Peter Barron Stark Companies

Leadership Lessons from Great Teachers

Peter Stark — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:00:51 +0000

Need Leadership Inspiration? Borrow from Your Favorite Teachers

Think back to your school days. Who were your favorite teachers? Most likely, they were not the teachers who taught straight out of the book, reading word-for-word. I’m willing to guess your favorite teachers were passionate about what they taught, excited to share their knowledge with you, truly cared about you and your success, and encouraged you to explore new ways of approaching and solving problems. They might not have even held the title of teacher — perhaps they were a coach, a family member, or a friend — but were a teacher nonetheless. Regardless of their title, position, or relationship to you, you looked to them as a role model and leader.

Great leaders, in addition to their other positive, distinguishing characteristics, are not only continual learners, but they are also great teachers. They make the time to invest in teaching their people and provide the support and resources their team members need to keep on growing. They care deeply about their people and want them to achieve their personal best.

What do great teachers and great leaders have in common? Just about everything! They both:

Believe in people: Great leaders believe that the people they are responsible for can accomplish great things. Even when other leaders may have written someone off, great leaders find individual’s strengths and lead them to levels that even the individual may not have thought possible.

Set high expectations: No one was ever motivated to follow a leader who said, “We set very low expectations for you this year and we are surprised…you hit your goals.” No, people are inspired by the leaders who set the bar high enough so that there is a big stretch to hit the goals. In fact, the goals people feel most proud about achieving are the ones that they were told were impossible.

Inspire people: When you are in the presence of a great leader, you feel from the moment you meet them, that they have a belief and trust in you that you can deliver the goods and get the job done. In fact, their vision and passion are so powerful that you are willing to work extra hard, with discretionary effort, not to let the leader down. These are the leaders who can inspire you to do things a new way, a way that is not comfortable for you, but ultimately, a way that will allow you to rise to a level you could have never reached on your own.

Provide individualized feedback: Great leaders realize that to be great, they need to practice equity, not equality. Equality is about treating everyone the same. That form of leadership would work great if every individual was identical. People are different. Great leaders know this and therefore give people individual attention to ensure they are fully successful in their own unique way.

Recognize and reward success: Great leaders and teachers are exceptional when it comes to giving people positive recognition and rewards for reaching clearly defined goals. The great leaders know that one of an individual’s greatest needs is to be recognized, valued, and appreciated. Some people will actually tell these great leaders that they do not need any recognition and that doing great work is the only form of satisfaction they need. Great leaders hear this and recognize that the individual who says they don’t need to be valued and recognized, actually needs it even more.

Role model continuous learning: To truly be considered a leader, not just a boss, leaders must be learners. Learning goes hand-in-hand with teaching. Whether you are a boss, a janitor, or a school teacher, you cannot be a great leader unless you are constantly learning. Are you constantly expanding your knowledge by reading, writing, and learning from others? If not, you are not growing. And, if you are not growing, that means you are becoming stagnant. People don’t follow stationary leaders.

These are just some of the characteristics that leaders can borrow from great teachers. To inspire you in your leadership of others, take note of the characteristics of the greatest teachers you had in your life and look for ways to incorporate that into your leadership, if you haven’t already.

What are some of the characteristics of the best teachers/leaders you’ve ever had?

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Minimizing Brain Drain

Peter Stark — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:00:34 +0000

Business is getting better. All the economic indicators are telling us that the economy is improving. From the lows of 2008, the stock market continues to rise, restoring the health of employees’ savings and retirement plans. And, just over the last few months, we have been hearing that the real estate market may have completed its bottom and is now embarking on a slow rebound.

What does all this good economics mean?

Two major factors are going to converge on organizations about the same time and it is going to hurt. First, employees will once again have options about where they are going to work. With the economy improving, companies will once again be hiring in larger numbers, and the best employees working for you are going to have the most options. Will they run? If this doesn’t sound painful enough, as the economy, stock market, retirement plans, and housing market all improve, the Baby-Boomers who have been putting off retirement, can finally say, “I’m outta here!”

So what is your organization doing to develop future leaders? If it is like many organizations, your company has a strategic plan of hope that you can get by one more year before the real pain sets in and you have to do something significant. Hope has never been a good strategic plan.

