Performance – Blanchard LeaderChat

If You Were a First Time Manager Again, What Would You Do Differently?

Sarah-Jane Clark — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 15:42:40 +0000

As we grow and learn as human beings we come across things in life which make us wonder how different things could have been if we knew then, what we know now. Working for a leadership company now, I often think about my first time manager role and how I really wasn’t as good of a manager as I could/should have been. I wasn’t equipped with the right skills that I needed.
I want to share with you my experience about becoming a first time manager, here goes…..
I was 21 years old and worked for a very well known UK bank insurance call center, I managed a team of 10-15 employees. I had previously worked as part of this team before I went to university and during my holidays, so the team were my friends. I climbed up the ranks from individual contributor to team lead. When I became a manager of the team, needless to say things changed. I was still everyone’s friend and I still went out with my close friends on the team Saturday nights, but at work there was a bit of “them versus me.” When people were performing I thought things were great, but when they weren’t being a first time manager was really tough. I remember many a night, going home and crying wondering what I had done to deserve people being so horrible to me, and thinking I never want to be a manager again.
Looking back, I brought some of it on myself. Below are some of the mistakes I made…..

I thought I needed to have all of the answers
I thought I needed to be authoritative and hard otherwise people wouldn’t respect me
I followed all of the rules & guidelines the company set to the T, 100% of the time
I never really listened or was open to be persuaded
I shied away from conflict, until it blew up in my face
The company set the goals which were very day-to-day focused, e.g., call handling times, etc. I never as a manager set any long term goals for my team or development goals, I simply followed the script, mainly because I didn’t know any different.
We didn’t celebrate achievements enough.

Knowing what I know now, there are lots of things I would have done differently in my first time manager role. I won’t write them all, because I could be here for days but I’ve noted just a few a below.

Breathe – You don’t have to answer everybody’s questions straight away. Take five minutes to reflect and stay calm even when stressed.
Listen – Not just for the sake of letting others talk, but really listen to what people are saying. Be open to being persuaded.
I wouldn’t have pretended to be something I wasn’t. I am not hard faced and authoritative, quite the opposite. People see through masks, I would have told my truth about who I am, and what I expect from the team.
I would have set clear expectations and goals for my team, to help them grow and develop. Worked hard to create growth opportunities for my team.
I would have told myself – Don’t take things so personally! I know that’s easier said than done but I used to beat myself up about not being everything to everyone. Remember you are only human.
When things weren’t going to plan with the team or team member, I would’ve dealt with the situation there and then and thought about my words very carefully. Asked them about what went wrong, ensure no judgement or blame.
Asked for help. Quite often in life, we are ashamed to ask for help. I don’t know why, because everyone in life at some point needs direction and or support.

My experience of being a first time manager, and feeling completely overwhelmed happens all of the time. People are promoted because they are good at what they do, many forget that a manager’s role requires a completely different skill set to that of an individual contributor.
What would you have done differently in your first time manager role? Or if you haven’t been a manager yet, but looking to become one, what is your greatest concern about being a first time manager?
Sarah-Jane Kenny – EMEA Channel Solutions Consultant at the Ken Blanchard Companies

A Happier and Healthier You

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 08:01:53 +0000

I am going to be open and honest – I don’t like New Year’s resolutions!
I do have goals each year, but I don’t get to January 1 and think up resolutions; there’s so much evidence they don’t work.
Forbes posted an article which drew upon the University of Scranton’s research which states that just 8% of people achieve their New Year’s resolutions. I have seen many articles listing an under 10% resolutions success rate. So why do so many of us make them?
Healthy Changes
I made a decision last year that in order to be more effective at work I needed to have a greater focus on my wellbeing which meant investing in my health, energy and productivity.
For too long I had been on the treadmill of sugary foods and caffeine hits to get me through the day. Rather than make me more efficient this sent me on a rollercoaster of insulin highs and lows.

I didn’t start this at the beginning of the year only to give up after 2 weeks – I happened to start mid-year and read up on nutrition, exercise, and mind and body health. I then went about making small changes I could sustain and I am happy to report after about 6 months I have a lifestyle I can maintain and I am feeling so much better for it.
I am sure there are a lot of us out there that feel a career and family mean we have to opt for convenience. This just isn’t true.
What I Have Learnt

We are capable of so much more – There’s a great feeling when you are in control. You know what you are putting into your body and, through mental and physical exertion, what your body is capable of.
Don’t do ‘low fat’ – We are sold a lot of ‘food myths’ by retailers and manufacturers – ‘low fat’ regularly means high sugar and salt which retain body fat and make us feel bloated and sluggish.
Treat yourself to nature – A ‘treat’ should not be something sugary, a ‘treat’ should be a nourishing meal of natural foods that leave you feeling great and with the energy to be productive. Think about how eating that packet of crisps at 3pm really makes you feel.
Take a break – So many of us eat while working. It actually aids digestion and makes us more productive to take a break.
Brain Fuel – Water and exercise feed the brain. Staying hydrated helps our attention span (and it reduces ageing signs like wrinkles!!), as does stepping outside for fresh air and a little bit of sunshine (increasing our vitamin D levels).

Livestrong’s article ‘How Does Exercise Improve Work Productivity’ explains why exercise is so crucial for work performance,
‘When you exercise, you are also increasing blood flow to the brain, which can help sharpen your awareness and make you more ready to tackle your next big project. Exercise can also give you more energy. Having more energy means you will feel more awake at work. Being on top of your game will assure that you perform your work correctly and to the best of your ability.’

Being healthy not only gives you a longer life to enjoy, but also improves brain function and makes us better at our jobs.
Give Your Routine a Healthy Overhaul

Prepare for your week in advance – I see so many of my colleagues buying pre-made lunches and breakfasts. There is a rainbow of vegetables and fruit out there that come without labels and the term ‘low fat’. A carrot does not need to say low in salt/sugar! I lead a busy life, but make the time for shopping for fresh produce and planning meals in advance. Believe me, you will feel the benefit.
Make time for food – I find it hard to eat away from my desk, but I do try to focus more on when and what I am eating; the taste, the smell and how the food makes me feel. So many of us suffer with poor digestion, make the time to chew food and give your stomach a chance to digest. Cooking can also be a family affair, get your spouse and children involved and make meal preparation fun.
Get some fresh air and/or move – I always feel more alive and productive after a run. This isn’t for everyone, but it’s important that we all ‘move’ for good health and wellbeing. Studies have shown that exercise can improve mental health, so pick a gym class you enjoy, a walk outside with friends or any activity that makes you feel alive. The key thing is to enjoy the movement and reap its rewards.
Ditch the labels – Try buying from the first couple of aisle of the supermarket. I see so many people with trolleys full of branded products, with barcodes and terms like ‘fat free’ or ‘low sugar’. See if you can make a meal with no barcodes, as the nutritionist Amelia Freer says don’t buy products with ‘tricks and promises to seduce you’.

Commit To Sustaining The Change
The key thing is to sustain whatever change you make.
To be a ‘healthier and happier you’ may take only one of these changes, keep these small and manageable.
A working mum or dad? Why prepare not commit to preparing your meals on a Sunday. Always rushing between meetings? Make a lunch that can be easily eaten and is easily digestible.
The most important thing is to look after yourself, no-one is going to do it for you and you will not believe the difference to your work day and home life if you just pay a little more attention to your own health and happiness.
Here’s some links for inspiration:
Madeleine Shaw’s top tips for fighting fatigue
Deliciously Ella’s advice for anyone who feels they can’t cook
Calgary Avansino’s blog – sharing a whole host of wellbeing guru’s secrets
I wish you all the best for 2016!

Top 5 Things People Don't Know About Virtual Workers

Hart Lee — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 20:40:52 +0000

The Leaders Guide to Mediocrity—Less Than a Million Ways to Maintain the Status Quo

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 20:24:04 +0000

“Proceed with caution in the direction of your hopes, and live safely, the life have.” —Hank Dave Locke
Mediocre is a good. Moderate quality is ok. “Average is the norm,” as Yogi Berra might say.
Today’s world is complicated—every segment of society is continually changing and very little seems to be certain anymore, like it was two hundred years ago. No amount strategy, planning, or consulting can change this reality.
The great challenge for today’s leader at work, in sports, at home, or in academia, is to help everyone just hold on through the chaos and hope that things turn out for the good. We need to lower our expectations on what “greatness” really is. Our primary focus as leaders today is to maintain the status quo and not allow innovation, excellence, or a utopian idea of high-performance disrupt people from allowing people to get their job done the way they always have—for the most part.
The following are a host (who really counts how many points there are in articles like this anymore?) of ideas, or habits, or secrets, that will help leaders around the world avoid the stress caused by the quest for “higher levels” of performance and help maintain the status quo within your spheres of influence—if you have any.
Don’t Have a Vision
Visions are nothing more than “pie in the sky” dreams about the way things should be, not the way things really are. Having a vision for your organization only stresses people out and puts too high of expectations on them—expectations that are impossible to live up to in the end. And besides everybody forgets the vision after the town hall meeting anyway. So leaders need to save everyone the stress—don’t create a vision.
Don’t Set Goals
Like vision, goals are a big stress in any area of life. People don’t need really need goals; it only sets you up for failure and disappointment. People come to work and know what they’re supposed to do and should be left alone to get it done—they don’t need a goal to tell them what they need to do. Without the stress of goals we don’t have to plan our week or take time every day to think about our activities we need to do. Without the burden of goals, people are free to just get straight to working—on something!
Don’t Give Feedback—And Never Ever Ask for Feedback

Feedback is just an illusion. It’s just someone else’s perception. By offering feedback you’re suggesting that something could be actually done a certain way—that’s pretty judgmental if you think about it. The reality is that everybody has their own way about going about doing things. By giving feedback to someone you’re know judging them, you’re insinuating that things could be done even better, and this is very disruptive to an organization—especially when you give feedback to someone that’s been leading people for 20 or more years. By asking for feedback you’re insinuating that someone knows how to do it better than you. That’s a no-no. You’ll look like a fool and people may begin to think that you don’t know how to do your job if you ask for feedback
Don’t Listen

There’s only so much time in a day that you can sit around and listen to people’s complaints and problems. A leader that wants to maintain the
status quo and promote mediocrity, keep things flowing, should have no part of listening to somebody else’s challenges concerns or feedback. Time is of the
essence so don’t waste time listening to people’s concerns, and they’ll figure it out on their own—probably.
Don’t Solve Problems—Today
Like listening, problem-solving is another big waste of time. Problems exist, they always will, so what’s the point of trying to solve a problem when the reality is there will be 10 more, at least, that will spring up the next day. And if you really must try to solve a problem, sometimes you do, than the best strategy is to put it off until tomorrow. An average leader instinctively knows that today is all we have, and today’s troubles will take care of themselves; tomorrow.
Don’t Measure Performance
Our society is beginning to understand this at a youth sports level—it’s time to understand this at a corporate level. If you hand out trophies and reward people for a “excellent” performance, what does that say to the rest of the organization? Measuring performance is just another way to discourage those who want to show up and work and just collect a paycheck. It’s another way to create distrust of the executives. Remember, your mission is to help your people survive, it’s not up to you to help them thrive—making the “scoreboard” irrelevant.
Feed Them Coffee and Donuts
This is a no brainer. Pavlov proved long ago that food, and now today, coffee, is a real good way to keep people satisfied. As long as people can come to work and know that donuts and coffee will be available, they will keep showing up. Sure it didn’t really work out with the orca whales at that Entertainment Park, but then again people aren’t really whales—food defiantly will satisfy humans. It’s not that complicated.
Which brings us full circle. Today’s leaders need to provide a safe environment with moderate expectations. The primary purpose of leadership is to help people survive and get through life in one piece—and enjoy the weekend. Leaders who follow these simple guiding principles will more than likely produce a culture of mediocrity and maintain a steady balance and certainty in an otherwise uncertain world.
Jason Diamond Arnold is a leadership consultant for The Ken Blanchard Companies. He is Coauthor of Situational Self Leadership in Action a real time, real work, leaning experience that develops effective communication and collaboration skills for individuals in the workplace. He works with Fortune 500 Companies, Small Business, and Start Ups developing Performance Intelligence strategies that are linked to research based, leadership development curriculums and cutting edge application software.

Top 3 Reasons Why Being a Great Leader Isn’t Easy

Hart Lee — Sat, 19 Sep 2015 02:13:20 +0000

A few months back, I asked a group of leaders for a show of hands on who had experienced either oversupervision or undersupervision. Almost every hand went up. But then I asked how many had themselves oversupervised or undersupervised their direct reports. Only one or two hands shyly peeked out from the crowd.

So what’s going on? Well, leaders can sometimes be unaware of what they should and should not be doing. And this lack of awareness separates good leaders from great leaders. Great leaders know that leading is a never-ending journey that can be filled with treacherous obstacles.

So what do you need to know to become a great leader?

1. People are unpredictable

Your direct report may not necessarily react the same way each and every time to you. And you yourself may also change from day to day. So always using the same style of leadership may not always yield the best results. Instead, great leaders tailor their approach to each task, situation, and individual to effectively meet the direct report’s needs. So find out how your direct report is doing and what’s going on in his/her life, and then use that knowledge to better inform how you lead him/her.

2. It takes skill

It’s easy to fall into a routine. That’s why we have habits. But as people are unpredictable, you must also be flexible in your style of leadership to be able to match in each unique situation. The best way to do this is to have a learning-oriented mindset, by being on the lookout for new approaches, practicing other styles of leadership to be more flexible, and keeping up-to-date on what’s going on with your direct reports, your organization, and beyond. A great leader will always say, “I have so much left to learn in being a leader!”

3. It takes time

Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t able to immediately improve your effectiveness as a leader. Remember, it’s a life-long journey. As with anything, leadership takes time and patience to perfect. And this means you should constantly be trying to improve and grow as an individual. There’s no finish line, but instead a continuous evolution of who you are as a leader, being able to serve your direct reports more and more effectively with each passing day.

Image Credit: 1 | 2 | 3

5 Things People Do To Look Really, Really Busy

Gus Jaramillo — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 08:22:21 +0000

Top 5 Office Pet Peeves (Leadership Quote)

Hart Lee — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 15:26:53 +0000

Got Skills?

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 22:57:54 +0000

One summer afternoon, on the way to his favorite fishing hole, my grandfather took a short rest in the middle of a field behind house. He gazed upon his modest crop of corn that he had planted earlier in the spring as if he were Cortez, first looking upon the Pacific Ocean.
“You ain’t a man unless you own some land,” he spoke softly, as if it were a proclamation to the heavens, rather than an attempt to impart wisdom to his grandson.
Intellectual Property
It wasn’t until recently when I heard a colleague and friend of mine, Dana Robinson, a professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law and author of several learning courses at lynda.com, talk about a new form of equity in our knowledge based economy—Intellectual Property.
“You probably know something about personal property. Your house or the things you probably have in your house. These are tangible things. That’s how we think of property in most cases, but what about intangible property? What about the things that are invisible that we want to consider property? We call those things “intellectual property.”
(See Dana Robinson’s course on Intellectual Property Law at lynda.com)
For generations, like my grandfather’s, land ownership was a significant and tangible asset to either provide or supplement a means to a living for much of the world. To this day, owning a home or physical property is still a valuable economic resource for individuals and families. But over the past quarter century, technology has pushed the light of the dawning knowledge revolution high into sky, dramatically shifting precious resources from the fertile fields of physical property, to the wellspring that reside in the minds of individuals throughout every level of today’s workforce—intellectual property.
40 years ago, the typical American company had about 20% of its assets in intellectual property or intangible assets. Today that number is more like 80%. Leveraging the 80% of today’s intangible assets within an organization is as great of a challenge as it is an opportunity for leaders and individuals.
Knowledge into Action
But intellectual property is not just about knowledge, it’s about how organizations and individuals leverage corporate and employee knowledge into action as a means to create revenue. If the acquisition of lynda.com by LinkedIn last week (LinkedIn to Buy lynda.com , NY Times) did not send sock waves through the business world last week from the sheer numbers, 1.5 Billion, than the fact that LinkedIn is preparing to transcend beyond the FaceBook of business and a real time resume resource, into becoming the leading provider of real time skills to polish up your LinkedIn profile, than you’re not paying attention to how the world of business is changing.
Gone are the days when executive leaders can simply make a decision and pass it down the chain of command for implementation. Gone are the days where you punch a clock, push some buttons, pull some levers and the company generates revenue like a well-oiled machine. And even perhaps more importantly, gone are the days when we hire and retain employees based solely on where they received their degree, or the level they attainted at a university, or the years of experience they have in the workplace—but rather how they can turn their theoretical knowledge from the halls of academia or years of experience into action through demonstrated real time skills that cultivate tangible assets for today’s knowledge economy.
Skills are the New Currency
In today’s highly technical job market, skills are quickly becoming the new currency for new hire selection and on the job performance. Mastery of job skills is more critical to personal and organizational success than degrees and certificates. The right set skills matched to the right job function is the difference between excellence and mediocrity in today’s workforce. Skills are the new currency of today’s workforce.
Perhaps while on the way to the local fishing hole this summer, I’ll take a rest with my son, pull out my iPhone, and open up my LinkedIn profile and look toward the sky’s and proclaim, “You can’t pay the bills unless you got the skills,” as he shakes his head at me with displeasure.
Jason Diamond Arnold is a Leadership Consultant for The Ken Blanchard Companies and Cofounder of DiamondHawk Leadership & Media. He is Coauthor of Situational Self Leadership in Action, a powerful learning experience designed to help individual contributors to excel at work and in their career through critical leadership and business skills.

5 Simple Leadership Lessons I Learned from Ken Blanchard

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 18:31:01 +0000

When I first entered the workforce 15 years ago, I had the great honor of working directly with best-selling business book author Ken Blanchard. At the time, I had little knowledge of his work or his reputation as one of the most influential thought leaders in the business world. I knew even less about his numerous best-selling business books, including one of the most successful business books of all time, The One Minute Manager.

Don Shula, Jason Diamond Arnold, Ken Blanchard

Shortly after working with Ken on book endorsements, and helping him organize and publish The Little Book of Coaching with Don Shula, I quickly came to realize how worthy Dr. Blanchard was of his celebrity status. Ken Blanchard has a way of making you feel like you’re the most important person in the room, whether you are one-on-one with him in his office or a captivated member of a 5000-person audience. Ken is one of the most down-to-earth and compassionate people I have ever met.
This January, I graduated from the Ken Blanchard Companies, taking with me a wealth of knowledge and experience applicable to my own leadership development and media firm. There are five key leadership and career principals I learned from working with Ken Blanchard during my 15-year apprenticeship with the company that bears his name and helped start a leadership revolution.
“Take a minute to set goals.”
Not only is goal setting the first secret in The One Minute Manager, it is also the first skill of one the world’s most influential leadership models, Situational Leadership II. Most leaders and individuals have goals set in their minds, but few leaders and individual contributors actually write those goals down and actively use them to manage performance. Ken often quotes fondly the enigmatic Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” Goal Setting is a foundational business skill, whether you are a leader of others or a self-led leader. Setting clear outcomes makes your path more certain and productive.
“Catch people doing things right.”
If one lasting legacy of Ken Blanchard will be passed on for generations, it will be the practice of catching people doing things right. We all have a tendency to focus on the negative—to point out what’s going wrong rather than what’s working well and thus making the adjustments to improve. Great leaders build upon others’ strengths. They lift up and encourage the people they’re trying to influence toward peak performance. Once people have goals set and desired outcomes determined, the leader’s role is to encourage them to achieve those goals—not micromanage them by emphasizing the details of their shortcomings and failures on the path to achieving those goals.
“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”
The best way to encourage others is by praising or redirecting toward the desired outcomes. Feedback is the conduit through which we provide the praise or redirection necessary on the path to excellence. Most leaders don’t think of feedback as a skill, but studies highlight the importance of effective feedback in motivating and building trust in the people you’re trying to influence. Great leaders understand how to give effective feedback. Excellent individuals learn how to seek feedback from leaders and anyone that can help them advances their goals.
“None of us is as smart as all of us.”
There is perhaps no greater truth in today’s knowledge-based workforce than the wisdom of the crowd. When people try to solve problems on their own, go Lone Wolf on tasks and goals, or keep acting as the gatekeepers of knowledge, they not only disrupt the outcomes of projects critical to organizational success, they isolate themselves from real solutions and the support of others. Great leaders seek wise counsel and seek input by empowering people to create solutions to everyday business challenges and employ strategic initiatives. Today’s most influential leaders and successful individual contributors understand the importance of collaborating with others for organizational and personal excellence.
“Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
This is one of the most influential concepts I learned from Ken Blanchard. People often think of themselves too highly or, conversely, suffer from low self-esteem. Being humble may be more about a person’s attitude than an actual skill, but people who think about themselves less and focus on the needs of others often build trust and have a greater influence on the people they lead. Humility is not as difficult as it seems when you have a healthy self-awareness of your place in the world at large. Not only is humility a great character attribute, it’s a powerful leadership concept that will elevate the success of your team and your career.
Thank You, Ken Blanchard
The lessons I learned from Ken Blanchard are worth more than a Ph.D. in leadership. These five Key Leadership Lessons are valuable life skills that, if embraced, will guide you on your own journey toward professional and personal excellence. Whether you are serving clients through your own company or within the organization that employees you, clear direction, positive praise, consistent feedback, collaboration with others, and humility will all go a long way to ensure lasting success in all your endeavors. Ken Blanchard is a thought leader in the business world because he has learned to tap into the timeless truths that have inspired people to flourish throughout human history. I hope you will consider these five simple truths this day as you engage in your daily tasks and interactions with others.
Jason Diamond Arnold is a Leadership Consultant for The Ken Blanchard Companies and Cofounder of DiamondHawk Leadership & Media. He is Coauthor of Situational Self Leadership in Action, a powerful learning experience designed to help individual contributors to excel at work and in their career through critical leadership and business skills.

Have the negatives taken over time and focus?

