The trU Group

Hey Leaders: Developing People = Crockpot Cooking

Scott Patchin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I once stood in front of a group of nursing leaders and the topic was developing people. In order to help them better understand what it took to develop people I used the analogy of a crockpot vs a microwave. One of the challenges in a healthcare is the strength of the organization / culture of the organization is focused on managing emergencies. Hospitals are at their best when the situation is most difficult - which we should all be thankful for. Developing people is not an 'emergency item' or like cooking in a microwave, it is more like a crockpot. Put in the key ingredients, make sure the temperature is right, then walk away. You might check how things are cooking a few times, but once you start the process your main concern is whether the power is still on. Why do leaders struggle with a consistent focus on developing people? I would offer one simple explanation - most leaders are wired to drive for immediate results and overcome anything that gets in their way. What a gift! Developing people is about starting the 'cooking' by sitting down and listening to where the person is with their role, helping to paint a picture of a future level of performance that is the goal, assisting in defining some key actions that can be taken, and then delegating ownership to the person for their plan with the promise to circle back with them quarterly to 'check to see if the power is still on'. In the coaching of leaders we often look for practices for a leader to do that are non work related that will support changes they are trying to make in their job. One somatic practice for developing people is to prepare one meal a week for a month using a crock pot. This is a gentle reminder of the patience, planning, and diligence ('is the power still on') it takes to develop people. As I shared this analogy with these healthcare leaders I knew it hit home because at least a half dozen went for their pens to write down my words of wisdom. That was gratifying, but I wonder how many went out, bought a crockpot, and cooked four meals? Questions for leaders?

Does you approach to development look more like a microwave or a crock pot?
What % of the people working for you have development plans?
How often do you sit down with your people to spend time on their development?

Four Messages We Have Trouble Hearing

Scott Patchin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

As an HR leader I often found myself in the middle of two different stories. I am still amazed at how certain messages never are heard correctly. Here they are and a few hints on how to make sure they are heard. 1. I am not seeing the performance I expect. Something needs to change or else - Every leader has a story of the look of shock when they let someone go. How often the event is followed by the comment "How could they not know?" The number one way to fix this is to write it down and schedule a follow-up meeting for them to let it sink in and come back with a plan. Some would say to document it in a performance improvement format. My experience is that when it hits this step it is less about improvement and more about documenting a dismissal. 2. You did a great job - Gallup says people need positive feedback every 7 days. 3. I am struggling

Scott Patchin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

What I’m hearing A friend posed a question to me “What is the role of the leader when it seems no one sees the need? An example being a virtual team using an on-line space to communicate, share ideas and track progress towards a common goal.” What it means Leading people in situations where information and decisions flow around you as the leader is challenging. It could be creating a blog or an online community within a tool like NING to bring people together around a common interest or goal (this is a team). Often in these situations following is voluntary. Seth Godin writes about this in his book Tribes, and says “Great leaders create movements by inspiring the Tribe (i.e. Team) to communicate.” Godin’s challenge to lead in a tribe is very similar to the servant leadership idea that has been around for a couple of decades. While Godin is writing about a virtual community, it mirrors reasons Peter Drucker often shared that promoted the value of leading in a not for profit situation as a development opportunity for any leader. Leading in situations where people have to want to follow you because they don’t have to follow requires a leader to lead differently. The bottom line is that all teams need leaders, even if it is a virtual or on-line team because successful teams need goals, guidelines, and overall accountability to be successful. However, leading in a virtual situation will expose people who have to lead through control and direct authority. They will be found out quickly and painfully because their lack of passion around enabling, giving, and listening will be exposed. The on-line world is bringing back the servant leader model in another form. The concept is that people will not follow or work as hard for leaders that do not possess the relational capacity to connect with their people. Generation Y/Millennials entering the workforce make this skill even more critical for leaders. If you are interested in exploring the connection read The Servant by James Hunter and Tribes by Seth Godin. In leadership literature there are few new ideas, only new approaches. What you should do Make a list of all your leaders (direct reports) and your future leaders (high potentials). Identify 5-6 characteristics/skills you feel are important for leaders to possess at your organization. If building positive relationships with staff at all levels is not on your list then add it. Rate each person versus your leadership criteria using the terms: strength, skilled, weakness, or unsure. Explore your data by asking yourself these three questions:

· What skill(s) jumps out?
- · Is anyone not showing strength in building positive relationships?
- · How would I be rated?

Looking for a partner to help connect your business goals with the depth and development needs for the leaders at your organization? Contact me. Scott@thetrugroup.com

2 Things to do BEFORE hitting send

Scott Patchin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I was in the office of a friend and I heard the faithful words "Should I send this email now or wait?" The message he was referring to was an emotion charged note that he had spent the last 30 minutes of his already busy life editing so that every word was perfect.

Personal Awareness . . . When it is too late

Scott Patchin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

No one on the team is talking to one another. What started as a disagreement between two people has moved to a situation where cooperation is minimal and everyone on the team is putting 10-50% of their energy thinking about how unhappy they are. All because two people thought they had the best vision for the future of the group. Finally, someone brings up that maybe they need a consultant to help them out. Is it too late? The CEO hires a leader with plans on making them a successor. It starts well so she walks away to give them 'space' to learn and grow. When she checks back five months later one of her best managers wants to quit and the only things she hears are complaints. She calls her friend who is a coach to ask if there is anything she can do to make this work. Is it too late? While it is difficult to admit that nothing can be done, someWhen the engine light goes on we take our car in so that we don't ruin the engine. If our pets start limping they get an emergency visit to the vet.

Understanding yourself is a tool for personal maintenance. Being armed with the knowledge of how you work, what situations you will thrive in, what situations will crush your spirit, and who you need around you to be successful is information that can make your life easier. Here are three 1. Identify your natural talents, the things you are passionate about (values, beliefs, causes), and what rewards you need from work. 2. Develop a maintenance plan (ie. proactive stress management) 3. Choose to trust others
Be willing to put your ego away for the benefit of the team.

When the truth is too late

Scott Patchin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Fixing things is important. Every good sales course or message to a new college grad centers around 'identifying the problem they are trying to solve' and then offering a solution. Relationships and company cultures are different. When they really need fixing it is almost too late. It is not that it cannot be fixed, but it becomes a long process. Case in point: If the engine light goes on in our car we bring it in because it is expensive to blow an engine. If our dog starts limping we head to the vet. Yet, when the new CEO turns over 75% of the leadership team in the first 12 months, we tolerate it until they a) Want to fire someone related to a board member or b) Miss their numbers for two years. Can it be fixed? Yes. What is the cost? It is almost impossible to calculate. Here are three rules any board member, company owner, or CEO can use to head off an expensive disaster.

Treat turnover like a fire in your plant
Insist on meeting all management hires in the first 30 days and giving all a qualified mentor that is not a boss.
Create an onboarding plan for every new leader (12 months) and review progress with them (in person) at least once a month
Make growing successful leaders part of the performance evaluation for all of your direct reports.

When the truth is too late

Scott Patchin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Fixing things is important. Every good sales course or message to a new college grad centers around 'identifying the problem they are trying to solve' and then offering a solution. Relationships and company cultures are different. When they really need fixing it is almost too late. It is not that it cannot be fixed, but it becomes a long process. Case in point: If the engine light goes on in our car we bring it in because it is expensive to blow an engine. If our dog starts limping we head to the vet. Yet, when the new CEO turns over 75% of the leadership team in the first 12 months, we tolerate it until they a) Want to fire someone related to a board member or b) Miss their numbers for two years. Can it be fixed? Yes. What is the cost? It is almost impossible to calculate. As a board member, company owner, or CEO - What if you:

Treated turnover like a fire in your plant.
Insist on meeting all management hires in the first 30 days and giving all a qualified mentor that is not a boss.
Create an onboarding plan for every new leader (12 months) and review progress with them (in person) at least once a month
Make growing successful leaders part of the performance evaluation for all of your direct reports.

Resilience as a program? Not another stinkin program . . .

Scott Patchin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I happened upon a blog post recently where the author, Dan Irwin shared two studies about resilience that I found facinating. First, Seery, Holman and Silver studied people over time and concluded that resilience (our ability to face stressful and/or traumatic experiences) is built by experiencing life and learning from it (my non psychologist words). Read all 17 pages here. Secondly, Linda Hartling of Wellesly College did another study that concluded that resilience development is about promoting growth-fostering relationships. While our efforts to combat work stress might take us towards stress management classes, on-site yoga, putting beer in the refrigerator of your start-up company, or offering a life coach to walk around every Friday - there has to be more than that. What about:

Get managers together weekly for a meal and start with the question "What one thing is going on outside of work and two things that are going on in work that are important?"
Teach your leaders to coach their people

Rotten Apple or Rotten Barrel?

Scott Patchin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I love a good saying, and this one was shared with me recently by one of those clients that makes you smarter when you hang around them. I handle lots of leadership transitions, so he shared with me this concept. When someone is not performing well, is it because they are a rotten apple or do they work in a rotten barrel?

Auto Draft

admin — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

About trU

admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:18:27 +0000

About The trU Group

People often ask us why we misspelled "true." But we didn't! Our name reflects our core beliefs that are the foundation for everything we do:

Relationships are built around one thing—TRUST.
People are developed and organizational problems are solved by the ability to leverage that trust to speak openly and deal with TRUTH.

We partner with organizations that believe this and want to create a culture where this core belief is seen each day in the actions of people at all levels. Our methods and tools include:

Executive Coaching
Leadership Development: Leadership Development Programs and Leadership Transitions
Consulting: Employee Performance Reviews, Succession Planning Process, Individual Development Plans, and Strategic Planning Process
Organizational Change Management

About Scott Patchin

Scott is an experienced learning executive, business leader, trainer, coach, and published author. His experience includes leadership roles in the manufacturing, financial, and healthcare industries. He has directed people and change strategies for businesses ranging from start-up companies to multinational organizations. Scott is passionate about building the culture and processes within organizations that result in people being engaged and excited about what they are doing each day. He believes that this is the foundation of a successful organization; business results will follow.

In his own words . . . Scott Being Interviewed At Governor Granholm's Press Conference - Watch the video

In the words of the Grand Rapids Press - Read the article

trU_group_green_circle

Scott Patchin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:12:48 +0000

Mastery - Does it matter? Part 1 of 3

Scott Patchin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:59:11 +0000

All this talk of Mastery – Initial Thoughts . . . I watched a 10 minute YouTube video from Daniel Pink and I was blown away. He shares the portion of his book (DRIVE) that shares the research based finding that the knowledge worker is motivated by three main things:

Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose

What caught my attention was the word Mastery, which has become a familiar word for me recently. The dictionary defines it as the possession of a consummate skill or the full command of some subject of study. Now it is being heralded as a key to motivation for many workers. Is this a surprise? As a father of four I have had several more experienced men tell me that adolescence is easier if your child finds what they are good at doing. This makes sense, but I am surprised that suddenly, in the adult world, this becomes newsworthy. This is not intended to be an attack on someone making money for stating the obvious, but a recognition that we should view these new lessons for what they are - a reminder that many of the things we have learned in life still apply. So how does this change how we manage our careers? How does this change how we lead? If Mastery is about being good at something, what has the most recent recession done to motivation if people are in one of two states – overloaded doing the work of 1+ people or trying to look overloaded by keeping their head down and staying in constant motion doing something. Whether your people are in either of these states, I would offer to leaders that the first step is sitting down and starting some dialogue by asking “What % of your job do you enjoy and want to get better at doing?”. Then come up with a plan for increasing that by 5% over the next month. Mastery starts with focus – and focus starts with leadership, from the inside and the outside. A leader has the chance to bring focus from the outside by helping to define some targets/goals for the individuals. We all have a chance to build focus from the inside by trusting, relaxing, and working at resuming our journey to Mastery. After all, it is our journey and it is important. Pink reminds us of that. Where are you on your journey to Mastery? There is more to be said on this topic. Watch Daniel Pink’s take on this at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc.

Cups that make a picture

Scott Patchin — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:24:34 +0000

Cups that make a picture by James Freeman

Scott Patchin — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:33:00 +0000

James Freeman picture in ArtPrize 2010

Leadership Lessons - through Art?

Scott Patchin — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 14:23:07 +0000

I had a moment where I was reminded how my perspective on things is not the only perspective. I was at Art Prize 2010 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and I was looking at the picture shown here. It is made out of 520 tiny cups that are 12 different shades of grey and the artist is James Freeman. So here is the trick with this picture - when you stand close to it all you see is grey cups, with just a faint image that there is a face in these cups. The farther you move away, the clearer the face becomes. For me, even moving away the image was never really all that clear. How did I figure out this was a face? Well, my 7-year-old took a picture of it and announced to me "Daddy look - it is a face!" It turns out when take a picture from any distance the face appears. Apparently the artist created an image that exposes some of the limits to our minds ability to process the different shades of grey and be able to see the REAL image. So where is the leadership lesson here? First, a gentle reminder that we often need help in seeing the real truth in anything - whether it is developing personal awareness of strengths/weaknesses/passions, finding the best solution to a problem, or becoming better leaders by knowing and dealing with our own constraints. Looking through our own eyes have some natural limitations. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to have a 7-year-old along to look at things a little differently. Or having a friend take a picture of us (have you taped one of your speeches lately?). Art reminds us that there are different ways of seeing the same thing, and having the courage to first ask the question "What do you see when you look at this?" is the first step. The second is waiting to hear the answer or answers, then giving time to consider the possibilities that differ from your own. I initially just saw a bunch of grey cups. Thankfully someone else saw the art. Kudos to James Freeman for the leadership lesson in art. -www.jamesfreemanstudio.com

Mastery = 10,000 hours! Part 2 of 3

Scott Patchin — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 11:40:47 +0000

It is a big number. 10,000 hours translates into 5 years of doing something BEFORE you can be considered to have attained Mastery. So where did this number come from and what does it mean to people trying to attain it and leaders who are trying to grow and retain people who have this? First question - Where did this number come from? In Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers he explores success and presents what he has found to be common themes to those who have achieved it. One of his findings was that success might look overnight or based on talent, but a common theme is preparation (aka. hours of work). He references a study of young musicians that examined who achieved the highest level of achievement vs those who became good. The difference between average, above average, and excellence? Hours of practice. In the end, the number was 10,000 hours. He also presented other anecdotal evidence of famous athletes, musicians, and business icons. This is not his only point to success, but it is a significant one. This 5 year number is one that I have also heard shared. Studies have been done in the area of nursing that support that the length of time for a nurse to achieve the status of a clinical expert in a particular area is 5 years. So if it is important for a nursing supervisor to also be a clinical expert, promoting them at 2 years or 3 years is a risk, especially if their team needs them to be an expert. Mastery is about preparation. Second question - What does it mean to people trying to attain Mastery and leaders who are trying to grow and retain people who have this? Think about our society - microwaves, fast food, IM(now Twitter), Facebook (instant updates of life vs yearly Christmas cards), etc. We do not like to wait for things. When we do wait we do not wait very long. So this number 10,000 hours seems like a looonnnnng time. I was presenting to a group of nursing leaders one time and I said something that clicked with them because everyone went for their pencils and wrote it down. I said "When you think about career development, imagine a crock pot, not a microwave." I was shocked at their response, but this visual made them realize the time needed to grow expertise AND the commitment that it takes from all to achieve it. Helping people achieve this takes a plan AND a commitment from a leader to revisit it and revise it every 6 - 12 months. So what can be done with this number? First, as an individual pick an area you want to achieve Mastery in and get to work. A job, special projects, volunteering, reading each week, or whatever other way you can find to accumulate hours doing and learning. Secondly, as a leader make a habit of asking questions of your people.