The following six tips will help you and your organization prepare future leaders so that you can effectively deal with, and minimize, the impact of the huge brain drain that everyone is predicting will happen:

Plan well in advance: Everyone can see the economy getting better. To see what will happen and believe that it won’t impact you is the equivalent of an ostrich sticking its head in the sand. You are vulnerable to positive shifts in the economy. By planning in advance, you will be able to keep a higher percentage of your best people and you will be able to hire the right people…rather than hiring out of desperation.
Develop strong mentors: It is important to note that most formal mentoring programs fail. The best mentors are people who take a vested interest in helping other leaders with high future potential grow in their career. Do the best future leaders in your organization have someone that they believe truly cares about their personal and professional growth? The more people feel like they are growing, and feel that someone is helping them develop their career, the more they are likely to stay in your organization.
Take a risk: You will never know someone’s potential until you give them a challenge that is beyond their current capabilities. Stretch Assignments push people out of their comfort zone and are one of the fastest way to develop the capability of your future leaders.
Develop new options to keep veterans on tap: As the health of the population continues to improve, many workers who want to retire from the 50-60 hour work week may not want to fully retire. They may be the perfect person to work from home, come in one or two days a week or to mentor someone who does not have all the skills they need to be fully successful.
Build Multiple Skills: In today’s world, one-trick ponies can become extinct when the economy shifts or customer preferences change. Rotating employees through different jobs can accomplish two important points. First, it gives future leaders a better understanding of how all the parts connect, and second, it provides the organization with team members who can fulfill multiple functions. Leaders who have a strong understanding of the different positions and how all the parts fit together tend to have a better understanding of what impacts and motivates employees.
Build Soft Skills: As the world continues to become more complex, one thing remains constant: if you are a leader, you will need to be effective at leading people. Leaders have followers. Do your future leaders have the skills to lead in a way that makes others want to follow them; are they highly motivated to produce great work; and, when it is their time, could they develop future leaders who improve your organization’s sustainability?

What’s your plan for developing your next generation of leaders?

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Peter Barron Stark Companies is a nationally recognized management consulting firm that specializes in employee opinion surveys, executive coaching, and leadership and employee training. Send Peter Barron Stark Companies an email at info@peterstark.com for more information about how we can help you create an organization where your employees love to come to work and your customers love to do business.

What the &*@% Were You Thinking?

Peter Stark — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:00:31 +0000

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, someone comes along and reminds you that you haven’t.

I recently heard a woman mumble in front of a TSA agent, “What should I expect from someone who makes $10.00 an hour?” As I watched the TSA agent take all her bags to secondary inspection, I felt like saying to the woman, “When you open your mouth and say something really stupid, secondary inspection is exactly what you should expect.”

Unless of course you are a leader. Leaders who speak to others in that way face a different set of challenges.

A good portion of our practice is coaching executives and managers to be successful leaders. To be successful as a leader, you need to be able to build relationships where people are highly motivated to follow your passion, vision and direction. Some people are masters at saying the right thing to build relationships, teamwork, and motivate people to accomplish great things. On the other side of the fence, we have all seen leaders whose ways of communicating drive people away. Almost immediately, the recipient of the communication loses their motivation and increases their instant dislike for the person sending the message.

After hearing people say things that undermine their ability to achieve their own goals, most of us ask ourselves, “What were they thinking?!” I am reminded of the NFL football player who told the referee that he “stunk” after being called off sides. The referee called a second penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct on the player, then marched off the 10 yard bonus penalty, turned around and asked the player with the big mouth, “How do I smell from here?”

Like this NFL player, some people seem to have come into this world with the innate ability to stick their foot right in their mouth. Then there are other people who make a conscious effort to filter their words and say the right thing at the right time. The key difference here is that the second group of people usually consider the person they are talking to and how their words will affect that person, themselves and the relationship between the two people.

Here are 6 tips to help you build even stronger relationships when you speak.

Remember, words are permanent. It is easy to say something, especially something mean and hurtful, under the umbrella of honesty. “Hey, sorry this hurts, I was just being honest,” is a phrase we have all said or heard. The great reality is there are a lot of things in life that don’t need to be said. Better yet, there are a lot of things in life that do not need to be said by you. What is important to acknowledge is that your words are permanent. Once you say something, it can’t be retracted. Your words have a lasting impact on people, either in a negative, or in a positive way.
Think before you speak. As you start to speak, think about what you want to accomplish. Do you want to build someone up, or tear them down? Great leaders work hard at saying the right things that will motivate people to move in the right direction, especially when they need to give people really tough feedback. They work harder than the average person at saying it in a way that will successfully accomplish their goal.
Shut up and listen. A great rule of successfully leading others is getting other people to talk first. When you understand where others are coming from, it makes it a lot easier to do two important things. First, you can respond choosing the appropriate words. Second, you can respond with empathy, a better understanding of where your counterpart is coming from. Listening is especially important when there is disagreement. When you are not in agreement, instead of talking, stop, think, and choose your words carefully to ensure you reach your goals.
Ask questions. A good rule of thumb is to not give others advice unless they ask for it. If someone doesn’t agree with you, there’s actually a good chance that talking more and listening less is going to help you be more persuasive. My 92-year-old dad says it best, “People like you so much better when they do the talking.” If you still feel the need to give people your advice, ask if they would like to hear your opinion. If they say yes, they’ll be more likely to listen and value it then if you had just outright stated it.
Be confident. People who lack confidence feel a need to tell others what they know, whereas people who have a deep level of confidence feel much more comfortable being silent and thinking about what others are really saying before they respond. For confident communicators, silence can be golden.
Be grateful. When you are grateful for the people and places in your life, it makes it a lot easier to say something that will motivate others to want to be closer to you and help you accomplish mutual goals.

