Are You a Maximizer? Part 2

See Part 1 to assess where you are on the continuum.

What are the implications for how you make choices when you are in a Leadership role?

The Maximizer in you can make a great manager when you leverage your thoroughness, are careful about decisions, and hold your teams to high standards. On the extreme end, however, you can come across as a controlling perfectionist who is impossible to please and who overanalyzes everything.

Satisfiers’ strengths as managers can be your flexibility, your speedier decision-making, and your willingness to set general criteria without obsessing about the details. If your Satisfier is on steroids, you may be too willing to settle quickly, fail to review decisions made, or accept mediocrity.

The best leaders recognize that a balanced and flexible style works best. Sometimes the project or decision really IS important, and in those circumstances it is important to follow the details closely and progress carefully at every stage.  Let’s face it, though – most of the work done in organizations needs to be done well, not perfectly.

So the best approach, which lies halfway between Satisfying and Maximizing, is to work with your team to set very clear expectations about outcomes and deadlines – the WHAT you want – but then leave the smart people you hired to identify the path they will follow  — the HOW — to meet those expectations, without you watching over their shoulders or demanding perfection at every step

Remember, Leadership is not about a title: Anyone can be a leader who adjusts their decision-making style based on the relative importance of a the work – knowing when to hold high standards and take it slowly & carefully, and when to allow flexibility and focus on progress vs. perfection.

Let Go of Your Stress this Holiday!

For two years I’ve been talking about diving in to video.  Many of you have asked for it. I finally made a public commitment (gulp!) in October to make and post a video on my website by year end.  Then, having accepted that my PC was inadequate for video work, I leaped into the Mac world.

What you’re about to see was filmed on my iPhone 3G, edited in iMovie on my brand new iMac computer, and tested on my iPad.

TIPS FOR A LESS-STRESS HOLIDAY

Click on the image to view the newsletter on YouTube, or just follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSwTTSiS8_I

P.S. I invite you to let go of your inner editor. Yes, I know that this video is “too long,” it has episodes of poor lighting, and some of the edits are choppy.  On the other hand, it is DONE, and for a first-ever video clip, I’m pretty happy with it.  Please, enjoy!

TIPS FOR AN UNHAPPY WORKFORCE

Most employees are already Unhappy, so it doesn’t take much effort to nudge them into Insecurity, as well. Here’s a quick reminder of how easy it is to keep your ungrateful subordinates in their place: under your control.**

1. Keep Them Guessing. Tell them nothing that’s not essential to their tiny little jobs.  First, it’s none of their business.  Second, they’re probably too stupid to understand important business concepts like you do.
2. Watch Them Like a Hawk. Show them why they can’t be Trusted.  Check their bags for smuggled company pens.  When you spot phone numbers of friends or family on the call log, highlight those and send an invoice; as a convenience, offer to dock their pay rather than requiring a bank check.
3. Isolation is Your Best Offense. When you see coworkers talking, tell them that sharing ANY company information is a terminable offense.  Don’t communicate with other departments; if no one knows what you do, it will be easier to act hurt or outraged when your budget gets cut.
4. Leverage Fear to Keep Your Calendar Clear. To minimize useless meetings, loudly slam things around when you’re in your office alone.  If you don’t have walls, put on your headset and pretend you are screaming on conference calls.  Avoid eye contact with underlings – it creates false hope that you are approachable.
5. Remind Them Why You’re the Boss. When you know the answer to a problem, say it quickly so you can demonstrate how smart you are.  If you don’t know the answer, sit back and let them solve it, then point out your excellent facilitation skills.

Remember, It’s ALL about the Title: Who needs to learn leadership skills when fear, intimidation, and the exercise of raw power can get the job done with less effort?  Tell your people to get happy on their own time, not yours.

**P.S. Note from Jim: I did NOT have to make up any of this. Each of these bad behaviors came from stories shared by audience members.  Hopefully none of them work for you!

I Don’t Want to be a Superstar; I just want to be ME!

I wish inspirational commercials like this were actually run on television, where they could reach more people and offer positive messages in the media.

It’s a minute and a half, and the most powerful message comes right at the end: I don’t want to be a superstar; I want to be better than that. I just want to be me!

Don’t Use these Four Dirty Words at Work!

Here are four words that you should not tolerate in the workplace:

FAKE – this is toxic for a leader.  If you do not show up in an Authentic way, people will sense it.  Be genuine.

FEAR – when we are uncomfortable, we tend to withdraw.  Leaders must step into the DIScomfort of difficult conversations, doing what is right in the face of their fear.

