Resources
Posted: Monday February 15, 2010 under Lead Teams
“Paradigm shift.” “Value-add.” “Win-win.” “Customer-centric.” “Outside-the-box.” “Leverage our core competencies.” Clichéd terms like these buzz around the office like flies at a hot summer picnic … and they’re just as annoying.
Language is alive, and when it’s not, it’s time to liven things up. Here are some fresh examples (just for fun):
1. Hallway Trapprehension
The anxiety we feel at the approach of a coworker we’ve already passed multiple times in the hall in a single day (as we fret over something new and witty to say).
2. Shingling
Excessively pitching our kids’ candy bars, cookies, bowl-a-thon pledge requests, or anything else to coworkers, especially when a child’s value as a human being is apparently at stake.
3. Zombieland
The in-and-out, slow-eye-flutter, head-nodding state people fall into in many after-lunch meetings.
4. Octoboss
Supervisors who clasp onto so many tasks and special projects that subordinates often get deflected by an inky cloud whenever they approach … as the supervisor escapes.
5. Embuggeration
The act of filling coworkers’ email with huge files, impenetrably convoluted or lengthy messages, irrelevant Reply All copies, or any such encumbrance that causes said coworkers’ productivity to slow to a deathly crawl.
6. CC Frighter
The sudden, desperate feeling we get after realizing the wrong person is going to see the email we just sent, usually because we’ve written some embarrassing or completely inappropriate statement about that person.
7. Epstein’s Mother
Any whopper, extra-lame excuse people give after letting down their coworkers, especially when there’s a pattern of undependability or when coworkers were really counting on the person.
8. Pushmi-pullyu
Any time individuals or groups have trouble finding traction on a common strategic mission due to open disagreements (and backbiting) about the tactics of how to proceed.
9. The Shirley Temple
Any big change initiative at work that is the apple of everyone’s eye one moment — tap dancing all over everything — then disappears before reaching adolescence. (It can also refer to any innocuous initiative that isn’t very effective; i.e., bubbly and flavorful, but with no real lasting kick.)
10. Unobtainium
The rarest and most highly sought state of any workplace, where strong business results are born from clearly stated and uncompromised ethical, socially responsible, and mutually respectful values, consistently and pervasively demonstrated at every level of the organization.
Using any new terms in your workplace? Share with us, and we might help spread the word.
0 Comment(s) Author: Dave Neal
Posted: Wednesday January 20, 2010 under Lead Myself
I’ve been lucky with bosses over the years. No real bad ones. A couple of great ones. None of them perfect. (They’d say the same of me, I’m sure.) These days, my bosses are the managers and leaders in our classes every week.
To all my bosses, I offer these top 12 to-dos for the new year. Focus on just one a month—building momentum as you go—, and you’ll be much closer to perfect this time next year.
1. Walk (Jan)
It’s hard to lead from an office chair. Your team wants to see you (believe it or not), and they expect you to be available and accessible. So let go of the mouse, and go check on your people. At least say “hi” every day, if humanly possible. Prioritize your daily tasks to make time for “walking the floor.” You don’t have to loiter or hang over people’s shoulders, but get out there. Engage. Don’t let meetings, special projects, and daily chores make you an absentee boss.
2. Talk (Feb)
Be an open and frequent communicator: informal, spontaneous conversations and regular, formal meetings. Informal conversations should be friendly and professional (no gossip or offensive language or talk that harms your credibility). Formal meetings should have clear objectives, a focused agenda, and prepared, well-presented content. You might share important business information, provide performance feedback, collaborate to solve issues and generate ideas, coach and instruct, or just … talk.
3. Look (Mar)
Sherlock Holmes solved mysteries by seeing what others didn’t, by observing the most mundane and seemingly insignificant clues. Elementary! Keep your eyes open … and your mind. Focus on the people and actions around you. Search for the subtle details that might lead to larger revelations (and that sometimes keep small issues from growing into big messes). Look for good opportunities and seize them. See the great possibilities and turn them into reality. Visionary leaders see what others do not because they are looking for them. Keep looking.
4. Listen (Apr)
“Everybody wants to talk, few want to think, and nobody wants to listen.” Ever heard that? Hello? Leaders talk a lot. It’s part of the deal. But don’t do ALL the talking … like you know everything and have all the answers; you don’t, and no one expects you to. Listening isn’t just about allowing others to talk, either. (Just because it goes in one ear doesn’t mean it makes any stops before flying out the other.) Give people your full attention: remove distractions, show sincere interest and empathy, ask probing questions to clarify your understanding, read people’s body language. Look for opportunities to listen more, to get feedback and input from your team. You’ll be a much more credible leader for it.
