Key to keeping the “Best Employees”

Employees leave their current job for lots of reasons. I’ve seen people leave for fabulous opportunities elsewhere. But often times the reason are more half-hearted.  A friend of mine recently switched between very similar companies, in essence, because the second company gave slightly more vacation days than the first.

While congratulating her on her new opportunity, I couldn’t help thinking, what a missed opportunity for her current company. When you add up the lost productivity from her winding down her employment, how long it will take to find her replacement and how long it will take that replacement to achieve something approaching this woman’s expertise, you could have easily granted her an extra week of vacation. Or two. Why didn’t her employer do that?

My guess is that her manager didn’t want to set a precedent. (I use to be that way) If she got three weeks of vacation instead of two, everyone else would want three weeks. It’s understandable, but it’s also a very limited way of thinking. For starters, so what if everyone wanted three weeks? In a small department, turnover is a huge source of stress. Avoiding it is worth trying to treat employees better than the competition does. And second, people and their performance aren’t all the same.

While vacation days were her particular source of unhappiness, other people might have completely different problems that would make them walk out the door. Some examples:

A bad commute. Not your fault, to be sure, but something you could improve with a policy allowing people to work from home once or twice per week.

Inflexible hour. A meeting that starts every day at 8 a.m. might interfere with a parent from dropping his children off at school. Since he can’t do that, he winds up paying for more childcare than he’d need otherwise, and this financial stress leads him to look at other job opportunities. Why not let people call in, move the meeting later or get over the idea that you need a daily meeting to establish that people are still doing their jobs?

A bullying co-worker or worse Boss. Yes, companies are supposed to do something about employees who pick on others, but it’s easier not to — until one of your best people leaves over the situation. Addressing that problem would have let you keep your talent and make life better for everyone else, too.

These are all fairly easy addressed pain points. The problem for managers is that your people often won’t tell you their particular source of stress — until you get a LinkedIn message from a team member and realize that it’s because their updating her LinkedIn account as part of their job hunting.

So how to find out? You can always ask. How are things going? Is there anything that would boost your already great productivity? What would make this a better place to work? What would make your job more sustainable and enjoyable? A smart manager who takes even a little interest in his/her people would have discovered this employees desire for more vacation days and figured out a subtle way to grant her what she wanted. That would have kept the office running smoothly — far more so than letting her leave in the hopes of not setting a precedent.

As a manager, how do you keep your best employees?

Transitioning from peer to boss

Why, for most that enter it, does management present so many surprising hurdles and frustrate so many presumptions and expectations?

First, management is different from anything you’ve done before. Becoming an effective manager is difficult because of the great variance that separates the work of management from the work of individual contributor.

Many managers think at first that managing others will be an extension of managing themselves. They assume they will be doing what they did previously, except they will exercise more control over their work and the work of others. Instead, they find they must make a great leap into a new and strange universe unlike anything they’ve encountered before.

This is especially true if you’re a producing manager who must combine the roles of individual contributor and manager. At first, you naturally tend to think the managerial role is simply a broader version of managing yourself. Only with time and painful experience will you discover it’s totally different.  Becoming an effective manager requires that you not only acquire new skills and knowledge but also undergo difficult personal change.

Those who become managers must learn to see themselves and their work differently. They must develop new values, deeper self-awareness, increased emotional maturity, and the ability to exercise wise judgment.

Many managers, for example, are accused of being control freaks because they don’t delegate. But a desire for control often isn’t the problem.  Instead, it’s an issue of identity. They haven’t yet changed how they think about themselves and their contribution, the value they add as managers. They resist giving up the role of doer because they believe, if only unconsciously, that’s who they are. They have not learned to see themselves as the leader.

In fact, becoming a manager requires so much personal learning and change that it is truly a transformation, similar to the transformations required by such life events as leaving home, finishing school and beginning a career, getting married, or having a child.

Like these profound inflection points, becoming an effective manager will call on you to act, think, and feel in new ways; discover new sources of satisfaction; and relinquish old, comfortable, but now outmoded roles and self-perceptions. It requires you to consider anew the questions: Who am I? What do I want? What value do I add?  Take some time to answer these questions.

Progress will come more quickly and easily to those who understand the challenges they face.  I coach a lot of new managers and this post and several to follow is dedicated to their successful transition from employee to manager.

