STEMout announces that Gwen Walsh, President of TechEdge LLC, has been elected to their board of directors. “Gwen is doing a terrific job at advising and guiding her clients so they may reach their greatest potential, and as such, we are looking forward to her contributions as a member of STEMout’s board of directors,” said Katie Jagusch, STEMout Board President. “We think Gwen’s insights, leadership experience and technology credentials will be very valuable in helping to guide STEMout in the years ahead!”

“STEMout is one of those amazing organizations that I truly admire because they inspire youths to choose STEM careers and are helping us shape our youth’s future,” said Gwen Walsh. “I’m really looking forward to working with Katie and STEMout’s board to help with STEMout’s impactful outreach program!”

STEMout Inc. was founded in 2010 with the sole mission of increasing science, technology, engineering, and mathematic career-path awareness among students. For more information on outreach or STEM Squads, please visit www.STEMout.org.

What a great way to kick off the week.  Congratulations, Gwen!

I was attracted to this book because my clients are always complimenting me on my “loving what I do and showing it” spirit.  They find this state of mind to be incredibly contagious and are encouraged (and encourage each other) to strive to achieve the impossible.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for many reasons.  First, Goldsmith does a great job of defining what Mojo is, and what it is not, or Nojo.  Then, he completely explores the four key elements that you need to achieve great Mojo.  Next, he supports his ideas with real-life stories and examples of Mojo and Nojo.  Finally, he offers practical next-steps with take-away tools that can be used by the reader immediately.

I have recommended this book to all of the senior/c-level leaders that I am coaching.  I have also created a presentation titled “In the Zone” surrounding the book.  I have given this presentation, pro bono, to job seekers in my area in hopes that the lessons I have learned from the book will assist them in their current endeavors.  (Please see our previous blog post, TechEdge Gives Back, for information about one of these presentations.)  I have also tied concepts from Mojo into TechEdge’s flagship workshop, “Collaboration in Action”.  Optimizing your people potential is the focus of this workshop, and the themes from the book play directly into this idea.

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On July 6^th, the presentation “In the Zone” – How to Get There & Stay There was given by Gwen Walsh, president of TechEdge, at Christ Church Episcopal in Hudson, Ohio.  The Hudson Hub Times offers a description of the free program at their website (http://www.hudsonhubtimes.com/news/article/4851825).

Ms. Walsh spoke about the following topics:

• Explore how to create a “loving what you do and showing it” positive spirit that will influence how others see you — including prospective employers and your network; and
• Learn about the 4 vital ingredients – Identity, Achievement, Reputation and Acceptance — and receive practical tools pivotal to becoming the “best version of you”.

The presentation was well-received and attendees offered their positive feedback:

“You really did a fine job for us this past Tuesday evening, as was indicated in our evaluation forms – everyone said you exceeded expectations! Thanks so much for taking the time to be with us.”

“Thank you for your time and your excellent presentation at the Hudson Job Search meeting on Tuesday, Your “hot topic” seemed to coincide perfectly with the “hot evening”.  You brought “In the Zone” to life with real world examples and dialogue. Your positive spirit and enthusiasm for your subject matter was evident. My MOJO has been greatly enhanced by your fantastic and unselfish presentation.”

Thank you to everyone who attended and also to Hudson Job Search, the organization that invited TechEdge to present.  You can find more information about Hudson Job Search at their website, http://www.hudsonjs.org/.

In other news, TechEdge LLC has joined the Greater Omaha Chamber!  Please visit their website at http://omahachamber.org/ and search for us under the Business Directory.

Finally, TechEdge is mentioned on Jesse Fewell’s “Moving Beyond Management” blog.  Kate Brown, one of our Consulting Parters, gave a presentation about “High Performing Teams”. Great job Kate!  You can view Mr. Fewell’s blog article at http://www.jessefewell.com/2010/04/21/it-wonderland-in-omaha/.

Please share your comments with us!  Also, please be sure to visit us on Facebook and LinkedIn.

