We’ve all read and seen the characteristics of great leaders. Typically they inspire, share a vision, motivate and communicate well.

Great leaders also take care of their people. But what does this mean?

I have seen many exceptional executives and managers that are personally well-recognized, yet by no means are they all truly employee-friendly. And let’s face it, if you want people to be there for you, it’s prudent they know you’re looking out for them.

So what are the specific actions of leaders who take care of their people? Consider these dozen pointers as a sound basis:

• Discover personal needs and aspirations

Begin by understanding what your people need. What’s working for them, what isn’t? What can you do to help them better succeed?

Solicit their unspoken ideas. Often such insights are profound.

The answers invariably already exist; just ask for them in an unintimidating way. And, always follow up and get true closure on related discussions.

• Do the basics

Ensure pay is industry and position-appropriate and consistent relative to contributions.

Get people their reviews on-time and make sure they are always operating with clear, agreed and up-to-date goals.

Keep ongoing communications sufficiently fluid that review-time contains few surprises, but rather documents a common understanding.

• Empower those capable

Be sure you delegate to those who are ready. Hand out challenges of projects and authority where people are stretched, yet can grow and develop.

Provide adequate framework and support to keep folks on track without excessive intervention. Adjust and grow from any of their minor failures and make sure time, people and essential resources are available to ensure success.

• Reward and recognize

Reward successes and call out people for doing a good job.

Money is not the greatest motivator, but still has a role.

Promote only those recognized and deserving.

Be sensitive to more private individuals as/if/when you outwardly recognize their achievements.

• Celebrate successes

Parties, events and communication meetings are all places to celebrate success. Ensure everyone is involved in recognizing and enjoying positive results.

Don’t overlook either participants or contributions and always be evenhanded with praise and rewards.

• Actively enable open communications

Sit down with your people regularly and avoid constant resets or delays in scheduling. Make it clear that these discussions and events are important to you and valued.

Communication meetings with your groups should be on standing schedules. Throw in ad-hoc, spontaneous gatherings as and when opportunities or needs arise.

Encourage two-way discussion whenever practical.

• Share information

Ensure you’re open and expansive with what information you share.

Let everyone know what’s going on and why. There is always need-to-know information, but it’s surprising what can be shared with groups and individuals. If in doubt on a given point, check.

Sharing is for both group meetings and one-on-ones. Listen to what others offer in return, but actively avoid creating an environment for gossip.

Be sure you inform people of what they need (practically and emotionally) to know.

• Encourage cross-pollination

Always take actions and communicate your willingness for individual, group and divisional sharing and collaboration.

Make sure your organization is willing and open, never acting like a closed-off silo.

Look for project, meeting, show-and-tell opportunities that have value for your people and facilitate productive results, collaborative dialogue and cross-pollination at multiple levels.

• Facilitate access to training

If something is going wrong with individuals or groups and the root cause is inadequate training, it’s on you to get this corrected.

If someone wants or needs training relevant to their job or career, support this whenever possible.

A few dollars and work-hours invested here and there can go a long way to upgrading a situation and motivating those involved. Just be evenhanded (if not identical) in your treatment of those participating and/or interested.

• Develop replacement plans

Every organization has key positions and contributors. Take care to have a managed and up-to-date plan to cover personnel losses and liabilities.

Whenever possible actively invest in developing those critical replacements in the organization and for yourself.

And as soon as the time is right you should generally let worthy candidates know when they are being groomed.

• Talk with people

Schedules and deadlines fill our days, but strong leadership requires plentiful dialogue. This takes time.

Make time in your day, week and month to informally collide and chat with people in your organization and across groups.

Keep dialogue inquiring, productive and positive. Look for ideas and seek out problems. Again, avoid anything resembling gossip or that might be mistaken as meddling or political.

And above all always follow up and get all closure that’s required.

• Get people engaged

At the end of the day when you follow the pointers above, employee engagement should be a result you receive.

Engaged workers are happier, achieve more, collaborate better and are highly motivated.

Any even-handed, systematic plan or professional action you take to get folks engaged can be a winner.

The list above provides a great foundation from which to take care of your people.

The better you invest your time and effort into people, the stronger you will become both as a person and a leader.

So, here’s wishing you great results and success with all of your investments!

Ian R. Mackintosh is the author of Empower Your Inner Manager Twitter @ianrmackintosh

I really don’t like it when I can’t get answers. Who does?

It’s especially frustrating when you’ve already made it easy for folks to reply with a yes/no answer or just a trivial update.

