S. Chris Edmonds's Blog, page 15

Validate your beliefs

“The sun will rise tomorrow.” If you believe that, you might plan for activities that are best done in the light of day.

Why might you belief that? It’s likely because the reality of sunrise and sunset in your past experience allows you to predict the sun rising tomorrow.

Now, you might have fewer sunlight hours if you lived in Reykjavik, Iceland, than if you lived in Tucson, Arizona. But, the sun would rise.

If stormy weather is happening in your neighborhood, you might not have as bright a sunshine as on a clear day. But the sun would rise, above the clouds.

Yet some people hold beliefs that are not supported by the reality around them. The facts don’t support their beliefs. Their beliefs lead them to behave in ways that don’t serve them well in the long run.

Our beliefs are powerful drivers in our lives. Beliefs cause us to behave in ways that are consistent with those beliefs, even if our behavior doesn’t result in desired outcomes over time.

For example, I’ve been a business traveler for over 25 years. For many of those years, one of my beliefs was “I work hard. I love food. I can eat anything I want to while on the road.” If you observed my behaviors, you’d have seen me order cheeseburgers, fries, ice cream, fried chicken, and more.

Then my doctor would say, “You’re too heavy and too fat. You’re killing yourself.” She was right. I’d start exercising more or eating more healthy foods. Then my beliefs would take over and I’d eat unhealthy foods and gain weight.

I had to change my belief since it clearly wasn’t working for me. My belief over the past six years has been “I work hard. I love food. I can eat anything that fuels my best self while on the road.” I eat lean proteins and vegetables. I eat very little dairy, nothing fried, and nothing “white” (flours and starches).

I’ve lost 25 pounds and kept it off. I wear clothes sizes that I’ve been unable to fit in since college. I’ve had to get belts, rings, watches, etc. resized smaller. I feel great. My blood panels are better than they’ve been in decades.

My clients have beliefs that they align to every day. Some of their beliefs and resulting behaviors serve them very well. Some do not.

Specifically, most business leaders believe that their job is to manage processes and results. So, that’s what they do. They spend all of their time on results and little time – if any – on the quality of their work environment and organizational culture.

Yet culture drives everything that happens in their organization, good or bad.

An unhealthy culture causes people to treat others rudely. People behave in ways that serve themselves, not others. They withhold information. They bully others.

My first step with any client is to educate leaders so they understand the impact of culture on business success as well as their primary responsibility to create a healthy workplace culture.

I have to help those leaders validate their beliefs – and to change their beliefs if their behaviors don’t work well. I coach leaders to believe it is their job to build a high performing, values-aligned culture daily.

So, this year, validate your beliefs. Find indisputable facts about your reality. For my food belief, I embraced the body mass index metric. For leaders, measure engagement and service as well as results.

Change your beliefs when it’s clear that your behaviors do not serve you – or others – well.

Every day.

How are your beliefs working out for you? Do your beliefs serve others as well as they serve yourself? Share your insights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Photo © avmedved – Dollar Photo Club. All rights reserved.

Podcast – Listen to this post now with the player below. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

The music heard on my podcasts is from one of my songs, “Heartfelt,” copyright © 2005-2015 Chris Edmonds Music (ASCAP). I played all instruments, recorded all tracks, and mastered the final product for your listening pleasure.

Don’t miss any of Chris’ posts, podcasts, or updates – Subscribe Now!



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Your leadership team’s true purpose

What is your team or department or company leadership team’s core “reason for being”?

If your leadership team is typical, the focus is on results and profits. Their only “reason for being” is to deliver expected performance.

There are very good reasons for that singular focus. In most companies, the only thing that is measured, monitored, and rewarded daily are results and profits. Leaders are recognized and valued (and paid) based upon their ability to deliver expected results.

Those leaders have never been asked to do anything different. Their role models – leaders they served under in the past – focused exclusively on results and profits.

It’s all they know.

However, there are undesirable logical consequences when leaders exclusively focus on results and profits. The biggest consequence is that team leaders and team members deliver those results in any way they can – including ways that serve themselves (and inhibit others’ performance), that bend rules, that are unethical, and worse. Those behaviors erode trust, respect, and dignity of your fellow employees. “I win, you lose” is the mantra.

