Five Years Later

After five years separation, several former employees of a bankrupt company, which I was one of, decided to have a mini reunion.  The main purpose of getting together was to find out how our coworkers survived their major life changes.  We wanted to know if the others were happy in their new jobs or did they even have one?  Unfortunately, some of us had had more than a couple positions in the five years following the company’s closure.  We had worked together, more or less, for 20 years and we found that building relationships like we had was proving to be difficult to attain in our new positions.

What surprised me was the company’s failure was never discussed at this gathering.  In fact, no one seemed to remember the difficulties we experienced, such as crews meeting production costs, budgets, or wage issues or even what drove the company to bankruptcy.  What we remembered was the camaraderie and funny happenings.  We talked about how coworkers were often more like family than their real relatives.

Like most families, we had our share of strange, fanatical, and outlandish people.  I remember one year we had them all at once.  Yet, in the center of the turmoil was a core group of individuals everyone else depended upon.  It was guaranteed that these people would show up every day, ready to do their best, and answer any question that crossed their path.

What Makes an Organization Special

I guess what made the organization special in our memories was the fact that we were in it together.  Whether the times were good, bad, hard, or easy, we stuck together, trying to do the best as possible for our clients.  Oh yes, we had our idiosyncrasies that drove other team members crazy.  Occasionally, one of us would complain as if we hated our jobs, throw a tantrum, or cause an uproar.  But, we truly cared about each other and the business so we would over look the infringements.  In the end, we were the ones who mourned the death of the company.

The Leadership Team

Looking back on it now, I realize that this feeling was due to our leadership team.  They certainly weren’t the greatest or most objective of leaders.  They didn’t always listen or communicate their wants and needs clearly.  In fact, one supervisor often said about his team, “People are just no damn good.”  Not that he really believed it; I think he just liked to say it.  Their example set the tone for the organization.  Leaders didn’t dictate but were team members, who worked hard to make a successful business.  By the way, this leadership team wasn’t the cause of the bankruptcy, that’s another story.  Gross negligence comes to mind.

The Lesson

The lesson here is leadership isn’t about perfection but about intention.  It’s doing your best, continually trying to communicate with others, struggling to give your people the tools they need, and doing the right things (as much as possible).  What holds loyalty from core team members is the loyalty given by the team leaders.  Our leaders truly cared about their subordinates and the success both for each individual and the company.  Yes, we were disappointed when some leaders let us down.  However, collectively, the team stood for us and against outside forces intent on our failure.  As such we stood with them to fight those forces as well.  Sounds like a family, doesn’t it?

In July, the Chilean port city of Iquique received 100^th of an inch of rain with 10 mph winds.  For most of us, we wouldn’t even notice the event let alone it deter our everyday life.  But for this city the conditions resulted in roof damage on over 4,000 homes and wide spread power outages.  You see, Iquique is at the heart of the Atacama Desert and the average rain fall per year is only 0.02 inches.  The Chilean people of Iquique don’t think about or plan for much rain.  Homes are covered with wood, plaster, or cardboard and many do not have a slope.  The roofs are designed to protect inhabitants from the sun rather than rain.

This story really caught my attention, in the context of strategic thinking and planning, because here was an example of strategy being very situational.  While, it seems that they could have strategically prepared for this type of scenario, the normal situation indicated that the optimal strategy for building homes is to keep out the sun and not necessarily the rain.  I am certain, for the many who were caught in these difficult circumstances, it could be argued that they applied the right strategies for the environment and any other actions would have been over strategizing, even extravagant.

It is difficult to find the optimal strategic zone where you don’t get caught in wasteful over-strategizing or risky under-strategizing.  What I have learned is that you have to apply your best information and knowledge to each situation and commit to the strategy that seems to have the right balance.  And if conditions change, well you just respond accordingly and know you did your best.

Ask The Acuman:™  What Are Assets?

Question:

I’ve read a few popular books lately about personal wealth.  Many of these books take the position that if it takes money “out of your pocket,” it is a liability not an asset.  Financial news shows often contradict this.  Can you clarify what an asset is or is not?  Thanks,  Jim

Answer:  Today’s answer is offered by David Buckner

Thanks Jim.  This is a great question and is really about understanding the acumen used in the corporate world.  I’ve heard your question before.  If you look at the way Wall Street or the financial sector defines assets, it is a little different.  Assets in short are property and items of value owned by a person or business.  There are a couple of primary classifications of assets.  These are current assets, long term assets, prepaid and deferred assets, and intangible assets.  Let me discuss two common assets in more detail.

