embrace your whole life embrace busy embrace hectic embrace chaotic embrace wins embrace losses embrace long task lists embrace non stop meetings embrace employee drama embrace leadership failures embrace fitness embrace eating clean embrace difference embrace pushing yourself much harder than you are now embrace feeling tired embrace the moments you rest and recharge embrace nature embrace your family embrace your friends embrace your colleagues embrace your full life ...and at the end of it all...as you drag yourself across the finish line, tattered and exhausted... ...sit back and smile, because you will have lived every single minute of your life to the absolute fullest.
Superior. Egotistical. Pompous. Domineering. Condescending. Pushy. Mocking. Acerbic. Inconsiderate. There are many words for it, but it all comes down to one thing.
Bully Leaders I'm not sure why I'm still a little surprised each time I hear about a leader who behaves like a bully in the workplace. Considering the massive amount of awareness out there relative to workplace bullying, you would like to think this issue had gone by the way of copier codes we used to assign employees. But sadly, the people our employees should trust the most are the ones they sometimes need to be wary of the most. It turns out, your job title doesn't afford you the opportunity to be a bully, your ridiculous behavior simply destroys your credibility while you strut around acting like you are the second coming. Harsh? Not one bit. Try being on the receiving end of a bully leader's behavior. It's horrible. Holding the Bully Leader Accountable Despite the coaching and guidance we provide to employees who become targets, there is only one legitimate way to address bulling behavior. It is a tactic that I have used repeatedly over the years, and it is incredibly effective. Here are the steps I've found that shut down the bully leader: 1. Immediately confront the bully and require (not ask) that the behavior stop. 2. Advise them that under no circumstances will they have access to your team members unless they work directly through you. 3. Allow for some time to pass before you meet with the bully to set your expectations going forward based on their specific behavior choices. (this delay will remove their sense of control and shift the power to you)
How About You I don't even need to ask if you know who the bully leaders are in your organization. My real question is...what are you doing about them? I'd love to hear from you. No Excuses. pic
Work is hard. Successful work is even harder. For those that have moved up the ranks, or aspire to one day, there is a new requirement that must be addressed. That "requirement" is staring back at you in the mirror every morning as you contemplate your jam packed day ahead. (The same day that you say is so busy you don't have time to work on the requirement....but that's none of my business.) You Have A Story My story really kicked into gear when I googled myself a number of years ago. Sure, I found a "Jay Kuhns"...unfortunately the only one I could find had been a physician in Hawaii in the 1940s. That's right. Despite being a Vice President of Human Resources at a well respected hospital, I was invisible. Hello, reality check. Reinventing Myself The stark reality of having a strong career but nothing to show for it outside my organization was downright depressing. I was beginning to realize the power of personal brands (I prefer the term Leader Brand); and how a person's brand could be used to differentiate themselves and their organizations in the market. To make things worse, I often said I was a "brand ambassador" for my hospital, yet I was not posting, retweeting, or sharing any of my own organization's content. Massive failure on my part. By the way...the SAFEST content to share is from your own company. It has already been fully vetted and approved...so why isn't every leader automatically sharing it? Here we go... Step 1. Eat a massive helping of humble pie. I do it regularly to keep myself grounded. Step 2. Start building your social profiles on the big three. - twitter - Linkedin - facebook
Step 3. Post content every day. Once you get comfortable with it you'll need less than 10 minutes. I know you have 10 minutes, so don't use the "time" excuse. Step 4. Be amazed as you "suddenly" become someone that is viewed as a contemporary thought leader who understands and uses modern tools for business. Oh, and every person you'll ever hire again is using these tools, so imagine what they'll think when they are researching whether or not they want you to be their boss?
How About You There is so much more to discuss about building your brand, but in order to go deeper you must first get started. Start today. No more excuses...no more jokes about social media being a waste. It is not a waste. It is an incredibly powerful tool for business that you must start using now. I will help you. (I get kind of fired up about this stuff.) I'd love to hear from you. No Excuses. pic
When I started my career I used to worry about a lot of things. Sometimes the level of worry stopped me from getting my work done. At other times I moved so slowly that when I finally did make a decision it was so agonizingly late that it didn't impact the situation at all. Worry is not only over rated...it is completely useless. Completely. Useless.
I Used to Worry About 1) Looking bad in front of my colleagues But I don't care anymore because now I focus on doing the right thing regardless of what they think. 2) Confronting my colleagues because they may not "like me" But I don't care anymore, because it actually hurts them and my organization when accountability becomes optional.
