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Month: August 2017

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Management Marketing Operations Personal Development

Talk Can Be Cheap and Costly

“Sunday Negotiation Insight”

“Evaluate the mindset that gives you advice. One that’s sane or insane, may have the best of intentions, but you’ll bear the cost for following such advice.” –Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert www.TheMasterNegotiator.com

“Talk Can Be Cheap And Costly”

Talk is cheap and cheap talk can be costly. The costly aspect of cheap talk can come in the form of too much bluster setting the groundwork for future activities. To the degree that bluster is believed, and depending on what’s at stake, there can be a high price to pay to bring such bluster to fruition.

When you’re engaged with a prognosticator or anyone that you perceive as being overly zealous of a position and/or expected outcome, be wary. Raise your level of awareness to the possibility of being led to a place in which you do not wish to reside. By being mindful of such insights you might possibly prevent yourself from falling prey to cheap talk. Even if what someone engages in is all talk and no action, such sentiments could cost you time, money, and other assets that you might have used to progress your own agenda.

Understanding the potential cost of cheap talk can allow you to think differently per the cost you might have to incur from following someone else’s ideology. Thus, be very mindful as to the course of direction you adopt as the result of who and what you believe. If you don’t like where someone’s edicts might lead, don’t follow. By being mentally flexible, you’ll always be more adept at making course corrections … and everything will be right with the world.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

In a negotiation, be careful of whose verbal elixir you consume. Instead of it making you younger, wiser, and better off, it might just increase your aging process in the form of more stress, anxiety, and a worse outcome for you. Remember, everything that glitters ain’t gold. Such is definitely the case when it comes to someone espousing words that intentionally, or unintentionally lead you upon a mental path that doesn’t serve you. Sometimes, when you stare into the abyss (i.e. become mesmerized), the abyss stares back at you (i.e. you lose your will). That may cause you to lose your control. Control yourself by controlling what you believe and the source of those beliefs.

 Remember, you’re always negotiating.

 

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Human Resources Management Marketing Skills

Body Language – How to Better Interpret What You See

“Sometimes, the subliminal mind stores impressions of what the conscious mind is unaware of. In order to see better, look for the unseen.” –Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert,www.TheMasterNegotiator.com

When observing your body language, do you take the time to interpret what you see? I don’t mean, if you see a cat, you recognize it as a cat and then go about addressing your next activity. What I’m referring to, especially when it comes to major decisions, is understanding how you formulate your decision based on the way you interpret what you’re seeing.

When it comes to reading body language, many experts will inform you that the eyes are the window to the soul. That’s true to a degree and not so truthful. The one consideration that has to be factored in that analysis is the interpreter. That means, per the way each of us see ourself, we see the world. Thus, if we say someone looks up and to the left, they’re recalling something that’s occurred in the past, we may be right. We could also be wrong if that person’s inclination is to look up and to the left when considering future activities. Therefore, we must know how that person uses her eyes to gain a higher level of perspective per what that person is doing at that time. That’s one aspect per how we perceive that person. The other aspect that we should consider is why we’re giving the meaning to that person’s actions (i.e. what we really saw). If you’ve observed the person’s eye movement throughout a conversation and you note that she looks up and to the left when considering future activities, you have a foundation upon which to base your assumptions. Ergo, be sure to base your perception and what you see on a firm foundation, not just conjecture. To do so otherwise could cause you to fall prey to your lying eyes attempting to convince you that you’re seeing the truth. Your eyes may not lie to you, but they can be lied to, which could place you in a quagmire.

Consider the following checklist, based on the importance of the decision.

  1. Ask why you’re interpreting what you see the way you’re interpreting it.
  2. Ask yourself what you’re not seeing or taking into account per what you’re seeing.
  3. Consider how you might alter your perspective by looking at the situation differently.
  4. Ask, if I continue to see something from the same perspective, where might it lead my thoughts.
  5. How long do I need to think about this? Should I take a break, and if so for how long before I can revisit and possibly reframe what I’m seeing.

It’s been said that seeing is believing. That’s true to some degree because to a degree we see what we expect to see; that has to do with the way our brain perceives motion, fills in voids, etc. The point is, while we believe our eyes don’t lie to us, we can believe a lie that we see. Thus, always be mindful about how you glean some clues as to what someone is thinking, based on the movement of their eyes. Eye movement is part of the puzzle. To be more exact, look for clusters of body movements (i.e. hands, head, feet, etc.) to add validity to your assessment.

The better you become at deciphering how you interpreted what your eyes see, the better you’ll be able to read body language. Then, you’ll be more certain about believing what your eyes are telling you … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

Categories
Growth News and Politics Personal Development Women In Business

HRH Princess Lamia: Saudi Women Have More Rights Than They Realize

HRH Princess Lamia: Saudi Women have More Rights Than They Realize

BY: NICOLE SAWYER

ALWALEED PHILANTHROPIES

HRH Princess Lamia Al Saud is the Secretary General and member of the Board of Trustees at Alwaleed Philanthropies.

In a deeply conservative culture, the women of Saudi Arabia are as mysterious to outsiders as the veils which mask their faces. Who are these women? What inspires them? What is life like behind the veil? Are they as confined as the lens of mainstream media so often portrays, or are they bold, beautiful, empowered women who are completely misunderstood?

Recently, a young Saudi woman named Khulood, was detained after a controversial video went viral, depicting her wearing a miniskirt, walking around the conservative Najd region.

The model’s snapchat post sparked outrage across the Islamic kingdom and mass opinion was clearly divided; some traditionalists calling for her arrest, others jumping to defend her bravery.

I had the rare chance to sit down with a lead reformer on women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, Her Royal Highness Princess Lamia Al Saud, granddaughter of King Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. We discussed the evolving role of women in Saudi Arabia.

The West views Saudi women as oppressed because they are segregated from men in public, banned from driving cars, and prevented from leaving the house without permission from their male guardians, but Princess Lamia tells a different story.

“These women are warriors. I believe the Saudi women is most powerful women on earth because she is really, really, really strong and she believes in herself and she knows her capability. They’re very stubborn and they know exactly what they want,” she said.

Princess Lamia explained how it’s not technically “against the law” for women to drive or socialize with men in public that are not related to them, rather these rules follow “tribal ethics and deep-rooted religious beliefs” that have been in place for centuries.

For the purpose of progress, she says people shouldn’t judge what they don’t fully understand.

“You have to accept the other as is, even if you don’t agree,” said Princess Lamia.

“You have to understand their culture, their tradition before you judge, before you say whether there is a violation, whether it is right or wrong. This is what we depend on to create understanding and tolerance,” explained the princess who serves as secretary-general at Alwaleed Philanthropies, the charitable organization where Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the world’s richest people, pledged to donate his entire $32 billion fortune towards initiatives to combat disease, poverty and the empowerment of women.

ALWALEED PHILANTHROPIES

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the world’s richest people, pledges to donate his entire $32 billion fortune towards initiatives to combat disease, poverty and empower women.

Prince Alwaleed is an advocate of female freedom in the Saudi peninsula and financed the training for the first female commercial airline pilot, Hanadi Zakaria al Hindi. He said at her graduation that he is “in full support of Saudi ladies working in all fields.”

Hanadi Zakaria al Hindi, First Saudi Female Pilot Breaks Glass Ceiling for Other Women

Princess Lamia applauds her young country of 85-years for making efforts to create an environment conducive to working women. “50 years ago, Riyadh was a small village and women didn’t have that much of an opportunity or even the awareness of the role in the community,” she said.

Today, the Saudi government is taking steps to inspire women to enter the workforce as it seeks to be more economically dynamic and aligned with the developed world.

In the past decade, tens of thousands of Saudi women have studied abroad through government scholarship programs. King Abdullah appointed 30 women to the country’s top advisory body, the Shura Council and granted women the right to vote in 2015.

