I came across this article in the Wall Street Journal Today, Only the Employed Need Apply. This is definitely old school thinking. The basic premise of the article is that in today’s tough economy, if you have a job, you must be good. If you don’t have a job, you must be in the bottom 10%. Logical? No Way.
If there is one thing I’ve seen over the years in business, it’s that there is no constant, no “one way”, that all businesses use in hiring or firing people. I have seen good people let go, and bad people kept. The reasons range from sound logic, to the flavor of the day. Last In – First Out. Future Potential. Strategic Direction. Highest Salary. Lowest Salary. Overqualified. Underqualified. You name it.
By only hiring employed people, you risk missing a golden star that someone else let slip away. Also in the WSJ today, another article called, Layoffs Allow Small Firms to Attract Big Company Refugees. Base your hiring practices on looking at qualifications that will fit your needs.
Two people have been on my mind lately. Steve Jobs and Michael Jackson. I was thinking about Steve and Michael because both have significantly impacted the world we live in. Many people idolize these two men for their accomplishments and contributions to society. Yet… could they have done better? I ask this question because they both lack a key leadership quality that I promote. In every leadership class I teach, I always ask the question…
Does the end justify the means?
Can you justify treating people badly, just because you achieved success? We cannot argue that both Steve and Michael were successful in their careers. But how have they treated others? Apparently Michael’s entourage constantly changed. His inner circle was never the same from year to year. He fired people constantly and would rarely listen to people he hired to help him manage his affairs.
Steve has been known for calling people “brain dead” and has been criticized for his aggressive leadership style. Warren Bennis recently commented in the Washington Post column On Leadership that Steve’s management style is hurting Apple. There were several rebuttals, but the question remains a good one. Does it matter how you treat people, if you are successful?
I’ve never met Michael or Steve, and hesistate to armchair quarterback. But let me ask the question this way… others have behaved in the same manner but because they were not successful, we chastise them for cussing in meetings and berating people. We then label them poor leaders. Why? Weren’t they doing the same things as Michael and Steve? Why is bad behavior ok in certain situations, and not in others?
While Michael and Steve achieved success, could they have accomplished the same things if they had treated people with a little more respect? I realize this is a rhetorical question, but it is an important one if we are trying to develop leaders with character and integrity. Just because Steve and Michael were successful, I don’t think this justifies insulting people – even if they were incapable of doing their jobs correctly.
I am not advocating being “nice”. I am promoting treating people with dignity. You can fire someone for poor performance, without calling them stupid, dumb, or brain dead. We can listen to others and not take their advice, but don’t need to fire them just because they offer different perspectives.
While Apple is successful today, I think only time will tell if Steve’s leadership style was really beneficial to Apple in the long term. As for Michael, he left his legacy. For those of us who saw him rise to stardom, he became an icon. But as my 18 year daughter Michele told me the other day, she only knew him as the weird pedophile.
I was serving in children’s church tonight when I found a bible that got left behind. I opened up the cover, and found the ownership page blank. You know, the page where you write your name in the book or sometimes find an inscription or a short note from a loved one. I’ve picked up kids bibles before, and remember seeing things like…. To Ian… We hope you will live a life worthy of living. Love. Mom and Dad. It always brings a tear to my eye to see the love of a parent for their child, summed up in just a few words in a special book. Parents have hopes and dreams for their children.
Finding the page blank tonight, reminded me of the tragedy of lost hopes and dreams. Of what life would be like, if I didn’t have someone hoping and dreaming for me. As we get older, many of us give up on our hopes and dreams. Some of us have already lost parents who are no longer here to hope and dream for us. As parents, many of us have watched our kids grow older and choose their paths. Some of us have stopped hoping and dreaming for them. Some us have stopped hoping and dreaming for ourselves.
We should never stop dreaming, hoping, caring. When was the last time you wrote something special to a loved one, to encourage them on their journey. To wish them a life worth living. When was the last time, you dared to hope and dream? Rekindle the hope, by rekindling the dreams.
Well, we all get discouraged don’t we? When you look at people who we consider to be successful, many of us look for the the things that made them great. What did they do? Who did they know? What marketing system did they use? What industry were they in? These things are important to be sure, but… just as important is how a successful person deals with failure and discouragement.
The difference between a those that succeed, and those that don’t is how they handle adveristy, disappointment and failure.
Most of you have probably heard the quote from Thomas Edison when asked about his light bulb experiments. but just in case you haven’t, here is the actual quote from his interview in 1921 (American Magazine January 1921).
After we had conducted thousands of experiments on a certain project
without solving the problem, one of my associates, after we had
conducted the crowning experiment and it had proved a failure,
expressed discouragement and disgust over our having failed to find
out anything. I cheerily assured him that we had learned something.
For we had learned for a certainty that the thing couldn't be done
that way, and that we would have to try some other way.
So, how do you handle discouragement? The first thing you must do, is have the Commitment To Get Up. Before a crisis arrives, you must make a commitment to yourself, that no matter what happens, that you will get up. A leader is not defined by his or her ability to not get knocked down. A leader is defined by their reaction to the situation. A leader gets up. No matter what.
How you handle discouragement is a state of mind. To successfully deal with discouragement, you must realize that you can control how you react, and then you must commit to quashing discouragement when it arises. Here are some suggestions about how to overcome discouragement.
Admit that you’re human.
Extend grace to those around you who may be the source of discouragement.
Extend some grace to yourself. Stop beating yourself up.
Let go of your emotions. If needed, grab your pillow and yell into it, or pummel it.
Release your discouragement. If you have to have a pity party, make it short. Then move on.
Get around some positive people. Leaders and winners have a good support system.
Take a break. If you are having a hard time dealing with discouragement, maybe it’s time for a short break, or even a vacation. If you can’t afford either… just go to your favorite coffee shop or bookstore and decompress for a bit.
Get some exercise! Your body impacts your minds ability to stay focused and positive
Eat right! If you are eating lots of sugar, be prepared for the sugar lows that follow. Also, if you are not eating at all, your body has less energy and studies have shown that low blood sugar does create mood swings.
Find a spiritual reason that gives you significance.
I hope this helps you move on if you are discouraged. If you need some encouragement, feel free to contact me!
With the economy in the shape it is in, many people are looking to make more money. There are a lot of ways to make more money, but many of us struggle with this all the time. I’ll confess that there are times when look in the mirror and ask myself how someone can make a fortune selling Pet Rocks, or Canned Air, while I struggle to eek out an extra few dollars. Just the other night, I was watching the news and saw the Green Pizza Box invented by Enviromentally Conscious Organization, Inc. (eco). They are going to make a LOT of money by…. perforating pizza boxes! Brilliant – but frustrating at the same time. How do these people do it?
If you find yourself struggling with making money, here are some things to consider…
To make money, you are going to have to DO something. If you don’t have any idea of what to do, that is your first obstacle. I’d suggest finding some like minded friends and meet once a week to throw around ideas. If someone can come up with a perforated pizza box, I’m sure there is something you can think of. Urban Legend has it that Henry Ellsworth, Patent Office Commissioner in 1843, stated that all inventions had been made. His comments were taken out of context, and based on events since then, we know that there are a lot of things left to be invented. If you can’t think of anything, there are many reputable companies like Amway, Mary Kay, or Cookie Lee that will help you get started in making some extra money. Not having an idea, is not an acceptable excuse.
To make money, you’re going to have to invest some time. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you are not willing to consistently devote 10-20 hours per week in you endeavor to make more money, you will not be successful.
You have to believe that you CAN make more money. Give me the name of just one person who is financially successful but who did not believe they would ever get there? All successful people have at least enough belief that they could make more money, to get started. If you don’t believe you can, you won’t.
To be successful over the long term, you need to go about your journey with integrity. Money itself won’t buy happiness. As you go about making more money, do so with integrity. Treat people fairly, keep a balanced lifestyle. Don’t become money rich and relationship poor.
Part of your success lies in the journey. Some people get lucky. Most do not. You cannot rely on luck to make more money. You are going to have to do your homework, put in your time, and… if at first you don’t succeed… try…try again. You will learn many things on your journey. Don’t perceive failure as your end destination.
I know I haven’t told you anything you don’t know. What I hope you got out of this, is that anyone can make more money, even you. What your mind can percieve – AND believe, is possible.
People tell me I ask too many rhetorical questions. I know it drives my wife crazy at times… but… what if… what if everyone, and I do mean everyone, played nicely in the sandbox together? I ask this question, because my 18 year daughter asked me the other night, wouldn’t the world be a nice place, if everyone could just be nice to each other. What a concept.
It reminds me of the book, Everything I Know, I Learned in Kidnergarten. Sometimes I wonder what we’re thinking as a society. We teach our young children that they shouldn’t smoke or drink alcohol. We tell them not to cuss or swear. We preach celibacy, honesty, fair play. We adults argue about the age for “responsible” drinking, or getting advice about sex.
Yet, by the time our kids reach their teens, most have violated all these rules. I know most is a very loose statistic, but you get the point. What bothers me a great deal though, is our growing lack of civility, our ability to play nicely together in the sandbox.
