The Power of Recharge

by Scott Airitam,
President, Scott Airitam's Leadership Systems, LLC

So, now I know how my cell phone must feel every time I plug it in and give it some juice. There is no use in having all of that new power if there isn't a phone call to be made, an email to retrieve and respond to, or directions to be mapped out. All I'm saying is that when you get recharged, you want to do something.

Well, it was not easy, but all of the people that touch our clients were certified in a new tool over the past two days. We all left there feeling like the wheels were spinning and we just needed to gain that small bit of traction to propel us forward at an intense velocity.

I imagine that phenomenon occurring with any team. Something new that helps them to be better at their jobs comes along and, when the boss feels compelled to make sure they get it, they receive both the new tool or skill set and new motivation.

Our new tool is a product called RightPath. While we love Myers-Briggs, DiSC, and Social Styles, it's always been a struggle for us to help clients turn that into sustainable action. They'd always leave with knowledge and awareness--which is important--but it was hard for people to see what they should be doing. RightPath is truly a "Hired to Retired" set of tools that has application for every stage of a person's career and every level of an organization. It was created specifically for business and it heavily draws upon Emotional Intelligence (how we deal with ourselves and others) which is important. It cannot be "gamed," meaning that a person cannot take this assessment and project what they'd like to be or what someone else wants them to be--it has a great "safety net" that prevents this type of manipulation. Best of all, it is a great tool for one-one-one executive coaching, teams, succession planning, promoting, hiring, conflict management, change management, assembling committees or teams, and a slew of other applications. It's not a magic bullet, but it is enough to get us all excited a fired up.

One thing I've learned from the past couple of days is that enhancing the team's ability to do their jobs affects confidence and competence. It affects both willingness and ability.

If you haven't tried it in a bit, you should. Get your employee or team that shiny new multi-tool to put into their toolkit and, if it really helps, watch the dynamics change.


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Employee Retention

by Angela Gallogly
Vice President of USA Operations, Advanced Team Concepts
http://www.atctraining.com

As I was reading Scott’s blog last week, it inspired my next topic. Scott did a great job of quantifying the cost to our organizations when we neglect to train and develop our employees. I’d like to add to that with a related topic. It occurred to me that an additional risk of not developing our teams is the risk of losing our best “players.” I’d like to devote this blog to the topic of employee retention.

The retention of human resources is very important, and turnover of employees occurs for a variety of reasons. Some types of turnover are easily explained as functional. For example:

• People retire
• Employees’ marital or family status may change
• Family relocates

Other types of turnover, however, are more preventable. These include those instances where people are dissatisfied with conditions of employment, or lack commitment to the organization. This is where the opportunity for turnover reduction exists.

Retaining employees can seem like a daunting challenge, particularly if high turnover rates have become acute, or the problem is centered on people whose talent, expertise and experience are critical to the organization’s delivery of products or services. There's a great book that can help you begin:

Research from the Gallup organization has validated key areas that are important to employees. This data was captured in the book, First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, Simon & Schuster, 1999. The book’s been around for awhile and has grown over the years in popularity. It provides focus in key areas of need for employees, including:

• Employees want to know what’s expected of them.

• Employees want the resources needed to do their job well.

• Employees want to opportunity to do their best and be recognized for doing so.

• Employees want to fit into the corporate culture. They want good relationships.

• Employees want their opinions to count.

• Employees want to be trained and developed. They want to learn and grow.

If retention is an issue for your organization, it could be important to do an analysis to identify the factors resulting in employee turnover, and then create strategies to minimize or eliminate the causes of the turnover.

A good strategy focuses on creating a place where people come to do good work, share in the rewards, and achieve satisfaction in the process.

This approach focuses attention on the combination of two critical things:

• What the business/organization needs
• What the employee/associate wants and needs

Understanding and success in both of these areas is critical to successfully retaining talent while increasing performance of the organization.

The Price of Not Developing Employees

by Scott Airitam
Scott Airitam's Leadership Systems, LLC

When I talk with people about the learning and development efforts of their organization, I always feel a little bit bad for those who say that "there is no budget for training." Employee development is the foundation for long-term viability in any industry. Conversely, largely undeveloped work groups are the ones that tend to fall behind, reinvent the wheel with each new project, and generally have a difficult time keeping the best employees.