Still, Princess Lamia doesn’t agree with all the rules enforced by the religious establishment, she’d like to see the guardian law regulated and more ladies in leadership roles.

She and a team of ten women who make up the board of trustees for Alwaleed Philanthropies are working to empower thousands of women by giving them career training and educating them about their legal rights through the Wa’iyah Initiative.

They hope to create a model that can serve as a roadmap for others to encourage tolerance and openness for women’s rights.

ALWALEED PHILANTHROPIES

Princess Lamia and ten women make up the board of trustees for Alwaleed Philanthropies.

“Even me as a secretary general when we first started this initiative, I was very excited, I was scared and shocked. I didn’t know many of my rights as a woman and a Saudi citizen,” Princess Lamia said.

“Through Wa’iyah, we’re trying to create awareness and make the women understand their rights. We have a lot of rights that they do not understand. Of course, you heard in the media about guardianship. Well it’s true we do have a problem with that. There’s a lot of girls that suffer which I would never deny. But you cannot fix it or even fight it. You have to understand, you have a legal and religious way to convince the society here. The old generation says the guardian, your father your brother is your protector, he is not abusing you,” Princess Lamia explained.

“That’s what makes our work harder. You’re not only working with general society beliefs, no it’s more deeper and more stronger, we are going to the roots. You need to know how to crack it,” she said.

“I would never ever want to be apart from my family, or not having the blessing of my father or brother. Even you, I don’t think any person in the world would not love to have the blessing of their family. But I would say [The guardian law] it needs a guideline, it needs a rule, where to stop. Where’s it’s okay and where it’s not ok.”

It’s human nature to fear what we don’t understand. But as Saudi Arabia works towards change in their country, never before has it been so important for Westerners to be open minded.

The princess shared her views on how far her 85-year old country has come regarding women’s role in society, the Trump administration’s travel ban, the refugee crisis and much more.

 

 

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

5 Signs You’ve Outgrown Your Ecosystem

When you’ve outgrown your ecosystem, you’re usually the last one to know.

You start to feel uninspired by your surroundings and the people in it. You’ve worked on yourself, climbed new mountains and added new skills while the rest of your tribe has stagnated.
You’re conflicted because you genuinely like – or even love – the people around you. But on a deeper level you’re restless and unfulfilled.


This is one of the most common challenges I see in my work with high-performers.

Staying stuck in an ecosystem you’ve outgrown, no matter how familiar and comfortable it feels to you, is like a death sentence for your potential.

Here are 5 ways to tell if you’ve outgrown your ecosystem:

 

  1.       What once excited you now bores you.

…but everyone in your ecosystem still only wants to do the stuff that now bores you.

And since your work and/or personal relationships may have been forged around these things that now bore you, you feel like you have to pretend to like it because…what’s your alternative?

You feel stuck.

 

  1. People’s problems seem ridiculously small to you.

The stuff that downright debilitates other people is junior varsity for you.

You can see the cause, effect and solution of their problems in a nanosecond…even if they’ve been stuck for months, years or even a lifetime.

You’ve outgrown their problems.

You want BIGGER problems.

The quality of your problems determine the quality of your life.

Better yet, the quality of the problems of the people closest to you also determine the quality of your life. Choose wisely.

 

  1. You’ve become a dumping ground for other people’s problems

Because you’ve got your sh*t figured out, everyone wants a piece of what you’ve got. But the problem is, no one wants to work for it the way you did. They want your shortcuts.

So they come to you for “advice” or to “pick your brain,” which mostly means they just want to unload some garbage and soak up your awesomeness so they can go back to living their default life…

…while you now get to carry the crapbag they dumped on you.

 

  1. No one understands your problems.

The people around you make you feel guilty for wanting to dream bigger, move faster, climb higher. “You should be grateful for what you have,” becomes the resounding chorus.

They don’t understand your unrest and desire to keep expanding, for expanding threatens safety.  And they value safety above all else.