For managers and employees alike, the Performance Evaluation process and Self-Assessment step can become a source of confusion and anxiety. To address the Self-Assessment component in particular, we need to take a step back and first consider our over-arching mission – which we would suggest is…

…plus lay out our supporting strategic goals which may include:

• Helping our employees become the best version of themselves that they can be – to the benefit of our organization, employees and society.
  
• Optimizing our employees’ talents and contributions to our organization while simultaneously learning about our employees’ professional growth and development desires – with a focus on the immediate, short- and long-term future.
  
• Defining a fully integrated, iterative and ongoing People Potentialization Lifecycle that includes value-add learning, practicing, reflecting, dialoguing, assessing, coaching and adjusting components.
  
• Implementing sound practices that constructively:
  • Acknowledge consistent positive behaviors and results delivery through a variety of reward mechanisms.
  • Leverage existing strengths through professional development and opportunity/assignment creation methods.
  • Reshape undesired behaviors and sub-standard results through a variety of thoughtful, adjustment measures.
    
• Ensuring that our mission results in a positive experience for our organization, managers and employees.

Presuming that your organization shares a similar mission and goals, the next step is to consider all of the “moving parts” or components that ultimately affect Performance Evaluation and Self-Assessment preparation, interactions, experiences and outcomes. For each of these, effective planning, communication and execution are essential otherwise the following can become daunting for both managers and employees:

1. People Potentialization Lifecycle – ensure that there is a fully integrated, iterative, ongoing and value-driven lifecycle that is clearly communicated, understood and embraced by the organization, managers and employees.
   

   Common Shortfalls: Too often the lifecycle is disjointed, poorly communicated, misunderstood, ineffectively implemented and becomes activity-based vs. results-oriented, so it is perceived as non value-add compliance work.

2. Performance Evaluation – ensure that the evaluation is viewed as a no anxiety/no surprise event, meaning, if each lifecycle component is properly executed and the performance goals are established, detailed and discussed ahead of time and routinely revisited, the evaluation process itself becomes a formal record that summarizes the manager’s/employee’s quality work that has already been tackled and documented throughout the 6/12 month period.
   

   Common Shortfalls: Too often the performance goals and objectives are not clearly conveyed and discussed to the degree of granularity necessary to achieve a common and healthy understanding between the manager and the employee, which then causes the Performance Evaluation process to be perceived as a highly subjective reward or punishment system. In those cases the employee doesn’t know what to expect until he/she sits down with his/her manager once or twice per year — which causes anxiety for both managers and employees.

   Additionally, be sure that your managers are decoupling first-time constructive criticism delivery from the Performance Evaluation process. If a manager is effectively performing his/her leadership coaching role, the constructive feedback is shared in-the-moment, e.g., within hours/days of when the shortfall occurred or was brought to the manager’s attention vs. held for a period of weeks or months and then shared as a “surprise” during the Performance Evaluation process.

3. Self-Assessment – recognize that some employees are not self-aware, so you will need to provide them with simple tools and methods (a tool kit) for gathering behavior and results delivery feedback from the right cross-section of resources, assessing what the data means and determining what to do to affect personal change. As a part of the tool kit:
   

   	Thank the employee for taking personal ownership.
   	Explain that feedback is a gift and recognizing and then tackling our shortfalls is a strength.
   	Provide your employees with a simple questionnaire that they can use throughout the year to ask their key customers, stakeholders, peers and manager “How am I doing?” For those employees that use this approach, completing the 6/12 month formal Self-Assessment becomes second nature.
   	Also provide examples of what a well constructed Self-Assessment looks like – so the employee may use the examples as a “getting started” guide.

   Common Shortfalls: Too often we expect our employees to be self-aware of know how to gather the feedback when that might not be the case – which causes anxiety for both managers and employees when an employee receives manager feedback that contradicts the employee’s perception of him/herself. We also can’t under-estimate the level of fear and defensiveness that some of our less confident employees feel when receiving constructive feedback because they are not equipped to process the information with an open, inquisitive and learning mind. Then there are those employees who are overly confident and that excel in “managing upward”. Leveraging the tool kit avoids situations where the manager may be too reliant on his/her view of the employee, which may not be an accurate representation of how the employee consistently behaves and/or delivers results to others throughout the organization.

