The 7 rules of misstoffellees the adventure cat

We have a cat and she has taught many things about how to be a good cat host by carefully outlining for us the 7 rules that we need to know as her hosts and her servants.

First, When petting Misstoffellees, start at then tip of the nose and follow through to the tip of her tail in one single motion, apply the appropriate amount of pressure so as to provide a gentle massage at the sime time. Repeat until she bites. Then, stop.

Second,when she wants to go outdoors, one must open the door and walk away. That way, she can approach the door as she so desires, without any pressure or time expectations. Only after she has cleared the door way and front porch should the door be closed behind her.

Thrice, when she wants to come indoors, conversely, the door must be opened and left so until she decides to grace us with her presence. She should never be left to sitting outside a closed door wating to come in as that would be dog-like as seen as begging. This is simply not acceptable.

Fourth, when feeding Misstoffellees, one must place a handful of food in the bowl before she arrives, just as she is ready to approach the bowl. Once again, she does not wait or ask to be fed, as that would be seen as a canine level treatment.

Fifth, Misstoffellees requires that she be allowed to sleep wherever she chooses, and does not share with person nor beast.

Sixth, when one leaves one's chair returning to find her royal catness on the warm cushion, one must not disturb her from her resting place.

Seventh, when referring to her in public, one must use her full cat name - Misstoffellees the adventure cat - as this is a show of respect. All other "pet" names must be used judicously and privately so as not to embarrass or show inappropriate levels of conduct unbefitting a cat.

Wanted: Leaders who lead.

Everyone wants to be a leader these days. And why not. Leaders have the power to make things happen - to change people's lives, and possibly the world. Real leaders make a difference to others, not themselves. And yes, "leaders" usually make more money.

So when it comes to measuring leadership acumen, how do you know you are being a good leader? Well, let's paraphrase what the good leadership books say.

You are the kind of person who needs to understand where you are going, where you have been, and how you are going to get there. You can see the big picture and 5 feet in front of you at all times. You find yourself talking about the future, and what you are planning to do next. You get excited about making things happen. Wandering is not your style; you work with purpose, and do things on purpose. You like the sound of success and better yet, you know it when you see it and feel it. You are proud of your accomplishments, and even prouder of your team’s accomplishments.

Yep, that's what all the leadership books say about successful leadership. Who can argue with selfless visionary determination, spiked with inspiration and passion? However, none of the above is measurable. It is all subjective.

I measure a good leader in more tangible ways. Do I want to work for that person? Does my leader make me want to be better and do better? Is he silent about his own success, but celebrates mine and others' successes? When he fails, does he shout it from the rooftop and asks for forgiveness, letting me know that being human is OK? When I fail, does he support me and help me to recover? Does she see my strengths before I do? Does he bring out the best in me? Do I ask myself, what would he or she do in this situation? Have I grown as a result of this person's encouragement and teaching?

If I could ask all the aspiring leaders in the world one question, it would be this: What do you do when you fail? This is a critical question because failure is eminent and it's what you do when you fail that shows the character of the person. As human beings, we all fail eventually at something, yet we are not socialized or taught to accept and celebrate failure. For example, in sports, everyone cheers when the team scores. And why not? It is a victorious moment and it allows us to celebrate the skill, stealth and athletic prowess of the player to scores the goal. We try and placate the losers by recognizing that they tried hard and it was just an off night. We celebrate wins and make excuses for losses. We are doomed to be unsuccessful perfectionists by the way we have been raised, praised and promoted. Going from the school play ground to the corporate play ground, we promote people based on technical skill and prowess, using their own scorecard to quantify and celebrate their achievements. Truthfully, I never want to work for one of these "manufactured leaders".

The reality is we are all human, and none of us are super human stars to never fail or miss? We all screw up from time to time, and that's the way it is. It's just a matter of time. So why do we persecute the ones who screw up from time to time, now that we are adults and have supposedly grown past the adolescent game playing? Don't we realize that the way we treat others is how we in the end are treated?

I admire people who try to do good things, regardless of whether they make mistakes along the way or not. Sometimes when you take risks, or go out on the limb for something important, mistakes can happen. Even more, I admire the person can make mistakes and admit them to others. Loudly. These are the people that I know I can trust. And I would happily call them my leaders.

Tone deaf and too tired to care.

When I was working as a journalist, I met a street musician who called himself, "Tone Deaf and Too Tired to Care." It turns out he was a systems analyst, and playing music in street fairs was just something he did. Maybe it was his passion? I don't know. Asking seemed to be intruding. I just enjoyed listening to him and his awesome rendition of "Heart of Gold." My friend "Tone Deaf" was obviously living out his passion.

My passion is writing and redecorating my house on a weekly basis (not kidding). I love to create something from just an idea, or an inspiration, or a desire to be inspired. In fact, when I walk into my house, I am inspired by color, texture, pattern. I love my home, because it immediately pulls you in - it is engaging. You want to explore and touch things. Or sit down somewhere and read a book, or sit on the back deck in the sun.

I carry this same passion to create an inspiring and engaging environment into my work as well. I am a corporate strategic planner. My end goal is to have each person understand his or her unique contribution. To make this happen, I design and create opportunities for people to come together to talk about the future, and figure what to begin to do first. The trick is to bring the right people together at the right time to have the right conversation with the right information - on purpose and with purpose.

I am passionate about this because it speaks to a core value that I hold near and dear to my heart: Work should have purpose and meaning. It should be exciting, and if not exciting, rewarding and important in some way to some one. It should be something that allows each person to bring their strengths and magnificent personality to work and to each of our lives every day.

I am not talking about work - life balance. I am talking about love life balance. Love all the parts of your life. And live life on purpose. I love to work because I have always demanded a great deal of satisfaction from my work - and from my employers. What we do every day - how we contribute to the world in which we live - is a big part of who we are, so it better fit and it better be worthwhile.

I also believe that most people would rather be either inspired, or inspiring every day, rather than dull and bored. So if that's the case, then what's all this talk about engagement? What percentage of people bring what percentage of themselves to their work every day? My guess, and experience is that people will bring less and less of themselves to work if they are not inspired, challenged, or to have leaders who are inspiring and challenging. I would also suggest that people who accept an uninspiring leader or lack luster workplace are short changing themselves and their lives.

In this job market, if your boss or his or her boss does not know who you are, or what you think about, then you are being under valued. Every person can contribute in what ever large or small way. If you find yourself felling unhappy or work, undervalued, disappointed or mistreated, then you really have only one option.

Get happy. Either stay and find a way to engage and be passionate, or take your talent to another organization. Either way, you owe it to yourself and everyone around you. Your life will thank you.

That was easy

I have a red "easy" button on my desk. It was a gift from a coworker and a friend. Every time I would walk out of my office, or hang up from a difficult phone call - or was about to face my destiny in some scary meeting, I take a deep breath and slam the easy button. And then I would feel better, because it reminded that nothing is that serious. No babies were being born as a result of what I do, and no lives would be lost today on my watch. No kittens to save and no burning buildings.

So what's the big deal? Why all the drama? Why does what happens in the corporate world tend to translate to something bigger than it really is?

One answer might be that we are believe what we do is important and deserves care and attention. Fair enough, but why all the drama, I ask? I would suggest that the source of this drama is possibly ego and fear. Often times, we are afraid of people with power because it can affect the quality of our lives beyond work - and our ego. Losing one's job, for example, is likely the most life - defining and devastating moment in the work place because it calls into question everything that we hold near and dear. Our job is one of the labels that we hold near and dear. "I am a .... fill in the blank. This translates to "I am important, I have these accomplishments and I make this much money." How many times have you heard someone say, I am a wife, mother, husband, brother, mother of another . . . I am a practicing whatever, and my zodiac sign is . . . .

Not too often. That is why the easy button is my best friend at work. When I raise my hand up, I inhale at the same time, and exhale on the way down. When I slam the button, all the stress is gone. And the voice reaffirms my feeling - That was easy.

Rethinking work and living

When was the last time you had to answer the question - what are your successes, and what are your failures? Today was my lucky day.

Speaking to successes came quickly - awards that I had won in the past, seeing a great concept become real, helping people to succeed.

But failures - that's another matter. We often see failure as a sign of weakness. But I started to think about it in an objective sense. I asked myself, I could change something about my life, or the way I live it, what would it be?

The answer came to me a flood of memories of my children on their first day of school, their first dance recital, Halloween and Christmas, and dance lessons. I realized that those days are gone, as my girls are now young women. Now, I look forward to seeing them in between their jobs, school work and boyfriends.

I realized that if I could change something, I would take back the time that I spent working long hours in the office just to meet a deadline or impress my boss. I would spend more time listening, and teaching others to work with me more. I realized that I have spent too many hours at work, and too few hours living. And in the course of that, I have done some cool things at work, but there are other costs. The more I worked at night, the harder my team had to work to catch up. It became counter productive, and it would have burned them out. And then, where would I be, with only 6 more hours in a day.

So my answer to the question about (gulp) failures was this: "I don't really think in terms of failures, but more what I have learned - and I have learned not to work 18 hours a day. I have learned that I want more life, while still growing professionally.

This journey toward balance actually started a year ago when I did my own personal strategic planning. I made a commitment to learn to work less and live more. To breathe in and out, go home in the day light, read a book, pet my cats and dog, paint my house, and read a book (I currently have 3 on the go.) I set my commitment to my self in the most profound an permanent way possible - I got a tattoo that symbolizes balance. I started to exercise more, eat better and learn to play the guitar. I started to find myself being able in live in the moment, breathe more, and feel better. I started to appreciate my home and family more, and yep, even my job.

Don't get me wrong. I didn't leave my passion for my work behind. I love what I do, and more importantly, I am very committed to the people. A funny thing happened, though, on my own journey toward balance. I found myself becoming more aware of the way the people in my division were being treated, and how they felt. I became more acutely aware of how frustrated people became when they could not control what was happening to them. When things happened to them. So I developed and implemented a way to give the people back control of their day, or at least have a fighting chance. Of course, in doing so, I found myself clocking the hours again. But it was worth the effort. In fact, it was probably the most important thing I have done in the past 4 years because it was for the people who do the work.

I also scaled back the work in my department, eliminating all things that are not core. I realigned the roles of my team and increased productivity and employee satisfaction by increasing their responsibilities and matching their pay. And I did the organization a favor by reducing my department budget by 30% when a new opportunity arose in the company that was perfect for one of my team members, which he loves. So it was win - win for everyone.

I tracked my progress, by using the time tracker at work, and also asking my family if they were getting more quality time with me than they had in the past. On the time tracking front, I thought I was doing pretty good. In October and November, I clocked an extra 5 - 10 hours of overtime per month. That's not bad. Then in December, my overtime increased to 20 hours and in January it climbed again. I was heading back to where I was before.

So I stopped myself and said no to overtime in February and March. I took a holiday and even took 3 days off due to illness. My daughter tells me I am on the right track. And my team are just moving along as planned.

And it's good, because not only did I learn that there's a life after 5:00 P.M., I also learned that I can be even more creative than I was before. I have rediscovered my love of writing and have produced a book of poetry, which I am hoping to publish this year.

I have also had time to think about what it is I want to do from 8 to 5, and I realized that I need to do what I love to do - that is what I have been doing for the last 12 years. Strategic planning, leadership and communications. I am innately curious about why things are the way they are and what makes things work, and what something might look like if you looked at it another way. Strategy is great because it's all about unleashing the explorer in all of us. Looking to the future and then getting there, one step at a time. And of course, all good ideas need people, and that's where leadership comes in. So, I am back to where I began this journey. My career is on target, and I have a clear view of what's next. I am a little wiser in the way of work so that I spend more time at life.

Living has to be about being passionate about something and doing it. That means loving what I do from 8 to 5, as well as what I do from 5 to 12.

Stay tuned.

Values: what would you stand in front of a moving train for?

I believe that once one decides to do something, it is inevitable that one will succeed. It is simply a matter of cause and effect. This is true in life and in business. The thing is, how often do we decide to do something on purpose - something great and grand that can change the every day of at least one person? How many times do we think about what we are giving, or contributing, to this life of ours?

My guess is not often enough. I like to look at the greatest people of our time, and I am sure they had a plan. More importantly they had a set of values that they would stand in front of a moving train for.

Nelson Mandela once said that the leadership is about having a value, and then taking every possible opportunity to make it known to other so they can act on it to. Another great leader recently said, if you look at a companies balance sheet, that will tell what the the leaders of that organization value.

I can see values in ones life being important, because they are intrinsic to who we are, and what we believe in and live. In fact, our laws (the balance sheet of our society) are laced with values such as freedom, responsibility for others, honesty and to safety.

In the corporate setting, values have a role to play there too. They are the parameters of the 9 to 5 society. They are like promises. Most corporations or large organizations have some kind of stated values. Things like commitment, honesty, integrity and respect. But the question is, in the work place, how do we know that we are living these values, and if we are not, what are the consequences?

The answer is that there are both short and long term ramifications to ignoring one's values, whether it is a person or an organization. In an organization, if the leadership ignores the stated values and breaks these promises, then you can expect to see the business suffer. People become disengaged when they see that leaders do not walk the talk. Turnover rates go up, and there goes the ROI for employee development dollars and time invested. Not to mention, productivity. It takes approximately one year to get the average employee up to speed in a new job, which includes learning the job, the tasks, the culture (how things get done) and then how to become part of the culture.

All this means the company not only loses money, but it can't turn on a dime, and therefore may not be able to respond to market place challenges and changes if the leaders are not able to lead.

Ignoring values are costly. There is always a price tag. They are not just words on a the back of the annual report, on posted on the wall, they are the true test of today's leaders.

Structure Schmucture?

Every business needs to do four important things to manage effectively. They need to establish a plan and manage performance and progression, manage their people and culture, manage costs and productivity, and manage the infrastructure and systems that are required to run the business.

I used to think that structure was not important. You know what I mean by that - org charts and hierarchies and reporting relationships. I used to think that if you focused on the work - what needs to get done - and if people are allowed to work together for the time it takes to get the work done - then structure shouldn't be a huge factor in business. In fact, until recently, I used to think that structure was more of a hindrance than a help.

Wrong. Structure lays out who's who, and what they do, and who is leading them in their decision making. It tells us who's on point to lead, and who's on point to deliver. It is about accountability and results.

The problem with structure is that quite often, we use it as a strategy. And it's not. Strategy describes what we need to do, and structure is how we organize to do it.

OK, so what if the structure runs against the strategy. This is what I see happening a lot, and reason that I am sceptical about structure. Do you ever wonder why you can't seem to get something done? Why you can't seem to get the right people to work together? And why if you do manage to get the people in the same room, they often don't seem to get why they are there and what they are supposed to accomplish?

Strategies tend to change more frequently than before. So, by the time you reorganize your people, the strategy is already falling behind, and the people are frustrated because they can't seem to make a difference. Nothing gets done, or at least, to anyone's satisfaction.

One way to get around this is the develop teams that have specific and shared accountability. These teams are constructed to create a particular outcome that supports and organizational need or strategy.

For example, every organization needs to manage its performance, and this requires expertise from areas such as the strategic planning group, who is responsible for leading the process,
the accounting and reporting group who is responsible for the numbers, the research group who provides internal and external information, the project management group who tracks and reports on initiatives and HR group who leads the performance management process. The work of these 5 teams creates a single, measurable outcome.

So, why not set up an Enterprise Performance Management Team comprised of 5 cross functional teams who dedicate a percentage of their time and resources to Enterprise Performance Management? These teams can come together quite naturally to support the enterprise performance management program for the time that it takes to do so. The rest of the time, they can be focusing on other important work and be part of other teams.

So why is this a difficult concept? What stops people from being able to work together? I would suggest the answer is a 1959 static approach to performance management that assumes people work in silos of one and that the job and requirements don't change from year to year.

The truth is, silo thinking, acting and rewarding creates internal individualistic competition, which is counter to a the dynamic business environment. With the people and the business working against each other, no wonder businesses responding to opportunities or making change happen on time.

In a dynamic work environment, performance management must also be dynamic. It must reward and encourage cross team efforts as well as reward the excellence of the individual team. That way, everyone wins. The organization wins because resources are used more effectively and more efficiently; people are afforded more meaningful work experiences in their day to day work by being part of broader organizational efforts; the organization can plan for succession; and people may want to stay with the organization to grow their careers.

Somebody that I respect once said, "if you don't show people their future in the organization, they will leave." And the best people do leave in any job market, competitive or not, because good people are who everyone wants. Therefore, it makes sense to design the organization's working structure to accomplish the strategies and critical business functions while creating opportunities for growth, challenge and change for employees.

In my mind, defining the organization's structure along the lines of cross functional management functions, cross functional team structures and a dynamic performance management system is the way organizations might be able to ramp up their organizational competencies, and keep their people satisfied and engaged.