FINE – is the enemy of great.  When someone tells you they are “fine,” sit down and find out what’s wrong, or what you can do to help them move forward.  If the project status is “fine,” seek what will make it fabulous or excellent!

FAIL – if you cannot tolerate failure, you stifle learning.  Give permission — to self and others — to fail forward.

Remember, Leadership is not about a title: Anyone can be a leader who refuses to accept from their teammates anything less than their best — and who allows people to fail as part of the learning process!

Leadership as Art: Envision the Future

Often we speak of improving some aspect of the workplace, but because the world is moving so fast we believe we must do EVERYTHING while in full sprint mode.  While “making it up as you go” is a legitimate strategy sometimes, is it the best approach to building your future?

Stop.  Take a breath. Put some words on paper to anchor your plan.  Get in front of a blank whiteboard and Draw the new flow.  First, envision the future!

Next, do it in miniature to understand how it will work. Let others see the work so they can start to buy in to your vision.  Implement just parts of the idea to set a framework; or roll out the whole idea in just one part of the organization.  Adjust your vision based on what you learn in executing the “miniature.”

THEN pick up your brush and paints and go to work on the big canvas…

Remember, Leadership is not about a title: Anyone can be a leader who is willing to step back from the daily rush, take a breath, and create the space to “play” with a goal until it feels very clear and familiar.

P.S. If you currently lead a company or division and seek a way to create real change, real fast, you may be interested in our unique Rapid Culture Assimilation™ process, which starts with vision clarity and brings it to life via a series of expanding Conversations across the organization.  You can learn more about the process here.

What are you planting for your future?

I recently took inspiration from a retelling of this story, which speaks to the power of Integrity.

The Emperor and The Seed (unattributed)

Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it was coming time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or one of his own children, he decided to do something different.

He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, “It has come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you.” The people were shocked! But the emperor continued. “I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!”

There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown.

After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept going home and checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by. Still nothing.

By now others were talking about their plants but Ling didn’t have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed.

Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn’t say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace.

When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, “Hey nice try.”

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!”

All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. “The emperor knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!”

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling,” he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!” Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today.

But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grown, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!”

What are you planting for your life and your business? When you plant integrity, you will reap success.  It may not come in the form of $$, but it will show up in how you feel about yourself, how you treat yourself, and how you are perceived by others.

“With integrity you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide. With integrity you will do the right thing, so you will have no guilt. With fear and guilt removed you are free to be and do your best.” – Zig Ziglar

True Leaders Sustain

When the business blockbuster Good to Great was published in 2001, author Jim Collins introduced us to the distinction between “celebrity” leaders vs “Level 5” leaders. Both get the job done for their companies; they are very different in their How.

The results achieved by celebrity leaders often decline or disappear when they move on, because the primary tool they bring to problem-solving is the force of their personality.  The Level 5 leader on the other hand, keeps the focus on building systems that can be sustained even when players change.

Another difference between the two is the way they respond to success and crisis. The celebrity looks in the mirror to give credit for success, and out the window to assign blame; the Level 5, in contrast, looks in the mirror to assign blame and looks out the window for someone to credit with success.

From my first reading of this book, I named the distinction “Manager vs Leader,” and still see it that way today. The bottom line is that true leaders (the Level 5) step outside of themselves and the comfort of knowing, and into the DIScomfort of not knowing and taking care of others.  There is nothing wrong with being a manager…but the BEST results come from those who model and nurture strong leadership in their organizations.

Remember, Leadership is not about a title: Anyone can be a leader who builds sustainable systems that best serve the organization, respects people, and shines the spotlight on others, first.

7 Ways to Turn Your Organization Upside Down

One of the major obstacles to change and growth in an organization is something we call “Organizational Inertia.” In physics, inertia is: the tendency of matter to remain at rest if at rest, or, if moving, to keep moving in the same direction, unless affected by some outside force.” In common language this means that people – especially in bureaucratic systems – will repeat old behavior and defend the status quo even when they are not getting the results they want.

One way to create change, then, is to exert an “outside force” on the existing system. In other words, change the workspace and you’ll change the way people behave in that space.

