Management Craft

Talent Management Defined - According to ASTD and Study Participants

Check out this article by ASTD researcher Andrew Paradise on the ASTD website called, Talent Management Defined - which summarizes findings from a survey of professionals. Here's the bottom line:

Developing consensus on a valid definition of talent management was a priority for ASTD because past research has revealed that common, agreed-upon definitions are scarce. After considerable review by a panel of experts, the following definition was adopted: a holistic approach to optimizing human capital, which enables an organization to drive short- and long-term results by building culture, engagement, capability, and capacity through integrated talent acquisition, development, and deployment processes that are aligned to business goals.

Pretty good definition, I think. What do you think? It's a bit of OD-speak, but that is to be expected since it is not a term created by operational folks. I have a simple model I have been using to help organizations assess and align their TM system and this definition fits right in.

Check out the whole article.

Lisa's Upcoming Talks

Here are some of the places I will be this summer and Fall. Join in! Also, if you see I am coming to your city and would like to put a talk or training program together, send me an email. This is just a partial list, and I will update it. I have several other talks in the works in conjunction with the launch of Hip and Sage, which comes out in late May.

I have THREE trips planned to DC - I will be speaking at the ASTD International conference May 31-June 3 and then will be back for meetings mid-June and for the two-day Developing Great Managers workshop I am facilitating in late October.

I will be in Chicago July 27 & 28 to facilitate another Developing Great Managers and ASTD is thinking of adding another date in Orlando in December. This is going to be a fun workshop - I hope you can attend.

I have trainings in Leitchfield, KY in mid-may and Streetsboro, OH in mid-June. I will be doing work in Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland this summer. Cleveland again in December.

I will be back in Seattle doing an event for the city June 15. Actually, I will be in Seattle several times over the next few months.

I plan on being in southern California a couple of times in the June-August time frame.

Working on a group of talks in Jacksonville FL this Fall.

Working on a project in Newark, NJ for the Fall. Will likely be in Boston late July.

Others: Albuquerque in July. Bhutan by way of Bankok in November.

Employee Engagement & Excellence

I did a webinar on employee engagement today. In it I offered the following premises:

1. People get things done.
2. How well people do things varies.
3. Excellence is discretionary.
4. Excellence is required to help a an organization get through tough times. All hearts and minds on deck.
5. Employee engagement is the ONLY fuel you have for producing excellence.

Follow the logic? Because discretionary effort is one expression of engagement and because the difference between so-so and excellence is discretionary effort, engagement is the key to excellence.

Managers and leaders - are you being the kind of leader who inspires engagement (excellence) or are you the kind of leader who fails to catalyze the work environment?

If you are not quite there yet, here is the good news. You have everything you need to enliven engagement. Are you using it?

BTW - I am not saying that all discretionary effort produces excellence - I am saying that excellence cannot occur without discretionary effort.

We pause for a moment to bring you a song....

Let's get Monday started off with a bang, shall we?

If you are a long time reader of Management Craft, you may remember that my brother, Perry Devine, wrote a song called Breakthrough for the launch of my book, Two Weeks to a Breakthrough (it is still the first song written for a biz book that I know of). It is a great song about the nature of breakthroughs. You can hear Breakthrough set to a video/PPT on You Tube here. I still love watching it and listening to the song.

Perry has just come out with another song that also has a transformational quality to it. And while it is not a song written to go with one of my books, if I were to write a biz book to go with his song, it would be about interconnectedness and the importance of the overall system of one thing leading to another. I have not said that very well, and perhaps that is why I am not the song writer.

Systems and connections.

I thought you might enjoy listening to this positive song as you begin your week - you can download it free here on Perry's Facebook page. It is called, River of Life. River of Life is the first song listed, click on "Free MP3."

Steve Farber - Greater Than Yourself

Here is a guest post from Steve Farber, author of Greater Than Yourself. I had this book on my much ignored to-be-read stack (due to moving chaos) for some time but finally took it with me on a recent trip. The thing about parable books, which this is, is that you can't skim the content and figure things out because it is a story and the lessons/points are IN THERE. They typically are not bolded, bulleted, or put into a lovely graph. Many - millions - love the parable books for just this reason, they don't resemble traditional business books. I like the book - it is a kick in the butt that delivers a message about what leadership can be used for, and ought to be used for - helping improve the world and developing others. It is not about US after all, our leadership is something we can use to become much greater than ourselves.

