, but it is not their accountability.

Missing Business School Lesson #9: Education and intelligence are not necessarily correlated

Don’t think you’re smarter than anyone else because you have a business degree
Don’t discount the fact that others that don’t have a degree. You will meet someone who barely graduated from high school and may be incredibly bright.

Missing Business School Lesson #10: The alumni network is far more valuable than who is on faculty, and the reputation of the school

The world’s best business school have graduates that are very loyal to hiring graduates from the same school. See lesson #1.
It is questionable whether the quality of education you get is any better at highest prestige schools.

Three Things to Remember about Business School Lessons:

Any education will make an individual better than they would be without it, but not better than others.
Don’t do it for the credentials. You need to pursue education to improve yourself.
The “Education versus Experience” argument is boring and irrelevant. You need both.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Missing Business School Lessons (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

Looking for the Full-Length Podcast/Video? …

Company Retreats & Offsite Meetings

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For some organizations, Company Retreats represent a considerable expense, and their value are often questionable. Below we talk about various types of Company Retreats, as well as how to (and how not to) structure them.

Company Retreats Out of the Building

There are some benefits of taking people out of their element for a meeting. It can be a very good way of minimizing distractions that exist at the office. You are more likely to be able to hold everyone’s attention if they can’t run back to their desk at break times. Sometimes this is as easy as getting a conference room at a nearby hotel.

Company Retreats Out of the City

Some organizations like to hold meetings out of the local area entirely. In some cases, companies have meeting participants that are scattered around the country (or the world), so getting them all together necessitates getting people out of the city. If you do this:

Avoid group vacations. These may be well intended, but often have unintended negative consequences.
Be very clear in what you are trying to achieve. This type of Company Retreat is very expensive, so it is not good enough to simply have such a meeting simply because you do so every year.

Getting People Out of Their Comfort Zones

Taking people on a Company Retreat to get them out of their comfort zone may be a well intended exercise, but it often generates cynicism and negativity. Be very cautious in these circumstances.

Silly games often have no purpose. Some people find them fun; others find them annoying; most people find them pointless.
Getting people out of their comfort zones is a highly individual thing. It is nearly impossible to have one exercise or game that could have a uniform impact on people and their comfort zones.
Beware of physical limitations. Not everyone on your team has the same physical capacity. It can create hard feelings or embarrassment if someone is not able to participate to the same degree.

Cautions for Any Company Retreat

You need to have a clear purpose. What are you trying to get out of this retreat?
Something needs to be different afterwards. What action, performance or behaviour will be different as a result of conducting this Company Retreat?
People have families, and lives outside of work. If you take people away from home, be well aware of how disruptive it can be for some people.
Watch for liability issues. If someone gets hurt (or otherwise injured) on your Company Retreat, are you adequately insured? Do not minimize the potential risk.
You need to manage perceptions. If you take people away for a weekend golf trip, consider the impact on:
- Participants’ spouses and families.
- Participants themselves. Some will simply say, “Just give me the money”.
- Other employees. If you only take some people away, what will the others think?
- Clients. It is possible your clients will perceive your Company Retreat as evidence they are paying you too much.

Properly Structuring Your Company Retreat

Have a clear purpose
- Desired outcomes
- Agenda in advance
- Pre-work required
Be clear on what will be different afterwards
Manage perceptions carefully
Think very carefully about silly games, and the risks and benefits of them

3 Things to Remember

Meetings are expensive. Calculate your return on investment, and think carefully about whether you should do it or not.
Team building doesn’t happen in a day (or a weekend). Great performance is a result of great leadership throughout the year. One Company Retreat will not elevate the sense of team, or performance in any significant way.
Manage the perceptions carefully.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Company Retreats and Offsite Meetings (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

Looking for the Full-Length Podcast/Video? …

5 Reasons Performance Reviews Suck

In the past fifteen years, I’ve been in and out of dozens of organizations, all of which had some process for conducting Performance Reviews. Of all of them, only one organization did them consistently, and did them well. The rest of them conducted performance reviews that ranged between ineffective, and highly offensive.

