One of the Pathways to Leadership facilitators shared, “It is often said that ‘it is lonely at the top.’ But isn’t it often lonely in the middle…as well as at the lower levels of an organization?”

 

How true! While those at the top certainly deal with immense pressures, it’s not just those at the top that could use extra support. With all the talk of bailouts, the rest of us might be left wondering, “What about me? Am I going to make it?”

 

It’s a huge elephant in the office for many organizations: No one can work and deliver at a high level when they’re distracted. With the inherent pressures of an economic firestorm, those around you are feeling the heat. Yet, no matter the rank, the tenure, the place on the ‘org chart,’ the absolute truth is, everyone wants to be GREAT.

 

Pretending the pressure isn’t there doesn’t work. And yet, while so many have the passion to serve others, the tactics used to serve often fall short; “Don’t worry, be happy” might make for terrific song lyrics, but it rarely helps those in need.

 

You can provide an emotional bailout for those around you by:

1)     Validating their emotions and perspective.

2)     Ask questions that allow them to:

a.    Build their strengths: “What is working well for you right now?”

b.    Build confidence: “How have you succeeded in difficult moments in the past?”

c.    Build momentum: “What can you do today that will help you focus and move forward?”

3)     And check back with them. Telling someone “Let me know if I can be of further assistance” rarely helps. Instead, mark your calendar and come back to them in a week with questions that allow them to share their successes with you.

 

Everyone wants to be great – not just those at the top. Help people to be great by assisting them in shedding the distractions that drag them down.

  

 

What are the top three things your company covets right now? You may have answered: money, money and money. But, of course, these are outcomes; they’re not something you can manifest yourself. So we’ll rephrase the question: What are the top three behaviors or qualities your company covets that will drive better results (which will deliver more money)?

 

In desperate times companies crave 1) forward momentum, 2) employee confidence, and 3) team members with the ability to see, create and seize new opportunities. Yet, despite knowing this wish list, does it surprise you to know that many companies sabotage the elements they need to survive?

 

It’s a huge and smelly elephant sitting in the office: Many managers slip to the “boss mentality” and create an environment of pressure, fear, and anxiety. “Our margins are shrinking – so we’re cutting everything.” “Where are we bleeding the most?” “Who’s made these stupid mistakes?” “This will get worse before it gets better.”

 

How do these messages make you feel? I doubt anyone is jumping up and down with excitement and suddenly feeling super creative and confident.

 

Effective leaders know better. These masters aren’t ignoring the numbers; they’re not using a strategy of hope or being unrealistic about economic conditions. They simply know that emotions determine how people act.

 

Do you want to lead those around you? Ask these and other questions to create a focus that helps your team create what they want most:

 

1)    Forward momentum: What strategies are delivering for us right now?

2)    Employee confidence: What experiences do we have that prove we will succeed?

3)    Create opportunities: How can we deliver even more value today?

 

Success is a result of focus. What questions will you ask your team to ensure they create what they need the most?

 

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

 

A friend shared that the company they work for is downsizing. They’re telling the remaining employees, “You’re going to have to work longer and harder, and get paid less.” And to make sure they really created more stress, they added, “And you’ll have to apply for your job every day.”

 

And if the employee doesn’t like it? “Tough. You can leave – and good luck finding a job.”

 

That’s one, big, hairy elephant standing in the way of a company realizing breakthrough success: Fear management works in the short term – maybe 21 minutes. And then after that: Employees begrudgingly do just enough to keep their jobs – and no more.

 

Fear management is ugly management that makes your stomach turn – and it’s not effective.

 

Gone are the opportunities where this company could get the coveted “discretionary effort” from employees. Gone are the creative solutions necessary to finding new ways to win in the “recalibrating economy.” Gone is the heart and soul of the company: Employees who care so much they identify with and work harder for the organizational and cultural brand.

 

For those managers who have marginal leadership skills, it can be awfully tempting to resort to fear-based management. When they do they’re telling the world: I don’t have the ability to lead any other way, other than through force and manipulation.

 

What these unskilled managers don’t realize is that they undoubtedly have one competitor who is doing the opposite – and therefore kicking their butt. Effective organizations know that more than ever employees are hungry to deliver excellence. In these companies they’ve transformed the “fight so you don’t lose” mentality into “fight to ensure we win.” The different results these two approaches create are striking.

 

How will you lead today so that those around you know you’re fighting for them? The more you do this, the more you create a culture where the sum is exponentially greater than the parts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol, three ghosts visit Ebenezer Scrooge. The ghost from Christmas past takes him on a tour of what once was; the ghost from Christmas future, hooded and carrying a scythe, provides a horrific glimpse of what will be (if Scrooge continues his miserly and cantakerous ways); and then the ghost of Christmas present pays a visit. With him, Scrooge is provided a perspective of what currently is. It is on this tour where Scrooge realizes the endless opportunities with which he’s being presented to reclaim the person he once was and who he always wanted to be: someone who makes a difference.

