Sometimes we’ve just got to do the things we don’t want to do. There is a reason they call it work.

On August 9th, 2010, Steven Slater, a Jet Blue flight attendant, became famous when he swore at a nasty passenger over the intercom, grabbed two cold beers and then deployed the emergency escape slide to make his exit from the airplane. Many people have proudly voiced that they look up to him: in their eyes he has become a working class hero.

I personally feel Slater should be fired and forever banned by the FAA from flying. Each year I log over 100,000 miles. I know passengers can be rude and obnoxious jerks. I have been greeted and served by hundreds of flight attendants who specialize in the art of giving great service, despite having to deal with unruly passengers. And, I have witnessed the few flight attendants who are the equivalent of customer repellant. They take a passenger who is a jerk and make the situation worse, not only for the jerk, but for everyone who is around the jerk.

Unfortunately for flight attendants, dealing with stubborn passengers who don’t follow their instructions is part of the job. If every passenger was perfect, we would only need one or, at the most, two flight attendants on every flight and about a third of the flight attendant labor force would be unemployed…just like Slater.

Slater has become a cult hero to thousands of workers who can relate to dealing with difficult and demanding customers. Thinking ahead to when the job market returns, as leaders should be doing, what will happen to the employers of these fed up huddled masses who, now, can only fantasize about the day when they are able to responsibly quit their jobs and work where they feel they would be more appreciated? Employee engagement will be, and always has been, essential.

In September’s Quest for Workplace Excellence newsletter (you can sign up here for free if you haven’t already), we will provide you with tips to prepare for the return of the job market to help ensure that your employees will chose to come to work everyday because they feel valued, rather than making a costly emergency exit, Steven Slater style.

Now that I’ve stated my view, I’m curious: what are your thoughts on Steven Slater’s highly publicized exit interview?

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• Conflict Resolution
• Motivating the Team During Downsizing
• Focus on Customer Service

Understand that no matter how carefully you plan, periodically you will have to deal with conflict. Whether it be conflict between employees, with a vendor, or with a customer, conflict has a way of uniquely appearing, demanding that we acknowledge and deal with the challenge.

Just as you would not ignore poorly-produced products or inferior job performance, you can’t afford to ignore conflict. While it is unrealistic to think that you can create a conflict-free environment, you can learn more about how to resolve issues so that conflict doesn’t overwhelm you and impact your company’s productivity. With practice, you will become confident in your ability to resolve conflicts that typically arise in the day-to-day operations of an organization.

Defining Conflict

Conflict is a fact of life and is here to stay. Wherever you have groups of people working together, you are going to experience conflict. Know that this is a normal occurrence and that the better you understand conflict, the better you will be able to effectively deal with the challenges inherent in supervising people.

Here are some tips for success when facing conflict:

1. Don’t ignore conflict. Chances are, if left alone, the conflict will escalate, not go away.

2. If you work with people, there is potential for conflict. This is no reflection on your ability as a supervisor or manager. What will distinguish you is your ability to confidently deal with workplace conflict.

3. Before attempting to resolve issues, make sure you know the facts. The best way is to talk with employees one-on-one to learn firsthand about their perceptions regarding the conflict.

4. Remember to listen more than you speak when resolving conflict. As a manager or HR professional, we are accomplished problem-solvers. When the conflict revolves around people and feelings, it is critical that you listen, listen, and then listen some more!

5. Make every attempt to remain objective and neutral. Your team is looking to you as a role model. They will be influenced by how you resolve conflict. If you are calm, objective, and solution oriented, you are demonstrating positive techniques for resolving conflict.

6. To help ensure you remain objective, focus on the problem, not the people involved with the problem. Doing this helps you stay detached from the emotion surrounding the conflict and helps you better focus on positive outcomes.

7. During periods of conflict, help employees refocus their attention on your team’s goals. When you emphasize goals and outcomes, it demonstrates your commitment to resolving the conflict and focuses energy back on the reason we are in business.

8. If you reach a stalemate when attempting to resolve conflict, declare a time out. Giving those involved a time to cool off may help all parties better focus on solutions.

9. When resolving conflict, attempt to utilize the collaboration method which strives to achieve a solution that is mutually acceptable to all parties. Using the collaboration style helps ensure that neither party in the conflict feels like the “loser.”

10. Once the conflict is resolved, periodically check back with the participants to make sure that there are no further issues.