Because they think first, and speak second, when great leaders speak, their words help them get closer to their goals. Recognize the power that your words can have on others, both positively and negatively, and choose your words carefully, understanding that you can’t take back what you’ve said to others.

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6 Ways Your Employee Engagement Survey can Enhance Talent Management

Peter Stark — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:07:30 +0000

Talent Management" src="http://www.peterstark.com/files/blog/2012/survey_talent_management_200px.jpg" alt="Figures standing around a folder to symbolize and employee engagement survey" align="left"/>As the market slowly begins to return and employers cautiously add jobs, the buzz on the streets from the HR world is: When the gates are open, will your employees run? Are you prepared for the talent wars to begin?

While even the strongest organizations may not be able to have 100% retention, you have something in your talent management toolbox to help prevent wandering eyes: an Employee Engagement Survey.

It’s not just conducting the survey that will help you maximize your talent management system: it’s the insight that it can provide you with, and the subsequent actions you can, and must, take afterwards.

Identify the weak links. People don’t quit their company. Instead, they quit their supervisor, typically citing incompatibility or dissatisfaction with their boss as the reason for leaving their jobs. Using the survey data to identify leaders who are at risk will allow you to provide training/coaching to help the leader identify employee concerns and improve the overall working environment. In your Employee Engagement Survey, employees rate their direct supervisor’s leadership skills, providing you with a mini report card on each leader. This makes it easy to quickly identify those leaders in need of help, and those who have a solid, effective working relationship with their team members.

The 50 Percent Factor: Why Executive Coaching Doesn’t Always Work

Peter Stark — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:00:35 +0000

When CEOs or human resource professionals share their specific concerns about a leader who is experiencing challenges, their next question is always, “Do you think that coaching this individual will be effective?” Most consultants and coaches will reply “absolutely” and tell you about all of their successful projects.

Unfortunately, our response sometimes disappoints our clients. We are painfully honest when we say, “Overall, our coaching projects are 50 percent successful.” About half the time, we work with executives/managers who are excited about having a coach and want to learn how to be an even more effective leader. They are motivated about learning and putting their new skills into action. As we work with these motivated leaders, it is not uncommon to hear the leader’s boss, peers or direct reports say, “Wow, Joan has really changed.” Some of the leaders we have coached have even risen to the most senior positions in their organizations, attributing their success directly to their coaching experience.

The other half of the time, we work with a leader who is so busy doing the technical aspects of their job that the coaching is perceived as an inconvenience. The only question this leader longs to ask us, but never does is, “Tell me exactly what I have to do to complete this coaching assignment and get you out of my life.” The challenge with these executives/managers is reflected in the old cliché: If you keep on doing what you have always done, you keep getting what you have always got. Some of these leaders we’ve worked with have eventually been asked to leave the organization.

You may be curious as to why some leaders aren’t motivated to improve their leadership skills. The reality is about half of the leaders that we work with have been rewarded in their career with promotions and bonuses for their past behaviors, and even though people give them feedback about their leadership strengths and opportunities for growth, they are still not motivated to change. These leaders have the perception that their past has worked well enough for them and really do not see a strong need to change. While we never want to discourage coaching, leaders with this attitude are typically unsuccessful in a coaching relationship.

The next question we’re always asked, after explaining the 50/50 Factor, is: “How do you know, ahead of time, which leader will benefit from coaching?” Our experience during the past twenty years has taught us to ask the following questions:

Is the leader a learner?

The leaders we are asked to coach are most often high achievers and contribute a great deal of technical expertise to the success of their team or the organization. Clearly, they have been consistently open to learning in their area of technical expertise. The question is, will they also be open to learning about how to more effectively lead and motivate their team members? What is their outlook about managing the people side of their business? Do they value the unique gifts that each team member brings to the team, or do they see the people side of their business as a necessary evil?

