 |
Posted by Christopher Stowell as Leadership Development, achievement, innovation, leadership, qualities of leadership
Each of us has the potential to be individuals of great worth and experience success in our life. I am a firm believer in the concept that a leader is made, not born. Just like anything, it takes significant time and investment to develop a leader to their full capacity. We each have the capability to reach our full potential as leaders if we are willing to put forth the investment. As we aspire to be the best leader we can be, and invoke greatness in others, we must be the ones with conviction, vision, and drive to make great things happen.
I was recently in the classroom of my son (7 years old) and noticed the poem written below at the front of the class. As a parent and professional familiar with the qualities of great leaders, I was excited to see this being instilled into his character.
 It Can Be Done
The man who misses all the fun
Is he who says, “It can’t be done.”
In solemn pride he stands aloof
And greets each venture with reproof.
Had he the power he’d efface
The history of the human race.
We’d have no radio or motor cars
No streets lit by electric stars.
No telegraph nor telephone
We’d linger in the age of stone.
The world would sleep if things were run
By men who say, “It can’t be done.”
-William J. Bennett
This poem caught my attention because I am constantly helping my children to become great leaders and learn the skills necessary to be successful in their own lives. While there are many qualities of leadership, the conviction to enjoy the journey and press forward is a great quality to develop and poses.
Tags: developing leaders, enjoy the journey, qualities of leadership
Posted in Leadership Development, achievement, innovation, leadership, qualities of leadership | No Comments »
Posted by Richard Williams, Ph.D. as Leadership Development, character, leadership
Continued from Qualities of Effective Leaders, Part 1
Being a leader who is able to drive organization success requires personal traits or characteristics that are not necessarily intuitive. Successful leadership demands a set of skills that appears to be less know or obvious, but nonetheless is critically important to both personal and organizational success. Mere knowledge of what actually drives success doesn’t by itself guarantee success, but it can point a person in the correct direction. Success comes from consistent execution of the personal trait of characteristic. Perhaps that is the “execution” that we should be discussing, not the execution of the company’s business plan.
 According to the same research study, the top six leadership traits that are most likely to drive both personal and organizational failure are
- Not building effective relationships.
- Not demonstrating self control.
- Not having functional expertise.
- Not being able to manage complex systems and processes.
- Having poor communication skills.
- Not being able to execute the plan.
Now that you have seen the two lists, note what is included and where items appear on the lists. Do a comparison of what drives success and what drives failure. What similarities do you notice? Do you see, for example, that the most important thing a leaders can do to help drive success, and hopefully prevent failure (because it appears as the number one item on both lists), is to build and sustain effective interpersonal relationships with others? Do you notice that the lists are different? The traits that drive success are not necessarily the same traits that contribute to failure. This knowledge can provide an enterprising or aspiring leader with a list of things to do to maximize future success, and others things to eliminate from personal habits.
I find research intriguing; perhaps that is the psychologist in me. Some people prefer to ignore research, perhaps because they are suspicious of the manner in which the data were collected, or conclusion drawn by the researchers. The truth is that research can provide us with information that we otherwise would know. If we consider the information objectively, see how it applies to our life and what we do, and try to incorporate the relevant parts into how we behave, we can become more effective than we otherwise be. Give how you behave, as a leader, some thought.
Tags: Drive leadership failure, Leadership concepts, Leading discussions
Posted in Leadership Development, character, leadership | No Comments »
Posted by Richard Williams, Ph.D. as Leadership Development, character, leadership
 It has been my experience that few people understand the qualities that make a person an effective leader. And it has been my experience that few people also understand which leadership behaviors drive organization and personal failure. Inasmuch as the traits that drive leadership success of failure seem to be misunderstood by so many, let’s consider the top six traits or characteristics that drive leadership failure. Perhaps the knowledge and understanding of success and failure traits might help with your personal success.
Before discussing the two lists of traits, permit me to illustrate my point with an experience I had a few years ago. While consulting at a company I was asked to observe the CEO of the organization make a presentation to his executive staff of about a dozen persons. After a few preliminaries, the CEO asked, “What is the most important thing we need to do as leaders of this company?” A few of the executives mentioned things like, “Drive more profit,” “Control expenses,” “Get more sales,” and “Pay attention to gross margins.” The CEO nodded his agreement to the suggestions, but then said, “All of these things are good, and we certainly need to pay attention to them, but I think these is something else more important that this company desperately needs us as leaders to do.”
