Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go - Revisited

Still, one of my favorite leadership and culture books. Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, by Beverly L. Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni, is a book that all leaders should have, not on the bookshelf, but on your desk as an ongoing reference. Below is my original review of this must-have book.

It only happens every few years. I’m talking about leadership books that come out that I like so much that I read it with a highlighter. I use them in staff development and lend them out to others who want to improve themselves and/or their staff.

A few years back it was Creating Magic by Lee Cockerell. Then came From Bud to Boss by Kevin Eikenberry and Guy Harris. Now – I've had the great privilege of reading a pre-launch copy of Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want by Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni.

Help Them Grow is the type of book that makes you think, “Hmm, why haven’t I been doing that?” It’s a straightforward roadmap on how to help your staff develop without you having to take control of the reins. Let your employees grab hold of those reins and become responsible for their own growth. Wow . . . what a concept, right? Can you see your time being freed up?

Kaye and Giulioni say that “your role is more about prompting, guiding, reflecting, exploring ideas, activating enthusiasm, and driving action”. This book shows you ways to incorporate these career conversations in your everyday work life. 

Notice that last sentence that says “everyday”. Leaders don’t have time to hold extended annual appraisals that package up everything from the entire previous year – and shouldn’t – heck, they don’t remember about what you’re talking about half the time anyway! You’re already having everyday conversations with your employees (hopefully), so just change the tone a bit. You don’t need a bunch of checklists and forms. Conversations and asking questions are the keys to development.

This book gives you actionable steps to “focusing on what the employee needs to experience, know, learn, and be able to do”. Too often, leaders think they have to have all the answers (and they avoid the topic if they don’t), when what they actually need most are the questions, permitting the employee to be a first-hand participant in their own successful development.

There’s so much more to this embracing book than I have time for here, so my suggestion to you is to go to Amazon to order yourself a copy or two – others are going to want their own.

Under New Management

Times and technology are always changing. With these changes must come

process and management style changes. The problem is, that what we need to do to keep up doesn’t always happen. A new idea here and there is too slow and dispersed.

A number of things that I see in David Burkus’s new book, Under Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business as Usual, I’ve seen before. But what’s great about it is that he gathers these things - and much more - shows great examples, and puts them into one easy to read, understand, and implement reference.

Including research and case studies, Burkus presents examples of organizations that have successfully implemented each of these practices. Zappos paying people to quit. Whole Foods hiring as a team. Wegmans putting customers first. Adobe eliminating yearly performance appraisals. McKinsey & Company celebrating employee departures (and keeping contact).

This is the book to read if you’re ready to make a positive change in your organization or even if you’re just starting out and building from scratch. Leave the past in the past. Let go of the old ineffective methodologies. Create an organization that will provide the base for success.

The 3 Gaps

I knew there was going to be something special about the new book, The 3 Gaps: Are You Making a Difference?, by Hyrum W. Smith, once I realized that he was one of the original co-founders of Franklin Covey.  I surely wasn’t disappointed.

Just reading a short description of each of the 3 gaps was an indication that I needed to read this book.  Unless you actually sit down and realize what these gaps are, and how big they are, you’ll never live up to your potential.  Without action, the gaps will stay open.

Within each chapter are personal accounts from people throughout Hyrum’s life that drive the messages home.  The Beliefs Gap shows the difference between what we believe is true and what actually is.  The Values Gap shows the difference between what we most value and what we actually do.  The Time Gap shows the difference between what we plan on doing and what we actually do.  It sounds so simple, but we all have gaps that need help closing.  I can see it in myself, in my friends, and in the people I work with.

We constantly hear people saying they want inner peace.  Here’s your chance. This is a book that everyone should read as a guide to managing ourselves to be our very best.  It would be a great book to add to book club or to share with others.

Soft As A Brick and The Anatomy of Peace

The Anatomy of Peace, by The Arbinger Institute . . . what a great new (revised) book, for business

AND personal life.  I hear a lot about trying to separate work and home and the more I hear and read the more I’ve come to realize that it’s impossible.  This book will help with that balance.  After reading, you’ll look at everyday things and people so differently.  We cause conflict.  We hold on to conflict.  But we also have the ability to solve conflict.  It all comes from within and how WE relate to OTHERS.  We can’t sit back and wait for someone else to take the first step.  Be proactive and read this book and learn from deep within about the person that you can, and should be.

