Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know I've been a little MIA lately, but work has been keeping me busy. Stay tuned!
-Jason

Respect

I find it a little bit odd blogging about this topic... I sort of was under the impression that parents should be instilling into their children what respect is and how all individuals deserve a level of respect (the same that you would want for yourself). [This would be the Golden Rule "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".]

However, the more I read in books on leadership, to topics on diversity, and even to business news in the Wall Street Journal... I think many people are missing (or deficient) in respecting others. (I can tell that this will be a rambling post so bear with me).

So what am I talking about... well first of all I have been reading The No Asshole Rule, and it seems to me that many of the problems that people face in the workplace are caused by what he calls "assholes". To break this down even further... I would say workplace politics and strife (which lead to reduced productivity and employee dissatisfaction) have their root cause in lack of respect by people of one another.

Sutton cites statistics of how the average CEO makes upwards of 500 times more than the average worker in his or her company. Because of this, many CEO's (and others in higher levels of management) will see themselves as being "superior" to the people working for them. This leads to a mindset of "I am more important than yours... Your ideas are less valid than mine... Your feelings matter less than mine..."

We've already seen how Toyota, through their constant sharpening of the saw (what they call kai-zen) took input from the bottom layers of their production lines in order to become (for a few months) the #1 car maker in the world. Do you think this could have happened of the CEO in Japan said something like "I don't care what you think... just do it like I've told you" to the factory workers actually building their cars and trucks in Texas? Obviously not!

OK, so respect we know it's important... but I thought the professional world would be full of strict rules of respect and propriety... that this should be a non-issue, right???

Well, unfortunately not. See this... Diversity Inc Noose Watch... You may or may not have been following this in the news (diversity activism is another one of my passions), but DiversityInc.com has been tracking reported incidents of nooses being hung threateningly at workplaces across the country. What's more shocking is that within a few months scores of incidents have reported. Furthermore, regardless of the specific reasons behind these incidents, using such a powerful symbol, is a blatant disrespect for other people's rights to feel safe and secure at the workplace.

So what can we do as Young Leaders to help inject respect back into the workplace. Here are a few tips... and be sure that more will come in the future:

• Listen - Yes I probably talked about this before... not that half-assed listening that most people do when they are thinking about what to say next... but really listen, because almost always will have something of value to say.
• Realize that people are people - Yeah, Jason here we go again with the Zen riddles... Let me explain. We often hide our emotions putting up a front to protect ourselves from the outside. You know that deep down you want to be understood, you want to be appreciated, you want to be respected... realize that others are exactly the same way. Once you realize this, you can move beyond the masks that we hide behind and create those true and personal connections with others. You'll be more productive (and much happier) because of it.
• Stand up for what's right - Yes, easier said than done, but how about the next time you see someone being taken advantage of or unfairly berated... why not be the bigger person, step in, and tell the offender what they are doing is wrong? It's hard, yes! It might get that other person pissed at you. But you know what? 9 times out of 10, you will gain that other person's respect, and maybe just maybe get them to change their ways.
  

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend, and as always comments are requested and appreciated.

Thanks,
-Jason

Flash of Enlightenment Think "Why" before "What"

So I've talked about SMART Goal setting and also on the importance of WHY also in terms of Goals. But now I've think I've come to an epiphany type of realization.

In every action that you do as a Young Leader your first question to yourself needs to be "Why am I doing this?"... "For what purpose am I doing this?"...

I know I had talked about this before, but before the why to me was more of an afterthought.... something to keep me motivated. But it's not. It should actually be the first thing!

OK, so I'll give two examples. One narrow in scope and one huge:

1. Meetings - Previous posts about meetings stuck to technical details without peeling one layer below. But I feel even if you follow those hints, tips, and tricks to a T... things will still be hit or miss. After all if I'm coming up with the agenda... and I say to myself "So what do we need to talk about talk about at this meeting?"Then I might come up with a list of things and I would like to talk about.
   
   But what if I really needed a decision to be made (not the topic just talked about). Or what if half of the attendees don't necessarily need to listen or participate in the conversation? Then, I haven't run an effective meeting, because I accomplish what needed to be done and I have wasted people's time.
   
   However, what if I went one step deeper and had thought about "Why do I want to have this meeting?"... "Why would my team members want to attend and participate in the meeting?" This way, now I am focused and will have an effective agenda and meeting... not just run an efficient meeting.
   
   
2. Goals - So we can extend the above to goals and goal setting. I would say the SMART Goals and strong Time Management would be very efficient. No doubt about that.
   
