As the head of training I can sometimes be biased that training is the most important part of work life. This is obviously not true. Being productive in your job so that your company can serve the customer and in turn make the profit it needs to sustain is the most important thing. Training is on means to those ends and in turn is very important.
My training division just rolled out a new front line training tool called Huddle Cards. These cards are easy to use tools so that our front line managers can train their staff no matter what level of trainer or communicator they are. The program was rolled out 10 days ago and it has been interesting to see how each of the retail outlets have reacted.
The reaction is all leadership based. Many of the business units have contacted me and asked questions, reviewed their roll out plan, thanked me for the training and are managing the training schedule and expectations for their 230 staff at a high level because they believe that the training is important.
Leadership who believes that training creates more valuable employees and in turn creates more value for the company. Everyone talks about this and says they believe it. Leaders act on the belief in word and in deed.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Hiring Talent
Everyone who hires people knows it is important to make a good hire but I often find those same people do not know how important hiring a good person is.
Hiring a talented person who is a great job/team fit takes energy. Here are some steps to support you when you make that next great hire:
1. Interrupt your normal work mode. To think that hiring a team mate does not take time and a new focus is crazy. Professional sports teams have a draft season where everything else stops so they can concentrate on next years talent. They take the time to focus on their choices and make the call.
2. Use your recruiter as a partner. Rely on your recruiter internal or external to understand the job scope and find you a good base line of people to hire from. Set the expectation with them that everyone you see you should be able to do the job tasks and you want to be able to make the final decision on team fit. If you don;t have a recruiter, be your own talent scout and do the work of a recruiter.
3. Commit to the time. You need to understand that it take time to hire a great new employee. I once went through 75 applicants only to come back to the first resume I looked at. At that point though I was confident that she was the right hire.
4. Make the hire and then on board your new person with celebration and training. Don't put your new person through the gauntlet. Don't make them "pay their dues". Give them the objectives, expectations and tools needed to jump in right away and add value. You'll be happy you did.
Value the new hire enough to take the time to make the process come together.
Hiring a talented person who is a great job/team fit takes energy. Here are some steps to support you when you make that next great hire:
1. Interrupt your normal work mode. To think that hiring a team mate does not take time and a new focus is crazy. Professional sports teams have a draft season where everything else stops so they can concentrate on next years talent. They take the time to focus on their choices and make the call.
2. Use your recruiter as a partner. Rely on your recruiter internal or external to understand the job scope and find you a good base line of people to hire from. Set the expectation with them that everyone you see you should be able to do the job tasks and you want to be able to make the final decision on team fit. If you don;t have a recruiter, be your own talent scout and do the work of a recruiter.
3. Commit to the time. You need to understand that it take time to hire a great new employee. I once went through 75 applicants only to come back to the first resume I looked at. At that point though I was confident that she was the right hire.
4. Make the hire and then on board your new person with celebration and training. Don't put your new person through the gauntlet. Don't make them "pay their dues". Give them the objectives, expectations and tools needed to jump in right away and add value. You'll be happy you did.
Value the new hire enough to take the time to make the process come together.
Monday, June 22, 2009
You are the New Day
What will you do with you today? Do not live in the past or the future. Both of those destinations do not exist. Yesterday can not be re-done, but learned from. Tomorrow is fiction until the sun rises on that day in the future.
Today is the day that is a firm reality.
In a song called "The New Day" the line goes like this.
"You are the new day. I will love you more then me and more then yesterday. If you can but prove to me, you are the new day. Send the sun in time for morn, let the birds all hail the dawning. Love of life will hear me say, you are the new day."
Take it on and live your NEW DAY!
Today is the day that is a firm reality.
In a song called "The New Day" the line goes like this.
"You are the new day. I will love you more then me and more then yesterday. If you can but prove to me, you are the new day. Send the sun in time for morn, let the birds all hail the dawning. Love of life will hear me say, you are the new day."