Check out this podcast with Steve Farber from my pal, Wayne, the Cranky Middle Manager.

And here is Steve's guest post. Enjoy.

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The New Gold Standard of Leadership: A Counterintuitive Approach to Rising from Adversity

By Steve Farber, Author of Greater Than Yourself: The Ultimate Lesson of True Leadership

A while back, I received a distressed email from Ken, a young manager at a high-tech company.

Ken and I had never met, but he had read my first two books and had done his best to apply the ideas and practices of Extreme Leadership to the way he'd led his team.  To their culture, their work ethic, their camaraderie.  When necessary, Ken told me, they would band together and work hard -- 10 to 20 hours a day at times -- to solve a problem or meet a pressing need.  Ken's wife would cook food for everyone and bring it to the office. They felt like a family, he said, committed to doing great work and devoted to one another's success.  No one ever complained, least of all Ken. At one point, he'd even forgone his bonus so his employees could collect theirs.

And then something happened. A downturn, a re-org, a shift in the management structure -- we all know the drill.  Ken still had a job, but his position was eliminated.  New management full of old ideas came in to oversee the department's function and the emotional fibers that connected Ken's team to each other and to their work unraveled.

"Now," Ken wrote, "for the last 4 weeks I sat at my cubicle, web surfing for 8 hours a day at the same company where I once worked 39 hours straight with my team to make things right, never going home.

"I'm not a quitter; I don't want to leave.  But -- just or unjust -- I feel stripped of everything we've done" he said. "So the advice I'm looking for is this:

"How do you get back up?"

Even though I've spent the last 20 years coaching leaders and consulting to management teams, I was still loath to respond.  After all, I had only the sketchiest of details about Ken's situation, and it was just presumptuous of me to assume I could help him with a few pithy words of advice. Nonetheless, I did have an idea for him, and I instinctively felt that it could make a huge, positive difference in Ken's life -- and in the life of those he worked with.

And it wasn't the kind of management or leadership advice you'd expect.

It's already become a cliché to say that we live in unprecedented, challenging times.  We all know it.  But the truth is, the world of work is always challenging.  That's why they call it "work."

No matter the industry, market, or type of company you work in, you've had to deal with some combination of the classic work-place obstacles, issues, and barriers to a successful leadership experience.

At some time or another, for example, you've reported to bosses or people in positions of "greater authority" who were self-centered at best, and idiotically egotistical at worst.  They took all the credit and none of the blame and could care less whether or not you succeeded or failed.  Or worse, they preferred that you'd fail, and took great pleasure in your struggles because they felt it made them look stronger.

Or perhaps you worked in a company that, even though populated by terrific human beings, was so obsessed with the bottom line and shareholder value that you were forced to make strategic decisions that compromised your own employees' abilities to serve the customer.  And as your employees grew more frustrated, the customer sat levels plunged, which made you and your employees more frustrated.  And so on.

You may have been in an environment that was hyper-competitive to the point of paranoid, risk-averse to the point of stifling, or so political that it made you consider running for local office just to get some relief.

We've all experienced some combination of these themes with varying levels of intensity.  And we've all spent some amount of time and energy navigating our way through the challenges that come from trying to lead in those conditions. It's just the price we pay for being managers.  And human beings.

Now, add to that the current, sucking implosion in the economy, and it's easy to see why, with all our efforts to be positive, productive leaders, we still get knocked down from time to time.  Sometimes way down.

Our knee-jerk reaction in times of crisis is to hold on tighter, to be more cautious in our actions, and more protective of our resources.  We think that our way out -- or up -- will come by virtue of shoring up and hoarding what we have.

There is, however, a much more powerful course of action, which -- though counterintuitive in these hyper-competitive times -- is based on a timeless reality of true leadership:

Your own greatness as a leader lies, paradoxically, in your ability to cause others to be greater than yourself.

Said another way, your (and my) best way out of a leadership challenge or crisis is not to focus on your own peril or rut, but, instead, to reach out and try to boost someone else over your head.

The idea should sound familiar.  It's really just a variation on the "do unto others" sentiment of the Golden Rule, a philosophy that exists in virtually all religions, schools of thought, and philosophies on the planet. And in none of those versions -- not one -- will you find a footnote saying, "Does not apply Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 to 5 or in any situation where a paycheck is involved."
So the solution I offered to Ken was this:

Instead of wallowing in your own despair, pick someone at work to invest in, with the intent of making that person greater than you are.  Be a coach, guide, or mentor in the truest, most personal sense of the words by choosing someone to be your GTY (Greater Than Yourself) project, and see what that does to your own predicament, your own state of mind.

