Difficult Meeting

Do you have to have a meeting with someone regarding a topic that you’re uncomfortable about? Are you unsure what you’re going to say? Are you concerned about how they may react? Are you simply nervous because you don’t like confrontation? You’re not alone. Most leaders have had these concerns because it’s natural to have them. The question is is there anything we can do about it?

Thankfully the answer is yes. For starters, we can stop putting pressure on ourselves that everything has to be perfect. That’s just not possible. So the faster you acknowledge this, the easier it will become. Next, address it as promptly as possible. The longer you let the meeting linger, the more time you have to think about it and scare yourself. Some leaders scare themselves to the point that they cancel the meeting and never address the issue.

So once you commit to having the meeting no matter what, the next step is to shift your objective for the meeting. Majority of leaders feel the pressure because they have settled on the exact objective of the meeting or better yet, the required outcome. So what ends up happening is that no matter what the discussion is, their only focus is to get to the predetermined outcome. This causes leaders to miss critical points of the meeting because anytime a topic is introduced they become nervous because the meeting is not going where they want it to. Don’t get me wrong, every meeting should have an objective, but getting to that objective should NOT be the focus of the meeting.

The focus of the meeting should be to meet, have a discussion, and connect about whatever the topic may be—simple as that. We need to be free to allow the other side to share their thoughts and ideas and allow the discussion to take shape. This does not mean talk about sports when you need to discuss performance, but it does mean that we need to be comfortable hearing their perspective, whatever it may be regarding the topic at hand. This makes some people uncomfortable because they’re not sure if they will be able to respond to what is brought up. So what, what if you can’t? I’m confident that you will not find in any job description a statement that reads: “must be able to respond quickly and accurately to every question or comment made.”

We must be comfortable to say “that is a great point. I didn’t consider that previously. I’m glad you mentioned it; it gives me a new perspective on the situation. Do you mind elaborating further?” Having this ability is what makes managers leaders versus having an answer for every comment made.

Lastly, a lot of leaders struggle with how they will start the meeting (because of the pressure they have placed on themselves). What has worked well for me is to be open and honest about my feelings, worries, emotions, shortfalls, etc. As a leader we do not have to be all mighty in our feelings and concerns. I’ll start with something like this: “Thank you for meeting with me. I have to be honest; this is a very difficult meeting for me to have. There is a topic that we need to discuss that is not easy to talk about. It has to do with [insert topic] and I would like to start by trying to understand your position or thoughts regarding this topic.”

I have found that by opening up and showing my vulnerability it diffuses the tension of the meeting. Then by allowing them to share their perspective first it removes the pressure off of me to say “all the right things” at the beginning of the meeting. And once the discussion begins, the objective is to have a discussion and connect. You’ll be amazed at the outcomes if you focus your objective on having a discussion and connecting versus any other predetermined outcome you may be shooting for!

Leader's #1 Priority

I recently had the privilege of discussing what a leader’s number one priority is. The leader I was speaking with shared that ultimately his job is to make his boss look good or make his job easier. His second priority was to support his colleagues within the organization and that his third priority was to support his team and give them what they need.

I agree that all of these are essential to successful leadership. It is imperative that your focus be on making sure that you are an asset to your boss not a hindrance. Every leader appreciates the subordinate that makes his job easier by providing reports ahead of schedule, bringing solutions to challenges, driving constant process improvements without having to be asked, etc. All of these items make your bosses job easier which he or she appreciates and ultimately you look good in their eyes.

It is also important to work with your colleagues versus against them at every turn. Not being a team player impacts you, your colleagues, your boss, and the organization as a whole. Sooner or later, someone along this chain will have to address your unwillingness to be supportive, putting them and you in an uncomfortable situation. So making sure to help and work well with your teammates definitely should be something a leader focuses on.

With regards to supporting your team, I submit that this is your number one priority! The two points above are critical to achieve and I believe you can only achieve them if you have a solid team. You can only attain a solid team if they feel cared for. A team feels cared for when their boss makes them the number one priority. You make your team the number one priority by giving them most of your precious time. You make your team a priority by committing to develop them and hold them accountable to achieving their absolute best. You make your team a priority by making sure they understand that you can’t make your boss look good or be a team player with your colleagues without them!

If your team falls to number three or lower on your priority list, it will not be long before morale begins to decrease, performance and productivity begins to flat line or worse, begins to decline, conflicts begin to surface, and turnover starts to increase. And before you know it, you’re left by yourself to try and make your boss and colleagues look good, and I assure you, doing it alone is not easy. Make your team your number one priority!

The Good and the Bad

There are a lot of exciting aspects of being a leader. There are a number of external components that many leaders are attracted to such as recognition, increased pay, and responsibility. There are also the internal aspects that are attractive such as being fulfilled by the challenges that leadership presents, continued development of your skills and abilities, and achieving the goals you have set out to achieve. But being a leader is not exclusive of the difficult situations that you will encounter.

I often meet with individuals who have oversight over others that are discouraged by some of the things they have to work through in their roles. These challenges include counseling’s of employees, terminations, being accused of poor leadership, and poor performance to name a few. I fully agree that these are difficult and as a result bring on many types of emotions that you experience as you advance through these types of situations. They are not easy and we all prefer to not have to experience them. However, if you didn’t experience them, you probably wouldn’t be in a leadership position.

So the faster we are able to come to an understanding that these types of situations will take place, the faster we can begin to change our mind set to start embracing them, versus shying away from them. Each time you were faced with a challenge, whatever it might have been, and you hesitated to address it head on, more than likely you would agree that it didn’t improve over time. As time goes on because of your hesitation the negative impact on the individual, yourself, your team, and ultimately your department or organization will increase. And even more importantly, you still end up having to deal with it. So why not commit to addressing the bad that comes with leadership as quickly as possible?