4. Leadership Coaching – ensure that your mangers are well equipped to and consistently provide the right guidance and messaging to your employees through various vehicles including the Performance Evaluation plus beyond, such as ongoing Professional Development Plans, regularly scheduled Manager/Employee 1×1’s, Customer/Key Stakeholder Surveys and in-the-moment coaching – all of which must include learning, practice, reflection, dialogue, assessment, coaching and adjustment elements.
   

   Common Shortfalls: Some managers view the Performance Evaluation as a “necessary evil” or an activity that must be rushed through and “checked off” of a list to ensure organizational compliance. Other managers have convinced themselves that they do not have the time to lead/coach their employees. Yet another group of managers may not know how to effectively develop their people. In these cases, the managers will need initial help in:

   	Understanding employee development dynamics. Not every manager has a firm grasp on the human side of the equation. This is especially true for managers who are more tactical vs. strategic and more process, mechanics, science/technology and activity/task oriented.
   	Being reminded that their #1 priority is positively influencing and inspiring their people to perform the right work at the right time. With this you may have to help them rethink their workload as you move leadership coaching to the top of their list.
   	Teaching them how to effectively establish and discuss performance goals and objectives with their employees – with an emphasis on providing clarity and specifics – which will minimize interpretation disconnects throughout the year.
   	Devising well constructed Professional Development Plans, Manager/Employee 1×1 Agendas (agendas that also focus on behaviors and results delivery vs. a punch list of activities), Customer/Key Stakeholder Surveys, etc.
   	Building out their coaching capabilities (which would be part of the manager’s Professional Development Plan) so they know how to create a “safe space” and provide in-the-moment constructive feedback to their employees so the end result is a positive experience that positions the organization, manager and employee for future success.

5. Timing – decouple the timing of the Performance Evaluation process and bonus/compensation programs. This will help instill the message that the organization values consistent positive behaviors and results delivery throughout the year.  It will also help the employees focus on evaluation content quality vs. become distracted by around-the-corner monetary implications.
   

   Common Shortfalls: Too often employees who are not self-inspired to perform their best day in/day out, ramp up their efforts 3 months before the Performance Evaluation process in hopes of convincing their managers that they’re “top performers” and therefore, deserving of higher monetary compensation than their co-workers. Shortly after the evaluation process concludes, these employees resort back to average or less than acceptable performance levels.

6. Evidence Collection – ensure that your managers are providing their leadership (and you) with evidence that they are effectively embracing their commitment to their employees throughout the People Potentialization Lifecycle and delivering quality outputs and outcomes as a result. Also consider introducing simple “Rate the Lifecycle Effectiveness” Surveys to both managers and employees. For each component, find out what’s working well and why, what isn’t working well and why not, and what you/your organization need to do about it. This will give you great data points to leverage as you look for opportunities to measure your lifecycle effectiveness baseline then set next year’s targets. This also engages the managers and employees in the process, which tells them that their participation and feedback is meaningful, valued and appreciated.
   

   Common Shortfalls: Too often we create and communicate an expectation, but never circle back to see if and how the work is progressing and whether or not we’re attaining the right end result. Those cultures that especially experience a difficult time executing to commitment, must rely on their leaders to gather the manager and employee evidence to ensure that the goals are, in fact, being achieved as designed.

Although the above requires commitment and work, if your mission is to optimize your peoples’ potential, your upfront and ongoing time investment will not only achieve your mission and its supporting goals, but you will ultimately increase your organization’s speed of delivery, quality outcomes, productivity rates, customer and employee satisfaction scores plus create a healthy environment that values positive organization, manager and employee interactions and experiences.

Please share your comments and coaching questions with us!

We define collaboration as “the mutual engagement of participants in a coordinated effort to achieve a common end goal.” When building and nurturing relationships, we look for the following integrity-driven behaviors: 

• Honorable and genuine intentions
• Collaborative spirit
• Company agenda advancement
• Add value and give first
• Transparency
• Long term, mutually beneficial

The definition of manipulation is “to change by artful or unfair means so as to serve one’s purpose.” (Merriam-Webster) The clues that we look for that point to less than integrity-driven behaviors would be:

• Dishonorable and disingenuous intentions
• Exploitative bent
• Personal/hidden agenda advancement
• Take first
• Opacity/opaqueness
• Short term, personally beneficial

One of the best ways to determine if a person is characteristically collaborative or manipulative is to objectively observe his/her behavior during some type of conflict. Among other behaviors, a collaborative person will listen intently to the other party, seek to understand the other person’s point of view and invite feedback when advocating a point. Under no circumstances will an authentic collaborator initiate or engage in behavior that causes harm to the other party.

A manipulative person may initially appear to be genuinely interested in the other person’s point of view, but before too long, the manipulator applies one or more of the following tactics¹: 

¹In Sheep’s Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People, George K. Simon, PhD.  

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1. Chronic problems
2. Escalations
3. Dropped batons
4. Decision defense
5. Customer complaints
6. End runs
7. Infighting & territorialism
8. MIA/adversarial business partners
9. “Squeaky wheel” requests
10. Fire fighting
11. Knee-jerk reactions
12. “In-the-weeds” interactions

The above problematic Time Robbers can usually be traced back to the absence or incompleteness of one or more of the following key organizational sub-strategies:

• Communication
• Collaboration
• Demand and Fulfillment Management
• Talent/People Optimization
• Complaint Management
• Internal Marketing    

Is this tip helpful? Do you have other delegation tips? Please share your comments with us! And don’t forget to check out Delegation Challenged? (Part I)!

• Think and plan strategically
• Develop new and nurture existing customer relationships
• Lead and coach my direct reports and their organizations
• Take on more leadership responsibilities
• Achieve my professional and personal goals and desires 

Conduct a Delegation Time Investment Inventory 

Step 1:  For each assignment that you take on, assess whether it is a positive (+ Time Investor) or negative (-Time Robber) use of your leadership time. Examples of each may include: 

Step 2:  Identify your “top 3” Time Robbers

Step 3:  Identify the Root Cause of each of your “top 3” Time Robbers

Step 4:  Create and execute your Permanent Correction Plan

Is this technique helpful? Do you have other delegation techniques? Please share your comments with us! And don’t forget to check out Delegation Challenged? (Part II)!

Why would I decide to share such a private, painful slice of my life with a complete stranger at that particular moment in time? Because I thought that by offering a glimpse into my world to a person affiliated with a worthy charity would be a respectful, considerate, thoughtful and patient way to help him understand that now was not the time to engage me in a “Can I 100% count on you to volunteer?” discussion. Admittedly, what occurred next was completely unexpected.

Without skipping a beat, the young man retorted “Well that’s why we give you 30 days to send out the donation cards!” Did I actually just hear him say that? Did he really just say “OK, I hear that your mom is dying, but with the 30-day clock running, you should still have some time after that to send out our postcards?” As I quickly replayed the tape in my head, I immediately concluded that he inadvertently didn’t hear the part about my mother. So I reiterated “My mother’s health is failing. Now is not a good time for me.” Being quick on the uptake yet again, my phone partner leapt to his Call to Action: Plan B script — “OK — you can always request our postcards at a future date by calling us at 877-###-####. “ 

Thought Provoker: Wikipedia describes “lost art” as “original pieces of art that credible sources indicate once existed, but cannot be accounted for in museums, private collections or are known to have been destroyed or neglected through ignorance and lack of connoisseurship.” Have some of us lost the art of empathy – the art of being sensitive to another person’s experiences and feelings? We know that it once existed, but are we finding that we can’t account for it in our day-to-day interactions with others? Has our ability to empathize been destroyed or neglected through ignorance and lack of connoisseurship? Is revitalizing our empathetic spirit one more opportunity to rekindle our emotional connection with those we come in contact with on a daily basis (Emotional Connection: A Universal Motivator & Change Accelerator)?

