Keep an open mind: You might discover a new you

My Outlook crashed the other day. What a pain. Webmail basically sucks when you don’t use it on a daily basis. As I was hopelessly poking around in things I don’t understand, it occurred to me that I have heard peripheral notions about the benefits of g-mail and cloud computing. I have been resisting even exploring the idea, because I didn’t want to get out of my comfort zone. Hence, now I was in my comfort zone without a functioning e-mail. Often, we enter change kicking and screaming, when there already is a problem. That’s human nature.

It wouldn’t hurt to flex our change muscle once in a while. You can start small. For example, most of us have the optimized routes to work or to the grocery store. Switch the route. Maybe it will take a couple of extra minutes, but you will have to be more alert and notice new things.

How about doing something you are a bit nervous about? I hate roller coasters or anything with the slightest G-force, even though I know they are a great outlet for excitement. I would probably faint in one. However, my daughter wanted to go for a kiddie ride that equals a death trap in my standards. I risked everything and had fun. You can see my hair fly in the picture! You can do the same with public speaking, working with numbers, horseback riding, or whatever may be your secret fear.

Wheeeeee!

You can also get more change ready by expanding your horizons. Meet new people who are not like you. Maybe they have a different background than you, or perhaps their opinions are the total opposite of yours. We like to surround ourselves with people who make ourselves comfortable. How about an occasional excursion to the ‘other side’ where mild discomfort with some aha’s and personal growth is guaranteed?

Other poisons for change and innovation are deep rooted convictions and assumptions. I tend to be a very fact based person and a lover of science and research. To open my mind a little bit, I visited a friend who practices EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), also categorized as pseudoscience – yikes!  The EFT session was eye opening, and it gave me ideas for organizational behavior change. What things don’t you believe in and might just explore to get a new perspective?

When we are looking for flexibility, change and disruptive innovation, let’s keep Einstein’s definition of insanity in mind: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. How about some change?

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Leading with courage

We read books and watch movies of the great war-time commanders, the adventurers and the founding fathers, and fantasize about inspirational leadership. Yet, we see excellent leaders and good managers all around us. They perform small acts of courage every day and command a devoted following by their teams. These are the leaders who are followed by top performers from one company to another.

True vision

It is one thing to create and articulate a vision. It’s a whole other ball game to faithfully follow your vision. There are temptations and distractions, and true leaders know when to stay the course and when to make a correction. Visionary leaders put a stake in the ground. When it’s time to adapt the strategy, the courageous leader is not afraid to put the past behind.

True values

Courageous leaders use the company values to really guide day-to-day decision making. If the core value is Quality, the company will not ship a product until it meets the standards everyone can be proud of, even if it means a delay in delivery. If the company has to do cost cutting, leaders with courage might look at trimming the workforce equally among their own staff as they would in the front lines.

True connection

Courageous leaders are not afraid to expose their egos and form true relationships. I once heard a senior VP tell his managers to LOVE their employees. It means to be interested in them as persons with real lives, not merely as resources to be allocated. When you care enough, you put more effort into developing them and pushing them to their potential. It also takes courage to make those tough discussions when they need them. True leaders also stand up for their team, when junk rolls downstream. They take the heat so that their team can work in peace. They fight for resources and speak up when requirements on the team are beyond reason. Courageous leaders are also willing to take on challenges to stretch the team’s capabilities.

True words

Courageous leaders are transparent. They don’t exaggerate, neither do they sugarcoat news. They tell it like it is, with compassion. When the team needs to know what’s going on, they can go right to the source. The courageous leader is also not afraid to say “I don’t know.” Courage builds trust.

Have you met courageous leaders?

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A seat at the table

It doesn’t take long when talking about HR development that the discussion turns to HR’s strategic role or the lack there of. HR professionals want to contribute more to business decisions, and executive management longs for HR who is able to play the game with them. Where’s the disconnect then?

One of my favorite charts is the triad of accountability. As employees take more accountability, they are trusted with more decision making power, thus getting more empowered. This triad applies to HR professionals as well. Sometimes, getting empowered requires the first step of having the guts to just do something you haven’t done before. Make a proposal. Drive change. Be the guardian of the company culture.

To find your voice, listen to yourself. Are you mainly reacting to requests, or are you initiating actions? When you are providing solutions and options, do you also give your recommendation for the best action, instead of leaving it for the executives to choose any option? In meetings, do you voice your perspective and opinion, even if it might be different from the majority?

To gain trust, the first requirement is to execute flawlessly in basic HR responsibilities. That comes naturally to everyone. HR should know the pulse of the workforce, so make sure to use sneaker management and build relationships with your employee base. You should be the first one to raise the red flag if morale is getting lower, or if performance is dropping. Study the business and learn the numbers. You should be confident enough to follow the business discussion to articulate the human capital implications on the business and the other way around.

When working with executives, learn to give them the right level of detail. They only want a short business context, their options, implications, the best action to take and the next steps. They don’t have time for legalese, how things are done or what the logistical problems are. They certainly prefer a well justified recommendation over multiple options to choose from. There is always a risk that your recommendation won’t work out – that’s what it means to be a strategic partner; taking part in the discomfort of true decision making.

Don’t forget networking. Build alliances both within your organization and externally. True players are connected and know what is going on. When you need to make a tough decision, you will always have someone smart to turn to before you make your move. The seat at the table is waiting for you.

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Feedback is a gift

Nothing is as bittersweet as receiving honest feedback on a weakness – unknown, or all too familiar. It hurts, yet at the same time it is like a gate opening to an unexplored path. You can give it a shot. This could be that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand your capabilities, and someone just gave the tip for free. If you could just stop shuddering from seeing that ugly picture of yourself, courtesy of a friend holding up a mirror. So embarrassing, yet so liberating. Is there any way we can get comfortable with feedback?

Our first instinct is to protect ourselves from constructive feedback. We naturally love the praise and shun the critique. People who don’t know us very well or who don’t care enough tend to give us what we want instead of what we need. The only way to ensure that we get it all is to assure others that we can handle it. Talk about feedback and how important it is for you. Ask for feedback. The more specific things you ask, the more specific answers you will get. Isn’t it funny that sometimes the most burning issue on your mind is the hardest to ask? Find people you trust who will answer with kindness and honesty.

Your reaction to feedback determines whether the person will continue giving you feedback in the future. This should be your utmost concern when you receive feedback. If this is a person you would like to hear from again, focus all your energy to genuinely thank for the feedback, no matter what the message is. Keep in mind that even if you disagree with the feedback, this is true perception, important enough to be shared with you. Your decision now is whether you want to change this person’s perception about you. If someone thinks you are not a team player, what are you going to do about it? You can only change perception by actions; you can rarely talk people out of a perception.

The best quality of feedback is a dialogue. Two or more people share their perceptions in the spirit of learning and cooperation. It requires high self esteem and respect for others to go on the journey to share how you see others around you. In the spirit of curiosity instead of seeing everything in black and white, it is possible to start seeing two sides of many stories. Entering the dialogue with the assumption that everyone operates with the best intentions but sometimes things go wrong opens new avenues for understanding everyone’s perspective. Learning from mistakes is also a gift.

Winning organizations weave into their cultural fabric the habit of open feedback and learning from mistakes. They create continuous opportunities for sharing feedback, and coach their employees in basic feedback skills. This way, feedback stops being a scary thing of evaluations and becomes a bridge to self awareness and growth.

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Working with slackers

Pretty much everyone has experienced working with coworkers who are not carrying their weight on the team. It creates feelings of unfairness and even helplessness or hostility when the situation drags on. High performing team members must cover for their coworker, usually for little or no reward. They look to the manager to do something about the situation and don’t understand when insufficient attempts are done to correct the performance of the one who is slowing down the whole operation. There is no way around it, low performance does not go away by itself; it has to be addressed proactively. This responsibility falls on the managers and the company.

The reasons for low performance are many and not all are even the fault of the employee. Sometimes the employee just doesn’t have the skills for the job, or the orientation for the new job is ‘sink or swim’. I was at Waffle House a few weeks ago, and the bacon cook was getting the evil eye from the rest of the staff as he was falling behind on the orders. He was doing his darndest to catch up, but it was not looking good for him. The key to high performing teams is a solid selection process. Companies who know what creates high performance go looking for it, using assessments and structured interviews. They don’t settle for warm bodies.

Personal issues can be a significant distraction. Good managers know how to help their employees navigate through tough times, creating flexibility where needed, while expecting solid performance on an on-going basis. The solution should not be just piling it on the team to cover someone else’s last minute emergencies.

Many performance problems originate from insufficient organizational support. It would be wise of the manager to analyze the work process and systems, as well as the tools and resources available before jumping to conclusions about the employee’s work ethics. Obviously, if the whole team is working with the same support and only one is lagging, something else is going on.

Work relationships are their own Pandora’s box. At some highly political workplaces, who-knows-who may determine the results more than the effort put into the projects. One person told me about a work group where the low performer was the business owner’s friend, so all the team could do was to wring their hands and pick up the slack. If two coworkers can’t resolve their inflamed work relationship, the manager must step in. (Career advice: If you need your manager to referee, it is not a good pattern for your career; get coaching help now.)

In addition to work relationships, other work behaviors lead to performance problems. Whether it is communication style, forgetfulness or the lack of eye contact with customers, these behavior issues tend to escalate over time. The proactive manager nips them in the bud by using informal feedback. Informal coaching supports feedback. If all else fails, formal coaching and performance improvement plans are tools to use to make sure that it is the manager who takes care of the performance issues and not the team.

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