Last week I wrote about the concept that “Knowledge is
power” and how most people believe that knowledge is power only when it is
hoarded. The reality is that knowledge only has power when it is shared with
all of those that need it. Shared knowledge creates power simply because
leaders get results through people and without the knowledge they can’t create
the results.
But sharing knowledge has another component that is often
overlooked in the business world. You see, sharing knowledge not only allows
your team to perform more capably but it also demonstrates clearly how willing
your are to be open with them, sharing your knowledge, sharing the strategies,
and sharing the goals of the organization. By doing this, you are building
trust with those that work for you. And trust is one of the key components
required for employee engagement.
It is no secret that engaged employees work harder and
smarter than non-engaged employees. The mere fact that they care about their
organization and their manager provides the motivation to create something
bigger and better than those employees who don’t care about their organization
or, worse, want to see it fail. By sharing knowledge and building trust within
your organization you not only get the benefit of better, more informed
decisions, but you also create a team of people that care about what they are
doing and the results that they get.
How much information do you have to share?
You want to share as much information as you can without jeopardizing
your fiduciary responsibilities to the company. As the leader in an
organization there is certain information that is provided to you in
confidence. Information that is not available to the public at large or to most
of the employee base. When you are entrusted with confidential information you
have a responsibility both morally and legally to keep that information
private. Breaking that confidence could actually compromise trust in the
organization, rather than building it. When in doubt, you must use your own
judgment on what can and cannot be shared.
By sharing as much information as you can with your
employees you empower them in their jobs and open the doors for improved
performance and creativity within the organization. The message here is to
share as much information as you can with your team. Sharing your knowledge
will not only allow them to make more informed decisions but will also create a
loyal and engaged team that will serve you, the organization and your customers
to the fullest.
I hope that you enjoyed this article. At ECI Learning
Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by
creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and
personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to
create a development plan tailored for your success.
Until next time….
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com
Showing posts with label Emotional Intelligence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emotional Intelligence. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Knowledge Is Power
Many managers and leaders often fall under the impression
that one of the most effective ways to enhance their worth and their career is
by hoarding knowledge. “Knowledge is power” they believe and, therefore, the
best way to accumulate power is by becoming indispensable, by knowing things
that others don’t know and by sharing that information very judiciously.
Sadly, at the lower levels of the organization where the manager is also the technical expert this strategy seems to work. Since the manager knows things that others in the department do not, they control the solutions to sticky problems and are rewarded for solving issues that their team did not.
Of course, this is not a long term solution for success. The higher one moves in the organization the less you are a technical expert. Hoarding knowledge is no longer a source of power, but now saps your power and limits your ability to find solutions and demonstrate your value to the organization.
None the less it is true. Knowledge is power. But, as you move up the organization, the power comes not from hoarding that knowledge but from sharing it as broadly as possible. In fact, the more you share information the more powerful you become in an organization.
Experienced managers understand that their success is not tied to how well they perform individually but to how well their team performs. No longer are they praised for their personal and technical knowledge. Instead, team results take the spotlight and they find themselves being measured for the performance of their organization. And, the best way to ensure that their organization performs up to expectations is to ensure that they have all of the knowledge and information that they need to be successful.
This can be an enormous paradigm shift for someone who has always viewed themselves as the technical expert and has been consistently rewarded for their ability to solve problems. It requires an entirely different mindset to acknowledge that others who are closer to the details may be better able to determine complex solutions. But, acknowledging that you are no longer the technical experts is one of the keys to moving yourself up the value chain in the organization. Instead of your value coming from your detailed knowledge, your value and your power now emanate from the performance of your team.
Managers who grasp this concept not only begin to share their knowledge more readily and reward those around them who share knowledge, but are also the managers who move up the ladder to higher levels of responsibility. Understanding that the power of knowledge is expanded, rather than weakened, through sharing is what separates those managers who top out their career quickly from those who continue to grow and move up in the organization.
Sharing knowledge has another benefit that is not commonly recognized. The sharing of knowledge in your organization actually creates a new level of employee engagement. But, I will write more about that next week.
I hope that you enjoyed this article. At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.
Until next week,
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com
Sadly, at the lower levels of the organization where the manager is also the technical expert this strategy seems to work. Since the manager knows things that others in the department do not, they control the solutions to sticky problems and are rewarded for solving issues that their team did not.
Of course, this is not a long term solution for success. The higher one moves in the organization the less you are a technical expert. Hoarding knowledge is no longer a source of power, but now saps your power and limits your ability to find solutions and demonstrate your value to the organization.
None the less it is true. Knowledge is power. But, as you move up the organization, the power comes not from hoarding that knowledge but from sharing it as broadly as possible. In fact, the more you share information the more powerful you become in an organization.
Experienced managers understand that their success is not tied to how well they perform individually but to how well their team performs. No longer are they praised for their personal and technical knowledge. Instead, team results take the spotlight and they find themselves being measured for the performance of their organization. And, the best way to ensure that their organization performs up to expectations is to ensure that they have all of the knowledge and information that they need to be successful.
This can be an enormous paradigm shift for someone who has always viewed themselves as the technical expert and has been consistently rewarded for their ability to solve problems. It requires an entirely different mindset to acknowledge that others who are closer to the details may be better able to determine complex solutions. But, acknowledging that you are no longer the technical experts is one of the keys to moving yourself up the value chain in the organization. Instead of your value coming from your detailed knowledge, your value and your power now emanate from the performance of your team.
Managers who grasp this concept not only begin to share their knowledge more readily and reward those around them who share knowledge, but are also the managers who move up the ladder to higher levels of responsibility. Understanding that the power of knowledge is expanded, rather than weakened, through sharing is what separates those managers who top out their career quickly from those who continue to grow and move up in the organization.
Sharing knowledge has another benefit that is not commonly recognized. The sharing of knowledge in your organization actually creates a new level of employee engagement. But, I will write more about that next week.
I hope that you enjoyed this article. At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.
Until next week,
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The 5 Most Common Executive Blind Spots
Every human being has blind spots, things that others see about them that they don’t see about themselves. Sometimes the blind spots are minor and, once identified, can be easily corrected. Others are more serious and may not even be recognized by the executive when they are pointed out to them. In these extreme cases, the executive may not realize the harm that their behaviors may cause, and they may even look at these behaviors as strengths.
Is your performance suffering from one of these blind spots?
1. Failing to clearly, concisely, and regularly preach the Vision and Mission of the company to ALL of the employees.
Too many top executives create a Vision and Mission, send out a company wide email proclaiming it, and then assume that all of the employees know, understand, and have bought into them. Any employee will tell you that actions speak louder than words, but actions combined with words are needed to reinforce your Vision and Mission. Communicate with the entire organization readily and don’t forget to show your employees how your latest actions are consistent with the Vision and Mission.
2. Undervaluing the concept of diversity in your inner circle.
We’re not talking here about ethnic or religious diversity (although those concepts may well play a role in the issue), but rather diversity of thought that allows new ideas to surface and be heard. Too often, executives want people who think the way they do. And, while it’s important that your inner circle share your core values, a lack of diverse ideas leads to a lack of creativity in your organization.
3. Viewing conflict as bad – believing that harmony results in greater productivity.
Conflict has a bad reputation in the workplace, but conflict plays an important role in creating explosive growth. While personal agendas and personal conflict may drag down your efforts, honest conflict involves people who are willing and able to present differing perspectives and debate those ideas knowing that there is a willingness to hear different views. A lack of conflict also represents a lack of trust in an organization, where no one is willing to express unpopular views.
4. Treating everyone the same in the name of equality.
If we accept the premise that all people are different, then we must also accept that all people want and need to be treated differently. Too often, we confuse the concept of equality with fairness. You need to recognize that people have different motivations, desires, and fears. Treat everyone fairly and with respect, but don’t make the mistake of trying to treat everyone equally.
5. Not creating the next generation of leaders in your organization.
An organization is only as strong as its people, and your leadership team is responsible for ensuring that you have strong people at every level. None the less, it’s your responsibility to create an environment that identifies the next generation of leaders and encourages their growth so that your leadership team remains strong. And remember, growing your people is as important in bad times as it is in good.
Did you recognize yourself in any of these 5 blind spots? More importantly, would your inner circle say that you possess any of these blind spots? If you don’t know what your own blind spots are, it might be time to bring in an expert to help you identify and manage them.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Is your performance suffering from one of these blind spots?
1. Failing to clearly, concisely, and regularly preach the Vision and Mission of the company to ALL of the employees.
Too many top executives create a Vision and Mission, send out a company wide email proclaiming it, and then assume that all of the employees know, understand, and have bought into them. Any employee will tell you that actions speak louder than words, but actions combined with words are needed to reinforce your Vision and Mission. Communicate with the entire organization readily and don’t forget to show your employees how your latest actions are consistent with the Vision and Mission.
2. Undervaluing the concept of diversity in your inner circle.
We’re not talking here about ethnic or religious diversity (although those concepts may well play a role in the issue), but rather diversity of thought that allows new ideas to surface and be heard. Too often, executives want people who think the way they do. And, while it’s important that your inner circle share your core values, a lack of diverse ideas leads to a lack of creativity in your organization.
3. Viewing conflict as bad – believing that harmony results in greater productivity.
Conflict has a bad reputation in the workplace, but conflict plays an important role in creating explosive growth. While personal agendas and personal conflict may drag down your efforts, honest conflict involves people who are willing and able to present differing perspectives and debate those ideas knowing that there is a willingness to hear different views. A lack of conflict also represents a lack of trust in an organization, where no one is willing to express unpopular views.
4. Treating everyone the same in the name of equality.
If we accept the premise that all people are different, then we must also accept that all people want and need to be treated differently. Too often, we confuse the concept of equality with fairness. You need to recognize that people have different motivations, desires, and fears. Treat everyone fairly and with respect, but don’t make the mistake of trying to treat everyone equally.