When none of the executives seemed able to read the CEOs mind, he walked to a whiteboard and wrote, “The most important thing we need to do is EXECUTE!” Then he turned back to the group and added, “Without us paying strict attention to how we and our employees execute the company business plan, we can’t possible succeed, and might well fail in the marketplace.”
In this CEOs mind the most important leadership trait for him and his executives at that time was the proper execution of the company’s business plan. Would you agree? Is execution the most important leadership trait? I have heard a number of leaders say almost the dame think in a variety of industries. In fact, there are companies today that have “execution” as their number one corporate priority. Execution is a common topic at trade conventions, industry meetings, company meetings, and in the boardroom. If execution were widely believed to be so important, it would certainly show up as the number one item in a list of what drives leadership success and failure. Right? Or are there other leadership traits more important than doing the right things in the first place? Could it be that doing the right things as a leader outweighs doing things right?
In last month’s article I listed the most important leadership traits as expressed by actual leaders in organizations. These leaders were discussing the most important traits to consider when selecting a leader. In my informal survey conducted in many organizations over several years it is interesting to note that “execution” doesn’t show up in the top six traits. In fact, “execution” doesn’t appear in the top twenty-five traits. I must admit that my informal survey is potentially flawed for a variety of reasons, but it does provide an interesting perspective on what Leaders value as important leadership traits when selecting a leader.
The top six mentioned leadership traits in my informal survey are:
- Experience.
- Leadership skills.
- Being visionary.
- Decision making.
- Team player.
- Technical skills.
By comparison, according to an extensive research study over many years and including hundreds of organizations and literally thousands of leaders, the top six leadership traits that are most likely to drive both personal and organization success are
- Building effective relationships.
- Being able to manage complex systems and processes.
- Being able to communicate effectively.
- Being in control of yourself.
- Execution and results.
- Having functional expertise.
You can conduct your own research by asking ten (or more) of you associates, friends, or leaders in your organization, what they consider to be the most important trait or characteristic a leader must have to be successful. See if you come up with results similar to mine, or if any of your leaders come close the top six from the research study, I think you will be surprised with what you learn.
See the list of qualities that are most likely to drive personal & business failure in Qualities of Effective Leaders, Part 2
Tags: Drive leadership failure, Leadership concepts, leadership traits, Leading discussions
Posted in Leadership Development, character, leadership | No Comments »
Posted by Richard Williams, Ph.D. as coaching skills, sales coaching
Continued from The Three Whats of Coaching, Part 1
 What Two
After the employee has explained the situation, the coach moves to the second what question. The purpose of the second what is to clarify in the employee’s mind what impact his or her behavior had. Impact can be individual, on another employee, on a customer, group of employees, or the entire organization. Both the coach and the employee must be clear on how wide the impact is. Until the employee clearly understands impact, behavior change will be difficult.
Example of the second what question include, “So after that happened, what reaction did you see from other employees?” Or, “What did the customer’s face tell you about what you did?’ Or, “If several of our employees did the same thing, what impact would it have on our customers?” Or, “How long could we stay in business if many employees acted that way?” Or, So what do you think happens to you standing in the company when you do things like this? Or, “When I hear thinks like this, what do you think goes through my mind?”
Answers to the second what questions can be slow to emerge from an employee. That is because if the employee had a clear understanding of impact or consequences before he or she did the behavior, the outcome would likely have been different. People can act without consideration of the outcomes, consequences, or impact. As a result it’s important for the coach to proceed slowly through both the first and second what questions. Ineffective coaches practice “speed coaching,” while effective coaches practice “slow coaching.”
What Three
The third what question is a natural progression for the first two questions. After the situation and its impact have been clearly defined, as volunteered by the employee, the logical next step for the coach is to ask, “So what do you need to do next?” Or, “Now that you have described what happened and the impact of your behavior, what would you like to do next?” Or, “I appreciate your honesty in describing the situation; with equal honesty tell me what would make this situation better?”
If the plan to resolve the situation is created and explained by the coach, then the coach owns the plan. The best employees (the top 20 percent) can hear their coach’s plan and adopt it as their own, thus creating psychological ownership, but the other 80 percent will not. A plan owned only by the coach is unlikely to have much of a change of working. If, however, the employee volunteers the plan them the employee will create psychological ownership and be far more likely to implement it and resolve the problem.
Of particular importance to managers is the fact that when an employee has psychological ownership of both the problem and its solution, he or she is very likely to not only work hard to fix the problem, but far more important, the employee is not likely to cause a similar problem in the future. In other words, resolving problems correctly with the Three Whats of Coaching not only solves today’s problems, but it also helps prevent tomorrow’s problems from happening.
Thus far mostly corrective coaching has been discussed. But coaching is not merely a corrective technique; it is also a supportive or reinforcing technique as well. Indeed, world-class coaches use coaching for positive purposes to reinforce behaviors they want repeated far more frequently than they use coaching to correct problems. The ratio for world-class coaches is at lease 5:1: meaning they are supporting positive behaviors five times more frequently than they correct them.
The good news is that the Three Whats of Coaching works equally well when reinforcing a behavior as it does when correcting a behavior. It’s the same sequence, with many of the same questions. Rather than saying to an employee, “Way to go.” “Good job.” An effective coach takes a cople of extra minutes and asks the three what questions. And by doing so the coach gains far greater advantage because of the power of the discussion.
Tags: Coaching for Positive Purposes, Corrective Coaching, Effective Coach, Effective Coaches, Effective Coaching
Posted in coaching skills, sales coaching | No Comments »
Posted by Richard Williams, Ph.D. as coaching skills, sales coaching
 Being a new manager can be exciting, confusing, and sometimes even a frightening experience, especially if the person hasn’t been adequately trained in managements and leadership principles. One of the most common mistakes a new manager can make is the practice of being too much of a “teller,” “commander,” or “controller,” and not enough of being a “listener,” “learner,” and “asker.”
From the outside it may sound reasonable that a manager should demonstrate control by telling people what so do. And if the people don’t comply well enough, or fast enough, it’s equally reasonable that the manager should show who is in charge by exercising some form of sanction or discipline. In days long past this philosophy was quite common and it actually worked, to a limited extent.
Today, however, workers simply won’t tolerate what they believe are unfair management practices. They especially won’t tolerate a manager, who is overly bossy, unreasonably unfair, or inappropriately controlling. Workers today have grown up in a different world that expects managers to be efficient and leaders to be effective.
When a manager would like a worker to repeat a behavior, or when a manager would like a worker to change a behavior, the best method is to accomplish both is coaching. Effective coaching will reinforce a behavior, or correct a behavior, without the manager being perceived as bossy, unfair, or controlling.
There is so much research on coaching that it is amazing more managers haven’t learned how to coach, and don’t practice the time-tested techniques. Although there are many coaching models that have been developed, most of them focus on a couple of basic principles.
Coaching models range from simple to complex. The simple models work in most situations with most people, and complex models work in almost all situations with almost everyone. The most basic model involves a simple process called “The Three Whats.” This simple process is so easy to learn that virtually any manager can memorize what each what means and how to apply it in a coaching situation.
What One
The first of what of coaching is to ask the question, “What happened?” or, “What is going on?” Or, “Describe for me what happened.” Or “Tell me what you see.” The purpose of the first “what is to define the situation, to clarify the details, or to bring out the facts of what happened: only from the employee’s point of view, not the manager’s! A controlling manager might begin coaching with, “this is what you did and I’m upset! By contrast, effective coaches would begin with a neutral demeanor and an open-end what question. The difference between the two approached is striking because beginning a coaching session with an accusatory statement including a challenging demeanor will typically case the employee to become defensive. Once the employee is defensive it is difficult at best to move the coaching session forward. This explains why so many new (and sometimes experienced, too) managers have problems changing employee behavior.
Learn about the other two Whats in The Three Whats of Coaching, Part 2
Tags: Coaching for Positive Purposes, Corrective Coaching, Effective Coach, Effective Coaches, Effective Coaching
Posted in coaching skills, sales coaching | No Comments »
Posted by Mark Peacock as innovation
 You may remember a time, not so long ago that communication was done at the speed of a snail. We have moved past those times and are now in the digital age. Information can be transferred instantly. Files are shared electronically and a lot business communication is conducted via e-mail. There is still one area in business where companies are not maximizing some of the current technology. Research and development has an opportunity to increase innovative ideas for organizations. No longer is an idea only thought of from someone within the company.