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• Build Strong, Cross-Departmental Teamwork
• The Different Ways That People Handle Changek
• Communication… An Ongoing Organizational Challenge

This blog entry has been adapted from the July issue of The Quest for Workplace Excellence (sign up here)

“He who knows others is learned; He who knows himself is wise.”

- Lao-tzu, Tao te Ching

If you ask an artist what the most difficult subject to paint is, while retaining true likeness, you are likely to get the answer, “Myself.” This is because the most distorted lens we use is the one we view ourselves through. When artists paint themselves, they are likely to look at their features with varying degrees of self-deception. Sometimes the view is more favorable, sometimes it is less favorable.

Artists’ misperceptions or preconceived ideas of themselves can become the ingredients of a masterpiece. Leaders’ misperceptions of themselves can become the ingredients of a nightmare. While this challenge is all too familiar to artists, it is even more imperative that leaders understand their true likeness, and more importantly, how they come across.

In our twenty-plus years of experience, we’ve been privileged to work with thousands of leaders at all levels within organizations. These leaders have ranged from truly awesome, to pretty good, to downright awful… the equivalent of people repellent. What continues to intrigue us about these leaders, whether they be great, average or scary, is how they personally see themselves as leaders, compared to how others see them.

What we’ve realized after facilitating hundreds of Leadership Development Assessments (360s), is that your accurate self-perception is absolutely critical to your success as a leader. Analyzing the 360 data and comparing the difference between how the leaders see themselves vs. how others perceive them is revealing. Simply, when leaders view themselves as significantly more accomplished than the others participating, we have found an increase of problematic areas identified in the survey. In other words, when the leader thinks they walk on water, their participants almost always indicate that this leader is just barely treading water.

We’ve also come to realize that realistically knowing how we come across to others is tough. We all have blind spots, gaps, and distortions in our perceptions of ourselves. However, our data clearly shows that leaders who have the most accurate self-perception, overall, are viewed more positively by others. In addition, the more accurate the leaders’ self-perception, the better their working relationship with others are, including increased levels of trust, respect and loyalty.

Taking feedback about your ability as a leader has never been easy. Leaders with a false perception regarding how others see them often rationalize feedback by saying, “I’m not that way. They just don’t really know who I am.” These leaders are defensive, sometimes angry, and often blame others for putting them in challenging situations where no leader would be successful. In other words, “It’s them, not me, who needs to change. Just give me better employees, and I wouldn’t be having these problems.”

Leaders who have a more accurate perception of how others see them tend to exhibit very different behaviors. First, they tend to be more critical of their leadership abilities than others are. Second, they are often genuinely humble and want to get even stronger as a leader. In addition, regardless of their leadership skill set or where they are in their career, they exhibit many of the following positive behaviors:

In Touch with Reality: These leaders are out and about on a daily basis, talking with employees, asking them for their insights. They ask for and get employee input regarding problems that need to be solved and changes that must be made. They have the pulse of the team, and their actions demonstrate they care about the team and value their opinions.

Have People Smarts: Not only do these leaders know themselves well, they know what makes other people tick. They understand motivation and factors that make it easier for people to do their work. They are professionals displaying high E.I. (emotional intelligence). People on their team describe them as a people person.

Learners: These leaders, regardless of their expertise, keep on learning. Not only do they personally keep on learning, they inspire others to learn. They are quick to question, explore and grow in their quest to become an even stronger leader.

Goal Setters: With these leaders, things don’t happen accidently. Great leaders, we’ve found, are also great goal setters. They can articulate what they intend to accomplish this day, week, month and year, some even having three to five year plans. They know what they want, and have an action plan detailing what it will take for them to reach their goal.

Recognize Others: These leaders continually look for opportunities to praise and recognize others, showing that they care about and value employees as unique individuals contributing to the success of the team. They spend freely with soft currency – kind words that are genuinely delivered to show their appreciation for an employee’s contribution.

Open to Feedback: Leaders with a healthy self-perception are open to feedback and often encourage others to answer the following question, “How am I doing?” When constructive comments are shared about what the leader needs to change, the leader responds with, “Thanks. I’m glad you talked to me about that. I now know what I need to be working on.”

Change Quickly: These leaders are quick change artists, changing frequently and being a great role model for their team. They stay future focused, maintain a positive vision of the team’s success with the change, and help others to realize the benefits of making the change. They support team members having difficulty with the change, but stay focused on successfully achieving the desired outcome.

