Insight – Leadership and the eyes of the poet

August 16, 2013 ~ Orlando Ceaser

I believe that I can learn from everybody and everything. Therefore everybody and everything can teach me something. That is sometimes the mantra of a poet. They are in search of understanding and an opportunity to contribute in a manner that is a valuable and hopefully, a unique expression of insight.

Insight is described by business dictionary.com as a combination of feedback and knowledge.

“1. Feedback; ideas about the true nature of something In business, product testing sessions are used to gather insight from people with different backgrounds, experiences and feelings, with the intent of finding out how consumers may respond.
2. Knowledge in the form of perspective, understanding, or deduction. Someone may come up with an insight after a long period of thought, or suddenly out of thin air as in an epiphany or sudden understanding. “Management had the insight to decrease its expenses amid falling sales before a scheduled earnings release, so that the company would be viewed in a more favorable light.”

Poets use their senses to cultivate their insight to gain a better understanding and appreciation of their world. They can be introspective, sensitive and deep thinkers able to view a situation from many perspectives. They like to experiment with different approaches in search of a fresh thought.

A poet’s insight is used to teach panoramic thinking. They use magnification and peripheral vision to evaluate many sides to an issue, problem, project or situation. Magnification allows them to see things on a different level and expose certain aspects that were never considered. This poetic viewpoint can therefore, help in brainstorming and innovative thinking sessions, whether alone or in groups. Leadership should capture this brilliance and use it achieve the vision and the mission.

Poets learn to;

• Deal with being different,
• Be reflective, alone and sometimes not appreciated
• Explore different approaches to achieve the ideal word painting
• Use ordinary objects to state their case or make a point
• Constructively use their mind and their senses
• Use memory mechanisms to recall lines, associations and patterns
• Develop an appreciation for the entire object
• Give voice to the other side of a situation or issue
• Search for another perspective
• and expressing inner feelings
• Take an inward journey of discovery to increase self awareness
• Use of structure and routines to organize thoughts
• Use journals, diaries and notebooks to record their observation and thoughts

The poet has inspirational words for winning, has a vocabulary for victory and can speak effectively against the pervasive language of losing. You want them linked to the vision and mission of the organization. Their words will immortalize and internalize the vision, mission and purpose. A poet summed up the vision and the spirit of the company by starting each day with a message to his wife, “I am going to save a life today.” He was a successful pharmaceutical sales representative.

The poet may be the introvert in the room, deriving their energy from absorbing everything around them and processing it later in the day. They are the creative ones, who are insightful, observing and analyzing problems. They may see things that others don’t see, mainly because they are looking. In my book the Isle of knowledge, I tell a story about my friend Buttons from my childhood. During our walks around streets and alleys on the West side of Chicago, Buttons was always finding money and other things of value. I tried to match his skill with little success. His secret was that he was always looking down and therefore, had a greater opportunity to find things. He was looking where the treasure was located. The poet is always looking for treasure in the places where they reside.
Poets are always observing, always using their senses, connected and involved in the world around them. A poet likes to experiment. She is always working with different styles, words, formats, illustrations and images. You need to find them and include them in the high-performance functioning of your team.

You may have heard that poetry and business to not go together. However, if leaders practice this reality it may hinder you in identifying and harnessing this valuable human resource. This power, if channeled properly, will improve the culture within your business.

You want to know the poets, because this knowledge can cause an exponential rise in productivity. Leveraging their talent will help you unlock your greatness. You can utilize this talent within yourself and produce a chain reaction of the skill in others. Max De Pree, former CEO of the Herman Miller furniture company, tells a story in his book Leadership is an art, which is a part of the Herman Miller company history. One day the founder of Howard Miller went to the house of a recently deceased employee. The man’s job was a millwright for his furniture company. While visiting his home, the widow asked if the young manager would mind if she read some poetry aloud. After listening to her read beautiful poetry he asked the author of the work. She replied that it was her husband, the millwright. At that moment the young manager wondered,” was he a poet who did millwright’s work, or was he a millwright who wrote poetry?

Max Dupree goes on to say,” understanding and accepting diversity enables us to see that each of us is needed. It also enables us to begin to think about being abandoned to the strengths of others, of admitting that we cannot know nor do everything. This simple act of recognizing diversity in corporate life helps us to connect the great variety of gifts that people bring to the work and service of the organization.” Unlocking your diversity greatness means you are maximizing the creative talent within yourself and the members of your team. This will help you extract and multiply the greatness around you.

The poet was always looking for ways to explore other opinions, described the people and environments in a new way and using language to encourage and celebrate success. The poet may not actually use the gift to write words of verse or disclose this talent of others. However, it is evident in the way they go through life and perform their vocation. They have a desired to find a creative outlet, especially if their skills cannot be used at work.

It is crucial and beneficial to view the world through the eyes of the poet. Their insight is talent on your team that can add to your success and overall effectiveness. Leaders must recognize the poetic perspective as an aspect of diversity and the ways people present themselves at work which could make the world a better place.

High roads and burning bridges – Revenge is not an option

July 30, 2013 ~ Orlando Ceaser

One of the hardest words of advice to accept is to take the high road. Someone has wronged you, you are deeply upset, angry, yet someone tries to talk you out of revenge.” You don’t want to burn any bridges,” they also might add to their words of wisdom. You pause for a moment, take a deep breath and realize they are telling the truth. You remember people who sabotaged their own careers to get back at someone. One manager was relentless in his pursuit of a former employee whom he felt did not deserve her job. He stepped over the line in slandering her and was demoted.

