Limerics and lyrics: lessons from my teachers

There once was a friend had I,
who told me one day,
too hard you try.
And though you may care,
others, they are not there,
and your time has been wasted, he dared.
I argued with him that day,
shouting out the attention that I pay,
is not more or less than the measure of great
and that I should never lower myself to less than that state.
And he replied
they know not what they know not,
and therefore they are not at that state.
Don't give it all away
All in one day
Show them enough such that they will sway
and ask you to come back, yet another day.

People need time.

Recently, I have been thinking about what it takes to become a good leader.  Actually, I don't know many other people who think about this and study this topic as much as I do who aren't on the book circuit.  I think about it quite a lot because I don't want to let people down who depend on me.  I want people to feel like they matter. Like they are heard.  Because that's what we all want. 

Remember when you were a kid and nobody listened?  You screamed, yelled, stomped your feet and basically caused a scene so your parents would have to respond to you.  As we grew up, we became socialized in school to behave differently.  We were taught to resist these outbursts. But feelings of being ignored or discounted don't go away just because they can't be expressed.  As we got older, we learned to go under ground with our feelings. 

In the world that I observe most of the time, I find that this type of outcry manifests itself in different ways.  Some people are verbal but they can be damaging and hurtful.  Others withdraw and hide and hope to live below the wire and go unnoticed.  Others generally resist what ever it is that happens to be presented to them.

In the corporate world, we use all kinds of code words that leaders should apply, but the concepts alone do not make a good leader.  Performance management is just another way of sitting down with people and laying out expectations.

Lots of time, we don't recognize what performance management is.  I think it's about listening and talking.  If you never meet with your staff, one on one, and don't take an interest in their work lives and who they are as people, you can never break through the barrier. 

Just like in the classroom when I was 6, bad teachers attempted to teach everyone the same way.  Good teachers knew that they had 30 different people, and worked to find ways to reach each child, somehow. 

We are not much different as adults.  Our values define us. Different things motivate us.  Different things matter.  It's about discovering who the person is, and building a relationship based on trust and honesty so that when it comes time to tackle the tough stuff, there is a foundation of safety already in place.

In my own work life, I never feel like I have enough time with people.  And that is my job.  Management gets bogged down in the work and that in itself is a problem.  If managers are actually doing the work, how can they coach and mentor.

And that brings us to another problem these days that is plaguing us.  Most managers are working managers becasue organizations cannot afford managers who are not working.  There are not enough hands in the game as it is. 

But there are some things we can do on purpose.  Meet weekly with each team member, or biweekly to discuss progress, work, issues and concerns.  Dedicate time to development of professional and personal objectives, and then talk about how they are progressing.  Make sure people know what their job is, and what is expected of them, by when.  Ensure work processes are not barriers, and give them permission to change what is not working for them.  Make sure people have the time to do their job.

I wish I was as good a manager as I am able to describe.  I try every day. That's the best I can do.

Ode to the balanced scorecard

Do you feel yourself being elevated from your chair just thinking about balanced scorecards? I didn't think so. But speaking of balanced scorecards, I am about to commit heresy and I can only pray that Kaplan and Nortan can forgive me some someday.

Over the past 10 years, there has been a struggle to bring balance to business. The attempt was to move the industrial revolution model where the bottom line is the bottom line to a more holistic, balanced and, dare I say, human approach that recognizes that people, customers and processes enable profit.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_scorecard

It was a valiant attempt, I would say. Companies all over the world implemented balanced scorecards into their corporate psyche. They set measures and targets for employee satisfaction and engagement and client satisfaction as a way to incent management to think and act in a more balanced way.

However, the recent downturn in the economy has sent us into a tail spin. We seem to be caught in a time warp heading back to the industrial revolution where driving profit at all costs is the focus.  Enterprise Risk Management is the new focus, but the perspective is one of fear, and not opportunity.  The question on  may leaders' minds is what are the risks that will disable our ability to generate profit?  And because we tend to think we are in a race, and maybe we are, the answers are short term.  Cut costs. Reduce overhead.  Streamline.  Think about it - how many new products or innovative ideas have hit the market place in the last five years? Trust me, the focus has been on restructuring and merging, and not on making new products and services.  Instead, businesses have been merging and converging to generate "economies of scale" which is just another way of saying doing more with less.

This is a problem because it begs the question. How much profit is enough? The anwer is there is never enough money at the end of the day. So, we continue to drive to this impossible goal of "profitablity" without really knowing how much is enough. Worse yet, this leads to less focus on good people practices and satisfied clients.

I have witnessed the effects of this phenomenon and I have to say, it's not good.  People and process are considered overhead - otherwise known as cost.  Therefore, in the absence of increasing revenue through creativity, innnovation and meeting customer needs, there is only one response. To decrease costs.  Granted, creativity is difficult and it's easier to cut costs.  But this line of thinking leads to unemployment, decreased confidence of the consumer, decreased spending for social programs, and increased paranoia overall.  People stop spending money. They batten down the hatches and prepare for the worst. 

In this environment, people become disposable. Good sense goes out the window.  And why? Because leaders are not being held accountable for the total picture.  They are short sighted, focusing on today and not considering the impacts of the decisions that are made.

It is a known fact that happy and secure employees are productive.  Productive people tend to have good leaders.  Good leaders tend to inspire good ideas from good people.  And good people can find creative ways to getting things done.  And when good people put their minds to it, collectively, the result is an insanely successful organization.

So, if you are reading this, Kaplan and Norton, it's time to step up the efforts to bring this awareness back to the minds of our leaders so we don't get comfortable back in the 1900's again. I would be happy to help.

Note to Self

I was walking down the streets of Montreal today in my stylish brown leather sling backs, carrying 3 shopping bags filled with shoes, sipping a coffee and taking in the atmosphere. It was a successful morning, but I was on a mission to get to a meeting on time.

Note to self: Finish shopping tomorrow!

The sun was shining. The temperature, warm. On the corner, there were two young musicians playing classical music - it took my breath away. I stopped and listened, and watched the young woman as she played her violin, eyes closed, lost in her music. Her case was open, with 5 dollars in loonies.

Note to self: Love what you do, and do what you love.

I walked past a group of burly, muscle bound workers who were taking their lunch break, sitting on a picturesque ledge with their lunch boxes open, just like in the movies. As I walked up the street toward my hotel, cabs whizzed past, nearly clipping each other`s bumpers as they raced to the finish line to pick up the next fair.

Note to self: Move to this city someday.

Tonight, my friend and I went to a quaint french-named Italian restaurant where I enjoyed grilled fish and vegetables, a not so great martini, and a great glass of wine - all punctuated with a Witty Italian waiter who speaks French. He humored me with my frenglish, and made me believe I was an eloquent linguist. I tipped him big time.

Note to self: Practice my French. Learn a new language.

We visited Hurley`s, an Irish Pub where we met Gilles, a local industrial Realtor who had remembered us from the night before. We listened to Scottish band, sipped wine and just enjoyed the night air. Everyone knows Gilles, he says, since he has been coming to the pub since it opened 15 years ago. Gilles was a wealth of knowledge. He regaled us with tales of travel, set up straight on wind chill (apparently we don`t have it in Saskatchewan and it doesn`t make it colder) and I learned the french name for Moose Jaw - Mâchoire d'orignaux. . How did I not know that, I wondered.

Note to self - Learn more about the history of our country.

As we were leaving, a local asked us for a dollar in poetry, and swore he was going to use it to get drunk. We laughed and walked away. He was charming . . .but not enough to give him money.

Note to self: Write down the poem.

We walked by the Ritz Carlton and peaked inside the front doors - oh, that`s what an obscene amount of money will buy! We cruised by McGill where university students were pouring out after a big game.

Note to self: Live more. Play more.

We stood and gazed at a collection of beautiful sequined gowns in a store window. My friend loved the blue sequined gown with matching bag. I loved the little black number.

Note to self: Attend a gala event so that I can wear sequins again.

Raise a little . . .

We all define balance differently. Some people think balance is down time. Others think balance is time to pursue a special interest. Some people say balance is about leaving work behind at 4:30 pm. I happen to think balance is being able to stand on my head for more than one minute.