Maybe it was out of desperation, but as surprised as he was by the curve ball I'd thrown him, Ken took my advice and agreed to the challenge.

Two weeks later, Ken wrote to say that he'd thought deeply about our conversation and had come to realize that before he could lift someone else up by sharing his knowledge and experience, he needed to be sure that he had learned the right lessons from the recent team trauma.  So he'd met with his boss, and asked for feedback on how he could have acted differently, what he may have done to contribute to the problem, and how he could be a better leader in the future.  "The 30 minute meeting turned into a 2 hour confessional," said Ken, which resulted in him learning some hard, "gold lessons" about himself.

"Now," he continued, "I've already started to work with a tech on my team who wants to be a manager.  And I'm taking a vow," he said, "to make the people around me better -- as I continue to grow myself.  I'm going to teach my children about this, too."  Ken, it seems, has gotten his energy back, and he's well on his way to getting back up -- by lifting someone else.

We're all human, just like Ken.  And just like him, we all get bashed down from time to time.  Next time, try to resist the temptation to pull yourself up by the proverbial bootstraps, and reach out to pull someone else up, instead.  Go find someone to be your GTY project, and ask them to do the same.

And don't be surprised if -- through your example -- your whole organization, company, or team rises to establish itself as the new gold standard of leadership.

Copyright  © 2009 Steve Farber author of Greater Than Yourself: The Ultimate Lesson of True Leadership

Author Bio
Steve Farber, author of Greater Than Yourself: The Ultimate Lesson of True Leadership, the president of Extreme Leadership, is a leadership consultant and speaker, and the author of the national bestseller The Radical Leap, and The Radical Edge. He lives in San Diego, California.

Tim Ferris - On TED - Unlocking Learning and Building Excellence

Check out this TED video of Tim Ferris (author of the 4-hour Workweek). I like it because he is a good role model for learning. The difference between success and failure is often who shows up and who sticks with it (and figures out how to do things more simply and directly).

Makes me want to try another approach for getting back to my Spanish - I have 1/2 learned it only about a million times, but am still not fluent. I endeavor to be fluent by the end of the year.

What about at work? Can we apply a different approach to helping people grow and learn at work? Sure, we can. What's the key, the construct, the context, the concept, the model that unlocks understanding? We will never know unless we search and experiment.

Twitter Update

In case you are curious, I put up an update on how my exploration into Twittering is going over on Hip and Sage. Check it out. Is Lisa sold? Is Lisa addicted to twittering? Have I mastered the 140 character post?

Outlook - Guest Post from Lisa Edwards

Here is another great guest post and story from Lisa Edwards called Outlook. Very cool - I love Lisa E's stories. You can also check out her book here. She makes a great point about our Outlook (and makes a good case for going Mac, in my macistimation :[] ).

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Outlook

"Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success." Brian Adams

 

As of this morning, my outlook is fixed.  Finally.

It all began a month and a half ago.  It was just about the same time that the place where I live, Seattle, began to live up to its reputation of being one of the greyest, rainiest and  most dismal places to be.  I wore my rain gear every night after work for my evening walk. Each night I rotated between three pairs of running shoes.  One pair was usually dried-out enough to wear, and the other two, still by the heater, working their way back to wearable.  On top of the rain was the daily deluge of lay-off announcements.  1,000 people at one company.  500 people at another company.  2,200 people at another company.

The commute into work each day was getting eerily light and I could actually drive the speed limit.  The bumper-to-bumper traffic had disappeared.

But, back to my story about my outlook being fixed.

A month and a half ago, I had upgraded my Microsoft Office to the 2007 version.  Yes, finally.  Everything seemed to be just fine. As the machine was shutting down that first night after the upgrade, I could see that three automatic updates were being installed.  "Good news," I thought.  "Microsoft is keeping my machine safe from viruses, worms and other nasty internet threats."

The next day, I opened my newly upgraded Microsoft Outlook.  Catastrophic Failure.  Not just one little pop-up window made that announcement, but seven.  I contacted Microsoft.  They told me to contact Dell.  Dell told me to contact Microsoft.  And, on this went for several weeks.  I tried to fix it myself by searching thru the WebPages of notes from others with the same problem.  Finally, I contacted Geek Squad.   My Agent there was more than happy to fix my outlook.

I know it sounds silly, but I liked the way my Geek Squad Agent took responsibility for fixing the problem.  He seemed confident and even though it took several attempts and a few weeks to get it fixed, he persisted.   Patient throughout each step, he would acknowledge each of the problems he resolved.  At one point, when it seemed we hit a roadblock, I thought he would send me back to Microsoft.  But instead, he continued on.  Focused on fixing my outlook.  Finally, last night, all issues are resolved.  My outlook works perfectly, now.

As irony would have it, I woke up to a sunny day this morning.  Giving my rain gear a break, I put on a dry pair of sneakers and headed down to the lake for a cup of coffee and to read the New York Times.   While one economist painted a bleak picture of the economy, another pointed to the indications that the economy seems to be improving.   While unemployment is the highest it's been in 25 years, the stock market is lifting, retail sales have stabilized, and while still weak, auto sales have improved slightly in February.  Houses have been selling in greater numbers and consumer spending appears to have leveled off after plummeting for the last three months of 2008.  Credit markets have even have even improved.

I know it will take longer than a month and a half to fix the economy, but it's important to notice the progress we're making.  We're not out of the water, yet. I get that.  But, with patience, confidence,  decisiveness and a rational outlook, I know we'll get there.  And, before we know it, our economic outlook will be fixed.    

© 2009 Lisa Edwards - www.BloomWhereYouArePlanted.com

Culture White Paper and Webinars

I have two bits of news:

1. New White Paper about Leadership and Culture.

2. New Web Training Programs

1. In conjunction with the launch of our new web training series we are offering a white paper called How Leaders Can Optimize Organizational Culture, to all attendees (if you cannot attend a webinar, you can download the white paper here). This white paper addresses methods leaders should use to help their culture become a driving force for performance excellence and results – especially during times of significant change. Topics addressed include:

• How organization cultures are formed and changed.

• The ways that an organization’s culture can become a driving force for positive performance changes.

• Methods and practices that enable leaders to adjust and improve their culture.

• Characteristics of a culture of continuous learning.

• Which leadership practices can improve the organization’s culture and those that may degrade it.

• The most important leadership practices for creating and maintaining a healthy and productive organization culture.

I hope you enjoy the white paper. Use it as a discussion starter at your next staff meeting and talk about your culture and the management team's role in shaping it.

2. We are kicking off a new web training series starting this Thursday. We have two topics that are each being delivered twice - you can see the titles and dates below. These 60 minute webinars offer meaty training - they are not infomercials for books or other longer training programs. They stand alone as focused classes that offer immediately implementable suggestions. These training programs are a very affordable $30 per person and right now, because we are using a U.S. toll-free phone number, they are only open to people in the U.S. (To my international readers: we might try to expand these to be available beyond the US in the coming months).

I know some of you might be wondering why these webinars are not free, because there are a lot of free webinars out there. Here is our stance on this. Most free webinars are meant to be appetizers - to introduce a book or a larger program. Our webinars are designed to be alternative forms of training (a meal), and there is no sales pitch. Managers are busy, and I believe that that we need to help them build their craft by offering short and frequent bits of real learning. This is a great value for a meaty hour of training. I hope that you and your fellow managers can join me this Thursday. It will be a great session (I am facilitating all of the April sessions).

Session 1: Reinvent to succeed!  Realigning your piece of the organization when the economic outlook or other conditions change.

Available dates:

• Thursday, April 9, 2:00-3:00pm Eastern. Click here to register for this session: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/316793649
• Friday, April 17, 11:00am-12:00pm Eastern. Click here to register for this session: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/272813849

Session 2:  Employee Engagement - Rarer now. Needed more now.

Available Dates:

• Wednesday, April 15 10:00-11:00am Eastern. Click here to register for this session: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/153667338
• Tuesday, April 21, 2:00-3:00pm Eastern. Click here to register for this session: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/758940795

You can find the detailed descriptions of and registration/billing information about these webinars on our website by clicking here.

Middle management - dancing in the rain?

I saw this quote on Twitter and had to RT it (retweet). Here is a screen shot.

There is some great stuff that flies through twitterland. But this quote is precious. The essence of middle management is not fighting the weather, but weathering the fight. Ooh, that sounded good, too, I am going to tweet that.....

Are you a fair weather manager? Well, guess what? There is no such thing.