Author: Dr. Flores Page 29 of 44

I often use a quote from MSNBC’s Chris Matthews: “To become a meaningful participant, you must get a seat at the table.” It makes sense that you must take some level of risk, and do something to contribute to the success of your organization. In other words, standing on the sidelines will accomplish nothing. You must participate.

I recently heard Matthews discuss the leadership qualities that he finds important. While his discussion focused on the current political candidates, the attributes are equally applicable to the business community.

#1: Motive

Matthews was adamant that a great leader “must stand for something.” What are you trying to accomplish? Where do you see a gap that you wish to bridge? How do you plan to make a difference? Until you can express to others why they should believe in you, nothing happens.

A leader is not a manager. The people who run the organization are far-sighted, continually focused on maximizing shareholder’s wealth, opening new markets, and providing unparalleled customer support. A manager, on the other hand, takes a tactical approach. These individuals create processes, teach those steps to others, and perform quality checks. The leaders ensure that the processes are aligned with organizational strategy, which means they will yield long-term results.

#2: Passion

Matthews describes passion in a leader as “what brings out the emotions, and what drives their spirit.” You must know what excites you, and what will keep you going even when obstacles arise. If you are easily discouraged when a challenge arises, you lack the passion for that activity, work, and even for your career success.

You must continually search for meaningful work. If you often awake before your alarm clock sounds because of your excitement to reach your office, you have passion for what you do. Passionate people have a difficult time accepting failure. Instead, they look for different angles, a unique perspective, and new ways to exploit opportunities.

#3: Spontaneity

Matthews asks, “Can they react to a challenge or moment?” In other words, can you think on your feet? Are you prepared to make smart decisions without falling into the paralysis of analysis trap?

While process is important, you must embrace some level of risk. It’s foolish to believe that you must have all the facts before making a decision. You can expect to make mistakes, but the trick is to identify the error quickly. After the problem is resolved, you can conduct a lessons learned exercise, which focuses on what was done right, and what should be avoided.

Great leaders are committed to getting things done. Of course, these individuals build a talented staff and are not threatened by them. The effort is on high-performance, and not who is going to receive the accolades.

Excelling in a leadership role requires that you have a reason to do well. Once you know what is important, you must align your energy to realize the intended benefits. Given that problems will arise, the top-notch leader is agile, constantly taking corrective action to meet the organizational objectives. Finally, successful leaders are willing to share the wealth, understanding that it takes a competent team to realize the goals that are most important for the enterprise.

Leading is much easier when things are going well. If sales are skyrocketing, a good strategy is to stay out of the way. Don’t mess with success. The shareholders are happy, and the employees are enthusiastic about the performance bonuses. Times are good.

Of course, it’s naïve to expect that prosperity will continue forever. Before long, competition will take a portion of your market share, and the numbers will be less than rosy. In some cases, bad publicity will affect your company’s reputation. It’s even likely that you’ll experience bouts of high turnover within your workforce, making it difficult to sustain your productivity levels.

A strong leader is able to step up to the plate when times are difficult. The need for leadership is vitally important when your organization is struggling. It’s imperative to get back on track as quickly as possible.

Trust the System

A crisis provides an opportunity to test your strategic plan. For example, a basketball coach cannot abandon the game plan when the team shoots less than 20% from the field in the first half. The problem is likely to be execution, not ability.

An excellent leader makes it clear that you must trust the system. The marketing plan is fine, but perhaps you need to increase the social media effort in certain states, such as decreasing your commitment to print media. Prospects are interested in what you offer, but you must promote it in the most effective way.

Avoid Pointing Fingers

“Dang! Why is it that IT hasn’t created the portal for us to promote our products? That Chris’ group is the cause of our problem. They are incompetent!”

A top-notch leader does not blame others. This is a counter-productive strategy. You must find the solution to problems. In essence, you find the root cause and eliminate the underlying issues. You might learn that IT is short on resources, and it has little to do with their competency level. When the root cause is identified, you work with IT’s leadership team to find a workable solution.

Stay Engaged

A leader that leads from afar is ineffective. You must stay involved and practice managing by wandering around. You can expect performance to improve by playing an integral role in the improvement process.

