Facebook Timeline Rollout

Facebook is getting ready to roll out their timeline feature.

Is this really a good thing?

If you understand social media and what it means to your job then you can not truly be yourself on social media.

Lets be truthful our persona outside of work is different than when we are in work. We have a diversity of friends and some may not be what we call stellar in the eyes of corporate but we enjoy them as friends.

Will this be more ammunition for HR to eliminate good candidates?  Will it be more ammunition for HR to use in your reviews?

Will they take into account that the timeline shows that you have changed over time and that you understand social media and its ramifications in the business world?

Will the past be forgiven for a better future if improvements have been noticed?

I think HR will use the Facebook Timeline in the wrong way as they have in the past. That is just my personal opinion.

I see Facebook as a personal site not a business site. When we have had a hard day at work we like to unwind and cut loose. We can use Facebook to do that to talk to our friends to see what they are up to. We may make some off colored remarks kidding around with some of our less than stellar friends. But in this age we have to adhere to the rules of social media and are not allowed to be ourselves but to be this facade for the sake of our jobs.

When I am looking at candidates I do not care what is on their Facebook page, what I care about is the person before me.

Does this person have the knowledge and talent to the job before them and can they continue to be a contributor in the future. Can I work with this person and can they work with me?

If this person has the possibility of being my best talent should I not hire them because the like to base jump or bungee jump? Should I not hire this 28 year old because they posted a not so flattering party pic back when they were in college?

If I used that sort of criteria then I would never hire anyone would I?

Each generation has a different view of the world and how things should be. We would be better off understanding this diversity of the generations instead of trying to make everyone fit the same mold.

It would be hypocritical of us to say that we have never done anything in our past that we are not proud of today. The advantage some of us might have is that there were not computers and social sites back then were we would record such deeds. So why should we condemn those today just because they have an avenue to post what they thought would make them cool to their friends at the time.

Do we not continually grow and mature with time? Then why do we act like we haven’t when it comes to certain things.

Like I said I refuse to take someones past on Facebook into account when I interview them for a position.  I know the saying that past performance shows the future.

Well  I have learned from my mistakes and  have moved forward as I am sure many of the younger generations have or will as the grow and mature.

We all make mistakes when we first start out. It is learning the lesson and moving on that counts.

We do not live in the past we strive to discover the future.

Turning Thoroughbreds into Mules

Companies practice this insanity all the time. Why are they so resistant to change from something they know doesn’t work?

Is it that they are that stupid or that they just don’t know how to be innovative enough to stop it?

You have an employee who is your top performer, You shower this person with money and a fast track up the ladder. You push this person right to very top they are your pride and joy!

What a performer what a steed what a thoroughbred what a winner!

Then tell me why you case of stupidity and think they will stay a top performer and guide others to be a top performers when you have not groomed them for the position into which you have cast them.

Why is it that you do not offer nor encourage such top performers and type of leadership nor management training on their flight up the ladder.

Most think it is overhead and wasted monies they rely on the osmosis principle. We cut the training budget as we do not believe in enriching the lives of the people that work for us and if provide training they will jump ship. Now most who make that statement are too ignorant to see that they jump ship is due to poor management but that is another blog entirely.

The osmosis principle is thinking that they learned management skills on the way up the ladder. However, if the y had a poor manager, which is normally the case, they only learned poor management skills if any at all. Remember you were so busy patting them on the back and giving accolades to teach them anything.

Marcus Buckingham, in his book First Break All the Rules, gave a great example of this. The story is of a top selling salesperson who made it to the top of the sales ladder. The company had no other way to reward him so the promoted him. The person was the worst manager the department ever had. They had zero people skills when it came to leadership. Half the sales staff jumped ship and they had no recourse but to fire him.

Wait!

So their reward was to be placed into a position to be fired? What kind of rewards is that?

Yet this practice continues still today companies take their finest thoroughbreds and turn them into mules.

Maybe the younger generations have the right idea, Seek ways to exercise your leadership skills while climbing the ladder. That way when you reach the top you have developed the right skills to be an effective leader.

My colleagues and I, in the leadership development field, have been preaching this ad nauseum. We are either preaching to empty pews or on deaf ears.

It is a persistent problem that no one cares to find a solution. Yet the solution is so simple and cost effective in the end.

So are you old school and still in the habit of turning your thoroughbreds into mules?