Today I have the honor of hosting Sam Whitney, Client Solutions Manager at The Arbinger Institute, with a great lesson for us all.

Soft As A Brick

Some time ago I worked as a trainer for a fairly large organization. As a trainer I had to coordinate with employee supervisors in order to obtain training topics and schedule training. One of my supervisors was not helping me; in fact he was sabotaging my trainings. And, it seemed clear, he was doing it on purpose. He would “forget” to schedule the sessions, not give me proper topics, and then undermine what I was saying during the training sessions. I was very close to making a formal complaint and I was hopeful I could get him fired.  I had been working with my training supervisor for months looking for a solution to all the problems he was causing me. I wasn’t treating him poorly, and I felt I was doing a great job as a trainer; I had no clue as to why he was being such a problem.

Soon the book The Anatomy of Peace fell into my lap with a recommendation that it might help solve my problem. My first reaction was “I don’t need this, I just need to get this supervisor out of my way.” But I was wrong. As I read the book I was impressed how the ideas challenged me to get outside of my own way of seeing. This was really hard for me to do because it forced me to see this supervisor as a person. There was one line in the book that changed the whole game for me, “We invite in others the very behaviors we say we hate.” When I read that I realized I needed to be responsible for my contribution to the problem I was having. I was finally able to see how I was actually provoking negative behavior from this supervisor. It turns out the way I was going about scheduling was not working for the supervisor; it was hindering his own scheduling. I was also training in a way that was not taking into account what the employees needed and what the supervisor needed. I found out that he thought I was the problem.

I decided to have a meeting. In this meeting I told the supervisor all the things I was doing that I thought were getting in his way or making his life harder. He was impressed and after discussing both of our needs and objectives we saw that neither of us was worthy of firing. We both were trying our best but had been blind to how we were affecting each other.

From that moment on our work changed dramatically. Training's improved. We held them more often and with better topics. The employees benefited, sales increased overall, and the company was able to see improved engagement from its employees.

Here at Arbinger we have a saying about The Anatomy of Peace—it’s about as soft as a brick. It hit me hard when I needed it most.

Sam Whitney is Client Solutions Manager at the Arbinger Institute, the organization-author of the bestsellers Leadership and Self-Deception and The Anatomy of Peace, which teach concepts and models designed around the idea that seeing people as people can dramatically impact the results we achieve in organizations, in relationships, and in the world. Click here to learn more.

The Treasure in Books

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates loot on Treasure Island

and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life."

This is one of my favorite Walt Disney quotes.  A lot of quotes we see, no matter who they come from, tend to be just soundbites.  But they're just comments with little actual meaning and left up to the reader to interpret.

But this quote leaves little to figure out.  Reading is important.  It's important all the way through school . . . and beyond.  Anything you want to learn more about is probably in a book.  The Internet can be a great resource, but it doesn't take the place of a great book.

Whether we're trying or not, learning never ends and we all need to feed that learning.  I'm always talking about this with leaders.  Things change, people change, cultures change, and there are a number of author's out there that keep up on these changes for us.  All we need to do is pick up a book here and there.

Take a look at some of these author's writings and build your loot:  Mark Miller, Bill Treasurer, Julie Winkle Giulioni, Lee Cockerell, Cheryl Bachelder, Ken Blanchard, Chris Edmonds, Kevin Eikenberry.  Now get out there and pick up a book.

“To Do” or “To Stop?”

Well, I've been away from the blogosphere for about a month, but what a great way to

jump back in.  Today's guest blogger is John Manning, author of the brand new book, The Disciplined Leader: Keeping the Focus onWhat Really Matters.  Whether your leadership is in need of focus or refocus, this book is the place to go.  John gives you the tools to prioritize and create the right balance of activities to achieve the most successful results.

“To Do” or “To Stop?”

If you’re struggling with time management and feeling overwhelmed by the trivial many, it’s time to create a “To Stop” list.

