Get Past the Hate

My May 2011 posting “Things Your Boss Secretly Hates About You” has logged quite a bit of readership. It’s my 4th most popular post of the 138 I have published. Some of that may be attributed to the slightly inflammatory title designed to grab attention. But there’s more to it than that, and I get a glimpse into the interest when I review what people have entered into search engines that have led them to my blog:

“annoying boss”

“hate boss”

“how to avoid a boss that hates you”

“how to tell if you boss hates you”

“when your boss hates you”

I wrote “Things Your Boss Secretly Hates About You” in the hope that some people would think about how they could change their behavior and create a better relationship with their boss. You can’t prosper in your job without finding a way to have a constructive relationship with your supervisor. Here are some ideas about how to improve the situation:

In an adult and professional way, encourage your boss to communicate what they want from you. You want to be successful. Any competent manager should be willing and able to provide ideas about how to improve in your role.

Figure out what you can do to make your boss more successful. If they are focused on their own career goals more than yours, you may be most successful with your boss by making him/her look good. You may not get direct credit immediately – but they will recognize your contribution and come to rely on it. Others will take notice too.

You don’t have to like your boss. But you will be more accepting and less frustrated if you can find some things to respect about them. Perhaps he is a budget/funding whiz. Maybe she is good at deflecting office politics so you don’t have to deal with them. He coaches Little League. She loves animals. If you can appreciate your boss on some level, and show interest in that aspect of their skills or character, you may soften their attitude.

Make it easy for your boss to see and understand how you are contributing to strategic goals. Submit a regular status report that lists your accomplishments. This not only keeps your boss informed – it highlights your productivity. Have the initiative to do this even if it has not been specifically requested.

Ask your boss for advice that will help you learn and grow. Don’t just drop a problem in their lap, but don’t be afraid to ask for clarification, perspective, or feedback on your ideas. You want to be sure that your work product meets their needs. At the same time, you can show your appreciation of their knowledge and experience.

Be honest in your desire to improve your relations. Your boss may be behaving badly. If you are straightforward with them, you may jolt them into improving their behavior. In a private meeting, you may need to say something like, “I sense tension between us, and it makes me uncomfortable. How can we strengthen our relationship?” Remember – be adult and professional.

Lastly, and most importantly, you must be honest with yourself. You may have earned a bad attitude from your boss. Are you habitually late? Are you a naysayer? Have you failed to deliver on critical goals? Do you exhibit a lack of enthusiasm for your responsibilities? If you know you are at fault – you must be willing to change.

No Place for Bias in Management

The 2010 U.S. Census unveiled a trend I find startling. More young people are continuing to live with their parents into adulthood. Specifically, 19% of men and 10% of women between the ages of 25-34 have not ventured out and established their own households (an increase from 15% and 8% in 2005). I’m sure there are many reasons for this, including the state of the economy, but I have some trouble relating to it. When I graduated from college, I was anxious to be out on my own. I shared crummy apartments with friends and worked multiple low-paying jobs at a time until I got my career jump-started and could afford my own place.

This got me thinking about the domino effect resulting from young adults living with their parents. It means that they aren’t renting apartments or buying homes. Most likely, they are postponing marriage. They may be preventing their parents from moving on with their plans, since Mom and Dad assumed that they would be empty-nesters by now. Is Mom still making their meals and doing their laundry? What kind of employees are they in the workplace? Oops. This is where my husband threw a wrench into the conversation by reminding me…

We cannot let our biases affect how we relate to our co-workers and employees. What matters is how well people work within their teams and how they perform in their jobs. It’s easy (and dangerous) to project our own life experiences and values on other people. Everyone’s life unfolds differently, and their challenge is to find a way to meet their personal and professional goals.

As managers, your responsibility is to understand as much as your employees choose to share about their personal situation and avoid judging them. Mentor them in ways that will help them be successful. Create learning opportunities, coach and direct, be a good role model, provide thoughtful feedback, reward successes, and be accessible for help and support.

Regardless of where a person comes from or where they are in their life today, you can provide wisdom and experience that will develop young professionals in a way that may positively impact their lives for much longer than the time they work for you. Wouldn’t that be remarkable?

Tough Love

Courage in leadership is a trait I admire. It's very powerful when leaders make difficult decisions with love.