Matt Youngblood — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 13:00:15 +0000

If you think for a minute about your average workday, how would you divide that workday between focusing on positives versus focusing on negatives? Do you tend to catch people doing something wrong more often than doing something right? If you answered “yes”, you might be adding to the overall negativity, yourself.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This negative focus may be a byproduct of our own culture. Pull up any of the major news websites at any given time and you’ll see that a high percentage of the headlines usually have negative undertones.
While we might be quick to blame the media, our own behavior feeds the fire when it comes to this trend. For example, in a 2012 study, Outbrain, a marketing firm that specializes in internet traffic, found that negative headlines had an average click-through rate (meaning people were actually clicking on the headlines to go to the source content) 68% higher than positive headlines. There are many different reasons as to why negative headlines receive more attention, but the end-result is still the same.
Even television may be lending a hand. I admit that I enjoy my own fair share of reality television. Look at how many reality programs exist on various channels (ex: what happened to the good ‘ole days of MTV just showing music videos?). Most of those shows thrive on drama, such as verbal arguments or fights between the characters. Drama and negativity clearly sell.
However, a study published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture found that those who watched reality television or even violent crime dramas that included verbal or relational aggression between characters tended to have more aggressive responses to threats related to ego. Does this mean that if you watch reality television that you’re automatically going to get in a fist fight at work? Probably not, but you have to question how is this might be affecting behavior in the workplace.
To add to this, two sayings come to mind that I’ve heard all throughout my careers at different places of employment. There’s a good chance you’ve heard these, too:

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
“No news is good news.”

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Number 1 is especially important, because solving problems makes up the bulk of most jobs. Yet, this has trained us to spend our most of our time focusing on those problems, whether the problems are task-related or people-related. If you have someone reporting to you who is under-performing, it’s likely that individual will take up more of your time and focus compared to your top performer. Just because “No news is good news” when it comes to your top performer doesn’t mean that they should simply be ignored.
FineAwards.com published a press release in which it reviewed data from a series of Gallup polls on the topic of employee engagement. They put together an excellent infographic that you can find here. Some of the interesting data they found is as follows:

35% of respondents consider lack of recognition the primary hindrance to their productivity
16% of respondents left their previous job based on a lack of recognition
17% of respondents stated that they have never been recognized at their place of employment
69% of respondents stated they would work harder if they received increased recognition

In other words, if only the squeaky wheel is getting the grease, you might look down one day and find that some of your wheels have simply disappeared while your ride is sitting up on blocks.
It takes effort, but intentionally finding people doing things right can have a positive outcome on your work environment, such as lower turnover and higher productivity. If you can train yourself to also be on the lookout for the positives, you can turn it into a habit.
Leave your comments!

Pent Beneath Fancy Knot

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 17:19:37 +0000

To the one pent beneath fancy knot,

pent behind fancy knot

It is curious to look at your affair

Catching you gaze toward heaven

Each afternoon seeking fresh air

Petitioning social network for leaven

Numb cheek now fermenting

Who could rejoice with thee now?

Fatigued, slipping into some ancient chat

You lie back in whispering waves of mocha

Toes banked in lukewarm grains of sand

Swimming in ocean’s of caramel bliss

Careless of the call you just missed

Pent beneath fancy knot

Ulysses’ alarm, pale reason to depart

Returning home at sundown—eyes half shut

Visions of Marla—the happy stray mutt

Once proud royal, mourn the day left behind

Slumber to the door—the angel’s tear has descended

You slide softly and silently into your favorite spot.

Still pent beneath fancy knot

by J. Diamond Arnold
Jason Diamond Arnold is a Leadership Consultant and Learning Media Producer at The Ken Blanchard Companies. He is Coauthor of Situational Self Leadership in Action a real time, real work, leaning experience that develops effective communication and collaboration skills for individuals in the workplace. He is Co Producer and Director of Stepping Up to Leadership with Scott Blanchard, at lynda.com.

Flow to Success!

Hart Lee — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 08:29:59 +0000

Have you ever become so engrossed in a fun task that you lost track of time? Then you’ve experienced the concept of flow. Developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, it describes the state of mind when you reach the perfect combination of task challenge and personal skill:

Click the image below for a simple demonstration of flow (use the mouse to move and remember to return when you’re finished):

The creator of this simple game used Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow to develop the game elements. Since you can decide when to move further, you are always in control of both the level of challenge and skill, meaning you can always keep yourself in a state of flow.

Now think about your direct reports and their tasks. Are they in a state of flow? If not, is it due to the task being too difficult, or the direct reports not having high enough skills? Or perhaps the challenge isn’t increasing proportionately with their skills? And think about your own tasks. Are you in a state of flow? Why or why not? What can you do to improve your workplace and encourage more flow?

It’s clear that employees can become more engaged and productive, while constantly developing and growing, by applying this simple model to the workplace. So the next time you’re at work, try adjusting the level of challenge to match the level of skill. You might be surprised to find how much fun you can have while in flow!

Image Credit: 1

A Managerial Felony

Gus Jaramillo — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 08:00:20 +0000

“Why don’t you and I go get some lunch to connect?” Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard that from your manager. Ok, put your hand down before they see what you are reading. Plus, that guy in IT might think you’re waving him down to get in for the weekly donut rotation.
I have never been a real fan of “reconnecting” over lunch or any other median, really. It’s superficial, a little pretentious, and a lot of wasted emotion.
Here’s three good ways to stay connected with your direct reports:

Conduct weekly or biweekly one on one’s. Depending on how many direct reports you have, it is absolutely imperative that you meet with them one on one to discuss their needs. Make this a formal time; there are a number of informal meetings, chats by the lunch room, and discussions about projects. A formal one on one with a focused discussion on the needs of your direct report will open up communication. From a practical stand point, make it 30 minutes or an hour if you can swing it. Let your direct report create the agenda and don’t use this time to “dump” projects or work on them.
Ask them about their lives outside of work. This is really important if you have a new or newer employee. Chances are they may be nervous, hesitant, and a little insecure about their new environment and work. Nothing eases that pressure more than a manager who is genuinely invested in the lives of those who work for them. No one wants to work for a robot…
Be invested in them professionally and personally. Not everything is a competition and not everyone is a competitor. Many times, we are our own worst enemies. Supervisors should be people who care about other people. On my boss’s wall, for example, is written, “Every person has intrinsic value.” Employees work best when they are respected, valued, and heard.

Gus is a Learning and Performance Professional at the Ken Blanchard Companies and is currently finishing his PhD in I/O Psychology. He can be reached atgus.jaramillo@kenblanchard.com

Imagination as a Tool for Leadership

Hart Lee — Fri, 30 May 2014 12:57:31 +0000

With this knowledge of the power of thought, you can become a better leader and, as well, motivate your employees to become better workers. Imagine successfully navigating through a difficult conversation. Imagine making your employees feel cared for. Imagine implementing positive change. The more you imagine, the more successful you can be when it comes time to act.

The same holds true for your employees. Let them know that visualizing success can have a huge impact on actual success. Share this video with them. Encourage them to use imagination as a tool for practicing on a new task when hands-on time is limited.

About the author: Hart is an HR Data Analyst at The Ken Blanchard Companies, finishing his Ph.D. in I/O Psychology. He can be reached at hart.lee@kenblanchard.com.

Can You Get the Delicious Cake?

Hart Lee — Fri, 02 May 2014 09:25:34 +0000

Several years ago, someone posed the following challenge on a popular internet image board:

The goal was “get the delicious cake” and you had to draw your solution. No other rules were given.

One response showed the figure crawling through the spikes, while others used elements from pop culture to get the cake. For instance, Harry Potter magic spells, Star Wars lightsabers, and Super Mario warp pipes were all presented as solutions to this challenge. The following are a few of the more original and creative ways people attained the cake:

Use the door!

When you want to get rid of something in an image, the eraser tool is handy

Thinking outside of the box

The lesson I took from this was that people can get very creative when presented with a problem and given the freedom to devise a solution.

As a leader, you may have goals you need to accomplish, but it is left up to you to determine how to accomplish those goals. With a little time and ingenuity, you can come up with many different and often surprising ways to achieve those goals, particularly when you have the help of others.

So how would you get to the delicious cake? Type your solution in the comments, or you can use your favorite image editor or an online one and post a visual of your solution.

Leadership is a Verb

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 18:33:47 +0000

lead·er·ship [lee-der-ship] noun
the position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group: He managed to maintain his leadership of the party despite heavy opposition. Synonyms: administration, management, directorship, control, governorship, stewardship, hegemony.
From 1973 until 2000, one of America’s largest, and eventually global, courier delivery services, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, was called Federal Express. In January of 2000, Federal Express changed its name to FedEx Corporation and implemented one of the most successful re-branding campaigns in American history.

Lead!

After the rebranding efforts took place, something even more significant than the shorter name and little arrow added between the “E” and the “X” began to evolve into a new idea. The word FedEx, became known, not just as a way to define a company, but as something you do as a critical part of your business. “I need you to FedEx me the product tomorrow.” “I’ll FedEx that to you right away.”
FedEx evolved from a being a noun into a verb!
The same thing is happening to the idea of leadership. For the past 50 years, the leadership development industry has exploded into a multi-billion dollar industry because companies around the world are realizing the competitive advantage to having a strong leadership strategy.
I recently found myself sitting in a coffee shop, having a conversation with one of the coauthors of Leadership Genius, and one of the top gurus on the topic of leadership, Dr. Drea Zigarmi.
“Leadership has been an over-used word, in which some people think of it as a person or a thing. It’s not thing. It’s action, or a series of actions you do with people.” Taking a long, slow sip of his coffee, he leaned toward me and proclaimed, “Leadership is a verb!”
When you think of the word leading, you have to consider that it means doing something. It means moving an idea, project, or a dream from one place to a higher place—through the shadows and the conflicts and into the light and consumption of meaning and purpose.
It takes action to effectively move a package from Memphis, Tennessee, to Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire, where a little boy or little girl eagerly open a package to discover something magical, something that will bring a smile to their face. Great organizations, whether it’s a global company serving millions of people or it’s the little pizza shop down on the corner, move their people from knowing what a good job looks like to doing a good job consistently, task by task, with passion and excellence.
Great organizations are dedicated to developing more than just leaders; they are dedicated to developing people who lead! Great leaders are defined by what they do, not by what they know.
About the Author:
Jason Diamond Arnold is a leadership consultant at The Ken Blanchard Companies. He is Coauthor of Situational Self Leadership in Action a real time, real work, leaning experience that develops effective communication and collaboration skills for individuals in the workplace. He is Co Producer and Director of Stepping Up to Leadership with Scott Blanchard, at lynda.com.

What’s Your Management Astrological Sign?

Gus Jaramillo — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 08:00:03 +0000

I’ve been out of the dating scene for a while, but from what I see on the World Wide Web and the occasional post on various social media outlets, kids these days are using astrological signs to best match up with partners. In order to have a great experience at work, it’s important to find out what astrological signs exist for managers and which work for you. But there are some obvious signs that anyone in the workforce should be careful to avoid.
The Seagull:
Often the seagull is seen hovering around various office spaces looking to “connect.” He might be seen wearing baseball cap with a sports coat and a tie. He often checks fantasy football on his iPhone and rarely skips a chance to “do lunch” with the boss. He’s not really into how you feel and in fact would rather not know. As Ken Blanchard says, “You gotta watch out for Seagull Management. Seagull managers fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everyone, and then fly out.” These seagulls think they are special because when they “show up” they cause a lot of havoc and they think they are just “getting things going.”
Seagulls don’t play well with direct reports but tend to get along well with same level managers and especially executives.
Direct Reports:

Be careful about getting wrapped up with what the seagull manager brings and be prepared to diffuse the situation.
What to watch out for: He’s not really your friend, unless he needs something from you.

Managers:

Play in the weekly football pool, but never accept his trades on fantasy football.
What to watch out for: Don’t get wrapped up in his management style. It may look effective and envious, but it’s not an efficient way to manage long-term.

Executives:

They are gimmicks. He might “get the job done”, but he will lose some of your best talent.
What to watch out for: Pay attention to turnover in this department. It might be a red flag for a dysfunctional team.

The Peacock:
Don’t be confused with the peacock. He’s a deceiver. He looks like he’s doing a bunch of work but he’s really lazy. His favorite management tool is the “delegation.” He’s too busy with everything he’s got going on so he gives away everything he’s supposed to do. He is tangential with his speech because he’s not really saying anything but words continually spew out of his mouth. No one understands him, but somehow we hear him. You may think its Armani but really the suit is a hand-me-down from his late, great Uncle Cornelius.
Peacocks don’t play well with direct reports but tend to get along well with same level managers. Executives aren’t fooled.
Direct Reports:

Prioritize the tasks given and don’t be afraid to get clarification.
What to watch out for: He will task you to death, so don’t get burned out.

Managers:

Don’t be a Peacock. For the sake of those who work for you, please don’t be a Peacock.
What to watch out for: 3 Piece Suits aren’t that great.

Executives:

Please send to remedial leadership training.
What to watch out for: Take a second look before you decide to promote.

The Chameleon
This guy. He’s quite the charmer and is generally liked in the office. He brings donuts on Fridays and loves puppies. These are all good things, but those that know him best are not sold on him. He has a tendency to say one thing and do another, over-commits to projects, and rarely delivers on what he promises. He tries to please too many people and has mastered the art of the fake smile.
Chameleons generally get along well with everyone, except those closest to him.
Direct Reports:

Have a conversation with him about how you feel; it might actually go better than you think.
What to watch out for: Stay away from the donuts.

Managers:

If you have this tendency, then don’t be afraid to say no every once in a while.
What to watch out for: If you know other managers like this, be careful in conversing with them. They may gossip and take up too much of your time with unnecessary conversation.

Executives:

May not be the best to run day-to-day operations.
What to watch out for: You may see signs of disorganization and lack of process in their department.

If you happen to run into one of these types of managers, just be sure to steer clear as much as you can!
Gus is a Learning and Performance Professional at the Ken Blanchard Companies and is currently finishing his PhD in I/O Psychology. He can be reached at gus.jaramillo@kenblanchard.com

Intentional Leadership—3 Timeless Narratives for 2014

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 19:10:59 +0000

“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” —Aristotle
January is littered by a multitude of good intentions! That new number at the end of the Roman calendar, blindly promising to bring us prosperity and success, does often become a distant memory by the time the groundhog raises his weary head from a winter slumber. But the start of something new—a year, a friendship, a work project—can be a great opportunity to lead yourself and others to great success through three simple narratives.

High Intensions

High Intentions
The giddy hope and high expectations of a new year often outpace our ability to align old habits with those new intensions. However, high intention is the heart beat of any personal or social revolution. It is woven into the tapestry of humanity, to naturally hope for higher levels of happiness and purpose in our lives. High intensions do not mean that a person who has them need be dissatisfied with the life they are living, but rather are open to challenges and disappointment as they seek meaning and purpose at work, at home, or at play.
Sincere Effort
However, the highest intentions are but a thought in the wind without sincere effort to make those intentions a reality. An athlete or an artist does not become excellent without sincere effort. Effort is easy, sincere effort is meeting of the cruelest of tasks with the same zeal for the things we love to do. Sincere effort requires us to do more than put one foot in front of the other; it requires us to take each step, each daily task, as an opportunity to align it with our highest intensions.

Success

Intelligent Execution
Our highest intentions and sincerest efforts must be driven by more than just arbitrary motion or aimless daily activity. It’s one thing to have a workout scheduled on your calendar, but it’s another task to lace up the shoes and complete that workout. If you have made resolutions, or have a set of goals for yourself this year, they will ultimately be measured by the intelligence of their execution, not the height of your intensions or the sincerity of your efforts. Forming an intelligent execution strategy promotes real goal achievement. With intelligent execution, you are moving from intensions and knowing, in to action through doing.
***
Excellence at work or in life is more than a thought or an idea, it is a purpose driven effort. Make your choices wiser and more productive this year through high intentions, sincere effort, and intelligent execution of those efforts. Live the life you intend to live!
Jason Diamond Arnold is a leadership consultant at The Ken Blanchard Companies. He is Coauthor of Situational Self Leadership in Action a real time, real work, leaning experience that develops effective communication and collaboration skills for individuals in the workplace. He is Co Producer and Director of Stepping Up to Leadership with Scott Blanchard, a lynda.com and Ken Blanchard Companies production.

Gamification and the Future of Work

Hart Lee — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 09:13:20 +0000

Videogames Control

I love videogames. I mean, there’s an addictive quality to them, whether it is character progression, unlocking new content and achievements, or continuing the narrative. And it’s currently a huge trend. The recently released game Grand Theft Auto V broke several Guinness World Records, including “fastest entertainment property to gross $1 billion.” To put that in scope, “entertainment property” even includes feature-length films and music.
So what is gamification? It is taking the concepts of game design and applying them to other things. For instance, I wear a device on my wrist called the Fitbit Flex. It is essentially just a pedometer in a wristband, but the web/mobile app is where the magic happens. It displays my goals for steps and calories and my progress for each in a clean and engaging interface. The wristband even shows a series of lights to indicate how close to my goal I am. Gamifying health and fitness… who would have thought?

Word Cloud “Gamification”

It’s even popped up in the workplace. I recently spearheaded the construction of a new intranet site for my department using WordPress, and by taking advantage of its customizability and vast number of plugins, we developed an onboarding system that uses a mix of content to take new hires on a 12-month journey, with badges rewarded at each step. I believe that learning should be fun, exciting, and engaging, and gamifying the process is one way of achieving that.
But there is something I haven’t seen discussed within the realm of gamification. There are games, such as World of Warcraft, where players willingly perform mundane tasks. They click on the same things over and over again until a cool item appears or an objective is completed. And they love to do it. They are absolutely engrossed in these activities and will happily lose sleep to continue to perform these seemingly boring tasks. Now imagine taking those clicks and placing real work beneath them so that instead of those clicks only translating into currency and experience points that are limited to the game, the clicks also produce work for the organization. Work that the employees absolutely love doing.
I want this to be the future of gamification, where work is gamified to such an extent that it stops being work and becomes an actual game. Perhaps then, there would be no need for employee engagement initiatives or training to boost productivity, because employees would be naturally driven to continue playing, and become skilled at, the game.

I Don’t Have Birthdays, I Level Up

When I was younger, I dreamed of playing games for a living. Perhaps when gamification reaches its full potential, this dream will come true.
From now on, if someone says I’m gaming too much, I’ll just say, “it’s informal training for future work!”

Sources: Guinness World Records | Gamification.org
Images: 1 | 2 | 3

What Halloween and Bad Leadership have in Common

Gus Jaramillo — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 08:00:18 +0000

Part of what makes each company special is the ability to connect the whole organization together. Like many companies, Blanchard has a very special Halloween Party on their main campus and our team was V for Vendetta. Though we failed to win the team costume competition and lost to the “Walking Deadlines” in Product Development, I gotta hand it to them for pulling off the zombified cast of characters quite well; they hardly even broke character! As the chaos of the party was continuing, I had a few thoughts about the correlates of Halloween and bad leadership.

Halloween Party

Here are a few points that Halloween and bad leadership have in common.
1) It’s Scary: If you have ever had a manger or boss that was not well-trained at the “leadership” part of their job, it’s quite a frightful experience. They tend to “mask” their leadership failures by “reconnecting” at lunch or praising their direct reports when their own boss is around. They put on a good show, but we all know it’s only temporary.
2) It’s more of a trick then a treat: Associates know when you are not being genuine and can tell really quickly when your behavior is fake. You may think your “trick” is better than your treat, but the joke is really on you. To best manage your employees, you have to understand them, develop them, and guide them to success. Every person is valuable and understanding that will help mold your relationships with your team.
3) The mask can stay: No need to take the scary mask off here; you’ve earned it. Yelling, belittling, or “under your breath” comments that are made at your team won’t compel them to trust you or work more efficiently
For those who have a great manager or leader, don’t hesitate to let them know. They like to know that they are doing a good job and contributing to your success.

The Leadership Pipe Dream

Matt Youngblood — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 13:00:56 +0000

My wife loves to juice. She is always mixing various fruits and veggies and blending them together into some sort of juice concoction. Some of these drinks are delicious, while others, in my humble opinion, taste like they came from my lawnmower, but hey…it’s all in the name of health.
This past Saturday, my wife was making one of her favorite juice blends. She had placed some of the leftover bits down the garbage disposal. I always thought that most fruits and vegetables were high in fiber, but I apparently that’s not true when it comes to plumbing.
“Honey, both sides of the sink have flooded with water…”
I rolled up my sleeves and did what I had always done in these situations: I stopped what I was doing, grabbed the plunger, and then went to work. I kept one side of the sink plugged while attempting to plunge the other side. After 10 minutes, I knew the plunger wasn’t going to work. It was time for my backup plan. I ran to the store and picked up some Drano. It never let me down in the past, so I figured after 30 minutes, I could relax. After 2 hours and emptying the bottle, I knew I was going to have to resort to something stronger.
The next day, I picked up a different drain opener which contains sodium hydroxide so you get an exothermic reaction and your plumbing gets quite hot. I figured I would simply burn the clog out. After dumping that down the drain and waiting for an hour, I still wasn’t any further along, and my kitchen had filled with fumes from the drain opener. After killing some brain cells, my next step was to snake it out. I went back to the hardware store and bought a 25-foot drain snake.
After slipping that down the drain pipe 3 times without it catching to clog, I had to take another trip to the hardware store to rent one of those heavy-duty 75-foot drain snakes. Keep in mind that by this point, I had sunk roughly $100 into this clog. I brought the rented snake back home and spent 20 minutes reading the directions. I got my gloves on and went to work, but after another 20 minutes, I couldn’t get the snake past the p-trap (that elbow/u-shaped pipe under most sinks). To top it off, I snapped a piece off of one of the tip of the snake.
My face turned bright red and I had steam coming out of my ears. I was angry, but I was also defeated. I had to put my ego aside and call a plumber. After “draining” another $200 from my bank account, I was finally clog-free. Had I called the plumber after plunging or even after the Drano, I could have saved myself a good chunk of money and half of my free time over the weekend.
Why is this important?
My plumbing fiasco had me think of certain people I’ve worked with in the past who were in situations that had similar outcomes. These situations weren’t plumbing-related, but happened in the workplace.
Have you worked with someone who absolutely had to do things on their own, even if you knew they weren’t yet fully capable to handle the situation by themselves? So have I, and have even been in this boat, myself. The end-result usually involves costing additional time, money, or even reputations.
Picture that instead of a home plumbing problem, my issue was related to a project at my job.
If I had done what I did at home, my supervisor/manager would be having a long talk with me. I could avoid unnecessary costs by asking myself two questions:

What is my competence on this particular goal? – In other words, do I have the skills to get the job done? I’ve done plumbing work before, but it’s been very minimal. I’ve never had to snake a kitchen sink drain, especially one that had a clog that was 30 feet down the pipe. You could say that my skill level was low.

