Greetings Leaders!

This is the fourth posting in the series, How to Run Better Meetings.

1. The first posting dealt with executive sponsorship
2. The second with having meetings with purpose
3. The third with inviting the right people

This posting will address the mechanics of running a meeting. Before you actually start your meeting, establish Ground Rules on how your meeting will be conducted. Examples of Ground Rules include:

1. Meetings start and end on time.
2. Arrive prepared.
3. Maintain positive group dynamics.
4. Adhere to the agenda.
5. Welcome constructive feedback and healthy conflict.
6. Listen with an open mind and are respectful of all viewpoints.
7. Do not participate in side conversations.
8. Turn off cell phones

Follow this link for additional ground rules and tips on how to handle difficult personalities.

Lead With Honor!
JT

Greetings Leaders!

I recently read Wally Bock’s blog where he commented on Bob Sutton’s blog on a NY Times article written by Randy Cohen titled, “When Layoffs Are Immoral“. The article and the responses were thought povoking to say the least, and I wanted to add another perspective.

Randy Cohen raised some very interesting points that I wanted to discuss individually.

Randy’s comment: Pay cuts can be instituted company-wide, with the deepest reserved for the highest paid (that is, those most able to endure them).

Response: While I make a six figure income, I don’t consider myself rich. My wife decided a long time ago that she wanted to raise our kids and hasn’t worked full time for over 20 years. Yes, it was our decision, no excuses there. But, Randy incorrectly surmises that just because someone makes a good income, that he or she can take a hit more easily than someone who makes less.

People making $100,000 have the same challenges as that of someone making $50,000. We live in a modest house in a high cost area (California), don’t have HD TV or a DVR, don’t own a boat or a second house, don’t have great health insurance, haven’t been on a cruise, don’t smoke, don’t have an IPhone, don’t have a pool, don’t have paid vacation at work, don’t have matching 401K. So although I make what most would consider a “good” income, I still struggle to put aside enough money to have some fun and provide for our retirement. According to Randy’s definition, I can more easily absorb a pay cut than someone making $50,000. While his logic holds true for the super rich, the majority of people at a company are all in the same boat. To make the blanket claim that someone making more money can more easily absorb the hit – just doesn’t hold up in most cases.

Conclusion: Everyone has different circumstances, and I don’t think it wise to base pay cut decisions on a broad assumption.

Randy’s comment: Although the law limits the duties employers have to employees, ethics sets a different standard. Caterpillar’s workers have existed for years — sometimes generations — in profound dependence on the company. (No work, no food.) In accepting and profiting from this relationship, Caterpillar (i.e., its stockholders) incurs moral obligations to those workers.

Response: I understand Randy’s point, but – why are the stockholders morally obligated to help someone take care of themselves in this situation? I understand helping the poor, the needy, the disadvantaged. However, why do the stockholders in Caterpillar have an obligation to take care of its workers in hard times? We forget that the stockholders are basically the same people as those that work at Caterpillar. The stockholders are workers at other companies, investing their money in Caterpillar to earn a return on their investment. These stockholders are retirement funds, counties, cities, other institutions looking for a place to earn income on their hard earned money. People, just like those at Caterpillar.

As employees, people need to understand that they made a choice to work for a certain company or organization and that the company has no obligation to them, except to pay them a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.

I believe the layoff itself is neither immoral or moral, but a business decision.

Having said that the layoff itself is not a question of morals, a company is morally obligated to take care of its employees when it has to go through layoffs to survive. This is the reason we need good leaders. Good leaders know that it is their responsibility to do everything they can, to assist those being laid off. Good leaders will look for ways to provide extended benefits and to reduce the pain that layoffs can bring about. Unfortunately, companies going through a layoff, usually have poor leaders, resulting in bad treatment of its employees during a layoff.

We need more good leaders running our companies.

Lead With Honor!
JT

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Image by Army.mil via Flickr

Greetings Leaders…

I saw a tweet on Twitter by Pam Slim that led me to her blog where she reflected on her friend Amy’s recent loss of a son in Iraq. I hadn’t planned to blog about this again, but… today is Memorial Day and Pam’s blog reminded me how easy it is, to be thankful for a day… and then to move on… as if one day of thanks is sufficient tribute to those that paid for our freedom.

Well, perhaps one day isn’t enough… perhaps not even a lifetime would be enough. Yet …we don’t want to go around with heavy hearts every day. Let us instead, go around with joy in our hearts, knowing that someone had the courage and conviction to fight for our freedoms. Let us also live everyday with purposeful hearts, so that the work of our fallen heroes does not go unfinished. What work is this? I think Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address sums it up best.

All the best,
All the time,
JT

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Greetings Leaders!

I’ve only recently gotten more involved in Social Media, and still have a lot of business acquaintances and friends who smirk at using it, especially Twitter. They would rather stick to the old fashion way of building relationships and don’t understand how Twitter can change their world.

Social Media has changed my life. Not dramatically mind you. But it has impacted me. Over the past six months, I have made Twitter Buddies, people I would never had come across if it weren’t for Twitter. Here are just a few of them:

@wallybock: Lives in North Carolina and is like minded in getting people to think about leadership

@mikehenrysr: Hails from Oklahoma and consistently supports and promotes me in getting the word out about leadership development

@markviii: From New Mexico. Engages in conversations about leadership and retweets postings of mine that he enjoys

@strategicsense: Lives in Calgary. Great encourager who wants to change lives.

@scottmccain: Deep thinker. Fellow author (although he is in another class… great writer).

@thestockbandit: Awesome teacher in day trading.

@vastrat: In Memphis. Wants to improve how we manage people

@workfromwithin: Marin County, California. Changing people from within. Good person

@ivancampuzano: Deep spiritual thinker. Gives me lots to think about.

I could keep going. I have met people from all over the world, and while the relationships aren’t deep… I probably won’t ever meet these folks… they are still relationships. They encourage me. Give me things to think about. They educate me and promote me. Isn’t that what relationship are all about.

For those that don’t “get” Twitter… that’s ok. Just don’t dismiss it as a way for others to build relationships. Because… it does.

All the best,
All the time,
JT

Greetings Leaders!

This weekend we take time to remember our fallen heroes… those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Let us not take it so lightly. I just received an e-card from a friend of mine, thanking me for my service to our great country. I don’t know why, but it brought tears to my eyes.

A lot of us go around saying…. Happy Memorial Day. I’m not sure that is so appropriate. It is a day of rememberance. It can be happy, as we celebrate our freedom. But, this freedom was paid for by the blood of fallen men and women, and the tears of their families.

Please – take the time this weekend to thank the families of our great country, who have paid the ulitimate price so that we…. you… and I, can enjoy the freedoms we have.

The picture at the top of this post… says it all. I never met James John Regan, but you can follow the link to hear his story. A fallen hero. Thank you James… and thank you Mary.

All the thanks…. to our fallen heroes!

JT

Greetings Leaders!

I’m in the middle of teaching a Project Leadership class for the California Highway Patrol and tonight I reviewed the curriculum I developed for relevance.When teaching Leadership Development my focus is normally on the RC³ framework that includes teaching…

• Responsibility
• Courage
• Commitment
• Credibility

As I went through the material, I asked myself if the CHP officers and staff really needed to know what I was going to present and then I found myself wondering… how do you really teach leadership? Yes, I know this is a funny time to be asking the question as I’ve taught it before and am teaching it again tomorrow. But I think the question is an important one to ask periodically. So, I googled “Leadership Training Best Practices”, and found a ton of different approaches.

Going through the results I obtained from Google,  I perused what others were doing. Many were focused on a specific aspect of leadership develpment and leaders were being groomed by corporations to help them be successful. Successful in this case would probably mean helping the company make a profit resulting in the leader receiving a promotion, and in turn… make lots of money. I asked myself, what’s wrong with this picture?

While I’m sure the training is good, I also believe that it is somewhat self-serving. Leaders are not being taught to be socially or culturally resonsible in their leadership classes, unless it is taught as a matter of ethics. We need to do more.

Leaders need to balance the needs of shareholders/organizations, against the needs of society and individuals that work for the company. We ask ourselves how the financial crisis evolved, and now we have the answer. Not enough attention to RC³ in our leadership classes.

All the best,
All the time,
JT

Greetings Leaders!

I look around at the world and think, what the @#$! So much is wrong with the world. Murder, Corruption, Drugs, Prostitution, Child Abuse, Wars, Genocide, Religious Fanaticism, Terrorism… the list goes on and on. I look at our civic leaders both locally and around the world, and wonder why man, with all his intelligence, cannot make the world a better place. If we could just learn to not make it worse, that would be a great start!

At times, I feel like a fish out of water in that some of the solutions seem so easy, if we could all just work together. I know I have my rose colored glasses on, but we are running out of time to do the right thing.

There is a quote that I found years ago but I can’t remember the author.

When Man’s human nature overcomes the nature of Man, leadership fails.

I truly believe that the nature of Man is basically good. But when our human desire for “stuff” gets in the way, we do things that make the world a dismal place to be.

The bottom line – we are running out of time. I don’t know when the clock will strike midnight… but it will. I’ve written about the Nuclear Countdown, but what about the bio terror countdown? I haven’t seen a clock for this, but it would follow the same principle. If we can’t learn to live together, some day, bioterrorism will become a reality. It’s not a matter of if, but when.

I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but the world is truly at a turning point. There is a lot of evidence for cracks in the foundation, that are getting wider with time. Unless we come to grips on how we as leaders will lead the people of the world, these cracks will engulf the world as we know it.

Why am I writing this now? The condition of the global economy is a direct reflection of our inability to Lead With Honor. The rich are getting super-richer, the poor are getting poorer. The tug of war between the haves and have-nots is growing. The blame doesn’t only fall on political and corporate leadership, but also union leadership, and those of us who lead others on a daily basis including, teachers, fire fighters, police officers, mothers, fathers, people in business, government employees… everyone.

This lack of leadership is directly responsible for all our problems. The growing influence of drug cartels, terrorism and religious fanaticism. The decline of the American education system, a rise in the youth suicide rate. World poverty, world hunger. Again… the list goes on and on. Poor leadership is responsible for all our problems.

What can we do? Lead With Honor. I don’t mean this to be self serving – I believe it is absolute truth. We need to Lead With Honor – to do the right thing. Most of you are just like me, we can’t influence world politics, at least not now. But, we can influence those around us.

What does Leading With Honor look like? Here are a few tips…

1. Value all human life
2. Never pursue something that will hurt someone else, regardless of race, religion,  sex or nationality
3. Treat people with the utmost of respect, even when you disagree
4. Never make a profit, at the unjust expense of someone else
5. Take care of the environment – it is the only Earth we have
6. Be ambitious, but don’t let greed cloud your judgment
7. Be open minded to alternatives, yours is not always the only way
8. Be forgiving of the past
9. Hold people accountable
10. Help the poor and needy

If we all learn to Lead With Honor, the world would be an awesome place to live. Why can’t we do this?

All the best,
All the time,
JT

Greetings Leaders!

This is the third posting in the series, How to Run Better Meetings.

1. The first posting dealt with executive sponsorship
2. The second with having meetings with purpose

This posting will address getting people to come to your meetings.

So let me start off by asking a question. Why don’t people come to meetings? Here are some popular answers I’ve heard or experienced over the years:

• The meeting is irrelevant
• The meeting is poorly run
• I can’t attend all of my meetings. I’m overbooked
• The meeting is a waste of time – they don’t need me there
• Nothing ever gets accomplished at these meetings
• I’m too busy

I’d love to hear what other reasons some of you may have heard. Feel free to comment below.

So, how do you get the right people to your meetings? People will come to your meetings if they think it is worth their time. Period.

There are a lot of things to consider here. This posting will address just one of these, with more to follow in future postings.

The first thing you have to do is to ensure you invite the right people.

Pretty obvious right? As easy as this sounds, it is often not easily accomplished. Lack of clearly defined roles and responsibilities can lead to misunderstandings and make it difficult to determine who you should invite to your meeting… often with disastrous results for your meetings and your reputation.

Consider what happens in the following scenarios:

• You invite a large group to a meeting, just because you weren’t sure who the decision makers are. People come to the meeting, but feel it is a waste of time if they really weren’t needed and just sat there. Result? They don’t come to your next meeting.
• You fail to invite a key stakeholder necessary to reach a decision. Result? After clearing their calendars, people sit around and discuss something, but nothing gets done. People then wonder about your political savvy and may not come back to your next meeting because it was a waste of their time.
• You invite the right people, but they didn’t know they were a critical to your meeting and don’t show up. You get a repeat of the scenario above.
• Everyone shows up, but discussion goes on forever without a decision, because it isn’t clear who how decisions are made when parties disagree. Result? Your meeting is ineffective, viewed as a waste of time, and people stop coming back.

To help solve these problems, I recommend using a RACI Chart to help you determine who needs to be at your meeting. A RACI Chart is a chart that breaks down roles into four categories: Responsible, Accountable, Consult and Inform. You can find a short powerpoint presentation on RACI Charting here.

I have used RACI charting very successfully on many projects. It clarifies roles and responsibilities and enables you to ensure you have the right people at your meetings, and they all understand why you need them.

All the best,
All the time,
JT

Greetings Leaders!

This is the second posting on How to Run Better Meetings.

In the first posting, we discussed the importance of getting executive sponsorship to improve meeting effectiveness across the organization. Today we are going to look at the first tactical step in improving the outcomes of meetings that YOU lead. I am defining a meeting as a group meeting of three or more people.

Before you read further, I want you to print out your weekly schedule and circle all of the meetings that you will be leading. Seriously… go do this now and come back.

Look at your list, and for each meeting, I want you to answer the following questions…

1) The purpose of this meeting is to…

• Plan strategy (Strategic)
• Short Term planning (Tactical)
• Provide Status
• Resolve Issues
• Other

2) The meeting is primarily being held to…

• Discuss
• Inform
• Decide

3) What I want to accomplish in this meeting is…

These are important questions to ask BEFORE you schedule the meeting. Why? Too often, meetings are held… just because. Here are some tips…

1. If the purpose of the meeting is “other” – be careful. Ask yourself, do I really need to have a meeting for this. Will others think a meeting is needed for this purpose?
2. If you do not have something specific that you want to accomplish, then why have the meeting? By “specific”, you should be able to measure this outcome. For example, how can you measure that something was “discussed”. If you can’t find a measure, then you still don’t have a purpose.
3. If the purpose of the meeting is to inform – can this be done some other way?
4. If it is a status meeting, how can you measure the effectiveness of the meeting? If you aren’t able to come up with something, then you probably don’t need the meeting. You can provide status or information in another method. If you want to ensure people are collaborating, that is different from a status meeting. If you have to get people together to share information, you may have a bigger problem… silos. People should be able to share information without having to sit in a room and have status shoved down their throats.
5. If the primary purpose is to discuss – why are  you discussing this in a meeting. What is the purpose of the discussion? To gather information? To look at alternatives? Who is capturing this information and how will it be used.

Your takeaway from this posting, is that every meeting should have a specific purpose that is measurable in some way.

If you can’t answer these questions about a particular meeting, cancel it.

All the best,
All the time,
JT

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Greetings Leaders!

I was reading the Sacramento Bee yesterday when I came across a relatively short article that caught my attention. The Chancellors at UC Davis and UC San Francisco are both getting pay raises, while student fees are increasing (You can read the article here…). Linda Katehi chancellor of UC Davis, will be bringing in $400,000 a year and The new chancellor of UC San Francisco, Susan Desmond-Hellmann, will make $450,000 a year. In addition, Katehi will get a $100,000 relocation allowance, free housing, corporate car plus moving expenses! These salaries are approximately a 10% increase over their predecessors.

The article rankled my feathers, but before I decided to shoot off my proverbial mouth, I did some further research and found the following:

1. According to the AFL-CIO, the average CEO gets paid about $10 million
2. Salary.com research indicates the average Chancellor gets paid $237,630
3. The UC response to criticisms about it’s budget
4. Chancellor pay is an issue for almost all universities.

Having read these different perspectives, I began to wonder if I was overreating to the issue. After all, $200,000 pales in comparison to $10 million. However, when you consider the average CEO’s pay, we need to put it in perspective.

1. The $10 million refers to the total compensation packages of CEOs of S&P 500 companies. According to Business Week, the average CEO base salary is somewhere around $400,000
2. The businesses run by these CEOs have no public funding
3. They CEOs are in business to make money

After completing my research, I’ve come to the conclusion that the pay increases passed by both UC Davis and UC San Francisco are not justifiable. While the positions are obviously demanding, and the need for highly qualified candidates is an easy arguement to make, the UC education system receives public funding. This is a very important point to consider. Why? Because this funding is used to help improve the community, and to offer Californians the opportunity to obtain a higher education. This in turn helps promote long term growth in the community and secures the quality of life that many of us have become accustomed to. We must also remember that the Chancellor’s are really public servants and that even the President of the United States makes only $400,000.

I also find the argument that the increase in salary is necessary to stay competitive with other industries to be ridiculous because in times of economic hardship, especially in the current economy, to increase the Chancellor’s pay (CEOs are facing a 20% decline in pay) while increasing tuition by almost 10% is just plain nonsense.  It gives the distinct impression of elitism within our education system.

Can we go back in time two months in time please? Do you recall the uproar over the outrageous bonuses that were being dolled out to Merrill Lynch employees? This is no different. While the chancellor salaries may seem appropriate overall, it is the fact that these senior executives, who already recieve a very high salary, are getting an increase in pay using public funds, while the citizens of California are being asked to sacrifice. I don’t see how this equates to good decision making or good leadership.

To lead with honor, we need to put ordinary citizens needs before our own. UC Davis and UCSF could have won over public popular opinion by not increasing these salaries. Instead, they just confirmed the impression that our senior leaders, even in education, are out of touch with reality.

All the best,
All the time,
JT

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