There's a new Sheriff in town in Chicago, my adopted city.  Well, not really a Sheriff - a Mayor.  Rahm Emanuel took the Mayoral Oath of Office on May 16th, 2011.  His Honor clearly loves this city and wants it to be a fantastic place to live and work.  At the same time, he recognizes the issues that have been festering and has the courage to tackle those that threaten our future.  Within his first 6 months as Mayor, he has tussled with the city worker's union and the teacher's union.  He has taken 500 police out from behind desks and put them back on the streets To Serve And Protect.  Rahm's recent budget proposal includes necessary "haircuts" and fee increases required to improve an infrastructure over a hundred years old. He takes public transportation to City Hall and insists that city workers use it too instead of claiming mileage on their expense reports.  He cancelled corporate credit cards en masse when rampant misuse was uncovered.  I admire the practical and passionate approach Rahm is bringing to Chicago politics.  Not everyone is a fan of the decisions he is making, but it's hard to argue with his logic and goals.  We are a metropolis that needs his tough love.

Imagine what could be accomplished if more corporate leaders brought tough love to their work.  Many have the "tough" part of the equation down pat.  It's the balance with "love" that is often lacking.  Love for the future of an institution...love for the people that make it successful...love for what is to be accomplished.  When difficult decisions are made and communication to constituents is cloaked in legalese, PR-speak, and marketing yip-yip, you have to question motives and desired outcomes. What is there to hide? 

Too many corporate executives are motivated by short term goals and long term personal incentives.  It takes courage and toughness and love to be profitable and ethical in business - not just in public service.

Accentuate the Positive

You've got to accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

And latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

-Lyrics by Johnny Mercer (1944)

It’s easy to criticize and be a naysayer. We all do it to some degree. But some years ago I heard a speaker at a conference talk about trying to eliminate negative-speak from our everyday language, and the challenge stuck with me.

Try filtering what you say and replacing negative statements with positive re-wording. Start by raising your own red flag when you begin sentences with words like, “I can’t”, “We shouldn’t”, “Let’s not”, “I don’t think”, “Don’t”, “We won’t”, “You didn’t”, “I don’t like”… Your hackles probably are immediately activated when you hear those words.

Instead of: “I can’t do that.”

Try: “It might be better if I did this.”

Instead of: “We shouldn’t accept that behavior.”
Try: “Let’s see if we can get them to do this.”

Instead of: “I don’t think that's a bad idea.”
Try: “That might be a good idea.”

Instead of: “You didn’t do what I told you to do.”

Try: “Let’s review my expectations again.”

Negative speaking is a hard habit to break.  Using the right words is powerful, and the results are rewarding. Speak (and write) in the affirmative and build more trusting relationships, improve morale, and be seen as a constructive influence in the workplace. Accentuate the positive!

The Creative Collective

Managers tend to favor employees for whom they have a natural affinity. In other words, we often have a positive bias toward people that we perceive to be “like us”. When we can overcome that bias, we build stronger teams by incorporating diversity into their makeup. Your strengths may make up for my weaknesses. Sharing my experience with you will make you a more complete professional. When I am out of ideas, I will be grateful for your burst of creativity. We should all strive for the push and pull, the give and take of a diverse team.

Diversity comes in many forms. It may be as a result of education – for example, a degree in Engineering versus Music. Each generation has a markedly different perspective. Where people were raised – North, South, East, West, or outside the U.S. - introduces a broad range of cultural customs, which can be made more complex by ethnicity. Every personality is different. Diversity is the spice of life, and necessary to move our endeavors forward.

If we all thought and behaved the same way…well, it’s hard to even imagine. We might continue on with the status quo in ad finitum. Blah.

Embrace the differences inherent in your team. Make sure that you are capitalizing on them. Understand where everyone is coming from.  Listen to “crazy” ideas. Try something new. Color outside the lines. Surprise and challenge each other, and do the kinds of things that can only be accomplished via a creative collective. Not only will you be more successful; you will have more fun.

How To Be A Bad Boss

It’s hard to verbalize all the attributes that make someone in management a good boss. But, after many years of experience in the workplace, I do have some firm ideas about what makes a bad boss. If you want your employees to despise you, here are some sure-fire ingredients for leadership failure:

