“Log Out and Live”™

I live in both real and virtual worlds.  My job involves leading a culturally diverse team spread around the globe.  Multiple time zones, languages and environments make the use of technology a must to be efficient and timely.

We all live the real world where we eat, sleep, exercise, and interact socially.  These can often seem distinctly different from our work world of email, text, web meetings and collaboration centers.  I was preparing to run in the Fairfield Half Marathon this morning and ran into a special group of entrepreneurs.  There product is a cause – Log Out and Live™.  It is hard to argue our kids need to get off their computers and go outside and play!  The message of Log Out and Live is equally directed at adults.  It reminds us of the importance of social interaction with actual people.  Yes – they are using technology to spread their message. As a leader, it caused me to step back and consider the team interaction activities I create daily.  Should some of my emails have been phone calls?  Should some of my phone calls have been personal visits? Should some of my office meetings have been walks on the campus green?

Do you make decisions to avoid technology when appropriate?  How do you balance the speed and time zone advantages of technology with the value of personal social interaction?

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Learning does not wait for you to be ready

I was tired, hungry and not in the mood to explore and learn any more.  We had spent the day discovering new and hidden locations in the Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea areas of New York City.  I had walked past this location many times and never visited.  I did not miss it before and would not feel disappointed missing it this time.

The funny thing about knowledge and learning is that it does not happen when you want it.  We climbed the first stairs of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, often referred to as the main branch of the New York Public Library system.  It is a Beaux-Arts landmark structure on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.  The Astor and Mcgraw rotundas were very interesting, but the Rose Reading room on the third floor was absolutely amazing (See photo).  Every visitor to NYC should find the time to see this structure inside and out.  As leaders, we need to be willing to force ourselves to learn even when we are not in the mood.  We must be the role models and demonstrate the value of an open mind.

How often do you turn off your learning sensors because you are not in the mood?  How do you re-energize to allow yourself to open up at these critical times?

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“He treats me like…”

You see it often on TV or in the movies.  One person in the stall of a restroom overhears the conversation of two other talking at the sink.  Usually it is something humorous of filled with important plot lines.

I had the opportunity to hear one teammate telling another about his new job and boss.  Speaking about the new boss, he said “He treats me like I’m the only employee that works here.”  That is a seriously strong statement.  Everyone wants to work for a boss like this. 

It was automatic.  I wanted a boss like that.  What a selfish way of viewing the world.  It took me a few more thoughts and realized what I really wanted – I wanted to become the boss that people say that about!  I thought of the little things leaders can do now to make people feel they are a priority – moving from the desk, computer or phone for a discussion; not checking their email on a Blackberry/iPhone while talking; eye contact; asking probing questions; and remembering to say thank you.  It became obvious how easy it is to be above average.

What do you do to make your team feel important and valued?

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Generally, an equity stock is issued at a par value of $1 and the market adjusts this number based on the amount of value created by the issuing company.  Things that add value include profits, intellectual property, inventions, goodwill, products and inflation.

Not long ago, I posted a blog on understanding our individual handling fee (the cost of having you on a team). Upon more thought, there is more to this theme.  If all leaders start a new position with a par value of $1, then our immediate goal is to increase that number.  Over time, it is very possible that our par value can drop.  As we transfer our skills and knowledge to our team, implement documented processes, deploy performance metrics and recruit great talent, our personal value decreases.  We are no longer needed as much. Once our handling fee is known, this too is subcontracted from your par value. 

We increase our value by taking on additional responsibility and assignments, learning new skills, familiarizing ourselves with products and markets, gaining additional degrees and certifications, exporting talent into the organization and building strong peer relationships.  We all need to know our value proposition and its relationship to our handling fee and par value. 

What is you value proposition?  Is it increasing or decreasing?  Are you taking action? Do you care?

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“It’s about the work”

LiaV does not sell or endorse products or books, but now and then something hits me in the head like a 2X4. I’m generally a Tom Peters fan based on the simplicity of his message. A colleague shared Peter’s 1999 book “The Project 50 (Reinventing Work): Fifty Ways to Transform Every Task" into a Project That Matters!”
The message in the book is so easy. It is about the work. It is the leader’s job to make the work worth doing. We have all heard the story of the two masons. One is mason was endlessly adding bricks to a wall and the other mason was building a cathedral. Communicating the big picture is a leadership challenge. Making the work worth doing is another. Having written so many LiaV blog posts on effective leadership, this book was a great reminder that it is not always about the leader.

How do you communicate the big picture to your team? Do you eliminate work not worth doing?

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Cadence

Why do teams that least need audits and management reviews want them the most and the ones that need them the most want them the least? The C-17 program is a high performing organization that has won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award twice. They viewed audits as opportunities to improve and management reviews as a chance to receive free consulting.

I was in India last week to review progress on two start-up projects at critical inflection points. Each asked for relief from the next management review in terms of timing, length and intensity. What causes this dichotomy? The difference seems to result from the cadence maturity of the organization. Some teams refer to this cadence as their operating rhythm or battle rhythm. Simply put, it is the normal report and review schedule conducted on a program. It seems the teams that look forward to the reviews do so because they are always ready (i.e., tour-ready, review-ready, etc.). They do not prepare to discuss about their performance metrics, progress, achievements and challenges.

Have you experience this same dichotomy? How have you helped teams mature to the review-ready state?

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Flying under the radar

The train Saturday was standing room only and most everyone was wearing green. Some were going to their first and others go every year. Many have heard of it, but the event flies under the radar.

Saturday was 17 March and the event was the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. 2012 was the 251st celebration of the oldest, largest and most attended parade in New York City. We all know about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and probably assumed this event held these honors. It is a celebration for the Irish and those who want to be Irish for the day. There are no outside influences, advertisers or national TV coverage. It is just fun for those that attend.

There is definitely something to be said for flying under the radar on occasion. I’ve seen many teams accomplish amazing results only to be benchmarked and told there are better ways. I’ve seen teams achieve outstanding employee engagement scores only to be questioned about how hard they work. Sometimes good results should be allowed to be just what they are. No more.

Have you seen a good deed go punished? Are there situations where you think it is ok for a team to not advertise amazing results?

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Take a minute, please!

You have to draft a written response to one of the following scenarios:

Scenario 1: The new proposal was drafted by a team of people that do not fully understand the technical situation and have a goal of creating issues for your progress.

Scenario 2: The new proposal was drafted by well a intentioned team wanting to be transparent, but they just don’t know what they don’t know.

It is easy to see how each scenario would create a very different written response on your part. What if I told you there is almost always someone that can tell you exactly which situation is the most accurate. I had a recent situation similar to this and almost selected the wrong choice. This would have hurt feelings and likely caused my objectives more harm. I asked an unlikely source and found the truth. I changed the nature and tone of my response and was very successful.

How often do you take that extra time to learn the context of the messages you receive? How often when you don’t, do you get it wrong and create more harm than good?

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“What is a centerfold?”

The national park ranger leading the tour of the Thomas Edison estate described the vestibule painting as very expensive, risqué and the equivalent of today’s centerfold hung in a family gathering area. As he shared other noteworthy points and concluded his comments, he asked if there were any questions. The little boy in the front of the crowd asked, “What is a centerfold?” It was humorous to see the ranger’s reaction and how fast the boy’s mother said she would explain it to him in the car.

That witty exchange made me think of the many times we as leaders say things that we think are being understood, but really are not. This is particularly acute on the international stage. Sport analogies are the most common. Push it over the goal line. In the red zone. Hook slide. Slam dunk. In the chucks. They are endless, but what if the people you are talking to do not share the same enthusiasm for sport that you do? Do you take the time to ensure the things you say have enough flavor to be interesting but also understood?

What types of communication issues have you experienced and how have you solved them?

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Annual Career Message – “Where’s the Gift?”

“Can you believe I got a 2 on the “Communication” competency on my review and he couldn’t even explain what it is I don’t do properly?” Sound familiar? I hear it every year, so every year I re-publish this “Where’s the Gift?” posting.
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It’s February. Plus or minus a few weeks and many people will sit with their boss and have a performance review discussion. Hopefully this was preceded by many candid conversations and career exploratory talks. While we will all be focused on the numbers or ratings, I’d encourage you to look for the real gift in the discussion – those 1 or 2 things you can do differently or better to really excel your performance. Nigel J.A. Bristow (“Where's the Gift? How to achieve phenomenal success by discovering the gift in all feedback”) shares that we often are not looking for the gift, sometimes do not like the way it is wrapped or we find it hard to identify in the packaging.

The two worst types of feedback are “you’re doing great, keep doing what you’re doing” or “you need to step it up” but without anything specific to improve. We need to want candid feedback. If your boss does not automatically provide it, ask for your “gift”. Just as important and as uncomfortable as it may seem, we need to make sure we make bosses feel the feedback is desired and we are going to do something with it.

How do you make sure you get real performance feedback?

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Make it real

In a world where CEOs are super heroes or mass villains, it is often easy to forget the little things that make great leaders great. A colleague emailed me this Harvard Business Review “The Idea” interview with Doug Conant, former CEO of the Campbell Soup Company.

What caught my attention is the simplicity of Mr. Conant’s engagement priorities. Be real and make sure people know what you’re doing. There is little more real than receiving a hand written note from the boss. When he does his MBWA (management by walking around – Tom Peters), he puts on his “walking shoes” so people know he is walking around. You have to love the simplicity.

Do people understand your messages? Do they wonder what you stand for? How have you successfully delivered your message?

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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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