Hovering parents, who strive to make everything right for their child, are the global bane of education.
But it doesn’t seem to end when their child graduates.
I receive at least a call a month from managers who have no idea of a polite way to deal with what can only be called workplace hovering.
In every case the parental call was either to
tell the manager how stupid she was not to hire their kid;
find out why their kid’s review wasn’t stuffed with glowing references; or
ask who the hell the manager thought he was to promote someone else.
Managers say that in many cases the parent was screaming and the language used to describe the manager is best not quotable in a business blog.
What in the world is going on?
Many of the parents calling are managers in their own right; I wonder how they handle similar calls.
I could write another 500 words on the subject and not do nearly as good a job putting the point across as does the following (in spite of it being a hoax)—perhaps a modified version could be designed for companies.
Opinions are what set us apart from other animals that deal solely in reality or, as some wag said many decades ago, “Opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one!”
Of course, when opinions differ, obviously, it’s the other person who is the asshole.
Oscar Wilde hit the nail on the head when he said, “One can give a really unbiased opinion only about things that do not interest one.” You can’t get away from the fact that caring means bias.
Most of us spend (waste?) a great deal of time and energy in an effort to positively influence others opinions of us; instead we would be better off to remember the words of Olin Miller, “We probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of us if we could know how seldom they do.”
But if you are one of those who worry Quentin Crisp would not only understand, but applaud the effort, “The very purpose of existence is to reconcile the glowing opinion we hold of ourselves with the appalling things that other people think about us.”
As one listens to opinions it is wise to remember the words of E. B. White, “Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.” And that seems to be the most prevalent approach these days.
When ‘everybody says…’ is used to support an opinion it is well to remember Bertrand Russell’ comment, “The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed, in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a wide-spread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible”
That’s all for today, but I’ll leave you with the words of James Russell Lowell to ponder and embrace, “The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.”
ROWE stands for “results only work environment” and it means just that. No set hours, no clock watching, get the job done and be evaluated based on the results and resulted in a 35% jump in productivity
These days Ressler and Thompson run CulutreRx, teaching ROWE to a variety of companies, such as GAP.
ROWE is a business strategy that’s been proven to profoundly improve workforce productivity (as much as 41%) and reduce voluntary turnover rates (as much as 90%). And, ROWE is a magnet for the talent you want to attract.
Best Buy’s culture is one that encourages creativity and good ideas at all levels, so it’s no surprise that another stand out came along a year later.
Julie Gilbert conceived and started the WOLF initiative in 2004 (she was given full ownership rights including the intellectual property and the right to take it outside anytime in exchange for building it first at Best Buy).
WOLF’s focus is to promote and enhance the role of women both inside the company and outside in their role as customers based on three precepts:
Commitment – to the business, customers and other members of the pack
Networking - amongst at all levels internally and externally to nurture and support one another
Giveback – giving back to women and girls in local communities.
Sound all warm and fuzzy to you? Are you fighting back a snicker and thinking that there is no way your company would ever mess with that?
If so, try shrugging off Best Buy’s results.
Revenue
$4.4 billion increase in revenue from female customers (11% increase in total company revenue)
Market Share
Highest ever female market share in company history
Females became the majority of the most “valuable “customers
Brand Reputation
Largest increase in brand perception in company history
Network
Passionate, global, viral customer networks growing market share and innovating new business offerings
Over 40,000 members in 40 plus countries
Performance Outcomes
5% reduction in female turnover resulting in a minimum of $25 million in savings
18% increase in the number of female employees.
100% increase in females in the most profitable business unit
40% increase in female General Managers & General Managers In Training
60% increase in female Operations Managers
30% increase in female Customer Experience Managers
ROWE and WOLF both came from the same company while Brad Anderson was CEO.
His response to the question “Where do you find new business ideas?” says it all.
I believe that some of our best ideas have come from the people who are furthest removed from the CEO’s office – those line-level employees who interact with our customers each and every day.
Without a culture that encouraged and supported innovation from all levels ROWE and WOLF couldn’t have happened.
The MAP that enables that culture can function at any level no matter the company’s overall culture. Yes, it’s more difficult, but you can create an environment in which your people’s creativity blooms.
Let’s start off with Mary Jo Asmus with Encouraging Pure Possibility, from her Aspire blog.
Use these powerful coaching questions and you’ll turn a negative conversation into one about possibilities!
“Encouraging talent mobility, which is a key way to build better leaders, takes more than using standard incentives such as money.” Amy Wilson presents When will we get serious about Talent Mobility? posted at TalentedApps, the hosts of next month’s Carnival.
And here’s the host of last month’s Carnival, Mark Stelzner, with Common Sense is Not So Common, posted at Inflexion Point. Good advice here from Mark – never, ever yank the pants off your VP. Read Mark’s hysterical post to find out more.
Tanmay Vora has been a regular Carnival contributor and a Twitter advocate for Great Leadership. Here’s his best from 2009, GIVING is GROWING – Generosity and Leadership, posted at QAspire. More great advice to start the year – on the importance of giving. Ok, I’m in!
Who else could get a Presidential audience at the Kennedy Center shouting, “Bruuuce!”? From the spring of 2009, Scott Eblin shares some thought on what leaders can learn from the Boss, Kennedy Center honoree, Bruce Springsteen. Scott Eblin presents What Leaders Can Learn from Springsteen posted at Next Level Blog.
Miki Saxon has been a regular contributor to the Carnival and just loves to disagree with me. (-:
Here’s another gem from Miki’s MAPping Company Success: What you do shows how everybody leads, manages and sells all the time.
“Corporate trust is at an all time low. Leaders need to work toward creating a work environment that will allow healing to begin.” Sharlyn Lauby, a future host of the Carnival, presents Trust posted at HR Bartender. Stop by for beverage and some conversation.
“In this “Best of 2009″ submission, see what you can learn from how Army Rangers school prepares elite troopers for the most challenging tasks. And see what you might learn about preparing your leaders to be able to handle any mission! Rangers Lead the Way!” Tom Magness presents Rangers Lead The Way posted at Leader Business. Gotta love Tom’s passion. (-:
From John Ingham: “My best leadership post from 2009? Not a very typical blog post but I like it as a case study of an organisation developing clarity about where it’s going and then aligning action behind this: Visa Europe: What do you want to be when you grow up.”
“Leaders see what’s coming. They anticipate how their opponents will attack them and they use that knowledge when developing their plans in the first place.” Jason Seiden presents Success Tip: Expect to Get Punched posted at Seiden Leadership.
“Dan suggested we look for our 2009 “greatest hit”, which is a good idea. However I don’t know what criteria I would use to decide what that would be so I’ve elected to pick the topic that means the most to me, which is, leadership that results in performance rather than excuses for lack of performance. Happy New Year to all and a great 2010!” Bill Matthies presents Failure: “I Can Explain” posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By.
From the cranky Wayne Turmel: “Dan, I think this is the most important Cranky show we’ve done in a couple of years. The world of work has changed and senior Leadership is caught like a deer in the headlights when it comes to remote working, changing the workplace and what it all means. I know you usually do blog posts but you’ve posted Cranky shows in the past and this one is important…..”Your Senior
“I don’t write too much about leadership, but this post that was inspired by basketball coach and announcer Jeff Van Gundy seemed to resonate with my readers.” – Steve Boese presents The Wisdom of Jeff Van Gundy posted at Steve’s HR Technology. Steve, you should write about leadership more often.
“This article got more views and discussions than any other single blog post all year – so a likely candidate for a Best of 2009 Carnival! The premise is that leaders need to be able to inspire hope in their teams. It doesn’t mean they forego vision or results, but they will accomplish so much more by also being a Hopeful Leader!” – Erin Schreyer presents The Hopeful Leader posted at Authentic Leadership. I can see why it got so many views – nice job, Erin! And thanks for all of your Twitter support, I really appceciate it.
“With the New Year, I’d like to share a tip regarding being the new leader on the scene. Most often you are replacing a leader who is off to other pursuits, the leader leaving the situation may offer you some advice on those who need a heavy hand. Truth be told. Your future experiences with the team will be different from the other’s leaders. Your problem staff will be different from the other leaders. So when faced with this advise from a fellow leader, what do you do?” Elyse Nielsen presents Learning to Lead – Own Your Judgements posted at Anticlue.
