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.

You are a full-time recruiter

The third step of my Hire The Best Avoid The Rest hiring process includes a key encouragement: YOU are a full-time recruiter. Here is an example of one way a top company demonstrates this:

I was in a Starbucks the other day. In the area where they offer cream, sugar, etc. there were business cards from the district manager (not the store manager). Here are some interesting things about the card design:

1. His title, "district manager," is in lowercase letters.

2. Below his title is a small icon, possibly like coffee leaves, and the title, "Coffee Guy"

3. It lists his cell phone number, a corporate toll-free phone number and his e-mail address.

4. The full list of contact information is:

• Cellular 
• Fax 
• His toll-free corporate voicemail 
• His email address 
• www.starbucks.com/careers

5. The left side of the card as the Starbucks logo, company name and address of that location.

6. The back of the card is most interesting. It says:

We are looking for people we can call partners.

That's what we call ourselves. If you ask partners why they enjoy working here, they'll probably tell you it's the people, the experience and the great benefits for those who qualify, which may include:

• Medical, dental and vision coverage
• Tuition reimbursement
• Paid vacation
• 401(k) savings and stock programs
• Discounts on our great coffee

Apply online at www.starbucks.com/careers

Starbucks is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring a diverse work team.

Often your best source of great people to hire is from your most loyal customers. They are, if you have not noticed, already raving fans of your company. If you are hiring this year, why not brainstorm with your people how to better reach people who already believe in your company?

Meeting Ideas

Take my last suggestion and apply it in a meeting. How can we increase the number of people who know we are hiring so we can attract new team members from people who already believe in us (customers, people who read our blog, vendors…)? Should we add a hiring message to:

1. The back of our business cards (similar to Starbucks’)
2. Every company employee’s email signature
3. Every thank you note to clients, vendors and community
4. Every business review meeting with key clients (not that we want to hire you, but “If you hear of anyone, we are hiring people for the following positions…”)
5. Should we try to get an article placed in our local newspaper describing the hiring process we go through, how difficult it is to hire qualified people…” (Maybe team up with 3-4 other businesses and everyone shares their story.)

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.

20 Years - Never a Compliment

Imagine this: A guy works for an organization for 20 years. He tries to be creative and feels like he’s made a real contribution… but he feels no one cares.

As a leader, I try to use the 5 Languages of Appreciation with people. You and your people will benefit from doing the same. Learn about it - https://www.christianleadershipalliance.org/?page=SRbookdiscussion

Don't shy away because this article is. Learn from anyone, even groups that are different than your beliefs. If it is truth, if it is logical, if it can help you become a more effective leader, then consider piloting their recommendations for 30 days to see if it improves your company culture.

Engaging Gen Y

Last week I was asked by a client:

"We have a candidate for a summer intern position that is graduating from high school this year with a 3.3 grade point average. We think he is very smart. He completed most of his high school curriculum early and has been taking college courses and currently works in the high school IT department.

"When he was asked about his 3.3 grade point average, he said that he is really good at taking the tests but doesn't complete the homework if he finds the class boring.

"What is your impression of this? Does this throw up a red flag for you?"

My response: Not really, no. Much of public school education these days is a waste of time, particularly at the high school and college level. It is one of many reasons our nation is in decline. Very correctable, but our leaders lack vision, guts and... I've said too much already.

On the contrary, this lets you know that he needs to understand WHY he is doing something and WHERE he can grow in your organization. This should be constantly reinforced (with all employees). He will work for a PURPOSE more than a paycheck. To test my conclusion you could try the following:

1. Tell him 3-5 stories of problems clients had, how you solved them and how that enabled the clients to positively impact the lives of others. Touch his heart. If he seems bored or disinterested during these stories then do not hire him. At the end ask him to describe a situation where he has had a similar impact as part of his role in the high school IT department. Does he tell a story or explain why he works there in a way that demonstrates passion and/or purpose?
2. Ask him what he wants to be doing in 5 years. He may not know. 2 years? If he likes working for you then will he want to continue during college? Try to define a rough "career path" of learning, not titles, for the next two years if he stays with you. Does this excite him?
3. Give him 1-3 typical scenarios he might face on the job as homework. Ask him to solve them and bring them to his next interview.

Meeting Ideas

When a job candidate, employee or client makes a comment, try to understand the "disease" rather than the "symptom." In the example above the young man was not doing his homework in boring classes. That is a symptom. What is the disease? Being asked to learn things he feels he will never apply in his life.