Current Assets are cash and other liquid instruments, including accounts receivable that can be converted to cash within one year at maximum.

Long-term Assets are plants, equipment, real estate and other capital assets, and net of depreciation.

Quick tip:  A way to remember this is that Assets = What We Have

Thanks for the question!

Whenever I watch a business show on television, I am amazed at the number of times the word “expectation” is used to describe the performance of a company’s perceived value and stock price.  It seems that investor “expectations” often drive stock prices in the market.  When a company exceeds expectations, the stock price skyrockets and when a company does not meet or is below investor expectations, then prices plummet reflecting the dissatisfaction of investors in the performance of a company.

This same drama plays out on a much smaller scale with leaders and their individual team members.  Expectations play a big part of an effective relationship.  The only problem is that all too frequently expectations in the mind of the leader versus expectations in the mind of the follower are unclear, confusing, and ambiguous.  Yet, everyone wants to know what is expected of them.  We want to be clear about our obligations and duties.  We want to be able to anticipate the outcomes and requirements necessary to be a good performer and add value to an organization.

Expectations bind us together; they are the fabric that forms a relationship.  Expectations play a key role in building trust and confidence as we anticipate the probability of someone executing necessary duties.  When trust is high, we value and leverage our relationships more.  When expectations are not achieved our trust bank account is depleted.

Expectations are a key driver in the motivation and engagement levels of people.  When people understand expectations and buy in to them, they work harder to fulfill those expectations just like a company does in the financial market.  People want to know what is expected of them so they are then able to make decisions about the intensity and discretionary performance they are willing to give towards a task or job.  When coaches create a two-way agreement with their team members about expectations, they set the stage for the extraordinary performance necessary in a highly competitive world

CMOE is an advocate of a simple process that we call “the alignment meeting” as a tool to define and clarify expectations.  The alignment meeting or discussion should occur periodically with any team to maintain a clear picture of everyone’s expectations.  These alignment meetings only take one or two hours with a typical team.  They should occur more often for teams that are in a state of change or are in conflict, and less often for stable and harmonious teams.  Every time CMOE associates have facilitated an alignment meeting, the topic of feedback coaching and mentoring always surfaces.  People have a thirst to know how they are doing, where they stand, and where they are going.  They don’t want to be a non-performing asset in the enterprises portfolio of resources.  Most people want to be productive contributors, but in order to do that, they need information, feedback, and guidance from a coach.  This dynamic creates a “perfect storm” for the leader.  If the leader is able to capitalize on the need people have for feedback on their performance, and solidify an “expectation’s agreement,” the leader will then be in a position where people seek out and expect coaching and feedback.  This creates a legitimate reason to coach people on key factors that will drive performance for the team and the individual.  Coaching then becomes one of the central expectations of the team’s culture.  When a leader needs to courageously engage anyone on the team about an important topic or situation, they have an expectation platform or a “license” to operate from.  The leader has an understanding that it is their duty and obligation to share information, direction, and feedback.  It becomes the normal thing to do; no one feels singled out or targeted.  In turn, when feedback is lacking, people on the team are more likely to ask for it and hold the leader more accountable to perform coaching tasks.

The license to coach makes it easier to give and receive coaching.  It becomes a natural process.  Everyone buys into it because everyone understands that to run a business, you need to be able to talk to people about their performance.  When leaders create a license to coach by bringing sound skills to the process, people will excel and even exceed your wildest expectations.

Personal Example
A couple of weeks ago I taught a workshop at a very large hotel and conference center.  The room the workshop was held in was located as far away from the lobby as possible.  Upon my arrival, it was difficult to find the meeting room the first time.  I had to stop and ask two employees for directions.  However, after the first day, I became used to the route.  Then I hit a roadblock as I walked to the meeting room the second day.  The hotel employees had blocked part of my route so they could fix an electrical issue.  I was asked to take a different route to my meeting room.  The new route was twice as complicated and I encountered several wrong routes before I finally found my meeting room.

