This short and concise TED Talk video beautifully breaks down the definition of leadership.
Derek Sivers encourages us to have the courage to follow, and show others how to follow.
“The first follower is actually an underestimated form of leadership in itself. … The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.”
Posted in Leadership and Team Building
Tagged business, Derek Sivers, Leadership, Management, TED Talk, video
Fork in the road
I recently met a friend for lunch, and asked him how he was enjoying his current job he has been in for the past year.
Let’s take a step back in time. Several years ago, my friend took a job working in Human Resources for a small company that seemed liked a great place to work. But, sometimes we realize that perception is so much different than reality. About two months into his role, he started to question if he made the right move to this company. Shortly after, what he felt was validated. The corporate culture was not what he had perceived it would be.
My friend tried his best to like where he worked, and stuck it out for over a year, but it was too much of a struggle. Among many other faults, the leaders and managers did not make an effort to meet with the HR department. How the company had originally presented themselves was not the case at all. Working in HR, it was difficult to promote the company to potential candidates.
Another opportunity with a company in a completely different industry came up. Unhappy in the current job, my friend was hesitant at first to take on a role in an industry he was not familiar with. All his friends said ‘if it is out of your comfort zone, maybe you shouldn’t take the job’. He started to think hard about his choices. His partner simply said ‘don’t question yourself’. With that simple piece of advice, he moved forward with the application process and the potential manager reassured him on the phone in a long conversation, showing his support. That care and attention and human touch is what made all the difference, even prior to the official job offer, my friend knew this was already an environment and culture that he could feel comfortable in.
And one year later, he is so very happy that he made that change.
I asked him, “When did you know it was the right culture?” he simply said, “I never questioned it. I knew since day one”. He continued, “The corporate culture is consistent with the messaging they present publicly. When I recruit for the company, I can honestly tell candidates that I’m happy working there”. He also added that having a supportive manager makes all the difference.
He described his state of mind at the previous employer as “unhappiness to the depths of my soul. For all the misery, it was a huge learning experience – learning about myself and my limits”.
And to that, I say, what a difference a year makes. What a difference a corporate culture makes.
Posted in corporate culture
Tagged business, Employment, Human Resources, Management, Organizational culture
No one really leaves a job just because they have found a better opportunity or better pay. The number one reason people leave is because they fail to connect with their bosses as leaders and as people. Think about it. Most people in their careers can share in this experience. Although missteps can happen, the best leaders strive to make their actions consistent with the philosophy of having an engaged and excited team.
I interviewed Cameron McNeill, owner of MAC Marketing Solutions, on what it means to lead. Here’s what Cameron said on this subject: ‘As a leader, I am constantly challenging myself to think about my team’s enjoyment in their career with my company. There is one test we have- when people wake up in the morning, are they excited about working with our company? If they aren’t excited then I have failed. This philosophy is the driving spirit within our business and permeates all levels of the company. It boils down to two things: every person is driven by different circumstances, and you, the leader, must care about each individual as a fellow family member in the context of the vision of the company. Everyone then looks after each other and their collective well-being. It is hard to create this and impossible to fake. No marketing team could ever produce this spirit. It requires champions big and small to express this in an individual way. It is done with a common set of core values that everyone knows. They all know which way they are going and are pulling in the same direction. I never stop thinking about nor ever get tired of saying, “when you wake up in the morning…” ’.
And this theme is true with every executive of some of the top Canadian business’s I’ve had the pleasure to know. An effective leader lives and breathes the company’s core values. They obsess over the clarity of these core values. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Repeat. Repeat and repeat.
The best leaders have tremendous passion for what they do. Yet they operate with a level of genuine humility and with the sole purpose of their company’s welfare. It’s not about them, rather, it’s about the company as a whole. These leaders protect their teams aligned with their vision at all costs. Lose your core team and you lose the heart and soul of the company.
Are you leading the way you want to be led?
Are you really that good? We’d be kidding ourselves if we thought we were perfect leaders.
The M word. Nothing can unsettle a competent employee more than when a manager takes their title name too seriously. The title ‘Manager’ for tradition’s sake should be made extinct along with its sidekick, ‘micro’. The most common theme I hear in human resources is the growing frustration of leaders oscillating from task management to accountability metrics with no apparent awareness of the bigger picture and it’s tie in to the company’s core vision. It’s kind of like treating the symptom not the cause. A knee jerk reaction not only applies to medicine but also to management. When operated in such a manner ‘A’ players eventually leave the organization.
It’s a simple as this. An effective leader’s primary concern should be the ability to acquire and retain the best people. Once you have them, the key objective is to grow and develop your top talent. The juggle today is that you must do this and also create a very real connection to these individuals. And it’s a delicate balancing act. Too much of one and not enough of another could shift the experience of whether or not an individual will thrive under your leadership. (Or lack thereof). The rock star CEO is so over. Just like the internet has made companies more transparent, great companies require their leadership to be real, and to truly be human.
Show don’t tell. It’s an age-old statement that goes back to primary school. No one likes to be told just as no one likes to be managed. No competent leader I’ve ever known enjoys the proverbial ‘management’ part of managing. Who would really? It’s kind of like glorified child minding except children are much sharper now and far more fascinating. When you ‘manage’ someone you are saying that ‘you’re not capable of managing yourself’ and ‘you’re not responsible to do what you say you’re going to do when you said you were going to do it’. It essentially shows a vote of non-confidence to their commitment to action.
Tom Peters made famous, ‘manage by wandering around’. When you walk around you learn things but most importantly you get on the same level as the rest of your team by doing this basic step. And do you ever learn about the pulse of the organization and it’s closeness to the company’s core values. If there is one piece of experience I have learned over the years as a business owner it is to do just that – walk around. I love to walk up to an individual’s work space and ask the question, ‘What’s happening in your world right now?’ From there I am able to learn not only where they are at, but how they are approaching or considering their challenges. In many instances I will also learn something about what’s happening in their personal world too, leaving us both feeling better connected.
When you put yourself as a leader into one that is more of an approachable, getting ‘into the trenches’ role, you grow abilities and remove the roadblocks that might demotivate an employee. And the neatest thing is when I say something that really catches their attention that is relevant to them and they say ‘that was so helpful! I’m glad we spoke!’ Listening to them, by acting as a coach, looking at the framework of the world that employee lives in, you start to see more and have a better connection to that individual. Try to put yourself into their paradigm. Their lens is their reality. It’s their paradigm, not yours. By setting strategy in this context you achieve a complete picture and not the bits and pieces found in task management. And best of all, being closer to your team lets people feel more comfortable to speak and make comment. They are most likely going to feel that their opinions and feedback may be heard. Spontaneous time with your team is so important. It’s those times together where I think, on reflection, I’ve learnt the most and received some of the most valuable feedback or ideas from individuals.
Jim Collins’ quote, ‘Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.’ Is dead on. Leadership ‘greatness’ is a skill that takes mindful practice. Here! Here!
Posted in Management Excellence
Tagged corporate culture, Human Resources, Jim Collins, Leadership, Management, Tom Peters
In a time when the workforce is increasingly transient, your ability to identify high-performing and high-potential employees—and that of your managers—is critical. And yet, many struggle to distinguish one from the other, negatively impacting their ability to develop and retain top talent. In many organizations, performance is the primary measure of an employee’s value in the organization. Star performers are promoted and rewarded, while diamonds in the rough become disengaged and move on.
Don’t get me wrong–you should definitely value performance. But if your end goal is to build a more robust talent pipeline (and it should be), performance can’t be the only point of entry. To that end, there are strategies that any manager can apply to develop high-potentials and high-performers effectively.
Step One: Identify
High-performers stand out in any organization. They consistently exceed expectations, and are management’s go-to for difficult projects. They take pride in their accomplishments, but may not have the potential (or the desire) to succeed in a higher-level role.
High potentials can be more difficult to identify, especially for line managers. That’s because most valuable attributes (e.g. stress management, adaptability, business sense) aren’t catalytic in entry-to-mid-level roles. Potential is subjective to what a company values, of course, but there are innate attributes that distinguish them from high-performers.
Line managers’ observations are often limited to the most obvious traits (time management, communication skills, attention to detail). By working with leadership, however, managers can profile the skills that ensure success in key roles—and be on the lookout for examples of both high performers and high potentials from day one.
Step Two: Assess
An established standard of the attributes and competencies of model employees is also an essential part of objective assessment. And though there’s a distinct difference between potential and performance, experts agree that employees should be assessed on competency in both.
![Figure 1 - Hyper v Hypo[1]](http://mcnak.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/figure-1-hyper-v-hypo1.png?w=500&h=180)
Each category requires a different development strategy. With a clearer picture of who falls where, managers can make more informed decisions in how to effectively develop them. For example: High Po/ Low Per employees may need to improve their ability to perform consistently, or may be moved into roles better aligned with their natural abilities. And High Per/Low Po employees would be ideal candidates for soft skill development–or for roles that require more technical skill.
Step Three: Engage and Develop
The important thing about development and engagement strategies (especially for high-potential vs. high-performance employees) is to tailor your efforts to drive the results you want. Typical engagement strategies could look something like this:
Recognition is key for High Per/Low Po employees. They need constant encouragement and challenging assignments. Rather than promoting them to roles they don’t want (or aren’t ready for), give them the independence and engage them with projects that they can take full ownership of.
Alternately, while High Po/Low Per employees are hungry for more high-impact work, they need seasoning. On the job training is a great way to accomplish this, especially when pairing them with high performers. As they develop a stronger understanding of the organization and their role in it, give them projects to manage, new hires to train, and offer cross-training opportunities.
Set Your Line Managers Up for Success
Your line managers are the gatekeepers to your talent pipeline, and they’ve got their work cut out for them. While most will have some natural ability in identifying, assessing, and engaging performers and potentials, few will be adept at all three. If you want to improve your ability to retain top talent, it starts with your line managers. Set them up for success, and invest in their development.
This guest post was written by Kyle Lagunas.
Kyle Lagunas is the HR Analyst at Software Advice—an online resource for HR software comparisions. He reports on trends, technology, and best practices in talent management, with work featured on Forbes, Business Insider, Information Weekly, and the NY Times.
Posted in Management Excellence
Tagged business, high performance, Human Resources, Leadership, Management, Team building
Whether it is called coaching, managing, or supervising if it is not done with the right persons in mind, then maybe the person doing it shouldn’t do it at all.
That may sound pretty harsh, but let’s think it through before making any critical judgments.
The “manager” works under someone, perhaps a supervisor or the business owner. They have been entrusted to instruct, guide and inspire those that they oversee.
Top performers are most often the true indicators of a company’s culture and are part of the integral root system of the company’s success. The biggest risk for a company is in failing to create an environment that supports their abilities. Developing a culture that attracts top performers is one of the most important tools for a company’s recruitment process.
Questions to ask your executive management team and line managers:
Every day we are either making or breaking habits. Research tells us that in 21 days we have the ability to create new habits or reinforce old ones.
Enter the corporate culture – the breeding ground of new habits, practices, and behaviours. In 21 days, a corporate culture could, in theory, be able to deconstruct old habits or build up new ones.
That is a powerful tool in my opinion.
Think about it. Our companies could be responsible for building habits that could create a huge shift in people’s personal lives and, in effect, the world.
We could create habits of sustainable consumption by only allowing reusable containers in the office. Goodbye garbage cans filled with green and white cups and take-away boxes!
We could create habits of intentional time management and goal setting by ensuring every meeting request is sent with an end goal. “By the end of the meeting, we should be have completed y and z.”
We could create habits of integrating work-life-play by introducing flexible working hours, team off-sites where significant others and best friends could be invited to join for part of it, or meetings that include attending a fitness class together. Would people then need to “reacquaint themselves” with their family and friends or healthy lifestyle come the weekend?
We could create habits of generosity and benevolence by allowing each employee the option of having part of their pay automatically donated to a charity of their choice. What if our motto was “we pay you more so that you can donate more”?
Our world contains over consumption, obesity, unsustainable lifestyles, families that never see each other, depression, disease, “lost souls” looking for a purpose, bullying, and difficult or limited access to education and clean water.
A question we should all be asking ourselves is “Does my corporate culture create habits in our people that will advance the world in a meaningful way?”
My wish is that the answer is yes. If it isn’t, its our responsibility as leaders to do something about it.
What legacy is your company leaving?
This guest post was written by Matt Corker.
Matt Corker has a serious addiction to big ideas, bold goals, and strong communities. After working for the University of British Columbia in alumni and student affairs, Matt was drawn to lululemon athletica – a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company that creates components for people to live long, healthy, and fun lives. In his role of Leadership Development Advisor, Matt was responsible for delivering new-hire orientations, overseeing their internship program, and creating professional development opportunities that empower their great staff to achieve their dreams and live a life they LOVE! Matt has a Bachelor of Commerce in Human Resource Management and International Business from the Sauder School of Business at UBC and is now completing his MBA at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. He has a big heart for new technologies, inspiring minds, and giving out great high fives. More information about Matt can be found at http://thatsacorker.com.
Posted in corporate culture
Tagged business, corporate legacy, Human Resources, Management, Matt Corker, Organizational culture
In an effort to avoid conflict, leaders and team members often conceal their true feelings, withhold their opinions or outwardly agree and go along with the crowd while inside they are vehemently opposed.
For some, this lack of candour also extends to hoarding information or avoiding communicating with others entirely, in an effort to save face or get and stay ahead of the pack.
I recently came across this great blog post called Interviewing Karma and it has stuck with me…so much so that I wanted to share it with you. The blogger is an anonymous manager in a large corporation who is sharing their knowledge along the way. I encourage you to check out some of the other posts they have written.
What I really like about this particular post is the simple message of being kind. Searching for a job has got to be one of the most stressful situations in anybody’s life. For those of you in the position as a hiring manager, please keep this in mind. Whether you hire the candidate or not, please make sure that the interview experience with you and your company is a positive one.
As the Greek author and philosopher, Plato said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Posted in Human Resources, Management Excellence
Tagged business, interview, Karma, Management, stressful situations
