Monday Morning Leadership - Week 4

Hire Tough

As you can tell, this week is focused on hiring. I’ll highlight what Cottrell has to say about hiring and then, since I am not employed by a company that lets their hiring too far from HR, I’ll share what was trolling though my head while reading the chapter.

Ready?

Cottrell stresses that our most important asset isn’t people, but rather the right people. With the right people in place there isn’t a problem too big or a goal you can’t reach. He also talks about “The Three Rules of Three” when hiring. Those rules are: interview three candidates for each open position, interview them three times, and have at least three people assess the candidates. Many companies already do this or something very similar. It allows your options to be open, for you to “feel out” folks and for others on your team to give their perspective. All of these things, if done consistently will lead to not just filled positions, but positions filled with the right people. It will lead to success.

The thought I had while reading this week started with the “right people”. I think the right people begin with you. Are you the right person for the job? Honestly, are you? If you aren’t willing to make an honest assessment of yourself and the position you are in, then we’ve already got a problem. If you honestly believe that you are in the right position, then good, you can move forward. If not, then you really need to take a step back and think it through. What is it that you are good at? What do you enjoy? Is there something where you currently are that would suit you? If not, then it’s time to look outside. There’s a book called 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller – get it and read it.

Remember, most people spend the majority of their waking hours at work. Make them count.

Monday Morning Leadership – Week 3

Get Out of Management Land

Are you surrounded by egos? Have simple tasks turned into complex adventures? Have the mind/political games taken over? Are things not always what they seem?

If you answered yes to any of these, then welcome to Management Land!

Now find the nearest exit and run!

A leader needs to ensure they are always working on and for their team. So, you need to get out of management land and in touch with your people.

An exercise utilized in Cottrell's book is to list your people in the following categories: Superstars, Middle Stars and Falling Stars. Then see how you rated them on their last evaluation. Do the scores match-up with the category in which you placed them? Probably not. Most likely, you have a Superstar and Falling Star with similar evaluation scores. If you are not honest with your people on how they truly execute their jobs, how are they to improve? What will motivate them to do better? Why are you there?

By not improving your Falling Stars you have shown the rest of your team that the Falling Stars behavior is acceptable. It's almost as if you were punishing your Superstars with the extra work you have given them, since you refuse to give it to your Falling Stars.

Cottrell writes over and over again that "people will quit people before they quit their companies". Don't run your Superstars off by under appreciating them and overworking them. They will go to another shift, department or company. They will quit you.

Raise the bar and stop accommodating those pulling your team down. Coach them up. Make them better. Be a leader.

Don’t you want your “weakest link” to be someone you and the rest of your team is proud of, instead of the team resenting them and you?

If nothing else, complete the exercise above and see how your teams’ evaluations compare to their “Star Status”. It could be an eye opening experience.

Monday Morning Leadership – Week 2

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

If every time you turn around you find yourself donning fire gear and a hose, then you're not being a leader. Leaders are to whom people turn during a crisis, but they should not be continuously putting out fires. You can't lead when you're the one holding the hose.

Instead, a leader should keep themselves and their group focused on their goals…the main thing. The leader needs to ensure the group knows and understands the goals, rather than just assume they do. "... [W]hen you depend on another's perceptions to match your expectations, you're setting yourself up for disappointment." You have to make certain everyone is paddling the boat in the same direction.

What if your boss is a poor leader with whom you have no relationship? Cottrell suggests that the relationship between a leader and his boss affects the workers and he's absolutely correct. I've been there.

I remember how frustrated I was with that person and how much I sincerely did not understand how they were in their current position. I soon realized my poor relationship with her was affecting my relationship with my associates. I had to do an about-face and work to develop a positive relationship. It was a difficult task. Instead of ignoring her and only giving her the basics of what was going on during the course of a day, I coached up. I put together my own spreadsheets and reports and started tracking the information I believed needed to be tracked from a daily and weekly stand point. I then began reporting it to not only her, but to her boss during our daily and bi-weekly meetings. After a few weeks passed Not only could I tell a difference in the relationship, but so could her boss and my associates. It forced her to be more in tune with the needs of the department which led to two things: 1) She had to spend more one-on-one time with me and 2) The positive relationship developed.

Do you know what the main thing is in your area? Is there more than one main thing? How's your relationship with your boss? Is it positively affecting you and your group?

Monday Morning Leadership – Week 1

I am currently reading the book Monday Morning Leadership by David Cottrell. It's a short concise book with 8 chapters or mentoring sessions which was recommended to me by a fellow manager. As I am going to go through the book a chapter a week, I will be summarizing what it's about and what I think of it. And since the book is titled Monday Morning Leadership, I think Monday's will be a good day to post.

Aren't you excited? Here we go.

Drivers and Passengers

The difference between a driver and a passenger is that the passenger has no responsibility for the road, its conditions, the other drivers or the rest of the passengers in his vehicle, while the driver is responsible for all of the things. Relating this to a working environment, the difference between an employee and a successful leader is that the leader is responsible for the employees and their work instead of just their own position.

The key word in all of this is responsibility. In order to be a leader you must take responsibility and not make excuses. You have to back your upper management and their decisions and be willing to make adjustments to reach your goals. Blaming people and/or situations for your short-comings is no longer acceptable. When you utilize blame, then you are still looking behind you, in the past. When you utilize responsibility, you are making plans for future successes.

So, are you a driver or a passenger?