Take it on and live your NEW DAY!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Managing the Third Shell
As a manager you must have the tools in your arsenal to manage a member of your team out of the Lying Shell. The Lying Shell is destructive for the individual whether they know it or not and destructive to the performance and morale of your team. There is an art and science to the process and often this art and science takes place like a chess game with the consummate 3rd Shell expert.
Here are the steps:
1. Art: Use "I Feel" statements. This allows you to share what you are seeing initially without having to do a ton of research around the lack of performance. It also allows you to state some fairly direct blows on a Lying Shell person without it being an attach. "I Feel" is exactly that. You are not saying it is fact, you are not accusing your employee, you are simply stating what you feel is happening. You want to do this with empathy and tact.
2. Science: You can set SMART objectives and get an agreement from the Third Shell employee so you can measure against a new performance standard to create accountability in the relationship. So often as managers we allow 3rd Shell behavior in people because we get lax in our management to objectives. People that want to move into Shell 2 the Learning Shell will use the objectives to launch their work into a whole new level. Con-Artists (see Shell Game Blog 2) will use objectives as point of contention and confusion and make a manager feel crazy in the process.
All in when you use Art and Science around a Third Shell employee and make your expectations known, that employee will quickly get the picture that they can no longer play the Shell Game in your group and they will opt out and leave town or you will build the case you need, fire the under performer and learn how to better hire Learners and Leaders from now on.
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Third Shell - Who's Wearing the Mask (Part 2)
The Third Shell, the lying shell is the most toxic type of professional. Although a person working on a team that is not carrying their load and wanting compensation for it is destructive the person in that role may not always be toxic themselves.
There are three basic types that live under the lying shell:
1. Self - You can be under the lying shell in specific areas of your work or at different times in your career. If you are a self aware professional with a good support structure the "Self" will typically become aware of the gap or issue and set a plan to step into the Learning Shell. The "Self" will not tolerate being under the lying shell for very long.
2. Ignorant - You have heard the saying "You don't know what you don't know." This is the worst kind of not knowing. When this person is under shell three they typically don't even realize that they are not doing their job. This is usually a young professional who is excited to be in the role or quite possibly may have been promoted to far too fast and is now in a position to complex for their experience. They are not intentionally sitting under the Lying Shell. The best move that can be made here is to make them aware. As soon as you do they become self-aware and their energy moves toward moving away from shell three as quickly as possible. They do not want to be their, they ask for help and step into the learning shell.
3. Con-man - This is the professional third shell resident. They like getting paid for not doing their work and have no intention of carrying the load of their job, learning a new task or working hard. They have one goal, to stay under the lying shell and be paid for work not performed. This person is very good at what is called "crazy making" putting blame on others, the manager, the environment the job tasks anything that is needed to put the focus on something else so they can continue to under perform. This is a managers worst employee and if they are not careful this worker will destroy a team. The tactics to call this person out of their shell is simple Art and Science. Holding them accountable, using "feeling" statements not listening to excuses and monitoring results directly will soon have this person looking for another place to go. They will not like scrutiny, specific goals and leadership.
Review you team and put your group under the shells and see where you end up. Start to make yourself and others aware and based on how they react you will know if you have Lying Shell people willing to move to the Learning Shell and eventually into the Leading Shell where they are doing their work to the best of their ability and supporting your team. That is a great feeling when that happens.
Friday, June 12, 2009
The Three Shells
Last night I had a great privilege of supporting the Grand Open of a brand new Life Time Fitness in Memphis, TN. There was an after party on the pool deck and I was able to sit and have a great conversation with some amazing professionals that were a part of the Grand Open too.
In the conversation one of the managers asked me to talk about my "Three Shells" management philosophy. For the next 40 minutes we talked and laughed about how aligned our experiences are as managers no matter the level in the company.
What is the Three Shells? The Three Shells is a philosophy of management that empowers leaders to take control of the development of great workers while offering a system to "call out" those workers who do not have a desire to learn or lead in their positions.
In the Three Shells there are only 3 positions to be in as a professional. Over the next few blogs I will cover this philosophy in more detail. Here are the Three Shells:
Shell 1 - Leading Shell: I’m doing my job to the best of my ability. I am leading and growing.
