Idiots, Maniacs and Me

When I drive my car, no matter where I go, there are only three types of drivers on the road:

1)   Idiots – those driving slower than me.

2)   Maniacs – those driving faster than me.

3)   Me

Of course, the fact that to all the Idiots out there, I appear to be a Maniac, and to all the Maniacs, I appear an Idiot is not lost on me.  Nor is the fact that I am simultaneously and Idiot and a Maniac – a pairing that is about as easy to achieve as someone willingly volunteering to go hunting with Dick Cheney.  It’s all part of the dynamic of dealing with traffic, and one of the reasons I’m a huge proponent of Public Transit.

I’ve experienced this same dynamic in the workplace.

However you choose to define success, there are three necessary ingredients:  hard work, smarts, and luck.  The proportion of each may vary widely from situation to situation, but all three elements are always present.

Some managers achieve some success, and think it’s because they’re much smarter than everyone else.  These same people are to be avoided at cocktail parties, and are typically very poor listeners.

Other managers are sure they’ve achieved success because they have always worked harder than everyone else.  These people are the ones that work insane hours, and expect everyone else to do likewise.  They are mostly dysfunctional as human beings, and don’t have time to go to cocktail parties.

Finally, there are some managers who believe they have achieved success because of overwhelming good luck.  They likely suffer from Imposter Syndrome, and don’t believe they actually deserve the success they’ve had.  They will be really thankful to be invited to the cocktail party, but will stand with their back to wall to ensure that no one sneaks up behind them, and asks them to leave.

There are two important things to take from this.

1)   If you’ve done very well, don’t ever discount the role that luck has played.

2)   If you’ve faced some challenges achieving success, you may want to try working smarter, or working harder.

Think about it next time you’re driving to work.

 

Born to Lead?

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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

  1. You can test for these personality traits.  Be careful when doing so, but you test people for their predisposition to the qualities above.
  2. 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.
  3. 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):

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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:

  1. Any education will make an individual better than they would be without it, but not better than others.
  2. Don’t do it for the credentials.  You need to pursue education to improve yourself.
  3. 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):

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Note to Self: Take More Notes

A couple of thousand years ago, Socrates was lamenting the fact that writing things down was an intellectual crutch that was making the youth lazy.  Or it might have been Plato – I really can’t remember because I failed to write it down.

It seems that as every year passes, I am able to hold less and less in my head, and rely more and more on writing things in a notebook.  I have attributed this to the same reason my computer slows down after a few years – more and more bits of (mostly useless) information is taking valuable disc space away from what I need to remember most recently.

Case in point – I went to the grocery store looking for five items last week.  The first four, I recalled without difficulty.  The fifth item, however, completely eluded me to the point where I was wandering up and down the aisles with my mouth open, and eyes squinted hoping that item number five would magically jump off the shelf and into my basket.

I left the store with four items.

On the way home, there was a radio trivia contest asking about the actor that played the role of Skipper on Gilligan’s Island in the 70s.  Any thinking person would tell you that it’s the legendary Alan Hale.  Likewise, if you want to know Marsha Brady’s first boyfriend’s name (Harvey), I’m the guy you want to call.

In fact, I’m pretty sure I could take out a Craig’s List ad as the phone-a-friend guy for “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” contestants for anything that happened twenty or thirty years ago.  Just don’t ask me who won the 2010 World Series.  I remember watching the game, I just didn’t write down the winner.

I first started thinking about this blog post in the car, and had something really clever to say.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t write it down, so you might have to check back every few days to see if I’ve remembered.

Note to self:  Take more notes.

 

Overwhelmed? Try the 3-Martini Lunch

Back when I had a real job, I would occasionally find myself completely overwhelmed with all the things going on around me.  So I did what I was supposed to do:  I took a couple of minutes, and tried to find some way to dissipate the stress, and refocus that energy.

It didn’t work.

First, I got one of those foam stress balls, but I found myself squeezing it so tightly, that what I really wanted to do was to bite little pieces off, swallow them, and then crap it out and throw it at the people who stressed me out.

I next got one of those audio files of soothing sounds.  Being born near the ocean, I decided to play the “Sounds of the Sea”.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t relax because I kept checking to see that those seagulls I could hear, weren’t going to come along a crap on me.

I took up yoga, but failed to find anything relaxing about some other stressed out individual invading my personal space by shouting “ohmmmmm” in my ear.  Rather than calm me down, it inspired in me the need to punch people.