Seven Ways You Can Turn Your Organization Upside Down and Backwards to create new perspective:

1. Begin every meeting with a “good news report” instead of a “what’s broken” report. You’ll shift the mood of the room into a more creative, optimistic space, which will lead to better problem-solving and faster-decision-making.
2. Shift primary responsibility for employee assessment from managers to their team members. I speak from ten years of personal experience when I promise you that (once people receive basic training in the process) the quality and depth of performance feedback will INCREASE when individuals shift from passive receivers to active partners in their performance appraisal process.
3. Add an Upward Appraisal to your feedback system.  If you’re really serious about improving leadership in your organization, add an element of upward feedback to encourage frank conversation about teamwork (even entry-level folks have great ideas about what their manager could be doing to support them better!)
4. Write “contracts” with project team members, versus impose deliverables..  Goals created in a conversation of mutual commitment are more likely to energize AND get met, on time, than goals imposed from “on high” without negotiation.
5. Engage team members in the process of selecting new members of the team, or even (gasp) their new boss.  When people are invested in the hiring decision, they will view that person’s success in a different – and more positive — way.
6. Ask people what they think BEFORE you make your decision. Yep, that’s what I said.  Hold as a possibility that you DON’T know everything!
7. Hold (at least some of) your meetings standing up. Notice how the energy of a meeting shifts and becomes more efficient when the physical props change.

ACTION ITEM: Hold this question in front of you for the next month: How might I challenge the status quo, shift the environment, or create new ways for people to work together?

Remember, Leadership is not about a title: Anyone can be a leader who deliberately seeks ways to challenge organizational inertia, and strives to help others step up and take a more active and engaged role in their work.

How do you react when your world view is challenged?

WARNING: THIS POST MAY CAUSE YOU TO REACT STRONGLY – OR NOT. Please read the notes in blue before you read the main article.

This post is not about happiness, but it is about coaching. It is about noticing something about yourself — specifically, how do you react when you are confronted with something that really pushes your buttons?

I follow Seth Godin’s blog.  Seth is a prolific, creative, and in-your-face-highly-provocative thinker.  He challenges other’s perspectives.  He provokes and argues opposite angles.  I follow him because much of his work is in marketing, an area I study for my business.

A couple days ago, Seth published a piece that really challenged my thinking. When I followed the links to his data sources, I discovered some really vitriolic comments and a lot of fear and anger… not because of Seth, but because of the topic.   I had to read his post and the source articles several times to even absorb the message, because it is so wildly different from my world view and what I believe.

WHY AM I RE-POSTING HIS STUFF?

Because this is at the heart of real change. One the most significant obstacles to real change in human beings is that we believe stuff — and when our core beliefs are challenged, we tend to react by either ignoring new data that disproves our beliefs OR we vehemently argue against the new belief, to prove that we are right.

In my coaching, I help my clients step back and OBSERVE themselves, and notice their own beliefs and their behaviors and reactions. When you can observe yourself objectively, you become incredibly powerful at making new choices, considering new possibilities, or changing your behavior.  But first, you must NOTICE how you react and how you believe.

I invite you to read this post AS A COACHING EXERCISE.  If you are curious, follow the links to the Stats and the Images (below).  I do NOT advocate one point of view over another, but I ask the same question as Seth does:  How does this resonate with you?

Again, I am not making a statement — this is just a coaching exercise. See my questions at the end, in blue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The triumph of coal marketing

Do you have an opinion about nuclear power? About the relative safety of one form of power over another? How did you come to this opinion?

Here are the stats, and here’s the image. A non-exaggerated but simple version of his data:

For every person killed by nuclear power generation, 4,000 die due to coal, adjusted for the same amount of power produced… You might very well have excellent reasons to argue for one form over another. Not the point of this post. The question is: did you know about this chart? How does it resonate with you?

Vivid is not the same as true. It’s far easier to amplify sudden and horrible outcomes than it is to talk about the slow, grinding reality of day to day strife. That’s just human nature. Not included in this chart are deaths due to global political instability involving oil fields, deaths from coastal flooding and deaths due to environmental impacts yet unmeasured, all of which skew it even more if you think about it.

This chart unsettles a lot of people, because there must be something wrong with it. Further proof of how easy it is to fear the unknown and accept what we’ve got.

I think that any time reality doesn’t match your expectations, it means that marketing was involved. Perhaps it was advertising, or perhaps deliberate story telling by an industry. Or perhaps it was just the stories we tell one another in our daily lives. It’s sort of amazing, even to me, how much marketing colors the way we see the world–our reaction (either way) to this chart is proof of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK, end of Seth’s post.  Here are your questions:

1. Were you able to OBSERVE your reaction, or were you subject to your reaction?
2. Were you able to respect this point of view as a valid one (even if you disagree?) or did you feel compelled to immediately argue with it?

If the latter, pay attention, as you may be doing that in many parts of your life and be totally unaware of how rigidly you see the world.  This is not about being right or wrong, but about being able to hold multiple, sometimes conflicting view points so you can hold more reasonable conversations and make your decisions from a more informed/wider base.

OK.  Take a deep breath.  Thanks for playing the Leadership Game.

Next Page »