Embrace the challenges of being a leader. Embrace the emotions that come with having challenging meetings. Take time to reflect on how you feel and why. Appreciate the fact that your emotions are evidence that you care, that you’re a leader and that you’re in a position of value. Begin to think positively about the obstacles in your way. Develop and practice new ways of addressing conflicts. Study great leaders and learn how they handle the not so exciting aspects of their roles. Challenge yourself that the moment there is a sign of conflict in any area, you will address it immediately.

You will learn that the faster you address conflict the easier it is, the issue at hand has not had time to mature and evolve and as a result it is easier to deal with. You will learn that the people working with you and for you will become accustomed to your quick response which automatically alleviates majority of the uneasiness that comes with addressing anything negative. You are a leader, and that means leading when things are good and leading when things are bad, because that’s what leaders do!

Who Deserves It?

Is it you? Do you deserve the credit for leading your team? Are you the one to thank for the success your department or organization has achieved? Of course! It is you who provided the vision, policy, and made all the decisions that helped you achieve all of your goals! So naturally you deserve the credit for being an amazing leader. Where would your team be without your direction and wisdom?

Your team would more than likely be a lot more successful without you, than with you at the helm. If your outlook on your departments or organization is like the one described above, you operate from Position Leadership versus Servant Leadership. And if that is the case, I assure you your team can fair a lot better if you were not in their way. Position leaders have a way of directing all great things back to them—including the work their team has accomplished. Servant leaders are always looking for ways to help their teams be successful and ultimately give them the credit for their success.

I wrote about the difference between Position Leaders and Servant Leaders some time back and defined each role. The bottom line was and is—you can’t do anything without your team. If for one minute you believe your success is because of your ability, test your ability without anyone around you. See how productive your department or organization is if you are the only one left to get the work done. The reality is that the more people you lead, the less you impact the bottom line.

It is your team that processes requests, meets all customer demand and provides outstanding service. It is your team that starts early and leaves late to ensure every task is accomplished. It is your team that executes every directive or decision you make—good or bad. Never fall into the trap that you are more than what you actually are, and as a result deserve the credit for your team’s efforts. YOU are only as good as YOUR TEAM…they deserve all of the credit, not you!

If you're interested in developing in this area, John Maxwell wrote a great book titled The 5 Levels of Leadership, the first level being Position. I'm sure I don't have to mention that the goal is to get to level 5 and not stay at level 1. You will notice as you read through the book that the closer you get to level 5, your focus will shift from you to those around you, the people who deserve it.

What Do You Know?

You are a leader. You work hard to bring your team together. You are consistently working to improve morale and ultimately productivity. So how much do you know about your leadership team? Can you tell me what your top leaders love? Where they grew up? How many siblings? What their parents did? Biggest challenges they had growing up? What their dreams are? What brings them true passion?

In most cases the answer is no…me included. I recently learned how important this is to building a team that has sincere trust in each other—a critical component to an effective team. I will be the first to tell you that I thought I knew my team and that overall we were solid and worked well together. On the surface, this is very true. But as I looked deeper and evaluated our team, I recognized that even though we were a solid team, we were leaving a lot of potential on the table.

In any close relationship that you have, you probably have spent a lot of time with that person. During that time you spent majority of the time if not all of it talking about each other. Discussing each other’s experiences, learning about hurts and loves. And overtime, the more you learned, the closer you became. You got to a point where being honest happened naturally. You felt secure to share your thoughts and feelings, even though they may not have been what the other person wanted to hear. And even though these conversations may have been a little uncomfortable, you both trusted that it came from a perspective of love and best interest. As a result you grew together and became stronger and better individuals. And as a result you have someone you know you can count on no matter what the circumstance.

Developing a team that operates on trust is no different. It can only happen if you take the time to genuinely learn about each other. Not about what they think of today’s weather or where they ate for dinner last night. But to learn intimate things about each other that exposes ourselves to who we truly are on the inside. These are the things that shape us. These are things that cause us to react in certain ways. These are the things that drive our perceptions and assumptions about others. These are the things that drive our decisions at work.

As leaders, we must know who our teams are. Not on the surface, but on the inside. You have to build an environment of sincere trust. Then and only then will you have a team that meets its greatest potential.

Multi-tasking

Are you a successful multi-tasker? More than likely the response is yes. Because in today’s world the perception is that you have to be, it seems that if you’re not good at multi-tasking then you’re not eligible for hire. Would it surprise you that my response to you if you answered yes to my first question would be—then you’re not good at managing your time?

As a leader you wear many hats, have lots of responsibility, and are pulled in many directions. That can be said for just about anyone in the work place so this applies to everyone. So since we operate in an environment that demands so much of us, we have to be very focused on managing our time wisely. The first step to being successful at managing your time is to stop multi-tasking!!

The diagram below highlights how multi-tasking eats up your time and in many cases adds 100% to the actual time it would take to complete a task. Moving away from multi-tasking does not mean you stop wearing many hats, reduce your responsibility, or stop responding to requests. But what it does mean is that when you organize your time to match your capacity with your demand for completing tasks, you do so with the understanding that you need to complete one task before you move onto the next one. Notice how the time adds up in the following diagram.

What this diagram is showing is how quickly time adds up when you “multi-task.” In the top section of the diagram titled Multi-tasking you will note that the individual started on task 1 which takes 10 minutes to complete. However, half way through he started working on task 2, and half way through that task he started on task 3. And after working on task 3 for half the time, the individual returned to task 1 and 5 minutes later completed the task. The time spent working on task 1 only took 10 minutes since that’s what the time it required. However, task 1 sat idle while working on task 2 and task 3 for 5 minutes each totaling 10 minutes of work on a task outside of task 1. Then if we add the 10 actual minutes to complete task 1 it totals 20 minutes. This is 100% increase over the actual time required to complete task 1. And as you can see, this is carried over to all additional tasks that we multi-task on. In the example above we worked on 3 tasks and it totaled 60 minutes to complete.