This got me to thinking what all these organizations have in common when it comes to Performance Reviews, so here are the top five (of several dozen) reasons why Performance Reviews usually suck:

1) Everybody wants more feedback – as long as it’s good. Yep… as much as your Gen Y types tell you they crave feedback, they really only want it if it confirms their worldview that they are beyond fantastic. Any suggestions for improvement are usually met with a thud. It is only the most elite of corporate cultures that have overcome this aspect of human nature. These organizations train and encourage people to constantly seek out feedback that will make them better – which sometimes requires facing up to the fact you don’t do some things well.

2) Performance Reviews are non-specific. They often contain broad sweeping statements about someone being “good with customers”, or “needing improvement on follow through”. These observations are about as useful as a chocolate teapot. If it’s not specific, don’t bother. Bring data or specific behavioral observations.

3) People are too polite. Most supervisors hate performance reviews more than the employees. So they try to get through them as quickly as possible, without hurting anyone’s feelings. Great organizations, and great leaders use performance appraisals as catalyst for improvement. This actually requires giving people feedback on how they can improve – rather than just trying to keep the peace.

4) Performance reviews are structured too much like report cards. If the performance review is simply “the year in review” without any mention of the future, or developmental opportunities, then it is a waste of time. Even more of a waste of time is a 4 or 5 point rating system that employees are graded on with little thought or explanation. No wonder people hate them.

5) They are disconnected with what people do every day. The big problem with performance reviews is that they are designed by HR people, or external consultants who have absolutely no idea what people in a particular role do everyday. Hence people are assessed on things they rarely or never do, and the bulk of their efforts are not captured by the criteria or format used.

Employees don’t have any accountability for the Performance Review process. OK… I said five reasons, so this one is a bonus. In most organizations, the employee merely shows up for a performance review meeting, having lent no thought or effort to outcome. Great organizations and great managers insist that employees complete some form of self-assessment in advance of the meeting so that the success of the process is shared.

Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review

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Why Conduct a Mid Year Performance Review?

Most organizations set their objectives at the beginning of the year, but much can change in six months time. You need to keep objectives aligned with business changes.
The Mid Year Performance Review acts as a formal “check in” with the employee. If you are only formally reviewing performance at the end of the year, you run the risk of surprising the employee with a poor review. A Mid Year Performance Review gives the employee the opportunity to take corrective action before the formal end of year review.
It can solidify the actions you need the employee to take for the balance of the year. It is an excellent opportunity to clarify and review specific goals and actions to be achieved by the end of the year.

Steps to Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review

Employee provides self-assessment. Employees should have as much responsibility in the performance review process as the supervisor does. The best way to ensure this accountability is shared is to insist that the employee conducts his/her own self-assessment using the same criteria and format as the supervisor will to assess performance. The differences between ratings provides a fertile ground for discussion.
Manager collects performance data and feedback. The manager should use data wherever possible, and at the very least list specific behavioral examples. To use vague or non-specific statements when assessing performance is neither professional, nor useful.
Review assessment and write review. Review the employee’s self-assessment, and write your own review as to the employee’s performance. Incorporate all the data and examples you gathered in step 2, above.
Conduct the Mid-Year Performance Review discussion. After both employee and supervisor have done their preparation, they need to meet to formally discuss performance.

The Mid Year Performance Review Discussion

This is the most important aspect of the Mid Year Performance Review.
Conduct a quick retention interview along with the performance discussion. For example, you may simply want to ask how the employee perceives his/her work environment, and how challenged and satisfied they feel working there. Too often, organizations wait until the Exit Interview to gather this feedback.
The employee should be given the opportunity to describe their deliverables against each objective and other projects. They should be able to articulate what they’ve done in the first half of the year, and how that has contributed to their stated goals and objectives.
During the Mid Year Performance Review meeting, discuss feedback grounded in multiple perspectives from the organization. In other words, how are the efforts of this employee important to the larger organization.
Ensure that key priorities are clear, and alignment is obtained on balance of year objectives. This is an opportunity for both the employee and the supervisor to discuss changes or “course corrections” to ensure the employee is successful for her end of year review.

