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Archives For May 2012

Build Your Team’s Foundation On Values

May 28, 2012

How strong is your team’s foundation? Do team members see their role as being both a “great team citizens” and a peak performer? Or, is “getting stuff out the door” the only driver for players?

In my work with senior leadership teams engaged in our proven culture change process, I find that 90% of senior leadership teams I’ve observed are not “teams,” at all. Most are “groups” of individuals competing every day for limited time, funds, and resources. This behavior is common but not helpful when trying to build a high performing, values-aligned work environment.

High performing, values-aligned teams have a common purpose, common values, and common goals. Team members demonstrate commitment to everyone’s success, not just their own. What separates “good” teams from “great” teams is their values foundation, agreement on HOW they’ll work with each other & employees (not just WHAT will get done). When values are defined and valued behaviors are formalized, team dynamics shift away from “isolated performers” and towards “connected colleagues.” The benefits are tremendous and measurable – high performing, values aligned teams demonstrate greater performance & profits, higher customer satisfaction, and greater employee work passion than teams without a values foundation.

Here’s a great example: I’ve been coaching a client on the power of team chartering. He’s leading a project with a group of college students that is doing volunteer work, living together in a rented house for two months. He has facilitated the team creating their charter and is coaching members in how to praise and/or redirect behavior that either IS or IS NOT part of their chartered valued behaviors.

Last week they were visited by two people who stayed with the group for a few days. Unfortunately, one of the visitors was very focused on his personal agenda, despite the needs or wants of anyone else. When the visitors left, the team quickly pointed out, “Wow, I think observing them helped me realize how rough things would be if we all focused on ourselves rather than our team values.” One of the students added, “I actually wanted to show him our agreed-upon values and ask him to respect them as long as he was with us.”

That might not have gone over well with the visitor! And, what a great demonstration of how well the volunteer team has embraced their values and behaviors.

If your team has a singular focus on individual performance, consider adding a solid foundation of values and valued behaviors to the mix. As the team learns to perform according to values guidelines, team comeraderie and mutual respect will grow exponentially.

One other thought about values-aligned team members: On this Memorial Day in the USA, remember those who serve and have served. If you have a job opening, seriously consider hiring a veteran. There are few people on the planet more “values aligned” than those with military service.

What are your experiences with team values (for better or worse)? Tell us in the comments section below.

Get your FREE EXCERPT from my new book, #POSITIVITY AT WORK tweet, written with the delightful Lisa Zigarmi. View our video on why we wrote the book, understand the research on positivity in the workplace, and more!

Photo © iStockphoto.com/skynesher

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Avoiding A Leader’s Biggest Mistakes

May 21, 2012

Last week’s post introduced the three biggest mistakes leaders make; this week we examine how leaders can avoid making those mistakes.

To review, a leader’s biggest mistakes are inconsistent communication, lack of clear strategy and goals, poor accountability, and reactive vs. proactive efforts.

The impact of these mistakes is significant and unfortunate. Those include eroded trust, an “I win, you lose” environment in the team/organization, perceptions of unfairness, and less discretionary energy applied by employees to goals & tasks.

A leader’s role is to create a safe, inspiring workplace where team members are trusted, trust others, and apply their knowledge & skills to team and organization goals. Leaders destroy any opportunity for that desired workplace environment when these mistakes are made.

Three Steps to Avoid A Leader’s Biggest Mistakes

  1. Focus.
    A leader must constantly assess the quality of team members’ understanding of the team’s performance and values expectations. If team members don’t have clear understanding, it’s the leader’s responsibility to increase that understanding. The leader must proactively and consistently clarify the short-term & long term team strategy; communicate face to face with team members to increase dialog and understanding; align project, goals, and tasks to the declared strategy. Above all, leaders must hold themselves and others accountable for performance and values.
  2. Connect.
    All good things that happen in organizations are driven by healthy relationships. To connect to the humans who leaders are charged with inspiring, leaders must proactively manage team members’ heads, hearts and hands – an exclusive focus on output does not create healthy relationships. Leaders need to demonstrate care for team member development, motivation, and contribution. Leaders must create meaning and purpose for players and teams by linking their work to goals, strategies, and community benefits. Lastly, leaders need to leverage team member skills & creativity to take advantage of opportunities that arise.
  3. Serve.
    The leader’s role is to serve the needs of team members so they may serve the needs of their team and organization. Great bosses praise and encourage BOTH team member effort & contribution, daily. Leaders must multiply hands by delegating authority and responsibility to talented, committed team members. To truly serve, leaders must also remove hurdles to team member performance & citizenship wherever possible, as quickly as possible. Team members spot “stupid policies” and other performance hurdles quickly; leaders need to listen to learn what hurdles require leader attention. Where leaders demonstrate intolerance of hurdles like organizational politics, personality, or power, they inspire team members exponentially.

What are your suggestions for how leaders can avoid making these mistakes? What mistakes or impacts or avoidance techniques have I missed? Tell us in the comments section below.

Get your FREE EXCERPT from my new book, #POSITIVITY AT WORK tweet, written with the delightful Lisa Zigarmi. View our video on why we wrote the book, understand the research on positivity in the workplace, and more!

Photo © iStockphoto.com/pixdeluxe

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The Biggest Mistakes Leaders Make

May 14, 2012

I had the pleasure of presenting a Ken Blanchard Companies webinar on this topic recently to 1000 global participants. The content was extremely well-received so I was inspired to present highlights here.