And your disdain for safety is at an all time high.

 

​​​​​​​5. Lack of “Hell Yeas!” on your horizon.

If you look out at your future, is there anything on the horizon that evokes a Hell Yea! feeling of anticipation? Anything that makes you puke in your throat a little?

Or is it just More of the Same?

If your ecosystem is full of vibrant people, meaningful challenges and novel opportunities…then you’ll be beating off Hell Yea’s with a stick.

 

Well now what?

If you’ve figured out you’ve officially outgrown your ecosystem, congratulations. It means you’ve grown and it’s time to level up. And there’s no time to waste.

In the coming weeks I’ll be writing about ways to make this challenging – and transformational – transition.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear if this caused an Awakening on your end…so share your experiences with me.

-DQ​​​​​​​

PS – If you’re serious about leveling up, I offer an intense 3-on-1 (3 of us, 1 of you) short-term breakthrough coaching experience that’s not for the faint of heart. Perfect for those ready to answer the call.

Next intake is mid-October and are receiving interviews over the next few weeks. Inquire now.

 

Categories
Best Practices Growth Leadership Personal Development

5 Sure Ways To Turn Away Top Talent

It’s a constant challenge for any business to attract the best talent against all the competition and this may well be high on your list of business priorities for the immediate short-term. I just wonder however, how much of the everyday business activity and behaviors you miss as CEO that could be severely diluting your chances of getting the talent you need.  It’s detail that is quite possibly invisible to you.

Sadly, I’m finding that simple good manners and courtesy are going downhill in the corporate world with people just not responding, not being accountable and responsible for getting a task done, not doing what they say they will do and having a general disrespect for others time and agenda. In my opinion, this all-too-common level of apathy is having a dramatic effect on corporate culture and therefore on securing the top talent and here’s why:

  • Long drawn out recruitment processes – I’ve heard several instances of this in recent months and the apparent indifference with the lack of contact between interview, next communication and final job offer gives the candidate a distinct impression of them not being valued or cared about. A sure way for anybody, let alone a keen, bright and driven millennial to be turned off and go elsewhere where things are ‘more dynamic’. Just keep the communication going!

 

  • Not considering that they have other options – a foolhardy assumption. Just because you think your organization is a top brand, you’re offering a better package or good jobs are hard to come by doesn’t mean the candidate will hang around for you to get your act together. They are attracted by much more than financial package, and respect is a huge factor.  Give them the respect of assuming they have other options as well as you.

 

  • Being a CEO who is not visible and authentic – ambitious individuals want to know just who they are working for and the personality of the leadership team is important to them. If you and your senior team are not ‘out there’ visible in the media, active on social media and prominent as business experts in your field, you could be missing out on an important differentiator. A high employee engagement factor is being proud of the company and leadership team. Make sure your senior team get the coaching needed to enhance their brand and visibility.

 

  • Not providing a solid and innovative approach to personal development – if you’re not openly demonstrating how your business is fully invested in the development of your people (and I don’t mean just great words on your careers page) then you’ll absolutely be way off mark with engaging the right people to your business. Progress and development is rated high for millennials especially when they choose their next role. Don’t just cut the training budget when things get tough – it’s quite possibly the worst and most expensive cut you can make.

 

  • Not providing an agile or a mobile working environment – with lifestyle and work balance becoming a higher priority for many today, not providing a flexible environment for office and home working, or time off for important family events for example, will be a negative. Having the opportunity to move around to different departments and learn a breadth of skills fast is highly attractive to most driven talent too. Examine if your culture is embracing of this or is it offered and frowned upon instead?

There are of course many ways in which talent is attracted to your company and these are just a few of the areas I’ve experienced in my work with authentic employee brand and engagement that get in the way.

As CEO you have a responsibility to minimize the risk in your business. Not addressing these important areas of employer brand investment could present a risk you have not considered fully enough.