Here are some ideas to discuss this in your next staff meeting:

1. Read the story from my client and ask your people to answer their question. Have an open discussion and do NOT jump on anyone who says something you do not like. Remember, that is a symptom. Be wise and consider what disease is causing that symptom (response).
2. Read my ideas, one-by-one, and ask for their thoughts. They may disagree. (If you get some good feedback, please let me know. I am still learning too!)
3. How can we do a better job at helping our employees understand WHY we do our work?
4. How can we do a better job at helping our employees understand WHERE they are growing in our company?
5. How can we do a better job at helping our employees understand our PURPOSE - how we apply our mission and values daily to achieve our vision of improving people's lives? (your vision may be different)

The Eclipse

Sam has always approached his work as though he is a partner in the company, although, he is only an employee. He loves the challenges of his job, interacting with clients and helping them solve problems. The flexibility of his workday enables him to attend his children's sporting events yet he still works as long or longer than anyone else.

Lately however Sam is not happy with the direction the company is taking with their product line and packaging. He is starting to feel that their products are a reasonable value instead of the best. He thinks the new retail packing design will cost him his largest client. (He is right. It will.)

Sam is clearly disengaging. What is happening?

I call this an employee eclipse. It is when the employee has lost sight of the meaning in his work and has become disengaged just as an eclipse of the sun or moon temporarily hides that celestial object. Sometimes there is a valid reason, such as Sam's situation. Other times the individual has become disengaged due to something at work or in their personal life. It can make you (leaders and managers) question their loyalty.

I really like what Reed Hastings of Netflix says about loyalty in his PPT deck about the Netflix Freedom & Responsibility Culture:

• Loyalty is good as a stabilizer
• People who have been stars for us, and hit a bad patch, get a near term pass because we think they are likely to become stars for us again
• We want the same: if Netflix hits a temporary bad patch, we want people to stick with us
• But unlimited loyalty to a shrinking firm, or to an ineffective employee, is not what we are about

Do not let an eclipse cause permanent damage to your employee relationship. Intentionally engage someone when the first hint of the eclipse starts to darken their performance. You may notice something and then allow yourself to justify postponing action. Do not wait. Often your instincts are correct.

When you save someone from "going dark" on you permanently it is a huge savings to your company and demonstrates your company values. Then again, you may find the individual has already checked-out of your company but the lights are still on (they are still collecting a paycheck). In that case you can limit your loss.

Meeting Ideas

THE ECLIPSE is often an unexpected event and leaders are so busy that we talk ourselves out of engaging people to discuss our concerns. Possibly a retention interview will help you discern whether you need to re-engage the employee or encourage them to move on to a new opportunity with another company.

Consider meeting the person one-on-one or with another employee outside of the office in a coffee shop, restaurant, on a walk or other non-business settings. Do not allow any interruptions from cell phones, tablet PCs or other technology. Your total focus should be on the employee and understanding their needs, desires and dreams for your organization.

We have a more detailed description of how to do retention interviews for our Customer Champions Club Members, but here is a sampling of questions you might ask:

1. What do you like best about your job?
2. What is the most fun you have had on the job in the last three months?
3. Are there any challenges you are having where I can help?
4. In the past you have seemed more fully engaged. Is there anything going on that you would like to discuss?

Change

Leaders change things. Regularly. For the better. To build upon strengths.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

- Gandhi

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

- Maria Robinson

For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.

- Keri Russell

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

- Reinhold Niebuhr (the Serenity Prayer)

Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.

- Arnold Bennett

Change takes guts. Briefly, here is my understanding of the story of Caleb and other scouts who reported to Moses on the promise land. The other scouts, except for Joshua, were scared because the inhabitants of the land were big people and it would be difficult to overcome in battle on their own.

Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Why could Caleb see “change” and opportunity when the others saw disaster?

1. Caleb’s values were based on the power of God, not people.
2. Caleb had the facts. To make the right decision about what to change you need to have the facts straight.
3. He had the right attitude. In this case, he trusted God to protect them and fulfill His promises. As leaders we have to have the right attitude as defined by our personal values and our four company culture cornerstones (mission, values, vision and accountability).
4. Caleb stated his vision/conclusion clearly, and the action they should take. Truth often stands against popular opinion. At times leaders have to stand alone for truth.

Consider this equation when considering change in your personal or professional life:

Values + Knowledge + Action = Change

Meeting Ideas

Change is a great topic for discussion with team members because often they do not feel included in significant decisions. Here are some ideas on how to discuss change with your people.

1. Identify 1-3 changes you could make in your organization, product/services, team structure, policies or other area that either resolves a recurring problem or builds upon your strengths to grow your company.
2. Discuss each of the quotes above individually by asking how does it apply to each of the changes you would like to make.
3. Discuss each of the changes you would like to make in this sequence:
   • What changes can we make so the way we handle this situation is totally consistent with our values and for company culture cornerstones?
   • What additional information do we need to gather to have all the facts?
   • What actions can we take to develop a better approach to this situation?
   • How can we pilot change for 90 days to test our assumptions?
   • How can we build in accountability for the changes that pass our 90 day test so people are trained in how to deliver this change and our entire organization consistently demonstrates this improvement?
   • Should we structure some type of regular recognition or celebration for successfully implementing this change?

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.

Great Leaders

Great leaders do two things consistently well. First, they set clear, measurable objectives. Second, they follow-up (and follow-through).

Here is a simple test for you to evaluate your leadership in these two areas:

1. Have you set goals for your company, yourself or your people for 2011 and not followed up to confirm progress is on track on a weekly or biweekly basis? If you are not following-up, then how can you require your people to follow through consistently?
2. Do you make commitments to your staff that you will complete something by a certain date and then miss those due dates? If you miss your commitments to your people, then how can you require them to fulfill all their commitments to you and your clients?
3. Have you met with an employee about a problem and agreed to follow-up with them, but you have not followed-up as expected (yet)? What does this communicate to the employee, and how do they mirror your dysfunctional behavior to clients and coworkers?
4. Have you identified an issue that is hurting your company and procrastinated on making a decision? If you procrastinate when making important decisions, then how can you expect your employees to be decisive?

OUCH. These two skills are second only to holding yourself strictly accountable to being a person of integrity and good character. When you fully develop these two skills into consistent habits then you will be more effective than 81% of other leaders.

So why not start today? Contact us if you want coaching to help you accelerate the process.

Meeting Ideas

So you say, "This is not my problem. I already do this well." Wanna bet? If your staff is willing to be candid, then I suggest you gather a group of employees and ask for candid feedback. Or you can do this one-on-one. Basically you just need to ask the same questions I asked above to the group. Here they are:

1. What goals have I set for our company, myself, you or any of our people for 2011 and not followed up to confirm progress is on track on a weekly or biweekly basis?
2. What commitments have I made to anyone on our team that I would complete something by a certain date and then I missed the due date?
3. This year have I met with an employee about a problem and agreed to follow-up with them, but I did not follow-up as expected?
4. What issue have we identified that is hurting our company and I am the one who is delaying action being taken to resolve it?

Babies

A young engineer arrived for his scheduled interview. The interviewer's responsibility was to confirm the candidate's technical skills. There was one problem: The candidate arrived carrying his baby in a bassinet.

He apologized to the interviewer, explaining that at the last minute the sitter for his child canceled. He offered to come back another day, but he did not want to inconvenience the interviewer at the last minute.

The interviewer said it was not a problem. During the interview the candidate had to take a few breaks to take care of the baby, but the interviewer did not mind.

If you were the interviewer, what would you have done? Should the person not be hired because the child may interrupt their work schedule in the future? Based on this situation, would the candidate fit into your company culture?

You have to make your own decision. The interviewer and I agree:

1. The baby actually was a blessing in the hiring process because the situation enabled the interviewer to see a different aspect of the candidate's behaviors and values. This is a huge benefit because it was an opportunity to get the candidate talking "outside of his script" so the interviewer could get to know him more personally.
2. The interviewer was still able to confirm all the technical skills of the candidate.
3. This brought up a potential work issue in advance.

This is a true story. The interviewer recommended the candidate be hired. For some reason, the company decided not to hire the candidate.

Meeting Ideas

Virtually everyone I know shares two things in common: (1) They are hiring this year; and (2) they are extremely busy. If this describes you, then you will benefit from reviewing and improving your hiring process. Every person you hire who works out saves you $50,000 or more (1x annual compensation) and the time to re-hire a replacement, or several replacements.