What is my commitment on this particular goal? – How motivated am I to get the job done? In the beginning, I was very motivated to unclog the pipe. At the end of it, I had thrown my hands up in the air and wanted someone else to deal with it.

These questions tie in directly with the Needs Model of Situational Self Leadership. Knowing the answers to these questions can help me diagnose myself and “lead up” and get what I need to get the job done. It can save me and my company time and resources.
Have you ever had a situation similar to mine where you regretted how much time and/or money you invested when you had an alternative option?
Leave your comments!

Peer Coaching- A truly secret tool for success

Gus Jaramillo — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 08:00:20 +0000

In a quick, non-scientific poll I conducted, a large majority of working professionals I spoke with had never heard of Peer Coaching. And if they had, they had never used it, or knew how it was implemented. Although I would like to say it’s the new, latest trend, peer coaching isn’t new at all. In fact, it was in the early 80’s that peer coaching was introduced as a tool for personal and professional development.

A collaborative approach

So what is it exactly? Peer coaching is a feedback-based collaborative learning process that aims at positive interdependence. Coaching in its many forms (executive, life, etc.) has been proven to be an effective tool to help people along life’s many challenges. Peer coaching is analogous in that aspect since it aims to achieve that same goal, but also helps build stronger relationships with your peers in the process. The peer coaching process is meant to be reciprocal. Both parties have a dual responsibility in being a coach and a coachee.
Practical application of this would be to set up a time/schedule (e.g., once a week for 1 hour) to discuss the issues, goals, or tasks that you may currently have. The following week, the coach/coachee role would switch and participants would then work on the other’s developmental needs. Remember that this is a non-judgmental, non-evasive approach at goal setting and professional development. Trust, accountability, and confidentiality are three main factors that will make your peer coaching relationship flourish. This may be the secret recipe to your future success.
Here’s why your organization (or yourself) should REALLY take a look at implementing peer coaching:

It’s effective. Real, true behavioral change has been proven in organizations that utilize peer coaching. There are no gimmicks with this approach; if implemented correctly and sustained, it is a great tool for development.
It’s free. Although executive coaching has its place, not many of us can afford coaches and most organizations won’t have the resources to supply everyone with a coach. Peer coaching is a free coaching experience that is results-based and is grounded in the interaction with people you know and trust.
It’s an easy process to implement. Set up a recurring time and place within your organization to meet and discuss your current goals. This might be a perfect place to discuss your performance management goals or individual development plan (IDP) that your manager has set for you. If your organization isn’t ready for you to use working hours to implement this, than a 1 hour lunch break will work perfectly. It will probably be the most effective lunch hour you will have that week!

Gus is a Learning and Performance Professional at the Ken Blanchard Companies and is currently finishing his PhD in I/O Psychology. He can be reached at gus.jaramillo@kenblanchard.com

When Silence is Not Golden: A Story of Unexpected Leadership

Hart Lee — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 05:55:27 +0000

I admit it. I fear the unexpected. And I still remember the time when the unexpected hit me flat in the face.
I was working for the Geek Squad at Best Buy at the time, and my supervisor asked if I’d like to be an instructor for the local Geek Squad Summer Academy event. This is a two-day program held annually in different locations of the world where agents from across the country gather and teach children in the area about various aspects of technology, from building computers to producing music. I said, “sure,” and was sent off a week later to Oceanside, CA.
After orientation, I was assigned to teach the image manipulation class with another agent who looked like he went to the gym far too often. We went over the course and divided the lessons between the two of us before heading home to prepare for the next day of actual instruction.
On the first day of class, we stood in front of about 25 children, ranging from four- to thirteen-year-olds, and three other agents in the room who were acting as helpers. We all went around the room introducing ourselves and my co-instructor confidently started to talk about the first lesson. And that’s when things went terribly wrong.
As he pulled up the program on the computer for the first activity, he started fumbling his words and his voice lowered to a mutter as he moved from the instructor’s computer to the instructor materials. Then, he went silent. He looked like he had no idea what he was doing. I could see the children starting to fidget in their seats. They began to whisper, which grew to talking, and then yelling. The three helpers were desperately and unsuccessfully trying to calm them down.
Instantly, I was on my feet. An intense dread came over me as I realized I had no idea what I was going to say or do. I remained motionless with everyone’s eyes on me, including my co-instructor, for what felt uncomfortably longer than the 10 milliseconds that I stood there. And then, my brain suddenly started making connections and words flowed from my mouth. I had vaguely recalled that my co-instructor’s portion involved taking pictures, so I told everyone to grab their cameras. And with that, I ended up presenting the entire two days, making up lessons for portions that weren’t mine. The kids went home happy and skilled at image manipulation, and I went home relieved it was over and pleasantly surprised at myself.
That incident taught me a few things:

Don’t doubt yourself. Doubt can be quite the speech-killer, so believe that you can overcome and succeed. The brain can make surprising connections under high pressure situations. Or, in my fellow instructor’s case, make no connections… and then, you just might put yourself and/or someone else in an awkward situation.
Take everything as a learning experience. This mindset can help you get more from your best moments, as well as really understanding your worst ones.
Just go with it. Never think that something is ruined if it doesn’t pan out the way you thought. Be creative. Sometimes, things can turn out better than how you’ve planned.

You never know when a moment of unexpected leadership will strike next, but these tips can help you turn things around and make the outcomes a bit more… expected.

I’m Too Busy to Plan

Gus Jaramillo — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 09:30:50 +0000

There’s this new trend around planning lately; so I’ve heard. SMART Goals, SMARTER Goals, getting organized, and what not. To be honest, I’m not that into it really. It doesn’t grab my attention in the way that hopscotch, skipbo, or a mintly pressed cut-off jean jacket does. A tiger tattoo, the original Mario, or 3-in-1 shampoo? Now that’s cool. Planning? Eh, no thanks.
It’s boring.

Overwhelmed without a plan

My wife periodically asks me what I want for dinner tomorrow night; “chicken or steak?” Really? Seriously, I can’t even answer that question; I loathe the question in fact. There is something deep in my core that just won’t allow an intelligible response. The truth is, it’s too far in advance for me to know. Maybe it’s that I value authenticity. What if I change my mind? What if I want neither? It’s too much pressure. I can tell you what I want to eat now; let’s start there. But tomorrow? No sir; can’t do it.
Planning has that similar sting for me. It’s analogous in many aspects. There’s no immediate gratification for deciding on what to do next Tuesday. Every once in a while I see a quote from George Washington or some nostalgic leader who talked about planning… “Planning is great, for without it, I would not have chopped down the cherry tree.” I probably mis-quoted him, but you get the idea. I need realization not inspiration.
One of the ways I get going on planning is mapping out ideas for success. Instead of saying, “What do I need to do?” I sometimes think, “What does success look like here?” Then, I can build upon that frame of reference. If you’re like me, here are a few practical things to do to get kick-started on your planning journey:
1)      Get organized– It’s a start! Getting organized will help you plan; Don’t get too carried away here. I put sticky notes on the inside of my wallet. True story. Not at all ideal, but it’s an option.
2)      Prioritize! Separate the urgent from the immediate. Have you watched the local news lately? Everything is urgent! So if everything is urgent, then nothing is urgent.
3)      Don’t get distracted. I like to put some music on and get in the zone when I plan stuff out. Block out some time in your day to plan.
Those are just a few things and it seems to have worked for me. Not all of us can be wedding planners, but a adding a few elements to your planning arsenal isn’t such a bad idea.
Anyways, if you need me, I’ll be poolside snacking on a bucket of churros.
Gus is a Learning and Performance Professional at the Ken Blanchard Companies and is currently finishing his PhD in I/O Psychology. He can be reached at gus.jaramillo@kenblanchard.com

Speakeasy Leadership

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 17:30:14 +0000

Seakeasy Leadership

The spirit of the Roaring Twenties was marked by a cultural rebellion against classic traditions, inspiring social revolutions around the world. Everything seemed to be possible through the modern technology of automobiles, motion pictures, and radio, which all promoted ‘modernity’ to the world.
One of the most mysterious trends that came out of the Roaring Twenties was the establishment of Speakeasies—hidden sections of an establishment that were used to illegally sell alcoholic beverages and feature new artistic expressions of music, dance, and risqué behavior. To enter a speakeasy, one would need to say a password to the doorman, indicating that the person-seeking entrance was welcome by the owner or other members of the “business within the business.”
In many ways, today’s workplace resembles the spirit of the twenties, with a rapidly evolving workplace, cutting edge technology changing and shaping the culture norms of organizations around the world.
Unfortunately, one of the dangers of today’s workplace is Speakeasy Leadership—the hidden sections of an organization where only a few people in positions of power make decisions that affect the rest of the organization. The practice of exclusive leadership, rather than inclusive leadership practice is alive and well in today’s organizations. But the reality is that the old school leadership hierarchy is an ineffective novelty in a knowledge-based economy.

Outside Looking In

Today secret societies and “good ole’ boy networks” only work at your local grocery store or coffee shop as a special promotion tool. In a Knowledge base economy, where individuals are empowered through the Internet, smart phones, and social networking that empowers a variety of information and connections that naturally drive higher levels of collaboration and success.
One new workforce member expressed it this way, “I am used to being so connected to my colleagues and playing off each other in the office, via social media, and creating ideas together with high levels of synergy everyday…” The open organization, without the Speakeasy executive office on the second floor, is a robust place where individuals create new best friends instantly and in days create a strong network with everyone on the team, as well as the friends made at their last organization.
Speakeasy Leadership promotes the opposite atmosphere at work where a few gatekeepers of ideas, formulate a plan from the top of the organizational pyramid, then pass it down to the people on the frontline to try and implement—void of passion and intimacy.   “I feel like there is a secret group of people running the organization,” says another frustrated employee. “It’s like were sitting in a meeting, and there are two or three people sitting at the table, speaking their own language, giving each other a wink and a nod to each other when I present our teams creative solutions to our organizational challenges.”

Collaborate for Success

Speakeasy Leadership will kill today’s knowledge based company, because today’s leadership model and workplace formula for success is one based in wide-open communication, effective collaboration, social networking, and truly empowering individuals that are encouraged take ownership in the vision—not just contribute to it. Touch the untouchable by bringing energy and productivity to work, breaking down the interior walls of Speakeasy Leadership, creating a community where people work and play together, stimulating innovation, connection, and wild success.
Jason Diamond Arnold is a Leadership Consultant and New Media Producer at The Ken Blanchard Companies. He is Coauthor of Situational Self Leadership in Action, a non-linear learning program that promotes individual empowerment and collaboration.

Leadership Failure

Gus Jaramillo — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 08:00:55 +0000

Not too long ago I was put in charge of a couple sections of soldiers who were working on some military intelligence products for an upcoming mission. Since the teams were working on separate products, I assigned myself to one team and had a Lieutenant take charge of another team. The LT had been in the army for a few years, so I had no qualms about giving the team to him. I spoke with him privately and told him that he had “full autonomy” over his team and gave him full discourse over what his team did and how they finished their products. The next morning I come into work at 7:30 fully expecting everyone to be there for unit physical training. They weren’t. When I asked the LT where his team was, he said that he told them that they could do physical training on their own and that they didn’t need to show up until 9:30am. “What? Why did you do that? We always show up at 7:30.”

So, of course, they decided to sleep in and didn’t do any physical training for the day.
And of course my team was upset that they didn’t get to sleep in and come to work at 9:30. The last thing I wanted to create was resentment across the two teams. I thought that maybe a “team building” exercise was in order, but I didn’t carry it out because I felt I would probably screw that up too. I was upset about the whole situation, but mainly I was irritated at myself.
After looking back on the incident, here’s what I learned:

I never really gave him full autonomy

Here’s what I really said: You can have full autonomy unless you do something I don’t want you to do or something that I disagree with you on. What I told him he could do and what I wanted him to do were two separate things.

I shouldn’t have given him full autonomy

Giving full autonomy over everything is not really leadership at all. I thought I was doing the right thing by giving him autonomy, but what I should have done in that situation was to give him more direction as to what is expected and necessary. Autonomy has its place and limitations; using it correctly is when it’s the most impactful.

My communication was not aligned with my expectations

I was never clear on my expectations. What was standard and status quo for me was not necessarily the same for him. Talking through each other’s expectations would have been helpful for minimizing conflict and building trust.
For any further information or questions contact me at gus.jaramillo@kenblanchard.com

3 Essential Pieces to the Puzzle of a Successful Team

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:00:49 +0000

Every high performing team is made up of a mix of people that fulfill specific needs. They are all pieces of a puzzle that could not be completed if one piece was lost or exchanged for another shape. It is crucial that when building this team everyone knows their role and sticks to their responsibilities without stepping over boundary lines. Team members need to understand where those boundary lines are by becoming a jack of all trades but they still need to be an expert at one. Below are three essential components to a successful team.

A Leader: The person who plays the leader, captain, or coach should be a great communicator and role model. They may not be the highest performing member of the team; however they have the best people skills to keep the team moving in the right direction. They need to have empathy for people when they are struggling but also an ability to push someone when they are feeling they have hit a wall. Teams do not succeed without someone leading them toward their end goal.
Role Players: Although these team members are often over looked they are the most important in completing the simple tasks that lead to the overall success of the team. Role players are able to make a team’s project look appealing, function properly, or maintain a certain level of operation. It is important for the leader to establish that these people are role players on the team but also that they have individual roles assigned to them which contribute to the overall success of the team
A Star Performer: Every best team has its role player or leader who also turns out to be its star. The star is the person who excels at everything at a level that is higher than the rest. It is the one person who has the skills that the others strive towards. This person develops the best ideas but also has the clearest plans to execute them. The star performer is not always the leader because they may not know how to communicate how they do what they do, but they embody what a high performer looks like.

There are very high functioning teams which do not have all three of these pieces yet produce great results. However, to be the best team possible you need to have members who take on each of these positions and then work together. The leader has the greatest influence on the cohesion of the team.

The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.
– Vince Lombardi

Brian Alexander is the Marketing Project Specialist with The Ken Blanchard Companies. To learn more about The Ken Blanchard Companies please visit www.kenblanchard.com

The End of Innovation

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:36:25 +0000

“Innovation is dangerous!” says Yawn Fearman, Gatekeeper of Ideas at Acme Corporation—an international consulting firm that provides executives and managers the tools and skill sets needed to maintain power and balance within organizations. “Innovation is an unruly attitude that ignites revolutions and unwillingly forces change upon the slow and steady hand of the status quo.”
Fearman asserts that there several simple mindsets to avoid disruptive an inconvenient ideas within an organization:
Isolate Innovation
When a child acts up or misbehaves at home, the best discipline is to give them a Time Out and send them to their room. You don’t have to kick them out of the organization, but isolation will make them think about the real vision and values of the company in more detail. It will encourage them to align their hopes and dreams with the hierarchy of the organization who own the vision and values.
But if you do want to innovate within your organization, keep it limited to one or two departments that are led by individuals who have a degree from a prestigious school and who are in close collaboration with you as a key leader.
Just Say No
Hey, if it worked for Nancy Reagan in the mid-80s (and look how far we’ve come since then), it can work for leaders when individual contributors come up with creative and new ways to serve clients. When ideas come up from the front line, just say, “no.” You probably don’t have the resources or money to implement the ideas anyway, so no real harm can come from this approach. It’s clean and effective and eventually, people will stop coming up with their own ideas so that you can do your job—implementing your own.
Show Them Who’s Boss
When the first two strategies don’t work, flex your Position Power. You have the degree, the experience, the complex title, and the pay grade—so use them!
If employees discover that they have other avenues of power, such as personal experience, knowledge, relationships outside the organization, or a specialized ability to perform specific tasks that the executives may or may not, this could become very disruptive to an organization. Don’t shy away from the fact that you are getting paid the big bucks to drive the organization into the future—not them. You have the title and the authority to make the first and final decision.
Enjoy the Silence
Don’t allow the loud distractions of individual or collaborative innovation to drown out the brilliance of your leadership ability. You’ve earned the corner office, and you were born to lead. The future of the world depends on you—don’t leave it to chance by putting its fate hang on someone else’s wild ideas.
** The views and opinions expressed in this fictitious article do not necessarily reflect sound advice or the views and opinions of  the author, or The Ken Blanchard Companies.
Jason Diamond Arnold is a Leadership Consultant at The Ken Blanchard Companies and Coauthor of Situational Self Leadership in Action, an asynchronous learning experience for Individual Contributors within Organizations.

Want to be productive? Stay home from work

Gus Jaramillo — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:00:42 +0000

Absenteeism (not showing up to work) is a well-documented and researched metric. However, the evil twin brother of absenteeism is presenteeism, and it’s now starting to get some more attention. Presenteeism is defined as showing up for work when one is ill, and it is literally a productivity killer. It is estimated that the costs associated with presenteeism due to poor employee health is at least 2 to 3 times greater than direct health care expenses. The total cost of presenteeism to US employers has been increasing, and estimates for current losses range from about $150 to $250 billion annually. Consequences to presenteeism can be loss of productivity, major health costs, inaccuracies on the job, and spreading of illness to name a few. We all have done it, but we should really think twice about coming into work when we are sick. However, it’s just not that simple, and there are many reasons why just can’t say no.

There are many antecedents to presenteeism but here are some major reasons:
1) Our culture/manager fosters this behavior
I’m probably not the only one has been praised for being a team player and coming in when I was extremely ill. In a recent survey by the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), researchers found that employees who indicated that their employer was not supportive in helping them become emotionally healthy were 320% more likely to have high presenteeism. A 2010 study by the Work Foundation found that more than 40% of employees were under pressure from managers and colleagues to come to work when ill.
2) Fear of losing your job
In research done in 2012, nearly a third of employers have reported a rise in the phenomenon of “presenteeism” in the past year. With the economy slowly turning the corner, employees are worried about losing their job or falling behind in the rat race. Dr Jill Miller, research adviser at CIPD, said, “Continuing economic uncertainty and fears over job security appears to be taking its toll on employees. We are seeing employees struggling into work to demonstrate their commitment, suggesting presenteeism can be a sign of anxiety.”
3) Pressure to perform
For some reason we equate our perception of the seriousness of the illness in direct proportion to justifying taking time off. “It’s probably just meningococcal so I should be fine; I doubt it’s contagious anyways.” Let’s leave the diagnoses to the professionals and see if we can’t rest for a little bit. In a recent conversation with an old friend he told me, “I have worked for my company for 20 years and I have never ever taken a sick day.” Well, why not? He said he had maintained the “old school” mentality of work, work, work. This never made sense to me; if you are sick, then why don’t you just stay home? Now I’m being a little hypocritical here because I have often got to work when I really was too sick to go. But the worst part about it was that he worked in a hospital!
4) Little or no sick days
Increasingly, employers have minimized the number of sick days and most of the time; we just can’t afford to miss work. Also, with the increasing amount of households turning into a dual income family, many parents are using their sick days to care for their children when they become ill instead of taking care of themselves.
There doesn’t seem to be any extreme changes on the horizon in the way employers handle presenteeism, however we owe it to ourselves to take care of our bodies and be present when we can afford to. Sometimes urgent can just wait until tomorrow.
For any further information or questions contact me at gus.jaramillo@kenblanchard.com

The Look of Ethical Leadership

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:00:18 +0000

Call me idealistic, but I want more from Gen X and Gen Y when it comes to leadership. I want to see us go beyond the standard leadership stereotypes to something more global, accepting, and inclusive. To encourage non-typical leadership types to emerge and develop.
Can you imagine what it might look like if high-potentials weren’t chosen based on how well they fit the corporate image, but instead on how well they treat others? Have we gone overboard with making sure leaders present themselves a certain way as seen in the following video?

Sure, they all have the right corporate image, but is that what the leader of the future should be? What if these guys in the following video were the most ethical leaders you would ever met…

What about those people you work with right now who might not say the right corporate buzz-words, wear the right clothes, or graduate from the right schools?
What if instead, true leaders naturally emerge because everyone whom they come into contact with experiences a solid trustworthy person. When faced with the decision between right or wrong without hesitation he or she takes the ethical high-road. They might not have the right hair, but go out of their way to give credit to the entry-level employee with the bright idea that just made the company millions.
Maybe leadership looks more like the quiet co-worker who detests public speaking and back-to-back meetings, but whose character is unmistakable. Maybe it’s the guy who knows nothing about golf and can’t stand wearing polo shirts or it’s the girl who really doesn’t want to hide her tattoo because it’s part of who she is.
What if tomorrow’s leaders are more about the inside than the outside? Less about the look and more about how they make you feel. Can you imagine? What if tomorrow’s leaders make good decisions, treat people well, and have brilliant ideas, but don’t look or sound the part.
I realize that in a global context, defining what it means to be an ethical leader will differ slightly, but the idealist in me once again asks whether we can move to a broader view of what an ethical leader should look like…
…to a leader who treats others with respect at every given opportunity, someone who is inclusive in encouraging dissenting opinions and viewpoints. Someone who really hears the thoughts and ideas of others, who doesn’t hold an employee’s title over his or her head as a mark of competence, and instead encourages all people regardless of background to lead at all times in everything they do.
All regardless image. Can you imagine…something different?