Under the focused-tasking section if we simply complete each task before moving on to the next one, we can complete each task in the actual time required—10 minutes or 30 minutes for all three. I understand this is a very simplistic example, but you can’t argue with the logic. In the real world you would have to add the time it takes for you to find the previous task you were working on. It would require time for you to re-focus on that particular task by having to re-read or think through where you left off. Any time you stop focusing on a subject and have to refocus you use valuable time—in addition to the time lost not working on the task.

For those that are thinking well you don’t know my environment, it’s not that simple, etc. etc. I do understand your environment and I’m not claiming that you have to follow this 100% of the time. Let’s face it, if your boss walks in and has an urgent need for you and you respond “no can do…I’m focused-tasking,” you just may not have any tasks to worry about. What I am saying is that in the course of the day where you have the privilege of determining what you will be working on and when…focus on one task at a time. You will become considerably more efficient and even more importantly—effective! And who doesn’t want to be an effective leader?

If you're interested in learning more about this topic, project and time management, I suggest you read any book by Eliyahu Goldratt, a pioneer in this area. However, I first learned of this concept in Dr. Goldratt's book titled Critical Chain.

Organized?

Are you organized? What does organized look like and why is it important? Some might say that what looks like a mess to most people is organized to them. Some say that the piles of paper stacked on top of their desk is how they know where everything is. Have you ever been in the office with one of these “organized” people and asked them for a document? For somebody who claims to be organized, it’s pretty entertaining to watch them shuffle around, comment under their breath, realize they have no clue where the document is and ask if they can get it to you later. It turns out that their definition of organization is slightly different than mine and Merriam-Webster’s for that matter.

One of Merriam-Webster’s definitions of organized is “having things arranged in a neat and effective way.” The key word in this definition is effective. By not being able to locate items, forgetting to complete tasks, missing deadlines, not being prepared for meetings minimizes your effectiveness. Merriam-Webster’s definition of effective is “producing a result that is wanted: having an intended effect.” As a leader, do you not want to achieve results that are wanted?

So how do we get organized? When it comes to your office, get rid of the items you don’t need. Go through your files and file them. Identify categories and place like items into these categories. Get rid of the clutter on your desk. Take the time each day to place documents in the files you have created. Taking this time will save you a lot of time when you need something. It is always impressive when someone asks you for something and you know right where it is. It also reduces your anxiety when you need something in a hurry.

When it comes to your meeting notes identify one notepad. I see so many leaders in multiple meetings and each time they have a different pad. Then when they need to refer to their meeting notes they can’t remember which pad they used. Use one method for taking notes so you never have to wonder where your notes may be.

It is also very important to have one method for keeping track of tasks/action items/to do’s; whatever you want to call them. I transfer all of my action items from my meeting notepad into my Outlook Tasks. If anyone asks me for an action item while I’m out and about, I enter it directly into my Outlook Tasks via my smart phone. If for some odd reason I had to make a note of an action item elsewhere I make sure to enter into my task list as soon as I can. I then set up my Outlook to open to my Day Preview page and what do you know—there are all my tasks. I take it one step further and identify each task as high, normal, or low priority and ask the system to automatically sort them when I open my Outlook. You can even set due dates and reminders so the system prompts you when something is coming up or is due. This method has been very beneficial to me so I strongly urge you to find a system that works for you and use it!

All of these steps aid you in being effective as a leader. It helps you meet your commitments, reduces your anxiety, increases your efficiency in managing your action items, and ultimately helps you achieve wanted results.

Some final questions for a leader…do you come to work with sloppy clothes on—half tucked, wrinkled, not matching? Do you brush your teeth and hair before coming to work? Hopefully the answers are no and yes to these questions respectively. And the reason is because you want to create a professional perception of yourself. So why would you not do the same with regards to how you manage yourself?

Performance Reviews

Every organization has them, every department completes them, and every leader reviews them with their employees. So that probably means you have a highly driven, motivated, and performing organization or department? No, why not?

Performance reviews for some reason or another have become that one more task you have to do before the year is out. They usually are left to the last minute, quickly filled out based on the most recent negative memory, painfully shared with the employee who questions most of it, you do the best to defend your analysis, they walk out disappointed, and you’re relived it’s over! Does this sound familiar? The good news is you’re not alone. This is very typical in majority of organizations. And knowing that it is very typical, you should be excited because this is an opportunity to set your organization apart from your competitors.

If you simply change your perception of performance reviews and incorporate them into your daily operations, your team will know exactly where they stand as there will be no surprises, you won’t have to scramble at the end of the year trying to remember what your employees performance really was, and you can tie your company objectives directly to your employees performance.

All you have to do is determine a way to communicate quickly, candidly, and consistently with your team regarding their performance. The magic formula is not how you do it, but that you do it. I have learned it is much easier to discuss difficult situations when they are current and fresh in everyone’s mind versus letting them pile up until the end of the year and backing up the dump truck and unloading on your team. The other aspect of communicating current events is that the chances you track and communicate positive aspects increases. The performance review is (or at least once was) designed to develop and increase performance driving your organization to higher levels of success—meaning you also identify what they are doing great!

My approach is very simple. During the end of the year performance review I along with my team member identify 4-6 goals to focus on for the upcoming year. These goals are of course tied into improving their performance and their department’s performance. They should one way or another drive your departments or organizations objectives. Then for all my direct reports, I conduct a 30-Day review. This may seem daunting to some of you and you may feel there’s no way you have time for this. I would venture to say you can’t afford not to take the time. Don’t make these harder than they are. Simply have a pad somewhere in your desk or now days on your smart phone and when you observe something positive or needing development jot it down. If you are disciplined about doing this, completing the actual 30-Day review will be a breeze since you will already have your content. I quickly transfer my notes into three categories: Strengths, Improvements Needed, and Significant Observations. Based on that month’s performance I issue a performance rating which matches the annual performance scoring. Total time for each 30-Day is approximately 10 minutes to fill out, and another 10 minutes to issue for a total time of 20 minutes each month. Well worth it!