Shell 2 - Learning Shell: I have questions in my work, I am asking for help and am learning my job.
Shell 3 - Lying Shell: I am not doing my job. I am covering it up and acting like I know what I am doing. I am lying.
When you see these positions as a manager and leader you then begin to understand your team in a whole new way and can then support all people to move to the Leading Shell so you and your team can better serve your customer and WIN!
In the conversation one of the managers asked me to talk about my "Three Shells" management philosophy. For the next 40 minutes we talked and laughed about how aligned our experiences are as managers no matter the level in the company.
What is the Three Shells? The Three Shells is a philosophy of management that empowers leaders to take control of the development of great workers while offering a system to "call out" those workers who do not have a desire to learn or lead in their positions.
In the Three Shells there are only 3 positions to be in as a professional. Over the next few blogs I will cover this philosophy in more detail. Here are the Three Shells:
Shell 1 - Leading Shell: I’m doing my job to the best of my ability. I am leading and growing.
Shell 2 - Learning Shell: I have questions in my work, I am asking for help and am learning my job.
Shell 3 - Lying Shell: I am not doing my job. I am covering it up and acting like I know what I am doing. I am lying.
When you see these positions as a manager and leader you then begin to understand your team in a whole new way and can then support all people to move to the Leading Shell so you and your team can better serve your customer and WIN!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The City
This is a stirring look at the landscape of the city and humankind. Enjoy
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Monday, June 8, 2009
At Least Try
Remember when all else fails, TRY. You can not go through life projecting what might happen in a situation, scaring, intimidating, laughing yourself right out of living. Trying rarely costs a great deal. A little research, maybe a small purchase of some equipment and time.
Trying can become scary or intimidating because it often happens around parts of your life you either have little or no skill, you are frustrated and dissatisfied with or you do not believe you are good enough to compete.
Do this:
1. Write a list of 3-4 things that you are dissatisfied with or want to know more about. Name it "Dissatisfied"
2. Write down in short bullet points why you feel the way you do about those items
3. Make another column next to that list and name it "What I can Do"
4. Now list what time, treasure or talent you currently posses that could bring immediate solutions to this list. Challenge yourself to really think hard and truly list all that you can do right now! This is your TRY area. You can TRY these things immediately to bring the dissatisfied column forward into a satisfied level.
5. List those actions that are beyond you. What help, money, or time do you need that you might have to ask for, earn or build toward
6. Give yourself a deadline. A SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely) Goal to move on the list of Dissatisfied and never tried items.
Determine to make a change, the small investment, time or talent and get it done. Once you take the first step out the door the adventure of "TRY" will meet you and teach you that trying only introduces you to a life worth living that you can meet head on.
"The Road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, and I must follow, if I can, pursuing it with eager feet, until it joins some larger way where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.”
- J.R.R. Tolkien
Trying can become scary or intimidating because it often happens around parts of your life you either have little or no skill, you are frustrated and dissatisfied with or you do not believe you are good enough to compete.
Do this:
1. Write a list of 3-4 things that you are dissatisfied with or want to know more about. Name it "Dissatisfied"
2. Write down in short bullet points why you feel the way you do about those items
3. Make another column next to that list and name it "What I can Do"
4. Now list what time, treasure or talent you currently posses that could bring immediate solutions to this list. Challenge yourself to really think hard and truly list all that you can do right now! This is your TRY area. You can TRY these things immediately to bring the dissatisfied column forward into a satisfied level.
5. List those actions that are beyond you. What help, money, or time do you need that you might have to ask for, earn or build toward
6. Give yourself a deadline. A SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely) Goal to move on the list of Dissatisfied and never tried items.
Determine to make a change, the small investment, time or talent and get it done. Once you take the first step out the door the adventure of "TRY" will meet you and teach you that trying only introduces you to a life worth living that you can meet head on.
"The Road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, and I must follow, if I can, pursuing it with eager feet, until it joins some larger way where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.”
- J.R.R. Tolkien
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