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I just returned from the National Speakers Association annual convention during which several very successful professional speakers were inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame, received their Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designations, or received various service awards. Without fail, those recipients who spoke expressed deep gratitude for being recognized but also humbly stated they had no special talents; they simply work hard. I know most of the award recipients and you know what? They spoke the truth. Yes they are each intelligent, but that’s not why they have achieved what they have. Not one has mysterious skills, they have honed skills. They’ve worked hard to refine their skills, services, products, and business models. They have each made mistakes, but they’ve all pushed through them and have kept focused on improving. They each believe in continual growth and improvement. They have the right attitude – success isn’t given; it’s earned.

I always found it amusing that the “Life Sucks” bumper stickers are still appearing on the back bumpers of  beat-up old junkers that  chug down the interstate at 53 miles per hour.  I have yet to see one on the back of a new Jaguar.   Also, I have yet to meet someone whom I consider a “successful leader” project a “Life Sucks” attitude.  Instead, they face challenges regularly.  They expect them. They plan for them.  They deal with them.  Then, they move on.

The road to success is not a straight one with clear directions.  There are a lot of twists, turns, detours, and washouts.  Being able to target the destination, and then being willing to follow that course, navigate the detours, and take advantage of any shortcuts is how most successful people find success.  They don’t wait for someone else to lead them to their success.  They cut their own path to success.

What happened was you failed to do your job as the team leader. You failed to act upon the subtle signs your team was sending you. You failed to create an environment where your team members could air their concerns with the project, one another, and your leadership. You failed to act upon the subtle rumblings of your team’s discontent. As a result, your team seems to have exploded and you have the project problems you do. So now, what do you do?

First – Call the team together and apologize for not doing your job.

Second – Share with them that you had felt the rumblings yet you failed to acknowledge them.

Third – Create a forum for them and you to be honest with each other so that all of you can get the project back on track. If you haven’t yet created team rules – do so. If you have team rules – use them. The team rules will provide the objective guidelines of behavior to ensure the project’s interests are at stake and no one team member’s interests are over-taking the team.

Fourth – Ask each member to clarify the rumblings, to objectively share his or her concerns with the project’s deliverables, timelines, and resources.

Fifth – Ask the team members to objectively and factually share their concerns with each other and you on such things as:

• Specifically, what caused them problems and why?
• Specifically, how would they have preferred to receive team member or team leader input and why?
• Specifically, what changes would be helpful in the way the team meets, shares information, and works together and why?

Sixth – Ask the members, what specifically they need from each other and you, to get back on track?

When you do your job so your team can do theirs, you prevent the explosions. So the next time you sense a rumble, do your job. Calm the rumbles. Calm your team. When you do your job and calm the rumblings immediately, you’re in a better position to keep your team and the project on track.

Yesterday, I heard a man say he’s been unemployed for six months, and he looks for work on the internet a few hours a day. That’s fine, but what’s he doing with the other 8-12 hours of productive time in his day?!!! Why not volunteer to help a community, charitable, or church organization that is strapped for funds and help? Why not use his “professional” talents and other skills to help a charitable organization in its time of need? He can keep his skills sharp, learn a few more, help others, keep busy, stay mentally engaged, network with others….

Well, is it really twisted or is there some merit to those critiques? Getting things done is huge. It’s why we’re in business. However, if getting things done comes at the expense of not maximizing opportunities to teach others decision-making techniques, or maximizing projects across departments, or jumping on a project others have under review, are our efforts as smart as we think they are?

When managers fail to consider the consequences their individual project or department actions may have on other departments or the whole organization, there is some justification to the criticisms. By thinking of the whole organization instead of just “my department,” managers start to think as leaders. Managers start to think things such as:

• Who else should be involved with this decision to ensure we make the best decision possible for the people most directly-involved and for the whole organization?
• Who or what other departments will be impacted by this project and what can be done to maximize the benefits of this project for them and the whole organization?
• Who else has worked on this problem and why have they stalled? Did they uncover larger issues than may affect the whole organization?

Whole organization thinking by default causes managers to think of consequences more so than individual department thinking. Whole organization thinking helps break-down departmental silos. Whole organization thinking helps create loyalty and focus on the organization, not on individual managers or departments.

If you are criticized because of the actions you take, why? Are your actions for the good of “Your Department” or are they for the good of the “Whole Organization”?

Currently, when a team member approaches us and says something along the lines of: “There’s a problem in Shipping you need to take care of.” We typically think to ourselves, “Why do I have to solve all of the problems?” but we respond with, “I’ll take care of it.”

But what impact would it have on our team members if instead we replied with something along the lines of:

• “Ok, but tell me this, ‘Specifically what have you done to fix it so far?’”
  • I haven’t done anything! It’s not my job to fix it!
• “Really? You don’t believe it’s part of your job to help identify and fix problems?  If you believe that, I must have said something confusing in the past. Let me clarify: I firmly believe every team member has the ability to not only identify problems – as you just did – but to also suggest solutions. So, tell me: Given your knowledge of the problem, what specifically could you do to fix it?”

Now here’s the really tricky part – after you ask the question – look at your team member and wait for an answer. That may sound really basic, but many managers ask “difficult” questions, and then look down or look away. When you ask a question, look at the person and wait for an answer. That sends a very clear message: I am expecting you to provide an answer.

As your team member quickly realizes you’re waiting for her to answer, she may say something such as, “I dunno.” When you hear that response, instead of becoming frustrated, reply, “OK, but if you did know, what specifically could you try to fix the problem?”  Then, once again look at her and wait for her to reply. She will soon realize, she is expected to think about the problem and provide a potential solution. It won’t take too long for your entire team to learn that when problems are identified, potential solutions should be presented as well.

Obviously, this type of exchange is a bit uncomfortable initially for you and your team members. However, to minimize the pressure, project a curious, encouraging attitude. Remember: You’re doing this for a specific reason: You want to help your team members gain new skills in problem solving and personal accountability.  If you keep your specific reason in mind, you’ll soon be using your new favorite word more effectively and with maximum impact.

Today, I learned from a client one of his managers, as part of her explanation to her office staff who a particular client was, said, “He’ll be sending work our way. But all of his clients are real idiots.” What was she thinking? Was she thinking?

Don’t these ‘leaders’ understand others look to them to be a role model? Don’t they understand others pay attention to what they do and say 24/7? I don’t think they do. Or if they do, they need to be reminded swiftly what true leadership is. They’re not leading. They’re destroying reputations.

The reality is, if you’re in a leadership position, you represent that organization 24/7. What you say and do on the job and off is a reflection of you and it’s a reflection of the organization. So if you’re making inappropriate comments in your “private” life – stop. If you’re demeaning a client and jading the opinions of staff towards that client – stop. Stop behaving stupidly. Start behaving as a leader should. Start thinking about leadership.

Segalla encourages organizational leaders to access the untapped potential in their young, highly committed managers and to assess and connect with – as he calls them – the dangerous high-level deadwood who have the title but not the drive to take action.

As I tell my clients, “Just because you have the title manager or leader, doesn’t mean you can lead.” Leadership potential and power often reside in the most unexpected places.

However, why is it when we come across something funky or messy in our businesses, we don’t always stop and clean it up right away too? Why is it we often accept inefficient, time-consuming, overly-expensive and otherwise funky systems in our businesses? Why don’t we immediately clean up messy business practices?

Why? Because too often we’re just comfortable doing the same tasks the same ways we’ve always done them. We’re so comfortable doing them inefficiently, that we don’t even see the mess. The mess has become normal and accepted. For many of us, when an employee asks, “Why do you do it like that?”  we’re surprised at the question. We’ve never even thought it needed to be cleaned up. Yet, by not seeing our own messy business practices, we’re often behaving just as those individuals who have incredibly messy, cluttered, and stuff-filled homes, offices, and cars. When someone points out their messes, these individuals look surprised too. They don’t see the mess. Their mess has become normal and accepted.

