Day 122 | What About You?

Do you know someone who could behave better?  They hurt your feelings, are not productive, or... whatever?

The bottom line is they need to change.

That may be true, BUT what happens when you apply the same judgmental standard to yourself?

Very often, the honest answer is that in this area you need to improve too.

I suggest you try this discipline this week:

1. When someone's behavior bothers you, pause and consider how you can improve in that area.  Maybe this means you have to make a note on your phone so you make time later to consider the truth about your behavior in this area.
2. Even when their behavior is OBVIOUSLY much worse than yours, work on improving yourself and then address theirs later when it does not need immediate attention.

Apply this even with people you do not like.  Surprisingly, you may realize behaviors you have in common with people who bother you.

Consider John Ortberg's series on The Truth About You that he began on March 9.  I do not agree with the way his team did a "fishbowl" exercise because it only focused on the negatives, but John brings up many intriguing challenges.  His approach is thought provoking and worth the listening time during your commute or workouts.

DISCLAIMER:  This is not a spiritual recommendation.  This teaching encourages self-reflection and growth rather than instinctively focusing almost all of our time judging others.  If you hate Christians, John actually challenges people to be more loving.  His standard of Christian behavior extends to many other beliefs and are areas where everyone can easily agree.

Self-reflection based on truth is one of the greatest challenges for leaders.  This is a good investment of  your time.

The truth is that it is easy to judge people.  It is difficult to lead them to the best of your ability.  Focus more on developing yourself to be a humble 3Strands LEADER and you will judge people harshly, ineffectively and/or incorrectly less often.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!

1. Did you take Sanctuary time over the weekend to improve your focus?
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. Have you defined your 3Strands for this week?
4. By 9:00 a.m. this morning you should have 3Strands emails from each of your direct reports.

Stay on track.

Day 120 | Mirror, Mirror...

The enchanted mirror in the story of Snow White cannot lie.  It answers the question of the evil queen, stepmother to Snow White, when she asks, "...who is the fairest in the land?"

It's almost as if part of the enchanted mirror's response is to reflect back on the vanity of the wicked queen.

You and I are leaders.  It may surprise you, but we have "enchanted" leadership mirrors that reflect the effectiveness of our leadership systems to hire, manage, develop, and retain top performing employees who love their career with our company.

Our leadership mirrors do not lie.  Our leadership mirrors are called employees.

"Mirror, mirror in my company, tell me what you truly think of me?"

Our employees' behavior mirror the effectiveness of our leadership systems.

If we have employees who are unproductive, and/or gossips, and/or error-prone, and/or unwilling to follow our processes, and/or have other difficulties - DO NOT BLAME THEM.  Often our leadership systems are broken.

Their issues are our fault.  We hire them...  We manage them, or not...  We develop them, or not...  and worst of all, we retain them too long when some people will never be successful in our company culture.  

Our LEADERSHIP Essentials and All-In LEADERSHIP systems develop the habits of 3Strands LEADERS.  If you do not want to learn from us, please learn from somebody!  Time passes too quickly not to be the best leader possible.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!

1. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
2. Did you take 20 minutes or more for Sanctuary time this weekend to improve your focus on what is most important?
3. Are you starting this week with 1-3 clearly defined MAJOR OBJECTIVES - your 3Strands for this week? (Look at them each morning.)

Stay on track.

Is It Fair?

Do you live on the East Coast?  Don't miss our LEADERSHIP Essentials Academy at Mainstay Technologies in Belmont, New Hampshire on June 5-6.  Our workshop will be a great learning experience for you, and the Mainstay folks are an example of a best-in-class firm.

It's only $295 per person for our Academy members.  Join here.

Is it fair that I start my newsletter with that reminder?

As leaders we have to be careful how we behave.  That last word you spoke or action you took, was it fair? Most people would respond, "Yes," without thinking... but are they correct?

According to the book, Your Brain At Work, fairness is a need of our brains.  If we start to focus on fairness, then we judge it everywhere.  Fairness can often be more important than money to our brains, and therefore is a big motivator.

