Teams and Relationships - Which Are You Mismanaging?

One of our earlier blog posts, 5 Crucial Factors of a Highly Successful Team, has garnered quite a few responses and inquiries. Quite a few of these had to do with the issue of team cohesiveness and conflict. One fellow even went so far as to suggest that his boss deserved the title of 'Mismanager'.

Discontent with managers and team dynamics is nothing new. Over the years, we have seen a number of comments such as these on 360 Feedback reports:

"My manager says he has an open door policy, but he never listens when there is an issue to discuss, so nobody approaches him."

"Our leader's style is so abrasive, no one is comfortable sharing thoughts or ideas in meetings with her there."

"We have a few team members who are just way too quiet - you never know what they're thinking, they just don't share."

More often than not, these comments are the result of differences in, and a lack of awareness of, communication and work styles. To illustrate, we often ask people the following three questions during workshops:

1) In your career, can you recall a time when you worked for someone who 'mismanaged' you?
2) Would you agree that any mismanagement you experienced undermined your productivity potential?
3) Do you think that this mismanagement was intentional - that you were hired, and then deliberately mismanaged?

The answers to these three questions are pretty universally yes, yes, and no. So why then does mismanagement occur so regularly, if it is not intentional? Often the biggest factor is the lack of awareness of the impact of behavioral styles. In fact, this unintentional "relational mismanagement" costs organizations, in the form of decreased productivity and performance, hampering their pursuit of organizational goals.

In his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni lists the 5 biggest team challenges as: Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Lack of Commitment, Avoidance of Accountability, and Inattention to results.

The achievement of results requires the other four elements as foundational platforms on which to build.

Simple stylistic differences can create implicit or explicit unproductive conflict and reduced trust. In one case, we observed an extraverted team member (let's call him 'Bill') not trusting a more introverted colleague. After a team offsite focused on behavioural team communication, Bill had an "a-ha" moment. He realized that his style of fast-talking, off the top of his head communication didn't work for some of his more introverted colleagues. He then started to ask questions in emails, or gave them time to answer questions when speaking, allowing them to fully think through their responses.

As a manager, a big part of your success in engaging your team will depend upon how well you understand and coach to the behavioral styles to get results. If you want to enhance team communications and effectiveness, consider these action items:

1) Pick up a copy of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni. It's a quick and easy read that will get you thinking about your team.

2) Consider bringing in an outside facilitator to help you look at team communication styles. There are many behavioural-type psychometric systems out there. Some may be more validated than others. Find out what works for you in enhancing team communications.

3) As a take-away from your off-site, make sure that you have written down the top 3 Communication Do's and Don'ts from your colleagues' behavioral profiles - so you'll remember to communicate with them in the most effective way. This can be a great team off-site exercise that pays big dividends back in the work environment, when put into practice. Before meetings, pull out your Do's and Don'ts, keep them in mind, and you'll find the meeting goes much more smoothly.

As a team and as an individual, you can achieve much more through others when you engage using their preferred communication style. This is also important for sales professionals in managing customer relationships.

In the spirit of Growth,



Note from Client Services: If you're interested in a Team Session or Offsite, here's one that will contribute value to your team while contributing funds to cancer research. Click here to learn more.

Organizational Challenge: 3 Points on Managing through Transition

Don't Just Manage Change - Coach through Transition

 I used to enjoy speaking with my neighbor, Richard Harrington, as he shared his life experiences as an award-winning photo-journalist. He was equally mesmerized by my kids and their comfort with technology at such an early age. When Richard passed away, he was still mentally sharp at the age of 94 and had seen a lot of change in the world.

We've seen more change in the last decade than our grandparents saw in their lifetimes. Here's the thing, though: The world is changing, technology is changing, customer consumption habits are changing, and organizations are changing - but people are not. It's because of this that in the drive for change, stress runs so high. Whether we're looking at the response to austerity measures in Europe or labor relations in North America, the need to change is creating challenging levels of tension. There's no question that it's easier to plan change than to manage people during its implementation. Change is necessary in a changing world, but if mismanaged, the result can be a serious decline in productivity.

Whether you look at the rise and decline of Blockbuster Video or the current challenges of RIM, the lesson is clear: Sustainable growth requires constant innovation and change. Here are a few things that leaders need to watch for while managing through the process...

