Leadership

Avoiding Disengagement

“People don’t quit companies, they quit bosses.”

When most people begin working at a company, they have high expectations and high aspirations. They’re excited to be there, enthused about the work they’ll be doing, and they’re imagining how they’ll make a difference in the company. In short, people are highly engaged when they start.

Therefore, as a leader, we don’t need to worry as much about how to engage people as much as how to keep people from becoming disengaged!

Why does disengagement occur? Disengagement most often occurs because a leader does or says things that cause people to become disillusioned and less engaged.

Here are the five leading causes of disengagement and what to do about it.

1. Treating People Like Things
When a leader treats people like things, it sends the message that they are unimportant and that they just don’t care about them. And when people sense a leader doesn’t care about them, they start not to care about the leader. When the company tolerates leaders who don’t care about people, people tend not to care about the company. And when people don’t care, there is no engagement.

What does “treating people like things” look like? It’s when a leader is insensitive to people and interacts with them as if they have no feelings. A leader treats people like things when he or she ignores the fact that everyone has hopes and dreams and fears and stress. And leaders treat people like things when they don’t show respect for people or value their contributions, efforts, and potential.

A good leader understands that people’s hopes, dreams, fears, and stresses are real and matter to them. A good leader inspires people. A good leader interacts with people as people, helping them to be their best. A good leader has empathy. A good leader relates to people the way they themselves want to be treated. And a good leader helps people achieve their own goals.

2. Treating Adults Like Children
How does a leader “treat adults like children”? Think for a moment about how we relate to children and why we relate that way. We generally tell children what they need to do and when they need to do it by. And we do that because we don’t trust their judgment, their sense of responsibility, and/or their self-discipline. We regularly check up on children because we don’t trust them to follow through on their commitments. We don’t trust them to be responsible.

When a leader doesn’t trust people to do what needs to be done, and doesn’t trust their judgment, they are treating them as if they are children. When they micromanage people, they are treating them like children. It shows a lack of respect and trust. And when people feel they aren’t respected and trusted, they lose respect for the leader. When people feel they aren’t respected and valued, there is no engagement.

If someone doesn’t know what to do, then our job as a leader is to develop their knowledge and abilities. The shortcoming lies with the leader, not the follower. If someone lacks the necessary judgment for a task or decision, then our job as a leader is to develop their judgment. If their judgment remains inadequate, then either we aren’t as competent a leader as we need to be, or we just have the wrong person on our team. Either way, resorting to treating someone as a child is a poor course of action.

3. Not Treating People with Respect
The impact of showing respect is powerful, but not nearly as powerful as what happens when a leader does not show respect for others. When a leader doesn’t respect people, they lose respect for the leader.

We demonstrate respect to others by what we say, what we do, and by the actions we take. People want to be respected for their ideas and their efforts. We demonstrate our respect for them by listening to them and valuing their perspectives – regardless of whether you agree with them or not. In addition, we show respect by giving someone our full attention. When we do something like read and respond to emails while someone is conversing with us, we send the message that they’re just not that important to us. Instead, either stop multitasking and give them your full, undivided attention, or ask them to come back in 5 or 10 minutes so you can complete your task. By giving someone your undivided attention, you communicate that what they have to say is the most important thing at that moment.

4. Not Having Integrity
A leader who lacks integrity has a difficult time influencing and inspiring people. People assess us by our words and actions over time. A leader earns trust by how he or she acts in everyday situations. A leader’s words and actions will carry more weight and have greater impact if they’ve earned the trust (and respect) of others in advance.

Acting with integrity means doing what we say we’ll do. Committing to a deadline creates an opportunity to demonstrate your integrity. Regardless of the importance of the task, fulfilling your commitment on time cements your level of integrity in the minds of others. Only when you have consistently demonstrated that you are a person of your word can solid trust be established.

Acting in integrity is slightly different than acting with integrity. It’s about how we conduct ourselves and it relates to the values we claim matter to us. Acting in integrity means that if we say that treating other with respect matters, we are always respectful of others – regardless of the situation or the person’s position. Acting in integrity means that if we say that honesty matters to us, we are honest – regardless of the situation. If you say that work/life balance matters, then you go out of your way to strike that balance – not only for you, but for the people you lead.

Your values apply not only to your personal actions, but to the entire team you lead. We always lead by example. We establish “who we are” by our every word and action. I call these “moments of apparent insignificance.” To us, these moments are incidental, but they leave an impression on those around us.