5. Not creating the next generation of leaders in your organization.
An organization is only as strong as its people, and your leadership team is responsible for ensuring that you have strong people at every level. None the less, it’s your responsibility to create an environment that identifies the next generation of leaders and encourages their growth so that your leadership team remains strong. And remember, growing your people is as important in bad times as it is in good.
Did you recognize yourself in any of these 5 blind spots? More importantly, would your inner circle say that you possess any of these blind spots? If you don’t know what your own blind spots are, it might be time to bring in an expert to help you identify and manage them.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
The Legacy of Walt Disney
Too many people underestimate the value of a legacy. In fact, too many leaders at all levels of the organization don’t even think about what will happen after they are gone. Oh, sometimes they will have groomed a successor, but even that is hit and miss. For a variety of reasons, leaders have engaged in short term thinking and have equated that with “nimbleness” in the marketplace.
Of course, another way to look at this nimbleness might be directionless.
The validity of thinking long term, creating something bigger than yourself, and leaving a legacy that can be built upon is no further away than Anaheim, CA. or Orlando, FL., or at any one of the other Disney Parks worldwide.
Walt Disney had a vision for something bigger than most people could even grasp. He wanted to build “the happiest place on earth”, where parents could take their children and be able to live in a fantasy world. And he wanted his new “world” to be isolated from surrounding business, and traffic, and congestion in general. To accomplish this new world, Walt Disney purchased over 27,000 acres of land near Orlando. When he announced his plans for his new world people thought he was absolutely crazy. After all, most of that 27,000 acres was swampland and not suitable for building.
I won’t bore you with all of the details but Walt Disney World in Orlando opened for business on October 1, 1971; about 5 years after the death of Walt himself. The fact that his legacy carried on and allowed this park to be built even after his passing is truly extraordinary, but that is just the beginning. Epcot Center was added in 1982, 16 years after his death and the Disney Animal Kingdom was opened in 1998.
Today the tradition continues, and the Magic Kingdom is indeed the “happiest place on earth” just the way Walt envisioned it. If you have visited the Magic Kingdom you are no doubt aware of it’s isolation from surrounding businesses, meaning that you are truly lost in Disney’s world. And, if you are like me, you were stunned by how clean and fresh everything looks all the time. Rides come and rides go, but technology is a key component of the Disney magic, and this company remains in the forefront of their industry and are more nimble than companies 1/3 of their size.
All of this happened because of the dream of Walt Disney and his ability to vest his dream in those around him. He left a clear legacy for his company that guides their decision making even today. Employees at all levels of the organization are introduced to Walt’s legacy, and the culture he created, while morphing over time, remains as strong today as when he first communicated it to his team.
The culture of Disney is not perfect, but it’s an excellent example of what a leader can do if they want to. It’s what they can do if they think big, think broad, and incorporate their vision into the company’s culture. Because the culture you leave behind is the building block for your legacy.
What is the culture that you have built in your organization?
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Of course, another way to look at this nimbleness might be directionless.
The validity of thinking long term, creating something bigger than yourself, and leaving a legacy that can be built upon is no further away than Anaheim, CA. or Orlando, FL., or at any one of the other Disney Parks worldwide.
Walt Disney had a vision for something bigger than most people could even grasp. He wanted to build “the happiest place on earth”, where parents could take their children and be able to live in a fantasy world. And he wanted his new “world” to be isolated from surrounding business, and traffic, and congestion in general. To accomplish this new world, Walt Disney purchased over 27,000 acres of land near Orlando. When he announced his plans for his new world people thought he was absolutely crazy. After all, most of that 27,000 acres was swampland and not suitable for building.
I won’t bore you with all of the details but Walt Disney World in Orlando opened for business on October 1, 1971; about 5 years after the death of Walt himself. The fact that his legacy carried on and allowed this park to be built even after his passing is truly extraordinary, but that is just the beginning. Epcot Center was added in 1982, 16 years after his death and the Disney Animal Kingdom was opened in 1998.
Today the tradition continues, and the Magic Kingdom is indeed the “happiest place on earth” just the way Walt envisioned it. If you have visited the Magic Kingdom you are no doubt aware of it’s isolation from surrounding businesses, meaning that you are truly lost in Disney’s world. And, if you are like me, you were stunned by how clean and fresh everything looks all the time. Rides come and rides go, but technology is a key component of the Disney magic, and this company remains in the forefront of their industry and are more nimble than companies 1/3 of their size.
All of this happened because of the dream of Walt Disney and his ability to vest his dream in those around him. He left a clear legacy for his company that guides their decision making even today. Employees at all levels of the organization are introduced to Walt’s legacy, and the culture he created, while morphing over time, remains as strong today as when he first communicated it to his team.
The culture of Disney is not perfect, but it’s an excellent example of what a leader can do if they want to. It’s what they can do if they think big, think broad, and incorporate their vision into the company’s culture. Because the culture you leave behind is the building block for your legacy.
What is the culture that you have built in your organization?
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
A Leader’s Legacy Part 3 - When the Legacy Survives the Leader
We’ve been talking about the importance of a leader leaving a legacy and how that legacy can impact an organization for years to come. Just as you want to build a house on a firm foundation that will last for years, and maybe even generations, the same is true when you build a company. A true leader has a vision for the company and builds a strong foundation through the company’s mission, vision, and values. In fact, the visionary leader creates a culture and embeds it so deeply in the organization that it not only survives that leader’s time as President or CEO but it will actually outlive the leader.
If you’ve ever had the privilege of working in a strong, well run company with a strong, visionary leader then you know what I’m talking about. A visionary leader imparts on an organization something much stronger than the goals and objectives; something much more dynamic than a 5 year plan; and something much longer lasting than just the company’s mission statement. A leader of this type wants to create something bigger than themselves, something that will last more than a lifetime.
When I think of leaders of this type, a few different names come to mind. Henry Ford built a company based on his own values and it stays true to most of those values today. Thomas Jefferson, in writing our Declaration of Independence, created something much bigger than himself. And William (Bill) McGowan founded MCI Communications and built a company in his own image. Unfortunately for Bill McGowan, his legacy could not survive the telecom shakeout of the late 1990’s and was lost in the merger with WorldCom.
But, there is one name that truly stands out. This is a man who created something so much bigger than himself; a man who thought big, dreamed big, and acted even bigger; a man whose vision was so clear and his ability to communicate that vision so compelling that his legacy survives nearly 50 years after his death.
His name is Walt Disney.
Is there a man, woman, or child in the United States over the age of 7 years old who has not heard of Walt Disney?
For that matter, there are not too many adults anywhere in the world who do not know of Walt and what he stood for?
Walt Disney passed away in 1966, yet the legacy he left has survived him even to this day. And, while his company has undergone numerous management changes over the years, they remain steadfast to the values and principles that Walt Disney espoused when he created his company.
We’ll talk a little more about the legacy that Walt Disney left in our next edition.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
If you’ve ever had the privilege of working in a strong, well run company with a strong, visionary leader then you know what I’m talking about. A visionary leader imparts on an organization something much stronger than the goals and objectives; something much more dynamic than a 5 year plan; and something much longer lasting than just the company’s mission statement. A leader of this type wants to create something bigger than themselves, something that will last more than a lifetime.
When I think of leaders of this type, a few different names come to mind. Henry Ford built a company based on his own values and it stays true to most of those values today. Thomas Jefferson, in writing our Declaration of Independence, created something much bigger than himself. And William (Bill) McGowan founded MCI Communications and built a company in his own image. Unfortunately for Bill McGowan, his legacy could not survive the telecom shakeout of the late 1990’s and was lost in the merger with WorldCom.
But, there is one name that truly stands out. This is a man who created something so much bigger than himself; a man who thought big, dreamed big, and acted even bigger; a man whose vision was so clear and his ability to communicate that vision so compelling that his legacy survives nearly 50 years after his death.
His name is Walt Disney.
Is there a man, woman, or child in the United States over the age of 7 years old who has not heard of Walt Disney?
For that matter, there are not too many adults anywhere in the world who do not know of Walt and what he stood for?
Walt Disney passed away in 1966, yet the legacy he left has survived him even to this day. And, while his company has undergone numerous management changes over the years, they remain steadfast to the values and principles that Walt Disney espoused when he created his company.
We’ll talk a little more about the legacy that Walt Disney left in our next edition.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
What is the legacy of a leader? – Part 2
In last week’s blog we started talking about the legacy of a leader and the intangibles that remain after a leader is gone. Real leaders at every level of an organization need to be thinking about their legacy and what will happen to the organization once they are no longer a part of it. A true leader is always thinking about the long term impact of their actions and not just about what will happen today or tomorrow. But, there are far too many people out there in positions of leadership who think only about the here and now.
Many leaders do think about leaving their imprint on an organization and seek to clearly delineate their time as a leader versus those of a predecessor. And, while this imprint can be positive, too often we see leaders who make change for the sake of change without regard to the implications for the organization as a whole. For example, we’ve all seen leaders assume control of an efficient, functioning organization, only to turn it dysfunctional sooner than anyone thought possible.
When leaders focus only on the short term, or focus on themselves rather than what is best for the organization, they tend to chase away top performers, lose sight of the true goals of the organization, and create top heavy organizational charts which revolve around them. And, while these leaders may occasionally provide short term results, their true legacy is the long term despair of the organization – broken only by the short term elation and joy at the announcement of their departure.
When leaders focus on the long term and create a plan to leave the organization stronger than when they arrived, they build an organization with a vision for the future, instill the values to support that mission, and find talented people to carry the mission and vision forward. Leaders with this focus not only create results for today, but also for the future. You can feel the imprint on the organization years after they have been gone; managers quote them, employees are still empowered with the values they set forth, and decisions are made that are consistent with the long term vision they so clearly communicated.
