Tag Archives: change

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How a Director Can Play a Pivotal Role in Organisational Change

  By Christina Lattimer • May 19, 2014 - 11:10 am

Director As a Director or a senior

team member, you have a pivotal role in leading the way for change in your organisation.

You’ve set the strategic direction, and the project initiation is underway, your organisation is going through a huge change.  There is an expectation from the majority of employees, stakeholders and customers that transformation is going to happen.  You know it starts with you, but how can you personally do the right thing when navigating change?

 

Ghandi wasn’t wrong when he said words which have been condensed to the famous quote “be the change you want to see”.  Walking and talking the change is required at every level of the organisation.

“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.”  Ghandi

One of the most inspirational men I have ever met headed a large local authority.  The changes he was overseeing were transformational and impactful.   Knowing how difficult cultural change can be especially when the circumstances are challenging with job cuts and more being demanded from people, I asked him “How do you make sure your vision, values and outcomes are alive horizontally and vertically across your organisation.  He replied “I have built a senior team who passionately shares our joint vision, and are willing to do what it takes to get there; whenever I hear anything which is contrary to our vision and values, or encounter a situation which is impacting results, I personally challenge it”.   Wow, I thought, that’s a real commitment.  What he said to me showed he was congruent with his values and lived them every day. As a Director in your organisation, there are two strands which you must pay attention to for change to be successful.

  1. Turning strategic aspiration into operational reality

You must make sure that the strategic vision becomes alive through the operational processes and policies.  There are three parts to this.

  • Know your organisational story

First of all you must know your organisational story off by heart. You must know where you have come from, where you are going and the difficulties you might face.  Change does not happen without a flow, a resistance and transformation.  You need to know and be able to tell your organisational story, as if it were a fact.  If you don’t know your story or don’t really agree with it, there will be a mismatch in the change you want to make.

  • Implement and understand your holistic plan

You might have a project manager who is overseeing the change, but at Director level, it is your business to make sure it is joined up, inclusive, flexible and will make the change through the multi-dimensions of your organisation. Your plan must address the changes needed at all levels of the organisation.  Depending on your own priorities you might feel some levels are more important than others, but do not fall into this trap.  There is really no hierarchy in change, because at every level it impacts your employees, customers and stakeholders and in order to value them, you need to value the support they need at their level of the change process.

  • Commit to helping your employees at all levels through the change

Change is scary. The problem with change models, even though they acknowledge change involves emotions; without commitment from the senior team, dealing with fears and the human reaction can become part of the process, and can sometimes diminish the reality of the acute anxiety change can engender in people.  It is important that as part of the change process, support is put in place to help employees through the change.  Missing this step out might not mean the change won’t happen, but it might take much longer, and you might suffer more stress and casualties along the way.

  1. Being the change you want to see

This second strand is all about you.  As well as making sure you commit to and understand the change processes, as a Director and leader, you must be a demonstration of the change you want to see.  There are three specific ways you can “be” the change.

  • The energy you bring to the change

is indeed showing us all that we are at the core of our being, radiating units of energy.  We all know we cause an impact with our emotions.  Just spend a night with a friend who is down in the dumps and it is energetic vibration in action.  As a leading player in the organisation, it is essential that the energy you emit about the change is authentic, positive and believable.

  • Harbour great expectations about your employees

Our expectations, turn into our reality.  This can be a bit of a stretch for some to believe, but that how we look at our world affects the way the world responds.   The way to get the best out of your people during the change is to expect the best from them.  Even if they are demonstrating resistance during the change, know this is just part of the process and doesn’t mean anything about them.  Expect them to embrace process and succeed in the change.

  • Your personal credibility

Without a doubt change can bring out the worst in your employees and the resistance can be high.  Time and time again, I have seen change become a source of conflict and resentment, when the .   Being personally credible of course means walking the talk, talking the talk and being the values you want to see in your organisation. So there you have it, some of the ways senior people must play their part in the way change happens in the organisation.  Do you have any other ways you think the top team should demonstrate commitment to change? Linked articles: 3 Steps to Harness the Power of the Mind for Organisational Transformation The 5 Step Blueprint Of Successful Organisational Change Organisational Change – Making the Best of Bad News Are You Awake To Change? 3 Reasons Why a Great Engagement Strategy Isn’t Enough

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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Challenging Limiting Beliefs Is A Leadership Skill

  By Christina Lattimer • April 17, 2014 - 10:13 am
beliefs Understanding how people tick is essential for a leader, especially at the level of our beliefs.

Beliefs create our individual and collective worlds.  Millions of pieces of information are available to us at any one time.  Our beliefs and the parameters which are then laid down by our beliefs determine which pieces of information we receive.  Our beliefs determine which pieces of information we accept or reject.  If we don’t believe it, then we simply don’t perceive it, or won’t allow ourselves to perceive it.  In the words of the song

“No matter what they tell us No matter what they do No matter what they teach us What we believe is true” Beliefs come in all sorts of packages and create all kinds of effects in our lives.

  • When conflicting beliefs come into our awareness it can create confusion
  • Holding opposing beliefs at the same time can cause internal conflict
  • Limiting beliefs can prevent you receiving what you want
  • Subconscious beliefs appear to control your behaviour and make you feel  helpless
  • You can bring subconscious beliefs into your awareness
  • You can choose your beliefs.  No belief is ever fixed
  • The key to changing your world and experience is to change your beliefs
  • How you interpret reality around you can inform and shape your beliefs.
  • Beliefs are simply an interpretation that you choose to determine as true
  • Beliefs can be changed.