Inspire Others to Improve: Not only are these leaders great learners, but they see abilities in others that perhaps even the individual hasn’t yet realized. They see potential in individuals and coach, mentor and inspire the team member to continue to learn and grow. Their positive vision of the employee’s potential often motivates the employee to raise the bar and reach for even higher levels of success.

It isn’t easy. However, being in touch with how others see you as a leader, and taking steps to address areas where they feel you can grow, will help you become an even stronger leader. Open your eyes and replace the lens through which you view yourself. It starts with two actions: asking and listening.

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• Test your Leadership Skills
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Assess your leadership skills on the following 10 statements using a 5-point scale.

1 = Not like you……………………………5 = Very much like you

1. I have a clear overall vision, or concept of my department’s purpose, function, and responsibility (its contribution, mission, values, focus).

2. I spot the critical issues and upcoming problems my department will need to deal with.

3. I have the facilitation skills necessary to effectively lead a group to consensus.

4. I teach and coach people skillfully to help them handle specific challenges and problems.

5. I keep up-to-date on what’s going on with my department.

6. I keep an open mind when hearing others’ opinions.

7. I show genuine concern for employees as individuals.

8. I maintain good systems that help people work productively.

9. I set a good example with my work habits.

10. I foster a sense of teamwork and build enthusiasm for group projects and assignments.

Scoring – Add your scores up and then find your total below.

45-50 You lead with confidence and your followers know where you are going.

40-44 You’re well on your way to effective leadership. Keep focused and stay on the road.

35-39 Sometimes you get off track and your followers are left wondering what to do next.

30-34 With no clear path in mind, your followers are left to their own devices.

Less than 30 Your followers are finding it difficult to follow your lead and may be looking for a new leader.

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You may also like:

• Loyalty-Based Leadership
• Leadership Development Assessments
• Fostering an Open Communication Climate with Employees

6 Strategies to Develop a Loyal Workforce

When we ask managers how they know that certain employees are not loyal to them, we are sometimes intrigued–and dismayed–with their definition of loyalty.

For some managers, if an employee questions what the manager is doing or trying to accomplish, the manager sees that questioning as obvious evidence of a lack of loyalty. For other managers, if the employee speaks the truth, and the truth is not what the manager cares to promote throughout the organization, the manager perceives that honest communication as showing a lack of loyalty. In another instance, a manager is actually asking employees to lie. The employees who would not lie were described as not being team players. Other managers try to instill fear or use threats in their attempts to breed a loyal workforce. In still another instance, a manager was perplexed that the employee was not loyal because the employee had been given “gifts” along with a promotion and a “big” raise.

From the other side, we encountered employees who stated that their managers told them that associating with certain individuals or departments in the organization was showing a lack of loyalty to their own manager.

In each of these instances, we know one thing for certain. Asking employees to demonstrate loyalty through actions that are wrong or clearly inappropriate will not build loyalty. Instead, it is likely to erode the relationship between the manager and the employee.

If we go back to our basic definition of leadership (“leaders are those who people willingly follow”), then using the types of strategies we mentioned results in a leadership foundation built on quicksand. As the outside pressures increase, these managers find their leadership foundation crumbling…and washing out to sea.

If these strategies are ineffective, what will work to develop employees who become increasingly loyal to their leader? We must begin by defining loyalty. According to Webster’s Dictionary, loyalty means “unswerving in allegiance; faithful to a cause, ideal, person, or custom.” The United States Marines define loyalty as “the love of the Corps at all costs.”

Ultimately, true loyalty from an employee comes when the manager is able to build a relationship with the employee based upon deep trust. This means that a manager may perceive that he or she has loyalty, but without the employee feeling a bond of trust, the two of them will never have true loyalty.

We have seen great leaders utilize these following six strategies to develop a loyal workforce.

1. Clarify your values. As a manager, what do you value? Do you value honesty? Or, do you prefer employees who will be deceptive or dishonest if that is what it takes to make you look good in the eyes of others? When managers endorse an employee’s loyalty over true honesty, it is obvious that the manager is operating on a self-centered value system. This value system is geared to the individual’s success rather than to the best for the employees in the organization.

