Arnold Palmer's Etiquette Wisdom

I just recently became a serious golfer. I'm not good (yet), but I'm serious about learning, playing, and enjoying it. Too bad I didn't golf when I was building my corporate career, because playing with my colleagues and other associates would have been great for relationship-building. But who had time?

Golf is challenging and humbling; a civilized game that can drive you crazy. But it employs lessons that translate well in the business world. I was reminded of this yesterday when I stumbled across an August 2008 Golf Digest article by Arnold Palmer, entitled "10 Rules for Good Golf Etiquette". When I read them, I was startled at how directly his rules could be applied to business. For the details of the rules applicability to golf, read Arnie's article: 10 Rules for Good Golf Etiquette

I borrowed the golf great's "headlines" for his rules and applied my own business twist to them:

1. DON'T BE THE SLOWEST PLAYER: Don't be the last person to arrive for a scheduled meeting, and don't be unprepared. You'll slow everything down, affect the team's productivity, and do harm to your reputation.

2. KEEP YOUR TEMPER UNDER CONTROL: Exhibiting temper in a business environment is a sign of weakness. You can succinctly express disappointment, sternly provide criticism, clearly redirect actions of your employees, and pointedly enumerate your expectations. Yelling, cursing, and throwing things is always inappropriate.
3. RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE'S TIME: Schedule meetings and provide an agenda. If you RSVP in the affirmative to a meeting - be there. Last minute cancellations or no-shows are bad form.
4. REPAIR THE GROUND YOU PLAY ON: Tidy up after yourself in a meeting room, cleaning your scribbles off the whiteboard, throwing away discarded paper, recycling empty beverage bottles and cans. When you get your coffee in the break room, wipe up your spills and any left by others. While you're at it, brew a fresh pot.
5. BE A SILENT PARTNER: Show respect for others when it's their turn to speak and share ideas. Don't interrupt. Don't hog the limelight. Your work will speak for itself.
6. MAKE YOUR GOLF CART INVISIBLE: Your ego is your golf cart. Driving it with indiscretion causes a commotion among spectators and leaves marks in the office landscape. Don't be so focused on where you're going that you fail to see the effect you've had on where you've been.
7. ALWAYS LOOK YOUR BEST: In Arnie's words, "Your appearance speaks volumes about you as a person." Dress for success.
8. TURN OFF THE CELL PHONE: There are times and places where cell phone usage and noise are beyond rude. Be aware of the settings on your electronic appendage at all times.
9. LEND A HAND WHEN YOU CAN: Corporate business is a team sport. Help your colleagues be successful and you will share in that success. Those who focus only on their personal goals may "win" in the short run, but will suffer from a lack of support from others in the long run.
10. LEARN THE LITTLE THINGS: Business has nuances that change over time. Observe and be considerate. As Arnie notes, "...every piece of etiquette you practice will be repaid tenfold.".

Thanks, Arnie, for the inspiration!

Techno-Enabled Avoidance

Technology makes us more efficient, allowing us to connect easily and frequently with friends,family, and colleagues. But for how many professionals does it become a crutch that actually hobbles their ability to develop healthy business relationships?

I have personally witnessed all of these unfortunate real life scenarios enabled by technology:

• Colleagues in adjoining offices, firing emails back and forth to each other instead of getting out from behind their desks and having a face-to-face conversation.
• People failing to contribute in meetings because they are reading and responding to text messages on their cell phones instead.
• Mean-spirited, cowardly things written in email that the sender would never have the gall to say in person.
• People "multi-tasking" during a teleconference, because no one can see that they aren't truly engaged in the virtual gathering.
• Using Caller ID as a means to avoid business calls.
• Dialing into a meeting when you really should be there in person.
• Surfing the internet during a meeting (pretending to take notes on the proceedings). 
• An executive failing to connect in person with a direct report in the same office - for OVER A YEAR.

Beware of creating personal disconnects by using technology to avoid face-to-face contact. Instead... Go out of your way to meet colleagues in your office. Have a sit-down with your boss for a status update. Walk around the department and say good morning to your co-workers. Work through a challenge with someone, using a white board and markers. Invite a new employee out to lunch. Sit down and chat with the boss's administrative assistant. Carve out a little technology-free time to do some strategic thinking, and scribble some ideas in a notebook. Stick your head into the boss's office at around 5pm to have a chat. Provide casual, constructive feedback on performance to your employees (and NOT via email). Send a hand-written thank you card to a colleague or vendor. Smile at people you encounter in the office hallways.

Make time to temporarily turn your back on technology and tune in first-hand with the people around you. The quality of the relationships you build will improve, and pay dividends throughout your career.

What Happened at HP?