3 Things Managers (Change Leaders) Need to Keep in Mind

1) People don't change - they transition. That's why managers at all levels need to coach people through it, vs. managing them to do it. When people experience change in the form of job/organizational change, job loss, grieving the loss of a loved one, or going through a divorce, they will inevitably go through stages of transition until they arrive at a new perspective and acceptance of the new reality. Change strategist Dr. William Bridges documents that transition is a 3-phase psychological process that people go through.

1. Ending - Letting go of their old perspective
2. Neutral Phase - a sort of "no man's land" in between the old reality, and what the future holds
3. New Beginning - Starting over again with new passion, vision, and sense of purpose. This essentially is a new identity.

2) Different Strokes... Not only is change a process of transition with stages, but it is a process that will be approached differently by different people. In a team where there are a range of behavioral styles, you will encounter a range of approaches. Managers need to understand the behavioral needs of their Direct Reports, in order to tailor their coaching styles through transition.

3) Nurture the Culture. Continuous change requires continuous learning. Organizations need to embed a coaching culture that equips managers with the capacity to coach staff to evolve through comfort zones with confidence (rather than fear), practice continuous learning, and ultimately to embrace the new ideas and innovation to serve changing client needs. The challenge comes in balancing the urgency of change (Step 1 of Creating Change in Harvard Professor John Kotter's 8 step process) with the strategic coaching of people in transition, to result in effective organizational transformation.

Whether it be the Yellow Pages brand navigating to a new digital value proposition, or a media content provider evolving from DVD to a download culture, what is certain is that organizations that end up succeeding will be those that succeed in aligning change with a culture of coaching the transformation of their people. After all, Organizations don't innovate or get results - people do.

In the Spirit of Growth,

Wanted: Leaders Who Coach Well in Crisis

Leaders can have biggest emotional impact on employees

As the global economy continues to adapt, it creates a challenge for organizations to keep staff focussed and productive. Announcments such as "Sony lays off 10,000" and "Europe Job Loss Accelerates" can be distracting, if not worrying, which can undermine performance.

What should managers do amidst these concerns? This piece, Coaching Through Crisis (previously published in HR Reporter), discusses the importance of coaching for clarity and performance...
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Never before has it been so important for managers at all levels to really engage in coaching their staff. With the economic crisis and its continuing impact on organizations, many organizations are trimming costs, including head count. The recent suicides of formerly successful financial players, such as German billionaire Adolph Merkle, serve to demonstrate the severity of concern in this economy.


It is often said that worry about a potentially adverse outcome is worse than the outcome itself. Global studies are documenting the increase of stress levels on the job. A recent UK study in collaboration with staffing firm Robert Half revealed that 45% of respondents suffered from work-related stress. Respondents also highlighted several causes including unachievable targets (33%), poor management (38%), and poor work/life balance (41%).

The questions we need to be asking now are, “what impact is this having on productivity” and, “what can managers and organizations do to coach through the impact?”

What managers must understand

To be better coaches through these times, there are a few things that managers must understand.

First, emotions are contagious, as documented by Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence.  Since people watch managers, it is indeed the “boss” who has the biggest emotional impact. Does he or she appear stressed, worried, and fearful, or energized, relaxed and confident in this economic climate? One observation often made of Barrack Obama throughout his campaign was that he appeared calm and confident in the face of opposition, and that he inspired these emotions in the electorate.

Secondly, managers must recognize how important it is for them to Coach. Before expanding on this, I’ll offer a definition of Coaching, since it often means different things to different people. Think of “coach” as it is used in the term “stage coach”. This early form of horse-drawn transportation picked people up and transported them to their desired destination. Likewise coaching, as a strategic questioning-based dialogue, assists people in getting from where they are to where they want or need to be in terms of goals and accomplishment.

5 Ways to coach effectively

So what can be done to coach staff through these challenging times? Here are 5 things that managers can do to coach more effectively: Click through to read the remainder of the article, or download the pdf. 

Planes, Change, and Coaching Culture

I learned a lesson on this particular airport departure. With schedules changing on the fly (no pun intended), I often end up arriving just early enough to catch the flight, without spending much time in the airport lounge. On one occasion, when I was able to wrap up meetings early, I arrived at the San Antonio airport well in advance to await my flight. As I waited, I immersed myself in emails and reading material, having made myself comfortable with a coffee. When boarding time arrived I went to the counter, only to discover that the gate had been changed as I was reading. I ended up running to the new gate in order to catch my flight.