The economy was bad in 2008. Not only that, but many budgets were tighter than usual due, in large part, to those budgets having been created during a time where two very distinctly different leaders were vying for the White House. With uncertain Leadership and a tumultuous fiscal situation, it was no wonder that organizations weren't spending as much. However, ASTD (The American Society for Training and Development) estimates that U.S. organizations spent approximately $134 billion on employee learning and development in 2008, in spite of all the logical reasons not to make this investment.

Imagine an author who refused to learn to use a computer. Picture an athlete that never worked to build endurance. Think of a doctor that didn't understand medical equipment. The hardships they would face are similar to what it is like for an organization that doesn't invest in employee learning and development. Can that author, athlete, doctor or organization be successful? Technically, you'd have to say yes, although, realistically, the statistical odds would be astronomically long. In today's world, it is too difficult to compete against others that make themselves better--especially with self-inflicted growth and development issues.

Every organization should be investing in learning and development for it's greatest asset--it's people. Every organization, based on the ASTD research shared above, should assume that the competition is making that investment. There is definitely a cost associated with that. With that kind of price associated with not doing it, doesn't it make it logical to use that same money to make the organization more competitive and effective?

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Soft Skills

by Angela Gallogly
Vice President of USA Operations, Advanced Team Concepts
http://www.atctraining.com

It’s interesting that some leaders seem to recognize the importance of soft skills but either can’t or won’t commit resources to developing them within their organizations. I think it’s because it can be challenging to measure the development of soft skills and really quantify the results of the training investment. You have to see the connection of the skills to the bottom line of the organization. For example, if a customer service representative can technically handle a customer complaint – document, answer questions, take the appropriate actions – that’s hugely important to the customer. But along with that, if the rep’s soft skills are lacking and they communicate in a negative or condescending way and display no empathy to the customer, it still might be a negative customer experience. An organization’s ability to retain that customer and gain other customers can be negatively impacted in this situation.

Another example: I’ve spoken to leaders with “problem” employees and this is what I’ve heard, “He (or she) is an awesome contributor, just brilliant. The problem is, no one can stand him (or her).” Even the most gifted employee can cost the organization by making the work environment so toxic that morale, productivity, team work, support, trust, etc. all suffer. When this happens, the contributions made by the “problem” employee are often outweighed by what is lost.

Another challenge is to really understand what soft skills are and how they can be developed. Soft skills are the interpersonal/relationship component of what we do. They are an important counterpart to the hard skills that are the occupational components of our work. It’s a broad range of skills we’re talking about. Examples include communication, attitude, teamwork, etc. If you are going to invest in the development of soft skills, it’s important to focus on the areas that really impact the work of your organization.

I’m excited that many of the organizations that I’ve recently been working with seem to understand the importance of soft skills. One of my favorite customers has been restructuring their hiring processes to find employees with a strong foundation in these skills. The managers have shared with me that even though the job will require a tremendous amount of hard skills/technical knowledge, it will be just as important to have skills like teamwork, communication, etc. In addition to the new hiring process, they are committed to creating a balanced training and development strategy that focuses on both hard and soft skills. This type of balanced training approach can be a critical enabler to any organization’s success.

Profits Versus Loyalty and Commitment

by Scott Airitam

President, Scott Airitam's Leadership Systems, LLC

So, last night I had the chance to go to a friend's house for dinner. We had a wonderful dinner and after we ate, we got into one of those conversations that I just love. He is a small business owner, who, like the smart ones, does a lot of reading to help guide his ability to be a Leader. Being a business owner, like I am, he's concerned with the profit he's able to generate--that profit enables the growth of his business and his personal income. It breaks down that simply.

As we were talking, it quickly became clear to me that we were having two different conversations. His focus was on profit. Not just the idea of making a profit, but maximizing profitability. My focus was making profit as well, but not maximum profit. Instead, my perspective was one of balancing profit with loyalty and commitment.

This is where I began to really enjoy this conversation. These opportunities to have two approaches or ideas trying to share the same space at the same time are learning moments for me. My friends perspective was based on books by Dan Kennedy. He writes the "No B.S." books about management, sales, and other topics. Mr. Kennedy is an author whose books I will be picking up because he does cut out the "B.S." and gets straight at the reason businesses exist: to make profit. This last point is what my friend brought up. His business exists to make profit. It is definitely a point I appreciate. I started a number of classroom conversations at Southwest Airlines by asking the group, "Why do we exist?" The answer is profit. SWA doesn't exist to provide great customer service, to have parties for employees, to sing the PA's on the flights, or to transport bags for free. All of those things are tools it uses, very shrewdly I might add, to make profit. So, Mr. Kennedy is onto something and my buddy has caught that wave.

Admittedly, I haven't read Mr. Kennedy's books. Based on the description from my friend and info from his website, though, it seems as though most of the motives for decision making and actions are based solely on profit. My friend's description was pretty specific in detailing how the books say that employees are adversaries to the goal. Workers don't care about profit, they care only about their own lives. It is here that I tend to disagree. I believe that description does have some validity in the real world, in other words we can find examples of that being true. I see it, however, as those being manufactured conditions-they aren't the normal state. I believe we get to that place when Leadership allows it to happen. I also believe that Mr. Kennedy is about making profit, and that he realizes that a high percentage of people are not well prepared to be Leaders, so by describing their "pain" as a natural state, he sells books. Lots of books. If that is accurate, Mr. Kennedy is walking his own talk and he is, himself, as shrewd a businessman as I give him credit for.

What I am understanding Mr. Kennedy to say, however, at least based on the words of my friend and what I can glean from the website, would cause any Leader to have to work much harder to get to their goals (for an explanation of this, click here) and sustain them for the long-term.

So, I am committed to ready a Dan Kennedy book or two. Hopefully, I'll learn some valuable lessons. If nothing else, I'll have a good grasp on what some of my clients' perspectives (who might also be Kennedy readers) might be and can meet them where they are and help walk them to where they need to be or desire to be in my consulting and training practice.

For me though, profit is only one part of any business--even though it is the reason for the business to exist. In saying this I am not diminishing its importance. Nobody starts a business simply to make a stranger smile when they walk in the door. No, when people start businesses, they say, "I know how we can make some money!" So, let's be clear, I'm not against a business being profitable--I'm all for it. Nevertheless, there is the entire people-side of the business that successful companies have both risen and fallen with. We ignore it at our own peril. To invest in a great, enthusiastic employee and to ultimately have to let that employee go when their enthusiasm wains is a waste on many levels. Yet, that is exactly what happens when we believe our employees to be at odds with our goals. We lose the knowledge they've built and have to bring someone else in and tolerate their learning curve. That costs money.

We have choices, as Leaders, that create conditions where people want to do what we need them to do. We can create conditions, as Leaders, where employees are willing to sacrifice for their Leader. When we are attentive to this side of the business, we create a condition where employees are proud of where they work and who they work for and they want the organization and their Leader to succeed. This is what loyalty and commitment are all about. Loyal and committed employees believe in the goals and they want to stay with the organization. When we have more people than the person (or a select few people) at the top caring about attaining goals, maintaining a great organizational culture, and being profitable...well, the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts in these cases. When only one person (or a select few at the top) cares about those things, the level of success is always limited to how far that individual can carry the organization.

Profitability is an end-goal. There are many ways to get there. Short-term thinking is simply about maximizing profitability today. Long-term thinking dictates that we identify ways of making much more over time, in a sustainable way, instead of recreating the short-term wheel over and over. Loyalty and commitment are two of the the long-term, sustainable means to the profitability end.

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Negativity and Leadership

by Scott Airitam

President, Scott Airitam's Leadership Systems, LLC

So, today, I'm going to challenge you to recall a specific pattern to your everyday speech to test your own communication effectiveness. Are you a "positive talker" or a "negative talker?" This not about positive or negative thinking, although there is a correlation. It is about how we talk.

A negative talker, for example, might say, "Stop slamming that door." A positive talker may say, "Close the door more lightly."

There is a huge difference here. There are two key thoughts about the human brain at play here. First, our brains think in pictures, not words. This is important because as we receive one of the previous instructions from either the positive or negative, our brain tries to create a picture of it. Second, our brains have a difficult time creating a picture of a negative statement. In fact, our brains often make "positive" pictures out of negative statements.

I'll give you an example. If a parent says, "Stop throwing the ball in the house," what picture would you think comes to the child's mind? In fact, the above statement is very likely to create a picture of throwing a ball in the house. The brain gets rid of the negative, keeping the positive, and then makes the picture. So, by phrasing it in the negative, we often reinforce the very thing we are trying to eliminate. Instead, if the parent says, "Hold the ball in the house," the picture created in the mind is one of holding the ball in the house.

Now, think about how many Leaders in organizations use negative speech to communicate their message. Sometimes, how we choose to communicate sabotages our own efforts. Moving forward, let's be specific in creating positive pictures in the minds of those we Lead and let's watch our effectiveness continue to increase!

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Virtual Learning

by Angela Gallogly
Vice President of USA Operations, Advanced Team Concepts
http://www.atctraining.com

Many of my customers have reported a recent budget cut in their training dollars. In tough economic times, training is often one of the first areas to be impacted. Despite this, the need for training still exists. Training (or lack of training) does have an impact on the bottom line. To assist with this dynamic, many of us in the training world have ramped up our development and delivery of virtual training.

Today I’m writing specifically about Virtual Facilitator-led Training. This web-based training has the advantage of live instructors to guide and facilitate the learning. The use of a “virtual classroom” eliminates the huge costs of travel to bring both learners and instructors to a central location for the classes.

Web-based training can cross all geographic barriers. If you are part of a global organization, you can leverage this advantage to bring needed communication and training to your team on a global scale.

Some points to consider when planning your virtual training:

• Use a trainer who is experienced with virtual training. If they don’t have experience, make sure they participate in a “training-for-trainers” on the topic of virtual learning.

• Choose the right learning platform. There are many virtual “classrooms” to choose from. Look for one that has features that will help you achieve your learning objectives.

• Don’t be tempted to upload your PowerPoint presentation and conduct an existing in-class curriculum virtually. The virtual classroom has needs that are unique from the traditional classroom.

Many of us have had exposure to virtual meetings or training. If you’re like me, you’ve seen both good and bad. There’s nothing worse than a boring presentation that makes you sleepy and more than a little tempted to check your email during the session. But when skillfully developed and delivered, a webinar can provide an engaging and rich learning experience.

The key to success with virtual facilitator-led programs is the interactivity of the learning design. This is essential—the capacity to keep participants engaged and learning, not checking out or multi-tasking during key instruction processes. Additionally, the instructor’s ability to facilitate discussion and respond to questions can ensure that the learners are taking all they need from the training.

As I've become more experienced with this format, my excitment about the potential grows. I'm convinced that this can be a truly effective way to bridge the gaps of time, money and distance that prevent organizations from commiting to the training that they need.

Winter

by Angela Gallogly
Vice President of USA Operations, Advanced Team Concepts
http://www.atctraining.com

Many of us have arrived at the time of spring fever. We’ve celebrated the holiday season and enjoyed a snowy day or two, and now we crave the warmth and newness of spring. What a great analogy for business these days!

Business, like life, moves in seasons. There are times of growth, change, and yes, even dormancy. It’s not a stretch to feel that we’re in an extended “winter” season right now. The economy has and continues to be tough, and many organizations are feeling the consequences.

I’m a Dallas area resident, and for the last few weeks, we’ve been experiencing some extraordinary winter weather. Less than two weeks ago, we had over a foot of snow – the most ever to fall in one day. The forecast today predicts a few more inches. I think many of us are enjoying the novelty, but it’s also created some real challenges for the city, including collapsed roofs, power outages, and damaged roadways. Although we were ready for winter, we were NOT ready for a winter like this!

The weather has made me a little reflective this morning. I’ve been thinking about my customers and the challenges they are facing. So many are experiencing a tough “winter” in the form of customer loss, profit loss, budget cut-backs and layoffs. But in spite of the circumstances, some have managed to continue achieving some amazing organizational goals. Even in adversity, a strong team can survive and even thrive.

I’m reminded of an example from Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great (HarperCollins, © 2001), a fantastic research-based book that provides insight into companies that have achieved success and longevity. Collins wrote that every great organization he studied had faced adversity at some point. In the book, he introduces the Stockdale Paradox:

The paradox refers to Admiral Jim Stockdale, an eight year prisoner-of-war during the Vietnam War. Collins interviewed him in the book to glean lessons from his tale of survival. Stockdale referenced a key to survival – Faith combined with facing reality. The hopeless may not survive, but neither will those that are unrealistic and unable to confront the facts in a challenging situation. It seems that it was hope, tempered with reality that helped enable Stockdale’s return to home and family.

Collins says it perfectly on page 86 of his book:

“The Stockdale Paradox
Retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties.

AND at the same time

Confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

We can implement this paradox during any extended “winter” that we experience. What does this mean for you and your organization?

Encouraging Information

by Angela Gallogly
Vice President of USA Operations, Advanced Team Concepts

http://www.atctraining.com

The last blog that I shared encouraged you to share information within your organization. Taking time to give complete instructions, tell someone what your thoughts and opinions are or sharing detailed information can really enable a team in terms of both morale and performance.

Unfortunately, there are many times when this sharing of information doesn't occur. There could be a variety of reasons: work demands and time constraints, a lack of trust, an assumption that "everyone knows that," etc. Regardless of the reason, it can be helpful to make an attempt to get the information flow going.

So what can you do? Here are a few ideas.

• Check your assumptions


• Validate information


• Build trust

Check your assumptions. In my last blog, I talked about the human tendency to fill in the blanks in terms of information. Our minds are very efficient at interpreting the information we are given. If that information is limited, we have a greater chance of making an incorrect interpretation or assumption. It's important that we check our assumptions and separate fact from fiction. An example: My manager asks me to delegate some of my current responsibilities to someone else. I might assume that this is a bad development. Am I not doing a good enough job? Am I being replaced? Don't react based on assumption alone. If you have concerns:

Validate information. Begin a dialogue. Ask questions. Make sure that what you think is true is actually true. Perhaps in further discussion with my manager, I might discover that she wants me to participate in a special project that will require a large amount of time. The request that I perceived as a threat or a negative might actually be an opportunity to grow my skills and career.

Build Trust. I've mentioned this in my blog before. It isn't only about how capable our team is at communication. Our team members might have skill, time and information, but if they don't trust who they are communicating with, they won't openly share information. Think about how you can build trust and make your team members feel safe when it comes to open dialogue and information sharing.

For one, always maintain confidentially as appropriate. If I am speaking with someone in the office with a reputation for gossiping, you can be sure I'll keep information to myself. Also, think about how you react to information. There have been a few times when I've shared my opinion or ideas with people and they've "beat me up" for it via criticism and disregard. In the future, I avoided sharing with those individuals.

Try to be a good listener and respectful of those that you communicate with. Remember that trust is the foundation for great information sharing.

Information-the Lifeblood of an Organization

by Angela Gallogly
Vice President of USA Operations, Advanced Team Concepts
http://www.atctraining.com

Picture this scenario: It’s been one of those hectic weeks at the office. People are busy, decisions are being made and changes are happening. There’s reorganization, renewed processes, and the resetting of expectations. “Buzz, buzz, buzz.” The rumors are flying and water cooler chat is at full throttle. It seems that something big is about to happen.

This is probably the time when we should be coordinating our efforts to meet the demands of a changing business climate, but instead, the place goes silent, at least in terms of information. We can still hear the “buzz”, of course. The stories and rumors are there – the sound that could mark a major decline in morale and productivity and a major increase in anxiety.

Let me tell you a little more about the “buzz” you’re hearing. It’s a bridge that our brains have built. It’s the way we humans fill in the blanks when we don’t have all of the facts or information. It’s the way we interpret reality.

Picture it this way:
___________________ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
The solid line is Information and the dashed line is Interpretation

I might take the limited information that I’ve been given and make up the rest. An example: Perhaps my manager wants me to delegate some of my weekly tasks to a team member. I might interpret that as a threat when in fact, my manager plans to assign me to an exciting new project.

Here’s a better scenario:
____________________________________________________ __ __ __ __
When we add Information, we reduce the amount of Interpretation and resulting “buzz” that takes place.

There’s an expression that’s been bouncing around my organization for years:

Information is the lifeblood of an organization.

If you want to have greater success in your work, business and life, try talking a bit more. Not by adding to the buzz, but by providing needed information. This doesn't mean that we should share everything. There will be times when information should and must remain confidential. But there are many times when we can and should provide more detail.

Here are some examples: Take the time to give complete instructions. Tell someone what your thoughts are about a project. Provide information around why changes are being made as well as what the changes are. There are many opportunities in a day to provide more and better information.

I'd love to hear some of your own examples. When has the presence or absence of information impacted your business?

The Lesson in New Year's Resolution Failures

by Scott Airitam

President, Scott Airitam's Leadership Systems, LLC

First of all, let me start out by saying that I sincerely hope that all of your new year's resolution are successfully implemented. For real.

Now, let me add that the odds are not with you. Bummer, right?

Think about past new year's resolutions. How many of them have you seen all the way through? For me, these goals represent a way of verbalizing how I want to be better in some way. There are some problems with new year's resolutions though. This is a lesson I learned years ago, and it's helped me to take on self improvement in a more a success-oriented fashion. Maybe this could help you too.

So, the problems with the old NYR...

1. They are often proclaimed without any sort of deadline.
2. They aren't specific enough.
   
3. NYRs often feel obligatory. Nobody wants to be the one in a conversation that doesn't have one.
4. We don't create a serious support system.

Each of those is a trap and the bulk of new year's resolutions fall right into one or more of them. Because of this, most of them never stand a chance from the very beginning. Without a deadline, it is easy to procrastinate or give into what's always been done instead of fighting through the discomfort of change. Unspecific goals don't describe what the "finish line" looks like. We need to know what we are working toward, right? When it feels obligatory or contrived, we don't fully own it. When we don't take it on as our own, it is easy to discard and throw away. Because most people have seen NYRs fail, they don't take them seriously anyway. So when one is proclaimed (at the same time as many other people) most let you to make the statement, but assume you are not serious about it. They do not push you through the tough times or encourage you to take that one extra step today. Instead, they leave it for you to accomplish all alone and are, usually, surprised to see a NYR completed.

So, when I am looking to improve myself, here is what I do. I really do write it down, and, I write it in the form of a SMART goal. Most people have heard of this, but for those of you who haven't, to me it means: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Framed. If I have those in place, I've covered the first two failings of NYRs and then some. I am adamant, though, about the last two of them. If it isn't relevant to where I am in my life, and doesn't seem necessary, it won't get done. I also make sure it is time-framed with a deadline and any intermediate goals I can slice up my big goal into. With it being relevant, I have covered most of the number 3 failing of NYRs, but I have to make sure I own it. In order to truly make sure it feels like my own, I never do this type of thing around New Year's Day. I don't do it then because everyone else is doing it at that same time. If I mix my serious goal setting in with many other people's throwaway goals, how will my support system know that mine is legit? I want to do this because I believe in it and want to see it done. So, I'm the guy who doesn't have a new year's resolution. But I have several improvement goals throughout each year, so I never feel bad about that. So, when I separate myself from the "everybody's doing it" timeframe, it is easier for me to generate a support system around me. When I am the only one declaring that I want to work on some aspect of me, people actually listen. Then I tell them that I want them to help me when I'm feeling weak or want to give in to old habits. People take it seriously and they do help.

There is a big difference between saying, "I want to run more to get in shape," on New Year's Day and saying, "I want to run a mile every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at lunch to improve my cardio-vascular system because I'm seeing friends/family that are having heart problems that I don't want to have," on January 24th.

At least it works for me.

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