Specific information that could only be obtained from research and focus groups is now available to the masses via Facebook, Google +, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. The ever expanding technological capabilities have changed the communication infrastructure of business. The speed of innovation continues to increase and although companies utilize much of the current technology, they are not always using it to gather ideas and harness innovation. Corporations need to establish an open environment, where they can engage their consumers and utilize their ideas as part of the innovation process, thus increasing the number of ideas generated. By utilizing current social media, organizations can decrease the time it takes to find ideas and create a greater impact on the market with the ideas that are gathered.
To see the idea of internet innovation at work, we can look at what Cisco did in 2010. Cisco put into effect their I-prize challenge. They invited people from across the globe, i.e. the human network, to participate in a creativity and innovation contest. The winner received $250,000 for coming up with the best new business opportunity for CISCO. They had over 2900 participants, representing over 156 countries and 824 ideas were submitted to the company. Then through a series of filters and evaluations, 32 semi-finalists were selected. The32 semi-finalists were narrowed to 8 that were selected to present their ideas to a final judging panel of industry luminaries and Cisco senior executives. By thinking outside the box and utilizing current technology, Cisco was able to find the idea of creating something called Life Account. This idea proposed creating a physical and virtual platform that facilitates connectivity along with smart objects, people, and information. Cisco used its research and development budget in a whole new way and was quickly able to come up with a new idea for a product that the business could invest in.
Keeping up with current technology does not just mean within your own business. Social media allows anyone that wants to be connected to a company to have a voice in that company. Social media is driving businesses to be accountable for the products and services that they offer. Reviews are instant and readily available for everyone to see. The key is being able to harness these reviews and gather intelligence for future products and services that your customers need. The internet and social media is increasing the speed of innovation. The question is whether or not you are willing to listen.
Tags: Harness Innovation, Innovation at work, Innovation Process, Speed of Innovation
Posted in innovation | No Comments »
Posted by Martha Rice as Strategic Thinking, strategy
 On the way to work this morning, I watched a young man maneuver his truck in and out of three lanes of traffic, trying to position himself to be first in line at the next stop light. Actually, he was trying to make it through the intersection before the light turned red, but he didn’t quite make it. I happened to be stopped next to him or just a couple of cars behind him at the next several intersections. I could visibly see his frustration by the way his jaw tighten and his hands clenched his steering wheel. At the next red light, he was holding his head with one hand and pounded his steering wheel a couple of times with the other. Obviously he was late for something or trying to get somewhere fast.
The point of this story is quite simple; when people don’t practice “everyday strategy”, stress levels rise and they often take erroneous risks. Chances are that when frustration takes over, an argumentative attitude is the result. In the work environment, the recipients of this destructive attitude are most often family members or coworkers, worse yet clients and employers.
What is Everyday Strategy?
“Everyday Strategy” is the habit of thinking and acting more strategically about daily and operational tasks. It means paying attention to the environment and adjusting to obstacles or trends so you might better accomplish your tasks or work towards goals. For example, if the young man I saw driving this morning would have checked traffic reports, or remembered that the road he planned to take this morning was under construction, he might have left earlier, got to his destination on time, and not experienced the frustration that he did.
This concept sounds simple and many people use this approach to their work and life without even realizing they are doing it. The problem is that for many people it has yet to become a conscious effort in the workplace. Senior leaders and managers are thought to be the ones that do all the strategic thinking. Yet, a huge difference could be made for businesses if everyone from the top down approached their work with a strategic mindset. For example, two American Airlines mechanics thought it was strange that they were told to throw away the drill bits they used once they became dull. So, they rigged up some old parts and they built “Thumping Ralph,” which was a machine that sharpened the dull drill bits and saved the company an estimated $300,000.00 annually.
Quick Tip
Don’t make “everyday strategy” into something complex or difficult, because it shouldn’t be that way. Simply look around your work area and ask yourself, “What can be improved, discarded, or added to make processes more efficient, less costly, or improve value?” The person who best knows the answers to these types of questions is you, the one who actually does the task every day.
Tags: Everyday Strategist, Everyday Strategy, Strategic Mindset
Posted in Strategic Thinking, strategy | No Comments »
Posted by Cherissa Newton as coaching skills, motivation
 Many people believe that coaching is solely a management technique. While it is an effective means of achieving business results through others, peer coaching is often overlooked. Peer coaching requires many of the same coaching skills that managers utilize. However, coaching your peers requires a special sensitivity for each situation and a less direct approach. Unfortunately, when peers coach others, they tend to come across very in-direct and sometimes the other person misses the message entirely. In CMOE’s coaching Models, establishing impact is key to helping others see the full picture and gain new awareness or insight about the topic or situation. When a peer has effectively established impact with another, it is because they created what Dr. Steven J. Stowell calls “a felt need for action”.