What is an area that you want to become an expert in?
What things do you want to learn or do over the next year?
How are you progressing on the development goals we set for you last year?
Where do you want to be in 5 years?

Mastery - A great goal and a significant goal! Just don't get frightened by the number. Remember, when you are doing what you love time passes quickly.

Life Lessons from . . . Bob Newhart?

Scott Patchin — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:10:30 +0000

I had the opportunity to see Bob Newhart speak as part of a series I have annual tickets for at the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan. I had two reasons for going:

My friend Bob was interested in using my extra ticket - so I had some good company for the drive.
Bob is funny. Specifically Bob Newhart is funny. My friend Bob is funny - he is just not Bob Newhart funny.

Learning is often about going into a situation with an open mind and just listening for something that makes you go Hmmmm. Here is what I carried with me after my evening with Bob Newhart.

On retirement - "I am 81 years old and people often ask me when I will retire. I make people laugh, and I have a hard time walking away from that and saying that I will not do that anymore. People need laughter, and that is what I do."
On working at a difficult job - He hosted The Tonight Show 87 times so Johnny Carson could have a break. "It was a really hard job, and one time when I did it for three straight weeks I was exhausted. Johnny once said that if he put the same effort into his first marriage as he did his job he would still be married."
Just a random funny comment that made me laugh - "So I was driving down to the racetrack in San Diego with my wife and Tim Conway and his wife . . . . . . " . My only thought was that it has to be funny sitting in a car with Tim Conway. My friend Bob and I giggled at this comment because we shared the same vision of 'just hanging out with Tim Conway'.

There is learning all around us - and situations that plant seeds that make us think about things. Just spending 90 minutes with Bob Newhart left me thinking about some significant things. Here are questions that were rolling around in my head:

Careers - What part of what I do would I never want to stop doing because the world needs it? my note: What would a workforce look like if everyone understood this about themselves, shared it, and pursued it?

Balance - Is any job worth more effort than a marriage? What is the cost of being wrong? my note: I once checked the divorce rate of CEO's and it was lower than the national average. I am still processing this - but I was surprised.

Friendship - What is your definition? my note: How about "Someone who will go with you to see Bob Newhart and also thinks Tim Conway is funny."

It was a good night.

Mastery - One of keys to success! Part 3 of 3

Scott Patchin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:54:56 +0000

Mastery is "available to anyone who is willing to get on the path and stay on it-regardless of age, sex, or previous experience." These are the words of George Leonard in a book he wrote called Mastery. This is not a new book. My copy was printed in 1992 and looks/feels like it has been on the journey that the author describes. This predates the 10,000 hour discussion I presented (see past blog), but reminds us that committing to Mastery is really about getting on a path and staying there for a lifetime. For achieving Mastery is not about the destination, but the journey to get there. The author provides many vivid images of the journey, from sports analogies around tennis to illustrations using the martial art of aikido. If you are interested in a rich exploration of the topic, read the book. But let me share a couple of parts that stuck with me. A significant point was around our view of practice. Practice if often viewed as a verb, but as it relates to Mastery it is best viewed as a noun. The author points out the Chinese word tao and the Japanese word do - both of which mean road or path. So achieving Mastery is about practice (remember 10,000 hours). Practice is a journey on which you embark. Leonard also shares his five keys to Mastery, which are:

Instruction
Practice
Surrender
Intentionality
The Edge

So what can you do as a leader to increase Mastery? First, your performance management system has to promote Mastery conversations. These questions need to be addressed:

What Mastery is needed in a role? (defined and measured at some level yearly)
What Mastery is the individual interested in attaining? (their own career goals - integrated into what the organization needs)
How is the Mastery journey going? (for you and for us)

Secondly, the ownership of the journey has to be made very clear. It is up to the individual. A leader/organization owns providing a target and the support and resources. Ultimately, the decision to go on and stay on the journey is owned by the individual. Do you agree with this? Think of it this way, most leaders will not be around a person for five years, and keeping track of 5 or 10 or 30 different people is not realistic for any leader. So if the individual owns the plan, the commitment of the leader become to create the time to review it, provide feedback on their progress, and assist in removing barriers that might be encountered along the way. (ex. time, resources, skills) So how does your organization promote the journey to Mastery? How well are you leading this journey?

B players have lots of value - How to tap into it

Scott Patchin — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:53:14 +0000

*this is an excerpt from a frequent publication by The trU Group called trU Tips. To view past topics click here. What I’m hearing A friend and mentor sent me this question “You’ve given advice on how to handle the strongest and weakest performers on a team, but what about the B players?” What it means First, let’s quickly define who the B players are: they’re the people who get the work done, have limited aspirations or potential to move higher in the organization, and likely have a nickname around an adjective like “Steady Eddy,” “Reliable Ruth” or “Dependable Dave.” Having these people around is priceless yet frustrating because they do their jobs but often aren’t looking for more work. We hide people in this category, so just saying “B player” is often misleading. A client described a person on his team who was solid, knowledgeable and dependable — and everyone in the office was afraid of her (including her boss) because she was also domineering and abrasive. Yet she was a solid performer in his eyes. We HIDE too many people in the “B” area because they are “valuable” or “knowledgeable,” all while creating fear in peers and negatively impacting the team. So I would expand the definition of “B player” into three categories:

B-plus: Content in their current roles but willing to share their vast knowledge to mentor new people. They contribute to teams looking to innovate and optimize what work is being done.
B: Solid contributors who are not interested in or capable of growing others at this point in their careers. They generally build positive relationships with teammates and consistently get things done.
B-minus: Solid to exceptional contributors who get the work done but build few, if any, positive relationships with people around them. They do not cultivate expertise in the group, but give direction instead.

What you should do People need to hear the truth, and the performance evaluation process is the perfect place to challenge B players — who likely comprise 50 to 60 percent of your workforce — but in a different way than you would A or C players. Don’t rewrite your form, but include the following items as post-it addendums if needed:

Three to five things you see them doing extremely well.
A list of adjectives that come to mind when thinking about what they accomplish but how they accomplish it. Include words that describe how others perceive them.
One request, in the form of a goal, that they could accomplish that would help the overall strength of the team —mentoring, permanently fixing a process, cultivating a key customer relationship, etc.

That third item can provide you with an opportunity to divide your B players up a little and challenge them to move the team forward. B and B-plus players have a place on the team. They have ideas, and may respond to challenges in a way that will surprise you. Those who fall into the B-minus category have to be put on notice, and as the leader you need to be bold enough to have that conversation. Want to hear more? View the video supplement on YouTube.

B players aren't all coasting - Some are waiting. So lead . . . (video)

Scott Patchin — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 18:36:11 +0000

Here are some extra thoughts on how to use your existing time and performance evaluation process to get your B players more engaged. B players are not necessarily coasting or hiding, many are waiting. Waiting for someone to ask them to help. Waiting for someone to give them some feedback, to say it is okay to not want a promotion, and to recognize they have lots of value to the organization. Do NOT hide behind the performance evaluation form or process as being a barrier to having a great conversation with your people. It is NOT the form. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kW8m9b5keM]

7 Leadership Lessons from Dave Bing

Scott Patchin — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:14:28 +0000

People from outside of Michigan may not recognize the name Dave Bing, so let me share some highlights of his career.

7 time NBA All-Star
In 1996 named one of the 50 Greatest NBA Players of All-time
Entrepreneur - Founder/Owner of Bing Steel
Current Mayor of Detroit, Michigan

So it can be said that at many levels he is a successful person. I had the opportunity to hear Mayor Bing talk today at the Grand Rapids Economic Club, and in thirty short minutes he had a lot to say. The first thing I heard that stuck with me was his introduction. He has been called "The right man for one of the most thankless jobs in America."(Time Magazine) Some statistics that illustrate what he faces in his job:

He assumed ownership of a city that was $330M in debt
There are 50,000 empty homes in Detroit
Detroit has a recently installed $100M computer system that does not work
Illiteracy is running between 40-50% for the residents of Detroit

All that being said, Dave Bing shared some great advice that all leaders need to hear.

Be prepared . . . and be prepared to be overwhelmed - He shared that he went into office thinking that he was ready for this job because of his business and sports background. He quickly realized that the problems he faced (see list above) were beyond what he was ready for at the time.
Leaders are Reslient - see #1
Lead with Questions - One of the first things he did was to spend time asking this question of the people in his city, What is the role of government?
Focus on Building Trust - He found many people did not trust the city government. He realized he could not get the change that was needed without that trust from residents, corporations, and other key allies. It became his #1 priority.
Focus on Setting Priorities - The priorities he has set for fixing Detroit are Fiscal Health, Crime, Blight, and Education. His agenda is clear and he is focusing resources and people on fixing these things.
Focus on Accountability - Set performance expectations, work with people to help them achieve these goals, and be ready to make a change if the performance goals are not met. An example, he has replaced his Police Chief twice because crime is a focus of his agenda and the performance goals were not being met.
Leadership is about making tough decisions - He has to ask/urge people to move from their homes in areas of the city that are largely made up of abandoned homes and into areas where there is a concentration of people so the city can focus their services and resources. You think your job is hard?

I agree with Time Magazine. I would add that he is a man/leader worth following. If you don't know Dave Bing you should get to know him. Read more

Want to Keep Your Best People? Learn to Grow Garlic! Let Me Explain . . .

Scott Patchin — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 20:31:46 +0000

Have you ever lost a good person because they did not see a future at your company or they did not feel valued? Then did you wonder "How could they think that?" Maybe you even went so far as to tell them after they announced they were leaving, but it was too late. Keeping people is a big and often complicated topic. To simplify it I often share a rule given me by a manufacturing supervisor from Tennessee almost ten years ago. His wisdom? "Intentions without actions equals SQUAT." My rule for making sure people know they are valued - invest in them through your actions. Let me share an analogy. I like to grow vegetables. My new experiment is garlic. It takes time to grow a full head of garlic from a single clove when you live in Michigan. The process starts in the fall, when you plant a single clove so it can put down some roots before winter. If everything works, next June I will have 20-30 full heads of garlic. My investment in the process is pretty simple: a little money, time, and patience. So how does growing garlic relate to developing people? As a leader you are likely busy with the urgent issues of today. If you want people to feel valued and show commitment to what needs to be done, they need your time, patience, and support. Here are five steps to cultivate your people garden:

Evaluate where the person is today (current performance, talents, experience)
Define where they want to be / the organization needs them to be in the future
Make a plan to get them ready(new skills, experiences, mentoring, etc) for what they want/what the organization needs
Revisit the plan every quarter to see how they are doing
Get to work

I believe most leaders care about their people. I also see lots of situations where these same leaders do not show in their actions what they feel. Taking time to help your people think about and plan for their future shows a real commitment to their success. What is the cost of such an activity? A good development discussion takes about 5-7 total hours (2-3 for the leader / 3-4 for the individual). If you add in three one hour(quarterly) follow-up meetings, the yearly time investment for a single person is approximately 13 hours. The ROI? What would it cost your business to replace a good employee? What would the lost productivity or stalled projects cost your team if you were short a person for 3-4 months? Spend 5 minutes making a list of the actions you do daily, monthly, and quarterly to show your people you value them? If this is not on it - add it!

Is it possible to hire all A players? Three Realities

Scott Patchin — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:59:57 +0000

It makes great headlines to talk about hiring "A" players. Guy Kawasaki makes the statement that "People need to hire people smarter than they are", but the reality is "A players hire A players; B players hire C players." In his book Topgrading, Brad Smart outlines an approach that is designed to ensure 90% of your hires will be A players in the role they are hired into. Few would argue that having great people doing the right things is critical for a business to be successful. To start this discussion, here are three realities for hiring A players. 1. Organizations have a tendency to transform A's into B's and C's: What keeps A's acting like A's? The Gallup organization did extensive research that resulted in identifying 12 questions(Q12) to measure engagement, among other things. The first three questions say a lot about what keeps A's acting like A's: 1) I know what is expected of me at work 2) I have the tools and resources I need to do my job 3) I have an opportunity to do what I do best everyday. At the core of keeping A's acting like A's is communication. This includes keeping them informed about changes in the business and listening to their questions/needs/opinions. 2. Hiring people 'smarter than they are' is hard. It takes a tremendous amount of self-confidence and cultural support: This starts with the CEO, and their willingness to allow their executive team to lead, which might result in them not have all the answers all of the time. A key challenge to hiring smarter people is delegating the work (because they are better able to do it) and giving them space to make decisions. This will put leaders in a position to not know all the decisions being made all the time. So, the CEO needs to provide some space to bring information back and leaders need to be comfortable saying and allowing the comment "I don't know, but let me look into that." 3. Hiring - Do people really have the time to be that rigorous? Hiring the best people for a job takes a clear understanding of the role (job description), a vision of how this role will impact the direction of the company (operational/strategic objectives), and time to really get to know the candidates. In Topgrading, Brad Smart outlines a rigorous process that could easily take 6+ hours per candidate. Teaching managers the reason for these three pieces and the importance of spending time to find great people is critical. If you are a CEO trying to attract and keep the best talent, it is worth a 2-3 hour discussion with your team to explore this topic and find ways to fine tune your hiring and onboarding of people so they are successful. Some questions to consider in that process:

How do you define A players, B players, and C players?
What do you see as impediments in your own organization to hiring A players?
What are practical ways you have seen to make sure A's do not get turned into B or C players? What are you doing? What should you be doing?

Some other good reads:

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/the_art_of_recr.html#ixzz13HZcG3se

http://www.jobdig.com/articles/348/The_Three_Rules_for_Hiring_A_Players.html

http://www.derbymanagement.com/knowledge/pages/building/level.html

Achievement = Talent?

Scott Patchin — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:19:40 +0000

Achievement is talent plus preparation. - Malcolm Gladwell Often we get focused on learning about how we think and why we act the way we do that we forget about the action. If you have not read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell you should. This is just a nugget.

B Players: 3 Things Leaders Can Do to Energize Them

Scott Patchin — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 20:42:01 +0000

Good News! Getting B players more energized, engaged, and acting like an A player is not an expensive initiative. The reality? It will take a time commitment from leaders. Here are three moves you can make today to raise the energy level and commitment of your B players. 1. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate: Leaders need to spend time monthly talking about the performance of the business, quarterly talking about the near term goals, and yearly reviewing the goals and vision for the business. B's are out there looking for leadership, some clear direction, authenticity, and something to get excited about - so give it to them! 2. Regular One on One Time: As leaders, we look at our solid players and give thanks they are low maintenance. When the demands on our time increases the common response is to take them for granted and slip into a more no maintenance mode. Nothing says you are valued more than time, and people need to feel valued before they will get excited . What if you sat down monthly with your B's and started asking questions like:

What challenges are you/the team experiencing this week?
What questions are you hearing from people about the business?
What do you see out there that needs fixing?
What questions do you have for me?

After you ask a question just listen. If having regular one on one time is new be patient. It might take several weeks or months for people to open up because they need to see your commitment to them. If you listen and follow-up on any commitments you make trust will increase and engagement will follow. 3. Help Them Set Goals: B's are generally doing the core part of their job very well. Use the yearly evaluation time or one on one time to affirm their value, offer support to help them grow to meet personal goals, and invite them to help fix a few things or guide some change. B's are not looking for a 60 hour work week so they might appear hesitant. If they have some personal constraints that restrict them from giving the business extra time get creative. Whether it is testing a new system, meeting with customers coming in for a visit, or taking a new person under their wing to help them learn - there is untapped potential with these solid team members. Remember, LOW maintenance is not NO maintenance. Pay a little attention, be authentic, and invite them to jump in. What would be the impact on your business if 50% of your B players poured some extra energy into solving one problem, finding one more customer, or identifying and implementing one efficiency improvement?