Let's face it - the heightened velocity of change is here to stay. Today, there are almost as many people using the internet as there were people on earth during the great depression, less than a century ago. How does this change affect organizations and individuals?

Now more than ever, organizations need to lead people in a manner that 1) Engages them to perform at high levels to serve a demanding public, and 2) Fosters superior levels of innovation and adaptability. The boss-management style of the past is best left in the past. A coaching culture that engages superior performance and innovation will increasingly become a competitive advantage.

In a number of studies, an organizational coaching culture has been shown to enhance employee performance and results. In one recent study, research showed the relationship between internal coaching, employees, talent management and business. It found that there were 3 main levers to focus on: Senior Leaders, Managers, and Human Resources.

The study went on to show that Senior Leaders were crucial in setting the example in a culture of coaching. The Bersin research indicated that organizations where senior leaders coach frequently have 21% better business results than those who didn't. It looked at various companies that were strong in this area, including Archer Daniels, Grant Thornton, and Scotiabank.

As we work on the "change plane", be aware that altitudes, speeds and destinations will change. As well, individual team members will approach it differently, and prefer different seat assignments. Some may want to be part of the pilot team, while others are more comfortable applying their talents in other parts of the plane. The job of leadership is to coach ALL team members in a manner (different for each) that engages them to sustain high performance through continuous change. In a sense, no matter what organization we're in, with today's pace of change, we are often building (or re-building) the plane while flying it.



To learn more about the importance of Coaching, download our Executive Overview on Coaching.

5 Crucial Factors of a Highly Successful Team

Let me tell you a little about a team I observed recently.

This team was formed only 10 years ago, in 2002, and they have since worked with any number of major players in the entertainment space, including U2, Celine Dion, Robert Plant, Bebe Winans, Aretha Franklin and Amy Winehouse. Their success as a group has been remarkable. They have appeared on Jay Leno, The Today Show, Conan O'Brien and Oprah. They have performed for royalty, and for the likes of Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Michael Jackson.

I had the opportunity to see this team in action recently, and would recommend them not only as an evening of incredible entertainment, but also as a model for several crucial features of a successful team. Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend a performance by The Soweto Gospel Choir. Now I understand why this Grammy Award winning team has earned so many accolades!

5 Crucial Success Factors

1) United Team Mission

The Soweto Gospel Choir was founded by the late David Mulovhedzi in 2002. The Mulovhedzi family, under David's leadership, sought to unite talented singers and dancers who could bring the joy of African Gospel music to others. In doing so, they also wanted to help local youth and families within their own community. To this end, they also founded and continue to support an AIDS orphans' foundation, Nkosi’s Haven Vukani. At the end of the day, people are inspired by a purpose or mission. Whether it be an organization or a department, your team must have a guiding mission - what's yours?

2) Engaged Team Members

Have you ever walked into a retail store and been put off by the seemingly-uninterested staff? I often find myself wondering why and how these individuals were hired. When the Soweto Gospel Choir performs, audiences can see the intensity and passion that each team member brings to the role. Not only are they each attracted to the mission of the team, but they must also audition their talents in order to earn a spot in the choir. Likewise, an effective team at any organization is made up of individuals who are screened (internally or externally) for not only their talents, but also their cultural fit with the existing team. Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh is known for hiring for cultural fit, and you should too. The result is superior engagement. Any team that hires someone who just wants a "job" will miss the mark.

3) Relentless Pursuit of Improvement

Today, every organization and team must continue to enhance performance and productivity in their current roles, but also innovate for future growth. The Soweto Gospel Choir members' impressive perfection of execution in vocal and dance skill is achieved through rigorous rehearsal and constant growth. Their evolving global success has seen their repertoire expand from traditional African gospel to include a broader selection of pieces. They closed the recent show with an inspiring rendition of the American Gospel classic, "Oh Happy Day".

4) Transference of Energy/Passion to the Audience

Do you find it refreshing to work with - or buy from - people who have a passion for what they do? Brian Tracy says that "effective sales is the transference of enthusiasm". When a team is made up of individuals who perform at their best with intense passion, other departments (internal and external) take pleasure in supporting them and being a part of it. And, of course, customers are moved to "participate" as well.