Employees are sometimes convinced that the company made a mistake when they hired or promoted someone or when they acted unjustly against them. They wanted to force the company to admit their mistake. In reality, the organization rarely admits questionable decisions due to an error in judgment.
When a person is hired or promoted and you disagree with the decision, there is a strategy you should implement. Additionally, in most infractions on the job, revenge is not advisable. You must receive satisfaction in knowing that justice will prevail, even though you may not be the instrument of that justice. It is best to help the person succeed and recruit them as an advocate. This is otherwise known as, taking the high road.

Don’t pass up a golden opportunity to take the high road, which is often the only productive path available. The high road must be taken, not necessarily out of nobility, but as a strategic element in career survival and growth.

The high road has several advantages. By its very name and nature, it is elevated above the fray, transcending the nonsense and is moving in a positive direction. It has positive visibility and magnetically attracts people to you. When you take the high road there are people in your corner sympathetic to your position. They are your advocate’s. When someone is promoted over you, the high road is lined with people giving you words of encouragement.

If you choose an alternative route, such as driving of the person from your organization; when the person quits, they will confirm your role in undermining their success. This cannot be good for you. You have cost the company money, resources, time and reputation. This will work against your being promoted anytime in the near future. You have effectively elected to burn bridges. If you thought the person leaving the organization would work to your benefit, you are sadly mistaken. Your actions will expose you as not being a team player, petty, jealous and not worthy of a leadership position. Rarely does a person who orchestrated a mutiny or underground dissension get rewarded. That is one of the unwritten rules.

You will be further away from your job with a bad mark against your name. You would have succeeded in poisoning the minds of other employees, which is not the sign of someone considered as management or leadership material. Your worst case scenario is further complicated by resigning from the organization and launching a negative PR campaign. This version of burning bridges can also be, counterproductive. Whereas you may look like a martyr, you are once again viewed as petty, jealous and unworthy of a leadership position.

The road to leadership can be very complicated. There are events along the pathway which stimulate positive and negative emotions within you. Your instinct may say to the strike out against a person or institution for revenge, justice or personal satisfaction. However it is often prudent to suppress these emotions. When you are standing at a fork in the road and one of the branches is elevated and the other is the low road, choose wisely. We are in a world filled with connections and interdependence; burning a bridge may seem like a good idea in the moment, but you may ultimately want to go back down that path. The high road has been proven to be the most judicious route for maintaining your dignity and reaching your destiny.

Leadership and the Ozone Layer – Getting business results without the heat

July 12, 2013 ~ Orlando Ceaser

Managers often talk about the heat generated in many organizations by their superiors. A solar fire storm comes down from on high, whenever Senior Leaders are dissatisfied with results. These measures vary within companies, but usually relate to financial outcomes. When pressured, these leaders want immediate improvement. Their words may be indelicate with crude language and their words and demeanor may be threatening. This intimidating method of getting higher performance has been successful in the past and is a knee jerk reaction to falling profits.

Employees of these fire wielding executives need an ozone layer, like the one that circles the Earth. Science classes from the past and the current discussions on climate change make us aware of the ozone layer. The American Heritage Science dictionary defines it as “A region of the upper atmosphere containing relatively high levels of ozone, located mostly within the stratosphere. It absorbs large amounts of solar ultraviolet radiation, preventing it from reaching the Earth’s surface.” It is essentially a protective layer that prevents the full burst of the sun’s rays from striking the Earth. The earth’s ozone layer does not filter out all of the heat, just the harmful ultra violet rays.

The ozone layer in our context can also be described as a supportive culture that protects employees from intimidation and excessive pressure from people in authority. The ozone layer metaphor is useful in many areas of our lives, but we will use it in a business context.

Like the Earth’s ozone layer, a business ozone layer working effectively, can effectively protect the organizational culture and the results for which leadership is accountable. Middle managers jobs are based on their ability to implement strategy and tactics to achieve share holder and stake holder value. In organization where senior leaders employ an intimidating management style, their managers may be required to serve as the ozone layer for their people.

Managers as effective leaders must regulate the heat to see that if falls appropriately. They know their personnel and realize that some individuals in the organization may need a hole in this ozone layer to feel the additional heat. If they are not performing properly they cannot be pampered and allowed to give less than their best. Some people may need to be shocked into working at expected levels. This must be done in the context of a respectful workplace and honoring them without bullying, intimidation or harassment. There may be a window in the ozone layer to allow them to be excised from the organization, as skillfully as a surgical strike with a laser beam.

When the solar winds cascade down the leadership chain the Middle managers feel the full brunt of the energy surge. One manager recalls being told, “If you are not tough enough to get the job done, we will replace you with someone who will.” Threats are generally a part of the vocabulary of solar expectations. Fear is believed to be a potent motivator. For years we have learned that the KITA (Kick in the Ass) approach only works temporarily and the stick part of the “carrot and stick” approach also has limited sustainability. When people can leave an organization, they will leave if their current organization abuses these methods.