Finally, I resorted to the old standby of stress relief — booze.  Of course, in this day and age, the 3-martini lunch is frowned upon, so you need to find more discrete ways to manage stress if you choose this option.  I opted to take a flask to the food court – not very discreet.

Then I realized the thing that stressed me out most, was people telling me not to be stressed out.  I figured out that for the last million years or so, humans have been stressed out, and what I was experiencing was really nothing new.

Feelings of stress are good indicators that it’s time for you to take action.  Stress tells the body it needs to defend itself against external stimulus.  In the case of the caveman, feelings of stress helped to not be eaten by a sabre tooth tiger.  In the case of the modern office worker, it to not be eaten alive by corporate bullshit.

Feelings of stress at work are the modern equivalent of the “fight or flight response”.  When faced with situations or people that inspire stress, you should quickly sum up your odds of winning, and react accordingly.

We still feel the fight or flight response, but we fail to quickly sum up our odds.  As a result we try to win every battle, and end up spending far too many hours at the office.

It’s either that, or figure out the 3 Martini lunch.

Overload at Work

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Overload at Work is problem that often is seen, and rarely dealt with.  Many people seem to feel that Overload at Work is inevitable, and make no attempt to impact change.  Below we talk about:

  • Symptoms of Overload at Work
  • The Good and Bad News About Overload at Work
  • Three Steps to Overcoming Overload at Work

Symptoms of Overload at Work

In some cases, people don’t recognize Overload at Work, as more of the dysfunctional behavior seems to become normal:

  • Continually working obscene hours.  If there is a project, or some exceptional circumstances going on, then working extended hours may become necessary.  When this temporary situation becomes permanent, it is a symptom of Overload at Work.
  • Missed deadlines.  Sooner or later, the volume of work means that deadlines are consistently missed.
  • Paralysis. If you find yourself too overwhelmed to make a decision, or to take action, you are probably experiencing Overload at Work.
  • Poor mental or physical health. Stress can have very negative effects on the body.  If you detect deterioration in mental or physical health, it could be a result of Overload at Work.

The Good and Bad News About Overload at Work

Often people feel powerless about Overload at Work.  Here are the realities that contribute to this challenge:

  • Overload at Work is often self-imposed.  Many people believe their stress is caused by the organization.  In many cases, people put far more pressures and demands on themselves than are imposed externally.
  • You will need to do something differently than you are currently.  This may mean giving up some things you actually enjoy doing.
  • YOU need to solve this.  It is unlikely that anyone will rescue you from the current situation.  It is contingent upon you to fix the problem.

Overcoming Overload at Work

Here are three steps to overcoming Overload at Work:

  1. Know where your time currently goes
  2. Ruthlessly schedule priorities first
  3. Push back on demands

1. Know where your time goes

Before you make changes to improve your situation, you need a solid understanding of where you are now.

  • Audit your time for a period of two weeks.  We suggest you record your time in 30 minute increments two or three times a day.  This should take no more than a few minutes every day.
  • Do not lie to yourself.  It is important not to rationalize where you spend your time, but rather simply record it as honestly as you can.
  • Use the data you collect to see where you can begin to make changes.

2. Ruthlessly Schedule Priorities

In order to overcome Overload at Work you need to schedule your most important priorities first – before you become overwhelmed by what is seemingly urgent.

  • First, you need to determine your priorities if you haven’t already done so.
  • Ensure that you have agreement from your boss on those priorities.
  • Even if it is only an hour a day, you need to get out of “fire-fighting mode”.
  • Block space on your calendar for specific priorities.
  • Beware of things you might like doing, but are not actually priorities
  • Remember that email is not work.  Most often email is a huge time-killer that needs to be minimized.


3. Push Back on Demands

  • Question the value of every meeting you are invited to attend.  If you do not see clear value in that meeting, then look for a way to get out of it.
  • Filter all requests through your priorities.  Any demands you get need to be assessed against your priorities.  If you boss is the one making those demands, then it can lead to robust discussion about the task, and your priorities.
  • Make yourself inaccessible at times.  Do not hesitate to close your door for an hour or two at times to work on your priorities.
  • Ask for help where appropriate.
  • Delegate where appropriate

3 Things to Remember about Overload at Work:

  1. Only You Can Fix This.
  2. Know What Your Top Priorities are and get agreement on them.
  3. You may have to give up some things you like doing.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about how to deal with Overload at Work (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

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Multi-Tasking Rush: The Recreational Drug of Choice

I often wonder when I see two people walking down the street side by side, talking on their mobile phones whether they are talking to each other.  It seems quite possible to me that the cell-phone has become such an extension of our bodies, that this somehow feels more natural to talk to each other through technology than it does face to face.