2. Trust your people. When managers do not trust their subordinates, they send out all sorts of signals. Not passing along significant responsibilities and withholding important information from employees are two signals that convey a lack of confidence in and commitment to your employees. When this occurs, employees perceive that they are not meaningful to the success of the department. They sense that their manager is not to be trusted. Without trust, there can be no true loyalty.

3. Encourage people to question or challenge you. When employees care enough to ask managers tough questions, it provides managers with an opportunity to provide honest feedback. Ask employees questions. Ask them about their understanding of the topic being discussed. For example, a manager might ask an employee, “What happens if we do change? And, what will happen if we do not change?” Managers who dislike being challenged are managers who lack confidence in their ability to do the job. Managers who enjoy challenges from employees recognize that working through the difficulties and questions presents opportunities to develop employees who are even more loyal than employees who never question anything.

4. Care about the employee first as an individual, then as an employee. Great leaders know that when they care about employees as people first, then as employees, many positive things happen. One of them is a loyal workforce. A manager sent an employee home who was not feeling well on a day when the entire office was swamped with projects and deadlines. The employee did not want to place a heavier burden on the other remaining employees by going home. But the manager stated, “The most important thing is your health. We can figure out how to accomplish everything else.” This sent out a clear message that the individual was more important than the department’s immediate workload.

5. Value the employee as a “gift” rather than as a “commodity.” When an employee knows that he or she is really valued, and that you believe the employee makes a positive difference, you will find stronger bonds of loyalty. In contrast, if employees sense that you only care that a warm body fills a particular position, that it does not matter who does the work, they will feel like a commodity. Leaders who value each employee and who also recognize each one as contributing a unique “gift” evoke stronger bonds of loyalty from employees.

6. Be honest. Being honest builds the trust level between manager and employee, especially when it costs the manager something to be honest. For example, a manager tells the team that the company is talking about a pending layoff due to lack of business. Having the courage to deliver this unwelcome news demonstrates an attitude of genuine caring. “I care enough about you to be honest and to give you what information I currently have regarding company decisions.” Managers who are consistently honest with employees, even when it costs them something to be honest, will build a team of loyal employees.

Being a manager today is tougher than ever before. Today’s managers are faced with challenges unheard of fifty years ago. To doubt the loyalty of those you supervise doesn’t need to be added to your list of pressures.

Implement these six strategies to build a loyal team. And then, as you lead, your team will be there with you, willingly offering their support and their contributions–and their loyalty.

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What Separates the Best-of-the-Best Organizations From the Worst-of-the-Worst?

For 20 years, Peter Barron Stark Companies has been a leader in conducting annual employee opinion surveys. We have surveyed over 250 organizations, and our PBS Best-of-the-Best benchmarks (those who rank in the top 25 percent in our employee opinion surveys) are based on nearly 100,000 employees’ opinions. In a recent statistical correlation study, we made some exciting discoveries we are proud to report for the first time. We have identified the specific areas you need to focus on to achieve the same standard of excellence as the Best-of-the-Best organizations—and we have learned the one thing that all organizations in the lowest quartile, the Worst-of-the Worst, have in common—the one area in which your organization must never compromise: Supervision. The higher quality of supervisor or leader that you have, the higher your organizational results and engagement scores will be. (See the Eleven Stupid Things that Managers Do to Mess Up Workplace Excellence.) Although the Best-of-the-Best companies score better on almost every question of the survey, the following categories were unique and statistically significant.

COMMUNICATION

The PBS Best-of-the-Best companies have better communication— in both quantity and quality. This increased communication creates a stronger relationship between the management team and employees, who perceive that management is honest with them. Our research shows the top companies are better at communicating in the areas of purpose, strategic direction, expectations and corporate goals. The communication in each of these organizations focuses on ensuring that employees have the information they need to do their jobs, help the company achieve its goals, and understand what the organization has accomplished in relationship to its goals.

