Tag Archives: self-development

Real PAIN in Personal Development

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I ran into a longtime colleague over the weekend that happens to be in Sales. He is pushing a leading-edge replacement product and was inevitably bemoaning the difficulty in getting customers to purchase. Interestingly, this is pretty much the same problem we all ultimately own; we are all selling something (skills, products, talent, ideas, etc.) and need someone to buy.

It’s the age-old theme of, how do we get people to take action and buy what we are selling? The following reflection is a little different from my regular content, so please bear with this intriguing discussion.

There are many books written about establishing sales of new products . Ultimately, the challenge is getting folks to act and invariably, they do so only when they feel the pain and thus are forced to take action or face worse consequences.

It seems there’s a common and reoccurring theme, here. I have previously repeatedly written that people don’t act because they:

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

Although there’s few strongly relevant statistics, much evidence says that when the logjam is broken and people buy, it’s because they feel the pain. Then, normally because the old method, approach or product they’re using has become a recipe for likely failure, so they are ultimately forced to change and act. Suddenly we see the laziness will now evaporate and “don’t want to” (as mentioned above) changes to must do. As a result, people then willingly accept the associated switching costs they must pay to get the new product/approach and make changes. Only then, do they seize the obvious value, presented.

So it is with self-development, in general. Even though folks need to make changes they fail to do so until they must. Clearly in this day and age anyone expecting to enhance their career needs to invest in proactively developing themselves. Yet how many people do we actually observe energetically working on real self-development skills that can directly help their cause? I am in the business of management career self-development and must confess that most folks I meet aren’t making much-needed personal upgrades.

Many materials exist to help with personal skill development, but a huge amount of traffic and interest in the development space centers upon softer subjects: more discretionary, personal or philosophical points than material focused on the development of what we might refer to as hard skills. There’s obviously often much value in studying this (less tangible) material as it does seem to reasonably satisfy general human appetite, curiosity and importantly, improves our self-awareness. However, such investment is normally not as clearly and immediately valuable as time spent on hard skills that upgrade your Time Management, Planning, or Organizing abilities, as an example.

It is well published that when people focus on difficult skills and commit to disciplined practice they will achieve a high level of personal excellence, regardless of the professional discipline involved. Again, this plays to the theme, ”no pain, no gain.” Also, such focus to achieve excellence (practicing harder tasks and relentlessly) is more demanding and proves to be the path less followed, even by performers acknowledged as competent in their fields.

Upon reflection we notice that the theme of pain seems to stand out as an important factor in human improvement, as it is a:

  • Baseline for development (no gain without pain)
  • Fundamental in achieving excellence (practicing the difficult things relentlessly can make individuals truly exceptional)
  • Key motivator in accepting and making changes

I would not recommend anyone blindly focuses upon pain as a path to personal success! However, acknowledging the role it plays in our psyche and commitment to self-development is worthy of consideration. After all, being more aware of our underlying motivators can only help.

Let me ask, are you setting clear goals for yourself? Do you have a clear vision of what and who you want to become? If so, perhaps you need to reconsider action on those tougher (for you personally) areas of self-development that you just might have been unknowingly delaying, to avoid the pain!

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

 

Care about something? Measure it!

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Ever come through a workplace crisis and feel worried something is still wrong? Worse still, ever come out of a crisis and go straight into another? All this is really draining and not good for either your organization, or personal reputation. As we’ll see, the following (self-development) principals apply equally to your private life.

So how do you get into these situations and how do you prevent them from reoccurring? Some situations just come in from outside our sphere of influence and not all of these can be readily avoided; some maybe, all, perhaps not. However, all that really is controlled within our organization can normally be monitored, so then managed, and as a result, kept from crisis.

Most organizations process or build things. So, we are naturally concerned about:

  • Numbers processed
  • Quality level
  • Throughput of processing

Generally, if you’re processing orders, building widgets, designing products, getting sales orders, developing datasheets, servicing customer complaints, etc. these measures apply. And, if we’re performing work that falls in these above categories, we care that it’s done well. In addition, we want the vast majority of all our work to be routine processing, without crises!

There are two ways you can measure how you (or, your group) are doing:

  • Proactively
  • Reactively

A proactive measure is to help you head off or warn of pending problems. Better to take action to avoid a disaster than deal with it when it’s got a full head of steam. Example: if orders stop coming in for product you might want to discuss this with the sales/promotion team as soon as you see the drop off, perhaps you even need to begin managing for a major downturn in your operation?

On the reactive front you may (say) measure the change in some manufacturing spec, over time. This would prove useful if product failures start occurring that track this parameter. Note: in some cases a proactive measure in one situation is a reactive measure for another.

Most managers should be familiar with the principal of Measurement Systems. There are many types of measures; they apply equally to the manufacturing floor, design area, general office and indeed all areas of any business. The issue is that all businesses should monitor and measure key areas of execution in each group so they can:

  • Head off problems, proactively
  • Quickly find root causes of problem(s)
  • Secure effective interfaces between groups
  • Improve: Numbers, Quality and Throughput
  • Validate current status
  • Confirm future outlook

Occasionally, people get hung up with metrics. ”You can’t measure that,” is a common reflection. Actually, you can measure anything. The simple trick is to recognize there are really two types of measurements:

  • Direct
  • Indirect

Direct metrics speak for themselves. Example: you want to know how many widgets you build, just count them. Indirect is just that. Example: you want to know if people “enjoy” using your product, then (say) survey them regularly and offer a scoring scale on which they rate their “enjoyment.” This simple principle can invariably be applied in one form or another.

The bottom line is this; if you care about something, you should measure it.

When you move into a new role it will be necessary to review existing measurements, or perhaps even create an entire new set up. The same is true if your group expands into new responsibilities.

Measurement systems and metrics are living things. As the organization evolves, so should they. When measurements have little value, they can be discarded; just check very thoroughly for associated risks with their omission, first! Similarly, new metrics should be brought on to capture new variations in activity or better probe for insightful details that have real value. Just don’t invest more in managing the metric than it’s practically worth to the organization!

These same philosophies apply across our lives. Things we care about outside of the workplace can be measured, too. If you have personal goals, then why not have a few personalized metrics that check progress towards these ends? These metrics could be something to look at daily, monthly, quarterly, annually or even every five years or so.

Personal metrics are in everyone’s life, anyway. Examples might be you tracking a bank balance monthly and quarterly, or reviewing and rebalancing that 401(k) quarterly and annually. Checking your salary each year and your total savings EOY are all measures, just as is monitoring your monthly expenses. Perhaps you’d be better expanding these measures to even more useful metrics, directly tied to your goals? Again, if you care about something you should measure it, right?

I’ve always found that people, who focus on goals, build themselves rich and complete images of their future and consequently more commonly tend to evolve into that vision. Having goals is part of personal development and career progress. Measuring actual progress just helps keep you on track.

So, do you effectively monitor and measure your group and workplace performance? Need to review and upgrade what’s being done? Be sure to take action both at work with your own career and at home with your lifestyle aspirations. At the very least, you should just head off a few crises!

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

Why don’t people reply?

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We live in a world of prolific communication. It does not 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 to the particular recipient suggested this basic communication just wouldn’t suffice and simply picking up the phone was appropriate. Likely this was a good solution in this instance, but it opens up 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 pieces 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 if this is better understood, our ability to secure rapid, interactive communications will be 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 to receive 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 a 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. And, yes, allowing for these liabilities is much easier to do when you are re-engaging someone you already know, rather than making a cold approach 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. 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 that reply and support you deserve!

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

 

Understanding your Management Style

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It seems that whenever I see a company investing in a new or even experienced manager, their training and development invariably begins with a class in understanding management styles. Not a bad place to start, even if you are going it alone with your own, proactive self-development! Basically, exposure to this skill will provide you an introduction to recognizing your own personality traits and the diverse range of other types of personalities and styles you can encounter in the workplace.