5) Humility of Service

So much energy is wasted and non-productive conflict produced by team members' egos. In 1985, when Bob Geldof initiated the "Band Aid" production in support of famine relief, he hung a sign at the entrance where the many big-name pop stars of the day were arriving to participate that said, "Leave your ego at the door". At the end of the Soweto Gospel Choir's show, the energetic conductor (Shimmy Jiyane) asked the audience if they wanted "one more", and then, "how about two more?" After the show, he could be seen along with other members of the choir in the lobby, mingling and posing for countless pictures with members of the audience. No inflated egos were on display there - despite their success, they remain engaged and clearly focussed on their mission together as a group. 

Any team that strives to harness these 5 related factors can surely achieve great things in harmony!

 

Effective Sales Leaders COACH for Engagement vs. BOSS for Compliance

Leading Change...

Recently, I checked into a very busy hotel that was hosting a large conference (or two). During my stay I overheard a few conversations that reminded me of the importance of communications in work teams, especially from managers.

While waiting for the elevator, I overheard some folks (wearing their conference lanyards) talking about some recent changes to their sales targets. I assumed they were account executives, responsible for solutions sales to large accounts. They were unanimous in agreeing that their new sales targets were ridiculous, if not impossible. As we got on the elevator, oblivious to my presence, one said, "The market is down 20%, and they expect 12 to 15% volume increases? There goes my bonus!" I wondered if their managers were aware of their reactions. They had their backs up.

In Canada recently, two competing airlines had two very different experiences with their pilots. One, Air Canada, is intending to launch a low-cost carrier. The response by the pilots has been a threatened job action. The other, WestJet, is proceeding to launch a new regional airline, only after asking for and receiving the blessing of their pilots' association. Given the differing outcomes, it looks like Sales leaders (and other departments) could learn from the example of the WestJet approach.

In the case of the sales team with higher quotas, it is often not the quota itself but rather how managers communicate the information that is the problem. The "Do To" Boss who tells the team that they must comply with the new mandate, without soliciting any reactions or input, taps into what is referred to as the "external locus of control". The "Do With" Coach-Leader, by contrast, engages his or her team with dialogue which results in a higher "internal locus of control". Studies reveal that in the latter case, there is a greater feeling of empowerment and focus on how to succeed. Simply put, if one wishes to engage others in a project or a mission, it is crucial to pay attention to the way it is communicated.

The "Do To" Boss says, "These are the new quotas we have been given, and you MUST achieve them - period!"

The "Do With" Coach-Leader asks, "We have a big challenges on our hands with the new quotas. I believe you are amongst the top sales teams in the industry, and we will prove it. So - what do we need to do differently than the competition in order to achieve these new targets?"

The Coach-Leader engages their team to be part of the change process, as opposed to forcing change, which often builds resistance and an attitude of distrust. There is a quote that says, "A person convinced against their will, is of the same opinion still."

Remember that in the Mission Impossible show and series, agents' internal locus of control is always engaged with the introduction to their assignments: "Your mission, should you choose to accept it..."

When leading or communicating with others, you will engage them more with the deployment of strategic questioning to stimulate their creative thoughts on how they will achieve something, vs. simply telling them that they must achieve it.



 P.S. If you are interested in learning more, download our complimentary Executive Overview on Coaching.

The Retirement Message

"This may come as a big shock to you but I have decided to retire, and frankly, I'm really excited about it."

"Let me explain. Last year was a disastrous year with many of our global clients, and it impacted us in virtually all product areas. The way we used to be able to produce results for existing customers, and sell to new prospects, has changed forever. What worked even 5 years ago isn't working as well now."

This was the first line of the “Update” email the 45-year-old CEO sent out to his management team. Some were so shocked by the news that they called him immediately and left voicemails, before reading the rest of his email. It went on to say…

"And so, we're faced with the challenge, "What do we do now?" Well, it's not rocket science folks, it was time I retired - and so I am choosing to retire some old business habits and structures that no longer appear useful. I've also retired a few previously held business assumptions, and some assumptions about the value propositions our customers want from us. The rapidly changing world will challenge us all to retire each year, and requires us to be agile as we initiate new ways of doing things, retiring the old habits of previous economies.