5. Learn (May)
If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that there’s too much going on to stop learning. No one knows everything, as I said, and things change … constantly. The way you do things now might not work so great next week. Be curious; be open to new information, ideas, and perspectives; be a risk taker who learns from failure (and doesn’t shrink from it); be ready to adjust and make improvements. And, help your people learn. Develop them. Invest in them. Nudge them forward, build their skills, support their goals, encourage their initiative, leverage their mistakes, and help instill a habit of learning and continuous improvement. They might just learn to love it.
6. Own (Jun)
“Everyone else does it.” “I’m just one person.” “That’s not my job.” “I did my part; those other people dropped the ball.” Ever heard any of these cop-outs (even in your own head, sometimes)? The simple truth is: bad leaders are less accountable than good leaders. Less accountable? When we assign blame to others, view ourselves as helpless victims, rationalize excuses for low expectations and results, or believe we can’t make a difference. And more accountable? When we take ownership of our actions, tasks, goals, problems, and results. When we admit mistakes, are more proactive than reactive, put the needs of others before our own, or act with integrity even when no one is watching. But don’t take all the credit when things go right. Let your team own some of the accomplishment as well.
7. Trust (Jul)
Most of us get promoted to management because we were outstanding, reliable, driven individual contributors. Now, as managers, we can’t do it all ourselves. We have to help other people become outstanding, reliable, driven individual contributors. It’s not always easy to let go, but let go we must. Believe in your team’s abilities, delegate tasks to them, empower them to make decisions, give them opportunities to learn and grow and become self-sufficient. Moreover, ensure your people can trust YOU. Be honest, consistent, and confidential (when appropriate). Match your actions to your words; keep promises and commitments; be positive and optimistic; be calm, confident, and courageous in stressful or adverse situations. Trust yourself. Trust your people. Trust me.
8. Respect (Aug)
We all deserve a respectful workplace where we are reasonably safe, are treated fairly, and are able to focus on our work. Leaders set the standard. Clearly lay out your expectations, and vigorously reinforce them with your own consistent words and actions. Leverage the team’s diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and talents. Affirm the uniqueness and importance of each team member. Foster a sense of belonging and collaboration. Provide an open environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing opinions and discussing problems and issues without fear of reprisal. When something goes wrong, focus on isolating the cause, not pointing fingers. Bolster people so they feel good about themselves and what they’re doing.
9. Smile (Sep)
(… And the whole world smiles with you.) Be serious about your work, but don’t take yourself too seriously. Show your human side. Laugh at yourself. Find some humor in difficult situations. NOTHING beats an enjoyable workplace; people work better, are happier, are more creative, have less stress, and have fonder memories of you at the end of the day. Contests, team-building activities, exercise breaks, off-site excursions … you can lighten things up a million different ways, but they all start with a smile, and even a laugh. Have some fun!
10. Celebrate (Oct)
It’s good and important to recognize the accomplishments of your team (and individual team members): a parade down Main Street, a formal awards dinner, a small pizza party, a pat on the back, whatever. And don’t wait until the end of a big project to do it. Praise often; it’s hard to over praise, as long as it’s sincere. Recognize people for reaching milestone goals. Celebrate small wins (in some small way) and big wins (in some big way) with the entire team. Be creative. Cut loose. Celebrations are a great motivator, and they emphasize how much you value a job well done, big or small.
11. Care (Nov)
Go deep for a second … Do you like being a boss? Do you like people? Do you believe in them? Do you believe in your ability to help them do better? Does the work motivate you? Does it inspire you? Are you passionate about it? I can tell you that all these things are important to your success as a leader, but caring—more so than the previous to-dos, probably—is a connection you must find for yourself (you can’t force passion). You don’t have to be a big ol’ softy, necessarily, but your people need to know you really care about them and their work … and that’s hard to fake. Find ways to inspire yourself every day. Stoke the fire in your belly and it’ll catch on.