ACTIONS

Review your 3 last year’s recruitment insights data and do the following:

  • Personally speak to a random selection of recent employees and get feedback on:
    • recruitment personnel and communication effectiveness
    • time taken from first communication to offer letter
    • what would they improve about the process?
  • Review candidates who did not take up the offer to join your company:
    • What are their reasons?
    • What was their experience of the interview process?
    • What was their impression of your company brand via the recruitment / interview process?
Categories
Growth Personal Development Women In Business

The New Normal

Hello C-Suite Community,

What is the new normal in today’s business environment? May believe its becoming an entrepreneurial leader. In most cases that means transitioning out of the C-Suite to business ownership. With business ownership comes a lot of responsibilities. Are you ready?

One of the keys to successfully transitioning from a C-Suite position to entrepreneurship is finding your new normal. Leaving corporate to become an entrepreneurial leader can be overwhelming, scary and you may feel uncertain at times. Follow a plan to keep you on track and focused on your goals. You can start your exit strategy by relying on the guidelines listed below.

Fully Commit by Setting Your Mindset to Leaving Corporate Security Behind

For most people, the thought of leaving the security of a paycheck behind is scary. It is important to have the right mindset when you leave the security of the corporate world as you plan your exit strategy. It may seem easy to keep a lifeline, “just in case”, but the truth is that will just hold you back. You will never be able to fully commit while you are still linked to a boss. You have to be 100% committed to leave everything that comes along with working a 9 to 5 job, or you will never reach your full potential.

Develop a Clear Plan

Most of the people looking to leave their C-Suite jobs are part of the Generation X era. At that age, you want to make sure you are going to be successful, and you certainly don’t want to lose all of your money because you went into a startup with no actual plan to execute. Think about what you are good at, and what your first step, second step, third step… is going to be. Being unhappy at your current job should not be your only motivation for beginning your own startup.

Take Inventory of your Skill Set Before You Transition Out

No matter what type of skills you’re applying when beginning a startup, you should always be learning more to help you grow a successful business. Never stop learning, if you do, you should stay and continue to collect your weekly paycheck. Some people make the mistake of putting their goals aside, to learn more. Don’t do this. You will end up falling behind, and never leaving GO. Be aware of your skill inventory, and learn while you are building your business. That way you are still taking steps toward success, while you are sharpening your skills. You will never find your new normal if you are putting everything on hold while you educate yourself.

 

Be Unstoppable Together

  

Do you have questions or comments about the issues in today’s post, want to know how to apply them, or how to help others with them? If so, contact me at connie@pheiffgroup.com or CLICK HERE to schedule a 20-minute discovery call to discuss with you personally.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Growth Human Resources Management Skills Women In Business

Is Positive Feedback Harder To Give Than Negative Feedback?

I’m sure you’re familiar with that unpleasant feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realize you have to give someone negative feedback. You don’t want any drama and you try to avoid conflict, but eventually you have to find a way to tell them that the report needs to be redone, that they’ve been late for the third time, or that the promotion is being given to someone else.

While it may not be surprising that, according to a recent HBR study, 21% of people will avoid giving negative feedback to direct reports, the same study revealed that 37% of people also don’t give positive feedback!  At that point, the question becomes: Is it actually harder to give praise than critique?

The article proposes a variety of reasons why people don’t give positive feedback, ranging from being “too busy” and forgetting, to feeling like a boss should be tough, or that giving praise was a sign of weakness.

Most intriguing to me, however, was the idea that some people don’t give positive feedback because they don’t know how. So from here, let’s look at three simple strategies for giving clear and effective positive feedback.

K.I.S.S.

No, I’m not suggesting you do anything that will warrant a call from HR. You are probably familiar with the age-old acronym K.I.S.S., or “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” Praise doesn’t need to be emotional, gushy, effusive or melodramatic. People just like to know – especially from you “tough graders” out there – that they have met your standards, produced high-quality work, or been successful at completing a difficult project on time and under budget.

