Lately I have been struggling with the repetitive nature of work. For me the excitement comes from the new and unexpected challenges that hit me throughout the day, week, month. I like dealing with new problems. When all the problems seem like old ones it seems as if I did not solve the thing right in the first place.
Fortunately this is not the case. You see leaders deal in relationships. They deal in the frailty of human beings, their habits and behaviors. I learned long ago that people have to be motivated to change. You cannot change them if they do not want to. Perhaps this is a good thing but regardless, when a repeat problem comes up inevitably you can trace its root back to a situation where someone who previously refused to learn and grow is now exhibiting behaviors that led to a repeat problem.
I cannot help you if you don’t want to grow. I cannot help you if you don’t recognize the need for your personal growth. I can only help those who humbly realize that growth is a necessary condition for life. Just consider a human muscle that is never exercised. What happens? Over time it atrophies. Same thing happens to people.
Back to the original challenge: The repetitive (read boring) nature of work. What to do?
One approach is to soldier on slogging your way through hoping this time there might be a better outcome. (sounds like the definition of insanity to me)
Another approach is to be indifferent and not react. This is a recipe for disaster. Don’t do this.
Yet another is to empower your team to take the challenge on themselves. Sounds like fun and is a worthwhile strategy to a point.
Or perhaps we could search for another right answer. Ask yourself what is the underlying cause. Assume that the problem is merely a symptom of a much larger challenge. Continue to search for the true root cause. When you think you have found it you will have a leadership challenge worth tackling. Are you up for it?
Lead well
–
Ron
I read an interesting article in a HR e-zine this morning that made the argument to not to hire B or C grade people into a management team. The article caught my eye because of the provocative nature of the argument presented. I completely agree that hiring a B player into management is simply a bad idea. But what of promoting a B player from within?To answer this question we have to look at the situation a bit more carefully. Afterall I would counsel that you NEVER hire a B player at all for any position. Look for stars always and every time.
Lets face it we live in the real world where there are people in our organization and not all of them are “A” players despite our best efforts. We inherit people from a previous manager with different performance measurement criteria, some people’s life goals change and work is not their priority and on it goes.
It is critical that in rating an employee we consider that the rating in their current role is different than in a management role. While some attributes overlap many do not. When considering who might be an “A” manager be certain that you evaluate the right criteria. A partial list should include; motivation, initiative, integrity, communication ability, leadership skill and management skill. Many of these factors may not be considered at the individual contributor level thereby making the judgment more difficult.
If you want to be certain do what leaders do. Give potential “A” players opportunities to shine long before the selection process takes place. Ask them to lead projects outside their normal duties, encourage them to find a mentor, suggest they take on a volunteer leadership role etc.
As you invest in your team and begin to see who has the drive and ability to lead in areas outside their normal framework you will soon discover who your next “A” manager should be.
Lead well
–
Ron
A while back I took my own medicine. Now for me the act of reading to children at a library seemed fairly straight forward. I was planning on meeting a friend who works at a local Barnes and Noble and ask how to go about volunteering when a member of our community stopped me and asked what I was going to do for the challenge. I told her and she shared how there was a need for people to perform for our churches Sunday school classes. So I immediately volunteered. I had the honor of acting out Billy Graham teaching over 300 children in 4 services about this Christian leader. Someone was even kind enough to take a few photos to memorialize the event. What fun!
So I wrote 40 posts on Tom Peters and got bored with the rest because there wasn’t much new there. Hard to add value when there isn’t much to begin with. So I stopped for a while.
I was writing to a group I lead the other day and summarized a leadership / facilitation technique I want to share with you. It’s called “Silence“
As leaders we must be sensitive to how various people engage in discussion. Resist the temptation to dominate the discussion when no one answers immediately. Sit in the silence once in a while and wait. It is completely reasonable to answer the question first every so often but we should avoid the temptation to do this frequently. Introverts will not speak up if you do this, the group will start to expect you to carry the discussion and will participate less often. Clearly this is not the outcome we want. We have to give the group room to work and contribute.
Try it sometime you will be surprised by this powerfully effective technique.
Lead / facilitate well
40. Leaders give everyone a cause.
Maybe I am getting a bit tired of this series but this rule seems so obvious as to be silly. Yet is it?
The other day I was considering the management model of theory X versus theory Y. As a manager myself the first time I took the test I was so far Y as to think the test was a hoax. Then other students in my graduate class began to rationalize their X viewpoint. I was floored how could anyone be that brain dead. After all this is an age of enlightenment. America has learned its lesson, people want to be empowered engaged, trusted. People have altruistic reasons, meaning generating reasons to work… Right?!
Wrong! Some do yes and others show up for a paycheck and are content to do exactly what they are told and no more each day.
So leaders do give many a cause and others don’t pay attention. They just keep doing their job and no more staying out of the realm of meaning generation. This is not to say that a leader should just give up, no they should work all the harder at their influence skills and try to get everyone on board. There are times though that they must be realistic and lead the majority rather than the entirety.
ChallengeGo online and take the basic theory X versus Theory Y test. Here is one I found online here (THEORY X Y Test) for no cost. It is not perfect but will make the point.Take the test focusing on how you manage and what kind of style you have. If you are way on the X side you just may have discovered why it is such a frstration and chore to motivate employees to follow your vision.
Oh ya the standard clause. Neither theory is right or wrong it is simply a representation of how people respond to situations.
What is the complete leader?
This is a model I have been working on for the past 5 years. Essentially the model reflects the simplicity and complexity that is leadership. A leader is not a cookie cutter set of skills and attributes that you collect like boy scout badges.
NO! leadership is a unique combination of attributes, unique to the individual leader. Leadership happens in a specific context that no two leaders face identically.
So to be a complete leader we must discover who we are as a person. Then we dig deeper to learn what our skills and potential leadership attributes are. We then leverage these to develop our own leadership perspective and voice.
This is the complete leader, a unique person who understands who they are and what the leadership context they face is. No two are alike, no two will reach their potential the same way.In the Complete Leader model we will discover how we best develop ourselves as leaders and leverage these aspects to their maximum.
The first two segments of the Complete Leader Model are nearing completion. Order your copy today!
39. Leaders have great stories. I remember a time a few years back when a colleague had said to me, “we don’t tell stories anymore”. This statement cut deeply, he had verbalized angst I had been feeling for some time but not yet committed to words. He was right.Stories are how groups share meaning, share values, share emotion, share culture. A leader as a master story teller, sound peculiar? It shouldn’t, a good leader will master story telling and use it effectively for the betterment and learning of the team.Challenge: Reflect back on the past year to a time when your team had a win, overcame an obstacle, provided outstanding service. Consider what was at the root of the event. Was it an outstanding group effort, a masterful problem solving ability by a team member, a compassionate act? Determine from the root of the event what the moral is and how it relates to team values or culture. Tell the story.
38. Leadership is a performance.
Okay when I first read this rule by Tom Peters I was thinking he was going to discuss performance as in measurable progress against a goal but he took a left turn here. He is talking about a performance as in being on stage. We discussed this very point in rule # 14, Leadership is an Improvisational Art. Leaders know that they are always on stage and to ignore this leads to problems. We must manage our behaviors to be consistent with the goals of our enterprise and at the same time be aware of the cause and effect relationship our personal behaviors have on followers. Be upbeat and positive and see if your team doesn’t have a brighter outlook. Come in tired and worn down and watch as your teams performance starts to ebb.
Challenge: Act slightly out of character for a day and watch how your team responds. Be smart about this don’t get them thinking you belong under psychiatric care.
