After a number of years of being a manager, supervisor or team leader it can feel as though you have ‘been there and done that.’ With fewer opportunities for promotion, how can you re-energize your enthusiasm for your leadership role?
 
Perhaps it is time to wake up to your higher purpose of being a developer of people.
 
You will be long remembered for your role in developing others once the memory of your great management skills fades away. 
 
As you think back to the managers and supervisors you have worked for, you likely have one or two who made the most significant impact on you. Isn’t it a shame that there are so few inspiring bosses?
 
As a leader yourself, what kind of legacy are you leaving? Will you be known as the type of manager or supervisor who made a difference to a large number of employees or will you be just another boss, forgotten soon after you retire or leave your current position?
 
If doing your management job has become a little stale, why not shift your focus to building the capabilities of the people who work for you? Not only will they appreciate your interest in their success, they will want to help you succeed in your leadership role.
 
Tips for Building a Leadership Legacy

• Think about the talents and potential of the people who work for you.
• Have conversations with them about their ambitions.
• Provide challenging job assignments.
• Delegate greater responsibility to them.
• Recommend worthy candidates for promotion.
• Give tough love to those who need to adjust their thinking.
• Encourage and push employees to stretch themselves beyond their current beliefs about what is possible. 

Your greatest success might be disguised. That was the case for William Wrigley, Jr. You recognize the name from Wrigley chewing gum. What you might not have known is that Wrigley started out as a soap company,  using chewing gum as a promotional giveaway inside the box of soap.
 
Perhaps your greatest success is lurking right under your nose. And success does not necessarily mean growing your wealth – it could be a simple discovery about how to fulfill your potential.
 
At the age of 29, William Wrigley, Jr. moved to Chicago to sell soap for his father’s company. To sell more soap he began putting a pack of chewing gum in the boxes of soap. The promotion worked and soap sales increased. Two years later in 1893 he launched his first chewing gum brand – Juicy Fruit. After years of persistence and hard work, the company became the largest manufacturer and marketer of chewing gum.
 
Could your greatest success be right under your nose?
 
I’ve noticed that many people lack self awareness of their special talents and gifts. Those talents lay dormant, just waiting for the right situation or set of circumstances to trigger them. These dormant opportunities explain the gap between where you are now and your full potential. Wrigley acted on his hunch and exploited his opportunity.
 
The trigger that helps you unlock your potential might be an observation made by a friend, colleague or even a complete stranger. In many cases, the clues might be right around you. The clues may be just a whisper or they could be screaming at you to take notice.
 
You can help others discover their talents by making observations and then encouraging and supporting them as they begin to develop those talents.
 
Action Tips

1. Reflect on the clues you might be receiving from the people you interact with, the projects you undertake and the challenges you overcome.
2. Ask for feedback from people who know you best.
3. Experiment, take some measured risks.
4. Go out of your way to tell a friend, colleague or acquaintance about a strength you notice in them.

Like William Wrigley, Jr. I hope you can discover that next great idea that moves you toward fulfilling your potential.

Is  it really worth it to bend over backwards to accommodate an employee who has a ton of knowledge and experience but brings little else to the organization? Over the years I have seen companies label individuals as “untouchable” because of their organizational history. This is despite clear evidence that the person can be destructive to the people around them.

It seems that almost every organization has at least one individual who everyone puts up with for longer than they should because the person has some special knowledge and experience.
 
In effect they hold the organization hostage. And it can be a significant risk to the organization if the person were to leave suddenly… or would it?
 
An HR Manager was sharing her organization’s experience in having a former plant manager demoted several times and put on special projects because of his considerable knowledge of the plant facilities and equipment. He was deemed untouchable despite the fact that there were many long serving employees in production and maintenance who likely could handle most situations that arose.
 
What to do if your organization is a knowledge hostage

• Assess the real risk. Does the individual have real or only perceived special knowledge? What would the consequences be if the person wasn’t there?
• If there is a real risk, develop a strategy now to mitigate that risk. Use documentation and cross training to get others up to speed.
• Explain that it isn’t acceptable for the individual to hoard knowledge and expertise and that there are consequences to him or her for continuing to do so.
• Confront, correct and encourage the individual to be less defensive about their knowledge and focus on helping the team succeed.

