I Quit!

Your VP for Research and the Associate VP of Marketing have both resigned in the last 30 days to take positions with different competitors. 

Disappointing, yes; but nothing to worry about, right?

However, your HR Director just left your office after sharing startling statistics on employee retention, which suggests that very few stay with your company for more than 2 years, especially in the Research and Marketing departments.

What is going on, and why hasn’t this been brought to your attention before now? Or, has it and you just didn’t understand what was actually being conveyed?

Perhaps you should talk with your remaining leadership team members, and ask your HR Director to initiate an employee survey to ascertain employee satisfaction and solicit feedback for improvements. 

Based on the information already provided, it seems certain that an organizational strategic change initiative is in order. Maybe it’s the politics, or the culture, or the work process itself. Maybe it's a little bit of all of those, and more.

For example, a friend came to me recently for advice on how to deal with some issues she was facing at work. Since we have been friends for a very long time, she knew I had faced similar challenges, and wanted validation for the options she saw as viable for her particular situation.

It seems the politics in her organization have completely taken over good management practices. Until now, she has done her best not to participate in the games her colleagues seem to enjoy and clearly benefit from based on the promotions and frequent public “at-a-boys” they receive, while she and her efforts are overlooked. 

Regardless of her qualifications and superior work performance, her unwillingness to play the game has cost her two promotions and given rise to the perception that she is not a team player. 

As we see it, her options are: 1) start playing the politics game and build additional strategic relationships within the company so that she is seen as a team player and can start getting the recognition for her efforts, or 2) find a new position with a different company.

Now is not the 

time to be complacent

Based on the resignations noted at the top of this blog and like my friend’s situation, could politics and a culture that supports promotions based on the participation in cliques be the core issue in your organization?  

Before you shake your head and say, ‘of course not,’ make sure that the survey conducted by HR includes questions about culture, politics, upward mobility and team cohesion.

Better yet, contract an organizational development professional to provide an unbiased company evaluation, and then work with them to design a strategic change initiative to address the issues revealed.

While it may appear that the culture of promotion via politics is widely accepted, it really isn't. In fact, it is patently toxic to the success of your organization!

Now is not the time to be complacent, thinking that these resignations and the data from HR are just small bumps in the road. 

Now is the time to lead by example, to take action to ensure your organization becomes the one everyone wants to work for; not the one they use to get experience and then leave for better opportunities.

  

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected management professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is the author of the Management in Motion blog, and has written a number of articles for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on the topic of childfree living.

When All Hell Breaks Loose

“We have to make quick decisions or all Hell will continue to break loose. I can’t believe we didn’t see this coming!”

I suspect all of us have been in this situation more times than we care to admit, whether we were leading the effort or simply a cog in the decision-making wheel. 

You have been there a time or two. What did you do? 

Either way, the answer brings to mind two additional questions:

• How did you make your decisions?
• Did they turn out to be the right ones, or should you have done something else?

Lately, I’ve seen a lot of blogs and research articles on how the quality of leadership affects the decision-making process. I realize that it seems to be obvious that a good leader makes good decisions, while a poor leader makes poor decisions. One of the more interesting articles I have read on this topic lately, found in the Harvard Business Review, expands on this theory while exploring the question of how a poor leader affects his/her subordinates and vice versa.  

While the authors present some interesting conclusions to their research, I find that I need to delve a little deeper, and ask the elephant-in-the-room question: given the same information and resources, what causes a leader to make a good or bad decision when all Hell breaks loose?

Is it a lack of training or support from upper management or the Board? Is it a slight hesitation due to a fear of choosing the wrong option? Or, perhaps choosing to do what has worked before – although safer – did not adequately address the needs and requirements of the current situation.

Regardless, as you are putting out fires and salvaging what you can from the ruins, making good decisions require good leaders to:

• Identify and focus solely on the exact issue. There will be many other side issues that appear to be important, but are really only manifestations of the core challenge.
• Identify and evaluate your options, both inside and outside the proverbial box. Although your gut instinct will generally point you in the right direction, you need facts and figures to support your decision.
• Just do it. Do not hesitate; make the decision and let it go. The old saying, “timing is everything” is just as true in business as it is in life.

In short, good leaders focus on solving the actual problem and make fact-based decisions quickly when all Hell is breaking loose. Poor leaders hesitate and make decisions without adequate information to support their choice of fire companies to put out the flames.

 Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected management professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is the author of the Management in Motion blog, and has written a number of articles for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on the topic of childfree living.

Sleep is Over-rated

EDITOR’S NOTE: This week, Management in Motion is pleased to welcome a guest blogger, Johnny Slater, founder of Lochshire Technology. 

For the last few weeks I have had an extreme problem with being able to sleep. I just can’t make myself sleep, no matter that I walk around completely exhausted.

I'm beginning to understand why. I feel something growing inside me that once was there but has been missing for a very long time. I have become aware of a growing sense of passion and restlessness regarding my long absence away from the online work I started so many years ago.