In our next issue, we will talk about one such leader – a leader who created a legacy with such clear values and such a strong mission that it survives and thrives more than 50 years after his death.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Many leaders do think about leaving their imprint on an organization and seek to clearly delineate their time as a leader versus those of a predecessor. And, while this imprint can be positive, too often we see leaders who make change for the sake of change without regard to the implications for the organization as a whole. For example, we’ve all seen leaders assume control of an efficient, functioning organization, only to turn it dysfunctional sooner than anyone thought possible.
When leaders focus only on the short term, or focus on themselves rather than what is best for the organization, they tend to chase away top performers, lose sight of the true goals of the organization, and create top heavy organizational charts which revolve around them. And, while these leaders may occasionally provide short term results, their true legacy is the long term despair of the organization – broken only by the short term elation and joy at the announcement of their departure.
When leaders focus on the long term and create a plan to leave the organization stronger than when they arrived, they build an organization with a vision for the future, instill the values to support that mission, and find talented people to carry the mission and vision forward. Leaders with this focus not only create results for today, but also for the future. You can feel the imprint on the organization years after they have been gone; managers quote them, employees are still empowered with the values they set forth, and decisions are made that are consistent with the long term vision they so clearly communicated.
In our next issue, we will talk about one such leader – a leader who created a legacy with such clear values and such a strong mission that it survives and thrives more than 50 years after his death.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
What is the legacy of a leader?
Although much has been written about leadership and the qualities of a leader, one often overlooked aspect of leadership is the concept of legacy. What kind of legacy does a leader leave once they are gone?
According to the American Heritage Dictionary a legacy is “anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor”. That means that the legacy of a leader is what they hand down when they pass the reigns of leadership to someone else. It’s not a physical thing like a scepter that represents power or wisdom, and it’s not about systems or processes that make the business run. In terms of leadership, a legacy represents the intangible assets of the organization that make it different than their competitors. You might call it the culture, but that may not be broad enough to cover all aspects of what the leader leaves behind.
The problem is that too few leaders give much thought to their legacy beyond the new products offered during their watch or the merger that redefined the company’s place in the market. In some cases, these items may indeed represent the leader’s entire legacy. If so, that leader has fallen far short of the requirements to be a great leader.
Too often, leaders view their role rather selfishly and believe that the success of the company, or even just their individual department, is tied directly to their own brilliance and astute understanding of the technical details of the organization. The organization will surely fail without them, as no one can have the insights into the customers as they can. They have built the entire organization around the strength of their own personality and it’s clear to all that they can never truly be replaced. You can almost see their glee when they look back at the old organization and see that, without their leadership, the organization is struggling to perform or maintain their standards.
Perhaps you are recognizing these traits in some of your prior leaders at all levels of the organization. Leaders who leave a legacy that begins to fade almost as soon as their name is taken off the door. These leaders really don’t care about what happens after they are gone. They don’t care about the people, the products, or the customers. Instead, they think only of themselves.
Now, there is another type of leader who tends to leave a longer lasting legacy, even if it is not a positive one. There are certainly those leaders who leave a legacy of despair, and even brokenness. They come in like a deadly storm and lay waste to the organization without blinking an eye. Soon after their arrival, key members of the organization are suddenly no longer there. They have either been asked to leave or have decided on their own that they are no longer a good fit in the organization.
But, we will talk more about these leaders in our next edition.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors;
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
According to the American Heritage Dictionary a legacy is “anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor”. That means that the legacy of a leader is what they hand down when they pass the reigns of leadership to someone else. It’s not a physical thing like a scepter that represents power or wisdom, and it’s not about systems or processes that make the business run. In terms of leadership, a legacy represents the intangible assets of the organization that make it different than their competitors. You might call it the culture, but that may not be broad enough to cover all aspects of what the leader leaves behind.
The problem is that too few leaders give much thought to their legacy beyond the new products offered during their watch or the merger that redefined the company’s place in the market. In some cases, these items may indeed represent the leader’s entire legacy. If so, that leader has fallen far short of the requirements to be a great leader.
Too often, leaders view their role rather selfishly and believe that the success of the company, or even just their individual department, is tied directly to their own brilliance and astute understanding of the technical details of the organization. The organization will surely fail without them, as no one can have the insights into the customers as they can. They have built the entire organization around the strength of their own personality and it’s clear to all that they can never truly be replaced. You can almost see their glee when they look back at the old organization and see that, without their leadership, the organization is struggling to perform or maintain their standards.
Perhaps you are recognizing these traits in some of your prior leaders at all levels of the organization. Leaders who leave a legacy that begins to fade almost as soon as their name is taken off the door. These leaders really don’t care about what happens after they are gone. They don’t care about the people, the products, or the customers. Instead, they think only of themselves.
Now, there is another type of leader who tends to leave a longer lasting legacy, even if it is not a positive one. There are certainly those leaders who leave a legacy of despair, and even brokenness. They come in like a deadly storm and lay waste to the organization without blinking an eye. Soon after their arrival, key members of the organization are suddenly no longer there. They have either been asked to leave or have decided on their own that they are no longer a good fit in the organization.
But, we will talk more about these leaders in our next edition.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors;
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Winning Is An Attitude
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been writing about the concept of Winners and Losers, my belief that there is not a single winner in business or in life, and that taking the view that there can be a single winner is one that will certainly limit your own desire to compete and succeed.
Winners and losers in life and in business are not always determined by the scoreboard. Or, maybe I should say that winners and losers are not always defined by the visible scoreboard. Instead, winners are defined by their attitudes and willingness to do what it takes to ensure their success and the success of those around them.
This moves the idea of being a winner away from the “1/0, there can be only one winner, if you are not THE winner then you are a loser” concept, to one where YOU get to decide whether you will be a winner or a loser.
It’s safe to say that we’ve all met “winners” in our lives. These are the people who find ways to overcome adversity, who look at the rocks in their path as stepping stones, not stumbling blocks, and when given lemons, they make lemonade. In fact, these people not only make lemonade, but they make the best lemonade in the world, have a knack for marketing that lemonade, and turn their lemonade stands into multi-million dollar businesses.
But, I would suggest that we’ve all me our share of losers as well. These people tend to be victims with too many things that are “out of their control.” They constantly blame others for their problems. They refuse to take responsibility for their actions. And they can’t enjoy even a momentary victory because they are convinced that something bad is about to happen to them. And it usually does.
Here are some of my thoughts on “winners” vs. “losers.”
Winners:
Look for solutions.
Encourage those around them.
Lend a helping hand.
Create a plan for success.
Look at the glass as half full.
Believe nothing is impossible.
Find a way to keep going.
Don’t believe in excuses.
Losers:
Look for problems.
Don’t think about others.
Look for a handout.
Fail to plan.
Are pretty sure the glass is cracked.
Quit when something is “too hard”.
Look for a way to quit.
Always have an excuse handy.
What about you? How do you define winners? Or losers, for that matter? How do you identify winners from losers? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic as well.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Winners and losers in life and in business are not always determined by the scoreboard. Or, maybe I should say that winners and losers are not always defined by the visible scoreboard. Instead, winners are defined by their attitudes and willingness to do what it takes to ensure their success and the success of those around them.
This moves the idea of being a winner away from the “1/0, there can be only one winner, if you are not THE winner then you are a loser” concept, to one where YOU get to decide whether you will be a winner or a loser.
It’s safe to say that we’ve all met “winners” in our lives. These are the people who find ways to overcome adversity, who look at the rocks in their path as stepping stones, not stumbling blocks, and when given lemons, they make lemonade. In fact, these people not only make lemonade, but they make the best lemonade in the world, have a knack for marketing that lemonade, and turn their lemonade stands into multi-million dollar businesses.
But, I would suggest that we’ve all me our share of losers as well. These people tend to be victims with too many things that are “out of their control.” They constantly blame others for their problems. They refuse to take responsibility for their actions. And they can’t enjoy even a momentary victory because they are convinced that something bad is about to happen to them. And it usually does.
Here are some of my thoughts on “winners” vs. “losers.”
Winners:
Look for solutions.
Encourage those around them.
Lend a helping hand.
Create a plan for success.
Look at the glass as half full.
Believe nothing is impossible.
Find a way to keep going.
Don’t believe in excuses.
Losers:
Look for problems.
Don’t think about others.
Look for a handout.
Fail to plan.
Are pretty sure the glass is cracked.
Quit when something is “too hard”.
Look for a way to quit.
Always have an excuse handy.
What about you? How do you define winners? Or losers, for that matter? How do you identify winners from losers? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic as well.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
What Defines A Winner?
In my last posting, I wrote about the concept of winners and losers and the idea that some people believe there can be only one winner. To me, having only one winner negates so many good things that happen in life and in business.
I looked up the word “winner” on Dictionary.com and found this definition:
“a person or thing that wins; victor.”
Looking further down the page I came across this definition:
“a person or thing that seems sure to win or succeed”
The difference in wording is subtle but, I believe, very important. The first definition implies a single winner, while the second implies that a winner is a winner because they “succeed.”
I continued reviewing definitions and came across this definition of winner:
“an excellent person or thing. : This one is a real winner.”
Now, that’s more like it. This definition seems to leave some wiggle room for there being more than one winner without demeaning the importance of competition or excellence. Being a winner is about being “excellent” or even “excelling” and is not limited to only the “last man standing.” I would say that my favorite basketball team which ended up with 30 wins and only 3 losses is a group of winners. They were focused on excellence and achieved it.
It’s pretty clear as you read through these definitions that there is some consistency in terms of excellence but some inconsistency in whether or not there can be only one winner.
Years ago I came across a “demotivational” poster that stated:
“Since there can only be one winner, there’s an excellent chance that you are a loser.”