BUT...  but we rarely hold ourselves to the same standard.

Many people, especially our employees when we are not fully engaging them, can be upset because they assume they are being treated unfairly or there is a threat to their status.

For instance, employees might incorrectly believe they are...

• Underpaid
• Overworked
• Not appreciated
• Given less benefits than other firms provide
• Managed too strictly

Intentional 3Strands leaders are consistent in helping employees understand how they are doing meaningful work and that they are appreciated.  These leaders are also transparent.

Employees with 3Strands Leaders typically feel their management practices and company policies overall are very fair.  They are happy and thankful to work there.

What do you think that does to their self-motivation and productivity? And how do your employees feel?

HINT:  An employee's opinion may not be fair, but it is a true feeling.  One of your responsibilities as a leader is to consider what is true and then make a decision about what is "the right thing to do."

I suggest the place to start is with what your employees are thinking, even if you believe they are wrong.  Next, you have to figure out what to do about it because if your employees feel you are not fair, then you are losing tens of thousands of dollars annually.

Meeting Idea

Here are some ideas to consider how your people feel about you and/or your company.

1. Ask:  They will probably not give you a complete answer, if an honest answer at all.
2. Confidential Survey:  We can do this for you.  It is similar to a best workplace survey.
3. You Already Know:  You already know they think you are not fair.  Then the question is what to do about it.  Procrastination is too expensive, these issues need to be dealt with.  Contact us if you need to talk through some ideas or get advice.

Make History

Bill Johnson says in one of his books (page 180),

Making history is a two-step process:

First, we "make history" by the learning and decisions we make when no one is looking, however...

Second, the history "we make" through others is always dependent on the habits, experiences and integrity we develop on our own and in-private with our mentors.

You are "making history" whether you like it or not.

Many of your employees never forget the positive or negative way you inspired them.  Many of the people working at your clients are positively or negatively affected by your interactions and services.  Your peers, community, and others are often influenced by your behaviors.

And the way you have changed their behaviors then extends out through these people to thousands of others, which then extends out to....

You are "making history" whether you like it or not.  So please consider the three aspects of making history that Bill Johnson suggests are foundational to our outcomes in the MEETING IDEAS below. 

Why make less money because you have leadership tendencies instead of GREAT leadership skills, systems and focus?

Your employees "make history" that reflects your leadership.

Meeting Idea

Here are some ideas to discuss with your leadership team and/or company as a whole to improve your ability to leave a legacy that is consistent with your good intentions.  

Habits:  I just finished the book The Power of Habit (see below).  I strongly recommend it.  Our habits control how we spend our time.  Bad habits never go away, they're just overpowered by stronger habits that we develop.  

I suggest that you evaluate your work habits in three areas:

1. Leadership systems:  Systems provide consistency, improve performance, and develop trust.  If you are not systematic in your leadership then you are costing your firm thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars, and negatively impacting others too often.
2. Time management:  The discipline of managing your time  affects your ability to achieve your key career objectives.  We spent too much time at work not to regularly evaluate and improve the way we manage our schedules.
3. Company culture:  Your company culture exists whether you focus on it or not.  It can be a weed that grows uncontrollably and fools some into thinking it is a flower as it invades and overpowers good parts of your garden.  Or it can start as the seed about beautiful flower or strong tree that is intentionally planted, fed, watered, pruned, and encouraged to bring lasting beauty and positive impact to your garden. Your habits determine whether you are growing weeds, or stunning flowers and an awesome forest.

Experiences:  Your work as a leader is full of choices.  The longer your career and more successful you are, the more choices you have.  Choose wisely how you spend your time and who you associate with so that what you learn through your experiences enables your history to more positively impact the lives of people.

Integrity:  I suggest integrity is taken for granted too often.  Too many people assume they have integrity rather than demonstrate it consistently.

Jesus told a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) that reminds me of how many people assume their integrity is perfect when it is flawed:

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed:  'God, I thank you that I am not like other people - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance.  He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'..."