Include activities on your list that aren’t vital to your professional and personal life and that can either be terminated or delegated to others. Consider involving your staff members in helping you develop this list, asking for their input. You may have people on your team who are happy to step up and assume more responsibility to improve their own skills. Lose what lacks real value in your life, and you’ll free up more time to focus on the “vital few” factors that drive your success.

Here are four steps to help you develop your “To Stop” list:

Evaluate where you spend your time. Pick an average week or month and chart your activities — write down what you are doing and what percentage of time you are spending on various tasks and responsibilities, e.g., answering emails, conference calls, putting out proverbial fires, etc. Within that snapshot, analyze when you were most productive — what did that look like? When were you least productive — what did that look like? Of everything you’ve listed, what really matters? Anything that qualifies as “noise” or is extraneous to your company’s mission and core strategies isn’t vital. Those are the items that belong on your “To Stop” list.

Understand the impact. Once you’ve charted what you’re truly doing with your precious time, it will be impossible to ignore or overlook the correlation between the “trivial many” and lost productivity. Let that discovery and any associated revelations (good or bad!) get under your skin and motivate you. Embrace this very natural catalyst to jumpstart the changes you’ll personally need to make.

Challenge yourself to let go. Just as you would with an unhealthy relationship or a bad habit, call upon self-discipline to let go of the work habits undermining your progress, productivity and profit. Take your “To Stop” list and start acting on it. Challenge your team and ask them to step up and take on some added responsibility. Simply put, to stop what’s on your “To Stop” list! Either find someone else to do it or quit it altogether.

Stay focused on the “Vital Few.” Once you’ve eliminated the “trivial many” from your daily agenda, be proactive about doing more of what’s essential to your success. How? Dedicate your free minutes to the “Vital Few,” whatever is directly related to your core mission, critical goals, or only what you can or should do. Stay the course, centered in this way, and you’ll find it’s much easier to avoid the temptation to slip back into old habits or get derailed by those ever-new distracters.

What are some of the “trivial” things you do that you could assign to others?

Originally published February 9. 2015

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/create-stop-list-john-manning

John Manning is the president of Management Action Programs, Inc. (MAP), and author of The Disciplined Leader - now available on Amazon. Learn more about his work at www.disciplinedleader.com, or connect with him on Twitter @JohnMManning.

The Hidden Leader

Monday launched the new book, The Hidden Leader, by Steve Edinger and Laurie Sain.  It definitely hits the nail on the head and should be read by anyone who searches out leaders.  Future leaders aren't always the most confident extroverts.  They're the ones taking the initiative to get the job done.  Today I'm happy to host a blog post by author Steve Edinger.  Enjoy.

This post was originally published at www.edingergroup.com on August 1, 2014

On July 14th, 2014, I was running with the bulls in Pamplona. The running of the bulls is part of the Festival of San Fermin, which has been held annually since the middle ages, honoring the patron saint of the city. I ran on the last day of the festival with a small group of friends. On the return flight home I couldn’t help but reflect on the experience, and some parallels to my work with clients designing and implementing successful strategies. Here they are.

1. Clearly define your strategy in specific detail. We wanted to complete the run safely by:

Holding off on our start until the bulls ran by. Nobody can keep up with a bull running 22-24 mph and we wanted to run with the bulls (behind them really), not in front of the bulls.

Running as close to the left side of the street as possible. (In our observation of the run on the previous day, and video footage of past races, it seemed that because of the turn before the area of our starting position, they tended to drift to the right side.)

Sticking together in pairs. We used the buddy system to look out for each other.

Finishing the run by breaking left toward the 9 o’clock position of the bullring as soon as we entered.

Defining the outcomes with specificity is much harder than it seems, and good strategies are clarified so that they are easily understood. They are precise and specific as it relates to objectives, and how those objectives are going to be achieved. This is the most difficult part of executive work, as it requires patience, making tough decisions and judgments, as well as a lot of critical thinking. Because of that, leaders are often in a rush to just get this work done. It is much easier to read and respond to emails, attend meetings and focus on the tactical work that doesn’t require as much thought.