How’s that for a message. Inspirational, isn’t it. Makes you want to give up before you ever get started.
I believe that the concept of winners and losers is an important one for all of us in both our personal and professional lives. And focusing on the idea of a single winner is a great way to make sure that you’re never bothered by the pressure of being that winner. To me, being a winner is more about attitude than it is about competition. And, since we control our attitudes, we also control whether or not we want to be, and WILL be, winners or losers.
I’ll have more about this next week.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
I looked up the word “winner” on Dictionary.com and found this definition:
“a person or thing that wins; victor.”
Looking further down the page I came across this definition:
“a person or thing that seems sure to win or succeed”
The difference in wording is subtle but, I believe, very important. The first definition implies a single winner, while the second implies that a winner is a winner because they “succeed.”
I continued reviewing definitions and came across this definition of winner:
“an excellent person or thing. : This one is a real winner.”
Now, that’s more like it. This definition seems to leave some wiggle room for there being more than one winner without demeaning the importance of competition or excellence. Being a winner is about being “excellent” or even “excelling” and is not limited to only the “last man standing.” I would say that my favorite basketball team which ended up with 30 wins and only 3 losses is a group of winners. They were focused on excellence and achieved it.
It’s pretty clear as you read through these definitions that there is some consistency in terms of excellence but some inconsistency in whether or not there can be only one winner.
Years ago I came across a “demotivational” poster that stated:
“Since there can only be one winner, there’s an excellent chance that you are a loser.”
How’s that for a message. Inspirational, isn’t it. Makes you want to give up before you ever get started.
I believe that the concept of winners and losers is an important one for all of us in both our personal and professional lives. And focusing on the idea of a single winner is a great way to make sure that you’re never bothered by the pressure of being that winner. To me, being a winner is more about attitude than it is about competition. And, since we control our attitudes, we also control whether or not we want to be, and WILL be, winners or losers.
I’ll have more about this next week.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Is there really just one winner?
“March Madness” is the name given to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, as 68 of the finest college basketball teams compete in a single elimination tournament to determine the National Champion. A lot of people who are sports fans but don’t follow college basketball do follow this tournament because every year there are fantastic finishes, Cinderella teams, and monumental upsets.
And, at the end, only one team remains standing - THE WINNER!
My team didn’t win the championship this year. They were eliminated in what is referred to as the “Sweet 16”, one of the final 16 teams in the tournament. It was a close game, but when their final shot didn’t fall, they were done and sent home. Needless to say, they were unhappy, even despondent over the loss. They had visions of a National Championship as did their fans. I, too, was upset that they didn’t win, but I knew I’d get over it. There are certainly bigger tragedies in life than not having your favorite team win it all.
But, I was surprised when I read some of the local newspaper accounts of the game, the team, and the season. Or more correctly, I was surprised by the fan reaction to the loss. After all, this team won more than 30 games this season, losing only 3. By nearly anyone’s description, they had a great season. Yet, after they were eliminated from the tournament, I read comments from the fans that said they were losers and that they were over-rated; comments that generally disparaged a fine team and a fine season. I found reading the comments to be disheartening, discouraging, and small-minded. Instead of celebrating a great season, fans were upset that their team was not that last team standing.
Not – THE WINNER.
I’ve always wondered about the way some people perceive winning and losing. They view it as a simple 1/0 game. They believe that either you are THE WINNER, or you are a LOSER. There is no middle ground in their minds.
And I’m not just talking about the NCAA tournament here, or sports in general for that matter. I’m talking about a view of life and business that has fostered this simplistic view of winner and losers.
Too often, we fail to value contributions from our peers and employees because they weren’t “the best”. We hold contests to compete for who can sell the most product, install the most widgets, or respond to the most customer complaints. We compete to be number 1 without any thought to what that means to our products, our employees, or our customers.
Is there really only one winner in life or in business?
Let me be clear here. I’m not advocating the silliness that says if you participate, you are a winner. I don’t think we all deserve trophies and bouquets of flowers, just for showing up. But I do think that there is more than one winner in many competitions and that understanding the difference, the real difference, between winners and losers is a big part of your responsibility as a leader.
I’ll be writing more about winners and losers next week. Identifying and cultivating winners in your organization is part of your ongoing success.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearnin.com/
And, at the end, only one team remains standing - THE WINNER!
My team didn’t win the championship this year. They were eliminated in what is referred to as the “Sweet 16”, one of the final 16 teams in the tournament. It was a close game, but when their final shot didn’t fall, they were done and sent home. Needless to say, they were unhappy, even despondent over the loss. They had visions of a National Championship as did their fans. I, too, was upset that they didn’t win, but I knew I’d get over it. There are certainly bigger tragedies in life than not having your favorite team win it all.
But, I was surprised when I read some of the local newspaper accounts of the game, the team, and the season. Or more correctly, I was surprised by the fan reaction to the loss. After all, this team won more than 30 games this season, losing only 3. By nearly anyone’s description, they had a great season. Yet, after they were eliminated from the tournament, I read comments from the fans that said they were losers and that they were over-rated; comments that generally disparaged a fine team and a fine season. I found reading the comments to be disheartening, discouraging, and small-minded. Instead of celebrating a great season, fans were upset that their team was not that last team standing.
Not – THE WINNER.
I’ve always wondered about the way some people perceive winning and losing. They view it as a simple 1/0 game. They believe that either you are THE WINNER, or you are a LOSER. There is no middle ground in their minds.
And I’m not just talking about the NCAA tournament here, or sports in general for that matter. I’m talking about a view of life and business that has fostered this simplistic view of winner and losers.
Too often, we fail to value contributions from our peers and employees because they weren’t “the best”. We hold contests to compete for who can sell the most product, install the most widgets, or respond to the most customer complaints. We compete to be number 1 without any thought to what that means to our products, our employees, or our customers.
Is there really only one winner in life or in business?
Let me be clear here. I’m not advocating the silliness that says if you participate, you are a winner. I don’t think we all deserve trophies and bouquets of flowers, just for showing up. But I do think that there is more than one winner in many competitions and that understanding the difference, the real difference, between winners and losers is a big part of your responsibility as a leader.
I’ll be writing more about winners and losers next week. Identifying and cultivating winners in your organization is part of your ongoing success.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearnin.com/
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Building Support Through An Internal Network – Part 3
For the last couple of weeks, I have been writing about the importance and value of building bonds and developing an internal network within your organization. We’ve talked about how your success as a manager and leader goes well beyond the simplicity of producing results. And we’ve talked about some of the reasons why building an internal network can help you become successful.
The question becomes, how and where do you start building your internal network? It’s just not possible to build strong bonds with everyone, at least not all at once.
I like to think about building bonds in terms of concentric circles, with you and your organization at the center. If you start from the center and build out, you have the best chance of making strong alliances with the people who can help you the most immediately. In addition, these alliances will help you build future alliances as well.
The first step is to determine exactly who your customers are, especially those internal customers that you must satisfy. Depending on where you are in the organization, your internal customers might be the sales organization, an order processing unit, a technical support organization, the operations unit, or even the accounting and finance department. Just like your company has a need to satisfy their external customers to ensure growth, you must have a similar desire to satisfy your internal customers to ensure your ongoing success. Once you have identified who your internal customers are, you must clearly identify exactly what they need and want from you to ensure their success. It’s not enough to rely on satisfying your goals and objectives, assuming that this will also satisfy your internal customers. Instead, take the time to understand THEIR goals and objectives, the role you play in helping them achieve those objectives, and what you can do to make their job easier. Make customer service your passion and you will be on the road to building strong internal bonds.
Once you’ve identified your internal customers, focus on your interface departments; those groups that may consider you their internal customer. Just as you worked hard to identify the goals and objectives of your internal customers, you should be equally zealous in sharing your goals and objectives with your interface organizations. Chances are, their departmental goals were built without proper input from you and your team, so while they may be well intentioned, they may well be off the mark. Build bonds with these interface organizations by helping them understand how you can help each other. Understand what they do and why they do it and how it blends with what you do.
Once you have these key interfaces secure, you can begin to build your alliances strategically. Understand how your company works, where the new ideas come from, and how change is affected in the organization. Make your contacts in person and personal. Do more than understand the departments. You must understand the people as well. Remember, the business may be the reason for building the bonds, but it’s the people who you must ultimately bond with.
Build strong bonds with the people in your organization so that you always have someone to turn to, and you will find it much easier to be successful at every level.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
The question becomes, how and where do you start building your internal network? It’s just not possible to build strong bonds with everyone, at least not all at once.
I like to think about building bonds in terms of concentric circles, with you and your organization at the center. If you start from the center and build out, you have the best chance of making strong alliances with the people who can help you the most immediately. In addition, these alliances will help you build future alliances as well.
The first step is to determine exactly who your customers are, especially those internal customers that you must satisfy. Depending on where you are in the organization, your internal customers might be the sales organization, an order processing unit, a technical support organization, the operations unit, or even the accounting and finance department. Just like your company has a need to satisfy their external customers to ensure growth, you must have a similar desire to satisfy your internal customers to ensure your ongoing success. Once you have identified who your internal customers are, you must clearly identify exactly what they need and want from you to ensure their success. It’s not enough to rely on satisfying your goals and objectives, assuming that this will also satisfy your internal customers. Instead, take the time to understand THEIR goals and objectives, the role you play in helping them achieve those objectives, and what you can do to make their job easier. Make customer service your passion and you will be on the road to building strong internal bonds.
Once you’ve identified your internal customers, focus on your interface departments; those groups that may consider you their internal customer. Just as you worked hard to identify the goals and objectives of your internal customers, you should be equally zealous in sharing your goals and objectives with your interface organizations. Chances are, their departmental goals were built without proper input from you and your team, so while they may be well intentioned, they may well be off the mark. Build bonds with these interface organizations by helping them understand how you can help each other. Understand what they do and why they do it and how it blends with what you do.