I may be retiring some past assumptions, but I am excited about our continued learning, and am creatively planning more future change with you as we continue to grow the company."

He went on to articulate major changes he had recently made, as well as future changes he was planning (personal leadership areas as well, i.e. regaining his fitness routine, travel schedule, etc.) He ended the email to his team by asking them to come to their next meeting prepared with a list of practices or assumptions/beliefs each needs to "retire". His intention was to have a discussion on how we can create greater stakeholder value through "retirement", and he wanted this attitude to permeate the entire organization.

The achievement of growth in rapidly changing times requires that we on occasion hit the pause button (and turn off the smart phone distractions) to reflect on where we have been, where we are going, and what we need to do – but also what we need to "retire" or stop doing. This is commonly known as "Creative Abandonment".

Dr. Rick Warren (a pastor and best-selling author of A Purpose Driven Life) regularly met and conferred with management thought leader Peter Drucker for over a decade prior to his passing. In a Forbes article, Drucker spoke to the issue of ‘creative abandonment’ as it was addressed in one of their meetings:

“A critical question for leaders is, "When do you stop pouring resources into things that have achieved their purpose?" The most dangerous traps for a leader are those near-successes where everybody says that if you just give it another big push it will go over the top. One tries it once. One tries it twice. One tries it a third time. But, by then it should be obvious this will be very hard to do. So, I always advise my friend Rick Warren, "Don't tell me what you're doing, Rick. Tell me what you stopped doing."

No matter what you do or what your role is, answering this question honestly will help to enhance your personal and professional effectiveness: What habits of action or thought should you "retire"? If you are managing/coaching others, you may be supporting their effectiveness in posing this question to them. Even in personal relationships, it can be an interesting question to discuss with your spouse (over Valentines dinner? Guys, you’d better be sure you listen and work on it). In this rapidly changing world, if you reflect and plan to "retire" some habits every year, you will ride the wave of change with continued opportunities.

Why Do Some Managers Fail?

Several years ago, the cover of Fortune Magazine featured a headline that read "Why CEOs Fail", linking to an article by Senior Editor Geoff Colvin and Dr. Ram Charan. One of the points the authors documented in their research was that CEOs (or any managers, really) fail more often due to poor execution than planning.

As I watched all the buzz surrounding the change of management at Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM), I recalled the Fortune article. On one BNN clip I saw, the analyst/journalist who was speaking said that he didn't believe the newly minted CEO, Thorsten Heins, was capable of bringing about and implementing the necessary changes at RIM. This analyst asked, "Have you met this guy? He doesn't come across with an energy that would inspire any confidence in investors or end-users."

His point was that the new CEO's style came across as flat and uninspiring, which made one suspect that his strategy (which isn't new) would be as well.

The mention of Heins' style was interesting. As certified professional behavioral analysts, we are frequently called in to consultations with leaders and teams to better understand and harness the diversity of behavioral styles found in the workplace. It is important to recognize that, whether in media interviews or political debates, a leader's style comes across to his or her audience and creates an emotional response. Judgements, much like the one expressed by the analyst mentioned above, will be made based on the presentation of material, not just the content. You've likely seen the research before, indicating that in communication, we receive much more information through how something is said vs. what is said.

Likewise, when mangers work at achieving strategic plans by interacting with their direct reports, the use of a coaching style that is congruent with the style of the person being coached will result in much higher levels of engagement. For example, if you notice an employee's style (even without the use of a psychometric instrument) is extroverted, fast-paced, and energetic - don't speak in a monotone, or speak too slowly. Avoid long silences (something that can be challenging if your natural style is that of a methodical engineer who thinks things through thoroughly before responding).

Obviously, if your employee is the opposite - detailed, analytical, more introverted and speaking at a slower pace - don't rush them. Give him or her time to think and answer while you're conversing, don't interrupt, and allow for some silent pauses - while still maintaining eye-contact (challenging if you are a highly-energetic, fast-paced, caffeine-driven manager).

When they give no thought to the behavioral style of their communications, managers may end up unintentionally contributing to the disengagement of their own team members – a trend which, when continued, can lead to serious performance and talent retention issues.

