The Enlightened Manager

On the Value of Downtime

Friends and Readers,

I'm taking a week off to rest and rejuvinate.  I plan to read books, see movies that make me laugh, visit with friends and family, nap in the afternoons, and indulge in plenty of sleep, exercise, and healthy eating.

I'll be back with new posts the first week of December.  Have a great week, and if you have any book/movie recommendations I welcome your ideas!

Cheri

Light and Shadow: When Strengths Become Weaknesses

You know that old cartoon shtick where one of the characters has an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, each advocating for a different point of view.  I think our strengths are like that sometimes.   Psychologists sometime speak of this as a "shadow side" to an ability or strength.   Sometimes consultants like to talk about their "edges" or the areas at which their abilities can start to slide into detriments.  In any case, the old checklists of 'this is what I'm great at" don't acknowledge the complexity of our strengths and weaknesses.

I'll use myself as an example.  Here are some of my strengths:  I am creative, intelligent, and empathetic.   What are the shadow sides of these strengths?

My creativity is usually an asset, but it sometimes means that I have many more ideas than I can implement at any one time.  Sometimes I start working on an idea and I stop when I get a better idea.  So the shadow side of creativity is that I can get distracted easily.

My intelligence serves me well, but on the shadow side it means that I sometimes rely too heavily on my own perspective, or that I hesitate to ask for help when it is available.  I look at a Herculean task and say "I should be able to do this" and I just pile more stuff on.  The negative aspect of my intelligence is that I feel I should be able to "do it all."

My empathy is at the center of my work.  Understanding where others are coming from, and how they may be seeing the world enables me to communicate and coach effectively. On the shadow side, it means that I sometimes take the negative emotions of others too personally, and feel that the anger or frustration of others is somehow my responsibility.

There is a real advantage to looking at your shadow side.  Knowing the signs for when you've "crossed over" into a bad version of your strength is the best way to get yourself back on target.   When I'm in "do it all mode" I can remind myself that smart or no- it doesn't make sense to work myself to death and that help is available.

What are the dark sides of your strengths?  And how can you recognize when you've crossed over to the dark side?  (I'm tempted to make a Star Wars reference here, but I'll leave it at that.)

Something to think about....

Thoughts on Unsustainable Systems

It's a wet and messy week in the Seattle area.   I was on my way back from the Leadership Tomorrow 25th Anniversary Gala when my sister called, full of news about the impending flood coming to the small town she and my Mother call home.

A year or two ago, flooding in their town was catastrophic, resulting in a rather tense afternoon where I watched my Mom get rescued by boat on our local cable news channel.  This year they are ahead of the game, packing up this evening and planning to drive up to my house tomorrow to wait out the raging river.   When it's over with, they'll go back and clean up, again.

So as I was tidying up the house for guests, I was thinking about this whole concept of unsustainable systems.  We build our homes in flood plains, and rebuild again and again after the water sweeps away our belongings and destroys our homes.

Perhaps we do the same things in our organizations.  We overload our best employees and watch as the raging river of burnout ruins our best talent over and over again.  We rehire and rebuild, because it seems easier to recover from each storm than to focus on the hard work of changing our environment.

I wish my mother and sister would move out of the floodplain, although I'm happy to offer them shelter whenever the water rises.  And I know when my clients are underwater, I'm happy to lend a hand to pull them above the surface.

But as I'm here listening to the wind whistle and the trees sway, I'm reminded that sometimes it's better to avoid the floods of organizational life all together.  Let's build our systems on higher ground.

Honesty in the Time of Layoffs

It's tough times lately in the workplace. Colleagues come to meetings late, with tales of layoffs on their lips.  One person's careless remark about a drop in sales causes a roomful of people to stiffen.   I hear stories about managers who tell staff that "there is no reason to worry" on Friday followed by laying those same people off on Monday.

Lies and Fear abound.

I can understand the fear part.  After all, when business drops off a cliff it's only natural to be fearful.  Like any animal, we're all out looking for where our next meal comes from.  With uncertainty comes a measure of wariness and worry.

While fear is understandable, I don't understand the lies.  As management teams struggle with the issue of revenue and budgets, I understand the struggle to make good decisions but I don't understand the deceit.  Why hide the fact that times are uncertain, or that revenue has fallen?  Why hide those discussions under a cloak of secrecy?

When leaders are afraid to say the truth, and then they are forced to act on it later, people note the hypocrisy.  They resent the false security that management creates for them, and their faith in leadership, already shaken, falters.

There are many that would call my call for honesty naive.  After all, if employees knew how dire the situation was, wouldn't they be distracted?  Too worried to work?  Out of control?

The common thinking seems to be that there are two options for companies facing a layoff.  Secrecy followed by sudden announcements, or full-scale chaos.  This assumes that honesty is nothing more than an irresponsible dump of data onto a frightened employee population.  There is another option.

Responsible and Honest Communication with your Workforce.  It doesn't need to be that dramatic either.  Here are some tips for maintaining your integrity in difficult times.

1. Develop Financial Transparency - Even in the most profitable times, it behooves you to have a workforce that understands the ebb and flow of your company's balance sheet.  Each division should know what they are accountable for in revenues and expenditures, and they should be monitoring this.  When people see the guts of the system on an ongoing basis, they are more likely to think about the bottom line as they go about their work.

2. Acknowledge the Challenges -  The sooner your workforce knows about the challenges they face, the sooner they can become your partners in taking action.  Something as simple as a CEO message like the following can be helpful.

"Customer purchases have slowed in light of the economic downturn, resulting in a 10% reduction in revenue compared to this time last year.  We believe this situation is temporary, but because the length of the downturn is uncertain, we're actively looking for ways to reduce non-personnel costs along with increasing the marketing focus on our lower cost products.  Every opportunity to save costs will reduce the likelihood of layoffs down the road, and we're relying upon each business unit to identify areas where we can save money without reducing quality or customer satisfaction."

3. If Reductions are Possible, Don't Lie. - It is natural to want to communicate about layoffs only once the final decisions are made, and to avoid unnecessary panic, but it is equally important not to lie.  Be diplomatic, but don't stretch diplomacy into a falsehood.   Here are some examples of honest diplomacy.

"The rumors about layoffs are only rumors.  If there is anything official to report, I'll share it at that time."

"Will there be layoffs?  I hope not.  That's all I can say for now."

"I know our situation is tough right now, and that things feel uncertain.  The only thing we can control is our own work.  So let's keep focused and try to dig ourselves out of this hole as best we can."

"I know things feel a bit unsettled right now.  I wish I could say what would happen one way or another, but we'll just need to live with the uncertainty until we have concrete news.  Let's just rely on each other and be as productive as we can.  We're not going to worry ourselves out of this situation, but we might be able to work ourselves out of it."

In short, whenever layoffs are happening it can be a scary time.  It is tempting to respond to that fear by protecting others from the realities of the situation.   Resist the temptation to protect others from the unavoidable.  Instead, embrace your own integrity and treat others like the adults they are.

Dark times present a great leadership opportunity do they not?  We will be remembered in brighter times for how we handle this difficult moment.  Let's give others something good and noble to remember.

And eventually, the pendulum of commerce will swing, and things will be right again.

Odds and Ends (Administrivia)

It's been a while since we've posted a business update, so here are some odds and ends from our world for those of you who are curious. 

For those of you who don't care, skip this post and check back in with us in a few days for more content.

The Economy Isn't the Problem, But it's not our Friend Either!
There is a lot of talk in the business community about the impact of the economic slowdown.  Despite the ongoing paranoia about the economy, we find that because we are adding value to our clients, they continue to invite us back for more.  Spending a dollar in development to earn back twenty dollars in retention and productivity improvements continues to be a compelling deal.   Companies that believe employee development matters will continue to invest in it, although possibly at a slower pace over the next couple quarters.

Near Seattle? We'd love to meet you sometime.
It's been a challenge to keep our main website updated with all of our public speaking engagements and workshops.  On November 11th, 2008, we're speaking on Management Coaching Skills (Download nov_08_program.doc) at the Society for Design Administration in downtown Seattle.  Other talks and workshops are forthcoming.   If you'd like to be informed when these happen (and most are in the Pacific Northwest), just let us know.  We also have a half-day coaching intensive scheduled for January 17th.

We're no Longer a One-Woman Show!
Emergence Consulting® continues to grow through the addition of partner consultants.  Over time, I hope to add more information on our partners to the site, and invite them to contribute to the blog as well.  We're lucky to have such talent on our team - and our clients are delighted too.  At this point we're not recruiting more partner consultants (we have some great talent waiting in the wings) but that may change in the future.  If you have something compelling to offer and you're in the pacific northwest - reach out to us.

(Extra credit if you noticed our ®!  Emergence Consulting is now a registered service mark with the US Patent and Trademark Office.   According to our smart legal people, that means we need to start using that little symbol.  Don't worry, we promise not to let it go to our heads!)

New Service Offerings
Adding to our team means adding to the services we can offer.  In addition to our outstanding team and leadership development programs, we now offer the following additional services.

"HR Manager On Call" - Can't afford an HR manager but have the need for HR support?  We now have the capability to connect you with an experienced HR professional who can support you on an as-needed basis.  Use "HR On Call" on either by project or on an ongoing basis.

"Employee Handbooks & Policies"  - We will research and develop a customized employee handbook and/or employee policies for your organization. 

Planning for 2009
Like many of you, we're actively involved in planning for an outstanding 2009, and working out our annual budgets.  It's been a great year so far, and next one will be even better.  Thanks for continuing to be a part of the Enlightened Manager Blog, and making this one of the best places to learn about leadership on the web.

Now, back to the articles!

Cheri Baker
President
Emergence Consulting
Author of The Enlightened Manager Blog

How Employee Choice influences Engagement

One of the things that I've been learning lately is how the way you start an OD project has a huge influence on it's success.   I suppose I knew this intellectually, but there is a big difference between knowing and seeing, right?

I conducted two similar projects in two different organizations.   Both were related to team development, and both were positive.  The difference?  In one of them, the leader decided that the program would come to her team and required attendance.  In the second, the team was given a choice on if the program should come forward or not, requiring a 2/3 majority to move forward.

The difference between the two projects has been startling.  They both were great projects that achieved strong outcomes.  What differences were there?

In the group that "chose" to be involved:
- They took greater ownership of the process.
- They were more willing to take on difficult challenges.
- They had a higher feeling of inner accountability.
- They referred to their choice in positive terms.  "We chose this path, now we have to live up to it."
- They continually challenged themselves "How can we make our positive changes stick?"

In the group that was "told" to be involved:
- They participated in the process, with minor resistance.
- They required more encouragement/direction to take on difficult challenges.
- They left more accountability on the shoulders of their leaders.
- They referred to the experience as positive, but with less of a focus on inner accountability.
- They relied more on their leaders to help the positive changes stick.

I've long believed that personal choice has a big influence on how readily we tackle challenges.  The challenges that I choose, I own.  The challenges imposed upon me (even with the best intentions), I submit to.

When you bring change into a group, do you tell or ask?  Do you impose or engage?

Small choices like this made at the very start have big impacts.  It's amazing how loosening a little control can get us so much in return.