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“I love my employer because…they care about us, they’ve been great to us, I’m not just a number, we’re family.”

“I’m…angry, resentful, hurt, empty, frustrated and ambivalent about my job. I used to love coming to work, but now I’m just here to collect my paycheck.”

How can a cross-section of people shower their employer with the most genuine of compliments in one breath then choose words that scream “morale has tanked” in the next? Then I met an insightful employee who I’ll call “Joe”. He was a very considerate, thoughtful and soft spoken person who helped me sort through what was really happening when he offered these words of wisdom — “We must honor the past.”

For years and well before Six Sigma, lean automation, instant messaging, social media and you-name-it-technologies took hold, this particular employer counted on each employee to go the extra mile every day – and each employee did so because they knew that they made a difference. If they had an idea that seemed reasonable, they ran with it. If they saw a decision that needed to be made, they acted upon it. If they saw a change that needed to be introduced, they implemented it. If they saw a problem that needed to be corrected, they fixed it. And with this, the business grew, the owners/employees prospered, the employer/employee relationship thrived and the customers kept coming back for more – and life was good.

Enter…a changing marketplace…process and automation…and new managers experienced in and excited about implementing large-scale safety, efficiency and cost reduction solutions. What happened next? The employees reported to new managers that they didn’t really know. There was no history. There was no trust. There was no emotional connection. The managers, looking forward to making a positive difference, introduced new ideas, rendered decisions, initiated wide-sweeping changes and resolved pesky problems – but in a perceived vacuum. And then there were the communication issues. As ideas, changes and new technologies were introduced, the first unintended message heard by the employees was “We, the new managers, are here to fix all of the mistakes of the past – the past that you, the employees, created and totally messed up.” As change pushback occurred, the next unintended message heard was “You, the employees, are being resistant to change. Just do it!” Meanwhile the employees were thinking “We helped the company grow to where it is today. We made the company successful. We consistently went the extra mile. Why are these changes being made? Why aren’t you asking us for our ideas and recommendations? Why are you minimizing and de-valuing us?” The employees’ attitudes drastically changed from being highly engaged to significantly detached. In their words, they were “brushed to the curb.” From the employee’s perspective, their ideas were no longer solicited or valued and they no longer shared a voice in decisions, changes and problem solutions.  Their enthusiasm for tackling the most difficult of situations – their passion for getting things done — their strong sense of ownership — the very essence of who they once were – had been unintentionally diminished.

What caused the great manager/employee divide? Let’s refer back to Joe’s comment “We must honor the past.” As a proponent of Active Listening, what does that phrase really tell me? What’s the “not so obvious” meaning? My conclusion — before we can collectively move forward, we must intentionally stop and recognize our people and their significant contributions that successfully paved the way for the next wave of work and accomplishments that lie ahead. We must genuinely connect with our people on an emotional level – where we can respectfully acknowledge who they are and express our gratitude to them for having created a positive imprint. We must openly discuss how the great foundation that our people have laid has become the perfect launch point for the next step in our organizational evolution. We must be compassionate in our messaging as we discuss “the why’s” behind doing things differently and encourage rich dialogue. But our responsibilities don’t stop there. We must actively engage all of our people as we plan, execute and celebrate organizational achievements. We must continue to nurture the emotional connection because the very essence of who we are as human beings and whether or not we’re appreciated by others directly influences our attitudes, beliefs and actions. How can we draw upon our people’s inner strength or self motivation that is so pivotal to accelerating organizational change when our people don’t feel genuinely appreciated by and/or emotionally connected with those introducing, directing or championing the change?

Thought Provoker: Do you see emotional connectedness as a universal motivator and change accelerator? Please share your comments with us!