Lonnie Pacelli's Blog, page 13

Free 11/29-30: Seek First to Understand Your Recipient

Free 11/29-30: Seek First to Understand Your Recipient

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Empowerment - Trust = Micro-Manager

My wife Patty and I some time back completed a massive renovation on a townhome in the Seattle area.   The townhome was built in the late 70's and was decorated using all of the finest materials that the Disco era had to offer.  The original owners liked it so much that they changed precisely nothing for the 30 years they lived there right down to the 8-track player on the guest room night stand.  We purchased the townhome in late 2009 with the intention of renovating the townhome and occupying it after our son graduated high school.
Patty and I assumed logical roles throughout the renovation.  I took lead on the structural design: room size, room location, wall demolition and construction.  Through the structural design process Patty and I made decisions together but I was the primary driver of the work.  As we got into the renovation, Patty took lead on fit and finish: wall colors, hardware choices, tile and grout.  She consulted with me on choices but she was the primary driver of the work.  The renovation went incredibly smooth and we moved into a beautifully renovated townhome right on schedule . We were recounting our renovation experience to friends of ours at dinner.  Our friends complimented us on how well we worked as a team on the renovation.  The comment caused me to liken our renovation experience to how leaders empower others.  The common denominator to Patty and I empowering each other on our structural and fit/finish roles was trust.    Patty trusted me in my structural decision making capacity and also trusted that I would include her when she needed to be included.  At the same time I trusted Patty in her fit and finish decision making.  Our ability to trust each other and to be trustworthy enabled us to get the job done while at the same time growing stronger in our marriage.

My one nugget to you is as follows: empowerment and trust go hand in hand.  The leader and follower need be able to trust each other.  At the same time, the leader and follower need to demonstrate that they are trustworthy so that mutual trust can be enabled.  When trust is compromised, the leader will tend to micro-manage work and the follower will tend to hide information and sweep problems under the carpet.  In either scenario, true empowerment is never achieved and results in a frustrating experience for both the leader and follower.
Lonnie Pacelli
Keynote Speaker | Board Director | Autism Advocate | Author | Project Management Expert | Microsoft/Accenture Veteran 
See his books on Amazon.

5 Ways to Be More Intentional With Job Changes

One of my favorite family movies is Mary Poppins. My grown kids will still tell you that my favorite part was watching Dick Van Dyke’s character Bert dance with the animated penguins. (Even as I type this, I have a smile on my face just thinking about his facial expressions as he flopped around in his sagging pants.)

 Aside from Van Dyke’s talent as a dancer, there was something else about Bert’s character that interested me: Bert was a one-man band, chalk artist, chimney sweep, and kite salesperson. The jobs had little in common other than the fact that Bert had skills that enabled him to perform each job.

While Bert may have been happy doing each of the jobs, it doesn’t appear on the surface that there was any intentionality to his job choices. Having a wayward approach to career changes worked great in the movie, but it might not work so well in your professional life.

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Puzzle Piece Leadership

Some time back I was having breakfast with a couple of guys that I work with in one of the organizations which I volunteer.  In this organization, I have been leading a group of about nine men for about four months to set a vision for the group, decide upon our key focus areas, and lay out activities which the group will undertake for the next year.  I was very pleased with how the team "gelled" and the fact that we seemed to be moving the ball forward towards meeting our vision.  During breakfast, one of the guys told me that, by and large, the team was happy with me but a couple felt that I came in too heavy-handed and authoritarian.  Blech.As these two men were talking with me about this, I have to admit that I felt my defensiveness rise up in me and wanted to justify why everything I did was absolutely necessary.  After a couple of days I cooled down and realized that my job as a leader was not to just make the team conform to me, but for me to conform to the team as well.   As result, I backed off a bit as a leader and rotated leadership of the team to where a different team member led the team every three months.  The approach worked well for the team and we got things done.  Have you ever worked on a puzzle where you were on the hunt for one piece to finish up part of the puzzle?  You pick up a piece that you think will fit and try to push it into place.  Sometimes the colors don't quite match up, the shape is a bit off, or an edge is missing.  Many of us put the piece down and continue to search for the hunt; others will try to jam the piece into place in hopes that the puzzle maker was just having an off-day when he or she cut the pieces in the first place.  Conforming to the needs of the team is no different.  As leaders we need to recognize the shape of the leadership puzzle piece that the team needs and work to fit that shape.  Sometimes it may take some adjusting on the team's part, sometimes it may take some adjusting on part of the leader.   What the leader needs to be very cognizant of, though, is when the leader is trying to jam his or her leadership style into place.  The team may go along with it because of the leader's position, but the team won't operate as effectively because the pieces just don't fit well together.

When leading a team, pay particular focus to what the team needs and ensure you are doing your part to adapt your style to fit best with the team.  It's not about the team conforming to you; it's about the team getting things done.
Lonnie Pacelli
Keynote Speaker | Board Director | Autism Advocate | Author | Project Management Expert | Microsoft/Accenture Veteran 
See his books on Amazon.

Your First 10 Tasks as an Independent Consultant

So let’s say you went through the 12 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Becoming an Independent Consultant—and you still want to take the plunge. This article will give you the must-do items to complete before opening your doors.

It’s common to be excited about getting your consultancy going and landing that first gig—passion is great! But you absolutely need to get a few things in order first. I can’t stress this enough: If you skip over considering the 10 steps below, you are setting yourself up for potentially big problems later. This is a “measure twice, cut once” thing. (I think you get my point by now…)

My experience is setting up a U.S. company in the state of Washington. You should use the advisors and other suggestions that are right for your consultancy’s location.

Read more at ProjectManagement.com

Hand Lotion

During winter my hands tend to dry out and get chapped.  One night when my hands felt like sandpaper I asked my wife if she had any hand lotion.  "Sure, what kind do you want?" she asked.  "The hand lotion kind," I said like the knuckle-dragger I am.  She then handed me an ice bucket which contained the following:
Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena Body CreamBath & Body Works Tropical Passion Fruit Body LotionOrigins A Perfect World Highly Hydrating Body Lotion with White TeaBath & Body Works Black Raspberry Vanilla Body LotionOrigins Ginger Soufflé Whipped Body CreamBath & Body Works Cucumber Melon Body CreamTrue Blue Spa Best Food Forward Foot Lotion (technically not hand lotion but makes the story better)
All of these choices got me to thinking about how experienced leaders like to make decisions by being given choices and understanding the consequences of each choice.  In my experience as a leader I have grown to appreciate those who clearly articulate choices, outline the consequences for each choice, and have a recommendation as to which choice should be chosen.   

Having the choices and consequences clearly outlined serves a couple of purposes.  First, it gives an assurance that viable alternatives have been considered and not swept under the carpet; second, it enables the decision makers to have a rich dialogue about each alternative and helps ensure that the best decision gets made.  Some of the best decision-making discussions I've been involved with have been facilitated with clearly articulated choices and consequences.  

Oh, and which hand lotion did I use?  I haven't a clue.
Lonnie Pacelli
Keynote Speaker | Board Director | Autism Advocate | Author | Project Management Expert | Microsoft/Accenture Veteran 
See his books on Amazon.

Free 11/1-2: Pave that Dirt Road

Free 11/1-2: Pave that Dirt Road

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Knowledge and Wisdom: What's the Difference?

I've done a lot of thinking about knowledge and wisdom. Many use the term interchangeably. Couldn't be further from the truth. Here are my 12 key differences:
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The Secret to Managing RAID Effectively (Part 2)

In The Secret to Managing RAID Effectively (Part 1), I introduced the RAID 101 model, which articulates the interrelationships between risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies. The model has six main components:Assumptions are factors about the project that you expect to go a certain way for the project to be successful.Dependencies are situations where forces external to your project can impact or be impacted by your project from a scope, schedule or cost perspective.Unplanned potential problems are things that could happen to impact scope, schedule or budget but weren’t defined at the project’s outset.Managed risks are comprised of assumptions, dependencies, previously identified risks, and unplanned potential problems.Unplanned realized problems are scope, schedule and budget problems that can no longer be mitigated and need to be addressed as an issue.Managed issues are comprised of managed risks that couldn’t be mitigated and unplanned realized problems.
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12 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Becoming an Independent Consultant

In my four decades as a professional, I’ve worked as a consultant at Accenture, hired consultants at Microsoft, and engaged with many clients while running my own firm. I’ve seen consulting from many different vantage points—some very positive, others not so much.

Of all these, I have by far enjoyed working in my own consultancy the most. I’m in no way trying to dismiss Accenture or Microsoft; I’m still on friendly terms with them, and strongly advocate them as employers. But going off on my own worked out best for me.

Hanging your own shingle is a bit like a bungee jump: it’s exciting, exhilarating and scary all at the same time. I’ve learned that branching off as an independent consultant isn’t for everyone, and that the most important first step anyone could take is to do some honest introspection on whether being an independent consultant is for him or her.

To that end, I have developed 12 questions that I believe are important to ask if you want to be your own consulting boss:

Read more at ProjectManagement.com.