 

Civility At Work

Disagreements and anger are a reality in the workplace and in life in general. Various people react in different ways when under pressure. Some lose their cool completely and say things they instantly regret, while others launch into tormenting the perceived offender with the silent treatment. No matter the technique used to punish, all of these methods quickly become tiresome and, more importantly, adversely affect the workplace.

Too frequently in the work environment, many people just can’t suck it up and utter the two simple words, “I’m sorry,” even when they know they’re wrong. It’s not just a guy thing either.  I’ve seen women behaving just as unprofessional when they feel put upon.

What’s a manager to do when this stubbornness becomes problematic?  In a word: intervene. When not controlled, these unreasonable, obstinate antics can become time-consuming and disruptive. It could all start with an impetuous negative e-mail (can anyone say ALL CAPS) or a less-than-mature voice mail left in the heat of battle that cascades into a futile distraction, as otherwise effective and seemingly sensible employees act out as if they were back in the third grade rather than adults in the workplace.

The most expeditious method that works with either the protagonist or antagonist in an office drama is to call a spade a spade, so to speak, and get the feuding parties together and cut to the chase, making each person agree to bury the hatchet but preferably not in each other’s skull. If employees’ anger management issues are left to fester, they can easily result in other people in the same work environment taking sides, and in short order, you will find yourself in the midst of an all-out War.

The only thing guaranteed when this occurs is that there will be casualties. It is incumbent on the ruling manager to make sure that the company doesn’t wind up as the victim, incurring a loss of productivity and causing everyone around the two factions to feel as if they’re walking on pins and needles.

While many times it would be easier for the boss to ask one of the warring participants to approach the other to work out their differences, this tactic just takes too much time and the outcome can be iffy. It really doesn’t matter who is right or wrong but that the nonsense is stopped dead in its tracks. The best way to accomplish this is to make it more than abundantly clear that anger in the workplace is unacceptable and could be a career-inhibitor.

Allowing employees to exhibit a lack of civility will cause a domino effect that will lead to no good. Civility does not just apply to peers. Instead, it’s applicable to all who must work together, including superiors, subordinates and even fellow board members. And, don’t confuse civility with agreeing or disagreeing with someone. It also doesn’t mean one has to believe that someone is effective in his or her role. Instead, what must be required is that those within an organization, no matter what level, simply take the higher road and respect not necessarily the person but the role and make the assumption that everyone has a part in working toward shared goals, until it is proven otherwise.

Once everybody knows the rules of engagement, many times the negative engagement suddenly ends and it’s back to business as usual. When that doesn’t happen, it’s time for offenders to be forced to go to their respective corners so as not to do each other or the company any more harm.

To promote coexistence when no one wants to take the first step and say, “I’m sorry,” it’s up to the adult in the room — and that would be you, the boss — to step into the fray with your whistle to call a permanent timeout to these types of disruptive behaviors.

 

Do you Lead?

When we first ask ourselves this question, many people may blurt out a quick “yes“. Of course, in many ways and areas of our lives to lead, we take charge of situations. However, being a true leader is an amazing ability to have and to use effectively.

But, as many of us know firsthand, there are times that we have had to deal with so-called “leaders“, who have proven to be nothing of the such and not being able to lead. Working under someone who thinks they lead, but prove otherwise, is one of the most detrimental positions you might find yourself in.

Therefore, true leaders that actually lead are very hard to come by. Being a true leader means that you have the perfect combination of all of the necessary leadership ingredients. These would include knowledge, compassion, drive and ambition, and the personality to pull it all together… Lead.  Truth is, some people may just have a charismatic and inviting personality that will guide them into positions of leadership and to Lead.

Some of us may wake up one day and realize that we want to do more or be more than we are right now.  And now have the life experience and years under our belt to handle a leadership position that we were not ready for in the past to take on.

Maybe there was a critical turning point in our lives that have made us come back as a stronger leader, wanting more and knowing that we could do more.

To lead others effectively, you need to be the kind of person that inspires and leads others – and who others will see as a visionary leader. They must be confident enough to make tough leadership decisions, and to take control and take charge of doing what needs to be done when necessary.

One of the most important traits of a leader to have is to live their lives honestly, respectfully and ethically. If you are leading people, you must always lead by example. This cannot be done if you do not hold true to core values and behave in manners that would be inappropriate – whether in your business or your personal life.