Three Things to Remember about Mid Year Performance Reviews

This is a listening exercise for the supervisor. Listen carefully to both the content and context of the message being delivered.
Be candid and balanced in your feedback. Both parties will get much more out of the discussion if they are honest and forthright with each other. Being too polite will not drive performance. Nor will berating and humiliating the employee.
Clarify how you will support the employee. It is important for the supervisor to commit to what she will do to enable the success of the employee.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

Looking for the Full-Length Podcast/Video? …

Capturing Discretionary Effort

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Below we discuss the following aspects of Discretionary Effort:

What Discretionary Effort is
Why managers should care about Discretionary Effort
Who does a good job of capturing Discretionary Effort
How your organization can capture Discretionary Effort

What is Discretionary Effort?

Quite simply, Discretionary Effort is the difference between the full potential of any given employee, and the minimum required to NOT get fired.

Why You Should Care About Capturing Discretionary Effort

Often people talk about the intangible benefits of capturing Discretionary Effort. According to a 2010 survey, here are some tangible benefits:

Productivity – is 20% better with a more highly engaged workforce.
Retention – highly engaged people are 87% less likely to leave their organization.
Safety – highly engaged employees are five times less likely to have a safety incident, and seven times less likely to have a loss time accident.

What Organizations do a Good Job of Capturing Discretionary Effort?

There is a misconception that it is only cutting edge technology companies in the Silicon Valley that can aggressively improve employee engagement. This is not the case. In fact, it is often businesses in seemingly mundane businesses that routinely make up Top Employers Lists:

Wegmans Food Market – Retail Food (Fortune Magazine’s Top 100 US Employers)
Container Store – Retail (Fortune Magazine’s Top 100 US Employers)
Luminus – Community Housing (Sunday Times Top 100 UK Employers)
Beaverbrooks – Retail Jewelers (Sunday Times Top 100 UK Employers)
BC Biomedical – Medical Laboratory Services (Canadian Business Top 100 Employers)
Great Little Box Company – Manufacturing (Globe & Mail’s Top 100 Employers)
Diageo – Manufacturing (Great Places to Work Australia 2010)
Sentis – Education and Training (Great Places to Work Australia 2010)

How to Capture Discretionary Effort

The pool tables, concierge services, bring a pet to work policies and on-site masseuse may work well for some organizations. For others, there are some conceptually easier ways to create a great work place:

Create clear expectations. You people need to have a very clear idea of what it is you want them to do. Most people want to have a sense of accomplishment, which is extraordinarily difficult if they have no idea of what the organization expects from them.
Connect people to a larger picture. There is an old adage about the difference between a bricklayer, and a cathedral builder. They may be doing exactly the same work, but the job has significantly more meaning for the latter one. How can you connect your people to the larger purpose of the organization, or a greater cause?
Create improvement opportunities. The days of linear career paths are quickly ending. What learning and development opportunities can you provide for people. For many employees a lateral move, or a special project is better than a promotion, so what can you do to give people the opportunity to improve?
Encourage social networks at work. People will feel much more engaged if they feel they have good friends at work. It also makes it much harder to leave an employer, if a good portion of your social network is there as well. In many cases people spend more time with their coworkers than their families, so do not underestimate the importance of solid social networks at the workplace.
Make people feel important. Regardless of the job, people like to feel that their contribution matters. Leaders often underestimate the impact they have on people, and by doing something as simple as offering your full attention when you talk to someone, you can make them feel valued.

3 Things to Remember about Capturing Discretionary Effort

This is not a task, but a way to operate. You can’t go out and capture discretionary effort, and then tick it off on your list. This is an ongoing challenge for those in a position of leadership.
It’s not about the concierge and the spa. Look to do the fundamental things first, and only graduate to the sublime, once you know you have a well-lead organization.
You need to invest in leadership. People and organizations need to take leadership seriously, and continually improve that part of their business.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Capturing Discretionary Effort (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

Looking for the Full-Length Podcast/Video? …

Personal Responsibility and the Fall of Society

The current silliness around the US Government’s debt ceiling is a classic case of individual members of government completely failing to take any responsibility. For those observers convinced that it’s one party’s fault or the other, you are blinded by partisanship, and not seeing the whole situation clearly.

Perhaps the idea of political parties has passed its “best-before” date.

Originally, the British Parliament (of which many other systems of government have been based upon including the American one), was set up so that a local riding would elect a member to represent it, and then the elected members would all get together, and deal with the business at hand – such as selecting the Prime Minister and other key ministers.