The middle managers know their people are hard working and that some of the shortfall in performance is a shared responsibility. Leaders and the rank and file may have under estimated the size of the challenge. It is therefore, a shared responsibility to fix the problem. Local leaders modify the threats in the message for they realize the negative effect it has on morale and productivity. They know from recent literature that positive expectations and clear focus will allow people to think better. What are needed are calm minds to solve the problems. These leaders therefore, form a force field around their people to shield and buffer them from a direct hit. They usually;

• Gather their teams together and explain the dire situation around performance
• Evaluate the current state to determine how they got there
• Brain storm ideas and establish a list of things they should stop or start doing
• Work to develop strategies and tactics to improve sales and financial performance
• Adjust the tone of the demands from Senior leadership, while developing solutions to address the concerns of upper management

The company achieves its objectives due to the passionate, insightful work of the managers and their teams. People recognize that they dodged a solar bullet and everything is fine until the next crisis.

When Senior Leadership sees the positive results; the reversal of negative trends, increased market share, they are pleased and complimentary. However, they are convinced that their firebombing directives caused the change. Senior leadership are prepared to reach for the flame thrower and use whatever draconian methods necessary to keep their organizations focused on reaching the results required to keep share holders happy. Therefore, with the next crisis they can be predicted to respond the same way, but with greater intensity.

A solution

If the practice of leaders in your organization is to respond the same way to every crisis, the objective should be to eliminate or minimize the number of crises. It is incumbent upon leaders to keep their teams always anticipating competitive and market pressures to prevent the initial crisis. Otherwise the fire drill will repeat itself and they may not be able to blunt the impact and consequences. This will require a change in mindset at all levels of the organization.

All leaders, including middle managers should control the area within their jurisdiction. They should;

• Ensure that their people exceed their stretch goals
• Conduct simulations and “What if” drills to anticipate competitive responses
• Develop a “What else” mindset directed toward other things they should do to tackle or prevent a problem. This mindset will also help generate and evaluate alternative solutions
• Monitor competitive activities
• Ensure that customers are steadily assessed and surveyed to determine their level of satisfaction
• Highly value customer service and customer surveillance as a high priority to provide the kind of market intelligence needed to make better decisions

Leadership needs to construct an environment of innovation and a culture that inspires people to give their best and offer solutions with fear of reprisal and ridicule. Trust and respect will go a long way toward eliminating a culture of fear and intimidation and ultimately produce the ideas and innovations needed to exceed objections.

The ozone layer should be a part of the corporate culture. This will prevent the untoward effects of leadership striking the panic button and forgetting everything they learned about motivating people and driving behavior. Or it will ensure that local measures are put in place to achieve the objectives of senior leaders without torching and scorching the very people responsible for correcting the problems and creating the solutions.

The Company is last – Sacrificed for personal gain – Part 2 of 2

June 4, 2013 ~ Orlando Ceaser

Team

The third dimension uses the team as a factor in selecting talent. Who can work with the team or who is best to lead the team? Blind obligation to the protégé has allowed the wrong person to be hired to manage a team. Incompetent managers destroy a team by firing or chasing away strong talent. So, it is important to wisely consider the impact of a new person on the team. One manager was complemented and received accolades / rave reviews for clearing out the alleged deadwood in his new District. The entire team of nine people could not have been dead weight, especially when some were recently star performers in national contests.

Individuals who hire or promote properly with the team in mind, ultimately make decisions that benefit team and company. If a team is lacking a certain skill set, it is prudent to hire and bring that into the group. The rationale of helping the team function stronger to reach their objectives is an outstanding method of managing / leading the team. It is also, prudent to train appropriate people with the aptitude on the team, to develop these skills.

There are countless examples of high performing teams receiving a new manager. The team performance plummeted when the new person arrived. This happens in sports and in business. The ability of the leader to bring out the best is a talent that should not be undervalued.

Larry Brown, the professional basketball coach was a phenomenal teacher. When he was give a team with young eager players who wanted to learn the basics of professional basketball he excelled. When given a team of veterans his results were not as spectacular. The veterans would view him as a micromanager and his constant instruction was not well accepted. Superstars will blossom in a different system, with a coach who knows how to appropriately challenge them.

If a manager is hired who does not use the right style the team does not develop to its potential and the team and the organization suffers. Regardless of the talent, considering who is best for the team is a valuable tactic in accelerating results. So often we expect the team to conform to the manager or else leave the organization, but it may be wise to hire the manager to match the talent or the team.

Conversely, managers have declined to hire the right person because members of the team were biased in giving feedback about the candidate. Men have said no to women candidates because it might change the culture of their team, especially their meetings. Generation X and Generation Y at a stage of their development were viewed in a negative light. Incumbents felt threatened by their perceived technological advantage and being low on experience, otherwise known as wet behind the ears.

Minorities have been denied access to teams because the manager did not think they would fit in well. A manager has to be mindful in making decisions that are good for the team, but not at the expense of the company’s competitive positive in the marketplace.

Organization

The fourth perspective is who is best for the organization. This should weigh heavily on the minds of the managers / leaders. After all, the company is the reason for selecting talent in order to serve the needs of their clients. This is a prime area where the business case for diversity plays an important role.

Diversity of thought, ideas and perspectives are a valuable asset to any organization. Diversity of age, race, ethnicity and gender are excellent surrogates for diversity of thought. People are different, with different interests and influences which gives them a different perspective. This is vitally important in solving problems in a new way.

If a manager is insecure, they may not like to be questioned, so they use an autocratic, “because I said so style.” They view questions as challenges and may squelch, denigrate or punish those who do not abide by the status quo. She understands the status quo. They view those who persistently question as trouble makers and traitors to the rich tradition of the group.

New managers are prone to this since they have not developed confidence in their competence. Veteran managers are not immune to this predicament for they may feel authority is being threatened, when they are questioned. A company is held hostage if these practices diminish or stymie creative expression. Innovation is necessary to survive in a competitive environment, where similar or superior products are vying for the client’s attention and business.

