Trusting you makes them happy

 

The number one reason employees are
happy is they trust their leaders (Lamb & McKee).

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Surprisingly, less than half of employees have trust and confidence in their senior managers (Baldoni, Lead Your Boss).

Six Creative Ways to Build Trust

1. Declare what you want rather than what you don’t want. Saying what you don’t want stops things. Saying what you do want instills confidence to starts things.
2. Trust is based not only on openness but on keeping a confidence. What you don’t say builds trust.
3. Honesty plus ability builds trust. An honest electrician isn’t competent to renovate a master bathroom. He may be perfectly honest. However, don’t trust him with your toilet.
4. Explain organizational performance. For example, don’t hide financial successes in order to keep people hungry.
5. It’s hard trusting the captain when the ship’s adrift. Stand on the bow with telescope in hand and bravely call out the course. Do your people know where you are going?
6. Let people know how they fit in and what their work means. Say something like, “When you do “X” it makes a difference.”  Explain the positive difference others make.

Leader as Trust Builder

Employee satisfaction is a complex mix of many factors. Research demonstrates the number one satisfaction-factor is they trust their leaders. Ask yourself the hard question, “Are my employees satisfied?” Perhaps the harder question is, “What am I intentionally doing to build trust?”

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(The central premise of this post comes from research done by Lawrence Lamb and Kathy McKee (2005), Applied Public Relations: Cases in Stakeholder Management)

Additional reading, “How Investing in Intangibles — Like Employee Satisfaction — Translates into Financial Returns.”

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How can leaders build trust?

What other factors lead to employee satisfaction?

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Four Ways Managers Roadblock Productivity

“Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.” Peter Drucker

Four ways managers roadblock productivity

1. Talking – Managers that roadblock work talk too much. Your people want you to leave them alone.
2. Meetings – Too many meetings that include too many people that share too much detail. Here’s some motivation to abbreviate or cancel meetings. They are expensive. A one hour meeting with 8 people in attendance costs their combined salaries plus lost productivity. Remember, you don’t get anything done in a meeting. Things get done after meetings.
3. Reporting – Requesting too many reports that include too much irrelevant detail that takes up too much space in file cabinets. One reason you ask for all the detail is to cover your butt. It’s a business culture issue. People expect you to know the details of all the projects you manage. Sadly, if you know all the details of all the projects you manage, you aren’t managing to your highest potential. I realize this is an organizational-culture issue.
4. Projects rather than people – It’s instinctive to focus on projects and deliverables. However, it’s more effective and efficient to give clear direction, encouragement, and motivation to your people than it is to get directly involved in long-term projects.

Enhancing productivity may not be about doing more and working harder. It may be about doing less.

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How do managers make it difficult to get work done? (Please scroll below the community update to add your comment)

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The leader’s secret weapon

Curious George

Peter Drucker famously said, “My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions.”

Your secret weapon is curiosity.

5 Tips

1. Curious leaders stop having all the answers and start having all the questions. The problem with answers is they don’t teach you anything. In some ways, answers end thinking.
2. Curious leaders reflect healthy confidence. Weak leaders don’t ask question for fear of looking weak. If you want to look strong while asking a question say, “Tell me more.”
3. Curiosity energizes and ennobles. Thoreau said, “The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.”  Listening lifts people.
4. Curious leaders demonstrate interest in others and by so doing they instill hope. Napoleon explained that, “A leader is a dealer in hope.”
5. Curious leaders express knowledge. Good questions demonstrate you understand the situation and the challenges.
6. Bonus Tip: Ask the hard questions.

5 Warnings

1. Too many questions without answers reflect weakness.
2. Some questions put others on the hot-seat. Allow prep time for technical questions.
3. Don’t ask if you don’t want to know. However, you probably should want to know.
4. Ask “what” questions first and “how” questions later. Leaders are concerned about what is currently being done or not done and what should be done tomorrow.
5. Don’t answer your own question. That’s just rude.

“A leader has to show curiosity. He has to listen to people outside of the “Yes, sir” crowd in his inner circle. The inability to listen is a form of arrogance. It means either you think you already know it all, or you just don’t care.” (Where have all the Leaders Gone, by Lee Iacocca).

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What blocks curiosity in leaders?

What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of being a curious leader?

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If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy:

Too many questions!

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The Power of Ignorance

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What if you aren’t talented and smart?

If you aren’t talented:

1. Build strategic relationships rather than working on your own.
2. Solve the frustrations of others.
3. Develop a reputation as a finisher.
4. Follow your passion. “Passion trumps everything,” Gary V.
5. Succeed at tasks others don’t want.

If you aren’t smart:

1. Help others solve their own problems rather than offering solutions.
2. Put others in the spotlight rather than seeking glory.
3. Listen more, talk less.
4. Ask, “How can I help?”
5. Express compassion.

Here’s another advantage of lacking talent and brains. You don’t intimidate others. That means they’re more likely to welcome you into their world. You have opportunity for powerful, positive influence. That makes you a leader.

Don’t overestimate the power of talent and brains. We all know individuals with talent and brains that are under-employed or spinning their wheels.

You don’t need smarts and talent to do the 10 things I listed. However, you’ll seem smart and talented if you do them.

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What’s more important than talent and brains?

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If you enjoyed this post, I bet you’ll enjoy: “Go with Average Joe”

The Joe's strike back

 

Don’t miss a single issue of Leadership Freak, subscribe today. It’s free.  It’s private.  Go to the main page of Leadership Freak by clicking the banner at the top of this page, look in the right-hand navigation bar, enter your email and click subscribe.  Your email address is always kept private.  Note:  if it doesn’t arrive, check your spam filter for a confirmation email.

Don’t listen to lazy people

Learn from critics, experts that dissent, those that adopt your mission but question the vision. Listen to lessons-learned from those that tried and failed. But don’t listen to lazy people.

Lazy people lean away from work and toward indolence. Lazy people are excuse makers, complainers, blame casters, and problem finders. They focus on not doing and avoidance. Actionable suggestions are met with, “Yeah, but …”

Lazy people minimize the exertion of others, “it was nothing,” they say. That’s because they don’t value work. They don’t appreciate the price of success – labor. They demoralize workers.

Listening to lazy people is like taking anchors into your soul and stuffing rocks in your pockets.

In my opinion, lazy people dream of success without disruption and rigor. Their idea bin overflows with shiny unused nuggets. They talk it but they don’t walk it.

Clarification

Not everyone who complains or points out problems is lazy. I’ve seen ungrateful people work hard. Additionally, not doing as an exercise in efficiency is not lazy.

Listen to doers

The problems doers point out are more likely real rather than imagined. They say things like, “If you do it that way …”

Experienced doers suggest actionable items.

If you align experienced doers with your mission and vision, you’re more likely to enjoy valuable input and feedback.

Run

Lazy people don’t lack dreams and ideas. They are full of suggestions that provide work for others. If you have a lazy person in your corner, plug your ears and beat feet.

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Have you allowed lazy people to hold you back?

What type of person gives you the most useful input and feedback?

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What you know makes you dumb

Peter Drucker said, “Far too many people – especially people with great expertise in one area-are contemptuous of knowledge in other areas or believe that being bright is a substitute for knowledge.”

Leaders in religious organizations know matters of faith and may believe their knowledge of sacred texts is a substitute for sound leadership and management principles.

Managers in the manufacturing arena know matters of process, procedure and constant improvement. They may believe knowledge of Lean Manufacturing principles is a substitute for understanding matters of the heart and meaning.

Warning

Detail oriented people may believe more attention to detail results in organizational success. Visionaries believe dreams drive success and planners think we need more plans. All the while, executors are sick of all this vain babbling. They think, “Just shut-up and do something already!”

Concentrations of Dumbness

If Drucker is right, the most talented may be the most dangerous. Furthermore, the highest concentrations of dumbness might be found at the highest levels of an organization, where expertise abounds. Edward De Bono put it this way, “Those who think they know – don’t.”

Dealing with expertise induced dumbness

1. Learn about yourself through intentional reflection, systematic examination, and 360 degree feedback. It’s likely you don’t know yourself as well as you think. We deceive ourselves.
2. Create teams consisting of cross-functional experts. Don’t let all the sales people in a room by themselves.
3. If you’re a talker, listen to the quiet people.
4. Create safe, legitimate channels of input and feedback from those in the trenches.
5. Approach problems and projects from diverse personal-viewpoints. How would a 20 year old solve this problem versus a 50 year old. (single, married, retired, male, female, w/children, etc.)

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What expressions of expertise induced dumbness have you seen?

How might individuals and/or organizations deal with expertise induced dumbness?

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Related post:

Your strength is your weakness

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Don’t miss a single issue of Leadership Freak, subscribe today. It’s free.  It’s private.  Go to the main page of Leadership Freak by clicking the banner at the top of this page, look in the right-hand navigation bar, enter your email and click subscribe.  Your email address is always kept private.  Note:  if it doesn’t arrive, check your spam filter for a confirmation email.

Ignite High Performance Emotions

She said, “I think you want people to be afraid of you.”

The higher you go the more serious your face looks. You may mistakenly believe a serious look makes you appear important. On the other hand, it may be a tool of intimidation. It may make you unapproachable.

What to do and what to feel

You meet with individuals and teams to solve problems, develop strategies, and create forward movement.  You’re always asking yourself what needs to get done next.

All successful action-meetings include the powerful question, “Who does what by when?” I’m suggesting you ask a question that goes beyond assigning responsibilities and executing plans.

Have you asked yourself how you want others to feel when the meeting’s over or your exchange ends? Are you intentionally creating emotional states that lift others higher and take your organization further?

Don’t leave emotions to chance.

Leaders depend on the competence of others to achieve organizational objectives. Shouldn’t you want others to feel confident and competent? Does your tone, facial expressions, and body language tell others you trust them, you believe in them, you support them?

You have the power to motivate through fear and intimidation. You also have the power to ignite inner energy, to enable and ennoble. Are the people around you just collecting pay checks or are they passionate contributors? A pay-check culture lacks emotion. If you’re leading a pay-check culture, chances are you either created it or you’re feeding it. Perhaps they reflect you.

Stop being distant and oppressive in order to be impressive. Inspiring others makes you impressive in new ways. Expressing confidence in others bolsters their confidence in themselves and in you. Is it time for you to intentionally ignite high performance emotions?

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What emotional states best enable achievement?

What can leaders do to create high performance emotional states in others?

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How to toot your own horn?

Image source

Successful managers lift, enable, and release others for peak performance and maximum results. But when others succeed, who gets the credit?

Don’t think it doesn’t matter who gets the credit, it does.

Mid-level managers give and get the credit

If those over you don’t realize how you lifted and enabled a peak performer, the success of a person you “secretly” lifted may make you seem incompetent. To make matters worse, credit-stealing backstabbers below you along with ignorant, disengaged, or self-promoting leaders above you may result in a career-disaster. If others consistently get the credit for work you’ve done, you’re done.

Written reports

Written reports to disengaged or distant managers must include samplings of how you lifted, enabled, and released peak performers. Briefly explain how you coached someone into a supervisory role. You can write something like, “I’m excited about Mary’s potential as a supervisor. She immediately implemented my suggestions on giving positive feedback to others.”

Conversations

In conversations, occasionally explain your lifting and enabling activities. Avoid seeming braggadocios by asking your boss to suggest other strategies and techniques for enabling peak performance. You might say to your boss, “I’m working with Bob to mitigate his abrasive behavior by encouraging him to more frequently express gratitude. Do you have other suggestions?”

Braggadocios

The danger of letting others know about your success is coming off like a braggart. Temper this by always expressing sincere gratitude for others and thankfulness for opportunities to make contributions. In addition, frequently honor those who enabled you.

Dangerous reluctance

You may be reluctant to let the spotlight shine on you. However, opportunities for advancement and increased influence are rooted in others understanding and appreciating your competencies. You may be thinking, “I’ll let the work speak for itself.” However, from an organizational perspective,  if the right people don’t know about your work, your work won’t matter.

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What are the worst ways to shine the light on your own work?

How can a person highlight their own success or competency without seeming arrogant or degrading others?

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Don’t miss a single issue of Leadership Freak, subscribe today. It’s free.  It’s private.  Go to the main page of Leadership Freak by clicking the banner at the top of this page, look in the right-hand navigation bar, enter your email and click subscribe.  Your email address is always kept private.  Note:  if it doesn’t arrive, check your spam filter for a confirmation email

The Next Level

Recently promoted from manager to leader? Want to be? Looking to enhance your leadership potential? If yes, I suggest you sit up and pay attention to Scott Eblin’s book, The Next Level.

Making it?

Mathematically, the chances you’ll make it to executive or C-level leadership in your organization are slim. Furthermore, if you do, there’s a 40% chance you’ll crash and burn within 18 months (Center for Creative Leadership).

In, The Next Level, Scott Eblin responds to four central reasons leaders fail. (As reported by the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University)

• Ineffective Communication
• Poor Work Relationships and Interpersonal Skills
• Failure to Clarify Direction or Performance Expectations
• Failure to Adapt and Break Old Habits

Patterns free your mind to focus. I love the clear, repetitive pattern of, The Next Level. Every chapter begins with something to pick up and something to let go. Additionally, every chapter ends with a summary of ten tips. Scattered throughout the text are Data Points and Coaching Moments that add variety and interest. Finally, tons of powerful stories and insightful interviews opened my mind and validated key insights.

Scott presents balanced material on both picking up and letting go. In my opinion, the “letting go” material is the strength of The Next Level. In a recent conversation, Scott said to me, “Smart people are really good at picking up. They aren’t as good at letting go because it’s an emotional challenge.” (Full Interview: In Over His Head)

Six things successful leaders let go:

• Doubting in how they contribute
• Self-Reliance
• Responsibility for a few results
• Running flat out till they crash
• Letting go of an inside-out view of your function
• A small-footprint view of your role

I’ve intentionally excluded the “picking up” side of Scott’s ideas to instigate conversation. If you need more information, ask Scott.

News Flash: Scott Eblin will be in the house today (Jan. 20) responding to your questions and comments. If you’ve been promoted recently or you want to earn a promotion, Scott Eblin has experience and insights that can enhance your potential and save you a world of hurt.

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As individuals move up in an organization what behaviors should they let go? What should they pick up?

What are some reasons 40% of newly promoted leaders fail within 18 months?

The Greatest Leadership Challenges

Last Thursday I asked this question over in the Leadership Freak Coffee Club, “What are the greatest challenges of Leadership?” Here are a few responses from that lively conversation.

Stop managing when you should be leading.

Beverly replied: One of the greatest leadership challenges is, “Remembering to lead and not manage. (Particularly difficult for the micro managers who always think they can do it better).”

Beverly is aware of what I’ll call the “Bottle Neck of Excellence.” It’s the belief that everything has to be done as good as you can do it. In reality, some things just need to get done. Sometimes good enough is good enough.

Susan adds that we should know …”the difference between microbrew and micromanage. One allows the ingredients to do their own thing once they get started.” I love the metaphor of microbrew. Put the right ingredients together and let them work.

Living up to your reputation and/or other’s expectations

Julia said the greatest leadership challenge is “staying believable. If you create the hype you’ve got to live up to it.”

Reputation building is a real and perhaps uncomfortable component of leading.

The obvious response is don’t create hype, be real. However, in the end this isn’t always realistic. Successful leaders learn how to highlight their strengths and minimize weaknesses. Additionally, you’re competing with smoke blowers, great pretenders, and backstabbers that claim they can do more than they can do. Research shows excelling at office politics works.

In reality, this is an organizational culture issue. Some organizations welcome “realness,” others thrive on hype, image, and façade. If you’re about authenticity, and I hope you are, find an organization that embraces it. You’re in for trouble if you live “real” in a “hype” environment.

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In your opinion, what are the greatest leadership challenges?

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Don’t miss a single issue of Leadership Freak, subscribe today. It’s free.  It’s private.  Go to the main page of Leadership Freak by clicking the banner at the top of this page, look in the right-hand navigation bar, enter your email and click subscribe.  Your email address is always kept private.  Note:  if it doesn’t arrive, check your spam filter for a confirmation email