What is consistently fascinating to me is that what seems contradictory is often congruent. Cultural myths have been built about what is "hard" or "time consuming" at work. Truth is, many of these things are in fact the "easiest" things to do. . .in a good way.
It is easier to spend time with a team member, especially time spent listening - even if you believe you have more pressing needs. Why? Time spent with team members builds your team and honors your team. In turn, this makes the team run faster and better. It also results in less team turnover. Think how time-consuming it is when you have vacancies that need to be filled.
It is easier to spend time being thoughtful in responding to a challenging situation as opposed to being quick off the mark in an effort to "resolve and move on." Why? A thoughtful, multi-dimension solution is far better than spending hours, days, months on the back end of a bad decision trying to justify what was done.
It is easier to spend time up front in team alignment; this requires explaining the goals, why the goals are important and how to implement the tactics to successful goal achievement. Why? If you set the team out to "just do it" without a fuller explanation, I can assure you that there will be limited team commitment and mistakes will be made.
It is easier to admit that you are wrong than to stand on the quicksand of "I am the boss and therefore I am right." Why? The latter corrodes your credibility while the former builds it. In addition, the pressure of believing that one always has to be right is a faux investment in vanity.
It is easier to spend the time to engage in what might be perceived as idle chit chat than to be a robotron that just talks about work AND NOTHING ELSE. Why? You are not only a leader in the workplace, you are a leader in a social community. The better the latter works means the better the former works.
These investments of time may seem counter intuitive to "getting work done." Assure yourself that these measures are, in fact, getting work done. They are allowing you, and your team, to produce greater quality. The greater imperative beyond making work easier, however, is that these things are the right things to do.
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My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.
Friday, May 27, 2016
Friday, May 20, 2016
You Look Smarter If. . . .
And who doesn't want to look (and feel) smarter? So a few suggestions. . .
If you engage in collaboration and cooperation you will look way smarter than if you are an obstructionist.
If you base your argument in fact. . .vs emotion or innuendo - people will respect you and (if you work in a company worth its salt) you will win the day.
If you give yourself the chance to mull over a quickly rising issue. . .and look at as many sides as possible - people will think you are far wiser than if you just instantly react from a singular viewpoint.
Conducting your business and life in such a way so that people genuinely like you is way oh-so-much-better than whining "It's not my job to be liked."
Prioritizing to the business and to people. . .very wise. Running around without such direction. . .not so much.
Listening makes you look smart. . . listening and asking question - BONUS! Issuing a monologue makes you look like a demagogue.
Emotional intelligence, people! Yes!
The ability to pivot from a heavy conversation to a light one. . .from financials to HR. . .from something worth celebrating to helping someone who really needs you. . .smart people can do that.
Insisting you are always right is not realistic. . .so it is not so smart.
And. . .you always look smarter if you know you are not the only smart person in the room and if you humbly realize you are indebted to the teams you support.
Like it? Share it!
My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.
If you engage in collaboration and cooperation you will look way smarter than if you are an obstructionist.
If you base your argument in fact. . .vs emotion or innuendo - people will respect you and (if you work in a company worth its salt) you will win the day.
If you give yourself the chance to mull over a quickly rising issue. . .and look at as many sides as possible - people will think you are far wiser than if you just instantly react from a singular viewpoint.
Conducting your business and life in such a way so that people genuinely like you is way oh-so-much-better than whining "It's not my job to be liked."
Prioritizing to the business and to people. . .very wise. Running around without such direction. . .not so much.
Listening makes you look smart. . . listening and asking question - BONUS! Issuing a monologue makes you look like a demagogue.
Emotional intelligence, people! Yes!
The ability to pivot from a heavy conversation to a light one. . .from financials to HR. . .from something worth celebrating to helping someone who really needs you. . .smart people can do that.
Insisting you are always right is not realistic. . .so it is not so smart.
And. . .you always look smarter if you know you are not the only smart person in the room and if you humbly realize you are indebted to the teams you support.
Like it? Share it!
My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.
Friday, May 13, 2016
Sad to be All Alone in the World
Last night we went to the opening of a quite excellent high school production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie." Those familiar with the show understand that it fairly swirls around this iconic line, "Sad to be all alone in the world."
The set-up from the line is that those without family are subject to kidnapping (and other bad things) because they have no ties; because they have no ties, ultimately no one wonders (or cares) what happens to them.
And how many times have you seen this happen in the workplace? Probably many.