12. Balance (Dec)
There are essentially two sides to being the boss: managing things and leading people. Each side requires a different focus and different set of skills. My most effective bosses managed things for maximum efficiency and consistency, and—at the same time, paradoxically—they led people to shake things up and make profound changes. Remember Goldilocks! Too far to one side and you’re too “hard” (too grounded and controlling). Too far to the other side and you’re too “soft” (too starry-eyed and slack). Good bosses are “just right”… in the middle. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should always split your time equally between the two sides. Rather, it means you should not neglect one side for the other. Find your balance to get the whole job done … things and people … managing and leading … preserving and progressing.
0 Comment(s) Author: Dave Neal
Posted: Sunday December 13, 2009 under Lead Myself
In a world of perpetual sending and receiving of information — 24-hour news, email, Facebook, Twitter, and nearly 90% of the US on cell phones —, the quality of our communication seems to be diminishing. We write fewer long letters, we sit down to fewer family dinners, we have fewer face-to-face encounters and fewer meaningful conversations.
It’s one of the great paradoxes of our incredible technological progress: as our communication becomes more routine and efficient, it becomes less effective in many cases. We increasingly treat our interactions with people like the drive-thru window at Burger King, passing a few words, getting our value meal, and driving off. There’s nothing wrong with this type of impersonal communication (which we seem to be doing more of) as long as we do not neglect the more meaningful interpersonal communication that makes a real difference in our work and personal lives (which we seem to be doing less of … and becoming less practiced at).
Our communication exists on a continuum between impersonal and interpersonal, and we should move from one to the other based on our goal. Is it more important for us to get the task done or strengthen the relationship with the person or people to whom we are communicating?
For example, when we drive through Burger King, our goal is to get our food and go. We don’t really care who is behind the window, and he or she doesn’t really care who we are. Our focus is on the task: to send our request as clearly as we can so we get what we want.
But what if we go to the same restaurant for lunch every day and have the same waiter? Could we benefit from a stronger relationship? Of course. A stronger relationship might get us a better table at the restaurant, faster service, better food, or just interesting conversation. The waiter might get a better tip, a good recommendation from us to other people, and more business.
Ask yourself: Do I tend to have more impersonal or interpersonal communications with coworkers? Am I meeting my goals of getting tasks done and strengthening relationships?
For the most part, we need to find a balance between the two. Too impersonal and relationships suffer; too interpersonal and tasks suffer.
Interpersonal communication is tougher, even for the smartest, most interesting, most articulate, and most gregarious of us. It’s a complex process with lots of potential minefields, and we can all feel misunderstood and frustrated by our inability to convey our messages clearly. But we can’t text and tweet every conversation. Eventually, we’ll have to talk to someone … in person … in a meaningful way.
The best way to improve as an interpersonal communicator is to do it: get out from behind the computer and the desk, engage with people face-to-face, put yourself in varying social situations with diverse people, deal with different opinions and ideas with respectful debate, focus on the other person’s words and perspective, listen to understand. You may just find it catches on.
The drive-thru is great, but sometimes we should to sit down and chew the fat.
0 Comment(s) Author: Dave Neal
Posted: Wednesday November 4, 2009 under Lead Myself
We all have time bandits at work and at home. These are the people and things that block us from reaching our goals and getting through our daily To-Do lists.
The usual suspects are in our lineup:
Low-To-No-Control Gang
The Low-To-No-Control Gang harbors time bandits that are outside our span of control, unless we make profound changes to the world we live and work in. At work, these miscreants might include inefficient and redundant procedures, unclear priorities, too many low-priority tasks, outdated and slow equipment, too much paperwork and red tape, too many special projects, and so on.
What can we do when cornered by members of the Low-To-No-Control Gang?
We can learn, look for alternatives and shortcuts, and deal with them as effectively and efficiently as possible. At work, our senior leaders should constantly work to reduce or eliminate the time bandits that are out of our control. Our job is to adapt to things we can’t control, and remove the time bandits that are directly and indirectly in our control.
Direct-Control Gang
The Direct-Control Gang exists inside our own hearts and heads. We have direct control over our own behavior, and we can be as big a time bandit to ourselves as anyone or anything else, although it might be harder for some of us to admit. Some of the gang members include procrastination, low assertiveness, low self-discipline, low motivation, poor listening, disorganization, trying to do too much, doing unimportant things, doing things wrong the first time, and so on.
Indirect-Control Gang
The Indirect-Control Gang is made up of all the people in our lives: coworkers, bosses, friends, family, acquaintances, passersby. People are born to steal our day, just like puppies are born to chew up our favorite shoes. But whose fault is it?
