Focus on Essential Business Performance and Roll with the Rest

It is amazing to see so many executives focused on the non-essential aspects of the business.  Even through the downturn I have observed a resistance to dealing with the real issues. Too many executives are focused on the non-core issues. Others have fallen into the trap of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

I am sure that part of this came out of the effort to gain a bit more control in a very unstable world and volatile market.  Getting your hands around some minor issues must have provided a level of satisfaction.  But of course this focus is counterfeit

And this trend did not stop at corporate initiatives but spilled over into employee leadership.  Too many executives started to focus on peripheral behavior of employees. Again, it was tempting to become nitpicky instead of bringing a sense of calm and control.  When it comes to your reports and employees, figure out what is non-negotiable (specific performance goals and behavioral expectations) and roll with the other stuff.  Be hard on results not on people or you will lose them.

Increase Employee Motivation by Seeing Them as Brilliant and Good

These have been negative times for many businesses, And it is easy to let this negativity spread. But leaders are expected to set the right tone and be positive, especially through tough times.  This is an essential aspect of what it means to be a leader.  Be careful not to let your anxiety spill over into how you view your employees.

The temptation here is to see your employees as things, cogs in the machine to be manipulated to meet the business goals.  Do this and you will force them to abandon you.  If you see them this way they will sense this both at the conscious and subconscious levels.  A significant part of getting the best out of your employees is to see them as brilliant.  Employees have this way of stepping up to meet your expectations.  If you see them as a pain or as a nuisance far less important than everything else there will be a self-fulfilling prophesy in play.  But if you see them as great and as part of the solution there is a much better chance that they will live up to that expectation.

Get Excited about your Business Strategy and the Future

If you as a leader are not excited about the future how will anybody else be excited? Do not fall into the trap of running your business as an academic exercise.  If  only it were as easy as the business simulations that you participated in at business school. Your excitement and hope for the future will help get the positive energy flowing again and will supply the fuel for your employees to push through tough times.

Your business is not a mechanized contraption. It  is made up of people, people who can bring the “x-factor” to overcome obstacles and innovate your organization to new success.  Today, visible leadership is as important as ever.  And please do not think enthusiasm is just about being a cheerleader.  You should express your optimism in your own style. It’s not about faking it; it’s about finding your authentic expression of optimism and enthusiasm.

Focus on the core, get the best out of your people by expecting the best, and get the whole organization excited about the future by being excited yourself.

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Last week I was leading a retreat for group of high-potential middle managers assembled with the task to improve their particular operations.  It was to be an exciting and forward looking day.  Their director came in at the beginning and provided good direction and a positive hope for the future.  It was not as well received as she had hoped. And so began my facilitation of the group.

This group of managers was tired, frustrated, and out of synch.  It was weird to see this as I new this group pretty well and knew that they are truly talented, intelligent and strong. The culprit here of course has been living through the past years of the down economy.  I affectionately call it the Grind. Forecasts have been week, people have taken pay cuts, more work is being piled on them, and there seems to be very little light at the end of the tunnel. I understand this. And even though people know that this is what happens in a downturn, that many others have lost their jobs, and that the grass is not necessarily greener somewhere else (as most companies today are in this situation) they are angry and looking for someone to blame.

Ah the moment of truth for a leader right?  Tough situation, temptation to blame someone else and a seemingly lack of hope, sure sounds like it.

So before we began any type of action planning we dealt with the emotional and psychological forces present.  Take this as a lesson that it is feeble to try to action plan when emotions are high whether they are being expressed explicitly or beneath the surface.   These particular emotions were being manifested as self-censoring, choosing the safe solution, low energy and disengagement to name a few. We processed “what was up” and acknowledge the real frustration and concern.  In plain and unfanciful terms things had ‘sucked’ for a while.  The group worked through it and finally got to a place to come to grip with what they had to do and laugh at the absurdity of the rest.

In time, we did all that needed to be done in terms of brainstorming, assessing and creating the project plans for the chosen initiatives.  It was all in their hands and they new they had a job to do.  It truly was inspiring.  In the end they were cheering each other on and coming up with the greatest of ideas to impact the business for the best.

