Management Craft

Do their minds BANG! WOW! or do they leave with a whimper and sigh?

I was thinking about a course I attended a few months ago. The facilitator asked me for feedback. It was a good course and offered solid information. The facilitator did a fine job and the participants seems satisfied. Good. Solid. Fine. Satisfied.

I told her that I thought she missed two opportunities. First, the course was not designed to deliver any ah-ha moments - the potential for a mind blowing epiphany was zero. A wise man once asked me, challenged me, what my big idea was for a book project I was proposing. I had no big idea. This course offered no big ideas. Miss.

The second miss was that the course started slow, warmed to medium, and ended medium. There was no narrative arc. Courses can benefit from using the principles of story construction. The flow helps you manage and generate energy. This course was perfectly fine but draining. All whimper, no bang. Miss.

And what about your next staff meeting. Ah! Gottcha! You thought I was talking about a training class and since you don't lead training classes that I was not talking to you - right? Well consider this. I see the same two misses in meetings. That they offer no big ideas - there is no or low potential of an ah-ha moment. And they are not designed to generate and retain energy. Miss. Miss.

Don't have another meeting until you think about this. Even if you have a meeting coming up in two hours, you can do something to make it better. Bring in a big idea. Share something that has the potential to make people think anew. You might fail, but no problem, try again next week. No attempt = no potential. It breaks my heart.

The facilitator - who is a friend - felt frustrated and devastated, I could tell. She had done a good job but had let habit shroud her determination as a teacher and catalyst. I am glad she was devastated because she is talented, special, and can do better. She needed the dissonance to reconnect with why she teaches. Whenever we get people together, we need to strive for better.

7 Ways to Not be a Great Leader @rajsetty

Being a star performer usually leads to rapid advancement up the career ladder.  But a star performer doesn't always make a great leader.  Why?  Pal and fellow biz book author Raj Setty outlines 7 top reasons for this from different skill sets to limiting employees' growth to being uncomfortable out of the spotlight.  But by addressing these issues, a star performer can indeed become an effective leader and create more star performers.  Check out Raj's great post here.

But I Don't Like Following the Rules! @drbret

Never has there been a blog post title that I more represented than the one above. My parents would have diplomatically called me "a spirited child," one boss early in my career told me I was a pain in the #$%&#. :-)

Do we really need rules in the workplace?  Aren't we all adults who know what we should or shouldn't do?  Of course we know.  But should and do can be very far apart.  Bret Simmons discusses that while rules should be kept to a minimum, good rules do serve a purpose.  He also discusses how NOT to use rules.  My favorite line from his blog is "Always stand behind, but never hide behind, your rules."  And when a rule becomes non-productive and ineffective, be merciless in getting rid of it.

Read Bret's post here.

High Performance Model @greatleadership

Dan McCarthy has put an amusing spin on the usual 2-by-2 performance model.  Check it out here.

Which block do you fit in?  How about your coworkers?? I can swing to and from at least three of these boxes depending on the day/situation/caffeine level! My poor, poor, teammates.......

Silence Isn't Always Golden @drbret

It's never pleasant to give the boss bad news.  But he has to know about problems before he can fix them.  But some (a lot of?) organizations discourage employees from sharing bad news through managers' behavior.  Bret Simmons discusses three beliefs that managers have that cause employees to clam up.  Check out his post here.  You don't want to inadvertently send the wrong messages and then be faced with making decisions based on partial or bad information.

How to Keep Your Presentations Zombie Free @steveroesler

Have you ever given a presentation and thought you were speaking to a group of zombies?  You probably silently cursed their lack of attention and participation.  But was the fault 100% theirs?  Steve Roesler states in his blog that if you don't tell your audience what's expected of them, they'll just slip into passive mode.  Check out Steve's post to ensure the audience at your next presentation is paying attention.  Click here. It's a keeper!

My Great Team Trumps Your Star Performer @fastcompany

Which would you rather have....5 great employees or 1,000 mediocre ones?  If you're Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Netscape, he'd take the 5 great employees.  In an interview last month, Mark Zuckerberg made a comment along the same lines.  But what if your 5 star performers don't play well together?  And what if those 5 are facing a team which works together exceptionally well?  William Taylor discusses the merits of the pretty good performer vs. the great performer on the Fast Company website.  Check out his very interesting article here.

William Taylor continues his discussion on whether great people are overrated in Part II here.

And here's another thing to think about. I have seen great people turn mediocre when not placed in the right system and role. I think a balance of high talent and high team is the goal and what we should endeavor to achieve. Stars who are also capacity builders will help everyone do their best work.

My definition of a "star" might be different, too. I do not consider a highly talented person who is a bad team member to be a star. I think that to be considered top or key talent, we have to be good at what we do AND how we work with others.

Have Courage to Share Bad News #management @hrbartender

I hate being the bearer of bad news.  I'm sure most people do.  Are you ever tempted to pawn the task of delivering bad news off on someone else?  Well, don't.  Sharlyn Lauby on her HR Bartender blog makes a strong case for making sure the right person delivers the bad news.  If someone is laid-off, the news needs to come from the manager not someone else and especially not an outplacement firm (can you say, impersonal?).  So it's not just important what we say and how we say it but also who actually does the talking.

Read Sharyln's great post here. 

Did you see the movie "Up in the Air" with George Clooney? That movie showed the highest high of bad practices for letting people go. But as Sharlyn points out, this idea translates to every day stuff too. I was recently as a client's office and talked to a supervisor who did not know how to talk with team members about errors they were making. So she did two things: 1) sent emails, and 2) asked her bossed to do the verbal review. No, no, no. I empathize that she did not feel comfortable (who does?) but she needs to be trained and then do it, not pass it off on technology and bosses. Her employees, predictably, felt uncared for.

One other point: As managers, we want to develop a reputation for being open and real. We can't do that and be fair-weather leaders. Also, we should make sure that we sing out the great news, too. Be a great source for all types of information, guidance, and support.

When to Decide If You Should Make A Change @steveroesler

How do you know when it's time to make a change?  A big neon arrow that stops you in your tracks and points you in a new direction would be so helpful but I haven't seen any of those lately.  What I have seen is Steve Roesler's blog about the 5 signs that you should make a change.  One sure sign....when the people who have your back are telling you it's time.  Read Steve's great post here.

One more thing to think about. If it is time for a change, how open will you be with your current employer? Over the years, I have always been candid with my boss and it helped the transition process. I realize there are risks, but often the risks are not as high as our fears about the risks. And it feels SOOOOO good to be discussing things openly and honestly.

As bosses, we should expect that all our employees are weighing their options and rethinking what they want to be when they grow up. Every twist and turn of life is an opportunity to regenerate our goals and dreams. Encourage employees to talk about their goals and help them make win/win transitions if working for you is no longer a fit for them.

Stop Copying Me! @rajsetty #innovation

While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, it usually doesn't work when copying another company's products or services.  To be truly successful you need to innovate.  Without innovation, you're just playing catch-up.  Raj Setty has a wonderful mini saga about imitation (click here to check it out).  So come up with your own great ideas and let the competition chase after you!

BTW - this idea applies to management, too. We all need to invent how we will lead based on our strengths, our team's strengths and needs, our situation, and our intentions. If there is another manager in your organization who seem very successful, copying him or her will not likely work for you. Great managers come in so many shapes and sizes and this is the way it ought to be.