Sometimes this material is labeled with different titles (such as interpersonal relationships, interpersonal communications, managing diverse personality types or other variations thereof), but under any name you will learn to categorize other personality types and better understand how to work with their diversity. For our purposes here we will call this subject, understanding your management style.

Having skill in this area is clearly fundamental to a successful management career. Much of the information available on the subject is not usually ideally self-administered by reading books. In fact my personal experience suggests that established and aspiring managers are best advised to attend courses on the subject to most proficiently review, learn and practice the skill.

There are online facilities that allow you to get a profile of your personality type; some even help identify and analyze problem characters with whom you work. This is a great beginning , but my own experience shows that dedicated time set aside to reflect on your own management style and study the range of other types with professional guidance will normally secure a more profound lifelong grasp of the subject area. So, what’s involved in upgrading your skill in this area?

Typically, any training begins by:

  • Completing forms and Questionnaires. The first step is usually for you to fill out an extensive evaluation which enables the scientific analysis of your style and behaviors. Usually, several colleagues (most typically 4) also contribute to the process by completing questionnaires about observations and interactions they have had with you. Often you will additionally submit a review of your interactions with “a problem person” (this will come up later).

After all this information is analyzed you are off to a training class where you:

  • Review the results. This is self-explanatory. A large number of people have made exhaustive investments in characterizing the diverse management styles of people. You will be introduced to all the types your particular expert categorizes and told which one you are. Important note: no type is bad, rather they’re all different and generally exhibit different strengths and weaknesses. Having good skill, or versatility in working with these different styles, reflects your expertise!

 

  • Understand your own management style. Now you have a defined (or codified) style you can spend time studying its traits and tendencies. As a result, your self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses are inevitably improved!

 

  • Understand the variety of other personality types. Next, you learn the details of the various personality styles you can expect to encounter in the workplace. At this point, you are keenly aware of the amazing diversity and needs of the people with whom you will work during your career. This knowledge is often excitingly enlightening and invariably surprising!

 

  • Review how your style relates to others. Once you’ve identified your own style and the diversity in others you can explore how to adapt your behavior to best communicate with these different types. You will learn how to modify your behavior and better relate to the style and needs of others. Again, your flexibility in adapting to and communicating with colleagues will be key to your development as a manager and a person.

 

  • Work on a problem or example case. I mentioned (above) that many courses want you to submit an example of a problem interpersonal relationship you have currently. At this point you’re typically given the characterization of this person’s style and can use this as a working example for practicing the skills you have now studied and developed. If nothing else, you can walk away with an improved knowledge of how to deal with this particular individual.

That’s about it! Much is to be learned from such a course and it is typically a great investment of anyone’s time. I see many people go to such classes, all of which follow much the same basic outline described above. Never once have I heard attendees complain that it was a waste of their time. On the contrary, they usually sing the praises of the investment they’ve made and speak proudly of their improved awareness.

Are you well skilled in this area? Do you understand your management style and how it relates to others? Clearly, the benefits to your general self-improvement and professional career are obvious. Have you ever attended such a course or reviewed related material? If not, I recommend you make the investment and enjoy the huge advantage of being a strong communicator, better able to work with others and get results!

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

Secure management promotions: Invest in yourself!

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Competition for management jobs intensifies with each passing year and a poor economy just makes things worse. So, if you are betting your financial welfare on your next management position and subsequent promotions, you will now need to be much better prepared to capture those increasingly scarce opportunities than you might previously have realized.

The best way to take on this challenge and compete effectively is by actively investing in your development. You must choose to increase your marketability and maximize your value. Whether you are a junior manager or a seasoned executive, it’s certain you will benefit from optimizing the development of your foundational management skills.