***

Cheryl DePonte is a Human Resources Learning and Performance Specialist at The Ken Blanchard Companies and has over 15 years experience in the fields of organizational effectiveness and human resources development.

Know Yourself

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:23:58 +0000

“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” —William Shakespeare

When recently opening a package of Green Tea, the quote, “It’s not a privilege to know others. Know yourself. That’s a privilege,” was attached to the string. Perhaps the tea manufacture was having a caffeinated paraphrasing of a Lao Tzu philosophy to push the notion that you’ll some how be more enlightened when you drink this potion.

Self Reflection?

As random as it may have seemed at the moment, I gave fate it’s due because I’ve recently been discovering behaviors about myself and how I work under pressure that have been most curious. In full confession, I wasn’t immediately enthusiastic or inspired to act on the words of encouragement from the Teabag—knowing oneself can be a very frightening proposition, and may cause even more stress than we are ready for.
On one hand, the business of getting to Know Yourself may at first seem as if it could turn into a narcissistic escapade into an investigation of your own perceived flaws or perfections. Today, where we can turn every smart phone application into our own personal news network, status updating everyone on our trip to the gym, the food & drink we are consuming at any given moment, or snapping off a half dozen “Selfies” at arms length or in the mirror. The business of Knowing Oneself has the potential to quickly turn into how we want others to see us—not who we truly are.
And as daunting as the Tea Leaf’s proposition was to me, the notion of Self Knowledge is as ancient as cave paintings. The great philosopher Aristotle proposed that everybody has a rational and irrational side of their Self, used for identifying our own needs then making decisions according to those needs.
One of the greatest failures in the today’s workplace, and even more destructive in a knowledge based economy, is the inability for individuals to effectively determine our own needs, leading us to make less quality decisions while executing our daily tasks. The core reason we don’t know what our daily needs are is that we fail to read the tea leaves—we rarely stop to take account of what our strengths and weaknesses are, what perceptions we have about our own needs and abilities, and when we need to reach out to others for the proper direction or support of the goals or tasks we’re working on.
Taking a moment to look at yourself and your own needs is not some vain exploration into how you can serve yourself better, but rather a reflection on how you could more effectively serve others when you Know Yourself better.
Jason Diamond Arnold is a Leadership Consultant at The Ken Blanchard Companies and Coauthor of Situational Self Leadership in Action.

Tips to Contain the Crazy: Increasing Productivity While Reducing Stress

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:30:54 +0000

I love to learn new ways to increase my own productivity while also reducing stress. I call it containing the crazy. Like many of you, I cling to my calendar, my to-do list…I shudder to think of the chaos should I ever lose my phone.

Recently, I decided to try some new ways to be more productive and less stressed:

1. Spa water – in a scientific study, those who were fully-hydrated had improved mood and were less sleepy. So, I decided to try drinking spa water (sometimes called “infused water”) and I’m hooked. You get your water in for the day and it’s flavored without all the calories and chemicals. Refill as needed and enjoy. Here is a wikihow on how to make spa water:

How to make spa water

2. Concentration Music – it is said that listening to baroque classical music has been scientifically shown to improve mood, productivity, and concentration. So, I decided to give it a whirl and wouldn’t you know, it works! I get more work done faster and more precisely while being relaxed the entire time. Gotta love classical music! Here is a sample for your listening pleasure:

3. A Timer – scientific studies also show we have a limited attention span for tasks. This time has varied in studies anywhere from 10 minutes to up to 40 minutes. So, I set a timer and only worked on a task for a specified period and then took a break. I also used a timer to go back and forth between tasks. This has worked wonders for getting many more things done in a day than I could have imagined. A link to a fabulous, easy-to-set online timer:
Online Timer
These tips for containing the crazy work well for my own personal work style and help me to be a more calm, productive, and focused leader.
Share with us your tips to contain the crazy, increase productivity, and reduce stress. No matter how unique they may be, please share! What works for you?

What’s wrong at work? You may need an Alberti

Gus Jaramillo — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:00:07 +0000

As a kid, I watched the movie Renaissance Man with Danny DeVito. Some of you may remember the film. Danny DeVito is this Advertising Executive with an Ivy League background who is fired from his job. He gets a temporary teaching position and is given six weeks to teach low-achieving soldiers the basics of comprehension and use of English language. He uses Shakespeare, the Renaissance, and other avenues to teach his students. Yet, only one of the historical figures covered in the film has mesmerized me ever since: His name is Leon Battista Alberti.
When I was in Spain a few years ago I had the opportunity to see some of his work at the Prado in Madrid. That’s when I knew, Leon Battista Alberti was the quintessential Renaissance Man. He was the Renaissance Man even before we knew what it was. In fact, Alberti is largely credited with actually defining the term Renaissance man as “men can do all things if they will.” He grew up pre-Renaissance in Bologna because his family was ousted out of Florence by the republican government, run by the Albizzis. His mother died as a result of the Bubonic Plague and he and his brother were raised by his father. He studied architecture and painting, he was a self-taught composer and musician, and he was a heck of an athlete, particularly known in the area for his fine horsemanship. A legend of Alberti states that he could stand flat-footed, look into a man’s eyes and leap right over his head. This legend is exactly why I still remember Leon Battista Alberti today.
“No crime is so great as daring to excel.” Winston Churchill
Often times in our work we become overrun with responding to emails, balancing projects, and stressing over the unknown that we hardly have time to develop certain skills that will set us apart from our peers. Or even leap us beyond our peers. Here are some questions to ask yourself for self-evaluation and reflection to help you find your “Alberti”:
What am I good at? Be honest here. Don’t overvalue your stock on this because others won’t see the same value and you might end up trying to sell a stock that’s overpriced.
What does this organization need/lack that I could champion? Your Alberti needs to be aligned with the organization. In order for it to be value added it must correspond with the vision of your organization.
Do I have the resources? If not, how can I get them? Look at your own career. What is the next step? A degree? A certification? If you can’t access any resources where can you go to get them? Getting stagnate on your skills is one way to have a mediocre career.
Does this matter to me? In a recent interview, former President Clinton was asked if he was selfless for committing so much time to his non-for-profit organizations. He said, “It’s because I’m selfish. I do it because it makes me feel good about myself.” If it doesn’t matter to you, your motivation to prioritize it and work on it won’t be sustained.
So, what’s your Alberti? Are you known in the office for doing something that adds value? If not, then find your Alberti and pursue it.
For any further information or questions contact me at gus.jaramillo@kenblanchard.com

Narcissism and How We Perfected It

Gus Jaramillo — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:00:45 +0000

I’m taking a rather ambitious stab at clearing the name of an entire generation with a single blog post. I have not been chosen by my generation to represent us, but by definition I’m entitled so I deserve a shot. Many have called Gen Yers as Generation “Me”, but I see it more as “Generation Y Not Me?” We’ve been called rude, entitled, lazy, narcissistic, and smart – ok, I snuck the last one in there, but you get the point.

Ok, so we like to watch a little TV and play video games, so what’s the big deal? We live life on the edge (of reality) and love to surf (the web) and socialize (on Facebook) all day. We are the doers. We seek not war, but peace. We love reality television and hang on every word they say (even the illiterate ones). We are not better than any of you, but we are special. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are just extensions of our inner self. We love rap music, iPhones, and Dancing with the Stars (my wife made me put that in here). We are not all about ourselves; everyone is just all about us.
This is our motto.
Tom Brokaw accurately named the World War II generation as the Greatest Generation. After reading the book, watching the Band of Brothers series, and hearing the stories from WWII vets themselves, I can’t deny this. These men and women were some of the purist of Americans—hard-working, dedicated, and loyal to their values. I remember visiting Normandy about 10 years ago and seeing the crosses of the buried soldiers neatly displayed—such a beautiful display of sadness and pain. In my own experience as a captain in the Army and a combat veteran serving in Afghanistan, I hardly saw any sense of entitlement among the troops. There were men and women who were generally unhappy to be there (I admit even sometimes I wondered why we were there), and hated everything about the war, but they still wanted to fight. There was a sense of pride about them and they fought long and hard. While in Afghanistan, I had a West Point Captain tell me about his 18-month deployment. He said the length of the deployment really hit him hard at the first Thanksgiving dinner. They were just about to start eating when one of his soldiers said, “Hey sir, don’t worry about saying grace. I’ll do it this year and you can say grace next year.”
I don’t claim we are the Greatest Generation but I do think Gen Y has contributed significantly more than just TV and video games. We are a young generation, but like many others we adapt, overcome, and move on. I never liked the label, “entitlement generation” because frankly I don’t think we deserve it. I hope this generation can rid ourselves of this brand and demonstrate the core American qualities that have been delivered to us from previous generations.
For any further information or questions contact me at gus.jaramillo@kenblanchard.com

George Washington's Leadership Legacy

Blanchard Associate — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 04:26:30 +0000

Let’s indulge, for a moment, on a seasonal exposition that preys on a national day of remembrance—not as a desperate attempt to capitalize on optimal web search methods spiked by the holiday; but rather as mildly hopeful attempt to cull out wisdom from the past, in hopes of gleaning some bit of meaning and truth for our present circumstances.

Washington Revolution

Yes, George Washington is the father of our county. Yes, he is the guy on the One Dollar Bill and a few of those silver tokens we used to slide into the arcade machine at 7-11 as a kid. Yes, he is one of the four presidents enshrined on Mt. Rushmore, as a tribute to several of America’s most recognized and cherished leaders.
Washington’s wisdom is not found in the mythological figure he has become in today’s modern media culture—although I doubt he would have as many FaceBook friends as his other famous February cult hero, St. Valentine. Washington’s legacy is as solid and secure today as it was the day he published his Farewell Address in the American Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1796—One of the great pieces of American Political Literature that every American Citizen should read on a day we should honor the legacy of leadership he has left us with.
It is in this address that the core of Washington’s leadership legacy rings most loudly and clearly. In his closing thoughts, to the American people, a people he had served so nobly throughout the many fragile moments of a nation in its infancy, he turns to them with a most astonishing request.
Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors.
American’s Zeus. The conquering hero of the American Revolution! The man who could never tell a lie! The highest authority of a new nation, at the absolute pinnacle of his popularity and power, turning to his people and confusing his shortcomings, before asking for their forgiveness. An astonishing moment in world history, and perhaps the most important lesson for leaders today—having power, but laying the sword of his authority at the feet of his people through service.
Let us not overlook a great leadership lesson amidst a sea of leadership lessons by one of the great leaders the world has known. George Washington shows a humility and grace that set the standard, not only for future presidents, but any great leader—yesterday, today, or tomorrow.

Molding A Culture For Millennials

Matt Youngblood — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 13:00:42 +0000

In a Deloitte survey published last month, almost 5000 Millennials across 18 different countries were asked various questions regarding their views on innovation. According to the survey, 78% of the Millennials surveyed believe innovation is essential to business growth. However:

52% believe their workplace environment helps them innovate.
26% believe their organization’s leadership encourages innovation and idea sharing regardless of organizational hierarchy.

That’s a huge gap in the number of Millennials who feel innovation is critical, yet who also feel their leadership teams aren’t fostering cultures of innovation.
Where does your company leadership stand on innovation? Do you believe that innovation comes only from the top? Should new ideas be shared and implemented based on seniority, or do employees on the frontlines have opportunities to innovate?
A lot of this deals with change. Well-established companies may be struggling with an old way of thinking that leadership is where all of the good ideas are generated. 53% of respondents perceived that newer businesses were better able to innovate compared to older businesses.
In reality, innovation should come from all levels. Innovation shouldn’t be thought of as flowing in a pyramid starting at the top. Instead, think of innovation spreading across a level playing field in an organization.
Frontline employees who work directly with customers are often the ones who see areas for change. They can spot problems with processes and even products and services. They’re the ones who hear the most feedback from customers. That makes them a great source of new ideas.
How do you know if your employees feel they can innovate? Can they come to you and/or other company leadership and bring up new ideas for products, processes, and solutions? Do you have any established process for those ideas to be shared? Are you open to listening to those ideas, or are they quickly dismissed regardless of how innovative they may be?
There are various other studies/surveys that have shown Millennials are less “loyal” in staying with a single employer. In other words, if they aren’t getting what they perceive is essential to their work environment, they are more likely to find employment elsewhere compared to the other generations.
In seeing how important Millennials feel innovation is, this could also lead to a possible conclusion that businesses who don’t foster a culture of innovation will have a hard time retaining talent from this generation.
There are some other key data points in the Millennial Innovation survey:

66% of respondents agreed that innovative organizations will be better positioned to attract talent.
Innovation was considered a top reason for the purpose of business.
Employee satisfaction and retention was ranked as the #1 non-financial measurement for business success (the interesting part about this is that this category could be further broken down by the Employee Work Passion survey published by The Ken Blanchard Companies on what factors affect employee satisfaction).

No matter where you are in your organization’s hierarchy, what are you doing to foster innovation?
Leave your comments!

Lead Your Team To Effectively Use Technology To Learn

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:00:48 +0000

Ensuring employees have ample opportunity to learn and develop is crucial to organizational success. Yet, leaders can be bombarded with messages to increase the use of technology if they want the most effective means for their teams to learn.

As a leader, how do you judge which learning modality will lead to the most effective, quality learning experience? How do you appeal to learners on your teams at differing levels of technological savviness without discouraging their development? Or, worse, avoid humiliating anyone who is not as technologically savvy while simultaneously avoid disengaging your digital learners? Preventing yet more training materials being set up on a shelf never to be used again is key!

Steps you can take to lead your team to effectively use technology to learn include:

1. Understanding how your team learns – Become intimately familiar with how your team learns. Do you offer a learning product on a flash drive only to find you run out before you can order more or are you scheduling face-to-face classes on their behalf with little resistance? Are your most productive employees viewing recording links from live stream workshops because they want to learn in their own time in the comfort of their office? How your employees learn will help you intuit in what form content should be delivered to increase learning. Don’t discount your own observations regarding what your employees seem to gravitate toward.
2. Determine their favored modalities – Fit how the content is offered to the learner by offering it in various forms such as audio, video, face-to-face, and asynchronous. Have a workshop that you know learners on your team will love but know it’s in a format they won’t be interested in learning from? Encourage your employees to determine if they would be interested in learning the same content in a different modality. If the content is off the shelf, inquire as to whether it is offered as mp3, asynchronous, and face-to-face format. Purchase and offer multiple forms and see which format your team seems to prefer. Learn from your purchases and take note of what your employees want more of and most often request.
3. Then…limit options – mp3 audio books, asynchronous learning groups, virtual book clubs , CDs, DVDs, hard-copy libraries, face-to-face workshops…the list goes on as to how employees learn and you could potentially intimidate and confuse learners by creating modality overload. Most important after determining how your team learns is to introduce new technology and options slowly by choosing their favored modality. Then, let them get comfortable with change by limiting the options offered to those two or three favorite modalities the team gravitates toward. Don’t get caught up with the new, shinny technology if you know your employees will most likely not be interested in learning in that particular format. Perhaps you have determined your team enjoys reading hard-copy books, listening to CDs, and asynchronous learning. Invest in these three modalities by allowing your employees to show you this is how they most feel comfortable learning. If the content is then offered as a webinar with live chat, don’t spring it on the team. Wait to allow them to lead you in their own learning.
Understanding how your employees learn will help increase the benefits derived from learning in modalities that best fit the learner and resultantly most benefit the organization.
***

Is Workplace Bullying on the Rise?

Gus Jaramillo — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:00:53 +0000

Have you ever been bullied by a boss, coworker, or another employee? Chances are, you may have been. Research by the Workplace Bullying Institute has revealed that 35% of the U.S workforce has reported being bullied. That’s an estimated 53.5 million Americans! And that’s bad news for both employees and organizations. Employees who have been bullied suffer tremendously from stress, somatic disorders, anxiety, and even Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In fact, in some cases, the effects of bullying were comparable to PTSD from war or prison camp experiences. The organizations themselves don’t escape so easily either. High turnover, low employee morale, and medical and insurance costs are just a few of the detrimental effects an organization must face. In fact, many European countries have adopted laws against workplace bullying, often called mobbing in Europe, costing organizations millions of dollars a year.
Ok, so still not sure if you have ever been bullied? Well, there are many definitions of workplace bullying (wpb) but a widely accepted one is harassing, offending, socially excluding someone or negatively affecting someone’s work tasks. In order for the label bullying (or mobbing) to be applied, it has to occur repeatedly and regularly (e.g., weekly) and over a period of time (about 6 months). Having a bad day at work and yelling at an employee, though not excusable, is not considered bullying. Bullying is a more divisive, targeted behavior that is usually aimed at one particular employee for a long stretch of time.
Bullying can come in many different forms such as intimidating, threats, physical abuse, verbal abuse, and even covert bullying—giving an unrealistic deadline to an associate for the purpose of belittling or embarrassing them.
But people can’t really be that mean can they? Gulp!!! In the years that I have studied the subject, I am more convinced it’s not just the bully who is responsible. It’s an institutional issue and really a global issue. In fact, workplace bullying has been identified as one of the major contemporary challenges for occupational health and safety around the world. In the U.S alone, it has been found to be four times more prevalent than sexual harassment in the workplace.
I used to think bullying behavior was just a leadership flaw. But it’s much worse. Research has shown the culture of an organization may breed or allow for this behavior to thrive. Many different cultures see exuberant amounts of bullying instances, including the military, para-military (police, fireman) and commercial kitchens—Hell’s Kitchen anyone? If you’re like me, you don’t want Gordon Ramsay critiquing your cooking and you definitely don’t want him as your boss. But why does bullying seem more acceptable or permissible in these environments?
Unfortunately, some of these questions are yet to be fully answered, but hopefully soon these gaps will be filled and we will have a more comprehensive picture of bullying. Both the organization and the individual have a responsibility to mitigate this behavior and should actively seek ways to provide a safe environment for employees to work. Although wpb may seem to suddenly be on the rise due to the economy, social factors, etc., it may be that we are now just revealing what has already been at work for quite some time.
For any further information or questions contact me at gus.jaramillo@kenblanchard.com

The 3 Most Critical Times of a Productive Work Day

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:00:45 +0000

Managing your everyday job responsibilities in an effective, systematic manner is increasingly more challenging in today’s world. It does not matter whether you are a stay at home parent, an around the clock workaholic, or an “average Joe” working for the weekend. Organizing your daily activities demands a lot of thought before jumping right into your tasks. At the end of the day you want to look back and say to yourself, “I made a positive difference today.”

It’s important to remember that you have a choice to control who, what, and how you let the world affect you. It is vital that you develop a daily routine so you can find the time you need to shut out the world for a few minutes and focus on yourself.
Use these three times during your work day to create a productive routine:
The first 30 minutes at the office:

Be social with work colleagues. Ask people how they are doing and be prepared to dive deeper into their answers.
Write out your top-of-mind tasks and prioritize them for the day. Be sure to revisit and check them off the list as they are completed.
Most Importantly, DO NOT CHECK YOUR EMAIL OR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS. Don’t seek out additional tasks first thing in the morning – more often than not, they will only overwhelm you more than you already may be.

The Lunch Hour:

Read for recreation to put your mind at ease. Distract yourself with non-work related material so that when you go back to work you have a clean, fresh perspective.
Go for a walk outside. Connect with nature to clear your mind and re-connect with the world outside of the office.
Work on a home project. If you have a list of to-do’s, use a portion of this time to schedule service appointments or plan out your home project.

The first 10 minutes of your drive home:

Praise yourself on your accomplishments. Take a few moments to think about what you achieved during the day. This act emphasizes the importance of mindfulness.
Formulate a mental outline of tomorrow’s task list. Once you have a picture in your mind you can come in the next day and write it out.
Prepare to be fully present for your spouse and children. Separate your work and home life by embracing the time you spend with your family. Give them your full attention.

Finding the time for yourself requires dedication and directed focus. Once you hone your prioritizing skills you will find a sense of relief and satisfaction. Your productivity will increase while your stress levels will decrease because you are organized, optimizing your ability to lead yourself.

“This is the key to time management – to see the value of every moment.”
– Menachem Mendel Schneerson

If you are feeling overwhelmed and inundated with more and more tasks at work, you are not alone! Visit www.leadershiplivecast.com and register for The Ken Blanchard Companies next livecast, Doing ‘Still’ More With Less, where some of the most respected leadership experts will share their thoughts on the topic!

Work Less

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 23:34:13 +0000

If you want to be great at work—work less!

Hair on Fire!

Organizations around the world are struggling to keep up with the complex demands of their clients and constituents while restrained by reduced budgets and limited resources. Individuals and teams are frantically trying to come up with the next big idea that will drive revenues or reduce costs but are overwhelmed by the process. Hysteria abounds, projects flop, and market share flickers like a candle in a cold dark room with cracks in the mortar.
In a world where people are struggling to do more with less, the answer is not to fuel up on Starbucks, set your hair on fire, and simply work harder with fewer resources. The answer is to manage the fire by working smarter with what resources you have—caffeine is optional.
Lean times call for lean ideas.

The Lean Startup

In his book, The Lean Startup, Eric Reis discovers and explores a concept called a Minimal Viable Product (MVP), an idea generation process that requires minimum amount of effort within the least amount of development time. In the world of Startups, an MVP helps entrepreneurs and business leaders go through the product development learning curve as quickly and effectively as possible. A Minimal Viable Product doesn’t mean that it has to be a tiny project or product, it simple means that you accelerate your learning cycle on what will or won’t work in the market place by testing a piece of your idea with minimal time and resources.
A fundamental mistake leaders often make, at all levels of an organization, is that they attempt to solve a big problems and challenges all at once. Good leaders of self and others understand that for every major responsibility they have, there are sets of goals that can help guide them toward success. Further more, within those goals are a series of tasks that can be broken down into manageable, executable projects, while testing the solution theories for reliability and effectiveness. The smaller the task, the less energy expanded, and the more likely you will be able to make quick adjustments that drive you toward an effective resolution of the larger problem, one small step at a time.
Creating Minimal Viable Products or Tasks is not just a means to find answer to technical or finical questions; but also a means to test fundamental business or social ideas before wasting too much time and talent creating a solution that nobody will invest in. Today’s leader of self or others needs to put out minimal viable effort. In other words, today’s leader needs to think lean—to work less in order to achieve more.
Jason Diamond Arnold is a Leadership Consultant and Learning Media Specialist at The Ken Blanchard Companies. He is Coauthor of Situational Self Leadership in Action, a virtual learning experience that helps individuals collaborate with others more effectively.