Whether through self-isolation, lack of social skills or just being ignored. . .there are those in the workplace who are all alone in the world. They may be excellent contributors, but because of a lack of ties (social and professional) they can drift in and out of the picture and no one ends up caring. Or, like what happens in the show, they fall prey to truly bad things.
I'm convinced that work should be a social place with strong, genuine interpersonal ties so that all are looped in and everyone ultimately cares what happens. Here's what we can do:
If you have someone who is victim of their own self-isolation - draw them out into the team. Listen to them, integrate them into both casual and formal discussions, make them feel confident in their abilities to be both a contributing member of the team and an important part of the social group.
Same principles apply to that team member who is just "drifting" out there without any strong connections. As a leader, you can form connections and pull that individual into the social circles that drive your workplace.
And if you have someone who is isolated because of lack of social skills - take them with you and demonstrate what needs to be done to integrate into the ecosystem that drives your enterprise.
If a team member is isolated - bad things happen; if they are part of the bigger world good things happen to them and to the entire team.
Like it? Share it!
My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.
The set-up from the line is that those without family are subject to kidnapping (and other bad things) because they have no ties; because they have no ties, ultimately no one wonders (or cares) what happens to them.
And how many times have you seen this happen in the workplace? Probably many.
Whether through self-isolation, lack of social skills or just being ignored. . .there are those in the workplace who are all alone in the world. They may be excellent contributors, but because of a lack of ties (social and professional) they can drift in and out of the picture and no one ends up caring. Or, like what happens in the show, they fall prey to truly bad things.
I'm convinced that work should be a social place with strong, genuine interpersonal ties so that all are looped in and everyone ultimately cares what happens. Here's what we can do:
If you have someone who is victim of their own self-isolation - draw them out into the team. Listen to them, integrate them into both casual and formal discussions, make them feel confident in their abilities to be both a contributing member of the team and an important part of the social group.
Same principles apply to that team member who is just "drifting" out there without any strong connections. As a leader, you can form connections and pull that individual into the social circles that drive your workplace.
And if you have someone who is isolated because of lack of social skills - take them with you and demonstrate what needs to be done to integrate into the ecosystem that drives your enterprise.
If a team member is isolated - bad things happen; if they are part of the bigger world good things happen to them and to the entire team.
Like it? Share it!
My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.
Friday, May 6, 2016
The Team Members I Don't Worry About
True confession: I am a worrier. Now I wouldn't say that I dramatically over-index on the chart of world worry. I do, however, concern myself with small details and big strategies. I usually have my eyes open and ears alert for things that can, and do, go wrong.
In casual conversation with members of my team, I have come up with the ultimate test of whether we have the right team members in place. Here's what I found myself saying. . ."If (this specific person or persons) is working. . .I don't worry about it."
It is absolutely true - when the right team members are on task, because of their track record and my knowledge of their work history - I don't worry about what's going on in that realm - allowing me to focus on other things.
So - what are the common characteristics of these individuals who permit me not to worry?
This recent understanding that a criteria of "not having to worry about it" if the right person is on the job has now taken a role in hiring decisions. I find I am assessing potential team members through this filter and its supporting characteristics.
What's more important is that if we have people running parts of our business so we don't have to worry about it - in all likelihood the people who work with them are happy and on-task.
And that allows everyone to do more productive things than worry.
Like it? Share it!
My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.
In casual conversation with members of my team, I have come up with the ultimate test of whether we have the right team members in place. Here's what I found myself saying. . ."If (this specific person or persons) is working. . .I don't worry about it."
It is absolutely true - when the right team members are on task, because of their track record and my knowledge of their work history - I don't worry about what's going on in that realm - allowing me to focus on other things.
So - what are the common characteristics of these individuals who permit me not to worry?
- Ownership: they take both responsibility and pride in what they do
- Understanding of their role and contribution to the process
- Strong, reliable work ethic
- Ability to assess the big picture and execute tactics (both big and small) to make everything run better
- Ability to like and get along with their team
- Knowledge of when and how to reach out to ask questions
- Independent decision making that aligns with overall goals
- Good communication skills
This recent understanding that a criteria of "not having to worry about it" if the right person is on the job has now taken a role in hiring decisions. I find I am assessing potential team members through this filter and its supporting characteristics.
What's more important is that if we have people running parts of our business so we don't have to worry about it - in all likelihood the people who work with them are happy and on-task.
And that allows everyone to do more productive things than worry.
Like it? Share it!
My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.
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