Joy: Why It Should Matter to the CEO

Scott Patchin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:40:16 +0000

I just finished reading Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. I won't give you a whole book report, but one part of the story is etched in my brain. The story is based around a tribe in Mexico called the Tarahumara and their amazing ability to run many miles (50 to 100 plus) at a time. Legendary running coach Joe Vigil was watching two Tarahumara runners late in a 100 mile race they would eventually win, and it struck him that they were smiling. Vigil had spent 50 years studying runners and attempting to define the physiological keys that would make people faster, only to discover the last piece to the puzzle for him was character. As it is stated in the book "Vigil's notion of character wasn't toughness. It was compassion. Kindness. Love." The Tarahumara had never forgotten their love of running, and the joy they felt oozed out of them even after 50+ miles. Joy is the key ingredient in opening our hearts, minds, and bodies up for a whole new level of performance. In Daniel Pink's book A Whole New Mind he makes a case for the presence of play and laughter in the workplace and the impact it has on innovation and engagement. What happens when we lack joy in our work? Dr. Stuart Brown wrote in his book Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul that younger people suffer the same "crisis of the soul that comes from pouring every moment of your time and every ounce of your being into other' expectations." As a leader, take a pulse of your organization by walking around. Are people smiling? Do they approach you to say hello or do they wait for you to say it? Watch people in your lobby being greeted. Is there any warmth? At 5pm, how many cars are left in the parking lot? How often do you hear laughter? When you ask the question Why do you work? what kinds of answers do you hear? How would you answer that question? Imagine what a day at work would be like if we celebrated just being there. What if we brought a little of the Tarahumara to work. Imagine the difference it would make in everything that we do. The best news for the bottom line - joy is free. The best news for everyone - joy is a personal choice.

Startup - 4 Critical Things You Need From The Team You Build

Scott Patchin — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:06:34 +0000

Starting up a business is a crazy time, and a key part of this time is bringing people around you that will help you hit your goals. Officially your goal might be a revenue number, but unofficially startup is also about getting lots of things done without hurting yourself or those around you. It is hard, which is why so many new businesses fail to survive. One researcher concluded that after three years 46% of startups are gone. (see numbers) The good news is there are people around all of us that are willing to get involved. As you identify your team it is crucial to define what you will need from them as you start your business. Here are four needs I have found to be critical, and each one should have a name(s) next to them for you. 1. Help managing the fear: Don Rainey, a venture capitalist in Washington DC named getting used to constant fear as the #1 way starting a business will change you (read blog posting). Find advisers and partners that understand fear and that you trust enough to be open with. They should also be people who will push you to get unstuck when fear is holding you back from moving forward. Managing fear is ultimately your job, but ongoing support from others is critical. 2. The knowledge/experience to help win: Every business needs a little bit of luck, but don't depend on it. If there is knowledge you need and don't have - find it. If you are a single person company, find the network or get the experience before you start. If you are going to market with an idea or product you created, get sales and marketing help. If you really understand your own strengths and weaknesses this part is easy because your business plan tells you the work you have to get done, you just have to get the help to fill in the key gaps. Move your ego over and get help. 3. Brave problem solvers: I like the word brave because it creates the picture of a hero who overcomes fear to get into action mode and wins. Looking back at any startup, there are an abundance of stories where bumps were encountered and unforeseen problems had to be solved. A great question for entrepreneurs is "Share a problem/challenge you encountered and what you did to overcome it?" When hiring people in the beginning you will need to hire problem solvers - not problem identifiers or problem creators. Whether it is through their commitment to learning, sheer will to win, or passion to fix things, they need to see problems as an opportunity to do something special. 4. Someone to celebrate with: There will be victories. In those victories are opportunities to high-five, eat some good food, or share a smile. Having people close enough to your business to know the lows and recognize the work that went into the highs is important. It might be an employee that likes to cook or a friend who likes to throw a party. Jim Collins called this momentum gained by reaching and recognizing goals the flywheel effect. Celebrating successes will allow you to feel the momentum. So what kind of leadership do they need from you? See the above list and ask yourself "What can I do as a leader to make sure that need is met?" It is probably worth some future blog space to explore this question a little bit more. If you have any ideas to add to what I have shared feel free to comment.

Great Followership is a Choice - Why It Matters . . .

Scott Patchin — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:06:15 +0000

I live in Michigan, and if you have read anything about the economy you know we are close to last when states are ranked in terms of economic health. We have a long journey in front of us. As we wait for a new governor to start and demand for new/old products to grow I cannot help but think that I am tired of waiting. Really, what am I waiting for? We often look to leaders to fix things or make things better, waiting for the right rallying cry or piece of legislation. In waiting, we make a choice to let someone else figure things out. Sometimes it is important to recognize what we have many things to be thankful for, and then make the choice to make it better. I believe this is one of those times. Here are a few illustrations of what I mean.

A sunny day is a gift. Going outside to enjoy it is a choice.
Children are a gift. Putting your paper down to listen to them is a choice.
Having a job is a gift. Getting enjoyment and fulfillment from that job is a choice.
Having people around you to help you find a job is a gift. Preparing for the interview and being confident in who you are is a choice.
Having a great boss is a gift. Trusting and supporting that boss is a choice.
Being asked your opinion by the CEO is a gift. Giving a truthful answer is a choice.
Your talents are a gift. Choosing a path/role/project to share those talents is a choice.
A paycheck is a gift. Choosing to smile when you open it is a choice.

The election is over, but we should not wait for new leaders to improve our outlook and get things moving. As followers, we have a choice. The ironic thing about becoming a great follower - if we do it really well we end up being leaders.

Looking to Have an Engaged Workforce? . . . Don't Forget the Turkey

Scott Patchin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 18:10:25 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="201" caption="Image by ~Sage~ via Flickr"][/caption]

An enlightened leader just told me a great story. After experiencing 2 years of difficult times, a recent quarterly employee meeting was dedicated to looking to the future and celebrate furtunes starting to turn for the organization. There were four parts to the presentation: Vision/Strategy, Financials, Quality, and an HR update. While the first three received polite attention, the last piece received thunderous applause. Why? Because the announcement was made that the holiday tradition of giving each employee a frozen turkey was back after a two-year absence. The learning? Never underestimate the value of the little things. The action? Don't go and add a turkey giveaway to your organizational traditions. Do continue to focus on communicating to all levels of your organization. But never underestimate the appreciation people have for the little things. A personal thank you, an early quit to spend time with family, flowers to show concern or appreciation, or just a few extra minutes to learn some facts about someone beyond their name. For a leader, casting vision, communicating priorities, updating people on where the company is financially, and sharing news from different parts of the business is important. But also remember to hand out a few turkeys between powerpoint slides and annual reports.

Emails in CAPS - Here is how NOT to send them

Scott Patchin — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:54:22 +0000

He entered my office with a look on his face that was both quizzical and bothered. He was wondering why he was here. In front of me was an email with no four letter words, no inappropriate nouns or adjectives, but lots of capital letters. He was 24 years old, a hard-driving and successful sales person, and he saw capital letters as a way of conveying how passionate he felt about what he was saying. Of course, the person who had received this and everyone on his team viewed this as yelling. He made it through that conversation, but only lasted about three more months in the organization. In a recent post by Jason Diamond Arnold (see post: http://ht.ly/35a5N) he chronicles the process of using restraint and time to pull the emotion out of an email so that it does not result in damage to a relationship. It is a good message and a reminder of how to know when you have crossed the line and show some restraint by NOT hitting the send button. Let me go one step further - NEVER send an email where the message contains anger, frustration, disappointment, disillusionment, or has the sole purpose of holding someone accountable for actions. Write it, read it, think about it (I recommend 24 hours), and in the end if the feeling is still there get on the phone or walk over and deal with it. I have a file full of email arguments that are great material for Dilbert, but would make you shake your head because they all involve executive level leaders. If you are a leader and find yourself wanting to write one of these emails to your company/department - here is an alternative.

Write the email
Share it personally with your leadership team - what you see, why it frustrates you, and what you want to see.
Ask for their input - Are your observations accurate? What might you be missing? What will it take to correct this?
Listen
Listen (this is an important step so I thought I would bring it up twice)
Thank them for their input - and make a decision on next steps - If moving forward with a message to the organization is important, enlist the help of someone else to craft a message and agree (as a team) what the follow-up will be from everyone in the group.

Correcting mistakes or redirecting the actions of many is important to the success of your organization. But there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Emotionally charged emails are the wrong way. stop it! (see - no caps, and you still get the message)

TrustBUSTERs - Any of these sound familiar?

Scott Patchin — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:47:38 +0000

Trust is something that is foundational to healthy leaders, healthy companies, and healthy relationships. But it is hard, especially in times where managers change yearly, communication is sporadic, and a self-preservation mindset still exists from the recent economic slump. In my experience dealing with companies that are growing or working with limited resources, I see lots of people working quickly and reacting more than thinking things through. When we are in that mode, our behaviors often erodes trust because we are defaulting to our most natural mode of behavior. Under stress, we have a diminished ability to flex our work style to best fit the situation or person. It is rarely intentional, but our actions send a negative message. In his book The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey makes the observation that "We judge ourselves based on our intentions, but we judge others on their actions". I call these actions TrustBUSTERS. What if we knew the Top 3 TrustBUSTERS for everyone we worked with and we were aware of the three things we did most often? How would that impact the trust on our team? Here is the list of TrustBUSTERS :

Talks negatively about teammates behind their backs
Unwilling to admit mistakes and apologize
Slow to extend trust to others
Does not communicate and explain changes/decisions well
Tells a lot, listens very little
Criticizes decisions AFTER the team has discussed them and the decision has been made
Values individual success over team goals
Shows little/if any concern about me as a person
Does not consistently follow through on commitments
Asks team to make sacrifices ($ / time), but does not make same sacrifices

Have any to add?

I'm OK, You're Not - It's All About EGO (via How We Lead)

Scott Patchin — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:40:16 +0000

It is hard for me to comment too much on this because Ken Blanchard has a way with words that makes me want to get out of the way and let you read. One thing I would say is that this is probably the one topic that makes the case for having executive coaches - because many of these issues can be addressed sooner rather than later with timely feedback, reflection, and encouragement to change. Given the dynamics of most c-suites, there are many barriers to doing this with peers and often the environments I see promote ego issues. Also, symptoms of ego issues show up early in the life of a leader (lack of listening skills, unwilling to accept feedback, never takes responsibility for mistakes), which makes effective selection and performance feedback processes all the more critical. It is a great read - enjoy.

I believe the biggest addiction problem in the workplace today is the human ego. When people operate from their ego, their behavior tends to be based on fear rather than trust. When people behave out of fear, they have a high need to control others and their environment and they have a win-lose orientation toward everything. Even when discussing the weather they want to make sure you know that they know more about weather than you do. They broa … Read More

via How We Lead

TrustBUSTER™ #1 - Talking behind the backs of teammates

Scott Patchin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:21:45 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="188" caption="Cover via Amazon"][/caption]

TrustBUSTER™ 1: Talks negatively about teammates behind their backs Every leader has he said/she said stories where someone says something out of the earshot of another that is perceived as negative. It is no wonder that Patrick Lencioni's first two dysfunctions in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team are the absence of trust and inability to manage conflict. So how can you prevent this in your team? Susan Scott makes the point in her book Fierce Conversations that "As a leader, you get what you tolerate." Complaining requires a talker and a listener. If you listen and let it go you are tolerating it. The best way to stop it is to have zero tolerance for it. When you hear it, encourage the person to address their concerns directly with the person or drop it. If it continues then it needs to be dealt with as a performance issue. In addition, recognize that most teams and individuals are not skilled at directly giving or receiving negative feedback, which forces disagreements to be internalized or appear as complaints that are passed around people and not directly to them. Make attainment of this skill a priority for your team. Even just reading and discussing the book Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott will go a long way towards helping people learn the skills that will help bring complaints into the open.

TrustBUSTER #2 - Unwilling to admit mistakes or apologize

Scott Patchin — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:45:57 +0000

TrustBUSTER #2 - Unwilling to admit mistakes or apologize There was an article in our local paper yesterday and it was about a 17-year-old swimmer who got caught drinking and had to miss part of her senior season because of her mistake. She is a defending state champion and her team lost twice during her absence. Why I think it is a significant story is that she openly talked about it in the paper and shared how she let her team down because of her choices. I am sure she told them how sorry she was for letting them down. This behavior is so important that Patrick Lencioni devotes two questions (out of 15) to it in the assessment he provides as part of his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. The questions are:

Team members quickly and genuinely apologize to one another when they say or do something inappropriate or possibly damaging to the team.
Team members openly admit their weaknesses and mistakes.

There are two aspects to this: personal character and company culture. Character is simply about having the strength to recognize what you did was wrong and fix it. There is lots of learning in and around mistakes. Being able to see them, apologize, and get on with a different solution results in everyone getting smarter and more trusting in our character. If there is one thing a leader needs to remember it is this: Culture will trump character. If the culture punishes mistakes, then most will hide them. A paycheck is a very powerful thing and preserving it will be a priority for many. The return for an organization that makes it safe to own a mistake is that things get fixed faster and people are more likely to take risks that will be good for your business. To test this yourself, write down 10 mistakes made people on your team in the last three months. Then ask yourself: What was the impact on the company? What was the impact on the person? How was it discovered and by who? How was it resolved? When you look at the answers ask yourself - At my company does culture trump character or is character the culture?

How to Build a Bulletproof Company Culture (inc.com)

TrustBUSTER™ #3 - Slow to extend trust to others (and Why onboarding matters)

Scott Patchin — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:00:59 +0000

TrustBUSTER™ #3 - Slow to extend trust to others I was facilitating a team building conversation with a group of twelve people. Half of them knew each other well and the other half were new team members who were working in regional offices. For the trust part of the session I asked each person to answer three questions and we went around the room to share answers. The three questions were:

Trust - do you give it automatically or do people have to earn it?
If you give it - how do they lose it? OR If people have to earn it - how do they earn it?
Bonus question: What are "forgiveness factors for you" - ie. If these factors are in place you will forgive trustBUSTING behavior.

There were two A-HA moments. The first was when someone shared her surprise that everyone did not share her answer to the first question. She thought everyone required people to earn trust. The second moment was from my perspective at the front of the room. I saw many of the new people taking note of what their new peers said about trust. For them, the information being shared was helping them understand how to establish solid relationships in a new organization. So what is the impact of being slow to trust others? I like to focus on transitions(leadership and job) because this behavior will be most evident in the building of a new relationships. For a new leader, people will sense your lack of trust because of the questions you ask and actions like taking work away from them or micromanaging. If they do not know why you are staying so close their likely response will be to lower their trust in you. This begins the slippery slope of eroding morale and engagement. It can be fixed, but it will take lots of effort on your part. A good move for a leader is just to be open about it. It could be as simple and direct as saying "I need to see the work your capable of so that I understand what skills you have and what you need from me in terms of support and development." By putting it on the table your motives become known and might even provide a way for your new people to manage you by keeping you in the loop on things. Remember, your people will judge you based on your actions NOT your intentions. For a new employee, your peers need to get to know you and being slow to extend trust will slow the building of new relationships. You will need to trust somebody. When I hired people with low trust (we assessed this as part of the interviewing process) I made specific moves during the selection and onboarding process to earn their trust. Things like never missing a committed deadline, over communicating, and being transparent about what was happening. If there is not a onboarding process in place to support your need to build trust quickly, find a way to fulfill your own needs to build those relationships. For anyone, transparency is the best policy to counteract this behavior. If you are open it can be handled. A good onboarding program greatly lessens the effect of this because trust is being built from the beginning and this should cease to be an issue.