• Be close-minded and keep doing things the way they’ve always been done. Ridicule anyone who makes suggestions for positive change.
• Publicly and repeatedly claim the success of your team as your own, with no mention of the efforts of your employees.
• Ensure that people that work for you that do a good job stay in their position for years and years. Allowing them to be promoted up and out would disrupt your operation.
• Be sure that you give more credence to ideas that come from highly paid consultants than those generated by your experienced team.
• Don’t trust anyone (however experienced they may be) to do their job without incessant needling, pushing, and questioning from you. It’s your job to keep them on their toes.
• Being remote and inaccessible suits your position of importance. If an employee comes to you for help, push the challenge back into their court and make it clear that you’ll be disappointed if they can’t work it out.
• You are the idea guy/gal, so be sure you not only tell your team what to do, but exactly how to do it.
• Minimize risk by squelching creativity. You can’t afford to make a mistake and look foolish.
• Make sure any training you authorize doesn’t interfere with real work.
• Business is serious – discourage levity in your workplace.
• Push on relentlessly from challenge to challenge. There’s no time to celebrate when there is so much still to accomplish.
• “Rank Hath Its Privileges”, which include vendor-purchased or hosted trips, gifts, and fancy dinners you have earned.
• Instill a little fear in your team members. It’s good motivation.
• Always balance the occasional compliment with a well-chosen criticism.
• Enlighten your subordinates only on a “need to know” basis. Explaining context and strategy to them is a waste of time.
• NEVER admit that you’ve made a mistake.

There’s so much material for this subject! Chime in, and contribute your own bad boss experience.

GIVE and GAIN

Much of our life experience conditions us to expect to gain something in return for what we give. We give – we get. What is sown in a work environment is reaped over long periods of time, in subtle ways. Give, be patient, and have faith that you will gain in the long run.

GIVE A FULL DAY’S WORK FOR A DAY’S PAY

Project management professionals assume 6 to 6.5 productive hours a day when scheduling manpower and estimating the duration of tasks. Start with an 8 hour workday, then factor in reasonable meal and bio breaks, and that number sounds about right. Add personal phone calls and email, surfing the internet, and your social networking updates; and your actual work time erodes alarmingly. Get back to work. Gain a reputation for being productive.

GIVE OPPORTUNITIES TO YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

When feeling under the gun, it often seems easier to do things yourself. Instead, work with your inexperienced team members. Give them responsibility and guidance. Implement accountability. Gain an experienced, valuable employee.

GIVE A HAND TO A CO-WORKER

A corporate environment is a team environment. You can be successful on your own only to a point. Reach out to others when they need support. Gain the prospect of help repaid in kind.

GIVE YOUR BOSS YOUR TRUE OPINIONS
Strong teams are made up of people with diverse experience and viewpoints. Don’t be a “yes man”. When you feel strongly about something, fight to have your opinions heard. Gain respect for having your own mind.

GIVE HONEST FEEDBACK TO YOUR EMPLOYEES
Provide praise when earned, and coaching when warranted. Be honest, specific, straightforward, and consistent with your feedback. Gain productive behavior from your team.

GIVE OTHERS IDEAS CONSIDERATION
I don’t care how smart you are. Often someone else will have a better idea. Stop talking and start listening and sharing. Pay attention and be open-minded. Gain value from a team effort.

GIVE “CRAZY” IDEAS A CHANCE
Brainstorm liberally. Your next stellar success could start as a “crazy” idea. Be sure your team feels safe to throw thoughts out into the wind. Gain excitement and creativity.

GIVE EMPATHY TO EMPLOYEES IN PERSONAL DISTRESS
When personal issues encroach into someone’s work life, be sure you understand what is going on. Be considerate, generous, and fair to allow a valued employee to overcome a temporary challenge. Gain trust and loyalty.

GIVE THE BENEFIT OF YOUR WISDOM TO A PROTÉGÉ
You won’t be around forever. Share the lessons you’ve learned and counsel someone eager to learn from your experience. Someone surely helped you early in your career. Now you are in a position to help. Gain the satisfaction of paying it forward.

Encouraging Productivity Like Farmers Do

I just read an article that summarized a surprising study published in an academic journal called Anthrozoos. The research showed that “by giving a cow a name and treating her as an individual, farmers can increase their annual milk yield by almost 500 pints”. Some quick Googling and calculating of my own revealed that 500 pints reflects approximately a 3.4% increase in productivity. That's fairly good payback from a little free bovine TLC.

To me, the report was not only interesting, but oddly heartwarming. Even cows (who my husband sadly assures me are not the brightest of God’s creatures), respond to being treated as more than a number. It made me think of those commercials for California Cheese, whose tag line is, “Great Cheese Comes from Happy Cows”.

Immediately I made the connection to management practices… If even cows are more productive when called by name and treated with empathy, why don’t all managers understand how important it is to interact with their employees with personal warmth and respect?? You don’t have to be friends with everyone with whom you work. I understand that you don’t necessarily even like everyone with whom you work. But we all respond better to a little kindness, recognition, and appreciation.

Wandering through the office giving a distracted nod to your co-workers does not create relationships nor build a team. Even a hearty “thank you” doesn’t cut it, without personalizing your appreciation to make it meaningful. Let people know you see them as individuals! Make it your business to know enough and be perceptive enough to be able to show a little personal interest.