Personal engagement: it's a relationship thing!

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:00:07 +0000

As so many of us focus on the newness of setting goals and resolutions, I find myself looking back over various relationships with friends, coworkers, and others that were once new and have now matured to be strongly connected and bonded.
The day-to-day work I do is something routinely accomplished within hundreds of organizations. Although some of these organizations may have more resources and are perhaps more sophisticated in their processes than my own, what these organizations don’t have are my friends and those who I have come to care about.
I used to believe a job that allowed me to accomplish meaningful work, utilize my talents, and recognize my accomplishments was the real key to career happiness…to true engagement. I pictured myself accomplishing goals and completing projects much to the delight of my superiors and earning that ego-affirming bonus or raise. Truth be told, these things are important and something I strive for. Yet, when I find myself completing a task that can be, shall we say, less than fulfilling, it is my coworkers-turned-friends that make the job more meaningful and fulfilling.

It was not always this way. Like any new hire in any organization, at first I spent lunches alone, felt awkward at company events, and had to endure hearing the “who is she?” question just out of earshot. Over time, I saw how people in the organization built bonds with one another and how they eventually did the same with me.
In previous jobs, I interacted with those I worked with, attended the obligatory coworker’s family event, and said hello as necessary. Years after, there are a few people from each of those jobs who I consider to be friends…but only a few.
What I have come to realize is that engagement often seems to be a term employees believe an organization should own. For example, engagement is a word often mentioned as part of “problem” for an organization to solve.
Instead, I have learned how to create my own personal engagement by bonding with those I work with.
I created my own sense of engagement by:
1. Sharing personal stories with coworkers, like what funny things a parent said and how my dog chewed my favorite pillow. I became comfortable with laughing a little…and connecting by sharing the most mundane topics.
2. Stopping the multitasking when a coworker offered to share a personal story with me. I gave him or her my full, undivided attention, making the moment about them.
3. When coworkers or others in my organization (or industry) did not reach out to me, seemed to ignore me, or for whatever reason do not connect with me, I tried my best to keep it in perspective. I realized that some people are slow to trust, have personal issues, or are simply not ready to be vulnerable with newer organizational or industry members.
The more bonds I built, the more I found I was inexplicably, personally engaged in my work.
Try it, but don’t get discouraged if it takes time. The rewards are worth the effort!

Times Like These

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:52:08 +0000

I’m a little divided. Do I stay or run away and leave it all behind? —The Foo Fighters
There is something different to ponder, on a more intimate level, this holiday season. Slight of hand and a twist of fate have befallen our world, again, in ways we weren’t meant to imagine. With every moment of silence, (something we are not very good at, in our opinion driven, mainstream and social media networked world) I am left search for answers to questions I can’t even begin to understand. I have found very few this past week.

Times Like These

But somehow there, in those moments of silence, a thought, inside of a tune played by an American Rock band, The Foo Fighters, Times Like These, has hung on me like smoke from a camp fire that lingers on one’s clothes—reminding you of a place remembered.
I’m a wild light blinding bright burning off alone.
Some of the most destructive moments in life come from a bright light smoldering in isolation. A disillusioned soul that has some how forgotten or been allowed to retreat to an island and become cut off from others. There, in those places, are no political, theological, or philosophical commentaries—only the burning embers of what used to be or could be again.
Individuals are to be connected to others, collaborating on ideas that make the world a better place. And even though cultivating real and intimate personal and professional relationships is hard, it’s our calling as leaders and individuals to reach out and show compassion to those in isolation—even when we lack understanding.
One of the most vivid moments in Charles Dickens classic tale, A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge wakes up after a harrowing evening of being visited by three ghosts who show him what he was and what he has become. Ebenezer recommits himself to reaching out to others and being more compassionate. And in one of the most touching moments of the story, he shows up to his nephews house for Christmas dinner, after rejecting his invitation the day before. After a gasp of surprise by the estranged uncle’s presence, family and friends warmly welcome the recently reformed soul back into the loving arms of community and fellowship.
There in those moments of silence this past week I have been reminded that, “It’s times like these you learn to live again. It’s times like these you give and give again. It’s times like these you learn to love again. It’s times like these time and time again.”
Don’t wait for a holy day—a day set apart from the others—to reach out to others who’s wild light may be flickering. It just may be the one light the world needs right now.
Jason Diamond Arnold is a Leadership Consulting Associate with The Ken Blanchard Companies. He is the Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action, a virtual learning experience that helps individuals effectively collaborate with others at a higher level.

Hitting the Performance “Wall”? Push Through By Asking the Right Questions

Matt Youngblood — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:00:22 +0000

At any given point, everyone you lead will face performance challenges. There’s no way around it. Even if your team is primarily composed of experts/veterans who have been on the job for years, you’ll still need to help those employees after they hit the performance “wall” at one point or another.
In order to help your people work through performance challenges, you need to understand the potential causes. The following are prime reasons that everyone – from your new hires, to even your most knowledgeable and talented individuals – will hit the wall sooner or later:

We live in a society of constant change. Technology is a great example because it rapidly changes and affects our daily lives. We find ourselves interacting with one-another in new ways and using new tools.
Businesses have to constantly adapt and evolve in order to beat the competition. That means that the employees are the ones that are actually adapting, and more specifically, learning and doing something new continuously.
We are all human. We have emotions that affect us inside the workplace and at home. Personal issues with friends, family, pets, bills, or even issues in the workplace, all take a toll.

The second bullet above is one of the biggest reasons for performance challenges. Give your people something new to do that they’ve never done before and you’re likely to see a few cases of hitting the wall.
If my leader came to me and said “You know, Matt, you’re an expert in what you do. I have something new for you to take on. The company has decided that we’re going to build a robot and have you take charge of programming it to do our bidding.” I know nothing about robotics! I can guarantee that I’d hit the performance wall, especially without the proper training and support.
Ok, that example might be a little out there. However, think about anytime your company or IT department decided to do an upgrade or even change a key piece of critical software that your employees use. Is your company moving to Microsoft Windows 8, soon? Windows 8 doesn’t have the “Start” menu anymore (at least not without a workaround). Think about your longtime Windows users, all familiar with that key Start menu, no longer having access to it. How badly do you think their performance will suffer as they struggle through learning to navigate Windows all over again?
To help your people through performance issues, you need to start by asking the right questions. Just as a doctor diagnoses a sick patient, you need to diagnose your employees by thinking of the following questions:
1. What is the specific goal or task? – This should always be the first question that comes to mind. It doesn’t matter that an individual may be an expert in their field. If they’re doing/learning something for the first time, that “expert” is really a novice.
2. Has this person demonstrated task knowledge and skills? – Based on the goal/task, has this individual shown (not just told you) that they have the skills to complete the goal/task?
3. Does this individual have transferable skills, and if so, how strong are those skills? – Let’s go back to my example of switching to Windows 8. Your employees have used some version of Windows, previously, so they do have some transferable skills. Those employees are better off than someone who has only been a Mac user, or better yet, someone who has never used a computer, previously.
4. Is this person motivated, interested, and/or enthusiastic about the goal or task? – Does this individual actually want to learn how to do the goal/task? Let me add that even if they don’t want to learn how to do this goal or task (example: they don’t have the capacity to take on something new; completing the task is monotonous; they just aren’t interested; etc…) there is a difference between “can’t” and “won’t”.
5. Is this person confident or self-assured in completing the goal or task? – Are the confident they can get the job done, or are they having a problem learning how to do the task and feel like they’re stuck? This one can be tricky, because if it’s something I want to learn, I might have a false sense of confidence in the beginning where I say “Sure, I can learn this! No problem!” – not realizing how difficult learning the task may be.
Finding out the answers to these questions allows you, as a leader, to write the prescription. The prescription needs to be a proper mixture of direction and support. Just as the same as a medical prescription, if you don’t apply the correct mix of direction and support, your patient (your employee) may experience adverse reactions.
Think about a time in your life where you weren’t given the correct prescription, such as being given too much direction from your leader. You probably thought of it as being “micromanaged”. How did that make you feel? Did you feel more or less motivated by it? How did it make you feel about your leader?
These key diagnosis questions are based on the Situational Leadership^® II model. There’s a lot more to this model than just performance challenges, so if you’re not familiar with the Situational Leadership® II concepts, be sure to click on the link to get a better sense of the positive impact that Situational Leadership^® II can create.
Leave your comments!

The Reluctant, Non-Conformist Leader

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:00:10 +0000

Lately, I have been listening to friends and colleagues regarding their desired career path. You know, the whole, “someday, when I grow up I want to be a (fill in the blank here)” conversation? For the longest time, I believed my own reluctance to lead, my unwillingness to sacrifice my own happiness just to earn that corner office with the window and prime parking spot, set me apart. That somehow I was special and unique and on a different path. I figured that rebellious streak; the non-conformist…defined by my lack of desire to be an executive took me down a road much less traveled.
Not so much…
…turns out, I am not alone.
From my coworkers and friends, I am hearing a definite reluctance to lead. It seems there has been so much focus on scurrying about to determine just how to lead Gen X and Y that the question of whether we want to become future leaders has been ignored like a worn-down speed bump at the local strip mall.

The traditional notion of hierarchical leadership does not resonate with me. I would sacrifice pay, benefits….and even the corner office with the killer view, for a more flexible work schedule…or even no work schedule at all. When I lead, I prefer to do so with a team of peers (and forget the term “peers”, I call them coworkers and more often than not, friends) where several perspectives on the best way to approach something is ideal. I want to lead from my home, the local coffee shop, my car, the beach. Not exactly the job description we see for today’s executive.
According to Matt Dunne, in his article Policy Leadership, Gen X Style, Gen Xers in particular tend to be more entrepreneurial in their style, use technology as a competitive advantage, and learn how to do many different types of jobs. Anne Houlihan takes it a step further in her article Taking Charge stating that Gen Xers value balance; we are indeed results driven and see little value in providing face-time to those leading us. Our goal is to produce and get the job done, even if it is from our home office when a family member is sick…including the dog. We want collaboration, mentoring, and to be believed, trusted, and valued. We want to have a life and live it too.
Cheryl Cran eloquently stated the view I have observed of many members of Gen X and Y in the following video:

As a leader, I would hire for character, reliability, and results by surrounding myself with people who have the proven ability to get it done, however “it” is defined. The performance of those I lead is defined by their reputation to engage, be present, yet still multi-task autonomously. I am not concerned if your work experience involved raising a family, running a marathon, or writing a paper. If you can produce and are sincerely passionate about the work we would collaborate on, then I am interested.
Perhaps if my fellow members of Gen X and Y decided to redefine what it means to lead an organization, we might be less reluctant to “fill in the blank here” with the term “leader”.

Leadership is Luck

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 20:51:11 +0000

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times… —A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
The opening lines to Charles Dickens classic, A Tale of Two Cities could not have expressed any better, my eleven year old son’s feelings about his favorite football team, the Indianapolis Colts, one year ago at this time. The Colts had gone from perennial Super Bowl contenders each year for the past decade, led by a future Hall of Fame quarterback, Peyton Manning. It was the best of times for Colts fans.

Luck

But that all went away when Manning had to go through a series of operations on his neck that left him sidelined for the entire 2011 season, and his professional football career in doubt. The Colts could only muster two wins out of sixteen games under the leadership of a variety of quarterbacks that couldn’t elevate the team to even a respectable showing. The Colts missed the playoff for the first time in a decade, the head coach was fired, and the end of an era for Manning in Indianapolis was coming to an end. It was the worst of times for Colts fans.
However, the worst of times was short lived. In one of the most ironic twists of fate in modern sports history, the Colts became the luckiest team in the league. As a result of the worst record 2011, they were aligned to have the number one overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft. And in a controversial move, they dropped their Hall of Fame quarterback, uncertain if he would be able to play again, and choose the All American quarterback out of Stanford, Andrew Luck, to replace the legend at the helm of the Colts offense.
Since then, the rookie quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts has resurrected an organization from the ashes of the National Football League, not only by his decision making abilities and skill sets on the field, but his attitude and inspiration off the field of play. Nine games into the season, the young quarterback has led his team to a 6-3 record mid-way through the season, tripling their win total over last year and positioning them for an improbable shot at the playoffs.
A great quarterback is like a great leader in the workplace. It doesn’t take long to be in the workforce before you realize that there are good leaders (managers, bosses, supervisors) and there are bad leaders. We’ve all probably had at least one awful leader that we’ve had to work for. And of course, there are the disengaged managers who are neither good nor bad—they are just there to make sure that the organizational chart is up to date and protocol is followed.
There is an obvious difference between a great leader and a terrible leader. But there is also a significant difference between a great leader and an average leader. The difference between a great leader and an average leader isn’t about how much smarter they are or even the quality of the decisions they make day in and day out. The difference between a great leader and an average leader is what they do to make the people they work with better!
Andrew Luck is often only credited for the way he runs the Colts complicated offense, and his knowledge of the game that are far beyond the years he has been in the league. But there is so much more Luck does for his team that goes beyond the offense. The longer he sustains a drive, coming up with key third down conversions, and eating up time on the clock, the more the Colts defense gets to rest on the sideline.
Andrew Luck’s character goes beyond his skill sets. When the Colts head coach, Chuck Pagano, was diagnosed with leukemia only a few games into the season, Luck took the lead in support for his coach by shaving his head—a show of solidarity for the coach who would loose his hair due to the chemotherapy treatments. Most of the team followed the young quarterbacks lead and the team has rallied around their ailing coach to rattle off four wins in a row—one of the most inspirational stories in recent years.
For whatever reason, many individuals are content with the status quo. They come to work; they put in their time at work, pull their paycheck, and are satisfied with a job that’s good enough. They may have run into roadblocks or constraints in their career that keep them from taking risks or thinking of ways they could do their job better—the multitude of individual contributors who have settled for average. This doesn’t mean that they are bad people, they’ve just settled into a lifestyle of mediocrity and aren’t really pushed to be better.
Great leaders inspire those individual contributors on the front line of organizations to rise above the temptation to settle for average. They inspire the people they are leading to find, cultivate, and develop the personal desire for excellence within. Great leaders take average contributors and make them good contributors, and they take good contributors and make them great. The entire organization benefits from this type of leadership.
That is exactly what Andrew Luck does. He has taken made his teammates better as a young leader of a proud franchise that has a rich history of success. He has diverted a long winter of discontent for that organization and has inspired Colt’s players and fans alike to hope for the best of times again. Leadership isn’t just about knowledge and skills, sometimes it is Luck.
Jason Diamond Arnold is a Leadership Consulting Associate at The Ken Blanchard Companies and is Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action, a virtual learning program designed to develop personal and professional excellence.

Excellence in Action

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:00:56 +0000

*Part Two of a Six Part Series on The Excellent Employee

“Can you hear me when I sing?

You’re the reason why I sing …

You’re the reason the opera is inside of me!”

—Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own, U2

Nike’s Find Your Greatness Campaign

Consider the summer blockbusters at the movie theater or Nike’s latest add campaign during the Summer Olympics. The movies we watch, and sometimes, even the shoes we buy, reveal this appetite for greatness. At times, we vicariously live through others who do what we wish for ourselves: superheroes fighting villains, sports champions, ordinary people overcoming impossible circumstances, and others achieving glory in extraordinary moments of greatness.
We are drawn to greatness because the desire for greatness is within us! The pursuit of excellence is as natural a human desire as love and hope and a desire for peace.
Our human nature is manifest in both our desire for a greater goodness in the world as well as the capacity to possess that goodness within ourselves—in our relationships, our work, our communities, and our own personal satisfaction in being alive.
Our greatness is not meant to be merely potential greatness, like the notched arrow in the potential energy found in the archer’s arm and the bent limbs of the bow when the string is drawn tight. Our greatness is meant to be released into motion, like the arrow that is released from the bow and swiftly, efficiently, travels toward its target with power, becoming kinetic energy that makes an impact and serves its purpose.

Release Your Greatness

In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he argued that the end purpose to life, what every human truly desires, is to pursue excellence or greatness that leads to happiness and joy. In fact, Aristotle went further than saying humans simply desire this greatness, they are naturally inclined to hope for it, dream of it, and ultimately pursue it. Humans can’t do otherwise.
So then, why doesn’t everyone achieve greatness or happiness? In fact, the sad reality is that many people become disillusioned about their own greatness. They suffer set backs and failures, develop insecurities, and believe in assumptions that constrain them from excelling. They stop learning when the learning becomes difficult. This happens in people’s personal and professional lives and it’s a human tragedy, because they’ve lost their voice—their sense of purpose.
Others pursue something they think will bring them happiness, without the intimacy and moral compass that excellence requires. They pursue money or status, and use relationships or projects to elevate their own needs above the needs of others. They lose a sense of self-reliance and self-worth, ignoring the desire that beckons them to be great. They forfeit their own personal greatness and become dependent on others to create greatness for them.
In one case, people give up. In the other, they pursue the wrong things. In both, they fail to achieve excellence.
In order for greatness to be actualized, it must be released in individuals and organizations for a greater good. We are meant to train, be disciplined, gain more knowledge, and learn new skills in order to use our greatness in the most excellent way possible, given the reach of our experiences and opportunities—excellence in action!
The capacity for greatness needs to be acted on if that potential is to be realized and success attained at work or in your personal life. The mergence of personal and communal greatness is created through action—the art of intentionally developing and exercising the greatness within.
Greatness is not found in a cool new product, it’s found in the process of creating a product or process or relationship that will make people’s lives better—lead them to a greater happiness—allow them to hear that opera inside of them again.
Excellence in action begins with releasing potential greatness into a targeted and focused purpose that serves and helps others become great with you. Train in certain behaviors until you build them into habits. Learn new skills until you master them. Mature through periods of disillusionment and doubt until you actually see your greatness come out moment by moment, project by project, relationship by relationship.
Jason Diamond Arnold, Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action
Todd Willer, The Ken Blanchard Companies

5 Things I Forbid You To Do This Labor Day Weekend

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:00:12 +0000

On Monday, we celebrate the social and economic accomplishments of the American worker. In an effort to truly honor the spirit of the holiday, here are 5 things I forbid you to do this Labor Day weekend:

Set Your Alarm Clock. Sleep in. You work hard. You deserve it.
Check Your E-Mail. Don’t worry, those “urgent” e-mails will still be there when you log in on Tuesday.
Make or Take Business Calls. Please step away from the cell phone. Turn it off or send those calls straight to voice mail. Just like your e-mail, the messages will still be there for you on Tuesday.
Engage Your Professional Social Network. I know you’re concerned about your Klout score but a couple days away shouldn’t cause any irreparable damage. Besides, we’ve got something in common with your e-mail and voice mail, we’ll also be here on Tuesday.
Neglect Your Family and/or Friends. Spend some time with those other people in your life who you don’t get the chance to see while you’re in the office.

Hope you all have a fantastic, relaxing, and disconnected three-day weekend!
Follow me on Twitter: @adammorris21 | Add me on Google+: gplus.to/AdamMorris21
(…just wait until Tuesday.)

The new manager has a target on his back…

Matt Youngblood — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:00:15 +0000

I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with the term “seagull manager”. If you’re not, think about a manager whose behavior is to fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everyone, and then fly away.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
This term is used a lot in the leadership industry, but what about the term “seagull employee”? They act just like a seagull manager except that they do not have an official leadership role. You just might know one or two in your own work environment. They are the employee(s) that everyone loves to hate. They might do excellent work (which is why they still might be employed), but they annoy their fellow coworkers to no end. You question whether they really think about what they say to you and others before they say it, or whether they do really mean to put someone down emotionally.
In some organizations, seagull employees do not last long, while in others, they might wind up becoming the new boss…
Over the weekend, I met up with a few friends. I found out that one of them was recently promoted to the role of District Sales Manager at the company he worked for (we’ll call him “Sam” for the purposes of this posting). Sam told me that the reason he was promoted was because the existing district manager was also being promoted and thought Sam would be an excellent fit to keep pushing the other sales reps to reach their quotas. After all, Sam had consistently been the number one rep in terms of sales month-after-month for a long period of time.
The problem was that Sam had been a seagull employee. He said he would go out, make his sales fairly quickly, and then would drop off his orders at the office with plenty of the work day left and would go out and play golf all the time. Other reps in the office who were struggling to hit their quotas would see this while working through leads and would become jealous. By the way, “Sam the seagull” would also talk trash to other sales reps while he was in the office visiting. This wasn’t playful banter among competitive reps. He admitted that what he said was actually mean in most cases, and that most of his coworkers thought he was a jerk.
Now it’s all come back to bite him and he has a real problem on his hands. He’s a brand new manager and he already has a negative perception of himself in the office. All those things that start out neutral between most new managers and those who report to them are already in the red.
He knows the way he behaved around other his coworkers wasn’t right, and he’s sincerely regretting it. He still has a very large mountain to climb in order for him to regain the trust and respect of those ex-coworkers who now report to him. If he can’t gain those two things, he might have an office mutiny on his hands and could even find himself unemployed because of it.
To all those seagull employees out there: you may not wabout how you’re perceived in your workplace now, Sam wants you to know it may come back to haunt you in the future…
Leave your comments!