Simple comments like, “Thanks for getting that piece back to me so quickly,” “The layout looks terrific, nice job,” or “Looks like you got everything back up to date, much better” are all that is needed to let people know where they stand. It also provides a sense of closure, which helps keep them from worrying that there may be more bad news to come, so they can comfortably shift their full attention to the next task on the list.

Be Specific

Generic comments like “good job,” while better than nothing, don’t tell the person what it is that you like about it, and can often feel perfunctory and insincere. Whatever it is, referencing the specific effort or product helps them to understand what is most important to you and encourages them to focus future efforts on achieving similar outcomes.

Even if it is just following up on something for which you had previously given negative feedback, acknowledge that the specific problem was fixed to appropriate standards and what positive outcome it promotes, e.g., “This new layout is much cleaner, and the image really pops; the client is going to love it.”

Look in the Mirror

If you’re really stuck for how to give praise, ask yourself, if you had done that work, how would you want to be appreciated? Be the boss you wish you’d had, and offer the word of praise that would have been meaningful to you.

Don’t worry that offering praise will make it seem like you’re “going soft” or that people will slack off once they think you’re happy. On the contrary, for many people, praise is actually a motivator. Success begets success, and feelings of success beget more behaviors of success.

What’s critical to understand is that when people feel like they receive sufficient positive feedback, it makes them more open to hearing and accepting negative feedback from the same person. This is because they know that the boss is fair and clear, and that all feedback, whether positive or negative, is honest and comes from the heart.

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Do you have trouble giving feedback, whether positive or negative?  Or do you have other questions or feedback about this issue? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss it with me personally!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Growth Management Skills Women In Business

Three Ways To Show You Believe In Others

The last person who had a stellar career without help from anyone whatsoever was … well … no one. So it makes no sense to lead as if the people around you never need help getting where they, and you, want them to go. In fact, just the opposite is true. If you want to create leaders who are Greater Than Yourself – and that should be your goal, by the way – then you need to express a deep belief in people, because none of us get very far without someone who believes in us more than we believe in ourselves.

If you struggle to believe in certain people, consider it your problem, not theirs. They were hired for a reason, so treat them like they deserve the job, address their skills gaps, and then lead them with an I-believe-in-you attitude that inspires their success. If you do this consistently over time, most people will succeed.

But how can you show people you believe in them? Glad you asked. Here are three ways:

Give Them Some Rope. Irnande Altema, who now is chief of staff for a state senator, recalls gravitating toward a supervisor early in her career because he saw her potential and gave her “several assignments so I could grow and develop.” That wasn’t always easy for Altema, but it probably wasn’t always easy for the supervisor, either.

When you believe in people, you push them out of their comfort zone even if it takes you out of yours. You give them responsibilities that stretch them, knowing that sometimes they will fail. Then you celebrate with them when they do well and support them when they struggle. And they may struggle. But if they know you believe in them, they seldom will lack for effort.

Serve Them Healthy Ego Biscuits. As a first-generation professional, Altema points out that she’s been prone to the “imposter syndrome” – the fear that you really aren’t good enough for the job you’ve been given. Her supervisor gave her regular reminders that she was “capable,” she said, but he also followed that by helping her create practical strategies to accomplish her goals. In other words, he didn’t just give her fluffy pastry compliments.

“He has more belief than I knew could exist, which makes me more diligent to not disappoint him or myself,” she said. “My confidence grows with each conversation and encouraging word he says to me. Now, I believe in me when others may not.”

Often, if we paint a portrait of who a person can become, that person will end up seeing himself or herself that way and begin to live that way. Darren Pierre said in elementary school he made low grades, was limited in his expression, and was growing up in a troubled home. Now he has a Ph.D., writes books, and gives talks frequently about the “power of speaking to a person’s potential.” Why did he make the change? Because a fourth-grade teacher believed in him and helped him see a different portrait for his life.

“What my teacher did was speak to who she knew me to be and not who I was showing up as,” Pierre said. “In doing so, she invited me and challenged me to do more, be more, and expect more of myself.”