5. Taking People for Granted
The issue here is the importance of appreciating the efforts people make rather than taking their efforts for granted or offering insincere recognition. The need for the esteem and respect of others is a key element of engagement.

Having one’s effort taken for granted can be disheartening. If a leader wants people to do and be their best, it’s important to demonstrate that he or she values them. There is a difference between appreciation and recognition, and the distinction is important to understand. Recognition is offered to acknowledge a person’s achievement rather than their effort. However, appreciation is offered for someone’s effort.

Most people want to be appreciated for their efforts more so than for their accomplishments. Appreciation is generally personal and heartfelt, given from one person to another. And it’s often spontaneously shown as a response to the effort someone has put into completing a task. It is an expression of gratitude for someone’s effort, and its impact is immediate and long-lasting. Telling someone you appreciate their effort in completing a project over the weekend has a far greater impact on engagement than offering a token of recognition for the end result.

If you’d like my help strategizing about how to improve engagement, please contact me.

How to Effectively Lead Professionals

There’s an art to leading professionals. It’s something I’ve mastered over the years as an executive coach by helping my clients become more effective in leading their teams.

We’ve all seen leaders who do a poor job leading people. They micromanage. They don’t engage or listen to their teams. They don’t create a trusting environment. They treat adults like children. And they even treat people like “things”.

Leaders who are effective go about leading in a different way…

I first began honing my approach after interviewing Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler. Jody and Cali had been tasked with creating a differentiated approach to the idea of the workplace and called it the Results-Only Work Environment® (ROWE®). ROWE is built on a foundation of autonomy and accountability for every single person. People are focused solely on getting work done. Hours worked don’t matter. Showing up at the office doesn’t matter. Time off doesn’t matter. Everyone gets crystal clear on the results they are expected to achieve, and managers manage the work, not the people.

The results were remarkable. Teams were clear on the important results to be achieved, engagement scores skyrocketed, and wellness scores jumped. Productivity rose significantly and voluntary turnover essentially dropped to zero. (Who would leave a culture like that?)

There’s quite a bit that needs to shift in order to implement a true ROWE culture. But to me, an essential aspect of why it works comes down to how leaders lead professionals.

The key to effectively leading professionals is to treat professionals like professionals.

At the heart of this approach is the reality that the vast majority of professionals want to do a good job. They want to produce professional results.

Consequently, a leader doesn’t need to constantly monitor the work and progress of a professional. Instead, they need to ensure that the person is clear about what needs to be done, what the outcome needs to be, when the task needs to be completed, and the relative priority of the work. The leader needs to be available to answer questions and the team member needs to know to let the leader know if there is a problem or a delay. (Obviously, if something is extremely urgent or time-sensitive, there needs to be more two-way communication.)

But once all of this is established, the leader needs to leave them alone to complete their work. They can (and should) wait for and expect the results to be delivered with quality and on time.

The most effective way to lead professionals is to treat them like a professional.

Do team members ever screw up? Do they ever act unprofessionally or produce inferior work? Of course. But it should be a rare occurrence and should be dealt with in an appropriate manner.

When professionals are treated as professionals, the quality of work improves, engagement increases, and turnover drops.

Dealing with Difficult People

Virtually every one of my clients over the years has brought up the subject of dealing with difficult people. There’s no escaping the fact that they come into everyone’s life at one time or another. Sometimes they come in the form of an unhappy or hard-to-get-along-with client, customer, or co-worker. Sometimes they’re a person we report to or someone who reports to us. And sometimes they’re just someone we happen to come in contact with like a store clerk. Whoever they are, they can cause anxiety, frustration, concern, or anger in us and can even cause us to become like them – someone difficult to deal with.

Sometimes the best way to deal with a difficult person is to avoid them altogether – give them wide berth. But often we don’t have that option. The difficult person is someone we simply have to deal with. Most people would say that in those situations, we have three options. These options are: 1) Try to change ourselves, 2) Try to change the other person, and 3) Resolve to tolerate the situation – basically decide to put up with them. I’d like to suggest that there’s a fourth, very effective option as well – perhaps the most effective of the four options. Let’s spend some time discussing these four options.

1) Try to Change Ourselves
Your first instinct might be, “Why should I be the one to change?” In fact, quite often you’ll find that to be an appropriate response! Often, we are not the catalyst for their behavior. But sometimes we are. If you’ve ever had people in your life who cause you to become difficult or obstinate, then doesn’t it stand to reason that you may be causing that same reaction in someone? It’s in situations like this that we have to examine our own behaviors and reflect on whether we’re the cause. Frequently, we’re blind to our shortcomings. We don’t see what we’re missing. How do you find out whether you’re the cause of the other person’s difficult behavior? Option 4 holds the answer.

2) Try to Change the Other Person
In Option 1 our initial response was to ask, “Why should I be the one to change?” Our first reaction was one of justification. Basically saying, “I’m not the one with the problem!” Guess what happens when we ask the other person to change? You got it. They have the same reaction we would have had. Everyone feels justified in their behavior. No one intends to behave arbitrarily or irrationally. We always have a reason for acting the way we do. Attempting to force the other person to change just doesn’t work. (Just ask any spouse!) No one will change anything about themselves until and unless they choose to do so. Option 4 holds the answer.

3) Decide to Put Up with Them
“Tolerate it.” “Just deal with it.” The only thing that accepting things the way they are accomplishes is to postpone a confrontation. Although this course of action (or inaction) appears to avoid a confrontation, in fact it just pushes the confrontation down the road. Even though this path is frequently taken, it has some far-reaching unhappy consequences. It affects you, the other person, and your team.

You: You end up spending valuable energy by deciding to tolerate this person. It takes energy to tolerate a poor situation – energy which you need for other, more positive and productive efforts. In addition, by tolerating this person, your attitude suffers. Although we decide to tolerate it, we don’t ignore it. Tolerating something that reduces our level of energy and our attitude is a poor solution.

The Other Person: If you reflect back to a time when you became complacent, lost interest, and experienced a drop in attitude (as we all have at one time or another), you’ll find one of two reasons for this shift. One reason is that the work you were doing really didn’t interest you – the work was unfulfilling. The other reason is that we became disillusioned with someone or something. In situations where the reality of the situation is different from the one we first imagined, is there a way to make things better? Maybe. Option 4 holds the answer.

Your Team: A leader sometimes tolerates a difficult person for an extended time, hoping they’ll “come around” and thereby avoid a confrontation. Until something happens – some event or challenge – and they feel they have no choice but to confront and often terminate them. After they’re gone, the leader is often surprised at the number of team members who come forth and comment on what a drag on the team that person had been. They’ll speak up about their poor attitude or poor work ethic, and often add, “I don’t know why you kept them so long!”

When you don’t address a difficult person – when you decide to tolerate them – your whole team is affected. In addition, ask yourself this: When you keep a difficult person on your team, what does it say about you as a leader and what does it say about your values and your integrity? Tolerating a difficult person doesn’t work in the long run.

4) Strive to Understand Them: The Key to Success
This option is about being an effective leader and being an effective communicator. It’s about being compassionate and strong at the same time. It’s about being good for someone rather than being good to them. It’s about understanding rather than telling.

This solution is about taking the time to understand the other person’s reasons for acting the way they do. If you’re effective at this, you’ll be able to either help them change their perspective on things or, in the alternative, help them to move on to something that better suits them. This solution is about helping people grow and maximize their talents.

How do you come to understand the reasons for their actions and their attitude? Just ask. Ask why they act the way they do. Usually, they’ll be more than happy to tell you. In truth, their behavior is a symptom rather than a problem. Keep asking questions to get at the heart of the issue so you can either shift their perspective or help them move on. Once you’re at the core issue (the underlying problem), you have the ability to make a difference in their life. It’s amazing what can come out of a sincere desire to help. How would you have felt if, at those times when you felt complacent with a poor attitude, someone took the time to listen to you and offer some other perspectives? How would your life be different today if someone had helped you see yourself and/or your life differently?

As a leader, you have the ability to make a difference in someone’s life.

How to Attract and Retain the Right People

If you’re one of the many executives struggling with finding and keeping the right people to propel your business forward, you’ll find these insights helpful.

If you’re frustrated by trying to motivate people, work instead to develop a company where people are self-motivated – where they do things because they want to. When we’re inspired, we enjoy our work, we’re productive, and we’re proud of our efforts. We remain focused and committed to the task at hand. In short, we put forth out best effort.

An organization will attract and retain a team of people dedicated to the success of the organization and its goals when it has a Purpose, a Mission, and a set of Values that it lives by, effectively communicates them throughout the organization, and measures its actions and decisions against them. Let’s define what Purpose, Mission and Values are and talk about the implications of having them clearly defined and embodied in the organization.