I was sitting in a management meeting the other day, and one of the executives described the decision making process from his perspective. He basically said…
let’s get real. We make decisions by getting together and arguing about the question at hand. We argue and yell at each other until someone gives in, then we move on.
Is this what we teach our kids? I know this may not be true for all of you, but I’ve seen this same mentality just about every where I’ve worked for the past 25 years. Perhaps not all the time. Perhaps not to this extent, but I have seen it everywhere. I’ve experienced CEOs yelling and cussing at their staff. I’ve seen managers – step outside. I’ve sat through conflict resolution sessions (and even led a few) where people say some awful things about each other. Is this how we get business done? If so…. why bother teaching our kids to play nice in the sandbox?
I recently blogged about Yahoo’s new CEO, Carol Bartz. She apparently cusses a lot. I don’t know if she has kids, but, if this is ok for her to do, she might as well teach her kids to do it too, and do it well. If not her kids, how about the kids of her staff. If her behavior is stating…. take no prisoners, cuss all you want because this is how we get business done… then her staff should do the same thing, and probably teach it to their kids…. if this is how business gets done. Let’s teach our kids to cuss and swear. To yell at each other on the playground. To not share their toys. To not play nicely. Let’s teach them to gossip about each other and grab what they can.
My challenge to you? Let’s make what if – a reality. This is not how business should get done. We need to be civil. I did hear an executive once say,
we can all disagree without being disagreable.
If only we could play nicely in the sandbox. We would have no terrorism or conflicts between nations. Gangs would disappear. Work would be fun. There would be no road rage, child abuse, divorce. There would be no need for unions, child advocates. There may not even be a need for lawyers (just kidding). If only…
Paying for health care is a complicated subject and it is not my purpose here to rehash all the statistics or reasons behind our current health care dilemma. If you are looking for some consolidated information, follow this link to the National Coalition on Health Care. What I do want to discuss over a series of articles, is how “Leading With Honor” can help achieve common ground in discussions over possible solutions to our health care crisis.
In business and life, most of us are familiar with the phrase “it’s a dog eat dog world” or “let the buyer beware.” This is just, unfortunately, a reminder that there are unscrupulous men and women out there who will rob you blind if given a chance. Having said that though, studies have shown that people in all cultures have a strong distaste for those that consistently take advantage of others and that most of us like to live life with a level playing field. No one likes to be taken advantage of.
My first premise… Leading With Honor prohibits taking unfair advantage of another person’s misfortune to your own benefit.
Before I go any further, I want to point out the word “unfair” in the premise above. When we look at health care, it implies that someone is either sick or injured. To treat these people requires resources and therefore costs money. The difficult question is when does the cost of care become “unfair” to the patient. How much is too much?
If we as a nation ever hope to control health care costs, we are going to have to come to terms with the fact that better drugs and technology come with a price. If we have unlimited funds, we can have unlimited potential in the development of new technologies. However, we do not have unlimited funds. To pay $30,000 for a single dose of a new medication, that “might” help you, is a lot of money. Who pays for this? We all want the silver bullet. The “thing” that will beat cancer or another rare disease. But how much are we willing to spend on it? Can we afford to let our country go broke in the search for the illusion of mortality? This is a philosophical question in that there is no right answer and is the reason that this is such a hard topic to discuss.
This is going to be an unpopular stance, but… the public incorporation of a hospital or facility that provides health care services, crosses the line between fair and unfair. I understand the need to gain financial backing to create world class medical institutions. However, when a company is incorporated and its stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the institution now becomes an investment vehicle, as the financial backers become investors and the institution is no longer just a center of care.
If Leading With Honor means not taking advantage of another person’s misfortune, why do we allow health care institutions to be traded on the stock exchange and rewarding, no, demanding, that the CEOs and managers of these companies turn a huge profit. This is not meant to bash CEOs or investors, they are living within the confines of the system that our government allows to exist. To fix the system we have to rethink how health care institutions are funded.
There are so many possibilities here, but the main point we have to take away is this, that as the current system stands today, we are NOT leading with honor. People are benefiting, unfairly, on another person’s misfortune. Investors are making money, based on people being sick, and we are rewarding those institutions that make the most money in the delivery of care. This is one of the reasons so many people are upset with our health care delivery system.
Subscribe to my blog as I will continue this discussion in a series of articles on fixing America’s health care crisis by Leading With Honor.
Disclaimer – This article is not about the moral or ethical implications of someone changing their gender. Regardless of how you feel about this on a personal basis, having a transexual join your team can pose some very real challenges. This article will hopefully assist you in leading your team or company through this experience.
Greetings Leaders!
With Chastity Bono deciding to undergo a gender change, I thought it would be an appropriate time to share an experience I had as a project manager a few years ago. The project I was leading was a Y2K mainframe upgrade. I inherited the project in midstream and would classify it as “troubled” for a variety of reasons. Here is a short status of the project when I took over as the PM.
Project was behind schedule
Project scope was not defined
Unbeknownst to me, I had been “sold” to the client as a mainframe expert. I barely knew what a mainframe looked like at that time – let alone how to lead a critical mainframe project for a large client.
Both the client and consultant teams were in disarray.
A hostile environment was in place due to all the above. Let’s just say the project managers on the client side of the fence, were determined to make my life miserable.
With all this going on, one of the first things I decided to do was to bring in an “expert” on mainframe upgrades. This would help build credibility with the client and also uproot some of the distrust that had taken seed on the project.
If you recall, in the year leading up to Y2K, programmers were in short supply. Experts were really hard to find and I did not have the luxury of taking my time to find the perfect fit for our team. I was fortunate enough to get a handful of candidates to interview and on paper one programmer stood out from all the others. Mary (that is not her real name) was exactly what I needed, except she lived in Denver and could only do an interview over the phone.
During the phone interview, Mary presented well, except something seemed odd. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I remember turning to my technical lead after the interview and asking him, “Did her voice sound ok to you?” My technical lead shrugged his shoulders and said she sounded technically proficient to him. I called Mary’s agency and told the program manager that we would like to move forward but that I had a question first. I asked him if there was anything I should know about Mary. He laughed and said that he got a lot of questions like that about her, but that I should be assured that she was technically, just what we needed. So – we brought Mary onto the team.
When I first met Mary, I was a little taken aback by her appearance. I’m not trying to be degrading here, this is just the honest truth. Mary looked like a man, although she had enough feminine qualities to make me believe that she was just a manly looking woman (I am not implying that all transexuals look like this, but in this case, this is what happened). Then, she opened her mouth and I was appalled. She cussed like a sailor – and for those of you who don’t know me… I was an officer in the Navy. I know what cussing sounds like, and Mary could do it with the best of them. She also had terrible body odor and passed gas regularly. She was however, technically proficient.
I spent the next three months, running interference for Mary and have quite a few memories of the experience.
Her cubicle mate threatened to quit because of her gas and body odor. He got so fed up that he bought a large fan to blow the air out of the cubicle. Trying to keep peace on the team was a daily challenge.
There was the evening that Mary and the Agency Director were the only two in the office, and Mary was cussing in her deep low voice because of some problem she was working on. I had to listen to a lecture on appropriate language in the workplace and then counsel Mary (again) on her choice of words.
During this time, I had a constant stream of people in and out of my office. The most uncomfortable situation arose when one of the client’s managers came up to me and asked if Mary was a transexual. To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure myself as I didn’t want to ask for a number of reasons. The manager’s major complaint was that women on his team were complaining that Mary was using the women’s restroom, when they thought she should be using the men’s. They had obviously made up their minds that Mary was really a he, but… as I said, this was never confirmed by anyone.
The first question you are probably asking, is why didn’t I let Mary go right away? Well, let’s look at this putting gender issues aside. Mary’s main problem was that she had body odor, passed gas and cussed. When confronted about the cussing, she stopped using her colorful language. Given that she was technically quite proficient, the project had a tight deadline, and I wouldn’t easily find a replacement for her, should I have let her go for passing gas and having body odor? Tough call. I chose to keep her on but let her go as soon as her portion of the work was completed. There were a lot of lessons learned here.
Never, Ever – make a hiring decision without meeting someone in person.
You absolutely cannot make gender an issue. I understand what non-discrimination means. This was a state project, and we couldn’t take Mary’s gender status into account. However, this made managing the team very difficult. I couldn’t directly ask Mary about her gender. What if she really was a woman? Then what? What if she was in the middle of a sex change? Then what? Regardless of how you feel about this, as a leader, you have to treat a transexual the same as everyone else.
Deal with behavioral issues. When people would come up and complain about Mary, I could only deal with specific behavioral issues. I would constantly tell people that I could only address performance or behavior. I did pull Mary aside several times to talk about her cussing and her hygiene.
Don’t pass judgement in front of your team. If you are facing this situation, be careful how you address the situation with your team. I would certainly consult your HR department or get legal counsel when faced with a transexual joining your team. As a leader though, you must set the example by treating the transexual in the same manner as everyone esle.