Exploring the Hidden Secrets of Employee Engagement (pt.1)

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:00:46 +0000

As I walked out the door of our air conditioned building to go to lunch, I stepped though a stifling wall of heat that took my breath away. It was high noon and the temperature was 95 degrees farenheit…a stunning 20-25 degree difference from the comforts of my office. At that moment, I felt my energy level plummet and a number of thoughts began to run through my mind, including but not limited to, “I can’t wait to get home and put some shorts on,” and “I’d rather be at the beach or in the pool right now,” and “an ice cold beer would really hit the spot,” and “will I be able to recover and have a productive afternoon?”
In an instant, my level of engagement had been shifted by, yes, the weather. Is this example extreme? Perhaps, but is it really that far-fetched to think of a time when the weather outside affected your mood? In contrast to the previous example, a very cold day may have you daydreaming about snuggling up with your favorite blanket and sitting in front of the fireplace with your favorite book. When your mind wanders off to these places during your working hours or, in some cases, leads you to turn your daydream into reality, is that a reflection of your level of engagement and work passion?
My colleagues at The Ken Blanchard Companies have done some amazing research on the subject of employee engagement and work passion. To date, Blanchard has published four white papers on the subject which you can access by clicking here. In the latest installment, Blanchard identified 12 employee work passion factors within three different categories:

Job Factors – Autonomy, Meaninful Work, Feedback, Workload Balance, and Task Variety
Organizational Factors – Collaboration, Performance Expectations, Growth, Procedural Justice (process fairness), and Distributive Justice (rewards, pay, and benefits)
Relationship Factors – Connectedness with Colleagues and Connectedness with Leader

Without question, all of these factors are vital toward achieving an engaged and passionate workforce. What jumps out at me, and with most other’s research on the subject, is that the focus areas all tend to be very, for lack of a better word, work-centric. Whether you subscribe to the notion of work-life balance or work-life integration, my belief is that, in addition to these crucial work-centric factors, any number of outside personal factors may significantly influence an individual’s level of engagement and passion at any given time. And yes, this may even include an individual’s reaction to the weather outside.
It’s important to remember that regardless of your industry, you’re in the people business. Your colleagues and customers are human beings who are affected by other life experiences, both good and bad, besides those that occur while they’re working. We are individuals with unique needs, wants, situations, and emotions. In future posts in this series, we’ll further discuss situations and possible solutions to achieve a deeper understanding of what drives the engagement and passion of the unique individuals who make up your workforce.
Follow me on Twitter: @adammorris21 | Add me on Google+: gplus.to/AdamMorris21

The Excellent Employee

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 17:59:39 +0000

*Part One of a Six Part Series on The Excellent Employee
Excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts. —Aristotle
Nobody willingly pays a person to be average or mediocre. Or at least, they shouldn’t! And individuals shouldn’t be content being paid to be average or mediocre either!

Imagine going into a job interview or pitching a new project with the premise of retaining an individual’s services through the commitment to a steady dose of procrastination and indifference toward key tasks and reasonabilities. It’s an absurd notion. That organization would be foolish to hire for such a promise. It would be foolish for a person to settle for being average as an employee.
So then, why do organizations hire for excellence and settle for mediocrity? Why do teams within organizations get away with doing just enough to “get the job done?” Why do so many individuals settle for coming to work and being average, at best?
While modern thinkers like Jim Collins, in Good to Great, have evolved the meaning of the word “good” to mean something less than great, ancient writers, teachers, philosophers like Aristotle defined “good” as something extraordinary – exceedingly great. The classic notion of good is manifest excellence—actively pursuing behavior that excels beyond the normal, everyday basics of our mere existence—encouraging us to thrive, rather than simply survive. The pursuit of excellence has led individuals to a greater happiness in living and working throughout history.
The Nicomachean Ethics is one of the most important books in the whole history of philosophy and certainly the most influential works of Aristotle. It is a collection of his most profound thoughts and was based on an exhortation to his son to live the best possible life.
Though taught thousands of years ago, Aristotle’s thoughts on excellence—becoming exceedingly good, still serves as a call to action for those who desire and are willing to lead themselves at a higher level. Although there are many narratives that can be culled out from Aristotle’s epic work, there are a several broad narratives that have practical application in our modern workplace.
A Greater Good
For an individual to perform exceedingly “good,” they must believe that “good” is something beyond just their own need, but also the good of the community, organization, or society they live in. According to Aristotle, excellence is a mindset rather than just a set of activities. Most activities are a means to a higher end, or at least they should be, and our work is no exception.
When individuals start showing up to work just to pull a pay check or organizations get too focused on the profit margins, they loose site of why they exist—to serve a greater good. Excellent employees focus on using their skills and knowledge to serve a purpose greater than themselves and in the process meet their basic needs while achieving excellence.
Virtue, Vision, and Values
Excellence depends on living in accordance with appropriate virtues, vision, and values. A virtuous individual is naturally inspired to behave in the right ways and for the right reasons, finding happiness in behaving according to a set of higher standards of excellence—personal standards as well as the standards expected of them by their community.
The Excellent Employee performs all of their duties with clear expectations of their role and responsibilities, in alignment with the core values of the company. Aristotle is not referring to some imaginary notion of perfection, and neither should organizations expect that of employees. But striving for higher levels of behavioral excellence, creating a greater value in products and projects, should be the goal of every employee.
Know Thyself
The phrase, Know Thyself was inscribed above the entrance to the Lyceum that Aristotle attended as a young man in Athens. Most historians attribute the phrase as an admonition to those entering the sacred temple to remember or know their place before entering into the learning process. Modern philosophies and leadership theories have expanded the notion of self awareness as a means to become more in tune with one’s own personal strengths and weaknesses, beliefs and behaviors.
Excellent employees are committed to knowing themselves through a daily process of understanding the vision and values of the organization, and then aligning them with their own Key Areas of Responsibility. They are also keenly aware of their own assumptions about the organization or a project that may be holding them back. They are aware of where they are at in their own learning process, and what they need from others to successfully complete their daily tasks. Most individuals struggle to move beyond periods of disillusionment and conflict, settling for something less than exceedingly good. The Excellent Employee is equipped to understand their own needs and move through those periods of doubt and disillusionment efficiently and effectively.
Relationships
Aristotle believed that the bonds that tie citizens together are so important that it would be unthinkable to suggest that true happiness can be found in a life isolated from others. This understanding applies to the modern workplace as well. But excellent employees aren’t just good at building effective social and professional networks on Facebook and Linked In, they are dedicated to building intimate and meaningful relationships through personal one on one communication. They’re also aware of the fact that there are more ways to getting a job done by gaining the support of people in positions of power, but rather influencing peers and colleagues through other types of personal power in order to meet the needs of the greater good and do an exceedingly good work.
Action
Aristotle did not think that virtue could be taught in a classroom down at the local Lyceum or simply by means of a “good” argument, but rather by applying virtue and values to your daily actions. His claim that virtue can be learned only through constant practice implies that there are no set rules we can learn from in just a workbook or a presentation alone; rather we must find a means of transferring that knowledge into action. The Excellent Employee is committed to training in the skills sets that will help them excel beyond average. They are consumed with creating solutions and meaningful results, rather than wallowing in the challenges, setbacks, and conflicts that arise in the workplace.
Become Excellent
The Excellent Employee has a strategy to consistently align their vision and values to the organization’s vision and values, through a clear understanding of themselves and their needs. They also utilize key relationships and apply their knowledge and skills to their everyday workflow, aligning it with the greater good of their company and their clients.
Life is short. Be activly committed to living and working at a higher level, for yourself and the greater good. Aristotle would challenge today’s modern employee to become excellent by doing excellent acts.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

Don't Lead With a Lead Foot

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:00:14 +0000

Stop for a second and picture yourself cruising down the highway behind the wheel of your dream car. The window, or perhaps the top, is down and the wind is blowing through your hair. The engine is purring like a kitten. At the moment, everything is running smoothly, as it should. You then decide you want to see what this high precision automobile can do.
So you give it a little more gas. You can feel the power as you accelerate. Sure, you can hear the engine working a little harder but it’s nothing to be too concerned about. You give it even more gas. Now you’re flying. The faster you go, the more exhilarating the ride. The engine is revving hard to perform the way you want it to, but there still doesn’t seem to be any immediate concerns. Now, the ultimate test…you push the pedal to the floor.
At first you’re impressed at how well the engine is performing and how much ground you’re able to cover. However, the longer you keep your foot to the floor, the more “normal” it seems. You think to yourself, “the engine is working hard but it can handle it so I’m going to drive like this all the time!”
You continue along with the pedal to the metal. The car makes you look and feel like a rock star. But you begin to notice some warning signs. You glance at your tachometer and see your engine is redlining. Then you look at your gas gauge and realize you’re depleting your engine’s fuel reserves much faster than normal. That once proud roar of your engine is beginning to sound more like a lion with bronchitis. In the beginning, the smell of burnout was caused by tire rubber, now the smell of burnout is a result of failing engine components. The engine hasn’t completely failed you yet so, despite the warning signs, you keep your foot to the floor.
The incredibly high and unsustainable demands you’ve placed on your engine finally catch up to you. The engine completely gives out and stops functioning. Even though you had all the warning signs, you still seem surprised. Your initial response is to go on a tirade placing blame on individual engine components when in reality you should be acknowledging the role your driving style played in the engine’s breakdown. The cost to replace the engine is tremendous and it will completely destroy your budget. All of this could have easily been avoided had you placed reasonable expectations on your engine and paid attention to the warning signs when your rising expectations started to become unreasonable.
Every manager dreams of leading a team that runs like a well-oiled machine. But even the most finely tuned, high-performance engines have limitations. Leaders, are you leading with a lead foot?
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Lead UP!

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 19:00:13 +0000

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same…

—If by Rudyard Kipling
Work is hard! If it’s not, you’re probably not working hard enough. Every good employee who pushes to higher levels of success goes through major challenges in the pursuit of worthwhile work. There are dreams and shattered dreams, hopes and hopes deferred, projects launched and projects crashed. The one easy certainty in today’s workplace is that nothing is certainly easy.

Lead Up

Compound that challenge if you’re an individual contributor with little to no decision making authority—no corner office, no big budget to use at your discretion, no direct reports to delegate to. Yet deep inside every good organization are good individuals who rise up to meet these challenges, greeting the impostors of triumph and disaster with equal tenacity.
In fact it is here, in the process of leading oneself through the pitfalls, set backs, and politics of the workplace that great leaders are born. Tomorrow’s great leaders are born out of today’s challenges, victories and defeats, on the front lines of organizations all around the world. They are the individuals that Lead Up when the going gets tough, rising above to meet the vision and values of an organization, by influencing others, without decision making authority, through effective habits and skill sets.
Four Basic Skill Sets to Lead Up
Every effective individual within an organization shares some common habits or traits that make them successful. There are four basic skill sets for individuals to engage in regularly, in order to effectively Lead Up within an organization.
Be Responsible
Excellence begins with understanding what is within your realm of capabilities, experiences, knowledge, and skill. Continually defining, refining, and reviewing Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs) is the first step to meeting daily and weekly challenges at work. Getting agreement on your job description with your manager and members of your team will ensure clear understanding and expectations of your role, as well as help you define your day-to-day priorities.
Be Aware
Everyone goes through learning curves at work. Each new project, goal, or task produces a whole new set of variables. Knowing who you are and where you’re at on the learning curve of any given goal or task will help you understand where you are going. Managers and other colleagues aren’t mind readers—they usually don’t know what you need to get the job done successfully. That’s why being aware of your own needs by assessing where you’re at in the learning process is a vital skill in Leading Up successfully.
Be Proactive
Once you know where you’re at, you have a better idea where to go to get the direction or support you need to successfully negotiate the gauntlet of daily challenges. Ironically, being proactive in seeking the right type of leadership you need, makes it easier to work with you. Proactively seeking out the leadership style you need, rather than reactively waiting for someone to give it to you, creates stronger relationships with your manager and other colleagues.
Be Accountable
Even the most successful individuals need to continually be held accountable to something higher than themselves. Accountability works best when you as an individual take the initiative to Lead Up by having consistent and effective One on One Meetings with your manager. Consistently scheduling and conducting short, half hour, meetings not only keeps you and your manager on the same page, it creates an intimate opportunity to communicate your development levels on critical goals, tasks, and skills—ensuring that you receive the right type leadership to help you achieve excellence at work.
People don’t wake up Excellent—it takes hard work and consistent routine. The Four Basic Skill sets to Lead Up at work should be a part of your daily and weekly routine! The effort is minimal, but the reward is exponential. When you’re ready to Be Responsible, Be Aware, Be Proactive, and Be Accountable—you’re ready to excel to higher levels of meaningful work and satisfaction in a job well done.
The world needs effective leadership, and you need to Lead Up, by beginning with the most obvious source of leadership—Yourself.

Jason Diamond Arnold

Consulting Associate, The Ken Blanchard Companies

Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

All Grunt Work and No Glory

Matt Youngblood — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 13:00:09 +0000

Have you ever asked yourself what it is your people actually work on throughout the day (or night)? I’m sure a lot of you know in general terms the type of work being done, but do you know the finer details? More importantly, do you know how much of that work translates into something meaningful in the eyes of your people?   If you don’t, you might be contributing to a higher turnover rate at your company.
When I look at a job, I like to break it down into two parts:
1. The grunt work
2. The glory
Think of the grunt work as repetitive, tedious tasks, that while necessary, are not the first things your people look forward to when they come in for work. On the other side, you have the glory which is the new work that allows us to grow our knowledge/skill along with the recognition that comes from a job-well-done. Almost all jobs contain some percentage of both. The question is how much balance is there between the two of them.
Personally, a part of my own job deals with grunt work. Every month a complete a time sheet to primarily track a lot of the billable work I do throughout that month. I understand the reason for them and I know they are necessary, but that doesn’t mean I don’t cringe each time I have to work on them.
However, I also have a healthy portion of glory, as well. A lot of the work I do impacts multiple people for the better, and there are always opportunities for me to take on new challenges.   I am also consistently recognized for doing well. These are reasons why I haven’t been looking for employment, elsewhere.
In The Ken Blanchard Companies latest Employee Work Passion Survey, over 800 respondents were asked to rank 5 job factors in order of importance such as Autonomy, Meaningful Work, Feedback, Workload Balance, and Task Variety.   In looking at the data, Meaningful Work had the greatest percentage of responses in terms of being ranked the most important. More surprisingly, the majority of respondents ranked their immediate leader as being more responsible even over senior leadership when it came to influencing/improving these job factors.
If you haven’t seen the results of the Employee Work Passion Survey, it is definitely worth a read. You can see it here.
This meaningful work is one of the biggest factors when it comes to your workforce. If your people feel this is lacking from the work that they do, they are likely going to look (or are already looking) for a different job. Even if they aren’t looking right now, they likely aren’t using their full potential when it comes to their performance.
Think about what you can do for your people when it comes to recognition, introducing growth through new skills, and showing them how their works impacts others. In doing so, you may also find glory for yourself.
Leave your comments!

Look To The Past To Improve The Present And Future

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:00:16 +0000

My younger brother, Chris Morris, is an insanely talented musician/singer/songwriter. (Sure, I might be a tad biased but if you don’t believe me just see for yourself). This week Chris released a new music video for a song called, “Why Don’t You Come Home?” The song is a resurrection and recreation of an incredibly rare and unreleased Stevie Wonder song from the 1960’s that inexplicably never made it on to any of Stevie’s albums. (Listen to Stevie’s original version here). When Chris stumbled across it he “decided to get in the studio and pay tribute to this unknown masterpiece.”
What amazed me is that more than 40 years after the song was originally written and recorded, it still sounds current and relevant. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say the song was ‘ahead of its time.’ And now, decades later, it has been given new life.
In thinking about Chris’ process, I’m reminded that often the best ideas, practices, methods, systems, and behaviors, are those that have been there all along, sitting around collecting dust. So why not look for new growth and development opportunities by reflecting on old ones that either used to work or were never put into practice in the first place?
Considering the following questions:

What worked well for you in the past that you’ve gotten away from? Did you have a system or process that worked well for an old task or job that could be applied to your current job or a current task? Do you no longer flex your leadership style as well as you used to?
What have you learned in the past that you never put into practice? Have you ever read a book or article and thought, “I need to do that,” but never did? Have you ever taken a class, loved the subject, but forgot about it the minute you put the textbook up on the shelf?
What were you once very passionate about that you’ve since abandoned? What activities or hobbies significantly contributed to your overall happiness and well-being that you no longer participate in?

I challenge you to sit down and do some brainstorming around this subject. What ideas, practices, methods, systems, and behaviors from the past can you breathe new life into? Once you’ve identified them, bring them home where they belong.

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Make YOUR Living

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:52:10 +0000

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” –Henry David Thoreau
As the plane sat at the gate, making final preparations for take off, I gazed out the window, watching two ground crew members, tramping around in the muddy slush, loading up the last pieces of luggage. They looked busy. They looked focused. They looked determined.

Mud Time

As my thoughts turned toward home, the fascination with the two workers below was interrupted with a sudden, “You from Boston?”
I turned to the man next to me and chuckled, reveling to him my New York Yankees jacket, “No, just visiting.”
As fate would have it, he wasn’t content to leave it at that. “Ahhh! Business or pleasure?”
Perhaps he was a little concerned as to the cause of my red eyes and rather weary appearance—little knowing that I had just spent the past several days in a New Hampshire cabin with no running water. Or maybe it was just one of those rare occasions when I looked a little more vulnerable than my usual, leave me alone, I’ve been on a long journey, traveler look—still a glow from all of my recent discoveries within the ancient American region of New England.
I carefully guarded my growing suspicion over his line of questions with as few words as possible, “A little bit of both.”
He seemed to ponder the response, then fell silent for a moment. I could sense he was on the edge of leaving me alone—finally! Thankfully… he gave it one last shot.
“How do you make your living?” The hook slipped into my conscious with the precession of a Wicked Tuna fisherman out of Gloucester Harbor that had finally snagged the big one.
We’ve heard the question a thousand times, on a thousand trips around the world, when getting to know a stranger, in some strange place. But this time, it wasn’t a strange question. This time the question penetrated my very being and challenged me to give the curious lad a meaningful and well thought out answer.
Perhaps it was symptomatic of my natural buzz from the lack of sleep? Nay, I knew it was more than that; it was something lurking in the salty philosophic Atlantic air that whispers through the timeless picturesque scenery North of Boston—the same whispers that spoke to some of America’s most profound writers, like Frost, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Alcott, and Eliot, while they tried to answer questions about life and death and time, and all things concerning the affairs of our daily busyness…and business.
How do you make your living?
It was the very question that had been haunting me the entire trip, with each log I split, in every step taken on a hike to some small peek overlooking the New England landscape, every snowflake that sung to me on it’s decent to the frozen forest floor. In fact, it has been haunting me the past couple of years of my career—the so-called Prime Earning Years between the ages of 30 and 50 years of age. That age when family responsibilities and economic recessions catch up with the hopes and dreams of what you thought you could become through your career. That age when we struggle to make our living, rather than allow our living to make us, through a rhythm and routine that wears us down like the mountain steam does to the rock when no one is looking.
What is a living, anyway? And how does one go about “making it?”
Making a living isn’t about a paycheck—it is not your job! If we try to answer that question by simply explaining what we do to make money, than somehow we’ve reduced the meaning of how we spend the majority of our days. Our work needs to be much more than just a how we make money; it must be about the purpose or cause we serve through our efforts at work—making other people’s lives more productive and enriching because of what we do—while also serving as a means to providing quality choices for the things that we cherish the most.
Where are you in relation to where you want to be in your career—in your life?

Circles of Work and Play

Maybe you don’t currently do what you love to do. Maybe your current job or project is not what you dreamed of doing when you were off earning degrees at the University or working for that revolutionary start up company when you first entered the workplace. But if you don’t believe that there is a higher purpose or meaning in the work you do, then you’re in danger of slipping into what Thoreau warned as, “quiet desperation.” If the gap between work and play is so wide that you can’t wait to get to the weekend so you can do what you really love to do, then it’s time to look in the mirror and ask the question, “How do YOU make YOUR living?”
To make a living requires a continual renewal of spirit and perspective that pulls all of our hopes and dreams, experiences, responsibilities—our living, into a larger, more integrated and meaningful context. It takes effort to align the things we love, and are passionate about, with what we call work. And yet, it is as simple as splitting wood this side of winter, on a spring day, in late April or early May—just for the pleasure of it.
As the plane began it’s decent, nearly four hours later, into San Diego, California, my new best friend and I had thoroughly investigated how we make our living. Just after the plane touched down in a land far from those ancient poets gravesites, I shared with him a few words I had just found, inside the wood I was splitting, just North of Boston. Words…that are there with you too, right now, on your computer’s keyboard, in the pen on your desk, in the code you punch in to enter your office, or the clock you punch your card into, or on the palm of the handshake you’ll receive at next Tuesday’s Business meeting. And those words are whispering to you:
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future’s sakes.

–Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time

About the Author: Jason Diamond Arnold is a Consulting Associate with The Ken Blanchard Companies, and Co-Author of Situational Self Leaderhip in Action

Recognition Is A Necessity – Not A Luxury

Matt Youngblood — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:23:44 +0000

What happens when you forget to consistently recognize the hard work of your employees? You might find that the “hard” work turns into the bare minimum. It took my 5 year-old daughter to remind me of this simple truth.
My daughter is currently in kindergarten and has been doing great academically ever since the school year started. However, in the past few months, she’s exhibited some behavior problems when it comes to following the teacher’s instructions or interacting with other students. My wife and I tried the typical punishments if she had a bad day: time outs, writing sentences, early bedtime, etc… These punishments previously worked in the past, but lately, it didn’t seem to matter.
After a few different conversations with her teacher, we decided to try a 5-star system. Her school day would be broken into 5 different time slots, and if she behaved like she was supposed to during that time slot, she would get a star. Getting 5 stars meant she had an excellent day. After starting this system, a lot of her behavior problems disappeared.
It hit me that it was my own fault that these behavior problems developed, because I wasn’t recognizing her good behavior. I’ve always known that kids crave attention and they’ll do anything to get it. If they cannot get attention by doing well, they’ll misbehave. One way or the other, they want your eyes on them. However, I was not doing my part. I did not fuel her good behavior by constantly praising her when she had good days.
Praising and recognition is not just for kids. It matters to adults, as well, especially in the work environment. If you have an employee that spends a lot of time and effort working on a particular project or large task, and you don’t praise them for that hard work, do you think they’ll put as much effort into a similar project or task in the future?…Probably not. They’ll likely do the necessary amount of work to finish the job, but the quality may be sub-standard.
When it comes to praising and recognition, you need to remember the following rules:

Don’t under-praise: This was my own problem at home with my daughter. In a sense, it’s actually a form of neglect. If you don’t praise people for their efforts, you’ll create the “Office Space” environment where people do just enough not to get fired. Don’t cut off the recognition supply!
Don’t over-praise: Yes, it is possible to over-praise someone. If you tell someone “Great job!” and then 5-minute later, come back and say “Great job!” for the same completed work, your feedback will likely be received as being fake. That will also create some distrust between you and that individual.
Recognize the masses: Every group or team has their top performers. However, in a lot of the companies I’ve worked at in the past, it was only the top performers who received the praisings. You need to make sure everyone gets recognition for a job well done.
It’s not just for your direct reports: Praising and recognition are for everyone! Your peers will feed off of your recognition of them. Alternatively, perhaps you’re not a leader, but instead an individual contributor. Even though you don’t have that position power, praising your team members build relationships and better work quality.

It’s easy to forget to praise individuals because we think “It’s their job to do what we need them to do.” We need to remember the recognizing the effort of individuals is a key ingredient to better quality and better work environments.
Leave your comments!

Complacency Kills

Matt Youngblood — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:42:32 +0000

You’ve just started learning a new skill and you think to yourself “It is really going to take me a long time to learn this.” You want to become an expert in as little time as possible, but you know you have a lot of hurdles to overcome before you can truly call yourself an “expert”. Yet, you persevere through the mental anguish that comes with comprehending what you’re learning. You practice what you learn, and overtime, it becomes second nature. You become satisfied with the way you do you work and put yourself on autopilot, and that’s when you lose your focus. At this point is when you find yourself in trouble.
Why might this be an issue? After all, most employers want you to be able to do your job as efficiently as possible. If completing your tasks requires little effort on your part because you’ve practiced them so much, you should be able to complete more work than if you were just learning how to do it for the first time, right? While that may hold true, you also lose your focus as these tasks start becoming automated by you. When you lose your focus, you start making mistakes.
I mentioned in a previous post that I was in the process of bringing a motorcycle back from the dead. While I’m happy to say that my motorcycle is now ridable, I still have a ways to go until it’s perfected. Just the other day, I had removed the carburetors, something I’ve done at least 20-25 times, previously. I was on autopilot while I was doing the work. After I reinstalled the carburetors, the bike did not want to start. I looked over on my workbench to see a part from the carburetor sitting there which I happened to forget to reinstall. Again, mistakes happen when you aren’t truly focusing on your work and instead just “going through the motions”.
The same goes for processes and policies we put in place in our work environments. While we have procedures for a reason, we always need to be flexible and look at new ways of doing things. For example, look at Kodak’s recent decision to stop producing digital cameras/pocket video cameras. This was a market that Kodak helped to invent. However, they became complacent and let the cell phone makers take over the digital photography realm for all of the non-professional photographers out there (myself, included). This was a company who brought the human race the first up-close images of the moon with all of its splendor.
Let’s also look at the emotional aspects. Think about a job you held in the past where you became complacent. How much satisfaction did you get from your job? When you came in for work, did you think about how much good you could do, or would you instead stare at the clock waiting for your shift to end?
The point is that we always need to breathe new life into ourselves and our work. It’s when we become complacent that we lose sight of what’s important, along with our competitors passing us by.
For final inspiration this week and to further my point, I leave you with a video of Bryson Andres, a young musician from Alaska. He has made quite a name for himself on YouTube where you can find various videos of him performing on downtown streets around the country. His instrument of choice is an electric violin. I know this might not sound appealing to most (especially if you are not into classical music), but I promise you, you’re in for a new experience. Not only is Bryson a talented musician, but he performs with an instrument in a way that I’m sure most of us have never seen before. At the very least, I’m sure you’ll be in a good mood after watching this:

Leave your comments!

App Yourself—Welcome to The Age of AppLightenment

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:00:29 +0000

“Now!”, thus spoke a good App to me,
“Click on my icon and you shall see,
treasures of knowlendge and wisdom so fine,
to help you make the most of the daily grind,
Excellence, you may claim, if but you will,
open me up and take your fill!”
App Yourself, by J. Diamond Arnold (A Paradoy of A Book, by Edgar Guest)
I am haunted by memories of long nights at the kitchen table, hot tears streaming down my face, trying to learn the rules of operations and relations within mathematical philosophies—frustrated at my inability to easily embrace the new concepts, but even more frustrated in trying to comprehend how I would ever apply those concepts to my life.

Maddness of Math

After all, that is the purpose of our education—our learning experiences—applying those learnings to our lives. Isn’t it?
To this day, those tears still burn at the thought of nights past, bleeding into present, evoked at the site of my own teenage daughter, sitting at the same table, laboring through the same equations and wrestling with the same questions about the purpose of learning Algebra, wondering if she will ever actually use this skill in her lifetime.

What is the Meaning

Those memories did not fade, but have been rekindled through similar angst during my days in the halls of academia, on the campus of the university, and recently in the corporate classrooms of my professional career. The thirst for learning and knowledge has often been but a mirage in deserts of secrets, seminars, and semesters—promising a path to enlightenment and understanding—only to leave me mysteriously cold and hungry, crawling on my hands and knees in search of a means to turn my potential knowledge into kinetic understanding and action.
The art of applying our learning to our daily tasks, projects, quests, and routines has always been a Valley of the Shadow between knowing and doing, excellence and mediocrity, success and status quo. The challenge has been, and will always be judged by our ability to use those learnings in our daily lives on a consistent and effective basis, not to shelve them on the dusty mantles of our lives, virtually untouched and largely unexplored.
The good news is that our generation now has the key to continual and effective learning—literally, right at our fingertips. Welcome to The Revolution of Digital Apps! Welcome to the Age of AppLightenment!

Mobile ApplicationsWhile Merriam-Webster Dictionary does not yet have an official entry on the word, “App,” their little brother (or Big Brother depending on how you want to put it into context), Wikipedia, defines it as a, “common reference to Application Software, made for computers and mobile devices such as Smart Phones and Digital Tablets.”

What is relevant to understanding the power that Apps have on the learning process is the Merriam-Webster’s (App version, of course) is the definition of the traditional word, Application—an act of putting to use .
Off course Apps are not new, they have been on your personal computer, running word processing and database software, or digital communication tools, for many years as Applications. What is new, is the explosion of practical and creative Apps designed to make your life more effective, more fun, more engaging, and yes, many will make you even more enlightened.
It’s estimated that one in three adults in the U.S. alone, own a smart phone that makes use of Apps. This past December, Apple announced that there are now more than half a million Applications available in the mobile applications-specific App Store, and that more than 100 million Apps have been downloaded from the desktop software marketplace Mac App Store within a year of its debut. Apple says that customers are ‘continuing’ to download more than 1 billion Apps per month.

Mac App Store

Regardless of whether you are downloading your Apps from Apple, Google, Amazon, or other App Stores, Apps are becoming a way of life. From banking, to budgeting, to hitting a baseball, making dinner, enhancing your workouts, your business, or your personal relationships, Apps are intuitively driving us to transfer our knowing into doing—helping us effectively engage and complete our daily professional and personal tasks.
The reality is we are in the midst of The Age of AppLightenment—A Digital Enlightenment era sparked by philosophical entrepreneurs named Jobs and Gates, and Zuckerberg and Wales—inciting a cultural movement toward digital mobilized learning and learning applications. Not since the mid-1400s, around the time the printing press was invented, has the world experienced such rapid and mass access to information— information that now can be rapidly processed into knowledge, and knowledge into doing, through the use of Apps.
This is our moment in world history to embrace, taking knowledge and taking action through simple and effective application to our lives. It’s time get up from the table and wipe away the tears. It’s time to App Yourself!
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

A Thousand Days—Celebrating Life!

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:14:23 +0000

Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day!
—Abraham Lincoln
Today, I celebrate the 15,000th day since my birth. Yes, I will indeed celebrate it! To live just one day is an amazing adventure; to live a thousand of them many times over is a wonderful mystery that should be held with the highest adoration and gratitude.

Grains of Time

It has become a tradition in our household, to not only celebrate the anniversary of the day of our day of birth, each year, with candles and cakes, but also celebrate a thousand day period of our life we are celebrating—another Hallmark moment!
Nikki McClure, designed a baby journal, The First Thousand Days. In it, she structures the journal entries to record key moments of a child’s first thousand days, from the birth story, to the first yawn, first steps, first words—documenting significant moments that happen during the course of the first thousand day period of a baby’s life.
If the passing of a year is significant (and it is), then so should be the living of a thousand days in a person’s life. Think of all the things you have discovered, learned, experienced in the past one thousand days of your life. You’ve most likely made more significant advances in a thousand days than you are able to achieve in one year of your life, and that is a major cause to reflect and celebrate.
To mark your life by days, not just by years, is a unique approach to framing the meaning of those days—filling each one of them with purpose, gratitude and a worthy effort. Marking a thousand of those days is an important reminder of how precious every day is. The fact is, we’ve been blessed to experience some good days, some great days, and others we perhaps like to forget; but let none of them be indifferent days.
As you reflect on the past year, these last few days of 2011, take a moment to look back on the past thousand days as well. While charting out your resolutions and goals for 2012, consider what the next one thousand days of your life might have in store for you too. You may even find an extra one, here and there, waiting to be filled up with something extraordinary.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action
***To find out how many days you’ve lived, visit the Time and Date website and use the Date to Date Calculator.

The Hero’s Journey—Applying the Epic to Your Career

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:59:35 +0000

Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
of that man skilled in all ways of contending,
the wanderer, harried for years on end,
after he plundered the stronghold
on the proud height of Troy. —The Odyessy, by Homer
Your career is an epic journey! Or, at least, it should be—something that Homer or Isaacson would muse about over pages of poetry and prose. Unfortunately, too many careers seem to be cut adrift, floating across an open sea without direction or purpose. Too many are a flat line rather than a brilliant arc that follows the blueprint of classic heroes leaving the comforts of home and launching into an adventure of challenge and triumph, where they discover their true identity and leave an indelible legacy for future generations to glean from.

The Epic Career

How do we get to a point of letting go of the helm and allowing time and tide of circumstance roll across the bows of our careers, pushing us into the inglorious unknown? We don’t graduate from high school or college and expect to drift aimlessly through the next 40 to 60 years of our work life. We push off the shores of our young adulthood, eager to make an impact on the world and sufficiently pay our bills in the process.
But very few decide how they are going to effectively manage that journey through the various phases and chapters of their career. Very few have a plan—a GPS- activated map on how they will navigate their glorious journey.
In the early stages of our career, we are largely in exploration mode. We ask, “Who am I?” (A question you should never stop asking throughout your career.) We explore who we might want to be and begin to discover how our passions can align with the work we do. At this early stage of a career, individuals need fundamental coping skills gained through learning tools, techniques, and experiences—skills that cannot be taught in the halls of academe, but only in the process of executing our day-to-day tasks.
Then, as we reach our late twenties and early thirties, what becomes really important is practice management—management of self and others. Leadership! This is the stage where we should begin to make those early dreams come to life. It also becomes the time where we begin to face the conflict and challenges of a dangerous and exciting workplace.
However, just like practical basic skill sets can’t be taught in a classroom, the skill set of practice management can’t be learned at the University, only taught in theory. The skills need to be applied to our day-to-day experiences at work to be truly learned. In fact, how we become better contributors to our work is not often even taught within the organizations we work for. We are typically left on our own to figure out how to navigate through the stormy waters that threaten to make our careers irrelevant. We are vulnerable to the prevailing winds of the economy, internal power struggles, politics, and even worse—we are vulnerable to becoming so disillusioned that we slip into a state of indifference. Instead of thriving, as we once dreamed we could, we become content with just surviving on the open sea.
Why do we stop learning during the most critical stages of our career? I don’t mean simply going back to school (a noble endeavor), but rather the practical application of new skills to the work we are doing today? So often we give up on learning the critical skills that can help us master the work we are currently engaged in—skills and tools that could help us navigate the perils and storms of our career—moving us from simply surviving into Herculean thriving.
The journey is taking place now! What are you doing to help write your epic masterpiece?
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

2-for-1: Decrease your tasks and maintain IQs!

Matt Youngblood — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:40:51 +0000

A long time ago, I thought that my IQ level meant how intelligent I was. If I took an IQ test and scored high, it meant I was a genius and that some secret society bent of world domination was going to reach out to me regarding a membership, right?
Both of those ideas are myths. A measurement of one’s IQ level is not to determine how “smart” they are, but rather look at how well they can problem solve and comprehend solutions.
The Wall Street Journal has an article on a few different studies completed recently regarding IQ levels and how they can invariably change over time, along with methods to increase and/or maintain IQ levels in the long term. The most interesting part in one of the studies I found was the correlation between the work you do and how it affects your IQ levels over time.
For example, the National Institute of Mental Health completed a 30-year study of individuals to measure changes in IQ levels. They found that those whose jobs required “…complex relationships, setting up elaborate systems or dealing with people or difficult problems…” typically maintained their IQ levels or scored higher than previous when compared to those whose work required less critical thinking and simpler tasks.
When I read this, I thought of a book Ken wrote called The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey. The basic premise of the book is how in a lot of organizations, workers spend a lot of time managing their bosses, instead of managing their own work. In other words, an individual contributor goes to their boss with a problem, and instead of the boss providing some steps to help that individual solve the problem, the boss winds up taking on the problem themselves. Some bosses may even be so scared of possible errors that they refuse to allow their direct reports to do their own critical thinking. The end results are that leaders spend more of their time doing the work of those they’re supposed to be managing.
After looking at these studies about IQ levels and comparing that to the work people do, we could be compounding the issue of time management for ourselves AND affecting people’s abilities to solve complex issues in the future.
Food-for-thought: Think about the last time someone who reported to you came to you with an issue. Did you simply say “I’ll handle it,” or did you act more as an assistant to help that person solve their own problem?
Leave your comments!

JoePa’s Leadership Faux Pas

Blanchard Associate — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:59:42 +0000

***Special Why Lead Now Blog Article
As a Central Pennsylvania native, raised among the peaceful valleys that are nestled within the beautiful rolling Appalachian Mountains, there was always the notion of a glorious kingdom that lay just beyond the northern range of the Cumberland Valley. A place where all the boys in my neighborhood recognized as Camelot—let by King Author himself and his band of Knights in shining armor.

Weeping Nittany Lion

Of course we called it Penn State football and its glorious leader was a man named JoePa—who led his mighty warriors on to the field of battle every autumn Saturday in simple Blue and White throw back football uniforms. He was a mythological figure throughout the entire region.
For over four decades, since my birth, one man has remained a constant symbol of timeless honor, connecting me back to what seemed to be an eternal youth. Today that age of innocence has come to an end. Camelot has fallen and King Arthur has gone down with it as the University’s image smolders in the court of public opinion.
As a father and a coach of youth sports, as well a devoted thinker on the practices of leadership, I am suddenly forced to confront my own romantic notions of that ideal world I once believed in as a boy. The dark clouds of reality that have stormed across The Happy Valley now revel an epic institutional failure, and the mythological figure at the center of it, who reigned over it for nearly half a century, is now faced with a bitter end.
Penn State football, the great University it represents, and the entire nation, is now left with the task of making some sense of the terrible abuses of power and innocence that took place on it’s campus within the shadows of one of the most storied programs in American sports.
It would be premature to make any assumptions about the necessary outcomes of such a horrible situation. But all legality aside, we would be stuck in nostalgia if we were to overlook the leadership lessons that are arising from the smoldering rubble of a fallen dynasty.
Deal with Conflict Directly
The one thing we have learned since childhood is, the longer we wait to deal with a crisis, the worse it always gets. This is an even a greater truth for leaders. Joe Paterno and Penn State brass had nearly a decade to deal with this issue, and not only rid the source of the issue from the institution, but take the source to higher levels of authority, beyond the means of the University’s by laws and policies. This was not only a failure of leadership on the part of Joe Paterno; it was a failure at nearly every leadership level of the institution.
When organizations ignore conflict, and don’t seek to resolve it through proper resources and reasoned accountability at every level, with fair justice, they under mind the very purpose for existing. Having the means to deal with conflict, on a personal or professional level, is an essential part of growing and maturing into excellence as an individual and an organization.
The days of brushing issues under the rug, particularly for leadership figures as popular and public as Joe Paterno, is a thing of the past. It’s old school thinking and a naïve approach to solving tough issues in a technology driven culture that has the instantaneous ability to publish thoughts and opinions to a world wide audience, as well as access information at anytime—driven relentlessly by a 24-7 multi-level news cycle.
Hail to the Chief
Another glaring lesson from the Penn State crisis is the absolute power Joe Paterno had at the University and throughout the region. A grand illusion, all be it a romantic one, of American culture is the notion of the Commander in Chief—the central figure that is the face of an organization or institution, a charismatic leader at the head of a mighty organization leading the masses to glory.
But even this notion is a bit mythological, because the very foundation of American culture was based on a rejection of this type of idea—that one man has all the power. The founding brothers of the United States of America rejected the tyranny of a king, so much so, the drafted timeless documents that protected against this taking place in a new world—the balance of power in the branches of government—not too mention term limits for the Commander in Chief.
Joe Paterno has been the face of Penn State for over four decades. Paterno was the chief architect of a multi-million dollar revenue resource for the institution and rose to preeminent power at Pennsylvania State University because of it. But this type of great charismatic, larger than life leader can be dangerous for any organization or culture.
A balance of power through a plurality of leadership can help stabilize the longevity and production of an organization and stimulate more empowerment down through the ranks, ultimately generating more productivity and ownership of the organization from the bottom up.
This is even truer in today’s flatter world, leveled out by knowledge and instant access to information through technology. People at all levels of an organization need to be empowered; not only do their jobs in the most effective way possible, but to also have no fear to make the right decisions and resolve disruptive behaviors head on within the organization.
There are so many lessons to ponder in this heartbreaking saga that has exploded in Central Pennsylvania and shaken the American sports scene the past week. But this moment is too important in American history to allow our selves to ignore and grow from—especially as parents, coaches, and leaders. Today, I’m left trying to answer my 10 year-old son’s question, “What happened?” My only answer, “A tragedy.” And it is a tragedy that could have, and should have been avoided through effective leadership throughout the entire institution. Instead, lives have been shattered and a noble brand tarnished—a legend has fallen and innocence has been lost in a once happy kingdom.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

Tim Tebow, Natural Born Leader?

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:00:49 +0000

We’re roughly halfway through the NFL season. And while there have been many intriguing storylines, perhaps the most compelling subject has been the current starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos, Tim Tebow. The cultural phenomenon known as Tebowmania can be traced back to Tebow’s days as quarterback of the Florida Gators where he became the first college softmore in history to win the Heisman Trophy and led the team to two national championships in three years. Yet, intense discussion and debate surrounding Tebow has continued at a fever pitch since his controversial selection in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. His detractors say that he doesn’t possess the necessary technique and skill-set to be an effective quarterback in the NFL. His proponents say that he possesses an ideal set of intangibles, that he’s a winner, and routinely refer to him as a natural born leader.
That last description really intrigues me. Can someone truly be a natural born leader? What does it mean to be a natural born leader? Generally speaking, people are not natural born leaders. However, people can be born into a situation that supports their growth and development of leadership qualities. I would venture to say that Tebow’s background and upbringing provided a healthy environment that fostered the development of his leadership qualities. He wasn’t born to be a leader but he was raised in an environment that allowed for him to become one.
To his credit, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone question Tebow’s character or leadership abilities. ESPN analyst Matthew Berry recently shared his experience of meeting Tebow for the first time. After a minute with Tim Tebow, Berry went from someone who didn’t care to understand Tebowmania to becoming a huge fan. In the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine, columnist Tim Keown describes how Tebow deftly managed a public appearance that impressed and delighted all in attendance. And teammates such as Andre Goodman are saying things like, “Tim has a presence about him that I’ve never been around before. I’ve played with some Hall of Fame players before that weren’t close to the aura that this guy has.”
Each of these examples support the belief that Tebow possesses a high quality leadership skill set. Though as mentioned earlier, he does have doubters. And while they don’t question his ability to lead people, they do question his individual performance. They say his athletic skill set was a perfect match to the system used in college against inferior competition but in the NFL, the systems used are typically more complex and the athletes are all world-class. To date, his individual performances have been, to put it kindly, a mixed bag. And after his latest sub-par performance, his coach would only commit to keeping Tebow as his starting quarterback “for this week.”
This serves as a reminder that it’s not enough to have great character and leadership skills. Those serve as a great foundation and significantly contribute to one’s ability to do great things. However, leadership is about more than getting great results from those you lead. You must also be able to deliver results on the specific responsibilities that you are required to perform. The ability to inspire others and achieve results cannot be understated. If one or both are lacking, things can go downhill in a hurry…just ask the Indianapolis Colts.
For at least another week it’s still Tebow Time. What leadership lessons or observations have become apparent to you while looking through the lens of Tebow’s young career?
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Leadership Lessons from the 2011 World Series

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:29:05 +0000

The drama unfolding in the 2011 World Series of Major League Baseball is nothing short of epic. The Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals have been engaged in a week long back and forth battle that I’m sure even the Greek gods would envy. Now last nights, dramatic, Game 6, instantly known as one of the most dramatic games in Series history, will ensure that the championship will be won on a final and decisive game. This Fall Classic will become an instant historical gem in the minds of baseball fans and sports enthusiastic alike.