This devolved into parties as people became more apathetic about the political process. Political parties gave all elected official cover from any personal responsibility to their constituents. The current silliness in the United States over the debt ceiling is a prime example. Does any thinking person really believe this has anything to do with anything BUT politics? Any American, regardless of his political stripe, should be deeply offended by what is happening in Washington right now.

There is a whole lot of politicking, and not any responsibility being taken. American society has been living beyond its means since the end of the Second World War, and its like nobody got the memo on this until May. Now it’s a crisis, and no one wants to act

Bad news folks – if you take two or three minutes to add up the numbers, it is indisputable that there are substantial spending cuts required, and significant tax increases needed to fix the problem. Unfortunately, no one in Washington will take the responsibility of telling people a truth they don’t want to hear.

This is what we expect from politicians – as a society, we have completely abandon the idea of personal accountability.

By the way, this situation is not unique to the United States. Because I have lived in a few different countries, I seek out news from my former adopted homes, and am quite aware similar silliness is occurring in Australia, Canada, and the UK.

Only when people re-engage in the political process, will anything change. People lament it is the absence of the voter on election-day, but this is simplistic way of looking at the problem. The Australians have mandatory voting, and still get caught in political silliness. Only when we demand responsibility from our locally elected Members of Parliament, or Congress Members will anything change.

That is, unless the current political problem in the US doesn’t completely destroy the global economy, in which case you should look for a nice plot of land with a long growing season.

Delegating Responsibility: The Monkey on Your Back

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Delegating responsibility is a core function of any leadership role. Yet many times, people at all levels of an organization will find themselves with “the Monkey” back on their desk. Below we discuss the following aspects of delegating responsibility, and keeping it delegated:

Different types of “Manager Time”
Why Managers end up “buying-back” responsibility for certain tasks
How to keep responsibility delegated.

Source:

Oncken, William, and Donald L. Wass. “Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey?” Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec 1974, Reprinted and updated in HBR: Nov-Dec 1999

Types of Manager Time

When delegating responsibility Managers need to ensure they fully understand the three kinds of management time:

Boss-imposed time – used to accomplish those things that are important to his or her boss
System-imposed time – used to accommodate requests from peers for active support.
Self-imposed time – used to do those things the manager originates or wants to do. Self-imposed time, can further be divided:
- Subordinate-imposed time – This is time well spent when it is coaching and leading others. However, a manager needs to minimize the time she spends solving her subordinates problems for them.
- Discretionary time – the time that is the manager’s own.

Managers have enough of their own boss-imposed and system imposed time without taking on more subordinate imposed time that comes about by not properly delegating responsibility.

Inadvertently De-Delegating Responsibility

Your direct report brings a problem to you that you know enough about to discuss, but not enough to make a decision on the spot.
The boss tells the direct report, she will get back to him.
The delegation of responsibility has just been reversed.
The manager ends up with more to do, while the direct report ends up with less responsibility.

Delegating Responsibility and Keeping it Delegated

Provide Support Without Removing Responsibility.
Regularly scheduled One on Ones with all direct reports
Use the Wily Manager Coaching Model.
Lead With Questions.

The Care and Feeding of Monkeys

Following Oncken and Wass’s analogy of the Monkey jumping from the subordinates back onto the boss’s, here are five rules for delegating responsibility:

Monkeys should be fed or shot. Do not allow them to linger on your back for any length of time
The monkey population needs to be kept below the maximum the manager has time to feed.
Monkeys should be fed by appointment only. The responsibility for a the completion of a delegated task needs to be left with the person to whom it was delegated
Monkeys should be fed face to face or by telephone. Regular one on one meetings are very effective.
Every monkey should have an assigned feeding time. Delegated tasks need to be monitored regularly.

3 Things to Remember about Delegating Responsibility

It’s not your job to do their job.
Be vigilante about the Monkeys whereabouts.
Helping with an employees Monkeys is best done during a one with one.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Delegating Responsibility (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

Looking for the Full-Length Podcast/Video? …

Born to Lead?

Tales of a Recovering Extrovert

Does Business Education Matter?

Missing Business School Lessons: 10 Things They Won’t Teach You in Business School

Company Retreats & Offsite Meetings

5 Reasons Performance Reviews Suck

Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review

Capturing Discretionary Effort

Personal Responsibility and the Fall of Society

Delegating Responsibility: The Monkey on Your Back

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