Purpose:
Purpose is the “WHY” of the equation. Purpose defines why we do what we do. It defines why we go to work each day. Without purpose, people just go through the motions and as most of us know, there’s a great difference between activity and achievement. Having a purpose creates a yardstick, so to speak, to measure our decisions against. It helps us become passionate, helps us to select among the many options presented to us, helps us make better hiring decisions, and keeps us on track. It’s possible to succeed without a clear purpose, but having one speeds and magnifies the results.

When a company has a clearly defined purpose it begins to act as a magnet, attracting the kind of people who will further the purpose; people who are like-minded. Not only will having a purpose retain the right people, but it will also act to attract them. This is the power behind the success of many not-for-profit organizations. Although they often are unable to pay their staff great sums of money, they continue to attract and retain people who are dedicated and who work hard to achieve the purpose of the organization. While your organization’s purpose may not be as altruistic as a not-for-profit’s purpose, it definitely plays an important, almost critical, role.

How you develop a meaningful purpose? Involve people throughout the organization in order to develop and distill the essence of why your organization exists. Don’t simply rely on the executive team to develop and then dictate the purpose to the group. And certainly don’t rely on an outside company to create your purpose for you! It has been my experience that a well-defined statement of purpose is a single sentence, crafted to capture the essence of “why” the organization exists using as few words as possible and resonating when read or spoken. This brings clarity and energy to it, and makes it much easier to keep in mind when making decisions and policies.

Mission:
Mission is the “WHAT” of the equation. Mission defines what the company does to achieve its Purpose. The better defined a company’s mission is, the easier it is to choose among the many opportunities that will present themselves. A mission – the means to achieve the Purpose – can be fairly narrow or be somewhat broad. However, one that is too narrow can unduly restrict an organization from considering opportunities that would otherwise be an excellent fit, and one that is too broad offers no guidance at all and may cause an organization to spread itself too thin, do a poor job at everything, and essentially dilute its effectiveness.

How do you determine an appropriate mission? Again, remember to involve people throughout the organization to develop and distill the essence of what your organization is about. Don’t simply rely on the executive level to develop and then dictate the mission to the group. Work to strike that balance between clarity and confinement – not too broad, yet not overly restrictive.

Values:
Values are the “HOW” of the equation. Values define how the Mission will be carried out in an effort to achieve the Purpose. They define the “rules of the game”. Some of these values will come to mind quite easily, things like honesty, courtesy, kindness, and ethics. But some other important values will only surface when brainstorming takes place – when different perspectives and voices are heard. Values like authenticity and vulnerability may be placed on the table for consideration. (Which, by the way, are two essential qualities of an exceptional leader.) It doesn’t matter which values are decided upon as being important to the company. What is important however, is that whatever they are, everyone in the company lives by and supports them. It’s important that the policies and decisions of the company are in alignment with them. If the company has an acknowledged list of values it purports to live by and then chooses to ignore them, the list becomes a sore point and acts as a negative reflection of what kind of organization you really lead.

When a company has clearly defined its Purpose, Mission, and Values, then all decisions, policies, and actions will have a measuring stick to keep them on course and you will have an organization which attracts and keeps the best! You’ll create an organizational culture which naturally acts as a magnet to attract and retain like-minded people. And you’ll also have the framework to interview about the things that matter most to you and your organization. No longer will people be hired based solely on technical abilities or simply to fill seats.

Exceptional leadership inspires the best effort in others!

How Great Leaders Bring Out the Best in People

Great leaders bring out the best in people. In fact, that’s what makes them a great leader. They bring out the best in their team, they bring out the best in their organization, they bring out the best in their vendors, and they bring out the best in their customers. The art of leadership is learning how to bring out people’s best.

Here are five things a leader must do if he or she wants to be truly effective:

1. Treat People Like People
If you really want to bring out the best in people, you need to treat them like…well…people, rather than things. When we interact with people without compassion, empathy, or understanding, we’re relating to them as things.

The consequence of treating people like things is that you’ll get compliance, but not commitment. In contrast, when leaders regard people as people, they recognize that everyone – regardless of position or title – has hopes and dreams, needs and desires, goals and aspirations, fears and stress, and strengths and weaknesses.

A leader who regards people as people adopts an attitude of being of service to them. He or she helps them to be their best, to correct mistakes for the future, and is empathetic towards them and the feelings they have.

Leaders who treat people like people bring out the best in them.