Half way through the year, I pull out the actual goals for the year and go over them to see how the team members are tracking on accomplishing them. Your goal should never be to catch your team not meeting their goals at the end of the year. Your goal should always be to help them achieve them—otherwise where is the development and improved performance? As the end of the year approaches, my annual performance reviews are pretty much done. I simply pull out the 12 30-Day reviews along with the mid-year goal review and look over their progress for the year, average out their monthly scores and my annual review is done. There are no surprises, nothing I have to defend as it already has been discussed, and we have a true account of their annual performance—not just the performance of 2-3 months which is typically what a leader will be able to remember.

Invest the time in conducting your annual performance reviews each month! Your organization will benefit from the on-going development and as a result it will set you apart from your competitors. If you commit to on-going reviews your team will be developing and improving or you will have the documentation to help them move on. In either case, you, your team members, and organization benefit.

Parting Ways

It is inevitable. It is usually not comfortable. There is always more than what is seen on the surface. So as a leader, how do you manage an employee parting ways? Well, it depends on the exact circumstances which are numerous. But one thing must remain consistent no matter what the circumstance or how hard it may be—your behavior.

Parting ways is never easy. It may be positive, it may be necessary, it may be a loss and it may impact you greatly. Your emotions will be tried and tested. But you are a leader. That means you have taken on a responsibility that is not for everyone. It means you agree to lead your team with consistency in your decisions as well as your emotions. You need to lead by example and show your team that no matter what the circumstances, you will be calm, calculated, and deliberate in your decisions. Whether going through a crisis or a parting of ways, the expectations for a leader remain the same.

It is critical that even if an employee is parting ways and leaving a sour wake in their path you stay the course. You will have many opportunities to respond to comments, questions, or unjustified allegations directed your way, but you can’t. You keep confidential business confidential. You don’t lead interested parties on with underlying suggestions. You simply respond that the departure is unfortunate, because no matter what the circumstance, it is. You never bad mouth anyone and you sincerely wish them the best.

As leaders, we will be presented with many opportunities to protect ourselves and our reputations by responding to folks seeking the scoop. But you have to overcome these temptations and trust that not responding is the best response. Your positive response or lack of will determine and protect your reputation much more than any justifying response you could offer. What you say is short term, how you behave is long term.

Servant or Position Leader?

There are two types of leadership categories. One is servant and the other is position. Which category do you fall into? Let’s take a moment and review the two and as you read on, determine which category relates to you.

Position leadership is inward. What this means is that this type of leader has placed their position above everything else and everything is directed towards their position. A position leader is fed by the fact that he has achieved a certain level or title in the organization. His number one priority in his daily activities is to maintain or elevate this position. It is self centered and needs to be regularly fed. It is fed by reminding everyone around them what position they are in. It is fed by recognition of how successful they are by pointing out their accomplishments—whether theirs or somebody else’s. This type of leader has to have control over decisions, information, or anything of value because if they have it—somebody else doesn’t.

Servant leadership on the other hand is outward—it places all importance on the people. What their title may be is not relevant. Whether they get the recognition for a project or great accomplishment is not important. Whether they get the credit for being a good leader and being rewarded with a promotion is not their objective. A servant leader doesn’t mind if their team members submit presentations, reports, or communicate above them in the organizational structure. They do not have to have the best office or perks to accomplish their job. This type of leader doesn’t need to control or filter information flow and they never hold on to information that is not confidential.

A servant leader has one focus—their people and their success. A servant leader has the super natural ability to place everyone around them above them. This type of leader has the amazing ability to be transparent with their team. It is someone who shares information freely, displays weaknesses, apologizes for mistakes, and asks for grace, guidance, and help. A servant leader consistently asks his team how they are doing and what they need to be successful; versus what he needs from them so he can be successful. A servant leader has the canny ability to understand that his entire success is based wholly on his team’s success. It is never about him, it is always about them.

Servant leadership is not easy. The world around us is consistently teaching us that what we have or who we are equates to success. We are consistently challenged by activity around us that makes us wonder why not us. In any organization there is always someone who is being recognized, rewarded, or promoted which is a reminder of what we don’t have. It will be hard to ignore these temptations, but if you maintain your focus on those around you will achieve true success. There is not one great leader in history that did it with their title alone. They did it because there were people who were willing to do anything for them; because they believed in their hearts that their leader would do anything for them. George Washington (General), Abraham Lincoln (President), Winston Churchill (Prime Minister), Jack Welch (CEO), John Wooden (Head Basketball Coach) and the list goes on. These great leaders had one thing in common; they understood that it was all about the people around them, if they served them…amazing things could happen—and they did!

Do You Care…How?

Most leaders will agree that to be successful in any industry you need employees that are motivated. High morale has shown to drive productivity, creativity, and ultimately the bottom line. So what do you do to ensure an engaged and motivated team?
You probably recognize your team with awards and bonuses. Maybe you offer meals. More than likely you seek their input on initiatives and policies. There are 101 ways to recognize and motivate your team. But there is only one that truly counts—you care for them!

Most professors teach and many books discuss ways to recognize and appreciate your staff. These initiatives focus on awards and material gifts. Don’t get me wrong, these are good and should be done, but without truly caring for each and every employee you will limit the benefits of those initiatives. If you think back about what made you feel great at your job as well as what bothered you, you may recognize that the root feeling was being cared for or the lack of. We all want to be cared for. We want to know deep in our hearts that we matter, that we offer value to our boss, team, and organization. So how do we ensure that our employees feel cared for?

I can assure you that it’s not by giving our employees material things. I recently had a friend tell me about his wife coming home with a coffee mug that was given to her by her organization. She made a comment as she showed it to my friend that, “now I’m really going to be motivated. Boy do I feel valued…” Material items are nice, but they don’t address internal needs whether we’re aware of them or not. Internal needs such as being looked in the eye when listened to, or not being distracted with emails, phone, or clock when speaking to an employee. Another example is body language that portrays engagement or simply stopping what you’re doing to make sure you acknowledge your employees when you see them. Another critical one is following through on things you said you will do versus dismissing them as if your conversation never happened. Caring for your team means sincerely investing in them with your time, focus, and heart.

If you naturally care for people, your actions will shine through. If you don’t, your actions will shine through. From the perspective of the employee…why else would you not communicate back with them when you said you would? Why else would you be reading your email when they’re talking to you? Why else would you not consider employee issues at home when discussing their performance? Because you don’t care, at least that’s what they will walk away with. This is the point you do a little soul searching—do I care about people or not? If not, may I suggest looking for a position where employees no longer report to you? This will help them and make your life better as well. You will no longer have to try and figure out why your team is not responding to you.

If you do sincerely care about your team members then make them a priority over everything else. You checking off tasks, meeting deadlines, responding to an email will not ensure your success or the success of your organization. Your people are the only ones that can make you, your department, or organization a success—so treat them as your number one priority!

Consistency

     We often hear how critical consistency is in the sports arena. Majority of coaches will choose a player that is consistent versus the player that may have a spike in performance or have the potential to do something good. Why is that? For starters, players who are prone to have a spike of good performance have an equal chance of having a spike of poor performance. So why does this matter in business and more specifically in leadership?
     Employees respect leaders who are fair. This does not mean leaders who always give their employees what they want or always agree with their ideas. But it definitely means that employees want a boss who will administer a decision or a policy the same way with each employee every time. Employees want their leaders to be consistent.
     When a leader asks an employee to do something that may be translated as policy but that employee does not see the policy administered to other employees—flags of inconsistency arise. When certain employees have the opportunity to take a longer lunch, arrive to work later, leave earlier, get exemptions to policies—fairness is questioned. When this begins to happen within a team, animosity begins to form, gossip begins to spread, negative feelings are fed, and ultimately, morale plummets.
     On the other hand, when a leader is consistent across the board—that leader achieves respect from his team. The employees know what to expect and there are never any surprises. This makes it easier for them to adapt to whatever polices may be created. The team understands that new policies and decisions are made with the interest to improve operations and not because of likes and dislikes for certain employees. There may always be disagreements, but there will never be unfairness. And with any team, a fair, consistent leader will always be respected. John Maxwell in his book titled The 5 Levels of Leadership states, “People follow others they respect, people who have credibility.” Unless you are consistent—you will struggle to be credible and you will lack influence, this will result in poor performance of your department, division, or organization.
     So whenever you are faced with administering a decision or a policy, always consider how you communicate the policy to ensure the utmost consistency. It is important to always understand the impact each and every decision will have not only on the employee you may be meeting with, but with all of your employees. Great leaders have the ability to view the big picture and understand potential impacts of every policy and/or decision they make.

Leading Up

     It is common to read about leading down as most articles and educational material focus on leading your team. I thought it may be a good idea to discuss the concept of leading up as this is equally important to the success of a leader.
     So what does leading up mean exactly? I assure you it does not mean tell your boss what to do! That is a fast way of leading yourself out of a job. Leading up means that you have the ability to impact your boss in the same way you impact your team. You can influence your team and their environment in a positive or negative way based on your actions—just like your boss. So in the same way that you focus on being a better leader to those who report to you, you need to commit the same level of energy to being a better leader to those that you report to.
     You can influence your boss in a positive way by making her job easier. Be proactive. Offer solutions to problems. Let your boss know of upcoming obstacles or challenges. Keep your boss informed so she is not caught off guard by her boss regarding a potential issue. Offer to take work off of her plate. Offer yourself as a sounding board and provide honest and candid feedback.
     The examples above are fairly easy to execute if you focus on leading up. However, leading up at times can become difficult. There will be times where you have to commit to helping your boss at the risk of frustrating her. When this risk exists be frank and communicate that you’re aware of how this may make her feel but that you’re doing it in her best interest. You have to have the confidence that your boss has you in the position you are in to help them meet the overall objective of the department, division, or company. In essence, it is your job to help your boss—especially in difficult times.
     This may consist of having strong discussion about the direction of your department, the resources you need, executing or not executing discipline of your team members, just to name a few. These types of conversations are never easy and require you to work with your boss to identify the best option. Your boss may not see what you see as easily as she is more removed from the day to day operations. Practical items to remember when having these types of strategy sessions are:

• Remain calm
• Clearly state your position
• Demonstrate why you have the position you do
• Articulate the impact of your and your boss’ decisions
• Offer different ways of highlighting your position to help facilitate understanding
• Ask questions so you can better understand your boss’ position
• Treat your boss with respect at all times and understand that she is in authority
• Don’t give up; your boss is counting on you to find the best possible solution!

     Pat Williams in his book “The Leadership Wisdom of Solomon” states, “To fulfill your leadership potential, you must demonstrate the qualities that leaders value: sincerity, integrity, a strong work ethic, respect for authority, gratitude, and gracious communication.” If you seek and practice these values, you will be very successful at leading up and ultimately providing value to your organization—and your boss!

To Empower or Not To Empower?