Let me know if you want to talk about your hiring process. Here are the 10 steps of my hiring system to discuss with your team:

1. Systematic Power: How can we be more systematic in the way we hire people?
2. Team Member Strategic Plans: Are we fully defining the job before hiring?
3. Promote the Opening: How can we promote our openings so we attract better candidates?
4. Interviewing: How can we better structure our interviewing process to discern great candidates vs. actors?
5. Talent Assessments: How can talent assessments, like the Success With People Talent Assessments, help us in our hiring process?
6.  Background Checks: Never hire someone without doing a background check. Discuss this. If you do not have a company doing this for you, then find one.
7. Reference Checks: How can we gain more insight about our candidates from our reference check conversations?
8. Making The Offer: How can we do a better job of winning top candidates in the way we make offers?
9. First Day: How can we improve our First Day experience so new team members are productive more quickly?
10. Never Stop Selling: What should we be doing on an ongoing basis to convince new hires they made the right decision to work for our company.

Testing - Part 3

First I discussed the importance of having a firm foundation of four company culture cornerstones upon which to make your decisions when testing occurs.

Last week I encouraged you to embrace testing as an opportunity rather than a problem.

So you have a firm foundation to make decisions and are more open to challenges. What happens next?

More testing. More difficult testing. More evil and indirect testing. (Yes, evil.) The stronger you become the more you will be tested.

The major indirect test: Praise.

Proverbs 27:21 says, "The crucible for silver in the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives."

We all need praise, encouragement and to feel like a valued member of the team, but leaders must be good students of history. The battlefields of leadership are covered with the carcasses of visionaries who became self-absorbed and then strayed from their vision and violated their values.

When you are praised, remember how others helped you (including God if that is your belief) and pass along the praise to them. Praise accumulated and inventoried too long in one person often rots the soul.

Here is one way to overcome challenges as a superstar hurdler skillfully leaps past each test on a running track:

1. Pause and breathe.

2. Thank God (or whatever) for the opportunity

3. Ask, “What am I supposed to learn from this situation?”

4. Discern your options, possibly with input from others

5. Delay your decision if you can

6. In a place of Sanctuary consider your options

7. Resolve the challenge and keep moving forward

Testing confirms you are making an impact. Take your punches like Rocky and keep fighting! Just do not let praise go to your head.

Be an Intentional Leader.

David Russell, CEO

Success With People, Inc.

MANAGEtoWIN, Inc.

MEETING IDEAS

TESTING is a GREAT opportunity. Have an open discussion with your team on how to handle testing and its temptations, particularly praise.

1. What process do you typically follow to handle a test or challenge today? (Share individually within a group so people can learn from each other.)

2. What changes to how we accept and resolve challenges can we try for one month as a pilot to better managing our testing?

3. Think of leaders, people your know or friends who have been tested by praise and failed. Discuss those situations, without mentioning the person’s name if you know them personally. Consider how they achieved significance only to allow praise to bring them down.

4. What can you learn from the failure of others to not manage praise well?

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

Ted: Stanley McChrystal

General Stanley McChrystal shares some quick thoughts on what he learned as a leader in the military. It is interesting that rather than top-down management, he emphasizes the importance of relationships, for they “…are the sinew that hold the force together.”

I will be candid with you: I am recommending this talk because of my great respect for General McChrystal and the men and women who serve in our armed forces. It is an enjoyable 15 minute talk with a few key nuggets, rather than a totally incredible talk.

It is also interesting to note that relationships are what ended General McChrystal’s military career. He and his men spoke negatively about President Obama, who unlike President Lincoln, was too thin-skinned to allow it. Too bad. The President’s unwillingness to allow himself to be the focus of some banter removed a very talented asset from our military. As leaders we should be stronger than that.

Testing - Part 2

Last week I introduced the question, “Is it a good thing when you are tested?” I then discussed the importance of having a firm foundation of four company culture cornerstones upon which to make your decisions when testing occurs.

This will be brief so please give it a quick scan through to my conclusion. What happens when we embrace testing as an opportunity rather than a problem?

Saint Paul in the book of Romans writes, "And not only this but we exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulations bring about perseverance; perseverance, proven character; proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint..."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born to wealth in pre-World War II Germany. He could have done anything in his life, but he chose to pastor a small church. As the Nazis rallied the churches to support their extermination of the Jews, Bonhoeffer stood against them. Most of us cannot comprehend the challenges he faced.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. faced challenge after challenge, hatred, violence, death threats and more yet he never wavered from his vision of equality for people of all heritages. Consider for a moment how it would hurt to be treated as Dr. King was in those days.