The executives/managers that we have successfully coached have all been learners who valued the support provided by the coach and their organization. They have been people who honestly believe that they can learn, grow and overcome the people issues that are presently challenging them. They are hopeful, not afraid to work hard, and open to trying new approaches to build even better working relationships with their team members. They want to change and are appreciative of the coaching support.
Can the leader accept feedback?

Being able to accept constructive feedback is tough for any of us, but essential if coaching is to be successful. The leader must be able to get beyond his/her initial defensiveness and be open to ideas about doing things differently. If, in the past, the leader has been able to justify their behavior and blame poor outcomes on their employees or point fingers towards other areas within the organization, a red flag should come up. Although this person may say they are open to feedback, their defensive responses indicate otherwise.

To be successful, the leader must first acknowledge that, for whatever the reason, they are being perceived by others as less effective in a particular area of their leadership. Then, they must be open to hearing new ideas from their coach about how to better manage their working relationships. Finally, they must be willing to put into practice new approaches and strategies that will help them build even stronger, more effective workplace relationships.
Is the organization serious about seeing the leader change?

Coaches are not usually consulted until other organizational interventions have been tried, such as coaching from the leader’s boss. When an organization makes the decision to hire an executive coach, it is often in response to a specific crisis… team members are leaving or threatening to leave, morale is impacted, productivity is down, etc.

We have been most successful in our coaching partnerships when the organization was clear on their expectations or outcomes for the coaching, and held the leader accountable for changing behaviors that were negatively impacting the team. In other words, coaching was provided with a strong expectation of changed behaviors and accountability. The organization was clear in defining positive outcomes and expectations. They were also equally clear that if the leader could not change, a determination would be made about whether that leader was a good fit for the organization.

Sometimes clients ask, “Is it worth it to hire a coach?” The answer is: absolutely. Fifty percent of the time, we coach leaders who take the coaching feedback and create significant leadership and organizational success. It is our belief that this fifty percent success factor will far outweigh the coaching failures who suffer from a disease called “Popeye Syndrome.” These leaders have a unilateral focus shared by Popeye, the famous cartoon character who simply said, “I am what I am.” Even if you and your organization are unable to create a leadership “win” through coaching, you will know that you did everything possible to support this leader in being successful.

Finally, if coaching doesn’t work and the leader is unwilling to change, share them with a competitor and mess up someone else’s strategic plan.

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By Peter Barron Stark, President. Peter Barron Stark Companies is a nationally recognized management consulting firm that specializes in employee opinion surveys, executive coaching, and leadership and employee training. Send us an email at info@peterstark.com for more information about how we can help you create an organization where your employees love to come to work and your customers love to do business.

Many Employee Engagement Surveys Reveal this Common Challenge: Cross-Departmental Communication

Peter Stark — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:35:22 +0000

In the past two years, we have consistently noted that questions in our Employee Engagement Surveys related to cross-departmental communication are being rated less positively, regardless of the industry. A quick review of our data from 2010 – 2011 indicates that approximately 75% of all our survey clients experience challenges effectively communicating across team and department lines. For these clients, questions related to cross-departmental communication were among the lowest in the entire survey, and for many, ranked as the lowest, or second lowest.

In talking to managers and employees after we have conducted their survey, we ask for examples of where cross-departmental communication has been compromised. Many state that it is the stress of the economy, resulting in employees doing more with fewer people on the team. Employees talk about working harder, faster, and focusing solely on their own survival. Every case in which we ask for specifics, it’s apparent that teams are not trying to undermine the success of another team by withholding information they need to be successful. Rather, the issue lies in employees struggling to keep up with their job responsibilities and lacking the time to properly communicate with employees in other departments.

Culture is King

Peter Stark — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:50:14 +0000

How would you describe the working environment or culture at your company? Better yet, how would your front line employees describe your company if given the chance to do so anonymously? If your organization is like most, someone in senior leadership is touting that employees are your number one asset. The challenge is getting the employees to believe it.

Today, your organization’s culture is even more critical to its success than before. In the past, if you had poor leaders or a bad culture, the worst that could happen is that your best employees would leave and tell their family or a few friends about their poor employment experience. Today, we live in a new world where any prospective employee who is thinking about going to work at your company, can get a small glimpse of your culture. Sites like Glassdoor.com or TheFit.com provide anonymous comments from employees about your company, its leaders, and your CEO.