I like this . . . .(DO NOT) Check Your Personal Baggage at the Door

Scott Patchin — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:48:47 +0000

I like the reminder from this post about how important it is to have people bring their whole self to work. While one might look at this post and conclude that it provides a reason not to perform the job - I would offer a challenge to look at this another way. It takes energy for a person to hide things and 'pretend'. By allowing for some transparency with your leader it frees up mental energy to focus on the work, and allows for some grace from a leader when needed. I like this post. (DO NOT) Check Your Personal Baggage at the Door.

trU Tips 9: There is no 'I' in team - When and why this is wrong

Scott Patchin — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:56:51 +0000

This is a reprint of the monthly publication called trU Tips - Strategic People Reminders for the busy executive. To subscribe to receive a monthly trU Tips, click here.

What I’m hearing Forming teams is not a new concept. It can be, however, a new experience for many entrepreneurial organizations entering their next phase of growth, and for industries such as financial services. Teams can help raise revenue, keep relationships connected with service, and reduce the risk of having one person dictate the success of the organization. While the process of team building is simple, doing it effectively is a bigger challenge when the people being asked to join a team are successful largely because of their individual drives. What it means “There is no ‘I’ in team.” Great slogan, but it’s wrong. When bringing people together who have been successful largely because of their personal drives to succeed, there has to be room for “I” somewhere, or the team won’t work. It’s unrealistic to ask someone — a top sales person, a driving entrepreneur, a teacher — who has basically worked independently for the first decade of his or her career to change overnight and become a great team member. Bringing independent-minded people together requires an open and honest conversation focused on defining both individual needs and team goals, then deciding if a balance can be achieved. Building trust is the basic component of performance. In my experience, trust comes before the other three pieces in a four-step process I call trUPerformance™: build trust, build focus, build confidence and build rhythm. While the last three parts are essential for a great, high-functioning team, trust is the key. Allowing people to process through their individual needs, as well as those of the team as a whole, will promote an understanding of how the team can meet its overall goals while allowing its members to have their own needs met. In the end, individuals might decide that being part of a team won’t work for them. Sharing truth allows for good choices to be made. What you should do The key in all of this is having a series of conversations with potential team members to identify:

A list of what they bring to the team, including strengths and weaknesses
A list of things they want or need from the team
A list of personal reasons for joining the team, including what they see as the group’s goals or potential

Process these pieces by sharing openly, identifying common themes in both individual needs and team goals. Challenge people to identify needs that are purely “Me” goals (e.g., keeping one’s top 20 clients) and those that are “We” goals that benefit the entire team (e.g., offering a more complete service solution to customers). By systematically going through these conversations, it will become evident whether or not potential team members are compatible, and whether joining the team is the right move for an individual. Need a partner in effectively forming a team that will have a huge impact on your business? Contact me. Scott@thetrugroup.com

Who me? TrustBUSTER™ #4 - Does not communicate and explain changes/decisions well

Scott Patchin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:00:58 +0000

TrustBUSTER™ #4 - Does not communicate and explain changes/decisions well I have had many opportunities to watch 'trickle down' communication in action. In one such organization I worked with the senior leadership team to implement a new performance management tool for all their direct reports. The decision was made to have each vice president roll out and explain the changes to their people. The material was put together and given to each executive and a deadline for communicating the information was set. As the deadline passed I had a chance to talk with a large sample of these direct reports and realized 50% of the executives had not communicated to their teams. I was asked for my feedback in front of the executive team a few weeks later and I shared this statistic. They became silent, and from their faces I could tell they were all wondering who had not followed through. After all, they all saw themselves as a great communicator. This is an area where the speed of business and the explosion of tools to communicate information has gotten in the way of true communication. Too often the act of hitting the send button makes us believe that everyone knows. So often the TrustBUSTER™ list is about perception, and the measure of communication can be so subjective. They key to making this TrustBUSTER™ go away is in developing the habit of slowing down work daily, weekly, and monthly to get groups together and share information. The best resource I have found to explain what this looks like is probably Patrick Lencioni's book Death By Meeting. It would be worth reading for any leadership team. For a leader looking to understand how well things are being trickled down, here are three things you can do to get a pulse:

Walk around and ask. This probably seems too basic, but just getting out and asking people what they know or what they do not understand will give you lots of good information. Questions like "What do you know about . . . " or "How is ...... impacting you?" or "What kind of results have you seen - positive or negative?"
Be purposeful in communicating change. At a past organization, for every change initiative we would give all the leaders a sheet outlining exactly what needed to be said and answers to frequently asked questions. Everyone had a message and the expectation was they would share it by a certain time. We always spent time at the next meeting discussing what we heard and how people reacted.
Leverage your staff meetings. As organizations grow adding time for the leadership team to meet seems like overkill to many because "we talk all of the time." Hearing something in a quiet room has more impact than a passing comment in a hall. Create space to debate, decide, and plan next steps so everyone knows how and why the decision was made.

This TrustBUSTER™ goes away when we slow down, seek to understand the perspective of others, and spend time explaining the what, why and how of things. This is also called leadership. :)

Video Post - Putting the I back in Team

Scott Patchin — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:01:24 +0000

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbpEnegSjzo]

Leadership Time - Chronos and Kairos. Which one guides your day?

Scott Patchin — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:00:58 +0000

I heard something from the pulpit a couple of weeks ago that really got me thinking. In Greek there two words for time: chronos and kairos. Chronos refers to time as we measure it. It is a quantitative measure. As a western civilization, we put a great focus on chronos time with productivity tools, phones, emails, calendars, and multitasking. As leaders we focus on keeping on schedule, preparing as we walk between meetings, and leveraging the help of others to make sure our days are productive and time is well spent. Kairos refers to time as a right and opportune moments. It refers to the space in between the chronos or sequential time when something special happens. It is a qualitative measure. What are these Kairos moments? What about someone saying hello and asks us about our weekend? Maybe it could be a voice disagreeing with something we needed to make a decision on yesterday, or our kids busting into the house to tell us about something exciting that happened to them today. How about your elderly neighbor who cannot move fast enough to catch you at your mailbox, but is sitting on their porch waiting for a conversation. It might even be inviting two people working through lunch to come out with you for a bite to eat. Chronos will get taken care of because we are good at it, but sometime Kairos needs more of our attention. What can you do as a leader to make Kairos more of a priority? It is a good time of year to ask this question.

Here is what I think. . . TrustBUSTER™ #5 - Tells a lot, listens very little

Scott Patchin — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:30:13 +0000

TrustBUSTER™ #5 - Tells a lot, listens very little A study was shared with me once that calculated the average time a doctor listened to a patient before making a diagnosis was 23 seconds. For many of my visits that number has actually proven to be long enough. But for a complex medical issue, Twenty-three seconds is not long enough. In my experience working with the results of employee surveys, not enough listening is always a root cause of the top issues. Here are some broad generalizations on listening.

As people become experts at doing something, they become less adept at listening.
When individuals are rewarded for being great at doing and made a leader, most feel the need to talk louder to make sure things happen.
A high salary has to be justified by knowing everything and never letting people see your mistakes.

I will let someone else to worry about the issue of twenty-three seconds for doctors, lets talk about how this applies for leaders. LEADERS: The ability to hear what people need and understand what is going on in an organizations is probably the most important skill a leader will need as they move up the organization. Recently a client shared with me that they were concerned about the statistic that 60% of people currently in jobs are open to moving to another job as the economy improves. Their response? Begin to provide the CEO time to meet with small groups of people so he can hear what they are thinking about. Listening for leaders is about slowing down. The cost? Free! ORGANIZATIONS: The top three 'listening' processes in an organization are performance evaluations, one on ones, and staff meetings. Why do I say this? Listening to individuals requires face time in a setting where they are comfortable and the agenda is about them. Ken Blanchard offers guidelines for one on ones of meeting every other week for 15-30 minutes. How many organizations do that? As for performance evaluations, how many managers see this as listening time vs "I have to get through this and get their signature so I can turn it in and get credit for it" time? Then there is the staff meeting. Does the agenda promote open listening or lots of talking with no questions or debate? Do we need to do employee surveys? They do serve a purpose and there is always benefit in asking people's opinion. The mistake is leaning on the surveys as the primary way that listening happens in an organization. It is supposed to be supplemental data to ensure that good listening is happening. How effectively do you use the 'big three' listening times mentioned above? How would you grade yourself on this TrustBUSTER™? How would others grade you?

Listening at growth companies . . . avoiding TrustBUSTER™ #5

Scott Patchin — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 13:00:16 +0000

Here is another perspective on TrustBUSTER™ #5 - Tells a lot, listens very little - for the growth oriented companies. (read the previous post on this topic to get the whole picture on the TrustBUSTER™ list) While I am not a fan of using employee surveys as replacement tool for solid management of people, I do believe in them. For the company that has lots to do because of their growing business, growth company guru Verne Harnish offers and interesting perpsective in his book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. His perspective is covered in a chapter, and the subtitle to it is De-Hassle Your Organization. The basic message is that the #1 demotivator for people is problems/hassles not getting resolved. His solution for listening, asking three questions to start:

What should we start doing?
What should we stop doing?
What should we continue doing?

The follow-up is key in any gathering feedback effort, and he covers it masterfully in his book so I will not recite it here. Harnish markets to growing companies, but any organization could leverage his wisdom. I love these questions. Any questions you would like to add to the list?

Great Post - Unhappy? Focus on the Present

Scott Patchin — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:37:48 +0000

This should not be a surprise, but here is some good research what makes people happy. Their conclusion - being able to focus and complete things. The next question - How focused are you feeling? Let the conversation begin . . . Unhappy? Focus on the Present.

TrustBUSTER™ #6 - Criticize decisions AFTER the team made them - How to handle the 3 most common situations

Scott Patchin — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 14:27:27 +0000

TrustBUSTER™ #6 - Criticizes decisions AFTER the team has discussed them and the decision has been made I still remember the situation vividly. Early in my career I went to a meeting, listened to the discussion, and heard the decision. I went back to my desk and did some more analysis(things I should have done before the meeting), realized that I had a different opinion, and went back to the leader with my concerns. He was visibly frustrated and let me know that we had already discussed it. It was a lesson in being present for a discussion vs being engaged in a discussion. I had been there, but not contributing like I should. Later in my career I heard a different story from a senior executive. He shared a decision that had been made by his peer that he did not agree with. His comment was "It was his decision so I will give him some rope. He will run into problems eventually, then we can discuss bailing him out." His strategy was to let his peer fail (without giving him the right kind of help) so that his plan would ultimately prevail. In both cases it was not a lack of discussion, but a lack of open and honest dialogue by all the parties involved. The result, people leaving the table with individual agendas that trumped the team agenda. Nothing erodes trust faster than failure to listen, failure to share opinions, and failure to support decisions made by your team. Here are the three standard situations you will see happen on a team, what the issue is, and what the leader should do to ensure the person stops doing this TrustBUSTER™.

Openly criticizing people/decisions after the fact = criticizing = character issue = Action: Direct warning (job loss)
Questioning decisions after the fact = criticizing = character or self-confidence issue = Action: Need more info . . .
Bringing more(new) data after a bad decision = criticizing = takes guts = Action: Thank them for finding the information, then explore - Why did we not have this information?

This is one of those behaviors that highlights something Stephen M.R. Covey shares in his book The Speed of Trust, which is "We judge others based on their actions and we judge ourselves based on our intent." This is an especially critical message for the kind but timid person on your team that does not speak up. Their actions create trust issues with their teammates. The key question for a leader when this happens - How can I lead differently so this TrustBUSTER™ never becomes an issue? The key action is to deal with it quickly and directly because it will grow like cancer in your team. Secondly, look also at your meetings and evaluate if you are creating time for key debates to happen or if decisions are just being unilaterally made and not discussed. Finally, if you see this happening between two departments in your organization, examine the relationship of the leaders of those groups. Likely the departments are mirroring the leaders. In any case, address it directly and be willing to change the leaders if it does not stop.

TrustBUSTER™ #7 - Values individual success over team goals

Scott Patchin — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:00:23 +0000

TrustBUSTER™ #7 - Values individual success over team goals I facilitated 30 people from a department doing a basic what is your behavioral style activity that divided the team up into 4 styles. I made the comment that it is not uncommon for a senior leadership team to be almost 100% concentrated in the more task focused groups in an exercise like this. I asked the leaders in the room to raise their hands. The count was 5 task focused to 1 people focused. Surprising to them, but not to me. This TrustBUSTER™ is almost 100% focused on people who tend to put task (getting job done) before people (building relationships). This happens for two reasons. First, executives have been rewarded for getting work accomplished. Their talents for achievement, problem solving, and energy to overcome obstacles helped bring them to the c-suite. They are used to winning. If you are on their team it works. If you are on another team it often looks like TrustBUSTER™ #7. Secondly, communication and change management come after the debate and decision-making has already happened within the executive team. Unfortunately, it is the communication plan and ensuing change management that gets overlooked because all the energy has gone into the decision. Without providing the reasons why this is a good move for the overall organization, teams will fill in the blanks. This is where people begin to assign reasons for the change that are based on what they perceive is important to the leaders. Is it reality? Without any other information, perception becomes reality. Enter TrustBUSTER™ #7. How do leaders avoid this? Here are three steps to making this TrustBUSTER™ less of an issue:

Be diligent about establishing goals and resolving conflicting goals as part of the planning process. This team should leave this process ready to support the decisions that were made.
Communicate WHY a decision is made when rolling out a change to your teams. Be transparent about the reasons and get their input during the decision making when possible.
Focus on building relationships and trust all the time. There will be decisions you have to make where you cannot share the entire WHY. Having built trust will make forgiveness available when it is needed.

Joy - 3 Steps to Create More as a Leader

Scott Patchin — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:00:42 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

I participated in a panel discussion around the 'new normal' in Michigan business that was sponsored by CORP! Magazine. If there is one message everyone is sure of it is that the economic recovery will be slow and the main thing individuals look for to measure improvement (jobs / income) might not get back to normal depending on your profession. Regardless of the speed of the rebound, there are things leaders can do to create more energy in the workplace. This also applies to followers. We need to create more JOY. What is joy? Joy is not a superficial adjective, it goes deeper than that. The Joy I am talking about is a noun, and the Merriam-Webster dictionary says it is a source or cause of delight. Words are important, and the word source jumps out at me because it makes me think of a deep flowing spring that fills a lake or starts a river. Something that we know is down there because we see it emerge and create something powerful and beautiful. Thinking of that, as leaders we need to be a source for more joy in our workplace. Here are three ways to make that happen. 1. You first! Joy is a choice. Being able to look at what we do, at whatever the situation is, and commit to being hopeful is the first step. Jim Collins presented what he called the Stockdale Paradox in his book Good to Great, which was to "Confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be AND retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties." A first step, make it a habit to smile and greet people. Another move is starting each speech by recognizing a couple of people for their attitude as well as a specific accomplishment in the past week. 2. Ask others to join: It has been a tough few years for workers. At one point I saw a statistic that 69% of people had either taken a pay cut or lost their job. A simple first move for leaders, start every meeting with your executive team by asking people to share what they see is going right this week. Cover the tough stuff, but start with the positive stuff. For any name mentioned make a point to have people email them or call them after the meeting to congratulate them. 3. Allow space for the opposite - but get back to joy: I worked with someone who used to ask for what he called a "Carnegie free zone" every now and then. It was a break from the great Dale Carnegie's mantra to never engage in the 3 C's (criticizing, condemning, complaining). This zone was 5 minutes of unloading the thoughts and frustrations of the day. At the end, the goal was to ask a simple question - "So what can I do about it?" Choose a positive step, a potential solution to some nagging problem, and then get after it. A second move is to purposefully create this space in your one on one time with each team member. Accomplish this by inserting the following questions into the one on one agenda (that you should be doing at least monthly).

What is your biggest frustration right now?
What can I do to help make it go away?
What move can you do to help make it go away?

Remember that joy is not ignorance. We need to face realities, both personally as leaders and in the presence of our teams. Joy is more about attitude. So Leader - you first!

What would people say is your focus during the holidays? Quick thoughts

Scott Patchin — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:00:41 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

I get emails from people who think about things that are important to me. An email came in today from an organization that helps remind me to stay focused on the relationships in my life and gives me gentle reminders around my core beliefs and faith. Below is an excerpt they shared that comes from an unknown author. It is a message for Christmas, but could easily be applied to any holiday or celebration that is a tradition to someone. Tasks have to get done, but how we accomplish them is our choice. What role and focus would people say you have this week? Give it some thought. Blessings . . . . If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I’m just a decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook. If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing. If I trim the tree with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on my love for Christ, I have missed the point. Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can’t. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

I care... really! TrustBUSTER™ #8

Scott Patchin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 20:44:51 +0000

TrustBUSTER™ #8 - Shows little concern about me a person When I stand in front of a room of leaders and ask the question "How many of you care about your people?", 100% of the people raise their hands. I believe that 99.9% of leaders care about their people. (I will save a discussion about that .01% for later) Recently, I led a group discussion around trust that divided 30 people into four groups based on personality type. I provided them with the TrustBUSTER™ list and asked them to identify one behavior on the list they saw most frequently from the other three styles. One group received feedback from all of the other groups that #8 was the behavior that tripped them up. The group receiving this feedback was the task focused/achievement oriented group. This is the same group that 60+% of executive teams fall into based on my past experience. Why does this happen? A manufacturing supervisor once shared this wisdom with me, "Intentions without action equals SQUAT". In his book The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey makes the point that "We judge ourselves on our intentions. We judge others based on their actions." Both quotes lead to the same conclusion, if people don't see it they don't believe it. As a leader, how do you bridge the gap between your actions and the perception of the people reporting to you? Here are three ways to keep this TrustBUSTER™ from tripping you up:

Self Assessment: Test your knowledge of your people by asking these questions. What are the names of their spouse/children? Where do they live? What non work activities are most important to them? What is the biggest event going on in their life right now? Take a moment to evaluate how you answered these questions. This is pretty basic stuff, so if you missed anything you need to spend more time with your people.
Monday/Friday rule: Spend time on Friday connecting with people to hear about their week or upcoming weekend activities. Spend Monday hearing how the weekend came together or what they are looking forward to during the week. (take a few notes after each conversation if you are like me and forget things)
Find a partner to help: If you are an executive chances are you have way to much to do and connecting with your people is not a strength. Find someone around you that will remind of key dates for your people(birthday, anniversary) and keep a pulse on what significant things that are happening with those in your team or department. Enlist their help to remind you of opportunities to connect.

TrustBUSTER™ #6 - Criticize decisions AFTER the team made them - How to handle the 3 most common situations (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
TrustBUSTER™ #3 - Slow to extend trust to others (and Why onboarding matters) (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
Who me? TrustBUSTER™ #4 - Does not communicate and explain changes/decisions well (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)

Building a Strong Team - no ropes needed, just a BBQ

Scott Patchin — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:21:04 +0000

I read a great story today about a team that developed largely through the actions of the team members. It is about the Michigan State University offensive line and what they did to build a more cohesive and higher performing team. It resonated with me because it was done largely through two things that we can all afford: attitude and time. Highlights for me:

Leadership (the coach) set the goal to develop a more dominant running game. (result was +30 yds/game in 2010 vs 2009)
Their time together off the field was spent around a barbeque - eating. (ie. no ropes course or expensive consultants were needed)
The quarterback provided leadership (via encouragement) by buying t-shirts for the linemen to help show their unity and pride. (ie. no $$ compensation was needed to motivate this group)
No significant individual honors were received by any of the offensive lineman.
The opponents recognize their teamwork, and the players use the word PRIDE to describe how they feel about what they have accomplished. What great key measures.

It is not certain that their team will win their bowl game, but it is certain that this group of young men have shown us they understand how to build an effective team. Here is the link - http://www.tidesports.com/article/20101228/NEWS/101229701/1011?p=2&tc=pg

trU Tips 10 - Do virtual teams need leaders? Truths and challenges.

Scott Patchin — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:44:09 +0000

This posting is a monthly letter distributed to followers of The trU Group focused on exploring a leadership topic or answering a question from a reader. To sign up to receive trU Tips as a monthly email click here. My promise is to only use this mailing list to distribute trU Tips - so do not worry about getting many emails from me each month. To view past trU Tips click here. What I’m hearing A friend posed a question to me, “In this new virtual world, how does the role of the leader change?” What it means Leading people in situations where information and decisions flow around you as the leader is challenging. It could be creating a blog or an on-line community within a tool like NING to bring people together around a common interest or goal (this is a team). In these situations participation is voluntary. Seth Godin writes about this in his book Tribes, and says “Great leaders create movements by inspiring the Tribe (i.e. Team) to communicate.” Godin’s challenge to lead in a tribe is very similar to the servant leadership idea that has been around for a couple of decades. While Godin is writing about a virtual community, it mirrors reasons Peter Drucker often shared that promoted the value of leading in a not for profit situation as a development opportunity for any leader. Leading in situations where people have to want to follow you because they don’t have to follow requires a leader to lead differently. The bottom line is that all teams need leaders. Whether virtual or face to face, teams need goals, guidelines, and overall accountability to be successful. However, leading in a virtual situation will expose people who have to lead through control and direct authority. They will be found out quickly and painfully because their lack of passion around enabling, giving, and listening. The on-line world is bringing back the servant leader model in another form. The concept is that people will not follow or work as hard for leaders that do not possess the relational capacity to connect with their people. Generation Y/Millennials entering the workforce make this skill even more critical for leaders. If you are interested in exploring the connection read The Servant by James Hunter and Tribes by Seth Godin. In leadership literature there are few new ideas, only new approaches. What you should do Make a list of all your leaders (direct reports) and your future leaders (high potentials). Identify 5-6 characteristics/skills you feel are important for leaders to possess at your organization. If building positive relationships with staff at all levels is not on your list then add it. Rate each person versus your leadership criteria using the terms: strength, skilled, weakness, or unsure. Explore your data by asking yourself these three questions:

What skill jumps out?
Is anyone not showing strength in building positive relationships?
How would I be rated?

Looking for a partner to connect this information with your operational or strategic plans for your business? Contact me. Scott@thetrugroup.com

I know I said I would do that, but . . TrustBUSTER™ #9 - Four common causes and solutions

Scott Patchin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:37:45 +0000

TrustBUSTER™ #9 - Does not consistently follow through on commitments It was a team of eight people and we had just gone through a DiSC assessment and were discussing the results. One of the individuals was particularly stressed out, and as we were talking through strengths and weaknesses she had an epiphany. She said "I am overwhelmed with my work and exhausted. I have too much to do because I cannot say no, and as a result I am missing deadlines." It is not normal behavior to not complete tasks on time. We are not all task focused people first, but under normal circumstances we should all be capable of hitting deadlines. So what gets in the way? Here are the four most common causes of TrustBUSTER™ #9:

Ignorance - In his Situational Leadership Model, Ken Blanchard called the initial development stage the enthusiastic beginners. Remember when you would say yes to things, even though you had no idea how to complete the task? Also, remember that ignorance is only a temporary condition. (hopefully) Solution: Recognize ignorance and either shorten the performance leash (check in frequently) or offer to partner/coach through the task the first time.
Trying to please - There are many different situations that contribute to this problem. Fear from seeing people lose their jobs that results in feeling that yes is the only answer. A high performing team of highly driven individuals and you want to do your share. A leader that puts in 70 hours a week, and there is an expectation (real or imaginary) to keep up. Solution: Focus on having conversations that define expectations and reveal how people are feeling about tasks. In addition, self-awareness and understanding how teammates are wired so the situations above can be addressed openly.
Big eyes / little stomach - We have all been there. The buffet looked great and a little bit of everything is the decision. The certain outcome is feeling sick and dissatisfied. Some enjoy the challenge of too much or feel they are at their best when overwhelmed. Even the best take on too much sometimes. Solution: Make it a habit to have frequent discussions about priorities to make sure expectations are clear. Individuals have to learn to recognize limits and how an overloaded task list can negatively impact the overall team.
Not enough time - There are people in every group that have time boundaries. Whether it is someone working part-time, a single parent, or maybe someone who has learned through a heart attack that they need to keep their stress levels down. Solution: Talk about it. Not everyone wants to live a life of too much to do at work. If it does not fit the culture (ex. a startup company) then get that on the table and make the decision that is best for the individual AND the organization.

How can a leader proactively address this TrustBUSTER™? First of all, leaders need to be fanatics about making it safe to question priorities. Secondly, making accountability a norm within the team is critical. Mistakes will happen, but missed deadlines have to be discussed openly and the problems/barriers have to be named and addressed. Always have the questions in hand "What will it take to get things back on track?" or "What has to change or fixed?"

The Career Question No One Asks - and 5 Questions All Leaders Should Answer

Scott Patchin — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 20:48:14 +0000

A couple of times a year I do a keynote address to high school students for something Junior Achievement calls a reverse job shadow. This is a day where people come to the school to talk about their careers. One question I always ask the students is:

Did any of the presenters share a mistake they made during their career journey?

The answer is always no - which is a shame. We get the students into a room to help them consider career choices, and we don't take the time to tell them mistakes are part of the journey. Like any journey, career journeys are not defined by the mistakes, but by our response to those mistakes. They should know that, and we all need to remember that. Next time you have a chance to tell your story, make sure you include the answers to these questions:

What careers/degrees/jobs did you have before you found this one?
What is one thing you wish someone had told you before you started?
What is the biggest mistake you ever made and what did it teach you?
What part of your job is more fun than hard?
What part of your job is more hard than fun?

If you are a leader, what would be the impact of sharing this information with your people? Remember . . . Vulnerable <> Weak.

Self-Awareness 101: Why it matters and 5 questions to get started

Scott Patchin — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:10:35 +0000

A few days ago my 8-year-old daughter shared an observation. She said "Daddy, when you come on field trips my teacher always gives you the new kids for our group. You like to meet new people." Her comments made me step back because she sees that about me as does her teacher, who I have known for nine years. I thought about what she saw, and she was right. It pains me to see someone standing away from a group of people looking alone and lost. I like to find those people, connect with them, and get them connected. In my professional life, nothing irritates me more than seeing a poor onboarding program at a company or no resources put towards helping new leaders or teams be successful. Moments like this happen every day, but too often we let them pass by. As our jobs and leaders change more frequently, understanding who we are and what we need to be successful and happy is important. In fact, it is more than just important, it is critical. So here are the five sets of questions that make up Self-Awareness 101. Being able to answer these will help you build a base of knowledge to use when being approached for a tough project or a new job assignment.

What do I do extremely well? What are my talents?
What am I passionate about? What gets me excited?
What do I need from my job? What rewards mean the most to me?
What are the realities in my life right now?
What demotivates me?

In his book Mastery, George Leonard teaches us that mastery is a journey, not a destination. Mastery of ourselves (ie. Self-Awareness) starts with commiting to understand ourselves and seek answers to these five questions, even if the answers come from an eight year old. Enjoy the journey.

Do your clients really love you? Here is one measure

Scott Patchin — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:08:55 +0000

Yesterday I had a discussion with a partner that has done an amazing job helping me promote my business during my first year of operation. The discussion was difficult because I need to alter my relationship with them from a monthly basis to an as needed basis. They were valuable and I need them on my virtual team, but I have to do things a little differently in year 2. It was a great discussion and I left feeling upbeat, as I always do. As I sat down this morning I realized I had to add another sales goal to my list - Find Clark Communications another client to replace my business. I like them so much I want to sell for them, and they did not ask me to do this. I know that is a strange reaction, but that is how good they have been to me. I owe them another client. So what do they do that makes them so special?

They get as excited about my business as I do: When someone really believes in you it is obvious - they always have energy for what you are doing and it always feels like you should be paying them more. Imagine that last thought?
They really care about how I am doing: The first question from them is always about me - then about my business. Startup is not easy. They understand that and tend to the entrepreneur first, then the business.
Their service feels like a friendship: Friendship is not about connecting on LinkedIn or Facebook, it is about doing the little things just because. When you sit next to someone you hear their conversations and do lots of 'little' things that are just part of working with someone. It is part of being a friend - - you do things just because.

American Express made the priceless concept into a commercial that always made me smile. One question we should be asking ourselves every day is What can I do to become priceless to my clients? Hmmmmmm . . . . . . . . Thanks Clark Communications. More specifically, thanks Craig and Jen. :) Now I need to go find that new client . . . .

Leave the Squirrels Alone - Put Energy Where It Matters

Scott Patchin — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:34:00 +0000

Today at breakfast I watched the squirrels eat at my bird feeder. Remember - I called it a bird feeder. I grew up watching my Dad chase the squirrels away with every trap and method imaginable, so to this point in my life I saw the squirrel as an enemy. Then I realized that 25 lbs of sunflower seeds was less than $10 . . . and that squirrels are just hungry. Suddenly, the reason I had started this battle in the first place was fuzzy. The only thing I could come up with was it was a matter of principle because I wanted to feed the birds. So I decided to feed the squirrels and turn my energy to other things. Seth Godin calls the part of our brain that takes over when we feel threatened the lizard brain. More specifically, it is the amygdala or inner brain, and when it takes over the thought and reasoning parts are idled and fight/flight thinking dominates. The resulting behaviors have been researched and identified by the Birkman Method as stress behaviors, and they are not normal or productive. They happen when the lizard brain is in charge. So what are the 'squirrels' you are battling? In the business world I have seen operations square off with sales, engineering with design, quality with suppliers, finance with sales, and purchasing with just about everyone. There are lots of battles going on, and in many the lizard brain is in charge. Getting out of the lizard brain is one of those things that is simple, but difficult. Here are five steps to taking the control away:

Step back and see the behaviors (yours and others) as lizard brain thinking.
Ask the questions: What is our common goal here? What is the solution we are each offering? Why are we so passionate about our solution? (keep asking Why? until you get to the basic answer)
Listen well and write the answers so everyone can see.
Ask: What solution best fits our common goal?
Make a decision - and move on.

A grown man, in his pajamas, sneaking through the snow with a club to attack a squirrel is an image that reflects some lizard brain thinking. What is a good image of your lizard brain taking over? Identify it, remember it, and take the power away from it when it happens.

Do Heroes Have To Be Leaders?

