Killer Whale Sized Opportunities to Teach and Learn

What can you learn from "the new guy?"

I've been enjoying Andy Jordan's blog on the People Side of Project Management. In a recent posting he talks about interacting with "the new guy" and how we can not only help them as mentors but that we can also learn from them in the process.

In Amy Sutherland's book What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage she relates that killer whale trainers remember that "every interaction is training." (click here for a post I made about this book). Every time trainers interact with Shamu they are teaching, whether they realize it or not. Both Shamu and the trainers are learning about what is expected, how to treat each other, consequences for actions, etc.

I'm convinced that I miss killer whale-sized opportunities to learn each day because I'm not sufficiently paying attention. But when I do, those lessons can be more valuable than an expensive weeklong workshop.

I remember when I finally got that the dirty little secret of business is that it's all done on relationships. Previously I wanted to believe that the smartest one wins. Or that the best argument wins. Or that filling out the "right" paperwork and following the "right" process was the secret to successfully delivering projects.

But through the gift of a couple great mentors who modeled the secret of building relationships, I've been able to navigate situations that would have left me as Shamu Chow years before!

Our interactions with the new guy (and the old guys!) are modeling how to look at the world of projects and business and people in a potentially different way. May we all be forces for good as we teach (and have our eyes and minds wide open as we observe).

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Labels: leadership, learning, listening, managing up, mistakes, project management, project sponsors, teambuilding

posted by Andy at 1:46 PM

What Shamu Can Teach You About Your Boss

One of the dirty little secrets of managing is that, over time, you'll do more managing up and out than down. But that's easier said than done. What are some important lessons learned about managing up?

I recommend Dan and Chip Heath's article in FastCompany entitled, "Your Boss is a Monkey". They take lessons from Amy Sutherland's book What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage and apply them to managing "another irritable mammal: your boss."

A couple observations that aligns with how we coach leaders:

• Every interaction is training. We are constantly sending out signals to those we work with. I'm not talking about some mystical energy here. Rather, we are constantly reinforcing lessons to those around us. If we let Bob slip in 2 hours late each morning without any discussion, you've taught Bob and everyone else around him a lesson: getting to work on time isn't really that important. If we keep delivering miracles to make up for lack of process in the organization, we reinforce the belief that all that process stuff is a waste of time. What messages have you inadvertently been sending lately?




• Reinforce good behavior! This seems so obvious but we often miss opportunities to catch people doing things right! We can be black belt whiners, for sure. Reinforcing your positive expectations of people can lead to them living and performing up to your expectations. Call out the good when you see it.

I'd like to think that we humans are less susceptible to the type of manipulation that the authors are suggesting. Yet in practice I've seen it work over and over. I'm working with a coaching client right now that is learning to flip her boss a mango when he delegates instead of micro-manages. Over time, I'm optimistic there will be progress.

Keep in mind that the "monkey" article's advice to "ignore the bad behavior" has limitations. There's wisdom in not over-reacting. Counting to 10 (or 100) has saved many careers!

Yet "apparent indifference" does not always "smother the fire." In fact, for some bosses, it will pour fuel on the fire as it sends the signal that you don't care. Though the Heaths discount aligning styles and expectations as techniques, there is enormous leverage in understanding the art and science of such approaches. They are too critical to chalk up as "goody-two-shoe" training grovel.

Want to learn practical skills on how to manage up more effectively? Join our Leadership Fast Track Program starting in June! Click here for details!

Labels: accountability, conflict, executives, influence, leadership, learning, managing up, personality styles

posted by Andy at 10:34 AM

So Much To Do, So Little Time

"So much to do. So little time."

It's the theme song of most professionals these days. "How can I keep up with what's most important when there's just so much to do?"

A recent CIO Magazine cover story laid out twenty of their best tips to invest 20 minutes wisely. Though they may overstate them as "20 minute miracles", the article has value for those seeking some relief from overloaded in-boxes and towering to-do lists.

Some highlights include:

• #2: The Mini-Meeting. We regularly coach leaders to be more aggressive in cutting the length of time dedicated to meetings. In our experience, recurring meetings are often the biggest culprits in wasting time. Though I rarely recommend trashing them (as suggested in the article), cutting their duration in half is a great place to start. Need some motivation? Take the hourly rate of everyone in those recurring meetings, and multiply that over the course of a year. Ouch! That's an expensive meeting!


• #7: Life Without E-Mail. Though I haven't found "Zero E-Mail Friday" practical (as suggested in the article), there is so much opportunity to be more efficient with our favorite tool to hate. My book How to Organize Your Inbox & Get Rid of E-mail Clutter can help you and your team save time and reduce the stress of e-mail overload.


• #8: Say Yes to Staff Training. OK, so you might suspect self-interest in my highlighting this one! But just this week I had participants in a project management workshop exclaim how techniques they learned will save them time. And training doesn't always have to take a big bite out of your time! Our Leadership Fast Track Program meets for 2 hours or less, 8 times between June and October. By spreading out the learning into smaller increments, we find you not only save time, but actually apply the learning. And since I facilitate it over the web, you're not wasting time traveling to a training facility. In fact, you can participate from anywhere in the world!


• #13: What's So Funny About Company Peace, Love, and Understanding? Basically this tip comes down to finding ways to get exposure to other departments. In our leadership keynotes and workshops we talk about practical ways to make this happen, and the advantages for you and others. Contact me to learn how we can help you improve your influence and exposure within the organization.
  

So much to do? So little time? We can help you sing a different song: Get more done, with less stress! Check out our Leadership Fast Track Program for details.

Labels: leadership, learning, networking, time management, work/life balance

posted by Andy at 3:14 PM

Leadership Lessons from William A. Osborne

A recent Crain's Chicago Business "Talking Business" episode included an interview with the Chairman and CEO of Northern Trust, Bill Osborne. I've had the distinct pleasure of facilitating training & offsite meetings for the Northern, as well as some executive coaching. You can often learn a lot about a leader by what people in their organization say about him or her. Here are some things I consistently hear people say about Bill:

• "He's so personable."
• "He's very approachable."
• "He doesn't talk down to you."
• "He's very down-to-earth."
• "He's sharp. He knows the business."

Here are some notes from the brief video:

• You're not a leader if you're not respected. We continually need to be reminded that we're not a leader simply because of our title. In many of our leadership workshops (such as Influence & Accountability for Project Success), we discuss the difference between positional power (you follow me because of my position) and personal power (you follow me because of who I am). There are times when leaders need to exercise their positional power, but the most effective leaders for the long-term are those who have a well-developed arsenal of personal power. One of the keys to increasing your personal power is increasing the respect others have for you, and respect is something that is earned day-by-day, decision-by-decision, one interaction with a person at a time. Contact us to learn how we can help you better develop your influence.
  

• Leaders are visible and accessible. Bill spends half of his time visiting offices, meeting with employees. I don't remember meeting a partner (what the Northern calls their employees) who had been with the organization for more than a year that has not met Bill. We coach leaders to Manage By Wandering Around, which sounds a lot like Manage By Walking Around, with some subtle differences. Wandering implies less of an agenda, with the true agenda being available for interaction. The ivory tower syndrome hits too many leaders, often due to death by meeting. Certainly you are required to participate in more than you share of meetings, but you must carve out time to be on the floor, available to team members.

• Leaders listen to all levels. I appreciated Bill's comments about not simply listening to his direct reports. It's been observed there's an inverse relationship between someone's level in the organization and their ability to see reality! We can joke about that, but the truth is that reality is often obscured in the executive ranks because the food chain under them overly massages the information to the point that it bears only a shadow's resemblance to the original message.
  

• Leaders learn from others. Though Caterpillar and Northern Trust are quite different enterprises, Bill provides a good example of how serving on the Caterpillar board has benefited his business. Too many leaders have the mindset that they already have the answers, and stop actively working to learn from others. In discussions with friends and colleagues in other companies, ask them questions about the business. Try to understand the business models and operating principles. Intentionally watch for ideas you can apply to how you manage your areas of responsibility.

I strongly suggest you invest the time to learn from one of the great leaders in the banking industry, Bill Osborne.

Labels: accountability, executives, illusion, leadership, learning, listening, reality

posted by Andy at 4:22 PM