To wrap it up it was obvious what needed to be said.

“Go be great!  Don’t ask for permission, don’t wait for someone to tell you to be great, and certainly don’t wait for the perfect time to be great. First, you are asked to be great just by being here, if someone has to ask you to be great you probably are way behind to race, and there will never be a better time to be great than right now.  And if the company comes down on you for being great, you probably do not want to work here anyway.  But guess what, they hired you to be great so go do it.”

Bring great and bold is not about being reckless but about making a significant contribution. And when you are great you give people the nudge they need to do the same.  Continue to find you leadership voice and just be great.

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Lately, I have noticed a new trend among a good number of managers and this trend is not good.  What is interesting about this is that there is a veiled rational behind it.  The trend is managers saying when dealing with a business challenge that is starting to become too overwhelming or to challenging to say, “It is what it is.”

Are you serious?  Is this your analysis and subsequent response to the situation?

Notwithstanding that when you analyze the situation you have to assess the realities and what aspects you can actually have an impact.  That is to say that you know and work in what Stephen R. Covey called your ‘Circle of Influence’ as opposed to worrying about something that you have no control over (Circle of Concern.)  And this is an integral part of the critical thinking process.  Focus on what you can change and let go of the things that you cannot change.  But I assure you there is always something that can be done.

However, the “It is what it is” approach often feels defeatist and comes more out of a place of “I am sure there is a solution but either I have not yet figured it out yet, the solution is too difficult or I am just too tired to really care.”  Yes, analyze the circumstance and be honest and accurate about it.  But great leaders bring energy and intelligence to every challenge that comes their way.  When a leaders goes the “It is what it is approach” it comes off weak to the boss and peers and demotivating to the direct reports in the short and long terms.

So, avoid this phrase at all costs.  It is weak, disempowered and wreaks of M-TV pop culture.  Show up big and make a difference everyday!

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Attraction and Selection

Two important things to remember: 1- Take the time to clarify the role that you are trying to fill. Rarely is the official HR job description adequate. Really get excruciatingly clear on what is needed in terms of skill, experience, leadership capacity and cultural fit.

2- Do not hire just to fill a position. One bad hire will give you headaches and problems for a long time.

Performance Management

If you know me you know I have strong opinions on Performance Management being done well (as so few companies do it well.) And every few years someone writes a book on eliminating the Performance Management process. But if you read these books deeply, they are really saying do Performance Management right. Three things to keep in mind for PM;

1-It is not something you do in addition to your job, getting people to perform if you are a manager is your job.

2- The dialogue should drive the process not the paperwork. And 3- Strive for no surprises for the employee at the year-end evaluation. Give solid honest feedback throughout the year.

Individual Development

Real simple here, make sure your reports have a clear and robust personalized development plan. If they do not have one in place, it communicates that you are not interested in their well being and you will disenfranchise them.

Rewards and Recognition

When it comes to rewards and recognition beyond financial compensation one size does not fit all. Take the time to learn what is important to your reports collectively and individually. Look for clues in their workspace and listen for clues during your conversations with them. In fact, when appropriate ask them to provide input into the R&R planning. Just making the effort communicates that you are looking out for their best interest.

Making sure that you are leveraging the Talent Lifecycle process is the first step in becoming a Talent Magnet. Intermediate thoughts forthcoming…

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But there was tension mounting and the CEO was getting impatient with the VP.  Even when I had discussions with him he seemed to be losing faith with this person.  I was a bit perplexed.  When speaking with the CEO I found that he couldn’t quite articulate his frustrations.

But taking a deeper look into the situation it became obvious as to what was at the heart of the matter.  The VP, in an effort to support and inform the CEO, was actually bringing more stress and work to him.  You see, she kept on identifying challenges and opportunities in the organization, that if embraced would have positive significant impact on the company.  It was her intention to include the CEO in the new revelations and possibilities.  She wanted to ensure that he was informed so she came to him with these areas of improvement or with great ideas that could really help the performance of the company.  Overall she was showing deference to his role by bringing this first to his attention without making any decisions without him.