What drives leader behaviors in the workplace? Research indicates that role modeling (good or bad) by previous bosses, the organization’s culture (also can be a positive or negative influence), and social style (personality type) drives leader behaviors. Recent analysis reveals that the slowly improving global economy is also a driver. Many leaders find themselves in survival mode. They are playing it safe. They closely monitor staff decisions and spending. They are trying to do more with less, maintaining – as best as possible – quality productivity and delivery with a smaller workforce. All of these influences can create a perfect environment for leaders making BIG mistakes.

A Leader’s Biggest Mistakes

The four biggest mistakes leaders make include:

  • Inconsistent communication
    This is, by far, the most frequently reported mistake by leaders. It takes many forms. It can impede a division, an organization, a team, or an individual player.
  • Lack of clear strategy and goals
    Ken Blanchard says, “All good performance starts with clear goals.” He’s right. And the high performing, values-aligned organizations we’ve studied for our culture change process indicate that strategy comes first, then goals are aligned to the strategic thrusts that have been formalized. Clear strategy creates the context for and meaning of the day-to-day work people do.
  • Poor accountability
    The best leaders demonstrate a relentless focus on holding themselves and others in their organization accountable. With these leaders, promises made – for a task, for a quality standard, for a deadline, for a budget – are promises kept. This approach builds performance consistency, reliability, and integrity of everyone involved.
  • Reactive vs. proactive efforts
    “Fighting fires” is the byline of reactive leaders. If they’re in survival mode and reacting, they engage in influencing moments from a fear base. Proactive leaders come to influencing moments from a trust base.

The Impact of These Mistakes

Everything leaders do either help, hinder, or hurt the creation of peak performers. When leaders make these BIG mistakes, employees tell us they experience:

  • Eroded trust between them and their leaders (primary impact) and between them and their peers (secondary impact)
  • An “I win, you lose” environment in their organization’s culture
  • Perceptions of unfairness, usually driven by inconsistent accountability
  • Less discretionary energy applied to goals and tasks

NONE of these impacts create inspired, talented employees in a workplace. In the comments section below, add your ideas on how leaders can avoid making these mistakes. I’ll share my thoughts AND yours in next week’s blog post.

What are your suggestions for how leaders can avoid making these mistakes? What is your experience with making or experiencing these classic leader mistakes? What mistakes or impacts have I left out? Tell us in the comments section below.

Get your FREE EXCERPT from my new book, #POSITIVITY AT WORK tweet, written with the delightful Lisa Zigarmi. View our video on why we wrote the book, understand the research on positivity in the workplace, and more!

Photo © iStockphoto.com/GOSPHOTODESIGN

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Great Leaders Leverage Employee Dreams

May 7, 2012

Years ago I was interviewing a CEO before presenting a keynote to 500 of his company’s leaders. I asked him what differentiated his company from other competitors in the industry. He told me, without hesitation, “Our people. They’re great – skilled, enthused, service-minded. They’re the heart of our company.”

He paused, then added, “I wish I knew more of them by name.” In the early days of the company, that was easy – he had hired most of the leaders and managers and had a hand in hiring many of the team members. “Today,” he related, “I’m embarrassed to realize that I don’t know 3/4 of the staff here.”

This CEO was dead-on accurate about two key ideas. First, the heart of any company is it’s people. Second, leaders have to know the players – each player – they’re engaging with every day. If leaders don’t, they may find team members going through the motions, not fully inspired by their work environment, their jobs, their opportunities.

Create Connections

Leaders must invest time and energy in learning not only what skills team members bring but WHO they are as people. In Whitney Johnson’s upcoming book, Dare. Dream. Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream., she relates a great example of how critical human connections are in day-to-day business. She describes how Atul Gawande created a surgical safety checklist with a step that included introductions of surgical team members to each other before any operation. Gawande’s research found that when this step occurred, the average number of complications and death fell by 35 percent (!). By “activating” each others names aloud, team members were much more likely to speak up during surgery if they saw a problem.

Leaders, learn team members names. Connect, one to one.

Encourage Discussions About Dreams

Leaders need to be aware of the messages they send. Whitney describes an interaction she had with her then 10-year-old son who had auditioned for a local play. Not knowing whether he’d made the cast, Whitney found herself saying, “You know, there aren’t many parts for boys your age, so don’t be disappointed if you aren’t picked.” Her son replied, “Mom, why are you discouraging me?”

Too frequently, messages in our organizations are not validating of others skills or efforts. When asked about the feedback they receive from their bosses, employees overwhelmingly state that the most frequent feedback they get is the LACK of any feedback. The second most frequent feedback they receive is negative, pointing out mistakes, expressing disappointment. Eliminate messaging that expresses ideas like, “You’re not good enough” or “You really blew that one” or “I don’t thing you can do this.”

Only when employees feel trusted, honored, and respected will they share their hopes and dreams for their work, their team, their company. When those dreams are expressed, opportunities often arise to enable those dreams – or a portion of those dreams – to be acted upon. That creates a groundswell of well-being that is powerful.

Create a safe, inspiring workplace, and leaders can learn what employees would LOVE to learn, what their DREAM job would be. Learn those dreams then open doors so team members can act on those dreams. Performance will skyrocket!

How well are your dreams valued in your workplace? What do great leaders do, in your experience, to connect & value employees’ dreams? Tell us in the comments section below.

Get your FREE EXCERPT from my new book, #POSITIVITY AT WORK tweet, written with the delightful Lisa Zigarmi. View our video on why we wrote the book, understand the research on positivity in the workplace, and more!

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