If you truly lead others, make sure you guide them and teach them to grow in their positions.  A true leader does not just “manage” people or “supervise” people. Rather, he is a mentor for others to look up to – and to learn from.

True leaders are not selfish. Part of their job is to empower others to do their jobs to the best of their abilities to lead and to hold others accountable.  Being a leader is a large pair of shoes to fill. But for this rare and elite group, holding the title of leader is to be considered a true honor. Unfortunately, in society today, too many people who are in leadership positions have shown us what happens when you let the power at hand make your ego too large. When someone in this position thinks that they are “entitled” or better than those around them, they are no longer upholding the title of being a great leader.

It can take a lifetime to establish a great rapport and reputation, and a matter of seconds to lose everyone’s confidence and respect. Being a leader is not for everyone. However, if you are one of the few who feel able to answer to this calling, go after it with all you’ve got.

Rewards of Delegation

I have been forced to learn over the years that I cannot do everything myself.  This is especially true when you are building a team, department or organization.  I have always prided myself in learning everything there is to know about my current initiative, job, life event etc.  Even when I was pregnant with my first child, I was bound and determined to read and understand everything there was to know about delivering a baby so I could guide the doctor if he ran into trouble.  Some would say I like to be in control.  I would rather believe that if I learn enough about things I can at least ask the right questions.  But seriously, when you have developed a process or anything else for that matter and give it to someone else only to get it back later in a shambles, it makes you a little jaded.  Typically this is when people begin to juggle everything themselves.  However, this not only sets unrealistic expectations of others but especially of yourself.  There is a much bigger risk with holding on to all the bits and pieces rather than acknowledging you need some help.  It’s been proven over and over that the more effective managers are better at delegating than those who try to “be in control.” The keys  are setting priorities, providing help and support, and designing the right work flows—not your personal effort.

So, if we know it is an important key for our success, why don’t we delegate? Here are some of the excuses I routinely hear:

• No Time – I have no time to teach a team member the tasks.
• No Energy – It takes a lot of energy to follow-up and keep team members on task for success.
• I Can Do It Better – I know what needs to be done and can do it better and faster so I’ll just do it.

Why Should I? – Why should I train someone to do my job?        

Why? If you are in a leadership position, your job is to take the time and the energy to train others to do more so that the you, your team, and your organization are more successful.
         
So let’s remind ourselves of the benefits of quality delegation.
         

1. You multiply yourself – The more you delegate, the more you create team members that can accomplish much more in much less time. You are known as someone who gets things done with self-directed teams.
2. You create a motivated group – The more you delegate, the more your team members are motivated because they see you as someone who trusts them and their abilities to get things accomplished. Because your team is motivated, they take more initiative to create solutions, be more creative, and are willing to take on more responsibilities.
3. You master stress and time management skills – You are forced to prioritize your tasks and realize that there are tasks that you do not need to do, yet would be perfect tasks to develop your team members. By learning how to prioritize your tasks for delegation, you will be less stressed during the workday and go home at the end of the day satisfied that you accomplished more. 
4. You are known as a person who develops people – The more you delegate, the more you will be known within the organization as a person who develops people. Remember, even when you think no one is watching, someone is always watching the way you achieve success by developing your people. Whether it’s management, other teams, departments or divisions, someone is watching. The word will spread about how well you develop people. The results, management will see you as a developer of people; and other employees, both inside and outside of your organization, will fight to work for you because they know you have a motivated, creative working environment. 
5. You create opportunities for yourself and others – By delegating tasks to others, you can then take on more advanced tasks that will prepare you for future opportunities when they become available. This is the main reason why the excuse “if I delegate my tasks to my employees, then they can take my job” doesn’t fly in my book. Another reason why you delegate tasks is so that you can develop yourself for future promotions, monetary, and career opportunities. For example, if you want to become vice president for your organization and you know that skills C, D, and Z are required by all vice presidents, then delegate any management tasks that you have already mastered to your team members so that you can then ask for more “vice presidential” tasks. When that position is available within or outside of the organization, who do you think will have the inside track? You will! Because you can say you already have the skills of a vice president, while developing the people behind you to fill the void when you are promoted. Also, as a leader, you never want your team members to be with you in the same position forever. Thus, delegating tasks continuously prepares them for opportunities that may come their way.

Tell us, how do you delegate tasks successfully?

