Bosses’ tasks may differ depending on their position, level, industry, etc., but one thing is identical for all of them—communicating.

Here is my small effort to clearly explain exactly what is required of every boss at every level in every company and at all times.

• Your goal is to provide your people with all the information needed to understand how to perform their work as correctly, completely, simply, and efficiently as possible.

• You do this by providing clear, concise, and complete communications at all times. This is about more than talking clearly, it’s about providing all the background necessary for people in the company to understand why they are doing their jobs, as well as what jobs they are to do; it rarely involves telling them how to do their jobs.

You will know you are doing it correctly because productivity will improve, as will innovation; your company will be more successful, you will be a more effective manager, have less turnover and better reviews.

And as an added bonus everybody will be happier.

Flickr image credit: Wesley Fryer

Interesting comments from Ben Horowitz on why firing a member of the founding team as the company grows may be both a necessary decision and an ethical one.

If your current executive team helped you 10X your company, how can you dismiss them when they fall behind in running the behemoth they created? The answer is that your loyalty must go to your employees—the people who report to your executives. Your engineers, marketing people, sales people, finance and HR people who are doing the work. You owe them a world-class management team. That’s the priority.

Can’t argue that and it can happen long before the 10X level is reached.

Horowitz says during each year’s review he would spell out the changes that come with growth.

“Therefore, you will have a new and very different job and I will have to re-evaluate you on that job. If it makes you feel better, that rule goes for everyone on the team including me.”

He goes on to say,

“In giving this kind of direction, it’s important to point out to the executive that when the company doubles in size, she has a new job. This means that doing things that made her successful in her old job will not necessarily translate to success in the new job. In fact, the No. 1 way that executives fail is by continuing to do their old job rather than moving on to their new job.”

What he doesn’t say is that it’s part of the boss’ job to help any employee prepare for those expanded responsibilities;

• First, by providing insight on what improved/new skills and additional knowledge are needed to perform well in the new position, whether or not the title changes.
• Second, by suggesting resources, such as classes, training (if available) and mentoring.

This is as true for executives as it is for any other level.

It’s difficult for people to evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses in a position they know well, let alone in one they haven’t done yet.

This holds true for founders and CEOs, too, assuming they want to hold on to their positions.

However, there is one other question that should be added to the discussion that is some variation of the following, “Now that you understand what will be involved in your new responsibilities is that what you want to do? Do you feel it’s a good fit for who you are and who you want to be; in other words, will it make you happy?”

People are usually happiest in a company of a certain size and at a certain time in its life.

Joining before that or staying after is never a good idea.

Flickr image credit: WalkingGeek

You know that old saying, ‘when in Rome do as the Romans’?

As a boss you need to apply that idea to all your communications.

Good communications start with being sure that you and whoever you are talking to are speaking the same language.

Everybody has a mental model through which they hear, so the meaning of what they hear may have little to nothing to do with what was actually said.

One of the most common errors is the assumption the person to whom you are talking has the same model as you.

An even larger error is the assumption, especially if you’re the boss, it’s your subordinate’s (or kid’s) responsibility to speak your language when, in fact, it is the higher ranking person’s responsibility to speak theirs.

There are things you can do to make sure that you are understood.

They aren’t rocket science, but you need to remember to do it.

• Start by carefully explaining your model and your assumptions when giving direction;
• give your people clear, complete information on the subject (what you want done, project outlines, etc.,) at the start, so they don’t to have to keep asking for more; and then
• check to be sure that they not only heard, but understood what you meant—not what they thought you meant.

Do it today, do it all the time; it may feel a bit awkward at first, but eventually it’ll become second nature.

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

Flickr image credit: Christopher Reilly

Silos—they are found in almost every company no matter the size.

Silos are the scourge of collaboration

The most commonly noticed are departmental silos, but horizontal silos based on position and education are far more insidious and damaging.

I loathe horizontal silos and consider them second only to politics on the corporate stupidity index.

More times than I can count I’ve seen the ideas of an engineer 1 or 2 discounted or ignored by the 3s and senior engineers—of course, that’s better than stealing them, although that happens, too.

The attitude seems to be one of ‘your brain is incapable of any creative thinking until you are at least at my pay grade’, which is beyond idiotic.