CVS Caremark has over 750 employee comments on Glassdoor.com and an average rating from those employees of 2.8 on a scale of 1 low, and 5 high. Qualcomm has 64 ratings with a rating of 3.5. WD-40 Company has a 5.0 rating based on two employee comments and a 100 percent approval rating for their CEO, Garry Ridge. We have conducted Engagement Surveys for WD-40 Company for the last 12 years and they are in our Best-of-the-Best Benchmark. Whether it is 2 or 200 employees posting, I’m willing to bet that WD-40 Company and Garry Ridge will be proud of their employee comments. After reading comments about your company at one of these employee sites, would a prospective employee be willing to risk their career and take a job with your company?

Great leaders build great cultures because they know it is the right thing to do and it pays big, long-term dividends. If the only reason you are working on your culture is to get some new positive employee reviews online, I have some bad news for you. It won’t work. Employees know when leaders are genuine in how they treat people, and when leaders are full of BS.

If you are genuine in your desire to build a culture where employees love to come to work and your customers love to do business, here are a 6 tips that will lead you on the right path:

Ensure the Vision and Goals are Crystal Clear. If we asked your employees what the top three corporate goals are for 2012, what would they say? We have learned that the Best-of-the-Best companies are significantly better at communicating a compelling, positive vision and clear strategic goals than the overall companies in our benchmark.
Conduct an Employee Engagement Survey. Ask employees if the vision and goals for the organization, their department, and for their individual job are clear. Ask employees about how they are communicated to and treated by their immediate supervisors. Ask employees if they are empowered to make decisions, delight customers and get their job done. Last, ask employees what they like best about working at your company and, if there was one thing they could change, what that would be.
Take Action on the Survey Results. Taking a survey is key. Even more important to building a great culture is taking action based on the results of the survey. Although administering the survey may be an HR function, creating action plans and measuring the progress of the actions is every leader’s job. I recommend keeping your actions few and focused: between 3 and 5 is ideal. After 5 actions, people lose focus, making it harder to obtain significant accomplishments.
Great Employees Deserve Great Leaders. If you have a manager who is not a good leader, you have options, a few of which are to get them training, a coach, or a mentor. While everyone deserves a chance to get feedback, be educated about leadership and improve, it has been our experience that only about 50 percent of the management population is motivated to take the feedback, make changes, and work hard to become a great leader. When coaching, training, mentoring, and good on-going feedback do not work, our advice is to share that manager with a competitor and screw up your competitor’s culture.
Work on Cool Stuff. The Best-of-the-Best Companies are significantly better than companies in the overall PBS benchmark when it comes to innovation and continuous improvement. What are you working on in your company or department that is innovative? Are you continuing to improve and raise the bar? Most employees, when working on innovative, cool stuff or improving something will say: I love my job.
Recognize and Celebrate Success. Life is short. As a leader, you should be giving people daily feedback or communicating to your entire company about what is going well or right. One of the greatest needs a human being has is to feel appreciated and valued. It doesn’t matter if it’s at work or at home; when someone does not feel valued and appreciated, they cannot be happy. When people are recognized for the gifts they bring to the organization, they tend to like their job and the people they work for. Now… I know that at least one person is asking, “What if I have an employee who has no gifts or value to add to the company?” I have the answer: that is a leadership problem, not an employee problem. If you have someone working for you about whom you feel that way, you should coach them, counsel them and, if needed, train them. When that does not work, share them with your best competitor.

I can’t emphasize it enough: culture is king, especially in today’s world. Because of new review sites online, your customers have had the ability to broadcast their experiences with your organization. Now, it’s your employees’ turn. Past and current employees can use these tools to reach far beyond immediate family and friends and influence your organization’s future candidates. What would you want them to say about your organization? By following the above tips, you will be on your way to attracting quality employees that will keep your organization competitive.

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7 Tips for Handling Stress at Work or Home

Peter Stark — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:12:17 +0000

I’ve never met anyone who, on their deathbed, said that they wished they had spent more time at work. Yet work is where we do spend the majority of our time, and work is where we experience a significant amount of our stress.

Plodding our way through the fallout from the most significant recession any of us has ever experienced, has not been easy or straightforward. Layoffs, fear of layoffs, businesses failing, the housing crisis, ever-changing regulations and a multitude of other unknowns have all increased our fears and stress levels.

The verdict is still out on if we are nearing the end of this recession. Most of us, though, in hindsight, would have to admit that we did weather the storm and have survived, despite experiencing significant unknowns and stressors.