Once you have these key interfaces secure, you can begin to build your alliances strategically. Understand how your company works, where the new ideas come from, and how change is affected in the organization. Make your contacts in person and personal. Do more than understand the departments. You must understand the people as well. Remember, the business may be the reason for building the bonds, but it’s the people who you must ultimately bond with.
Build strong bonds with the people in your organization so that you always have someone to turn to, and you will find it much easier to be successful at every level.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Building Support Through An Internal Network – Part 2
Last week I wrote about how it’s not enough for a new leader to get results in their organization, but that it’s also important to build an internal network. Some people view the concept of an internal network as “office politics” or “sucking up to the man” in an organization. But I believe the importance of an internal network has very little to do with office politics and everything to do with building allegiances that will help you prepare for an ever changing organization.
Numerous studies show that 80 – 90% of your success in life is not the result of how smart you are, but about how well you relate to others around you. We’ve all known brilliant people who no one listens to because they present themselves so poorly. Likewise, we’ve known people who were moderately intelligent, but thrived because of their ability to connect with people, the right people. Making connections and building bonds in an organization is about understanding others and being understood.
In the studies surrounding Emotional Intelligence, experts like Dr. Robert Cooper and Dr. Laura Belsten refer to “Building Bonds” as a key competency under Relationship Management. In simple terms, an emotionally intelligent individual understands the importance of building relationships and routinely seeks out relationships that are mutually beneficial. They understand that it’s not enough to be smart if no one will listen to a thing that you say. And they understand that the key to persuasion lies not in facts and logic, but in the emotional connection with others. According to Dr. Belsten, people who exhibit this competency “can pick up the phone and call anyone in the organization, and know who to call to get answers or to slash through red tape or other obstacles.”
Building bonds inside and outside of your organization pays off in a number of ways. When you have a good, but possibly unpopular, idea and need the buy in and support of your peers and superiors, those bonds will help gain you the support you need. When the business changes and you need help aligning your team, your support network will help you understand and process how those changes will impact you and will prepare you for the new environment. And when mistakes are made, as they invariably are, you can look for support and guidance from those with whom you have built strong relationships.
Contrast this with the “smart loner” who focuses only on themselves and their own team; the person who has not bothered to build the bonds required because they know that they can “get results.” When this same person faces the challenges of building support for an unpopular idea, they will often be left on their own. When the business changes and they need information and support, none is forthcoming. And when mistakes are made, others may actually take some level of solace in their sudden problems.
Clearly the idea of building bonds is an idea that every leader needs to accept. But the question becomes, where do you begin? Who should you begin to build bonds with?
We’ll talk more about that in next week’s edition.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Numerous studies show that 80 – 90% of your success in life is not the result of how smart you are, but about how well you relate to others around you. We’ve all known brilliant people who no one listens to because they present themselves so poorly. Likewise, we’ve known people who were moderately intelligent, but thrived because of their ability to connect with people, the right people. Making connections and building bonds in an organization is about understanding others and being understood.
In the studies surrounding Emotional Intelligence, experts like Dr. Robert Cooper and Dr. Laura Belsten refer to “Building Bonds” as a key competency under Relationship Management. In simple terms, an emotionally intelligent individual understands the importance of building relationships and routinely seeks out relationships that are mutually beneficial. They understand that it’s not enough to be smart if no one will listen to a thing that you say. And they understand that the key to persuasion lies not in facts and logic, but in the emotional connection with others. According to Dr. Belsten, people who exhibit this competency “can pick up the phone and call anyone in the organization, and know who to call to get answers or to slash through red tape or other obstacles.”
Building bonds inside and outside of your organization pays off in a number of ways. When you have a good, but possibly unpopular, idea and need the buy in and support of your peers and superiors, those bonds will help gain you the support you need. When the business changes and you need help aligning your team, your support network will help you understand and process how those changes will impact you and will prepare you for the new environment. And when mistakes are made, as they invariably are, you can look for support and guidance from those with whom you have built strong relationships.
Contrast this with the “smart loner” who focuses only on themselves and their own team; the person who has not bothered to build the bonds required because they know that they can “get results.” When this same person faces the challenges of building support for an unpopular idea, they will often be left on their own. When the business changes and they need information and support, none is forthcoming. And when mistakes are made, others may actually take some level of solace in their sudden problems.
Clearly the idea of building bonds is an idea that every leader needs to accept. But the question becomes, where do you begin? Who should you begin to build bonds with?
We’ll talk more about that in next week’s edition.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Building Support Through An Internal Network
Like many young managers (and some not so young managers as well), I was very focused on getting results from my team. I made sure that our goals and objectives were clear and measurable, I identified the talented people on my team who could get the results that we needed, and I worked to smooth out the processes that might hinder my team from fully succeeding.
Yes, I was the classic example of a “Results Oriented Manager” who had his eyes on the prize and had the strength and determination to ensure that everything went according to plan. Month after month, my managers and I would discuss our results, looking for new and creative ways to increase our productivity, eliminate errors, and make the best use of our people. I would gather my key performers into a room and get their thoughts and insights into what was going well and what wasn’t. I would encourage their thoughts and ideas, unleashing their creativity for finding new ways to improve our performance.
In monthly review meetings with my boss, I could proudly point to my team’s results, every productivity chart trending upwards, and provide insights into what we were seeing, and what we expected to see in coming months. There was no question I could not answer, nor challenge I was not willing to take on.
I’ll bet I’m describing some of you as well.
The challenge with this type of singular focus is not that the results aren’t there; because they clearly are. Instead, the challenge is that, by focusing so narrowly on results, I missed the opportunity to build bridges with my internal customers and partners. Fundamentally, I lived inside of a vacuum where the only thing that mattered was my team’s ability to produce the results that we were charged with producing. And, as long as my results were strong, the fact that I had not built the necessary bridges was not very important. But, in every business there are cycles. The pendulum swings from one extreme to the other. And, while I was good at noticing the business swings, often before they actually happened, I wasn’t always good at detecting the human swings that take place in organizations. And those human swings are much more dangerous than the business swings.
I’ve written a number of times that being a successful manager means understanding that it is no longer about how good you are, but about how good your team is. And the same logic applies at a different level as you begin to emerge as a leader. It seems your success is no longer just about how well your team performs, but how well they perform in conjunction with those teams around them. In other words, it’s not just important that your team produces results, but it’s important that you are aligning yourself properly in the organization as well.
What are the benefits of that alignment and of building support through an internal network?
The benefits are substantial. And I’ll write more about that in the entry next week.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Yes, I was the classic example of a “Results Oriented Manager” who had his eyes on the prize and had the strength and determination to ensure that everything went according to plan. Month after month, my managers and I would discuss our results, looking for new and creative ways to increase our productivity, eliminate errors, and make the best use of our people. I would gather my key performers into a room and get their thoughts and insights into what was going well and what wasn’t. I would encourage their thoughts and ideas, unleashing their creativity for finding new ways to improve our performance.
In monthly review meetings with my boss, I could proudly point to my team’s results, every productivity chart trending upwards, and provide insights into what we were seeing, and what we expected to see in coming months. There was no question I could not answer, nor challenge I was not willing to take on.
I’ll bet I’m describing some of you as well.
The challenge with this type of singular focus is not that the results aren’t there; because they clearly are. Instead, the challenge is that, by focusing so narrowly on results, I missed the opportunity to build bridges with my internal customers and partners. Fundamentally, I lived inside of a vacuum where the only thing that mattered was my team’s ability to produce the results that we were charged with producing. And, as long as my results were strong, the fact that I had not built the necessary bridges was not very important. But, in every business there are cycles. The pendulum swings from one extreme to the other. And, while I was good at noticing the business swings, often before they actually happened, I wasn’t always good at detecting the human swings that take place in organizations. And those human swings are much more dangerous than the business swings.
I’ve written a number of times that being a successful manager means understanding that it is no longer about how good you are, but about how good your team is. And the same logic applies at a different level as you begin to emerge as a leader. It seems your success is no longer just about how well your team performs, but how well they perform in conjunction with those teams around them. In other words, it’s not just important that your team produces results, but it’s important that you are aligning yourself properly in the organization as well.
What are the benefits of that alignment and of building support through an internal network?
The benefits are substantial. And I’ll write more about that in the entry next week.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Trickle Down Customer Satisfaction
“It takes a week to two weeks for employees to start treating customers the same way the employer is treating the employees.” - Sam Walton
Reading this quote from Sam Walton, I can’t help but think about exactly how true this observation is and, yet, how many companies don’t seem to appreciate its meaning. In simple terms, if you treat your employees like a necessary evil, they will in turn treat your customers the same way. Yet, if you value your employees and treat them with kindness and respect then they will treat your customers the same way.
And this issue goes deeper than how they treat the customers because it also reflects the way they will treat each other.
During my career I had two bosses who would qualify as “screamers.” The first boss screamed because he loved the power that came with intimidating people. It gave him great personal satisfaction when people would tiptoe around him, avoid bringing him bad news, and greatly fear being summoned to his office. I worked for this boss when I was fairly young and still impressionable. I was on the job less than 30 minutes when he was screaming at me for something that had gone wrong in my department. Clearly after having been in charge for only 30 minutes whatever had gone wrong was not my fault. But that wasn’t the message. The message was that he was the boss, I was the subordinate, and he was the one in control.
Like I said, I was young and impressionable. It wasn’t very long before I was treating my co-workers exactly the same way I was treated. But that just made sense because many of them worked for the same boss I did and faced the same treatment every day. In retrospect, the whole work environment reminded me of “Lord of the Flies” where being tough was valued, being thoughtful was for wimps, and we measured our worth by how often we “won” in meetings with others.
It was not a very healthy work environment and it took me some time to adapt my ways again when I finally left.
Years later, I worked for another screamer. But this guy was different. He didn’t scream as much for the enjoyment as he did for the fact that he believed this was how people were motivated. His screaming caused people to fear for their jobs. And, since they feared for their jobs, they would work harder. That’s what he sincerely believed.
“The beatings will continue until morale improves.” – unknown
Being older and more experienced, this was a trap that I did not fall into. I had long since figured out that they way I treated my people would directly reflect on the way they treated their peers, subordinates, and our customers. It was very difficult to be treated poorly by my boss and not carry that same treatment through to my subordinates and peers. Needless to say, many of my peers who lacked the emotional intelligence to deal with a screamer did fall into the trap and created organizations where customers, whether internal or external were treated as the enemy.
The simple formula is: happy employees create happy customers. Happy customers buy your products and create happy shareholders. Knowing that the way you treat your employees will indeed trickle down to your customers, what should you be doing in your company to create happy employees?
That’s a question that every company and every leader needs to be asking.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
It’s Not That Simple
I was catching up with an old friend recently and he brought up a couple of challenges in his life that were holding him back. Being a coach, this is a pretty common occurrence for me and I have to be careful to stay in “friend” mode and not go into “coach” mode. As I was listening, I thought to myself: “This just doesn’t seem like that big a deal. I wonder why this is holding him back?”
Eventually I spoke up and offered him a suggestion.
“Well,” he replied, “it’s not that simple.”
At that moment, I began to flash back to early in my career as a manager and leader. I was pretty new at being a leader, but I had a great rapport with my boss and could ask him anything I wanted. There were a number of things that we were doing as a company that I didn’t understand. Sometimes when I asked about these things I would get excellent answers that really helped me learn and grow. But sometimes my questions would be met with, “Well, it’s not that simple.” Whenever I heard that reply I knew my lessons were over because my boss never explained what wasn’t simple.
Eventually, that boss left the company and I found myself working for someone new. And, while our relationship was not as strong, that didn’t stop me from asking questions. Sure enough, a couple of the same topics came up that had met with such resistance from my first boss. But this boss wasn’t reluctant to talk about the reasons that things “weren’t that simple.” The more he talked, the more I learned. And the more I learned, the more I understood. And several of the problems were indeed quite complex; dealing with a lot of different issues and often involving a variety of personalities. I could clearly see why “it’s not that simple” could apply.
But there were other times that the explanations were convoluted, but not complex. And while navigating through these challenges could remind one of a maze, in some cases it seemed like it was a “kiddie maze” and not really all that hard. Of course, I didn’t challenge these statements from my boss. I wasn’t totally comfortable with our relationship. So I just accepted his explanations at face value.
As I progressed as a leader, I continued to hear, “it’s not that simple” on a variety of topics. And clearly, the person making the statement was correct. It really wasn’t that simple. But more and more I began to recognize that this phrase was being used by executives as a way to avoid addressing some issues. It was like an “executive code phrase” that was intended to shut down discussion on a particular topic. But as I became more experienced, I was also less tolerant of issue avoidance and I began to press for details.
It turns out that “it’s not that simple” really means, “For whatever reason, I’m not comfortable with this issue.” In other words, it really WAS that simple, except for some personal baggage being carried around by the executive.
Getting back to my friend, I asked permission to step into the role of coach for just a few minutes. With his permission I began to dig down into his fear. It didn’t take long to uncover his real issue, expose it as a FEAR (False Expectation Appearing Real) and help him realize that his problem really WAS that simple. With his new found knowledge, he was able to quickly eliminate this issue from his life.
Now back to executives; or maybe just back to human beings as a whole. How often are we using the phrase “it’s not that simple” to shield ourselves from confronting a fear (real or imagined) that should be addressed? The next time you find yourself saying, “it’s not that simple,” ask yourself what you are really afraid of.
Maybe it really is just that simple.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Eventually I spoke up and offered him a suggestion.
“Well,” he replied, “it’s not that simple.”
At that moment, I began to flash back to early in my career as a manager and leader. I was pretty new at being a leader, but I had a great rapport with my boss and could ask him anything I wanted. There were a number of things that we were doing as a company that I didn’t understand. Sometimes when I asked about these things I would get excellent answers that really helped me learn and grow. But sometimes my questions would be met with, “Well, it’s not that simple.” Whenever I heard that reply I knew my lessons were over because my boss never explained what wasn’t simple.
Eventually, that boss left the company and I found myself working for someone new. And, while our relationship was not as strong, that didn’t stop me from asking questions. Sure enough, a couple of the same topics came up that had met with such resistance from my first boss. But this boss wasn’t reluctant to talk about the reasons that things “weren’t that simple.” The more he talked, the more I learned. And the more I learned, the more I understood. And several of the problems were indeed quite complex; dealing with a lot of different issues and often involving a variety of personalities. I could clearly see why “it’s not that simple” could apply.
But there were other times that the explanations were convoluted, but not complex. And while navigating through these challenges could remind one of a maze, in some cases it seemed like it was a “kiddie maze” and not really all that hard. Of course, I didn’t challenge these statements from my boss. I wasn’t totally comfortable with our relationship. So I just accepted his explanations at face value.
As I progressed as a leader, I continued to hear, “it’s not that simple” on a variety of topics. And clearly, the person making the statement was correct. It really wasn’t that simple. But more and more I began to recognize that this phrase was being used by executives as a way to avoid addressing some issues. It was like an “executive code phrase” that was intended to shut down discussion on a particular topic. But as I became more experienced, I was also less tolerant of issue avoidance and I began to press for details.
It turns out that “it’s not that simple” really means, “For whatever reason, I’m not comfortable with this issue.” In other words, it really WAS that simple, except for some personal baggage being carried around by the executive.
Getting back to my friend, I asked permission to step into the role of coach for just a few minutes. With his permission I began to dig down into his fear. It didn’t take long to uncover his real issue, expose it as a FEAR (False Expectation Appearing Real) and help him realize that his problem really WAS that simple. With his new found knowledge, he was able to quickly eliminate this issue from his life.
Now back to executives; or maybe just back to human beings as a whole. How often are we using the phrase “it’s not that simple” to shield ourselves from confronting a fear (real or imagined) that should be addressed? The next time you find yourself saying, “it’s not that simple,” ask yourself what you are really afraid of.
Maybe it really is just that simple.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Who's In Charge Here? (continued.....)
In my last couple of posts, I’ve talked about how the person at the top of the organizational chart is not always the leader. Being a leader is really about influencing those around you and influence does not come automatically with a title. At first, this was a bit of a shock to me as I was convinced that since I had been given the promotion and the title, I really was the leader. But then I realized that to recognize the leader I really needed to determine who held the influence in the group.
What does influence look like in an organization?
In simple terms, when the person of influence speaks, others listen. Perhaps it shows up in a time of crisis when the entire team looks to one individual for guidance or inspiration. It can also show up in the creative process and in problem solving. There is generally someone who is the “first among equals” and who everyone wants to include in the discussion. In any event, the person with influence is fairly easy to spot. Of course, you do want to be careful to distinguish technical expertise from leadership influence, but that difference is not too difficult to spot when working with a team.
Most people overlook the fact that leadership is really bestowed on someone not by the management team, but by the team members. You’ve no doubt seen situations where someone was designated as the leader or manager only to be ignored by the rank and file. In reality, the team members are the ones who decide who they are going to follow. If it happens to be the appointed manager, that’s great. But if they don’t deem that person worthy of leading them, they won’t follow. My guess is that if you look back at your own career you can readily think of times when you ignored “the boss” and took your direction from someone else. This is a classic case of the leader and “the boss” not being the same person.
So the person who influences the team is really the leader and the one who is actually in charge. They may not have “signature authority” or the responsibility for writing performance reviews, but they are the unquestioned leader because of the way the team listens to them. They may gain their influence in a couple of different ways. Some people have influence based almost entirely on how long they have been around or because of their technical skills. Others gain influence through threats and intimidation, striking fear into the thoughts of those who dare to oppose them. The third and most powerful group gains influence because of their thoughts and ideas. I say that these are the most powerful because they are the leaders that people willingly following.
As you develop yourself as a leader, think in terms of influence. Do your thoughts and ideas make an impact on the team? Do they listen and like what you have to say? Does the team willingly follow your direction? Do people look to you for guidance and support?
If not, it’s time to give serious thought to what you can do to gain their trust, encourage them to come to you for guidance, and teach them to follow your lead in good times and bad. Remember, when you set yourself up as a person of influence within an organization, you are setting yourself up for a long-term role as their true leader.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
What does influence look like in an organization?
In simple terms, when the person of influence speaks, others listen. Perhaps it shows up in a time of crisis when the entire team looks to one individual for guidance or inspiration. It can also show up in the creative process and in problem solving. There is generally someone who is the “first among equals” and who everyone wants to include in the discussion. In any event, the person with influence is fairly easy to spot. Of course, you do want to be careful to distinguish technical expertise from leadership influence, but that difference is not too difficult to spot when working with a team.
Most people overlook the fact that leadership is really bestowed on someone not by the management team, but by the team members. You’ve no doubt seen situations where someone was designated as the leader or manager only to be ignored by the rank and file. In reality, the team members are the ones who decide who they are going to follow. If it happens to be the appointed manager, that’s great. But if they don’t deem that person worthy of leading them, they won’t follow. My guess is that if you look back at your own career you can readily think of times when you ignored “the boss” and took your direction from someone else. This is a classic case of the leader and “the boss” not being the same person.
So the person who influences the team is really the leader and the one who is actually in charge. They may not have “signature authority” or the responsibility for writing performance reviews, but they are the unquestioned leader because of the way the team listens to them. They may gain their influence in a couple of different ways. Some people have influence based almost entirely on how long they have been around or because of their technical skills. Others gain influence through threats and intimidation, striking fear into the thoughts of those who dare to oppose them. The third and most powerful group gains influence because of their thoughts and ideas. I say that these are the most powerful because they are the leaders that people willingly following.
