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Archive for June, 2011
Great Teams are Like Great Family Vacations
I just returned from a two week family vacation spanning 3940 miles and 9 states – all in a car. It was great! . . but not all the time. Somewhere in the drive across one of our beautiful, but LONG western states it hit me what a great family/team I was traveling with. It also hit me that successful family vacations and successful teams have lots of similarities. Here are a few: 
- Commitment to make the best of it - When the car starts it has begun and no amount of complaining changes it. Great teams and families disagree. Debate, complain, argue, maybe scream . . but when the car starts, it is time to make it work.
- Something for everyone - Asking the question in the beginning What would you like to do? changes the journey. When people get to do certain activities they want to do, it makes non-grumbling participation easier for other have to do activities. (for our kids have to do = museums) This also helps with #1.
- Find tasks that fit talents - Everyone has something to contribute. Older kids carry more. Planners do research and put shopping lists together. Everyone helps pack and unpack. The youngest makes people laugh. Everyone having a role ensures everyone is working together.
- Accept imperfection - Even the greatest leader will have an If I have to stop this car! moment. Don’t let it define the event. Followers acknowledge it and leaders apologize for it. Both work to get beyond it.
- Create quiet time for engagement - Emails, texting, and all the other distractions are ways to escape. Turn things off and focus on being together. It changes things for the better.
There are probably a few more, but every like every vacation – every blog must have an end.
Want to practice leading a team this summer. How about leading a vacation differently.
Breathing Rate vs Talent Management: What is healthy?
I learned a new fact yesterday – On average, people in the US take 17 breaths a minute. In Africa, that number is 6 breaths a minute.
Conclusion? Our steady state is not a relaxed state. Normal isn’t healthy.
How does this connect to how effectively companies leverage their greatest resource – people? A trend I see is to begin to re-hire the talent management roles that were cut during the recent downturn. A good thing - but reactive. Use the statistics above to think about your organization right now:
Here is what talent management looks like at 17 breaths a minute:
- An employee engagement initiative is under way.
- HR people hounding overworked leaders to get performance evaluations done.
- Top performers getting generous conteroffers after announcing their intent to leave.
- Poor performers stay in key roles > 4 months.
- The most critical project happening is the implementation of a learning management system.
Here is what talent management looks like at 6 breaths a minute:
- Performance Conversations happen with leader and follower input, no surprises, and follower leaves with a development plan they are ready and equipped to own. (here is al ink to what I mean by follower)
- CEO hears key people update(2x a year) from each leader and sees proof that they are being challenged, developed, supported, and cared for.
- Regular one on ones are happening down to at least the manager level, preferably the professional contributor level.
- No painful departures.
People initiatives happen because we forget about the healthy habits. Talent management is about developing a homeostatic state. It is about Building Rhythm.
How is your organization breathing?
Can You Hire and Lead the Ignorant?
In a meeting recently I was with a group of people deliberating the hiring of a leader for a not for profit organization. One observation was a lack of experience in a fairly important area. A wise member of our group pointed out that it could be a good thing because ignorance = fresh eyes. We all agreed that it was a good choice, but only if we all committed to supporting this new leader and connected her with a mentor. We committed.
I like the word ignorance. I like using it in front of groups because people snicker, almost like it is some sort of soft cussing word. I have to remind people that it just means I don’t know. Not I can’t know or I will never know . . . just I don’t know.
Here are some rules for hiring ignorance:
- DO IT if you see passion and gifts that get you excited about having this person thinking with you AND you are committed to #2.
- DO IT if you are ready to actively support (mentor/coach) for 6-12 months and forgive some mistakes.
- DON’T DO IT if your industry is too complex/specialized, you are too busy, and your team is too talented to be patient with a learner. You might read this as sarcasm – but I really mean don’t do it. If any of these three things are true or perceived to be true it is not a good place to shed ignorance.
- DON’T DO IT if you sense a comfort with the ignorance – if there is not hunger to leave that state. Look somewhere else.
Ignorance is actually the basis of a good development question for leaders and followers alike.
- What do you feel ignorant about right now?
- What would it mean to have that feeling go away?
- What is one thing I could do to help make it go away?
Carry that word around with you for a couple days and see what you notice.
Written a note lately?
Yesterday I received a letter in the mail that said ‘thank you’ for something I had done. I read it once, then a second time later in the evening, and started to throw it away when I realized I needed to keep it. So I put it with some other letters I had received previously. As I looked at the stack I realized some had been in my possession for over 10 years. The written word has something special about it. I read a statistic one time that said 3% of thank yous were written and over 80% of those notes were still being saved 12 months later.
Written one of these lately?
A staple in any leadership development program is to write a note to someone thanking them for something they did that had real value. A habit for any leader should be to have a stack of cards in their office and write 2 per month. Here is the card I have used for 5+ years and having them ready removes the excuse of I will do it tomorrow when I have something to write on.
I always look at writing a thank you as making a deposit into a trust account. There will be a point in time when I will have to say I am sorry for doing something that hurts a relationship. My mental goal is thank you notes >= sorry statements. If I am sorry > thank you then withdrawals are greater than deposits, and it is a bad trend.
If you control this equation by never saying I am sorry as a leader then you win, but there will be a price to pay.
In my house there is a standing joke that anything Dad has that is older than the kids is special. So far that list includes my marriage, some tools, some sporting equipment, a few t-shirts, underwear, and thank-you notes. I know – too much information. 
Watch yourself this week – How often did you say thank you? How often did you say I am sorry? . . . . and write just one note!
Friday Fun – An example of making a transition fun AND special
People like to hear their own name. This is a bit of wisdom that a mentor once shared with me and I have never forgotten it. Nothing irritates me more than a quiet or non introduction of a new person. Assuming all people will find their way misses an opportunity to provide a great start to someone who is looking for a way to connect with their team.
Enter my friend, who missed an opportunity to be a circus clown, trading it for a career as a Marketing Director. Time has taught him to bring his unique brand of humor to his job. He gave me his approval to share an email on how his team announces new team members / changes in roles:
I am happy to announce that James Greene will be moving from part-time intern to a 3-4 month long full-time internship with our company. While you may know James as the squishy orb guy or the resident ladies man; he actually has been working as our Pay-per-click (PPC) specialist, which is a critical component of our Marketing team that spends around 20% of each division’s budget. James will continue to manage our PPC working for Kathy, he will also be adding the second phase of the call center trial. Expect to see him on a shifted schedule up to midnight in the office during the week and potentially weekends. Please welcome James to his new role.
A few little known facts about James:
- Attended THE Michigan State University, received a degree in Marketing (Sales emphasis)
- Grew up in Marquette, MI
- There is an “e” at the end of his last name. Oddly, at age 12, he dropped the extra “e” in Jamese.
- Has one younger brother
- He can guess any ladies age with an accuracy +/- one year.
- Enjoys playing most sports, but especially Golf, Tennis, Jarts, and Basketball
- His Dad loves big campfires.
- He can’t get enough music in his life and is an avid guitar player (a wanna be hipster)
- He is Butler Bulldog Brad Stephens’ evil twin – separated at birth? (after this he showed a picture of the new team member next to Brad Stephens – striking resemblance!)
Of course there are limits in what to say and how sarcastic or inventive to get. The key point - there is a chance to make someone feel special and make a job change an event to celebrate! The best part of this story is the IT department did an announcment using this format the next week. Good ideas have a way of being adopted by others.
Here is another method I have used to speed up the get to know each other process.
Have any other ideas? Comments to this post are welcome.
Leadership and Followership: A simple habit around Building Trust
I teach a class that brings leaders and followers into a room and they learn about great leadership and followership together. During a class a couple of weeks ago, when we were talking about Building Trust, I asked the following questions:
Followers: What do you think the leaders need from you to Build Trust?
Leaders: What do you need from your followers in the area of Build Trust?
The general answers from the followers (on what leaders needed from them to Build Trust) leaned towards work getting done. Statements were made like “Doing what you say you will do” and “Following through on your work”.
When I asked the leaders a similar question, the first answer was from someone new to leadership. He raised his hand and said “Telling me that I am doing things well, along with letting me know what I am doing wrong.”
It is in moments like these that both sides of the performance equation realize they do not always understand each other.
It is in these moments that just a little sharing helps us understand what we need to provide to others to help them be successful.
Followers: What if you committed once a week to seek out your leader and ask them “What do you need from me this week?
Leaders: What if you did the same, and said thank you when you saw your people looking out for you.
Initiatives become necessary because we forget about simple habits that help create success for people and teams. Commit to this simple habit.