An effective leader is good at asking questions, such as:

• “What did the customer think about the new feature on the scanner?”
• “When did you first notice that the employees are apathetic toward this project?”
• “Is your team prepared to work this weekend to resolve the problem?”
• “What can we do to provide you with the resources to get the work done?”

As Jim Collins states in his book Good to Great, be prepared to ask the brutal questions. Similarly, you should also welcome these tough questions.

The best organizations have the best leaders. Bottom line! You must have a plan to identify and develop talent within your organization. It’s imperative to train the leaders how to manage difficult situations. It’s relatively easy to guide the organization during prosperity, but leading during tough times requires someone possessing a higher level of competence.

We face problems every day, some small, and some big. In fact, we’re all hired to be professional problem solvers. Our hourly rates are based on the level of problems we solve. If you are tasked to fix routine problems, your pay is generally near the minimum wage level. However, the more ambiguous the issue, and the more impact it has on your organization, the more generously you are compensated.

Effective leaders understand the importance of accountability. In other words, the first step to resolving a problem or issue is to take ownership. Those who fail to accept accountability lack the skills necessary to become part of the leadership team. Taking ownership of a problem does create risk, but leaders understand that failing to address the issue results in even more risk for the organization.

Here are strategies used by effective leaders to resolve problems:

#1: Assume ownership.

The effective leader is unconcerned with how the problem was created. The point here is that the problem can escalate and potentially have a negative impact on an organizational goal or objective. This leader is aware that blaming others is counterproductive to finding a solution.

For example, you determine that some of the computer equipment provided to you is outdated and will not allow you to meet the requirements for the project. Instead of blaming the procurement office, the leader takes ownership of the problem. She decides to contact the project sponsor to explain the situation and request the equipment needed to do the work right and on time.

#2: Clearly identify the problem.

Before taking any action, the leader must understand the problem. While workarounds might provide a temporary solution, at some point the root cause must be identified and eliminated. Tackling the symptoms fails to resolve the issue, and it will continue to surface in the future.

For instance, you observe that new help desk personnel are lacking the skills necessary to resolve Level 2 tech support calls. To remedy the immediate issue, you assign Level 3 techs to help, but this is a short-term solution. The long-term solution requires that you meet with the HR team and discuss the specific requirements needed for Level 2 agents.

#3: Implement a monitoring and control policy.

Ronald Reagan had a philosophy when dealing with Soviet Statesman, Mikhail Gorbachev: Trust, but verify. Identifying the problem and implementing a solution are important, but effective leaders must continually follow-up to ensure the actions are working. It’s naïve to give up control, and allow others to take ownership. The leader is responsible from beginning to end.

Managing critical problems is part of being a leader. This individual must be proactive and identify issues before they have a negative impact on the organization. There are some unforeseen problems that surface, and a contingency plan should be in place to tackle those. However, leaders should do whatever possible to mitigate or avoid the effect of identified problems.

Taking ownership of problems makes the work of leaders more challenging. However, effective leaders view problem management as part of the job description, and as not work that is out of the ordinary.

Many of people have mastered the technique of looking busy while doing very little. In some cases, they stare at their computer screens reading one email after the next. They make it a habit to skip those requiring an action item, hoping that the initiator will forget it was sent to them. Unfortunately, a good percentage of employees spend the working day performing tasks that are routine, those that add little value to the bottom line. This is their comfort zone, and it is easier to live in this mediocre world.

Are You a Productive Worker?

A quick definition of productivity is the output of the worker. What is your output? Before you know if you are productive, it is important to understand the performance metrics. For example, a salesperson can brag about making 36 calls to prospects from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. during the Monday through Friday workweek. That sounds impressive because you know that prospecting is a critical success factor of sales.

However, an even more important metric is meeting with the prospects to promote your products and services. Beyond that, you need to measure your closing rate. Does the customer see value in what you offer, and do you convey the enthusiasm necessary to generate a sale? In other words, making prospecting phone calls is an important metric, but the real productivity measure depends on whether the customer bought.

Avoid Peaks and Valleys – Stay Consistent Throughout the Week

A Manpower study revealed that most work is done on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. It appears that most people have a tough time focusing on Mondays and Fridays. The researchers mentioned that workers need a little extra time re-orienting themselves to the workplace on Mondays. On Fridays, they can smell the weekend, and that makes it harder for them to focus on doing productive work.