Like it or not, work-related stress seems to be a reoccurring theme in these difficult times. To help keep your sanity, we suggest the following:

Take Care of Yourself

Some stress is good. It can energize you and motivate you to achieve goals in areas that are important to you. However, prolonged stress will reduce your coping ability and, over time, lead to burnout out which can impact your health.

So, here we are, two months into the New Year. Did you keep your resolutions? Are you still:
- Eating in moderation, and the right kinds of food?
- Moving – walking, biking, exercising or doing any other form of aerobic activity?
- Getting enough sleep?
- Drinking in moderation or not at all?
If you don’t take good care of yourself physically, it’s easy for the everyday stressors to beat up on you in your less-than-optimal state of well-being.

Identify Your Stressors

Sometimes it’s not the major events in your life that cause your stress, but the accumulated effect of all the little stressors ganging up on you. When you get to feeling stressed, declare a time out. Step back and analyze where the stress is originating. Write down what’s pushing you to the brink… a difficult customer or co-worker, unrealistic deadlines, unclear priorities, or any other situation that raises your stress levels.

Once identified, tackle the most significant stressor. In many situations, you can’t change the stressor, but you can control how you react to it.

Leave Work at Work

We live in an ever-connected world. It is possible to work all hours of the day, and night. Don’t. Figure out a way to turn off, tune out and leave work at work. This may require better organization, leaving earlier in the morning to get more done earlier in the day, or occasionally, just saying no to a request that’s going to add more to your already overflowing list of responsibilities.

While we’re on the topic of leaving work at work, don’t email co-workers late at night or early in the morning . . . it’s annoying and adds to their stress levels.

Work Smarter, not Longer

You already know this, but those who leave the office last each day are not necessarily the most productive contributors. Make it a habit to leave on time by working smarter. Is your to-do list up-to-date and prioritized? Have you identified your most productive working hours and blocked them off for focused, uninterrupted work? Can you account for what you accomplished and how much time it took to complete the task? You’ll never truly take control your time until you can identify where it’s all going.

Remember, each of us are gifted with the exact same amount of time daily . . . 1440 minutes, to be exact. Make sure those minutes don’t get away from you, because you really can’t save time, make time, or find time.

End Bad Habits

Sometimes, we add to our own stress levels.
- Say no to perfectionism. Sometimes good enough works just fine.
- Avoid complicated, unhealthy relationships – life is short. When you have a choice, hang out with happy, optimistic people.
- Put things away in the right place, every time, so that you don’t waste time looking for something lost.
- Go for what you want, not what you don’t want. Worry less. Focus on the positive in any situation. Don’t lose your positive vision of things turning out really well.
- Worry more about what you can control and less about what you can’t control. For reinforcement, think about all the things you’ve worried about in the past that never amounted to much of anything.

Ask for Help

We are social beings. We were not intended to fight the battle alone. When you need help, ask for it. Connect with people who are supportive, caring and understand your stressors. Talk over the challenges with them. Most people like to help. A supportive network of caring friends, family members, and co-workers can help you put your stressors into perspective.

Laugh More

Lighten up. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Laugh more. Laugher is great therapy for stress reduction. When things seem to be closing in and stress levels are rising, chose humor.

No one is suggesting that workplace stressors are going away. But, you can take control of how you react to the everyday stressors. Use the tips we’ve shared to put things into perspective and keep your stress levels healthy for your optimal health and performance. Remember, you only get one shot at this thing called life, so make the most of it.

Do you have stressed employees? Learn about our Stress Management seminar and contact us today.

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8 Tips for Organizational Longevity

Peter Stark — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:00:32 +0000

The purpose of every business is to solve a problem, fill a need, and make money. Now, here is a scary, but important, question: will the solution your business is providing still be relevant tomorrow? (Or the next day, or the next year) Most likely, you aren’t certain. You can’t be. This is why the best leaders are bold, brave and flexible. Bold because they and their followers have a unique vision that they believe in. Brave because, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 50 percent of new companies fail within the first five years. And flexible because rigid leaders are averse to change: a death sentence for any organization.

So, what can we learn from the leaders and organizations in the less than 25 percent that have lasted at least 15 years?

Clarify and crystallize your purpose or mission. Be clear on the purpose of why you are in business, why you do what you do, and who you are as a leader/organization. Why does your organization exist? Your goals may change, even your vision may change, but the mission or purpose of why you exist seldom changes. A great question I love to ask clients is, “Could your purpose or mission last the next 100 years?” Our vision as a consulting firm is, “To help leaders create an environment or organization where employees love to come to work and customers love to do business.” That could last 100 years. I am confident that over the next 100 years, the way in which we conduct our work and the goals we set will radically change, but I am uncertain how. It is exciting to know that regardless of the world changing, we will still have the opportunity to fulfill our purpose and mission.