3) Adopting "best practices" But I don't care anymore, because someone else's best practice has little or nothing to do with my corporate culture, team, technology, or values. 4) Taking risks But I don't care anymore, because I learned that taking risks is the only way to achieve breakthrough performance. How About You Do you play it safe and benchmark your work to justify every move you make? How's that working out for you? Maybe it's time you stopped caring too? You may just make the biggest impact of your career. I'd love to hear from you. No Excuses. pic
Mission Statements. Values. Codes of Ethics. Guiding Principles. ...lots of important words... But, The words don't matter in a good ol' boy corporate culture. You Can't Hide From Your Decisions I've been working for a long time. During the last twenty years I've been fortunate to serve in leadership roles...and have seen all sorts of "leadership" behavior. The employees see those behaviors too. Sometimes I wonder if "those leaders" actually believe the action they take in the workplace is invisible to the masses? In the world of #HealthcareHR the employee population is particularly bright. Physicians, nurses, therapists, legions of support staff that are oriented and trained to work in an incredibly intense environment, and a long list of other professionals with advanced degrees all fill these organizations. Yet for some unknown reason, the same "club" continues to dominate. How is this possible in 2016? Stop Shaming Yourself and Your Organization There are so many challenges facing companies today. An unpredictable economy, tremendous government regulatory interference, huge numbers of retiring employees (who leave with valuable skills and experience), and of course the ongoing struggle to integrate contemporary business strategies into our work. There simply is no time for arrogance, sexism, racism, and for God's sake there is absolutely no time for men to cling to some neanderthal-type hold on power. One might suggest if we had a different looking executive profile the business world could produce better results.
How About You Who do you follow? Are they passionate about all races, backgrounds, and see gender as a non-issue? Or, do their true colors come out behind closed doors or when their insecure egos are threatened?
Quick poll: how many of you have executives running around your organization getting into everyone else’s business? These same leaders are often focused on their own popularity instead of tackling the real issues facing organizations in a thoughtful, intentional way.
…and how many of your other colleagues wish “someone” would do something about it?
We Created This Problem
Perhaps I’m reaching a bit, but here goes. At times if feels as if society has created a mindset that almost demands we avoid hurting people’s feelings at all costs, raising controversial topics, or…heaven forbid…holding people accountable!
What if they don’t like me anymore?
What will “they” think about me?
I’m not good at confrontation.
Well, I have to ask…what the heck are you doing in a leadership role? This is not daycare.
Let’s Ask Ourselves
Have we created a new generation of weak leaders who are proud to have finished 9th, and no longer understand their obligation to get results (in a thoughtful way…yes, it can be done.)
Are the legions of junior level executives now positioned to assume true leadership roles, actually ready to take that next step?
By the way…age has NOTHING to do with this dilemma. We all see leaders who are “older" yet behave as if they are still trying to win a popularity contest instead of taking bold decisive action.
How many times do they need to admit that they made a mistake before we relieve them of the burden of their own "leadership?"
Solving the Problem
How do we correct this situation quickly? There is a simple solution, yet I don’t think many will follow this path. It will require standing alone while your colleagues watch and wonder what will happen to you.
Confront the leader who wants a piece of the action directly. Directly.
Directly. (are you with me?)
How About You
Are you exhausted from managing the behavior of the executives in your organizaiton? Trust, that you are not alone. Make the decision to step up and do what everyone wants “someone” to do.
"I knew things needed to change. I just didn't feel like I was staying as current as I used to do so effortlessly. It felt like my job had changed, the industry had changed...and somehow I was suddenly stuck in place." Realization I remember when I realized I was on the precipice of becoming irrelevant in my work. Oddly enough, it happened when I was settling in to one of the most important roles of my career. I had just accepted a VP of HR position and could not have been more excited. All those years of hard work and sacrifice had come together. The people I was going to be working with were terrific, and as I would find out later, were willing to try very new ideas. But first...I came to a chilling realization.
"If I kept the same mindset...the same approach...and the same attitude about HR leadership...I would no longer deserve to be in my job."
Talk about a buzz kill! I felt like I was moving from hero to zero in no time. Something had to change, and I knew what...or rather who...had to change. Commitment Sadly, role models for my transformation could not occur in the healthcare human resources space. There simply weren't any leaders taking risks or doing innovative work (that they shared!) particularly when it came to employer brand, recruitment, or candidly, getting results. I decided to watch and learn from other leaders and industries and then apply those approaches to myself and my work. It was scary at first. It was difficult to explain at first. It was slow at first. Until it wasn't scary, or hard or difficult. Why? Because actually working in 2016 vs holding on tight to your 1992 mindset changes everything. How About You Maybe it's time you took a hard look at what you are actually required to deliver in your work. I had to do it. It turns our that the human resources department is not the core business of any organization. We are the jet fuel that helps each company deliver world class results in an ultra competitive world. Are you ready to go for it? I'm here to help. I'd love to hear from you. No Excuses. pic