Goals, Results, and Leadership

This experience reminded me of a person trying to achieve a goal, but needing some leadership and direction to navigate through obstacles and complications in order to accomplish the goal. A well set goal is a stretch and challenge for the person. In addition to that, most people have to change the way they originally envisioned accomplishing the goal. An even bigger issue, in many organizations, begins before that. Most employees don’t know or don’t fully understand where they want to end up. It is common that individuals don’t know how to create bottom line results or how to play the competitive game of work. In reference to my personal example, managers and leaders can often become the roadblock to goals for two reasons.

First, they fail to help their employees know how to “win” at their job and set the right goals.
Second, they fail to communicate clear expectations or help employees achieve success.

For organizations to play the game of work more effectively, and have better bottom line results, leaders must coach and develop team members to establish stretch goals, then give regular feedback, and finally correct and guide when success is not attained and celebrated when it is.

Being a better leader means helping others get what they need to be the best employee they can be. As leaders, provide resources, share your experiences, and coach for performance improvement whenever you can. Daily is a best practice. Dust off your Leader Development material and help people establish goals and then be sure you are not like the conference center maintenance crew who blocks the entire hallway making the journey to goals harder than they need to be. Creating a game of work mentality in your teams and businesses will help people achieve world class results.

Goals
Research on goal setting indicates that teams who set goals can obtain 20 – 25% improved work performance.  With some direction, coaching and accountability measures, you and those you lead will reach unbelievable heights.  The next time you have the opportunity to lead others in setting goals, use the SMART Goal principle (Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic, and Time Bound) to ensure the goal is worded in a way to maximize power and effectiveness.

Results
Personal accountability to results will make a significant difference in the organization’s performance. But how does a leader instill accountability or keep score?  Metrics and measurements is the answer.  These tracking tools are a vital part of a results focused culture. Leaders must encourage their reports to ask themselves “What are the two most important results for which I am paid?” Instill that if they produce those results, they and the business win, but if not, they and the business lose.  Metrics and measurements often require innovation and “thinking outside of the box.”  The main guideline is to create a tool that defines responsibility and establishes accountability.

Driving Bottom Line Results
Being a better leader means helping others be the best employee they can be.  In addition to goals and results, this applies to all realms of performance.  As a leader, it is vital to share your experiences, provide resources, and coach for performance improvement whenever you can.  Creating a “game of work” mentality in your teams and businesses will help people achieve world class results.

Once there was a boy who found there was a wonderful device, the telephone with a live person on the other line ready to help you. Her name was ‘Information Please’ and there seemed there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone’s number, the correct time and as the boy soon found was a means to gather intelligence.

The little boy took every advantage of Information please. ‘I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.’ Information please came to the rescue… ‘Can you open the icebox?’ she asked. He replied he could.  ’Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger,’ said the voice.

After that, he called ‘Information Please’ for everything. He asked for help with his geography, and she told him where Philadelphia was. She helped him with his math. She told him his pet chipmunk that he had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts. This little boy gathered information for any question he desired.

Where do we go to gather our intelligence? Thinking we are getting the most accurate information possible, we often use the World Wide Web as our personal Information Please. Unfortunately, the computer only answers what it has been told. The information we receive is at times not only misleading but inaccurate as well. So what do we do then?

To gather the correct information needed to make an educated and informed decision, a little strategic thinking may be involved. You might follow five ways to gather intelligence as taught by CMOE in its strategy programs:

• Do your homework and research your target thoroughly (get knowledge hungry)

• Investigate and understand the environment you are working in, moving into, or encountering

• Decode and anticipate future trends, recognize patterns, and “connect the dots” (cause and effect links)

• Seek out accurate and objective information about your capabilities and readiness level

• Establish signals, harbingers, and mechanisms to track progress and alert you to opportunities and dangers

Sometimes it takes more than just clicking a key on the computer or picking up the phone to gather information. Regardless of whether we use ‘Information Please’ or the Internet to gather our intelligence to make a decision, we must make sure the information is accurate.