We’ve all seen it.

The reality is that an “I win, you lose” philosophy actually limits team and department and company results! Performance is capped when team leaders and team members choose to not cooperate, share information, or enable others’ successes.

Now, there is nothing wrong with results and profits. What sucks is when the work environment is so competitive that people have to battle their peers to “win.” That boosts anxiety and stress and reduces well being and cooperation.

There is a better way. I can prove it.

When leadership teams craft a present day purpose that focuses on service to others – along with desired values and behaviors, strategies, and goals – performance goes up, by 35 percent. Engagement and service to up, by 40 percent – all within 18 months of refining their culture with an organizational constitution.

Those are impressive numbers – but getting leadership teams to evolve past their “old ways” is challenging.

A leadership team’s core purpose statement – their true, present day “reason for being” – answers three questions:

What does this team do?
For whom? Who are this team’s primary customers?
To what end? What is the desired outcome of these efforts beyond delivering results or making money?

Why is “to what end” important? Because most team leaders and team members do not enjoy any significant benefit if the organization makes more widgets or generates greater profits. Their take home pay doesn’t jump.

What humans crave is purpose and meaning. They want to know how their work makes their communities better, improves people’s lives, or even reduces environmental impact. When employees understand their beneficial impact on others, their engagement goes up. They serve others more effectively. Their commitment to the company goes up.

The “to what end” question is critically important. Most leadership teams I work with struggle with an answer to it. They are afraid if they don’t focus on results, those results will go away.

The exact opposite is true.

So what is an effective leadership team purpose statement? One of my client’s crafted a terrific, service oriented purpose statement for their leadership team:

“Drive results and service through engagement and respect.”

This statement honors the leadership team’s need to ensure team members deliver results and customer service while it clarifies what their leadership team must deliver first: employee engagement and respect.

Leaders, don’t focus exclusively on results. Your leadership team is responsible for creating a work environment based on trust, respect, and dignity, which then inspires team members to deliver great results and service.

Does your leadership team proactively create a safe, inspiring work environment? How does your leadership team foster trust, respect, and dignity of all team members? Share your insights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Photo © gstockstudio – Dollar Photo Club. All rights reserved.

Podcast – Listen to this post now with the player below. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

The music heard on my podcasts is from one of my songs, “Heartfelt,” copyright © 2005-2015 Chris Edmonds Music (ASCAP). I played all instruments, recorded all tracks, and mastered the final product for your listening pleasure.

Don’t miss any of Chris’ posts, podcasts, or updates – Subscribe Now!



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Service Creates Significance

Is your workplace dull and frustrating or productive and inspiring?

Most organizational cultures are not inspiring environments to live in or work in. Tiny HR’s 2015 Engagement and Culture Report found that 31 percent of employees feel strongly valued at work. That’s better than the 21 percent that felt strongly valued in their 2014 report.

And, it means that nearly 70 percent of employees don’t feel strongly valued at work. That’s awful.

How likely are employees to stay with their current company? This report asked respondents, “Would you leave your current job if another company offered you a 10% raise?” 25% of respondents said YES. That’s a strong indicator that employees are not satisfied with their jobs.

This report then asked respondents what gets in the way of productivity at work. 35 percent said that the biggest issue at work is their co-workers’ lack of productivity and follow through. That means leaders do not hold every team member accountable for performance. That unfairness erodes work satisfaction and contribution across the team.

When Tiny HR looked at factors with the highest positive impact on employee happiness, those with the strongest correlation – the greatest positive impact – were work environment and organizational culture!

Leaders can boost the quality of their work environment and the health of their organizational culture by making values as important as performance. By implementing my proven framework – an organizational constitution – leaders ensure their work environment treats everyone with trust, respect, and dignity.

This approach works! Engagement goes up, customer service goes up, and results and profits go up – all by 35-40 percent and more within 18 months of aligning practices to your organizational constitution.

One of the biggest benefits of implementing an organizational constitution is the clarity your team enjoys when they define their team or department or company’s present day purpose. If you ask employees in your organization today what the company’s purpose is, you’ll get answers like making money or selling widgets or processing loans or the whatever your company produces.