2. Be prepared for your strategy not to go according to plan. How many projects or initiatives in your business have turned out exactly as they were planned? My experience has been that it is rare. On the morning of the run there was a light rain, which made the streets a little more slick than usual. Instead of the bulls running together in a pack (which is the best case) they got separated as they came around one of the turns. On this day, they were running closer to the left side of the street.  Despite your best efforts and research, you will never be able to rely completely on it, and you will never have all of the facts. For example, we learned only on the morning of the race that the Miura Bulls, renowned as Spain’s largest and fastest bulls, were reserved for the final day. Imagine how that made us feel.

Even if the assumptions we make in formulating strategies are incorrect, it is critically important to go through the progression of doing so. In the process you become keenly aware of different alternatives, capabilities, and scenarios, and if necessary can adapt quickly and make adjustments in real time. As Dwight D. Eisenhower famously said, “plans are nothing; planning is everything.”

3. Getting everyone in your company to understand and behave consistently with your culture is the most important thing you can do to get your strategy implemented.  Most of the runners in Pamplona shared the same goal—to finish without being punctured, pierced, or steamrolled. While there are always a few with different goals (some want to touch or run in between them), the vast majority shared that objective. But as soon as the rocket to start the race went off, things got pretty chaotic with runners of different speeds getting in each other’s way, and often hindering one another in their own rational self-interest.

Even when people in an organization have the same overall goals for the company to succeed, individual approaches can vary greatly. This tends to reduce quality of work and productivity, as well as create conflict. To prevent this, people must understand what is expected of them in your culture, and how they fulfill your strategy. Further, they need to have exemplars to look to as role models, and appropriate rewards and consequences.

4. Take time to evaluate your performance. For the entire day following the run as we traveled from Pamplona to Madrid before heading home, we relived every moment. The emotions leading up to the run, what happened during the run, what others saw from their vantage point and so forth. We only ran once, and in your organization the run is continuous.

My most successful clients are unquestionably those who review their strategy at regular intervals, make adjustments, and keep it dynamic. It doesn’t sit on a shelf in a binder. They work hard to integrate strategic perspective into all of the work they do and for any projects or initiatives.  They ask the question “how will this help us to achieve our strategy?”

The running of the bulls is an extraordinary and unique experience. While I’ll never do it again, I found valuable insights from the run that illustrated what is critical when creating and executing a strategy. Done well, you can still succeed even when everything doesn’t go as you expected. All 8 of us completed the running of the bulls, unscathed.

Scott Edinger is co-author of the new book The Hidden Leader. As founder of Edinger Consulting Group, Scott has worked with leaders in nearly every industry sector, helping them formulate and implement growth strategies, increase revenue and profit, develop leadership capacity, drive employee engagement, and attract and retain talent.

Leaders Need Change

If you think back a number of years you may recall that there used to be a VERY distinguishable difference between leaders and staff.  ALL work was done by the staff and the leaders oversaw that work.  The leaders’ thought was, “I don’t care how you get it done, just do it.  Now!”  There was a very clear line in the sand.

Today’s leaders are finding out that they can’t command staff’s best work.  An environment must be created to promote the desire to do their best.  It’s actually become more of a partnership between leader and staff.

Think of all the things that have gone on over the years, like:

• more competition,
• new technology,
• restructuring/mergers,
• changing values and needs of today’s staff,
• increased demand for better customer service.

This is all reflected in the way we lead.

Three basic things can help you out on your road to a new partnership.

• Energize: It’s not possible to be effective while just trying to infuse energy in your team.  Use their energy, channel into it, and leave them with more than what they started out with.
• Support: You’ll need to be there for them to pick up the pieces if they fall.  That doesn’t mean to be there to stop them from falling.  This is how people learn.  Encourage staff to question.  Even if it’s the dumbest question you’ve ever heard, it’s a learning time for them.
• Communicate: You’ve heard the old saying, “knowledge is power”, I’m sure.  True statement.  But the only way that it can be good is to spread some of that knowledge around.  The constant changes that we live with requires you to communicate more and more.  Don’t always rely on training, memos, etc.  Get out there and do it yourself.

For goodness sakes, don’t be afraid of change.  Change is good.  Most people just make it bad.