As you develop yourself as a leader, think in terms of influence. Do your thoughts and ideas make an impact on the team? Do they listen and like what you have to say? Does the team willingly follow your direction? Do people look to you for guidance and support?
If not, it’s time to give serious thought to what you can do to gain their trust, encourage them to come to you for guidance, and teach them to follow your lead in good times and bad. Remember, when you set yourself up as a person of influence within an organization, you are setting yourself up for a long-term role as their true leader.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Who's In Charge Here? (continued.....)
In my last entry, I talked about the first time I discovered that the guy with the title (in this case, me) was not always the real leader. It was kind of shocking to discover this since I thought my title brought leadership with it automatically. I mean, I was on the Organizational Chart, at the top, with a fancy title. Of course I was the leader.
In reality, organizational charts, titles, and salaries have little to do with being a leader. At its simplest level, leadership is about one thing – having followers. John Maxwell likes to say, “If you think you are leading and no one is following, you’re just out taking a walk.”
As it turns out, that’s what I was doing. I was taking a walk, and no one was following me. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to follow me, they did. They liked what I had to say. They thought my ideas were inspirational and that my vision for the department was both worthy and achievable. But they lived in the real world and, in this case, the real world was controlled by the computer operator, not the guy in the office.
It took me a few weeks to realize that they weren’t following me and a little longer to figure out who they actually were following. After that, I was able to determine the source of the computer operator’s influence (intimidation) and eliminate that influence. Once I did that, the team willingly followed me and together we achieved tremendous success. But the real lesson here was that title and authority did not equate to a position as leader; influence did. From that point forward, I began to look around to see who was really in charge in a variety of different scenarios. Whether I was at work, at home, or even in public, I began to notice that the people with the most influence, the people that we were actually following, were often not the same people as those who were supposedly in charge.
As my career progressed, I found that I was increasingly called upon to turn around troubled departments or organizations. Even though I worked for a variety of different people over the years, all seemed to readily acknowledge my ability to sort through process and people issues and turn organizations around. In many ways, I found myself specializing my career not based on my technical skills but on my ability to understand what was important to an organization, to plot a clear course to achieve the right goals, and to put the right people and processes in place to move forward quickly. In short, my job was to assume leadership in a poorly run organization and turn that organization in the right direction.
But, if I was going to assume the leadership role in an organization, I needed to understand what leader I was replacing. And that was often not the person who had the job before me, or the person at the top of the organizational chart. Instead, it was often another employee or manager in the organization.
But who?
That is the ultimate question. And I’ll talk more about how I learned to identify the “real leaders” in the organization in my next entry. Until then, I encourage you to review some of our past blog entries and explore some of our offerings at ECI Learning.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
In reality, organizational charts, titles, and salaries have little to do with being a leader. At its simplest level, leadership is about one thing – having followers. John Maxwell likes to say, “If you think you are leading and no one is following, you’re just out taking a walk.”
As it turns out, that’s what I was doing. I was taking a walk, and no one was following me. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to follow me, they did. They liked what I had to say. They thought my ideas were inspirational and that my vision for the department was both worthy and achievable. But they lived in the real world and, in this case, the real world was controlled by the computer operator, not the guy in the office.
It took me a few weeks to realize that they weren’t following me and a little longer to figure out who they actually were following. After that, I was able to determine the source of the computer operator’s influence (intimidation) and eliminate that influence. Once I did that, the team willingly followed me and together we achieved tremendous success. But the real lesson here was that title and authority did not equate to a position as leader; influence did. From that point forward, I began to look around to see who was really in charge in a variety of different scenarios. Whether I was at work, at home, or even in public, I began to notice that the people with the most influence, the people that we were actually following, were often not the same people as those who were supposedly in charge.
As my career progressed, I found that I was increasingly called upon to turn around troubled departments or organizations. Even though I worked for a variety of different people over the years, all seemed to readily acknowledge my ability to sort through process and people issues and turn organizations around. In many ways, I found myself specializing my career not based on my technical skills but on my ability to understand what was important to an organization, to plot a clear course to achieve the right goals, and to put the right people and processes in place to move forward quickly. In short, my job was to assume leadership in a poorly run organization and turn that organization in the right direction.
But, if I was going to assume the leadership role in an organization, I needed to understand what leader I was replacing. And that was often not the person who had the job before me, or the person at the top of the organizational chart. Instead, it was often another employee or manager in the organization.
But who?
That is the ultimate question. And I’ll talk more about how I learned to identify the “real leaders” in the organization in my next entry. Until then, I encourage you to review some of our past blog entries and explore some of our offerings at ECI Learning.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Who’s in Charge Here?
As a coach, I get paid to ask people questions. I don’t have to have all of the answers. But I do need to be able to identify the most important questions to ask, including the questions that the client may be avoiding answering themselves. This aspect of my job gives me a unique perspective on questions as I am always listening for good questions from others. And, I figured out long ago that the best questions are not the most complicated questions or the one’s that seem to show deep, thoughtful knowledge on a topic. The best questions are often the simplest questions.
I was recently talking about leadership with a friend and he asked me about the most important aspect of leadership. Now, that’s not really a great question for a couple of reasons. First, it’s hard to narrow down THE most important aspect. And, what I think is important may not match what someone else thinks is important for a variety of good reasons. Second, so many aspects of leadership are intertwined that trying to break them out individually and rank them in order of importance leads to circular thinking. After all, what good is being a great communicator (a must for a leader) if you have nothing worth communicating? What good is your ability to build trust and relationships if you really don’t maximize the strengths of others on your team.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
After a few minutes, my friend reworded the question. “Was there a time in your life when you believed that you were failing as a leader?”
That question made me pause and think. Certainly I had my share of leadership challenges along the way; times where I hit stumbling blocks that slowed my progress, but failure?
In 1984, I took over the MIS department for Garfinkels Department stores in Washington, DC. Garfinkels was a very high-end retailer where only the elite shopped. I was hired because of the challenges they were facing in both system development and the Computer Operations Department. And, while my passions lay in fixing and updating their systems, the more immediate problems were with Computer Operations. So I tackled those problems first; diving in from day one to identify bottlenecks, work through the processes, and move my team down the path to success.
Except for one thing.
I was alone.
No one was following me. Oh sure, I had a team of 15 people. But the truth was that they weren’t listening to me. They pretended to. They did what I told them to, sort of. But that was just on the surface. They were doing just enough to show progress and nothing more. I was a captain without a crew, a shepherd without sheep, a leader without followers. In short, I really wasn’t a leader at all because no one was following me.
It took me a few weeks of thought and insights before I realized the source of the problem. It seems that while I was the guy with the title, I was not the guy with the influence. And leadership means influence. While I had the title, there was actually a computer operator about 3 levels down the management chain that held influence over the entire organization. And she was not about to let some yuppie, college educated, suit-wearing weenie tell her or her people what to do. So, while I tried to lead the team in one direction, she silently led them in another.
This was actually a scenario that played itself out over and over again later in my career. Discovering that the person with the title was not necessarily the person with the power was a bit of a shock for me.
I’ll talk more about identifying who really has the power in the organization and how to get it back in next week’s blog.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
I was recently talking about leadership with a friend and he asked me about the most important aspect of leadership. Now, that’s not really a great question for a couple of reasons. First, it’s hard to narrow down THE most important aspect. And, what I think is important may not match what someone else thinks is important for a variety of good reasons. Second, so many aspects of leadership are intertwined that trying to break them out individually and rank them in order of importance leads to circular thinking. After all, what good is being a great communicator (a must for a leader) if you have nothing worth communicating? What good is your ability to build trust and relationships if you really don’t maximize the strengths of others on your team.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
After a few minutes, my friend reworded the question. “Was there a time in your life when you believed that you were failing as a leader?”
That question made me pause and think. Certainly I had my share of leadership challenges along the way; times where I hit stumbling blocks that slowed my progress, but failure?
In 1984, I took over the MIS department for Garfinkels Department stores in Washington, DC. Garfinkels was a very high-end retailer where only the elite shopped. I was hired because of the challenges they were facing in both system development and the Computer Operations Department. And, while my passions lay in fixing and updating their systems, the more immediate problems were with Computer Operations. So I tackled those problems first; diving in from day one to identify bottlenecks, work through the processes, and move my team down the path to success.
Except for one thing.
I was alone.
No one was following me. Oh sure, I had a team of 15 people. But the truth was that they weren’t listening to me. They pretended to. They did what I told them to, sort of. But that was just on the surface. They were doing just enough to show progress and nothing more. I was a captain without a crew, a shepherd without sheep, a leader without followers. In short, I really wasn’t a leader at all because no one was following me.
It took me a few weeks of thought and insights before I realized the source of the problem. It seems that while I was the guy with the title, I was not the guy with the influence. And leadership means influence. While I had the title, there was actually a computer operator about 3 levels down the management chain that held influence over the entire organization. And she was not about to let some yuppie, college educated, suit-wearing weenie tell her or her people what to do. So, while I tried to lead the team in one direction, she silently led them in another.
This was actually a scenario that played itself out over and over again later in my career. Discovering that the person with the title was not necessarily the person with the power was a bit of a shock for me.
I’ll talk more about identifying who really has the power in the organization and how to get it back in next week’s blog.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Lessons Learned – Lessons Forgotten
A few years ago I worked with a client who was looking for more from his team. They weren’t bad he had said, but they weren’t performing at the level he would have liked them to. I did a quick analysis of his team and came back with 4 factors for us to work on together.
