There is No Maximum to Human Potential

Delivering a Motivational Message During Uncertain Times

Recent BusinessWeek article clearly explains how to deliver a message during uncertain times.  

Click to Read

Here is the key message of the article:

In times of uncertainty, your employees, customers, partners, and shareholders want to hear three things:

1. A candid assessment of the problem.
2. A strategy for overcoming the challenge.
3. A vision of what the business will look like if the strategy is successful.

What We are Reading

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution

Who should read:

• Business and political leaders who want to draw profit form environmental responsibility

Our favorite ideas from the book:

• The concept of "a new economy" that requires less resources, reduces taxes, increases per-capita spending on social ills and begins to restore the damaged environment.
• A new style of industrialism that differs in its philosophy, goals, and fundamental processes from the industrial system that has been the standard.  In other words, the industrial revolution is over.
• Green buildings create delight when entered, serenity and health when occupied, and regret when departed.
  

ABOUT THE BOOK:  Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution  Authors: Paul Hawkin, Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins      322 pages   Publisher: Back Bay Books/Little, Brown and Company  ISBN: 978-0-316-35316-8

Using the 3 R's in the Workplace: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

“Every well-run business needs strategic goals—we just believe that those goals need to include things like sustainability as well as profitability. We’re guided by two foundational documents: a philosophical statement, our Reason for Being, which inspires our strategy; and a practical tool, our Stewardship Model, which forms the basis for our everyday decision-making." Bill McGonagle, CFO, Tom’s of Maine

Since 1970 Tom’s of Maine has been mixing up products like toothpaste, soap, deodorant and mouthwash with close attention paid to the impact their products and practices have on the environment.  At HumanPoint we share in their belief, that if every company empowered their people to find ways to lessen their impact on the earth we’d see a lot of positive changes. Your business can help reduce waste, save natural resources and prevent pollution by implementing and maintaining a common sense recycling program.

The key to a successful recycle program in the workplace is to make it easy to use, convenient and easy to understand.  The City of Bellevue, Washington suggests recycling at work is easy and affordable and you’ll find that most employees are willing participants. Make it convenient for your employees and visitors to recycle by clearly labeling bins.  Start by setting up a competition between the various segments or departments of your organization. Recruit the most competitive people from each of the segments, and have them take the lead on promotion and education. This makes learning about waste prevention and recycling more fun for everyone, and leads to greater success in the long run.

Commonly recycled items at work include:
o    Office paper
o    Magazines and catalogs
o    Newspaper
o    Cardboard
o    Aluminum cans
o    Plastic bottles
o    Toner and ink jet cartridges

We recently met with the V.P. of a local printing company, Global Press, who explained to us that there are many paper companies who only offer recycled paper yet not all recycled papers carry the recycle logo so when in doubt you should always ask if the paper you are choosing to print on is recycled.

According to Conservatree, a nonprofit organization dedicated to converting paper markets to environmental papers, more than 90% of the printing and writing paper made in this country today is still virgin or non recycled paper.  Distributers say that most buyers believe they no longer have to ask for recycled because they assume all paper contains recycled content.  As a result, demand and supply have gone down.  To be sure you are buying recycled paper, look for the words “made from post-consumer recycled paper” or ask your supplier.

Here are some tips for ensuring your office becomes green:

• Computer purchasing and recycling: When buying a new computer, get one that is Energy Star compliant.  Generally, laptops are “greener” than desktops because they use less energy and material and have been designed with power sensitivity in mind.
• To recycle computers, check with the manufacturer to see if they have a recycling program.  If not, find a local computer recycler.
• Choose recycled paper, which requires less energy and fewer chemicals.  Just one ton of recycled paper saves six mature trees!
• Buying other office supplies with recycled content is also a good way to ensure that the “reduce, reuse, recycle” loop is able to go full circle!
• Order supplies in bulk, when appropriate, to reduce packaging waste.
• Substitute recycled cardboard or recycled plastic pallets for wood.  Return, reuse and repair wooden pallets. 
• Reuse shipping materials such as foam peanuts.  Take them to a shipping service that will reuse them or use shredded newspaper and other renewable, recyclable packaging materials instead.
• Use recycled or rebuilt toner cartridges in printers and copiers, preferably with soy ink.
•  Ask current suppliers for recycled content products; make it clear that this is your preference.

Begin to reduce your impact on the planet by contacting your local recycling company or locating your local recycling drop off center and asking how you and your fellow employees can do their part.

Reorganize, Redeploy, Ready for Comeback

Leaders taking stock of their organizations are breathing sighs of relief: Layoffs and other cost-saving maneuvers are in place to ease the bottom line, only the most efficient workers remain on the payroll, and the current employees are more than capable of getting the job done.  Whoa! While you may think that reducing your workforce is the most difficult part of the job, your work is not yet finished. Now you have to ensure that the company's most important work continues to be done.  Leaders mistakenly believe that the employees who remain after a layoff will work harder because they are grateful that they still have a job. This is not necessarily so. In fact,many will feel bitter and overwhelmed because their workload has increased. At the same time, they struggle with the fear that they might be the next to lose their jobs.  Uncertain times call for even stronger leadership. 

 

Just as decision makers cannot afford to think that nothing else will change once the workforce is reduced, they must also ensure that remaining workers understand that change is inevitable. You must decide how to redeploy workers to other duties and how to upgrade their training even when the development budget is gone. You need a plan that ensures the company will keep going amidst the downturn.  This task is easier if you understand your workers' strengths, weaknesses and interests. 

 

Asking the following questions can lead you to the right answers as you retrain your employees to use their full potential in this new landscape.

 

Is the structure of our organization aligned with our business goals and strategies? Remember,every task requires someone to perform it. Employees can and should multi-task, but expectations must be realistic. Make sure that you're not piling all the weight on the shoulders of one or two employees. Ask yourself which duties are daily necessities and which can gound one for a day, a week, or longer. Some tasks may not be completed until the economy improves. Create a written plan that outlines the necessary duties and who will be responsible for them.

 

Are our departmental goals consistent with our business goals?

Is one part of our company doing business the same old way while the world changes around it? Are we still ordering the most expensive supplies in one department while another department makes do? Are we using the most efficient ordering process? Communication can be uneven in both large and small organizations, but all departments must grasp the message that we are not doing business as usual.  Changing only some parts of a business is like changing only half the spark plugs in your car.

Are our job goals consistent with our departmental goals? Once a department has realigned itself with the goals of the business, we must examine individual job descriptions to make sure employees are performing essential tasks instead of those that can be done later--or not at all. Remember, change is the by word. This may require retraining and frequent reminders to employees who have always done things a certain way.

 

Do we have redundant accountabilities? Are two employees, perhaps in different departments or working on different shifts, doing the same job? Examine what each employee is doing and find a new purpose for those employees whose tasks are redundant.

 

Article by Jim Sirbasku, Profiles International.

WHAT WE ARE READING

Toxic Coworkers:  How to Deal with Dysfunctional People on the Job

Who should read:

• Anyone dealing with people with personality disorders

Our favorite ideas from the book:
Where does the word “Narcissist” Come from?

In Greek Mythology Narcissus was a handsome young man who spurned the love of a Nymph named Echo.  This so angered Aphrodite that she cast a spell on him so that he would fall in love with his own reflection.  He died of longing for himself.

The Narcissistic at Work:
Narcissists do not behave in a rational or cooperative manner.The Narcissist is at first likable and easy to hire…makes a good first impression… they may have over developed behaviors that make them look good to bosses…hard workers, leaders and even “Idea People” and since they are competitive they will fight hard to win….but they want to win only for their own needs and not the needs of your company.
One of the problems with hiring a Narcissist is that later on they become rude, abrupt and work and act without gratitude. A Narcissist sees himself as a leader and believes he/she has unusual qualities and talents. A narcissist usually has an overblown  sense of self importance…exaggerating his own successes. He/She believes that he is special and should only associate with other high status people. He requires excessive admiration and knows how to take advantage of people for his own needs.
A narcissist needs always come first….you are expected to be concerned about his/her needs but will not receive concern from him regarding yours. A narcissist almost always lacks sympathy and empathy. He expects everyone to follow his ideas to the letter even though these ideas have proven to not work. And when they don’t work it is not his fault but those subordinates who he’ll say didn’t implement well and fail to see his big picture. Beware of his /her temper tantrums…often there is shouting and even verbally abusing the poor employee involved.

The Narcissistic Boss:
Usually one would view an administrator as a person with experience, achievement and therefore self esteem. But a narcissist administrator is quite the opposite and may be one of the most difficult to work for. The Narcissist once to be “King” and has little regard for those who work for him.

How to spot a Narcissistic Boss
•    He may require you to work long irregular hours not giving any thought that you may have a life outside of work. In fact he may never talk to you about your life outside of work.
•    He may require you to come up with Brilliant ideas and then take the credit for them
•    When he/she asks for feedback it’s only admiration they want..no criticism
•    He will exploit you and not show you any loyalty
•    He thinks nothing of canceling last minute meetings with you but will throw a tantrum if you cancel on him
•    He will rarely  compliment you on your work
•    Uses power inappropriately: Sexual harassment, verbal abuse
•    Has no empathy and feels he/she is above the rules.
•    May berate and make fun of others to get attention

How to work for a narcissist.
•    Don’t take anything personally!!!
•    Realize you cannot change a person like this
•    Compliment him or her
•    Keep records of inappropriate comments and work with the HR department.
•    Keep your ideas written down and keep a paper trail so you can get the credit for a job well done.
•    Look for a new job!

Organizations can become narcissistic. Look at the behavior of some of the banks recently who used Gov bail out money and then through lavish parties for their employees and clients. These organizations saw nothing wrong with this because they felt they were superior to the common tax payer and had an illusion of entitlement.  Narcissistic CEO’s may restructure and fire half of their work force yet continue to accept multi million dollar bonuses because they see themselves as deserving  and special. The rules apply to everyone else except them.

Work relations can be hard enough without dealing with a narcissistic personality.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: 

Alan A. Cavaiola, PH.D., is a Licensed Psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Monmouth University in Long Branch, New Jersey.

Neil J. Lavendar, PH.D., is a Psychologist in private practice in Toms River, New Jersey, and a Professor of Psychology at Ocean County College.  

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Toxic Coworkers:  How to Deal with Dysfunctional People on the Job
Author: Alan A., Ph.D. Cavaiola and Neil J. Lavender 207 pages   Publisher: New Harbinger Publications  ISBN: 978-1572242197

Effective Communication Tips:

Be Clear. Allow clarity to take over and become the norm.  If you're not careful, a competitor that uses clear and plain language to describe it's products and services and why they are important may muscle it's way into your territory.

Don't use $60 words.  Big words are not equivalent to smart words.  Keep it simple: the less syllables the better.

Get to the point.  Stop pontificating and tell it like it is.  People are busy and want to get moving on projects.

Be real.  Nobody likes a phony.

What are some other tips you find helpful? Lets continue to expand this list...

Managers Need to Own Their Management Style and Hire Accordingly

 

Recently, I sat listening to the Vice President of a Medium sized company describe his management style. I could barely hold back my comments.  He was going on and on about how he takes great pride in giving people a ton of leeway and independence.   He described how his managers know that they can come to him if they have questions but other than that he really leaves them alone to do their own thing.

I asked him how he felt about the way that his boss, the CEO, manages him.  He responded, "He is a micromanager!"  He continued saying that this CEO constantly wants reports, spreadsheets and check-ins on how projects are going.  He explained that this is a constant source of frustration to him.  He then told me that he could hardly wait for the CEO to retire so he could get a new boss who had a better handle on managing people.

It was clear that I was talking to a person who valued a very independent management style.  His boss, the CEO, valued a more structured management style.  As a result, both parties were projecting out and using the style they appreciated with little or no consideration of what style their direct reports appreciated.  To take it a step further, they did not even consider there was another effective style. 

 

As managers, how do we know what style our people prefer?  How can we accommodate their needs while meeting the demands and structure of our organization? 

Here are a few ideas:

Understand self:  We first need to know where we fall on this bell curve.  If we look at the population of workers, most of us fall "somewhere in the middle" meaning we can adapt to hands-off or hands-on management styles.  If we are "somewhere in the middle" we are going to relate to most people and have the most success with being ourselves and using our natural style and approach.  The more we fall to the right or left of the bell curve, the smaller the population becomes.  This means, if we lean way to the left of the bell curve and prefer a hands-off approach we are only going to relate to people that are like us or on are on the left side of the middle.  People that are on the right side will find our natural style aloof and non-supportive.  If we lean to the right with a more "hands-on" approach, the people that lean more to the left will view our style as micro-managing. 

Understand our team:  Next, we need to understand the individuals on our team and where they might fit on this bell curve. One way we can do this is by asking questions and spending time with people.  A way to get this information faster is to use assessment tools to measure ourselves and our teams, view the team distribution, and adjust our approach accordingly. 

If we find that we lean far to the left or far to the right we need to be cognizant of this and make sure we hire people who can fit into our culture and structure.  As the top leader in our organizations, this culture and structure is strongly influenced by us.  If we are very self-motivated and independent, and value these skills in others, we need to hire people that are moderately independent so they don't try to take over our direction--but at the same time don't require a lot of hand holding and structure to be productive.  If we are more structure focused, we need to hire people that are comfortable working in a more structured environment so they won't feel micromanaged when we ask them for updates. 

 

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What We are Reading

iconoclast:  a neuroscientist reveals how to think differently

i.con.o.clast:  a person who does something that others say can't be done

Who should read:

• Anyone passionate about innovation

Our favorite ideas from the book:

• An iconoclast's brain differs in these three functions and the circuits that implement them:

1. Perception
2. Fear Response
3. Social intelligence

• Most likely we will perceive something in a manner consistent with past experience.  Commonplace perceptions feel comfortable and cost little energy to process in our brain. Conversely, uncommon perceptions force the brain into a different mode of processing in which it must figure out what exactly it is seeing, and this costs energy. 
• The brain can reprogram its networks to perceive things differently
• It is important to enter new environments and situations.  Unfamiliarity forces the brain to discard its usual categories of perception and create new ones. 
• Before one can muster the strength to tear down conventional thinking, one must first imagine the possibility that conventional thinking is wrong. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gregory Burns, MD, PhD, is the Distinguished Chair of Neuroeconomics at Emory University, where he is a professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Economics.  For the past 15 years, he has used brain imaging technologies to study the neurobiology of human motivation and decision making, especially in the effects of novelty and peer pressure.  He is widely known for his ability to translate technical material for a broad audience.  

ABOUT THE BOOK:

iconoclast:  a neuroscientist reveals how to think differently
Author: Gregory Burns 222 pages   Publisher: Harvard Business Press   ISBN: 978-1-4221-1501-5

Great is the New Good - An Article for the Under 30's

A recent article on MSNBC showed that the group getting hit the hardest in this economic downturn is the demographic under 30. The jobless rate for the 20-29 year old age group is 9.8%--over 2.5 points higher than the total U.S. rate of 7.2%.  This is primarily due to fewer companies hiring, so 20-somethings are being forced to compete against more experienced workers.  What these statistics demonstrate are that U.S. companies are now hiring experience over youth. As a 20-something myself (okay, maybe a year or two over, but who’s counting), I understand that this news can shake one’s confidence.  

The fact is when there is less opportunity to go around and more experienced people competing for less, good is no longer acceptable.  Great is the new good.  20-somethings’ competitive advantage is that we already live by this motto. Those who are under 30 are culturally programmed to have high expectations of themselves.  We’ve learned this from our parents who continually reinforced to us that we could be the best and achieve anything we set our minds to.  We are forward thinkers who are fiercely competitive and focus on continuously learning, advancing in the global workplace, and enjoying ourselves in the process.  As a group, we tend to be high energy, optimistic, confident, motivated and resilient.  Oh, and did I mention that we’re the most techno-sophisticated generation yet?     

However, taking into account that many of the decision makers at the executive levels are of an older generation, there are a few areas 20-somethings need to be cognizant of to maintain their competitive advantage:  

Older works may be dismissive about younger workers’ abilities.   We might feel compelled to try and change age bias verbally, but the best way to win is through results and through building trust and rapport over time.   Age discrimination is real, and the best way to fight it is with success.  There are always going to be people who underestimate our talent or overlook us.  I recently spoke with a young female Accenture consultant who told me that one executive client referred to her as the “little girl with a lot of ideas.”  Thankfully, her ideas improved this client’s bottom line, and once she had earned his respect, she was viewed as a peer.     

Older workers may judge us by how we dress.  The people in the corner offices are often our parents’ age, so we may remind them of their children.  These older workers place a high standard on dress and grooming—more specifically dressing up for work.  I know this varies by company and geography, but let me share a recent example to drive my point home.  I coach the president of a large private company, which just completed a study on its younger workforce by benchmarking to predict who might be the future VP’s in the company.  I called the president to let him know that his top VP candidate was an employee named Eric.  The president was quiet for a second and then said that he always felt that Eric was talented, but his dress, tattoos and constant smoking outside made some of the current leadership overlook Eric’s talent. 

Older workers like face-to-face communication.  I know it is sometimes easier to write a quick email, but if you need to communicate with a manager from an older generation, try to get face time with them to share your ideas and insights or ask questions. They tend to more often appreciate this personal interaction. 

As a 20-something, ask for their advice and show appreciation and respect for their experience and wisdom.  Older workers love to share what they know, so take advantage of this for your career development.  This works especially well with difficult people.  I tried this once with a person who was blocking me on a project, and he ended up being a champion for me after a few weeks of asking for his opinion and advice.  For extra credit, ask in person versus email.

As a 20-something, get good at public speaking.  If you are not already comfortable in front of an audience, get the skills to do so.  Hire a public speaking coach, join Toastmasters, or take a public speaking course.  Many younger executives that move up quickly share the ability of being very comfortable in front of an audience and selling their ideas and thoughts in a compelling way.   This is true even in the most technical fields. Last year I had a young client at a biotech company who, although his technical skills were equal to his peers, got promoted to a C-level primarily due to his ability to communicate well with investors and analysts.  

One final thought to keep in mind as you’re doing your long-term career planning is this: if you don’t like where you are in our career, ask yourself who you are.  Last week I was at a client’s office with a young manager who was complaining to me that she has been continuously overlooked for promotions.  I listened to her talk and realized right away that the issue was not her company overlooking her potential, but her overlooking her potential.  Because she views herself as a middle manager, she projects herself as a middle manager.  One of her behaviors includes waiting for projects to be given to her rather than proactively finding projects and driving them to successful results.  Also, she does not dress like the higher level executives at the company and takes liberal advantage of the casual dress policy.  I bring this up because in the world we live in today, we need to dress and act like the person we want to be.  When we do, we will be able to view our youth as an asset instead of a liability.    


Amy Hedin is a slightly over 30 executive coach that specializes in working with primarily 50 something senior execs.  Her firm, HumanPoint, specializes in leadership, strategic planning, communications and presentations coaching for the top levels in organizations.  She is frequently asked to travel to speak at conferences and retreats on topics related to developing a high performance workforce.  Her work with senior executives gives her great insight into this generation and the expectations they have for younger workers.  Her unique position of being slightly over 30 working with top thinkers makes her firm and approach unique in her industry. 

Getting to Know All About You

One theme surfaces frequently these days in our presentations to leaders of organizations, and consumes those of us who are trying to help create best-practice companies that attract and retain top talent. That theme is, know your employees well, better than they know themselves. 
 
Knowing an employee well is a key element of performance management, and we are stressing that heavily as we shed the traditional tools many organizations still use. These outdated tools include backward-looking employee appraisals that occur infrequently. Instead of that approach, we place our highest priority on coaching, a development-based strategy that looks forward by setting goals and establishing a plan to achieve them. This forward-looking kind of management asks coaching leaders to work with employees to set and reach their goals, after assuring they are aligned with the company mission.
 
A fundamental fact to acknowledge about this kind of coaching for performance is that although employees are alike in many key areas, they are different in significant ways. No single coaching/managing style fits all employees. This is a difficult idea for many managers to grasp, and it can be overwhelming if a conscientious manager believes he must memorize the names of his employees' children and spouses.  While knowing all those names is a nice thing to do, it is not imperative. But getting to know employees is an imperative, and it is less time-consuming and more enjoyable than playing the churn game – hiring employees for jobs they don't fit, leaving them to flounder, then replacing them six months or a year later and wondering what happened. 
 
Let's use Fred as an example of someone we need to get to know. Through assessments, we already know
that Fred has a high learning index and energy level, measures low on needing to control others or the situation, and high on manageability. What we do not know is whether the job we want Fred to do requires these competencies for successful performance. We also do not know:  

• How Fred fits with the rest of the team.
• How Fred fits with his manager/coach.

 
Obviously, in addition to getting to know Fred's competencies, we have to comprehend fully what we want him to do and what makes people in that role successful. Knowing all of these things allows Fred's manager to form a coaching strategy that will close the gaps, if any, between his capabilities and job requirements. 
 
Now let's look at the phrase "one size does not fit all" as it applies to managing people. Perhaps another way to say this is, don’t generalize or make assumptions about people based on age, gender, ethnicity or any of the other qualities that make Fred appear similar to Joe. As similar as some employees appear to be, to presume that two women, two men, two young people or two people of the same ethnic origin will think and act like each other because they share some of the same traits is a foolish oversimplification. That kind of thinking ensures we will be mired in yesterday's management rut.   
 
Here are some ideas about getting the right people into your organization from the start, then getting to know them: 

• Know your organization's culture well enough to talk about it. This includes the business strategy, the vision of top leaders, how employees view one another, and how workers treat each other.
• Communicate with employees. Go beyond regular meetings and memos. Take frequent walks through all departments.

Getting to Know All About You
 
Find out what is going on by talking to people. Figure out what they are thinking. How? Ask them.

• Ask for feedback about resources and other critical issues. Keep the channels of communication open and flowing freely. 
• If you want your employee rewards program to be effective, knowing your people is essential. Instead of planning rewards around the CEO's interests and needs, find out what workers want. Special incentives should be tailored to recognize the person who performed well.
• People change. So do their job interests, their energy levels and their competencies. It's the coach's job to know them at every stage in their lives and to change the motivation program to match their changing skills and interests. 
• Know yourself. It's much easier to understand other people if you get to know the inner you first, the things that make you tick, the job tasks that you enjoy and the ones that you do not, how you work with teams, and your compatibility with others.

Jim Sirbasku, CEO                                
Profiles International