The Idea
A client of CMOE, who has approximately 1,300 employees, recently requested a proposal for an in-house leadership development center.  While we were excited about the opportunity, this company didn’t have the budget to begin running the development center for 18 months.  Our contact made it explicitly clear that the company was going to cut some immediate costs for about 12 months to allocate funds for the leadership development center.  Despite the delays in getting started, the CMOE team was eager to create a proposal for them to consider for the future.

The Industry
The company’s cost cutting and budget restrictions stemmed from the 2008-2009 economic recession.  Specifically, the company provides products to the residential and commercial building industry.  Next to the automobile industry, I can’t think of a more affected sector as a result of the economic downturn of 2008-2009.  While their mind set was “we can’t afford it right now” it was clear they understood that leadership was critical to their success in the future.

The Proposal
While a good portion of our proposal called for many standard leadership topics, we also proposed a training program to develop leaders in business acumen concepts such as finance, accounting, and business strategy.  By helping these leaders understand the language of business: balance sheet, income statements, profitability ratios, and contribution margins, among other topics, they would better understand how the decision they make daily translate to the bottom line.  Click here to see a detailed description of this program.

The Reaction
CMOE’s proposal was given to the CEO of the company for his review and tentative approval.  Much to our surprise, the CEO immediately approved the proposal and requested it begin within the next six months, rather than 18.  After evaluating the proposal, the CEO expressed his strong interest in the business acumen program.  He expressive said, “This is exactly what we need and I wouldn’t change any of the content.  I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to me when I’m talking about our core business indicators in meetings.  It is obvious that very few people understand what I am talking about.  I’m so tired of explaining these fundamental concepts over and over again.  Get this program going as fast as you can.”

The Importance
It is clear the CEO of this company understood the importance of business acumen skills in developing leadership bench strength. However, despite the prestige the Corporate world places in bachelor and master degrees in Business Management, many key players in organizations lack this critical knowledge.

What would your CEO or CFO say about these important skills?  Do they experience similar frustrations as the CEO described above?  Do your people have a set of business acumen skills?  Give your people this quiz and find out.

Problem solving and decision making is the heart and soul of most jobs and careers. Problems come in all sizes; major problems and daily nuisance problems. If solutions can be found and implemented with greater accuracy, it can prevent negative impact on the organization. Leaders and individual contributors that are good at solving problems are destined to prosper.

Many people fail to solve problems effectively because they don’t carefully analyze what went wrong, nor fully understand where future improvements can take place. If you are a fan of the NBC sitcom, Saturday Night Live, then you may have seen the recent skits about how “Oscar Roger’s” the Weekend Update’s Financial Expert strongly feels someone needs to quickly “fix” the current economic crisis.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/update-thursday-part-2/742141
(start when there is 2 minutes and 16 seconds left).

When problems receive a quick Band-Aid® and aren’t given the attention justified to create and implement the right solution, it is likely because the person solving the problem said “fire, aim, ready” rather than “ready, aim, fire.” Like in the skit, many people hurry to fix the problem before doing their homework. Below are a few helpful tips from CMOE’s Problem Solving Workshop and Decision Making for solving problems more effectively in your organization.

• Define the pattern and profile of the problem so you can track down the cause. The pattern allows you to compare what is actually happening with what should be happening or what the plan calls for.

• Break the problem down into component parts. The better you understand the problem, the more accurately you will be able to solve it. A well-defined problem is half solved. Ask the journalist questions: “What is happening that indicates a problem? Who is involved in the situation? When is it occurring (process cycle, timing)? Where is it occurring (location, area)? How much is occurring (magnitude, trends)?

• Define what should be happening by defining what is not happening. Draw comparisons. What is unique and different with the problem areas? What separates the problem from areas that are not affected? Describe the standard or plan against which you’ll compare the data. If you don’t have a comparison plan, describe your preferences, what would you prefer to see?

• Gather the most specific detailed data available. Don’t accept opinions or conjecture. Carefully note assumptions when in doubt.

For more information about CMOE’s Problem Solving Workshop and Decision Making Workshop, visit http://www.cmoe.com/problem_solving_decision_making.htm

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

-Andrew Carnegie

Each of us is a member of a team – be it through family, sports, work, community, church, etc.  Within each of these teams, there is bound to be differences in opinions.  In fact, many times those differences can actually elevate the team to the next level of performance.  Disagreement and diversity are natural, and they can be quite productive.  How does one deal with these differences and resolve these issues?  The answers to these questions are vital to making the team work and function as a unit.