Company Culture

What exactly is company culture? Who sets it? How do you maintain it? How is it perceived by those outside?

The culture is the atmosphere the work environment inside the company. This also get personified outside the company by the employees who interface with the customers and vendors.

It could also just be the hype that is placed in the PR and marketing literature to attract customers, vendors and talent.

Who sets the tone of the culture? Ultimately it is the CEO as they set the course they see in the vision for the company.

However, in most cases the vision does not include the culture. The culture is just to make maximum profit and shareholder equity without any thought to setting the environment for it.

Culture is the environment, how you will conduct yourself, how you will interact with others, how business will be conducted, and how issues will be resolved.

There is much talk about companies wanting a culture of innovation then they conduct business in a manner that stifles it because they have not set the culture.  Culture can’t be mandated and then forget about it.

If you want an innovative culture then you have to be ready to take risks, to be open to ideas and discuss them and how they benefit the company. The my way or the highway attitude of your management staff will kill an innovative culture faster than the words came out of your mouth.  Also your talent has to have the ability to work in a very collaborative effort. Egos need to be checked at the door  and prima donna’s  need to be eliminated as they will counter your innovative atmosphere. If you as the CEO do not have an innovative attitude do not expect your employees or staff to have one either.

If you are setting the culture then be prepared to talk the talk and walk the walk that you set.

What is a good company culture to set?

Actually it is one based on good ethics and business practices. One that includes open-minded to all ideas, high collaborative spirit, open communications and door, value and respect.

What are the rewards of having the right culture?

High productivity, elimination of waste, high morale, high retention, high attraction to talent, customers seeking you out, high quality, fewer sick days and better equity.

So why are so many companies not going after this type of culture?

I am not sure of the reason other than it means that the staff has to change their ways and they fear it means a reduction of their power or domination. The other fear that I can think of is that they lost the ability to be innovate and change. They haven’t kept abreast of the latest technology and fear they will not be able to discuss or understand what their reports are talking about.

If one wants to study or experience the way a company culture should be look at start-ups. The camaraderie from the CEO to the lowly worker talking about what is needed to make the company successful. The spirit of cooperation and work ethics. The ideas flow and the discussions result in best fit results. Risk are evaluated and taken with back up plans ready to go in case.  This is an ideal culture to work in then it happens. The culture changes when you transition to a “real ” company. Why is that? Is it because the thrill is over and you have to settle in to the same old routine?  Is that mandated somewhere?  Why can’t you keep the start-up culture and still have the “real” business workings?

Wouldn’t that make the atmosphere a better place to work. Where the burden isn’t on one person because they always have others willing to step in and help. Most cultures stifle this spirit of cooperation as it is usually viewed as fraternization and not work.

Why do so many companies write what the culture and mission statement will be in their original business plan and then never follow it or change it to be better? It always seems to get worse from the number of companies that I have dealt with.

So let me ask do you know what your company culture is? Is it really what you think it is? Have you asked the employees what they think the culture is? Do they match?

Bottom line is your company in trouble internally? Is there a cancer festering within the walls of your company keeping it  from maximizing it’s potential?

Employee Engagement

We have heard a lot of talk and discussions about employee engagement, how do we keep them engaged and or how do we engage them.

If you are asking yourself these questions a or are dealing with  this problem then you need to take a careful look at yourself as a leader and your staff.

ARE YOU ENGAGED?

Of course your answer will be that is ludicrous to ask me that of course I am engaged I am running this company along with my staff.

My reply to your statement is well then I guess you don’t need all those employees and your transmission is slipping.

The question that you should really ask is whether anyone was fully engaged to begin with? Was I blind to the fact of this because I was too self absorbed to see it? Did I just assume that everyone was fully engaged after I presented my vision?

This is the biggest flaw of CEO’s the worst assumption that they can make. Thinking everyone understood and bought into at 100% their vision and fail to follow up to see if it is going as planned. They leave it up t their staff who they feel are true blue followers and are on board 100%.  This is a requiem for disaster! Maybe not of biblical proportions, although at times it seems that way, but an interruption built on wasted time effort and monies from disengagement.

When your staff is disengaged then your message is going through a cloudy filter and it is left to each staff members own interpretation of the message. This will cause further conflict among workers in each respective department and create further disengagement of the workers themselves.