COMMITMENT TO QUALITY AND SERVICE

The second category in which the Best-of-the-Best companies excel is their commitment to producing high-quality products and delivering exceptional customer service. Successful companies focus on continuous improvement and are skilled at identifying problems and handling them in the early stages. In these organizations, employees are encouraged to take the initiative to improve the quality of their products and services. Nearly every one of the organizations in the PBS Best-of-the- Best benchmark does some type of ongoing customer satisfaction survey to measure the company’s quality and service from the customers’ perspective. Research actually demonstrates that there is a greater opportunity to build customer loyalty when a customer has a problem that is resolved than if the customer never had a problem to begin with. Service and product problems are not the real issue. How an organization responds to problems is what makes the great service providers stand out.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Finally, the Best-of-the-Best organizations separate themselves from the rest by managing performance and holding people accountable. The top companies are better at setting clear expectations for employees.When an employee fails to meet expectations, they are better at coaching that employee; putting a performance management plan in place; providing training if needed; and conducting thorough, accurate, on-time performance reviews. If none of these techniques works, the Best-of-the-Best are quick to share the low-performing employee with a competitor—and allow that employee to actively undermine the competitor’s strategic plan!

Failing to actively manage performance and hold all employees accountable leads to low morale. In our training programs, we love to ask the question, “Can nice leaders have departments with low morale?” The answer is, Absolutely! In fact, many “nice” leaders shy away from performance problems because they do not want to be perceived as too harsh. So they do nothing and simply hope that the problem employee’s performance will improve. The reality is that an employee’s performance seldom improves without some type of intervention. When an employee is not doing what he or she is supposed to do and the manager does not quickly deal with the issue, morale plummets and everyone on the team loses respect for the manager.

UNIQUE QUALITY OF THE WORST-OF-THE-WORST: POOR SUPERVISION

The only category that is truly unique to each of the companies in the lowest quartile of the PBS benchmark is low scores for supervisors. If there was ever a reason to train supervisors and hold them accountable for building a solid relationship with employees and achieving corporate results, the desire to stay out of the Worst-of-the-Worst category should be it!

If you are a CEO or a human resources leader, you have probably experienced organizational problems caused by a poor manager. One week you are trying to get this manager to complete the department’s performance reviews or document an employee’s poor performance. Another week you find yourself refereeing a dispute between the same manager and a peer in your organization. You regularly get complaints from employees that this person does not communicate respectfully with others. And he or she always has an excuse for failing to meet company goals. The result is a department with low productivity, low morale and high turnover.

Remember, employees may join your organization simply because they want a job or you have offered them more money, but they leave your company because they are unhappy with their immediate supervisor. The learning point: It is difficult to be one of the Best-of-the-Best organizations if you don’t have strong supervisors who are accountable for their performance.

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This blog entry has been adapted from the June issue of The Quest for Workplace Excellence (sign up here)

As a leader, you have the ultimate responsibility for your behavior. You are the role model for your team. You are the only person who decides if you will act ethically. When it comes to honesty, respect, fairness, and especially safety, there is no off season.

Being ethical (or unethical) is reflected in everything we do. As a leader, our choices affect not only ourselves, but those working around us as well. It’s easy to make excuses for ourselves and be blinded by our own biases, but our customers, employees and peers are trusting that we are honest and fair individuals. There is no better time than now to re-examine habits and make sure that they are in alignment with this vision.

Let’s start with a mini-self assessment. In the past year, have I:

• Failed to admit a mistake I made?
• Let someone else take responsibility for my mistake?
• Accomplished personal business on company time?
• Used company tools or resources for my personal needs?
• Engaged in talking negatively about the company or management?
• Gossiped?
• Violated someone’s confidentiality?
• Sent emails to a coworker that would be an embarrassment if the boss found out?
• Ignored a company policy?
• Told a degrading joke about race, culture or gender?
• Failed to share information that another team member needed?
• Been less than completely truthful on an expense account, mileage report or time sheet?
• Accepted a gift that violated company policy?
• Knowingly delivered an inferior product to make a sale or meet a deadline?
• Manipulated the truth to complete a goal?

Self-evaluation is the first step. Taking action is the second. So, what are the guidelines for always making ethical decisions and doing the right thing?

Respect Everyone

Begin with respect. Respect for everyone, whether they’re your manager, your peer, your employee, your customer or your vendor. Treating everyone with the same degree of dignity, regardless of their position, speaks volumes about your character. If ever questioned regarding an action taken or a decision made, you will benefit from the support and allegiance of those whom you have treated respectfully over the years.

Accept Full Responsibility

Take complete ownership of your actions. Hold yourself accountable for the quality within your area of influence and for using resources legally, efficiently and properly for business purposes. Ensure that you are pulling your fair share of the workload. Taking responsibility isn’t just the ethical thing to do, it’s also best for the bottom line.