When a leader or manager understands the process to go through to challenge limited beliefs, then they have the key to secure positive change for the greater good.  I’m not suggesting that it is a leader or manager’s  job to change people’s beliefs.  And certainly we need to make sure we respect people’s beliefs, particularly in the arena of equality. However a good leader or manager will understand the effects of limiting beliefs and understand the process of undoing them.

People act and react in accordance with their beliefs and uncovering those beliefs to enable positive growth is extremely powerful.    Brainwashing people or trying to force people down a different route is not ethical, and it is not what I am suggesting.  Everyone has a free will, and this must be respected.  But it is useful to know,  how and what you need to do to understand when your employees are holding unhelpful beliefs about themselves or others.  Being aware that these beliefs can be changed can help you to influence and persuade employees to adopt more positive beliefs.

I’ll give you an example.  I worked hard for a couple of years engaging with a particular team and helping them to think and feel like a successful highly motivated team.  In those days I was pretty idealistic and hoped that I would win everyone over, and that everyone would enjoy working in the team.  But there was a core of people, who no matter what,  were still unhappy.  They habitually criticised and caused negative waves.  Simply put, they had fixed beliefs about their working lives and maintaining their belief was more important to them then changing beliefs.

I was talking to one of the employees who could be particularly negative.  I asked her why she seemed so resentful and was there something I was doing which was causing this particular resentment?  Her reply was a real eye-opener.  She told me that it was nothing to do with me at all.  I had come in and she observed that I was trying to get the team on board.  However, she didn’t like management, never had and never would.  She went as far as to say that nothing I would ever do would persuade her otherwise!

We did come to a somewhat uncomfortable compromise in the end, which limited her impact in terms of negativity within the team and how our relationship would work in the workplace given her fixed and unrelenting views.  Not ideal, but then, not my job to change her beliefs.

The real power of understanding beliefs and belief systems is when managers are instigating change.  Work on drawing out existing individual and team beliefs and then understanding how to help people see things through a different lens for the better within the workplace is the key to fundamental and lasting success.

Encouraging employees to reach positive beliefs about themselves, their contribution and the meaningfulness of your vision and task are the building blocks to brilliant success.

Incidentally for the sake of clarification:  in the Equality Act; belief is defined as “including philosophical beliefs, such as humanism, which are considered to be similar to a religion. Other categories of beliefs, such as support for a political party, are not protected by the Equality Act.” This is not what this blog is about. 

This blog underpins the work being developed for my leadership programme which will be released later this year.  If you’d like to be updated when this is available,

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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50 Ways you can make a difference as a leader for 2014 – Join the leadership challenge!

  By Christina Lattimer • January 23, 2014 - 2:05 pm
I would like to invite you to a leadership challenge.

Don’t worry there is no work required from you during this leadership challenge.  You can simply read,  observe, catch up if that is what you would like to do.  Alternatively, if something inspires you, then please join in, submit relevant articles, news, insights, contributions or even experiences.  Whatever you choose, its up to you, the only commitment is to sign up and receive the weekly updates directly to your mailbox.

You are a leader.   I know I am like a parrot repeating this to you again and again, but you are a leader to someone, from being prominent on the world stage to simply being your own inner leader, you are a leader to your employees, your kids, your family your friends and yourself.  You can lead on the world stage or simply in your own day to day routine.   Join our leadereship challenge and improve your leadership mindset!

At this stage in 2014, you are either feeling great because your New Year promises to yourself are being kept, or you once more have lapsed into the same old habits.  If the latter is the case, my only advice to you is to forgive yourself and wherever you are, I’d ask maybe to consider a slightly different approach to 2014.

Why not make 2014 a year when you concentrate on how you are leading yourself and others and your life. It’s about quality, not quantity – content, not form.  It’s about how and not what; give and not take. Join our leadership challenge.  It costs nothing!

What these following practices in the leadership challenge actually help you do is change mind-set – your own and others.  How do I know this? Because over a 30 year span of managing and leading others, these are some of the things I learned along the way and which I know if applied can change the way you lead and manage for good.

The truth is, what you give out, you get back. Newton’s 3rd Law, “To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction: or the forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in opposite directions”, while centred on physical actions and reactions, it is the same with mental and attitudinal energy too.

So come with me on a journey.  Each week of the leadership challenge,  I will expand on the suggestions below, one by one, week by week.  Updates might include a new article, related articles, research, videos or a relevant quote.  You need do nothing, but simply consider the suggestion and read the material.  If you are hoping to change the way you lead yourself, simply substitute “others or them” for “you or yourself”. If you are inspired, then I invite you to submit your articles, experiences, quotes or other relevant material for each weekly topic.  You can do this by commenting, submitting material to me in advance or providing links on the commentry. If you aren’t inspired to do so, simply sit back and enjoy.

You will know some of this, maybe a lot, and some of it might simply be a refresher or even could be new.   My hope is that the journey on the leadership challenge will be an interactive one, where we can share perceptions, views and ideas as we progress through the year.

So if you’d like to join me on the leadership challenge  journey,

50 Ways to Make a Difference As  A leader

Leadership Challenge Part One

Developing Self Awareness to Benefit Yourself and Others

  1. Remembering It’s a Journey not a Destination
  2. Accepting the power of your mind
  3. Tapping into your right-mindedness
  4. Dealing with your inner critic
  5. Understand your own personality type
  6. How to forgive yourself and give up guilt for good
  7. Developing self-trust and trust in others
  8. Practice “honest” thinking, not just positive thinking
  9. How to change limiting beliefs
  10. Understanding, you don’t know what you don’t know

Leadership Challenge Part Two

Creating A Compelling Future

  1. Developing a clear vision
  2. Communicating and engaging with others about your vision
  3. Bridging the gap between the here and now and the future
  4. Understanding the power and limitations of planning
  5. Practice Letting Go
  6. Developing resilience
  7. Developing patience and trust
  8. Keeping an open mind to opportunities
  9. Living in the present while creating your future
  10. Dealing with doubt positively

Leadership Challenge Part Three

Engaging and Motivating Others

  1. Help others feel connected to something bigger than themselves
  2. Help others feel they are part of making a significant difference
  3. Help others feel good about their positives
  4. Help others feel good about the challenging parts of themselves
  5. Demonstrate the power of giving
  6. Practice acceptance of themselves and others
  7. Practice non-judgement
  8. Practice discernment
  9. Develop new thinking skills
  10. Develop new ways to raise awareness of the impact of emotions

Leadership Challenge Part Four

Interaction and Communication

  1. Demonstrate congruent communication
  2. Make decisions with integrity
  3. Use “toward and away” motivation in your interactions with integrity
  4. Raise your awareness of how people tick
  5. Be inclusive
  6. Be visible
  7. Understand how to ask the right questions
  8. Use logical levels to increase understanding
  9. Use Carl Jung’s personality types to aid understanding
  10. True listening

Leadership Challenge Part Five

 Relationship is everything

  1. Another way of looking at relationships
  2. Giving up specialness to gain everything
  3. Dealing with difficult people
  4. Preventing conflict
  5. Responding not reacting
  6. It’s either love or fear
  7. The boomerang effect
  8. The role of gratitude
  9. Myths about others
  10. The central relationship lesson

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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14 Ways to Be a Great Team Player At Work

  By Christina Lattimer • November 21, 2013 - 1:08 pm
team player In the new social world we now live in, the importance of teamwork in any organisation is key.  Being a collaborative team player, aligning purpose, values and effort will be the hallmarks of a great employee.

Andrew Armour sets out the need for collaborative working in Why Superteams Win In The Social Era Of Business, and asserts that 86% of senior executives surveyed in the 2011 Innovation Barometer, viewed collaboration as vital to innovate, but  only 21% had the culture and people to do so.  I believe that things have probably moved on since then, but we still have some way to go.

Being a team player at whatever level in the organisation is a skill which increasingly, organisations will view as essential., according to Mckinsey because of global talent shortages. Because the dynamics of our world are changing so rapidly and significantly, team members no longer need to sit back with frustration or without a voice.  As has been demonstrated in many incidents over the last few years, employees  have used social platforms to “out” many illicit, unfair or just plain silly practices.  Conversely, team players can be the biggest advocates and champions for their employers, as they tell glowing stories across their social media communities.

In an increasing global economy, as Mckinsey’s article points out, there might well be heavy demands on highly skilled interactive professionals:  A collaborative aligned team is going to be essential to help bridge any gaps. Change is in the air, and switched on employers are already realising that culture change is essential to meet the challenges of the social era, and the talent marketplace.   Good HR Expertise is essential.

As an employee, you will gain a distinct advantage if you understand what is going to be needed to be a valued team player.   You are going to find that respected  employers are increasingly going to be looking at how well you collaborate with others, how positively you interact in the social world, and how much you buy into their values and purpose.

How can you become the team player that good employers will be lining up to have in their team?

Having led and managed literally hundreds of employees, there are some timeless qualities I have encountered which for me make up the ideal team player.   Of course in an ideal world, you rarely get the whole set of team player ideal qualities.  We are perfect in our imperfections.  The following attitudes, traits and qualities are so good to work with,  and one’s I would certainly be looking for in any assessment, certainly for key players in my team.

As a great team player you will:

  1. Take responsibility for yourself.  This means not automatically blaming your tools, your  colleagues or management, but being self aware enough to say “perhaps I could have done something differently”.
  2. Get the big picture and understand exactly what we are trying to do together – You don’t naturally have to be a big picture thinker.  In fact some organisations may employ you because of your attention to detail, but being able to pull yourself out of the detail sometimes is a huge advantage.
  3. Have an affinity with and believe in what we are trying to achieve –  You will love our products, love what we are trying to do, and it makes you happy because you think by virtue of working with us you have been part of it all.
  4. Give a positive account of the organisation and concentrate  on what is good about it – This does not mean pretending that everything is ok and smiling when it isn’t, but realising that even though things might go wrong, there is positive intent behind the decision making.  It really is about giving others in the team whatever their role “the benefit of the doubt”.
  5. At times when it is crucial for the business, go the extra mile –  Being committed to pulling out the stops when necessary.   There is a fine line between occasionally having to put in more effort and it being expected as a matter of course, so if it’s too much, have the confidence to say so.
  6. Care about others on your team – This can be tough because team work can be a hot bed of relationship problems.  But with some determination and commitment to creating a caring environment, then concerted effort is never lost.
  7. Commit to resolving differences in an adult and win/win way – Workplaces can be the worst place to play out the parent/adult/child relationship.  A paternally based organisation is definitely becoming an old paradigm.  Becoming aware of the paradigm, is the lamp needed to dispel it.
  8. When you’re not able to fulfil your contract for any period of time for family or medical reasons, you commit to doing your best to get back to work as soon as you can because you know how crucial you are to the excellence of the business.
  9. Commit to getting the work done, on time and to the best of your ability – This is not just for the team, this helps to raise your own personal standards and improve your own energy.  It always pays dividends, and will be noticed.
  10. Trust us to make the best decisions we can with the information we have, even if you don’t like it.  With millions of decisions to make, some with consultation, some not so democratic, its a minefield, and we’re not always going to get it right.  Sometimes you aren’t going to like it, but you trust  the intention is good behind it.
  11. Understand we have a mutual contract and  we will respect your rights, and you respect ours. – if it’s not working, then, communicate, communicate, communicate until it’s right.
  12. Forgive us our mistakes, we all make them – Help to create a no-blame culture, where we know none of us are perfect, but we will learn from our mistakes, not use them to beat each other up.
  13. If you’re not happy come and tell us about it constructively, trust us to listen and do something about it – Be open to different ways of seeing things, and commit to finding a solution.  Don’t be that person who is happy being unhappy.
  14. If you can’t commit to any of the above, consider how you are contributing to the success of the organisation, and if you can’t or won’t commit then consider your position.   If we are doing everything we can to collaborate and it’s still not working then you might be simply in the wrong job.