     That is the question. As leaders we have been given authority and we have authority to give. So how do we do that? What is authority? When do we give authority? And how does that relate to empowering someone?
     I have recently found myself in a position where I needed to self evaluate. You see, I have been under the impression that I empower everyone around me? I know in my heart that I want those who report to me to have the freedom to manage and more importantly lead their departments. I know in my heart that I want them to grow as leaders and have everything they need to be successful. Question is, does what is in my heart translate to what is received by my direct reports? Not always…
     I had the value of receiving great feedback from a colleague that helped me see that my actions may have been received differently than I intended them to. My actions (in my mind) where intended to help my direct reports by providing ideas, processes, and offering my opinions during their meetings. Seems innocent enough doesn’t it? But what if by these good intentioned actions I was negatively impacting my team?
     Let’s look at the definition of empower. Merriam-Webster’s definition is: 1.To give official authority or legal power, or, 2. Enable. What I realized is that when I make suggestions and recommendations as to how something should be done I have not fully given the “official authority” over that task or objective. In actuality what I am doing is providing authority only over the execution of that task or objective. There may be times where this level of structure is needed; inexperienced leaders or underperforming leaders, but not when you have a quality team that you truly want to empower.
     Here are the principles to focus on. First, set the expectation and the vision—not the how! Second, give your team the freedom to explore ways of meeting those expectations themselves. The benefits of this freedom are many such as growth of the leader, identifying better ways of doing something that you may not be aware of, credibility in the eyes of their direct reports, increased job satisfaction of the empowered leader, etc. Third, realize that their increased authority does not minimize your authority. Fourth, be there to support your team when they ask for help.
     As leaders we must have the ability to look at ourselves and have the courage to receive feedback that has the power to make us better leaders. I learned that what I thought I was doing; I can do a whole lot better. And the only way to know for sure if our intentions are reality—is to ask.

Operational Audit: Productivity

     Are you meeting your productivity standards? If you cannot answer this question—please read on. If you were able to answer this question here is a follow up? Is that good or bad and why? Here are the two points of this article: You have to have a productivity standard that you measure your team against—not just what they produce but also with how many team members (resources). You also need to know if these standards are the right ones. It is extremely important that as a leader you know exactly what your team is doing. Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan state in their book Execution that the first of seven essential behaviors a successful leader must have is to “…know your people and your business.” Without knowing what the productivity of your team is, you cannot know your business.
     When conducting an operational audit on productivity the first place you have to begin is to determine what standards you are trying to achieve and how do your actual results compare against them. If these do not exist, then you are operating in the dark. How can you know when improvements need to be made or if you’re excelling? Or just as important, how do you know that the resources (the team members) you’re utilizing are the correct amount?
     For example, in my departments I need to know what level of output I have per person. This enables me to determine if as a department we are focused and achieving our objectives or if we are spending too much time on facebook. Having this data also allows me to compare my team members against each other. Bottom line, it helps me identify who my performers and non-performers are. The second area that I need to know is at what FTE (Full Time Equivalent) level I’m operating at. If my total output is high, that data in a vacuum would make me happy. But if my high output is due to the fact that I have 30 employees producing a certain amount versus 20 or 25, my labor costs will be substantially impacted. Labor costs tend to be one of the highest line items in any budget so the bottom line profits can be considerably and negatively impacted.
     As a result, it is critical that I’m evaluating my productivity as a whole—how much of a good or service are we producing and with what level of resources. As leaders it is our responsibility to strike this balance. That can only be achieved if we have standards to manage against. So if you currently do not have productivity standards in place, you need to identify them and implement them as soon as possible. You may be losing a lot of money for your department or organization and not even realize it.
     A great place to start is to talk to your peers in your industry. Build relationships with other leaders and ask them how they are measuring their team’s productivity. Or start by doing the research yourself. There is tremendous amount of data and information for just about every industry. Sign up for industry associations and utilize the resources they offer. In today’s world of information I am yet to find where industry data has not been available.
     The second component is to make sure that the productivity standards you developed are the right ones for your team, department, or organization. This takes a little bit of effort but has to be done since every business is different. Industry figures are averages derived from many organizations. You have to begin to input the numbers and identify what impact it has on your output, costs, and ultimately your bottom line.
     As you work through this exercise the numbers will begin to speak to you and you will begin to identify the optimal balance and eventually the standard you want to shoot for. If you simply identify an industry standard or benchmark and work towards meeting it—you will be achieving the industry average. Meeting the industry average is probably not the recipe for great success. You have to run the numbers and determine the best productivity balance that will allow you to produce the highest quality level of good or service at the lowest cost. It is at this point that your leadership ability kicks in as you take your team to new heights of production and ultimately success!

Operational Audit: Synergy

     Within any business and most departments there are a number of functions that are completed by various groups or people. For any company to be truly successful it must have synergy. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines synergy as combined action or operation. The second meaning is a mutually advantageous conjunction or compatibility of distinct business participants or elements (as resources or efforts). Based on this meaning we can ascertain that to have synergy we must have combined action or be doing it together and it must be mutually advantageous—it can’t only benefit one department or function, it has to be for the greater good of the company. So how do we know if our departments or companies are synergized?
     For starters, you want to evaluate if information is flowing freely. This includes information flowing from the top down, down up, and side to side. Free information flow is critical to being on the same page. If the top leadership develops strategy and your front line workers don’t have a clue you can be sure information is not flowing freely. Same applies if top leadership is not aware of the environment on the front lines whether it is workload capacity, lack of resources, personnel issues, etc. And just as important, you have to be able to determine if the departments or functions are communicating with each other. If there is an objective that requires a combined effort (as in majority of organizations) to execute and only half of the group is aware and as a result are not working together to determine the best course of action, your final product or service will only be half as good as it could have been. To determine this, select an organization wide initiative and begin asking the various parties what they know about that initiative and what their role is. I assure you, you will quickly be able to grasp how freely information is flowing.
     The next step you will want to identify is how well the departments or functions follow-up with each other. Do these departments place a high value on communicating with each other? This can quickly be determined by conducting a few interviews with the various functions and/or departments. Without prompt follow-up a negative environment will begin to grow because people’s natural response will be to think that they don’t respect me enough to communicate back with me. Morale will be impacted. Productivity will be stifled since people will not be able to move forward because they won’t have the necessary information. Without proper follow-up you’ll be fighting against the grain since your teams will be exuding energy on hunting down what they need versus focusing on process or service improvements.
     Another important aspect to evaluate is whether key decisions are made in a vacuum or involve all departments involved. It is pretty common for key decisions to be made by a single department that for the most part is responsible for the initiative. But 99.9% of the time that department will have to rely on other departments to execute the final objective. As a result, when other departments are needed to support this initiative they are unaware and unprepared resulting in unnecessary stress. And whether we like it or not, animosity probably begins to set in—further reducing synergy. Turf wars begin to develop and productivity once again is impacted.
     The last area to assess is to try and determine if there is a mechanism for feedback and candid communication. There has to be an open door to leadership at all levels where employees can freely come in and share frustrations, ideas, solutions, etc. Jack Welch in his book Winning says, “Trust happens when leaders are transparent, candid, and keep their word. It’s that simple.” Leadership has to be candid and allow for their employees to be candid. This creates transparency for the organization and as a result everyone is on the same page and moving in the same direction. And when that happens, trust happens, and when trust happens, synergy happens!

Operational Audit: Quality

     If your desire is to have a successful department or organization then quality must be at the top of your list. Quality is a key component of long term success. Pat Williams in his book The Leadership Wisdom of Solomon states, “Don’t be too quick to undercut your competitor’s prices; instead, deliver better quality and better service.” I am yet to hear of an organization that has been successful while putting out sub par quality products or service. As a result, you must be able to gauge the level of quality that your organization is generating at all times.
     I have experienced and determined that a full assessment of quality is a three prong approach. You have to know what your customers think (external), you need to know what your indicators show (internal), and you have to know how your team and leaders are performing. These three areas integrated into one quality assurance system (QA System) will ensure that you are delivering the levels of quality that will allow you to be successful in the long term.
     The first step is to determine how you will consistently gather information from your customers. If your customers are not happy, you will not be happy (since you’ll be looking for a new job). I believe it is critical to know what your customers are expecting, how satisfied they are, and what their future goals are for your product or service. You have to identify how you will stay engaged with all of your customers at all times. The free market is a very competitive one. Businesses are constantly looking for better ways to support their customers—this should apply to you too. The only way to do that is to be consistently asking them where you stand. So from an operational audit standpoint, the question is, do you know where you stand with your customers? What system do you have in place that is constantly gathering data about your customer’s satisfaction? And most importantly, what is your department or organization doing with this information? I cannot tell you how many companies I have come across that gathers information and does nothing with it. As a result, the customer is even more frustrated because they took the time to communicate with you, but you failed to communicate with them. So what do they do? They go to someone who does ask, listens, and takes action to meet their expectations.
     There are many mechanisms for knowing how satisfied your customers are but the two most common are mailed customer questionnaires and electronic survey systems. But by far the most effective is face to face interaction. Of course if you are a multinational organization this may not be cost efficient so you have to determine which method provides the most value at the lowest cost. But reality is, people buy from or continue to buy from or work with people they like—not companies. And the only way people can determine if they like you is through a relationship. And the only way to build a relationship is to spend time together. As a result I have found that the best way to gauge customer satisfaction is to do a customer assessment face to face.
     The next step in the QA System is to know exactly what level of quality you are producing internally. Your team and leadership have to be engaged and look for every opportunity to improve quality. However, it has to be measurable. You need to create KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) and commit to consistent inspections. This is the only way you and your team will know exactly where you stand. It is critical that you understand what are the levels of quality that you are trying to achieve and more importantly that your team does. So you have to evaluate your system to determine whether you have metrics that you are attempting to achieve, are you gathering the necessary data, and what steps are you taking to improve them. The most common ways to gather this type of information is through visual inspections and automated systems. These systems generate reports or highlight your KPI’s on an automated dashboard. Once you have this internal assessment in place, you are constantly evaluating it against what your external input is and are looking for any gaps. The point being that you may be meeting the quality levels that you think are important, but they may not be important to your customers.
     The final step in the QA System is to evaluate what mechanisms exist to monitor and develop your team and leadership on a consistent basis. Majority of organizations evaluate their employees once per year. And once per year they identify opportunities for improvement. If you desire to beat the competition with quality products or service you have to link your team’s performance to your quality assessments and results. It is a tremendous commitment but I believe leaders have to be evaluated on a monthly basis. You identify what their strengths, improvements needed, and significant observations are for that month. This assessment has to link to the level of quality they have produced based on internal and external assessments.
     It is imperative that your quality audit determines that the proper methods of assessing your customer’s satisfaction and internal operations exist and that these results are linked to your team’s performance. If you commit to this three pronged QA System I guarantee your quality will improve, number of customers will increase, and ultimately, your department or organization will have long term success!

Operational Audit: Staff

     I was part of a healthcare organization that was very focused on improving its patient (customer) satisfaction surveys. They created scripts that every employee had to say when coming in contact with a patient. They made sure that the script used the same words as the survey that would be received by each patient. Every employee wore buttons that proclaimed that they strive for the highest scores in patient satisfaction. So why didn’t the patient satisfaction survey improve?
     The reason the scores didn’t improve is because leadership missed a critical component to high patient satisfaction—happy employees. You see, customers can only be happy if your employees are happy. It doesn’t matter what you say to your customers, how many times, or that you advertise that you want happy customers. What matters is how your employees say it. I’m sure you have been in a situation where somebody has apologized to you but you clearly knew they were not sorry. That’s because their body language did not support their verbal language. And we all know that non-verbal communication is 80% of overall communication. John Maxwell in his book Everyone Communicates Few Connect says, “If you want to connect with others, you have to get over yourself. You have to change the focus from inward to outward, off of yourself and onto others.” This is very difficult to do if you are self involved with your current environment which is usually the case when employee morale is down.
     So if you identify that your productivity and sales are down. You observe that your customer complaints are on the rise, you learn that your customer satisfaction surveys are trending down—look to your staff’s morale. You should start by talking to them. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn by just asking questions, by learning what the environment is like. Of course, if you normally don’t engage with your team they may be hesitant to open up to you—more the reason to engage with your team at all times. Another great way to learn about your team’s morale is to speak to your internal customers. Most departments in an organization either support another department or work with them to provide the final product or service. The people in these departments will be a great resource for you because if your team is unhappy, they will usually be the first to feel it. You should also conduct an anonymous survey—it has to be anonymous so you can ensure full disclosure. There are many employee engagement survey templates on the web, research them and choose the questions that best apply to your department or organization. You should also observe the work environment. Take time to identify how your team works with each other and others by simply observing them. Are they engaged and excited or are they isolated and downtrodden? Another telltale sign is negative trending KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). Your staff is the primary driver of productivity and quality. If the KPI’s are changing for the worse, you have to look at your staff.
     Once you identify that morale problems exist you have to take action! You need to start by ensuring that proper leadership exists. If leadership is lacking, staff morale will always be lacking. So if you are in the position that is responsible for leadership that is directly responsible for the employees; you need to make critical decisions—see my previous article titled Operational Audit: Leadership. If there are other factors that you learned from talking to your staff, internal customers, and by conducting an employee survey—then you must take action to improve them. One of the most common and least desirable causes of poor employee morale is poor employee attitude and behavior. You may learn that one or a group of employees is impacting your teams overall poor performance. If this is the case, you have to eliminate this cancer as quickly as possible. This may happen through candid conversations and a change of heart or it may happen by separation. Not every job is suited for every employee. This is very difficult for any leader, but as the leader you must possess emotional fortitude to make this happen.
     Bottom line you must get your team engaged by communicating to them what you learned and how you want to change their environment. Engage your team in determining what is most important to them that you need to change first. As this process begins you have to communicate ,communicate, and communicate. That in itself will begin to change the environment and ultimately your staff’s morale. Employees need to know that you care for them. So commit yourself to getting to know them, determining a plan of action, and loving on them. Happy staff equals happy customers!