Expect Ethical Outcomes

While conducting a goal setting seminar, we instructed participants that the key to goal setting success is to do whatever it takes to achieve the desired outcome. An attorney in the group corrected us by saying, “Do whatever it takes, legally, ethically and morally to achieve the result.” We agree. Obviously, you are expected to achieve results; however, in your quest you must never jeopardize your integrity or compromise your company by making an unethical decision. Rationalizing that “the end justifies the means” cannot be an excuse for being unethical.

Quit Blaming Others

There is no “perfect” organization. Things go wrong. Sometimes things go very wrong. Assigning blame to others is counterproductive; it creates a culture of defensiveness. When things go awry, muster the courage to say, “What went wrong?” “How are we going to fix it?” “What will we do differently next time?” Keep the focus on solving the immediate crisis and proceeding proactively to assure the problem is not repeated.

By eliminating blame, you do not resort to using excuses which amount to taking the easy way out. Here are some of the most common:

• It’s policy, but no one follows policy
• Who cares? I’ll just do it this one time
• It’s a huge potential sale. What they don’t know won’t hurt them
• Everyone does it here
• My boss just looks the other way
• It’s a huge company. They’ll never miss it
• I work long hours and don’t get paid overtime. Doing personal business on company time compensates me for my time
• We don’t have the time to make it right. Send it anyway

As you know, making the right decision isn’t always easy. One CEO who knows and demonstrates the importance of making ethical decisions is Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon. He issued the following apology after Amazon automatically deleted copies of the novel 1984 that were illegally sold on the Kindle:

Notice that he did not give an apology along the lines of, “I’m sorry that [insert name of employee, executive or other scapegoat here] did this, I had no idea.” He took the blame even though he may or may not have been the one to initiate the automatic deletion of the novels. It doesn’t matter who made that decision. The leader handled it gracefully and the response was positive. We highly suggest taking a look at the responses to his apology: people were very understanding and also very surprised at his sincerity.

Take a minute to reflect on your role as an ethical leader. Congratulate yourself for walking the talk when you have done so. On those occasions where you have been less than a stellar example, commit to having the courage to being above reproach the next time.

Finally, if you still have questions about what is or isn’t ethical, we provide one last assessment: How would I feel if everyone at my company knew I’d done (or not done) this?

1. Is what I am doing legal?
2. Am I following company policy?
3. How would I feel if someone did this to me?
4. What would Mom think if she knew I’d done this?
5. What is my conscience telling me about my behavior?
6. Would I want to read about my actions in the newspaper?
7. What would Mother Theresa, Abraham Lincoln or Ghandi think about my actions?

These practical tests can help you determine the rightness or wrongness of your actions. Remember, making ethical decisions is part of everything you do, everyday, every time. As Albert Einstein said, “Relativity applies to physics, not ethics.”

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The text below is taken from SHRM’s blog entry, Employee Engagement Marathon – Monday Recap, written by David Bowles

A San Diego local, Peter has an impressive resume and clearly lots of experience. He is also a talented and funny speaker who had a full house in the palm of his hands.

His speech was based on what appears to be his proprietary database of 250 companies employing 100,000 people, and which he leverages to make statements about the top 10 factors which bring about employee engagement. He does this by analyzing the top 25% of his database to see what secrets he can wring out of the data.

He started out by looking at the leader vs. manager question, something which our Wednesday speaker, Marcus Buckingham, has also done. Peter doesn’t take the Buckingham approach of splitting these jobs into quite different categories, he sees leaders as a higher level of manager whose qualities lead people to follow them, that being the crucial difference.

His database yielded a list of engagement factors which is very familiar to those of us who have worked in this business but worth repeating:

• Creating a vision with clear goals. One that comes form the heart, is unique to the organization and is radical and competitive.
• Communication (especially the hard things like goals)
• Seeking the right people for the right jobs
• Cross-department teamwork (not just within department, that’s too easy)
• Recognizing and rewarding excellence
• Making accountability and performance count (the need for honest reviews)
• Making sure very employee can learn and grow
• Problems are no problem! (an attitude that says “we can handle things”)
• Making it “all about the customer”

It’s a good list…and he had an interesting saying from John Maxwell: “if you think your job’s purpose is to make you happy, you should be a clown”. Not sure all the “happiness at work” fans would agree!

Peter was solid in his findings, though, and well worth the time spent.