   However, to truly have effective goals.. you need to answer the "Why?" questions. "Why do I want an action?"... "Why do I do I want to do this specific action?"... "Why would anyone want to follow me in my vision?" (See Tony Robbins for further explanation on how the emotional connection to 'things' tangible and intangible are so important.)
   
   So lets narrow this down... Lets say you want to Write a Book. A SMART Goal might be to go to the library and check out 100 books on the topics that you might want to talk about in your book and outline your main ideas with a specific detail level that you can accomplish by next year.... (At little daunting, but reasonable).
   
   However, what if we ask the Why questions... "Why do I want to write a book?"... Maybe it's because, "I want to share my ideas to help people all over the world." "Why do I have to write a book instead of using any other media?" "I might not have to, because the internet allows people to share ideas throughout the world in all sorts of different ways". "Why couldn't I create a web Blog about my ideas and along with continuing research refine my ideas while still being able to share my ideas and help people all over the world?"... "Why not?!"
   

And that's it! Ask the Why questions.... go deeper.... be more effective!

As always comments are requested and appreciated!

Thanks,
-Jason

More Icebreakers

I just heard of another icebreaker, and I really like it.

Essentially it's Icebreaker Bingo. So this is how it works:

1. Make a grid.... it might be easiest to use a few boxes 4 or 9 max.
2. Put in each box a question like "Has the same last initial as you", "Born in the same month as you", or "Has the same favorite food/movie/color... as you". Go on be creative.
   
3. Now make as many copies of your grid as there will be people at the meeting that you want to have an icebreaker for.
   
4. So the point of the game is for the participants to go around... trying meeting new people and finding out interesting facts about other each other.
   
5. Every time them find someone who fits the description in the box they can check it off. First to check off all of the boxes wins!!!! :-)
   

So yeah thats it, I liked it. For more icebreakers see my previous posts. Icebreakers and Icebreakers II.

Building Teamwork

One last quick post on making Teamwork work. (#7 Principles)

1. The team must have a leader - Yes this sound very Zen and all, but seriously without a leader all you'll have is chaos.
   
2. The must have unanimous focus on a quantifiable goal - So this is two things. Both are addressed in SMART Goals.
   
3. The team must have clearly defined roles - Without clearly assigned roles, people won't know what to do.
   
4. The team must be willing to share resources - OK, so this goes on that poster about "All I Ever Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten", but seriously if you've ever seen a team where members won't share... you know that it's a recipe for disaster.
   
5. The team must have frequent, effective communication - Without this what's the point of having a team... you might as well be working alone. Synergize!
   
6. The team must have consistent, united, and enthusiastic effort - Same thing. When everyone puts in... 1 + 1 can equal 3 or more!
   
7. Team members must periodically suppress their own egos - Think for the better of the team... for the better for just yourself.
   

Alright that's it for today. I promise to write on a more consistent basis. Until next time...

-Jason

Good Communication that Blocks Learning

Looking through my notes, I found another Harvard Business Review article that I think dovetails well into the posts that I had on Toyota and Quality earlier.

This one was called Good Communication that Blocks Learning by Chris Argyris. So first of all... I have a problem with his sensational title. It might be better titled "Don't Just Fix the Problem"... or "Double Loop Learning".

So essentially, Argyris scares people by saying that "Managing by Walking Around" aka having the managers actually go onto the factor floors or out into the field to see what can be improved... they should actually spend their time finding out why such problems existed and stayed around for so long.

This actually does make a lot of sense. I think it's exactly what Toyota has been doing in order to remain on top in terms of quality. Instead of just turning on the heat when the temperature goes below a set level, it would be more important to close the window to keep the house from getting so cold.

You need to be always challenging the process of processes. So instead of always having "the leadership" push improvement "initiatives" down the throats of their underlings, you need to have the process of "constant improvement" to be part of the corporate culture. Without this, the indivitual executive's pet initiatives will not be effective and only end up with finger pointing.

Spend some time and think about this. I'll try to write more about it later.

Again, comments are welcome and appreciated.

-Jason

Lessons in Public Speaking from Rachel Ray

OK, so I was reading this CRM (Customer Relationship Management) trade magazine and I read an article about "Sales Tips from Rachel Ray".

If you don't know who Rachel Ray is... just turn on Food Network and she's like everywhere.

Anyway, this got me to thinking about leadership, part of which at least is sales. After all you need to sell people on your vision in order to get their buy-in. So lets get to the chase, some tips from Rachel Ray and my interpretations.

• Prep in advance – If you are not prepared for your presentation, you'll end up looking sloppy. Review your notes, make sure all props are ready before you go in.
• Cut things into small pieces – They cook faster… and people will be able to understand them more easily. Thats why I try to break down the concepts in my articles to help all of you understand more quickly.
  