Helping your staff help themselves

If you’re a good leader and employees trust you and your ability, you also have the problem that too often employees and managers depend on you for all the answers. 

However, simply providing answers and solutions for your staff impairs their ability to grow and develop their leadership and problems solving skills.  A better idea may be to help them find the answers themselves by posing a few probing questions.

Examples:

• “Can you explain more about this situation?”
• “Have you experienced a similar situation in the past?”
• “How have we handled this in the past?”
• “Based on your experience, what do you suggest we do here?”

I believe in developing employees to their fullest potential, but one rule I have always lived by is “don’t just bring me the problem, bring me a solution”.  The long-term payoff:  Employees learn how to handle similar situations in the future – without your help.

Leadership Roles

I recently attended a conference and several managers were discussing their jobs. They all agreed that the biggest frustration was dealing with the people issues.  One individual stated “Wouldn’t the job be great if we did not have to handle all these people issues?”

Several others agreed and many laughed.  However, one manager stood out and stated, “You know ladies and gentlemen, if we didn’t have the employees, we wouldn’t have a job.”  It was interesting to observe the expressions on several faces in the group.  He went on to say that although sometimes extremely challenging (and we all know that) it is what makes the job so great, he lightened the mood by saying “and that’s also why we get paid the big bucks.” 

But seriously speaking as a leader of employees, we must assume different roles at different times in our interaction with our employees. These roles are coach, mentor, trainer and supervisor. The difference between the successful and the less successful leader is the amount of time spent in each role.

A successful leader will spend 80 percent of his or her time as a coach and/or a mentor while the less successful leader spends 80 percent of his time in supervision and training. As a leader, we understand each employee goes through these four roles with us.

When an employee is new, our role is typically more as a trainer. We have to teach them how to perform the job, what the company policies are, and what our and the company’s expectations are of them.

Once the employee understands the job, our initial training is completed. We then move into supervision to ensure the employee knows and understands his or her job. Based on this supervision, we may have to back up into the training role again to correct weaknesses.

But after a period, as the employee grows, we then become a coach; our final role is mentor, showing the way. As a coach, we are motivating them and helping with the big picture. Finally, as a mentor, we are establishing the path for them to follow.

The successful leader understands these roles and how each employee goes through them. They understand they have to adapt and change roles based on each individual employee they manage.  They may be coaching one employee only to turn around and spend 15 minutes training the next and then become a mentor to a third.  But what a great feeling it is to see someone you trained, coached and mentored move up the ranks and make it in their own right.  That is what makes the job so great!

What’s your leadership impact?

Leaders set the tone for their followers and organizations.  Every leader from team lead to CEO makes an impact on others. Whether or not leaders know it, their followers monitor, magnify, and often mimic their behaviors. I worked with a company where the CEO did almost all of the talking in meetings, interrupted everyone, and silenced dissenting subordinates. His COO and other senior vice presidents complained about him behind his back, but as time went on, the COO started acting the very same way.  All the skills, experience and training that made him an effective COO began to change.

The ripple effects of this CEO’s style are consistent with findings from peer-reviewed studies showing that senior executives’ actions can reverberate throughout organizations, ultimately undermining or bolstering their cultures and performance levels.

Linda Hudson, CEO of BAE Systems, got this message after becoming the first female president of General Dynamics. After her first day on the job, a dozen women in her office imitated how she tied her scarf. Hudson realized, “It really was now about me and the context of setting the tone for the organization. That was a lesson I have never forgotten—that as a leader, people are looking at you in a way that you could not have imagined in other roles.” Hudson added that such scrutiny and the consequent responsibility is “something that I think about virtually every day.”

In your leadership role you too should think about the impact you make on future leaders.  The best leaders work tenaciously to stay in tune with this relentless attention and use it to their advantage. They know that the success of their people and organizations depends on maintaining an accurate view of how others construe their moods and moves—and responding with rapid, effective adjustments.

That view is invaluable for leaders as they try to carry out their first and most important task: convincing others that they are in charge. Leaders who fail to do this will find their jobs impossible, their lives hell, and their tenures short. Of course, taking charge effectively isn’t enough. The best leaders also boost performance by watching their people’s backs: making it safe for them to learn, act, and take intelligent risks; shielding them from unnecessary distractions and external idiocy of every stripe; and doing hundreds more little things that help them achieve one small win after another—and feel pride, respect and dignity along the way.

Can you help your “bad” boss?

WOW! Monday’s blog created much reaction.  One of the most interesting comments was “He is so bad, he doesn’t even know he is a bad boss”.  It is very easy to be critical of our leaders.  This comment made me think of how sometimes it may be more about perception vs. someone actually being an ineffective (bad) boss/leader.   If you think about it from the manager’s point of view his/her experiences and background has led him/her to their current managing style.

So my challenge to you is have you ever made an attempt to tell your boss what you need, how he/she can be more effective with you.  I believe an employee/manager relationship regardless of the level is a two-way street.  If your boss doesn’t know how he/she may be affecting you, how can he/she adjust their behavior?  I am going to use he/him after this, but you get the idea.

I know you’re thinking, is she crazy, my boss doesn’t care what I think or that’s a quick way to lose a job.  But, you would be surprised at how many good leaders have developed after someone told them how lousy they were as a boss.  You do have to do it with much more tact. 

Think about it for a minute, everyone is different and therefore like to be managed different, so a  hands-off manager may not realize that his failure to provide any direction or feedback makes him a bad boss. He may think he’s empowering his staff.

A manager who provides too much direction and micromanages may feel insecure and uncertain about his own job. He may not realize his direction is insulting to a competent, secure, self-directed staff member.

Or, maybe the boss lacks training and is so overwhelmed with his job requirements that he can’t provide support for you. Perhaps he has been promoted too quickly or his reporting responsibilities have expanded beyond his reach. In these days of downsizing, responsibilities are often shared by fewer staff members than ever before.  If any of these ring a bell, think about:

Telling your manager what you need from him in terms of direction, feedback and support. Be polite and focus on your needs. Telling the boss he’s a bad boss is counterproductive and won’t help you meet your goals.

Ask your manager how you can help him reach his goals. Make sure you listen well and provide the needed assistance.

You may be surprised by the outcome and be part of developing leadership skills in your boss and yourself.

What Dysfunctional Leaders Can Teach Us

When I began my career I was lucky enough to have some great mentors.  However, as I began to progress I began to encounter executives who exasperated me. In most cases they were nice people and I would have to be fair and say that “most” meant well.  However, in my view they were completely incompetent as leaders and managers.  As my experience grew and my exposure to senior executives and other leadership styles increased, I realized this scenario was all too common.  In speaking to many of my clients, colleagues, friends and family I often hear war stories of their inept manager.

Unfortunately, there are many leaders with obvious dysfunctions and yet they manage to rise to and remain in prominent, senior roles. Working with them can be frustrating and disheartening, especially to those who clearly demonstrate excellence and are looking for mentorship to grow their careers.  I have heard the hopelessness in people as they criticize, complain and nag the ear off anyone who would listen.  It was a way to make it through the next day.  But after the initial whining these inept leaders forced me into the process of self-analysis; what kind of leader did I want to be, or more importantly not want to be.

The wisdom of this process was that in hindsight, I learned far more about great leadership from a few of the dysfunctional leaders than I ever learned from the excellent ones. The distress they caused me was a strong learning stimulant for the following lessons:

Self-Motivation – Nothing like a dysfunctional de-motivator to force one to drive oneself to continue to succeed in spite of the roadblocks.

Keep True to Yourself – Don’t change your core values and beliefs to grow your career.  Integrity and self-respect are much more important and will triumph in the end.

Patience – This is probably the biggest lesson I learned and is an essential leadership quality.  Patience under poor management does not mean I am waiting for them to act, it means I am persevering despite their actions.

Positive Attitude – Prevailing wisdom and much research show that having a positive attitude improves the likelihood you will achieve your goal, speeds your progress and, perhaps most importantly, makes you more resilient – All of which help you overcome obstacles and remain persistent in pursuit of your goal.

Let it Go – dealing with the stress of working under this dysfunction taught me to be less judgmental and more inclined to give support. If you take the good and throw the rest away, so to speak, it makes it easier for you to move forward.  It is actually better to trust that everyone is doing their best within their capability.  This mindset can often defuse a lot of your frustration and makes you more compassionate and forgiving.

So if you find yourself one day working for a dysfunctional leader, take heart. Set your intention to being grateful for the wisdom and leadership tools that you will learn through the process. You’ll be glad you did.