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• Why Employees Resist Change

At the SHRM 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition, Peter and Mary Ellen Slaytor of SmartBrief on Workforce, discuss ways to increase employee engagement which will improve morale, productivity, motivation and retention.

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Tackling Podium Panic

In your quest for workplace excellence, you will undoubtedly be called upon to make presentations. Whether they are for your work team, or for the CEO, we want to position you for success.

In an early episode of Seinfeld, Jerry states, “Surveys show that the #1 fear of Americans is public speaking. #2 is death. Death is #2. That means that at a funeral, the average American would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy.” It is clear that the fear of presenting before a group can be intimidating and upon occasion, actually cause physical stress. If you have experienced butterflies in your stomach, sweaty palms, weak knees or lost sleep for a week before your scheduled presentation, read on.

First, you must understand that in areas of your life where you have deep-seated confidence, you’ve been there before, again and again. In areas where you excel, you’ve had considerable practice. For example, if you are an IT whiz, you’ve spent years honing your craft. You didn’t just show up on the scene with a high level of expertise and confidence. Bit by bit, you built a solid skill set. As the skill set was building, so was your confidence.

Speaking is no different. You’ve got to do it over and over again to increase both your level of confidence and competence. In becoming a confident public speaker, we know of no short cuts to excellence. Here are a few tips that we want to pass on to you to help ensure your success when presenting in front of groups, whether they be as small as five or as large as 500:

1. Practice positive self-talk
   In the words of Henry Ford, “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re probably right.” As you think about your presentation in the time leading up to your delivery, it is critical that you practice positive self-talk. Go for what you want, not what you don’t want. In other words, “I’m going to get nervous and forget what I want to say” becomes, “I’m prepared. I’ve practiced. My presentation is going to go great today.”

   Changing what you say to yourself related to your ability to confidently deliver a presentation has a huge impact on your level of confidence. Each time the negatives creep in, change them to positives and focus on what you can do to control your level of anxiety. Remember, the brain has a hard time disassociating the negatives. If you think you’ll get nervous and forget, chances are good you won’t disappoint yourself.

2. Don’t think about yourself as a public speaker
   Think about yourself as a subject matter expert who has important information to tell your audience. View yourself as confidently sharing your expertise with your audience, who wants to know more about your topic. As you talk with your audience, don’t expect yourself to be perfect. In real life, as you converse casually with acquaintances, you occasionally forget your train of thought or have to back up and rephrase something for clarity. It’s the same when making presentations. You don’t have to be perfect. In fact, being so rehearsed that you come across as robotic is not your goal. Lighten up and where appropriate, use humor to both relax yourself and your audience. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Some of the best advice we ever got early in our career as speakers was, “Just go out there and have some fun!”

3. Clearly identify your purpose and goals early on
   Before you begin your presentation, have a tight mental outline as to why you are making the presentation, what you want to say in the presentation and your template for presenting the information. The clearer you are about your purpose and approach, the more confident you will be when you present. Keep your message simple. Plan to tell your audience what you’re going to tell them. Then, tell them. Finally, briefly tell them what you’ve told them, and what they should remember. A simple message delivered in a structured format does two things. It helps you reduce your anxiety because you have a clear mental outline of where you’re going. It also helps your attain your goal of having the audience retain the information.

4. Expect the unexpected
   No matter how well you have prepared, sometimes things don’t go as planned. It is important to acknowledge that you can’t control everything. Expect the unexpected and understand that no matter what happens, your audience wants you to succeed. They are just as uncomfortable as you when things are not going as they should. Typically when the PowerPoint won’t cooperate, the microphone doesn’t work and you’ve lost your place in your notes, the only thing that will work is humor. Make light of the challenges and your audience will laugh with you. It’s not the end of the world . . . it just seems that way.

5. Practice, practice, practice
   No matter what else you do to calm the butterflies, to really tackle podium panic, you’ve got to practice. Once you’ve got your outline, start rehearsing sections. Make several “dry runs” before the actual presentation. Rehearse in front of a mirror. Video tape your presentation and critique your efforts. Make changes to segments that don’t flow. Have a friend, co-worker or family member listen and give you feedback. Finally, make sure you get plenty of rest the night before your event.

In reality, the butterflies may never totally leave you, but hopefully our tips will help your get them flying in formation in the right direction!

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