The need for this investment is self-evident, but how do you actually go about evolving and growing your capabilities? Indeed, what are the process and the most efficient way to navigate the vast array of potential materials, books, training and recommendations that are out there? Well, let’s begin by identifying the simplest outline to this process that will help you minimize your investment of time and energy, yet maximize your returns in self-improvement as an effective manager.

Consider this 6-step process:

1. Understand which are the most fundamental skills that effective managers might require in their day-to-day work.

2. Develop a basic (yet comprehensive) understanding of what is involved with each skill and, then…

3. Quickly evaluate and rate your current competence with each skill. Are you excellent (E), average (A), or poor (P)?

4. Review your career path. Assess which of all these generic skills are immediately needed for elevating your current work and more specifically, targeting that next position that you seek.

5. Pick and prioritize just those skills you will develop next. Build a timeline and plan.

6. Execute your plan and methodically revisit the process of self-development as you progress through your career.

The process is straightforward enough and applicable to all managers, regardless of their seniority or the industry in which they work. The same fundamental steps even apply to self-employment, entrepreneurship or any personal development. However, navigating each step on your own, in an integrated, efficient and cohesive fashion could prove easier said than done! So, let’s consider your options and how to engage.

Many individuals spend a lifetime understanding which are the critical management skills they might need, then laboriously gleaning an understanding of each. This is generally a hit-and-miss process with many dead ends spent learning skills and behaviors that do not necessarily match your very specific and unique needs. Traditionally, this is the daunting option we face. There are many authors and bloggers that can provide you lists of the potential skills you might eventually need; unfortunately, most are less complete than others. Similarly there are numerous training classes, books and presentations that will let you learn the details of each skill. But again, nobody needs to master every skill and certainly there should be some priority order to your learning. We want to quickly evaluate skills we really need and then invest in learning only those that have a real priority in our unique career path.

Clearly, what is ideally needed for managers is a hands-on guide to walk you through this entire process. A simple set of instructions that rapidly move through a complete and integrated process, as described above. There is only one such guide and you can find it here.   You can choose to take this particular option, or not. The important thing is that you have a process and make progress.

The job market is tough and good management spots are becoming increasingly difficult to win. If you need to develop your skills to more effectively target desirable positions you will inevitably follow such a 6-part process (as described above), anyway. The trick is to choose to advance, enjoy the experience and reach your goals as quickly as you need. So, make the decision, pick a path and develop a plan! My best wishes to you in your career and personal development experience.

 

Ian R Mackintosh is the author of  Empower your Inner Manager.

Organize for career success

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Most managers I observe are modestly-to-poorly organized. And, I see hundreds every year. The highly successful managers I know are normally very organized themselves, or they have well-organized staff running around after them to ensure good order is preserved. So, you can be extremely successful and not organized, but then you better be able to attract and retain a supporting cleanup crew!

Being organized takes serious effort. If you want to excel in any role and move up the ladder you need to get results and bring value to the organization. Inevitably, being well-organized usually becomes a requirement for all professionals.

Oddly, most people I know believe they already have great personal organization skills. Yet a casual glance often suggests they do not. As a result they tend to add to problems causing:

  • Diminishing personal time
  • Issues with meeting schedules. Both quality and quantity of deliverables often suffers
  • Inability to take on or avoid surprise events. These seem to occur regularly
  • Health issues
  • Professional image challenges
  • Damaged relationships. Poor personal interactions
  • etc.

Sound familiar? The work environment has become increasingly challenging as economic pressures have continued and work-place competition has increased. Given the downside of all the issues listed (above) why wouldn’t you invest in tuning up your personal level of organization? By definition, the very significant opposites of those items listed above become the upside, as you improve!

Let’s take a practical view of areas we should consider when upgrading our level of personal organization:

Personal Discipline

Anyone can learn to be organized; this is a skill and behavior, not a genetic attribute. However, upgrades must be planned and scheduled with improvements prioritized. Focus must be only upon critical issues and real results.