Some of the great purpose statements of organizations that have withstood the test of time are:
- Merck: To save and improve lives
- 3M: To solve unsolved problems
- Walt Disney: To entertain
Articulate your vision. Once you have your purpose or mission crystallized, it is important to articulate your vision. Think of your vision as the top of a jig saw puzzle box. You always know exactly what you are building because you have the picture on top of the puzzle box to look at.

Bill Hewlett and David Packard put together a vision and core ideology as the foundation that guided almost every decision of HP. The foundation of their ideology and vision were: a deep respect for the individual, a dedication to affordable reliability and quality, a commitment to the community they worked in, and the vision that the company existed to make technical contributions for the advancement and welfare of humanity.

It is important to note that although vision and goals may be achieved and new ones need to be created, very seldom does the core purpose of your organization or who you are as a leader need to change. Your purpose should stand the test of time.
Set goals and take action. Once your mission and vision are clear, you will need to set goals to turn them into a reality. As Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, put it, “Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference.” The most successful way to motivate employees is to create challenging goals. No employee has ever walked away juiced when their boss came to them and said, “We set mediocre goals this year and I just wanted to let you know that you hit them.” Most people feel the best when they question whether they will even be able to achieve the goal, but deep down, realize that through dedication, hard work, and the willingness to remain focused, the goal is obtainable.
Develop options. In uncertain times, you need options of what you will do if you do not achieve your goals due to environment changes or your strategy just not working. Leo Buscaglia, the late professor of Education at the University of Southern California said it best, “The people with the greatest number of viable alternatives are the most successful in life.” The same is true for organizations.
Outlearn your competition. J. Paul Getty said, “In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy.” When times are uncertain, some people and organizations are better at analyzing the environment or data, and then making correct decisions based on what they have learned from their analysis. Other leaders look at the environment or data, and then try to document that what they are seeing and feeling is forgery. Bob Dylan said it best, “”You better start swimming or sink like a stone, cause the times they are a-changing.” The more you can correctly interpret your environment, and quickly make necessary course corrections, the stronger the chances that you are going to successfully deal with uncertainty.
Hire people who think differently. Most supervisors and managers conduct interviews for new potential employees, then hire the person who is most closely aligned to their way of thinking and who they think will best fit in with the department or organization’s culture. That is a mistake. In times of uncertainty, you will benefit from hiring people who see and think differently than you do. Over time, a diverse team that can figure out how to work with each other and play off each strengths, will outperform a team who all think alike.
Slow down to go fast. Anytime you make a change in direction, it will take you more time than continuing the way you have always done things in the past. Leaders need the confidence to ride the “J” curve. Your current performance is at the tip of “j”. As you change your way of doing things, your performance will actually decrease to the bottom of the curve. It is only by sticking to your new strategy will you be able to rise up the stem of the “j”, much higher than where you originally started at the tip of the “j.”
Strategically plan. Peter Drucker stated, “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” Make a plan of all the changes you will incorporate this year to help you and your organization align to an uncertain future. Many managers and organizations strategically plan by adding or subtracting a few percent from their goals and budgets. That is not a good way to deal with an uncertain future.

To be successful in uncertain times, you need to have your life-long purpose crystallized, your vision clarified, and challenging goals set. Once you have the strategic planning mechanics in place, you will need your leaders to develop options, outlearn their competition, hire people who think differently, be willing to ride the “j” curve by slowing down to go fast, and put together the right strategic plan of what you will do differently to align to an uncertain future.

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The Secret to Inspiring Others? Optimism

Peter Stark — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:54:10 +0000

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Research has conclusively shown that engaged employees are more productive and satisfied. John Maxwell, America’s noted authority on leadership, said, “An organization cannot rise above its level of leadership.” This means that leaders’ attitudes set the tone for those who follow them. Therefore, if you find that many of your employees are not motivated, it’s time to do some self-reflection. Employees will not thrive under negative leadership. Now, we don’t know anyone who would refer to themselves as negative, but people who would be considered negative often call themselves realists. These self-proclaimed realists seldom have many motivated people following them.

On the flip side, employees don’t want a Pollyanna who ignores reality and believes that despite all the evidence, everything will turn out just fine.

Whether you describe yourself as a realist or an optimist, leaders today need to be positive, self-confident, have high-expectations, take initiative, be resilient and accountable. Most employees want to work for a leader who truly believes that tomorrow is going to be even better than it was today, and is taking the necessary actions to turn those beliefs into a reality.