Extend Grace but Speak the Truth. When Fred Winchar was a young manager, he recalls the power of belief expressed in one of his supervisors. Fred didn’t always handle his managerial authority well, but his supervisor never threw him under the bus.

“He ultimately would bear that responsibility to his higher ups, but he would also call me into his office and, without being a monster to me, make it very clear that my actions as a manager had a direct impact on both people and finances,” said Winchar, who now is president of Max Cash Title Loans. “He taught me how to pause. Think before I act. Take into consideration that each mistake could be an opportunity to learn. Take responsibility for my decisions. He was powerful yet not pretentious.”

If you spend much time reading or listening to self-help gurus, you’ll hear a lot about the importance of believing in yourself. And rightly so. But as an Extreme Leader, extending that belief to others is how you have the biggest impact.

 

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

5 Elements to Improve Speed of Change

5 Elements Improve Speed in Your Organization with Self-Management

Birds flock.  Why?  They are cooperating to find food, shelter, and avoid predators more quickly and easily.  How do they flock?  Hard-wired into their brains are the principles of flying at the same average speed, distance, and direction as their closest neighbors.  The hard-wired principles enable them to behave instinctively and accomplish the three goals more quickly and easily (shelter, food, and safety).  They are a self-organizing social system.  Their success depends on the cooperation of all the birds following all the hard-wired skills.

Can an organization operate as a self-organizing and/or self-management system, and should it?  Yes! Nature holds examples of self-organizing systems (birds, bees, ants etc.) and we can also find them in our economy.  WAZE, Lyft, Uber, Wikipedia and even the internet are all examples of self-organizing and self-management systems.  Can we apply these ideas in our organizations and teams?  Just as the success for the birds depends on cooperation to follow principles, success in organizations depends on cooperation of the people.

There is an important distinction between self- management and manager-dependency. Most organizations have a manager-dependent environment.  For example, in the typical organization managers are expected to know the answers and to solve the problems. They are expected to be omniscient and omnipotent.  They are expected to provide feedback to employees to create improved performance.  That is why they are often promoted to the manager.  They once did they job and so they have all the answers.

A manager-dependent environment encourages employees wait to receive ideas for improvement from their managers before making any significant changes in performance.  There is a hesitation to try new things for fear of being criticized or evaluated by the manager.    A manager-dependent environment creates fear and therefore less innovation.  Self-Management increases employee engagement and innovation.  Employees create their own feedback mechanisms and can act autonomously.  This accelerates the decisions and therefore accelerates the ability to adapt to changes.  It improves speed.

When my daughter Emily was 12, one morning she missed her school bus.  She was very upset and came downstairs to my office crying, “Dad, I missed the bus.  Can you take me to school?”  Of course I agreed but then asked her a question, “what do you need to do to catch the bus on your own from now on?’  She looked at me in a thoroughly confused manner.  At that moment I was not sure she could think of an idea.

When she arrived home that afternoon she said, “Dad, I thought about what you asked.   If you buy me a timer I will set it 5 minutes before the bus arrives and if it goes off I will know I only have 5 minutes left.  I can then easily catch the bus.”

I told her that sounded great.  I also asked her what else she could do to be prepared in the morning.  She said she would set her books out by the front door right before bed time.  For the next 2-1/2 years she used this method and always caught the bus on time.  She self-managed her ability to catch the bus by creating and following her own process.

How to increase speed.  To become more highly competitive organizations must ask employees to make more decisions on their own.  A recent book about the virtues of talent management has just been published.  It reinforces the Jack Welch management methods.  Welch insisted on providing frequent honest feedback with complete candor.  In my experience managers don’t have that kind of time to provide frequent feedback.  They lack the time and the skills to constantly be observing employees and providing feedback.   Managers should instead rely more on employee, trust them more, and facilitate them creating their own answers to their own problems just as my daughter was able to identify a way to catch her bus.

