Michael Lee Stallard's Blog, page 22

Hold “Stop-Start-Continue” Meetings With Your Team

#100 Begin “Stop-Start-Continue” Meetings

Periodically hold “stop-start-continue” meetings to review your team’s activities. During these meetings, identify the activities your team should start that you are not presently doing, current activities that your team should stop doing, and activities that your team should continue doing. “Stop-start-continue” meetings give your team an opportunity to voice their thoughts on projects and enhance connection.

This is the one hundredth post in our series entitled “100 Ways to Connect.” The series highlights language, attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the language, attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.

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Read a Book With Your Team Quarterly

#99 Read a Book Together Quarterly

Periodically select a business book for your direct reports or team members to read together. Consider reading one book every quarter. Meet to identify ideas from the book that you can implement. Some examples include The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, Pour Your Heart Into It, and It’s Not About the Coffee.

This is the ninety-ninth post in our series entitled “100 Ways to Connect.” The series highlights language, attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the language, attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.

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3 Lessons from the Attack on Amazon

The Sunday New York Times article on Amazon’s workplace culture has generated all kinds of buzz. Most commentators join the attack, while some defend Amazon’s practices. The stories are all over the map, from branding Amazon as an evil empire to describing its culture as one that’s apropos for an challenging entrepreneurial trail-blazer.

What are we to believe and what does this controversy say about the modern workplace?

Think Subcultures, Not Single Culture

First, I’m not surprised in the disparity of stories. As much as upper management may wish it were so, organizations rarely have a uniform culture. In truth,  organizations are comprised of many subcultures.

From a relational perspective, there are three types of subcultures: control, indifference, and connection, I define culture as the predominant attitudes, language and behaviors of a group. In the typical organization about a quarter of the subcultures are subcultures of control in which people with power, control and status rule over the rest.  Some subcultures of control become abusive when managers go overboard (think of Nurse Ratched in the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”). These subcultures explain the harshest stories we’ve read about Amazon, such as people weeping at their desks after being subjected to abusive put-downs in meetings.

In a subculture of indifference, people are so busy they don’t take time to develop supportive relationships. As a result, individuals who work in subcultures of indifference typically feel unsupported, left out, or lonely, emotions that make them biologically vulnerable to anxiety, depression and, ultimately, addiction. Roughly half of the subcultures in the average organization are subcultures of indifference.

The best subcultures are “connection subcultures.” In these, people feel connected to their colleagues, leaders, and clients and this makes them more enthusiastic, more energetic, more resilient, better thinkers and decision-makers, and more creative. The neuroscientist Matthew Lieberman described human connection as a superpower in a TED video and indeed it is. Connection not only makes us more productive, it also makes us healthier and happier. In my most recent book, Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Share identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work, I lay out the research in a chapter called “The Science of Connection.” It shows that connection makes people perform better, give greater discretionary effort, better align their behavior with their leader’s goals, communicate better, cooperate more and contribute to the organization’s marketplace of ideas that fuel innovation.  This is a powerful set of benefits that combines into a potent source of competitive advantage.

The CEO’s Blind Spot

If I were to advise Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, I would tell him I’m not surprised that he doesn’t recognize the awful subcultures described in the Times’ article. That’s typical with CEOs. People put on a happy face when the boss is around. Because of a reluctance to be forthcoming in person, employee engagement surveys are a necessity to provide accountability and hold the managers of subcultures responsible. And the results must be acted upon or people will stop taking the time to honestly answer the survey or they will stop participating altogether.

In addition to helping Bezos see the disparity between what he personally experiences and the reality for those at other levels or other departments, I would show him the research on how subcultures of connection improve organizational results and how subcultures of control and indifference sabotage organizational performance. I would challenge him to assess the subcultures throughout Amazon and compare them in terms of performance metrics. If he did this he would come to the same conclusion Google did in their Project Oxygen Research:  managers who connect with the people they lead are the most effective.

Becoming Intentional

Bottom line, I’d tell Bezos that he needs to become more intentional about influencing the subcultures throughout Amazon. Absent intentionality, subcultures drift toward indifference to people. This natural drift is why large organizations tend to become machine-like and lose the sense of community that made people care and pull together to overcome the obstacles and times of adversity they faced as the company grew. Perhaps this is partly why the average Fortune 500 corporation survives for less than 50 years.

If Jeff Bezos truly cares about Amazon’s longer-term prospects (and his own legacy as a leader), he would be wise to take a closer look into transforming the subcultures of control and indifference throughout Amazon into connection subcultures that will help Amazonians (and Amazon, as a result) thrive.