If you truly want to be a person of integrity then it is a journey of holding yourself to a standard far above what you demand from others.  It is a road of realized mistakes, apologies, redirecting yourself back onto your path, tenacity, and undying hope.

Why?  Because making history, maximizing profits, and becoming the best you can be is hard, long work.

MAKE HISTORY!

I look forward to hearing about the wonderful things you are achieving.

Day 116 | Can Everyone Agree?

What is one purpose, not a 2014 goal, that everyone can agree upon in your organization?

This might be confidential.  For instance, I am not sharing what ours is because it is a competitive advantage.

For Alcoa under Paul O'Neill it was safety.  Focusing on worker safety increased their stock price 200% and at one point 82% of their manufacturing facilities reported no worker injuries for an entire year.

Think about it.  Do not underestimate the power of a laser focus on one simple aspect of your business.

P.S. I apologize for not writing more last week. I got buried. Lots of GREAT things happening.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  (You should have done the following, at a minimum, in your Sanctuary time since late last Friday.)

1. Review your 2014 goals.
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. If you have defined your 3Strands for this week?

Stay on track.

Love or Fear

There are two basic emotions in life that motivate our emotions, actions, and words we speak:  Love and fear.

Building a company on love creates a lasting legacy of improving the lives of others.

Growing at company on fear makes our work or temporary and limits our expansion, in addition to hurting people instead of helping them.

You know this.  So what is my point?

I encourage you to consider where your company is broken in relationships.  Prioritize what needs healing and where you should invest greater effort to better engage your employees, retain your Clients, and better serve your key vendors.

If your employees just "do not get it," then you need a new perspective on how to better engage them.  It can be me, my team, or someone else, but every day you delay costs you significantly.

Your employees are not the problem.  Your leadership skills and systems are the issue.

BE a 3STRANDS LEADER

Systematic Leadership, inspiring others in Meaningful Work, and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to people around you. 

Meeting Idea

Meeting ideas around the issue of driving your company in love or based on fear can be a long list.  Certainly you may have to consider specific situations or individuals on your own first before discussing the issue with others.

Here are some possible situations that may be holding you back:

1. Your employees just "do not get it."  It is an "us" versus "them" environment, even if it is not hostile.  Is it possible that they are reflecting back your inability to demonstrate better leadership skills or a stronger company culture?
2. You have an employee in a key role who is not performing, yet it has been months or over a year that you have let this go on.  This is a leadership issue more than the employee's fault.
3. You unexpectedly lose a good Client.  This should never happen because of something under your control. 
4. Your company does a lot of business with a vendor, but you are not getting any sales leads or support to drive new business with them.  This means you are losing a lot of money that you should be earning.  The amount grows each day.
5. You are working too much, so much that you have not had a date night with your spouse in weeks, months, or maybe over a year.  Your children are growing up without spending enough time with you when you are not ever looking at your phone or computer.

TIME FOR A CHANGE!

Why David and Goliath?

This past Monday I shared that I recently finished Malcolm Gladwell's book, David and Goliath.  I did not recommend it, but that is because it is not a typical business book.  You may want to buy it anyway.

Here are the key things I got from Gladwell's analysis of "Underdogs, Misfits, and The Art of Battling Giants:"

1. (Gladwell)  (1) Much of what we consider valuable in our world is based on the greatness and beauty resulting from overcoming overwhelming odds;  and (2) We consistently misinterpret our weaknesses and strengths as we face our greatest challenges.
2. Underdogs win more than they lose.  How?  They compete by disregarding protocol so they can compete based on their strengths.
3. Underdogs are told they are wrong.  Their courage comes from living through tough times and being belittled, yet they emerge with an intense drive to do what they believe is right.

As a High Traditional in our Talent Assessments, and someone who's been told I am wrong many times, I relate to David.

Therefore the question is (for me and for you):  What am I doing differently that my opponents cannot match?