The Manpower research, which was completed by workers in many industries, including manufacturing, transportation, and financial, discovered that workers spend on average 360 minutes working per day, translating to 6 hours. In a different study, however, Robert Half and Associates revealed that most workers commit only a couple hours per day on actual work. The rest of the time is consumed surfing the internet, going on breaks, and other non-work-related activities.

With this information in mind, you can be different. I recommend completing your routine and low-value work done in the day. By doing so, you have more time for high-value activities that can differentiate you from others. In fact, assuming even just 10% more responsibility will put you in the top 5% of your department. In essence, you avoid the downtime during the week by engaging in value-add work.

Plan – Do – Re-evaluate

This formula is simple. Take the time to determine the meaningful work needed in your company. Ask your manager how you can execute that work. Take action and start generating results. After a week or so, discuss your progress with your manager. From that meeting, re-evaluate and determine if you are on track.

I can tell you from experience that this formula will yield tremendous results for you. I am not proposing something that is easy, and it is not prescribed for clock-watchers.

We’ve all worked with bosses who are insecure about their abilities. They will not tell you why they are insecure, but the signs are evident. Working for a manager who lacks confidence is difficult, if not impossible. These are usually the managers who focus on technique, micro-manage, and spend most of their time trying to catch you do things wrong. That is how they determine their value because leadership is a foreign concept to them.

Here are 10 signs that you might observe:

1. You do something right, but you never hear from your boss. An insecure boss feels that praising you makes him weaker.
2. A mistake is observed in a report, and the boss fails to assume any accountability. Instead, the insecure boss will blame his staff.
3. A loose deadline suddenly becomes a hard due date. For example, you have an informal discussion with your boss about a deliverable which is due sometime in the near future. Your boss goes to a meeting in which he is told that the work is needed immediately. Instead of negotiating for a later date, or offering to help you, an email arrives in your Inbox asking why you are late.
4. A verbal agreement is ignored. You agree with your boss regarding a date for your vacation. At a later meeting, your boss informs you that he cannot remember the discussion, or that he now needs you at work. He also wonders out loud why you cannot easily change the flight date.
5. Most of the correspondence is done in writing. While email is a popular method of corresponding, the insecure boss uses email to prove a point, or as a tool to verify that you failed to deliver as expected. For example, “Sara, the report is now two days late. Explain.” A confident boss, on the other hand, will work with you to ensure the report is done on time. Everyone wins!
6. The insecure boss looks to develop working relationships with subpar employees. This type of boss finds it hard to interact with go-getters. It is easier for him to hang out with employees who are stagnant, especially since he believes they do not pose a direct threat.
7. The insecure boss over-delegates. Part of being insecure is the lack of competence, which means that he needs to have others do the work. This is an excellent strategy for an incompetent boss because he can blame others for work that fails to meet expectations. Of course, if good work is done, he will take full credit.
8. The insecure boss prefers to report facts, and not trends and forecasts. In other words, bosses who lack confidence will avoid going out on a limb. They are afraid of making mistakes.
9. Insecure bosses love meetings. Having meetings appears to be work, and these bosses want to look busy, as if they are doing something productive. The meetings usually contain information you can share via email, such as status reports.
10. Insecure bosses are more focused on their appearance. Because they are mostly incompetent, they tend to dress well to masquerade their poor leadership skills.

When working with an insecure boss, make sure that you are clear regarding expectations. You want to know exactly what is due from you. Take the time to review how you will be evaluated, and document any area in which you need assistance. If you feel the insecure manager will keep you from realizing your goals, look to find a different position either within your company or externally. You will not be the first one who observed the signs of insecurity.

You receive advice from many different people. In some cases, others offer guidance even when you don’t ask for it. When you seek advice, it’s important that you identify the right person to help you. Remember that you’re asking for advice, not sympathy.

Engine Tech, an IT company, recently hired Martin, and he was having a tough time making the adjustment. For more than a decade, he worked for AT&T, a traditional-type organization, which had a silo, bureaucratic structure. Engine Tech was at the other end of the spectrum, promoting a Google-like work environment in which employees wore clothes more suitable for a day at the beach.