Both of these leaders had clearly defined their mission, values, vision and how they would be held accountable for their actions. Because of this preparation, each test could be accepted with joy, thankfulness and viewed as an opportunity for growth rather than a challenge too great to overcome.

QUESTION #2: What happens when you fully commit yourself to change the world, improve your community or even demonstrate greater love for only one individual?

ANSWER: Testing, and if you pass the test then Significance. Meaning. Purpose. Peace. Joy. Love. Satisfaction. None of these benefits occur without the test, yet this is what we all want to experience. So why not pause and smile the next time you are tested. Ask yourself, "What am I supposed to learn through this opportunity?"

Then what happens? Tune in next week for one last quick, very important thought on Testing.

TESTING (2 of 3) is a good thing even though it can be very painful. For instance, Michael Phelps is a great swimmer in part because he has to push himself to win when competing against others. He has to move beyond strained muscles, fatigue, mental challenges and more.

In the same way leaders in every company are stronger and find their work more fulfilling when they embrace challenges rather than fear them. Here are some ideas to discuss with your team this week about being tested:

What is the biggest test you have faced in the last week?

How did it make you feel when you were first faced with this situation? How many times before have you faced a similar test? What did you do to pass the test or overcome the challenge? How did you feel after you passed the test? Do you need to let go of some negative feelings so you can move on more strongly? Is there something you learned through the test that you can apply in the future to either avoid or more quickly overcome similar challenges?

Commit to pausing and thinking before you speak or act when you are tested over the next week.  Consider how you can work with a partner to discuss daily the tests you have faced and how you responded.  Keep track of what you learn and share the results during your next team meeting.

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.

Why is employee loyalty at a three-year low? Response to USA Today

There's an article on USAToday about a recent MetLife study, reported by Laura Petrecca that details how businesses are losing focus on their employees.

Key points:

• MetLife 9th Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends
• Employee loyalty is at a three-year low
• Slightly more than one in three hope to find a new job in the next 12 months

This is evidence that companies are focused on getting work done instead of fully engaging their employees in a mutually-fulfilling company culture. In my opinion, this is the equivalent of driving your car 100,000 miles and never putting oil in it or getting a tune-up. At some point the car dies. In this case employees are reaching the breaking point where their relationship with their employer will end and employees will move on to what they perceive to be greener pastures with another company.

Don't let your people forget how much you need them.

The Top 5 Excuses Why Leaders Don't Lead

A thought-provoking list of possibly the Top 5 Excuses Why Leaders Do Not Lead:

1. I am leading! People feel they are leading others because they make the key decisions and have the final say. Unfortunately that is ownership, not effective leadership.
2. No time. Every leader is challenged to manage their time. Great leaders make developing people a priority over other activities.
3. People should know what to do. This is the assumptive leader. They think hiring people is like buying a television. It should just work right out of the package, rather than need training, support, direction and other leadership activities.
4. Limited leadership skills. This is reality. We all have gaps in our leadership skills. We have leadership tendencies, but not deep, broad skills because we have not been trained, mentored and invested enough time in developing our true ability to guide others. The question is, what are you going to do about it?
5. Limited, broken or non-existent talent management system. This is the easiest way to develop and sustain great leadership skills. Focus on building your systems for hiring, managing, developing and retaining superstars. Without a Systematic Power approach our leadership is inconsistent and limited in its effectiveness.

Meeting Ideas

TOP 5 EXCUSES is an opportunity to consider how to become a better leader. Your primary excuse for not fully developing your leadership skills may be different than one of these. I encourage you to identify your most common excuse so you can grow beyond it.

Whether you are an owner, executive, manager or team member with other responsibilities, you can be a leader who positively impacts the lives of others. Individually or as a group consider identifying your most common excuse so that you can overcome its ability to sidetrack your growth as a leader.

1. What are the 3-5 most common excuses I make to avoid investing more of my time in hiring, managing, developing and retaining great people?
2. Approximately what percentage of the time do I use each of these excuses?
3. Which of these excuses am I going to focus on eliminating from my life first?
4. Pilot an effort to make progress overcoming one excuse for 30-90 days with accountability from at least one other person.