I believe the best example of establishing impact with peers comes from the time-old nursery tale, The Little Red Hen. In this story, a hen discovers some grain of corn. She has a vision for turning this grain into loaf of bread, but recognizes all the work that must first take place. She asks her neighbors, the duck, the cat, and the pig for help all along the way. They declined helping her first with the planting of the corn, and then again when she cut the stalks, took the corn to the mill, and then finally when she baked the bread. When she asked, “who will help me eat this bread?” the duck, cat, and pig all jumped at the chance and said “I will.” Now the hen could have handled this situation in a variety of ways, but the power of her response is what has made this nursery tale so well-known for so long. The hen responded frankly: “Oh no, you won’t. I planted the seed, I cut the corn, I took it to the mill to be made into flour, and I made the bread, all by myself. I shall now eat the loaf all by myself.” This hen was effective at helping her lazy peers see the “big picture” by coaching them. She skillfully created an impact by sharing her perspective and observations with candor and honesty and making it easy for her peers to see the consequences of their behaviors.
Quick Tip
Remember, the overarching goal of peer coaching involves identifying and communicating to others how the combined efforts of team members can provide the most beneficial results. Keep the example of The Little Red Hen in mind and help take your team to the next level of performance.
Tags: Coaching with Impact, Coaching Your Peers, Peer Coaching
Posted in coaching skills, motivation | No Comments »
Posted by Richard Williams, Ph.D. as feedback, leadership, management
Each of us has a bucket located in our heart and whenever we receive any type of feedback it goes in our bucket. I’ve taught the metaphor of the feedback bucket to thousands of people around the country. Perhaps because it’s so simple, or because of the catchy name, but for whatever reason, it helps people grasp the importance of the feedback with give and receive in our interactions with others. Picture your feedback bucket and imagine all types of feedback you receive each day going into your bucket. The problem is that we have holes in our buckets, which cause the feedback to leak out over time. If there are a lot of holes, or if some are large, the feedback leaks out quickly. If a person’s bucket doesn’t have many holes, or if they are just pinpricks, the feedback leaks out slowly. Remember, we all have a bucket and every bucket has some holes in it.
Who put the holes in your bucket? The answer is complex, but stated simply they came from both internal and external sources. You probably drilled a few yourself through careless actions and others came from parents, family, friends, associates, and your present and former bosses. Because our lives constantly change, the holes in our feedback buckets are in a state of flux. Holes come, and holes go, but some are always there.
How does an employee behave when his or her feedback bucket is empty? How would that same employee behave if his or her bucket had a few deposits of feedback? The response I get to these questions from retail managers is surprisingly consistent. And I’ll bet you probably know some of the answers. But before we get to that, first keep in mind that people suffer great pain when their bucket is empty. Feedback deprivation is one of the most psychologically painful experiences a person can have. In fact, mentally healthy people will go to extraordinary measures to ensure that their bucket doesn’t run dry.
Consider that people don’t consciously know when their bucket is empty. It’s something we can’t recognize because most of us don’t understand it. It is a feeling or an emotion; and being able to pinpoint emotions is difficult for most people.
Even if a person knew that his or her “bucket gauge” was on empty, it’s highly unlikely that the person would ask for feedback from others–especially men, because it would show weakness. If women are the better communicators, like some people say, and if they are more intuitive, again like some experts say, then maybe women would be better suited to know when their bucket was empty, and maybe they might be more able to ask for help.
So how can you know if one of your employee’s feedback bucket is running low? Typically, a problem with inadequate feedback will show up in one or more of six ways.
1. A person’s work performance (quantity and quality of work) is quite often directly related to the amount of feedback in his or her bucket. It doesn’t mean that a person will stop working when their bucket’s empty, but sustained performance over time requires at least some feedback in the bucket. So if you see an employee’s performance beginning to erode try stepping up your feedback to that person.
2. The ability to get along peaceably with co¬workers and even work effectively as a team is also directly related to how much feedback those people recently received. Workers are less likely to demonstrate patience, cooperation, understanding or tolerance when their feedback buckets are empty, or even near empty. So when you want a group of employees to become a team of employees, be sure that your feedback to them is frequent and positive.
