Marjorie's Blog

Friday, July 25, 2008

You Can’t Lead Through Email

I had a boss once who rarely left his office. He communicated his wishes via email; sometimes by voicemail—never face-to-face with you unless he wanted a favor. He made an early attempt at a monthly department meeting which ended up being a waste of time. There was no agenda, few goals, sporadic recognition and was more of an exercise in trying to get 9 people into a tiny office. This was abandoned after a few months. In fact, everyone stayed in there office and rarely interacted with the rest of the organization. Very ineffective for a Human Resources department.

What are the consequences of this kind of behavior? It led to the following:

* Low trust among the HR department staff (not to mention the organization in general).

* Individual development plans were non-existent and annual performance reviews written without input. (He also gave everyone the same merit increase percentage regardless of performance evidence.)

* Conflict was ignored and, therefore, unresolved leading to assumptions and judgments.

* Favoritism ran rampant so overall morale was low.

* Inappropriate use of company time was tolerated. (He’s probably still playing hours of Solitaire.)

The key to being a leader is to find out exactly what motivates each person on your team. You need to discover what benefits are important to them (both logical and emotional) for them to further your vision. This requires you getting out from behind your desk and actively pursuing an honest relationship with each individual. It can be as simple as:

* Having coffee together from time to time
* Dropping by their office with the day’s mail and chatting a few minutes
* Going on a customer call together
* Observing them in a customer conversation and giving them immediate feedback
* Acknowledging their birthday and work anniversary dates
* Having them sit in on one of your high-level meetings
* Rotating responsibility in setting the staff meeting agenda
* Impromptu stretch breaks during the afternoon slump

If you’ve been leading by walking around and talking with your team—Congratulations! If this is new for you, start out slowly and begin incorporating a new behavior weekly. The last thing you want to do is take these suggestions and implement them all at once. That would only create suspicion among your team members. Your goal is to increase trust levels.

Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Old Habits Worth Reviving

Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wonder why I stopped doing that thing?” This thought came to me on a recent hot day and I revived a habit from childhood—swimming every day.  Can’t remember when I stopped swimming regularly, and forgot about all the great benefits of the activity.  Aside from the physical well-being, swimming gives me a sense of freedom and peace...plus it’s a lot of fun.

If you’ve been in the workplace for any amount of time, you have had the opportunity of seeing different programs come and go.  I’ve heard some organizations call these programs “Flavor of the Month”—in other words, the hype will only last for a short time and be replaced by another program next month.

Reflecting back in my career, here are some of the leadership habits I learned from various training programs:

* Use a time management system and know the night before what your tasks are for the next day.

* Don’t be caught off-guard in a down economy.  Consistently ask yourself (and the team) “What if we...?” when discussing your products, services, and customers.

* Give each member of your team weekly feedback and have a system for recording the information.

* Never neglect networking regardless of how busy you are.

Today, more than ever, there are some good leadership habits to revive regardless of current trends.  What good habits do you need to resurrect that brought you early success in your career?  Taking a few minutes and searching your memory for these gems may be exactly what your team needs.

Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie

Friday, July 18, 2008

The Essence of Risk

I regularly schedule “Adventure Days” either with friends or just by myself. The concept is simple - get in your car, pick a direction to drive, stow away your map, stay off major highways, and set out to see where the road leads and who you will meet on that road. I’ve come across the most spectacular scenery, met interesting people outside my normal circle of influence, and - once - managed to “find” the Mouse Haus Cheese Haus in Madison, Wisconsin for an hour. Don’t ask...all roads led to the same place and I had to break the rule of staying off major highways!

The idea of Adventure Day happened about 8 years ago when I felt myself getting into a rut—the same job, the same neighbors, the same stores, the same way of thinking. You get the idea. Then, something dramatic happened—my brother, Craig, died in a plane crash. We all have defining moments in our lives which shake us up, and we all have a choice on how we react in those situations. I realized with Craig’s passing it was the perfect time to embrace whatever is your journey (good, bad, or indifferent) and truly experience life.

Adventure and Risk go together. Bob Boylan in his book, Get Everyone in Your Boat Rowing in the Same Direction, states “Through risk, we gain a perspective on what it means to be alive, to try new things, to challenge, to accept the possibility of failure as well as success.”

How is this important to you as a leader? He goes on to say, “Leaders find it easy to risk because their commitment to the vision is so strong, and so clear to them. It’s already theirs. That’s why they sometimes don’t even see the specific tactic or strategy as risky.”

Do you find it easy to risk? Or, are you risk adverse? If you are risk adverse, go back and look at your vision and ask yourself if it is one to which you are totally committed. The reason you want to risk is to change (great for growing your team and business) and it’s stimulating (allows for creativity and possibilities).

Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie

Monday, July 14, 2008

Concentration - Total Focus

The Principle of Concentration - as offered in Bob Boylan’s book “Get Everyone in Your Boat Rowing in the Same Direction” - seems simple, yet many organizations don’t get it right.

Recent client conversations keep coming back to the same thing, “We aren’t meeting our goals because the economy is in a recession.” What is the typical reaction of many leaders? They now try to become ‘everything to everybody’ in the hopes of maintaining revenue share. They think that by widening their customer base will make up the difference in lost sales in a down economy.

The problem, however, is they don’t believe in the strength of their original niche marketing to carry them through hard times. The uniqueness that differentiates you in the marketplace is what consumers will remember. The minute you deviate from that course you’ve lost the power of focused concentration. It might slip into your organization under the guise of reallocating resources away from the core business.

Your role as leader is to continue pointing out the direction of the company and demand loyalty to the vision. This is what you live by and will remind team members that’s what you stand for. Concentration is your secret weapon.  Stay true to your message, deliver a superb product or service, and keep your customers.

Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Rowing in the Same Direction

A friend recently loaned me a book titled, “Get Everyone in Your Boat Rowing in the Same Direction: 5 Leadership Principles to Follow so Others Will Follow You” by Bob Boylan.  I’m going to shamelessly promote a few of the author’s ideas over the next couple of blogs.

The first principle to resonant with me is:  DECIDE “What’s Important Around Here?” This is foundational work which some leaders have called setting ground rules or expectations.  In other words, defining what is important to the team and living by those guidelines.

Boylan, however, emphasizes taking an introspective approach before addressing your team.  You’ve got to know who you are as a leader first—what are your “hot buttons,” your core values, your vision?  He identifies the following areas to consider:

* Personal integrity - Doing what you believe in, care about, and feel is ethical

* Personal growth - Becoming steadily wiser and connected with other people

* Self-determination - Being able to choose what you do and how and when you do it

* Serenity - Feeling alert, yet at peace

* Time - Spending it with family, friends, personal interests, and/or your own thoughts

* Joy - Feeling effective, energized, and a dynamic part of the universe

If you haven’t yet voiced your own values, it’s time to let your team know and move forward into the future together.

Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie