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.

I was sitting at lunch.  I was having a bad week and was looking at my plastic plate piled high with chicken fingers and fries.  I love chicken fingers.  They are a great passion of mine.  I sat across the table from one of the managers in my firm.  I knew what lunch was going to be about-  he was going to complain about the company, about his place in the organization and decisions that he did not understand.

I could feel his negative energy creep into my psyche..  I was beginning to pile on.  I started to complain more and more.  It was a feeding frenzy and we were both pissed off by the time I had finished my strips.  It was now time to go back to work.

So there it is…  negative begets negative…  I guess we all know this.  But I am curious about why we were both negative.. We were both PASSIONATE about our frustration. What happened that allowed us to get to this point?

The funny part is that we spent considerable negative energy because of our positive passion for our company.   Both of us wanted our firm to be better.  We were proud of what had been built and what we had contributed. What was missing??

Could it have been vision?  I have come to the conclusion that many firms do not have a clear vision.  Vision:  A focus on overall goals and a road map we could all follow.  Without a clearly communicated purpose, a company is the same as a boat listing in the waves.

A Pirate’s Life for Me!

Think about an 18th century pirate ship.  Consider a ship that has a group of senior officers who have defined their goals.  The ship sails the seas with a clear purpose.  The Captain and his officers explain to their crew how each of them is critical in achieving specific goals for the journey.  The men on board understand how they contribute to the cause and what their ultimate payoff is when they reach their goal.  From the cook to the man in the crow’s nest, each person is playing a role.  There is a vision and a purpose for each person.

Now consider the boat that is not clear in purpose.  The captain tells his crew that they will sail… generally in “that direction”.  The crew is expected to perform their jobs to keep the boat and team in line each day.  From time to time, the boat may encounter a ship to plunder or an island to explore,  but there is no focused direction.  There is no plan to troll waters rich with the King’s ships.  Just to sail and to do what the captain says as soon as he says it.

At some point, the crew will begin to mutter… they will begin to question their need to wash the decks or get up early to man the lookout.  The crew will lose their passion to push ahead and at some point they will eat their chicken strips together venting frustration over the captain, officers and their decisions.  Passion for success turns into negative frustration.  Engagement is lost and a mutiny is at hand.

Mutiny! Vision is Core to Engagement

Line of Sight

It is crucial to provide line of sight for your team.  Line of sight is simple-  Does the employee understand how their work contributes to the company’s performance?

How does a company or team keep an employee engaged through line of sight?  Here is the bottom line-  your team and your company need to focus on overall goals.  It is incredibly simple. Leadership includes setting goals.

Once a team has goals for the year or for the quarter, then each member should be presented a road-map of  how their daily tasks contribute to those goals.  I personally like having annual ‘Outlooks’ with employees.  These are very different than the ‘review’ structure that many companies use.

Outlooks

An Outlook should be done at least once a year. It is written and should be very simple in structure.  There should be a focus on the future rather than past accomplishments.  Outlooks take into account company and team goals and align those with employee desires, strong suits and goals.  Being able to focus on what makes each person great and providing a way to line that up with the team provides a strong path for everyone to succeed.

Once employees understand what the overall goals are and how they are being provided an opportunity to contribute to those achievements, engagement can begin.  Without a clear and focused vision, company goals will be difficult to define and Outlooks may not be effective.

Do you have a vision that is clearly communicated?  Is the vision of the company lined up with each employee’s greatest attributes and passions?

“I don’t get paid enough to do this.” I have heard it, thought it and even lived it.  What happens when someone wakes up one morning and comes to the conclusion that they are not happy with their job?  Why does a person finally decide they have had enough of their job?  In almost all instances, it is because the employee is no longer engaged.

Engaged…  ??  Leadership is about fostering engagement.  The Conference Board defines engagement as “a heightened emotional connection that an employee feels for his or her organization, that influences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort to his or her work”.

Patricia Soldati summarizes some great points on engagement.  Her findings from the Conference Board study summarize 8 key drivers of employee engagement:

• Trust and integrity – how well managers communicate and ‘walk the talk’.
• Nature of the job –Is it mentally stimulating day-to-day?
• Line of sight between employee performance and company performance – Does the employee understand how their work contributes to the company’s performance?
• Career Growth opportunities –Are there future opportunities for growth?
• Pride about the company – How much self-esteem does the employee feel by being associated with their company?
• Coworkers/team members – significantly influence one’s level of engagement
• Employee development – Is the company making an effort to develop the employee’s skills?
• Relationship with one’s manager – Does the employee value his or her relationship with his or her manager?

Each of the drivers listed above should be studied in depth by managers and leaders.

I Got Your "Working Late" Right Here!

Why do your employees hate you and their job? Most likely you are not setting goals and giving your team an opportunity to achieve in areas where they excel. I will be looking at all of these drivers over the next few weeks beginning with line of sight between employee goals and company goals.

Do you have a culture of engagement in your company?  How does a positive culture provide engagement?  Do you have examples of positive motivators in your firm?

It is very rainy and I had been driving for almost 2 hours.  I had to go to DFW yesterday for a meeting.  I have found that a great way to pass the time in my car is to listen to audio books.  This is not a secret.  What my be a secret is the public library has a ton of audio books.  I have been running through their catalog as fast as I can listen.  I have killed two books in two weeks.

My latest slaughter was Leadership Therapy:  Inside the Mind of Microsoft. All in all a clinical study- but effective in certain areas.  Here is where I found the most interesting information:  Belief Systems.

At our core-  we all have beliefs driven by our experiences.  As leaders it is our job to identify what events shaped our lives and how those became beliefs.  Once we know what happened and how events  formed us-  we need to communicate those beliefs to our teams, families and through our online personas.

I have drafted a list of events that defined me.  I will begin to post those and address how each one has changed me as a person and a leader.  Once I have completed my exercise, I will translate that information to my leadership manifesto that I will post on my Bio.

Posted as a Proclamation

My beliefs may change over time-  I HOPE they change-  but at least this way-  I do not have to wonder about why I feel a certain way about a topic.  I will not have to try and explain where I am coming from to others on my team and to my bosses.  I will have a clear manifesto of what I believe and everyone can see it.  This will be challenging-  difficult to grasp and one of the most important things I have done.    If you can do it-  I recommend getting started on your own.  Feel free to comment, follow or share.

Inspire-  to arouse the mind to special or unusual activity and creativity

As a leader, when you are prepared to direct your team, make sure you take the time to inspire them and not talk-down to them.  Leaders inspire.  Look at the word ‘inspire’.  The humanityquest.com breaks down the etymology of the word  like this:  In + Spirare – to breathe, conveying the idea of motion or direction.

To direct with your breath-  to breathe into someone a direction.  We as humans make a huge deal about our breath.  About someone’s last breath, wasting our breath or a breath of fresh air… As leaders, we should understand that every breath we give to our team should be about direction-INSPIRATION.

Onions for Lunch!

Just remember the next time  you are talking to a team member or your group and you need to provide direction or criticism, be inspirational not someone’s dad.  We all have fathers and mothers.  No one ever succeeded in life because of what their folks told them- it was how their parents inspired them, nurtured them and lead them by example.

Pssst….  Here is a secret (I am not sure why it is still a secret)… Businesses must bow at the feet of the consumer- EVERY  stinkin’ one of us. Consumers are now kings and business must focus on direct interaction with their customers (YOU) or they will die like dinosaurs.

There are two truths that cannot be argued as the foundation for our consumer conversation:

• We ALL have a voice and people listen.
• People listen more effectively when our message is in writing.

How many people are friends with you on Facebook?   I have over 175.  Of those I interact with maybe… 50 on a regular basis.  Of those there are subsets specific to each area of my life-  local friends,  business people, industry people, friends abroad, etc…  Without having to pick up the phone and call a single person or talk to anyone face to face;  In about 30 seconds, I could let all those people know (at the same time) about an experience I had and they would listen to me and possibly tell others.  It is that simple.  You can reach at least the 50 – 250 people you have on your Facebook page today and start a conversation.

If you also have a My Space page and a Linked In account you could then tie them together using Twitter.  When you tweet something- it goes to all your message boards. The message is written for all to see and easily understand.  What does that mean???  Simple mass communication at a MICRO level.  Twitter- aka- micro-blogging site.

We need to understand why having a written message is important.  Ever see how a call from an attorney can get someone worked up-  but if they get a LETTER from the attorney …. see what happens.  Written words carry a finality that the spoken word has a hard time  challenging.  My Facebook message is difficult to misconstrue because it was IN WRITING. Putting my message into written words keeps the focus on the message I wanted and prevents the intent from being diluted as it trickles through communication channels.

Bow Down to Me! I Am the King! I Have a Voice!

I understand that there is something strange about how this works... Mass communication… and Micro-blogging…  does not compute….  how can something be large and small?…. err….

Breakdown in 3 parts:

1. simple, written  messages (Micro)
2. built for interaction (Community)
3. on a easy to distribute, global level  (Macro)

Whut?!?!

What this really means is that you now have a voice.  Companies and people have always known reputation and word of mouth are important, but now consumers have a platform in which to discuss their relationships with business and people in an open forum that allows others to spread their message- virally.  Not to mention- immediately.

If I love the local pizza place (AND I DO-  It’s called EJ’s. ) I blog about what a great time I had there with my wife and kids on Twitter.  My ‘micro-blog’ posts to Facebook where  three other people I have accepted as  ”friends” see what I say and happen to live near by.  Boom-  they want to check out EJs.  Because they trust me.  I have a micro-community.

Understand that companies ‘get’ what I just did.  They are trying to understand how to get their messages out at this level.  An insightful IndiaTimes.com article discusses the evolution of Social Networks and Micro-Blogging through research that was recently published. “Gartner also predicts that by 2014, social networking services will replace e-mail as the primary vehicle for interpersonal communications.” This means that businesses must adapt to how they communicate with one another and with consumers.  Companies are going to have to interact at a micro-level and do so in written text.

Smart company marketing departments know we can fast forward through commercials thanks to DVR.  We can subscribe to Internet based or satellite radio without commercials.  We can choose to use sites on the web that do not use ads or have pop-ups.  Companies cannot interrupt our lives as easily with their messages.   The rules have changed.  Messages have to have a meaning and be personal.  Marketing is at a micro-level.  It is time for consumers to use these new rules to our advantage.

If you enjoyed this article, I have discussed Twitter/Social Media before.  In my previous posts on Twitter- The first post discussed my initial interest in Web 2.0.   I dove deeper into social interaction and being engaged as the core to building an online community in my next post.

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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.

During my career as an IT consultant, I have been asked by many different clients and by various members of my team for information on policies, procedures and templates.  There are thousands of small businesses that do not have the time or resources to draft documents or polices for items like acceptable use of computers/media, setting up new computers/users or change control.

Work Without Process is Burn Out

I believe that there are certain critical documents and policies that every IT department should have regardless of the size.  The level at which the policy or documentation is implemented is entirely up to the company.  Below are the links to 4 great templates or policies documents that every IT department should have with a brief explanation of why.

• Acceptable Use Policy – All companies need one.  These are critical to employees so that they understand what a company computer and email is for. Many people get offended at the idea that a company computer is not meant to check personal email or to develop home business web-sites on.  Mitigation of risk and having a clear set of rules governing electronic media and systems is critical to all companies that have PCs and email.
• Change Control Request Form –  Change control…  most companies- especially small companies do not use a change request for for their IT staff.  How many times has a small business owner come into the office and heard his IT guy call out, “Hey, I’m restarting the server.”  It is 10AM on a Tuesday.  Turns out the IT Admin installed a piece of software on the systems without getting permission or telling anyone.  A simple change process can save all of these headaches.
• New User/Equipment Form – How man managers think that the IT department has an unlimited number of PCs and all the time in the world on a Monday morning to setup a person that HR made an offer to 3 weeks ago???  Haw many IT people are frustrated by the lack of planning managers have when a new person starts.  Having a simple forma that is given to IT when a person accepts their offer for a PC and user account is so simple and so critical to an employee being productive on their first day.  Not to mention, the employee feels they are working for a weel organized company that CARES about their productivity.  There are hundreds of forms online that many colleges and government agencies use.  I would recommend taking the best from those sources and develop your own.
• Support Request – IT Admin… walking down the hall and then someone grabs him.  ”Hey I need you to look at my PC.  I have a problem looking at this website….. It will just take a second.”  2 hours later….  The idea is to give the IT team a chance to set their priorities and organize their work by using a form and a process.  A good idea is to use a ticketing system like Spice Works or Track It.

The use of these forms and some basic process behind the paperwork will instantly make your IT team more effective and provide some much needed insight into the workload of your technical staff.

It is now 2010…  I look back on 2009 and cannot believe what had to happen for our firm to come out without having to lay off anybody.  There is truth that many Managed Service Providers (MSPs) grew in 2009 due to outsourcing, but many stayed flat and did all hey could to stay in the black.  We stayed flat- mostly because we chose to invest in our business with items like a building and a cloud network and training systems.  I digress…  My point is that we as a company seem to have weathered part of the greatest economic turn down in a lifetime without losing anybody and gaining infrastructure for a better work place.  One word-  BLESSED.  The point here is-  companies who have made it into 2010 are fortunate and smart.  Some would argue they have an obligation to consider community involvement.

Shifting gears to my next point -

Time Magazine presented an article on Gen Y workers titled, What Gen Y Really Wants.  The article discusses that there are 85 million baby-boomers in the American Workforce.  Most of these folks will retire in the next 5 to 10 years depending on our stock market recovery.  ”Now along come the 76 million members of Generation Y. For these new 20-something workers, the line between work and home doesn’t really exist. They just want to spend their time in meaningful and useful ways, no matter where they are, (Time, 2007).”  Starting to see where I am going here?

Lead by Example

Gen Y employees have been raised in a world where homework and school and home and extracurricular activities are all inter-mingled.  Email and remote access and smart phones have blurred the line between where they work and when they relax.  Most of this generation is looking for a place to make an impact and find meaning.  You want to keep this workforce happy and make your company a place they WANT to work.  I discussed the topics of keeping employees through 2010 in a great management article from December 2009.

A 2007 Survey of Gen Y Workers states that 68% prefer to work where there is a volunteer program.  71% of respondents believe that companies should spend time to help match outside interests of employees to volunteer programs that the business can support.

What do both of my points mean when looking at them together?

• Many companies have been able to weather the economy and are seeing new opportunities for success in 2010.
• The new generation of workers in America is looking for more work life balance and a chance to volunteer through work

Put these items together and volunteerism should be considered a core business objective for the foreseeable future.

I feel strongly that companies should adopt volunteer programs.  It is important for a business to understand a couple of key points.  Leadership begins by example and volunteer project must be adopted at the highest levels and for the right reasons. Company executives and owners should take the time to understand what their employees want to help with and then reach out to find opportunities to get their firm involved.

Here are some quick take aways on volunteerism at work:

• Leaders should consider  building their company with values that belong to the generation that will inherit the firm (Gen Y).
• Businesses should take the time to publicly acknowledge how blessed they have been to have survived 2008/2009 and reach out to the community.
• Volunteer work provides a level playing field or all employees to interact
• Choose projects that interest the employees and community
• Do not push volunteer efforts or chose opportunities based on public relations  or personal gain
• Find advocates in the workforce and create a committee
• Give because it is the right thing to do!
• Find a place to get ideas!  Volunteer opportunities in Houston

Have you had an opportunity to be involved?  What do you think is a good project to help get a volunteer program off the ground?  Leave your comments.