So how can we clean up our businesses? We start the same way we start our spring cleaning efforts. Pick a room and start cleaning it up. In our businesses, pick an inefficient, time-consuming, or otherwise costly process and clean it up. What we’ll find is that one cleaning effort will by default lead to another, and another, and another – just like spring cleaning – you can never stop cleaning just one closet.

Over time, your clean-it-now mindset and practices will positively impact your entire organization. As you and your employees continue to identify and clean-up messy practices sooner rather than later, your teams and your organization will become more efficient.  Waste will be kept to a minimum, costs will be reduced, and time-wasting processes will be revamped.

Now isn’t that a great return for cleaning up the funky practices in your business?

Copyright 2010 – Liz Weber, CMC – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com

The values statement of an organization is what I call “The House Rules.”  It outlines how we’re going to behave as we fulfill our mission and move towards our vision.  It’s called “The House Rules” because it serves the same purpose as the house rules when we visit someone’s home. Certain behaviors are acceptable while there and others are not.  Values statements may outline what performance standards an organization will exhibit (i.e., exceptional product and service quality, complete customer satisfaction, and fair pricing and profits). It may also outline what behaviors are expected of the organization’s employees:

- Demonstrate Integrity

- Communicate Honestly and Plainly

- Think Strategically

- Share Your Knowledge

- Support Innovation and Improvement

Values statements outline whatever standards and behaviors are “non-negotiable” to maintain the integrity of the organization’s culture.  At a minimum, values statements serve three main purposes:

1. First, they serve as a unifying force in establishing a corporate or organizational culture.  What beliefs, attitudes, and values do we as an organization believe in and want to live by?

2. Second, they outline what type of behavior is expected of EVERYONE who draws a paycheck from the organization or represents the organization.  This means front-line staff to the company owners, and the board of directors as well. Anyone who works for the organization or represents it, must abide by the organization’s values.

3.  Third, values statements serve as a powerful management tool to help re-align poor performance.  Now if an employee behaves in a manner that is not in alignment with the house rules, the values statement can be used to redirect behavior.  For instance, if an employee is rude to a customer, the manager can use the values statement to re-align the employee’s behavior. All the manager needs to do is point to the values statement on the wall and ask the employee,

“Does your behavior fall in line with our Values Statement?  As long as you draw a paycheck from this organization, those are the house rules. You were given a copy during your interview before we hired you. They’re included in our employee handbook which you’ve acknowledged you’ve read and understood, and they’re posted on our website and throughout our facility. Now, if you don’t want to abide by our house rules, you’re free to draw a paycheck elsewhere.  But our rules are our rules.  As long as you work here, you have a choice: either you follow them or you leave.”

As the manager, there’s no need to get angry or emotional, and it drives the point home to the employee: Change your behavior and follow our rules or leave. The choice is theirs.

A critical point to remember with values statements is that they serve as a guide for the owner and management team’s behavior as well.  If the executive team can’t abide by the house rules themselves, take the values statement off the wall until it’s revised to state behaviors that can be exhibited by all staff. Don’t enforce them on others.  At a bare minimum, management must acknowledge its own violations of the house rules. If it doesn’t, employees see there’s a double standard in accepted behavior.  When that happens, the employees view the values statement hanging on the wall as nothing more than artwork.  Morale will deteriorate because there’s a double standard: Management doesn’t have to follow the rules but everyone else does.

The true value of a sound values statements is hard to determine.  But well thought-out, organization-specific values statements can set expectations for behavior, performance, communication, personal and corporate responsibility, personal and professional development, as well as, fair pricing and profits.  With those expectations clearly defined, what it takes to succeed in the organization is easy for everyone to understand.

Take a look at the values statement hanging in your organization. Review it to see if your organization lives by and enforces your own “house rules.”  If not, it’s time to redecorate.