Vannoy and Ross

“We have a bias for action” is a popular phrase meant to signal that someone is serious about getting things done. And, while it’s true there are people who like to talk about business rather than doing business, have you noticed that a “bias for action” doesn’t automatically equate to greater results? In fact, all too often a “bias for action” is costing companies money.

 What good is a bias for action…if the actions you take lead you backwards?

In many companies one has to look no further than the meetings being conducted to observe backward-action leadership. In an effort to get to “action” as quickly as possible, too many bosses do what they’ve always done: start by analyzing what’s not working, then determine where the problems lie, ask who or what is to blame, and finish with sharing their concerns regarding the plan forward.

This bias for the wrong action backfires in bad ways: communication stalls as defenses go up, confidence plummets because momentum vanishes, egos flare, and very little work gets done. As our friend, Per L., says, this is the “anti-solutioning” approach.

There’s a better approach. In your next meeting demonstrate your bias for the right action by focusing on solutions, what is necessary to improve, what you are learning, and how to make ideas work. This focus is accomplished by asking questions such as:

• What progress have we made since our last meeting that we can expand on?
• What are the three most important actions we should take to hit our target?
• What lessons have we learned that we want to leverage moving forward?
• How will we know we’re executing our strategy?

Demonstrating a bias for the right action moves teams forward faster. As “Quotable Joe” in Cincinnati reports, “We now leap-frog the commiseration stage of the meeting, and get more done – faster.”

Leaders everywhere are begging for higher performance from their teams. And yet, would it surprise you to learn that many leaders are sabotaging their team’s performance with their current methods?

Somewhere, somehow, bosses learned that in an effort to get people to improve they should: 1) Point out what others are doing wrong, and 2) Provide specific feedback only in the annual performance review.

It’s crazy: Imagine you are a parent: How much sense would it make if you only provided your children feedback once a year? And, when you did provide them such information you focused on everything they were doing wrong.

What would you expect for behavior from children exposed to such an approach? Would you volunteer to babysit them?

The brain is a brain, whether it’s in a child or an adult. This means you can guarantee: It goes towards its focus. This is why legendary football coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, would rarely stop the game film when his players were making mistakes. He reasoned: Why program their minds to reinforce what you don’t want to have happen? Instead, his players could count on watching (and watching again) those moments when their performance was strong.

Additionally, timely feedback is crucial. “In the moment” feedback propels performance forward immediately. For example, “John, by delivering the project today instead of tomorrow, you put us on a pace to hit our Q1 target. Thank you.”

When feedback is sincere (your mean it), specific (focused on the details of excellence), and selective (timely), every day is filled with powerful performance enhancer moments. (From our book, Stomp the Elephant in the Office)

The question is: Are you willing to seize those moments…or do you just want to talk about it at the end of the year?

I asked him, “Why not?”

“Because they never work.”

Did you catch it? This man is at risk of making a crucial error in judgment – and it may cost him dearly in the year ahead. The error isn’t that he didn’t create a New Year’s resolution; his error is that he doesn’t believe he can change.

Immeasurable human potential will be lost in 2010 because too many people won’t even try to change. How will you ensure that 2010 is not a repeat of 2009 for you? Beware of these three obstacles, and when you encounter them blow through them.

1. The “Mis-Identification” Obstacle: Too many people identify themselves with the results they create. This ensures future paralysis as you eventually will deliver sub-par performance – meaning YOU are sub-par. (Really? - Not.) Dissolve this obstacle by positioning all outcomes as fodder for the hungry person you are.
2. The “I Don’t Really Care” Obstacle: This is a silly game we all play with ourselves. When you try something new and don’t succeed your defense is to fool yourself into believing you don’t care. Dissolve this obstacle by memorizing this question – and answering it frequently: Why do I care?
3. The “Query Quandary” Obstacle: It’s a fact that questions trigger the mind. Yet, when most people trip while attempting to achieve, they ask the wrong question: “What am I doing wrong?” This puts them in a quandary: by answering this question they become experts at failure. (And thus, fail more.) Dissolve this obstacle by asking forward focus questions such as, “What will I do better next time?”

Don’t kill the messenger: A new year is here. Change efforts – be it resolutions or otherwise – do work if the change technology you’re using is effective.

Here’s to blowing through obstacles in the months ahead.

Uh-Oh: Is It Too Late To Be Good?

Kids everywhere are chewing their fingernails and looking over their shoulders. If it’s true, they wonder, that Santa is “making a list and checking it twice, going to find out who’s naughty or nice,” then – given all my sins of the past year – do I have any chance of getting that present I wish for?

It’s the same for adults, of course. Have you noticed those around you who are limping to 2009’s finish line? They’ve bagged the year. They’ve given up on others – and themselves. “I’m done,” is spoken everywhere.

And why not give up on 2009? After all, it’s too difficult too care – to be good – anymore, isn’t it? With the shape the economy is in, with “we-have-to-do-more-with-less” bosses everywhere, and a body that’s rounder and softer than 12 months ago, there probably won’t be the wished-for present under the tree for you this year, will there.