As I like to say, organizations don't get results – people do. So take care in the implementation process. When coaching staff, be aware of and harness their emotional responses by employing your own behavioral flexibility. Managers who practice this skill when coaching will be judged much more favourably than RIM CEO Heins was by the critical analyst, and will certainly inspire superior engagement to be harnessed as they implement their ongoing strategic plans.

Leadership - Turning Dreams into Goals: 2 Starting Points

Almost 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King uttered the words, "I have a dream," in his speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

We are already a few weeks past "Happy New Years" now. Typically this time of year represents a "reset " time or a new start on goals. If you go to a gym, you will notice that the next 3 months are the busiest of the year, before people fall back into their old habits. Change is tough, and takes time and commitment. As you look out at the rest of the year, while globally there is much uncertainty and the media will predictably dwell on the fears and negatives, we must  take a step back and think about what is important to us, what we want to achieve, and then document these goals.

Most of us are in leadership in some way - whether at work with an official title, or as a volunteer, or at home with our kids. As a leader, you will be most effective when you pause, reflect, and focus on some clear goals - then help others around you (direct reports, colleagues, friends and family) to do the same. There is much that has been written about goal setting; below are some suggested links, as well as two critical starting points: Desire, and Written Goals.

1) Desire

First and foremost, all great goals start with a very strong desire. The reality is that most people don't really drill down on this. It is crucial to clarify what you really want to achieve. From my experience (and likely yours), people are driven more by fear than by desire.

I recall meeting Anthony “Tony” Robbins and his then wife, Becky, in 1989 before he became an infomercial celebrity. We were both taking the rare opportunity to hear Dr. Norman Vincent Peale speak live in a limited audience. As I chatted with him after the event, Tony invited me to attend one of his live seminars. I, along with my brother and two friends, will never forget the firewalk experience - walking over burning coals in bare feet. I vividly remember standing in line to do this, and thinking "this is nuts!" My only comfort as I waited was that, as I got closer to the front of the line to participate in this goofy thing, the coals seemed to be gradually fading from burning red to grey. My anxiety decreased somewhat as I watched, and I reassured myself that the coals were cooling.

Well, just as I got to the front of the line, the folks in charge abruptly called a halt to the procedings. As I stood there, assuming that the time had run out, I found myself suddenly feeling quite brave, and thinking, "I could have done it if there had been time – no problem!"

You can imagine the jolt to my nervous system when I saw what happened next. It turns out, time wasn’t up yet. I glanced around just in time to see the approach of a couple of wheelbarrows filled with fresh, red hot, burning coals. Seems I wasn't the only one what had noticed that the coals were cooling! "Ok Chuck- your turn to walk...”

That event has forever anchored my perspective on focus, desire, and distractions caused by fear. In fact, most people are preoccupied with fear of what could happen, because they haven't really focussed as deeply on the mechanics of what they desire to achieve. Brian Tracy likes to say, “Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” So when you reflect on what you want to achieve, also think about the pain of not achieving it. Leverage your focus on what you desire with the pain of doing nothing different. Like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, look into the future to see both the benefit of achieving a goal, as well as what life would look like if you don’t achieve it.

Right now, make a plan to spend some time in solitude to think about what you desire for your life this year. As author Stan Davis likes to ask, what would your life look like if it were perfect?

If you are coaching others, at work or at home, help them to focus on what they want. Remember, people do things for their reasons, not ours. Martin Luther King Junior didn't motivate others by saying "I have a nightmare," that’s not engagement. Use questions like: If you could wave a magic wand, what would you change in your job/life? Or, what are 3 changes you’d like to implement this year? Then, in workplace coaching, help them align these goals with organizational objectives.

For example, if a sales rep says, "I’d like to take my whole family to Europe in the Fall", you could encourage him to sit down with his spouse on the weekend and research destinations in Europe and the costs of the trip, before calculating how much more in commissions he’d like to earn. From there, you can coach him through to breaking this down into weekly goals. All intentional achievement starts with focussing on what we desire.

By the way, U2’s Desire Hollwywood Remix is on my iPod workout play list... As the proverb says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."

2) Written Goals

Once you’ve focussed on what you want, it’s time to break it into goals and write them down. Clearly written goals create clarity and focus. In order to eliminate distractions from over exposure to information, effective people write their goals down. If you are coaching others, give them time to reflect and do the same. Frankly, done properly, this removes the pressure from you to “evaluate” their progress. As they articulate the goals, you can check in and really coach them by helping them to “self-evaluate” their progress. Then, talk about what they need to do next, or do differently when they are off track. Below are some links about goals to help you get started.

