Win/Win = Progress + Profit

When I follow the news about the bi-polarity of American politics today, I wonder how corporations would survive if they indulged in a similar lack of constructive cooperation. They couldn’t. Obstructive behavior, in-fighting, and posturing would put a stop to the progress and growth so necessary for profitable business.

Negotiation is a common element of effective work environments. The push and pull of opposing ideas is healthy and necessary to finding the best solutions to challenges. People who can articulate the value in their own perspective as well keep an open mind to alternatives have excellent potential to contribute to the achievement of corporate goals and achieve professional success.

Personal insults and intimidation may be common on Capitol Hill, but they are never acceptable in a corporate environment, and rarely encourage positive results. Passion can be high without engaging tempers and spewing vitriol. There is a lot of value in tolerance. Most corporate environments have strict official policies that protect employees from harassment. Harassment is behavior that results in a team member feeling uncomfortable, threatened, or unwelcome where they work.

Senior executives can dictate strategy, but even they almost always have someone to whom they must answer for their actions. Publicly-traded companies have a Board of Directors and Investors. Financial Analysts study how well they are managed and the value in their growth and revenue potential. Bad publicity can affect the bottom line.

Corporate politics certainly exist in every workplace. However, when goals are clear, financials transparent, and management is held accountable, petty politics are less likely to be allowed to interfere with what has to be accomplished. If a stalemate is evident in a counterproductive tug of war, leaders are unceremoniously shuffled, strategies overhauled, and/or teams re-organized.

Why do those who direct corporations seem more accountable for the results of politics than our politicians? Perhaps it’s because they don’t have to wait for an election year to suffer the results of their actions.

Make a Decision!

If you sometimes wonder why management makes the “big bucks”, one reason is that they have the responsibility for setting direction and making decisions on behalf of the company. Some decisions are no-brainers and can be made on the run. Others require significant research, analysis, legal review, and approval from executive management. Fallout from just one really bad decision can ruin a career. That’s why some managers get so bound up in the process that they postpone important decisions that affect their ability to meet strategic goals.

On the surface, decision-making seems pretty simple. Just make a list of Pros and Cons, look at the results, make a choice, and move on. But what do you do when your options seem equally good (or bad), and it’s time to pick a direction?

WEIGH THE PROS & CONS: You may have 10 things on the Pros side, and 10 things on the Cons side, but they are not all equal. Assign each item a “weight” based on importance and impact. Add up each side again, using the weight number and see how the chips fall.

EXAMINE YOUR GUT: You must not base important decisions solely based on a gut feeling, but you can take your intuition into account as a factor. Think about why you feel the way you do and qualify that feeling into something to add to your weighted Pros and Cons list.

GATHER INPUT: You’ve already brainstormed with your own team – now approach trusted colleagues or mentors for their opinions. Other perspective and experience may add new light to the subject.

PREPARE A BACKUP PLAN: Whichever choice you consider, be sure to play out some risk scenarios on paper, in case you have to change direction. If legal agreements are required, include protection to cover your worst nightmares (e.g. the vendor you have chosen to work with goes out of business).

ACCEPT THAT THERE MAY BE NO “BEST” CHOICE: Someday you will have to choose between two equally good options. Don’t let that delay your choice too much. If you can live with either choice – make the decision, feel good about it, and move on. In business, keeping momentum has its own value.

DO WHAT YOU CAN LIVE WITH: You may worry about whether you are making the best choice for the long run. It may be a long time before you know for certain how it turns out. But if you’ve done your analysis and made a decision based on facts and logical reasoning, you should be willing and able to defend your actions if challenged. (“I went with my gut” will not be an effective defense.)

Now, suck it up and be a real leader. Make a decision!

Don't Take Your Employees for Granted

It’s been a stressful and scary time out in the professional world, and senior management has had the upper hand over their staffs for the past few years. Some unethical people in power have taken despicable advantage of employees fearful about job security - demanding more productivity and longer hours without additional compensation. “You are lucky to have this job”, is the thinly veiled message from the dude with the cattle prod at your back.

Many corporations have been managing through bad times. There has been serious pressure from low business levels, plunging profits, the need to cut expenses, and noise from unhappy shareholders. If this reality is properly communicated to employees in the form of actions necessary to keep the organization financially viable (and jobs on the payroll), most workers will rally and paddle in tandem with management to weather the storm. They don’t need to be threatened or abused, and they mustn’t be taken for granted.

Better days are coming, slowly but surely. Imagine what will happen as the tumultuous tides recede and your employees have a chance to contemplate their hard-won survival…

• There will be resentful people that will hold a grudge for how they were treated during bad times. The next perceived loss suffered at the hand of the corporation may be the last straw. (Remember the guy in the movie Office Space who set fire to the place because they took his stapler away from him?)

• Some talented individuals have been tolerating abuse just until the job market opens up, and they have an opportunity to go somewhere they will be appreciated and well compensated. That’s the bitch about taking advantage of the passing fears of your employees.

• Training and development of employees is widely abandoned when funding is scarce. If you lose critical resources you have been relying on, do you have anyone prepared to step up to the plate and complete critical projects in progress?

Take a good look around at your team. Are they listless, exhausted, and shell-shocked? Do they show signs of being disengaged, unmotivated, or even angry? You’d better be talking with them, thanking them sincerely and repeatedly for their efforts, supporting them through this recovery period, and helping plan their career development. If you take them for granted much longer, they may just be ready to move on. Opportunity is burgeoning in 2011.