As you gather with friends and family over the holidays, there will certainly be stories told of what once was: of simpler times, when life seemed much easier, and joy was abundant. And, undoubtedly, conversations will turn to the future; with the economy in shambles. Dark shadows may grow as speculation gives way to “certainties.” People will shake their heads in dismay. Some may wonder, “What is to become of us?”

In this moment that you can be a guide and save your holidays – and perhaps more. The ghosts of the future aren’t a certainty. If the conversation turns to doom and gloom, interrupt and tell your family that the ghost they’re talking about don’t get a free pass. Then, ask questions like the ones below to ensure your loved ones aren’t sending invitations to the very ghost they despise.

• What are we most grateful for right now?
• What do we love and appreciate about each member of our family? 
• What are things that don’t cost money which we have in abundance?
• What qualities do we possess as a family that gives us the confidence we’ll always be secure?
• No matter what happens in the year to come, what are we determined to gain?

The future is not a nightmare and holds nothing to fear – especially when we can seize the opportunities of today to be the person we always knew we would be.

Warm wishes to you and your family during this special Holiday Season! Thank you for the abundance you continue to create.

ELEPHANT ALERT!

Getting older often means “more aches and pains.” A friend, Jay, in his 40’s, regularly plays basketball. “It’s disappointing. The knees are swollen. My shoulder hurts. And the ankles are giving me fits.” 

And he keeps playing.

In many ways, today’s market is creating pains. Budgets, organizational confidence, 401K’s – they were once bulging as if on steroids. Now, perhaps because they were over-stretched, they spasm and cause sharp pain. 

What do most people do when they’re sore?

Here’s the elephant in the office: People everywhere are grabbing their ice-packs, aspirin, and heading to the sidelines. They show up each day with a “wait and see” attitude. Of course, because they’re unwilling to fully commit to the cause in front of them, they only ensure their team is less likely to win when the score is tallied.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

The answer is in Jay’s approach. “Once you get the ball, nothing hurts anymore,” he says. “When you are determined to make a play, it’s all you can focus on.” And the aches and pains go away.

It’s a trite saying, but perhaps – at this crucial moment – it’s more relevant than ever: Get in the game. 

It’s a fact: If we stop exercising because of aches and pains – we exacerbate and give power to the very thing that’s knocked us down. The same goes in business. Just because things have gotten difficult doesn’t mean we should stop playing the game. We just need to play the game differently. 

Ask you team:

1. How can we flex our awareness and take greater action?
2. What questions can we ask to create greater focus?
3. In what ways are we getting stronger?

Pain may be a reality. What you do with your focus is up to you.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

The biggest wrestling match ever thrown is about to take place in the United States.

Soon, the Thanksgiving holiday will be here. For hundreds of years this has been the moment at which gratitude is expressed for the abundance experienced throughout the year. Given the financial meltdown and increasing despair, will Thanksgiving 2008 be cancelled?

Here’s the elephant in the office: On November 27th the people who only celebrate and give gratitude once a year for the abundance in their life will find themselves cage wrestling the largest turkey known to man. It’s gratitude vs. gloom – hope vs. despair – abundance vs. scarcity – selfishness vs. selflessness. It’s joy vs. misery.

This is no ordinary turkey. The “bad news” you face each day is big and strong and can gobble you up.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

There are, of course, plenty of people who won’t be wrestling turkeys. These people aren’t isolated from the rotten eggs being laid by the market; but they do make themselves inaccessible to the sort of thinking that destroys what’s important to them.

Kevin P. is one of those people. His 401K smells like everyone else’s, yet he’s able to lead himself. “People are starting to focus on core family values more than ever, and not just because it’s Thanksgiving,” he said. “In this moment we have to demonstrate our ability to focus on what we do have. Otherwise, someone could lose their mind if they only focused on what they’re losing.”

Ensure your family doesn’t wrestle the phantom turkey this year by asking:

1. How can we express gratitude more consistently throughout the year?
2. What do we have that we can give to others? 
3. What do we possess that ensures we’ll thrive?

Wall Street and Thanksgiving are not synonymous. Celebrate the abundance that is real.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

 

ELEPHANT ALERT!

Where are you getting your gas? What makes you go? It’s long been said that information is power. But what happens if you have bad information? If so, be aware of the power outage.

Upon hearing that a colleague was communicating incorrect information, a friend stated, “He’s been getting gas at the wrong station again.” That’s a power outage. This person was losing their power by communicating rumors.

Here’s the elephant in the office: With the tightening marketplace, companies are making decisions so fast that sometimes the only information shared are the rumors that spread like wildfire in advance. As a result, these companies have to deal with a tough economy – and a loss of power due to the spread of gossip. The workforce is rendered powerless by the distractions.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

Economies around the world are getting serious about using alternative fuels. What about you? Are your conversations giving you energy? It may be time for a new source of power.