Targeting Problem Areas

Look for observable and/or reported disorder (paper stacks or piles, complaints, expressions of un-serviced needs from others, etc.). Similarly, consider disruptive events that upset productive work as target areas for improvement. Be sure that data flow through you (and your organization) is processed with convenient and appropriate timing. Consider new or existing systems that will better organize projects, workspace, your routine and yourself.

Organizing the Workspace

Just apply two rules, ”out of sight, out of mind” and, “use it or lose it.” Regularly used items should be readily accessible and those rarely used should be stored. Example: typically you would have pens accessible and scissors in a drawer! The same principle equally applies to electronic equivalents. Desks and walls should have low occupancy and no clutter. Again, apply this same rule for electronic systems and information in their setup and displays.

Development of New Systems

The world is built from interrelated systems. Our own systems should be well-defined, effectively planned, while simultaneously being efficient, maintainable and simple. Information and data should flow easily from one place to the next and discarded when future usage is minimal. When a routine or activity can be improved or automated, it should be. Get a good return on your investment (ROI) for all such improvements!

Integrating the Workspace with Electronic Systems

Process information where it is best suited. This may be in paper form on the desk, data in electronic databases, or e-mails/texts on mobile computing devices, and so on. Stationary and mobile electronic systems should work seamlessly with one another in individually and collectively functional systems; make only cost effective repairs and improvements to optimize such systems. Rapid evolution and emergence of new products offer huge potential for system improvements, so keep an open mind/eye/ear for practical opportunities.

Leveraging Travel and Commuting

Always pack like a minimalist: carry only extras for likely circumstances, and leave the rest behind! If you work in transit, make realistic plans for when work can occur that is convenient and achievable. Use hands-free, voice-based tools where practical, safe and efficient; only carry (often heavy, space-consuming) hardware setups when there is real certainty for convenient use while in transit.

New Gadgets and Applications

There is a constant stream of new tools. Make sure your selections integrate well with the way you do operate now or are prepared to work, in the future. Think hard before you adopt a new tool or application; many products turn out to be toys rather than useful tools suitable for your personal systems. If their value is not clear, avoid altogether or toss them away quickly.

 

Getting better organized is not an occasional event; rather it’s an ongoing lifetime of discipline. So, it’s wiser to invest systematically and keep making progress as the march of time (and your career!) will inevitably dictate; change is both necessary and certain.

Most personal forward progress is made by investment. So, are you going to invest your time to figure out opportunities for improvement? Let’s face it, if there’s a march we all must eventually make anyway, then surely it’s better you proactively organize your steps!

Very Interesting Blog: what’s your choice for style and contents?

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This blog represents a single departure from my normal style. You’re my customer (reader) so here’s the opportunity to order what you want, or to tune-up what I provide. You can contact me, here.

My blog is for those who want to control and improve their career opportunities and will work for that privilege. In general, Blogs are written for one of three primary reasons; Bloggers:

  • Believe their thoughts are important. Hopefully, a belief based in fact not ego
  • Want to sell you something. Example: I think you should read my book.
  • Need the attention. Related to both points above, in some regards!

The subject areas for this blog do not vary. They are, essentially: career management, job skills and tips, job-market factors and (work-related) self-development. Mostly it focuses on questions recently posed to myself and of obvious general-interest and value to a broader audience. The style is necessarily precise and the content provides the most complete guide/introduction to its particular subject within the scope a blog can offer. So, you can learn fast from a quick read.

There are many variations recommended for style and format, but Bloggers are most commonly advised to follow a general writing approach:

  • Have an attention-getting title
  • Open fast, hold attention and make a point or statement
  • Stay within 600-800 words
  • Provide multiple links to supporting evidence(4-6 seems typical)
  • Prominently reference anyone to whom you are beholden (Example: the host of the blog-website, if you are guesting)
  • Use the body of the blog to confirm/prove the opening point
  • Close by telling people what you told them, as we say. Then, repeat the main point and make a call to action
  • Oh yes, proof it well and watch the grammar, etc.