The following are nine keys that will help you become a more positive leader; a leader who makes even the realists excited about tomorrow.

Have belief and confidence in yourself. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s most generous philanthropists, said in a presentation, “I am an optimist. I think any tough problem can be solved.” Before describing his financial contribution and solution, Gates spent the first part of his presentation citing breakthroughs that have occurred over the last century that have either increased life spans and/or reduced the spread of disease. In every challenging, problematic, or uncertain situation, people want to hear three things from the leader:
1. A candid assessment of the problem
2. A strategy to overcome the challenge or create certainty in an uncertain situation
3. An optimistic vision of the future
Jim Stockdale, the Navy Admiral, was the highest ranking POW during the Vietnam War. After spending 7 years in the Hanoi Hilton, he was released and provided with insights into the importance of one’s belief in self. Stockdale discussed how the POW’s who survived accepted the terrible situation for what it was and had a deep belief that they would prevail in the end. Those who lost hope and belief that they would survive, lost their will to live and died.

People will not follow leaders who lack confidence in their ability to survive a negative situation and improve the condition of the organization.
Set high expectations and expect to win. The self-fulfilling prophecy is alive and well. People tend to rise to the level that others expect them to perform. If you set high expectations and then trust your people to perform, most likely you will be right. On the other hand, if you do not trust your people and micro-manage their work, you will likely be correct: you will find that people don’t function well on their own, which in turn, confirms the belief that you cannot trust people.
Practice positive self-talk. Your words will become your thoughts. Your thoughts will become your beliefs. Your beliefs will control your actions. Saying to yourself either, “There is nothing I can do in this situation,” or, “If anyone can figure this out, I can,” will determine whether you take action to improve the situation or concede defeat. As a leader, the words you choose to communicate to yourself will most likely be verbalized to the people you work with. Most people want to work with a leader who is able to verbalize a positive, can-do, winning attitude.
Hire positive people. Although leaders have a lot to do with creating an organization’s culture, it sure helps to hire people who already have a positive attitude about life. People who are self-confident, want to win, focus on multiple solutions when challenges arise and like to have fun, are a lot easier to lead than people who see the glass as perpetually half empty. As a leader, when you hire positive people, it changes your job from one of helping people be optimistic to one of not saying or doing anything to undermine your people’s optimism.

Focus on people’s strengths, not weaknesses. Great leaders know where to put their energies when working with people. They see potential in everyone and they focus on helping people identify their strengths and align talents to benefit the employee, team and organization. Research has shown that managers who focus on team member strengths received much better performance from their teams than managers who focus on weaknesses.
Express gratitude and appreciation. Great leaders give credit and praise to others in their life for work well done. They provide gratitude and appreciation both publicly and privately and they do it often. It must be noted that the praise and appreciation must be heartfelt and genuine or it will actually have the opposite impact than the desired goal.
When you encounter a negative situation or setback, outlearn your competition. Albert Einstein said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Never see failure as failure, but only as an opportunity to learn how you need to do things differently. Remind yourself that although you may not be able to control others or the situation, you can control what you learn and how you will respond differently in the future.
Promote cooperation and teamwork. One of the greatest leadership turnarounds in the history of the National Football League happened to the San Francisco 49ers. What was that? The team changed leaders from Mike Singletary to Jim Harbaugh. In 2010, the 49ers win-loss record was 6 wins, 10 losses. In 2011, the 49ers logged 13 wins with only 3 losses. Mike Singletary was famous for his negative halftime rants and raves (such as an obscene gesture towards his team as a motivation ploy) as well as encouraging players to publicly call out each other’s mistakes. Even Disney’s Thumper taught most of us growing up, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.”

Jim Harbaugh, an eternal optimist, knows the importance of teamwork and speaking positively about his team members; even the players that fans and Singletary had publicly doubted. Knute Rockne, the great football coach said, “I have to get the most energy out of a man and have discovered that it cannot be done if he hates another man. Hate blocks energy and he isn’t up to par until he eliminates it and develops a friendly feeling (toward all of his teammates).” Harbaugh knows that when team members are fighting and undermining each other, they have started to play against each other rather than forming a team united in one purpose: beating the competition.
Have fun! Most people enjoy working in an environment that is fun. In fact, we are fond of saying that when you are doing what you love, and are having fun doing it, you are one of the privileged few who are fortunate enough to not have a ‘job.’

To be a pessimistic, realistic, or optimistic leader, the choice is yours. However, when it comes to leading an engaged, productive team, we’re betting on the optimistic leader.

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