Posted: September 10, 2019 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

Have you ever water skied? I have done so about a half-dozen times. With a few misfires in the beginning, I got up and stayed up. When I was skiing, the most prevalent thought I had was to avoid falling. As I result, I stayed in the wake and made no attempt to risk crossing it.

I have a friend who is an expert water skier. Not only would he cross the wake, he can do it barefoot! He loves to ski and finds it to be a never-ending adventure. He is also a very successful business owner, and as you might expect, he likes his employees to enjoy themselves in their work, and always rise to a challenge.

Now let’s talk about the opposite:  There are companies I have seen where the team member’s main thought is to not do or say anything that would rock the boat. If they have an idea that they think would help the company, they hold back for fear of being shot down. In other words, like me on skis, they are afraid to cross the wake.

When we think of the companies that have become successful and stayed that way, names like “Disney” or “Apple” come to mind. Where would these great companies be without the input and engagement of their staff? These companies are smart, and they have learned that creating a culture with idea fluency is vital to continued healthy growth.

Let’s consider our own team. When someone comes up with an idea, do we suspend judgment and hear them out? Are they confident “crossing the wake”? If we sense not, this may be a good time practice more encouragement and better listening. It will pay!

Posted: August 21, 2019 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

I’ve always been told that repetition is one of the ways we learn.  If we are playing a musical instrument or learning a new skill, repetition makes sense.  Then there are other times when repetition does not work.  Have you ever found yourself having the same conversation over and over again with someone you are trying to correct or re-direct?  I’ll bet you have.  How do we break the cycle and solve the problem?  I will illustrate with a personal example:

In the summer of 1974, I was the manager of a hotel in a Chicago suburb.  My boss lived in Denver, and Mr. V would come in to check up on things about every six weeks.  He always had a list of things he wanted me to work on.  Some things I enjoyed, some I did not.  As time went on, it seemed like the stuff I didn’t like doing never got done.  Mr V. and I kept having the same conversation.  Then, one day, he broke the pattern.  I’ll never forget what he said, “Steve, what can I do to get you going on this?”  Whoa!  I’m tuned in.  The time for excuses was over.  I needed to execute.  I did, and we enjoyed a long working relationships that lasted for another 10 years.  He also promoted me to manage some of his other properties.

What happened in this conversation?  Mr. V shifted gears.  Before, he was focusing on the specific situation of what didn’t get done.  In our capstone conversation, he instead called attention to the “pattern” I had established, and let me know that this pattern needed to change…immediately!

Do you have a team member who just can’t seem to “get with the program”?  Once they established an unproductive pattern, address the pattern, not the incident.  Throw it right back to him or her like Mr. V did.  It will be tough.  We also know that the best coaches and teachers in our lives always challenged us.  We can do the same.

Posted: August 11, 2019 | Categories: Customer service, Leadership, Networking, Sales, Self-Improvement, Team Building

“The expression one wears on one’s face is far more important that the clothes one wears on one’s back”

– Dale Carnegie

Today I was reminded of an important principle in building team trust:  One of my friends mentioned that she had taken a picture of a colleague in a meeting while he was looking at his smart phone.  The expression on his face was not radiant.

In building strong team trust, approachability is critically important.  Our team members must be comfortable approaching us with questions, ideas, and genuine concerns.  If the “at-rest” expression on our face is stern or  intense, many will avoid us.  This leads to a weaker team.

Many years ago I was coaching a business owner who talked about his most significant growth as a leader.  A friend commented about the normal expression on his face.  He said, “You look mean.”  Carl was smart enough to realize that if he had a mad countenance, many of his team would hesitate to approach him.  That day, Carl decided he would develop the habit of having an approachable expression as much as possible.

Carl got to work.  It was tough.  He claimed it was nearly 2 years before the sparkle on his face became a habit.  Carl said the effects his efforts on teamwork and productivity were immeasurable.

I realize there are times when we will not have a sparkling expression on our face.  We may be in a serious or intense conversation and we want our facial expression to match our message.  The objective is, whenever possible and appropriate, always have a friendly expression on our face.  This builds trust and leads to stronger relationships.

Posted: August 1, 2019 | Categories: Management, Team Building

In my experience of coaching managers and leaders, I have found the most successful ones know how to make good decisions.  Whenever possible, when facing a tough decision, they take the time to gather the facts, weigh them, and act based on their knowledge and instincts.  I was reminded of this today when talking to my 32-year-old son, David.  He and his wife, Nicole recently signed up to be a Foster Parent for dogs.  Soon after they signed up, they received a couple irresistible pups from the agency.  They were Beagle mix, male and female, and both from the same litter

From the moment that David and Nicole saw them, they could see that these two pups were inseparable.  They constantly have to be near each other, and when one is out of the room, the other panics.  David and Nicole declared, “We will not split up these dogs.  They would be devastated if we did.  We will hold out until we find someone who wants to take both of them.  It is a package deal”.  This made sense to Joyce and I.

Today David talked to a couple that was eager to adopt both dogs.  With great excitement, David called the agency and announced the good news.  When the person at the agency found out the dogs were going to stay together, her enthusiasm dropped.  She said, “We have found that it is not a good idea to let people adopt two from the same litter.”  She explained why, and my crestfallen son did some further research.  It is not a good idea to adopt siblings.  They are so into each other, they tend not to pay any attention to the owner.  That makes them difficult to train and bond with.  They only want to be next to their sibling.  We were all sad, but wiser.  I was reminded again of how powerful the “heart” is in making decisions, and how we always have to get the “head” involved too!

Posted: June 25, 2019 | Categories: Leadership, Team Building

Effective bosses communicate early and often.  When I am coaching managers and owners on their communication skills, we often talk about classifying the type of communication you wish to have.  The four main categories are: Sell, tell, join, and consult.  If we are selling, we need buy-in.  If we are telling, we are delivering a message with a non-negotiable directive.  When we join, we agree to support a team member on an idea or project they have generated.  When we consult, we are seeking input and ideas regarding a possible course of action.

I believe that the “tell” situation is the most challenging.  Most people do not want to appear harsh, and telling means you are really saying, “This is the way it is…no exceptions”.  Here is an example:

In my early 20’s, I began my career in hotel management.  I moved around a lot, and one time I took management of a hotel that had a weekly payroll.  No, we didn’t have a payroll service, and I also did not have a calculator.  (This was in the early 70’s, and calculators were way too expensive).  This meant that doing the weekly payroll took a half a day a week – way too much time.  I decided we would change to a bi-weekly payroll schedule.  I did not even attempt to sell this idea.  It is funny about the word money:  Although not synonyms, “sooner” and “now” seem to be first cousins.  I knew the staff wouldn’t be happy.  I told them about the change.  The announcement came in July, but the new procedure would not begin until January 1st.  I wanted to give them time to adjust to the change.  They were not thrilled, but they understood.  If I had told them in a wishy-washy way like, “Hey, what do you think?”, I would have lost trust, because they would have soon found out that what they thought would not change things.  This was a “tell”.  My point to you: If you have to give a “tell” to your team, don’t disguise it.  Be clear, and realize that there are things we need to say and others need to hear, and we cannot expect people to always be smiling when we give them the “tell” news.