Change Doesn't Have to Hurt

To have success with change requires flexibility and adaptability. If you can grab the reins and act as a change leader yourself, you’ll be personally helping in leading the organization to great achievements.

With change normally comes resistance. In order to lead change you need to know just what kinds of resistance there are. Here are just a few, listed in “Individual Resistance from Employees to Organizational Change”, by Dr. Chuang,Yuh-Shy:

·         Personal loss. Right or wrong, people are afraid they’ll lose something, particularly job security and pay.
·         Loss of pride and satisfaction. A concern about ending up with jobs that no longer require their abilities and skills.
·         Reduced responsibility. Jobs will be reduced to menial tasks without responsibility.
·         Loss of status. Loss of job titles, responsibility, or authority.

But on the other hand, there are probably more positive things to think about than negative.

Yuh-Shy lists things such as:

·         Personal gain. New job titles, more responsibility, more money, and more authority.
·         More security. Greater job security because of the need for increased skills. Possible salary increases.
·         More status/prestige. Possibly a new title or new office.
·         More responsibility or authority. Maybe new responsibility or a new supervisor who assigns more responsibility than the previous one did. This could lead to future promotions.

You know, if you really think about it, people actually love change. People constantly pursue promotions and new job responsibilities; buy personal development books and start their own businesses. They change careers, jobs, and even organizations – all in the name of change.

People love change – they just hate having to be forced to change.

You can help guide change no matter where you fall in the organizational chart. Being a change leader can put you in the position of being someone who has greater career potential. Christina Tangora Schlachter and Terry Hildebrandt, authors of “Leading Business Change For Dummies” say that you can begin to spark positive change by doing one simple thing . . . becoming proactive.

Rebuild Yourself

How many of you have ever been in the military? What’s the basic premise of boot camp? They break you down and build you back up “properly”. It doesn’t matter who you are or

where you came from, the best way - and quickest - to build you into a military leader is to knock you back and send you on a different path which will make you “all that you can be”. The next time you Google ‘leaders’, count how many military people - and not just officers - are included.

Sometimes you don’t realize it but you might just need a reality check - kind of like boot camp. Check out the tough love, tell it like it is books by Larry Winget. In his book, People Are Idiots and I Can Prove It!, Winget lays out a list for change for you:

• Decide to change,
• Know why it is important for you to change,
• Be willing to do whatever it takes to change,
• Do whatever it takes to change,
• When you fail, dust yourself off and start again,
• When you get there, celebrate!,
• Move on, and
• Become totally committed.

Make the decision, do what it takes, celebrate (don’t forget that one), and commit. Like the old Nike slogan says, “Just Do It”.

Remember - in whatever you’re doing, or will do, you just may fail or not live up to your own expectations - you’re a leader, not a robot. A true leader will be prepared for this and will be able to “dust yourself off and start again”.

Sprint Empowers "Social Media Ninjas" to Help in Turnaround

Today I'm happy and privileged to host a blog post by Bob Thompson, author of Hooked on Customers.

In 2007, Sprint’s customer satisfaction rating was 61, worst in the wireless telecom industry by a wide margin. Fast forward five years and CEO Dan Hesse had accomplished an amazing turnaround. Sprint’s ACSI score climbed ten points to an industry-leading 71—the biggest improvement of any company in any industry—and was ranked number one in call center satisfaction.

How did Hesse do it? Given the bleak situation, he could have continued to slash costs, hunker down, and hope for a buyer to rescue the company. Instead, taking a customer-centric approach, he directed the organization to fix its customer service problems and innovate to increase value to customers.

No doubt low morale was a factor in poor customer experiences. In the commentary surrounding the "Sprint 1000" debacle (the company fired customers due to excessive support requests), many said that the calls were the result of dealing with Sprint employees who could not take care of a problem, getting transferred around, and even being dropped and having to call back. In short, customers wanted more “one and done” calls.

I’ve written previously that authority, insights, and motivation are key to empowering call center agents to improve first call resolution (FCR) and delight customers. Sprint has invested in an array of call center technologies and software applications to help agents resolve service requests more effectively. However, it’s not clear that any specific solution had a transformative impact. Rather, it was Hesse’s decision to make customer experience a corporate goal, and the use of analytics to focus on the right problems, that made the biggest difference, in my view.