It’s our fault, in both cases. We shouldn’t leave our shoes out because we know how puppies are. We can blame the puppy, yell at the puppy, chase the puppy around with a rolled up newspaper, but it’s ultimately our fault. And if other people chew up our day, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Here is our Top 5 list for how to fend off the time bandits in the Indirect-Control Gang:
1) Don’t be a bandit yourself
Just as you don’t want others to ‘bandit’ you, you should always be aware of your own ‘bandit’ potential. If you are true to your own self-leadership goals, this will come naturally, because you will be committed to not wasting your time or anyone else’s.
2) Communicate what’s important
To effectively lead yourself and others, you need to have clear priorities and clue people in to what they are. It’s easier to communicate your need to stay on task when people buy in to your cause and understand the significant demands of your effort.
For example, our bosses are notorious time bandits. Why? Because their bosses are also. There are things to meet about, special projects that need people, and special functions to attend. The world ain’t perfect, and we all have things to do we don’t necessarily want to do or that don’t fit into our definition of ‘important.’ Can we say, ‘No, I’m not going to attend that meeting,’ or ‘No, I won’t do that special project’? Not usually. If you have issues with the type of tasks you are asked to do at work, or conflicting priorities that impact your performance, you should feel comfortable discussing them.
3) Coach and delegate
You coach people when you move them from reliance on you to reliance on themselves. Instruct and encourage people to be effective self-leaders and they will draw less and less on your time. The time you invest now will serve you well down the road when you can delegate tasks to highly capable people who don’t need you looking over their shoulder.
4) Expect respect
Living your purpose and achieving your top goals are important to you and the people around you. At work, acknowledge the importance of your purpose and expect bosses and coworkers to respect that purpose. You don’t have to be a killjoy to establish your expectation that people respect (if not value) your time as much as you.
If people do not respect your time – if they invite you to meetings that they didn’t prepare for, send you e-mails that don’t have a clear connection to you, stop by without a clear purpose – you have three choices: (1) let them steal your day, (2) get rid of them as best you can, (3) coach them on what you expect from your business interactions.
5) Scan for the good stuff
We are constantly bombarded with information, new technology, and profound changes to how we view and function in the world. In fact, a conservative estimate by researchers suggests that business information is doubling every three years. To make sense of everything coming at us, we have to be selective about what gets our attention.
For example, we can be buried by e-mails, although they can be important and effective when used correctly. Here are some scanning-for-good-stuff tips for your e-mails and other communications you receive:
Let people know that you are overwhelmed with information and that you tend to block out messages that aren’t concise, simple, or clearly relevant to you. Tell them that they can expect the same courtesy from you.
Consider reading and responding to emails only at designated times during the day, such as at the beginning of the day, before lunch, and again before you leave work.
Consider using the ’10-minute rule’ to work through easy e-mails; get the small and simple stuff out of the way in one 10-minute sitting rather than putting them off and allowing them to build up until you have a large, time-consuming chore ahead of you.
Consider creating an ‘Additional Action’ folder to separate important e-mails that you need to revisit later when you have more time.
Finally, try to handle an e-mail only once (or as few times as possible). Once you read it, take action. Dump it, respond to it, print it, forward it, whatever, and then move on.
To beat the time bandits that steal our day, we must recognize who and what they are and take the lead in putting them away.
0 Comment(s) Author: Dave Neal
Posted: Tuesday October 6, 2009 under Lead Teams
They have their detractors, but film and literature’s most infamous villains also have their devotees … their minions, henchmen, goons, toadies, and lackeys. Hey, just because they’re horrible, despicable fiends doesn’t mean they have no redeeming qualities.
Here’s our Top 10 list of the worst villains’ best leadership traits.
10. Victor Frankenstein – Fire, Good
Despite having plenty of brains, Victor takes some wrong turns: grave robbing and assembling a creature out of human body parts comes immediately to mind. He does, however, have a particular brilliance for taking on the status quo and chasing “the impossible.” He’s the type of guy who will grab a shovel, jump in, and make it happen, even when the village naysayers say it can’t be done. Boundless energy and a burning mad passion can juice up any grim, lifeless endeavor.