“Susan, I was impressed by your preparation for yesterday's meeting."
“Mark, I heard you just got back from vacation. Did you enjoy your visit with your family in Florida?”
“Tracy, I heard you made those cookies in the break room.  They were awesome.”
“Bill and Martha, you did an incredible job resolving that issue yesterday. I really appreciate all the time and effort you put into taking care of the customer.”

Your job as a manager is more than planning, scheduling, writing reports, facilitating meetings, and responding to email. You are responsible for guiding and nurturing the growth of your team. It can be one of the more rewarding aspects of your career. Start by knowing – really knowing – who your players are and what they bring to the table. Call them by name. Recognize and express appreciation of their accomplishments. Show that you are paying attention.

Dairy farmers know how to encourage enhanced productivity, greater employee job satisfaction, and the respect and loyalty of their herd. So do we.

Leadership Lessons Remembered

From discussions and questions that are posted online, it’s clear that there is an unending quest to understand what makes a good leader. Although volumes have been written on the subject, new ones will continue to be written. Why? Because there are so many situations and variables that affect how good managers can be effective leaders, such as the needs of individuals on a team, the work, the environment, etc.

When I look back on my corporate career, here are the most memorable leadership lessons I learned from specific managers and mentors in my life:

Working for Eva, I learned to have a sense of urgency. If I didn’t, a verbal kick in the backside provided the needed motivation. I learned to do good work quickly under the pressure of deadlines.

From Terry, I got guidance without micromanagement. He would articulate his high level perspective on a project or task, and give me lots of room to figure out how to approach and accomplish it myself. He provided advice and resources, and cleared a path for me.

Joe told us how he expected us to operate as a team, and held us to that standard. He had little tolerance for those who were dishonest with or disrespectful of their peers. His personal and professional ethics earned my admiration.

Tim is a creative thinker that always had ideas for me when I was stuck on a problem. He gained my personal loyalty by being unfailingly supportive when I faced treatment for a serious illness.

Who were/are your career mentors, and what facet of leadership did you learn from them? Post a comment and share your experience. Maybe we’ll write our own volume on leadership

Customer Service Issues? Look to Management First

If you have systemic issues with your customer service organization, it may very well stink from the head (just like a dead fish). You need to assess some of the basics controlled by management.

IS THERE A WELL-DEFINED SERVICE PHILOSOPHY? Management should be able to articulate a mission, and how they intend to go about fulfilling it. Leaders should be passionate about their service philosophy. If they don’t have one, then their team doesn’t have a guiding force.

ARE YOU HIRING THE RIGHT PEOPLE? Check your interviewing and hiring practices. This is particularly important if you are receiving complaints from your customers about “attitude”. Some people may just not be cut out for a customer service role, or they may require more training and coaching.

HAVE PEOPLE BEEN PUT IN THE POSITIONS IN WHICH THEY WILL BE MOST EFFECTIVE? If necessary, adjust your jobs and procedures to make the best use of people’s skills. For example, you could have someone who is technically able, but does not communicate well with customers. You may be able to adjust their role to better take advantage of their abilities.

ARE GOALS AND MEASURES IN PLACE? You must have benchmarks and measures, and know how you want your organization and people to perform. How fast do you answer the phone? Is it fast enough? How many calls/chats/whatever should one rep be able to handle in a shift? How satisfied are your customers? Everyone on the team should be aware of the goals and measures.

DOES MANAGEMENT EMPOWER THEIR TEAM TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT? If people feel like their hands are tied, the customer is probably going to hear about it. When the service team knows what the philosophy is – give them the freedom to take care of the customer within those guidelines.

IS YOUR MANAGEMENT TEAM “HANDS-ON” AND OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS AND CHANGE? Does your manager spend a lot of time in intra-departmental meetings, on conference calls, sending CYA emails, having lunch with vendors…? Be sure they are truly connected with the day-to-day operation and know what’s going on. Who is really running the organization?

DOES THE TEAM HAVE THE TOOLS THEY NEED? Management is responsible for ensuring that their department has the tools they need to do their jobs effectively. This may be technology, communication, information, training and/or education.

DO YOU SEE EVIDENCE OF POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT? The best way to reinforce the service philosophy and make continued progress toward goals is to recognize and reward team members when their performance is “spot on”. Recognition and reward doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. It can be as simple as a note, a thank you, or a mention in a team meeting. Management should be creative about positive reinforcement and change up their techniques, in order to remain effective.