But here was the problem. The CEO, just like any other manager in work place today, carries the weigh of the world on their shoulders.  (CEO’s in some ways feel it more as the success of the company ultimately lies with them.) Leaders are juggling many balls and just like this VP, probably does not have enough time during the day to do everything that needs to be done is the best manner possible.  So when the VP was coming to the CEO with these great ideas, the CEO probably did not hear “I have identified an item that if we take it on will produce great benefits but I did not want to make a move without your insights and permission.”  Most likely the CEO heard, “Here, I have another problem for you to solve and add to you 70 juggling balls.”

You have probably worked with a manager that has told you to “Come to me with solutions not just problems.”  And I do think that this is a good start.  It doesn’t take that much talent to point out problems but it does take talent to generate solutions.   But of course you have to balance this approach with the reality that you should not make significant decisions without your manager’s blessing, in this case it was the CEO’s blessing.   The correct method then is more thoughtful than an either-or approach.    You probably should not be deciding willy-nilly on things nor should you be afraid to make any moves without your manager’s approval.  If that was the case your manager probably would not need you in that position.

So you must first then determine ahead of time what decisions you will make unilaterally and what decisions you will make in concert with your manager. Generally, decisions that impact a large scope of the business will probably need to be discussed with your boss.  And in regards to this situation we are speaking about where you find an opportunity or identify a barrier to success, it most likely requires a discussion with your manager.  But it is how you bring the issue to your manager that matters. I would recommend you bring it to him or her well framed, thought through, with a variety of solutions with the one you recommend and why you came to this conclusion.  Done well, you are not bringing another problem to be solved but rather you are bringing a solution to the manager that solves a problem for them.  Do you see how valuable of a resource you become if you approach the situation like this?  In the example today the VP became a solutions provider and problem solver to the CEO by bringing easy to grasp analysis and recommendations for his review. Soon again she became a well trusted resource and influential leader in the organization.

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Because of this, a watch out thought that I share with many executives is the 2-20-200 Rule.  Being aware of this can help to avoid issues down the road.  What is this 2-20-200 Rule you ask?  Well, it speaks to the intensity and the level of the executive when deciding on and delegating projects.  It goes something like this…executive says to their direct report to do something and says it in such a way that it sounds like this something should take no more than 2 hours to complete.  Which by the way is more oft that not, not accurate.  The direct report realizes that this task will take more than 2 hours, probably 20 hours and rapidly shifts the work with rationalized intentions to their direct reports who readily realize that the task will take up to 200 hours to complete.  Sound familiar?  Probably more familiar when you were the person who had to spend 200 hours on completing the task.

The lesson here for executives is to take an extra moment and figure out how much time the task will actually take.  And if you do not know get some feedback from someone who does know.   Even if this 2-20-200 scenario does not happen too often to you it is best to try to eliminate this storyline for your world as minimally it will cause confusion, missed timelines, anger and resentment.  Just think it through. Still have high expectations of your people but stay grounded in reality.

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As an executive coach, I always find that my coaching clients generally always have good intentions, often very admirable intentions.  But often those intentions and subsequent actions are not fully thought out and the effect has a negative impact on the business.  When intent does not match impact there is an issue brewing.  And this situation creates a blindside for the leader as they are judging the situation through the lens of their intent as opposed to the impact their behavior is having on the business. This can happen in many ways. I have seen a sales manager institute a new incentive program hoping to inspire and motivate when in actuality the impact is one that sets up an overly competitive and destructive environment between sales staff.  Once I observed a manager so zealous to mentor and coach her reports that she started to usurp their time so much they couldn’t get their work done.  In her mind she was being a great and caring manager but the impact felt was the opposite.

There are hundreds of examples that I could share with you that I have witnessed myself but the key here is not only to check your intent and make sure that it has positive backing but to think through how that intent will be actualized.  Will your behavior have the intended consequences?  It is critical to think this through.  This requires both strong self-awareness and an acute awareness of your work environment.  Remember the old saying that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

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