by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Dec 5, 2017 | Brazen Leader, Miscellaneous Business Topics, Uncategorized
This is not rocket science. You really want harassment to stop? Take a note…
Consequences. That’s how.
Consequences, not “understanding,” especially for starter transgressions. Go ugly early. Consequences earlier mean fewer instances later. Human behavior 101.
For non-leaders, that means immediate discipline for any credible claim. Discipline, not coaching, training, “performance improvement plan,” or any other tired euphemism for doing nothing.
For #leadership, and I include powerful referent leaders here as well, that means zero tolerance. And zero means “zero.” First credible event, whack ’em. No exceptions.
We’ve had a murky problem finally brought into specific relief. Want to train employees? Fine, train away if it makes you feel better. May be some CYA for the organization, but don’t kid yourself; training only works when the problem is lack of knowledge.
We may, in fact, need some training around effective investigations, discerning credible claims, and how not to shoot anyone prematurely. But few adults really need training on how not to sexually harass, and none need training on how not to sexually assault. If they are doing either today, it’s likely not due to a lack of training.
There are just three reasons why employees don’t do what they should:
- They don’t know how,
- They don’t want to, or
- We won’t let them.
The first is the easiest to fix, and seldom the root cause. The latter two are leadership issues, and imminently fixable, given appropriate motivation.
Let’s not hold up short-term gains while we try to change all of society. Stopping sexual harassment in the workplace simply takes a commitment and intestinal wherewithal.
Let’s simply act.
Starting with immediate consequences.
My best friend and partner in crime, Kevin Ross, has a t-shirt that he used to wear around his daughters’ suitors; “Shoot the first one, word will spread.” As a father to two daughters, I can attest to the testament.
We can make that apply to sexual harassment as well. Without the t-shirt.
Be Brazen.
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Sep 22, 2015 | Miscellaneous Business Topics, Uncategorized
Fair. noun \ˈfer\ Comes to town each year with ferris wheels and bumper cars, serving cotton candy, snow cones and, if you’re lucky, beer.
One thing I find myself telling newer managers (and almost all newer HR professionals) is this: It’s not about being fair. It’s about equity and being consistent.
In other words, we are under no compunction to treat each employee the same. In fact, I would strongly advise against anything that looked like “identical treatment for all.”
Why? Your “A” players would hate it, and your “mediocre” employees would love it. Whom would you rather satisfy??
Consistent, equitable treatment means that identical circumstances, with identical people, track records, etc., should be treated similarly. For instance: “A” employee with 10 years employment, who’s never missed a day of work for illness, is out for 4 days due to pneumonia. Your policy says anything over 3 days, they should file for short-term disability, since paid-time-off is unavailable. What do you do?
If you want a retained, loyal, hard-working “A” player to know you “give a heck,” you pay him or her as if nothing ever happened. They tell you “thank you,” you say “you’re welcome,” and we all go back to work.
Do that with a mediocre performer? Not on your life. It wouldn’t be equitable, though the mediocre performer would feel that would be “fair.” Frankly, I don’t care what they think.
Don’t let anyone convince you that we must treat all employees the same. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Be Brazen.
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Aug 11, 2015 | Brazen Leader, Miscellaneous Business Topics, Uncategorized
In discussing leadership styles and philosophies… with clients, potential clients, friends, over-the-fence neighbors, owners and executives, one of the most frequent refrains is “Well, I try to lead by example.”
Well hoorah for you. I think that’s just great. News flash, Dick Tracy, you don’t have a choice.
That’s right, no choice whatsoever. You see, when you show up—for work, for a drink with fellow employees, at a ball-game where employees are present, or even bump into one of those employees while being photographed for “People of Wal-Mart,”—you are an example.
The very fact you show up means you’re on stage, setting an example for others to emulate.
The only choice you have in all of that, is whether to be a good example or a crappy example.
- Be on time, for everything: Positive Example
- Use profanity in a meeting: Crappy Example
- Ask about their family and weekend: Positive Example
- Breeze through hallways without a word: Crappy Example
See, these things aren’t rocket surgery. This simply is not complex stuff; people glean behavior cues, way of being, how to act and what to say, from leadership examples.
I was at the Master’s golf championship in Augusta, Georgia a few years ago. Now many of you know this, but the people who run Augusta National (the Club) are fanatic about their rules. Positively loony about 100% enforcement, all the time, no matter what. So, we were in line to get in, early one morning, for a practice round. One of the rules is “no hard-seated chairs.” You can carry in a wide variety of seats, camping chairs, lawn chairs, etc., provided they have soft seats. The reason, of course, is that they don’t want you later standing on those seats, blocking the pristine Augusta views from others.
Well, you knew it would happen… just in front of us was a group of 3 guys. They saw the signs, discussed it quietly amongst themselves, then decided they’d give it a shot — that they wouldn’t get caught.
Wrong — cold-busted.
The gate marshal came up to the guy carrying the chair, and stated flatly, “that can’t come inside the grounds.” To which this 40-something adult male responded, “Well, why can HE do it, then???” …all the while pointing to another gentleman’s chair about 15 feet in front. That’s right — his complete rationale for doing what he knew to be wrong was, “someone else is doing it, and you haven’t said anything to him.”