What to do if you are the person holding the organization hostage

• Realize that you may not be creating the security you had hoped for.
• Reposition yourself as a teacher of others and think of your legacy of leaving the organization stronger instead of putting it at risk.
• Seek training, coaching or mentoring to change behaviors that are hurting your job performance and ability to interact constructively with others.

Why is it that most process improvement initiatives never quite pan out as advertised? Whether it is Lean, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, ISO/TS 9000 – the end results often fall far short of the promise and potential.
 
There is a crucial ingredient missing – Leadership.
 
We’ll explore that more below.
 
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Last week we ran the Pit Crew Challenge for a client in Windsor, Ontario. I captured one of the teams on video doing their final run. Watch the video 1:36. This unforgettable experience capped a 10-session, 30-hour leadership program for supervisors, team leaders and managers. The Pit Crew Challenge covers key concepts like being customer focused, building a coaching culture and aligning metrics and rewards to core values. Plus it is fun – using a real race car! Consider adding this experience to your leadership training or offsite retreat. 
Video of Pit Crew Challenge in Action 1:36

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Dr. Peter DeShane and I are scheduling another workshop: The Psychology of Persuasion and Influence on June 9th in London, Ontario.
 
Now is the time of year when companies plan leadership retreats – see how we can make these meetings more positive and productive.
  
Have a great week!

The Missing Ingredient
 
Most process improvement initiatives involve a tool kit of problem solving tools, methodology and intensive training. Some, like Six Sigma come with fancy names like Black Belt and Green Belt and business books and consultants trumpet the extraordinary payback, with a sizable investment!
 
Some cynics might think that greedy consultants are really just repackaging concepts such as value stream mapping and continuous improvement into fancier systems and there is some truth there.
 
Management can be forgiven for being seduced into paying big bucks for training and consulting. The promised payback is extraordinary, especially in the early stages when the low hanging fruit is picked. Once the initiative moves from the most enthusiastic managers involved in pilot projects to the broader organization, many initiatives begin to fade.
 
The missing ingredient is Leadership.
 
In fact, for most businesses, the exhaustive tool kits are overkill and can overwhelm the organization.
 
Without leadership, all of these initiatives fail to connect the people to the process. For managers without effective people skills the technical tools appear to do away with the need to engage and motivate. It’s not that the tools are ineffective – they just don’t create the full benefit without leadership.
 
It could be argued that an effective manager with good leadership skills could achieve similar results with the basic premise of reducing wasted effort, getting employees to engage in finding better ways of doing their work and measuring key aspects of the process.
 
Before embarking on a large process improvement, consider how your leadership team will keep the process alive and ensure benefits are sustained.

Reflection Questions

• Is the proposed process improvement overkill for your type of organization? 
• Is the leadership team (from executives to the front line) capable and consistent in managing people and process? 
• How would consistent and capable leadership help run the business better, perhaps without lots of additional training/consulting?

Action Items

• Continue to invest in the leadership capabilities of your team from the executive suites to the front line leaders.
• Make continuous improvement and lean part of the culture instead of being a special project.
• Ensure sustainability by having consistent management attention over a long period of time.

It was an exciting week last week – our book Employees Not Doing What You Expect rose to number two on the Globe and Mail Business Bestseller List. Irwin Schinkel and I are putting the finishing touches on our next book Fusion or Fizzle: How Leaders Leverage Training to Ignite Results.
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Now that we seem to be on the tail end of recession and the beginning of recovery, it is time to confront a reality – nearly one third of employees are thinking about changing jobs if the right opportunity presents itself. Look at the person on your left and then the one on your right – one of you is secretly or not so secretly looking at changing jobs. More on that below. 
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Dr. Peter DeShane and I are scheduling another workshop: The Psychology of Persuasion and Influence on June 9th in London, Ontario.
 
Now is the time of year when companies plan leadership retreats - see how we can make these meetings more positive and productive.
   
A Reason to Stay
 
Nearly one out of three employees really would like to be working someplace else. During a recession, employees are thankful to have a job and generally put aside thoughts of moving to a different position or starting their own business. This false sense of loyalty can lull managers into thinking that employees are satisfied and motivated when they really are not.
 
As the economy improves, these unhappy employees go looking for other opportunities they think will bring them greater fulfillment and satisfaction.
 
Low turnover can mask a hidden problem. In workplaces with good compensation, generous benefits and a solid pension plan (think public sector or large employers), ambitious employees may lose their motivation and yet not leave. These trapped employees allow their personal productivity to decline and simply “put in time” until their retirement date comes.
 
Whether employees feel trapped or are looking at other possibilities, the challenge to managers is clear – continue to create a work environment that is motivating.
 
Four areas to pay attention to:

1. Challenge – Even high-potential employees will leave an organization if they are bored so managers need to provide a steady diet of new challenges, projects and assignments to create growth.
2. Recognition and acknowledgement – Let employees know that their contribution makes a difference. Say thank-you and let employees know that you see the impact they are having on the team, the customers and the organization as a whole.
3. Inclusion – While you might have favorites, it is crucial to reinforce teamwork through fair and consistent treatment.
4. Likeability and respect for the boss – A major reason employees look for opportunities is because they really don’t like the person they report to. This isn’t simply a popularity contest – they want a manager who is consistent, positive, knowledgeable, supportive and ambitious.

Reflection Questions

• How many of the four motivational elements above exist in your organization?
• Are you the kind of boss employees enjoy working for or do you need to make changes?
• What needs to change in order to have an engaging and motivating workplace?

Action Items

• Assess your personal satisfaction level, identify what is missing and what it will take to fill the void.
• Evaluate your workplace on the four motivational elements and commit yourself to making it better.
• Make adjustments and see the impact on both productivity and job satisfaction.

Having just wrapped up two more Front Line Leadership programs, it never ceases to amaze me the amount of potential in the leaders taking the course. One of the requirements of graduation is for each participant to document how they have applied elements of the course and the impact it has on their department.
 
In today’s LeaderFeeder I will share an example of how one brand new supervisor was able to get his team to think more independently and be more accountable just by making a small change to his leadership approach.
 
A majority of front line leaders (team leaders, lead hands and supervisors) are promoted from within. They get promoted based on having strong technical skills, a good work ethic and a positive outlook. They are usually good problem solvers and want to be helpful. This helpfulness can create an ego where they think that they must solve every problem in the work group.
 
As these new leaders transition from being workers to being leaders, they face an interesting challenge.
 
If they continue to answer every question and solve every problem brought to them, the workgroup will become dependent and the sense of fulfillment they receive from their leadership role will diminish.
 
One new supervisor put this challenge to the test. Only having supervised for a couple of months, he found that his employees would be constantly bringing him questions and issues. And he would cheerfully give them answers. Then, as suggested in the course, he reflected on the fact that for 80% of the questions, the employees had the experience and knowledge to solve the problems on their own.
 
So he made a simple change. Whenever an employee brought him a question or problem he thought they could solve, he simply asked, “What do you think would work?”
 
Initially the employees were surprised that he would trust them enough to solve the problem. After a couple of days he found that the number of questions and problems brought to him diminished to only those that needed his involvement.
 
The employees didn’t realize they were “allowed” to decide certain things. The level of positive attitude and motivation increased because the employees felt that the supervisor trusted them.
 
It is amazing that such a small change in approach can have such a significant impact on the morale, attitude and productivity of a department while at the same time making the supervisor’s job easier.
 
Reflection Questions

• If you are in a leadership role, are there questions you answer and problems you solve that you know could be handled by your team?
• If you are constantly giving answers, how does it impact your job satisfaction and the morale of your workgroup?
• How would your leadership role be more rewarding if you could get the team to solve most of the problems they encounter? 

Action Items

• Size up your work group – do they have the capability to think more for themselves without coming to you for every little question and problem?
• Begin asking, “What do you think would work?” when you are presented with a question or problem.
• Give coaching to help the employee make better decisions and develop good judgement.
• Give positive feedback when the employee takes initiative to solve problems on their own.
• Enjoy having some extra time to focus on bigger issues and problems that need your attention.

Last Wednesday (May 5th) was McHappy Day at McDonalds Canadian operations. It is a big fundraiser for Ronald McDonald Houses across Canada. I had the priviledge of working as a volunteer that day for the fifth time.
 
I’m guessing they took a look at my performance reviews from 1983 when I worked at McDonalds as a teenager because I was kept far away from the cash register and the cooking grills! While selling balloons and crazy straws for charity I was thinking back to how impressive McDonalds was as an employer.
 
Of course the term McJob has been coined to describe minimum wage service jobs as being at the bottom of the barrel. And yet in this LeaderFeeder I encourage you to compare some of your company practices to see if you can measure up to McDonalds. At least in Canada, the company is extremely well managed and employees are well treated. 
 
What makes McDonalds a facinating study is that it knows in advance that a majority of its employees will only work there for a few years, tops. Given that reality, it might be tempting to skimp on the training, forego performance appraisals and never give a raise. But McDonalds does exactly the opposite.
 
When I started working there, I earned $2.65/hour. I was given two weeks of paid training; some classroom and some on the floor. Some of my friends who worked for other fast food companies didn’t get the same level of training. There were designated trainers whose job it was to get you up to speed on how to do the job correctly and how to keep up with the fast pace.
 
After a few months on the job, my manager sat me down and gave me a formal performance review and a 10 cent raise. At the time I didn’t know how good I had it.
 
How does your company compare?

• Do you provide adequate training so that employees understand both what is expected and how to perform in their jobs?
• Do you provide regular, detailed performance feedback both informally and formally?
• How to you treat your temporary employees? Do they feel that they play a worthy role on the team even though they might not work for you for a long time?

Action Items

• Refrain from maligning so called McJobs, especially if your organization doesn’t measure up to the robust people management practices of McDonalds.
• If you manage in an organization that employs relatively low-skilled employees it doesn’t mean that you should treat them with less respect.
• If you manage higher-skilled and higher-paid staff then you really should be implementing positive and proactive leadership practices. It will help you better manage your business.

As a leader, you are measured on results and those results depend on people taking action.
 
A common frustration is how to get the rest of the organization to buy into ideas more quickly and move forward. It turns out that the primary reason why parts of the organization move as fast as sludge is because of a passive-bias. Keeping this in mind will allow the leader to take a slightly different approach to achieving success. 
 
One of the assessment tools we use with training and coaching participants reveals whether their thinking and behavior is constructive or defensive. Defensiveness is either passive or aggressive or the dreaded passive-aggressive.
 
A majority of the population – approximately 60% are passive-defensive. They protect themselves with avoidance, being dependance on others, trying to get others to accept them and using policies and procedures as a safety net. Therefore, unless you have skewed your hiring and selection, your workforce is 60% passive-defensive. And in fact a number of leadership teams contain passive defensive thinkers as well.
 
Passive defensive employees can lull the leader into a false sense of security. Because passive employees do not express concerns directly they can make the leader think there is buy in and agreement when there isn’t. Meanwhile behind the scenes, the employees commiserate. Relate this to how most people deal with a problem with their meal. They complain about it to their dining companion and when the server comes by and asks how everything is, they say “fine”.
 
You may see the following symptoms that indicate passivity:

• Complaints without solutions.
• Hints about a problem without being direct.
• Saying they will do something and then not doing it.
• Checking in with the leader even when they know what needs to be done.
• Looking busy but not having enough to do.
• Being overly concerned about whether people like and accept them.
• Avoiding conflict and avoiding decisions.
• Wanting to take extra long on a project that only requires a fraction of the time.

As a leader, here is what you can do:

• Listen for hints of problems and dissatisfaction and deal with them directly. In some cases you may even have to say what you think they are thinking to validate it. “I sense that you might have a concern about the project, can you let me know what it is?”
• Consult and ask questions to get input from passive individuals in advance.
• Where possible, give advance notice of what you want in order to avoid surprising people.
• Be specific about what you want and when you want it.
• Explain yourself – give a logical reason why it is necessary to do what you want.
• Deal with concerns or potential concerns to show how your proposed action poses little risk and will help make things letter.
• Ask for a commitment or buy-in instead of assuming there is agreement.

For achievement oriented individuals, this approach will feel excruciatingly slow. However if success is measured by what actually gets done well, this approach will yield better results.

I was reflecting back on some pre-training interviews with different organizations in the past two weeks. One theme was common – lack of positive feedback.
 
Of all the leadership tools at the manager’s disposal, positive feedback is one of the least expensive and highest payback actions. Instead of focusing so much attention on what is going wrong, make an effort to build on successes. Once employees see that you notice what they do right, they will be more likely to do more of what you expect. 
 
The belief that the paycheck is thanks enough for the work done still sadly exists in some companies. A paycheck is not a thank you, but rather the other half of a contract completed. We know that pay is number 5 on the list of what motivates employees, so if it comes down to money, then chances are your company must not be creating many other positive reasons to work there.
 
Consider a low cost alternative: Praising a job well done.
 
Human nature works against praise and thanks in the work place. We tend to take the good for granted and complain about the bad. Managers create more work for themselves when they only focus on what’s going wrong. By building on successes it makes the leader’s job easier.
 
Often managers themselves hear praise far too rarely. Praising people for doing something right starts at the top of the management team. And, if you want to positively influence your manager, tell him or her what they are doing right.
 
Some managers may think that offering praise will make people soft and perform at a lower level when in fact it helps the team elevate its performance.
 
Reflection Questions
 
Do you give enough positive feedback to others on what is going well? What impact do you see when you offer positive feedback?
 
Action Items

• Play a game. For every one complaint or fault you discover, force yourself to find three positive things.
• Build a desire for human connectedness in your life and this will manifest as a caring persona your employees will recognize as a caring human being. They’ll work harder for you.
• Comment on positive things, not sparingly, but excessively.
• Praise your boss when he gets something right. If you don’t like the boss waffling when making decisions, compliment him when he does make a decision quickly. This will encourage him to do more of the same so he can hear more compliments.
• Encourage your team to praise the people they supervise.
• Remember to praise and thank in a genuine manner. One sarcastic comment can poison the entire process.

I had some exciting news last week. The book I co-authored with my father Irwin reached number 8 on the Globe and Mail Business Books Bestseller List.  The book is Employees Not Doing What You Expect and has now been published in India, Latin America and Korea.
 
Now we return to our regularly scheduled LeaderFeeder…
 
Do you see people or objects? A colleague of mine Owen Thornton wrote an interesting piece in his Human Kindness Project blog on the fact that our view of the world is defined by our sedimentation (the accumulation of all our life experiences.) These experiences create biases that either interfere or enhance our life and business success.
 
It prompted me to reflect back on two books I had read a few months ago that can impact how leaders view their followers. We can view people as people or we can view them as objects.
 
On a personal level it reminded me to avoid taking my wife, children, clients and suppliers for granted.  More on that below.
 
In May, we’re offering the Front Line Leadership course in London, Ontario, Mississauga, Ontario and Chatham, Ontario.
 
Have a great week!
 
People or Objects?
 
There is an easier way and a harder way to get results as a leader. The easy way is where you have a team of people around you who want to help you achieve results, even in difficult circumstances. The hard way is to push and demand results from your team. Because they don’t want to see you succeed, they find a way of only doing the bare minimum to get you off their back.
 
So what makes employees want to help their boss succeed? Part of the answer lies in whether the boss treats them like people or like objects.
 
Thanks to a client of mine (Pam H.) who recommended I read two excellent books from the Arbinger Institute: Leadership and Self Deception and The Anatomy of Peace. The central theme in both books is whether you see others around you as people or as objects and how that view of others distorts reality.

This concept really hit home for me personally as I can sense that at times I can view my wife, children, friends and even clients as objects instead of people. I can be less sensitive and intuitive as I should be.

When we see others as objects, we dehumanize them. This often makes us feel superior in our own beliefs and behavior and become judgmental about the motives of others.

For example when you are driving and another driver cuts you off, you might think to yourself, “What a jerk!” In fact the other person might be perfectly nice 95% of the time and did something jerk-like 5% of the time. You might also occasionally do something inconsiderate towards someone and not really be a jerk.

In reality television the producer and editor can make someone look either intelligent or buffoon-like depending on which clips and sound bites they show and which clips they leave unseen and unheard. Think about having yourself video recorded 24/7 and how you could be made to look either brilliant or stupid depending on which clips others saw.

As a leader, when you see your employees as human beings, you can appreciate that they have strengths and weaknesses just like you. How you treat them will make a big difference in your success as a leader.

Reflection Questions
 
Do the people around you want to see you succeed or do they actively or passively resist your goals and ambitions? How could being more personable build stronger business and personal relationships?
 
Action Items

• Reflect on your view of others. Chances are that you unconditionally accept some people while being more judgmental towards others.
• Replace judgement with curiosity to discover more about your team.
• Take time to get to know people and build relationships.
• Become the type of leader who earns loyalty and respect instead of demanding it.