So there you have it, my somewhat idealistic list of a great team player.  It might sound impossible, but I have encountered such positive traits collectively along the way.  I would hope many of them are traits I displayed as a team player myself, although, I’m not sure if my past teams would agree.   I’m sure there are also many to add, what would be your ideal wish list for a great team player?

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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The Emotional Key to a Better Leadership Style

  By Christina Lattimer • September 25, 2013 - 1:40 pm

Leading with Emotional Intelligence and Owning Your Feelings

Yesterday I was picking a business colleague and friend up from our local train station. After battling the morning rush traffic which was an emotional feat in itself, I got to the station only to discover there were major building works. I managed to get into a space at the side of the station which had lots of car parking spaces but had big “no parking” signs because they belonged to a local hotel.

I had arranged to pick my friend up from the pick-up point at the front of the station, and I was already late. Therein lay my dilemma. I didn’t have his mobile number to hand, I couldn’t get to the front of the station, and if I had driven away I had no way of letting him know what was happening.

Acutely aware he would be wondering where on earth I had got to, I decided to jump quickly out of the car and wave to him to signal where I was. I got out of my car door, went onto the path, my friend spotted me after a couple of waves, and as I turned to go back to the car about 2 metres away there was a private car parking attendant writing out a ticket. “You have got to be kidding” I said. He smiled eerily and said “no, you’ve left the car unattended, you can see the signs”, as he proceeded to stick a ticket on my windscreen. Completely astonished, I watched helplessly as he proceeded to take photographs of the empty car no doubt to back up his ticket.

Years ago I would have reacted badly to the sense of injustice, anger and frustration of being so unfairly treated.  At this stage in my life I simply managed to say with great disdain “I don’t know how you sleep at nights”. We then got into the car and left.

I managed to forget about the incident until last evening when I came upon the ticket in my handbag. The emotional annoyance and frustration came rushing back, and the sense of injustice made me look to see what right of appeal I had to the ticket. Awareness of my dislike of the parking attendant made me pause and think about why I disliked him. Of course it was my interpretation of the event which made me dislike him and the perceived hassle I felt I now had by pursuing an appeal. I knew I could interpret the events in a number of ways. He was only doing his job; he must need the money badly; I did not know what pressure he was under to “catch perpetrators”. Of course I had choices about how I would respond too. It might just be easier to pay up and to learn the lesson for next time.

One of the most annoying habits for others I have learned over the years of developing self-awareness is my understanding of the power and responsibility of owning my emotions, and the ability of others to do so also. My kids do not appreciate me rationalising their anger with others when I suggest they may look at the situation in a different way, a vital key to emotional intelligence.  They want to blame others; after all it makes them feel better. And it does for many of us.

We do however always have the power to choose how we will react or respond to any situation. In an extreme example Victor Frankl, the Austrian psychiatrist and holocaust survivor, recounting his experience in the concentration camp said

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Viktor’s story is amazing, he chose to see his guards and captors as imprisoned as he was himself, and honed his emotional intelligence to the degree that he incredulously could even see the good in some of them.

Even in one of the most gruesome events in history Viktor was aware of the knowledge that he could choose how to interpret his experience.

Understanding one’s power to choose one’s reaction to what is happening is one of the key’s to great leadership, as well as emotional intelligence.  You only have to read about the hardships faced by Ghandi, Mandela and others like them to know that these great leaders possessed well developed emotional intelligence, which should be included in more leadership development programmes’.

At work too, being able to choose one’s response when you feel angry, scared, anxious or even gloriously happy is essential if you are going to navigate your way through and win hearts and minds. That’s not to say you never show your feelings, or become a sterile shadow of your real self; it means you choose when it is appropriate to act on with emotional intelligence about how you are feeling. In the sage words of Aristotle

“Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy”

The reason it’s not wise to act on one’s feelings or emotional reaction, always, is because they are often inaccurate.  As human’s we can misinterpret the simplest of things. An employee goes off sick after they’ve been asked to do something differently. You assume they are emotional and angry, when actually you find out they’ve been suffering from depression since their mother died. An employee raises a grievance and you feel threatened and angry with them because you think they are out to get you, until you discover that they have very difficult circumstances at home and no one has taken the time to understand them. Even when the evidence overwhelmingly justifies the way we feel, we can always still choose a response.

The trick is to use your emotions like a guidance system. They are simply giving you some information about what you are experiencing.  Sometimes taking action on emotions is the right thing to do, and sometimes it’s not. As a leader, emotional awareness is a key to making win/win decisions, taking charge of difficult situations and tapping into your intuition. If you let your emotions take charge of you, then you can blindly forge into situations and create irreparable damage.

In my own journey, owning my emotions and not blaming others for how I feel is and was one of my toughest lessons.  Honouring feelings, while choosing an appropriate response is the key to owning emotions. It is only with this knowledge that you can reclaim your personal power, both in life and as a leader.

I still don’t like the fact I got a parking ticket, but I know I can either choose to simply pay up and put it behind me, or I can appeal, using precious time and resources to justify my sense of unfairness. Either way it is a choice. Which one would you choose?