In a global market place, ripe with generational variation and ethnic/racial diversity, organizations that display this richness may be poised to attract and retain talent and business.

A competitive advantage can be gained by expressing cultural awareness and competency in a business setting. Sometimes you don’t want to be at a competitive disadvantage by a lack of diversity, especially if the competition is portrayed as having better managers.

The four perspectives should be considered in decision making. A manager might focus on the first two steps at their peril. The team and the organization become secondary and morale and the monetary consequences are detrimental to the business. Managers must be held accountable for decisions, so that they ultimately benefit the organization and the shareholders.

An over reliance on steps one and two manifest itself in poor morale, lower employee engagement scores on internal surveys and higher turnover rates. Individuals may not apply to your company, nor interview for a position, or join your company if they find out you have a poor reputation for employee development or have a toxic climate. Candidates are very astute in their research. A manager questioned extensively by a candidate to make sure she was applying for the current manager, rather than the correct territory. She had heard about a particular manager’s harsh management style and she wanted to avoid him.

Focus on the protégé only has enabled incompetence to destroy many teams, lose customers and increased the number of lawsuits for harassment and discrimination. Team focus should not be heavily focused on maintaining the status quo if it has become stagnant and inflexible.

Candidates have gone to other companies and employees quit to join the competition because of a toxic climate and the manager’s insistence to hire and stay with a manager exhibiting pernicious managerial malpractice.

Consider the competition and how they utilize the four perspectives. Do they make decisions based on team and organizational benefits? Are they stuck in personal benefits and rewarding the protégés? Are their decisions for the business, such as minimal customer interruptions, more veteran representatives, competent management to develop the people and the business.

When discussing hiring and promotion decisions with managers, ask the following questions; “How does the person benefit the team and the organization? What skills are they bringing forth that match the needs of the team and what strategy did they disclose that shows an understanding of working to bring out the talents of a diverse team of employees. You really need to know how they are uniquely qualified to add significantly to the bottom line and what in their past or their interview comments convinced you that they are the best person for the job.

The Company is last – Sacrificed for personal gain – Part 1of 2

May 30, 2013 ~ Orlando Ceaser

Managers are hired to grow the organization, protect Company interests, steward its resources and provide value to share holders / stake holders. They achieve this by making decisions that benefit themselves personally, individuals they like, their team or the overall organization. When these decisions are made for the right reasons, everyone wins.

Some people treat Company interests as a latter option. They disregard their primary responsibility and make decisions that may harm the corporation in the long run. This mindset is present in people of power, whether serving as a manager, coach, or politician. My focus for this article will be on those serving as a manager or leader.

These individuals in question view resources, influence and assets as their private property. They selfishly make decisions to stroke their personal egos, enrich their bank accounts and advance their personal careers and the careers of their minions.

Let us discuss the decision making practices of many managers when selecting candidates for hire or promotion as an example of this behavior. There are four perspectives and the company may be last. The four perspectives are:

• Personal
• Protégé
• Team
• Organization

Personal

The personal perspective is highly visible in selecting talent. Manager’s with this dominant mode will hire and promote in their image. The candidate reminds them of themselves when they were that age. Also, they have attributes that remind them of someone they admire. Managers select people based on comfort, familiarity and personal identification. They can relate to the attributes shared in common. They feel the person has the potential to do well and they may personally receive accolades for hiring / promoting such a fine talent.

These opportunities are often blatant examples of nepotism because these individuals are in the same club, group, fraternity, sorority or ethnic or racial group. The person is elevated in stature due to an affiliation of some sorts. The candidate presumably has the qualifications, but affiliation or identification on some level compels them to advocate their candidacy.

The idea of reciprocity comes to mind. Someday the person may repay the favor and help them in some manner. The manager may offer the job to a friend of a friend or the referral of a very important person. The concept is to place the job in the hands of someone who owes them and may pay dividends in the future. There is hope that someone will be grateful for this act of generosity and show their gratitude at the appropriate moment with the appropriate stipend.

The personal focus of this perspective is also evident in their daily practices. A person gains accolades for developing a new program. Mind you, a recently introduced program was not given an adequate chance to work. They therefore, convinced the company to make a make a large financial investment in their new program. They do not want credit for implementing someone’s program, so they develop their own. If this happens frequently, it does not allow the company to establish their brand identity due to the revolving door of new managers with new programs to fit their personal agendas.

The perceived personal benefit is the driving force behind their actions. The manager in this mindset is hiring for personal gain, image and reputation. They are executing their job with a short term personal focus on their career. They will duplicate expenditures; make poor decisions and institute practices that may actually cost the company more money, time and resources.

Protégé

People immersed in the protégé mindset are influenced by what is best for the candidate, rather than the company. These candidates may be worthy people, with a compelling story. The manager feels an obligation to help them complete their story, by making the path easier or more open for them. The manager wants to accelerate the person’s learning curve, but the effect may be catastrophic for the corporate culture.

People are placed on a fast track program. They are placed on a short term basis in a series of departments to give them exposure to the company quickly. This allows the person to check off a box that they have experience in various disciplines. The concept makes sense, but they are never in one department long enough to fully understand how it works. Additionally, they are not there long enough to have an impact on the business and to make a significant contribution. They are viewed as lame ducks or worse, someone passing through on their way to the top with an opportunity reserved for a select few.

