by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Jul 19, 2015 | Brazen Leader, Executive Improvement, Human Resources, Kevin Berchelmann, Miscellaneous Business Topics, Organizational Effectiveness
Leadership is authentic. You can’t fake it, folks.
So, I recently attended my niece’s wedding in San Antonio. Since we frequently travel there to spend time on the Riverwalk, I thought this a wonderful opportunity to evaluate a new hotel for future stays.
Enter The Hotel Contessa.
Lots of staff, all looking like they were in the right places. Classy decor, reasonably upscale. All-suites, and the one we had — a “King” suite — was quite nice.
For all appearances, this was the real deal.
The Hotel Contessa, however, suffered from a problem. In Texas, we have this phrase (ok, in Texas we have a lot of ‘phrases,’ but I’m just using one):
All hat and no cattle.
Looked good, had all the appearances of the “real deal;” I’ll even go as far as to say that, for the price, it wasn’t a complete disaster. They simply failed to execute. In every way, when given the opportunity to have delivery (service) match their appearance, they failed miserably. Time and time again.
Realize that there were many, many instances over the 2+ days we were there. I’m only sharing a few here for examples.
They promised my sister that the wedding party could check in PRIOR to their absurdly late 4:PM check-in time. When pressed, they stated that “someone made a mistake — we cannot promise anyone an early check-in.” This ridiculous travesty went on for 30 minutes, until finally they just gave in and gave them the rooms. That’s right… they had the rooms available for early check-in; they simply wanted my sister to know that they couldn’t promise anything!
No less than a half-dozen staffers opening the doors and welcoming people; my sister, hands full with wedding “stuff,” slips and falls on the steps. They watch, but do not move a muscle. My sister collects herself, and moves toward the door. Courteously opening the door, the nearest bellman says, “be careful, the steps can be slippery.”
Ya think??
When I checked in, I needed the front desk to break a $20 bill. The guy (Tommy) says, “I’m sorry, I can’t make change.” WHAT? “Yes,” he says, “I don’t have access to cash. Perhaps you can go over there and ask a bellman.” I needed the change FOR the bellman, and had no intention of walking anywhere to get it. I exclaimed how surely some people still actually use cash, and perhaps he should find a manager.
Manager comes over, takes my $20 bill, opens a cash drawer and makes change. Complete with “have a nice day!”
Sunday morning, we’re running late (I have a wife, remember?), so I call the operator to get a late check out. I say, “I’ll need a late check-out, say, until 12:30.” Guy says, sorry, 12:00 is best he can do. I respond, “whatever, but I’ll be here until 12:30.” He asks me to hold… a manager comes on the line, repeats my request to me, taps a few computer keys, and says, “There you are, sir. All set!”
No execution. No one, save a few poorly positioned managers, seemed capable of making even rudimentary customer service decisions.
Did I even mention the part about the newlyweds reaching their room around midnight, to discover they had twin double beds?? Don’t get me started again…
Great looking hotel, lots of dinero spent on staff, money leaking out like a drain because of the real, obvious, lack of leadership authenticity.
All hat and no cattle.
Now, no, this isn’t turning into a travel review site (I give the Contessa one of four stars); I merely wanted to demonstrate how leadership must be applied — it must be authentic — to make a difference. Otherwise, it’s just an act.
And not a very good one.
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Jun 17, 2015 | Brazen Leader, Executive Improvement, Uncategorized
A recent HBR blog post mentioned the results from a recent Gallup survey: Less than one-third of Americans are engaged in their jobs in any given year.
This is a great topic. Many leaders get wrapped up around money, which is never, ever, a
long-term motivator or anything but a short-term, artificial boost to engagement. Engagement—real employee ownership– requires
leadership, thoughtfulness, and a demonstrated compassion for employees; we
must sincerely care as much about their well-being as we do our own.
Misguided leaders believe that motivation and engagement is
about dollars–that if you have sufficient, budgeted dollars, you can
motivate effectively; if you’re cash-poor, then suddenly you are
de-motivating…making a disengaged workforce “not my fault.”