We all understand that our priorities aren’t the same for everyone else. But, isn’t it reasonable to expect the same level of professional courtesy we willingly and regularly extend to others?

We live in a world of prolific communication. It doesn’t matter what is your job or role in life, you ultimately interface with other people; in many cases, this can be the major part of what you do. So, when people don’t reply progress can come to a grinding halt and quickly!

Over the weekend I was talking with a frustrated manager who complained of an employee who’d “just sent an email with no additional follow-up.” I suppose the manager’s insight into the particular recipient suggested this basic communication just wasn’t going to be enough; picking up the phone was an obvious supplemental requirement. Likely this was a good solution in this instance, but it opens the question: Why don’t People Reply?

What we all really need is a good generic understanding of this lack of response and a few solid pointers of how to jumpstart the broken communication from the outset. As I search around I see Articles and Blogs offering ways to address issues specifically regarding email responses, or replies to texts and so on.

Many recommendations center upon the way a message is presented and the medium (email, text, tweet etc.) in which it is transmitted. Yet I believe the real issue often lies with the circumstance of the recipient and when this is better understood, our ability to secure rapid, interactive communications are much improved.

At the 10,000 foot level it is easy to accept that people fail to act (reply) for one of three reasons. They:

• Don’t want to
• Don’t know how to
• Have become lazy; sometimes called the “fat Rep” syndrome

I’ve written about these factors previously, but in a different and specific context. So now let’s dig in a little further and consider generic circumstances that might be affecting the person from whom you desperately want that reply. If we better understand their prevailing circumstances and operating behavior we will do a much better job when making our initial approach and in ultimately securing that reply.

We can quickly identify that our recipient might be affected by (with no particular priority)these fifteen issues at the very outset of our approach:

Prevailing culture. Do they work in an environment where lack of response and poor accountability is routinely tolerated?

Management style/type. Is this an introverted person, inherently inward looking, not much interested in relationships and personal interactions? I have written about such personal characteristics previously, here.

Perceived importance. Although it may be important to you, the subject of your approach may have little importance to the recipient. Also, your style/presentation might leave something to be desired and worsen this perception.

Commitment to service/excellence. The individual simply does not value themselves by their level of professionalism, service to others or excellence in their responsiveness.

Sensitivity to others/situation. Your message might not adequately convey its importance, or instill motivation in the recipient. Perhaps they are just insensitive in this regard?

Medium. Your choice of medium for the approach might not be one to which the recipient is most responsive. You can communicate by email, telephone, voice message, text, Tweet or even FAX, etc. However, sometimes these messages just don’t arrive!

Habits. Perhaps this person only touches your chosen medium occasionally, or even never? They might not be voice message or telephone people; perhaps they only view emails every few days and yet operate real-time with texts?

Level of personal organization. Sadly, they might be a person who operates in chaos, only fights fires, rarely plans and so will only respond when something has become an emergency.

Current priorities. It may be that burning issues (offsite meetings, strategy sessions, quarter end activities, a personal holiday, etc.) currently have their attention.

Ignoring input. They just don’t like what you’re saying or how you say it and truly are ignoring you. Perhaps your approach is bad news or something that simply causes them problems?

Perceived urgency. Your message may be urgent to you, but not adequately positioned (or stated) to be so for the recipient.

Consequences of inaction. Perhaps they can be a little lazy, are overloaded or may be simply ignoring your approach as there are no resulting obvious negative consequences for them currently, or in their foreseeable future. It’s better to operate where and how people are motivated to engage and provide help, or you may be embarking on a losing cause, anyway!

Self-assurance. Just as you may be insecure about your approach to them, they may be equally nervous in their response. This is related to their Management Style, noted above (as indeed are many of the issues on this list).

Lack of information to report. Many times I have seen slow responders finally reply, saying,” I didn’t respond earlier because there was nothing to report.” This is often heard from more analytic folks, less sensitive to the needs of other personality types. I live in an engineering world and this behavior is really very common.

Internal consensus issues. The recipient holds off replying until internal discussions and/or consensus is achieved. It is unfortunate when they fail to acknowledge your approach and warn you of this need, accordingly.

Etc.

Well, clearly the list of reasons for not getting a reply can be numerous. And, more than one of those items listed above might apply. So, before we even worry about getting that response we had better proactively structure our initial message to crisply capture the recipient’s attention and head off any of those issues that we know (or suspect) to be liabilities when we make the first approach. Also, allowing for these liabilities is much easier to do when you are re-engaging someone you already know, rather than making a coldapproach to a new contact.