The protégé mindset espouses that potential will eventually lead to qualifications, but there is collateral damage when following this approach.

In this category, someone may get a job because of who they know, influence plays a role in their hiring or promotion. Patronage and favoritism are focused on the person who may become the protégé.

When there are problems with the protégé, the hiring managers becomes protective, since they are responsible for the hire. They take it personally and defend the new person. They are prone to ignore criticism, justify the poor performance by blaming others and circumstances. They will castigate the messengers who bring bad news about poor performance, regarding their hiring / promotional choice.

The protégé mindset is replete with hiring friends and family members. The CEO of a Charter School was reprimanded when they found many of his family members on the company payroll in key positions. City governments are notorious for this practice.

Managing Up – Part 2 (The Manager’s Perspective)

March 12, 2013 ~ Orlando Ceaser

Managers can recount individuals and situations where they felt employees did an excellent job of managing up. The person did not seem manipulative, arrogant or self-centered regarding their career. They demonstrated many of the attributes mentioned earlier in the “Do” category and did not participate in the “Don’t” area at all. Many times they shared similar interests, but were not clones or mini me’s from the Austin Powers movie. They direct reports contained some of the following qualities;

Brought something intriguing to the table, with special qualities or contributions
Provided information about the job, concerning the workplace and on the industry
Reliable and could be counted on to follow through on assignments
Performed their jobs well, exceeding expectations
Took an interest in the manager’s job
Make the manager and the team look good, drawing rave reviews from many in senior leadership
Authentic in their approach to the job and their clients
Could be trusted to tell the truth regardless of the consequence

The manager is the manager because they like to get things accomplished. They are aware that some people are inauthentic in relating to them. Because the manager has input into hiring, performance reviews, compensation and terminations, employees tend to be guarded even when they have an open door policy. Many employees genuinely stated their opinions and intentions, whereas others are playing games, telling a manager what they think they want to hear, to win praise and recognition.

The Know System™ for decision-making was featured in the book, The Isle of Knowledge (available on http://www.amazon.com). The Isle of Knowledge is a fable set in the South Pacific with the hero on a journey of enlightenment, to better decisions. He is mesmerized by the journey and the inhabitants on his quest to ask the right questions to make better decisions. The Isle of Knowledge contains a methodology to help people manage up in an easy to follow series of questions.

The Know System is based on the word Know. If you use the four letters in the word Know you will have a system to gather information. Take out a sheet of paper or your computer, smart phone or tablet. Write Know at the top of the page or screen. Begin writing the words that come to mind. Be generous with the rules, but only use the letters from Know. You will arrive at the following words that are useful for this exercise;

Know, Won, Now, No, On, Own, OK, Ow, Wo, Wok, KO

Know

A skillful employee will start off asking questions to learn about themselves (self-awareness) and their manager. What do they know and what do they need to know? They may use Who, What, Where, Why, When and How to gather the information they need on personal and manager goals, values and interests. Who can give them information on the manager when they are conducting their interviews to learn about the manager’s habits and history?

Won

Self awareness will give them their goals and objectives. If they managed up effectively, what would their world look like? How would they feel, what would they gain from it? How can they make it a win / win where the individual and manager’s goals are reached?

Now

What are they doing now to manage up? Are their techniques the right ones? Are their techniques consistent with their goals? Are there aspects of their performance and personality that are forming a barrier? Are they operating with the right priorities and set of objectives?

We recognize there are some things they must remove from their activity list. They must say ‘No” to some things. They cannot say yes to everything and reach their goals. They may reach burnout unless guidelines are put in place. There are sections that are frowned upon by your manager; you may feel it is advantageous to be on the same wavelength. There are procedures you have said yes to that requires a change of heart and direction.

You must be on at all times. Authenticity is required as we stated earlier, but you must also be persistent and consistent. When you are on message, on target and on fire, you create a barrier to ward off those elements that try to distract you. There are negative people who will try to bring you down as well as your manager; you need to make sure you don’t inadvertently toss your manager under the bus.

Own

You will be held accountable for your actions. You are responsible for your career and your daily performance. The relationship with the manager is largely up to you. If you adopt this mindset, you will take the necessary steps to make it a success.

OK, Ow & Wo

If you are doing a poor job at managing up, this Ok performance is not satisfactory in the long-term. Jim Collins in his book Good to Great said “Good is the enemy of excellence.’ If good is the enemy, Ok cannot be far behind. The only time Ok is satisfactory is on a checklist. If you have a list of the areas you want to cover, to manage up effectively, OK will work marvelously, as a confirmation that an item is completed.

Ow is the sound we make when we are in pain. Sometimes pain says we are doing the wrong thing or we are doing the thing wrong. Pain also is the discomfort we go through anytime we do something different or we change. Some of the strategies in managing up maybe new and difficult and the awkward nature may seem painful. Soon they will be a part of your repertoire and beneficial in helping you manage up.

Wo is the sound you hear when people want to slow down a horse. This can apply to us, if we are going too fast, implementing too many techniques. You may need to reduce the list to a manageable number of actions and only add when you mastered a few at a time.

Wok

Sometimes you have to stir things up a bit when you institute variety and change. Just because you have always acted a certain way does not mean that you always have to act that way. Variety is the spice of life and makes flexibility a breath of fresh air. Innovative techniques are ways to endear you to a manager and become an indispensable part of her inner circle.

If you are not successful at managing up, it is safe to say, your failure could knock you out of the running for whatever goal you want to accomplish.

