WHAT APPEARS TO BE

Do you run a tight ship? Do you like to make sure all work is completed and things are done to a high standard – your standard?

Be careful: you may be the captain of the USS Anal Retentive.  If you’ve got poor results and people jumping overboard, you don’t rule a tight ship – you’re running an uptight ship.

WHAT MIGHT BE

Hard to believe, but true: people tell us the majority of supervisors they experience are micro-managers. They’re control mongers.

We all know the reasons why would-be ‘leaders’ rule in such a way…because at some point we’ve seen such traits in ourselves. We figure we know right from wrong, the best way to do things…and because we’re the experts, things must be done our way!

This oppressive approach does lead…it leads to disengagement, apathy, and poor results.

Do people around you show signs of wanting to jump overboard? Do they withhold their ideas? Do they wait to act until you make the decisions? Do they dislike you?

WHAT CAN BE

Isn’t it ironic: We gain more control (read: better results) when we focus less on controlling others and more on controlling ourselves. Nothing new here, yet how many people around you are successfully doing this? And are you?

What sort of advantage do you create for yourself and your team (or family?) if you were to become even more effective at truly leading versus controlling? What opportunities do you create? The answer lies in how well you can control yourself.

Let’s sink the USS Anal Retentive – and sail a new boat. Today, captain a ship powered by everyone around you.

What is the difference between what “might be” and what “can be”?  You decide.

WHAT APPEARS TO BE

Does your company suffer the “slows” due to the “Slackers” on the team? Are there employees meandering through the day south of 100%? And thus are draining the company’s resources and your patience?

Slackers beware! Your days are numbered.

WHAT MIGHT BE

Slackers appear to be everywhere. Here are the five signs of a slacker:

1. You come late to meetings “because you’re busier than everyone else.”
2. You avoid eye contact when the team is creating an execution plan.
3. It’s more important to look good (i.e. sit next to the boss), than do well (deliver results).
4. You blame slow progress on the slackers around you.
5. More time is spent on the strategy of leaving the office early, than the strategy of getting your work done.

But wait – what’s with “you”? Isn’t it supposed to be “them”?

WHAT CAN BE

The real question: are you a slacker?

88% of a recent group reported that they work with at least one slacker. At the same time, no one – 0% – reported that they themselves are a slacker. Hmmm. Something’s amiss.

“We spend so much time pointing out what people aren’t doing no one can get any work done,” lamented a manager. “And this makes us all slackers.”

What does it mean if everyone thinks someone else is a slacker – but excludes him or herself? Here’s a dare: take the “slacker challenge” by assessing how often you are culpable of the five slacker traits above. Then, make the commitment – and a plan – to close your own work-ethic gap, while not comparing yourself to others.

Do this and you’ll be the most respected player on the team.

What is the difference between what “might be” and what “can be”?  You decide.

WHAT APPEARS TO BE

Is there someone in your office whose head bobs as they dodge accountability? Someone whose “gobble-gobble” backward-focused diatribes “gobble” up precious minutes in meetings? Someone who thinks they’ve earned their feathers – yet the feathers can’t even lift them off the ground to fly?

If yes, then you’ve got a turkey in your office.

WHAT MIGHT BE

How do most people deal with the turkeys in their office? They dream of grilling them and serving them to the dogs.

Ironically, the most common tactics in dealing with office turkeys are to:

1. Get angry with them;
2. Spread the anger to others through gossip;
3. ‘Wish’ management would commence turkey hunting season; and
4. Enter into the same “gobble-gobble” non-sense the turkey is using.

Logically, the above strategies are flawed. There is another way – and while radical, it’s nearly fail-proof at eliminating turkeys.

WHAT CAN BE

How to eliminate turkeys: give thanks for them. No, this isn’t a once-a-year, ‘tis the season strategy. The following four steps are a legitimate and proven approach to eliminating turkeys:

1. Accept them as they are;
2. See them for what they are: an opportunity for you to become more effective at managing and leading yourself;
3. Develop a relationship with them (people don’t change because their enemies say they should – they change when their friends assist them); and
4. Tell the truth openly about what behavior is important – and why – to move forward.

The fact is everyone is someone else’s turkey – including you. If we go around identifying the turkeys in our office, we turn the place into a turkey farm. Make this a Thanksgiving to remember by being grateful for the lessons the turkeys in your life are bringing to you.

What is the difference between what “might be” and what “can be”?  You decide.

WHAT APPEARS TO BE

What the boss announces: “We need to cheer up around here. Morale is down.”

What the team thinks: “Oh jeez. Not again. What will it be this time? A ropes-course over the Grand Canyon? Or maybe we’ll sing ‘We are Family’ to the rhythm of ‘We Will Rock You’…and still get lousy results.”

Such teams have it right: Morale is overrated.

But – gasp! – isn’t that leadership heresy? No, it’s not. It’s overrated because some bosses confuse what morale is.

WHAT MIGHT BE

When “morale is down” the average boss tries to fix it. Resources are spent on motivational speakers and posters with trite quotes – in an attempt to “pump up the troops.”

Like one who attempts to cure a headache with aspirin, these bosses mask what is – and delay treatment for a patient who may be in critical condition.

WHAT CAN BE

Morale is a symptom. It’s an outcome. It’s the effect of these three causes:

1. The ability one has to influence others and him or herself (leadership);
2. The potency of the environment (culture);
3. The capability to create greater results (business).

When any person perceives a drop in their ability to experience and execute the above, morale drops. When no steps have been taken to improve the proficiencies in the above three areas, might it be insane to attempt to “cheer others up”?

Morale is a key to success. Whether your team has it or not is an indicator of the leadership work that was done yesterday – and the type of work needed today.

As you move forward, will you focus on fixing the symptoms in your business – or building greater capabilities?

What is the difference between what “might be” and what “can be”?  You decide.

WHAT APPEARS TO BE

“Thank you, Johnny! Here’s what our participants in the Game Show of Business can win today. One lucky participant will earn a promotion to the job of their choice! (Applause.) While another lucky participant will receive a big, fat bonus! (Applause.) And, Johnny, today’s champion will walk away with a brand new boat – and the instructions to sink it themselves! (Applause and stomp feet.)

WHAT MIGHT BE

"To win a boat and sink it too, all you need to do is…

• Focus on all the things going wrong in your life!
• Complain about the wacko’s you’re forced to work with!
• Sabotage your boss by telling others how stupid he is!
• Demonstrate your wisdom by telling others what they’re doing wrong!
• Complain to others about how negative everyone at work is!
• Then carry your troubles home so your family can get a glimpse of what’s really important in life!

"And, Johnny, today only, our champion has the chance to play double jeopardy! If our champion can successfully blame two consecutive employers for their current, rotten state of affairs, then they’ll receive TWO boats to sink! (Stand and applause.)

"Okay, Johnny, let’s punch the time clock and play the Game Show of Business!"

WHAT CAN BE

Do you know anyone who is a regular participant on this crazy show? It’s remarkable, isn’t it, how we can effectively “sink our own boat” by sabotaging our own results?

There’s a Native American saying, which says, “Go ahead and think the thoughts you want. You’re the one who has to live with them.” What sort of thoughts are you hosting? Are you guiding your thoughts? Or are your thoughts guiding you? And what sort of results are you getting?

Want to keep your boat afloat? Ask questions like this instead:

• What experience do I want to have today?
• Why is it important for me to guide thoughts?
• How can I be at my best right now?

What is the difference between what “might be” and what “can be”?  You decide.

WHAT APPEARS TO BE

Do you know a leader who delivers stellar results at work – only to suffer while at home? Such people run their family as if it’s "Home, Inc." Their house is a pit stop: they rush home so they can re-fuel, change the tires (clothes), and get back to work.

It’s a good thing there’s no Board of Directors – or these people would be fired.

WHAT MIGHT BE

A person may be paid to manage a team at the office, but the last time we checked, no one is receiving a paycheck for being a parent. There are no bonuses at Home, Inc. No sick days to take. And no performance reviews.

There are benefits though – huge benefits. And they are delivered each time one delivers great leadership. At home, “stock price” is directly linked to “employee satisfaction.”

WHAT CAN BE

Leadership – the act of leading others – is NOT a 9-5 proposition. A gentleman named Roy, whom we met in Minnesota, knows this. “I don’t want to spend Saturday by myself anymore,” he said. Roy is growing as a leader; he’s broken the “leadership-is-only-done-at-work” paradigm. Better results – important results – are apparent immediately.

As we wrote in Stomp the Elephant in the Office (Wister and Willows, 2008), how much sense does it make to give a complete effort and strive to improve your leadership at work…if it means that you go home as a zombie and give your family your left-overs?

Kids or no kids, married or not, your home is where you hold the most important leadership position on the planet. What leadership upgrade are you ready for in this area?

What is the difference between what “might be” and what “can be”?  You decide.

To learn a quick, easy, and powerful set of questions that will help you transition between work and home, click here.

WHAT APPEARS TO BE

It’s getting colder outside. There’s a snap in the air. The colors, the light…there’s a brightness and clarity, which wasn’t present during the sweaty days of summer.

That’s what it’s like outdoors. What’s it like behind the walls of your organization?

WHAT MIGHT BE

What’s the temperature like at your work? Is it cool…or are things still moving as slow as an August afternoon in Georgia? Are people sweating because decisions lag and demands are intense? Are tempers flaring like the sun? And are the relationships you have with others as enjoyable as stepping on gum laying on hot asphalt?

Those who don’t build their culture allow their culture to destroy them. You know this has happened when your day of business has become blurred, and lethargy abounds.

WHAT CAN BE

One company, with HQ in Minneapolis, is investing in their culture. They’re focusing on how they function – individually and collectively. The result? “There’s a snap in the air,” says one individual.

Because these people are working together, they are making decisions faster. They communicate better. This means there’s greater focus, which allows them to move faster.

Ask your team these questions to help create a stronger culture:

1. When interacting with one another, how can we function more pro-actively?
2. What’s the difference between trying to “fix” other people vs. “building” them?
3. When handling issues, what can we do to shift our focus from problems to solutions?

Are you conducting business in a perpetual “heat of the moment”? Or is there a “snap in the air” where you work, too?

What is the difference between what “might be” and what “can be”?  You decide.

WHAT APPEARS TO BE

How are you feeling right now? Do you enjoy being called a loser?

Our hometown baseball team just got swept in the World Series, losing four straight games. These losses came after they won 21 of 22 games just to get to the biggest baseball event on earth.

Are they losers?

WHAT MIGHT BE

Some would argue yes. They lost. And it’s all about results, right?

It is about results – and it’s how we get the results that distinguish the difference between the good and the great.

There’s an organization I know where the bosses on the top floor consistently inform those below them about their failures. These people live in the past. “You’re only as good as your last game,” they claim.

This argument is logically flawed. Why would anyone intentionally frame their past in a way that hurts them in the future? A friend named Ryan reminds us, “You can’t drive forward looking in the rearview mirror.”

How easily are you able to move forward when the past makes you feel like horse scat?

WHAT CAN BE

Somewhere, somehow, I learned leadership wrong. I learned that to get people to improve, I was supposed to point out there spots, their weaknesses. I was supposed to tell them they’re a loser.

And of course, because I told them they were losers, they acted like losers. Which ironically made me a loser.

The only time is now. Which means the only time we can win is now.

During their historical winning streak, the fellas on our local baseball team stated, “Each time we step on the field, we believe we’ll win.”

Do you believe you’ll win today? Your answer reveals your fate.

What is the difference between what “might be” and what “can be”?  You decide.