Importantly, we should carefully consider the medium in which this first approach is made. In some circumstances picking up the phone works wonders, in another a brief text requiring a short and immediate reply works well, or perhaps a well-structured email is essential to offer the level of professionalism and completeness for the approach? Sometimes a tandem approach is the best idea, as our manager colleague suggested (above) for her particular situation. Consider and choose carefully.

Alright, assuming we gave it our best thought, made our first approach and then there is no reply. What we do next? Let me offer a few quick, (un-prioritized) practical suggestions:

1. Double them up at the outset. For example: If they are known (or suspected) as poor responders, then hit them with both an email and a voice message (or phone call) in your initial approach. Texts work wonders in these situations and can be used as a pointer to an email, too.
2. Re-ping early and often. Don’t be shy; be prepared to resend your message several times if the urgency and importance warrants this behavior.
3. Open a second communication channel. If the email (or, text/voice message/phone call, etc.) isn’t working, then experiment with other media.
4. Appeal to professionalism/conscience. If it wasn’t built into your initial approach, then the very polite suggestion of an appeal to professionalism can sometimes move mountains and get replies from those who value their image. Be sure to tread lightly!
5. State benefits to recipient. Perhaps the most important element of any communication is stating (or suggesting) the benefits to the recipient, up-front in your initial approach. If this still receives no reply, then carefully revisit those benefits, rephrase and feature them in subsequent communications. It’s easier to catch anyone’s attention by illuminating incentives they value.

I’ve read several articles where people suggest you should ultimately accept and give up gracefully when you just don’t seem able to get a reply. Not so. It’s true we should avoid crossing the line and becoming a pest, but first try improving your approach and follow-up as suggested above.

Realistically, we typically approach people only when there is a real and reasonable need for their attention. As professionals we all deserve at least the level of responsiveness and support we are willing to provide to others. We earn it and we deserve it.

So, whenever and wherever appropriate, stand up for yourself and press on till you receive the reply and support you deserve!

Ian R. Mackintosh is the author of Empower Your Inner Manager Twitter @ianrmackintosh

I must have walked through a thousand office buildings during my career.

By the time you reach a meeting room a strong impression of the company is already formed in your mind. Without a conscious effort, you can quickly adopt a fixed image of the culture. Unfortunately such premature reaction is the norm.

This is very much like unwittingly locking-in opinions of a person in the first 7 seconds of meeting; a very human behavior already well reported and known.

It’s said that in many ways we are what we eat and read, so too we easily become a reflection of the workspace in which we dwell.

The walls, colors, furniture and layouts all constantly scream at us and it’s hard to believe most people aren’t affected.

I can recall visiting an expensive office facility overseas which had huge, open, yet sparsely populated desk spaces for employees. Unfortunately, color selections were drab, almost military and the place had the air of an unwelcoming prison office. Sadly, the senior managers carried that same aura in their persona; their business, too, was devoid of imagination and not surprisingly quickly faded away.

All workspace styles send a message. Bad impressions can be offset by colors, lighting, layout adjustments and the addition of unique features.

You often won’t get frequent opportunities to address changes in workspace, but if you’re moving to new facilities it’s essential to act thoughtfully.

In many cases cost is an overriding factor in decisions and choices. This often forces basic layout-type selection, but this need not prevent you from optimizing other layout details, furniture, lighting and related selections.

However, there remain significant pros and cons for every basic office layout-type choice:

Open-Plan (no cubicles)

• Inexpensive (for both installation and moves)
• Spacious and efficient
• Great for communications/sharing/leveraging enthusiasm

But, also generally

• Lacking privacy
• Missing quiet for reflection and concentration
• Can suggest cheap and uncaring management, if not done tastefully and supplemented with accessible meeting rooms, quiet areas, décor and so on
• Messy areas stand out/often require frequent communal care
• etc.

Cubicles

• Medium expense (though fancy-featured cubes can be quite pricey)
• Flexible/configurable
• Mostly conceals untidy desks and spaces
• Reasonable employee interactions remain possible
• Elements of employee privacy

And, also

• Still generally lacks opportunity for quiet/privacy/concentrated thought
• Can sometimes appear like animal-testing mazes
• Larger areas often seem devoid of visible personnel and so appear impersonal
• etc.

Walled offices

• Most expensive: for installation and when moving
• Best for privacy and quiet work
• Generally highly valued by employees
• Promote strong air of professionalism

Yet, still

• Isolated from ready communications and interactions
• Prone to appear devoid of humanity and can seem sterile
• Present tough adjustment for interactive, expressive individuals accustomed to human contact
• etc.

There is also the sensitive matter of how executive seating is planned and integrated (or not) in the general population as a part of the floor-plans described above. However, established norms and expectations can often help and guide those arrangements.

So, no space and overall layout is completely ideal.

You can pick your poison to match your pocketbook and hopefully best support the culture you wish to enhance or establish.

With all these floor-plans you can incorporate open areas, readily available meeting and/or break rooms, good equipment and lighting, furniture choices, colors, plants and quality to offset the negatives in the fundamental layout choice. Good selections on these details all help ensure alignment to the culture you want.

And don’t second these choices to supposed experts unless you’re convinced they capture the culture you envision.

Best of all, when you get the chance you should also work on that curbside appeal. How the place looks from the outside will greatly affect those who enter, whether as inspired employees, or visitors.

Tying culture to the physical appearance of the environment is an important matter. Just take a look at the campuses established by the likes of Apple and Google etc. The focus on brand, self-image and culture is profound.

Consider the properties of top universities; Ivy League schools, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge colleges etc. all boast facilities with palpable culture and implied standards.

Workspace appearance matters. You want to make a constant statement to your people about who you are and what you value? Then don’t forget the facilities.

What people see all around them will typically affect demeanor and hence behavior.

Have you got an opportunity to improve your workplace? As a minimum, maybe there’s a chance to tune-up appearance and up-grade some facilities? After all, this all sends your cultural message.

Ever walked into a place that had such poor appearance/layout it gave you a bad opinion of the company?  Leave me a comment about it…or send a tweet @ianrmackintosh

Ian R. Mackintosh is the author of Empower Your Inner Manager Twitter @ianrmackintosh

Ever make a seemingly simple request of a colleague or subordinate that went oh-so-wrong? And worse still, it actually created knock-on problems.

Ever respond to a verbal request from your boss only to be greeted by a “you did what” reaction? Similar events happen to us all.

The large majority of communications in our day are simple and oral. The sheer number of such interactions can sometimes mask the criticality and/or urgency of a request. It’s just so easy for things to go wrong.

I’ve personally used a simple trick to minimize such liabilities for many years. But before delving into this approach, consider why things can be misunderstood. Issues that corrupt verbal communications include:

• Language and cultural barriers
• Vocabulary
• Assumptions
• Completeness/Availability of information
• Training
• Education
• Ambiguities
• Conflicts
• Priorities
• etc.

The list seems endless.

Well, if there’s so much risk and it’s an important matter, why wouldn’t we just write it down; codify the request?

On many occasions this just doesn’t seem appropriate. It can even sometimes appear insulting to the recipient. And often, there just isn’t time or opportunity to literally spell it out.

What I’ve always done in these situations has become a way of life for me. I just repeat myself. It’s simple, effective, quick and when done with thought it can be a lifesaver and truly considerate.

When you make that first request it’s a simple outline of your need. The Repeat clarifies what, when, extent and time involved as appropriate. Don’t belabor the Repeat, it’ll drive folks crazy. Be sure to rephrase and supplement when repeating yourself, yet remain as brief as possible.

Most importantly, the Repeat should give the listener the chance to verbally confirm they got it and ask any immediate concern they might have; if necessary include how to reach you if they have further questions, later.

This whole methodology is hardly rocket science, yet proves itself much more reliable than just passing an obscure one-liner verbal request which is often subject to the vagaries (and more) of the list provided above.

This simple method applies universally in the workplace, outside, with friends and at home. Inasmuch, it has broad application and profound value.

Realistically you don’t want to be the person who always repeats himself/herself. It’s a dull and dreary label. But if you do this simple repetition with the aforementioned thoughts in mind and a pleasant tone in your voice, folks will learn to appreciate the effort and consideration you show.

Let’s face it; who wants you to send them on ambiguous errands with the high likelihood of receiving a failing grade!

After years of applying this trick I’ve found myself dodging a lot of unnecessary problems. More than this, I believe that not employing the technique is simply asking for trouble.

I developed a rule of thumb for repetition. It’s just a simple guide I like to remember. Basically:

If you state a request ONCE

you’re asking for trouble. The recipient is invariably blindsided with little time to orientate, think or ask questions. A one-shot request can often appear like an order; a little dictatorial. And of course, there is no engagement. Also, often too much or too little information is forced at one time.