9. HAL 9000 – No Drama Performa
For the sentient on-board computer of the spaceship Discovery, keeping his red eye on the ball means achieving his programmed directives, even if he has to pull the plug on the ship’s human astronauts to do it. He may not be brimming with charisma, but HAL has an unflappable calmness in the face of crisis that most leaders would kill for. He never overheats, never shouts or stomps or pounds the desk. Prod and poke as you might, you won’t jar loose the pod bay doors to his temper.
8. Lord Voldemort – A Resssilient Rotter
Warts on a hog aren’t as nasty as this Dark Lord. Harry Potter’s archenemy is so vile people refer to him as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. One name we might use is: Comeback Kid. Voldemort manages to slither back from the brink of nonexistence after failing to kill Harry as a baby; and while many of us might give up after such a catastrophic setback—and his numerous subsequent setbacks through seven books—You-Know-Who is determined to find his feet again and regain that old magic (until he’s finally destroyed … sort of).
7. Professor Moriarty – The Adventure of the Quiet Logician
Moriarty was a math genius before he was a criminal genius. He calculates his criminal moves with the skill of a chess master, leading a network of thieves, thugs, and murderers that hold Victorian England in an odious grip. Even though this “Napoleon of Crime” tests the full powers of Scotland Yard and Sherlock Holmes, he manages to keep a remarkably low profile, staying securely behind the curtain. Leaders who take every opportunity to shine the spotlight on themselves might learn a valuable lesson from the Professor: success often comes more from subtle, focused support of our people behind the scenes than from trumpeting our own personal illustriousness.
6. The Terminator – Tenacious T
The guy’s a machine! Relentless. His competitors’ worst nightmare. While they get distracted by other things (like eating and sleeping), he’s moving, grinding, pursuing his mission. Nothing gets in his way … for long. He absolutely will not stop until he gets what he came for.
5. The Wicked Witch of the West – Green, Mean and Fabulous
What legitimate court in the land (of Oz) would rule that Dorothy has a right to those ruby slippers? They should go to the next of kin, not to the person who dropped a house on the deceased. What a world! Even if she is evil, the WWW has every right to chase down that little goody two-shoes … and her little dog too. It isn’t that she’s jealous of Dorothy’s beauty. She isn’t covetous of Dorothy’s innocence. She isn’t green all over with any sort of envy. The WWW wouldn’t give two hoots what the mirror on the wall says. She knows who she is. She loves who she is. And she revels in her beautiful wickedness. There’s something to be said for that sort of enjoyment of being of YOU.
4. Count Dracula – Vlad The Compeller
“You want to drink my blood and turn me into the living dead? How enthralling!” Only Dracula has that kind of seductive pull. The tux, the cape, the title, the accent, the night moves… no garlic breath. We could all use a splattering of that mesmerizing power, and here are three basics from the Count’s playbook to get us started. Step 1: Get invited in (you’re powerless otherwise). Step 2: Look into their eyes (they’re the window to the soul… assuming you have one). Step 3: Transform them (infuse some new blood; change their state of being; fly them to the moon).
3. The Joker – Smilin’ Jo
A little batty, maybe… but the Joker knows the value of playful work. No task is so mundane, so onerous, that you can’t put some joy and whimsy into it. Of course, to make it all a zany joke would be laughable, and the Joker’s too crafty for that. Still, he never takes himself or his work too serious. Whether he’s emptying a bank, menacing a throat, or poisoning a city, he finds creative ways to inject some fun. Ha ha ha ha. (Sorry.)
2. Darth Vader – An Imperial Force
He wipes out a classroom full of junior Jedi and helps blow up an entire planet. That’s hard to beat in the villainy department. But he also jettisons his dark mask in the end, so we give him the number two spot on our list. As a leader, Vader rules with an iron (cyborg) grip: bullying, torturing, and terminating without blinking (that we can see). On the brighter side, no one in the galaxy commands a room like he does, just by standing in it. He has a certain je ne sais quoi … a presence we haven’t felt since …
1. Hannibal Lecter – The Curious Epicurean
No one cares, you say? No one listens? Your boss, your family, your friends … even your shrink? You should meet Hannibal. He’s really easy to talk to … sincerely interested and inquisitive. And so perceptive. No one will lend you an ear like he does. He really probes … gets to the meat of things. Maybe just set up a lunch meeting. Pull up a chair, pour a nice chianti, and tell him what’s eating you.
Happy Halloween!
0 Comment(s) Author: Dave Neal
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