The problem is that making money or selling widgets isn’t naturally motivating for most team members. Sure, they want your organization to stay in business, but making money doesn’t create positive personal meaning for employees.

Serving others – as part of an organization that engages in serving others – does create positive personal meaning.

How does your team’s purpose emphasize service? It answers three questions: What does your team do? For whom does it do it? And, to what end – what benefits do your customers gain from your team’s products or services?

In essence, an effective purpose statement describes how your team’s products and services make others’ lives better.

When you shift team leader and team member thinking from “just making money” to “serving our customers,” employees are much more likely to care about the quality of their work and about the quality of their work relationships.

Service can boost employee well-being. Gallup’s 2014 Well Being Index found that adults that received recognition for community service averaged 70 points (out of 100) on the Well Being Index. Adults that did not receive recognition for community service averaged 58 points on the index.

Service to your community means many things. It includes things like generating profits so each employee can make a $300 grant to their favorite charity each year . . . Or volunteering, as a team, to serve holiday meals to the homeless . . . Or helping with a Habitats for Humanity group building a home . . . Or collecting food items or toys for the needy.

When your team’s purpose focuses on service to others, it creates deep personal meaning for employees. Work isn’t just a job – it becomes a place where “I work with valued colleagues who help me improve the quality of life for members of our community,” as one employee told me.

Make boosting the quality of your team or department or company’s culture a priority this year – and let service drive significance in the hearts of employees.

Does your team’s purpose have a “serve others” component? How strongly valued to employees feel in your organization? Share your insights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Photo © Wendy Kaveney – Dollar Photo Club. All rights reserved.

Podcast – Listen to this post now with the player below. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

The music heard on my podcasts is from one of my songs, “Heartfelt,” copyright © 2005-2015 Chris Edmonds Music (ASCAP). I played all instruments, recorded all tracks, and mastered the final product for your listening pleasure.

Don’t miss any of Chris’ posts, podcasts, or updates – Subscribe Now!



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Leadership Development in 2016

Merriam-Webster declared “culture” the word of the year in 2014. We anxiously await the announcement of the 2015 word of the year. I’m hoping it’s “servant leadership.” (OK, that’s two words!)

With that in mind, here are my recommendations for leadership development in 2016.

For large companies, budgets have long since been formalized for the coming year. Many organizations invest in leadership training. If they haven’t already, HR team members are mapping out their company’s training curriculum right now.

For small businesses, they may have limited funds available to train leaders. There are a variety of solid leadership training programs available for individual leaders – at colleges, by chambers of commerce, in public workshops by training companies, and more.

Leadership training is a good thing, right? The number of hours leaders spend in development programs and the number of dollars spent on those programs are both easy to measure. Solid leadership development programs definitely build knowledge and awareness of effective leadership practices.

The problem is that participating in a training program doesn’t guarantee effective leadership behaviors are applied in daily interactions.

Though training expenditures and training hours are easily tracked, these aren’t the best metrics to use to gauge leader effectiveness.

For example, I’ve studied organizations that met development targets of 40-120 hours per leader annually. However, their leaders were not effective. They didn’t solve problems proactively. They didn’t delegate authority to talented, engaged team members. They mis-treated employees and customers. They didn’t consistently generate budgeted nets.

Yet those leaders kept their jobs. They were seen as “well-trained.”

In 2016, there are better metrics to monitor to ensure that your leadership development efforts result in effective leadership across your organization, whether it is a large multi-national company, a local neighborhood business, or anything in between.

This year, pay close attention to my “big three”: employee engagement, customer service, and results. Each of these is equally important! Most organizations measure, monitor, and reward only results. If leaders get those results in ways that erode engagement or service, so be it. The organization is getting exactly what they deserve – by focusing exclusively on results.

By measuring engagement and service as well, companies have a much clearer picture of the actual impact that their leaders are having on employees, customers, and the business.

By measuring engagement, service, and results, companies can celebrate those leaders that positively impact all three. They can easily identify leaders that fall short of positively impacting all three.

