Forge Something New

I like to think I'm a reasonably well-adjusted adult with a good perspective on the world of work after more than twenty-five years in leadership. I believe I have something to offer both my organization, and the clients I serve.

I like to think I know what to do…but I’m not entirely sure sometimes.

Maybe that feeling hits you too?

Sometimes.

Feeling a bit stuck is not unusual for leaders at any stage of their career. Wondering if the effort, stress and pressure is worth the trouble is a common mental journey we all take from time to time. Add the anxiety of making the right decision at the right moment and you have a recipe for a leadership break down.

Having someone to connect with, to work through current challenges, and plan a path forward to advance your career is a normal, and candidly, healthy way to build your professional life.

I’ve never been more passionate about the opportunity leaders have today. Think about it…the world is in absolute turmoil…work rules have changed…employee expectations of their employers have changed…and leaders are the ones who can grab hold of all of this and forge something completely new.

Let’s connect and talk about how you are going to transform…for real…yourself and your organization.

Thanks for being here.

Jay

Getting to Neutral

He was on the fast track. Brought in to the organization to help turnaround a woefully ineffective department. His arrival was filled with high energy, creative ideas, and a level of brainpower not seen in that department before. Fundamental problems were tackled, poor performers were moved out, and a new team was born. Everything was on the right track.

Until it wasn't anymore.

Being Really Smart is Good

Our specialized world has seen the role of generalists fade into history. Whether we're talking about information technology, engineering, health care, human resources, or a host of other professions, it is rare to see someone who can jump from role to role and not only understand the details, but also create valuable work product. 

When we find leaders that are bright enough to understand the details of a job and have the interpersonal skill set to bring the team along too it's terrific. This combination of brainpower and personality can make all the difference in the life of a team.

Being Unable to Understand Boundaries is Really Bad

We all struggle to work with people who are really bright, yet lack the leadership awareness to understand how crucial interpersonal skills are when leading others. How can this be? Perhaps the most important leadership skill of all is the ability to communicate effectively. So where have we failed the bright minds that can contribute so much, yet end up failing miserably because they can not interact with others? 

Whether they are socializing too closely with their team members, participating in office gossip, or clearly showing who their "favorites" are, these leaders ultimately fail due to their inability to understand how important boundaries are in the workplace.

Should the organization tell new leaders that they aren't supposed to socialize with their direct reports? Is it a secret that playing favorites will ultimately bring down the leader, not the people who aren't on their favorites list? Isn't this obvious?

 

Being Humble is Really Necessary

So how does the leader attempt to salvage an almost impossible situation? The first step is understanding that they are wrong. Simply because they are smart and have a vision of how things are supposed to be means nothing. 

Crossing the line with the team negates the innovative ideas, breakthrough thinking, and opportunities further down the line in their careers. Everything stops until self-awareness kicks in.

The second step, and most difficult of all, is to publicly acknowledge their failings. This is where most leaders bristle at the thought and fall short of the potential for turning their situation around. You see the world loves giving people second chances. We all watch as tearful apologies are aired over and over on television. Why do we watch? Because we get a level of satisfaction from knowing we were right, they were wrong, and now things can get back to normal. Right?

How About You

The long and painful process of recognizing personal failure is not easy to get through. The only real goal is to hope that through a sustained effort of publicly apologizing to the team, truly changing behavior, and improving one's interpersonal skill set that one day that leader will get to a level of neutral with the team. Neutral isn't sexy, but it beats the heck out of failure.

I'd love to hear from you.

  

No Excuses.

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Vengeance Will Be Mine

There is a delicate balance in leadership. I see the struggle play out regularly. It seems to me we've evolved our collective corporate lives into something very different from our personal ones. In so doing, we leave behind the messages of support we tell our friends and family, being there for them, and forgiving them when they make an honest mistake.

In the world of work, we've created cultures that are far too often risk averse, mired in negativity and have our team members worried about making even the slightest mistake. 

This simply can not be. Our hyper-competitive world simply will not survive under the weight of an old school command and control management style. 

Beware the New World

As the corporate world begins to open it's eyes to the possibilities of a new way to work (and more and more old school leaders retire) we are beginning to see real change take place.

What hasn't changed however are the pressures and expectations on leaders to deliver. In fact, the corporate post-recession business model seems to be focused on a new obsession with "do more with less."

This simply can not be. I'm a huge fan of efficiency...and don't mind going through some pain to achieve it. But simply being "nicer" while having an underlying my-way-or-the-highway leadership style is candidly a huge fail. Huge. Fail.

Temptations Are Everywhere

Power is what most often seems to get in the way of good work. As the pressure from the senior leadership team flows down, the middle managers have no choice but to succumb to the culture that has been established. 

"Culture is what senior leaders do, not what they say, or post on a plaque, or put in a press release. Yes, words are powerful...but action is culture."

Yet it is so hard to resist the trappings of power, and authority and a fancy job title to make sure good work gets done! When the desire to wrap oneself in their ego drives decision-making  because "they know their view is the correct one" then it's time to call it a day. None of us have all the answers. But collectively all of us do.

Are you with me?

How About You

The culture chase is a tricky one. On one hand we in leadership have an incredible opportunity to transform our organizations. On the other, we have the opportunity to create chaos. Just so we're all clear, chaos is bad. Right?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

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HR Is Never Linear

I had a shocking realization last week. Once it happened, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I think it may alter the course of my entire life. Okay, maybe not that last part. But still, it was a whack to my head with the reality stick.

Process Flow is the Way to Go

Oh my gosh did I believe this to be true! My team has spent months mapping out, correcting, and streamlining our internal processes. They’ve embraced the challenge of modernizing a "personnel" system into a well-running human resources machine…and they’ve done a terrific job.

But last week I learned something that lays over the top of our best processes.

Humans Are Awesome, I Think

My epiphany came during a discussion with one of my colleagues who was expressing frustration that one of our searches was moving along in a haphazard fashion. We had some of the pieces in place, but for some reason we weren’t following a nice orderly process.

Eureka! Hello reality!

When was the last time an issue that involved human beings followed an orderly process? Answer -> NEVER! Welcome to the world of HR. It’s no wonder our management teams never quite understand what we do. We’re the ones dealing with people exclusively, while they have the structure and protocol of month end financials, computer programming, supply processes, sales orders and many other routine systems to follow. (I know they all don't go smoothly, but you get the point.)

How About You

We do not have the luxury of always following a neat and tidy process for every issue that pops up. We have to deal with the human component 100% of the time and that makes it different, every time.

As for me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’d love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



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