Scott Patchin — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 14:35:09 +0000

As I was having my coffee and reading the Sunday morning paper yesterday an obituary caught my eye. A 92-year-old WWII veteran named Richard 'Dick' Winters had passed away. I first learned about Dick Winters watching the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. It was based on a book published by Stephen Ambrose that told the story of a company of soldiers from the 101st Airborne during World War II. I am the first generation in my family in the last 100 years not to serve in the armed forces, and I love to hear the stories of those individuals who did because it provides me a glimpse into the character of my father and grandfather. What war requires and what it takes away from those who go through it still boggles my mind. The story of Dick Winters is especially interesting because he was not the leader of Easy Company when the planes took off from England as part of D-Day. But when their company commander was killed in the invasion he assumed command and his heroics began. Dick Winters was a hero, and he happened to be a leader. What did he think of leadership? "If you can," he wrote, "find that peace within yourself, that peace and quiet and confidence that you can pass on to others, so that they know that you are honest and you are fair and will help them, no matter what, when the chips are down." Did he consider himself a hero? When people asked whether he was a hero, he echoed the words of his World War II buddy, Mike Ranney: "No, but I served in a company of heroes." Being a great leader takes courage. Being a hero takes a depth of courage to quickly act in unbelievably difficult situations. Unbelievably difficult are the words for those who hear about the heroics years later. For real heroes, they just call it their job or their duty, and humbly go about their lives. Something to think about today no matter what your title or position.

Richard 'Dick' Winters, 'Band of Brothers' inspiration, dies at 92 (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
Dick Winters, Band of Brothers Commander, Dead at 92 (outsidethebeltway.com)

Is Failure The End?

Scott Patchin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:00:53 +0000

I went to a class sponsored by our local chamber of commerce this week. The presenter was terrible and it was two hours of wasted content. The benefit was that it got me thinking about when we fail, what it means, and what it should mean. A mentor of mine, Doug Silsbee, once shared the observation that "We have to shift from a success/failure belief system." As a startup, I have that posted on a piece of paper on my desk to give me some perspective on viewing good and bad days. I am not to the point where I want to ban the word because it has power. It has the power to be positive if we do things with it. Here are three ways failure can be a building block:

If it means the beginning of something - In Parker Palmer's classic book Let Your Life Speak he shares some wisdom from a Quaker elder. She said "A lot of way(doors) has closed behind me, and that's had the same guiding effect." Failure should be a guide on a journey, not an end. The ability to see it and process it this way does take some strength and maturity, but it will make a huge difference on your journey.
It is only part of what defines us - When I talk to groups around career choices and job searches one of the main themes I use is 'Your Story', and that any resume, LinkedIn profile, or references should tell our story. Part of our story are failures in jobs, projects, and degrees. When I hire I want to hear them and hear how the person has processed them. It is that part of our story that helps us either not repeat past mistakes or handle the same situation differently to produce a different outcome.
We learn empathy - Let's face it, to walk off the stage after a poor presentation, get escorted out of our workplace, or fly home from a failed selling presentation it hurts. But once we experience it we understand what it feels like and what kinds of darker choices enter our mind when the memory is fresh. By dark, I mean the emotions or things you want to do to lash out at those you view as responsible. I will stop here. If you have been here you know what I mean, and being familiar with this place allows us to guide others past it and on to better places.

The final thought is that failure often needs a friend. Someone to come along side you, help identify the event for what it was, and help put some positive energy into the event that will allow you to move along. Gallup did a study that identified the positive outcomes of having 3 friends at work. Buried in the reasons is the benefit of having someone familiar with you that can help process these moments. It is not the only reason for building relationships at work, but it is a significant one. I hope the presenter makes our time together the beginning of something better.

We are in this together . . TrustBUSTER#10 - Asks team to make sacrifices, but does not follow

Scott Patchin — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:30:37 +0000

TrustBUSTER #10 - Asks team to make sacrifices ($ / time), but does not make same sacrifices Something good came out of the most recent recession - shared pain. When organizations have to cut as deep as they did, people saw the 'shared' part of it. Money and other perks went away, so the pain from all parties was shared in most cases. Here are three things that causes this TrustBUSTER and two ways to make it go away. What causes it?

Executive - Sees the perks as entitlements. Cars every two years, club memberships, assistant to pick up dry cleaning, or maybe the box at the local sports venue. Is it part of your base compensation? No. Is it a performance bonus? No. Is it something that is earned because of the stress and personal sacrifices made for work? Probably the closest thing to a reason there is. What employee will empathize with the last reason? Enter TrustBUSTER #10.
Employee - Sees their work as the hard stuff and wonders what their boss actually does to earn their money. Printing executive pay scales sells papers. Piling on the working class for spending too much time complaining does not. Studies have found that compensation is not a motivator, but can be a demotivator if there is a perceived inequality. The only wisdom I can offer is my experience hearing leaders wish for their old job back. It is not as easy as it looks.
Both - "If you could only walk in my shoes for a day!" There is a TV show called Undercover Bosswhere the owner of a company spends a week doing frontline jobs in their company as an anonymous new hire. I am not sure if it is all real, but it shows the impact of leaders getting their hands dirty once in a while. Sam Walton was famous for visiting Walmart stores to interact with people directly. I am guessing this one was not as much of a problem for him. Too bad there is not a show allowing people to be a leader for a day.

Two solutions:

Leader - get out of your office and talk to people - A chief nursing officer once shared conversation she had with a new nursing graduate. The RN asked "Who drives you to work?" An innocent perception of inequality. Makes you wonder how many people thought that but were afraid to ask? It is impossible for a CEO to know everyone, but the more you focus on people seeing you in normal situations the more you will be seen as a person and not a primadona. Being seen in the cafeteria or the lunchroom a couple of times a week makes you accessible and normal. Take it to the next level and try sitting with non-executives when you eat.
Look for chances to get to know your leaders - Your leader asks you to lunch? Go. Is there a corporate function? Go and seek out leaders to meet and hear what they are thinking about. When you get a chance to ask them questions, here are a few: What have you learned lately? What are your favorite things to do what you are not working? What are the things that keep you up at night? What do you want me losing sleep over?

This trustBUSTER goes away when leaders and followers get to know each others. For leaders, it is harder to implement a one-sided sacrifice when those on the short end actually have a name. For followers, seeing leaders as people helps to alleviate some of the us versus them thoughts that fuel this TrustBUSTER.

I care... really! TrustBUSTER™ #8 (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
Who me? TrustBUSTER™ #4 - Does not communicate and explain changes/decisions well (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
TrustBUSTER™ #6 - Criticize decisions AFTER the team made them - How to handle the 3 most common situations (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
TrustBUSTER™ #3 - Slow to extend trust to others (and Why onboarding matters) (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
Here is what I think. . . TrustBUSTER™ #5 - Tells a lot, listens very little (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)

Someone we all need to listen to - Jessica Jackley

Scott Patchin — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:30:00 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="170" caption="Image via CrunchBase"][/caption]

I like listening to interesting people. Recently I was able to see Jessica Jackley speak. If you don't know her, she is the co-founder of Kiva.org, which enables micro lending to happen in the world's poorest areas. Successful? In five years they have made loans in excess of $130 million to 700,000 people. In the process over 98% of the zero interest loans have been paid back. If you want to hear her speech here is the link to the TED website. It is a worthwhile 18 minutes. Here is what I took away:

Know your mission (what / how / why). It helps you say no to some things and connect with people who share similar goals.
In order to co-create with people you have to give up control (Kiva uses volunteer translators).
Do iterative development: Build it, get feedback, improve it, and remember it is okay to fail.
Entrepreneurs see tomorrow > today

Finally, in response to a student asking her a question about whether he should pursue a similar career track, she responded with these steps to helping others:

Learn as much as you can about the person you want to help.
Ask if they have a place the can go to get their needs met.
When you see things/needs that are not being met, find a way to fill in those gaps.

These three simple steps could be used anywhere it is important to connect with people and make a difference in their lives. Which is everywhere from main street to the board room to the factory floor. It is refreshing to see someone who did not read all the leadership books succeed because they were passionate and willing to try something. Passion is the fuel for change, and Jessica Jackley stands out as a modern-day example of that.

TEDTalks: Jessica Jackley: Poverty, money -- and love (huffingtonpost.com)
Profounder: Raise Money for Your Business (thetylerhayes.com)
Raising Capital as a Sustainable Entrepreneur (triplepundit.com)
Collaborative Fund: Visionary New Investing Model for Pro-Social Startups (bigthink.com)

Is Resilience The Right Message? Three things to consider before starting this discussion in your organization

Scott Patchin — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:06:58 +0000

Many years ago a friend shared this story. At the birth of their first child they reached a point where the doctor asked them if they wanted an epidural. They had discussed it during birthing classes and decided to go through the delivery process without it because it was not covered by insurance. Several hours of real labor had changed his wife's thinking on the matter and she wanted it. My friend, still being a rookie at marriage and childbirth, decided to coach his wife through the final stages of childbirth by offering the advice "Suck it up honey". I will stop the story here, but will share that they ended up getting the epidural. Coming back from the recent economic downturn will take resilience from everyone. How often does the message of resilience sound like the response of the father above when being delivered from others. This is emerging as one of the hot topics in 2011 as companies grow with limited hiring and budgets. Here are three key things to remember when tackling this topic: 1. What it means? In the January 2011 edition of HR Magazine author William Atkinson provides a nice summary of the topic. (link to article) A key point is this is not a new topic, but the current conditions in the workforce make this critical because the pressure caused by increasing expectations for performance versus the unprecedented push for efficiency. People have more to do and fewer resources. In his article, Atkinson refers to a survey that found 75% of people saying they were stressed to unhealthy levels. The take away is that we need to equip our people to cope with this new reality. How we should talk about it? The topic goes beyond the wellness discussion, although how we take care of ourselves is important. To start, the message has to focus on the reality that all levels of the organization are facing this challenge. It has been said, but has it been said from the standpoint of "We feel we are doing what we have to do for this business to be successful. Yet we know that it is stressing people beyond what is healthy." Next, focus on open and honest discussions about what stresses each person out, what we can do to relieve the stress, and what can be done to lesson it (both by the leader and the employee). If there is going to be training, it needs to first focus on equipping the leaders to have these conversations with their teams and provide ongoing support. Who we should be listening to? A standard piece of every management library is a stress management book. If it is not there go buy one. Jim Loehr is an author that has been around this topic for a while using the analogy of creating a corporate athlete. Another voice that I like to listen to is Doug Silsbee. He has placed a few videos that outline his thoughts on the topic that will provide a perspective on how resilience can help and provided some basic stress management techniques. Here is a link to the videos. Back to my initial story. Was my friend purposefully trying to be insensitive to his wife? No. They are still married and that baby son is now off to college. But when stress hits sometimes the words out of our mouth don't accurately reflect what we are thinking/feeling. For leaders, just make sure the words out of your mouth take the discussion in a healthy direction, not to a place where people interpret the message as "deal with it". This is a topic we should all be talking about.

Resilience - 4 Steps to NOT make it another initiative

Scott Patchin — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:00:29 +0000

Resilience is the new word for 2011. If you have not heard it yet you will. There is risk in using it because the definition sounds hard. Mirriam-Webster's dictionary presents resilience as an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. Can you hear the chatter over coffee or lunch already? This as the potential to be a great Dilbert comic strip or episode on The Office. So what would be the benefit to your team if people spent 50% less downtime after a major change? Are you concerned about burning out key people? Do you see no immediate end to the pace you are asking your teams to work? It is time to address how an organization can use the resilience discussion to give their leaders more energy and provide their teams with new skills to deal with the realities of a difficult business environment.

Be transparent about your concerns: If everyone is feeling the stress and strain of an uncertain today or tomorrow then talk about it. People are more likely to take it seriously if they hear their leaders discussing it openly and making personal changes/efforts to increase their own resilience.
Focus initially on self awareness / team awareness: A basic discussion about stress and how it happens for each of us is a good place to start. Just the knowledge of how each of us reacts to stress and how our teammates react allows discussions to happen in a way that people can help each other as they help themselves.
Bridge awareness to 'How do I cope?': There is lots of research around the effect of exercise, yoga, friendships, and many other things that allow people to relieve stress or gather support. The key is to have people pick something and do it. For executives, this is often where coaching becomes a key tool so they can have a safe place to deal with their individual needs and support in making a change into a habit. For others, the support of a team or a few key friends at work is critical, so assist in building those relationships.
Continue the discussion: In one on one meetings leaders should follow-up on commitments made to pursue friendships or get exercise. Maybe even pushing people to leave at lunch or make their 5pm yoga class. In team meetings - spend a few minutes at the beginning of the meetings hearing about key wins and key stress points this week. If someone sounds particularly stressed out make a habit to check in with them.

Resilience is a timely discussion given the current economic realities. Just don't make it an initiative, make it a habit. How relevant is this topic to what you are seeing or hearing or feeling?

Is Resilience The Right Message? Three things to consider before starting this discussion in your organization (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
5 Steps to a More Resilient You (psychcentral.com)
Max out on resilience and get happier at work (psychologytoday.com)
Resiliency is key to surviving challenges (waronterrornews.typepad.com)

Resilience - The discussion starts(and continues) with transparency

Scott Patchin — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:31:52 +0000

I have had several opportunities to lead and participate in group discussions at retreat weekends. When I lieten to people share at the end of the weekend the message of I was encouraged to hear that I was not the only one struggling with ___________always appears. People find comfort in knowing that what they are feeling is common to others. All too often leaders are told or tell themselves they have to act more like a superhero than a person. While it is true that leaders should not run around like Chicken Little every time something unexpected happens (people do look to leaders for inspiration in the form of strength), that is not the transparency that I am talking about. Transparency is about admitting we are surprised or stressed, and then getting back to the work of dealing with whatever knocked us off-balance. Resilience is not about not being rattled, it is about how quickly we recover. Someone I look to as a great voice in this is Doug Silsbee. Doug tells the story of a martial arts master who was once asked why he never seemed to be knocked off-balance. The master replied that he was constantly being knocked off-balance, but he had learned through practice to return to center very quickly. For the master who looked impenetrable, being transparent was about being honest when asked. Imagine the impact on those who came to him to learn? The students left that day recognizing the importance of practice in their own quest for mastery. With an economic world that is so interconnected, there will constantly be events that surprise us/our businesses and knock us off-balance. Learning to absorb those blows and get back to center is a skill that people/leaders at all levels need. This path to resiliency starts by being willing to admit that, no matter what people see, we get shaken like everyone else.

Hello world!

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 07:36:00 +0000

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Work With Me

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 07:36:00 +0000

Meet Scott Patchin, CEO of The trU Group:

My mission is to be a guide for others—to help them realize the excellence they were born to achieve. My passion is helping leaders and individuals grow professionally and personally to realize their full potential. I believe that the development of people at all levels is what ultimately fuels business growth.

I can work with you to:

Get your team aligned and working together.
My trUPerformance™ model will not only get your team on the same page and working well together, it will also help team members lead their teams.
Develop leaders.
I will help you formulate high-impact performance discussions, create development plans, identify key successors, and provide coaching so that your people grow along with your business.
Plan and execute successful leadership transitions.
Many experts say that 40% of all leadership transitions fail. I have the tools and experience to make transition problems go away.
Manage the change associated with growth.
Wonder what your culture will be like when you double your workforce or sales? I can help you define and keep the things you want, leave the cultural baggage behind, and create a vision for the future.
Create a culture that develops people.
Who owns individual growth—the leader or the team member? I can help both parties understand their roles, have conversations that matter, and make development a habit at all levels of the organization.

Grow Your People

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:04:35 +0000

Your people are your most valuable asset. We can help you grow and develop your people, helping them to realize the excellence they were born to achieve, in two ways:

1. Build awareness of self.

Using the trUYou™ model, we help people gain an understanding of their natural talents, skills, passions, rewards, and realities. This understanding and awareness is the cornerstone of developing ourselves, others, and our teams, and is particularly useful for:

Employee Selection and Onboarding
Succession Planning and High-Potential Development
Executive Transitions (Upboarding™)
Team Development
Leadership Development

Some of the assessments we utilize include:

Birkman Method®
DiSC
Gallup's StrengthsFinder
360 Degree Evaluations

2. Implement processes that grow your people.

Organizations are full of talented people, and there are key processes (or "habits") that are critical for managing that talent. We partner with organizations to build and implement these processes, ensuring that habits are impactful for both leaders and individuals. These processes include:

Selection and Onboarding
Employee Performance Reviews
Succession Planning
Communication (around change and the business)
Strategic Planning (without business goals, the people strategy has no target)

Contact me to discuss how together we can grow your people.

Grow Your Business

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:05:05 +0000

Growing your business takes vision and goal-setting, but there must be execution in order to achieve your goals. Our trUPerformance™ model helps companies execute the goals they set for themselves, even in a dynamic environment.

We can help you with:

Strategic Planning (leveraging Verne Harnish's model in "Mastering the Rockefeller Habits")
Operational Planning
Building Habits (the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly processes that will drive the execution of your growth plans)

We can help a variety of organizations, but we specialize in:

Phase 2 Growth Organizations
Family-Owned Businesses
Organizations Experiencing Double-Digit Growth

Contact me to discuss how we can partner to grow your business. Proud member of the:

trU Tips

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:05:49 +0000

Do you want to receive trU Tips automatically? Sign up here. We promise NOT to inundate you with daily or weekly emails. Our trU Tips are published 9-10 times per year. For daily or weekly thoughts, please subscribe to our blog or follow us on Twitter.

trU Tip #11—Talent Scorecard

Read trU Tip #11

watch the video extra

trU Tip #10—The Virtual Leader as the New Servant Leader

Read trU Tip #10

trU Tip #9—Why There Has to be an "I" in Team

Read trU Tip #9

watch the video extra

trU Tip #8—What to Do With Your B-Players?

Read trU Tip #8

watch the video extra

trU Tip #7—Dealing With Low Performers

Read trU Tip #7

watch the video extra

trU Tip #6—Leadership Lessons from Greg Mortenson

Read trU Tip #6

trU Tip #5—Leadership Can Be Lonely

Read trU Tip #5

trU Tip #4—What Motivates People and How a Leader Can Help

Read trU Tip #4

trU Tip #3—Want to Increase Your Training ROI?

do not know why they are there

Read trU Tip #3

trU Tip #2—Connecting Your Best People With Your Biggest Problem

Read trU Tip #2

trU Tip #1—How the Recession Has Impacted Your People...and How to Fix It

Read trU Tip #1

Contact Me

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:06:33 +0000

If what we've laid out here has resonated with you, I hope you will contact me to discuss how we can work together. I would love to partner with you to help grow your people and your business. I am also an experienced keynote speaker and welcome the opportunity to share my experiences and the insight they have given me.

[clean-contact]

Silence - Why it is powerful

Scott Patchin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:00:48 +0000

I like 6am in my house, because it is quiet. The challenge with external quiet is that it makes any internal noise louder. Silence is powerful.

In an interview it tells the candidate that the question you asked is important enough to wait for an answer.
In a one on one with a team member it allows the leader to send the message what you have to say matters to me.
In a team discussion it allows the person who is hesitant to talk the time to muster up the courage to say something.

What people do with silence tells me a lot about who they are. I once interviewed with someone who filled the 75 minute interview with 60 minutes of what they thought. A warning sign . . . . but I still took the job. Ended up reporting to this person 3 months later. It did not end well. Test your ability to create and use silence:

Turn off everything electronic for 60 minutes during a day. What did the silence reveal for you?
Go into a meeting with your team armed with only questions. What did your silence allow your team to reveal?
On your drive home today turn off your radio and phone. How did you use the silence?

Leaders need to be creators of silence for themselves and others.

The Power of Silence (teachinghighschoolpsychology.blogspot.com)
In praise of... silence | Editorial (guardian.co.uk)

Silence - Creating it

Scott Patchin — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:00:41 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

I have a weird tradition (at least according to my children) - I like to run in the middle of blizzards. I have learned to love it because of the silence I experience. Although I live in Michigan, sometimes it does not snow enough. Most leaders I meet with display a real skill for driving action and results. Through one of the assessments I use, the Birkman Method, some of those leaders realize they have internal needs for time to rejuvenate. Silence helps them recover. Unfortunately, leaders don't get rewarded for silence, only action and results. The problem is without the former, focusing solely on the latter becomes a habit that can be destructive to ourselves and others. Making a personal change requires focus and awareness, which requires some level of silence. A mentor of mine, Doug Silsbee, teaches a technique that gives the body a moment of silence. He calls it centering. Here is a link to his demonstration. Our ability to adopt new ways of doing things or to deal with an unexpected event depends on our ability to center, to find silence. If you don't think you need it, at least allow others around you to create it. You do need it. We all need it.

Communication - Always room for improvement. Right?

Scott Patchin — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:30:53 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

I keep wondering when I will get over the hump and never have to worry about my communication skills. I thought I had kids figured out, then I had a teenager. I thought I had marriage nailed down, then I started my business and my wife started working. I am ready to admit that maybe I just need to keep working at it. What about you? Is there a person, a situation, or maybe a group that just has you scratching your head? Here are a few resources that are staples in my library. Communicating (listening) to yourself:

Career? Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer
Job loss or another traumatic event? Journal - It builds personal resilience by processing your experiences for the day/week.

Communication with spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend: 2 book series by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn - For Women Only and For Men Only Communicating in Conflict: Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott I am convinced that every year a standard part of any development plan should be one item around communicating more effectively with a certain person, group, or in a particular situation. Imagine if we made a 5% improvement in this every year? What resources for certain situations have you found helpful? Please share your thoughts . . . .

Get a Valentine's Day Win

Scott Patchin — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:39:18 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Cover via Amazon"][/caption]

Each year billions of dollars are spent improving performance of individuals and teams at work. It is important for everyone to learn and grow, and the pressure to perform is higher now than at any point in the last 20 years. On Monday it is Valentine's Day in America, so the performance pressure increases ten fold for anyone who is in a relationship. Let me rescue you. Especially you men. My only caveat is that this advice is coming from someone who gave an amazing set of knives and a classic cookbook to his wife (then girlfriend) for their first Christmas. Just finished a book set by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn - One for men to better understand how women think (For Men Only) and one for women to better understand how men think (For Women Only). Easy to read, <200 pages, entertaining, and amazingly accurate. A worthwhile read and it will start some great conversations. Include an IOU for a dinner/date night to talk about what you read and you are home free. I just used those knives and cookbook tonight. Why after 20 years am I still not vindicated? :) Development and growth is not just for work.

Silence and Resilience

Scott Patchin — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:00:19 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

People are often shocked when we review the results of their Birkman assessment and it identifies a need to recharge. Those with opposite results are often surprised people need quiet time. The really confused people work 15 hour days so they will be there when everyone leaves and they can have time to work without interruption.

In swimming they call it tapering.
In running it is called a recovery run.
In Europe it is called holiday.
In business it is too often called 'something HR told me I have to do'.

Everyone needs time to step back and recover/reset their mind.

The serial decision maker needs to review which decisions they made that should have gone to their team.
The CFO needs to focus on a few items that the CEO graciously granted their request for more time, even if it only means an extra hour.
The super achiever needs to think when they smiled last - and realize they answered four calls from customers with abrupt, matter of fact responses. At least one customer is offended.

Silence isn't equal to doing nothing. Silence in resilience is about cleaning the lists off the mental whiteboard and only putting one or two things back on for a short time so they get attention. Training for resilience requires recovery at some point.

5 Tips To Increase Resilience (psychologytoday.com)

Lead? Yes. With Laughter? Absolutely! Here is one way . .

Scott Patchin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:30:23 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="160" caption="Image by Fonzie's cousin via Flickr"][/caption]

A friend of mine works in a startup focused on education. Lots to do. Lots of stress. One of those jobs where it would be easy to never go home and never be done. Then along came the movie Waiting for Superman. The team went to see it, and as part of the event he challenged them to wear Superman capes around work all day for $20. Their response? Absolutely. All day, out to lunch, AND to the movie. They even made a cape for their leader. There was lots of work and lots of laughter that day, and in the days following. When is your Waiting for Superman moment?

Is there a festival going on outside your office? Go.
Have a yo-yo expert on your team? How about a group lesson?
Is there a park nearby? How about some frisbee golf for 45 minutes.

Its Friday - do something different. Are you leading? Maybe. Is there any laughter? If you are really leading there should be. Oh, and a point of clarification. Just the cape, not the super shirt and super tights. That would not be funny. :)

Leadership and . . . Valentine's Day?

Scott Patchin — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:19:47 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

In an informal poll of a half-dozen men over the last week I found that 100% of them were wishing this Hallmark holiday never existed. Based on the line at Walgreen's last night at 9pm, I can say the world feels a responsibility to buy something red, sweet or shiny for someone today. Let me offer an alternative. Valentine's Day should be about emotionally connecting with someone you care about. What if you put aside time on the couch, in front of a fire, or over a meal (in or out) and discussed these five questions:

What were the high points of our past year together?
What did we overcome?
What are the things facing us that have me worried?
What should we be doing more of and less of in the coming year?
Why are you/this relationship so important to me?

Too often, both at work and at home, we don't put enough value on giving our time and full focus. Most of my life is spent helping leaders connect with and influence the people around them. As I look at this list it hits me that it would probably be a powerful conversation to have at work. Sometimes I wonder if we think too much and don't feel enough.

The Law of Leadership Transparency - 3 ways to apply it

Scott Patchin — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:08:04 +0000

A business owner shared his survival story from the latest downturn. When I asked him "What is different about your business now versus three years ago?" his answer made me step back. He said "Now, my business comes before my people." He went on to explain when he hires he tells people up front that he is doing everything he can to keep them busy, but if the business drops off he will have to send them home. He also makes it clear that his best people, regardless of tenure, will be kept on as long as he can. He learned the law of transparency, which is Be open and honest about things you want to face with someone if you expect/need them to help. Here are three ways to apply this law:

Performance discussion - If this does not feel like a conversation the law is not being applied.
Making a sacrifice to manage through a negative event - If people have to sacrifice then they need to know what is happening.
Recruiting - What is broken that this role needs to be fixed? Say it and ask for the help before you offer the job.

Transparency can be taught, but it first has to be valued. Leaders who use it effectively are rewarded with trust and respect.

Developing Resilience - 4 Ways to Process Pain

Scott Patchin — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:00:29 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

The top three most stressful events in life are:

Death
Divorce
Job Loss

Right Management, an outplacement company and division of Manpower tells those experiencing #3 to do three things right away:

Exercise
Get a schedule
Journal

When I share this with people trying to process a career shift or a plan #3 often stands out and evokes the question "Why?". The reason -pain needs to be processed to add to the tools/weapons that build resilience for future events. Are you dealing with some event below the top 3 above. Here are other ways to process pain/challenge:

Executive coaching - A safe place to process, reset, and plan to move past it.
Peer network - Few things are more comforting than knowing you are not alone in your challenges. ALL managers and above NEED to develop this for themselves. Don't wait for your employer or HR team to do it for you.
Read how others have done it - Like #2, finding a person with a good perspective can be comforting and will help you process things.
Spouse/Best Friend - Having a 'here is where I am' discussion with someone who cares for and understands you is priceless.

Being alone with a challenge is not a good place to stay. Go find a friend.

Resilience - 4 Steps to NOT make it another initiative (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
Silence and Resilience (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
Is Resilience The Right Message? Three things to consider before starting this discussion in your organization (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
Resilience - The discussion starts(and continues) with transparency (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
5 Tips To Increase Resilience (psychologytoday.com)

What keeps you up at night? A unique way to use this question

Scott Patchin — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:00:33 +0000

We have all heard this question. It is one of those What to ask a leader 101 questions. Yesterday I heard this question used in a way that surprised me. I saw retired Brigadier General David Hall speak. He had many insights to share, but how he used this question was unique. In his years of leading he developed the habit gathering his staff together at the end of each month to have a drink and some social time. One of the things he would do during their time together was share the things that, as their leader, were keeping him up at night. He would end with the request for help from anyone who had an idea or perspective that would make that worry go away.

Shouldn't people ask the leader this question? Yes, but the military is not much different from business. Sometimes people are scared or nervous to ask a leader a tough question.
Is it right for a leader to dump like that? It is sharing what you are thinking and asking for help. Dumping is this happening daily or weekly.

Not surprisingly, many of his problems went away over time. Why wait for a question like this to be asked first?

We are in this together . . TrustBUSTER#10 - Asks team to make sacrifices, but does not follow (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)

Finally Friday! - Why it is the best day to connect with your people

Scott Patchin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:20:53 +0000

Friday's are great days. As you look out in your office everyone has expectations of the coming two days that will tell you a lot about where they are in life. Here are a few messages you might hear and what they actually are telling you that is significant to know about them:

"It will be great to get out of here" says - I have worked hard all week and it is a nice break.
"It will be great to get out of here" says - This place is killing me and any time away is like gold.
"I can't wait to spend time with my family" says - I love work, but family time is important to me.
"It will be quiet, the kids are with my ex" - It will be alone time to either do what I love or miss being connected with the significant people in my life.
"Oh a little of this and a little of that. What are you doing?" says - Usually you don't care what I do outside of work. So why ask now?
"Nothing" says - Usually you don't care about what I do outside of work. So why ask now?

So what do you hear when you ask? If what they are actually saying is unclear, why not ask another question to allow them to share a little more. Listening on Friday does commit you to ask again on Monday to see how the weekend turned out. Eventually the last #5 and #6 will go away. What does your answer tell me about where you are? Is it the same place you want to be next Friday? Happy Friday.

Lessons in Leadership - Learning delegation from a child

Scott Patchin — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:30:15 +0000

Last night my youngest daughter delivered these faithful words at 2am - "Daddy, my tummy hurts." I turned on the light and asked her "Tell me about the hurt?" Her response was pretty simple "I think I am going to get sick. I need to go to the bathroom." My response "Go ahead." I will spare you the details of the next 20 minutes, but I judge the endings of these things based on how much work I end up having to do. In this case, I was just needed for comfort. Whew. As I think about that event today, I realized that my daughter is growing up. She got up when she felt bad, came to tell me, and with very little help from me other than a slight nudge, she took care of herself. We have raised a child that is showing signs of maturity and independence. It feels good. One of the big challenges of leaders is growing individuals and teams that show that kind of independence. I have always been struck by all the different ways people have created to measure the effectiveness of a leader. Too often we depend on a test or a psychologist to measure how well individuals and teams are developing into independent thinkers. Here is a simple one to measure how independent your team is today. Take a piece of paper and every time someone on your team comes to you with a need for help today make a mark. If they bring the answer or you are able to get them to provide their own answer, circle that mark. At the end of the day what does the sheet say about your leadership style and their ability to solve their own problems? Your development plan - more marks with circles tomorrow because you ask what they think the answer is more often. When they leave with their own answer, you are becoming a developer of people . . and a leader. Trust me, it will feel good.

Secret Sauce for Performance - Knowing What Matters to Your People. A story . . .

Scott Patchin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:02:19 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="92" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

A friend recently told me a great story. As part of a performance evaluation for one of his people who had worked hard this past year he gave all the things he was expected to provide - feedback in the form of an evaluation and a wage increase. But for this employee, he also handed tickets to a concert for he and his wife. The source of this gift was a conversation a couple of months earlier when it was shared that his wife loved this artist, but they could not justify the cost at that time. This third piece brought forth a response of passion and gratitude that way exceeded the response to the first two rewards. My friend hit the secret sauce of performance - knowing your people and giving them something REALLY special when they deserve it. One question I love to ask people is What rewards mean the most to you? Too often Management 101 discussions neglect to tell the new leader that money is not a motivator. If that is not understood then you only have to sit in a room with 10 of your people and have someone like me ask that question. Money will be mentioned, but it is not at the top of the list. Great rewards go deeper than just the standard list. The ability to connect family members, hobbies, or passions outside of work allows you to do two things:

Show that you care about them as a person.
Speak to other significant people in their lives with a message that you/your company cares. These friends/spouses are the people who encourage them after a day when maybe you are not so great a leader (we all have those days). They will also tell the story to other great people who might be looking to work for a great company/leader. The textbooks call these two things retention and attraction - and they are pretty important.