Time spent addressing information that isn’t accurate or verified is like dreaming up ‘negative fantasies.’ Such jibber-jabber drains energy – energy that is in demand as creative solutions are a must for survival.

If you find yourself at a gas pump that is giving bad gas, such as a conversation where gossip is being spread, excuse yourself and find an alternative fuel source. Commit to these steps:

1. Deal with facts. What are the things we can control?
2. Practice creativity. How will we make the most with what we have?
3. Be an alternative fuel source for others. Build a solutions-focus environment.

Correct information is power. Make sure you fill up with the correct gas.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

Things are bad. Retirement savings have been slashed. Unemployment is up. The value of houses is down. No one is buying what’s being sold. The future is bleak. What’s a person to do?

Here’s the elephant in the office: People are quitting everywhere. They’re showing up for work paralyzed. They’re talking about their fears, all the things they disagree with, who’s to blame, and how they feel hopeless. It’s ugly – and little work is being done.

There are options. We recommend you tell them to quit.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

Do you know someone who is stressed and miserable? Encourage them to quit.

Tell them to,

• “Quit feeling sorry for yourself. Quit giving up your emotional control to a bunch of numbers generated by Wall Street. Quit trying to figure out who to blame. Quit perpetuating you fears by re-exploring them each time you see your friends. Quit thinking you’re the only one who is right. Quit thinking you’re always wrong. Quit replaying old, worn-out tapes of the would’ves, should’ves and could’ves. Quit pretending you’re somebody you’re not. Quit getting angry at others who reveal who you are. Quit putting everyone you disagree with in a box. Quit discriminating against things you don’t understand. Quit bringing the poison of your day home for your family to taste. Quit looking at the flaws in the details that make up your life.
• “(Most of all, quit quitting.)
• “And if you’re serious about quitting, stop focusing on what you intend to quit – and spend your time thinking about what you want.”

Today, stop and consider: What do you want? What’s important to you? Why is it important? And how will you take a step in that direction – beginning now?

Quitting is easy…when you know what you want.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

Robocalls are the curse of a campaign season. These pre-recorded messages terrorize family time, and usually take two approaches: 1) They attack their opponents and their ideas; and 2) the message attempts to persuade you to make “a better choice.”

As difficult as this is to endure in your home, isn’t it crazy to be subjected to the same strategy at work?

Here’s the elephant in the office: It seems most teams have a robocaller who attends meetings. When a new or innovative idea is offered, the robocaller leans forward and attacks the idea, stating why it won’t work. And then they attempt to persuade (sell) others on their own idea.

This divisive “You’re wrong – I’m right” approach ruins collaboration, teams and results. 

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

Robocalling should be outlawed – beginning at work. The next time you’re in a meeting where people are brainstorming new ideas and the robocaller dials in, don’t answer. Instead:

1. Acknowledge that you hear them.
2. Understand they want the same thing you want: to see the organization win.
3. State clearly what’s important to you and why. For example, “It’s important that we look closely at all ideas not at face value, but for where they may take us and what new ideas they may generate. We must evolve if we expect to succeed.”
4. Discuss the difference between “why an idea won’t work” vs. “given the circumstances, how could we make that idea work?”
5. Look for those moments when the robocaller has used their mute button and kept quiet. Privately thank them.

Stop the repetitive pitches that hurt people and results – and allow everyone to win.

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?

ELEPHANT ALERT!

Different leadership styles are necessary for different times. When your team is ahead in the game, the tone, approach, and techniques necessary to ensure victory are different than when you’re behind.

It’s stunning to observe some bosses blow it.

Here’s the elephant in the office: As stress increases, have you witnessed some bosses who move to a default setting of “command and control”? They make decisions behind closed doors; they assume they know the motivations of others; and they resort to the illogical “I’m-going-to-make-you-feel-bad-so-you-can-start-to-do-good” method of execution.

Consequently, the tough times are exacerbated as these bosses make bad results worse.

STOMP THE ELEPHANT

When times are tough decisive leadership action is a must. Regardless of the style that is needed, there are some elements of quality leadership that are consistent no matter what the situation.

• Fear is a motivator, but only for short bursts. Now more than ever, people are starving for confidence. A focus on what is working creates this needed element.
• Cultures of inclusion always out-perform cultures of exclusion. You might not always be able to include people’s ideas in WHAT needs to be done, but when you exclude them from HOW they need to get things done, you’re guaranteeing you’ll see bigger problems.
• Success is relative. Leaders who are beating their teams up for not delivering the same results they achieved under different market conditions are sowing the seeds of cancer within their team. The market is different, so success is different. Create a “we will persevere” mentality by celebrating the successes of today.

Are you adapting how you lead? And are you remaining consistent in the important ways that will allow your team to win?

Where will you lead – where will you stomp elephants – today?