The parts of this book that I enjoyed helped me clarify that our company is on the right track.  It actually gave me a laser focus that is EXCITING:

1. We gave 50% of the equity and half of the net profits of MANAGEtoWIN to EmancipateME, a nonprofit dedicated to help local nonprofits eliminate the travesty of human trafficking.  No other HR/employee performance management software company will do that.
2. We focus on ConnectWise and Autotask partners.  We have a unique value to provide these organizations because of my 32 years in the industry.  These companies are too small for other HR/employee performance management software companies to pursue, or understand.
3. We have some things that we are going to do with our software and services that are revolutionary because of #1 and #2 above.  Even in a very crowded HR/employee performance management software market, we can battle the giants for reasonable market share...  and more importantly, meaningful work.

The question for you:  How do you break the rules to give your company an advantage that is both unfair, and unexpected?

Meeting Idea

Read Gladwell's book, but focus on the chapters that have the most meaning to you.

This process should give you more clarity.  Most likely you will gain even more clarity by discussing your reaction to the book with others, whether that is your team, mentors, or some nut like me.

The bottom line:  The value of this exercise is to identify how to play by a different set of rules (legally and ethically) so that you have an unfair an unexpected advantage against your competitors.

Are You Ready to Play?

Yesterday the Seattle Seahawks came to the Superbowl ready to play - they had energy, intensity, swarming defense...  and the Broncos kind of just showed up and never knew what hit them.

What can you do this week to create an environment where your employees motivate themselves to be their best rather than just show up?

This is a question that is woven deeply into your Sanctuary time activities each week, but now (on Mondays) it is time to apply your plan of action.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had his team fully prepared to win.  Are you doing the same for your team?

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  (You should have done the following, at a minimum, in your Sanctuary time since late last Friday.)

1. Review your 2014 goals.
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. If you have defined your 3Strands for this week?

Stay on track.

Total Transformation

Century Rowland Plaza (Cinemark) is the multiplex in town.  Recently my family and I went to see the movie Frozen.

I looked forward to the movie, but not the theater.  It was typically dirty, the employees bored, and I just did not feel appreciated although it costs our family $50-$100 to see a movie.

Whoa, what happened?

 It all started when I bought my mega-popcorn that has the free refill.  That is the closest thing to a reasonable price for popcorn because we have two adults and five kids gobbling it up.

The very pleasant young lady asked me if I would like my refill immediately rather than go to the trouble of returning to the lobby.  Typically my impression was that management hoped I would not return so they would retain a higher profit margin on my purchase.

Then I asked for seven empty cups to fill with water.  Another smiling young lady gave me the cups and encouraged me to use the water fountain around the corner.

Then the capper:  As I was filling the cups with water I spilled the  popcorn.  Big mess.  Two young men who work for the theater saw me.  One assured me immediately that it was no problem at all.  They would clean it up, and he asked if he could go refill on my popcorn for me.  When I said yes, he asked if I wanted butter on it.

I apologized again for the mess as his associate started to clean up my spilled popcorn.  He assured me that it was no problem at all.  The other guy returned promptly with my newly filled popcorn container.

WHAT HAPPENED:  A new general manager started two months ago.  She or he apparently knows how to hire and train people.  For the first time I left the theater thinking I might hire one of those young people some day.

MY POINT:  It is never too late to start working on improving your company culture.  Your Clients and prospective clients can spend their money with a lot of other companies. Why not stand out from the competition? This is the work we do with our Clients.  If you would like to discuss your specific employee or company culture issues, then email me.

BE a 3STRANDS LEADER

Systematic Leadership;  inspiring others in Meaningful Work;  and consistently expressing Sincere Gratitude to people around you.

Meeting Idea

I suggest a meeting based on this example is best done as a team.  Ask your team to arrive at the meeting with stories of their best example and worst example of customer service.

Here are some quick ideas for your meeting:

1. Start the meeting by reading your company's mission statement (WHY you are in business), vision statement (WHERE you are going or growing as a business), and values (HOW you do business).
2. Ask your people to identify where the negative stories of customer service violate your mission, vision, and values.  Then ask the first person to share their story, and discuss the violations.  Repeat the process until everyone has shared their negative story and your team has evaluated that situation compared to how your company does business.
3. Now ask your people to identify where the positive stories demonstrate your mission, vision, and values.  Then have the first person to share their story, discuss the similarities to your mission - vision - values, and continue to evaluate each person's story one at a time.
4. Make a list of 3-10 things your organization could do to improve your Client Experience.
5. Make a list of 3-10 things your organization has to do to improve your company culture so that you can improve your Client Experience.
6. Ask your people if they would like to pilot one change in the way you interact with Clients over the next month based on what you've learned through this exercise.
7. If they say "yes," then agree on which process improvement you will pilot for one month - that is, one Client Experience process or interaction, and one action item to improve your company culture.

Test your new system as a 30 day pilot and assess the results.

An Ideal to Strive For

I watched the movie, Man of Steel, over the weekend.  Tom Brindley had encouraged me to enjoy Superman's dilemma of not being of this world, but being in this world.  I was not disappointed.  Read the review link yourself and enjoy it.

In this movie Superman gets to talk with his biological father, Jor-El, by way of a hologram/near-sentient computer program.  Jor-El explains the "S" on Superman's chest is a different letter in Krypton' s language, and it stands for hope.

Does the symbol of your company stand for hope?

Jor-El further encourages his son, Kal-El (Superman), "Give the people of earth an ideal to strive for.  In time you will help them accomplish wonders."

How are you giving your employees, Clients and vendors "an ideal to strive for?"

An organization that does these two things well while managing their finances prudently is unstoppable.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  (You should have done the following, at a minimum, in your Sanctuary time since late last Friday.)

1. Review your 2014 goals.
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. If you have defined your 3Strands for this week?

Stay on track.   Email me if you need help.

P.S.  Here is one additional thing to do during your weekly Sanctuary time:  Review your company culture cornerstones (mission, values, and vision) at the start of your quiet time.  How well did you demonstrate them this past week, and do you need to plan ways to incorporate them into your activities this week?

Beat The Bully

A few years ago at a large high school in Nova Scotia, Canada, a freshman decided to attend classes wearing a pink shirt.

As he was walking down a school hallway, the school bully threw him to the ground, kicked him a few times, and warned him never to wear a pink shirt to school again.

Two junior boys slid down next to their embarrassed, injured, and scared peer.  They asked him an odd question:  "Would you please wear that shirt again tomorrow?"

The freshman thought they were nuts, but they assured him that he would be safe.  The two juniors then spent most of their remaining day rallying other students through social media to wear pink the next day.

The following day over 1,370 of 1,500 students showed up wearing pink to make a huge declaration that there would be no more bullying at their school.

Steve Carter tells the story in more detail as part of his superb December 29 teaching at Willow Creek. 

MY POINT:  Some of your employees are bullies.  They do not want to change their bad habits.  They may even pick on other employees.    

Bullies are bullies because they were bullied.  Most of the time employees who are performing at a low level are not aware of it or do not care.

THE SOLUTION:  Create an environment where your employees motivate themselves to change for the better.

Consider the wisdom of the ancient verse of Proverb 9:7:

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult;  whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.

In the story above the two juniors did not physically engage the bully.  They wisely avoided direct confrontation.  Instead they overwhelmed him with an environment that motivated him to change on his own.

This is often the work we do with our Clients.  If you would like to discuss your specific employee or company culture issues, then email me.  

Stop letting your bullies negatively affect your bottom line.

Be a Systematic Leader because inconsistency hurts.

Accountability Culture #4

Systematic Power is Step #4 of an Accountability Culture, if I am limited to only five aspects.

You will NEVER achieve your strongest possible company culture unless you are as systematic with your employees as you are with technology, accounting, development, manufacturing, client delivery, sales...

1. This means a system for hiring great people.  (My Hire The Best & Avoid The Rest hiring system has 10 steps.)
2. You need a system for managing people day-by-day, weekly, monthly... through the year.  What does that look like?
3. And what about a system for professional development?  Do you know what certifications your people have, what additional certifications are needed prior to year-end, and what your people want to learn? We track this in Certle along with our vendor programs.
4. Last, but definitely not least, what is your system for retaining top employeesand continuing to motivate them to perform at a high level?

We teach all four of these systems and more in our LEADERSHIP Essentials Service and Academy. Let me know if you need help.

Be a Systematic Leader - because inconsistency hurts.

Training Priorities

Rob Betzel and I are about to release a new book titled, The Company Culture Challenge. It provides a step-by-step process to developing and sustaining a strong company culture. Part of the reason we have written this book is because many people do not realize how important training is when creating a great company culture.

With that said, what do you train first, technical skills or soft skills? Do you train soft skills at all? Most companies do not.

For many organizations, one major issue is a lack of soft skill training. In case you are wondering - soft skills are like etiquette rules, social skills and workplace behavior guidelines pertaining to anything from communication to table manners.

Leaders assume their people know how to behave, but in reality a lot of employees do not. At many organizations, new employees are hardly trained at all on how to behave in the workplace. It's not uncommon for managers to hire someone with good social skills solely because that means there is one less thing to train.

We have created over 20 training sessions on soft skills we use in our consulting, coaching and training.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SOFT SKILL? Email me a list of the soft skills you need so we can consider including them in our training.

Aside from soft skills, consider reviewing your new hire and existing employee training. Does each session build upon another? Are these four areas covered?:

• Company mission, values, vision and accountability (the four cornerstones of company culture)

• Soft skills

• Technical training

• A 90-day plan for the first 90 days at your company:

  • Expectations

  • Goals

  • Team member strategic plan

  • (Optional) 3-5 year career path

  1. Review together any data you have on negative client experiences. Ask for additions to the list. Where are your clients struggling to do business with you?

  2. Group the issues under similar topics. For instance, shipping issues may have several related problems for clients.

  3. Ask your people for feedback on how they could work more effectively together. Consider potential training topics related to improving the working relationships of your team.

  4. Prioritize the list and schedule dates for when the training will occur. One a month with follow-up exercises or observing people in action may be all you can handle.

  5. Purchase materials from a company like ours or develop your own. Make certain your trainings have role-playing, games, exercises and other interactive components so you can see people demonstrating the skills they are supposed to be learning.

Half the calendar year is over. Consider investing in developing or purchasing training to help your people deliver a great client experience and be more satisfied at your organization. Let us know if we can help.

At your next meeting with your team consider working with them to identify the soft skill training they need to enjoy their job more and better serve clients.

Here are some ideas to consider:

1. Review together any data you have on negative client experiences. Ask for additions to the list. Where are your clients struggling to do business with you?

2. Group the issues under similar topics. For instance, shipping issues may have several related problems for clients.

3. Ask your people for feedback on how they could work more effectively together. Consider potential training topics related to improving the working relationships of your team.

4. Prioritize the list and schedule dates for when the training will occur. One a month with follow-up exercises or observing people in action may be all you can handle.

5. Purchase materials from a company like ours or develop your own. Make certain your trainings have role-playing, games, exercises and other interactive components so you can see people demonstrating the skills they are supposed to be learning.

They Are Lying To You

Name three activities you do every month, if not every week, to serve others. Here is why:

In a way, the world is a great liar. It shows you it worships and admires money, but at the end of the day it doesn’t.

It says it adores fame and celebrity, but it doesn’t, not really.

The world admires, and wants to hold on to, and not lose, goodness. It admires virtue.

At the end it gives its greatest tributes to generosity, honesty, courage, mercy, talents well used, talents that, brought into the world, make it better. That’s what it really admires.

That’s what we talk about in eulogies, because that’s what’s important. We don’t say, ‘The thing about Joe was he was rich!’

We say, if we can … ‘The thing about Joe was he took good care of people.’

This is from two slides that Tom Peters discussed on February 15th of this year at the National Business Growth Summit in Sydney, Australia said. He credited Peggy Noonan, “A Life’s Lesson,” on the astounding response to the passing of Tim Russert, The Wall Street Journal, June 21-22, 2008. (I changed the formatting for emphasis.)

This is one key reason why we work to have a great company culture. Improving the lives of our coworkers, clients, vendors and community, which in the process positively touches our personal relationships. What are you doing to make certain this is what you and your company are known for?

The commitment to serve others is one of the most important you can make as a leader, whether your responsibilities are that of an executive managing others or an individual team member. 

Here are some ideas for how to apply this wisdom:

1. First “look in the mirror.” How are you doing in this area? Take a break on your own. Tech Out (turn off all technology - let your people/family know in advance where you will be).
   • List the names of the primary 3-10 people you want to positively impact. (If you can serve them effectively, then the habits you develop will help others too.)
   • What specific activities are you doing weekly or monthly to serve these people - consistently and systematically?
   • How are you helping them think better and learn how to make great decisions on their own, rather than just giving them the answers?
   • Are there activities you could be doing that would have more impact than these?
   • How can you schedule time to make certain you are preparing for and doing these activities to the best of your ability and on a consistent basis?
2. Ask your people to do the same thing (#1) on their own.
3. At your next meeting have each person share what they learned and what they are doing. Encourage people to make suggestions to one another on how to improve in these activities, and people to be open to considering their suggestions.
4. Commit to “pilot” a more consistent schedule of actions you will take to improve the lives of others for 30 days. Have a check-in where people share how they are doing. Possibly extend the “pilot for 60 more days.

One Tip

Take a couple minutes to watch this video interview of Verne Harnish with Greg Brenneman, the former CEO of Continental and Burger King:

He talks about creating and daily/weekly communicating a one-page plan for the business that has a theme at the top and then:

1. Market plan
2. Financial plan
3. Product plan
4. People plan

He also believes as leaders we need to make certain, without being inappropriately personal, to let people know we care about their life of faith, family and friends too.

Meeting Ideas

Let's keep it simple:

1.  Create a one-page plan for an individual, workgroup, division or your company.
2. Structure how you will follow-up.
3. Hold people accountable to your plan.

No Management?

What if you had no management? Just owners and employees. That’s what Jason Fried is trying at 37 Signals with some success. This is also consistent with Reed Hastings' Netflix Culture of Freedom & Responsibility. One thing I really like about Jason’s approach is to rotate team leaders weekly so it eliminates the “toxic labor-versus-management dynamic.” I don’t buy into everything he recommends, but if you are willing to really systematically hire only superstars and then have systems in place to fully engage and train them, this “no manager/rotating team lead” concept is worth a 90-day pilot in many organizations.

Culture by Netflix's Reed Hastings

Be On A Mission!

Although I do not agree with everything in Do You Have a Mission Statement, or Are You on a Mission? by Dan Pallotta, the challenge to be on a mission rather than just finish your homework assignment of writing a mission statement is great.

Dan says, "A person or organization on a mission is inspiring. A mission statement is an abstraction. Add to this disadvantage the fact that most mission-statement writing is an exercise in compromise and equivocation, and now you've really depressed people......Don't waste your advertising space on your mission statement. Use the space to tell people what you've accomplished, or what amazing thing your product will do — use it to show them what mission you're actually on."

At Manage 2 Win, we believe mission statements are a valuable tool for defining your mission.  Oftentimes many of our clients are simply going through the motions, doing whatever it is that pays the bills, or flying by the seat of their pants without really thinking about the most critical motivation for work:  purpose.

Dan's assertion that the Red Cross should be on a mission is correct.  Your organization should be going somewhere, somewhere powerful and purposeful.  Just don't forget to bring a map, and remember why you are going there!

Testing - Part 1

I have a friend whose character is being tested. He has known times of great prosperity and moments of unfortunate loss. He is now working to restore the profitability of this company starting with himself. He is challenging himself to demonstrate better character and leadership skills. It is not easy to change old habits.

Is it a good thing when you are tested?

Every leader gets tested at one point or another. Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, recently ran for governor in California. I have always admired what she did at eBay, but when asked about her candidacy my reply was that she would not be a good governor. Although she made many good decisions at eBay, she was never tested with catastrophe, and that is what California is facing. She did not have the vision or toughness to save our State from disaster. (I am not a Jerry Brown fan either.)