It’s Not Too Late!

Don’t believe the illusion for a second. It’s not too late. Santa doesn’t care about what you did and didn’t do in the past – he cares about right now. What happens if Santa is as forward-focused as you want to be? Because he’s in your corner, all he cares about is you picking yourself up, dusting off the crumbs of 2009, and preparing for the opportunities of tomorrow.

Sound like rhetoric to you? Perhaps, but we should remind ourselves that momentum is an invaluable resource. Therefore, what happens if your success in 2010 depends on your finish to 2009?

Besides, the only difference between 2009 and 2010 is the tick of a clock – the same sort of tick that’s been ticking, well, your entire life.

It’s not too late to be good. In fact, now’s the perfect time.

Create Greater Confidence, Momentum and Focus – Right Now

Vannoy and Ross

My five-year-old daughter recently announced, “I know how to spell my friend’s name. We call him RJ.”

“How do you spell that, honey?”

With a big smile she lifted her chin and said, “R – J.”

You have to admire that sort of mastery. And we did! With cheers we celebrated her achievement. And do you know what happened next? She spent the rest of the day attempting to spell nearly every word she encountered.

Which provides us with an important reminder: Somewhere along the way most people begin expecting success – and therefore, they quit celebrating the wins. Thus, quite subtly, confidence begins to wane. Momentum begins to erode. And focus shifts more consistently to what’s not working, which ultimately results in one thing: fewer wins.

What would it be worth to you if, right now – today – you could build more confidence, forward momentum and stronger focus around you?

If this appeals, we challenge you to conduct the following experiment. Today, conduct three separate celebrations:

1. Identify one area where you are excelling. What is something you’ve been doing well lately, especially under trying circumstances? Give yourself some credit – and celebrate in your own way.
2. What is something the team around you is doing well? Shock your teammates and enhance the next meeting by pointing out something about the team that amazes or excites you. And then ask others what they believe is contributing to the successes that are evident.
3. Perhaps most importantly, on your drive home, identify one important quality you’re going to highlight with your family tonight – and then enjoy the difference this focus makes.

Life will throw my daughter tougher words to spell than R-J, but her strategy for success should never change.

What’s in Your Tool Belt…That Will Move Your Team Forward?

A leader once told us: “Before the Pathways to Leadership process, the only leadership tools I had in my belt for working with others was a hammer and a screwdriver.” This resonates with many people – and recently a man named Charlie added, “You missed the third tool a lot of leaders have in their leadership tool belt.”

What is that?

“Duct tape. With all the re-structuring, leaders need tape to keep teams together.”

We laughed – and the point was made: When it comes to ensuring teams are aligned and operating with trust, most organizations use “wish management.” A few teams get to play on ropes, and thus feel inspired for a couple of weeks; but painfully, not many teams acquire tools they can use to ensure a fusion, a strength of bond, that grows tighter each business day.

What tools are you using today to ensure your team becomes stronger as it works? Your competition may just be applying a screwdriver and “screwing” things up by focusing on all the ways the team is not performing well. Consequently, this inappropriate use of focus only ensures the team has its weaknesses reinforced and its confidence diminished.

By studying your failures you become an expert at failure – not success. Accordingly, this approach means the team will require duct tape in the days ahead.

The 3 Mind Factors (page 139 in Stomp the Elephant in the Office) is a powerful tool many readers know that, appropriately applied, can have a profound effect at ensuring teams perform at higher levels. The Mind Factors are: 1) You can only focus on one thought at a time. 2) You can’t avoid a ‘don’t.’ And 3) You go toward your focus.

Apply this tool today with your team by focusing on and acknowledging where your team is doing well, where it is performing with excellence. And, as proven by thousands of teams around the world, you will guarantee that your team improves even more in those areas.

What’s in your tool belt?

Halloween is Over, Right? Beware the Lingering Leadership Ghosts

In the U.S., Halloween has come and gone. The masks and witch brooms are back in storage. Fright-night is over, right?

Not so fast. There are ghosts still floating wild and haunting teams across the land. Does your business require a ghost buster?

Spend casual time with the average employee…and listen closely…and you may just hear ghost stories. These chilling tales take various forms:

• In some companies, make a mistake, and you’re a villain forever. Like demon spirit, your reputation floats far in front of you and lingers after you’ve left the room. You could have the potential to be the most effective leader in the land…but people will never know it. Your ghost lives on, and your company pays the price: How ironic: We want people to improve, but we tie them to the past.
• Additionally, too many teams routinely tell ghost stories about events of the past. They sound like this: “Do you remember how bad that leader was…” And “One of the worst decisions we ever made was…” And “We never seem to have the time to do things right the first time, but we always have the time to do things twice…” Unwittingly, by retelling (and retelling, and retelling) the same scary stories people ensure that past mistakes continue to cost them countless more dollars far into the future.