I do think Sprint made innovative use of social media to empower its employees to serve as “ambassadors” for the company. An offshoot of its “Employees Helping Customers” initiative, Social Media Ninjas was launched in 2010 to help improve Sprint’s reputation using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Jennifer Sniderman, Sprint’s group manager of employee communications, said the program was inspired by discussions about “how to leverage outreach to customers as a competitive advantage.” Customers were taking to social media to vent about problems, so why not equip Sprint employees to engage and help? Sniderman said Ninjas were asked to “have an authentic conversation, talk about what you know, be friendly, help when you can, and answer questions.”

All too often, support issues are dumped on the contact center, including problems created in product development, marketing, or elsewhere. Sprint’s Social Media Ninjas program is a brilliant use of social media to unleash the influence of thousands of employees to rebuild its brand. As of December 2012, 2,700 Ninjas were helping to improve Sprint’s reputation using their personal networks to engage with customers. Inviting all employees to lend a hand helping customers also sends a message that delivering a great customer experience is everyone’s responsibility.

By 2013 employee morale had noticeably improved. On Glassdoor, one account executive employed for eight years called his experience a “wild, awesome ride” and gives Sprint management good marks for innovation, cleaning out poor performers, and listening to employees. Hesse has earned a 79 percent approval rating, significantly better than his peers at major wireless carriers.

About Bob

Bob Thompson is an international authority on customer-centric business management who has researched and shaped leading industry trends since 1998. He is founder and CEO of CustomerThink Corporation, an independent research and publishing firm, and founder and editor-in-chief of CustomerThink.com, the world's largest online community dedicated to helping business leaders develop and implement customer-centric business strategies. His book Hooked on Customers (April 2014) reveals the five habits of leading customer-centric firms.

For more information visit http://hookedoncustomers.com

Baby Service Steps

Simple question . . . How many successful organizations do you know of that

don't have some kind of customer service program for their employee's?  I'd be willing to guess, not many.

Take a look at such company's as, Disney, Zappo's, FedEx, and Wegmans (grocery chain).  These organizations are ranked at or near the top in customer service every year.  They all have customer service programs of some form.

We often hear the same things, "We already give good service", "We don't get many complaints".  Well why wouldn't you want to give "extraordinary" service or get even less complaints?

If nothing else, a CS program serves as a reminder to employee's to do even better than they are already.  It provides people with reminders and fresh ideas.  It turns those little light bulbs on . . . or back on.

Start thinking about it today.  Start small and grow from there.  It doesn't need to be extravagant - email reminders/ideas, newsletters, pre-work meetings, shared stories of "wow" service.  Do any of this and you're well on your way to better service.

The Outstanding Organization

These last couple of weeks I’ve had the pleasure of reading, The Outstanding Organization, by Karen Martin.  I’ll tell you what - every organization that’s trying to improve or going through anything like a merger or restructuring should be reading this book.

There have been NUMEROUS books written on performance improvement by numerous “experts”, but they’re all, in some way, very similar . . . lots of theories.

In, The Outstanding Organization, Karen Martin, in five chapters, explains the straight to the point, duh factor of how to succeed.  She says that chaos is the main underlying issue in failed improvement.  “Chaos sabotages your ability to provide value to your customers, satisfy shareholders, . . .”  “Left unchecked, chaos destroys everything that’s good about an organization.”  Too many times, organizations start to plan without looking enough at what’s already happening and jump into the fire too quickly.

Chapter One begins right where the book should - the fundamentals.  I’ve had a couple of friends who have “flipped” houses.  What do you think the first thing is that they look at when checking out new properties?  The foundation.  Without a good foundation in business, you’re going to hold onto chaos and be unable to develop any kind of consistency.

From there Martin goes into creating clarity - truth seeking and truth telling.  Without it causes a psychological drain on everyone involved.

I loved the section on the problem of lack of focus.  She calls this “organizational attention-deficit-disorder.”  There must be focus and a sense of discipline instilled in the organization in order to get over the hurdles.