Absolute malarkey. BS. Balderdash. Pure unadulterated bunk.
Here’s 3 things within your grasp today that can drive
employee engagement: Communications, Involvement, & Recognition.
- Communications.Make sure performance and objectives
expectations are realistic and equally aligned. Be honest and open with data
and information; allow your staff to determine what “enough”
information is, before you arbitrarily decide. Provide a good, forthright look
at the “big picture.” Eliminate unnecessary blaming, and be
transparent.
- Involvement. Here, you’ll determine what your staffs’ key
motivators really are. Not just parties, but provide opportunities for real,
substantial input. Force decision-making down to more appropriate levels.
Increase ownership and buy-in through inclusion in both front-end planning and
progress efforts. Eliminate unnecessary hierarchy.
- Recognition. I’m not talking here about “employee of
the month/quarter/millennium.” I am speaking about making sure your
management attention is appropriate for someone’s performance level–don’t
micromanage a key performer just to satisfy your control-freak tendencies.
Provide developmental/learning opportunities within the work and project
itself–allow employees to grow through “doing.”
Engagement isn’t about the money. It’s about effective
leaders stepping up to lead, and taking personal accountability for that
leadership. Money can certainly provide an incentive for behavior changes and
specific performance, but you can’t buy the real engagement that provides
impetus for employee acceptance of personal accountability–the responsibility
to do “whatever is necessary.” That comes from skilled leadership,
not the ATM.
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Jun 3, 2015 | Brazen Leader, Human Resources, Kevin Berchelmann, Miscellaneous Business Topics, Organizational Effectiveness
Yep, no kidding…
If you are leading an in-house human resources effort today, and not currently or actively considering outsourcing much of your task-driven work today, get your resume polished up.
You’ll be needing it.
No, this isn’t merely because I’m a consultant hoping to win your outsourced business. It’s because reality is slapping us in the face: We cannot accomplish these task-driven administrative minutiae efforts as cost-effectively as we can outsource them, nor can we maintain the level of talent necessary to be really good at it.
As a friend enjoys telling me, “This ain’t rocket surgery.”
Besides, you don’t need to be doing those things anyway. Businesses need real HR talent doing things that contribute to the success of the business — documenting a beneficiary change to someone’s life insurance doesn’t fit that definition.
Get out of the trenches, and go do something important.
Before you need that resume again…
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Jun 2, 2015 | Brazen Leader, Executive Improvement, Kevin Berchelmann, Organizational Effectiveness
A couple of my writings — one, the blog post below about fairness, equity and equality, and one of the articles in my recent newsletter, on employee engagement — bear some additional explanation, lest someone believe I feel that these ideas have no utility whatsoever…
First, regarding fairness. Organizations (and their leaders) that manage to the “lowest common denominator” will forever be relegated to mediocrity; you cannot create & retain talented performers in the face of “identical treatment for all,” nor can you survive frequent, necessary change efforts within that self-limiting process.
Further, I’m not certain that managing with “fairness” is the do-all, end-all for a manager. Effectiveness, yes; reasonably equitable treatment, yes; even reasonably consistent, yes. But fairness is an individualized concept that changes meaning with each employee. Trying to constantly pursue that would drive even the best manager crazy. Better to spend that effort ensuring that each employee is treated according to their value to the organization.
And to those who may feel that sometimes we must treat everyone the same, because a manager(s) doesn’t know how to do it correctly, either develop that manager effectively (and quickly), or hasten their departure. Anytime an organization feels it must spend significant time, effort and resources “guarding against” the actions or activity of any manager, that’s a leadership issue from the top.
Equity is a necessity for a business to succeed significantly. Strive for that; if a manager is incapable, that shouldn’t justify more “equal” treatment for all — it should justify whacking that manager.
Now, about employee engagement. I didn’t say it was necessarily a bad thing, nor is it necessarily anything significant. It is not, however, what should drive our efforts.
