Marjorie's Blog

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

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Patriotism & Loyalty

Yesterday morning I spent watching our local parade with my niece and nephews. It’s been at least 20 years since I’ve gone to a parade, and was surprised to feel so emotional when seeing the American flags and our veterans pass by. I talked with the kids about patriotism. “What’s that?”, they asked. I said, “It’s when someone unselfishly serves their country because they love it so much.” The idea of “unselfish” escaped the 3-year-old, however, the older kids understood the concept of sacrificing for your beliefs.

This concept is called something different in the corporate world—Loyalty. Often, when visiting with clients, I’m asked why employees are no longer “loyal” to their company. The Miriam Webster dictionary defines LOYALTY as “unswerving in allegiance; faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product.” We each have our own idea of the depth of allegiance.

If you are a Baby Boomer manager managing a Generation Y team member, you will need to understand what allegiance - loyalty - means to that employee. Don’t be surprised if they define it as:

* Only working 9am - 5pm. Over-time is not an option (it interferes with work/life balance).
* Not taking client calls on weekends.
* Keeping their resume updated and going on interviews.
* Meeting minimum goal standards. (If you wanted them to do more, then state that in the goal.)

Having a conversation around all team members’ boundaries will give you a better idea of their commitment to your team and organization.

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

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Things That No Longer Serve You

I’ve kept the fact that I’m in the midst of writing 2 books relatively quiet, and just recently decided that thought process in no longer serving me. Why? Because by not talking about these projects has given me a great excuse for procrastinating. It’s so easy to find something else to fill up my time - easy tasks, planning fun team events, creating new team games, even filing papers had a special appeal the other day. Isn’t that interesting since the stack has been piling up for a month?!

As a leader, you can always find “other” things to keep you occupied during the day—and, these are the things that will stagnate your career if you let them continue. A quick client survey revealed the following ‘Things That No Longer Serve You’ responses:

* Not delegating administrative work to the appropriate team member.

* Forgetting important employee dates (birthday and anniversary)—it’s so easy now to track this in a planning system and goes a long way in creating good will.

* Working hours beyond day’s end (or taking work home). The quality of your work does not get better nor do you get more done.

* Not taking enough breaks throughout the day to breathe and think about what is going on “in the moment.” Be consciously present in every interaction and you will connect with your team on a much more genuine level. By the way, the breaks can be as short as a couple minutes to get yourself refocused. Oh - and stop eating lunch at your desk!

I urge you to spend a few minutes reflecting on your own personal list of things that no longer serve you. You may be surprised at what comes up and you now have the power to make different choices. For me, I’ve decided to talk about my team-building book and finish it in three months.

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

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Thinking On Your Feet

One of the managers I coach called me highly frustrated. He had just completed a presentation to his executive team after months of preparation (which included the data analysis phase). He went into the meeting confident and full of energy. His quandary - a senior VP questioned some of the data collection methods and wanted an explanation. This manager fumbled through an answer which threw off his self-confidence, and the board did not accept his proposal. He was angry with himself for having “blown” it.

After working through all the things he thought went badly, I asked - “So what can you do to think better on your feet and not get rattled by questions?” Here are his suggestions:

HOW TO THINK ON YOUR FEET

1. Don’t rush the answer. Take a breath and allow your mind to settle down.

2. Know your material inside out. Be able to easily find the back-up documentation.

3. Ask a question back to allow yourself more time to think.

4. Keep voice tones low, speak at a normal pace, and continuing breathing so you don’t run out of air.

5. Answer as completely as you can. Commit to finding an answer quickly if it’s not at your fingertips.

6. Maintain eye contact—you have nothing to hide.

Remember these tips if you are ever caught off guard. They will enhance your leadership skills.

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