But here is a revelation. I have been told I need balance and I assumed balance to me was what it was to everyone else. In fact I have set life goals to work 9 to 5. To walk out the door. To leave work behind. I have made proclamations to my friends, family and co-workers. And everyone has the same reactions. Some people laugh out loud. Others smile and nod, and look at me as if to say, "uh huh . . .".

More than anything I want to be one of those people, but I can't. I also want to be one of those magazine models, but that seems to be out of reach for me as well. So here is my confession. I love to work. I love to work at work. And when I am not at work, I am known to paint a room over a weekend, or dig up my front yard just to create a new garden. Recently, I painted my red kitchen blue and then painted it red again because I didn't like it. Last weekend, I painted my family room. And when I am not changing the world, I am usually writing about it.

I need to feel accomplishment. I like to see things happen. I love to change things and alter reality. It's change that I love. Movement. Progress. A better way. And I find myself always in the wake of a huge change whether I plan to be there or not.

Over the past 5 years, my working life has been about mergers, restructures, de-structures and failed mergers. I have seen good people fall off the planet of their making, and I have seen people survive who maybe shouldn't have. I have seen mediocre people at their best, and I have seen people become good leaders. I have seen the mouse topple the elephant and I have seen what happens when people care about the same things at the same time.

It's been an interesting ride. So here I am, smack dab in the middle of another one of those wakes. And I ask myself, how the heck did I get here? I am just a writer after all. A journalist. A writer of facts. A recorder of life. How did I end up on this ship again. For the life of me, I do not know. Yet, I stand outside of myself, and I observe a change maker, a wake surfer, a storm chaser.

These times call for extraordinary people. People who actually work for betterment of others and not themselves. People who others will follow. People who help others who are not capable of changing by themselves. And I have come to the conclusion, quite often, that most of the time, people are not extra-ordinary. People are ordinary. People want someone else to make the decisions. They don't want to accept that change is theirs to make. They don't want to take the wheel, because then they are responsible to make something happen.

And that, friends, is why change is so freakin' hard. Not enough people are in the game. There are too many people just wishing it would end so their lives could go about effortlessly. I would love that. But it's not realistic. It's a vacation. Not life. Progress is work. Why should everyone enjoy the fruits of labour without labouring?

Recently, someone close to me said that there was no point in talking about change because nothing ever happens. My response was this: who do you expect to make change happen for you? Why do you expect someone to do it for you? As the song goes, "if you don't like what you got, why don't you change it. If your world is all screwed up. Rearrange it."

Be Big in the Face of Smallness. - edited.

If anyone is out there reading this stuff, for the record this is the edited version - the less whiney version.

I am claustrophobic in every sense of the word. I can not stand small places or confinement of any kind. Small rooms, small elevators, smallness in general.

Lately I have been immersed in stuff. Small stuff. Minutia. The stuff that gets under your finger nails. Clutters your mind, vision and thoughts. One day, all that stuff kind of piled up to make a bad day.

A friend of me reminded me that having a bad day is ok sometimes. And thank the big guy that we have other things in our lives that are more meaningful.

And she's right. You might have guessed that I am not a doctor. I help companies figure out what they are doing, and then I help them plan it, talk about it, organize it and basically help them get organized. I am a writer by profession, a planner by DNA, and somedays I am a sales person, a convincer, a thinker and a doer. But nobody lives or dies by what I do. Hopefully the best that I can do is help make thiings work a little better.

In Search of Nirvana

I have always taken pride in working with purpose, on purpose. I pick my jobs and my boss carefully because I am in search of a particular environment. I look for an environment where the leadership is open to ideas, where discussion is readily had, where people are treated fairly and with respect, and where people treat each other as they would want to be treated.

That may sound like Nirvana, but it is indeed the key to bringing out the best in people. Nirvana (or least my definition) is really what good corporate builders aspire to create. They know that this kind of environment is where people tend to give their best every day.

There are no accidents in corporate culture creation. One does not wake up one day and say, "oops, my bad . . ." Culture takes time to foster and build, and it is purposeful. The question is, are we able to break down the ingredients to understand what actually goes into creating a Nirvana like culture.

Since that question is too big to tackle, let's look at a symptom of culture. Engagement. Cultures that are constructive and positive tend to have higher engagement than those that do not.

Understanding engagement is to understand what motivates human beings. Micro - managed, controlling and distrusting environments grind people down, making them feel uninspired about the work. They want to give less and care less. When this culture takes over, people are treated badly, and they feel bad about it. They act out their frustration by treated others badly in retaliation. And it is disconcerting and sad. I have seen people who are brilliant, and who have so much to offer, pull away. They lose their shine. They lose their voice, their self - esteem and their will to be as excellent as they are.

Engaged people are fully self - responsible and accountable. However, in a power based environment, performance is used as a hammer, instead of a tool to inspire progress. People dodge accountability because who wants to be hammered? It becomes a vicious circle. If people are not accountable for the way they act, or if negative behavior is endorsed by being ignored, people rebel by disengaging to avoid personal damage.

The disengaged person develops a condition of being frustrated and negative. They spend their time wasting time and being destructive. This takes on several forms. Micro managing, avoidance, passing the buck, dodging accountability, talking negatively about others and with others, criticizing and basically tearing down what others are trying to build.

Disengaged people express negativity instead of looking for ways to be successful; purposely blocking the success of another; or just pulling away and giving up. If this type of environment is allowed to occur, people will continue to feel shut down and dis empowered. They will stop giving their best every day, and start leaving before they have left.

I don't believe that disengagement can be addressed with programs, products, pep talks, performance management, or other p - words alone. Disengagement is also linked to leadership and accountability. One way to address it is through instilling a constructive culture where people are empowered and accountable for their actions, and where conciliatory behavior is more prevalent that power based control behaviors. In the constructive culture, leadership is not just at the top of an organization. It is you and me, every day being responsible for what we do, what we say and how we affect others.

It all comes down to living our values. No company would say they value control and power. A responsible company talks about things like leadership, integrity, responsibility, commitment to employees, commitment to shareholders, commitment to the community.

Values in the corporate setting are not just published in a plan or annual report annually. The values must be upheld. They must be linked to the balance sheet. In other words, if a company values responsibility, it should provide financial support to act on that. If the company values commitment to employee development, then it must provide quality training, development, performance and succession programs. If a company says it values community, then it requires investment. Most importantly, values must be challenged, and those who do not live the values, must be challenged, and some case, must leave the organization.

The problem is that there have been too many management books written with formulaic, linear strategic planning processes. Step 1. Review Vision. Step 2. Review Values. Step 3. Review Goals . . . Board and executives are numb to the idea of really exploring and testing these concepts. I have yet to hear a board member ask an executive team - show me evidence of living your values. What does this vision mean to our employees? Our community? Our shareholder? Who cares?

I feel very strongly about this, because we give thousands of hours a year to our jobs, and we want to work for organizations that live the values. Don't we?

Unfortunately, I see too often the opposite happening, and as a result, disengagement will increase in the workplace. And that's sad, because it robs you and I, and it robs society of the potential greatness that resides in each of us.

The way I see it, life is too short to be disengaged or disgruntled every day. Negativity depletes the quality of the contribution we make to this world and it can lead to illness.

To me the path to constructive progress and engagement it's so simple. Get back to basics and treat others as you would like to be treated. Before you pull a power move on someone, think about it. How would I feel? Before you make someone uncomfortable with inappropriate conversations, think about how you would feel if you were to walk into it. I feel very strongly about this. The way I see it, nobody has a right to ruin my day, make me feel bad, or make me wish I was somewhere else. And I don't have a right to treat others that way. I therefore cannot tolerate it in others, and I expect others to challenge me should I demonstrate bad behavior.

We (the royal we - aka all of us) need to take stalk of the impact we are having on others every day and either make a personal decision to change, or leave. The symptoms of disengagement will destroy a company, and it will destroy people in the process.

Can people move up the engagement scale given the right environment? I think so. But it's a choice. Coming to work every day is not an accident. We do it on purpose. So make a decision. There really are only 2 options:


- Door #1: stay and be a positive force.
- Door #2: simply leave.

Finally, remember this is work, not life. If work is not contributing to the quality of your life, then make a decision to change it.