By all means, provide leadership development programs for your leaders. That’s 10 percent of the investment needed to have consistently effective leaders in your company. The other 90 percent is time and energy spent:

Regularly measuring every leader’s impact on engagement, service, and results,
Celebrating aligned behavior (positive impact on any of those big three), and
Re-directing mis-aligned behavior (eroding impact on any of those big three).

Don’t get hooked by the temptation to focus exclusively on the time or money spent on leadership development. It’s much more beneficial to invest time, energy, and mentoring in developing effective leaders and in crafting a safe, inspiring workplace culture, every day.

What is your organization’s philosophy on leadership development? To what extent does your company measure engagement, service, AND results to gauge leader effectiveness? Share your insights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Photo © Monkey Business – Dollar Photo Club. All rights reserved.

Podcast – Listen to this post now with the player below. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

The music heard on my podcasts is from one of my songs, “Heartfelt,” copyright © 2005-2015 Chris Edmonds Music (ASCAP). I play all instruments on these recordings.

Don’t miss any of Chris’ posts, podcasts, or updates – Subscribe Now!



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

You need a skunk works

The skunk works logo is featured on Lockheed’s Advanced Development Projects hanger in Palmdale, CA.

Sometimes things just don’t work like we expect them to.

Clothes don’t look right on us. Our diet doesn’t support sustained energy and health. Some of our friends turn out to be less values-aligned than we thought.

So, we change things up. We try new clothes. We try a new diet. We insulate from old friends that no longer fit our worldview.

These little tweaks sometimes work better immediately. In most cases, it requires a series of tweaks to find a better fit or better outcomes or better energy.

This approach is continuous improvement in action – small tweaks made to benefit our lives.

In business, leaders try continuous improvement all the time – even if they don’t call it that. If there are quality issues with products or services, leaders inspire process refinements to improve quality. If team members aren’t as productive as they need to be, training is offered. Sometimes team members are rotated to find a more effective mix for productivity.

If products aren’t as popular as they used to be, leaders inspire product tweaks to see if a new feature or application can rejuvenate sales. A new pattern on dinnerware can boost sales. A new sandwich combination can bring customers back.

Continuous improvement is normal and natural, in life as in business.

However, sometimes continuous improvement doesn’t lead to the significant shifts that your team – your business – requires. To make significant shifts might require a skunk works.

A skunk works is a small team of talented, engaged people that work outside the normal business routines and processes to solve difficult problems with minimal supervision or constraints.

The skunk works terminology comes from Lockheed Martin. In 1943, under the leadership of Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, a skunk works team was formed to design and build America’s first fighter jet. Johnson promised delivery of a working prototype in 150 days – so long as they worked separate from the boundaries of the larger Lockheed organization. The secret mission and the incredibly tight deadline inspired the team. They delivered the P-80 Shooting Star fighter in 143 days.

Lockheed’s skunk works is responsible for a number of significant aviation accomplishments, including the U-2, the SR-71 Blackbird, and the invisible-to-radar F-117 Nighthawk.

If small tweaks aren’t leading to significant benefits in your business, you might need a skunk works.

You may be hesitant to give a small team the immediate responsibility for future products or services. So, start small – with a values skunk works.

Ask one of your best bosses – someone who inspires strong performance as well as strong engagement across their team today – to take on the mission of defining and aligning team behaviors to an organizational constitution. Let your skunk works craft their team’s present day purpose, values and behaviors, strategies and goals.

Then let them do their work – with continuous performance improvements – while living their team’s values and behaviors. Let them learn how to hold each other accountable for not only performance but for respectful treatment of their team members in every interaction.

If they’re like most of the team’s I work with, they’ll reap the benefits of boosted results, engagement, and service. They’ll be inspired by a work environment that treats everyone with trust, respect, and dignity.

And what that skunk works team learns about living their values can help other teams throughout your business experience the same inspiration.

Have you ever been a part of a skunk works team? If so, what was your experience? How might your business benefit from a values skunk works team? Share your insights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Photo © Malfita – Wikimedia Commons. All rights reserved.

Podcast – Listen to this post now with the player below. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

The music heard on my podcasts is from one of my songs, “Heartfelt,” copyright © 2005-2015 Chris Edmonds Music (ASCAP). I play all instruments on these recordings.