Managing up is a skill set that is built on relationships and high performance. You may institute many of these practices and still not be invited into the manager’s inner circle. You may try them and the relationship with your manager is still distant and cold, but it is your responsibility to make every effort to make this work. The manager has a lot of power and influence over many aspects of your career. You can make a difference in showing them you are an indispensable member of the team, who rallies to make them look good, has their back and able to help them achieve their goals and objectives.

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Working your way out of a promotion

February 26, 2013 ~ Orlando Ceaser

He was a tireless worker, delivering results above and beyond the call of duty. He was one of the top sales people; a legend in the sales organization. He boasted about the number of hours spent on the job and the number of customer calls made. He wanted to impress management with his work ethic, unyielding dedication to the job and the company. However, his managers were arriving at a startling conclusion. Whereas, they marveled at his drive, stamina and dedication, they were worried about his self-imposed workload; they could not risk promoting him to be a manager.

Jack thought he was impressing people in power, but he was sabotaging his career. Managers speak about greater production and engagement. He had both of these attributes at very high levels. Prevailing wisdom said, “There is no way we can make him a manager. He would expect others to work as hard as he does. He would kill people or chase them away.”

The management team also thought that it would be hard to replace his production. He was performing the work of two people. He was inadvertently destined to become an “individual contributor,” for as long as he was an employee. The individual contributor label made it virtually impossible for him to shed for it meant he was not seen as management material. Jack was ambitious. This moniker was devastating to him. He tried several tactics to change the reputation he had earned. His strategy was to model his behavior after other hard-working superstars. He had to answer questions, “What was hard work?” and “What was excessive?”

In today’s marketplace, he would not stand out as much, because everyone is being asked to do more with less and to allow their job to encroach upon their personal space. Nonetheless, people are still being denied promotions because of an excessive work ethic and perceived lack of flexibility. The advice received by Jack and others like him can be useful for workaholics and other ambitious employees.

Work / life balance

Convey a balanced life when discussing your home life while at work. If it is appropriate to talk about personal matters, you can disclose information about family activities. Discussion about involvement in school functions or the athletic pursuits of your family are fair game. Information about your hobbies and weekend recreation, as well as religious and community involvement shows you are a well-rounded person. If you are single, you can still demonstrate your interests in extra-work activities, to project someone who is more than an employee.

Employers want people who are dedicated and engaged on the job, but they also want people who have full lives, because in the end they make more productive employees.

Leadership

Individual contributors can demonstrate their leadership skills through their social interactions and civic duties. Discussing these matters at work gives you a chance to showcase leadership skills and instincts. Consulting with your managers about managerial scenarios in your church, associations or civic work can help people become comfortable with your work ethic and empathy for others. You can discuss leadership books and online programs and ask to attend seminars on your own time to project your interest.

Additionally, you may find it prudent to divert some of the effort and energy into projects outside of work to give you a greater sense of purpose and significance. Volunteer activities are useful on your internal and external resume. They also help you expand your social and professional network.

Candid Career Conversations

Career discussions with your manager and mentors will uncover instances of over powering your management with tales of sacrifice to complete a task. It may be wise to tone down some of the stories about late night projects and spending weekends to over produce. The time stamp on e-mail messages may also signal working at unreasonable hours. Allow your record to speak for itself. Even though you may be a workaholic, you do not want to brag about it. People have been known to think, “Why won’t he get a life?” “The job is all he has.” “She doesn’t have a family, so she can afford to give all of her time to work.”

A powerful work ethic is desired in an employee. Management strives to fill their teams with individuals matching this profile. However, you do not want to stunt your career growth because you represent an image that causes your managers to believe you would subject everyone to draconian, unrealistic and unrelenting standards in performing their jobs. They fear you will chase employees away and damage the morale and engagement levels of whatever team you are assigned to manage. If you do not address these concerns, you may not fulfill your career objectives to achieve a management position.

Playing to the level of the competition

February 12, 2013 ~ Orlando Ceaser

I am from Chicago. I am a professional basketball fan; therefore I root for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls possess one of the best records in the Eastern Conference. They are tenacious and fiery competitors. However they can frustrate their fans by their inconstancy against the extreme teams in the league. They have a habit of occasionally playing to the level of their competition. For example, one night they beat the Miami Heat, who were world champions. On another night, they lost at home, to the Charlotte Bobcats. Charlotte lost 17 games in a row and sported one of the worst records in professional basketball.

This concept of playing to the level of the competition is not unique to world of sports. You can see it in business, academics and many organizations. This practice is brilliant if the competition is among the elite in your field. These skirmishes can be exhilarating and bring out the best in players, students and employees.

Remember when you joined a company, entered a new job or a new department; the manager assigned you to work with the best performer. They wanted you to acquire good habits and a strong work ethic. This move placed you solidly on the road to success. However, in the same company, employees may be performing to the lowest common denominator.

Working to the level of the competition is rampant in many classrooms. Where there is a high standard and the competitive bar is high, students excel. However, where the opposite is found, students with the potential to score higher grades do not want to stand out from their peers.

What causes teams and individuals to give less than their best effort and gauge their performance to the perceive competency of the competition? The following may be answers to this question;

Arrogance and over confidence
Focusing on their next opponent

Arrogance and over confidence

We are told as far back as childhood of the dangers of over confidence. One of my favorite stories was the hare and the tortoise. The hare under estimated the tortoise due to over confidence in his own ability. He had accurately deduced his chances of winning the race and the skill level of the tortoise. His marginal effort was due to arrogance which meant he disrespected the tortoise. In his mind there was no way the tortoise could win. He was too slow. Apparently, he did not take into consideration, how arrogance would affect his decision-making. When you are arrogant you may falsely judge your opponent or misjudge your ability to produce at a high level.