Martin accepted the position as IT Manager, which was similar to the post he had held at AT&T. The laid-back environment at Engine Tech was refreshing at first, but Martin was missing the structured approach he had at AT&T. He needed someone to help him determine whether he should give Engine Tech more time, or if he should contact his AT&T manager for the opportunity to return to his previous position.

Martin called Lawrence, a long-time friend. Lawrence was a State Farm agent, but he had worked in industry for nearly 20 years. Martin knew he could count on Lawrence to provide candid feedback.

Martin: Hey, Lawrence. Thank you for joining me for coffee this morning.

Lawrence: No problem, my friend. What’s up?

Martin: You see, I don’t know if I made the right decision by taking the position at Engine Tech. I like the people, but it might not be the right place for me.

Lawrence: What do you mean?

Martin: There is very little structure. For example, we have plans and projects, but no one is accountable. At AT&T, everyone had clear goals, and they had to get the work done. When they didn’t come through it was obvious, and their performance ratings were affected.

Lawrence: I hear Engine Tech is doing very well. I read in the Business Journal that they plan to hire another 1,000 people by the end of this year. They must be doing something right.

Martin: Yeah, they’re agile. In other words, as a technology company, it has to be nimble. The leadership team is committed to maximizing its presence in cloud computing, and it has a growing customer base. I guess you can say Engine Tech is riding the technology wave, and its strong reputation in the industry makes a positive difference.

Lawrence: Is your performance okay?

Martin: That’s hard to say. I’m not even sure how we’re tracking progress. I do my work, go to the meetings, and play the “Glad to be part of the team” game, and that keeps the higher-ups thinking that all is fine.

Lawrence: It sounds to me like you have a disconnect with this type of organizational culture. I had the same situation at Alliance International. The company was terrific, and the people were great, but I realized that I needed to make a change. In other words, I was the component that didn’t fit the environment.

Martin: That’s when you decided to become a Start Farm agent, right?

Lawrence: Right. My only regret was that I waited too long to make the decision. I should have made the move earlier. Based on my situation, I recommend you make the decision quicker. I think your heart is already telling you what is right for you.

Martin: Yeah. You’re right. I have better idea of what I need to do. Thank you, Lawrence.

Some decisions are difficult to make because of the unknown. However, advice from a reputable source can provide the right information to help one make the smart move.

Image Courtesy: ronankavanagh.ie

I recently heard a manager state that he didn’t care if his employees liked him. Instead, he wanted them to respect him. Based on what I know about this situation, the employees neither like him nor respect him. In essence, he had what is known as position power and nothing else. The employees did the assigned work only because this manager had the authority to make matters difficult for them.

Managers must work hard to create a fair playing field. I agree that being liked is much less important than being respected, but having others appreciate who you are is a critical component to effective management. When making decisions, you need to consider how the employees will accept them. In other words, a top-down decision-making process is counterproductive to leading a workforce.

Here are 10 signs that demonstrate your employees don’t respect you:

1. The employees attend only mandatory meetings. Of those “mandatory” meetings, they will look for excuses to miss some them, such as a “pressing deadline.”
2. When you talk, they fail to maintain eye contact. If during a meeting, they are doodling or intensely immersed in their Blackberry or iPad.
3. The employees exhaust sick days and vacation time, even when a deliverable is urgent. The more time they are away from work, the more likely they are interviewing for positions external to the organization.
4. A “status” meeting quickly evolves into a complaining session. The discussion shifts to personality difference and is not directly related to goals and objectives.
5. The employees are uninterested in professional development opportunities specific to the work they do. Instead, they are pursuing advanced education through the organization’s tuition reimbursement program. They want skills and knowledge that are transferrable.
6. You hear “credible” rumors (those that surface almost daily) that playing favorites is part of your management style. For example, you approve an expense for one employee you know well, but deny a similar request from another staff member.
7. Your employees make it a habit to avoid you. For example, you are on a company business trip in St. Louis, and you are riding solo in your rental car. The rest of the staff mysteriously left you behind.
8. It’s your birthday, and only a handful of the employees (“victims”) decided to attend the “party.”
9. No one asks you for a letter of recommendation. In fact, they don’t care what you think about them.
10. You decide it’s time to leave the department or organization, which leads to a newfound enthusiasm among your employees. Now that you are departing, they are looking for ways to improve the quality of their work. They wouldn’t do that before because you might receive the credit.

