Employee Keepers

I would like to start this article off with a quote from Stephen Sample’s book the contrarian’s guide to leadership. He was telling a story about when he arrived as the director for academic affairs of the Illinois Board of higher education. He was introduced George Clements made a name for itself as the man who built the Chicago-based company into a major national grocery chain. Mr. Clements is quoted as saying “Steve let me give you some basic of thoughts about leadership. You spend a small amount of your time hiring your direct reports, evaluating them, exhorting them, setting their conversation, praising them, kicking their butts and, when necessary, firing them. When you add all that up it should come out to about 10% of your time. In the remaining time, you should be doing everything you can to help your direct reports succeed.”
We start here because there is no better way to help your direct reports succeed than create an atmosphere where they can succeed. As a matter of fact, if your direct reports do not succeed you will not be a successful leader. Often times this “atmosphere” is referred to as the culture of an organization. One of the more simplistic definitions I’ve heard of culture is, “the way things are”. That gets the job done for me.
If you want to see how important culture is in business click on this link to my website and take a quick look at the graphic of a study that was done involving 207 companies over an 11 year span. Just click here and scroll down the page a bit, Heskett and Kotter study.
Hopefully, information on that page did what it was designed to do, create a little interest on this topic of culture.
Let’s pursue this when we come back.

One of the latest “buzz” phases I hear in my travels goes something like this;”I am not a Micro-manager” as if the term micro-manager is synonymous with-Drug addict, or child molester or spouse abuser…ya know.

If you would get the maximum results from your efforts to lead your people, become a micro-manager.

I almost always see managers try to manage the productive aspects of a person’s behavior when they are trying to affect change. No question behaviors have to change if productivity is to change. All productivity is behavior based. But we keep trying to change the behavior at the macro level, from the outside. That is a pretty rough go. Why? BAH, for one (see 16 FEB 2009 article in leadership category). If they move too slowly or do not buy into the new program, the tactics employed to change the behavior are almost always described as, pressure, by the individual who is receiving all of this “management”. Why, because we are trying to change the big thing, behavior, the macro, if you will.

We need to spend our efforts making changes in smaller things closer to the core, the micro.

Let’s look at Hydrogen vs. Helium. If we try to change the characteristics of an atom of Hydrogen by bringing in some outside influence, like energy or another chemical many things can happen. Let’s add a little oxygen. Put the two together under normal circumstance and nothing happens…waste of Oxygen. (Have you ever felt that way when trying to change someone? Me too) How about we add a little heat? We now have the change, but I do not know if the lab can stand the explosion.

What if we were just able to add a small proton to the core nucleus and that attracted an even smaller electron. We would have Helium, an element that behaves much differently than hydrogen. I know what you are saying, “You would have to be a genius to know how to do that”, and you would. Fortunately for us, people are much easier to add protons to. But, it you still have to acquire knowledge of how to do it.

That is what this series is about. To provide you the knowledge you need to lead. Let’s talk about the environment in which that atom labors next.

See the next article.

What a way to start an article, eh! (Please excuse the accent, my Canadian readersJ).

Have you ever had a great idea?

In fact, it was such a great idea that you decided it was going to turn into “the way things are going to be around here”.

So you do all the things necessary to turn this new idea into the perfect new process. I mean you really did your homework!!! You wanted to win… so you prepared to win!!! Just like Dombecky said yesterday.

You announce the idea and the process to the troops. You get the usual smiling faces, head nodding, smiles and other signs of agreement and assimilation.

Two days later, nothing has changed.

Would you like to know why? BAH Humbug.

The BAH is an acronym that stands for Beliefs Attitudes Habits.

You guessed it, based on yesterday’s article; we’re going to focus in on habits. With just one quick word, none of the three really work independently of all rely on their interdependence to create a comfort zone.

The natural “BAH humbug” that everyone seems to possess, is one of the reasons that traditional leadership often times is ineffective, inefficient or just plain doesn’t work.

You see, what traditional leaders usually try to do is change people’s behaviors. When really what they should be working on is their beliefs, attitudes and habits

I know what you might be saying, “wait a minute Curt, a habit is a behavior”. And, you would be correct. But if we analyze where the habit comes from, we will usually find that the result of an attitude which is a result of a belief.

Trust me if you work on people’s beliefs changing their habits is automatic. I’m talking about their core beliefs as they relate to their abilities to perform that which is necessary to affect the outcomes of their day-to-day activities.

Join me tomorrow as we continue on this journey.

Is there a time when you are at greater risk at repeating old habits than first thing Monday when you get to work? I will almost guarantee it starts with you sitting at your desk within the first few minutes you arrive.
If you want a whole bunch of what you had this week, starting next week off the same way you did this week is a great way to get it.
If you want better, try this simple tip.
Do not leave work today before your desk is clear and organized. Nothing on top, save a picture of a loved one(s).
Now get a plain piece of copy paper and write in big bold letters.

___(your name)_______ WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!?!?!?
GET OUT AND SAY HELLO TO ALL OF YOUR PEOPLE AND FIND OUT HOW THEIR WEEKEND WAS AND HOW READY THEY ARE FOR A GREAT NEW WEEK.
You will change their Monday as well.

Everyone is willing to win…those who do win are willing to prepare to win.

Let’s prepare to put next Monday in the win column.

Curt