3. Employees with empty buckets are prone to be followers, rather than take the initiative to be leaders. Followers wait for things to happen, while leaders take the initiative and make things happen. That’s because followers don’t feel as though it’s their job. Decision–making is an integral part of demonstrating initiative. Why make the effort to take a risk and make a decision if it’s not your job in the first place? So if you see employees lacking in initiative, step up your feedback.
4. People suffering from feedback deprivation commonly engage in destructive communication and people whose buckets are fairly full frequently engage in constructive communication. The simple cause of complaining, griping and back-biting, especially in the break room, may be nothing more than a number of employees who have been ignored too long and their buckets are running on empty. So when you become aware of destructive communication, step up your feedback.
5. Each day most of us make a decision to either get up and go to work, or roll over and go back to sleep. Part of that decision is centered on how much feedback we have received recently. A fair portion of time and attendance issues, such as being late or absent, could he prevented if managers invested more time in giving appropriate feedback to employees.
6. A few years ago a group of Outback restaurants implemented a program to reduce turnover among part¬-time employees. Each member of management was required to do three things each day to every part-time employee. They were to look the employee in the eye, use his or her first name, and ask a question about how their day was going. So to a part-time employee who was a student and worked the evening shift the comment might be, “Ann, how was your day at school?” Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But within six months Outback had slashed part-time employee turnover in those restaurants by a whopping 50 percent! How important is feedback? Ask those employees.
So what can you do as a manager to make deposits in employees’ buckets and to even plug up a few holes? There are four easy, but important strategies you might consider.
1. The quantity of feedback you give someone is important, but the quality is even more important. An idle comment may be welcome, but a question about how your midterm exam went yesterday could be a huge deposit. How much do you really know about your employees? Do you know how they spend their spare time? Do you know their hobbies? Are you concerned about them as an important part of your team? Take a few minutes and find out. And then fill a bucket!
2. Employees who receive appropriate and timely praise and recognition for their contributions to the company feel better about themselves. Feelings of being valuable and a contributor to the company can plug a few holes. Many books have been written about how to recognize employees, but the regrettable truth is that few managers consistently use the principle of praise and recognition appropriately. Look for both individual and group achievement and then make a fuss, and do it where a number of people can hear.
3. The third tactic to plug holes and make feedback deposits is to celebrate achievements. Too often managers believe that results are to be expected. It’s why we give you a paycheck, so we don’t need to celebrate individual successes. However, if you don’t pay attention to individual and group achievements, you’ll never know who crosses the finish line. Work at knowing who is achieving and then celebrate those achievements with your employees.
4. The extent to which any employee embraces changes to operating procedures or organizational structure is directly related to how much feedback that employee has been given regarding why the changes are necessary. Remember, feedback is a two way street. It doesn’t just flow from the manager to the employee. It needs to flow from the employee to the manager too. When employees are asked for their feedback regarding potential changes, they are much more likely to embrace the change after it is implemented. Ensure that feedback flows in both directions.
In this article we’ve looked at the feedback bucket. I like the metaphor because its uniqueness is so memorable to my students. Take a serious look at your employees this month and determine which buckets are running too low. Then, make some major deposits in those buckets. Use the techniques in this article. You’ll like the results. Look for a
 Each of us has a bucket located in our heart and whenever we receive any type of feedback it goes in our bucket. I’ve taught the metaphor of the feedback bucket to thousands of people around the country. Perhaps because it’s so simple, or because of the catchy name, but for whatever reason, it helps people grasp the importance of the feedback with give and receive in our interactions with others. Picture your feedback bucket and imagine all types of feedback you receive each day going into your bucket. The problem is that we have holes in our buckets, which cause the feedback to leak out over time. If there are a lot of holes, or if some are large, the feedback leaks out quickly. If a person’s bucket doesn’t have many holes, or if they are just pinpricks, the feedback leaks out slowly. Remember, we all have a bucket and every bucket has some holes in it.
Who put the holes in your bucket? The answer is complex, but stated simply they came from both internal and external sources. You probably drilled a few yourself through careless actions and others came from parents, family, friends, associates, and your present and former bosses. Because our lives constantly change, the holes in our feedback buckets are in a state of flux. Holes come, and holes go, but some are always there.
