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Leadership’s Future: Teacher Motivation

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

If you were the boss and 40% of your employees said they were more interested in non-monetary rewards and felt that evaluating them on a single factor for jobs that required multiple skills were unfair would you proceed anyway with merit pay based on a single factor and expect it to be a good motivator?

teachersThat is the basic question in the drive for merit performance for teachers.

A March survey of teachers provided an inside look at their thoughts.

Teachers don’t want to see their students judged on the results of one test and they also want their own performances graded on multiple measures.

Most value non-monetary rewards, such as time to collaborate with other teachers and a supportive school leadership, over higher salaries. Only 28 percent felt performance pay would have a strong impact and 30 percent felt performance pay would have no impact at all.

Of course, worker input won’t slow management’s moving forward (rarely has, rarely will)

The biggest problems with merit pay is defining and applying valid measurement of success.

For example, only 6 percent of teachers surveyed said graduating all students with a high school diploma was one of the most important goals of schools and teaching, while 71 percent said one of the most important goals was to prepare all students for careers in the 21st century.

Whereas standardized test are the holy grail of school administrators.

Merit pay has a checkered background whether you are looking for proof that it works or proof that it doesn’t.

The problem isn’t the money, it’s the structure put together to award it.

Keeping it fair means keeping it free from political pull and other forms of favoritism. It means acknowledging that teachers can’t control what is happening to the kids in their classes and finding a way to account for that.

“Your mother and father just got a divorce, your grandfather died, your boyfriend broke up with you: those kinds of life-altering events have an effect on how you do in class that day, through no fault of the teacher whatsoever.” –Debra Gunter, middle school math teacher in Cobb County, Ga.

One survey result was surprising because it actually creates more work for teachers, but it was held by the majority.

A majority of teachers surveyed said they would like to see tougher academic standards and have them be the same in every state, despite the extra work common academic standards could create for them.

This definitely makes sense, especially given the mobility of the US population, but it’s unlikely to ever pass muster with state and local school administrators. It would also be interesting to see how it flies helicopter parents, considering it’s their complaining that has fostered termination of “tough” teachers.

Money has always been the quick fix, used by managers and parents alike, to achieve their desired ends, even though there is no proof that it is effective or sustainable. And there is no reason to think that teachers are any different.

I think that if the structure and standards aren’t improved along with embracing merit pay then success is unlikely.

What do you think?

Image credit: JadeGordon on flickr

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Ducks in a Row: How to Reduce Office Politics

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

ducks_in_a_rowOffice politics has many definitions, but one characteristic remains constant—your ‘voice’ is positional. In other words, your ability to be heard is based on your position in the pecking order. Ideas below X level are ignored, between X and Y are acknowledged, Y to Z are heard and sometimes implemented.

But to have a full voice you either need to be part of the C suite or a “star” (stars below the Y level are scarce as hen’s teeth). Some argue that star systems are merit-based, but that argument falls flat if only those at a certain level are heard.

Few people like office politics and its presence has always been responsible for a large percentage of turnover.

One way to substantially reduce office politics in your organization by making sure that everyone has a voice.

Even in highly political corporations individual managers can improve their team’s performance and retention by making sure ideas receive a fair hearing no matter who thinks of them.

It’s easier when you are a first line manager, because you have only yourself to blame if a pecking order establishes itself in your group. If it does happen have a candid talk with the mirror and decide what’s important to you and what you want your ‘management brand’ to be known for.

As you move up, with one or more layers of management below you, it becomes more difficult because you are working to propagate an attitude that may not be wholly shared by those who report to you.

Your success depends partly on how consistent your own actions are and partly on what procedures you create to reinforce the desired behavior.

One of the most successful approaches is to tie bonus compensation to measurable results for soliciting suggestions from all levels and let VSI do the rest.

Of course, as with health, it is better route to prevent office politics than it is to cure it once it gets a toe-hold.

Simply put, that means not hiring managers at any level whose past behavior reflects the wrong attitude. You have two methods to accomplishing this. Obviously, it is something to discuss when doing reference checks.

But more importantly, if you make it clear during interviews that part of the candidate’s compensation depends upon it. It’s amazing how quickly a candidate will withdraw when her pay depends on a behavior with which she doesn’t agree.

Image credit: Svadilfari on flickr

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April Leadership Development Carival

Monday, April 5th, 2010

The first Monday of the month is the signal for another Leadership Development Carnival, but don’t be fooled, it covers management and other associated topics. It is hosted this month by Sharlyn Lauby at HR Bartender and written by some of the most talented folks in the blogsphere.

It’s an extensive selection, enough to keep you going all month.

leadership-development-carnivalIn putting together today’s carnival, I thought it might be fun to ask how long people have been blogging – their blogging “anniversary” if you will.  It was interesting to hear their answers.  On one hand, blogging has been around for a long time.  Dave Winer, author of Scripting News, has one of the oldest weblogs and it was established in 1997.  But notice the number of posts from bloggers who have been writing two years or less.  It’s very cool to see engagement from people who have been blogging for years along with the excitement of people who have been blogging for months.

10+ YearsEven if you’re not a woman or managing a non-profit, there are some classic management tips in Wild Woman Fundraising’s post Advanced Fundraising: Managing Others.

6 Years

David Zinger shares his insights about engagement in Dear Leader: An Open Employee Engagement Letter.

No, Team Leaders Should Not Behave Differently is the sage advice offered by Denise O’Berry at Intuit’s The QuickBase Blog.

5 Years

Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand Blog talks about the heart of employee engagement in Are there 3 in your relationship!

Over at Ep!c Living blog, Eric Pennington says It’s Almost Never About You and describes the dangers of making clients second and the importance of leaving “self” behind.

Janna Rust at Purposeful Leadership blog presents her take on productivity in The Productivity Paradox: Slow Down to Speed Up.

4 Years

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership Blog tells us in his post Strengths, Weaknesses, Your Team, and You that it’s not about individuals or the team.  It’s about both accomplishing the mission and helping team members develop.

If you are looking for practical lessons to initiate changes smoothly, look no further than the post from Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace titled Initiating A Change? Ponder This.

Jason Seiden of Fail Spectacularly fame keeps us grounded in his post, Indispensable? I doubt it. You’re simply not that important.

Companies are looking for people who can help their bottom line.  The Digerati Life gives us seven ways to show the boss what we’re made of in Hoping For a Job Promotion? How to Get Promoted at Work.

In this “relationship economy”, building lasting relationships with your customers is no longer optional.  Tanmay Vora discusses the 3 Lessons in Building Great Relationships with Customers at QAspire Blog.

Miki Saxon at MAPping Company Success explains in her post, Leadership’s Future: To Hire and Hold (Millennials), that if you want a happy workforce, you need to provide the same things that make for a happy family.

At Joe and Wanda on Management, we learn the three most important words in business and how to create and environment of mutual support in the post, Checking Six.

3 Years

Lisa Rosendahl reminds us there’s no place for Chicken Little when it comes to leadership in her post, If Your Sky Falls, It Won’t Be Because of Social Media.

Persistence pays! is the message by Leader Business blog.  Author Karl Marlantes endeavored for 32 years to get his book published.  Blogger Tom Magness asks us how hard we are willing to work toward achieving our goals.

Instead of squeezing more stuff into the day, the Monevator shares with us a new killer method for better time management in the post, Personal Time Management for Fun and Profit.

Music plays a critical role in jumping folk’s spirits.  Check out EzineArticles.com’s Coping with Colleague’s Stress at Work to find out how background music can increase workplace productivity.

2 Years

Our carnival leader, Dan McCarthy, just wrapped up an awesome series titled, The Little Things Make a BIG Difference as a Leader – Part 5: A Pat on the Back.  Be sure to check out the entire series over at Great Leadership blog.

Mary Jo Asmus from Aspire Collaborative Services helps us create organizational change by outlining the steps to move From Resistance to Participation.

The team over at Talented Apps tells us how a diverse social network can help you not be as vulnerable to your subtle, internal biases and blind spots in How Can Your Network Help Your Inner Homer? Doh!

The very dapper host of HR Happy Hour, Steve Boese, shares with us how the best leaders are not afraid to coach and mentor their top performers in The Wisdom of Jeff Van Gundy – Part II.  If you didn’t catch Part I of this post, you can check it out here.

The i4cp blog suggests succession planning is not just a flawed term but a flawed paradigm.  They recommend to organizations Don’t Plan Succession, Manage It.

Michael Lee Stallard at E Pluribus Partners explains that task excellence along isn’t enough.  The answer lies in The Science of Employee Engagement.

Forbes said good leaders recognize when patterns change.  Anne Perschel over at Germane Insights Blog writes they were wrong.  Good leaders SEE INTO the FUTURE.

In order to understand ourselves, we need to Explore Life Purpose.  Mike King at Learn This takes us on the journey.

It’s a classic message.  Want to become successful? Raise Your Standard of Excellence from How to Become Successful! blog.

Bob Lieberman talks about organizational survival in his post The Need for Nerve.

Being a good project manager is an important skill for the future.  Take a look at the Project Management Interview Questions and Answers to see if you have what it takes to manage the important task of making sure projects are on-time, within quality standards and at budget.

A key skill for any leader is public speaking.  Matt Eventoff at Communications 3.0 coaches us on effective speeches in Clash of the Titans, Public Speaking and Chris Christie.  Good tips for anyone who presents information.

1 Year

Jennifer V. Miller of The People Equation cautions organizations about encouraging “fearlessness”.  See how leaders can stay on the “light side” of the force in her post the Boundaries of Fearlessness.

Celebrating her one year blogging anniversary is Becky Robinson at Mountain State University’s Leader Talk blog.  Her post titled Are Homogeneous Groups Better? is a must-read.

Also celebrating his one year anniversary is Dr. Bret Simmons.  Be sure to check out his post about Strength-Based, Individual Leadership. How Does it Affect your Team?

Rob Tucker describes the Three Barriers to Owning your Leadership Development at Reading About Leading blog.

Joshua Noerr provides us with three easy steps in Difficult Discussions.  Be sure to check out his blog Personal Development, One Mind at a Time.

Dean L. Forbes discusses the powerful principles of personal growth in his posts Attitude, Aptitude & Altitude and The Natural Law of Awareness.

Over at The Bloom Blog, Lisa Ann Edwards explains leadership in terms such as Gemstones and Spark and shares wonderful stories of people who possess those qualities.

6 Months

Jane Perdue, the one and only HR Goddess, gives us Advice from the Cheshire Puss on Finding Your Purpose at Life, Love & Leadership blog.

Mike Henry at Lead Change Group reminds us that our friends and the people we associate with set the boundaries of our future.  He suggests socializing with high-caliber leaders to become one in his post, Your Friends and Your Future.

Confronting someone is never a favorite task, but sometimes necessary to manage performance.  The Thriving Small Business blog shows us How to Confront Negative Employee Behaviors.

David Burkus from The Leader Lab explains Situational Leadership theory and why you should care about it in the post Path-Goal Theory.

The Zenger Folkman Blog tells a tale in A Monster of a Problem: How to Help Leaders Be More Inspiring.

The editor of Your Best Library shares the answer to What is the number one skill that determines the success or failure in life?

According to The SALT & Pepper Group, there are seven core leadership styles.  In their series wrap up, titled The 8th Leader, they share a specific classification system of leadership.

Timeless?

Some of our contributors have either been blogging so long they’ve forgotten or not long enough to keep track.  Regardless, their posts are worthy of a visit.

Tom Glover at Reflection Leadership tells us the best way to learn is by doing in Leadership Development: Just in Case or Just in Time.

Rodney Johnson provides some key learnings in What We Can Learn From March MADNESS.

Kevin Eikenberry shares The Five Lessons of the Eraser at Leadership & Learning blog.

MSP University’s Managed Services Blog begins an outline of the sales process in Step 1 of the 7-Step Sales Process: Strategic Preparation

And wrapping up the carnival is CMOE Consultants who channeled the wisdom of Dwight Eisenhower in their post Leadership by Leading.

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Ducks in a Row: How to Kill Creativity

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

ducks_in_a_rowYoungme Moonm, the Donald K. David Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, created The Anti-Creativity Checklist, a wonderfully irreverent video incorporating every cliché, past and present, used to kill creativity.

All around us people kill creativity through their frequent, unconscious use, as shown in a quote from last Thursday’s post by Jonah Rockoff, an economist at Columbia University, who said, “…no research he can think of has shown a teacher-training program to boost student achievement. So why invest in training when you could be throwing your money away?”

Not doing something new because there is no proof that it will work is number five in this video by Youngme Moon, a business professor at Harvard Business School.

Which have you heard recently in your workplace?

Which have you used?

Did their use kill creativity or just put it on hold?

My Anti-Creativity Checklist from Youngme Moon on Vimeo.

Image credit: Svadilfari on flickr and Youngme Moonm on Harvard Business Review

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When Managers are Us vs. Them

Monday, March 29th, 2010

broken-eggs

There is a major disconnect for many managers between what they think others do, what they say they do and what actually happens. It is a disconnect that affects not just their own teams, but spreads like ripples in a pond when a stone is tossed.

Most managers are unaware of it and are horrified when it’s brought to their attention—once they stop trying to rationalize it.

‘It’ refers to deeds and actions they condemn in others, but practice themselves.

It the idea that when ‘they’ do it it is unfair, immoral, or illegal, but if ‘we’ do it it’s OK—and it’s happening everywhere.

We see it in

  • political and religious leaders who preach high moral codes while practicing immorality;
  • parents who demand better education and then condemn any teacher that doesn’t give their child a good grade;
  • business leaders who preach ethics and practice them only as long as it’s convenient;
  • colleagues we condemn for filching company supplies even as we use company time to shop, update Facebook and Twitter; and
  • friends who, much to our dismay, share our private information even as we share someone else’s.

When managers do it it can damage, even destroy, the team, because it is a form of hypocrisy; hypocrisy kills trust and without trust there is no team.

A vicious circle that only the manager can break by listening carefully to the feedback she doesn’t want to hear.

Image credit: ravasolix on sxc.hu

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Quotable Quotes: Maya Angelou

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Maya-Angelou

I had lunch with a guy friend this week and I almost threw my margarita at him, except that would be a waste of a good drink. Here’s what happened.

March is Women’s History Month and we had been talking about various women who had been written up in one place or another. “Rich” mentioned several he found very impressive; I asked if he ad ever read anything about Maya Angelou, because I like the way her mind works and she is wise.

Rich said he didn’t read poetry; he also reminded me that he wasn’t into sentimental stuff.

And that’s when I thought about throwing my drink, but my self-control held and instead I told him he was an idiot and to read today’s post.

Maya Angelou has a tough, practical side and I freely admit I connect with it more easily than what Rich calls the ’sentimental stuff’—but above all, the woman is wise and it is that wisdom which draws people in and teaches almost anything you want to learn.

So, Rich, in honor of you and Women’s History Month read these and recognize real wisdom from a woman who can make words sing.

In these days of 24/7, totally wired living it’s important to take these words to heart, Making a living is not the same thing as making a life.

Someplace back in the Seventies the idea that life was a series of challenges that needed to be overcome took hold. I never could stand that attitude; my own approach is better summed up in Angelou’s words, You shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back…

Maya Angelou is a firm believer in the power of MAP, although she’s probably never heard of it; but I know it’s true because she said, If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

That’s right, most of the time we try to change what’s outside and forget to change what’s inside, but, as this wise lady tells us, Nothing will work unless you do.

Even for Rich I can’t leave out two of Angelou’s statements that are deep life lessons; absorb them into your MAP and I can guarantee you will reap the rewards long after you’ve forgotten the source.

The first to remember is this, People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

And finally, real wisdom, the kind you don’t hear very often, Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

I wish you many breathless moments in your life.

Image credit: adria.richards on flickr

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How to Communicate

Friday, March 26th, 2010

communicateSuccessful communications go a long way to sustaining successful relationships.

Relationships are a function of human interaction and whether they are short or long you need to communicate.

When those involved are peers, as in a marriage, good communication is a responsibility of both.

But when one person is subordinate to the other, such as parent and child, it is up to the parent to make sure that whatever is being communicated is understood.

Human interactions in companies are also relationships and follow the same rules.

If you are a manager how do you make sure you are heard?

It’s pretty simple as long as you remember to do it every time, no exceptions.

Did you know that all people have a mental model through which they hear?

That means their understanding of the words you use may have little-to-nothing to do with what you meant when you said them.

It’s a grave tactical error to assume anything else

There are 3 actions you must do to assure that you are heard correctly.

  1. Start by carefully explaining your model and your assumptions when giving direction;
  2. give your people clear, complete information on the subject. This includes what you want done, project outlines, deadlines, everything—you do not want them to have to keep coming back and asking for more—getting information should not be like pulling teeth; and then
  3. check by having them explain it back to you; it’s the only way to be sure that they have actually heard and understood your information, rather than their version of it;
  4. do it today, do it tomorrow, do it all the time.

It may feel awkward at first, but eventually it will become second nature.

The more these actions are needed the greater the likelihood of them being perceived as nuisance, but not doing them is a career-killer.

Your payback will come in rising productivity, more motivated people, and lower turnover—all positively affecting your personal bottom line.

Image credit: Torley on flickr

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Wordless Wednesday: the Result of Good Culture

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

good-culture

Image credit: HikingArtist on flickr

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Ducks in a Row: If Culture is Simple Why is Creating It Difficult?

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

ducks_in_a_row

Have you noticed that all the stuff written about culture and how to create one that sparks innovation, attracts Millennials, boosts productivity, retains people, etc., consistently boils down to some pretty simple advice.

That lesson was driven home again in a Harvard Business Review post by Melissa Raffoni called Eight Things Your Employees Want From You.

Now think about the kind of culture created when the boss provides them,

  1. Tell me my role, tell me what to do, and give me the rules.
  2. Discipline my coworker who is out of line.
  3. Get me excited.
  4. Don’t forget to praise me.
  5. Don’t scare me.
  6. Impress me.
  7. Give me some autonomy.
  8. Set me up to win.

The descriptions change from writer to writer, but the underlying principles stay the same and have for decades. In fact, workers have craved these basics for centuries, long before the idea of business culture took form.

So, if the desire is that ancient and the pay-back that great why don’t more managers provide the desired environment—they certainly talk enough about it.

Both experience and observation tell me that the lack of implementation tracks back to the boss’ MAP—and the boss’ unwillingness to change it.

Image credit: Svadilfari on flickr

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Book Review: Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business

Friday, March 19th, 2010

How many times have you heard it—focus on the customer blah, blah, blah?
How often does it prove to be true?

How many times have you said it— it’s about what the customer wants blah, blah, blah?
How often do you practice it?

For too many companies being customer-centric happens when it’s convenient—if it happens at all.

Reorganize-for-ResilienceEnter Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business by Ranjay Gulati, the Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business at Harvard Business School, who offers a comprehensive, practical and inplementable guide to creating a customer-centric business.

Utilizing an outside-in approach means focusing on delivering something of value to customers, as opposed to focusing on products and sales.

Gulati discusses 5 key levers from both “why” and “how”:

  • Coordination: Connect, eradicate, or restructure silos to enable swift responses.
  • Cooperation: Align all employees around the shared goal of customer solutions.
  • Clout: Redistribute power to “bridge builders” and customer champions.
  • Capability: Develop employees’ skills at tackling changing customer needs.
  • Connection: Blend partners’ offerings with yours to provide unique customer solutions.

Gulati is blunt and his approach isn’t for those who prefer incremental change to revolutionary, but it is MAP that will stop many leaders from embracing Reorganize for Resilience—because you can’t implement that in which you don’t sincerely believe.

Since the advice to be customer-centric isn’t new, following it isn’t easy and may actually require difficult, even painful changes to your MAP, so why bother with Reorganize for Resilience?

Because it carries the biggest bottom-line payoff, both short and long-term, in any economy and for any company—from Fortune 50 to the neighborhood copy shop.

Image credit: Harvard Business Publishing

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