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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3 Reasons Why A Great Engagement Strategy Isn’t Enough

  By Christina Lattimer • August 23, 2013 - 10:44 am

160042113 An engagement strategy means the ability to create an environment where employees are engaged and encouraged to bring out their self-motivation are “must have” leadership skills.

I have worked with many leaders who have made great efforts to put in place a culture which gets the best out of people and gets them involved and committed. But sometimes their efforts simply weren’t, frustratingly, enough. Indeed many organisations invest much time and resource into getting it right, but even though they are well-intentioned, sometimes, often, their initiative is simply doomed; if not to fail, then at best, the outcomes simply don’t live up to expectations.In my experience, there were times, even when the company was doing well, a constant thread of discontent existed amongst the team or even across the whole organisation. For a long time I put this down to human nature. There are positive people and negative people and you can’t get it right 100%: right?I even found times when team and organisational results were high, and leaders were celebrating their successes; employee engagement indicators showed there wasn’t a corresponding “high” in the way employees were buying in or not to the success of the business. In one scenario, one organisation won accolades for leadership excellence when the engagement index for staff was actually sweeping the bottom of the industry league tables. Obviously the criteria for leadership excellence were missing some vital ingredients in engaging and enthusing their people.

For me, I have found, there are three common problems which if not tackled and given focus and attention will leave the best intentioned leaders and managers left scratching their heads in their efforts to create a great working environment. At first glance, most leaders and managers would probably deny these problems are alive and well in their workplace, but often denial can stem from the lack of perspective, given their proximity to the problem.

The three problems, I believe if not tackled will sabotage attempts to engage and motivate people are:

Lack of Drive to Excel

This syndrome often occurs when organisations are getting reasonable results. It’s a little like living with an old and trusted cooker. As long as it’s working and cooking tasty meals, then there’s no need to change. Once it’s broken though, then you will start looking around to see what’s out there, and slam, the realisation that your oven was “in the dark ages” compared to the brilliant new technology available and how much time can be saved with technological advances, comes into your awareness.

Many organisations are still “cooking on gas”, in their minds, but they haven’t caught on to the many brilliant possibilities that exist, if they decided to raise their game, and invest in something new.  In a nutshell, the organisational culture is resistant to operating outside of the established comfort zone, which would have been forced had results been poor or disappointing. Results which were “good enough” didn’t leverage sufficient motivation to change and achieve even better results.

Believing in Average Ability of their Employees

Some 5 years ago, I applied to win a place in a local Academy for my son. In those days Academies in the UK were few and far between. This particular school was amazing. At that time, results showed it was in the top ten schools in England. The school didn’t have formal feeder schools, so each one of its 190 odd intake of pupils was by application. They were and continue to be 2 – 1 oversubscribed.

In my ignorance, I expected the school to favour “bright” children, given its amazing results. What I found, still makes me wonder. The school intake policy includes an obligation to take in pupils from the whole spectrum of “ability” from children who had “special needs” to those who were nearing genius status. The bulk and the majority of children had to be sourced from average to below average results. It worked out at about 70% of the pupils were average achievers when they arrived at the school.

When the head was asked about how they managed to get such amazing results given the mix of abilities, he told the silent parents that unlike other schools, they truly believed that everyone was capable of excelling and so from that belief they got the best out of the vast majority of their pupils.

What I have seen in many organisations is a similar syndrome to that which most schools suffer, unlike the Academy. The general belief in the average ability of a large percentage of their employees which resulted in a self-fulfilling prophesy, i.e. they produced average results in the main.

Lack of Internal Customer Service

I have seen many organisations have great outcome related external customer service policies, and strategies. They have plans to engage people with the organisational “big picture”, “mission” and they hold focus groups and ask people constantly how they can make things better, but they continue to ignore the internal relationships between peers, teams and departments.

Insufficient attention is paid to internal relationships, contribution ethos, innovation, values and helpfulness within an organisation. This is all about internal customer service. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with friendly rivalry between teams if their starting line is that they always act “for the greater good of the organisation”. It doesn’t matter how much effort is put into engaging, planning and rewarding people, if the relationships aren’t designed to “serve” each other as internal customers, excellence is never going to be achieved.

Including some well needed perspective to lift your team out of their comfort zone, help foster self-belief in your people and get your internal customer service to work brilliantly must be part of your plan if you want to be brilliantly successful.

 

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Leaders Make Mistakes Too – 5 Steps to Redeem a Potentially Fatal Error

  By Christina Lattimer • August 15, 2013 - 3:07 pm

Mistakes picture Repeated mistakes are no longer sustainable

Ethics, morality and values based leadership are high on any thought leaders agenda right now. Realisation that materialism, self-gain and profit above ethics is no longer tenable, means leaders now have to be really clear their organisational and personal values, not only have to match, but must be demonstrated on a day-to day basis.

The public outcry in response to the face book status, made by Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In Editor, , is a stark demonstration of how questionable values can destroy trust.

For readers who have not yet followed this undoubtedly viral story, Jessica Bennett’s status invited applications for an “unpaid intern” with a description of the desired skill set and expectations in terms of the intern’s availability.

The response was immediate, with the majority of responders expressing “disgust” at the decision to attempt to get unpaid help, while Lean In’s purpose to promote and foster equality in the workplace, appears to be compromised. To make matters worse, it seems, Sheryl Sandberg’s widely reported sale of  $91 Million Worth Of Facebook Stock”  would suggest the founder of the organisation is not short of a bob or two.

Some brave responders disagreed and suggested the opportunity to gain the experience Lean In could offer would so benefit the intern that to work for free was a “gift”.

At the time of writing Sheryl Sandberg had yet to respond, while the Los Angeles Times, published a a short statement from Lean In.  “Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Lean In, said in a statement: “LeanIn.Org, like many non-profits, has enjoyed the participation of part-time volunteers to help us advance our education and peer support programs.”

