Do, Reh, Me, So, La, Fa, Tee, Do… or at least that’s how I remember it.  3rd grade music class with Mrs. Peterson.  The first time I was ever introduced to formalized music and singing different parts.  I spent plenty of time in church and understood the concept of “making a joyful noise” with the congregation, but my music teacher was showing me something different.

I grew older and left music classes in middle school  and then came back to them in high school.   Once I was in varsity choir, I learned something incredible.  I learned that when everyone sings their part at the right time and on key, a beautiful cacophony of sound is created. A wall of  emotion in different layers that allows the listener to close their eyes and experience depth and elegance.

What most people understand,  but sometimes forget is the rehearsal and preparation needed in order to create this experience.  It is important to understand how much goes into finding harmony because the same structure can be used to build a world class company.

Harmony is defined by Princeton as:  congruity of parts with one another and with the whole.  Harmony in music allows for there to be multiple people singing different notes at the same time as part of  a greater sound.  Sometime people can be singing different words at the same time, too.  The purpose of a composer is to tie all of it together to create a focused experience for the listener.  In order to tie everything together, a well written plan must be created in the form of sheet music.

Leaders should provide the same type of written plan for their team.  Here is  a quick guide for creating harmony in your team:

• Identify the theme of your piece: What is the goal of your team? What are your values? Write them down.
• Who sings what part: Talk to your team.  See who is a bass or soprano.  Don’t make a tenor into a alto. Put the write singer in the  right place.
• Rehearse!:  Meet with each team member to discuss the plan.  Meet one on one and in groups.  Individual training and rehearsal as well as group training is critical to the success of a team.
• Give everyone their part in writing:  Provide written direction and updates to your team regularly.

Anyone who has seen ‘Office Space’ remembers the scene where Aniston goes off on her boss at Chotchkie’s.   Flair!  It’s an empowering moment.  The kind of moment many of us wish we had the guts to create for ourselves.  There is nothing as empowering as taking the upper hand on a person or group that has been sitting on top of you for months or years. Honestly- this is not the best way to handle a decision to change jobs.

What causes a person to want to change jobs?  Could be many things..  Most of the time a person leaves his or her boss not the company or team. Ever see emails from people to their team when they leave their jobs?  Typically they say things like-  ”I loved working with you guys” or “please contact me if you need anything” or “I value the relationships I have built here”.  Seems as if many people like their team, just not their boss.  People do not tell a company or group of folks these type of positive well wishes if they do not mean them.  Maybe they do-  maybe just to be polite..  but I find that shallow.  I find that most people are not shallow and most people want to do the right thing.   Which is what this whole post is about.

FLAIR!

When it’s time to go-  what happens??  I believe that the onus has been put on employees to provide a heads up to their company.  BUT..  What onus does a company or leader have in regard to an employee who is on his way out?  This is very interesting to me.  I have been so passionate about hiring the right people and developing the talent within my teams, I have not taken the time to understand the obligation of a leader to his team when an employee finds he is ready to move on.

Companies and managers must take the time to understand why the employee is leaving the organization.  It is always the hope of any firm that their employees are not leaving due to internal issues within the company.  Many people I know feel it is OK for someone to leave because of personal reasons like family matters or illness- but a chance to take a promotion or move to a better comp package with a competitor is not OK.  Why the dichotomy?

The feeling that a company is owed something in regard to how their employees quit is wrong.  As a manager or leader, if you have  let your team get into a position where they need to look outside your organization to find opportunity, happiness or fair compensation, then you have failed.  The reason  managers do not feel a team member can happily move to another firm is out of shear frustration with their own inadequacies to keep their team intact.

I hear some of you- BUT!  ”There is more to a company than just the employees!!!” I understand a company has an obligation to many stake holders including employees, clients and shareholders.  These different groups should not over ride a core piece of humanity, which is to take care of one another.  Managers must remember that changing jobs is incredibly difficult on people and the decision to move on was is generally not made lightly.

I believe that managers and companies should remember a few simple rules when a person decides it is time to move on.

• Managers and leaders must take care of their people to the END
• 2 weeks notice is a two way street
• You never know when you may want someone back
• It’s a small world and people talk, post and blog
• Other employees see what you do

Leaders should remember that the road to division has more than one driver and that fairness and equality are critical to building lifelong relationships with employees.  Employers should be quick to recognize that a small bit of generosity during a disruptive time in a person’s life will go a VERY long way.  People will remember how they were treated and will convey that sentiment to people still working at the company, potential hires, the competitions and possible clients.