A tried and proven presentation style, but is it really exactly what people want? Is it what you want? The method can be perhaps a little dry, even for the writer. I have read innumerable blogs and often noticed a surprising and common theme. Many of those most read are not well organized to best provide useful and practical information. Frankly, they are even sometimes more accurately described as rambling thoughts than useful guides. However, this style is often very popular.

Blogs get reposted, referenced, quoted, tweeted and can show up anywhere. Personally, my primary cares are that readers get what they want and that they are many. So, while recognizing that everyone’s diverse needs can’t be met at the same time, the better this blog’s style and content matches your reported needs, the better.

As a reader of blogs (I assume we all read many) there are some you prefer, even some you read over again and dwell upon. Perhaps you’d like to see the questions people send to me? Want a lighter style, humor, or anecdotes? Should I have guest bloggers? Maybe a more rambling presentation of fleeting ideas and points is more appealing? It is quite likely you already know what makes a blog compelling for you. So, be sure to share your ideas, as I’d like to know, too.

The better you describe your likes and needs, the better support I can provide. I am really looking forward to hearing your thoughts! So, fire away. Here again is the link to reach me.

Management Team-Playing and a Super Bowl

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Like many San Francisco Bay Area residents, I too have been entangled in pointless, post-Super Bowl “what went wrong” discussions. One theory considered the inherent conflicts to team success brought on by personal, high-stakes objectives and agendas held individually by players, coaching staff and ownership. Certainly, at the highest level everyone wants to win and is ”on the same team.” Yet the very skills bringing each person to a team and defining them as exceptional are the same things that must sometimes be subordinated to best truly help the team. For example a great receiver may just need to be a convincing decoy in some plays, or, a fiscally astute manager might sometimes need to pay a higher price to get exactly the right player the coach really needs. And, so it is with all managers and team play in every business.

Despite the fact that individuals are often promoted because they are capable of operating effective teams and groups, they must also be selfless as team players on their boss’ staff. The very strength of your (leadership) skills, if not carefully managed, can sometimes be a liability to your skill as a team player (and vice versa)!

People who invest in companies, products, and groups are very concerned that the team representing their interests are the best available. Regarding teamwork they care, What is the team’s:

Track record (what have they accomplished?)

Ability to work together (do they get along well?)

Ability to adapt (how well do they adapt to changing business goals and situations?)

Most sporting interests and every modern business purports to believe in empowered teams, with varying degrees of influence through less (or, sadly, sometimes more!) authoritarian managers. The motivation to establish such teams is the expectation they bring benefits including:

Motivated participants

Access to ground-level ideas

Environment of sustained progress

Nimble action

Ability to adapt

Improved communications

In addition to capturing the above-listed benefits, such effective, empowered teams free up the manager for higher-level tasks. Additionally, these teams should require only light management and oversight to ensure no overshoots in mission and/or responsibilities taken on by the team. Motivational rewards and recognition should always be built into the operation of such groups. (Only) when operated correctly, powerful examples of such teams are the quality circles particularly visible in the automotive industry.

In business there are really only three types of teams that might be established by management:

  1. Tiger teams/task forces. Groups temporarily established in order to address specific issues and/or resolve particular problems within defined timelines, resources and goals. They may be cross functional or organizationally vertical.
  2. Standing groups/committees. These continue through time to fulfill a mission or set of responsibilities. They also have defined problems to attack, with specific resources and goals, but without particular timeframe; again these may be either cross functional or vertical in their focus.
  3. Informal teams. Often self-assembled but sometimes created by management with occasional and ad hoc participation from within the group. They are good for facilitating informal communications, motivating participants and are capable of identifying underlying problems and highlighting concerns to management. Their informal nature means results are unpredictable as no specific goals are assigned unless one of the above team-types is created to seek specific results. Discussion groups organized around identified issues or particular professional disciplines are examples of this type.

When establishing any team it’s essential to make sure it’s correctly missioned and developed. The right leaders need to be in place, issues explained, any resources made available and relevant goals clearly defined. After commissioning there should be regular, adequate yet unobtrusive oversight, without undue direction. The team must track actions and have obstructions and impediments removed appropriately while thoughtful risk-taking and team action is encouraged. As always, the team should have their results showcased when needed and be rewarded/recognized appropriately.

Now, all of these principles work really well in business, and as I think about the analogies in professional sports I can see that many of these same principles (certainly not all!) are embraced in that environment, too. For example, half-time talks are meant to adjust a team’s plans and review what is and is not working well. Team leaders play a role in these discussions and the entirety is normally overseen and managed by coaching staff. In some cases troubling scenarios are reported where ownership/investors, engage, too! Not surprisingly, this is remarkably like any other business, even down to the crisis management and frighteningly short time-frames often required for adjustment.

It seems sports teams are highly tuned to respond to sudden changes, as indeed are some businesses; the face-to-face customer service function in general comes to mind. I just wonder if much of what has more recently entered the business world as team development and crisis management came from sports or was it vice versa? In either case, that Super Bowl loss is still weighing on my mind. So, like many other sufferers it only remains for me to read the reviews, accept the most plausible explanations, file them away and get over it!

 

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Is your boss a bully?

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Late last week while performing some online research I was inadvertently sidetracked into the subject of Bullying in the Workplace. Normally, I would ignore such a distraction (and specifically tell others to avoid such defocused behavior!), but knowing several current sufferers in bad job situations, this interesting subject inevitably drew my attention. And, although reported numbers can differ, this problem is globally accepted as quite common, even sometimes being referred to as a “widespread phenomenon.” So, I waded through blogs, articles and reference pieces to understand others’ opinions and current thinking.

I was a little surprised to find that much short-form advice offered to “victims” was less direct than expected and even sometimes seemed based in a need for cathartic release! It also struck me just how diverse bullying in the workplace can be, ranging from occasional unsupportive comments, through sustained denigration into forms of sexual harassment and even cyber abuse. So, are you being abused now, or, have you ever been? Know any colleagues or friends who are suffering such problems? Sadly, it is statistically likely you do!

Do we always recognize when we are being bullied? It seems to me that if you think you’re being abused, you probably are. And, if anyone comments about negative treatment you receive, you might certainly already need to act. When you take action your recovery is underway and you are re-establishing control of your work life. For bullying to actually cease, a profound change must occur:

Either, the bully ”sees the light.” Very unlikely unless they are acting-out short-term stress problems brought on by (say) family and/or work issues that are truly abnormal and realistically can and will subside. Here the perpetrator needs to be professionally exposed to concerns and the results caused by their behavior.

Or, you and the bully part ways. This is typically the most common, sensible and essential outcome.

I personally don’t believe that bullies with long-term behavior problems can usually be fixed by training and counsel. Improvements seem possible, but fixes seem far less likely. Even if there appears to be hope, their victims are best served not sticking around to await the cure. They already have their own challenges, so should normally remove themselves to improved situations and begin their own forward progress.

A change of bosses will only happen in a couple of ways:

  1. The boss is moved, promoted away or changes companies. Don’t languish long in a bad situation waiting for this to happen unless there is some real certainty it will occur.
  2. You move into another part of the organization or change companies.

Once you recognize a bullying problem you need to plan your strategy. Frustratingly, even during tough economic times this might often mean you moving. However, a short-term inconvenience and upheaval is well worth the effort that can result in a happier work-life and perhaps even benefit your health. Be sure to use all the positive work experience and knowledge you gained in your (bullied) position to help you go to a new role, rather than allow the bullying drive you from your current role. Always move positively to a better future, never away from the past.

Bullies should not be allowed to work their ways without recourse.  We each have a human and professional duty to protect and help their victims. So, be sure to seek advice and guidance from known-trustworthy colleagues and influencers to help you ensure that bullies you observe (or leave behind) are well known within their companies. The goal should only be to deposit sound and balanced warnings with appropriate professionals who must take action, despite any temptations to seek vindication or revenge!

If you were ever such a victim, be sure to recognize and reflect upon this fact. You will not repair and grow without such acknowledgment. The worse and longer-term your abuse, the more important it is you understand even your own role in any inadvertent acceptance or tolerance that was involved. Be sure that any short-term situations you experience don’t take a toll you fail to recognize. Lastly, we shouldn’t obsess disproportionately about the past and if you find yourself doing so, involve others (quietly and privately). There are many on-line resources that can assist you and provide guidance.

Sometimes we undergo and accept abuse in the workplace which we fail even to recognize. Only upon reflection, does its reality become clear. So again, were you ever bullied? Did you take back control and turn that negative situation into a positive growth experience?

Better results with less available time

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Like many folks I spent part of my weekend watching football at a “robust” gathering. Late during this event, I was approached by an experienced management professional who opened with, ”about effective management…” This is generally never a good introduction for me to any discussion (sigh), but fortunately this worked out quite well. It seems my new acquaintance is a senior and successful management professional who works long hours (even more so in recent years with this poor economy) and felt he had little more to learn in developing his own skills. He was particularly convinced that his time management skills are par excellence and this was the root of all his and most others’ career success. Note: throughout this blog we are specifically talking about personal time management.

I would agree that time management is a very critical skill in almost every management role. However, it is one of many. The set of skills one must develop for any job (and their specific priority) should be determined by the unique needs of that particular position. More than this, no matter how good any expert feels they are within in their field of greatest strength, they can always improve. Even world-class authorities constantly practice, study and evolve. Time management would seem to be a commonplace element in people’s lives as simple improvements can massively enhance one’s effectiveness and productivity. Hence our obsession with “One minute this” and “Five minute that!” Yet how many managers have actually sat down, studied and invested in their ability to maximize the effective use of their time? And, of those that have, how many have followed up and implemented important changes?

My own experience has been that as I either evolved in a particular position or was promoted to another, I was still able to make significant improvements in my own effectiveness if I periodically reviewed my time management practices. Something that does remain relatively constant is the process and method by which time is best managed:

  • Plan time and actions. Simple action item lists ensure you “check off” the positive results of each day and spend a few minutes planning the next.
  • Focus. Learn to do one thing at a time; be very Zen like and “eat when you eat!”
  • Manage your energy. Healthy regimens are a must in diet and exercise, but recognize if you are ultimately a “morning,” “afternoon” or “evening” person with respect to your highest productivity and adapt accordingly.
  • Avoid time wasting elements. Work when you work and relegate entertainments to breaks or private downtime.
  • Leverage technology. Increasing arrays of tools are available that range from hands-free headsets, through speech-to-text software to mobile phones for use during (convenient and safe) periods of travel.
  • Manage your mental health. The simple rule: don’t worry; just plan and act. Avoid negative elements and nonessential entanglements, recognize and celebrate what you achieve and simply re-plan missed goals to ensure success. Actively balance and separate your business and private lives.

Following such a regimen really requires self-discipline . Despite the simplicity of this process I have rarely seen anyone that routinely and effectively follows this simple method. I believe that adhering to such discipline would remove the obvious stress and struggle we see in many individuals, be they managers, individual contributors or even folks not within the traditional work-force! So, how well do you practice these principles?

As for my new acquaintance from the football party, he freely acknowledged he neither plans time and actions (uses no simple Action Item list(s)), nor actively Manages mental health (not enough quality family time). Although he requested I didn’t use his name, he thanked me for a recommendation and happily OK’d his mention in my blog. I wasn’t initially too pleased with him repeatedly referring to me as “the Management Dear Abby,” but on reflection, I’ll take it as a compliment!