The 5 Elements

For employees to figure out ways to self-manage their own performance, a leader can clarify and communicate the key principles that will enable all employees to self-manage.  The five principles are Vision, Mission, Values, Strategy, and an effective Leadership Theory.  The leadership theory that provides the best opportunity for self-management is Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s Theory of Profound Knowledge.

A leader’s first responsibility is to create an environment that facilitates performance improvement. Those interested in accelerating results and performance need to be courageous and trust that employees can create their own solutions.  It requires a method to create an environment of trust and self-organization through the clarity of the 5 principles.

A manager-dependent environment is slow and talent management often includes a ranking of employees, rewarding the top performers and “yanking out” the poorer performers.  This policy and practice creates unnecessary competition minimizing the opportunity for innovation.  The “birds” will not naturally cooperate in this environment.

A leader can clarify the key principles which will allow the “bird” to self-manage.  Clarifying the strategic initiatives, the vision and mission enables employees to create their own objectives and methods for performance improvement.  With autonomy comes choice.  With choice comes engagement.  With engagement comes performance.   With self-management comes speed.

Wally Hauck, PhD has a cure for the “deadly disease” known as the typical performance appraisal.  Wally holds a doctorate in organizational leadership from Warren National University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from Iona College, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania.   Wally is a Certified Speaking Professional or CSP.  Wally has a passion for helping leaders let go of the old and embrace new thinking to improve leadership skills, employee engagement, and performance.

 

Categories
Best Practices Management Marketing Personal Development

What Aren’t Your Customers Telling You?

What Aren’t Your Customers Telling You

During a recent podcast, the interviewer asked me, “What is a question that other interviewers have not asked that you would like me to ask?” I’ve never been posed that question before in over 100 interviews.

The conversation was being recorded and felt pressure to answer quickly. I was unable to process the request at a conscious level. As a result, I ended up sharing something that I have only shared with a few close friends and colleagues. This shocked me.

Her question got me thinking.

Focus groups and surveys are powerful tools that innovators use to gather perspectives on their customers. Recruiters use interviews to discern more about job applicants. Friends even use a form of these to learn what other people think about them, their choices, or their personality.

Unfortunately, the way these approaches are traditionally done yields answers that are limited in value.

The reality is, people make decisions based on their subconscious beliefs, not conscious ones. And they are usually quite different. If you ask typical questions and give people time to ruminate over their responses, they will reply with what they believe to be true or what they think you want to hear. This is conscious thinking at work.

Another reason these approaches often don’t get to the heart of the matter is because the process of asking questions inadvertently “leads the witness” and biases their responses. The questions we ask impact the range of possible answers.

But what people don’t tell you may in fact be more valuable than what they tell you.

Given this, after using the approaches above, try asking one or more of the following questions:

  • What is something you are afraid to tell me?
  • What is something that you have never told anyone else that might be relevant to this conversation?
  • What is something you have not told me that you think might be valuable?
  • What is a question I did not ask that I should have asked?
  • What is a question you wish I asked that I didn’t?
  • What is something I should know that you did not tell me?
  • What is something positive (about the product, concept, idea) that you have not told me?
  • What is something negative that you have not told me?

And don’t given them a lot of time to contemplate the “right” answer. You want them to answer quickly. Gut reaction.

Make up your own questions. Of course to ask questions like these you need to create a safe environment where people feel comfortable saying what they truly believe with no repercussions.

Use these questions with everyone: prospects, clients, people who never bought from you (and might never), friends, family members, colleagues, your boss, co-workers, or anyone who might have a valuable insight to share to generate.

Ask your clients these types of questions about your services. Ask former customers questions like this about your products or the products of your competitors.

The goal of these questions is to gather insights that would not be available to you through traditional methods such as surveys and focus groups.

If done correctly, you will more than likely be unable to predict their response.

And their reply may come as a surprise to them as well – just like when I was asked one of those questions. These are the valuable responses you want obtain because it uncovers their subconscious beliefs – the beliefs that drive behaviors.

 

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