Don’t kid yourself; this is not near as much an anomaly as we would like to believe. The behavior we allow, we promote. No different than if we were modeling the behavior ourselves. Think about that when you feel like it’s just too much trouble to correct some seemingly isolated (but negative) behavior in your staff.
Exemplify positive leadership–always. Or find a different profession. We need leaders who understand their influence on others.
Like it or not, you—and your position of executive leadership—are under a microscope 24×7.
You are always the example; those in your charge will certainly emulate your actions, behavior, maybe even your way of thinking. The question becomes, of course, are you a good example or… “not so much?”
You might be thinking, particularly if you hold a senior-most role, that the people working for you are already “set in their ways;” they don’t really change for anyone, anyway…; or even, “Hell, they’re old! They don’t need me for an example!”
Don’t believe that crap for one second. They look to you for the right–and wrong–way to do things. Be the right example. All the time. If not, get prepared — it’ll spread like wildfire, and you are personally responsible.
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 | Feb 23, 2015 | Brazen Leader, Executive Improvement, Uncategorized
In this and 4 subsequent blog entries, I’m expanding on the “5 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” I outlined in my most popular article.
This first law is based on decision-making; one of the most significant things we must do, as leaders, is to make decisions. Some will be good, some require further decision-making.
So without further ado…
Law #1: Never delay or abrogate a decision that must be made. Make it and move on. You may have to immediately make another decision; this doesn’t mean your first one was wrong, merely that your second one had the benefit of additional knowledge.
Let me share a story…
I used to work for a 30-year USAF General, a war veteran with a chest full of medals, ribbons, and other colorful accoutrements. Great guy, razor sharp, did not suffer fools lightly. His name was Brigadier General Lawrence Bose.
General Bose was a fighter pilot (F-4) in Vietnam, most notably during Operation Linebacker (the push-back after the Tet Offensive). As it seems with many battle-hardened leaders (military and corporate), he was known to say some pretty profound things. The sorts of things you would tell yourself, “Hey, I need to remember that one…” Some actually stuck, which for me, is nothing short of miraculous. One, in particular…
“Shirt,” he would say (“Shirt” was slang for “First Sergeant” in the USAF–the reason is fodder for another story), “Leaders don’t really make good decisions or bad; they just make decisions. If they’ve done their job correctly, the people working for them make the results of those decisions good.”
Now, never mind whether you agree that decisions are never classified as “good” or “bad.” Set that part aside… more important is the leadership genius behind the comment. Our jobs as leaders is to make decisions. We’ve heard this a hundred times, so here’s a hundred and one: A mediocre decision made promptly and unequivocally trumps a really good decision delayed and hesitant.
Another fairly well known General, George S. Patton, put it this way: “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
Consider this: If we’ve managed our talent appropriately, and developed our staffs as we should, most of our decisions will result in unmitigated success — those people working with us will make sure of it.
Just make the damned decision…
by D. Kevin Berchelmann | Aug 11, 2014 | Brazen Leader, Organizational Effectiveness, Uncategorized
Conflict is a natural occurrence. In fact, it’s frequently a really good thing, allowing organizational success by way of diverse thinking. My favorite phrase: When reasonably intelligent, well-intentioned people disagree, the organization is better served.
And I believe that. Of course, I could write a treatise on the reasonably intelligent and well-intentioned qualifiers, but that’s for a different posting…
Instead, I’m just going to provide some tips and tidbits for combatting unhealthy conflict. Not to silent healthy conflict, mind you; I’m referring to the other kind. The simple, three-step model for conflict resolution has always been:
- Get all the facts on the table,
- Understand the others’ positions, and
- Find a win-win solution.
Now, I don’t know about you, but that last step seemed to take a quantum leap of faith after the first two. Here are some specifics that may help to bring that leap of faith back to something closer to a normal acceptance of logic…
- Listen. No, not that kind of listening… really listen. Listen to understand, not refute. Listen to find common ground, not to validate your position. Listen, hard.
- Don’t interrupt. Your parents told you that–you should have listened to them (see guidance above). Keep your blankety-blank trap shut and let someone talk. You can’t listen if you don’t, and the very act of obvious respect may act as a conflict-resolving catalyst. Stranger things have happened. And while we’re discussing interruptions… opening your mouth, shaking your head, and otherwise demonstrating your desire to speak are all interruptions, even if no noise comes out of your pie hole. Don’t do it.
- Use “I” messages. Yes, we learned that ridiculously basic, 3-part feedback technique in Communications 101 (did you take notes?). They are as useful and viable as ever, and even more so when resolving conflict.
- “When you…”
- “I feel…”
- “Because…”
Remember, our goal is to resolve conflict–really change
behavior–not to simply
win.
- Ask. If you really want to know “what it will take” for someone to get over a conflict situation, it may be as simple as simply asking. Give it a shot.
Conflict may be necessary for successful organizations, but unhealthy conflict is never part of that need. As leaders, we must identify it, address it, deal with it.
But that’s just me…