Operational Audit: Leadership

When I conduct an operational audit, whether in my former life in healthcare or in my current role, I always begin by assessing leadership’s ability. The primary reason why I start here is because if leadership is lacking, it will not matter how good the systems or processes are, the department or organization will be underperforming. Leadership of a department or organization is like the steering wheel of a car, it takes you where you want to go. Without the steering wheel, the car will still move but the chances of it going in the direction it should are slim to none.

To accomplish this leadership assessment I have created a Leadership Matrix (you may contact me and I will share it with you). I have selected criterion that through my experience is critical to successful leadership. I then assigned a weight to each area. Please note that your criterion and weights may vary but the objective is the same. To utilize a tool that will help us assess leadership as objectively as possible.


My criterion consists of six areas; Employee Morale, Proactive/Solution Driven, Time Management, Deliverables, Ownership, and Communication. All of these are necessary to be a successful leader, but for assessment purposes, we must be able to set weights to these based on what is most important for success to be achieved. As a result, I have weighted ownership and employee morale the highest at 25% each.


If a leader does not take ownership of his department or organization, it is only a matter of time before he leaves or is removed. A leader must be recognized by his team as the leader otherwise the department or organization manages itself, and when that happens, chaos ensues. Additionally, if the leader is not capable of creating an environment where employee morale is high, productivity, quality, and the overall environment of the organization will suffer. There has to be clear ownership, and the morale of the team must be high and both are a direct reflection of leadership’s ability.


The next highest weight is for communication at 20%. If a leader is not able to clearly communicate the vision and the direction the department needs to go—it simply won’t. But not only is it important for a leader to be able to clearly articulate the vision, the leader must also be able to communicate when conflict arises, push back takes place, or discipline must be administered. If the leader shies away from this type of communication, a change must be made. The negative impact on the rest of the department or organization by avoiding conflict or accountability is too great.


The last three areas of the evaluation are weighted at 10%, proactive/solution driven, time management, and deliverables. As you can probably decipher that to be a successful leader you must be proactive and driven to find solutions. Who do the employees go to when they are stumped and need help identifying the next step—the leader. So if the ability to be proactive and find solutions are lacking, consideration must be made with regards to their overall ability as a leader. Furthermore, if the leader does not possess the ability to manage their time accordingly and ensure that projects are delivered by the due date, on budget, and at expected quality—then leadership is deficient.


I’m sure you’re probably asking by now so how do you determine these things? Luckily some of these deficiencies will become apparent just by you knowing to look for them. Others may take a little investigating. The best way is to talk to people. Talk to the leaders subordinates. You will quickly be able to pick up on trends and gauge the overall morale of the department or organization. The next step is to talk to the leaders customers. How do they assess his ability? Is he delivering on the commitment he makes? Is the product or service at the level of quality that was expected? Bottom line—is the customer happy?


Once I have done my due diligence I do my best to objectively rate the leader in each of the six areas of focus on a 1-5 scale. The matrix then provides me with a weighted score that I then compare against my pre-determined rating scale: Unsatisfactory - 1-1.9, Underperforming – 2-2.9, Fully Competent – 3-3.9, Very Commendable – 4-4.9, and Distinguished – 5. The outcome of my Leadership Matrix helps determine the next steps. The leader will either be not qualified to lead the department or organization, they will need development, they are performing well, or they are exceeding expectations. If the matrix has resulted in any score below a 3, you must take action to improve this leader, or remove them from their duties.

Operational Audit

I often get asked, “How do I know if my department or organization is efficient and meeting expectations?” The other frequent statement I hear is, “I know that things are not working right, I don’t have happy customers, but I just can’t figure out what it is.” If productivity, quality, turnover, customer satisfaction, cost, etc. is below expectations, then you need to conduct an operational audit.

This series will focus on each of the seven assessments that are critical in conducting a full operational audit. By conducting these seven assessments you will know exactly where you weaknesses, strengths, obstacles, and opportunities lie. This is different from a SWOT analysis as we will primarily focus on your internal operations and does not evaluate your competitors or external factors (possibly at a later time). This takes a detail look at you and your operations. We’ll take the time and discuss each of the following functions in detail so they are practical and applicable to your industry, department, or organization. We will discuss Leadership, Staff, Quality, Integration, Productivity, Supplies, and Financial aspects. I invite you to follow along as we work our way through this series. And as always, if you have specific questions or comments, share so we can all benefit from them.