Arrogant people do not believe their maximum effort is required. They are convinced they can beat the other team. They may start slow and spot the other team an enormous lead. They figure they can catch them, but the other team may catch fire and play high above their usual play. In every contest one team may be playing to the level of their competition. They are hoping the other team takes them for granted.

Focusing on their next opponent

The subconscious mind is responsible for the way we think and react to numerous stimuli. If we believe the current competitor is inferior we may not get our best thinking or response to situations that occur in battle.

If we view the current competitor as a weaker adversary, we may unconsciously wish to conserve our energy for a tougher challenger. We may decide to let down our defenses in order to rest up for the next formidable opponent. The old football adage is true, “On any given Sunday any team in the National Football League can rise up and defeat any other team in the league.” This is valid in sports, business and other aspects of our lives.

The key question is how does a team or an individual conduct themselves to avoid this let down in performance?

Establish great habits
Scrimmage with the best
Treat everyone as the best

Set high expectations

The establishment of great habits through high expectations is a key ingredient in breaking people free from the mold of delivering average performance. Researcher Geoffrey M. Hodgson said “Individuals have habits and groups have routines.” These habits may come from conducting intense practices. Many coaches say, “The way you practice is a reflection of the way you will play the game.” So, the quality of the practice should not vary based on the opponent. Prepare for the opponent, regardless of their record, marketplace or position on the leader board. Maintain a high level of readiness. Hopefully, players will not take off plays during the game because they feel victory is guaranteed.

Charles Duhigg in his book, The Power of Habit states that habit is critical in shaping our behavior. “This process within our brains is a three-step loop. First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future.

Scrimmage with the best

Identify the best in your area and use it or them as a standard. People use or publish best practices and ask their team members to develop similar and greater examples for implementation in their areas. Exercises simulating the actions and response of the major players will keep your edges sharpened. Bring in experts to challenge your department and keep our skills sharp. Instill incentives to encourage those who can deliver more to deliver more. This does not mean abandoning work / life balance by driving people to conduct an inappropriate amount of work at home.

When I played high school football, Coach Ralph Hegner always scheduled a few scrimmages with the top teams from the Catholic League. They were usually well disciplined, larger in stature with excellent technique. Our eyes would become as large as saucers when these humongous players walked on the field. We were over whelmed on the initial players until we gained our composure and began to play better. Coach Hegner felt if we played well against these teams we would do well in our conference. I always remembered this routine of scrimmaging with the best whenever my sales team needed to develop their skills.

Treat everyone as the best

A champion approaches each challenger with the same level of intensity to achieve the victory. They postulated that extreme variances in performance were not the mark of a true champion. A champion should be able to get excited about competing against any opponent, regardless of their won / loss record or position in the marketplace. To do otherwise, showed you were not ready for the mantle of excellence or worthy to win the trophy.

There are benefits and dangers in playing to the level of the competition. If it allows us to achieve excellence, if it stretches us and develops us, it should be encouraged and mandated.

Do you have a leadership bias? Part 2

February 4, 2013 ~ Orlando Ceaser

Consequences

Individuals can be penalized when they are caught in the middle of a leadership bias. A truant officer ran a red light and slammed into the driver side of my Toyota automobile shortly after I graduated from college. He got out of the car and yelled at me. “Didn’t you see my flashing headlights and hear me honking my horn? I was astonished and replied, “No I did not. Where are your flashing headlights now?” I asked. “Well I turned them off just before impact” was his response. He told the witnesses in his car, who were two students on their way to school, to take the bus to school. A police officer arrived on the scene to investigate the accident. The truant officer relayed his side of the story and instantly bonded with the police. The police officer told a story about cars in traffic refusing to listen to his siren when he was involved in a recent emergency. He executed his leadership bias by giving me two moving violations; one ticket for damage to city property and the other for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle. The officer’s identification or leadership bias could have cost me money, but both tickets were thrown out in court. Incidentally, in court he told a story of weaving cautiously through traffic, stopping, looking both ways and slowly driving into traffic before I ignored his siren and flashing lights and hit him. Ironically, we were the only cars on the road.

There can be consequences and complications if the leadership bias is unchallenged. My truant officer’s boss screamed at him when he returned to the police station, but if it wasn’t for his boss and the judge, I would have paid a hefty price.

Our conversations about leadership are usually harmless, but the truth does support that all leaders are not focused on the noble traits of leadership. There are some who have brought down entire companies, as we know from the financial crisis in the last decade. Large corporations have been brought into our living rooms and offices because they have misled their shareholders and stakeholders. People who tried to alert the authorities were, intimidated, ridiculed, fired and their careers destroyed.

Leadership must be kept in check with appropriate oversight to ensure that it does not abuse its power. This is especially critical when evidence exists about intimidation and the reduction in results and effectiveness. There must be a level of transparency, trust and competence to ensure that laws are being followed and leaders are effectively doing their jobs. Turning a blind eye or a deaf ear to harassment, criminal behavior or incompetence could harm a large number of investors and innocent bystanders. An unbridled leadership bias could be detrimental to the careers and incomes of many people. It should not be allowed to exist without the necessary periodic reviews and updates.