Or maybe people simply feel they can get in some exercise, have a visit with a walking companion and return some telephone calls all at the same time.  Now that’s multi-tasking!

It’s also horribly inefficient, and incredibly rude, but we seem to conveniently overlook these things.  Somewhere along the line we decided that an iPhone can override a few million years of evolution that up until a few years ago had still only minimally developed our ability to do more than one thing at once.

It’s kind of a rush to try, though, isn’t it?  It feels really good to be driving down the road, talking on the phone, listening to the radio, and screaming at the guy in the Audi that just cut you off.

Or the guy I heard in the men’s room returning a telephone call from the toilet.  Just for fun, I went and flushed all the vacant toilets, and did some fake vomiting so the sound effects would be complete for whomever he was conversing with.

The “Multitasking Rush” is, in short, the same euphoria one gets when using drugs.  Far be it from me to lecture people about how they get their kicks, but I would suggest that Multitasking, like all other recreational drugs should be used carefully and sparingly.

 

 

 

Multitasking Skills

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What we think Multitasking Skills are:

Many people erroneously think Multitasking Skills are a good thing.  We put it on our resumes portraying it as a good thing.

  • We mistakenly think we can do a whole bunch of things simultaneously and save time.
  • We delude ourselves into thinking that being able to do several things at once is the advantage of living in this age.

What Multitasking Skills Actually Are:

When looked at objectively, it is clear that Multitasking Skills are actually a bad thing:

  • Multitasking divides your attention to ensure nothing is done well.
  • It damages productivity, creativity and innovation because the brain is designed to only do one thing at a time.
  • Multitasking is a highly addictive, self-destructive behavior

Five Things to do Instead of Multitasking:

  1. Delegate
  2. Automate
  3. Manage Expectations
  4. Prioritize
  5. Mindfulness

Delegate

Rather than try to do multiple things at once, see if you can stop doing some of those things:

  • What can you get someone else to do?  Does someone else have the skills to do some of your tasks?
  • What tasks are appropriate for your position?  In many cases people end up executing tasks that are far below their skill level, or below the level expected of their position.

Automate:

Putting in a load of washing while doing other things is an example of the positive potential of multitasking.  The automatic washing machine does not require your attention while it is doing its work – you simply need to set it up, and press “Start”.

  • Are there tasks you are undertaking that can be automated?
  • Are there tools you can use to improve efficiency of certain tasks?
  • Be cautious that you do not get drawn to technology for its own sake.  Any technology must take LESS time and effort to be useful.

Manage Expectations

There may be some things you are doing that are unnecessary or being done to a degree that does not add value.

  • Are you doing some things that you really shouldn’t be doing at all?
  • Are there carry over tasks from a previous position?  Choose a date to stop doing these things.
  • Do some stakeholders have unrealistic expectation of you or your group?  You need to address these expectation before it drives workload out of control.

Prioritize

It is quite likely you will never have enough resources to get everything done.  Those that succeed are those that correctly choose what to get done, and what to ignore.

  • Focus – start every day by reviewing your big objectives for the year, and make sure any tasks you do that day are related.
  • Filter – As emergent tasks present themselves, do not feel you have to do all of them.  Ask how this task fits into your larger priorities

Mindfulness

By focusing on one thing at a time, you will execute that task better and faster than by attempting to multitask.

  • Dedicate 100% of your mental energy to the task at hand.
  • Create methods to minimize distractions
    • An open office – put up a do not disturb sign if you are working on something that requires your full attention.  In the old days, we would have closed the door – find a way to create a “door”.
    • Email – turn off the chime that lets you know when an email comes in, and dedicate specific times to deal with email.  You likely do not need to be on constant call when it comes to email
    • Meetings – be very selective about the meetings you attend, and insist that those meetings start and end on time.

3 Things to Remember about Multitasking Skills:

  1. Contrary to popular belief, multitasking is not a good thing
  2. You will get more done by focusing your energy, rather than by diffusing it
  3. Start with email and meetings

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

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