Understanding the horrific moments in our past is not a mistake, but allowing leadership ghosts to linger, is costly. Conduct a ghost-busting exercise today by asking these questions:

1. What are the most important lessons we can gain from this experience?
2. How can we further leverage this moment as a resource?
3. If we continue to re-tell this story, how would it hurt progress?
4. Why is it important that we put this experience behind us?

The haunted house is closed. It’s time to move forward.

The Most Important Contribution You Can Make to Your Team

Vannoy and Ross

How can you best contribute to your team’s success? The answer may surprise you.

Our last leadership post received an abundance of attention – and created some confusion. “Shame on you for putting forth an example that voting against ourselves (with the implication we’re voting for others) guarantees a loss,” shared one reader. We love this reader’s passion to do whatever it takes to ensure her team wins!

So let’s clarify: “Voting for yourself” in this context does not mean voting against someone else. It is not designed to imply that you must win…so someone else can lose. And unquestionably, as we review the metaphor imbedded in the last post, we can see how such assumptions can be made. So yes, shame on us for a poor metaphor.

Let’s kick out the metaphor – and leverage the idea.

It’s shocking – staggering, really – how many people want, wish and hope their team will perform better, yet they severely limit their own contributions to others and the team. How does this happen? Ask yourself,

• Am I my own worst critic? Does my self-criticism build my confidence – or destroy it?On a regular basis, am I showing up “off a roll” just hoping to slog through another day – or am I doing my best…so I can be my best…and give my best to others?
• Am I retelling old stories about who’s a jerk and what’s making my life difficult, thus sabotaging any chances of a productive mindset – or am I using every day to create a new script, a new, more productive story?

How can you give anything to someone else if you can’t hold it yourself? Those who lack the awareness demonstrated in the questions above move through their day “voting against themselves.” (Rats! There we go again with the metaphor!) As a result, these people have little to give others and their organization.

How can you best contribute to your team’s success? Take regular steps to be the best you. That’s what your teammates are asking for.

You’re Not Crazy – Right? Cast the Vote that Counts

With November just around the corner, local elections are starting to heat up in the USA. Can you imagine this scenario: You’ve decided to run for election to public office. You campaign tirelessly to win. And then on election day, you step into the booth…and vote against yourself!

That’s crazy, isn’t it? Yet, consider the possibility that countless people are working tirelessly to get ahead – yet, they ultimately vote against themselves! Here’s an example:

At a recent session the simulated “competition” was intense. A participant, Mary, was deciding who amongst her peers had best delivered on the criteria – that would determine who would receive her vote. After much consideration she raised both hands and triumphantly announced her decision: “I vote for myself!”

While the room erupted in laughter, no one missed the important message: Mary was right. She should vote for herself – because she, like the rest of us, is in a world that encourages us to vote against ourselves. And when we do that, we guarantee we lose.

Focus

Due to a detrimental focus, the vast majority of people around you – including entire work teams – spend their day “voting against themselves” with such thoughts as,

• “I’m never going to get this all done.”
• “This is too difficult.”
• “We don’t stand a chance…”
• “Why can’t I get this right?”
• “What are we doing wrong?”

Of course, because we all go towards our focus, our thoughts – our votes – become an incredible predictor of the future.

Challenge

Have you been “voting for yourself”? For the rest of this week take this challenge: Whenever it is election time – whenever you find yourself casting judgment on you or the circumstances in your life – choose to vote for yourself. Choose to believe that you have what it takes to succeed and shift to focusing forward.

And then observe what happens at the end of the day when the results of the election come in.

Three Actions to Guarantee Immunity from the Flu

Vannoy and Ross

Are you looking forward to getting the flu this season – or not? There are measures to significantly decreasing your chances of getting the “swine” flu. But what about the other flu that’s spreading through the work place?

Team’s everywhere are suffering high temperatures, congestion, lethargy, and loss of strength due to an illness few people are diagnosing: The Elephant Flu.

Symptoms of the Elephant Flu:

This flu is not unlike its brethren, the swine flu, in that it is infectious; the poor focus, attitudes and behaviors characterized by ‘the elephant in the office’ travel quickly and result in the poor health of an entire organization.

Washing your hands, sneezing into your elbow, taking your vitamins – all of these measures decrease the chances you’ll fall victim to the nasty swine flu. Consider that similar hygienic actions can ensure your team remains immune to the destructive forces of the elephant flu:

1. Wash your hands…ensure your team is focused on what they do want vs. what they don’t want. Nasty germs and viruses thrive in a backward focused culture.
2. Sneeze into your elbow…it’s impossible not to sneeze, so the key is containing the sneeze. Instead of avoiding “tough” issues go after them. AND address those issues in ways that make the people around you, relationships and results stronger.
3. Take your vitamins…focus on what is working, acknowledge those who are leading with the strength and character you admire, and celebrate the successes in the steps you’re making. This sort of consistent, healthy focus builds your team’s immunity, ensuring that the elephant flu won’t find a suitable host where it can begin its destructive ways.

Preventative medicine is the key. Today, host a “cultural health” conversation with your team, and ask, “What focus, attitudes and behaviors can we demonstrate more to further enhance our immunity from the elephant flu?”