Three years ago I stepped away from everything I was doing to take care of my wife. It was something that I needed to do, and I did gladly without any regret. I always put my family first above all else, so there was no question that my wife and her needs would come before mine.

However, recently I have had the opportunity to slowly dip my foot back into the waters and take small steps towards rebuilding what once was. The restlessness is the fact that I have been away for so long that I just can't wait to get back into it full time and my mind just can't stop coming up with new ideas.

The passion is that it is something that I love doing and something that I was born to do. I love the freedom that having an online business affords me, and the ability to run a business and still be here for my family means more to me than anything ever could.

Life has a way of throwing roadblocks in front of you and most people tend to get bogged down instead of finding ways to go around. My sincere wish for everyone who reads this is that you find your passion and follow it, where ever it may lead you. Get out of your comfort zone and follow your dreams.

Don't let setbacks and roadblocks

stop you from following your chosen path.

Look for ways to go around, above, or under any situation that stands in your way and be prepared to have to put your travel on hold for a time every once in a while.

However, never sacrifice your passion. If you have to take time off from what you want to do to take care of what you need to do that is completely fine, but never completely walk away from your dreams.

If you step away for a time and then come back later, you just might find you get even more from your path and you appreciate it even more for having to step away for a time.

I can't describe the feelings I have been experiencing lately. I am full of a renewed sense of who I am and what I want to accomplish with my life, and I hope everyone could feel the sense of renewed self confidence that I have begun to experience.

I think I have rambled enough for someone who hasn't had a decent night’s sleep in a week, so I guess it's time to try to get 2 hours of sleep before I need to get the kids up for school. 

Goodnight to all. 

Johnny Slater is a programmer, internet marketer, and founder of Lochshire Technology, an ecommerce solution firm. From simple single purchase scripts to total membership solutions, Johnny has spent years creating software that is easy enough for beginners to use, but also has the power that veteran marketers need. He not only creates some of the most powerful solutions available, but backs them up with a level of personal customer support not found anywhere else. Find out more about Johnny and Lochshire Technology at https://www.facebook.com/lochshiretech

Patience & the Groundhog

The groundhog saw his shadow yesterday, so that means six more weeks of winter. Right? Great. Wonderful. Awesome.

As you can probably tell, I’m not that enthusiastic about more snow and cold weather.  However, there is not much I can do to change the length of the seasons, or to convince Mother Nature that she needs to bring us some warm, sunny weather instead of the snow currently coming down and covering the ground at an alarming speed once again as I write this blog.

What I can control, however, is my response to the innate desire to speed up the seasonal process, and see the snow-covered brown grass turn a bright, lush green. However, it has been said that the words “Dawn” and “patience” are never used in the same sentence, unless of course it is someone (usually my husband), lamenting my lack thereof.

In business, cultivating the skill of patience, while a project, program, or initiative progresses naturally is essential to its success. For instance, when you and your leadership team developed the strategic plan for your organization, how far out did you plan? Two years? Five years? 10 years? 

As time went by, did you find yourself wishing or doing something so that the process would move a little faster than those two, five or 10-year time frames? I think you know what I mean...

In an article for Research Technology Management in 2009, Parry M. Norling wrote: “[p]atience and impatience are partners in innovation if applied in the right mix and at the right targets.” In other words, acquire the skill of knowing when to act quickly, but not impatiently, and do so only with the data and research to support your actions. Acting impatiently just because things aren't moving along fast enough for your tastes only sends you down the road to failure.

Using that perspective, I believe I’ll look around and find the beauty in the quickly falling snow, rather than cursing the groundhog, who really isn't a meteorologist anyway.

Happy Monday! 

Reference:

Norling, P.M. (2009). In innovation, is patience a virtue? Research Technology Management, 52(3), 18-23.

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected management professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is the author of the Management in Motion blog, and has written a number of articles for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on the topic of childfree living.

Do You See the Forest or the Trees?

“Based on what you are saying, you obviously can’t see the forest for the trees in front of you. You need to see the bigger picture!”

How many times have you said and/or heard this? I’ve personally lost count.

And yet, many times we get so caught up in the great new idea we formed or heard presented at the last executive seminar we attended, that we actually fail to see how it fits into the big organizational picture; how many others and/or projects and programs it will affect if implemented.

As noted by Kotter and Schlesinger in the Harvard Business Review, one of the most significant challenges for business leaders is the ability to anticipate, recognize, and acknowledge the need for organizational change. Once they accept the need for change, they are then faced the additional challenges of choosing the method and degree of change, while developing a vision to move the company forward that is the most appropriate for their specific circumstances. 

Failing to consider these cornerstones when embarking on a change initiative can only be described as not seeing the forest for the trees. As we all know, the unintended consequences of focusing on the trees instead of the forest can be catastrophic in business. 

Sure, the keynote speaker (aka organizational development expert) at your last executive seminar presented a fantastic option for improving the efficiency of your organization; that’s his job. It’s what he does for a living, and his presentation was simply awesome!