1. Providing a vision
2. Defining roles and responsibilities
3. Creating accountability
4. Matching talents with roles
He clearly had a vision for his organization and how it fit into the overall company vision, but his employees were not aware of that vision and, therefore, could not buy into it. He thought the vision was clear, but as is often the case, it was clear only to him. Once we spent some time clarifying his vision and communicating it to his team, there was immediate improvement. Of course, having a clear vision that the team all bought into made it relatively easy to work with the team members and define their specific roles and responsibilities. While they all had their roles established before we started working together, those roles were fluid and were based on what they thought the goal was, rather than the actual goal. Once the roles were identified, we put the measurements in place to ensure that things were progressing and, last but not least, we made sure that we had a good match between the talent on the team and the jobs that needed to be done. It took us a few months to work through all of the details, but it was time well spent. Productivity increased, morale improved, and he began to feel good about his team again.
Flash forward about 3 years and I received a call from this client, again looking for my assistance. He had been promoted and was in a new role. As is often the case with any new boss, he wanted to make some changes in his organization. His vision was somewhat different from his predecessor and he was having challenges bringing it all together. He’d been with his new team for a few months and it wasn’t coming together as quickly as he would have liked.
I spent some time with his team and then sat down with him to discuss the plan for moving forward. I told him it was a 4 step plan:
1. Providing a vision
2. Defining roles and responsibilities
3. Creating accountability
4. Matching talents with roles
It only took a few minutes of discussion for him to realize that these were the exact same 4 items we had worked on together a few years earlier. These were all things that he knew were important, but that he had not taken into account in his new organization.
These were lessons that he had once learned, but somehow forgotten.
And the truth is that this happens to all of us. We learn lessons over time, but somehow forget the things that we learned. And we make the same mistakes all over again. We hire someone really smart and learn a lesson about the value of surrounding ourselves with talent, but then, for our next hire, we look for skills and forget about talent.
We spend the time to plan our project out and it turns into a major success, but then we create the plan for our next project on the back of a napkin. Or worse, the plan is only created in our minds.
We provide someone with honest feedback, presented in a way which shows that we understand them and that we want to help them succeed, and we watch them blossom. Then we turn around and give the next person feedback that hurts their feelings and creates a low sense of self-esteem. And, we watch this person fall apart in front of us.
We all learn lessons in life and yet, somehow, we all forget the lessons we’ve learned and we make the same mistakes all over again. We do it as children, we do it as young adults, and we do it as seasoned professionals. Over time, existing ideas are replaced with newer ideas, and new thoughts replace old ones. And this happens even if the old thoughts are good thoughts, relevant thoughts, important thoughts.
How do you ensure that you’re not repeating your past mistakes?
How do keep those lessons that you’ve learned fresh in your mind?
How do you continue to grow as a person and as a leader?
Often this journey is not one that we take on our own but, rather, with a trusted advisor, mentor, or coach. Having someone to assist you is one of the surest ways to ensure your own success.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
1. Providing a vision
2. Defining roles and responsibilities
3. Creating accountability
4. Matching talents with roles
He clearly had a vision for his organization and how it fit into the overall company vision, but his employees were not aware of that vision and, therefore, could not buy into it. He thought the vision was clear, but as is often the case, it was clear only to him. Once we spent some time clarifying his vision and communicating it to his team, there was immediate improvement. Of course, having a clear vision that the team all bought into made it relatively easy to work with the team members and define their specific roles and responsibilities. While they all had their roles established before we started working together, those roles were fluid and were based on what they thought the goal was, rather than the actual goal. Once the roles were identified, we put the measurements in place to ensure that things were progressing and, last but not least, we made sure that we had a good match between the talent on the team and the jobs that needed to be done. It took us a few months to work through all of the details, but it was time well spent. Productivity increased, morale improved, and he began to feel good about his team again.
Flash forward about 3 years and I received a call from this client, again looking for my assistance. He had been promoted and was in a new role. As is often the case with any new boss, he wanted to make some changes in his organization. His vision was somewhat different from his predecessor and he was having challenges bringing it all together. He’d been with his new team for a few months and it wasn’t coming together as quickly as he would have liked.
I spent some time with his team and then sat down with him to discuss the plan for moving forward. I told him it was a 4 step plan:
1. Providing a vision
2. Defining roles and responsibilities
3. Creating accountability
4. Matching talents with roles
It only took a few minutes of discussion for him to realize that these were the exact same 4 items we had worked on together a few years earlier. These were all things that he knew were important, but that he had not taken into account in his new organization.
These were lessons that he had once learned, but somehow forgotten.
And the truth is that this happens to all of us. We learn lessons over time, but somehow forget the things that we learned. And we make the same mistakes all over again. We hire someone really smart and learn a lesson about the value of surrounding ourselves with talent, but then, for our next hire, we look for skills and forget about talent.
We spend the time to plan our project out and it turns into a major success, but then we create the plan for our next project on the back of a napkin. Or worse, the plan is only created in our minds.
We provide someone with honest feedback, presented in a way which shows that we understand them and that we want to help them succeed, and we watch them blossom. Then we turn around and give the next person feedback that hurts their feelings and creates a low sense of self-esteem. And, we watch this person fall apart in front of us.
We all learn lessons in life and yet, somehow, we all forget the lessons we’ve learned and we make the same mistakes all over again. We do it as children, we do it as young adults, and we do it as seasoned professionals. Over time, existing ideas are replaced with newer ideas, and new thoughts replace old ones. And this happens even if the old thoughts are good thoughts, relevant thoughts, important thoughts.
How do you ensure that you’re not repeating your past mistakes?
How do keep those lessons that you’ve learned fresh in your mind?
How do you continue to grow as a person and as a leader?
Often this journey is not one that we take on our own but, rather, with a trusted advisor, mentor, or coach. Having someone to assist you is one of the surest ways to ensure your own success.
At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees
When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.
Until next time.....
Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
Monday, July 20, 2009
Leadership and Emotional Intelligence
In last week’s blog (The Single Most Important Leadership Lesson Ever) I introduced you to the concept of Emotional Intelligence. In short, I demonstrated that those bosses who had the most positive impact on your life were usually not the most technically brilliant or even technically competent bosses, but those that touched you in an emotionally positive way.
When I introduce the term Emotional Intelligence (EI) to executives in workshops, I’m often met with a series of chuckles and guffaws. “I never thought I’d see the words emotional and intelligence used together in the same sentence” they say. “Aren’t those a contradiction in terms?” is another common retort.
So what is Emotional Intelligence?
In short, Emotional Intelligence is your ability to understand and manage yourself and others around you, knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, identifying what you do well and don’t do well, and relating to the world around you through your emotions.
In other words, how well do you know yourself? How well do you manage yourself? How well do you understand others? How well do you manage the emotions of others?
Here is a rather shocking statistic: 95% of your long term success at the executive level will not be the result of how smart you are, but rather of how well you manage the emotions of those around you.
The primary reason for careers stalling on the way up, or for executives failing in their roles, are directly related to Emotional Intelligence. When an executive possesses these skills (knowingly or unknowingly) they are taking full advantage of themselves and the talented people around them. When they don’t possess these skills, they are limited by their own intelligence. And while they may be highly intelligent, none of us is as smart as all of us.
Let’s take a brief look at how and why this happens.
As you start your career you are an individual contributor. As an individual contributor, you have a certain amount of control over your destiny. The smarter you are, the better you perform your job. The better you perform your job the sooner you are promoted to a higher level position, including that of a supervisor.
As a supervisor, you are somewhat dependent on those around you to accomplish their tasks and complete their assignments on time and with the appropriate level of accuracy. But should they fail, you have the personal expertise to understand what went wrong, why it went wrong, and you can even fix the problem yourself. So even as a supervisor you have a lot of control over your future. If your team performs poorly, you can often make up for it through your personal efforts. Ideas for improvements and changes may come from the team members, but more often than not, they come from the supervisors themselves. Hence your ability to control your fate is still largely in your own hands. And, if you do well, you can and will be promoted to manager.
This is where things begin to change.
More on this next time.....
Dave
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
When I introduce the term Emotional Intelligence (EI) to executives in workshops, I’m often met with a series of chuckles and guffaws. “I never thought I’d see the words emotional and intelligence used together in the same sentence” they say. “Aren’t those a contradiction in terms?” is another common retort.
So what is Emotional Intelligence?
In short, Emotional Intelligence is your ability to understand and manage yourself and others around you, knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, identifying what you do well and don’t do well, and relating to the world around you through your emotions.
In other words, how well do you know yourself? How well do you manage yourself? How well do you understand others? How well do you manage the emotions of others?
Here is a rather shocking statistic: 95% of your long term success at the executive level will not be the result of how smart you are, but rather of how well you manage the emotions of those around you.
The primary reason for careers stalling on the way up, or for executives failing in their roles, are directly related to Emotional Intelligence. When an executive possesses these skills (knowingly or unknowingly) they are taking full advantage of themselves and the talented people around them. When they don’t possess these skills, they are limited by their own intelligence. And while they may be highly intelligent, none of us is as smart as all of us.
Let’s take a brief look at how and why this happens.
As you start your career you are an individual contributor. As an individual contributor, you have a certain amount of control over your destiny. The smarter you are, the better you perform your job. The better you perform your job the sooner you are promoted to a higher level position, including that of a supervisor.
As a supervisor, you are somewhat dependent on those around you to accomplish their tasks and complete their assignments on time and with the appropriate level of accuracy. But should they fail, you have the personal expertise to understand what went wrong, why it went wrong, and you can even fix the problem yourself. So even as a supervisor you have a lot of control over your future. If your team performs poorly, you can often make up for it through your personal efforts. Ideas for improvements and changes may come from the team members, but more often than not, they come from the supervisors themselves. Hence your ability to control your fate is still largely in your own hands. And, if you do well, you can and will be promoted to manager.
This is where things begin to change.
More on this next time.....
Dave
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/
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