• Time is money – People have short attention spans. So again, prepare in advance. Don't waste time on stage fiddling with your Powerpoint or the projector. The audience will get bored and not pay attention.
  
• “Learn One and Get Some” – This is one of Rachel Ray's signature phrases. Essentially it means become solid in one thing… and adapt it to your numerous customers
• Clean as You Go – Don’t neglect these other details, because they can bite you in the end, and being sloppy and taking shortcuts will only end up in you making some mistake down the road.
• Be Human – nobody is perfect. Little mistakes are part of life. Learn to take them in stride. After all, what’s worse making a simple mistake that nobody notices or making a mistake and then making a huge scene about it by repeatedly apologizing, feeling embarrassed and then stumbling through the rest of your presentation.
  

Sounds pretty good right? Anyway, I'm in a writing mood, so look out for more articles soon!

Best,
-Jason

The Dirty Dozen: Common Actions that Assholes Use

So I've been reading this new book The No Asshole Rule by Dr. Robert I. Sutton. I've not finished the book, but I am looking forward to learning how to create a working environment that is "free from assholes".

Sutton lists what he calls The Dirty Dozen

1. Personal insults
2. Invading one's "personal territory"
3. Uninvited physical contact
4. Threats and intimidation
5. "Sarcastic jokes" and "teasing"
6. Withering email flames
7. Status slaps intended to humiliate
8. Public shaming or "status degradation" rituals
9. Rude interruptions
10. Two-faced attacks
11. Dirty looks
12. Treating people as if they are invisible

I'm sure we've all seen this type of behavior in the workplace (or at school). In my opinion, much of this passive-aggressive behavior in the workforce is caused by the idea of "professionalism". OK, lets stop for a second... I'm not trying to say that people should not act in a professional manner... if we drop all aspects of decency and professionalism... we'll end up with an animal house (though that would get me to another great book Monkey Business, but thats a different story).

So I had a project manager who once gave me a piece of advice that "In this business perception is the reality". He explained that it almost didn't matter how hard you were working or how good of a job you were really doing... it mattered if the people who mattered (the ones in charge) perceived you as working hard and doing a good job. Time and again I have found this to be true.

First thing... he is one of the nicest people I've met through work so far. Sometimes a little too much of a pushover though. So taken in that context, I would see his advice not as much as coming from a person who was trying to game the system by sucking up to the big bosses, but more so from someone who probably got burned along the way because he spent too much time working hard and not enough time tooting his own horn.

Assholes are the complete opposite. They spend so much effort in playing passive-aggressive games to put others down (and an equal amount of effort in making themselves look good to the big bosses), but much less time actually solving problems and doing their "work". The problem is... the culture of most of corporate America encourages these assholes.

So looping back to the concept of "professionalism", what exactly does this mean? Well one would hope it would mean something along the lines of having some sort of expertise for solving problems for the client or the company and doing so in a respectful and thoughtful manner. Unfortunately, because of "perception = reality" this is not the case. Instead "professionalism" has been bastardized into... "train yourself to act in an affected manner as if you were an expert" (why bother in actually having the skills or knowledge) and "become an expert in playing politics breathing fire onto those who (even accidentally) have stepped out of line".

This post might sound bitter... I don't mean it to be. In fact the majority of the time people act like people (playing nicely and respecting each other). However, when things get tough, the uglyness does come out... I can't help but think there must be a better way.

Anyway, as always comments are requested and appreciated. Thanks for Reading!

-Jason

Generation Y

OK, for those of you who hadn't noticed, I am a member of Generation Y. We are the so-called "internet generation". Our parents were the "Baby-Boomers" and since we were constantly told how we "were the future" we know we have to clean up many of our parent's messes, e.g., the medical care system, social security, nuclear proliferation, peace in the middle east... It's definitely a tall order.

However, the point of this post is mostly a response to an article I read in Fortune Magazine. I would have to say, it did paint a very flattering stereotype of Generation Y... though sadly, I believe most of it is hype. First of all... the iPod/hipster/Starbucks/Yoga picture that the author, Nadia Hira, paints can be summed up in one word... "poser".

OK, I agree that her point was to show how Gen-Yers think outside of the box, by being "counter culture" while at the same time supercharging their productivity with coffee and a "Crackberry". However, I believe this is a matter of image vs. reality. The last I heard, Gen-Y was the generation that invented ADD and ADHD and childhood obesity. Gen-Y is also the generation where you have "internet addiction", "World of Warcraft Addiction" (you've heard the stories of kids dying because they've spent 48 hours straight in front of the computer, only to have the police come in and find the body in a room littered with pizza boxes and chicken wings on the floor), and the use of the iPod to avoid social interaction. Yes, dressing hipster is very cool... but I think too many of Gen-Y are obsessed with projecting the image of being the kind of Steve Jobs (you know I love you Steve) who can get away with wearing sneakers to board meetings, sipping lattes, and sometimes being a total dick (cuz that's cool).

