Being a leader isn’t always convenient. It means goals and team first, ego second. Anyone can say they are a leader, but then place blame, point fingers, pout, complain, bully, etc. But only true leaders have the strength to rise above listening to their egos. It isn’t easy, but that is what makes a true leader stand out. Want to know if you are a leader? Ask yourself, are you strong enough to put others before yourself? Are you wise enough to let go of your personal feelings for the greater good? Are you tough enough to be kind rather than feeling you must be right? Businessman Arnold Glasow in my opinion sums it up nicely in the quote below. Being a leader means bringing a level of thoughtfulness and self-sacrifice that most likely will never be acknowledged, and that is okay, because self acknowledgement isn’t the goal, moving forward together is.
You Get What You Settle For
It doesn’t matter if you are the employee or employer, you will get what you settle for guaranteed, probably even less. Sure it is important to set realistic and achievable goals for all involved in the work place, but if you don’t know your people, how do you know what they are capable of doing? Whether it is team building or DiSC testing, get to know those in the workplace. It is not just a nice thing to do, it is a profitable one.
Discretionary Effort
I had a discussion this past week with a manager for a firm that had a poor last quarter showing. He couldn’t quite put his finger on the slip in dynamic. It was a great conversation and a testament to paying attention to employee relations. It is important to remember positive or negative production/outcomes can be foreseen if you identify what your company employees’ discretionary efforts are. Or heaven forbid, determining if they exist. Discretionary effort is what determines your competitiveness as well as your profit within the marketplace. How do you determine if your employees contribute discretionary effort? Realistically evaluate if they are emotionally committed to the company. Lots of management folks mistake ‘happy’ employees with emotionally committed employees. A happy employee may show up daily and happily do their work, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are maximizing their own potential productivity level, and subsequently the company’s outcomes/results are negatively impacted. As Doug Conant, a one time CEO at Campbell’s said, “To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace.” So when you have emotionally committed employees, you have the edge. Emotionally committed employees are the ones who will work late, do more, and create a positive impact through growth, connection and output without being asked. They are the ones creating a dynamic that leads to measurable growth, productivity and cost savings.
Giving Up The 80% For The 20%
An article from Inc. discusses at least 51% of employees are searching for new jobs at any given time. This brings to mind two things, one, why, and two, are they giving up 80% of the good for 20% of what they perceive to be better. Let’s face it, the 51% figure demonstrates a misalignment in perception, as it is representative that once employees jump to a new job they don’t stay content forever. How to address this employee loss and the cost it takes to hire and re-train is easy. Give employees the time and opportunity to be mindful of their true situation, not what they perceive work to be while under stress. How? Mindfulness and meditation opportunities and exercises. This will help employees tune into the 80% of what is good and make a metric, not emotional based decision on whether to stay or go. This will aid the company in retaining quality talent while the more emotionally immature will still move on. An inexpensive solution to a costly issue. If you’d like to read the article form Inc., visit http://www.inc.com/adam-vaccaro/your-employees-big-secret-theyre-looking-to-leave.html?cid=sf01001
If You Want To Maximize Productivity, Don’t Minimize Sleep
An article in Inc. recently talked about the ten reasons working too much and sleeping too little is just plain wrong. It doesn’t matter who you are and what you believe, sleep matters. So whether it is you skipping sleep or your employees’ workload making them cut back, the bottom line is this. Lack of sleep, leads to lack of productivity. The biggest challenge of it all is you don’t realize it. While the article I just read doesn’t speak to health impacts (other than death), science has, another topic for another day. If you’d like to read the Inc. article, visit http://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/10-reasons-you-have-to-stop-working-so-hard.html?cid=sf01001.
The Latest Leadership Styles
I came across the article below while browsing my twitter feed. While I believe in the dynamics of positive production and contribution these styles can produce I have one reservation. How does a leader bring this style into the company’s culture if it is a profit driven dynamic? After all it is a business. Is there a gap between leadership as it relates to productive, engaged employees and the leadership that determines a company’s designated drive for positive earnings? Yes, yes there is. So the question is how are the two brought together and balanced? http://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/leadership-trends-of-2014.html?cid=sf01001
Happy Employees, It’s Not Easy
I had to read an article with the title of “5 Foolproof Steps to Happier Employees” because rarely is anything “foolproof.” But while reading it, there it was, the universal mis-belief… “Don’t ask about things you can’t or won’t change.” I’m not on board with the ‘don’t ask’ part, as ignorance in business is not bliss. And honestly, everyone is usually aware of those types of issues. Ignoring them fuels the fire. However, I am 100% all about not pretending to be able to change something you know you can not change. This requires active listening, honesty and the foresight to have a legitimate explanation on the ‘why’.
The Collective Impact Approach
The Collective Impact Approach, while originally targeted within the social sector translates well into business and manufacturing. Especially if the entity is experiencing challenges with individual productivity and/or peer-to-peer accountability. This happens everywhere but can at times be more prevalent within a union culture. The basic tenets of the Collective Impact Approach (CIA) are as follows: common agenda, shared measurement, mutual reinforcement, continuous communication, support from a central entity governing the process. These are all easily translated into processes and procedures already existing in the business and manufacturing world. CIA is an excellent template once the realization that individual parts can not be ‘fixed’ without addressing the whole.
Leadership Is Not Generic
The words ‘leader’ and ‘leadership’ get tossed around like there is no tomorrow. They have become generic, which is a disservice to the further development of leaders. That is one reason I am over the moon about The Harvard Business Review‘s post on the archetypes of leaders. It is worth a read if you are serious about moving your organization in the right direction… http://tinyurl.com/kn4v2co