That is not to say that a leader has to demonstrate previous skill in turning around a company to be able to save a company. My point is that today more than ever we need leaders in government and private enterprise who have integrity, a vision and an uncompromising will to do what is right rather than what is popular. Only these intentional leaders will be able to pass the rigorous tests that life throws at every organization.

Part of this testing reveals whether a leader will take shortcuts or invest the time it takes to develop and build an organization based on four company culture cornerstones:

1. Mission with a purpose

2. Non-negotiable values

3. Vision that communicates positive change

4. Accountability for your mission, values and vision

You will be tested often as a leader. Without these four company culture cornerstones firmly in place, how can you make decisions that consistently drive your organization to achieve significance?

Meeting Ideas

TESTING (1 of 2) is a reality in our professional and personal lives. The first part of this discussion is focused on whether you are taking the time to fully develop your character and rules of engagement to do battle in the workplace. If you do not, then your decisions are based on emotion rather than the foundation of a strong company culture.

Here are some ideas to ponder with your team this week about being tested:

1. What are our company culture cornerstones?

   • Mission (with a purpose)

   • Values (non-negotiable)

   • Vision (communicating positive change)

   • Accountability (to make certain everyone is demonstrating and pursuing our mission, values and vision)

2. Name one time in the last month when something has happened that tested you and you made a bad decision that is contrary to your company culture cornerstones. Discuss candidly the process you followed, how it might have been easier to make that decision, and how the people involved in the event felt about the experience afterwards.

3. Name three times in the last month when something has happened that tested you and you made a good decision based on your company culture cornerstones. Discuss candidly the process you followed, how difficult it was to make that decision, and how the people involved in the event felt about the experience afterwards.

4. What is the biggest test you face in the workplace? Why is it so challenging? How can you overcome this test more easily in the future?

5. Discuss what it would be like to work without anything that challenged our company culture cornerstone

Marketing Happiness

Jennifer Aaker, a Stanford marketing professor, teaches a graduate-level course called "Designing Happiness" that can only accept less than half of the students who sign up for it. She has worked with AOL, Adobe, Facebook and other companies to help them figure out how to use happiness to increase employee productivity and increase customer loyalty.

Her conclusion is that marketing happiness is one of the few ways companies can be authentic with employees and customers. According to an article in Fast Company Magazine (March 2011), her class has "... discovered that a meaningful experience (acquiring a new skill, volunteering, or spending time with family) often makes people happier than moments of pure pleasure."

Better than "pure pleasure?" Is that what your employees experience at your company? Do your customers come away from each interaction with your people saying it was "pure pleasure?"

THE BOTTOM LINE: The most important thing you can do as a leader to engage your employees is to make certain they feel like you value them as a member of your team and they are convinced they are doing meaningful work.

Companies Throwing Everything At Recruits! Sounds like the wrong focus...

In Silicon Valley Hiring Perks: Meals, iPads and a Cubicle for Spot, Claire Cain Miller describes the fierce playing field in the market today for talent engineers. Companies like Google and Zynga are offering free iPads and allowing recruits to bring their dogs to work. Makes me wish I had chosen a different major! However, at the same time, I see a fundamental flaw in this recruiting process.

The problem with this emerging business model is that it is not sustainable. It is based on the value that, "It's all about me." Teaching people how to start their own business and the beginning of their employment relationship? Ridiculous!

Truly great companies are built based on strong values, a mission that provides meaningful work for all employees to achieve a purpose greater than themselves, and a clear vision for how everyone, including customers, benefit from the company’s success.

Once again, Americans are being fed a fantasy that the only true success is greed, fame and being an entrepreneur who is the top dog and owner. This fantasy is just another get rich quick scheme repackaged by the media to appeal to people's natural self-centeredness rather than to truly motivate a sustainable job creation engine for our nation. The life of this latest fad will be in dog years rather than the thousand year commitments of Chinese nationalist leaders.