Or at least, a little more like a volunteer. I participate in a couple volunteer organizations, and I’m frequently talking to them about treating their volunteers more like employees. Volunteer organizations sometimes have performance issues because they are afraid to hold people accountable: “How can we expect so much from them? They are just volunteers.” Frequently, you find them settling for whatever they can get.
leadership
Finger-Pointing
Today I sent a project status report. Shortly afterward, I received an e-mail informing me that while I had reported a task as complete, it wasn’t actually complete. The manager wanted to know where I got my information, and I let them know I heard it on the status call. The manager then informed me via an e-mail cc’ing the world (OK not really, but when you are being criticized, it can feel that way) that I should get information from a reliable source, and the manager named a few. It just so happened one of those “reliable sources” was the person who told me the task was complete. Graciously, that person stepped up, responded to the e-mail, and said that she was mistaken and had passed the bad information on to me. The manager then sent me an e-mail berating this “reliable source” for passing on bad information. While the task was not done, it would still be done on time. Continue reading
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Fire Drill
Poor planning on your end does not constitute an emergency on mine. This is a paraphrase of a wonderful quote I heard from Rory Vaden. I have lived this at times. I’m sure all of us have been in situations where we had to pull together as a team and produce nothing less than a miracle to get a deliverable complete on time.
This can create a great sense of accomplishment and team work. However, when done on a regular basis, it induces quite the opposite. Asking teams to perform heroics day in and day out while compromising their priorities to make the next deadline (and the next and the next) is one of the quickest ways to have knowledge seep right out of your company. These employees tend to get sick, start producing lower quality deliverables, and eventually just walk out.
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Jurassic Park Decisions
A quote from Jurassic Park has stuck with me over the years (we won’t count how many): “[You] were so preoccupied with whether [you] could that [you] didn’t stop to think whether [you] should.” Oftentimes I associate it with potential avenues we could venture down in science, and I realized this can relate to companies as well.
1. Ethics
The story of Mr. Nobel, the newspaperman, is probably a good depiction here. The story goes that Nobel wanted to increase his newspaper profits. He decided that he couldn’t raise the cost of his paper any more than it already was, or it wouldn’t be profitable. How else do you increase profits if you can’t raise price? Decrease cost. He did this by increasing the cost to the newsies (boys who stood on the street and sold the newspapers). I’m sure the scenario went something like this: “Mr. Nobel, sir, if you want to make more money, we could charge the newsies an extra 1/5 a cent per paper.” You could, but that doesn’t mean you should. The result? A non-union strike.
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Royal Leadership
My last post talked about the communication skills we can learn from Queen Esther in the Bible. Today I want to focus on her leadership skills. Wouldn’t we all want this said of us, that perhaps you “achieved royal status for such a time as this.” You, uniquely gifted, were put here for this purpose to achieve significance. For Esther to achieve those things, she had to be equipped.
Give credit where it’s due. Mordecai discovered a plot against the king and let Esther know. The Bible says that Esther told the king on Mordecai’s behalf. She could have just walked in there, told the king there was a plot against his life, and never let him know how she came across this information. As a manager, has your team ever come up with a solution to an issue, and you walked into your boss’ office and told him the solution? Next time, make sure and let your boss know where the solution came from. If your team looks good, you look good.
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What I Learned from a Queen
I frequently find myself drawn to the book of Esther in the Bible. Here was an amazing woman. The book intrigues me on so many levels. Did you know Esther is the only book in the Bible that doesn’t mention God by name? But I wanted to focus on Esther’s character. I think there are some communication lessons we can take from her.
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Lessons from the Devil, Part II: What Not to Do
I would like to continue with Part II of “Lessons from the Devil.” Miranda Priestly, so aptly played by Meryl Streep, is the epitome of what not to do as a leader. Runway’s success is built on fear tactics and power-hoarding. The writing is on the wall with companies like these. When the domineering leader leaves the company, it enters a sharp decline. An example of this is when Lee Iacocca left Ford. The company went from consistent growth to dismal performance. No one was prepared to fill his shoes.
Lead by gaining buy-in. Miranda Priestly leads through fear. The first scene at Runway shows Emily, Miranda’s assistant, receiving a call that Miranda is arriving at the office earlier than expected. Panic ensues and rightfully so. When Miranda interacts with her employees, it consists of berating them for their ineptitude, doling out orders, and bullying in general. Continue reading
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It’s Not about You
Two people (that I actually have met) really inspire me: Ed Tate and Rory Vaden. These gentlemen are as close as I have come to “celebrities” (except the time I met Steve Forbes, but he doesn’t talk much). Two things about these people inspire me. One, they both worked extremely hard and were rewarded with success. They are models of self-discipline and perseverance. Two, they have never stopped helping other people. Many times I have called Ed to ask a quick question, and we talk for thirty minutes, during which he gives me great advice…advice he normally charges for! Rory, who has a hectic schedule due to a book tour, still takes time to respond to my e-mails personally.
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Get Back on Track
I just finished reading Making Managers into Leaders, which should more appropriately have been titled, How to Get Your Project, Your Sales, Your Relationships, Etc. Back on Track. Maybe that’s too long for a title, so they went with Making Managers into Leaders.
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