Don’t miss any of Chris’ posts, podcasts, or updates – Subscribe Now!



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Valued Behaviors Create Passion and Excellence

Thanksgiving week is upon us here in the US. This holiday is a time of gratitude, reflecting on the blessings we each have in our lives. It’s also a holiday of family, food, and football – usually too much food and football in our house!

I’m thankful for many things, not the least of which is for our first responders. Police and fire personnel put their lives on the line every day. Their jobs are immensely demanding and stressful. 99 percent of those first responders serve with speed, grace, and skill.

And, skill alone doesn’t make an effective firefighter or police officer. The culture of their department has a huge influence on whether they are able to bring their best each day – as individuals and as team members.

If their department’s culture tolerates disrespectful or dangerous behaviors, it is likely that the players in that culture will embrace those behaviors. They won’t share information. They won’t support each other. They criticize others’ decisions publicly. They discount others’ efforts and accomplishments. They may hesitate to act upon the commands from a distrusted colleague – with potentially disastrous results.

These behaviors don’t bond people together, they create distrust – whether in a police station, fire department, retail store, restaurant, or office.

A high performing, values-aligned culture doesn’t happen by default – it happens only by design.

A high-performing team culture that treats all members with trust, respect, and dignity in every interaction doesn’t happen by default. It happens only by design – with clear intention and daily attention. By creating clear performance expectations along with clear citizenship expectations – and with consistent accountability for both – organizations reap the benefits.

What are those benefits? Employee engagement goes up 40 percent. Customer service increases by 40 percent. Results and profits grow by 35 percent – all within 18 months of implementing an organizational constitution (purpose, values and behaviors, strategies, and goals).

It is unusual for law enforcement or fire protection organizations to engage in this process. It takes a lot of time and energy to do it right. The reality is that defining your organizational constitution is the easy part of the journey; it’s about 10 percent of the work.

90 percent of the work is about alignment to the new expectations outlined in the constitution. Modeling the behaviors, coaching the behaviors, and holding everyone accountable for the behaviors is where the real traction takes place or fails.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with firefighters since the 1980’s when two served on the board of my YMCA. Getting to know these firefighters helped me learn just how demanding their jobs are – and how dedicated they are to serving others.

Recently, a member of the Bend, Oregon, USA, Fire & Rescue squad shared how his team is creating a high performing, values-aligned work environment with specific values and behaviors. Their values include:

Respect
Optimism
Compassion
Humility
Resiliency
Integrity

By formalizing their values and behaviors, Bend Firefighters know that they are responsible for more than simply applying their skills to their jobs. They are responsible to treat others with respect and compassion, every day. They are to behave humbly and with integrity in every interaction. They are to demonstrate optimism and resiliency, even in the toughest moments.

A valued team member in the Bend Fire Department acts in accordance with their values and behaviors. They praise aligned behavior and redirect mis-aligned behaviors. And, they’re making progress, every day.

The video below allows Bend Firefighters to share their unique perspective of their culture, values, and passion for serving their community while keeping their team members safe.

How clearly does your organization define citizenship? Do team leaders and team members treat each other with trust, dignity, and respect, every day? Share your insights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Photo © Monkey Business – Dollar Photo Club. All rights reserved.

Podcast – Listen to this post now with the player below. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

The music heard on my podcasts is from one of my songs, “Heartfelt,” copyright © 2005-2015 Chris Edmonds Music (ASCAP). I play all instruments on these recordings.

Don’t miss any of Chris’ posts, podcasts, or updates – Subscribe Now!



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Mean Bosses Suck.

Last week’s post and podcast examined the impact of mean people in our lives. This week, let’s discuss mean bosses.

When you face mean people in your family or community or workplace, you have three choices.

You can tolerate them by choosing to remain connected to them without proactively trying to change their behavior. You can insulate yourself from them by choosing to limit your exposure to them. Or, you can eliminate your exposure to these mean people by choosing to separate yourself from them. It will require time and energy on your part to ensure you never interact with those mean people but it may be worth it to you.

The stakes are bigger if you are a leader in your organization and find yourself engaged with mean bosses at work.

If you are a leader and these mean bosses are peers of yours or even direct reports of yours, the responsibility to address their behavior goes beyond personal sanity.

Now, it’s about the negative impact on the broader workplace team and even on your customers.

A recent New York Times article, No Time To Be Nice At Work, highlighted the negative impact that mean bosses have on engagement, service, and results.

Officevibe’s research found that employers spend USD$360 billion each year in health care costs as a result of bad bosses.

Mean bosses are bullies – and they bully others with remarkable frequency and intensity. The Workplace Bullying Institute’s 2014 survey established that 72 percent of US workers – 65 million of them – have been bullied, are currently being bullied, have witnessed bullying, or are aware of bullying in their organizations. 56 percent of all bullying in US workplaces is by bosses.

The worst news from this survey? 72 percent of employers do nothing to address this mean behavior. They believe “it doesn’t happen here” or “it’s a routine way of doing business” or “bullying is necessary to be competitive.”

What can leaders do with mean bosses in their workplace? Leaders have the same three choices available to address mean bosses.

They can tolerate them, with the resulting hits on engagement, service, and results. As noted, 72 percent of employers take this path.

They can insulate themselves from those mean bosses – with the same resulting hits on engagement, service, and results. Both toleration and insulation means the leaders are abdicating their responsibility to address mean bosses proactively.

The only appropriate choice is to eliminate mean boss behaviors by anyone in a position of authority in your workplace. This approach requires time and energy to make a stand: “Here is the behavior I have observed. It is inappropriate and must stop.”

This requires giving the mean bosses coaching to eliminate unwanted behaviors and to embrace desired behaviors. It requires giving them time to adapt their behaviors.

If, over the short haul, the mean bosses are unable to embrace desired behaviors, it requires setting them free – lovingly, kindly, and firmly helping them out of your organization.

Doing nothing only makes it worse. Doing nothing gives mean bosses tacit approval to continue behaving badly.

A safe, inspiring, productive workplace doesn’t happen by default – it happens only by design. Leaders, be intentional about workplace inspiration by crafting an organizational constitution that outlines performance standards and values expectations. Then, hold everyone accountable for results AND respectful behavior in every interaction.

What is your experience with mean bosses? Does your organization tolerate mean bosses? Share your insights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Photo © Lane Erickson – Dollar Photo Club. All rights reserved.

Podcast – Listen to this post now with the player below. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

The music heard on my podcasts is from one of my songs, “Heartfelt,” copyright © 2005-2015 Chris Edmonds Music (ASCAP). I play all instruments on these recordings.

Don’t miss any of Chris’ posts, podcasts, or updates – Subscribe Now!



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Mean People Suck.

There are mean people around us. We don’t have to look hard.

In my Long Beach, CA, neighborhood in the ’60’s, an elderly man lived on our street. There were fifty 8-12 years olds on that street. We played in the street and in each others’ yards. We rode our bikes. We built forts. We operated lemonade stands. We ran around as superheroes with bathroom towels as capes.

Anytime a kid crossed the elderly man’s yard, he yelled at us. If a ball rolled onto his grass, he yelled at us. If a toy went over the fence into his back yard, it was “lost forever.” He complained regularly to our parents about how “unruly” us kids were.

He was the “grumpy old man” in our neighborhood. We did our best to stay away from him.

We see mean behavior between and among family members – to each other and to people outside the family, daily.

At work, we see people acting mean all the time. The Workplace Bullying Institute’s 2014 study of US workplaces found that 65 million workers are affected by bullying. “Teasing” takes the form of demeaning and discounting of others’ ideas, efforts, and accomplishments. Cliques form, where insiders are valued and outsiders are scorned. A boss tells a team member their report is “rubbish” – in front of the team.

A recent New York Times article outlined the negative impact on health when workplace incivility reigns.

Mean people are sometimes allowed to get away with mean behavior while keeping their jobs. This week, photos were released of an all-pro NFL player’s ex-girlfriend’s injuries. The player was suspended last year by the league for domestic violence. The release of these pictures has raised the call for the player to be suspended indefinitely.

This player’s mean behaviors continue. The player was seen getting into a confrontation with teammates and a coach on the sideline during a recent game which the team lost – yet the player remains a highly-compensated member of the team.

The player’s new team apparently sees talent as more important than character. The player will start in this Sunday’s game.

Why do people act mean? There might be many valid reasons for people to feel badly about themselves. It could be that they were unloved as a child. It could be that he or she – or a family member – has health problems or financial problems. It could be that they have experienced powerful role models of mean bosses over their careers – so they demonstrate the same meanness.

It could be one of thousands of contributing factors.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter why some people act mean. They don’t have to take out their frustrations on others – yet they do. Our choice is what to do with mean people. I suggest we have three options:

Tolerate. We can choose to remain involved with mean people – and say little about their behavior. Toleration means we don’t actively attempt to redirect the mean person’s behavior. We experience it – and the consequences of it, on ourselves and others – daily.

Insulate. We can choose to remain connected with mean people but we intentionally limit our exposure to their meanness. We protect ourselves and our family members or team members by being assertive about what behaviors are appropriate and what behaviors are inappropriate. If mean behaviors blossom, we can address the unkind behavior (while valuing the person) in a neutral, firm fashion – then leave the family dinner or the team meeting. This approach means we must be “on guard” but willing to engage with the mean person, so long as they don’t behave badly.

Eliminate. We can choose to separate ourselves from mean people. We may have to change jobs within our company or to even change companies to eliminate interactions with a mean player. We may choose to not attend family events to ensure we’re not confronted by the bad behavior. We don’t judge, we just move on.

What is the best option for you? For your own well-being, I highly recommend insulation or elimination. Life is too short.

How do mean people in your workplace behave? Does your organization tolerate that mean behavior? How do you insulate or eliminate mean people from your daily lives? Share your insights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Photo © .shock – Dollar Photo Club. All rights reserved.

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The music heard on my podcasts is from one of my songs, “Heartfelt,” copyright © 2005-2015 Chris Edmonds Music (ASCAP). I play all instruments on these recordings.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Attitude, Schmattitude.

“Hire for attitude, train for skills.”

We’ve all heard this recommendation. Some believe it wholeheartedly. I love the “train for skills” piece. That works for me.

What doesn’t work is the attitude piece. I think the phrase “hire for attitude” is founded on an impossible task: accurately assessing a person’s attitude.

Attitude is, by definition, an internal state. If it’s an internal state, how can we accurately assess it? We can’t know what a person is thinking. We can’t know what a person is feeling. We can’t know their motivations, their rationale, or their goals.

What we can do is observe their behaviors. Behaviors are tangible and measurable.

A person’s plans, decisions, and actions – observed over time – can lead us to a more confident understanding of their goals, fears, and rationale.

Could we get a more complete understanding of a person by engaging them in conversations, asking them to explain their goals, fears, and rationale? Maybe. Sometimes people say things they don’t mean. Sometimes people say one thing and do another.

I’m not going to be a very effective recruiter or influencer if I’m attempting to assess or manage someone else’s attitude. It’s just not an effective strategy.

I’m also not going to be an effective pet owner if I’m attempting to assess my pet’s attitude. Stay with me on this.

A dear friend is a veterinarian. I enjoy learning about her daily interactions with clients – and their pets. Her job as a veterinarian is to gather information – blood tests, flexibility tests, etc. on the animal and behavioral observations from the pet’s owners – to establish what the pain or illness might be. Only then can she prescribe a treatment to address that pain or illness.

Her challenge is that pet owners try to manage or “know” their pet’s attitudes or internal states instead of observing and reporting on the pet’s behaviors.

She says, “I go over this every day with every client in every appointment!”

A client may say, “Mr. Tibbles is depressed about the weather – that’s why he’s lethargic.” That may be entirely true – but it’s my friend’s job to push for behavioral insights that can provide clues to what other issues might be causing Mr. Tibbles’ discomfort.

It could be the cat is reacting to a change in diet. That cool new cat food may disagree with Mr. Tibbles’ digestion. It could be an infection. It could be a hair ball – or any number of issues that put the pet at serious risk.

So, my friend coaches clients to share what behaviors they’ve observed, not what attitudinal assessments they’ve made of their pet.

Behavior is by far a more reliable indicator of a person’s work ethic, passion, values, and follow-through. I don’t have to make any assumptions about a person’a attitude. I can simply look at their patterns of behavior.

Hire for values and behaviors – then train for skills. You’ll end up with a much more enthused, aligned high performer on your team.

What’s your experience with hiring for attitude and training for skills? Have you assessed valued behaviors first? Share your insights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Photo © .shock – Dollar Photo Club. All rights reserved.

Podcast – Listen to this post now with the player below. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

The music heard on my podcasts is from one of my songs, “Heartfelt,” copyright © 2005-2015 Chris Edmonds Music (ASCAP). I play all instruments on these recordings.

Don’t miss any of Chris’ posts, podcasts, or updates – Subscribe Now!



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Nurture Your Team’s Narrative

What’s your team’s story? An effective team story or narrative clarifies the team’s purpose and focus – who they’re serving, to what end, and what promises they must deliver upon daily.

It creates meaning for both individual team members and the whole team.

An effective team story – intentionally crafted and nurtured – sets the context for the team’s work. It specifies what team members are striving for, together. It bonds individuals into a powerful, aligned community, working together.

Most teams don’t have an effective story. That’s usually because most leaders – of teams, departments, divisions, and companies – don’t understand why their team needs one or how to craft one. If leaders don’t create and reinforce their team’s desired narrative, individuals are left to craft one on their own.

When individuals craft their team story independently, those team members look to reinforce and value their unique skills and contributions while discounting others’ skills and contributions. Individuals craft stories that serve their unique, narrow faceted perspective.

That doesn’t create a single, aligning narrative. It creates an inconsistent, self-serving story that typically encourages individual performance and credit. It does not encourage aligned team performance and cooperation.

How clear is your team or department or company’s story today? It’s easy to test. Simply engage players – local, remote, wherever – in a conversation about your team’s purpose, it’s reason for being. Ask, “What’s our team’s purpose?”

Expect some odd looks. It’s not a common question.

The answers you get will likely be from the perspective of practicality, of results and profits. Team members will say “We print catalogs” or “We sell diabetes drugs” or “We sell cars.” They may say, “We make money – for shareholders, for owners.”

It is unlikely that you will get answers from the perspective of who you serve – of what your team or company’s products or services do to make customers safer or healthier or happier or more able to cope in their world.

Making money or finishing projects or selling widgets is a very practical and desirable outcome. The problem is that if your team makes money or finishes projects or sells widgets, there is little benefit to the individual contributor. Well, job security might be a benefit. However, keeping one’s job brings fear to the forefront of team members’ minds. That’s a negative reinforcer, not a positive one.

To inspire discretionary energy and cooperative interaction and genuine enthusiasm for one’s work requires setting a much more relevant context for team members. It requires an effective story.

To build an inspiring, meaningful team narrative, craft your company purpose by answering these three questions:

What does our team or company do?
For whom do we do it?
To what end? What is the outcome we strive for that benefits customers and community?

Here’s a terrific example from one of my clients – WD-40 Company. Their purpose statement is to “Create positive lasting memories by solving problems in homes and factories of the world.”

What does WD-40 Company do? They solve problems. For whom do they do it? For people in homes and factories around the globe. To what end? To create positive lasting memories. They’ve answered the three questions effectively – and WD-40 Company’s leaders do a great job of reinforcing this story with team members every day.

Don’t leave your team’s narrative to chance. Be intentional. Craft a team story that inspires, engages, and aligns team member’s heads, hearts, and hands.

What’s your team or company’s story, today? “To what end” do your organization’s team members toil? Share your insights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Photo © .shock – Dollar Photo Club. All rights reserved.

Podcast – Listen to this post now with the player below. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

The music heard on my podcasts is from one of my songs, “Heartfelt,” copyright © 2005-2015 Chris Edmonds Music (ASCAP). I play all instruments on these recordings.

Don’t miss any of Chris’ posts, podcasts, or updates – Subscribe Now!



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”