Awareness is Important

You have to be aware of how your employees feel about you. Avoid thinking that you have every answer. More important, understand that micro-managing people is counterproductive. The employees who want you to monitor their every step are usually the low producers.

Gaining respect from our employees takes time. You can speed up the process by using a consensus-building approach. Ask your employees what they need to do their work more effectively. Let them know how you are measured, and give them the tools and authority to help you reach the departmental goals. The attitude must be that success only comes from working as a team, and you cannot afford to let each other down.

For the most part, you would like all your employees to succeed. You want them to meet expectations, and to become meaningful participants of your organization. The fact, though, is that about 10% of your staff will fail to deliver on the work assigned to them.

If you have a turnover rate of 10% or higher, the problem is likely not the employees. Instead, the issue is probably related to poor hiring practices. I understand that each industry will have an allowable turnover rate, but a busy revolving door is counterproductive to running an efficient organization.

Here are 10 reasons you might ask an employee to leave the organization:

1. The employee is having a tough time meeting the basic requirements of the job description. You provide guidance and training to the employee, but he fails to learn the necessary skills. The issue here might be related to lack of interest or motivation.
2. The employee delivers inadequate work. The assignments are completed, but there are too many errors. For example, financial reports have noticeable errors, which means you spend more time on re-work.
3. The employee will often arrive work late and leave early. This employee will also maximize break time, extend lunchtime, and squeeze in an hour or so at the fitness room.
4. The employee is absent from work, despite no longer having personal time. This individual will use all the vacation and sick days, and subsequently make up excuses to miss more work time.
5. The employee has a negative attitude toward the work assigned. The problem with this situation is that you avoid giving additional work to this employee to avoid the negative reaction. Instead, and unfortunately, you assign more work to your highly-skilled employees, which causes them to be overwhelmed.
6. The employee often criticizes staff members. It’s standard operating procedure for poor performers to criticize other employees, the organization, and anything else within their reach. Instead of assuming accountability for their ineptitude, they blame others. They foolishly believe that they were passed up for raises and promotions because of “politics.”
7. The employee makes it clear that he will not accept any team assignments. This low-producing employee has developed the skill of looking busy even though they are doing very little. It’s an art! By giving the appearance that his plate is full, he hopes the manager will pass him up when team assignments are made. He tells the manager that there is no time for any more work.
8. The employee is abusing company time for personal issues. Reading email, checking out SportsCenter, and making a few purchases on Amazon are part of the daily activities for the employee. In some cases, he even finds time to run a business right from his cubicle.
9. The employee fails to engage in any professional development opportunities. There is no time to learn anything new. One reason this employee shuns training sessions is to avoid becoming competent at anything. By knowing more, and showing a higher level of interest, the employee fears more work. For that reason, learning opportunities are a no-go.
10. The employee is unprofessional in conduct. In some cases, the employee uses foul language, dresses inappropriately, shares confidential information with outsiders, and flat-out has no respect for the organization and its people. The only reason the employee comes to work is for the paycheck.

Human Resources has the tough task of hiring the right people to do the right work at the right time, and at the right price. Once hired, the management team must ensure that these employees receive the proper training to excel.

However, you must be prepared to make a change when you identify individuals who are unfit to work in your organization. You cannot waste too much time making these decisions. The longer you have a “bad apple” on staff, the more peril faced by the organization.

Key takeaway: Hire right.

Success is much easier than you might think: You decide what you want to do. You take action every day. You stop listening to people who tell you it’s not possible. You understand that obstacles are part of the journey. You overcome these obstacles. You keep going. Ready. Aim. Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!

In a nutshell, that’s what it takes for you to become successful.