And lastly is employee engagement.  People talk and talk and talk about it, but as Karen says, it’s “the single largest contributor to an organization’s success”.

This book is based on Martin’s extensive research and experience with a number of organizations.  She taught these organizations not to accept the chaos as a norm but to fall back to the fundamentals and open the curtains to improvement.

If you’re looking for some no-nonsense ways to get your organization on, or back on track, you need, The Outstanding Organization.


Author, speaker, and consultant, Karen Martin, provides practical strategies and tools for building an Outstanding Organization. The Outstanding Organization: Generate Business Results by Eliminating Chaos and Building the Foundation for Everyday Excellence is available at bookstores nationwide and on Amazon.

"Remarkable" Workshop

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Kevin Eikenberry Groups' Bud to Boss Workshop.  They certainly lived up to their tagline of "You Are Remarkable."

While other leadership training workshops tend to be canned and uneventful, the Bud to Boss facilitator, Valerie Plis, tailored the two days to the attendees' personality's and needs.

Some would look at the agenda and think there's nothing new that's going to happen here.  But I was very pleasantly surprised.  I didn't believe anyone could come up with so many new and creative ways of leading.

One of my favorite elements of the workshop (and of most attending) was the ease of understanding that Bud to Boss makes of the DiSC model.  Valerie used the entire group of attendees to illustrate the quadrants so we could experience it first hand.

Another of my favorites, that we used continuously throughout the two days, was:

• acknowledge the (issue),
• ask questions,
• set expectations.

By doing these three things, you can effectively deal with most any problem.

And lastly, the Bud to Boss ABC's of Coaching (accountability, belief, conversation) opened all of our eyes and gave us a good stepping off point to becoming remarkable leaders.

Would I recommend this workshop for new leaders?  No.  I'd recommend this workshop for leaders at all levels.  So take a look at the workshop link above and find a workshop near you.

Don't Fight It

Don't fight CHANGE. It happens. It must happen in order to grow.

You can try to ignore change, but it doesn't stop it. You can try to stop change, but you're just fooling yourself. You can try to insulate yourself from the effects of change, but that's just speeding up career death. You can't fight change and expect to be successful.

Watch out for these 7 warning signs of change resistance. You're:

• still using the old rules to play the new game.



• ducking new assignments.



• trying to slow things down.



• working hard to control the uncontrollable.



• playing the role of victim.



• hoping someone else can make things better for you.



• absolutely paralyzed, like a deer in the headlights.

A good leader makes responsiveness to change your PERSONAL mission. Be a Change Leader!

The Buck Starts Here

I'm presenting a corporate program on change tomorrow and in my research and development I found a very interesting "chain of excellence". It comes from, my fave, Disney.

Disney's Chain of Excellence goes like this:
Leadership Excellence -- Cast Excellence -- Guest Satisfaction -- Loyalty & Financial Results.
Every level is dependent on another. You can't have Cast Excellence unless you have Leadership Excellence. You can't have Guest Satisfaction unless you have Cast Excellence. You can't have Loyalty & Financial Results unless you have Guest Satisfaction.

The thing that really stands out after looking at this model is that you can't have any of the three levels unless you have the first - Leadership Excellence. This isn't where the buck stops, it's where it starts!

Leadership development and succession planning should be a top priority for all organizations.

Remarkable In Tampa

The leading new supervisor training, based on the book, From Bud to Boss: Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership, is coming to Tampa, FL on November 9-10. Having worked with the writers, Kevin Eikenberry and Guy Harris, I recommend this workshop for anyone who is looking to increase their leadership skills. Find out more right here - B2B Workshop Tampa.

Top 10 Reasons to Go to the Bud to Boss Workshop:
#10 You are a new supervisor and you want to learn more so you can be successful in your new role.
#9 You train new supervisors in your organization and you'd like new resources and tips to share.
#8 You'd like to be more effective in leading others.
#7 You loved the book From Bud to Boss and you'd like a chance to interact on the topics in the book with an expert trainer.
#6 You haven't read the book yet but you want a chance to interact and learn from an expert trainer.
#5 You're struggling with a particular leadership issue and you'd like to get insights from others.
#4 You happen to have Nov 9-10 wide open on your calendar, and you have plenty of money left in your training budget.
#3 You're in the mood for a road trip.
#2 You've always wanted to visit Busch Gardens in Tampa.
#1 You want to attend a premier training event for new supervisors because you know you will gain knowledge and skills to raise your leadership expertise to a new level.