Hira continues with some very interesting anecdotes of some high performing Gen-Yers. Nothing wrong with that... but nothing special either. There will always be the cream that rises to the top.

So what's my point? I think Hira tries way too hard to deflect the truism of many Gen-Yers feeling a sense of entitlement. This is due to an upbringing that many had where parents constantly coddled their children... telling them that they were special "no matter what". So I hope I am not the first to realize that yes, while each and everyone one of us is special and unique, that alone does not mean we are entitled to get any special treatment... especially if we are getting it at the expense of someone else (who should also be someone who is special and unique).

Example #1 - Grade inflation: I went to a good school and earned top grades. I earned they by working hard and also due to my own natural talents. That is why I don't understand the reasoning for students who never went to class and maybe partied the night before a major exam should be given B's because they whined to the professor or their parents are "paying good money for them to do well". This ends up cheapening my education. My 3.98 GPA was great, but if the average GPA for the entire college was a 3.90 how would future employers be able to differentiate students? Secondly all of this hassle forces educators to lower academic standards until learning isn't much of a challenge.

I often tell this story to friends as a lesson in "learning through osmosis", but I think it is illustrative... One day in a high level math class I was dozing off for most of the class (the night before had been pretty late... and the professor's monotone voice didn't help much either). She was in the middle of deriving a complex proof and then stopped and asked the class what was the next step. I didn't immediately raise my hand, but then 30 seconds and then maybe a minute of silence later I couldn't stand the silence any longer and I gave my answer. This seemed to crack the professor up (she hardly ever before had shown any emotion). Not only had I answered correctly... but also was essentially out of commission the entire class period.

Good for me right? Well yes... but the take-away I want to emphasize here is that there was an entire room of 20-30 other iPod toting, Wall Street Journal reading, Starbucks-sipping students who either were clueless (which would be extremely sad for the Penn State Math Department) and/or who totally didn't care about their educations... and could have sat their until the end of the hour if the professor had not offered up the solution.

Now fast forward to the working world. (Granted not all people will go straight into corporate America, but that is what I'm most familiar with and what the Fortune article was trying to depict). These same students who couldn't or refused to participate in class are now given real-life responsibilities. Hira cites how many Gen-Yers will refuse to work 60 hour weeks insinuating that somehow their computer skills allow them to be much more efficient than their more experienced (though less tech savvy) coworkers. This may be true in jobs that require lower skill levels, e.g., administrative / clerical roles. However, in the highly technical areas of science, engineering, or technology, knowing how to navigate through Microsoft Windows won't get you anywhere... especially when the competition is fluent in 12 programming languages (including assembler), actually knows the difference between an alkene and an alkane, and is able to recreate formulas by hand instead of relying on the [Function] key on his calculator.

OK, this is getting to be a long post, so I will conclude with this. Yes, the future does look bright for us Gen-Yers... but still as always we can only get there with a strong guiding vision and through hard work, not because by "dressing hipster" or "acting cool".

And as always please use the comments section for all questions, comments, and hatemail.

Thanks,
-Jason

Got Feedback?

Hey Everyone,

I received an email newsletter a few weeks ago. It had a quick list of "Do's and Don'ts" for giving good feedback.

As you may know, being able to give and receive good feedback is an important skill. People aren't perfect, and you are going to make some mistakes along the way. But with support and feedback from mentors as well as team members, you can improve more quickly, and achieve better results more quickly. I've included the bullet points that I think are the most useful and added my own thoughts. Enjoy!

Feedback Do's:

• Provide direct and specific feedback (a la the One Minute Praise / Reprimand)
  
• Be supportive and calm
• Be prepared if delivering feedback from others - Sometimes you will have to deliver feedback from above. Remember that you can tailor the message to fit into the One Minute Reprimand.
  

Feedback Dont's:

• Compare one employee to others - I think we need to teach more parents about this. Think how bad sibling rivalries can get... now put this in a setting where people's jobs are at stake... back stabbing and corporate politics aren't the most fun things to deal with.
  
• Provide critical feedback (reprimands) in a public setting - This can be very embarrassing, and you wouldn't want that to happen to you, would you?
• Criticize, condemn, or complain - Dale Carnegie Rule #1
• Delay giving timely feedback - Another tip from the One Minute Manager. If feedback takes only a minute, don't delay or else the problem will continue just that much longer.

Thanks for reading! Comments (and feedback) are requested and appreciated.