A recent Houston Chronicle Article discusses 2 weeks notice.  ”Most companies view it as an act of thoughtfulness and consideration by the employee, and they want to encourage that kind of behavior by keeping the worker on the payroll.

If they don’t, he said, it doesn’t take long for word to get around that the company will put its departing employees in a bind.”

With the power of social media, companies should remember that one person can reach thousands.  It is always better to do right by your people even when they are walking out the door-  you never know when you will walk in on them again or who they may be taking with them.

So there I was-  just putting the finishing touches on a new process masterpiece!  I had worked on it for weeks.  I had been given a directive to fix a problem with one of our processes.  (I could go into detail, but it does not matter as my story is really a conglomeration many different times when I have worked to develop a new product or process. )

I was debriefing my boss on the progress of the initiative.  She had no involvement in my planning up to this point despite the multiple emails I sent her detailing our progress.  I had asked for meetings about our status and she replied, “I trust you are getting it done.”  No Meeting….

It was time to begin execution of the process changes.  I began to walk her through the last steps.  We were 2 days out from executing my plan.  That is when I heard the ‘Seagull Call’.

In Ann Rowley’s book, Leadership Therapy: Inside the Mind of Microsoft, she discusses the Seagull Call.  Microsoft management referred to an event where Sr. management would come in at the last minute and swoop down over their project and crap all over it.  Much like a seagull at the beach.  Wow….  I love this analogy.

The call was loud and swift.  I had been pooped on.  My project was ripped apart at the last minute.  I managed to fight off most of the changes, but the damage was done.  I felt like a child and thought my work was lacking in some way.  My project was changed and did not have the impact I had intended it too.

This is a Great Idea.... For Me to POOP ON!

This was not the last time I would be pooped on.   It was not the only time I had been involved in a pooping, either.  I have been guilty of letting a project run too far without my guidance and then jumping in at the last minute to ‘fix’ it.  I have done this out of poor planning on my part and trusting a team member to read my mind.

As a leader, it is our job to provide guidance.  We should be setting goals and giving feedback to our team members regularly.  Our team will only grow if we allow them to execute all the way to the end.  When a project is changed, dumped or micro-managed at the last minute; there is a strong possibility it is the manager’s fault and not the employee’s fault.

When allowing an employee to develop a process, product or project, managers need to:

• Provide structured guidance and feedback along the way
• Set clear goals and desired outcomes
• Create boundaries from the jump
• Allow your employee to struggle-  difficulty is just as important as success
• Do NOT come by at the last minute to ‘fix’ the project

By setting your people up from the beginning for success, you eliminate the possibility of having to poop on their ideas at the last minute.

Here I am again- sitting at the computer and trying to understand how a leader emerges…  how they work… where they find their energy… their patience… their knowledge…  I am looking for a map.  I need to get from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’…  I realize…  I realize… I realize….

I realize it is NEVER that easy or everyone would be a leader.

I think back on the great leaders of our time.  I consider the leaders I have known in my life.  I conclude that with few exceptions, there were fundamental, specific portions of their lives that attention and focus were always paid.  I can summarize these areas in a few bullets:

• Spiritual Health
• Physical Health
• Learning and Growing
• Having a Plan and Setting Goals
• Friends, Family and Your Spouse
• Personal Financial Security

I have been trying to focus on all these areas in my life at once for the last year or so.  Not that I was not already living these pillars in some fashion before, but I have recently focused all my energies on these 6 pillars above all else.  I will tell you that I have seen great improvement in all areas of my life.

WHAT! I'm the treasure? What a ripoff!

There are countless studies on the positive developments that people encounter when they employ a focus on just one of these areas in their lives.  The key for living leadership is to create a solid foundation for each of these areas and then create habits, making it easy to adopt your habits into a lifestyle.

Let’s take a look at how each of these areas can help you focus as a leader.

Spiritual Health - Evan Carmichael discusses spiritual health for leaders in his blog- “Belief in a higher power (whatever your devotion) propels an individual towards the ideal self. Spiritual beliefs provide a doctrine that forces us to examine our own actions and motivations against a core of morality”. Nuff Said.

Physical Health - It is no secret that you feel better when you are in shape.  Harvey Mackey from the Star Tribune in Minneapolis discusses some of the positive aspects of health on leadership in a recent article.  He quotes Maj. John Patrick Gallagher, “Self-discipline and being able to perform under pressure and exist outside our comfort zone would be the key that unlocked our success (as leaders).”

Learning and Growing - There is no need to quote anyone here.  We all know that the more you study, work and understand the great minds of business, management and leadership, the more effective you will become as a leader. I strongly recommend books on CD from the local library, setting a reading list in Amazon or borrowing books from other leaders you may know.

Having a Plan and Setting Goals - This cannot be stressed enough.  When you envision your goals you are more likely to achieve them.  A Mental Rehearsal study discussed by Wright State University examines basketball athletes who mentally imagine their shots as well as physically practice the shots.  ”Research has found that a combination of “imagined practice” and actual practice often results in better performances than those achieved with preparation that relies solely on actual practice.  In addition to athletics, studies have shown that imagined practice improves performance in diverse contexts that include communication, education and clinical and counseling psychology.”

Friends, Family and Your Spouse – People need people.  We are social animals.  It is critical for leaders to have a safe place to go and talk and unwind.  Most leaders have a strong system of family and friends.  It is true that some drive out their closest relationships as they dive deeper into their leadership role, but those are more often the exception than the rule.  Great examples of American leaders with strong families are FDR, John Kennedy and George Bush.

Personal Financial Security – Leaders cannot focus on their companies, constituents or teams if they are not able to take risks with their career.  It is critical that leaders keep their personal finances in order so that they can focus on the job at hand. Leaders should not worry about risk or money.  Being solvent creates a more stable marriage and allows for a strong family life.

Taking all of these pillars and implementing them into you life will take time.  But the more you act like a leader and make a little time in each day for all of these leadership fundamentals, the easier it will be to exude leadership and live the journey rather than search for the end of the map.

The Story of Stanley-

So there he was sitting in the small conference room… We have all been there as managers or employees.   There are many reasons to be there:

• Our boss wants to meet with us
• We need to meet with a team member
• Performance is a problem
• There is an issue…

He closed his eyes and waited for his team member.  Stanley had been to see the accounts of his problem person at the request of the clients.  Stanley had pulled his team member into meetings to help him get organized repeatedly.  Stanley has had complaints from other team members about  performance.  There were official write ups and hour long phone call that were not on the record.

Sound familiar?   Are you Stanley? The 80/20 rule is in full force with this employee.  There are many interpretations of this rule.  F. John Reh discusses the 80/20 rule on About.   ”Pareto’s Principle, the 80/20 Rule, should serve as a daily reminder to focus 80 percent of your time and energy on the 20 percent of you work that is really important. Don’t just “work smart”, work smart on the right things.”

Work on Smart things!  Smart Things! Like the 10 other team members Stanley did not have time to talk with for two weeks as he was on-site trying to save the problem employee’s clients.  He thought back to the first time he realized his team member was going to be difficult.  There were so many things Stanley wanted to say….

Could we focus our attention in a better place?

Here is the meeting Stanley wished he could have had:

“We have a problem and the problem is you.  You are not getting the job done and if you do not step up, we will fire you.  Your lack of attention to detail and continued denial that you are the problem is dragging down the entire team.  I have spent most of my employee management energy on you and your problems while neglecting the people on this team who are doing a great job and deserve my attention.  If we have any further issues, you are gone. ”

Leaders cannot do that-  some do-  but more often than not that type of leadership is not effective.  What we as managers need to realize is that when we decide it is time to make a change with a problem team member;  the ripples of positive change are going to be huge.

You could hire another employee with a better attitude for less than your problem person was making- You could use the difference in salary to reward the members of the team that were working hard.  By eliminating a poor performer you show the team that mediocrity is not tolerable.  Remember that when you make a change like this you save the company’s relationship with your clients, allowing you to keep the best team members on staff because you maintain your revenue.  You are now  free to meet with your best employees to work on making them better and not trying so hard to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Managers need to focus on those that can be saved.  This type of management will make the difference in how you help your team, reward your best employees and grow a world class organization.

Don't Let Your Passion Destroy Your Dream

At seeing the Whale-  Ahab lost his last sense of reason.  ”All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick. He piled upon the whale’s white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart’s shell upon it.” Melville

What does all that crazy talk mean?

Let’s start with Hubris- Excessive pride, presumption or arrogance… the flaw that leads to the downfall of the tragic hero.

Basically the story goes that Ahab had a run in with the Whale many years before.  The quest to find the Whale and make it pay for the pain it had inflicted in him, consumed Ahab.  It consumed him to the point that he was willing to destroy his boat, his crew and himself in order to accomplish his goal.  Hubris personified.

Ever work for someone like that?  Ever felt like that?  Look at the quote.

Ahab became crazy; visibly personified his demons and had he been given the opportunity he would have used his heart- his very core of life- to inflict damage upon the Whale to meet his goals.  Paints a very bold picture of a tragic hero. A person who is not leading with the best intentions for his team, company or family.

It is important for leaders to understand that they are not always right.  They should rely on the counsel of others and take a step back when they are beginning to become consumed with their quest.  Leadership is about far more than having people follow you.  Leadership is about empowering the people you work with and looking out for the best interests of the team.

Think about your end goals.  Jim Collins Says, “The most productive relationships are partnerships rooted in a freedom of choice vested in both parties to participate only in that which is mutually beneficial and uplifting.”

Before it becomes about you as the leader-  write down the end goals and discuss how those can be achieved WITH YOUR TEAM.   The idea is not to talk them into your position.

Leading is not about the leader-  but about the goals.  Just to leave you all with a note about a study done on Civil War leadership.  The study showed- and I quote “…lack of information sharing and consensus building resulted in serious disadvantages (in battlefield losses). In the cases examined, the pressure for prompt decision making was not sufficient to justify the loss of information that resulted from the determination to act alone.”

I have decided to begin a post each week of the top 5 best links I have come across.  I hope that the information will focus on leadership.  Some of this will focus on SEO and Social Networking.  Here is the best of what’s around:

1. Email Etiquette 101 –  Great Article by Michael Hyatt on how you should deal with email.
2. Why Your 4,243,564 Twitter Followers Don’t Mean Jack – Perfect examples of how people push one way on web 2.0
3. Why Google Employees Quit – Shocking info on what everyone thinks is a great place to work!
4. 21 Dumbest Moves in Business 2009 – Interesting slideshow on 2009 business gaffs
5. Make 2010 the Year of Execution – Open Forums talk about how 2010 should be about doing not talking

I have been doing a great deal of self evaluation over the last few months.  I have a mid-life crises about every 2 years or so.  I have realized that my latest crisis is pretty big.  I am having a professional crises. I had a personal Armageddon right after I began dating my wife.  I had to come to terms about who I was as a man- personally.  I fought a war for months, internally.  I finally came to the conclusion I wanted to settle down and get started with building a family.   I shortly there after came to terms with who I was as a professional.

Are you propping up your firm?

The idea at the time was that I was a technical person who wanted to run an IT department one day.  I came from a father who built his own businesses.  It was all I ever knew.  I tried my hand at running my own business at age 22.  This was more of the E-Myth problem.  I was working IN my business and not ON it.  I liked setting my own schedule and coming up with my own ideas.  The problem was that my visions were too big.  I did not have enough capital or resources to execute what I wanted.  I had no idea how to think small and build from nothing.  Had I been given enough operating capital to set my cash flow and build a foundation for my vision-  I may never have been anything but a business owner.   I digress….

The point is that there are thousands of people like me in the world of business.  People who are creative and have ideas and have always known the road of building a company as a business owner.  Yet- these people  have chosen to remain within a company.  This process is known as Intrepreneurship.  Intrepeneurs are focused on building a company from the inside just like they would create their own business.  Scott Allen says Intrepreneurs “will buck the corporate malaise, risk his or her career to get things done and, is willing to “do the right thing to serve the customer”.  The scary thing as that many people with a drive to be an Intrepreneur may never speak up out of fear of corporate culture or may get beat down as a crazy person within a firm.  I have been lucky in that this has not happened to me.

If I am going to go as afar as to say I am an Intrepreneur- I wonder if I am a stereotypical one??  In a recent personality test, I scored abnormally off the charts in regard to creativity and artistic expression.  I have an above average intelligence and a strong desire for personal growth and success.  My ethical position is very core to how I work and I am focused on protecting my work above myself.  So-  If this is a typical Intrepreneur-  is there one in your firm?  Are you an Intrepreneur?

I would recommend that if you believe you know an Intrepreneur or are one yourself-  that you try the following:

• Ask for or provide opportunity for that person to do something creative
• Criticize the work of that person fairly and do not drive towards the person themselves with criticism
• Follow up, but do not take control of the project at the end. Be involved, but only to provide focus
• Set very lofty goals-  Intrepeneurs think BIG
• Help keep them grounded in reality-  Budgets and timelines keep focus on the goal
• Allow them to lead others-  they are best when getting buy in from others
• Praise is critical- give them lots of it

I am still not sure why I am not an entrepreneur, today.  I used to think being the President would be awesome, but I am beginning to think that Chief of Staff would be more fun.  There is always a need for a strong person running the show in the background.  Maybe you are that person or know someone who could be.  Remember to help them grow by following some of the steps outlined above.

I have worked for many different people and with many different types of clients in scores of disparate industries.  I have found about 4 people who I would consider to be true leaders.  This would be out of hundreds I have worked with or for.  I am truly amazed at how many of the people that are in leadership positions consider themselves to actually be leaders, though.  They believe that they are truly providing exceptional leadership to their organization.  I have seen folks who will read a book or go to a class or work with a person on leadership or management techniques and draw only their own simple correlations of success from it.  Rarely have I seen people in leadership positions ask themselves HARD personnel questions about what they should do in order to be better leaders.

I would like to chime in with a few of my personal opinions on the subject.

• Fight for your team-  Even if you are at the VERY top of the company, find something to fight for and show your team you are doing it.  Leaders lead from the front, not from the back with a stick.  You cannot expect your team to give you 110% if you are standing behind them with a stick.  Get in front and pick up the flag and LEAD them up the hill. That means fighting for their best interests and listening to what THEY want.
• Develop your team to take your place-  Good Managers delegate tactical responsibilities so they can focus on strategy.  GoodManager.com talks about tactical value in delegation. Good leaders and managers are constantly making their team better and sharpening their skills through delegation.  A leader should always want to have a person or people knocking on their door so that the leader has a place to push towards.  If a manager has no one trying to push forward and up to their position, then the company has no mobility and no opportunity.
• Follow Chain of Command-  Do not control from 3 steps up the ladder.  If you need to accomplish a goal, lead your team with your direct reports.  If you circumvent the managers you have in place, then you remove their ability to lead and are showing others you have no faith in your managers or leads.  Nothing can fracture a team like having 4 bosses.
• Continue to grow- work on your personal brand, take a class or teach a class!  The more you grow the more you will want to help others grow.  If you are not pushing for self improvement, your team may not see the need to do it either.  360 degree feedback is a must.  See what people are saying about you and make corrections if you need to.

These simple points should help get many managers on the path to becoming a better leader.  I strongly suggest looking up info in the Harvard Business Review, Jim Collins and Michael Hyatt.  There are countless resources for leadership training, but the desire must be genuine and a leader must be willing to correct their personal issues in order to find success.

It should not matter if your company has five people or fifty people, you should always be looking to train your successor.  With a limited number of people replacing baby boomers in the workforce over the next 10 years, it is critical to grow up your internal talent.  I would like to discuss a few key points:

• Keeping your best people challenged- There are many reasons to challenge your team, but not all of them are obvious.  I believe that in order to keep a person on their toes, they should always be training their replacement.  I believe this lines up with a philosophy of not focusing on the immediate needs, but on a long term goal for your company or division.  Michael Gerber focuses on this core philosophy in his E-Myth series.  “Work on your business, not in your business.”  Without taking this high level approach, there is no upward push from behind and there is no desire for a manager to push themselves past the status quo.
• The talent pool is thin- between the retirement of baby boomers and the recession forcing companies to keep their very best talent, there is a smaller pool of available and qualified talent.  It is critical that companies look into their own ranks for upward promotion.
• Create an actual program- It may be a very loose structure, but there needs to be a defined line of succession.  Some companies may simply call their replacement an assistant.  Assistant manager, vice president, etc…  If a company or division has the resources a group could be assembled for mentorship and acceleration of talent.

As long as a the company leadership is developing its internal talent, the firm will always be pushing the bounds of their peoples’ ability.  Both managers and mentors will feel a sense of possibility in training their replacement; key positions will be deeper and junior employees will find upward learning and opportunity without looking for outside positions.  Keep in mind replacement costs and training without any plan for those key positions.