You'll have a remarkable time. I hope to see you there!

Where The Heck Did The Time Go?

Where the heck did the time go? Wow. How many of us have asked ourselves that one . . . many times?

The average day can be divided into six segments (with average hours):
Sleep - 8
Work - 8
Eat - 3
Personal Hygiene - 1
Commute - 2, and
Various - 2

Most people think they know how much time they spend on what they do. But unless you’re keeping track of it, mmmmm no, you really don’t. It’s like a diet. Until you start writing down EVERYTHING you eat, you don’t really have a clear picture of what you’re putting in your body – believe me, I’ve done it.

According to Merrill & Donna Douglass in their book Manage Your Time Your Work Yourself, “we have about two hours each day to do the various personal things that make life worth living. That’s not much. But it gets worse. By their own account, most people waste at least two hours every day”! Any free evening is a luxury.

The only way to get out of this rut is to sit down and figure out just what you’re spending time on and learn to manage your time better. This is called – work life balance.

The Douglass’s suggest drawing three circles divided like a pie. In one, distribute your time the way you THINK is true. In the second, indicate how you ACTUALLY distribute your time. In the last, draw an IDEAL pie. “The difference between where you are now and where you would like to be is the source for possible goals.”

Just like anything you do to be successful, you need to plan and set goals.

Design Your Culture

"But I thought a culture just happens?" Well Skippy, a lot of them do. But a lot of them are baaaad.

The title of this post comes from one of the strategies that Lee Cockerell discusses in his book, Creating Magic, on how to create a culture of INCLUSION. The first line in that section defines a corporate culture (via Disney Institute) as "the system of values and beliefs an organization holds that drives actions and behaviors and influences relationships."

I've actually heard stories of organizations saying they don't need to work on their culture because it will just happen, that that will be their TRUE culture. Alert - Alert - Alert Will Robinson. You're looking at the makings of one of those baaaad culture's.

Leaders of your organization need to work on directing the culture - focusing on your values, beliefs, and relationships - so that it doesn't turn or work against you. One of the best ways to direct your culture is to use INCLUSION. I don't think there's any faster way to derail a culture than to exclude employee's. The less they know - the less they are asked - the less they are "partners" - the worse your culture will be.

Just think about it a second. With a lack of inclusion, comes more opportunity for "grapevine" and "water-cooler" talk. Your culture quickly becomes one that works AGAINST your organization.

Now I could ramble on about many aspects of growing and directing your organizational culture (and maybe some day I will) but if you create a sense of INCLUSION, you're going to be well on your way.

What kind of changes can you make, today, in the creation of a culture of INCLUSION?

It's New, It's Exciting

"What?", you ask. Why Google+ of course. Hey. Everyone else is talking about it, why can't I.

What is Google+? It's a new social network. You can either share with people you actually know, or with anyone who wants to follow you. Seems to me like a cross between Facebook and Twitter. Until it's fully up and they have the kinks out, you can join only by limited invitations - I got one.

I was lucky enough to get an invite last week and jumped right on it. At first glance it didn't seem too awful special. But as I started getting into it a little I quickly began to see some good things.

First of all, it's a chance to start over. How many people have a bazillion friends on that other big social network and only actually know a handful? How many people have friended all of your elementary and high school buddies and are now realizing, "I hadn't communicated with these people in years for a reason"?

The best thing I like, so far, about Google+ - besides the slate being clean - is the use of Circles of friends. You can add friends to Circles like, Business, Family, Acquaintances, or just Following. Instead of seeing every Tom, Dick, and Harry in your Stream of posts, you can click on a Circle and see only those people.

And another neat thing - if people add you to their Circle . . . you don't have to follow them back - it's not automatic. And visa versa. No requesting to "be friends". Plus, neither party knows what Circle they're a part of.

Check it out. Google is on to something here. Stay tuned for the expansion.