How does an employee behave when his or her feedback bucket is empty? How would that same employee behave if his or her bucket had a few deposits of feedback? The response I get to these questions from retail managers is surprisingly consistent. And I’ll bet you probably know some of the answers. But before we get to that, first keep in mind that people suffer great pain when their bucket is empty. Feedback deprivation is one of the most psychologically painful experiences a person can have. In fact, mentally healthy people will go to extraordinary measures to ensure that their bucket doesn’t run dry.
Consider that people don’t consciously know when their bucket is empty. It’s something we can’t recognize because most of us don’t understand it. It is a feeling or an emotion; and being able to pinpoint emotions is difficult for most people.
Even if a person knew that his or her “bucket gauge” was on empty, it’s highly unlikely that the person would ask for feedback from others–especially men, because it would show weakness. If women are the better communicators, like some people say, and if they are more intuitive, again like some experts say, then maybe women would be better suited to know when their bucket was empty, and maybe they might be more able to ask for help.
So how can you know if one of your employee’s feedback bucket is running low? Typically, a problem with inadequate feedback will show up in one or more of six ways.
1. A person’s work performance (quantity and quality of work) is quite often directly related to the amount of feedback in his or her bucket. It doesn’t mean that a person will stop working when their bucket’s empty, but sustained performance over time requires at least some feedback in the bucket. So if you see an employee’s performance beginning to erode try stepping up your feedback to that person.
2. The ability to get along peaceably with co¬workers and even work effectively as a team is also directly related to how much feedback those people recently received. Workers are less likely to demonstrate patience, cooperation, understanding or tolerance when their feedback buckets are empty, or even near empty. So when you want a group of employees to become a team of employees, be sure that your feedback to them is frequent and positive.
3. Employees with empty buckets are prone to be followers, rather than take the initiative to be leaders. Followers wait for things to happen, while leaders take the initiative and make things happen. That’s because followers don’t feel as though it’s their job. Decision–making is an integral part of demonstrating initiative. Why make the effort to take a risk and make a decision if it’s not your job in the first place? So if you see employees lacking in initiative, step up your feedback.
4. People suffering from feedback deprivation commonly engage in destructive communication and people whose buckets are fairly full frequently engage in constructive communication. The simple cause of complaining, griping and back-biting, especially in the break room, may be nothing more than a number of employees who have been ignored too long and their buckets are running on empty. So when you become aware of destructive communication, step up your feedback.
5. Each day most of us make a decision to either get up and go to work, or roll over and go back to sleep. Part of that decision is centered on how much feedback we have received recently. A fair portion of time and attendance issues, such as being late or absent, could he prevented if managers invested more time in giving appropriate feedback to employees.
6. A few years ago a group of Outback restaurants implemented a program to reduce turnover among part¬-time employees. Each member of management was required to do three things each day to every part-time employee. They were to look the employee in the eye, use his or her first name, and ask a question about how their day was going. So to a part-time employee who was a student and worked the evening shift the comment might be, “Ann, how was your day at school?” Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But within six months Outback had slashed part-time employee turnover in those restaurants by a whopping 50 percent! How important is feedback? Ask those employees.
So what can you do as a manager to make deposits in employees’ buckets and to even plug up a few holes? There are four easy, but important strategies you might consider.
1. The quantity of feedback you give someone is important, but the quality is even more important. An idle comment may be welcome, but a question about how your midterm exam went yesterday could be a huge deposit. How much do you really know about your employees? Do you know how they spend their spare time? Do you know their hobbies? Are you concerned about them as an important part of your team? Take a few minutes and find out. And then fill a bucket!
2. Employees who receive appropriate and timely praise and recognition for their contributions to the company feel better about themselves. Feelings of being valuable and a contributor to the company can plug a few holes. Many books have been written about how to recognize employees, but the regrettable truth is that few managers consistently use the principle of praise and recognition appropriately. Look for both individual and group achievement and then make a fuss, and do it where a number of people can hear.
3. The third tactic to plug holes and make feedback deposits is to celebrate achievements. Too often managers believe that results are to be expected. It’s why we give you a paycheck, so we don’t need to celebrate individual successes. However, if you don’t pay attention to individual and group achievements, you’ll never know who crosses the finish line. Work at knowing who is achieving and then celebrate those achievements with your employees.