How does one go about creating a win-win solution, when a team is faced with various challenges?  How do team members go about defeating the challenge rather than defeating each other?  How do team members develop trust so that all members in the team can win?

1.  Recognize and acknowledge differences – this is, at times, difficult but extremely helpful to the team.  Issues, challenges, or conflicts must be recognized and discussed.  This recognition helps the team come together to find a mutually agreed upon solution or goal that will help each team member find greater commitment in working together.

2.  Gain common ground – how can you put the conflict in perspective with team goals?  Is everyone on the team committed to the team goals?  Are there issues that could prevent the goals from being attained?  If so, these matters need to be brought forward.

3.  Understand different opinions – step in another’s shoes to gain their insight.  This step is intended to gain insight, not necessarily to gain agreement.

4.  Work to overcome the issue – differences in opinion are acceptable and even welcome!  Remember, attack the issues and not the person.  As a team, what is the best solution that can help the team achieve its goals?  One should not have to compromise his or her values in reaching a solution.

5.  Develop a plan of action – outline what each member of the team will do, and be extremely specific.  This document will also serve as an accountability document.

6.  Follow up – put the plan into action, follow up, and revise as needed in order to optimize performance.

“No member of a crew is praised for the rugged individuality of his rowing.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Together we always achieve more.

All my life exercise and sports have been a huge part of who I am. As I got older and entered into the “real” world of work, family, and other responsibilities, I soon found myself in a position I had previously not known. I was 30 pounds overweight. It got me before I even noticed it was coming.

One day I heard an expert talking about exercise, the benefits of physical activity and the regret of doing nothing at all. He brought up the point that in many decisions we make in life, we can either discipline ourselves to do what we know we need to, or regret later doing nothing. One thing I know, “discipline weighs ounces”, “regret weight pounds”! I had to make a change.

I immediately set some goals for myself, and after three months I had lost 20 pounds. I was feeling great. Better yet, it was noticeable to others. One friend asked, “What are you doing? You have lost a lot of weight and are looking good. What diet are you on?” My reply was, “I am on the GOAL diet.” He looked at me confused and so I explained to him that I set goals for myself and then worked to achieve my goals.

By the look on his face, I think he was expecting a different answer. He went on to tell me that he had a goal of losing 25 pounds in 6 months, but he’s had that goal for 2 years. His biggest frustration was, “Why Can’t I Achieve My Goals?” I thought about the question for a while and here are three things you should ask yourself if you are struggling to achieve goals.

1. Are your goals written down and reviewed daily? This is vital to your success in achieving goals. The old saying is, “Goals not written are just wishes.” Reviewing your goals on a daily basis will keep you focused and keep the Goal in mind every day.
2. Is your Main Goal divided into “Mini-Goals”? My friend’s goal was to lose 25 pounds in 6 months. That was it. He didn’t have monthly, weekly, daily goals. Now that doesn’t mean divide the 25 pounds by 6 months to get your monthly goal and then divide that by 4 for your weekly goal. That would be the same goal. You need goals for specific actions that will help you achieve your Main Goal. In this example, a good weekly goal would be, to exercise 4 times this week. A good daily goal would be, to not have any sweets today. All these “Mini-Goals” keep you on track in reaching your Main Goal.
3. Did you share your goal with someone else? There is something to be said about accountability. If we are only accountable to ourselves, it is too easy to justify a sub-par effort. Just knowing that someone is going to ask how we are doing, gives us more motivation to succeed.

Setting goals are important in all aspects of our lives. Used correctly, goals help to keep us on track and motivated to work hard and achieve what is most important in our lives. Used incorrectly, goals can hinder both our short-term and long-term success. As in the example with my friend, he had the goal for 2 years. Because he was not able to achieve that goal, he felt inadequate and unable to ever make the change. Therefore, he stopped trying. It is important to set our goals to be realistic and achievable (with some good effort). Then ask ourselves those 3 questions to make sure we are on the path to successful goal setting. If you Prefer Rules: 1. Write it down 2. Divide into Mini Goals 3. Create accountability.