“New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.”

Obviously it’s not a new problem, since the above was written by John Locke in 1690, and I’m sure you’ve come up against it more than once.

People go to extreme ends to

• preserve the status quo;
• avoid change;
• indulge a not-invented-here mentality; and
• ‘buy IBM’ (it’s better to be safe than sorry).

The attitude wasn’t original in 1690 and the MAP that fosters it will still be around in 2090.

But despite yards of books and thousands of article and blogs (my own included) on creating change in a company, too many people still don’t get it.

They believe, or want to believe, that if all the right words are said it will happen.

They keep looking for a magic bullet instead of looking in the mirror.

But the only bullet around is the one they need to bite, the one that says that

• change must start with themselves and that it starts with how they think;

• nobody acts differently without thinking differently; and

• talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words, and the actions must be sustainable.

What’s really in your mind will eventually come out, either in word or action, people will notice and they won’t forget.

Image credit: SheCat on flickr

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Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day.

I take the Holocaust personally, since it wiped out the last of my mother’s family (the Cossacks had already gotten most of my father’s). I believe that the most important reason to remember the Holocaust is so another one doesn’t happen—whether to the Jews or another group.

Here are some thoughts for you to ponder, but I’m skipping most of the commentary today, it would just dilute the impact.

It is deeply shocking and incomprehensible to me that despite volumes of documentation and living witnesses who can attest to the horrors of the Holocaust, there are still those who would deny it. –Mark Udall

This is one of two attitudes that enrage me, the other centers on the growing ranks of those who want to repeat it.

The Holocaust also shows us how a combination of events and attitudes can erode a society’s democratic values.

The Holocaust illustrates the consequences of prejudice, racism and stereotyping on a society. It forces us to examine the responsibilities of citizenship and confront the powerful ramifications of indifference and inaction. –two from Tim Holden

“The Holocaust is not only a tragedy of the Jewish people, it is a failure of humanity as a whole.” –Moshe Katsav

First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Social Democrats, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Social Democrat. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew, Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me. — Pastor Martin Neimoller

I remember this one from school; it’s worth repeating as the world grows more intolerant.

Holocaust Remembrance Day isn’t a laughing matter, but I wanted to leave you on a lighter note and maybe even a chuckle or two. To that end, my final offering is a Quayleism.

The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation’s history. I mean in this century’s history. But we all lived in this century. I didn’t live in this century. –Dan Quayle

Image credit: Piku on sxc.hu

A few months ago The Conference Board published a study that showed that US workers were more dissatisfied now than at any time in the previous 20 years. James Heskett, Baker Foundation Professor, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School, used that study as part of the basis for a discussion about the growing dissatisfaction. Heskett poses intriguing ideas, but the greater value is in the comments he draws from his audience.

Speaking of American workers, do you know what their favorite new TV show is? A show that is a giant hit with young viewers and even beats Desperate Housewives? It’s Undercover Boss and I highly recommend it. Tomorrow is the season finale (I think) and it should be good. The company is 1-800-Flowers and according to the blurb the boss gets outed.

Next a little insight that could increase job satisfaction. Do you pride yourself on your poker face or are your emotions as obvious as a TV show? Or do you censor some and share the others? Research has proven that facial expressions are important to social interaction and current studies of people with facial paralysis offers some great insights for the rest of us.

Finally, some fascinating studies back up the premise discussed in Even Among Animals: Leaders, Followers and Schmoozers. Interesting reading and even better dinner conversation.

Enjoy!

Image credit: pedroCarvalho on flickr

If you were considering purchasing stock in a large corporation or a large bequest to a major non-profit and read the following comments about the CEO from people with firsthand knowledge of him would you buy the stock or donate the money?

• He was never interested in bureaucratic stuff because he did not want to work as a manager.
• He would be the first to concede he was much more interested in the life of the mind than the nuts and bolts of administrative work.

Last year when I wrote that bad managers didn’t make good leaders Mike Chitty responded, “I think you can lead if you are lousy manager. You just need good managers to cover your back. Teamwork you see.”

I disagreed then and I haven’t seen any reason to change my opinion—in fact, just the opposite. Right now the largest leader vs. manager mess is playing out on a global stage.

The leader in question is Pope Benedict and the above quotes were about him.

In a comment two years ago Nick McCormick said, “Leadership and management are very tightly intertwined. Ignoring characteristics of one is done at the expense of the other.”

According to a NY Times article, The church said the decision to allow the priest to resume his duties in 1980 was made solely by Cardinal Ratzinger’s top aide at the time, but church officials also said the future pope was sent a memo about the reassignment.

Obviously, leaders focus on visions and managers read memos.

The Catholic Church is the largest and probably the richest multinational in the world, so there are many business lessons to be learned from what is going on.

The two most obvious that I’ve noticed are

• protect the brand no matter what, and, more recently,
• the best defense is a good offense.

What do you think?

Image credit: Jari Kurittu on flickr

Last week we looked at the talent being lost as a result of profiteering by for-profit trade schools and colleges. But what of American talent graduating from America’s top schools?

We know that America needs talent. We need talent in all walks of life; we need talent at every level of business, but some of our best talent is being lured away by Asia, Inc.

The lure is coming from Chinese, Korean, Japanese and other Asian corporations; they are successfully recruiting, wooing and hiring the best and brightest at top tier business schools all over the country.

“There is a sense that the center of gravity is shifting,” says Julie Morton, Booth’s associate dean for career services. … “This has never really happened before, except in little spurts, where you have a fairly large group of talented, recent MBAs asking for assignments in China, Vietnam, India,” says Jeff Joerres, CEO of global staffing firm Manpower. Adds Richard Florida, professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management: “I don’t think many of us thought Asia would become the destination for top Western talent—but it is.”

Part of this shift is recession driven, but the ‘shifting center of gravity’ is cause for concern.

It’s not that the skills and knowledge acquired from international work isn’t valuable, of course it is, but it means that talent is lost to America for the next five years, give or take, when we need it most.

Additionally, foreign students are returning home to found companies, rather than staying in the US. That isn’t comforting considering that immigrant entrepreneurs founded 25.3 percent of the U.S. engineering and technology companies established in the past decade, according to a 2007 study from Duke University.

A bit of recession silver lining comes in the form of B-school grads taking an entrepreneurial path when they can’t find a job.

And there is a bipartisan (believe it or not) effort to gain talent by creating a “founder visa,” a two-year visa for any immigrant entrepreneur who can secure $250,000 in capital from American investors. After the two years are up, the person could become a permanent resident if his or her business has created five full-time jobs in the U.S., raised an additional $1 million, or hit $1 million in revenue.

But they are a long way from passing the legislation.

I find it sad that amidst all the rhetoric and hand wringing our so-called leaders in Congress do little-to-nothing—usually in the service of lobbying groups or an inflexible ideology that sees only the past and has little concern for the future if it involves change.

Image credit: budgetstoc on sxc.hu

Image credit: izatrini_com on flickr

Office 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

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.

In 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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