People’s brains work differently; some see what is, others see possible improvements and a few see around corners, but that sight has little to do with position.

Steve Jobs saw around the corner of the personal computer market before there was a personal computer market and certainly before he had any credibility what so ever.

And I can personally attest that training and education don’t necessarily play a role. Decades ago I redesigned two street intersections where I lived in San Francisco, but I didn’t suggest the solutions to the traffic engineers—I knew they wouldn’t listen because I have no training.

Instead, I sneaked both ideas in through someone I know who was ‘accepted’ and both solutions are still in effect today.

Silos are built of egos, which is why, vertical or horizontal, they’re so difficult to break down.

The best solution is for CEOs to build a culture that values everybody’s ideas equally, but there’s no guarantee that they will or even that they agree.

Even when they do there’s you can’t count on every executive and others in management roles will embrace the approach.

Technology offers a leg up for bosses who see silos as blockades.

One approach I helped a client implement created an innovation wiki that completely obscured the name, level, grade and even department of the person posting the suggestion.

Each idea had a different ID and confirmation was automatically sent to the poster so they still had bragging rights if it was used or warranted a bonus.

That anonymity leveled the playing field and assured everyone that each idea was considered strictly on its merits, not on the merits of the person who thought of it.

It also encouraged people to post way-outside-the-box ideas without worrying about appearing silly, pushy or arrogant if the idea happened to be outside of their personal expertise.

Finally, when an idea was used, whether all, in part or as a springboard to something else, there was an announcement, kudos and request that the poster step forward and take a bow.

It’s a very popular program.

Productivity skyrocketed as a river of suggestions flowed that offered solutions to long-time problems, ideas for product enhancements and even next-gen products—often from the most unlikely places.

Flickr image credit:  johnny goldstein

Everything today is about innovation, creativity, productivity and how to increase all of them.

Bosses at every level read books, listen to management gurus and attend seminars looking for methods and approaches that will boost all three.

They look for solutions outside and rarely look in the mirror.

Too many bosses, no matter what happens or what feedback they receive, recognize that it’s their MAP and their actions, not their people’s, at the bottom of their under-performing groups.

After all, if you

• ask for input and ridicule those who offer it, why be surprised when you stop receiving it?
• tell your people you want to solve problems while they’re still molehills and then kill the messengers who bring you molehill news you shouldn’t be surprised to find yourself grappling with mountainous problems requiring substantially more resources;
• tell people their ideas are stupid, whether directly or circumspectly, or, worse, that they are for thinking of them, why should they offer themselves up for another smack with a verbal two-by-four?

I could list many more examples, but you get the idea.

Your team’s results are a direct reflection of you, so before you start ranting or whining about your group’s lack of initiative and innovation, try really listening to yourself, the feedback you receive and give and then look in the mirror—chances are the real culprit will be looking straight back at you.

Flickr image credit: Cea

Zig Ziglar, for 40 years one of the best know motivational speakers, died last week. He left behind thousands of inspired people and, based on the value and profusion of his sound bites, there will be thousands more in the future. Here are a few of my favorites and you can find many more here.

If you want to live a happy successful life, the first thing you need to grasp is, “Every choice you make has an end result.”

You need to make your choice based on who you are and what you know at that moment then “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.”

It’s also true that, “Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale.” Keep in mind that too much oxygen isn’t necessarily beneficial.

Everybody’s heard that success is the result of hard work, but I like Ziglar’s way of saying it best, “Success is dependent upon the glands – sweat glands.”

A good dose of optimism is always useful and, again, Ziglar provides a better definition than most, “An optimist is someone who goes after Moby Dick in a rowboat and takes the tartar sauce with him.”

What I really get a kick out of are how apropos his comments on marriage are when applied to management.

For example, “Many marriages would be better if the husband and the wife clearly understood that they are on the same side,” so would the different departments and teams in most companies.

And if you want a few telling words on how to manage the persons on your team, consider changing the fifth word in this comment, “If you treat your wife like a thoroughbred, you’ll never end up with a nag”

Finally, considering we just finished with a really nasty election (at all levels); I couldn’t resist these two gems.

The first seems to fit all the ideologues that ran for office, “Little men with little minds and little imaginations go through life in little ruts, smugly resisting all changes which would jar their little worlds.”

