Easy A or risk an F

“Schools teach you to imitate. If you don’t imitate what the teacher wants you get a bad grade. Here, in college, it was more sophisticated, of course; you were supposed to imitate the teacher in such a way as to convince the teacher you were not imitating, but taking the essence of the instruction and going ahead with it on your own. That got you A’s. Originality on the other hand could get you anything – from an A to F. The whole grading system cautioned against it.” (Robert M. Pirsig, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”, 1974)

I’m reading this philosophical novel and crossed this paragraph. The situation that Pirsig was describing in the classroom is very comparable to the workplace when it comes to leaders. Leaders step out and try new things. They are often misunderstood by their peers and bosses because it is hard to separate the results from the methodology. Leaders often do things in a different and more productive way. This confuses people. The results get lost in the discussion. The blog post “Pioneers are lonely” from November 2009 shared this same sentiment in a different setting.

Do you encourage your people to be just like you or to reach and try new approaches? Are you willing to support those different methods when put under pressure?

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The return of Charlie

In July I blogged about meeting Charlie, the over-confident kid that brought his game to the local basketball court. I said at the time this kid was one to watch.

Well, Charlie showed up at the local Sunday pick-up games. He was about a foot taller and told me he made the local high school freshman team. Charlie was confident as ever, but he was playing his game the same way he played it when he was at the lower level. He was reaching on defense rather than moving his feet. He was watching his shots rather than crashing the boards. He was jogging the fast break rather than running full out.

Charlie will be fine, but it made me wonder if anyone actually told Charlie the game at the next level is different than the one he dominated. This situation happens all the time in the workplace. As if experienced managers want the newly promoted to learn by mistake the way they did. What a waste of time and resources. I always try to inform the newly promoted the two or three things they have to change on day one at the next level. I identify the things that made them successful which will cause them failure at the next level in the organization.

Do you pro-actively guide the newly promoted to navigate the pitfalls you know they will encounter? What are the few you have noticed are the most helpful?

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Do you know your “handling fee”?

Have you ever making an on-line purchase and during the check-out process a surprise “handling fee” turns you off so much you cancel your purchase?

I heard a commentary this week on the radio where the commentator (sorry, I did not catch the reference to give appropriate credit) compared this handling fee to the “baggage” we are bring into the workplace. You know, “John is an amazingly smart guy that delivers the goods, but he can be...” Whatever our handling fee, we should what it is. How much work do we create for our leaders? Jack Welch refers to this as using up our “political capital” in his book “The 4E’s of Leadership”. In baseball this is referred to as the player’s contribution in the clubhouse.

I suppose some of us think we are just super people that are effortless to lead. Something tells me this is just not the case. I thought about myself. I really do not want much from my leaders. That said, this in itself might be a challenge because there are very few external motivators that influence what or how much I do. It is all internal.

As leaders, how do you balance the great work of a teammate that has a high handling fee? Do you know your handling fee and are you worth it?

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The return of Dr. Rosling

Whether you are presenting an accomplishment, negotiating for more budget or selling a great idea, the effectiveness of your message often ties directly to your ability to summarize and present your data. Data is only mildly interesting until it becomes useful information.

In March 2009, I posted a blog (“Turning data into information”) about Professor Hans Rosling’s work at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. While his TED video was about national statistics, it was his ability to present information that captivated me. Dr. Rosling is back and with some technology friends. Together, they are really pushing the edge of effective presentations.

It appears LiaV was not the only group to recognize his keen ability. He had made the transition from impressive researcher to effective presentation guru.

What techniques have you seen help smart people improve their presentations?

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Gifts that matter

Gifting in the workplace is a tough topic on many levels. When you are a true leader, the task is difficult because so many people help you accomplish anything you achieved.

I figured out the answer for me. Gifts that take effort or help someone or something greater than you are always a good thing. So, I determined a small token of appreciation that also supports a non-profit organization could be noticed as an interesting and educational way to thank co-workers. About ten years ago I learned that the annual fund raiser for the Canine Assistance Program of Utah was a hand crafted goat milk soap sale. Since that time, we buy “CAPSOAP” product in bulk and divide it up as appreciation gifts. It sends a nice gifting message, educates and helps an important cause. Everybody wins.

Have you discovered our holiday solutions leaders might use in the workplace?

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“I can make it right”

Given all our complaints about customer service, could you imagine a company only hiring “C” students and giving them the power to make management decisions to make situations right for the customer?