Here are 10 characteristics that define winners:

1. Develop a career plan that has precise deliverables. For example, determine if you wish to lead a department, the entire organization, or your own business.
2. Make sure you have the necessary skills to succeed. Have you met the educational requirements? Do you have the professional credentials?
3. You’re unconcerned about the petty issues that permeate today’s organizations. It’s far too difficult to advance in your career if you are thinking about issues that can slow you down.
4. Have a clear understanding of the critical success factors. There are work requirements that are more important than others. Set up a time to meet with your manager to determine which activities carry more weight. Once you know, spend the majority of your time working on them.
5. Forget the minimum hours you’re required to be on the clock. The winners in your organization are committed to the work itself, and not to a 40-hour week. If the project is important, work into the evenings, and on the weekends.
6. Make a commitment to becoming a problem solver. When you observe a problem, determine how you can solve it without making a big deal. Learn how to accept responsibility and solve problems at your level. In other words, avoid escalating issues to upper management. It’s also unimportant to make a big announcement stating you resolved an issue. Good work will eventually be recognized.
7. Avoid thinking you are too important and irreplaceable. You can easily lose focus when you think that you are the answer to everyone’s problem. The fact is that the company will continue to operate even without you. A humble and hard-working approach is refreshing. Give it a try.
8. Make a commitment to focusing on the real problems. It’s far too easy to worry about symptoms. For example, the customer is unhappy because the order arrived late. Before blaming the shipping department, conduct a quick investigation to determine the root cause. You want to make intelligent decisions, and this means having a clear idea regarding what caused the delay.
9. Avoid blaming others for issues you could have prevented. Becoming a winner requires that you are fully accountable for all work delivered by your team. It’s easy to scapegoat a team member, and it might make you feel better. However, you will soon lose respect, and eventually you will settle into mediocrity, or far worse.
10. Don’t turn off the lights until you make the final sweep. Before going to bed, make sure you’ve reviewed the critical items for the day. Winners have an alarm in their brain that is illuminated when danger is near. Resolve the issue before it becomes a catastrophe.

Winners have a clear focus, and they are going to do whatever it takes to get the work done. It may not be pretty, but effectiveness is important. Get your plan in place today, and start building your team. Your chances of success will skyrocket when others believe in your vision and are willing to provide their talents to the mission.

Different from a leader, a manager is more tactical based. This person will take the goals and objectives outlined by the company executives and transform them into work that is performed by the employees. Excellent managers are those who avoid an autocratic approach in which the employees are mostly following orders.

Here are three traits of a successful manager:

#1: Hire Smart

Managers have the opportunity to hire the right people to work in the department. While HR will filter through the applications of prospects, you must ensure that the expectations of the work are clearly outlined. Avoid the temptation to merely email the job description to HR. A top manager will meet with the hiring team to provide additional details and to answer any questions that arise.

When selecting the candidate for a position, make sure to consider culture fit. While some individuals might possess all the knowledge and skills prescribed by the job, they might lack the ability to assimilate with the rest of the team. Therefore, it’s imperative that managers interview the candidate and ask situational questions that provide additional details.

#2: Avoid Leaving Details to Chance

Managers should refrain from thinking that employees can read their minds. Instead, it’s much better to provide the details necessary to avoid mistakes. For example, instead of saying the following: “Let’s make sure and communicate with the customer often.” We should try the following: “Amanda, I want to confirm that you will call Ron at Data Systems once per week to provide an update regarding the project.”

The approach detailed above is proactive, and not micromanagement. When you reinforce the importance of calling the customer once per week, you make the employee accountable for the work performed. Put differently, you empower the employee to take action.

#3: Focus on Positive Reinforcement

For many years, the model consisted of contacting employees only when they fell short of expectations. This punitive approach is counterproductive, and should be avoided. The manager should look for opportunities to praise employees.

Here’s an example: “Steve, I observed how you managed the web conference this morning. It was good that you described the topic first, and then allowed the participants to provide their thoughts. In other words, you guided the discussion well, and we now have a resolution. Nice work!”
Management is a learned skill. Organizational leaders should provide training that allows interested individuals to pursue a management track. An important point here is that not everyone might want to manage a department. Thus, you should take the time to discuss the career goals of the employees.

While managers are focused on day-to-day activities, they must also be aware of the vision of the organization. The work done in their respective departments helps realize the long-term goals of the organization. Therefore, the leaders must invite managers to planning sessions, and ask them to participate in the process. By doing so, you can expect buy-in from these key stakeholders in the organization.

The bottom line is that managers are the people who drive the performance engine. Without their engagement, success is impossible.