Interested in being this kind of leader? Here are two moves you can make:

Keep a file with everyone's name and their answer to the question What rewards mean the most to you?
Keep notes in your file anytime they say I love to _________ or We would really like to see/go to _____________.

Then you just have to follow through when they do something great - but that is the easy part.

trU-tipsVolume11

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:11:26 +0000

Download for trUTips #11

trU Tips #1 - Retaining your best people because some are read to leave

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:15:52 +0000

Your best performers are feeling scared and your worst performers are feeling safer. Sounds wierd, but it is true. Here is how to fix that.

trU Tips #2 - Getting your best people fully engaged

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:15:55 +0000

Understand what motivates your best people, and it is not money. They need challenge and your business has challenges, so match them up and watch both grow.

trU Tips #3 - Increase your training ROI

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:15:56 +0000

Increasing the effectiveness of your training is more about the leaders doing the basics of development with their people than making the training more engaging. Read some quick steps for getting more from your training dollar.

trU Tips #4 - What motivates people and how a leader can help

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:15:58 +0000

Leadership development and people development is about helping people have clear goals and giving them the tools/resources to be successful.

trU Tips #5 - Leadership can be lonely

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:15:59 +0000

One key comment new leaders make is that "leadership is lonely". It is important for all leaders, but especially new leaders, to build a support network around them. Here are three tips to doing that.

trU Tips #6 - Lessons in Leadership from Greg Mortenson

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:16:00 +0000

A little wisdom from Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, that will help you handle your next merger, promotion, or key change project.

trU Tips #7 - Dealing with low performers

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:16:02 +0000

Teammembers that are not performing cost you energy and your company money. As a leader, leaving those people in place is not good for them or for your company.

trU Tips #8 - What to do with your B players?

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:16:04 +0000

Those steady performers, priceless and frustrating at the same time. Three strategies to increase the engagement and the productivity of this group.

trU Tips #9 - Team has to have an "I"

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:16:05 +0000

There is no 'I' in team. Popular slogan - but it is wrong. Bringing individual stars together to form a team is a challenge. Here is some practical advice on how to do it.

trU Tips #10 - Virtual Leadership

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:16:09 +0000

Leading virtual teams is exploding as organizations reorganize and the internet enables work from just about anywhere. So do we still need leaders? How will the autocratic leader survive in the next 10 years?

trU Tips #11 - Talent Scorecard

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:16:11 +0000

How well are you managing the talent in your organization? Are your leaders doing the right things often enough? Here is a tool for a CEO, board member, or leader at any level to do a quick 3-minute assessment.

trUYou Logo

admin — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:28:52 +0000

We utilize the trUYou model to build a picture of the real you. This is a critical component of making great career choices.

truPerformance

admin — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:38:16 +0000

We utilize the truPerformance model to help your organization execute the strategy necessary to achieve your goals.

The Birkman Method

admin — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:59:43 +0000

Want to develop as a leader? Focus on these three adjectives

Scott Patchin — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:26:18 +0000

Leadership is not easy. It does not get any easier by the endless number of competency models, development programs, books, blogs, and opinions that seem to get thrown at new leaders. In case you were wondering, I don't have an answer on a sure fire way to become a great leader in the next 300 words. What I offer is a solution to something I see in leaders at all levels, and that is an incredible talent for getting work done but a struggle building relationships with peers and their team. Here are three adjectives that should be part of the selection and development of any leader. If people are willing to use these words to describe a leader then they are doing something right.

Transparent - What are your priorities? What are you worried about? Often the speed at which you are operating and the dozens of things you are dealing with at any one time make it hard for people to know what you are thinking.
Consistent - Respect comes before like for leaders. Do people know what to expect from you around vacations? Lunch breaks? Professional development requests? Deadlines? Personal calls? Celebrations?
Authentic - Regular people laugh, cry, have bad hair days, and sometimes have to say they are sorry for something they did or said. Leadership models too often paint a picture of someone who sounds more like Superman or Wonder Woman. Leaders do all the things regular people do - with a balance of providing strength, energy, and passion for an effort. This one is probably the toughest.

So what do these adjectives look like in practice? Here are a few tips:

When taking over a new team, take time to find out what they do and don't pretend to have all the answers. (authentic, transparent)
Develop standard events around communication, performance discussions, follow-up to questions/issues, and celebrating special events. (consistent)
Get to know the outside lives of your people and let them get to know yours. (transparent)

There are many more, but hopefully this starts the discussion. Feel free to share some important things that I might have missed. I don't know everything. (transparent, authentic) :)

Joy - 3 Steps to Create More as a Leader (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)
The Law of Leadership Transparency - 3 ways to apply it (trugroupscott.wordpress.com)

To Know Yourself - Know your Art

Scott Patchin — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:00:01 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

Seth Godin made the comment "Art is not in the eye of the beholder. It's in the soul of the artist." One thing I always see when talking with people about careers is their art. It is the heart of their story, and if I don't see it I make them talk until it oozes out of them. It is there, it just needs to be named. Here are a few artists I have met recently: The construction project manager who takes over a project that is behind schedule and over budget. The work - many hours and many difficult decisions. The Art - completed, on time and on budget. The entrepreneur who is fanatical about taking care of the customer and giving back to the community. The work - two jobs through the first two years of being in business. The Art - twenty people, a just completed 100% growth year, and numerous awards recognizing the big heart of this small company. The administrative assistant who sees the workplace as something to be organized. The work - anything to make sure meetings go smoothly, things get fixed, emergencies get handled, and nobody ever sees her sweat. The Art - an amazingly well run department where things just happen smoothly and finding things is easy and logical. The administrative assistant who realizes everyone needs a friend at work - and a occassional kick in the pants. The work - always willing to listen and connect with people in the organization, even while getting her work done. The Art - some call her mom, some call her friend, I call her the pulse taker and doctor - in any case she is a cultural definer. Final point, the art takes work. Funny thing, the artist does not see the work, just the art. Today, look around at the artists and make sure they know you see their art. Challenge others to create some art. What art are you creating and sharing today?

BII_logo_5x1_wtag_jpg

admin — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 19:05:13 +0000

FBA Logo

admin — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 19:08:11 +0000

Blog

admin — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 07:23:21 +0000

Resilience - What we can learn from the military

Scott Patchin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:46:12 +0000

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

Do any of us in the private sector experience any more stress than a soldier in battle? We all know the answer. No. Which is why it is worth taking 300 words to explore an effort to help soldiers build their resilience. Resilience is the word of the year for the discussion around assisting people to manage through a stressful business environment. I found a great clinical discussion in the Harvard Business Review around resilience (link). I like clinical approaches to topics because they provide great information about what works, what doesn't, and an outline of the critical steps/pieces of a solution. They learn and I apply. Here are the key pieces of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program.

Test for psychological fitness - Identify strengths in four areas: emotional, family, social, and spiritual fitness. All four have been found to reduce depression and anxiety.
Learning - A mandatory course on post-traumatic growth and optional on-line classes on the four fitness areas. Mandatory class covers five areas: Understanding a normal response to trauma, learning techniques for controlling intrusive thoughts/images, how to talk about it, see the trauma as a fork in the road, and transforming the trauma into new/reinforced principles of life.
Train key leaders - Called Master Resiliency Training (MRT), the goal is to teach them how to embrace resilience and pass on the knowledge. This last piece focuses on: Building mental toughness, Building on our signature strengths, and Building relationships.

I am not sure where this study will go, but when 900,000 people go through something and someone is measuring the outcomes and sharing the learning it should have a lasting benefit. How can we apply this today? What do you see from their approach that reinforces how you lead today? How you coach or mentor? How you can create your own CSF program? How does your own awarness of self make you more resilient? or less . . . . . On a side note: I am glad someone is looking out for the health of our soldiers.

Resilience training - bleeding heart soft or army tough? (peterjsimpson.wordpress.com)
Posttraumatic Growth (schott.blogs.nytimes.com)
3rd Cavalry Emphasizes De-Stressing Troops in Iraq (waronterrornews.typepad.com)

Don't Be Mean - Part One

Scott Patchin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:58:21 +0000

Resources

admin — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:28:30 +0000

Here you will find a collection of resources to help grow your leadership skills, steer your organization through change, and aid in your personal and professional development. If you would like to discuss any of the topics covered in more detail, please contact me.

Read the trU Group Blog | trU Tips | Articles Topics include:

Leadership Development
Tips for individual leaders and those trying to grow other leaders.
Performance Management
Key conversations necessary to cultivate talent.
Awareness of Self
The formal and informal ways we achieve awareness, and how it can be used in our development as leaders and individuals.
Professional Development
Ideas for ongoing development and reminders of what this growth looks like.
Career Enrichment
How to master the everyday moments in which we make choices that will impact ourselves and others.

Learn more: visit my blog or read my latest trU Tip.

Don't Be Mean - Part Two . . the 5 step solution for leaders

Scott Patchin — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:17:44 +0000

I am a big fan of Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire Collaborative Services. She is a great coach and passionate about developing leaders that make a difference. She is also thoughtful and nice. The kind of person you trust as soon as you meet. I had the privilege of doing a two guest posts on her blog around leadership development and coaching. Here is the link to the second part of the post: I am a big fan of Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire Collaborative Services. She is a great coach and passionate about developing leaders that make a difference. She is also thoughtful and nice. The kind of person you trust as soon as you meet. I had the privilege of doing a guest post on her blog around leadership development and coaching. Here is the link to Part 2 of the post. http://www.aspire-cs.com/don%e2%80%99t-be-mean-part-2 If you missed it, here is the link to Part 1 of the post. http://www.aspire-cs.com/don%e2%80%99t-be-mean-part-one?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Scott Patchin

admin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:51:35 +0000

Work with Scott Patchin to grow your business and your people.

Articles

admin — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:16:54 +0000

2-3-2011 CORP! Magazine Article—Left Brain? Right Brain? How About No Brain?

Will the call to innovate and lean-up work for your organization? As the recovery unfolds, here is a little wisdom on how to get people engaged at a level that will help you achieve some of the new goals you set for your organization. Read the article or watch the video extra.

9-2-2010 CORP! Magazine Article—The Entrepreneur Becomes The CEO. Now What?

Are you feeling that your business is too big to control on your own? Just because the title CEO or President is on the business card, does not mean that someone is living that role. Some quick tips for recognizing the need to make the change, and some practical advice for moving forward with the change. Read the article or watch the video extra.

8-19-2010 CORP! Magazine Article—Think You Are One Of The Gang, Leader? Think Again.

It is easy to think we are just one of the gang as leaders. The truth - People treat leaders differently, which is okay. There are moves leaders can make to ensure they are getting the unfiltered opinions of others. These critical TRUTHS are priceless items an executive needs to run their business well.. Read the article or watch the video extra.

7-1-2010 CORP! Magazine Article—How Assessments Can Save You Pain In Hiring - And Provide An ROI.

How do you find the right people? When you have found them what should you do to make sure the transition goes well? Selection and onboarding need to be connected activities, and assessments can play a key role in success for your new hires. Read the article or watch the video extra.

2-4-2010 CORP! Magazine Article—Five Things A Leader Can Do To Re-engage Their People.

Timeless wisdom on what leaders can do to get their people re-engaged in their work and their organization. Read the article

The trU Group

Hey Leaders: Developing People = Crockpot Cooking

Four Messages We Have Trouble Hearing

2 Things to do BEFORE hitting send

Personal Awareness . . . When it is too late

When the truth is too late

When the truth is too late

Resilience as a program? Not another stinkin program . . .

Rotten Apple or Rotten Barrel?

Auto Draft

About trU

About The trU Group

People often ask us why we misspelled "true." But we didn't! Our name reflects our core beliefs that are the foundation for everything we do:

About Scott Patchin

In his own words . . . Scott Being Interviewed At Governor Granholm's Press Conference - Watch the video

In the words of the Grand Rapids Press - Read the article

trU_group_green_circle

Mastery - Does it matter? Part 1 of 3

Cups that make a picture

Cups that make a picture by James Freeman

Leadership Lessons - through Art?

Mastery = 10,000 hours! Part 2 of 3

Life Lessons from . . . Bob Newhart?

Mastery - One of keys to success! Part 3 of 3

B players have lots of value - How to tap into it

B players aren't all coasting - Some are waiting. So lead . . . (video)

7 Leadership Lessons from Dave Bing

Want to Keep Your Best People? Learn to Grow Garlic! Let Me Explain . . .

Is it possible to hire all A players? Three Realities

Achievement = Talent?

B Players: 3 Things Leaders Can Do to Energize Them

Joy: Why It Should Matter to the CEO

Startup - 4 Critical Things You Need From The Team You Build

Great Followership is a Choice - Why It Matters . . .

Looking to Have an Engaged Workforce? . . . Don't Forget the Turkey

Emails in CAPS - Here is how NOT to send them

TrustBUSTERs - Any of these sound familiar?

I'm OK, You're Not - It's All About EGO (via How We Lead)

TrustBUSTER™ #1 - Talking behind the backs of teammates

TrustBUSTER #2 - Unwilling to admit mistakes or apologize

Related Articles

TrustBUSTER™ #3 - Slow to extend trust to others (and Why onboarding matters)

I like this . . . .(DO NOT) Check Your Personal Baggage at the Door

trU Tips 9: There is no 'I' in team - When and why this is wrong

Who me? TrustBUSTER™ #4 - Does not communicate and explain changes/decisions well

Video Post - Putting the I back in Team

Leadership Time - Chronos and Kairos. Which one guides your day?

Here is what I think. . . TrustBUSTER™ #5 - Tells a lot, listens very little

Listening at growth companies . . . avoiding TrustBUSTER™ #5

Great Post - Unhappy? Focus on the Present

TrustBUSTER™ #6 - Criticize decisions AFTER the team made them - How to handle the 3 most common situations

TrustBUSTER™ #7 - Values individual success over team goals

Joy - 3 Steps to Create More as a Leader

What would people say is your focus during the holidays? Quick thoughts

I care... really! TrustBUSTER™ #8

Related Articles

Building a Strong Team - no ropes needed, just a BBQ

trU Tips 10 - Do virtual teams need leaders? Truths and challenges.

I know I said I would do that, but . . TrustBUSTER™ #9 - Four common causes and solutions

The Career Question No One Asks - and 5 Questions All Leaders Should Answer

Self-Awareness 101: Why it matters and 5 questions to get started

Do your clients really love you? Here is one measure

Leave the Squirrels Alone - Put Energy Where It Matters

Do Heroes Have To Be Leaders?

Related Articles

Is Failure The End?

We are in this together . . TrustBUSTER#10 - Asks team to make sacrifices, but does not follow

Related Articles

Someone we all need to listen to - Jessica Jackley

Related Articles

Is Resilience The Right Message? Three things to consider before starting this discussion in your organization

Resilience - 4 Steps to NOT make it another initiative

Related Articles

Resilience - The discussion starts(and continues) with transparency

Hello world!

Work With Me

Get your team aligned and working together.

Develop leaders.

Plan and execute successful leadership transitions.

Manage the change associated with growth.