Does Your Staff Commit or Comply?

Cultivating a spirit of commitment versus a command to compliance reaps continuous rewards in team member loyalty.  Compliant employees will do exactly what you ask.  The employee value proposition with this relationship is simple and transactional.  The employer pays the employee an agreed upon wage to execute agreed upon tasks.  If the employee is internally motivated, then he or she will complete exactly as asked.  If the employee is not internally motivated, then the employer will constantly have to remind the employee of the rules, requirements and responsibilities.  I don't know about you, but that sounds like a miserable way to operate a business.  Thankfully, there is a better way.

When a leader is able to get a team member to commit to an organization, the employee value proposition is something very different.  The team member not only does what the leader asks, but also expends discretionary effort.  The leader, in return, is committed to the development and growth of the team member.  This creates a cycle of commitment between the leader and the team member.  The more the leader invests in the committed team member, the more the team member knows and can contribute.  The more the team member contributes, the more committed he or she is to the business.  That higher level of commitment translates to a greater  contribution.  The perpetuation of this cycle grows the business in exponential ways.

So what does compliance look like on a daily basis?  Employees generally do only what is necessary except for a few who are so internally motivated by a strength of responsibility that they do more.  Because selection is generally a weakness of the compliance driven manger, most of their employees do not exhibit this trait.  If the employee is doing only what they are told to do and only what is necessary, they are not looking for ways to further please the customer.  If the manager is only focused on transactions and not on customer service and satisfaction, the employee is not thinking about serving the customers true needs either.  In this model, somebody is usually "chewed out" each day and turnover is frequent.

Commitment, on the other hand, looks very different.  Leaders encourage team members to anticipate and meet guest needs, even when there is no procedure in place.  It's more than just showing up at work on time in proper uniform.  At a quick-service restaurant, this might be holding an umbrella over guests returning to their car in the rain, changing a guest's tire or driving for miles to return a item left by a guest at the restaurant.  In return, the leader takes a personal interest in each team member, understanding opportunities for growth and the team member's personal and professional aspirations and dreams.   

Leaders who coach for commitment instead of merely compliance, invest more to prevent people problems rather than incurring the expense of having to solve people problems.  Committed team members build the brand of a business. Compliant team members, at most, barely protect a brand.  It may take more skill and intention to lead committed team members, but it is also a lot more fun.   Committed team members create committed teams and committed teams become winning teams.  If you want to lead a winning team, seek commitment from team members, rather than compliance from employees.  

Cultivate an Abundancy Mentality

When I visit my young friends in a remote village in Africa, they impress me so much by their ability to share anything.  If given a pencil, they share it.  If given a candy bar, they quickly calculate how many pieces it can be broken into so that everyone gets a share of it.    They cannot really seem to enjoy what they have unless they are sharing it with others. Isn't it interesting that people who have so little are concerned with giving to others out of whatever they receive?

These young children have adopted an abundancy mentality -- there is enough for everyone and I have hope there will be more, so I can share.  The alternative is a scarcity mentality -- I must hold on to what I have because the resources are limited and I have no hope to obtain more.  

In organizations, I see this played out most often when promotions are given.  Members of a healthy team celebrate the accomplishments of others, believing progress for some, is progress for all.  Healthy team members also believe there is enough opportunity for everyone and realize that success for one gives hope for all.  A scarcity mentality is often prevalent on unhealthy teams.  In that environment, team members resent the success of others because they believe that it limits individual opportunity.  If someone else achieves a goal or dream, they believe that there is less for anyone else to achieve.  

Remember the Lay's potato chip advertisement that encouraged buyers to go ahead and indulge?  Their tag line was, "Go ahead!  We'll make more!"  That ad appealed to the abundancy mentality within the buyer.  There is no need to ration out the chips or save for later -- Lay's assured there would be more!

Great leaders have an abundancy mentality.  They see opportunity for themselves and others everywhere.  They realize that success for others does not limit their own opportunity, but actually paves the way of success for others.

How do you identify abundancy mentality in others?

1.  People who have an abundancy mentality foster other people's dreams.  Sure, they have dreams of their own, but they are interested that everyone achieves their dreams.  They know this will make the team as a whole stronger.

2.   People who have an abundacy mentality have confidence.  They believe in a unique and chosen plan for their own life and know that it is not impacted by the accomplishments of others.

3.  People who have an abundacy mentality coach and mentor others.  They share their time and talents to support the success of others.

4.  People who have an abundacy mentality are optimistic.  They are positive in their outlook and rarely, if ever, complain.  They see the best in others and celebrate it.