Whatever the intention behind the Facebook status, the announcement has not only caused readers to question Lean In’s organisational values, but also demonstrates how different perspectives and views take on a life of their own and can call into question the values of the leader.

The problem with values at work is that actions always speak louder than words. Leaders who say one thing while doing another are simply creating an environment of distrust and division. Care needs to be taken that all actions are aligned to fundamental values. This is true not only when public announcements take place, but when internal decisions are being taken. Every action is conveyed out, and note will be taken, whether the leader likes it or not.

For Lean In, there may be a number of valid explanations for calling to recruit unpaid people to work for the organisation, but lack of clarification or communication is allowing people to simply make up their own minds. At best, this is a badly worded gaffe. At worst, it demonstrates a lack of commitment to organisational values and therefore calls into question the effectiveness of the aims of the organisation.

Like it or not, if you are a leader, there are going to be times when you either communicate inadequately or simply make a wrong call.

I’ve made many mistakes in my time, and the incident which springs to mind, happened only a few years ago.

I had worked hard with my team to foster a culture of inclusion and collaboration, making sure everyone was heard and had a say, where it was appropriate to do so. I also wanted to offer a service to our customers that was second to none, and the team was tasked to develop a strategy to do so.

Ever an opportunist, while this process was going on I got the chance to sign the entire team up for accredited customer service training for peanuts, as the training provider had access to grant funding. After a pretty unscheduled demonstration I signed on the dotted line, thinking I had bagged a brilliant bargain and a great opportunity for my team.

As soon as I made the announcement, I realised of course, I had made a tremendous gaffe. Notwithstanding the training and assignment time was completely in work-time, notwithstanding the team were going to get a recognised qualification, as well as learn the skills of brilliant customer service, all for a price which hardly made a dent in our ever pressed budget; I had violated at least three fundamental values, which I had been at pains to stress over the months I had worked with the team. The first one was simply to communicate with them, the second, to consult with them about major decisions which affected them and the third was to allow them to develop the overall customer service strategy, and take ownership of it.

Thankfully they took me to task about my actions in no uncertain terms. I was within a hairsbreadth of losing their trust forever. I knew my intentions were good, but I also knew I had to do something honest and with integrity to make matters right. The following framework can be applied to most situations, although they may come in different orders depending on the impact of the gaffe.

Admit you were wrong and apologise. I told them I was sorry, and honestly explained that in my enthusiasm to capture what I thought was an amazing opportunity, I had acted too quickly.

Set out your original intention. I wanted to be able to help my team develop exceptional customer service skills. I wasn’t expecting them to study or attend workshops outside of working hours. I also wanted to give them an externally recognisable qualification so it added to their bank of transferable skills. Most of the time, we do make decisions with the best of intentions, even if we haven’t thought through the entirety of our actions. Without being defensive, it is part of being honest to describe your reasons for making the decision.  If well-intentioned then your reasoning is a valid factor.

Get Feedback. It’s no good forging on and making good without really listening to what your team are saying. If you want to make things right, you cannot assume anything. When I first heard objections to the proposal for training, I immediately jumped to the conclusion that the team just didn’t want to commit. Luckily enough I had enough experience to realise this probably wasn’t the case.  When I realised it was because they thought I had tread on their space and usurped their decision making powers, I could not but be grateful that the very values I had tried to introduce were alive and well.

Understand Your Bottom Line. Sometimes good decisions are made in the wrong way, and the outcome is un-negotiable. At other times, there are some options, where some compromise can be made and then you can find a solution within those parameters. In some cases, you just have to put your hands up and ditch your decision. In this situation, having listened to team members, I gave them back their decision making power, and made entry onto the course optional; although it was understood we had to find a way to help those not undertaking the training to find a way to meet the aspirational standards we needed. As it happens every one undertook the training (and passed!).

Make Amends. The customer service you remember is when the provider or supplier goes the extra mile. Things may go horribly wrong, but it is how the supplier deals with the situation that you remember best. It is the same with making a gaffe. It is how you subsequently deal with it which is at the heart of your redemption. As well as all of the above steps, in this case, I asked the team how they wanted to interact with me in the future, to make sure they were fully informed about potential developments and also that I consulted with them. I committed to this and made sure I followed up with my promise because I realised how tenuously close I had been in losing trust.

No doubt it will become apparent what the intentions behind the “Lean In” situation are in reality. It may be decided to quietly withdraw the post and make no announcement. I sincerely hope though they follow the 5 steps above or take similar action to deal with their gaffe.

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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7 Ways to Increase Your Odds of Success

  By Christina Lattimer • August 8, 2013 - 11:40 am
There is no fool-proof way to make sure you reach success in everything you do. If you are a poker player, you will know that no matter how good the cards are; or how well you play them; there is always a chance that you will be “drawing dead”. For those of you who don’t play poker, the term “drawing dead” basically means you are holding a losing hand, but you don’t know it.

Although I’ve reached success on many occasions in my life, I’ve equally often been “drawing dead” on many occasions too. The whole point is that we can intend many outcomes, but more often than not, we simply don’t know how things are going to pan out.

The problem is our conscious minds are, at this stage in our evolution, pretty limited. Scientist Dr Bruce Lipton asserts that and it is this part of the mind which is largely in control. This explains why for example, we might intend to lose those extra pounds or save for that vacation, but no matter what our intention, we carry on with old habits and no change is made.

It can feel pretty scary to think we actually aren’t aware of what controls us. Although if you are prepared to learn and become self-aware it can actually be powerful, because all you have to do in theory is to become aware of those unconscious beliefs and recordings which are driving you and you can make those changes.

Sounds easy? Of course sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. What you have to do to tap into the unconscious mind is to ask the right questions and then be prepared to listen for the answer. In the meantime though we have to make decisions, take action and deal with life.

There are always going to be times when the cards don’t fall your way and things don’t happen the way you want them. There are times when the cards are all lined up and you win that particular hand. What I have learned over the years is a number of strategies which help me make the most of the hand I’ve been dealt and then play them in a winning way.

1. Be clear about the outcome you want and go for it

Having clear outcomes helps you feel purposeful and motivated. Outcomes don’t have to be mind-blowing, life-changing or long-term.  Outcomes can range from, envisaging a peaceful loving meal with the family, or becoming a millionaire. The scope and timing doesn’t matter, what matters is you programme your mind to work towards something you want.

2. Let go of the outcome

Conversely you then need to let go of the outcome. Desperately wanting something to happen simply creates a negativity which just keeps your desires away from you. Also the reason things don’t work out could be for a number of reasons. For example if the peaceful loving meal erupts into world war three, then you might have to learn acceptance or how to help others navigate their own emotions. 

3. Develop strategies and stick to them

If you intend to have a loving peaceful meal with the family, but you know there is a risk that tempers may flare, or somehow conflict might arise, then if you have a strategy to help you deal with that possibility then you will not get exasperated, or frustrated or angry when your desired outcome isn’t being realised. You will find a way to navigate your way through. When I gave up smoking, I developed a strategy to avoid those situations when I knew my craving would be worst. I stuck with the strategy and eventually, I kicked the habit for good. It’s the same with some of your bigger outcomes. Develop strategies designed to achieve your outcome, which will help you deal with disappointment, cover risks and change course when it’s right to do so.

4. Face your worst fears

If you don’t face your worst fears, they will drive you. If you fear you might not achieve your outcome for some reason, then you need to root that fear out and deal with it. If you fear a different outcome, for example your partner might leave you, or you might end up broke, face it. It is only when you repress and stifle fears that your subconscious mind stores them up to trip you up!

5. Have a Plan B

Following on from facing your fears, is to have a “Plan B”. What are you going to do if the worst happens? If you don’t think you are going to be able to bear it, where will you get support? What will you do to get yourself back on track? What happens if your business folds, your job ends, you go broke? How can you put a contingency in place to deal with or help mitigate you realising your worst fears.  Once you have done this and feel at peace with your contingency, then forget about it and focus on what you do want!

6. Be your own best friend

We can be our own worst critics. To increase your chances of success, you need to choose to be your own best friend, your own cheerleader and your soft place to fall. Being your best friend doesn’t mean you don’t let others in your life to be there for you, but given you know yourself best, it’s good to know you are on your own side!

7. Celebrate successes

Success comes in many forms and realising your desires is only one way you can feel successful. Some of my most successful outcomes came from adversity. Finding emotional resilience and better ways to deal with life, is actually a great success can often only be achieved through not getting what you want sometimes. 
 

 

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6 Practical Ways Managers Can Motivate Their Team

  By Christina Lattimer • July 11, 2013 - 9:20 am
6 Practical Ways Managers Can Motivate Their Team

As a young and inexperienced manager, one of my earliest recollections was a challenge by an equally young and inexperienced member of staff. He was popular and influential and he decided that he was going to make life as difficult as he could for me.With little support from anyone experienced, I pondered my options, and worried that day by day my effectiveness as a manager was being diminished by what felt like, his sabotage. One day my dithering was over when after taking an overly extended and extremely inconvenient lunch break he swanned back into office and when I asked to have a quick word, he swore at me in front of the team.

It was a defining moment for me on a number of fronts, the most vital being the consequences of putting off taking decisive action on a team members behaviour well before it reached critical point. Secondly the subsequent events determined a path I was to tread and refine over the years.

What happened in that moment was I realised I wasn’t going to get anywhere if I didn’t harness the commitment and respect of my team. Nor would they work well unless I demanded and expected the best of who they were.

Once we got over the formality of the strong warning he received, I decided to be wholly frank and I explained the effect his behaviour was having, and at the same time I also expressed my disappointment that he was selling himself short. I managed to get him to talk about his future and what he wanted and most importantly painted a vivid picture of where his behaviour was headed and asked him if that was what he wanted. Of course he didn’t. His behaviour changed from that day, and we never looked back. It took him about 5 years, and we had long since lost touch, but when I read he had been appointed to the role he had at that time told me he would love to do, I had to smile.

Whenever I have interviewed managers and asked what they do to motivate their team, the answer to this question displays a manager’s level of self-awareness and confidence about what makes people tick. Often, great motivators are unconscious of the gifts they have as they are natural people managers, or conversely they have made a conscious decision to develop a good understanding of people, and be open and willing to learn what they have to do to get the best out of their team.

If you are a manager and are not sure how to motivate your people, here are 6 practical ways you can improve levels of engagement and increase the commitment and enthusiasm of your team.

  1. People are either “towards” or “away” motivated. “Towards” motivated people need to have their own vision for themselves (hopefully linked to the company vision, but not always), and once they have a picture of what they want then they will work hard to achieve that vision. For these people, your job is to help them develop a personal vision within the company.
  2. With “away” motivated people, you need to be able to help them articulate what they don’t want, so necessary actions can be taken to move away from these possibilities. These people fear the consequences of not taking appropriate action or making much needed changes. Your job is to help them develop the necessary drivers for change. For example, they may feel motivated because they don’t want to get left behind or their jobs may disappear.
  3. People thrive on being able to make decisions and feeling in control. As a manager you can support people by allowing them as much autonomy as you can. The best way is to agree outcome based objectives or goals, without being too prescriptive about “how” outcomes will be achieved. Give your team permission to try different ways and allow them to “fail and learn”.
  4. Instead of having team meetings, hold team “problem solving sessions”, or “driving up performance sessions”. Encourage your team members to have a say in how collective issues, problems or challenges are approached and solved.
  5. Celebrate success. There is no doubt, what you focus on is what you get. If you continually focus on what goes wrong, then you will encounter more of what goes wrong. By celebrating success both as a team and with individuals, you will find more and more to celebrate. Successes can be a range of things. Encourage team members to note when things are going well and when they feel good about something they have achieved, no matter how small, it may seem.
  6. Think, say and act as if you believe the best in your team. Develop a mind-set whereby you believe that people are doing their best and will do better when they know better. Tell people what you appreciate about their contribution, and find ways to internally and externally communicate your belief in them. If things go wrong, then focus on the lessons to be learned, and don’t personalise behaviour.

Never expect less than the best, and eventually that is precisely what you will get with your team. When you expect and respond positively to great contribution and good outcomes; mediocre and lack lustre performance, or performers will slowly but surely fade away.

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How to Work Smart and Ditch The Long Hours Culture

  By Christina Lattimer • June 21, 2013 - 11:20 am

162918808 Working Long Hours is no longer tenable

It amazes me that in this century we are still talking about a long hours culture. Research completed in the UK by the TUC, reported in the Independent earlier this year states that employees in the UK work an average of 7.18 hours in unpaid overtime every week. Interestingly, a recently published survey by showed that only 1 in 10 professionals consider flexible working to be important, amidst speculation this is because they believe it will only be introduced to benefit the business.

“The TUC said some unpaid overtime was down to heavy workloads, but it believes much of the extra hours being put in were down to “pointless presenteeism”, with staff judged on the hours spent at their desk rather than the work they do”.

I’ve worked in and with many organisations with a long hour’s culture, although I’ve never subscribed to such a senseless way of working personally, and if it were demanded of me, I would have asserted my rights.

Before you get the picture that I cheerily leave the office on the stroke of 5.30 every day, I have to say just because I don’t subscribe to a long hours culture, doesn’t mean I sometimes don’t work long hours, because I do, but not because of the culture, but because the ebbs and flows of the work demand it, at times, but not all of the time.

I have known leaders who have judged an employee’s performance by the number of hours they’ve worked, or how late they stayed at the office, but frankly they didn’t engender respect because employees knew their judgement was ill-conceived and more about either wielding power, or as a crutch to stifle their fear of not being able to deliver.

We live 24/7 lives, and economically every employer wants to get every last penny of value from their salaried employees, of course they do.  Although anyone with any real management skills understands if a permanent long hour’s culture is necessary then the business is not being managed well and will not be sustained over the long term.

That’s not to say there aren’t times when employees might be expected to pull out the stops occasionally, for example; if there is a rush order, crisis or a situation which is temporary or seasonal. This has to be balanced with sensible give and take, and a mature attitude and commitment to get done what needs to be done.

Some organisations are resistant to introducing a flexible working regime, or  have created a long hours culture, and are scared to let it go because they believe employees will take advantage of them and want it all their own way. This reluctance I believe stems from a lack of confidence to introduce a way of working flexibly with a win/win outcome. I don’t advocate it’s always easy, but it can be done.

If you have a long hour’s culture or a rigid 9 – 5 culture and you want to change it: Here are some suggestions how to achieve a healthier way of working, which will allow you to ditch long hours for good.

1.  Operate a Smart Performance Regime

Set outcome-based targets and objectives. This will allow employees the freedom to fit work around their own particular style of working as well as their lifestyle. Objectives can be adjusted depending on capability and business needs, but the focus is not on watching the clock

Evaluate productivity. Long hours do not necessarily mean that employees are working to full capacity. It might be that someone who leaves at 3.30pm to pick up the kids every day is more productive than someone who stays till 6.30pm.

Continuously improve efficiency or lean ways of working. The aim here is to make processes and procedures slick and time-bound, the focus being on reducing hours rather than extending them.

2.  Cost out the commercial benefits of a workforce with a healthy work/life balance

Gather together the associated costs with unhealthy working hours. Stress-related absence; or even higher than average sick absence, may be costing the business dearly. The costs of presenteeism, where people attend work when they are ill, are higher than if they were absent. A healthy working pattern can increase employee engagement, lead to greater commitment, reduce turnover, to name a few of the benefits. Develop a matrix of improvements you’d like to see as a result of operating more flexibly to fit with your team’s lifestyle, so you can measure the win/win element.

3.  Set out clear standards and bottom line expectations

There are always boundaries and it is being clear about what these are. If people want to leave early sometimes, then there are always provisos. For example if there are minimum volumes of work to be done or standards have to be met, or even if there has to be someone there to answer the phone. Don’t micromanage, but let teams sort out the arrangements themselves. If standards aren’t met then make sure the team is made accountable. Make it clear flexibility is ok, but that the work has to be done.

4.  Plan for ebbs and flows

Employees need to understand the pattern of ebbs and flows. Although there will always be some unexpected emergencies where employees might need to stay, most situations can be planned. Set out what needs to be done and give the team ownership for delivering.

5.  Show genuine gratitude when employees do pull out the stops

Never let additional effort go without at the very least a “Thank You”. Employees like being appreciated. They want to feel they are making a difference just as much as you do. They will feel they are, if you sincerely feel gratitude to them for going the extra mile when the situation demands.

Remember a healthy work culture may include times when it is right for employees to work long hours for short periods. Motivated and happy staff will often “up their game” when crisis hits or change is occurring.

The trick is to recognise when a long hours’ culture is in place simply for the sake of it. This is when good workers become demotivated as otherwise great performance is ignored because they don’t choose to burn the midnight oil.

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.