We aim to create a workforce that is productive and efficient; engagement, as defined by many, could certainly be a pleasant by-product of that higher performance, but it’s not the end goal. Nor, unfortunately, does employee engagement — in and of itself — create a high-performing workforce. It could certainly be a milestone along the path to high performance, but alas, will not assure superior performance by itself.
Let’s stay focused on the real direction, and not get distracted by today’s management fads.
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | May 25, 2015 | Brazen Leader, Executive Improvement
The story you’re about to read is true. The names have
been changed to protect the innocent. Ok, you may not be old enough for that
line to make sense (Dragnet), so I’ll stop. Plus, these people weren’t
“innocent.” Further, I’m not changing the names, I’m simply omitting
the company name, and only because a client suggested I do so.
Moving on…
So, I was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa a while back working with
one of my largest clients–Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). I’d just spent the
last two days facilitating multiple half-day sessions with three separate
groups of up-and-coming leaders and was relaxing before dinner.
Sitting in the hotel’s lobby lounge, I couldn’t help but
overhear a fairly rowdy bunch next to me. They clearly worked together, or at
least for the same company, and were having quite a time. Several were
discussing where they would go to “continue the party” that evening.
Though I didn’t hear the initial exchange, apparently one
of the crew questioned the wisdom of a traveling party, since they all had to
get up a bit early the next day.
“We’re at management training this week — how awake
do we have to be??”
I kid you not, that’s the response that came from one of
the women in this group. At about nine kazillion decibels, lest someone in the
adjoining hotel couldn’t hear.
Obviously, this got my attention.
It was only then that I noticed the three-inch blue and
white binders sitting next to most of them. “Foundations of
Leadership” was embossed on the front; the name and logo of this large
defense contractor would be familiar to all reading this. Particularly since
there aren’t many of those in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Apparently, not all of those revelers understood the
general concept of “Foundations of Leadership.”
Now we’ve all been bored stiff at one time or another by
a sleep-inducing, monotone-voiced facilitator or trainer (no one in my
sessions, of course — merely speaking hypothetically), droning on about one
thing or another for three or four consecutive butt-numbing days. That’s not
the point here. The points are:
- Leadership development is crucial for long-term
success of an organization. We must convey that those participating are there
for a reason. And that reason is not to reach consensus on the next bar
location. Having a good time is ok, maybe even encouraged (hey, I like a good
time); making learning adjunct to the party is not.
- The investment for leadership development is
substantial. Facilitators, facilities, materials, salaries… then add in loss
of productivity while in session and related costs. Save it for those who take
leadership — and their professional development — seriously.
- But my final point is this:The most important thing
we can do with emerging leaders is to develop them for the future.Not all, of
course, are worthy of the mantle, nor the cost of such development. Realizing
the importance of development must start with senior leadership, and we need to
get better at it.
If we take it seriously, and show its significance to the
organization, so will others. That whole “leading by positive
example” thing. Maybe then our emerging managers won’t use
“Foundations of Leadership” as an insomnia cure.
I’ll sleep to that.
But that’s just me…
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Apr 27, 2015 | Brazen Leader, Executive Improvement
In this and 2 remaining blog entries, I’m expanding on the “5 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” I outlined in a recent article.
This third law is a reminder that development is essential for employee growth, and for your own well-being. In other words, it’s both selfish and generous; making someone else smarter while you do less work. This is a good thing, eh?
Law #3. If you always answer employee’s every question, you’ll forever be answering employees’ every question.
Questions are teaching moments–don’t rob employees of the opportunity.
Sounds trite, and I don’t mean it to (ok, maybe I mean it to be a little trite). If an employee is asking because they’re stupid, get rid of the employee. If they are a decent employee asking because they do not know, then teach them.
Next time, they’ll know how to do it — or at least the thought process behind it — and you won’t have to. How’s that for planned efficiency??
Now, you have time to go do something important. And to answer in advance: No, answering every employee’s every question is not something important you should be doing. If you’re doing that, you may as well just do it yourself…
Now that sounds fun, eh?
