Are you familiar with The Onion?

I came across an old headline and laughed at how applicable it is to so many of us.

Search for Self Called Off After 38 Years

Phil Gerbyshak described himself in response to Becky Robinson’s Be Who You Are, in which she said that she couldn’t separate her business self and personal self.

But would she want to?

We are all a product of our MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™).

The biggest difference between personal and professional is the words used to describe what’s going on. We have ‘relationships’ in our personal life and ‘interactions’ in our professional one.

Knowing who we are is important, but constantly updating our knowledge is even more important, because we continue changing as long as we live.

Stopping your search could mean being stuck at that point like a fly in amber.

Along with continued searching, we need to share the information with the world, not just in words, but through our actions. I came across a quote from the movie Fat Like Me that says this best and has always resonated with me.

The world will tell you who you are until you tell the world.

And another one I read somewhere.

What we are never changes.
Who we are never stops changing.

So be your MAP, tell the world and update them frequently.

Image credit: Thiru Murugan on flickr

Oh for the memory of youth; not memories, but the ability to remember what I’m doing.

Last July I started looking for a new tagline. Even though I’m stuck committed to the blog’s name I want something that reflects my take on leadership as opposed to the generally accepted view.

Like any blogger I asked my then readers what they thought, received some interesting suggestions and promptly forgot about it.

The subject recently came up again, so I looked up the post and here are what I think are the best from those suggestions.

Eric Eggertson, who used to write CommonSensePR, gave me a number of suggestions, among them Seize the future and Inspire and achieve;

I came up with Seize the initiative;

Luke suggested Miki Tells You How It Is;

Phil Gerbyshak took Luke’s idea and came up with No Spin, Just Straight Talk.

Darth Sidious suggested The Drive to thrive and also said my writings have enhanced he and his friends’ Sith philosophy! Hmm, I wonder if George Lucas is aware of that.

Back to the tag line.

What do you think? Do you like one of these or do you have a better idea that reflects the tone and philosophy of my Leadership Turn?

Leave a comment to with a new tagline or vote for one already suggested by October 1 and win a copy of The Three Laws Of Performance. If I end up using one of the above tags I’ll use Ramdom.org to decide the winner.

Enter as many times as you like; previous suggestions are automatically entered.

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Image credit: The Three Laws Of Performance

I don’t DO social networking, but I read a lot about it and I thought I’d share some of the more interesting items I’ve come across lately.

As I’m sure you all know, more and more companies, such as Ford, Southwest Airlines and Pepsi, are using social media both internally and externally.

When companies use new technologies they need to create policies regarding them for their employees.

And when they write policy they tend to do it in a self-generated vacuum, ignoring the larger world in which they function and the culture that has grown up around them. The result is often a fiasco as CNN recently learned.

Finally, I’d like to introduce you to my buddy Phil Gerbyshak. He’s a social media guru and if you’re interested in learning about stuff like Twitter click the link. Phil explains not only the how but the why behind using social media and can help you keep your cyber foot out of your online mouth.

But Phil isn’t a social media ideologue and is willing to share the other side of the equation—even when he doesn’t agree. Heh heh. I think he was thinking of me when he posted this video.

Image credit: MykReeve on flickr

It’s one of those odds and ends day, no unifying theme, but some good stuff.

Phil Gerbyshak sent me a link to an interesting post by his friend Roy Atkinson. Roy talks about speedership—the need to act quickly in today’s world. Roy sees it as a requirement for a positional leader, which it is, but I see it as an attitude that everybody needs these days.

Click over to the slideshow at Business Week and learn what experts are saying about how leadership has changed.

Next, in case you hadn’t heard, one of the newest social media trends are Facebook suicides, as in killing your profile. Click the link and see why people are choosing to kill their profile.

Finally, something for you to think about. What happens when doctors start treating medicine as a business? What does it mean for the future of medicine, not healthcare, in this country?