5.  People who have an abundancy mentality are generous.  They freely share their ideas, talents, advice and expertise.  They are not concerned with who gets the credit.  

Leaders and team members with abundancy mentalities strengthen the culture of a team and exponentially increase the likelihood of achieving team results.  Unlike those with scarcity mentalities who limit and restrain the team, they propel themselves and the team forward into immeasurable success.  Abundancy mentality is a trait you may want to consider in making your next hire or selecting your next leader.  It's a decision that could significantly  and positively impact the health of your team.    

The Art of Truth Telling

The kindest thing you can do for someone is tell the truth.  Most every person has a shortage of truth tellers willing to say what no one else will.  I am not necessarily talking about the kind of truth telling that says the tie does not match the shirt or acknowledging my bad hair day.  I am talking about the kind of truth that says, "I have made a decision that impacts your work, your role, your team or your future and I need to explain it to you."  Truth telling is what emotionally healthy adults do with one another.  Work arounds are paternalistic and damages most any relationship.  Mature truth tellers have the other person's best interest at heart.

How to tell the truth:

1.  Don't mince words or confuse the recipient of your feedback by a long introduction.  The other person cannot hear what you are saying while wondering what you will say.  Get to the point and give the feedback or state your decision.

2.  Pause and listen.  Allow the person to digest your words, ask clarifying questions and even respond with an opinion.  

3.  Never assume motivation for a person's behavior.  When communicating your decisions, only give feedback about the behaviors themselves and tell the truth about the impact of those behaviors.

4.  Expect the best.  Truth telling provides critical information for someone else to make adjustments, change or even support your decision.  Many people do change as a result of thoughtful truth telling.

5.  Be prepared for the worst.  Telling the truth can end a relationship, but most of the time, it will strengthen it.  

6.  Always show respect.  Don't editorialize the truth or belittle the recipient.  Honestly communicate the observation or the decision you have made and thank the recipient for listening to you.

Mia was a ten-year employee who struggled to understand why she was passed over again and again for a promotion.  The truth was that Mia struggled to communicate a clear vision of her work and translate it into an actionable strategy.  These are key leadership skills that Mia lacked.  However, Mia's leader, nor anyone else, ever gave her that feedback.  Additionally, her leader did not give Mia "the last ten percent," which was that her peers felt as though she was too quick to take the credit for work that was executed as a team.    Instead of providing her with this crucial feedback, her manager hired and promoted others over her as a work around to her shortcomings in performance.  Mia believed she was a top performer and had built solid relationships. She was confused by her perceptions of herself and the actions of her leader.  Had Mia been led by a truth teller earlier in her career, her trajectory may have been different and the company would have benefitted.  

Truth telling is an investment we make in relationships -- whether personal or professional.  It takes a lot of time and thought, and sometimes, courage.  However, there is probably not another investment of time that pays a greater dividend when done well.   Most people desire to perform and achieve results.  Most people want to preserve important relationships.  Truth telling helps people perform better and often strengthens relationships.  Likely, you will find that people thank you for telling the truth, even when they don't like it.  

Real truth tellers are rare, but so valuable in our lives.  What truth do you need to tell today?  What truth do you need hear?

The Stewardship of Seasoned Leadership

Lloyd slumped in his chair with his head in his hands.  As unusual as it is in today’s corporate world, Lloyd had devoted himself to one organization for many years.  Rising from hourly employee to senior leadership had taken him decades to accomplish, but his heart for business and his organization had always made the journey seem worthwhile.  Recently, he was not so sure.  Over the years, he had assumed ample responsibility and performed well.  It was difficult for him to understand why his expertise was being ignored in making key decisions about the function he leads in the business.   Without clear feedback, he was unsure if it was his performance as a leader, his competency in his field or his inability to manage the ever-present corporate politics.   Whatever the case, Lloyd was growing more frustrated by the day and impacting his engagement as a leader.  His company was missing the opportunity to receive the full return on the investments they had made in Lloyd during his lengthy career.  It had become a lose-lose scenario for Lloyd and his organization.

It’s easy to be attracted to the newest trend, the latest version and the shiniest model.   We forget that the older model might be sturdier and enduring.  In some ways, it is like owning a home.  For years, we might make improvements to the home, updating kitchens and bathrooms, adding additions and investing years in beautiful landscaping.  Then, we see a new home that is clean, fresh and the latest style.  We can quickly forget the years of investment we made in our present home, in our attraction to the latest and greatest.  It’s a stewardship decision.  Maybe the current home has a sinking foundation, a leaking roof and rotting windows and the repairs have become too costly.  In that case, a new home might be a better long-term investment.  However, sometimes, absent significant problems, the better stewardship decision is to continue to invest in the current home.  Such can be the case in decisions about investing in people. 

We hear lots of discussion about selecting leaders, growing leaders and leading leaders.  Organizations invest in leadership development programs and Ivy League executive education for leaders.  “Find more leaders” is often the edict given to human resources professionals from their organizations.  Leadership is likely the key competitive advantage for all businesses, so we constantly seek it and value finding it and growing it.  With so much emphasis placed on having great leaders, it makes sense to be a steward of those leaders.  However, oftentimes, organizations focus only on the value of developing new leaders and neglect the development of seasoned leaders.  A few will take their thinking to the next level and continue to invest in seasoned leaders.  Organizations that invest both in new leadership and seasoned leadership will clearly create the most competitive workforce to win in marketplace.

How can businesses be stewards of seasoned leaders?  Here are 6 ideas to consider:

1.      Enable seasoned leaders to mentor other leaders.  Don’t just suggest mentoring, but make this a key role for tenured leaders to pour their contextual and cultural knowledge of the organization into other leaders.

2.     Ask seasoned leaders their perspective about broad issues in the organization.  Over their long tenure, these leaders have observed many ups and downs and have likely grown relationships throughout the business.  The organization can benefit from their “insider” knowledge.

3.     Don’t assume seasoned leaders do not have new ideas.  Many of these leaders are attracted to innovation and because they are experienced, they recognize whether or not something is truly a new idea, or a re-packaged old one.

4.     Tap into the wisdom of seasoned leaders.  Seasoned leaders have likely experienced many successes, failures and setbacks.  Wisdom comes from navigating successfully through opportunities.   Seek their wisdom when making key decisions.

5.     Continue to invest in the growth of seasoned leaders.  These leaders are often less encumbered by other outside of work responsibilities and available for assignments that serve the business needs.  These leaders often help companies transition new functions.  As long as they work for you, continue to invest in their growth for the greatest return on the investments you have already made.

6.     Respect and appreciate seasoned leaders.  Their contributions have likely been invaluable in building your organization.  Respect and appreciate them late in their careers and they will continue to contribute to the success of the business in intangible ways.

Long career paths at one organization are no longer the norm.  For the few organizations fortunate enough to retain tenured talent, it is important to engage seasoned leadership by leveraging their skills, abilities, experiences and business insights.  Effectively stewarding seasoned leadership will not only contribute to business results, it will strengthen the overall culture, too!

Foster Dreams and Grow Engagement

My boss has been known to say," employees are a gift to be stewarded, not an asset to be managed."  There is so much truth in that statement.  The talent we select to be part of our team brings unique abilities, perspectives, ideas, thinking and insights.  If we are to maximize their contributions to our business, then we have to steward not just the competencies of the team member, but also their interests and their dreams.  In our business, we hire many team members that are on their way to something else.  For some, it is their very first job.  For a few others, they may be pursuing  an opportunity to operate their own restaurant.  However, like the NCAA athletics  commercial says, many will go pro at something else.  To be a good steward of the talent entrusted to us, we need to know what the endgame is for our employees.

Haley has a dream. She wants to save enough money to pay her way through college and become a chemical engineer.  She has worked since she was 15, earn the scholarship that her company offers and is on her way to be the first college graduate in her family.  Juan has dreams to own his own business, maybe like the restaurant where he is a team leader, or perhaps another opportunity.  He spends as much time with his leader as possible to learn the ins and outs of entrepreneurship.  Calvin is retired from his first career, but enjoys extra spending money, especially when he goes to read to underprivileged kids on Sunday afternoons.  He enjoys being able to offer them a candy bar or a soda. Bonita is saving money to buy her first car.  Roderick enjoys his job as a training coordinator and loves to see his team members excel at new skills.  He finds pleasure in seeing them succeed.  Sandy works to earn extra money to provide needed therapy for her special needs child and she takes special joy in helping guests who need some assistance, too. Her dream is to provide the opportunity to mainstream her son at school.

While most people show up to work to earn a paycheck, all employees have options about where they earn it.  We have the opportunity to engage their hearts by fostering their dreams. As a steward of the talent entrusted to his, we receive 100% of our team member's efforts when they know we care about their dreams and desires.  We receive their extra efforts when we help them achieve them.  When their hearts are engaged in their work, our guests reap the benefits.

To foster the dreams of our employees, we must know and understand what the dream is and be willing to encourage the accomplishment of it.  Do you know what each of your employees aspires to be and do?  Are you willing to coach and encourage their dreams?  If so, then you are on your way to being a steward of the gifts entrusted to you in the talent that has chosen to work for you.  The man who fostered my dreams was known for often quoting a popular phrase:  "If you help enough people get enough of what they want, you will eventually get what you want."  It worked out well for my boss.  I think it is a principle that works for all of us.  Let's do a little dream work with our teams today.

5 Important Steps to Selecting Talent

People decisions are, perhaps, the most important decisions we make.  That is true whether we are selecting an employee, a business partner, a mate or a friend.  Who we decide to take on the journey with us can ultimately determine our success in business, marriage and relationships.  Making wise choices in the beginning provides a better chance of success in the end.

Understanding the WHY of an organization through determining the purpose is critical.   Understanding WHAT the organization will produce, serve, sell is crucial.    However, it is the WHO that actually produces, serves and sells.  The WHO delivers!  Purpose, strategy and tactics can be carved in granite and become somewhat static.  The WHO is dynamic, ever changing, depending on the skills, talents, personalities, ideas and thinking involved. 

There are 5 important steps to selecting the right WHO:

1.  Carefully craft the profile of the role you wish to fill on your team. Consider current strengths and weaknesses and staff to the gaps.  Use every hire as a chance to make adjustments of your team to maximize everyone's talent.  

2.  Cast a wide net in search for candidates.  Source candidates from different networks to generate a diverse candidate pool.  Differences can energize a team and introduce new ideas.  Sometimes, fresh ideas from different perspectives can stimulate a breakthrough to a new level of team performance.

3.  Always check references.  When properly conducted, referencing checking can be the most valuable tool in the selection toolbox.  It has been said, "past performance is the best predictor of future performance."  If that is so, then fully understanding someone's past performance gives you great information to choose the best candidate to help your team.  Invest the necessary time to gain this helpful insight.

4.  Encourage the candidate to carefully evaluate joining your team. The best people decisions, are the ones in which both the candidate and the team are certain it is a great fit.    It is not enough for the leader to make a good decision to select talent.  For long-term, successful relationships, the candidate must be sure it's the best choice, too!  Be sure the candidate gets an inside look at your organization . . . the good, the bad, the successes and the failures.  Then, try to talk the candidate out of joining your team.  If the potential team member can be talked out of it today, that is better than six months from now, when you have both made significant investments into forging the relationship.

5.  Commit to success.  Once you have decided and the candidate has accepted, commit yourself to the candidate's success.  Do whatever is necessary to leverage the investment you have made throughout the selection process.  Implement a development plan for the new employee that leverages strengths that help the team succeed.  

Surrounding ourselves with talented people whose character matches our own, whose competency matches our need and whose chemistry matches our team not only sets us up to win, but makes the endeavor much more enjoyable.  

Don't Only Retain Talent, Sustain It, Too!

While in New York this past week, I visited a store that specializes in paper products made from repurposed elephant dung.  Another store nearby displayed products  - everything from bracelets to clocks - made completely from recycled vinyl records.   Reusable, recycled, renewable and repurposed are all words we hear often about precious natural resources.  It begs the question:  what about the sustainability of people?

If we are to have the talent we need to be competitive in the future, we must focus on the sustainability of people.  Our talent needs to individually be holistically healthy to position our organizations for future success.   There is not an endless supply of talented people and that is why it is important to sustain the current talent.  An organization's cultural health is dependent on the holistic health of the individuals in the organization.

Sustainable talent is physically healthy. Wellness is a popular benefit in many organizations now.  Fitness centers, personal training, nutrition counseling and on-site medical clinics are highly sought after perks among job seekers.  Leaders must juggle competing priorities, stressful schedules and endless demands. Encouraging good physical health ensures that our organizations are stacked with available and capable talent to produce healthy organizational results.

Sustainable talent is mentally healthy.  Investment in the mental health of our talent pays great dividends.  Rested minds are more innovative and creative.  Stephen Covey's seventh habit of highly effective people is to "sharpen the saw."  Mentally healthy people read, study, listen and observe to refine and perfect their craft.  Promoting time for rest and renewal invites the opportunity for mentally healthy talent.

Sustainable talent is emotionally healthy.  Access to employee assistance programs, programs and activities for spiritual development and emphasis on healthy relationships inside and outside of the marketplace enhances emotional health.  Emotionally healthy leaders manage day-to-day stress better and are more able to inspire other talent.  Emotionally healthy people make better decisions for the organization.  

Organizations that want to sustain, not just retain talent understand the mind-body-spirit connection and nurture all three.  Sustainability is defined as something that is able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed. Retention is simply just holding on to something.  Retained people can be warm bodies.  Sustained talent is competitive advantage.