You state TWICE

and you will avoid a lot of problems and frustration for yourself and the recipient of your request(s). You create an opportunity to briefly engage/discuss. This is an engaging approach. However, if something CERTAINLY doesn’t need to be repeated, then DON’T.

State THREE times

and you’re asking to get labeled. Honestly, it does seem pretty mindless to routinely keep repeating yourself. The recipient might feel demeaned or untrusted, too.

If you state something FOUR times

there’s probably a spot for you in a Jerry Springer (or equivalent reality) daytime TV show!

Sometimes this ASK TWICE approach naturally unearths the fact that you’re making a request that’s more complex than can be done safely, verbally. Even if you’re in a hurry, accept it just won’t work and recognize you still have many alternatives:

• Stop and spell-out your request correctly and more completely, right then
• Say something like,” My mistake, this isn’t going to work this way; sorry, let me get back to you in a more reasonable manner.”
• Just pick/agree a time to review the request more closely.
• Etc.

The point is that when a request is ultimately not viable through a convenient verbal approach, accept that fact, pick another approach and save everyone the unnecessary pain of a likely-bad outcome.

So, just as I already said above:

Often, if you say it twice you will avoid a lot of problems and frustration for both yourself and the recipient of your request(s).                  😉

Ian R. Mackintosh is the author of Empower Your Inner Manager Twitter @ianrmackintosh

The last five years have seen unprecedented challenges for professionals wanting to move ahead.

We’ve all seen data (behind the official reports) showing struggling employment recovery and the growth of underemployment.

But there are always advancement opportunities to improve your job situation or get promoted.

In an increasingly competitive market the trick is to maximize your worth or value. Understand what you bring to the table, where the competition sits and position yourself to stand out.

No matter who you are, what is your background, or level of seniority, you can reach higher. But it takes a little understanding, real commitment, a plan and follow-up.

All this is obvious enough, but where do you begin? Depending on your specific needs and situation, there’s a few, very useful avenues of help offered, here:

• Ways to Get Promoted in 2013

Here are five tips that reflect current thinking on career planning in today’s market.

• Empower Your Inner Manager

A hands-on, lifelong guide that walks managers and execs through the process of identifying essential skills needed to systematically improve promotional opportunities.

• Tips for getting the Most from Your Mentor

Provides 10 sound tips for how to be Mentored and improve your chances for business and career advancement.

• Promotion Barriers

Offers a quick review from an executive coach describing how advancement opportunities are harmed by weak executive presence and communication skills.

• How to Earn your First Promotion

Provides insightful guidance on how to come on board a new job and immediately begin preparations for future promotion. Good perspective.

A common theme runs through all these recommendations; getting ahead and securing promotions is about self-development. Advancement requires you understand the skills you need, the attitude you must demonstrate and that you then both plan and invest accordingly.

And of course, you should be fundamentally good at your work, too!

Regardless of whether you’re staying put with your current company or needing a move to advance, you should watch out for warning signs in the workplace. If you see troubling characteristics, recognize early-on the real commitment you will need to secure promotion. Such tough circumstances might include:

Little or no growth. In a stagnant environment opportunities will be few. This may show up in weak Sales numbers, low Hiring activity or little Business expansion. Poor growth (often, not always) equates to diminished opportunity.

External hiring preference. It’s an unhealthy sign when new appointees are routinely hired-in; especially troubling when obviously qualified internal candidates exist.

Weak managers aren’t replaced. If poor performers aren’t replaced or moved aside to be more productive, it doesn’t bode well for having a healthy promotion environment.

Cronyism prevalent. Where friends and relatives are taking prime spots and they’re often not great appointees, you should be concerned.

Communication is weak. If the management environment is poor in sharing details of mission, objectives, successes and goals, it often signifies potential for weak people-policies. It could be a struggle moving upwards, here.

Management aloofness. When you feel separated or distant from your management team there may be little help, guidance, incentives and rewards coming your way. It’s better when you’re actively engaged in the workplace and know where you stand.

Even if you find yourself in one of the uninspiring environments above, you can and should still move towards that promotion you desire. Learn what skills that next job entails and develop a plan to upgrade yourself accordingly in preparation.

Unless you’re readied for promotion with skills that you have already prepared, it’s just not likely to happen. Even if the immediate path to that next level is not clear, what you should offer in the value you display usually is. After all, without your preparedness, the opportunities are very unlikely to arrive.

So, get ready and invest for that promotion; Learn, Plan and Prepare!

Ian R. Mackintosh is the author of Empower Your Inner Manager Twitter @ianrmackintosh