Treat others with respect. My biggest dilemma was what to do about the bathrooms. Mary had rights, but so did the others on the team. Luckily, I never had to confront this issue head on. The day after the state manager bought this up to me, he pulled me aside and told me to forget about the conversation. He had talked with HR, and they told him that it was discriminatory to address this situation. We had discussed getting Mary her own bathroom, but this had a lot of implications. He told me the other women would just have to deal with it. I’m not so sure that was the right solution though, because as I said, others have rights too. If Mary was really a man going through a sex change, then at what point do you consider her a woman? What if he just started the sex change process, and still looked very much like a man? Do you wait until the sex change operation? Think about it. In January, Martin is using the men’s restroom, then in February, Martin comes back as Mary and now just starts using the women’s restroom. What about travel for business? Some companies have policies that state employees will stay in the same room if they are of the same gender. Now what? This is a difficult area to manage.
You cannot be transparent to your team: I believe in open and honest communication. In this case though, I did a lot of listening, and very little talking. I discussed the situation with my management team, but not with the client or my team members. My main focus was to get the project done and to try to keep peace amongst the team members. If you take the gender issue out of the equation, it was very similar to other projects that I’ve managed.
Well, I’m not sure if I”ve given you a lot of answers. This is definitely a delicate subject. The outcome on my project? I was able to regain the client’s confidence, kept the new team together, treated Mary fairly and got the project done on time. It can be done.
I’m going to apologize up front for deviating a little bit from leadership and personal development and talk about the stock market, for just a moment. Let me make this perfectly clear, I am not an expert in the stock market. However, I do actively day trade and therefore have more opportunity to observe the market than most of you. There is “some” indication, that the market is going to reverse in the near future and the economy may not be as healthy as some are now saying. Of course I can’t predict the future, so I don’t know this for sure. I can’t even tell you when or by how much. So why am I bothering you with this?
As a leader you must take an active interest in your financial well being. If you just sit back and watch what happens, you are giving up control of your financial future. I understand some things are out of our control, however, there are some things you should be doing as a leader.
Prepare for the worst case scenario (also known as contingency planning). What are you going to do, if the economy really tanks? I’m not saying this is going to happen, but what are you going to do if the stock market goes back down, businesses continue to lay people off, and the real estate market doesn’t recover this year? My recommendations?
Start putting away some extra money just in case you get laid off
Look for alternative sources of income to help supplement a possible pay cut
Pay off your debt early if you can
Network, network, network – now! Don’t wait until you have to
Look at your skills. What can you do to remain relevant in today’s job market?
Stay informed. Whatever industry you are in, look at trends for the future. As a Project Manager, I am looking at healthcare and healthcare IT to be the meat and potatoes for me – probably over the next 5 – 10 years.
Hope for the future. It is easy to let some of these things overwhelm you. Remember, none of these have actually happened yet. We’re just preparing for the worst. So, you also have to keep this all in perspective and hope for the future. The stock market might continue to climb. Real estate may recover this year, employment numbers may start to look better. Hope for these things – just don’t place all your chips on the table, assuming that they will.
Continue to live your life. At times, life can be exhausting. Now is one of those times for many of you. However, regardless how beat you feel, you must continue to live life. Yes, save some money, but… don’t just disappear into your home for the next year. There are a lot of activities you can do that are relatively inexpensive that will enable you to keep it all in perspective. There are libraries for books, walks, jogging, picnics. You can swap DVDs with other families/friends. Instead of going to the local pub, invite some friends over who can play the guitar (or some other instrument) and have your own jam session. Live life. To sum this all up…
Have you ever given much thought to your purpose in life? If we retire in our 60s, what then? What if you live to 102? Last night I was privileged to listen to Ray Talbert who was born in 19 ott 6… 1906. Just think of all the things that he lived through. World War I, The Great Depression, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War. There was Dillinger and Capone. The Untouchables. He witnessed the growth of the automobile. Ray was there when Pan American was founded, and also when it went out of business. He saw the coming of the jet age and the computer age. He was there when Kennedy was assasinated and when we put a man on the moon. He saw the rise of communism, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. What a life he has had, and there’s more to come.
Last night, Ray recited poetry to our church for about 10 minutes. It was great. Over the weekend, about 10,000 people will get to hear Ray recite the poems he recently memorized. My favorite was Unfolding The Rose. The poems talked about hope, surrender and love. At 102, Ray has purpose in his life.To remind others that life is not just about having a career.
I was reminded that sometimes too many of us think of our career as our calling. A career is a vocation. Our calling? Our calling is to cherish and love others as we go about our daily routine. Can you imagine… what the world would be like if we could only live this way? If only.
Ray understands this. At 102, he is certainly retired. Has been for a long time. And yet… his calling continues. What about you? As you go about your vocation, are you living your calling?
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