“In this article I want to discuss a few ideas which may help you to set goals more consciously and also introduce a practical way to actually get them achieved.” – Manager skill presents Achieving your goals posted at Manager skill.
The dreaded annual review is on us once again, so I rounded up some great information to help you deal with them.
The second most important thing to know about performance reviews is that using software to write them creates a totally inauthentic experience for your people.
Number one-and-a-half is a great commentary on the stupidity of waiting to apply a retention tourniquet until an employee is frustrated, disgusted and ready to leave.
The most important thing to know about performance reviews is that they should be ongoing conversations throughout the year.
Most managers understand the need to help their people grow and do their best to give them timely feedback—although some do a better job than others. But even the managers who are good at it have trouble when it comes to providing feedback to their top performers, even though they are often the most eager for challenges and growth—neither of which can happen without candid feedback.
Sports has long been used as an analogy to various business practices—the best sales training film I ever saw was done by Vince Lombardi explaining how selling was akin to the plays in football.
But using good business practices to motivate a sports team isn’t heard of as much, except when it comes to ‘leadership’, a subject that, in its current ascendancy, annoys me no end.
A couple of years ago I read a post by Mike Kavis in which he focused on how Giants’ coach Tom Coughlin turned around his own career and his team using best practice leadership techniques.
“He listened to the constructive criticism of his bosses and players and decided to make some changes. What he found was that his vision was not fully understood by all of the players on the team. So he formed a leadership committee made up of various players on the team who could help him clearly communicate the vision. Better yet, he let the players select the leadership team. Since the players participated in forming the leadership team, it gave them a sense of ownership in the process…”
The creation of the leadership team accomplished the following:
In his summary of what happened, Mike says, “If you want people to change, first change yourself.” which gave me a chuckle, not because it’s inaccurate, but because it’s so true that it’s the tag line of my company—To change what they do, change how you think.
A winning team is the goal of every person ever put in charge of an endeavor.
“Coughlin had a very rigid methodology that he followed to a T. It wasn’t working but he kept following it because it worked when he was with the Jaguars several years ago. By listening to his players, he made some minor tweaks to his methodology and the team responded.”
Those who are truly successful understand the importance of putting their egos in their respective pockets in order to listen and change themselves as needed.
The rest will continue to go their merry way, listening to no one, issuing edicts, and complaining when their people don’t buy-in or perform.
“Clint” used the ‘Chat with Miki” box in the right-hand frame to ask me this question.
Have you ever heard this? “People usually won’t change until the pain of NOT changing exceeds the pain of changing.”
Since this is a pretty common idea I thought I’d share my ideas with everybody.
I’ve heard this and many variations of it over the years, especially when applied to the workplace where it becomes a form of management by threat
For example, if your company or boss decides on a change and people’s jobs hinge on that change, they will change.
The problem is that they will also disengage at some level, maybe a little, but sometimes a lot. Not always obviously, but over time it will show in lower productivity, less creativity and, eventually, higher turnover.
Clint then asked if I thought that vested self-interest could be used instead of increasing the pain.
The answer is absolutely.
VSI is the perfect opposite to increased pain.
By rethinking a desired action, such as change, and presenting it in terms of its value to employees you can trip the VSI switch—but not if it’s a con.
As I’ve said a million times, people are not stupid; if the desired action is not really in their best interests there is nothing you can do that will convince them. VSI will still kick in, but the result will be resume polishing, lots of LinkedIn action and conversations with recruiters.
Clint decided that by using vested self-interest he could reduce the pain of changing. He plans to connect his organization’s goals to his people’s goals, which will effectively reduce the pain and increase the likelihood that they will do what he needs them to do—painlessly.
Handy little item my chat box. Try it, I’m usually here.
My buddy Phil Gerbyshak over at The Management Expert wrote about trust and offered up some great quotes; one by Billy Wilder reminded me of something a manager told me years ago and it’s as true today as it was then.
Billy Wilder said, “Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else’s.”
The manager said, “I don’t mind shoveling my own, but I hate having to shovel somebody else’s.”
Over the last two years we have seen an enormous amount of it hit the fan and we find ourselves shoveling more and more messes not of our own making.
Americans have short memories, even for something as major as the so-called Great Recession, so I have a quote to offer up that may benefit you in the future.
“Just because you trust your teammates/financial manager/whoever doesn’t mean you should take your eye off the ball.”
The other day I was asked, “When do you lead/manage rationally vs. emotionally?”
First, let’s define the terms so there’s no confusion in how they’re being used.
Rationally refers to communicating and appealing to those who are more cerebral, while emotionally means focusing more on feelings—kind of a left brain/right brain—not that one type is cold and the other overwrought.
People hear in different ways and it’s the responsibility of a speaker to communicate so that all can hear.
Over the years, I’ve been told many times by people in managerial roles that having to constantly alter how they present information is hard work and they believe that it’s up to the listener to understand what they’re saying.
As you might guess, I have little tolerance for this kind of thinking, especially when it persists after significant educational efforts. What these people never seem to get is that if “they” can’t hear you “they” certainly won’t do what you want.
It’s not just a choice of rational vs. emotional, it’s understanding your audience and then speaking appropriately.
For instance, if you’re presenting plans for a new building to investors, business, the community and the media you might be inclined to concentrate on relative costs and ROI, since you want to win over the money crowd, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the esthetics and ambiance.
First, you need to think about the different viewpoints and craft your presentation to include both types of information, even when it’s stuff about which you don’t care, because that way you have it all at your fingertips.
During the presentation a money person suggests that construction costs could be lower by using smaller windows and lower ceilings, but you know that won’t fly with the community and business interests, since they’re concerned more with how the building will look and feel.
If you’ve done your homework, you can show that higher ceilings and larger windows have been proven to increase worker productivity and the improved ambiance means higher rents.
Each group will focus on the information addressing their primary interest with the rest being relegated to backup position, but the important thing is that each heard something positive that directly addressed their concerns.
Doing this is a habit you can cultivate and the fastest way to do so is to make yourself hyper aware of anything that that brings the thought “who cares,” since that’s the information/viewpoint you’re most likely to skip.
None of this is rocket science. It only requires self-awareness that’s backed by a passion to be heard. It’s also not a guarantee that people will agree, but they will hear you and that’s where you need to start.
Management M&Mis a new weekly feature focusing on various management misses and messes. I hope you’ll send examples from your own experiences for me to use—anonymously, of course.
I found an interesting bit of idiocy in a recent McKinsey survey (free registration required),
Even though overall reliance on financial incentives fell over the past 12 months, a number of companies curtailed their use of nonfinancial ones as well. Thirteen percent of the survey respondents report that managers praise their subordinates less often, 20 percent that opportunities to lead projects or task forces are scarcer, and 26 percent that leadership attention to motivate talent is less forthcoming.
The technical term for this is ‘how stupid can you get’.
At a time when corporations large and small need the highest level of employee engagement just to survive, let alone thrive, they are making every effort to convince their staff that they don’t give a damn about them.
This attitude essentially says ‘you are worth neither money nor time, but I want you to work harder and produce more than ever before’.
The survey also touches on the reason for the idiocy.
…nonfinancial ways to motivate people do, on the whole, require more time and commitment from senior managers. One HR director we interviewed spoke of their tendency to “hide” in their offices—primarily reflecting uncertainty about the current situation and outlook. This lack of interaction between managers and their people creates a highly damaging void that saps employee engagement.
Well, doh.
The higher you move in an organization the more you are required to accomplish your goals through the efforts of others, but the less time you make to do that.
Opinions are what set us apart from other animals that deal solely in reality or, as some wag said many decades ago, “Opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one!”
Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson started changing the work world in 2003.
Here’s a great way to start a new year and a new decade. Dan McCarthy is hosting 
The dreaded annual review is on us once again, so I rounded up some great information to help you deal with them.
Sports has long been used as an analogy to various business practices—the best sales training film I ever saw was done by Vince Lombardi explaining how selling was akin to the plays in football.
“Clint” used the ‘Chat with Miki” box in the right-hand frame to ask me this question.
My buddy Phil Gerbyshak over at 
The other day I was asked, “When do you lead/manage rationally vs. emotionally?”
I found an interesting bit of idiocy in a 
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