Leaders developing leaders.

Team Performance

Happy Workplace?

Even if you’re not a business leader, you can still take an active part
in a cultural transformation.– FORTUNE March 2018

Would you say that you are part of a “happy workplace?  If yes, what’s your rationale, and if no, what are the dissatisfiers?

This week FORTUNE magazine featured an article by company GREAT PLACE TO WORK where they summarized survey results for identifying the “100 Best Companies To Work For/2018”. Millions of employees in more than 50 countries were surveyed to obtain perspectives about what makes an exemplary workplace.

The six components within the survey included: Values, Innovation, Financial Growth, Leadership Effectiveness, Maximizing Human Potential, and Trust. Bottom line, it’s all about how the workplace culture creates growth and excellence, and the metrics now include ratings for all levels and positions, or in their words “for all”.

We won’t list all the companies, but SalesForce scored first place. The primary reason? Their corporate culture. (Having a favorable work culture was the most common factor in the 100 Best Companies” list.

Some other commonalities across companies included:

  • Create a culture that can withstand conflict and varying views (even encourage it!)
  • Create a culture of transparency
  • Create a culture that is “open, friendly, diverse, and team oriented”
  • Support your employees (at work and in their personal life)
  • Ensure work/life balance is more than just a motto
  • Remain neutral politically (regardless of your feelings)
  • Invest in your people
  • Truly embrace diversityBuild trusting relationships between employees and management
  • “Every voice matters” – engage employees of all levels
  • Thank, appreciate, and reward successes
  • Have clearly defined and unifying goals
  • Offer flexible work hours
  • Possess a desire to see others succeed
  • Ensure your leadership team is caring, approachable, and inspiring

One final point of interest in the article was that “trust fuels business performance but inclusiveness or “for all” accelerates it. Organizations that scored high on measures of inclusivity grew revenue three times as fast as rivals”.

What are you doing to make your teams/staff feel included?

THIS WEEK’S QWIKTIP!

Click to read more about VALUING YOU STAFF

Mergers

The fundamental premise of any merger is that the merging entities will be more valuable together than they are separately.–George Bradt

Mergers seem to be happening with great frequency. It could be between teams, organizations, and even companies. As leaders, we’re required to consistently look at “doing more with less”, improving processes, and ensuring we have the right people in the right job.  Bottom line – there’s always a need to reduce costs and improve value.

Brad Gevurtz, D.A. Davidson & Co. reported that mergers and acquisitions were down in 2016 from 2015 ($3.84 trillion globally vs. $4.66 trillion in 2015), yet 2016 was considered a strong year, and the forecast is that mergers will increase this year.

What does that mean to us as leaders? Mergers are a form of change and we don’t always spend sufficient time assessing the “people/human” impact and the impact to our existing culture.

How and who will be impacted? What’s the likelihood performance and productivity will suffer during the merger? How will the merged teams/organizations function? What will it take to keep our culture strong? What are the new expectations from the CEO and senior leadership team?

We need to start by communicating the specific value of the merger, we need to identify all changing roles, and whether or not our vision and mission have changed. We need to share the behaviors and build relationships that will make the merger successful, and ideally we will obtain buy-in.

It’s also a good time to ASK your staff about their perceptions and feelings. A simple survey can provide a wealth of information, and there are many tools and assessments available that provide invaluable information about teams and individuals.

Team Dimensions is one such tool. It identifies what role each person plays on the team (creator, advancer, flexer, refiner, or executor), helps understand group priorities, makes the team aware of the contributions and value each person brings to the process, and how to most effectively work together.

Another helpful tool is DiSC Workplace. Individuals and teams learn how to build better relationships, regardless of title or role, and improves the quality of the culture. Participants understand and appreciate differing styles, and create strategies for overcoming challenges.

All in all, mergers will continue, and as always, success is more likely achieved when there is a clear vision, shared goals, with team members aligned and truly believe that value will increase when the team works together.

What are you doing to ensure your team supports your strategies that reduce costs and improve value?

QWIKTIPS  read more on LEADERSHIP TOOLS

Corporate culture is the only truly sustainable competitive advantage and the root cause of any merger’s failure or success. —George Bradt

Work Hard and Have Fun – Thuan Pham, CTO Uber

Uber’s CTO Thuan Pham is a leader who likes to work hard and have fun doing it.

Born in Vietnam, he, along with some family members left the country and initially went to Indonesia but ended up in the U.S. in 1980.

He attended MIT, graduated in 1991 and held leadership positions at HP Labs, Silicon Graphics, DoubleClick, and VMWare from 1991 to 2013.

It was a whirlwind, and he wanted to take a year off to decide his next career move.

The Power of Appreciating Differences & Healthy Challenges

Pham was clear about his work environment philosophy:
The company must have a big mission.
He must like the team (smart, motivated, passionate).
He must like his boss.

Enter Uber. An Uber board member encouraged Pham to meet with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. After many hours of discussions (which turned into hours of interviews), Pham found that he and Kalanick were very closely aligned. They didn’t always agree, and that was okay.

They were able to reach mutually acceptable decisions, appreciated their different perspectives, could challenge one another, and shared what they were passionate about. So much for taking a year off!

They knew there would be many challenges as well as some mistakes in a company growing as quickly as Uber, but lived the motto “The quicker you fail, the more you learn, and the better you become if you get to survive and grow.” They knew they had to take risks!

Wow. We wonder how many more work environments would thrive if team members could disagree with one another (and their boss), if differences were appreciated, and if healthy challenges occurred (for the good of the company), without repercussions.

Pham shared:

It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had – but that’s why it’s the most fun job I’ve ever had. Every day I get to do new things, and every day I feel like I’m getting better in some way.

He also shared his life lessons.

Thuan Pham Life Lessons

  1. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, there are always people smarter than you.
  2. Push yourself toward new fields and new problems to solve.
  3. Never allow yourself to be comfortable.

What are your life lessons? Do you work hard and are you having fun doing it? We hope so!

Excerpts from:
http://www.geekwire.com/2016/qa-uber-cto/
Bloomberg Business November 14-20, 2016

QWIKTIP BONUS READING – click to read why PASSION IS ENERGY

Passion is Energy

Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.
–Oprah Winfrey

We talk about passion a lot; what we enjoy doing, what we do well, what comes easy to us, what behaviors/actions we get most recognized for. (For those that have attended the Leadership Journey®, we call this our “magic dust.”)

When you’re doing something you like or want to do, does your level of energy increase? Ours does!

Passion = Energy!

Things that increase energy levels in some leaders include:

  • Problem resolution
  • Creative/innovative thinking
  • Technical advancements
  • Customer/client interactions
  • Team building
  • Developing the skill sets in others
  • Providing feedback; mentorships
  • Enhancing relationships
  • Driving results
  • Cost savings
  • Meeting goals/completing tasks
  • Quality deliverables & process improvements

The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it’s possible to achieve the American dream.
–Tommy Hilfiger

In most situations, time seems to fly by when you’re engaged in an activity you enjoy doing. We need however to be realistic; rarely can all of our time be dedicated to our passion. (Even when you’re self-employed there are tasks that MUST be done, despite feeling like drudgery).

Give thought to what brings you enjoyment at the workplace. Can this be incorporated to a greater extent in the position or organization where you currently work? Create a plan, talk to your boss, make a case for how the organization/business will benefit if your role changes.

Sadly, too many individuals are in jobs they don’t like, let alone love. Only you can decide what career/job truly energizes you.

Be realistic, determine your preferred balance of roles, and consider what sacrifices you are willing to accept if you choose to make a career change.

Are you passionate about your job? Does it energize you?

Focus on your passion! View the inspiring video below.

Tell Us – How Does Your Workplace Compare?

We want to invite you to take a short survey that looks at some important aspects of your workplace. We are gathering responses from Journey graduates and others so that we may paint a better picture of the workplace today. Here at PeopleTek, we are interested in using the data to improve our curriculum and our collective workplace performance!

Please join us in this research. We will provide you with your own individual feedback, which you can use as you continue your individual leadership journey.

Take the Survey

Millennials as Leaders

Leadership has evolved over the years and continues to do so. We’ve shared that the dictatorial style is a thing of the past. Effective leadership now focuses on individual and team development, increasing awareness, leveraging strengths, promoting camaraderie, and building trust which ultimately grows the bottom line.

Leadership styles are likely to change again as the “millennials” thrive and assume leadership roles.

Millennials as Leaders

Dan Schawbel, founder of WorkplaceTrends.com shares “Millennials want to help others succeed, which contradicts the stereotype that millennials are narcissistic.” In fact, nearly 50 percent of the millennials surveyed say that want to become leaders so they can “empower others to succeed“, with 5 percent saying that want to be a leader for the money, and 1 percent because of the power the title provides.

Millennials also say they want to do “meaningful” work, and “challenge and inspire others to have a sense of purpose.” Sounds pretty healthy to us!

Below are quotes that inspired some millennials (excerpts from Fortune Oct.1, 2015):

You don’t fail until you stop trying.
–Charles Falzone

Think about your actions.
–Taylor Swift

There are a few people that will change your life forever. Find those people.
–Kayvon Beykpour

Focus on one thing and do that really, really well.
–Sean Aggarwal

Relationships matter.
–Sheryl Sandberg

Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.
–Eleanor Roosevelt

Prioritize. Figure out the few key things that are most important in your role for you to have an impact.
–Melanie Whelan

Listen more and talk less.
–Julian Steinberg

Stop trying to please everyone.
–Julia Hartz

Whether you’re a millennial leader, or a more “mature” leader, what leadership quote inspired you? One of ours is “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” -Benjamin Franklin

QwikTip and QwikCoach

QwikTips Powered by e-Coach – Want To Be A Better Leader? Develop Others!

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

Don’t Ignore Strengths

A part of a leader’s role is to address negative behaviors and attitudes that are impacting the strengths and success of our team.

This requires a commitment and a lot of energy, but it must be done. Having said that, as leaders we must also understand, leverage, and build on the strengths of our team as a whole, and the individuals within it.

People improve more by magnetizing their virtues than by brooding on their shortcomings.
–J. Donald Walters

Walters, author of The Art Of Leadership provides the following tips:

  • Work to strengthen a subordinate’s best qualities, rather than harping on his worst. You will accomplish far more by encouraging others than by belittling them.
  • Work more with your organization’s strengths than with its weaknesses. Channel more energy to those people in it who are in tune with what you are doing than to those whose tendency is to resist you.
  • Don’t invest a disproportionate amount of energy in addressing negative situations. Strengthen the positive side, rather, and any negative energy that exist will tend either to be dissipated, or remove themselves from the scene.
  • Don’t allow subordinates to offer merely negative criticism. Teach them that they must earn the right to speak by offering solutions when they want to point out problems.
  • Encourage the doers under you, not the mere talkers.
  • Never court popularity for yourself. Be concerned with issues, principles, (and goals).
  • Never speak from your own emotions or private prejudices, but always from a sense of justice, fairness, and truth.

Don’t ignore the strengths of each of your team members. Acknowledging their contributions will inspire continued success, and improve not only results but also satisfaction levels. Try it!

QwikTip and QwikCoach

PeopleTek’s Strategic partner, E-Coach, specializes in online coaching tools.

QwikTip Getting Along With Peers

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

Independence and Courage

We frequently talk about how effective leaders are also courageous leaders; who represents this better than the leaders who made Independence Day a reality?

Independence Day in any country is generally viewed as an important day to be celebrated. This is no different in the United States, where each 4th of July it commemorates its Declaration of Independence from Great Britain.

Men make history, and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.
–Harry Truman

In 1776 there were 56 individuals that were true leaders; they were courageous, they were risk takers, and they certainly weren’t fearful of change!

How much do you know about the 4th of July? Here’s some trivia to test your knowledge:

Questions

  1. What was the main reason the U.S. declared independence?
  2. Who proposed “Lee’s Resolution” on June 1, 1776, declaring that the United States be independent of Great Britain?
  3. Who approved the Declaration of Independence?
  4. How many people signed the Declaration of Independence?
  5. In what city was the Declaration of Independence signed?
  6. Where does the word “patriotism” come from?

Answers

  1. Independence was declared due to tax without representation.
  2. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed Lee’s resolution
  3. The Second Continental Congress
  4. 56
  5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  6. “Patriotism” comes from the Latin “patria” meaning “fatherland” or “homeland”

How many answers did you know? Wishing you courage to inspire change, and for our U.S. friends, have a happy and safe 4th of July!

QwikTip and QwikCoach

PeopleTek’s Strategic partner, E-Coach, specializes in online coaching tools.

QwikTip for Change Initiative

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

Triple Crown Leadership

American Pharoah: A Story in Leadership

This week we want to highlight excerpts from an article written by Kelly Merbler, Regional Manager, AppleOne. In the article, Kelly equates leadership to the Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, and how his story taught her about leadership, teamwork, goals, and the belief in something or someone that is in your gut.

American Pharoah was just another colt heading to the auction 2 years ago. Out of the thousands of thoroughbreds that go to auction every year in Kentucky, what made him special? When he went to auction his owner had big hopes to sell him for over a million. That didn’t transpire as planned but everything happens for a reason they say. In life, sometimes we meet people for a reason I believe. Everyone has a certain destiny and it’s what we do to act upon it that makes the difference.

A “Gut Feeling” Can Really Pay Off

As leaders, sometimes you feel a certain “gut feeling” for someone in front of you. That feeling that you can help them achieve great things in life even when everyone else is telling you otherwise? We meet people and we see them for face value but not for what is deep within them. When the biggest things we cannot teach are not visible to the human eye such as a positive attitude, drive, and grit.

Leadership Develop is an Investment in People

(Owner) Zayat believed in his horse and knew with the right combination of people he could be better than any other. He knew the time and energy it would take to invest in this horse but if he did that he may get something special. As leaders, we realize that leadership development is an investment in people. It is selfless and exhausting at times but when we put the time in we may get a reward that we never even imagined. As leaders, we are only as successful as the people around us.

A Team Effort Always Takes the Win

American Pharoah wouldn’t have won the Triple Crown if he was alone. It was the tireless effort of a team that knew he was special inside and he had what it took to achieve greatness. It was countless hours of planning and playing to his strengths and to race him in the right races to develop him as a 3-year-old.

How much do we put into the future leaders that surround us?

Are we planning alongside of them how they can run the right races to get to their success? How can they run for their Triple Crown?

As leaders and team mates, do we bring it every time or do we rely on the top performer next to us to do the work and help us succeed? Are we a joy to be around? Do we show up every day with the right attitude like American Pharoah does or is it all about us?

Victor Espinoza attempted 2 other times to win his Triple Crown. He had his last taste of it in 2014 on California Chrome. What kept him going and not giving up? To come so close to victory and watch it run right out from behind you. We have all been in similar life situations, but what did we do after we lost?

(We had) a big brown horse with the heart of a champion and a great attitude that just needed to be on the right team around the right people who believed in him, developed him and loved him. Once that combination found itself, history was created. It didn’t matter that no one had done it in 37 years to the horse, the jockey, the trainer, the owner, or the millions of people rooting for this. This was all about the teamwork that came together and the belief of a goal that nothing could stop them.

Thank you, Kelly, for sharing!

Do you have the belief, goals, and team members to make your dreams come to fruition?

QwikTip and QwikCoach

PeopleTek’s Strategic partner, E-Coach, specializes in online coaching tools.

QwikTip for a Change Initiative

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

Transformation – A Process, Not an Event

Transformation is a process, not an event. Why? Because it happens over time, and it is ongoing. We always have the need to improve quality, enhance customer/client relationships, do more with less, cut costs, and continually develop skill sets.

Think back three years – How have you changed? How has your place of employment changed? How has the marketplace (and your competitors) changed?

The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.
–Henry Kissinger

Great leaders motivate individuals and teams to envision the future and blaze a path to achieve it. They establish goals, understand and appreciate differences, and exhibit the behaviors required for success.

They also recognize the need to move towards transformational leadership. A good start is to answer the following questions.

Begin Your Transformation

Getting started:

  • What business are you in?
  • Who are your customers?
  • What services do you or could you provide?
  • What do you want to be known for?
  • What strategic alliances would facilitate growth?
  • Where do you want to take yourself or your team in the next 3-5 years?

You don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great.
–Les Brown

Next, rate which of these concerns are highest for your organization:

  1. We are equally concerned about long term planning and day to day problems and annoyances.
  2. We invest in new technology, processes, training, and tools rather than save the budget for the future.
  3. We have clearly defined and documented vision, mission, goals and roles.
  4. We hold ourselves and others accountable to high-performance standards.
  5. We facilitate teamwork and develop a trusting atmosphere in our organization.
  6. We are not afraid of conflict and deal with difficult conversations with customers, staff, and peers rather than avoiding the situation.
  7. We foster the culture to be a learning organization that admits mistakes freely.
  8. We train and reward our staff based on meeting the vision, mission, and goals of our organization, and for driving business innovation and profitable outcome.

Which caused additional time for reflection? Were there any that jumped out as a “need to address”?

Strong and healthy teams have trust as its foundation. When trust is lacking, transformation becomes more difficult.

Are you and your business well-positioned to lead the transformation process?

QwikTips and QwikCoach

Each week we partner with QwikCoach and provide the ability for you to reinforce or expand your knowledge of a prior topic.

Go to QwikTips to read more! There are two different versions–one for visitors and one for licensed QwikCoach users.

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

Innovation and Growth – What Can You Do?

In keeping with our innovation and growth theme, we want to talk again about General Motors new CEO, Mary Barra. On Monday, Ms. Barra was featured on Good Morning America and said something that is worthy of sharing.

During the interview she was asked “did you think that you would ever be CEO”? She said while she may have had clear goals and objectives for her career, she never focused on that. Her main objective was to always perform at her best, and deliver the greatest results for each position she held.

She focused on building a team and organization that delivered outstanding results. In order to achieve outstanding results, you must have processes and a clear focus, you can’t be risk adverse, and you must have the willingness to take the necessary steps to create a strong team and promote change.

Many leaders confuse career aspirations with a goal, and lose site of the results they have to deliver now. Ms. Barra said that she found too many leaders focusing on “what is my next job?”, rather than establishing the elements and providing the results that make it obvious that new challenges are welcomed and will be managed.

We are not suggesting that you do not have career aspirations and dreams because that is very important. What we are saying is to not primarily focus on pursuing the next level, as it detracts from being “present,” and may actually derail you from attaining desired results.

Too often we see leaders spending insufficient time building strengths within their team and organization. This development is required for innovation and growth, and ultimately success.

Change the world; rethink outdated assumptions and make a real difference…
–M. Barra

How to Promote Innovation and Growth

Start by building a strong team through these key steps.

  1. Recruiting Process. What skills abilities and talents do you need, and do you have a clear hiring process that links to your vision, mission and goals.
  2. Build trust within team members and encourage engaging interactions. Do team members feel comfortable giving and receiving feedback? Do they address conflict in a healthy honoring respectful manner?
  3. Include accountability, engagement, feedback and fun in team development processes.
  4. Operational Process and tools. Invest in saving time, and improving quality.
  5. Observe your customer and identify ideas for improvement. Ex: delivery, availability, reduce time to market, and enhance the value of your products and services
  6. Create a team focus. Down-play the need for individual gains and reward accordingly.
  7. Link your rewards and performance appraisal system to innovation and growth.  Does everyone’s IDP link to their specific needs to innovate and grow, or just to maintain the status quo?
  8. Training/Development/Coaching. Set up a process linking development to effectiveness for individuals, teams and organizations. Do you proactively invest in yourself and others to be strong leaders, or do you wait until someone tells you what to learn?

We, as leaders, are accountable for influencing others. It is up to us to link the tools, processes and resources with the vision of our organization.

Take some time and review the key components listed above. Are they part of your 2014 plan? Are any changes required?

If your focus includes innovation and growth, you’re positioning yourself for recognition and future promotions – maybe even to the position of CEO, like Mary!