If you are not engaged with your employees they will not be able to know you enough to figure out what you are asking of them. You will not know them or the internal workings of your own company enough to know if they have the right tools and you have the right talent to accomplish what you want.

It is not about engagement it is about the disconnect between employees and management. The lack of open communications, understanding, compassion and value that has created the disengaged employee.

You only scratch and sniff the surface and think you know the problem and of course the full blame goes to the employee.

The full blame is from a top down view point. It starts with a board that only cares about equity and nothing else. NOt how to improve the business not how to make their companies more attractive to the riight talent not how to ratian the good talent they have just equity.

This trickles down to the CEO who is given orders to generate maximum equity for the shareholders. This equates to pinching every penny out of a dry rock.

The ones that suffer the most are the employees. Yet you scratch your head and wonder why they not engaged?  IT is called common sense people!

If you want your employees engaged then you have to change your attitude and the attitude of your staff to be one of engagement with the employees. The years of dictator style of management which never truly worked effectively is over.  Employees will do just enough to keep their jobs and the company earning just enough to pay equity.

This is a sad state of affairs because companies could be much stronger and more profitable if they woke up to what is really going on and changed.

So if you are unwilling to change or to realize the effects of your and your staff’s actions then do not expect your employees to become engaged no matter what program you implement.

Leadership by Committee?

I understand the concept of this latest flavor of the year. In this global business world the old hierarchy does not seem to be working.

Has anyone really analyzed why it doesn’t? Is it the gross lack of good leadership that has brought us to this conclusion?

Is it that the younger generations question authority?

If we are to think that today’s business is not run by a committee then it begs the questions of why has there been a senior staff and why have we been paying for this overhead for so many years?

I think one need to look at the organization of a committee. There is one facilitator, let’s call them, that sets the agenda and keeps order in the meetings. There is one who scribes the minutes and generates reports of progress or issues and who is responsibly.

Will this new leadership by committee be any different? Will the facilitator change week to week or month to month? Will it change with each new project?

Who will set the overall direction for the company, the committee or the board? Who will be responsible to see that it stays the course?

Who will choose who is on the committee? What will the talent be?

In all the questions I still see a need for a central leader figure.

I have been in a committee where the mandate was everyone took a turn at heading the committee. Those with leadership qualities had to help those that didn’t. We managed to accomplish allot but it was a very rocky road to start. In the beginning we had managers from all functions of the company on the committee and nothing got done. It was only when they placed their reports on it that things moved.  Oh! Our goal was Zero Defects throughout the company.

I am not condemning the idea totally. I just think that there needs to be more thought put into it down to the most minute details to ensure that all risks and faults have been explored and mediated.

What is required, what types of talent will be needed, how is it organized, how is it run, who sets the agenda, who facilitates it, who speaks for the committee, who selects the talent and who is responsible when things go terribly wrong?

I would like to know your thoughts on this. Is it a good idea or a bad idea?

Republican candidates leaders….Really????

I tried earnestly to watch the republican debate in New Hampshire. It made me ill to my stomach to listen to these guys claim to be leaders and then go into some of the worst behavior for someone who claims to be a leader.  None of these people are fit to lead this country out of the mess we are in.

A leader is open honest genuine and compassionate. I did not see any of the traits after the first question was answered.

A leader has a vision. The closest we got to a vision is Rick Santorum mentioned it but didn’t elaborate.

A leader is humble and considerate of others.

A leader has compassion for the people they lead…all of the people!

A leader wants those they lead to be successful and grow.

I have not heard anything from these gentlemen or seen any actions that would make me consider any of them a leader.

If you disagree provide specifics. It will make for an interesting discussion.

 

 

You say softskills like it is a bad thing!

Why is it in business when you mention softskills it is like you said something taboo.?

Do you check your softskills at the door as you enter the building? Why not try checking your ego!

Softskills is not something that you should turn off when you go to work. Do you see it as a sign of weakness? Well it is not it is a sign that you are as human as those you lead.

Do you realize that you use a number of softskills daily when you interface with your friends and family? That some of the skills are mentioned constantly when they talk about the skills leaders should have.

Do you feel conflicted when you are at work that you are not comfortable with some of the things you have to do? This is because you are going against your character your own human nature. You know better but for some reason you think that you are not allowed to be human. That you need to be a stern non-caring boss.

Do you realize how much better your company could be if you and your staff started initiating softskills.