Mark Hurd, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, recently resigned his high-profile leadership position in the wake of a sexual harrassment scandal. An investigation cleared him of the charges. Hurd resigned anyway, with a severance package of from $40-$50 million. Whaaat??? Something smells here, and an in-depth speculation was reported by the New York Times in an article posted by CNBC: http://www.cnbc.com/id/38704024.

Here's my takeaway:

A. Jodie Fisher (an HP contractor & former reality show "star") submitted her sexual harrassment complaint to the HP Board of Directors, and then later proclaimed that she didn't mean for Hurd to lose his job. So, Jodie, you must have just been going for a financial settlement, right? Puh-leese!

B. In his 5 years at HP Hurd had driven important metrics up, including annual revenue, profit and stock price. Four months ago, Wonder-Boy Hurd was on the cover of Fortune magazine. Yet he was forced to resign because he "fudged" on expense reports, obfuscating the fact that he had taken Ms. Fisher to dinner on HP's dime. Unseat a "successful" CEO because of a few hundred dollars (+/-) of falsification on his expenses? Hmmm.

C. There is proof of unrest (a mild word, really) among HP employees. The internet is a wonderful thing - but the pendulum swings both ways. Proof can be found at: http://fuckyoumarkhurd.com/. Ouch.

D. The NY Times reported that HP's Board of Directors neither trusted Hurd nor had faith in his leadership.

How was a "successful" Mark Hurd forced out, even though he was absolved of sexual harrassment charges? It boils down to two things. (1) Cheating on his expense account was a quantifiable violation of corporate policy, and (2) Hurd failed to cultivate positive relationships with his Board of Directors and even his employees.

I don't say this very often... but, "I told you so." Re-read these blogs:

Hurd stole from the company:

http://habaconsulting.blogspot.com/2010/06/wanna-lose-your-job-heres-how.html

Hurd failed to be a white collar hero:

http://habaconsulting.blogspot.com/2010/02/be-white-collar-hero.html

Hurd failed to lead with economic recovery and employees in mind:

http://habaconsulting.blogspot.com/2009/10/leadership-is-balancing-act.html

I hope for good fortune for HP employees and stakeholders.

Learning from Failure

Failure is a harsh word, but a reality that must sometimes be faced. Failure can be the result of doing nothing, or trying and falling short of the mark. It can be painful and humiliating, but we can also learn valuable lessons through our efforts, even if they are unsuccessful.

In order to profit from failure, don't ignore it or wallow in it. Look it fully in the face and evaluate what happened, from beginning to end. Conduct your own post-mortem, even if an official one takes place as part of wrap-up of a project. Yours can be more self-centric (and less politically charged!).

Include these retrospective questions as part of your evaluation:

• Did I start out with unrealistic expectations in terms of goals and objectives?
• When did I first suspect that things weren't unfolding as planned?
• Did I ignore any signs of impending trouble I should have recognized?
• Did I make changes to try to get things back on track?
• Did I ask for help when I needed it?
• Did I properly consider advice or recommendations from others?
• Did I articulate my concerns to project management?
• Did I document and make plans to mitigate risk?
• Could I have avoided failure through more personal effort?
• Was I a contributor to failure in an identifiable way?
• Did my team fail to do their part?
• Could my team have worked together more effectively?
• Was there anything I could have done differently to achieve success for the project?
• What do I know in hindsight that would I do differently next time?
• What specific new learnings can I take away from this experience?

Failure is part of success. Accept it, take your share of the responsibility (if warranted), add a virtual battle ribbon to your business suit, catalogue your learnings, and update your resume with your new experience. Now take a deep breath and move on - a wiser person.

When Do You THINK?

Most of us are relentlessly connected to business today, via email, text messages, IM, cell phones. With wireless coverage almost everywhere, now including many flights, we can be away - but rarely truly disconnected.

It's fantastic to be able to be so productive - to respond to a business associate's or client's inquiry immediately. But it has become very difficult to know when and how to draw the line between work and personal time. You can't help but glance at your Blackberry or iPhone when your boss causes it to buzz at 8:30pm. Do they expect a response tonight, or can it wait until morning? Won't you seem more efficient if you answer right away?

The danger is that responding to and fending off random communications fragments focus and results in poor prioritization of energy and efforts. When do you have time to THINK? Just think? When do you make task lists, document plans, research ideas, read work published by thought leaders, bounce concepts off a team, and/or brainstorm?

This week, try carving out some thinking time. Turn off your cell phone, shut down email for a while, and turn down some meeting invitations. Block out your calendar for 2 or 3 hours and clear your mind for some productive thinking. Wrestle a tough problem to the ground. Write a detailed, thoughtful report of which you can be proud. Document a plan. Birth a creative idea.

Take a deep breath. Disconnect. Think. Be really productive.