COMPLIMENTARY CALL --
On Tuesday, April 17th in a 20-25 minute free call, I will share:
1. 4 types of bullies and the tactics to diffuse their hostility
2. What to do if you are being bullied
3. Your management responsibility toward a team member who is being bullied
Find out more and register at: http://teamfusion.net/BeatBackAWorkplaceBully.htm
Until next time...Lead like you mean it!
Marjorie
Last week I shared with the Team Fusion community 5 of the 10 Warning Signs that an Employee is going to explode.
The warning signs and what you can do about them were shared in a 25-minute tele-class. They are:
#5 - Employee Seems Unfocused
#4 - Employee Bucks the Rules
#3 - Grapevine is Out of Control
#2 - Employee Reacts Out of Character
#1 - [Download the audio for the #1 Warning Sign AND what to do about each of these situations] http://bit.ly/Ituyi6
And, for the sake of full disclosure…
I take a few minutes to share details of the Dealing Effectively with Difficult People Workshop that can be brought to your organization.
Until next time...Lead Like You Mean It!
Marjorie
Here is a list of 10 things which, if you give up on them, will make your work life a lot easier and much, much happier. As managers, we hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of stress – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. How about starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change.
10 Things Managers Should Give Up
1. Give Up Your Need to Always Be Right. If you’re anything like me, you can’t stand to be wrong. And, I feel, that after years of being a manager that experience puts me on the side of being right. It’s time to check your Ego at the door. Experienced or not, there are still tons of stuff I do not know. Admit it. Allow others - especially your team - to teach you the things where they shine!
2. Give Up Your Need to Control. There are only two times when it is critical for you to maintain control: (1) During a crisis affecting your team and (2) During the infancy of your team. Over time, your increased trust in the team and individual team members allows you the freedom to not need absolute control.
3. Give Up Blaming Others. It is easy to blame others for not having what you want. IE - a bigger budget, that promotion, more staff. Yet, when you put the blame on someone else, you are actually giving up your power to them. Isn’t it time to get back your power by taking responsibility for what you CAN accomplish?
4. Give Up Complaining. There is an old saying, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” In other words, the person who complains the loudest attracts attention and service. Sure, but what is it doing to your corporate reputation? We usually complain when we are unhappy with someone or a situation. The truth is that no one can make you unhappy unless you allow it. Perhaps it’s time to stop allowing it.
5. Give Up Excessive Criticism. The other day I realized I was criticizing (very heatedly) someone. Have you been there? You keep pushing and pushing their hot buttons until you realize that it is YOU that is hot under the collar. When I stopped to really think about why I was criticizing this person it came down to this—they are extremely different than me. The greater the difference between you and another person; the greater likelihood one or both parties will criticize. The truth, however, is that though you are different; you are also the same. Managers often have the same needs for resources - staff and budget - and it is only your style and personalities that make you different.
6. Give Up Resistance to Change. Repeat after me: Change Is Good...Sometimes! If the change helps you and your team learn and move forward, then great - go for it. Change just for the sake of changing is a useless idea. It takes away team energy from achieving bigger goals, and makes you look heartless.
7. Give Up Your Fears. FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real. Seriously. Fear is an illusion usually conceived in your imagination to which you’ve given credit. If there is something from stopping you making a decision/talking to a non-performing employee/asking for a raise (whatever), it is simply because you don’t have enough information. Start asking questions to answer all the doubts in your mind. You will notice that the more answers you have the less fear is likely.
8. Give Up Your Excuses. It’s time to give up your excuses if you are tired of being told you need to communicate more; asked to take on more work for no additional pay; be harder on your team; [you fill in the blank]. Excuses really kick into high gear when you are put outside your comfort zone. Yet, excuses limit who you are and who you can be. As you grow, learn, and face uncomfortable situations, taking a no holds barred approach to excuses will push you through the fear of the unknown.
9. Give Up the Past. My most successful years as a manager was about a decade ago. How about you? Some days, I want to go back there so badly it hurts. The team was humming, the office ran smoothly, and I was in the “zone.” But, the reality is that THE PRESENT is all you ever really have. Your Present is building both your Past AND your Future! The best gift you can give your current team is to Be Present - in the here and now. It’s the journey, not the destination, that counts.
10. Give Up Your Attachments. ...attachment to your star employee staying with you (they will get a better offer), attachment to giving everyone a 10% raise and a bonus because they’ve gone years without (economic realities dictate), attachment to increasing sales by 100% in 2-months (unless you are a start-up company, competition is real)...the list is endless. Your love for these things and your attachment to them cannot co-exist. Put another way, “You are committed but not attached.” You are committed to creating a work environment where team members want to stay, but not attached to their decision to do so. You are committed to asking management for a raise and bonus, but not attached to their decision. You are committed to increasing sales through training staff, talking with customers, doing satisfaction surveys, etc., but not attached to buyer decisions.
