Archive for June, 2009

A Generation Y Benefit

No, I’m not suggesting that Generation Y has only one benefit.  Nor am I suggesting that Generation Y has a leg up on other generations.  In fact, as I am famous for saying, “Where There Are People - There Are Issues.”  This truth applies to all generations.  And, all generations, with their unique perspective, bring vast talents (and issues) to the marketplace.

However, Generation Y has a unique benefit.  Generation Y is called that because of their propensity to ask, “Why?”  It can drive managers from prior generations crazy. 

Instead of viewing this characteristic as a annoyance, why not capitalize on it?  Use Generation Y’s willingness to raise issues, question decisions and move on to better opportunities as an early warning system.  If you pay attention to the issues being raised by Generation Y in your workforce, you might be able to detect a looming organizational issue before it takes on a life of its own. 

Like a canary in a coal mine, you’ll be able to detect a small issue before it becomes a threat to the organization.

3 Steps To Get More ROI From Your Employees

We don’t like to think of employees in a cold/harsh sense like ROI (Return On Investment), but at the end of the month/year, the bottom line tells the cold/harsh reality or warm/celebratory reality.

Improving sales or gross profit or profits or employee performance are outcomes to be achieved.  The key question is how do you make these things happen?  The answer is to get more of a return on your investment in your employees.  This is an area with hidden profit potential and most of your competitors will ignore this opportunity.

Here’s how it works in three steps:

• First, compare an employee’s current performance on their top 3 primary tasks/duties against the performance of a “peak performer” in the same position.  This is critical because a peak performer provides a substantially higher ROI than an average performer.
• Second, write down what’s different between the performance of your employee and a peak performing employee in the same position? 
• Third, answer the question “Why is there a gap?”  Answer that question and you have an action plan for building a peak performer. 

The action steps may include equipping the employee with some additional knowledge or skills.  However, the action step might also be the realization that this employee doesn’t have the raw talent to perform this task/duty at a peak performance level.  If this is the case, you may have an action step that you don’t want to face, but your company’s results depend on what you do in situations like this.

We help organizations with issues like this every day.  It’s not easy, but there is a significant return on investment.

Successful vs. Effective Leadership

In my work with clients over the years, one discussion comes up more than any other.  It’s the distinction between successful and effective leadership.

Let’s start at the beginning.  Leadership is necessary because one person cannot accomplish all that needs to be done.  There isn’t enough time.  Things have to happen simultaneously.  Specialized expertise is needed.  More input results in better ideas and decisions.  And, so on.  So, someone has to coordinate the work of others.

In my last post, I defined leadership as opposed to managing or coordinating.  Today, I want to focus on the distinction between successful leadership and effective leadership.

If you give out work assignments assignments and employees complete them, you’ve been successful.  One question to consider is why you have been successful.  Maybe employees did the work because they like the work.  Maybe they did the work because if they don’t do the work, it may, over time, put their employment at risk.  Maybe they did the work to make money to support their boat racing habit.  Who knows.  In any case, if they completed the work, you have been a successful leader.

But, have you been effective?  We acknowledged at the outset that leadership is necessary because one person can’t accomplish all the work that one person is responsible for, right?  For that reason, we need leaders who are more than successful.  We need leaders who are effective. 

Effective leaders are those who influence others to work on achieving organizational objectives even when the leader is off working on other areas of his/her responsibility.  In other words, employees will work toward achieving the organization’s objectives because they, like the leader, are committed to achieving the organizational objective.  When leaders are effective, they multiply their efforts and their results five to ten fold because they have influenced others that the organizational goal is worthy of their best effort.

What kind of leader are you?  Do you strive for success or effectiveness?

To learn more about the difference in organizational results for organizations with effective leaders, call or write for the details.

A Working Definition of Leadership

I define leadership as the act of influencing others toward organizational objectives.

Leadership requires influence.  If you’re managing a project, giving out assignments to team members and coordinating what items can be checked off the list, I’m not sure you’re really leading.  In the true leadership context, the definition of influence is to affect or to sway.  Team members may not be influenced by your direction as much as they are by the fact that they like the work or that there are consequences if they don’t do the work.  So, avoid automatically crediting management experience as leadership experience.

Secondly, leadership is the process of influencing others toward an organizational goal.  Leadership to achieve organizational objectives is necessary because the leader can’t do all the work him/herself.  Believe me, if it were possible, the leader would have done the work him/herself if they could have.  It’s easier than leading others to get the work done. 

Whether it’s the soccer team, a church committee or a manager and his/her employees, the purpose for our influence is to achieve an organizational objective.  Despite our different interests and motivations, the leader’s job is to get his/her followers to accomplish organizational objectives.  Unlike the weight loss class teacher who wants each person to achieve their own goal, true leadership requires pulling different people with different skill sets, diferent experience, different opinions and different motives together to accomplish organizational objectives.

Keep these distinctions in mind as you select and develop leaders in your organization.

Next up:  Successful vs. Effective leadership