2. Treat Adults Like Adults
If you want to bring out the best in people, you also need to treat adults like adults. Unfortunately, leaders often fall into the habit or pattern of treating adults like children. What constitutes treating adults like children?

When a leader micromanages people, he or she is treating them like children. When a leader doesn’t trust his or her team to follow through and act responsibly, he or she is treating them as children. When we micromanage people, it demonstrates a lack of respect and trust. It sends the message that we don’t trust them to do what needs to be done and don’t trust their judgment.

Why would a leader treat an adult like a child? The most prevalent reason stems from the flawed perspective that if people aren’t told what to do, they will do the least amount of work possible, doing just enough to keep from losing their job.

In order to treat people like adults, we need to eliminate the false perception that people will do as little as possible if left to their own initiative. Most people truly want to do the best job possible and take pride in the work they do.

An effective leader ensures that people have the right tools, the appropriate skills, and the proper judgment to do their job effectively. Then, the leader can confidently delegate tasks and hold people accountable for getting their work done accurately and in a timely manner.

Leaders who treat adults like adults bring out the best in them.

3. Earn Trust and Respect
The importance of earning the trust of the people you lead is well accepted yet still remains an issue. Trust is earned through having integrity and is absolutely essential for keeping people engaged. A leader who lacks the trust of others has a difficult time influencing and inspiring them. It’s not simply a matter of being honest, nor is it a matter of not being dishonest. Our integrity is reflected in what we do and who we are. People assess us by our words and actions over time (although a single negative event can change that opinion instantly). We don’t earn trust by how we act during major events, but rather how we act in everyday situations. Our words and actions will carry more weight and have greater impact if we’ve earned the trust (and respect) of others in advance.

The level of trust and respect given a leader by his or her team determines—to a great degree—the lengths people are willing to go for them. A leader who has earned a high degree of trust and respect creates a loyal team. A leader who has earned trust and respect gains the ability to greatly influence the actions and performance of his or her team. And a leader who has earned trust and respect will be more easily and more quickly forgiven for mistakes they make. And we all make mistakes…

Respect, like integrity, is one of those things that no one argues against. Yet not every leader earns the respect of his or her team. If a leader wants to be influential and bring out the best in people, he or she needs to have the respect of those they lead. There is a big difference between compliance and commitment.

We earn respect by showing respect and we demonstrate respect by how we interact with others. We show respect to people when we give them our full attention. It demonstrates that we care about their ideas and concerns and that we feel what they have to say is valuable. People can also feel they’re not respected when they’re spoken to in a manner that either minimizes them or makes them feel they and their ideas are being dismissed.

Leaders who earn the trust and respect of people bring out the best in them.

4. Show Appreciation and Recognition
In order to bring out the best in people, people need to feel valued. And in order for people to feel valued, a leader must show appreciation for their efforts and recognize them for their accomplishments. Being taken for granted is disheartening and demotivating, but it frequently happens in the business world, nevertheless.

Some leaders adopt the attitude that people are paid to do a job and therefore the payment of a salary is sufficient appreciation and recognition for their work. While it’s true that people have an obligation to do good work in exchange for fair pay, people are still people. They have emotions, pride, fears, self-esteem, and a desire to please.

Recognition is typically offered as a reward and acknowledgement for an accomplishment. Public recognition boosts a person’s stature within an organization and enhances their self-esteem.

Appreciation, on the other hand, is generally shown in response to the effort someone makes, rather than an accomplishment. Sincere appreciation is generally spontaneous and heartfelt – given from one person to another. When we show appreciation for someone’s efforts, it communicates that we respect and value them.

Leaders who show sincere appreciation for people bring out the best in them.

5. Develop Compelling Strategic Initiatives
When leaders develop a strategic initiative that incorporates a compelling reason, it tends to bring out the best in people. People do their best when they’re inspired by and aligned with the work they’re doing. When people are working on an initiative that matters to them, they’re engaged and enthused.

When an initiative matters to people, they invest their discretionary effort in developing creative solutions and overcoming the inevitable obstacles that present themselves.

People will give (and be) their best for something they believe in. Accomplishing a meaningful initiative is personally and professionally fulfilling. Effective leaders provide a reason to accomplish something. They understand that an initiative without a “why” is simply a goal – and no one gives their all for a simple goal. A good strategy addresses an issue or problem and provides a direction for the company. It also provides a compelling reason for the initiative (a cause, a philosophy, a passion), creating a desire to achieve it.

Leaders who help people stretch and use their creative abilities bring out the best in them.