You can have compassion without being soft. You can have a deeper understanding of those that work for you.

You can better communicate with them.

They will be more willing to help you in times of crisis.

They will be more productive if they feel you value, respect and trust them.

Get out of the office and go learn who you have working for you. They will be apprehensive at first but once you show them you are genuine and are making a real effort they will open up to you.

This will also allow you to learn what the people need from you to make their job better and more productive.

The other thing that softskills will bring is higher employee retention and better talent. Retention cuts the overhead from the constant hiring practice and attracting talent provides better products and faster to market times as well as higher productivity.

So implementing softskills is not a waste of time it is a better use of your time. It will make your efforts to motivate your people much easier in the future.

This should have been the past but you have the opportunity know to make it the present and the future for you and your company. It should be just as important as your vision and your business plan.

When you implement softskills you will also feel less conflicted more relaxed and have better concentration on the real issues for your people and your company.

Leadership is a verb not a noun!

I have said this in many posts before but I feel the need to bring it to the top of the subject list.

Leadership as a noun is archaic it still has the aspects of power and subjugating those who work for you.
This is a destructive force that has been perpetuated by most leaders of companies. This is most likely because they have never been properly trained in the art of leadership.

You can see that this is a pandemic by the disparity between CEO pay and workers pay, the noun is in full swing.

It has kept companies from achieving full potential for far too long. So it is time to remove leadership as a noun.

It is time to embrace leadership as a verb.

Leadership is not just about title and power. It is an every changing on going action that very few fully understand. It is not an easy action to take but those who do have rewards in spades.

Leadership as a verb is not a 9 – 5 position, it is a 24/7/365, it is a constant and you are always under the scrutiny of others especially those you lead.

A leader is not arrogant or all knowing. They are human just like everyone else. Remember we worked our way to the position.

We have to know our people and how to make each and everyone successful. The more we make them successful the better the company becomes and the better the company becomes the stronger it is and the more attractive it is to talent and customers.

If you happen to stumble now and then, admit it and move on. Find the solution and if you need help do not be afraid to ask.

Leaders  take the time to talk to their employees to get the pulse of the company and to maintain a relationship with them. Being human is a large part of being a leader. So avoid the pedestal and stay grounded if you want to be that great leader.

Great leadership is about knowing your people, their capabilities, knowing how hard to push and when to  push and more important when to back off. What do I mean by that statement? There are times in business when you are forced to kick it up a notch. If you have been the leader you should be then when you tell your people what is going on and what it will take to get through it they will be more open and willing to get behind you and make it happen. If you haven’t been then they will fight you and sabotage your efforts.

The other part of that is to roll up your sleeves and get in there right next to them. You wouldn’t believe what that can do for morale. It shows that you care and that you are not one of those work hard I am going home to relax type of leaders.

When I asked my people to work overtime I would always help them as I knew they wanted to be home as much as I did. I would finish my work for the day then roll up my sleeves and work right next to them. This gained me respect from my people. My team was great at handling crisis as they worked as a team and all they wanted from me was direction and get out of the way. But I was always welcomes when I showed up with my sleeves rolled up. Isn’t this how you want your company to function?

Leaders have to be ever vigilant against the staff buffer. This is where your staff feels they need to protect you against the mundane problems of the company. Where they will tell you that things are great while a crisis is in full swing.  The other reason for the buffer is that the vision you had is not the vision that is being carried out. This is the reason that you have to be a presence in your own company and I mean frequently. This is the reason you need to ask from every employee (not all at once) how am I doing and do you need anything to help you become better. There is nothing worse than a CEO being asked questions about the actions in his company that they had no idea was even happening.  This is what John Corzine the head of MF Global would have us believe. I for one do not believe that Mr. Corzine had no clue but it is possible. It could be Mr. Corzine had no idea but when he found out chose to over look it as it was profitable at the time and could claim plausible deniability. This is poor leadership but it is rampant today.

There are many characteristics and skills associated with being a good leader. I agree that most of these are needed in some combination. I also believe that for skills it is a constant process of sharpening and honing your skills to keep up with an ever changing world. Your character traits are for the most part fixed. I am not saying that they can not be changed I am just saying that you cannot be someone you are not overnight or in 12 weeks. People are good at telling if you are genuine or a phony. They will work for a genuine leader they will collect a check if you are a phony.

I do not think I need to list those here as so many books articles and blogs cover that subject.