Your comments—priceless

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Image credit: nono farahshila on flickr

Phil Gerbyshak wrote a brilliant post setting out Ten Commandments For Social Media

1. Thou shalt add value first, and sell LAST
2. Thou shalt listen twice as much as you talk
3. Thou shalt not spam all your contacts
4. Thou shalt not act like a stuck up jerk
5. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s contacts
6. Thou shalt personalize every invitation I make to join any network
7. Thou shalt remember that 10 can be more powerful than 10,000
8. Thou shalt not beg (for anything)
9. Thou shalt be authentic and transparent in all you do
10. Thou shalt take the blog off the blog

As regular readers know I’m not much of a social media user, but these are long overdue.

Click over to the full definitions and you’ll see that even those that seem to refer only to social media have their counterpart in real society.

Sadly, no matter how widely the commandments disperse, I doubt that they’ll make a great difference.

Why? Because the Net is populated by the same folks who inhabit the real world and people don’t follow them there—it would be a much nicer place if they did.

Worse, the Net magnifies and increases incivility because it lacks emotional context, which negates empathy.

Lori Drew is a good example of this.

Obviously, Drew showed an amazing lack of maturity and sense, and although the judge overturned the jury’s guilty verdict it was on a point of law, not on her actions.

One has to wonder if Drew would have acted the same way in the real world where the pain she was causing would have been obvious.

So I have three recommendations for you in addition to Phil’s commandments

1. Pack your manners, ethics, morals and especially your common sense when you travel through social media.
2. Be cautious, because not everyone will pack their bags as carefully as you.
3. Remember that social media makes people more so; those who are good are very, very good and those who are full or borderline jerks will probably be worse.

Image credit: Intersection Consulting on flickr

Richard is traveling today. Actually, he’s with the client he mentioned last week and seeing those insane Texas foreclosure auctions for himself.

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Yesterday I wrote about Phil Gerbyshak and his MAP.

He left a comment, which says, “Some days, it is hard to manage this way, for it means I am disappointed when my team doesn’t perform as well as I know they could, and I take it personally when they fail. I try my best not to take it out on them, and look for ways I can do better, ways I can reach them more, for that is my MAP.”

Phil is a VP of IT for a major financial company, so there are enormous pressures in his department.

The two key points I want you to notice are that

• he takes it personally, but
• doesn’t beat on them.

And of the two, the most important is the second one.

How many times in your career have you worked for a manager who beat on the team when they didn’t do as expected?

How many times since you became a manager have you come down on your team for screwing up?

How many times have you said, “If you guys had done it right we wouldn’t be in this mess now,” or words to that effect? Rarely? Now and then? Frequently?

Other than working off your own frustration what do you think you accomplished?

Did performance improve? Did productivity go up? Were your people motivated? Did their respect for you increase?

Was there even one positive result?

No? Then why do you keep doing it?

If you look in the mirror and see the manager I described then make this promise today—right now.

Promise yourself that you’re going to change your MAP and then set about doing it. It won’t change by itself and I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but I will guarantee it will be worth it.

You’ll have a much happier team and happy people perform better and are more productive and motivated; your turnover will go down, results will improve and you’ll ace your next review.

If you won’t do it for them—do it for yourself.

Image credit: erichews [Now with 100,000+ views!] on flickr

Phil Gerbyshak (whose new book, Help Desk Manager’s Crash Course, I edited) has a great post on being a glass-is-half-full, high energy manager.

“This is how I live my life and my job: targeted, yet half-full and open to the possibilities that I can, and my team can, achieve more.”

Sure, you read this stuff all the time and you probably wonder if this is the real person or a public persona.

Well, I’m here to tell you that Phil is 100% real; in current jargon he’s completely authentic.

How can you get to be like Phil?

Read books, such as the one he mentions? Read blogs like his or mine?

They’ll help, but first look in the mirror. What do you see? Do you see the type of person that Phil’s describing? Is that what your family, friends and team sees?

If not, then before you spend the time on the books and blogs spend time on your MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™), because if your MAP isn’t in sync with the action you want it isn’t going to happen.

It’s said that the best things in life are free; I think that the best things in life are chosen.

Choose to change or enhance your MAP today!

Image credit: code1name on sxc.hu

Do you work for a company or a manger? Phil Gerbyshak over at Slacker manager did a great post on the fact that people quit managers, not companies—great because it is so true.

If you ask most people who they work for they’ll name a company, but if you ask them why they love or hate it, stay or leave they’ll usually mention a manager, the people or the culture, which is a projection of the manager and the people.

People quitting is expensive and bad for team morale, but, as Phil pointed out, they can quit and not leave, which, from a management perspective, is the worst thing that can happen.

Think about it, who do you manage? And How?

Adequate managers manage employees.

Good managers manage people.

Great managers manage persons.

Yes, persons. Individuals, because you can’t manage (or lead) everyone the same way.

The same words often mean something different to different people, so you need to say what’s necessary in whatever words will ensure that each individual hears and understands your message.

I’m not saying that it’s easy, but you aren’t paid for easy—you’re paid for results.

And knowing how to manage persons is the best way to ensure that your people won’t quit.

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Image credit: ZedBee|Zoë Power on flickr

Although I read a lot of article and blogs, I’m very particular about what I pass on to you. I often link to a particular post, but have a much more limited list to share when people write and ask what to read daily when they have very limited time.

I find the topics relevant, but there are a multitude of similar topics every day, so what sets the ones I choose apart? Synergistic MAP and the writing.

I admit that I’m a writing snob. Quantity doesn’t equal quality; reading through dense prose bores me, so the ones I like are clearly and concisely written. This doesn’t mean other don’t have merit, it just means that they don’t do it for me.

The point being that you need to find sources that resonate and work for you, not for whoever recommends it.

That said, here are my four favorites.

Jim Stroup is responsible for Managing Leadership. Jim is who you read when you want to stimulate your brain and dig into the philosophical, strategic and tactical ramifications of business and politics. He’s also one of the most charismatic, brilliant writers I’ve found.

Steve Roesler writes All Things Workplace. Steve draws his topics from the situations he deals with every day in his work. His advice is practical, down-to-earth, common sense-based and, most importantly, immediately useable.

Phil Gerbyshak over at Slacker Manager is the guy for whom everyone wants to work. He provides great input, especially for less experienced managers—although I know a lot of executives who could benefit by following it.

Mark Jabo at Biz Levity fills my laugh bucket and helps me keep my perspective. His posts are my way of remembering that in the great scheme of things none of this really matters—except to the archeologists when they dig though our digital trash.

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Image credit: flickr

David Zinger writes about employee engagement; Phil Gerbyshak at Slacker Manager today posted a link to a new ebook that David facilitated from the Employee Engagement Network. All good stuff.

According to Wikipedia, “An engaged employee is a person who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about, his or her work.”

What I have for you today is employee engagement on steroids, in action at a place called Nucor Steel.

Way back in May 2006, Business Week wrote, “In an industry as Rust Belt as they come, Nucor has nurtured one of the most dynamic and engaged workforces around.”

I’ve written more about Nucor and its culture several times, but it’s come to the fore again.

On January 2, 2009, the Charlotte Business Journal named Nucor CEO Dan DiMicco Business Person of the Year for 2008.

First, a bit of history,

“Ken Iverson, Nucor’s pioneer and guiding spirit, stepped down as chief executive in 1996… Earnings remained flat through 1998, when board dissidents forced Iverson out of the chairman position and off the board. Nine months later, they ousted John Correnti, Iverson’s handpicked successor as CEO.

The board made DiMicco CEO in September 2000. Nucor’s four other executive vice presidents and CFO Terry Lisenby, were candidates for the top job that went to DiMicco. But all stayed, sharing his basic vision for a bigger Nucor built on reinvestment in mills, exploring new technology and market niches, strategic acquisitions and international growth through joint ventures.”

And a pay system that many (most?) companies should adopt, “…it’s not only the workers who get paid mostly on performance. Managers all the way up to the top executives have a relatively low base pay supplemented by specific performance goals.” But they won’t, because most management, as well as the rank and file, believe they should be protected from the results of their actions—unless, of course, they’re positive.

The team took over in 2000 just as the dot com bomb blew up the economy and now, just eight years later Nucor is the largest steel maker in the US.

It’s another economic meltdown; Nucor has $2 billion in cash, so I expect it will emerge even stronger.

All of this is still more impressive when you consider that Nucor actually makes something—as opposed to pushing money around—and their product contains neither chips nor software.

If you want to know more about what truly engaged employees do, how real leadagers act and what a culture should be. Take the time to read the articles—then tweak as much as possible to use in your company.

Image credit: flickr