Image Credit: Flickr user Robert Scoble licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. 

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To Connect, Seek Individual Ideas and Opinions

#98 Seek Individual Ideas and Opinions

When possible, ask for the ideas and opinions of your direct reports, especially on actions you expect them to implement or believe they want to have a voice in deciding. This behavior reflects humility and wisdom.

This is the ninety-eighth post in our series entitled “100 Ways to Connect.” The series highlights language, attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the language, attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.

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To Connect With Others, Don’t Interrupt

#97 Give People Time to Finish Speaking Before You Begin

Make sure there is a pause in the conversation so that you don’t cut someone off from what they were trying to communicate. Don’t interrupt!

This is the ninety-seventh post in our series entitled “100 Ways to Connect.” The series highlights language, attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the language, attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.

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Treat People as Partners

#96 Treat People as Partners

Treat people as equals. Never speak down to anyone or intentionally ignore him or her.

This is the ninety-sixth post in our series entitled “100 Ways to Connect.” The series highlights language, attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the language, attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.

Image courtesy of Markus Spiske/raumrot.com. Creative Commons 2.0 license. 

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Is There a Place for Love in Leadership?

“A company is stronger if bound by love than by fear.” – Herb Kelleher, cofounder of Southwest Airlines

When Kip Tindell, CEO of The Container Store, first heard Herb Kelleher’s words more than 40 years ago he was, in his own words, “completely taken by it.” In Tindell’s excellent book, Uncontainable, he describes how he and his leadership team went on to shape The Container Store’s outstanding “employee first” culture in ways that reflect love. He credits the company’s culture for its success.

The first time I heard the word “love” uttered in a corporate context I was teaching a workshop on leadership for Lockheed Martin Aerospace. Before I started, the leader of the unit I was speaking to, retired Vice Admiral of the U.S. Navy and former Navy flyer Willie Moore, told the room full of mostly men they needed to love the people they were responsible for leading. You could have heard a pin drop. Coming from this “man’s man,” the L-word was completely unexpected.

Moore went on to explain to his leaders that they may be the most important people in the lives of the individuals they lead. He described how people today are lonely. They may live far away from family members or have few close friends because they are not involved in church or community organizations where most friendships are developed.

Moore wasn’t just expressing his opinion. Research in a variety of fields confirms his view. In 1970, only 17 percent of U.S. households were single-person. By 2013, the most current year data is available, the percentage of single-person households soared to 27.4 percent, the highest in U.S. history. Many doctors and mental health professionals today talk about the epidemic of loneliness and half of Americans have addictions that research has found can be attributable to loneliness.

Beyond helping the lonely, there are several compelling additional reasons outstanding leaders such as Kip Tindell, Herb Kelleher and Willie Moore are spot on when it comes to seeing the difference love can make in the workplace.

Love inspires performance excellence and resilience

Serving others is a reflection of love. Research by Adam Grant, et al., has shown that, in a variety of settings, making it clear how the work benefits other human beings has improved performance and protected people from stress and burnout. Radiologists evaluating CT scans increased their diagnostic accuracy 46 percent when the CT scans included facial photos of the patients. High school teachers who believed they were making a difference were found to be less likely to burnout than those who didn’t. The most effective leaders inspire people by clearly articulating how the work they do together is helping other human beings and how each person’s individual role on the team makes a difference.

Love pulls together

Taking time to get to know and care for the people you lead brings about greater unity. This unity is especially important as your team faces adversity. When love exists among the members of a group, they are more likely to pull together than to tear one another apart. The connection they feel helps them overcome the inevitable obstacles every organization encounters.

Love overlooks minor offenses

When love is present in a team, department or organization, people are more likely to assume the best in others and give them the benefit of the doubt. For example, if a colleague says something that is irritating, they may be inclined to cut them some slack. Absent love, potentially offending words or deeds are more likely to bring about retaliation and sprout rivalries that undermine performance.

Love reduces stress

One 20-year study of workplace environments found that those cultures that lacked supportive relationships increased the risk of mortality by 240 percent, which makes sense when you consider that chronic stress is a leading contributor to premature death. Toxic stress makes people feel fearful, timid or paralyzed. Love among the members of a group serves to reduces toxic stress so that people perform at the top of their game

Critics say that love makes a team, department or organization too soft. This objection is easily overcome by clearly communicating that being intentional about achieving excellence and results is expected. Developing and tracking metrics helps keep these objectives top of mind so people don’t lose sight of their importance. And when standards are not met, action should be taken to close the performance gap. This reinforces that, along with love, task excellence and results are essential.

Today, few leaders use the L-word.  So the next time you hear one speaking about “love” in terms of how colleagues treat one another and work together pay close attention. You may be seeing a future Herb Kelleher or Kip Tindell in the making. Love is a powerful source of competitive advantage.

Image Credit: The Container Store’s “We Love Our Employees Day” 2014

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Create a Book to Celebrate Your Workplace Culture

#95 Create a Book to Celebrate Your Workplace Culture

Create a book of employees’ stories or articles about living out the core values of your organization. Two excellent examples are Zappos’ Culture Book and Smile Guide: Employee Perspectives on Culture, Loyalty and Profit, which is about The Beryl Companies.

You can read a review of Smile Guide by Bob Morris on ConnectionCulture.com.

This is the ninety-fifth post in our series entitled “100 Ways to Connect.” The series highlights language, attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the language, attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.

 

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Secure Tools and Training

#94 Secure Tools and Training

Be sure to get people the tools and training they need to do their work well. Doing so not only helps others to grow, but also helps to reduce unnecessary stress that is harmful to performance.

This is the ninety-fourth post in our series entitled “100 Ways to Connect.” The series highlights language, attitudes and behaviors that help you connect with others. Although the language, attitudes and behaviors focus on application in the workplace, you will see that they also apply to your relationships at home and in the community.

The post Secure Tools and Training appeared first on Michael Lee Stallard.

3 Insights About Stress Every Leader Should Know

Who experiences greater levels of stress: non-leaders or the boss? When I ask this question while teaching workshops on leadership, nearly all the bosses in the room respond that they are the ones under greater stress. They’re wrong. Hard data makes it clear that non-leaders experience greater stress and in many instances it has a negative effect on their performance.

 

Consider two studies published in 2014 by Gary D. Sherman, et al. In the first, a sample of non-leaders in the Boston metropolitan area were compared to middle- to high-level government and military leaders participating in an executive education program at Harvard. The non-leaders showed higher levels of salivary cortisol, a physiological indicator of stress, and higher levels of self-reported anxiety, a psychological indicator of stress.

A second study looked at the effect that feeling in control had on lowering stress in a group of middle- to high-level government and military leaders. To determine feeling in control, researchers looked at the number of subordinates and number of direct reports, and authority to make decisions concerning subordinates. The results supported the study’s hypothesis that a sense of control from having more subordinates and greater authority over them was associated with lower stress as measured by both lower salivary cortisol and self-reported anxiety.

The results of both studies are consistent with those of the pioneering Whitehall studies of British civil servants in lower status jobs which found government workers who were lower in the hierarchy experienced poorer cardiovascular health and lower life expectancies.

Killer Stress and Challenge Stress 

At the heart of these findings is the effect of stress. Despite its reputation, stress is not all bad. It really is a matter of what kind and how much. Too little stress and people grow bored. Too much stress and they become overwhelmed. A certain degree of stress, what I call “challenge stress,” actually stimulates people to perform at their best.

“Killer stress,” i.e. the stress that comes from not feeling you have much control over your work, is unhealthy and in many individuals triggers fight, flight, freeze or stalking behavior. These behaviors are damaging to healthy relationships, productivity and innovation in the workplace. The key to achieving gains in productivity and performance is to create a culture in your organization that preserves challenge stress while neutralizing killer stress.

Connect to Optimize Stress

In my recent book Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work, I describe three relevant types of culture to be aware of when it comes to stress: cultures of control, cultures of indifference and connection cultures.

In cultures of control, individuals with power, control, influence and status rule over non-leaders and they are not intentional about getting non-leaders into roles that appropriately challenge them. These cultures increase killer stress and fail to capitalize on challenge stress.

In cultures of indifference, people are so busy with tasks that they fail to develop healthy, supportive relationships and get people into the right roles. These cultures also contribute to killer stress and fail to capitalize on challenge stress.

Only connection cultures dial down killer stress and dial up challenge stress as leaders and non-leaders alike feel connected to one another through shared identity, empathy and understanding. On a physiological level, this connection reduces stress-related neurotransmitters and hormones while boosting activity in the reward centers of the brain. People, especially non-leaders, have a greater sense of control, making them more enthusiastic and more energetic which, in turn, helps them thrive at work.

While working with the NASA Johnson Space Center my colleagues and I began identified more than 100 supporting ways leaders can create a connection culture to maximize challenge stress and minimize killer stress. We describe these behaviors in “100 Ways to Connect,” an e-book which is available at no cost by signing up to receive the ConnectionCulture.com newsletter.

An abundance of connection in the workplace will produce greater productivity and happiness, which will help your organization become the employer of choice.

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