Until next time...Lead Like You Mean It!
Marjorie
Last week I was coaching a manager who was confronted by a screaming, weeping employee accusing him of “favoritism.” This poor guy was being wrongly accused by an employee who simply didn’t get her ideal vacation days off.
Sound like this could happen to you?
Would you know how to handle the situation with ease?
This situation actually surfaces 3 areas of concern:
1. What do you do with someone who is screaming at you?
2. What can you do with a weeping employee?
3. How can you keep your composure in a negative situation?
Here’s what you can do with a WEEPING EMPLOYEE:
1. Get them in a private location. Last thing you want is for hysterics to be affecting the rest of the office.
2. Allow them a few minutes to get composed. Either privately or with you there. If you give them privacy, it allows you to regroup, as well.
3. Have a talk to find out what the issue is. (Have tissues available in case the waterworks begin again.)
4. Keep the conversation focused on them. If they redirect your attention to another employee, talk only about them; not others.
5. If they cannot stop crying, allow them to go home to calm down completely. Remind them that you will return to the subject first thing in the morning - crying or not.
Need more strategies on handling some of these difficult workplace people?
The Whiner - Complains no matter what he or she is asked to do.
The Know-It-All - Arrogance running rampant. When they’re wrong, they get defensive.
The Passive-Aggressive - Never offers ideas, opinions, feedback yet talks behind your back.
The Insubordinate - Challenges you in front of other team members.
The Bully - Constantly demanding, intimidating, and brutally critical.
The Early Retiree - Physically shows up (often for years) yet practices on-the-job retirement.
The ‘Yes’/’No’ People - Either agree to everything and never meet a deadline or always point out why something cannot be done.
Join us for a public workshop: http://scr.bi/GUiuY3
Or, bring us onsite at your organization.
Until next time...Lead like you mean it!
Marjorie
My thanks to Holly G. Green, author of ‘More Than a Minute,’ for sharing her following blog:
“As leaders, the things we don’t do or say often have more of an impact than those that we do. So I took my own informal poll and came up with the top five things managers don’t do that undermine excellence in organizations.
1. Failure to define winning. Nothing is more important to creating a culture of excellence than defining what winning looks like for your organization, for teams and for individuals. Having a clear definition of winning provides focus and clarity at every level. It gets everyone aligned and moving in the same direction. It motivates and inspires people to perform at their best. And when unexpected adversity occurs, it gives people an anchor to rally around and keep their energy and spirits high.
Don’t kid yourself about the importance of this one. If people don’t know what winning looks like, what game are they playing every day…what race are they running?
2. Failure to get obsessive about winning. It’s not enough just to have a clear vision of winning. To keep employees focused on winning, you have to get obsessive about it! Otherwise, people get so distracted by everything they have on their plates that they lose sight of the big picture.
Constantly talk about the importance of winning with employees. Remind them of how it will benefit your customers, your community, and everyone in the organization when you win. Place visual cues throughout your work environment, and imbed your definition of winning into all your ways of working.
3. Not giving feedback. Today’s employees want feedback, and lots of it! Without it, people don’t know where they stand in regards to performance expectations. More important, when you don’t tell employees how they’re doing, it sends the message that you don’t care.
Without feedback, people make up information to fill the void. This made-up information is almost always negative. Giving regular feedback helps to prevent destructive “information gaps,” and strengthens relationships between employees and their supervisors. It also leads to improved work quality, increased accountability, and a higher-performing work environment.
4. Not linking individual jobs to the big picture. Most employees want to feel like they’re doing more than just earning a paycheck. That’s why it’s so important to create a clear and compelling vision of winning. But even when employees buy into your vision of winning, they often have a hard time seeing their roles in it.
Start by making sure every individual job actually supports getting to your destination. Then let people know — specifically — how their jobs contribute to winning and why it’s so important for them to perform at a high level. This makes it easier to set priorities, make decisions that support reaching your destination, and eliminate activities that get in the way of achieving the goal.
5. Not recognizing and rewarding great performance. As leaders, we all know we need to acknowledge and reward employees for top performance. But far too often this “important but not urgent” activity gets lost in the day-to-day pressures of getting the product out the door. If you want to sustain a culture of excellence, you’d better have a system or process in place that makes rewarding employees part of your regular routine. And I’m not talking about an automatic 1% bonus at the end of the year. I’m talking about small, ongoing, personalized rewards that show employees you really appreciate the effort they put in.
Nothing lets the air out of the excellence balloon quicker than a perceived attitude of indifference on the part of management. And nothing shouts “indifference” louder than failing to perform your job as a leader. Put these five tasks on your daily to-do list and watch your employees’ performance soar! Don’t do them and don’t be surprised by a lack of excellence in your organization.”
Thanks, Holly, for speaking truth.
Until next time...Lead like you mean it!
Marjorie