I’ve been a fan of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car hiring and service model for a long time and their most recent TV ads say it all. The ads have Enterprise teammates stating that if a customer ever has a problem, “I can make it right.” If you have ever dealt with Enterprise, it is true. Enterprise is family owned, hire highly social, C students with leadership potential. They train them, put them in charge and let them make decisions. Seems like such a simple concept.

Do you give your teammates the decision authority to get their job done? Do they know what decision power they have? Do you cause non-value added checks and balances?

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I love bad news

Probably not true. A mentee asked me once, “Why do managers not like bad news?” While the answer seemed obvious, I took a moment to understand the question.

It was clear from the question that this person (and probably many people) had not been rewarded for telling their boss something bad that they needed to hear. Often the bearer of bad news becomes associated with the news itself. Shooting the messenger is a common trait of leaders with limited emotional intelligence. I once lead a quality organization and it became clear to me that I was the grim reaper of constant bad news. I had to purposefully starting inserting good news stories to avoid that “dark shadow in the doorway” image. Mature leaders of high emotional intelligence are able to encourage their teams to bring them news of all types without over reacting.

Do you act or react when people give you bad news. Do you reward people for keeping you informed or punish for being the messenger? How have you been able to overcome the desire to shoot the messenger?

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Can government work be cool?

Why is it we love our mailman and hate the DMV? Could it be your mailman’s autonomy makes them more customer-oriented or flexible?

What would you do if you were responsible for the work policies of the federal government and President Obama gave you the goal “to make government cool again by developing flexible, results-oriented Human Resource policies and working to change how Americans view their public servants“? That was exactly the assignment John Berry, United States Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) got in early 2010. His first strategy, was to make The Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–292) a reality because it provided the authority to develop flexible policies, tools and training.

I heard about this charge and the progress being made by the Mr. Berry and explored their website (www.telework.gov). The US government has collected many best practices used throughout industry for virtual work programs. It subscribes to the belief that successful virtual work is a “90% people challenge and 10% technology.” Written agreements, goal setting, frequent communication and strong performance management are cornerstones of the program.

How formal have you implemented your virtual work programs? Did you fundamentally change your leadership style to lead a virtual team?

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How late can we celebrate?

On 26 September 2011, Boeing delivered the first 787 Dreamliner to airline ANA after a three year delay. The aircraft is a technological achievement unmatched in aerospace and will create a customer flying experience like no other. The event was celebrated.

The 911 Memorial officially opened on 11 September 2011 after ten years of debate, design, coordination and construction. “The Memorial is a national tribute of remembrance and honor to the 2,983 people killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993.” The event was celebrated.
This weekend, an international team under my leadership achieved an aerospace manufacturing milestone of large implication, significance and meaning. While the project concluded one year late, it has the potential to change the face of aero-structure assembly for years to come. The event was celebrated locally with no fanfare or drama.

Should a significant accomplishment be celebrated in the same way whether on time or significantly late?

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Artificial Barriers

One of the occupational consequences of working international projects is an abundance of long flight hours with time to kill. Once all the possible staff-work is complete and I’ve read as much as possible, the airline movie marathon starts. I categorize movies based on if I’d be willing to pay to see them at a theater, willing to pay to Netflix them, willing to watch them for free on a plane and last, movies I cannot even to watch for free. Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised by a movie I’ve never heard of.

“Cold Souls” (2009) starring Paul Giamatti was very odd and a nice surprise. An interesting scene in the movie involved a doctor explaining to Giamatti the concept of tying a young circus elephant’s ankle to a tent spike to stop them from wondering off. When young, the spike is strong enough to stop the elephant. The elephant “learns” that they cannot over-take the constraint. As the elephant grows bigger and stronger, they never question the power of the constraint. Of course the spike is no match for the large elephant, but they never try to over-power it.

This made me wonder what constraints we artificially apply to ourselves and/or what barriers our people believe that really do not exist. How often have you heard “we have never done it that way” or “this will never work?”

What artificial constraints can you remove for your people? What items can you fix that have really bothered the teams reporting to you?

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Vision accomplished

Each of the days following Hurricane Irene was the same for us. We would come home from work to find no power. We would BBQ dinner outside and once it got dark we would walk downtown where some street lights and stores had electricity. Starbucks was one of those with power and the first night there were about 10 folks there getting a charge and internet fix. By day two, there were about 25 people at Starbucks getting a charge and the nightly internet fix. Day 3 saw the crowd grow to over 50 and then even more the next. People brought power strips, shared open outlets and we all sat around together. It was the night time community social area.

I’m not the biggest Starbucks fan, but I just finished reading Howard Schultz book “Onward”. It is the CEO’s story of Starbucks since the beginning, but with special focus on the turn around since 2008. Schultz says he was not trying to create a coffee place for people, but a people place that served coffee. The Starbucks Experience has many elements and free internet and power are a part of the formula. I hate to give Schultz too much credit, but our local Starbucks met his goal in the days after Irene and I suspect he would have been proud. Very seldom do vision and results ever match as closely as this.

Have you ever seen a leadership vision and results align this closely? What was the situation?

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Power On!!!

Where has LiaV been? It has been four weeks since we last heard.

Simple enough, a week vacation and week in China and a week in India and a week in Irene! Just got power and internet back a little while ago. We got hit pretty hard, but much less than many on the coast line and in Vermont so I’m not going to tell you it was really bad. It was an event and there were few lessons.

First – we do not need much of the stuff that we have. I lived out of a suitcase for 3 weeks and then in the post-Irene world for a week. It is not a big deal. Being without power for five days made the house a quiet and dark place, but totally livable. The BBQ was going each night and everyone was helping each other. We should have started a multi-day Monopoly game.

Second – Web 2.0 technology has morphed from something for kids and shopping to a basic communication tool for those needing to get and give information. The city of New Canaan had one-way communication on their web site but their Office of Emergency Management established a Facebook page early. This allowed for two way communication and created an environment for people to communicate with each other. It made a big difference in causing everyone to work together and be part of the solution. What was the single technology that allowed this leap – the smart-phone. It does not require connected power or internet access.

There are lessons here for leaders of all types. What do you think we can do with these lessons?

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When do leaders risk it all?

After a beautiful week of surf and fun in Huntington Beach, CA, it came down to the finals of the men’s Nike US Open of Surfing competition with reigning 10-Time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, FL) versust Yadin Nicol (Australia) at the iconic Huntington Beach Pier.

Slater had been surfing well all week. Nicol had been making average waves into big scores for 9 days. So, what does the contender do to overcome the champion? In this case he took a risk and tried something new. Nicol went out deeper than he had all week, became extremely patient and waited for the big wave to catch an awesome score. Unfortunately for him, there was no perfect wave Sunday afternoon and he went the 30 minute segment without surfing a single wave. Slater won with a few decent scores on average waves. The fans were disappointed and Nicol was not a happy camper.

This does beg the question about when is the right time to take a risk and try something different. In a serious situation, do you go with the familiar or try something completely new? Do you go for the big score or win the old fashion way?

If this surfing championship were a business situation, what approach would you have taken? Has it worked for you in the past?

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“Vibe Tribe”

“We can’t paint the plant exterior this weekend because the hippies are coming to town.” Say what? Dave made this statement in a Facilities review a week ago. What could he possibly be talking about? It was the 4 day Gathering of the Vibes Music and Art Festival at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT. I figured for sure, there was some stereotyping going on. I blogged a couple weeks ago about the Clearwater Music Festival and I did not think any event could bring out more hippies.

I’ve shared the leadership lessons from Coachella, Austin City Limits and Clearwater. Generally, these festivals offer us all an opportunity to experience diversity. The Vibes was no exception. This was a celebration of the 1960’s era along with more contemporary. Many world peace organizations had platforms and booths the share information about their causes.

What out of the ordinary experience did you have this weekend?

PS – Anyone LIAV members been to Bonnaroo? That’s next.

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Do you create Charlies?

This skinny kid with wavy hair and bright eyes wandered down to the end of the court where my nephew and I shooting hoops. This kid is probably only 13 years old and says “you guys want to play some twenty-one or something?” As it turns out, the kid has game but struggles against our size and experience.

Charlie tells us he caddied at the golf course early this morning and played hoops in his drive most the day. He was bored playing by himself so his mom drove him to the city court. Turns out, we were the only guys playing that hot evening. Charlie was headed to basketball camp the next week and planned to play freshman high school ball when the school year starts. This kid has passion for what he is doing. Can you imagine a work team with the passion of Charlie? “Drive – The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” by Daniel H. Pink asks the question, “why will we do something for free that we would not do for pay?” Part of the secret is to align the individual’s passion with the available assignments.

How do you capitalize on the innate passion of your teammates? How do you keep your own passion aligned?

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Cereal Killer

Ok. I admit it. I am a self confessed “cereal killer.” I have been since as a teenager I could devour a whole box of Cheerios at one sitting. If you were hearing this admission rather than reading it, this would be a very concerning blog post. This phenomenon happens all the time with the English language and even worse when communicating with someone whose English is a second language.

It happened one time when I was mentoring a young Chinese born manufacturing professional as I and asked her if she “ever planned to enter a cleaner side of the industry?” Her reaction was obvious and I came to learn she thought I was insinuating she might enter the dry cleaning industry. It happened internationally a couple weeks ago when the words “blame” and “hold accountable” were used interchangeably. They definitely have difference connotations in the United States. The funniest wording mix-up I’ve heard came from a friend that publically said she forgot her “pants” instead of “trousers” while in the UK. That brought a lot of smiles.

Have you learned from an important mistake? Does it happen within the United States too?

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Hippy Power

The tickets never arrived. They were using a home grown system. The help line was overrun and they could not keep up with email traffic. We were deciding whether it was worth driving to the show and not getting in. We did and it was no problem. We explained the problem to the hippy at the “ticket solutions” tent and he sent us into the festival.

I’m talking about the Clearwater Music & Environmental Festival at Croton Point Park in New York. The music drew us to the event, but the diversity of thought at this event was stimulating. In April 2009, I posted a blog about forcing yourself to become immersed in Gen Y diversity. This weekend was about being overcome by Boomer diversity. Clearwater has an interesting way of exposing one to a world displaying where all the hippies landed. The event was “zero waste” and energy neutral. The 30 plus activist booths included knowledgeable and passionate people of many causes. It was an eye opening experience.

What did you do this month to meet a group of people outside you normal sphere? Can you inquire and learn from people you do not necessarily agree with?

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Ignoring a problem is accepting it

This weekend, my brother, nephew and I laid 300 square feet of Connecticut gray slate in the back yard. They were heavy, awkward and dangerous. We wore the proper hand and eye protection and there were no injuries.

As a leader, every time you walk by an unsafe working practice you are accepting it? We do not get the choice to ignore it. Sooner or later, someone gets hurt bad.

The safety pyramid was brought to my attention late last week and appreciated its simplicity. For every so many bad practices something will happen. For so many events happening, a something really bad happens. And so on. H.W. Heinrich, a pioneer of occupational safety, came up with the original accident pyramid in 1931.

Do you speak up when you see something unsafe or done dangerously?

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Never give up

The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 was this past Sunday. 500 miles in 200 laps around a 2.5 mile, 4 turn historic track.

I can’t bring myself to watch two full hours of racing, but I definitely like the finish of this race given the distinguished field of international racers. There were the normal contenders and the new hopefuls. At the end of it all, rookie J.R. Hildebrand had the lead going into the last lap. He was ahead by a lot and simply had to stay on the course to win. Sounds easy, but it didn’t happen. On the last turn, Hildebrand slid out and crashed into the wall allowing Dan Weldon to slip by within 100 feet of the finish line to take the victory. Weldon had not led the race for a single lap up to that point. He had no hope of winning and most of the afternoon was about staying in the race. Can you imagine the coaching Weldon got that afternoon during the long two hours from his crew in the pit.

Often as leader, you have to coach your team to stay the course, plow ahead and good things will happen. Even the most insightful lead does not know for sure that perseverance will pay off, but we do know without it, we are doomed. Weldon stayed in the won.

Have you had to coach in what seemed like a losing effort? How did you motivate the team? Did the victory ever jump from the jaws of defeat?

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Sometimes leaders do have the answer

It was getting late Friday afternoon and time to go home. That’s when Jamal stepped into my office and asked if it was ok to close the door. Jamal is a hard working young professional that has a lot of promise. Unfortunately, he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

After beating around the bush for what seemed like forever, he shared what was bothering him. He said the situation was keeping him up at night and making him ill. Without going into too much detail, his challenge was one of being pursued by multiple managers while balancing loyalty to his home department. There more details. Once I had the pertinent facts, the answer and approach Jamal had to take was clear. Of course, clear to me given 30 years of organizational experience. “Great performers get choices and other may not.” I explained to him how I would handle the situation to maximize everyone’s satisfaction. You could see the weight removed. It is true, sometimes leaders do have the answer and they must simply share it. I wondered as I drove home, what Jamal would have done this weekend had I not been available or had not taken the time to talk.

As a leader, do you give direct and unambiguous opinion when appropriate? Do you tell it straight even when it may not be what someone wants to hear

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