We should acknowledge that a leadership bias could also manifest itself as someone totally against the actions of leaders. They believe all leaders are dishonest and should not be trusted.

Treatment

The first step in addressing a leadership bias is awareness and assessment. One of the first rules of human behavior is that people like people like themselves. We may be prone to favoritism and preference. If we periodically approach leaders with objectivity and openness we can catch problems before they develop into catastrophes.

Secondly, we should look at the data as objectively as our experience will allow. As leaders, we have a leadership lens which could contribute to our leadership bias. If we keep this in mind, we can minimize following blindly when we discuss the actions of leaders.

Thirdly, it is good to have a third-party involved where there are serious claims against those in power. The Human Resource Department is usually assigned the responsibility to make sure an organization is objective when a leader is under scrutiny. Another tactic is to maintain open dialogue with employees to gain their perspectives of leadership and to act on suggestions to show sincerity.

Because I have been exposed to excellent leaders who had integrity and professionalism, I am biased to the noble elements of leading. However, not all leaders are leading equally. Additionally, sometimes leaders make mistakes. We have to select and develop the best leaders so that our families, associations, communities, places of worship and organization flourish and use their people and resource to improve society and the world. To that end we can in good conscience, give leaders the benefit of the doubt and our positive bias can be justified.

I am aware of my leadership bias. This awareness should allow me to be more objective and open to the positive and negative aspects of leadership. Do you have a leadership bias? Check yourself and act accordingly.

Do you have a leadership bias? Part 1

January 29, 2013 ~ Orlando Ceaser

I confess. I have a leadership bias. This bias may be related to my leadership addiction. After many years of reflecting, soul-searching and validation, I can announce it to the world. I have an affinity for people who have gone through the crucible of similar experiences. They are comrades in arms, battle tested warriors from the same platoon; people who sacrificed and defended each other. In situations of doubt, where a decision has to be made, I defer to those in power, believing we share a common bond in the leadership struggle.

Recently, I sat in a restaurant and was asked about my vocation. I mentioned my years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry. This initiated a spirited conversation about big corporations and big government. One patron believed that pharmaceutical companies were only out to make a quick dollar and were withholding the cures to cancers because we made more money on maintenance medicines. He felt that corporations and government were ruled by the profit motif and did not care about the average citizen.

I was mobilized into action. I went into full defense mode. I gave him data on drug discovery and limited patented coverage, generic drugs and the cost to bring a drug to market. I almost implied that he should feel guilty attacking the humanity of noble scientists who chose science to save lives and eradicate diseases. He reluctantly conceded to my argument with the caveat that my company may be different. As I reflected on my actions on the way home, I realized, I had firmly displayed a leadership bias.

I instinctively grant leaders the edge, the benefit of the doubt and presume their motives are admirable, even if I do not know them. It is important for me to learn about my leadership bias, its symptoms, consequences and potential complications and methods of treatment. These characteristics may be relevant in other areas of my life, as I live and breathe and interact with people.

Acquisition

I acquired a leadership bias as a side effect of years of exposure to good leadership. I have learned from phenomenal leaders. I was enthralled by their positive performances and magnanimous motives. This exposure left me predisposed to siding with leadership in many instances.

Additionally, I have been a manager for many years. There were numerous books, movies, training programs and on the job experiences. My leadership immersion conditioned me to the value of a vision, making fair decisions, developing people and leading a team. This exposure fine tuned my expertise and made me speak, dress and act as a leader. I felt a part of an association of leaders because we shared similar experiences. Subconsciously, I was filled with the desire to defend leadership, when challenged. I am not naive. I have been in the presence of leaders who were not very good and were hostile to anyone who disputed or challenged their authority and I knew the difference. You can also identify your propensity to have a leadership bias based on your background.

Symptoms

You can easily identify the leadership bias, by our tendency to defend those in positions of power. This reminds me of episodes of the television show Colombo where the guilty party usually tried to explain the position of the criminal. They would find themselves going overboard defending a suspected criminal, while implicating themselves. This would eventually lead to their capture. Similar to these actors, people with the leadership bias, consistently give leaders the benefit of the doubt and ask for patience and understanding on their behalf.

A local news station was canvassing the city for people to interview during a heat spell. Commonwealth Edison the local electric supplier had instituted a policy of rolling black outs to manage their supply of electricity. My brother asked me to give the interview. I told the reporter that if the management of the electric company thought this was the best way to manage the power, we should defer to their expertise. I immediately took management’s position. I knew that in most situations leaders had access to more information. They could make better decisions because of this abundance of information. The reporter thanked me and told us to look for the interview on the 6 o’clock and 10 o’clock news.

The topic of Commonwealth Edison and energy shortage was the lead story. The station ran my comments about yielding to management’s assessment of using rolling blackouts to manage the supply of energy. My comments were followed by the mayor giving the opposite view blasting the energy company. I realized that I had been defending leadership for years.

As a middle manager I was challenged by my people about the decisions of upper management. I knew more about the decision-making process and some of the variables which led to the decision. But, I was often sworn to withhold some of the data because it was either sensitive to the stock market or we felt the competition would find out. I told my people that if they had more information they would understand the decision better. I would say the following, “Right now you have questions about the decision that was made. Trust me, if you knew more about the variable considered, we would look a lot more intelligent to you.” They would laugh and we would move on. Examine your past behavior for symptoms. You may have displayed this tendency without realizing it.

Do you have a leadership bias? – Part 2 is scheduled for Monday, February 4, 2013