And the second seems to fit a larger percentage of the population each year, “A narrow mind and a fat head invariably come on the same person”

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

An article talking about better ways to train employees made me chuckle; not because the ideas were bad, but because it focused on the idea that adults are trainable.

They aren’t.

Decades ago I read an article about training by a respected expert. His (her?) name is long gone from my memory, but not the core thought, which was that training ended with the toilet and from that point on humans learned.

Of course, that meant they had to be taught.

And while you might think it’s the so-called trainee’s responsibility to learn, whether the material is interesting, boring or non-existent, that expectation is likely to cost you raises, bonuses and promotions.

The bottom line is that along with all your other bossly functions you must also be a teacher; not just a teacher but a great teacher, because the kind of teacher you are is an absolute reflection of the kind of boss you are.

• Interesting: presented in a way to stimulate curiosity and create a desire to master it = committed, motivated, builder of teams and grower of people.
• Boring: dull, no-energy presentation that acts more like a soporific or worse an insult to intelligence = uncaring, passive, uninterested.
• Non-existent: the sink or swim approach = lazy and arrogant.

As always, it’s your choice.

Flickr image credit: Dan Ox

Marty Zwilling wrote a great essay detailing exactly what to do to guarantee your team’s DEmotivation.

It’s great because in addition to being oh-so-true it’s tongue-in-cheek sarcastic enough that it might even penetrate the minds of those guilty of what it says.

Zwilling writes for entrepreneurs, but most of the actions he describes apply equally well to any manager at any level, as well as parents and pretty much any human interaction.

Call it universal DEmotivation.

Here are the headings, but you should really read the article to know for sure if you are guilty of some more covert version.

1. Be sure your team doesn’t know what is important to you.
2. Never explain your actions.
3. Hire team members who will follow your instructions.
4. Keep people on their toes with a threat of consequences.
5. Team meetings are for delivering the latest decisions.
6. Agree to milestones and then accelerate them.
7. Thank your employees for the little extras.
8. Be careful not to get too involved in your employees own goals.

In the decades I worked as a recruiter and those since starting RampUp Solutions I’ve heard these or variations of them listed as reasons people left their company.

Because when you get right down to it, people quit managers, not companies, and that is especially true when a manager is also a founder.

SUBMIT YOUR STORY
(like this)
Be the Thursday feature – Entrepreneurs: [your company name]
Share the story of your startup today.
Send it along with your contact information and I’ll be in touch.
Questions? Email or call me at 360.335.8054 Pacific time.

Flickr image credit: Mitchell Laurren-Ring

Back when I worked for other companies I was considered “difficult.”

When I was young I was fired from one job for not taking my 15 minute breaks twice a day and from another for being too honest with a customer.

I spent 12 years working for a manager who never understood that all I wanted was acknowledgment and/or appreciation—without having to ask for it.

“Good job;” “congratulations, hell of a deal;” “good to see you back, we missed you.”

I was one of the top producers in his office, but the only time he said anything was when I brought whatever to his attention.

As most anyone will tell you, positive feedback or compliments are worthless when you need to prompt the source for them.

Often small efforts yield large results. My boss wanted me to move to the next level, but gave me no reason to put out the effort—the money wasn’t enough, I wanted to matter.

I recently told this story to a manager with high turnover in his department. He responded that he didn’t have time to “babysit” and expected his people to act like adults.

I told him he was a fool.

Stock.xchng image credit: arte_ram

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Who do you want to hire?

The person who passionately wants to work for a startup or the person who passionately wants to work for your startup?

Think about it.

Who will contribute more?

• The person who always wanted to work in a startup; whose passion is engaged by the mere thought of working in the startup environment; or
• the person who craves the solution your startup proposes even if she never recognized the problem; whose passion is engaged specifically by the idea of contributing to that particular solution no matter where it is done.

Some experts will tell you that it is the drive to work in a startup—any startup—that is most important.

I disagree.

Just as the person who joins a company for money will leave for more money the person who joins because it’s a startup will leave for a sexier startup.

But the person who joins because of a deep, driving passion to be part of that specific solution will stay and fight the good fight long past the time that Hell freezes over.

Option Sanity™ engages the deeply driven.

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock allocation system.  It’s so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning
Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist