Vannoy and Ross

Be careful what you wish for – and what you hope others will do.

Have you ever cheered on a friend or colleague by telling them “Go knock ‘em dead!” It seems harmless enough…but what happens if some people take you seriously?

“Knock ‘em dead leadership” is an approach where managers work hard to establish that they are the boss! Thus, they create cultures where people learn to lay low, hide information, and keep innovative ideas to themselves. (Such managers can knock an entire organization dead.)

We just met Irv, the new leader of a division within a major corporation. As a new leader, you would think that Irv would be interested in impressing people with his wisdom and experience – which he has plenty of. But Irv isn’t your typical leader. Instead of “knocking his team dead,” Irv is knocking people alive.

He is achieving this by removing the “because I told you so” management methodology from the organization. “What’s important is that we have everyone contributing fully so that we can get the work done – and do it well,” Irv said as he launched his organization’s Wellness Culture initiative. “I don’t care about positions or who’s who or how long you’ve been doing what. If you’ve got information, share it. If you’ve got ideas, bring them on. And let’s get the job done.”

…the fear of being wrong does not motivate people to be right;

it motivates people to avoid being judged.

Imagine a fearless workplace, where people are free to share and contribute without worry or concern about judgment or retribution. Irv reminds us all that the fear of being wrong does not motivate people to be right; it motivates people to avoid being judged. So if people aren’t stepping up and offering innovative ideas it’s not because of the risk of making a mistake – it’s the risk of how others will respond to the mistake.

And the “response” to any and all situations is always within your control.

Today, where will you release yourself from an old paradigm of leadership, and thus “knock your team alive” so they can step up and perform?

Blog +

1. What is the most important message we should gain from this blog?
2. Regarding the issue this blog addresses, what evidence do we have that we are effective or moving forward in this area?
3. What actions do we presently take that allow us to be as effective as we are in this area?
4. What would it look like to “take the next step” in this area? 
5. What qualities or dynamics do we want to further develop in our team?
6. Why is it important that we move forward in this area? 
7. What benefits will it create for each of us? For the team? Our families? And the organization?
8. What plan can we create to ensure we make progress here? And how will we ensure accountability?

 

 

 

 

School’s In: Are You ‘Schooling’ Your Competition –

or ‘Being Schooled’?

 Vannoy and Ross

Are you teaching your competition a lesson? Or is your competition teaching you?

They say you can learn a lot from children. Even so, there’s one thing we don’t want to learn.

Children across the land are going “back to school.” This means, of course, that they’ve been out of school; they took a break from learning; they stopped improving themselves. Can you imagine what would happen if adults functioned the same way?

Sadly, it doesn’t take much imagination to answer that question. There are people all around you who are making a dire mistake; indeed, entire organizations are plagued by this “elephant in the office.”

Experiences – in fact entire days – are tossed aside as being worthless because people failed to leverage the events of the day by asking one simple question:

“What can we learn from this experience?”

Intellectually, people know they should be driving “learning organizations.” Such companies out perform their competition. Yet, day after day unravels and the question above is not being asked.

It’s a fact: If you don’t teach yourself, you’ll be tutored by your competition.

Given the current state of the economy, there is no doubt about it: School is in session. We’d best sit up in our seat and take notes. Only the ‘A’ students will graduate. Here are questions that will ensure you move to the head of the class:

1. During this period, what strengths have we discovered that we possess?
2. What did we learn from the period of prosperity that proceeded this recession – that we will remember to apply when the economy speeds up?
3. What have we done in past periods of difficulty that we can replicate now?
4. What have we learned about our customer needs that will guide us?
5. What motivations can we tap into that will inspire greater accountability?

Vince Lombardi once stated, “I never said it would be easy. I only said it would be worth it.” This inspires an additional question that will ensure you harvest perhaps the most important lesson:

How will we function today so that in the future when we look back at this period we can say “…but it was worth it.”

End the Fireworks: Tell the Truth – And Live to Tell About It (Part 3)

Vannoy and Ross

The cost of this “elephant in the office,” along with how to make sure people are telling the truth around you, has been addressed in our last two blogs. But what happens if you want to step forward and tell the truth to others who you are afraid will explode? How do you tell the truth and live to tell about it?

First, understand that most people don’t tell the truth because they failed a logic lesson: Somewhere in the past they told the truth and barely survived the experience, so they deduced: “Telling the truth is a life-threatening exercise.”

What these people failed to consider is that telling the truth isn’t what put them into danger; what put them in grave peril is HOW they told the truth.

Most people tell the truth in ways that 

• Make other people wrong,
• Infuse dread and gloom into the conversation,
• Ignite controversy and unhealthy debate,
• Generate a new round of the blame game, and
• Leave people thinking about problems rather than solutions.

The most effective way to tell the truth is to simply offer it as information. It is, after all, only data. It’s not good or bad. (People’s focus and attitudes are what make things such.)

What would happen if, starting today, the people on your team told the truth in an authentic way…that inspired imaginations? Creativity? Opportunity? And a greater focus on solutions? For instance: “Here is my perspective regarding this situation… What can we do to ensure this moves forward?”

Such an approach, as the one above, is happening in offices all around the world – and these are the organizations that are moving forward the fastest.