Peter Drucker once said, "the best way to handle change is to initiate it." I'm sure you will agree in this continuously changing world it is far better to be proactive and live life on purpose than being fully reactive and living life by accident.

Moving forward, if we clarify our personal and professional goals now and write them down, and continue to reread/rewrite them, then 12 months from now we will have directed change in the direction of our goals.  As a manager or colleague, if you help others do the same, you will be igniting superior engagement and achievement in your department/organization.

Wishing you great success the rest of the year! May it be a special one for you and yours.


Links for Goal Focus:

Brian Tracy, on Making 2012 your Best Year So Far (video)

Tony Robbins, on Persisting through Goals (video)

John Maxwell, on Goals (video)

110 Day Challenge Site from the Goal Guy, Gary Blair

Books...

Goal Setting 101 - How to Set and Achieve a Goal, by Gary Blair

A great book to create goal-focussed clarity for achievement -The Power of Focus, by Jack Canfield.

Maximum Achievement, by Brian Tracy, one of the masters in communicating the How To's of Achievement.

The Challenge of Change – Stop Managing, Start Coaching: 3 To-Do’s

At times, the velocity of change seems mind-boggling. From the global economy and technology, to corporate restructuring, it seems most of us are standing on shifting sand vs. foundational rock. What is the impact on your employees? What does this mean for managers and organizations?

Various North American surveys in recent months have indicated that roughly 50% of employees are unhappy in their jobs, and a third actively want to quit. In Ireland, a report showed that 66% of employees are looking to change jobs.

So it would appear that, amidst the global change and current economic challenges, many organizations have employees on the payroll who have mentally already quit or, to use a term of the day, remain ‘unengaged’. This should be a wake-up call for organizations who depend on human capital to remain not just competitive, but also innovative. Organizations need to stop managing and begin coaching. The difference? As my friend Brian Tracy likes to say: managing is transactional, coaching/leadership is transformational.

A study by Gallup, in which over a million employees and 80,000 managers were surveyed, makes a strong connection between engagement and retention.

“People leave managers, not companies. So much money has been thrown at the challenge of keeping good people – in the form of better pay, better perks and training – when, in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue.” Wrote Marcus Buckingham in the book, First Break ALL the Rules.

In a world where, too often, a person is promoted to a supervisory or management position based on their technical skills, their people-leadership skills need to be enhanced. In fact, it could be argued that an organization should start developing people with these skills prior to promoting them to entry-level management positions.

If you look at a recent Forbes article, “Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail to Keep Their Best Talent,” one can see that the role of people-leaders as coaches would have a significant impact on virtually all ten areas.

In the long term, organizations who want to continue to thrive need to build in metrics and accountability for how managers lead and coach their human capital. An integrated and properly implemented 360 Development process examining a manager’s people-leadership behaviours would help maintain an awareness for continually enhancing their coaching skills.

3 Things You Can Do to Coach More and Manage Less

1)      Probe more and Tell less. Ask questions to drill down on issues. Ask how they perceive an issue, and for their suggestions for solutions.

2)      Adapt your Coaching. A cookie-cutter approach doesn’t work for everyone. Recognize that team members have different motivators and behavioural preferences. If you learn these, and adapt your coaching accordingly, you will more fully engage your team for performance before they start job hunting.

3)      Listen. We see this over and over again in 360 surveys. Take time to listen and encourage staff to share thoughts. Bottled up concerns contribute to disengagement prior to quitting. A manager can’t understand concerns fully until they listen sincerely. If a manager has a poor reputation for listening, regardless of lip-service or “open-door policy”, his/her team will not share concerns or ideas.

Remember, in this global economy, with increasing competition and change, tough times never last, but tough people do. With respect to Human Capital, coach more and manage less for everyone’s success.



PS. I saw the recent Mission Impossible movie this weekend - if managers want their staff fully engaged to achieve the organizational "Mission", they need to coach for Commitment vs. Manage for Compliance. People do like challenges, and to be equipped and encouraged to achieve them.
See some Behind the Scenes with Tom's Ethan Hunt Character: