Busy work

If we are not careful, the busy-work will end up ruling our agenda and lives. Busy-work is all that stuff that comes at you continuously that seems to demand your attention. Questions, projects, problems, email messages, meetings, conference calls, can all be examples. Stephen Covey called it urgent but not important. It has been referred to as fire-fighting and being stuck in the weeds.

This past week I found the pull from the busy work particularly strong. Perhaps it was a worldwide phenomenon this week because Seth Godin wrote about this in a blog post today titled Incoming, in which he provided some brutal honesty on how electronic messaging controls us. While I have not completely tamed the busy work monster, I took some steps to beat it back. The main one was actually the simplest – I turned off every alert, ring, vibrate and alarm that went off when I received an email message. Do I really need to be made aware every time I receive a new message? Is an email message more important than anything else I am doing that I should stop and read it? Think of it this way; do you stop conversation with someone whenever someone else walks up or interrupts you? I hope not.

The key to avoiding the trap of busy work is to keep focused on what you are trying to accomplish. Imagine what excellence looks like. Imagine what it looks like when you have accomplished your goals – when it is done. Now, focus on the work that gets you to that goal and push away, divert, delegate and even ignore the busy work. Simple? Yes. I think we need to return to simple.

On another note: a real problem for most is that they have not imagined what excellence looks like – they have never pictured the end – and is the reason why busy-work controls so many.

Busy work

“Make me” or “Make me want to”

I believe that leadership can be segregated into two basic styles / categories: make me, or make me want to.

The make me style focuses on telling people what to do, how to do it and when to do it. It is dictation / dictatorship. It can be effective in accomplishing goals, but will never empower individuals to strive for more or greater results. Leadership that falls in this camp must continuously apply their authority and influence in order to maintain results. Results end the moment the pressure disappears.

The make me want to style focuses on explaining the reason why – the rationale behind what we are trying to accomplish. It is inspirational and leads to exponential growth of the what, or desired results and goals.

The differences between these two camps are much more significant than we typically realize. I like the analogy of communism to capitalism, where the make me model is communism, and the make me want to is capitalism. History has perfectly demonstrated the oppressive and destructive consequences of communism and the limitless possibilities of capitalism.

I once had a boss tell me to "do it or he would find someone else that will." Definitely make me.

I have also had the opportunity to work with many leaders that provided guidance and direction with heavy emphasis on the explanation of why, but focused most of their energy on recognition of ideas, effort and results. They all made me want to!

We can't always pick our leaders and if you find yourself under the leadership of a make me leader, it does not have to be hopeless. Move beyond his or her dictation by discovering the why behind what you are being commanded to do. It is virtually impossible to do something with any passion for which you do not understand the purpose. Ask questions; seek to understand why you are doing what you are doing. Then, motivated by this inspiring knowledge, exceed the desired result or goals. Go beyond what is expected – or dictated. You just may find yourself going beyond that person that is doing the dictating.

“Make me” or “Make me want to”

Are you going to re-enforce that behaviour?

I was sitting beside a college while he was reading his email. He nudges me with his elbow to get me to look at a message from one of his managers and with pride says, "Look at that quick response!" He was proud of the quick reaction of his manager and wanted to brag a little about it. It is a natural tendency to feel good when our people perform well and to want others to know about it.

He seemed to be moving on to other messages, so I asked him how he was going to re-enforce that behaviour.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You are clearly happy with what he has done, so don't you want to recognize it so that it is repeated?" I clarified.

He immediately started to type an enthusiastic reply to the original message while reading aloud his positive, complimentary words as he typed.

I realize that this is really quite basic, but at the same time, it is often overlooked. The premise of the book "Whale Done!," (Authors: Ken Blanchard, Thad Lacinak, Chuck Tompkins, Jim Ballard) is that we will achieve desired performance more rapidly if we only reward good performance and completely ignore bad or negative behaviour.

I'll bring it home for illustration. If my daughter helps around the house, I provide positive recognition. If she does not, I say nothing and do not show any disapproval. I focus my attention on her subjects with good marks, and completely ignore those that are not satisfactory.

I have to admit that this is hard, primarily because of the way we are taught. The world generally does not work like this. You aren't pulled over by a police officer and rewarded because they were driving the speed limit.

If . . . when, we spend the majority of our time catching people doing things right, I believe that we will achieve performance and results beyond what we even thought was possible.

Which behaviours have you been re-enforcing?

Are you going to re-enforce that behaviour?

Go-around managers

They are focused! They find a way to get it done. Obtaining results is the only thing that matters. At first glance this may seem desirable and sound like someone you might want to have on your team and in your organization. It could and it may, but it also describes the "Go-around manager."

Go-around managers, go around. They skip one, two, three and sometimes more levels of hierarchy to get something done. They live by the motto "if you want something done right - you have to do it yourself." Go-around managers deal with symptoms and use band-aids vs. working at the root with permanent solutions.

It looks like:

• Senior executive sending communication directly to the front line with a specific request rather than communicating vision through their direct reports and encouraging innovation and ingenuity.
  
• Managers continuously going around supervisors to get things done out of frustration because the supervisors are not getting them done.
  

This approach may get results, in the short term. However, it does nothing to solve problems long term and counteracts leadership development. Leaders inspire and influence others to obtain the desired results.

Your go-around managers may be getting good results, but when they leave, and everybody eventually leaves, those results stop.

Leaders develop leaders. Go-around managers do not.

Go-around managers

You tend to get what you expect

We generally receive what we expect. In other words are expectations are usually met.

If you expected 2009 to be a terrible year – it probably was.

If you expect your kid's marks to be low – they likely are.

If you expect results to be low . . . you get the point.

Expectations are not always what we communicate directly – with our words, but rather implied by what is between the words and through our actions.

If I say that I think the economic outlook is bright, but pull back spending in every area, my actions are exposing what I really think.

If I tell you that I think you are managing well and doing a good job, but continue to hold back authority and responsibility – what am I really saying?

The good news in all of this is that it works both ways. If I expect the good and the positive, I will tend to get it. If I expect my team to improve their performance and results, they will raise the level of their game to meet my expectations. If I expect any individual team member to rise to their greatest potential – they will.

It is impossible to fake it. They (expectations) are impossible to hide. So how do you change them?

It is a change in what you believe . . . and that is a big part of who you are.

You tend to get what you expect

If your boss wants you to wear matching uniforms . . .

Are you surrounded by people that do exactly as you say and never question any decision, directive or course of action that you initiate? That is fantastic! If you're a military leader. The ability to follow orders and exercise obedience makes a great soldier. However, if the members of your team are not carrying rifles and wearing the same camouflage outfits, and they conform as described in the first sentence, you have a very serious problem.

The existence of a team of blindly following and staunchly obedient troop members is possible for two reasons - both of them attributable to the leader.

1. Subordinates who always agree is likely due to a lack of self-starting qualities and the ability to think for themselves. They are attracted and congregate because . . .
   
2. Some leaders make it clear that agreement is the only option, accomplished by making examples of those now former team members who did not agree.
   

"The problem with our organization is a lack of execution," is a common reason (excuse) provided by leaders. This is a disappointingly transparent statement, which says, "If you would just do exactly what I tell you, we would be successful." In combat, execution is everything; in business, it is an important part – but it is not everything.

People have a need to create, innovate and take on increasing responsibility. They want to try their own ideas, have authority to make their own decisions and have the ability to make a difference. Great people will migrate to organizations that allow them to exercise their ingenuity. Great success is impossible without great people.

Have you ever seen a team, run like a military, achieve any significant or lasting success in the civilian world?

If your boss wants you to wear matching uniforms . . .

Tough Love

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but if your kids are still living at home at the age of 40 – it is likely not their fault. It's yours! Neither is it the fault of your employees in business, if they are completely incapable of making a decision without you! In parenting we call it tough love; in business it is called empowerment, but they are quite similar.

I overheard an executive making a call to one of her subordinates. She was communicating that a CEO, apparently important to their business, was going to be in town. This executive wanted the subordinate to be present during the meet with the CEO. The executive provided the usual details regarding time and location, but then she instructed this person on what to wear!

Sure, there is a chance they will show up wearing a wife-beater and rubber boots, or their prom dress from the 80s – but that isn't that how we learn?

Tough Love