I am just trying to bring forth the realization that leadership is better served as a verb and not a noun. That like any process it requires constant and continuous improvement.  That if you want to be a great leader then start learning how to be the the verb not the noun.

I want to make 2012 the year of Leadership as the Verb.

If you are really interested in this subject leave a comment with your email and I will send you my book in progress. You will need Acrobat Reader.

 

 

When a joke has too much truth

Here is the joke:

Full of Hot Air Balloon
A guy in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a man below. He descended a bit more and shouted, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him half an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

The man below replied, “You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet about the ground. You are between 42 and 44 degrees north latitude and between 83 and 85 degrees west longitude.”

“You must be an engineer,” said the balloonist.

“I am,” replied the man, “but how did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost.”

The man below responded, “You must be a manager.”

“I am,” replied the balloonist, “how did you know?”

“Well,” said the man, “you don’t know where you are or where you are going. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are exactly in the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s my fault.”

Now if you think about the truth that lies within this joke the joke becomes a sad state of affairs.
There seems to be too many managers who do not have a clear vision of where they are supposed to be going and are ill prepared to get there but the forge forward anyway.

The line that really rings true is the one that states,”You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and expect me to solve the problem”. Far too often a manager will make a promise to another manager or a senior manager with no clue how they will be able to keep it. So they dump it on their staff and apply pressure on them to formulate a solution to save their butts.

If we look a little more in depth into the joke we see that the manager is asking his staff where they are and how do I get to the final destination. This is a case of the manager not being engaged but expects his staff to be engaged. This is another major problem in business today. Where the management expects the employees to be engaged when their focus is on one item the bottom line with no idea how to improve it.
If management will not engage with the employees then it is insane to expect them to engage in the company business.

Now lets take this joke a little farther and say the friend is actually a customer. He promised to meet with the customer but is late. He has made no effort to contact the customer which shows they do not value the customer. Again he is expecting his staff to save the day by allowing him to bring the customer an answer although it is late and they have no idea of it as they have been left out of the loop.
That results in customer lost and staff was worked hard and the company has spent many dollars for something that will sit on a shelf until they can find another customer or they will sell it to the original customer at a loss to make up for poor management.

So let me ask you, How many Hot air balloons do have have floating along lost in your company? It isn’t that funny is it.

Leadership debriefing

Here is a subject that I have never heard mentioned or seen practiced except in Public Safety and my underwater recovery team.

Even in business we go through some very stressful and traumatic experiences. I worked for one company where the head of HR committed suicide in his office. It wasn’t talked about much and he was well liked by all in the company.

So when the push is on to get the product out the door or the customer needs the service now or a repair made like yesterday we handle the crisis and then just move on.

Does anyone realize that these stressful events are taken a toll on the people involved. They are on an emotional roller coaster and since their is no debriefing they feel alone to handle emotions they don’t understand and so think they are alone in having them.

Some people handle this stress better than others. It is those that don’t that you need to help or you may end up with an employee with PTSD.

This will effect their ability to keep fighting these events in an efficient manner. In most cases these people are used to move from one fire fight to the next with no time to defuse.

This effects their health their ability to think their energy level. These are some of the symptoms to get your attention that this person needs help. These are often over looked and eventually you fire the person for performance issues.

That would be poor leadership on many levels.

When you, your team or group of employees are placed in a high stress situation afterwards call a meeting to talk about the emotions that you went through. You do not need to hire a psychiatrist because the best people to understand the emotions are the ones that went through it.

On my underwater recovery unit we used veteran divers to talk to the divers that found a drowning victim. So that they can all deal with the gamut of emotions we go through.

So why can’t the same be done in business? It can unite a team in a way no other method can. Everyone will be watching out for the others and helping them when they seem to be getting frazzled. It will help your people to be able to stay focused in future crisis as they know they are not alone in these emotions.

It can make your company a much stronger one and provide the ability to handle any crisis quickly and efficiently so you can get back to business as normal.

In this fast pace world of business this isn’t one of those niceties that you over look this should be made an integral part of your business practices.

The future of your global ability depends on the pace that your company can endure. Debriefing will be a powerful tool in getting your company in shape for the future onslaught.

Think about it! This is not a sign of weakness but a way of showing caring for yourself and your fellow employees. Call it humility if you wish just don’t overlook this.

I would be interested in hearing what other think.