4. The extent to which any employee embraces changes to operating procedures or organizational structure is directly related to how much feedback that employee has been given regarding why the changes are necessary. Remember, feedback is a two way street. It doesn’t just flow from the manager to the employee. It needs to flow from the employee to the manager too. When employees are asked for their feedback regarding potential changes, they are much more likely to embrace the change after it is implemented. Ensure that feedback flows in both directions.
In this article we’ve looked at the feedback bucket. I like the metaphor because its uniqueness is so memorable to my students. Take a serious look at your employees this month and determine which buckets are running too low. Then, make some major deposits in those buckets. Use the techniques in this article. You’ll like the results.
Tags: coaching feedback, corrective feedback, employee feedback, feedback, positive reinforcement
Posted in feedback, leadership, management | No Comments »
Posted by Christopher Stowell as Strategic Thinking, strategic leadership, strategy
 Everybody says we need to be strategic, but the reality is very few people have a strategic mindset, especially at work. This conundrum seems to be driven by a world of instant response and having access to what we want, when we want it. Be it overnight shipping, finger tip access to information via the internet, or using a credit account to instantly purchase items that we may or may not be able to afford, it conditions us to be tactical and think short-term, moving us away from a strategic mode.
The concept of “instant” can be good. It is appealing, and does offer value, but it does not position individuals or organizations for the needs or challenges that may arise in the near or long-term future. By keeping our head up and looking towards the horizon, we can set a clear strategic direction and adjust our strategic course on-demand.
This strategic conundrum can be driven by many reasons and common misconceptions. Here are a few of the most common:
A Time Issue
Our time is limited to only 168 hours in a week. In addition to our regular work, we have to answer and return phone calls, respond to emails, pickup kids from school, make dinner, among many other things. Because of our time crunch, we condition ourselves to respond to life in a reactive way. Our excuse is that there is just not enough time in the day.
The reality is we need to make time for strategy so we can gain time later. Acting strategically is not just looking at the big picture, but it is also thinking about and processing the big picture. Crafting strategy does not have to be a time suck. In fact, strategic thinkers are often able to minimize time spent on problems as a result of a little foresight and planning. Start out by spending five minutes looking at your day from a strategic mindset. Consider the key steps you need to take to make your week productive and successful.
The Notion That Strategy is Reserved for Leaders
Strategy is not reserved for leaders. Strategy is for anyone who can and wants to prosper and beat out the competition. Strategy is about positioning yourself, your team, department, or organization for success. While leaders may set the overall strategic direction of the organization, you as an individual need to be thinking about how you can contribute to the organization at your individual level to beat out the competition and support an overarching strategy. Individuals put traction into an organizations strategy.
Pure Ignorance
Ignorance is defined as a lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. Some individuals may feel that they don’t understand what being strategic is or even where to begin. While certain aspects of strategy can be complex, it is fundamentally about creating direction and priorities that will advance both your short-term and long-term direction and efforts. Simply picking up a well respected book that offers insight to strategic thinking and concepts will provide a great introduction. However, don’t stop with a quick read. You need to continue to learn about it and refine what strategy is and how it best applies to you. You don’t need to become an expert, but seek to gain some perspective.
Shoot From The Hip Mentality
Some people believe that planning or anticipating for more than 6-12 months ahead is absurd. The common excuse is that there are too many external variables, factors, and unknowns that are out of your realm of control, — making it pointless to plan. Any organization or individual who wants to be world class needs, needs to dump this notion if they want to stay relevant and competitive. Throw this idea out the window. This is a fast track to extinction. While there may be a sliver of truth to it, you can change or influence that which falls within your sphere of control. If you are thinking and planning ahead, if you are scanning your external environment, then you can forecast or anticipate, with some degree of accuracy, how you will be directly affected by external sources over which you have no control. A strategic plan does not need to be a big formal document written in stone and signed by blood. Think more realistic and catch a glimpse of your desired future state.
Don’t use one of many lazy excuses as to why you can’t be strategic. Take control of your future direction, otherwise you’ll find many missed opportunities that have come and gone. Capitalizing on just a few of these may surprise you as to have valuable it is. Once you see the value, you will be sold on thinking strategically.
If you fail to plan, plan to fail. – Unknown
Tags: Acting Strategically, Crafting strategy, Strategic Conundrum, Strategic Mindset
Posted in Strategic Thinking, strategic leadership, strategy | 2 Comments »
|
 |