Regardless of how good he made it sound, think about the forest instead of the trees. In other words, will you commit yourself, your organization, and the necessary resources to the work that must be done before dropping it on your employees, or are you just excited about the presentation you saw, and now believe wholeheartedly that it’s the quick and easy answer to all your organizational problems?

Change is inevitable

As Kotter and Schlesinger point out, there are many factors to be considered in the development and choice of manner for a change initiative in order for it to be successful in the long run. 

• How much change is necessary? 
• How will you engage and communicate with your organization so that they can see and support your vision? 
• How do you mitigate the resistance that is inevitable? 
• Can you sell this vision to your company and board even though it can take years to bear fruit? 
• Can you afford the cost? 
• Can you afford not to do it? 
• What will the new structure look like, and how will you manage the effects of the change?

Change is inevitable, and leaders who cannot, or will not, anticipate change and lead the way with a sound, innovative strategic plan and organizational structure its employees and board can get behind will find themselves at a distinct disadvantage. Just ask Ron Johnson how that worked out for him at JCPenney.

Again, looking at the trees only offers a beautiful, peaceful view filled with obstacles. However, looking at the forest rather than the trees, and then painstakingly devising a fully researched, inclusive and developed way through it is the only path to successful implementation.

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected management professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is the author of the Management in Motion blog, and has written a number of articles for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on the topic of childfree living.

What Makes a Leader Great?

All of the great leaders I have ever met or admired from afar have, are, or exhibit the following on a daily basis:

• An open and effective communicator
• Honest
• Integrity
• The respect of others
• Effective management skills

While all of these are necessary for success, what is it about a leader that makes them not good – but great? In their book, The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes & Posner attribute great leadership not to great personality, but simply and ONLY to the behavior of the individual.

Thinking once again about the great leaders that I have come across, they have also exhibited the following behaviors:

1. Having and sharing their unbridled passion for the organization they serve. Having a passion for the work you do every day is vital, not only to the success of the organization, but to yours and that of your team as well. Who wants to give their best for something they could care less about?
2. Articulating a clear vision for success. In a recent post, Intuit’s President and CEO, Brad Smith noted that thinking out loud, and openly sharing your vision for success with the entire organization and seeking feedback opens the door to dissenting opinions, which in turn can lead to fresh, new ideas and innovation. This also encourages others to do their best, and to succeed.
3. Recognizing and celebrating the success of others. Rather than taking the credit themselves, great leaders openly acknowledge and celebrate the success of those who make things happen. There is no better example of what not to do than to compare the end of the NFL championship game interviews of the Bronco’s Payton Manning and the Seahawks’ Richard Sherman. One focused on the team effort, while the other made a spectacle of himself by touting his "greatness."
4. Finally, while there are others I could mention, I’ll conclude this post with my favorite behavior of great leaders: Words are ALWAYS followed by action to support them. After all, if you can’t walk the talk, who will follow?

The answer? No one.

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected management professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is the author of the Management in Motion blog, and has written a number of articles for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on the topic of childfree living.

How Bridgegate Shines a Light on the Power of Organizational Culture

She lied; and now she’s out of a job.

When the contents of emails between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s Assistant Chief of Staff and a highly-placed Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were exposed last week, heads quickly rolled.

Now Christie is embroiled in a scandal about political payback that threatens his supposed interest in running for President in 2016, and the success of any of the initiatives he plans to lay out on Tuesday for his second term as Governor.

Regardless of your political leanings, I’m sure that at least once in your life you have found yourself asking the very same question Christie has been asking for almost a week now: “How did this happen?”

There are several other related questions that are just as important to ask as well, such as:

• What is it about the culture of my organization allows people to believe that this behavior is acceptable?
• What changes can I make that clearly state and show that unethical behavior, disregard for others, political payback and dishonesty is unacceptable?
• Is it even possible to remove politics from any organization?

While I can’t answer the first two questions without a thorough analysis of his organization, the answer to the third is unfortunately a resounding NO.

Politics, like change, is a fact of life and business. Author Gareth Morgan notes that everyone has specific interests in their personal and professional lives, and works with/uses others to promote those issues and achieve their goals.

Perhaps the answer to the third question is in the first. In his remarks on the scandal last week Christie defended the culture of his administration multiple times, pointing out that he believes he has an open, collaborative culture where transparency, trust and honesty are cornerstones.

Perhaps; perhaps not.

As Christie pointed out, for the moment “BridgeGate” appears to be an anomaly. However, corporate culture starts at the top, and is fed to the rest of the organization through the actions (or inaction) of leadership.

For example, Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director for McKinsey & Company is fighting a similar battle for the culture and reputation of that well-respected consulting company. In his effort to rebuild the business community’s trust in the company, Barton sought and has obtained the support of its board and the rest of the leadership team. Without that support, his efforts are doomed.

In short, everyone plays politics in every phase of their life, and change is inevitable. However, without strong leadership, any changes in culture or organizational behavior achieved in the short-term will not survive in the long-term.

I wish both Christie and Barton luck in their efforts.

Before founding her own consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected management professional in the military, higher education, and healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and strategic planning. She is also a published author on the topic of childfree living.