Haropulos Bailey Consulting is experienced in establishing and operating world class Customer Service and Support centers. If you are interested in obtaining consulting services in this discipline, email us at habaconsulting@comcast.net.

Function Over Form

Last week, I wrote about how doing “something special” consistently in your workplace can make you successful. I also mentioned that those things didn’t need to be dramatic. After thinking further about this, I'm adding that what you do must have SUBSTANCE. We have all worked with people at one time or another who spend their time posturing. They certainly make every effort to appear busy and, of course, important. They spend hours and days in important meetings and confab frequently with the big boss about important stuff. They jet out of town on important business, hire consultants for important work, and write numerous long and important emails. But what do they actually accomplish? Do they really serve a valuable purpose, or are they mostly about form over function? That sort of manager or executive quickly earns a lack of respect. Avoiding this potential pitfall is fairly easy if you focus on priorities and goals, and communicate with your team. Make sure that the level of effort you expend results in a commensurate level of accomplishment. Just doing email IS NOT an accomplishment. Reviewing a team member’s work product and providing valuable feedback and coaching IS an accomplishment. Flying to a far away city for a meeting IS NOT an accomplishment. Going to a meeting and bringing back actionable decisions and information that you communicate to your team IS an accomplishment. Try this exercise: At the end of every week or month, list your accomplishments – actions completed that took you a step closer to documented goals. If you list something that is more form than function you will recognize it as lame when you put it in writing. Be honest with yourself. Over time, this exercise will help discipline you to accomplish more functional tasks. This can also become a good communication to share with your boss. Time can too easily get consumed by things that don’t matter. Focus on substance. Real work over posturing. Function Over Form.

Leadership is a Balancing Act

I’m observing, with interest, the shift in management practices that has occurred as good times have changed to bad times for business. Back when times were good, signing bonuses were a common practice, job-hopping was a legitimate way to advance a career, job benefits were plentiful and even considered an entitlement, and companies were obsessed with measuring and enhancing employee loyalty. Similarly to the entire marketplace, the situation was a little out of balance. But who’s going to complain when there’s plenty of money to go around? Then the recession hit hard. With the major downturn in the economy came widespread restructuring, layoffs, and struggles to stay solvent until business levels recover. Suddenly, instead of courting employee loyalty, corporate management demanded that their people accomplish more with less. Said or unsaid, the message has been, “Be happy you still have a job.” People have responded, but are driven by fear and uncertainty more often than they are inspired by a common purpose. Once again, a lack of balance is evident. The pendulum will swing back to better times. Lessons can and should be learned to help strike a healthy balance between common practices in good times versus bad. We should always be grateful to have good job opportunities. Corporate management should always appreciate employees who contribute effectively to corporate goals. There will always be ups and downs in the cycle of economy and business. Successful companies with strong leadership don’t blow wildly in the wind. They consistently apply good business practices and adjust them with consideration and care when the environment changes, and they keep their team members informed. Internal corporate communications can make a valuable contribution toward achieving a balance between good times and bad. Leaders who communicate corporate philosophies, strategies, and values build trust and gain buy-in from their employees. Fear and uncertainty is fed by a lack of information. Open and honest interaction nurtures uplifting loyalty and cooperation through tough times. Unity and strength of purpose come from successfully overcoming a challenge together. It’s a balancing act in which every leader should be fully engaged.

Why Consulting?

A consultant is ... ... someone who takes the watch off your wrist and tells you the time. ... a man who knows 99 ways to make love, but doesn't know any women. ... someone who is called in at the last moment and paid enormous amounts of money to assign the blame. There are lots of jokes like these that malign the worst characteristics of consultants. You may have encountered consultants that left you frustrated, insulted, or just plain wondering how they could be considered an expert on anything (let alone get paid a handsome fee). Hopefully we have all also had great experiences with consultants that have really helped out and taught us a few things in the process. They can be inspiring. So what would make me start a consulting company? When I walked away from 30+ years in a corporate environment last year, I needed a break from the day to day stress and politics. With a little time to think, I realized that I still wanted to be engaged in business – just in very a different way. Our goal is to offer the knowledge and work abilities we have to projects to which we can clearly add value. We are flexible, hands-on, hard-working, and prefer shorter term assignments where we can get in, collaborate, get out, and leave you successful and relieved of a challenge. Our only success is yours. Why consulting? It’s a luxury to have a short-term narrow focus instead of a long-term broad focus. It’s exciting to work on a variety of projects. It’s fun to work with interesting, smart people. And we still are jazzed to find creative, practical solutions to issues. We are Haropulos Bailey Consulting.