2011 Fall Classic

And if you are willing to looking just beneath the surface of all the towel waving, paw clawing, praying hands, squirrel wearing, fanatical behavior of the massive crowds attending these games, you will find some interesting leadership lessons unfolding during this duel for the ages.
Embracing the Past
All championships are won long before they are played. The two teams gridlocked in this epic battle have been assembled by some of the brightest minds in baseball through the general management of John Mozeliak (Cardinals) and Jon Daniels (Rangers). But perhaps the brightest front office star in all of baseball is the principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers, Nolan Ryan.
Ryan is considered by many to be the greatest pitcher in baseball history, pitching a record seven no-hitters and is MLB’s All Time strikeouts leader. Having a Hall of Fame player, who was an important part of the Rangers team history, now serve in an executive capacity has produced great success on the field. Ryan’s old school, competitive attitude, has been contagious in the locker room and on the field.
Good organizations would do well by honoring past associates that served them with excellence. Founding associates of an organization not only bring an important historical perspective to the current employees of an organization, they have a lifetime of experience that may be extremely valuable in motivating the current workforce of an organization to embrace the original principles that made them great at it’s inception.
Embracing the Future (Through Technology)
One of the storylines in this World Series was the Phonegate saga of Game 5, when Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa tried calling out to the bullpen to warm up some of his key relief pitchers that were needed in the close game. La Russa asked for pitcher Jason Motte, and instead, the bullpen coach claimed that he heard, pitcher Marc Rzepczynski’s name called in by La Russa. “Can you hear me now,” became the battle cry of Game 5.
But the bigger question for baseball, and manager Tony La Russa, is the fact that there are phones from the Mid-70s in the dugouts and bullpens—even in newer ballparks like the ones in Arlington and St. Louis. Management may want to buy La Russa and the coaching staff a new Smartphone for Game 7, so that they can be on the same page. He could even use iPhone 4s Siri application to help him manage the game.
“Who should I bring into pitch next,” La Russa could ask Siri. “Based on the next three hitters in the Rangers line up,” she would respond in her robotic tone, “I suggest you go with the Lefty, Arthur Rhodes.” And then she would ask, “Would you like me to place a call or text your Bullpen Coach, Derek Lilliquist?”
Organizations need to embrace technology. Not just recognizing that there are certain trends you need to be aware of, but a systematic strategy to integrate new technologies into the way you do business. Your clients and Raving Fans need to trust you’re delivering service and products in the best and most effective means to meet the current needs of the people using those products and services.
Living in the Moment
After the rainout of Game 6 on Wednesday evening in St. Louis, many members of the press were asking Manager Ron Washington whom he would start in Game 7 of the World Series if the Rangers were forced to play a final game. The question itself was very odd, considering the fact that Game 6 had not even been played yet, and many people were thinking ahead to Game 7. But what’s even stranger is that Washington engaged the question by saying, “It’s Harry’s game. I’m going to stay consistent. That’s Harry’s game. Matt Harrison earned it.”
It’s hard to imagine that a manager could get sucked into answering questions about a game that would not happen if they went out and won Game 6. The right answer should have been, “I’m not thinking at all about a Game 7. Our focus is going out there and winning Game 6 and bringing a championship back to Texas.”
Good leaders honor the past, plan for the future, but are focused on seizing the moment. The moment an organization takes their eye off of the ball it affords opportunity to make little mistakes. A fundamental characteristic of great leaders are their ability to get their people focused on the moment, completing the task at hand with excellence—not fretting about what tomorrow may bring.
Baseball needed a great Fall Classic and they finally got one this year. Tonight’s Game 7, no matter what the outcome, will be the final chapter of a classic duel between two classy organizations. And if you read between some of the storylines, you may just find something that can drive you and your people toward organizational and personal success.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

How Do YOU Define Work-Life Balance?

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:00:59 +0000

I have long been a staunch advocate of work-life balance. Though I’ve been reflecting on the principle quite a bit recently and have come to realize that work-life balance is, at best, an abstract concept. Most of us have a general idea or opinion of what work-life balance looks like but there is no standard way to explicitly define or identify what work-life balance really is.
When two things are truly in balance, there is an even distribution of something. If I’m looking for balance between “work” and “life”, how exactly would I measure that? The simplest solution is to find a common denominator between these two ideals. For instance, one of the most used commonalities when discussing work-life balance is the amount of actual time spent on “work” versus the amount of actual time spent on “life.” However, even when using this simplest of measures, I encounter a couple significant stumbling blocks:

What is the answer to the equation?
Is it 24 hours (day)? Is it 120 hours (work week)? Is it 168 hours (full week)? Or, should I choose to measure in minutes or days?
What is the equation to the answer?
Let’s say I decide the answer to the equation is 24 hours. I need to set up the equation to give me the answer I’ve decided upon. Initially the equation is: 12 “work” hours + 12 “life” hours = 24 hours? Hmm, seems a little “work” heavy to me. Perhaps I factor sleep in separately so that the equation now becomes: 8 “sleep” hours + 8 “work” hours + 8 “life” hours = 24 hours. Still seems off…sleep probably should count as “life” time but I also have a one hour round trip commute to and from work that should probably count as “work” time. But, I’m paid to work an 8 hour day though I also have a one hour lunch break that, while technically is “life” time, feels more like “work” time since it’s smack dab in the middle of my “work” day…
…see where I’m going with this?

Even if I am able to settle on an answer and an equation, it’ll most likely change tomorrow, or the next day, or next week, or next year. Variables will inevitably come into play shifting the focus heavily in one direction or the other. I’ll have an important project that requires more “work” time. Or, I’ll have a family emergency that requires more “life” time. Ideally, there is flexibility built into the equation to allow for these shifts so that I still feel in balance or can cope with a temporary imbalance.
Of course, time is just one of many considerations that go into an individual’s internal definition of work-life balance. Other factors such as finances, family, emotional and physical well-being, growth potential, work passion, and others, will likely be considered, and weighted differently, by individual employees. A single employee will likely have a different definition or work-life balance than a married employee. A male employee will likely have a different definition of work-life balance than a female employee. A Gen-Y employee will likely have a different definition of work-life balance than a Baby Boomer employee. Perhaps most importantly, a manager will likely have a different definition of work-life balance than each individual member of their team.
As leaders, it is important to understand that everyone’s definition of work-life balance is different. Take the time to help your people define what work-life balance means to them so that you can support that individual in achieving their version of work-life balance. Help them transform work-life balance from an empty dream into an achievable goal.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on work-life balance. Is it possible? If so, how do YOU define it? What does it look like to YOU?
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The Leadership Legacy of Steve Jobs

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:34:22 +0000

“Out, out, brief candle…” William Shakespeare’s, Macbeth
The news of Steve Jobs passing was like a hot branding iron, forged amidst the fire of creativity and ingenuity of the Silicon Valley at the turn of the 21st century. True to the brand he forged, the simple, yet elegant pose captured on the home page of Apple’s website, shortly after he passed, is a watermark for one of the greatest eras of progress in world history. Scribed on the image are the years 1955 and 2011, separated by a dash that perhaps, should be more aptly welded together by a bright flame that helped light a social change rivaled only the likes of The Ancient Greeks, The Renaissance, The Enlightenment, The Founding of the United States of America, and The Industrial Revolution.

The Leadership Legacy of Steve Jobs

The three characteristics of Steve Jobs leadership qualities that will most vividly exemplify his legacy are reveled in his vision for emerging technologies, his ability to collaborate with other great leaders, and his insatiable appetite for excellence.
The Visionary
Steve Jobs was first and foremost a visionary, once saying he wanted to, “put a ding in the Universe.” In 1983, Steve Jobs famously lured John Sculley away from Pepsi-Cola to serve as Apple’s CEO, asking, “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?”
It is spell binding to reflect on the vision Jobs and his team at Apple had back in the early 80’s. The release of the iPhone 4S, just one day before his passing, quietly introduced Siri, an application that allows voice dialogue with your iPhone—a vision first reveled nearly 25 years ago in a video released internally at Apple. The narrative told the story of a man interacting with a technologically advanced device, using touch screen features, video conferencing, cyber-links, and voice interaction. The projected time of the story being told in the video was during the fall of 2011—exactly the time Apple would introduce the culmination of all of these technological advances in one device, just before losing the man that willed them into being.
Jobs is listed as either primary inventor or co-inventor in 338 U.S. patents or patent applications related to a range of technologies from actual computer and portable devices to user interfaces (including touch-based technologies).
More than his inventions, Jobs reminds us that great leaders don’t just announce a vision, but they live the vision—even as they pass through the shadows of death.
The Collaborator
Of course Jobs did not make this vision come to fruition all on his own—Apple itself is a company full of bright and brilliant individual contributors, complete with a world-class leadership team. Early on, Jobs reached out to others who had the skills needed to make his vision come to life, overseeing the development of the first Apple computers, to the resurrection and reinvention of Apple through iMacs, iPods, iPhones, and iPads.
“This is not a one-man show. What’s reinvigorating this company is two things: One, there’s a lot of really talented people in this company who listened to the world tell them they were losers for a couple of years, and some of them were on the verge of starting to believe it themselves. But they’re not losers. What they didn’t have was a good set of coaches, a good plan. A good senior management team. But they have that now.” [BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998]
From his relationships with Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak, businessman Ross Perot, and filmmakers George Lucas and John Lasseter, Steve Jobs surrounded himself with brilliant people in every endeavor from Apple, NeXt, to Pixar—a leadership trait that attracted other radically creative thinkers throughout these organizations who weren’t afraid to push the edge of the status quo.
The Pursuer of Excellence
Steve Jobs insisteance upon excellence in design, detail, finish, quality, ease of use, and even the delivery of products are at the core of Apple’s success. His passion for excellence was seen by many as a strength, and others, as an egotistical absurdity that, at times, damaged his ability to effectively collaborate with others.
“When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.” [Playboy, Feb. 1, 1985]
Great leaders pursue excellence and demand it in their collaboration with others—not just in the concept, but also in the production, and ultimately the delivery. They thread excellence throughout the entire creative, technical, and delivery process.
The Leadership Legacy
While the news was not completely unexpected, it was no less sobering to endure the reality of genius that has just gone, “out, out….”
It would be easy to immortalize Steve Jobs as a prophet of epic proportions, or demonize him as imperialistic tyrant—a polarizing figure, as most revolutionaries are—but it would be a tragedy to ignore some of the lessons that Jobs’ legacy leaves with us. His achievements and larger- than- life personality will remain a smoldering remnant of his bright efforts that will surely resonate and inspire for generations to come.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action (SSLiA)

Four Steps for Leading the Newbie

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:00:37 +0000

Congratulations! Your budget has been approved and soon you’ll be adding a new employee to your department.
Not only is this an exciting time for you, but it will also be an incredibly exciting time for your new hire. It’s your responsibility to make sure that enthusiastic beginner eventually develops into an empowered expert.
To start the relationship off right, and set your newbie up for success, follow these four steps:

Establish Clear Goals
Make sure your new hire knows exactly what is expected of him. Set goals that are:
Specific and measurable, Motivating, Attainable, Relevant, Trackable and timebound.
Teach Them How
Sure, your newbie has transferable skills, but he’s new to this role. Show him what a good job looks like and how to do it. Lucky for you, he’ll be eager to learn.
Monitor Progress
Keep him on track by regularly checking in on his progress. If he encounters any obstacles, you’ll want to know right away so that you can help him overcome them.
Give Feedback
Provide specific, timely feedback on his results. Boost his confidence by letting him know when he’s performed well. And, show him you care by redirecting him on a task that could be improved upon.

As your new hire’s confidence and competence continues to grow, you’ll need to adjust your style. But use these four steps to get started on the right foot.
Follow me on Twitter: @adammorris21 | Add me to your Circles on Google+: gplus.to/AdamMorris21

Profile in Future Leadership—The Rise of Marco Rubio

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:00:26 +0000

Like it or not, the 2012 race for President of the United States is on! No matter your political point of view, there is an air of excitement (if not at least some curiosity) to see who will rise through the ranks of their party as the nominee for President. Of course, the 2012 election will not quite be the primary Bracketology Madness we see every march in the NCAA basketball tournament. The 2008 election saw one of the most exciting presidential races in American history where a host of candidates vied to represent their political party in the national election due to the lack of an incumbent President or Vice President running for office.

Sunrise on Washington DC, courtesy of 'katieharbath'

During the span between national elections, it is interesting to scan the political landscape from a leadership perspective to see if there are any new young leaders on the rise. The thought of spotting a potential future leader of the free world before they are known on a national level is as exciting as seeing a young prospect for baseball playing in the minor leagues before he makes it big in “The Show.”
Many of us remember the energy sparked by a young State Senator from Illinois during his campaign for US Senator, highlighted by a memorable speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. Only four years later, Barack Obama would become President of the United States of America. Looking back, it was fascinating to learn of the type of leadership that matured him into making successful runs at the United States Senate and eventually, the White House.
Over the past year, there has been a rising star in the Republican Party whose stock may be climbing in a similar fashion as our current POTUS, the Jr. United States Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio. Though Rubio is not making a run for President in 2012, he has positioned himself as a promising leader who has reached out to the people of Florida in one of the most unique and creative ways in recent political history.
Prior to his two years becoming Speaker of the Florida State House in 2006, Rubio traveled around the state hosting “Idearaisers” in an effort to solicit Floridians’ input on ways to strengthen Florida’s statehood. The 100 best ideas were then published in his 2006 book entitled, 100 Innovative Ideas for Florida’s Future—A Plan of Action, which served as the foundation for his two year term as the State Speaker, before being elected to the US Senate in 2010. What’s even more impressive is that the Florida House passed all 100 ideas. Fifty-seven of which were ultimately implemented into law—a powerful leadership model, driven by ideas for the people, by the people, under the innovative leadership of Rubio, and put into action!
One of the key ingredients to effective Self Leadership or Self Citizenship in any organization or community is the ability of the people to present their solutions and ideas to the leadership of that community—partnering for better performance that serves the greater good. This concept is embedded in the founding values of our nation—where We the People, strengthen our organizations, communities, nations, and world, in partnership with those who are responsible for leading.
What’s really exciting is that Marco Rubio’s Idearaisers are not only rooted in our nation’s traditions, but they are an indicator of what the future of leadership must become. In fact, leadership now, demands a willingness to involve the people they are leading through innovative ways of engaging individual contributors and citizens. Regardless of your ideologies or political worldview, creating an environment for collaboration and partnering for excellence, not only produces great results, it creates a greater freedom and accountability in the process.
Jason Diamond Arnold, Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

What's Your Sign?

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:00:25 +0000

Well, it’s September. For many, this means it’s time to prepare and plan for the big Labor Day weekend. To you, I say have fun and be safe.
For me, the arrival of September means that another birthday is near. Don’t worry, I’m not looking for gifts. No, I tell you this because being a September baby means that I am a Virgo.
For most of my life I paid very little attention to astrology. But the older I’ve grown, the more open-minded I’ve become. And the funny realization is that I REALLY am a Virgo. Seriously. If you want to know what I’m like, just go to the Virgo Wikipedia page and read the key characteristics and definitions section. I find it a bit frightening how dead-on accurate it is.
What I’m also finding is that with each year that passes, I’m getting to know and understand myself better. In years past, I might not have been able to honestly assess who I truly am or what I am truly about. For instance, when I was younger and more immature, I would embrace and embellish Virgo’s positive qualities while completely dismissing or denying the negative qualities. I could always identify my strengths but did not want to see or admit to having weaknesses.
Today? I see the value in leveraging my strengths while also being aware of my weaknesses, and seeing them as growth opportunities. For example, I openly admit and acknowledge that I am overly sensitive to criticism. And, I also openly admit and acknowledge that I am a perfectionist to a fault. That said, I am able to recognize these as areas for personal and professional development.
To be the best you possible, it’s important that you know yourself. If astrology isn’t your thing, or even if it is, there are a number of personal assessments and resources out there to further help you get to know yourself better.
So, what’s your sign? Does it accurately represent you?

Think Different—An Ode to Steve Jobs

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:09:28 +0000

Steve Jobs is the Thomas Edison of our era!
There, I said it. Now all of you Apple haters can stop reading the rest of this post and go back to texting or your version of surfing the Web in bitter disgust. Regardless, Steve Jobs is one of the most prolific visionaries of our era. His influence is cross-generational and has transcended time and space as the leader of one of the most innovative companies in American history, Apple, Inc.

Think Different, Steve Jobs

When Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of the world’s largest tech company late Wednesday, I felt compelled to offer an ode to his career—a salute to the inspiration he has been to many people over the years. But rather than make this article a cheap commercial for Apple products, we should focus on the genius behind the products—not the actual iconic imagery we think of when we think of an Apple product.
One of the most impactful quotes on my career was found within a February, 1996 Wired magazine interview with Steve Jobs. I still have the magazine in my office to this day and remember it well because I was a young dreamer living in the Silicon Valley, just starting my career during the height of the Internet revolution, when I came across this article—and the essence of what he said within that article still drives me at work to this day.
“Design is a funny word,” Jobs said. “Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.” Apple’s attention to the design of its products has been as revolutionary at the turn of the 21st century as Edison’s communications advancements were at the turn of the 20th century. Nothing short of epic!
Apple’s uncompromising pursuit of simple and effective designs of communication devices, under the visionary leadership of Steve Jobs, has transformed the computer, Internet, film, and music industries. The sleek and savvy look and feel of their products are only surpassed in their ease of use and practical application to professional and personal life. While the MacBooks, iPods, iPhones, and iPads are sexy in their look and feel, what has truly made them so successful is how they work on the inside. Simplicity, without being overly simple.
When it comes to designing ideas, stories, products, or projects you need to think different! You need to think from the inside out. You need to start with the essence of what you are trying to achieve for greater good and then add the look and feel later. If the inside of your project doesn’t work, than it won’t matter what you make it look like on the outside. Whether you’re designing a Website, creating a video, writing a book, or developing a product, how it works will ultimately determine how effective it will be.
Thank you Steve Jobs for your inspiration and unshakable will to think different. I wish you the best and lasting health in your new role as Chairman of the Board of Apple, Inc. “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

Determining Your Leadership Approval Rating

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:00:45 +0000

Yesterday on LeaderChat, one of our sister blogs, we were Exploring the Value of Leadership Approval Ratings. Today we’ll discuss how you might go about determining your leadership approval rating.
The way I see it, there are two primary benefits for adopting a system similar to the Presidential approval ratings that we’re all familiar with and then applying it within your organization:

It would demonstrate greater transparency within the organization.
It would provide the leader(s) with the ability to keep a pulse on how others in the organization feel about their overall job performance.

Now, keep in mind that the idea is to have a quick, timely snapshot of public opinion. The intention here is not to do an in-depth analysis with detailed feedback. What we want is a very simple, broad overview. To obtain the information we’re looking for, there is really only one question we need to ask:

Do you approve or disapprove of the way ‘LEADER’ is handling his/her job as ‘TITLE’?

If that question sounds familiar, that’s because it’s nearly identical to the question posed to respondents polled by the Gallup organization. It’s quick, it’s to the point, and it gives you the broad overview you’re looking for.
Continuing with the K.I.S.S. theme, it would also be very easy to set-up and maintain. Consider the following:

Delivery Method – Choose your favorite free survey software and send out an anonymous survey.
Frequency – Try every two weeks. Once a month doesn’t seem frequent enough and every week feels a tad excessive. Whatever you decide, just make sure to stay consistent.
Respondents – Send it to everyone in the organization that you interact with. This includes direct reports, peers, and those above you.
Accountability – Display the results someplace visible to the organization.

Obviously there would be some other kinks to work out as you go. For instance, you’d need to determine your baseline number of respondents. You might also consider asking a qualifying question (such as, “direct report, peer, senior executive”) so that you could make sure your getting a decent cross-section of respondents. That said, being an early adopter should allow you some leeway with colleagues until you perfect the process.
You’ve heard the pitch, so what do you think? If you like the idea, make sure to tell a friend…my Klout score could really use some help.

A Brave New World of Knowledge

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:39:20 +0000

O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world! That has such people in it!
—Shakespeare‘s The Tempest, Act V, Scene I
While driving down a Southern California freeway recently, my son and I observed a billboard promotion of a major league baseball team. After some debate on which featured player was on the advertisement, we exited the freeway, picked up my “smartphone,” and consulted the Oracle. Not the classical antiquity, nor the modern software firm; but rather the postmodern, one touch, voice activated, portal to an eternity of information—my Google App.
“Number 16, Los Angeles Dodgers,” I spoke loudly into the speaker of the phone, half irritated at the possibility of my son already having the correct answer and half uncertain that it would translate my words exactly as I spoke them. I anxiously anticipated the results of my quick search. Within a few moments my fears were confirmed; my son was right.
“But what position does he play?” I grasped for one last shot at redemption.
“Not sure about that,” the ten year old was finally humbled. “Somewhere in the outfield, I think.”
“Right Field to be precise!” I proudly proclaimed, feeling useful for something. He, of course, shook his head in disgust at how happy I was to know something more about Andre Either than he did. I’m sure what was more appalling to him was that I needed the help of my iPhone to gain a knowledge advantage over a ten year old.
Yet, I knew it wasn’t really my knowledge, just an ability to quickly link to a world of information. It has become easier than ever to access nearly any piece of information imaginable.
The whole experience made me stop for a moment, and wonder how my grandfather, an avid Dodger fan, would have known exactly who it was, when he played, what position he played, as well as his batting average since his rookie season—and a whole lot more. This incident came immediately to mind when I heard about a study released last month, in Science Magazine, entitled, Google Effects on Memory, by Dr. Betsy Sparrow, which explores the changing nature of learning due to the creation of highly effective Internet search engines.
“When people expect to have future access to information, they have lower rates of recall of the information itself and enhanced recall instead for where to access it. The Internet has become a primary form of external or transactive memory, where information is stored collectively outside ourselves,” Sparrow wrote.
The article then hauntingly harkened my mind back to a book I had read in my Undergraduate program in college, Aldous Huxley’s, Brave New World in which he explored a fictional world that was loaded with miles of information, but lived by people that had an inch of depth in knowledge. Through his narrative, Huxley was able to use the setting and characters from his science fiction novel to express fears over the eventual loss of personal excellence in the expedienancy of a future world.
While Google is an extremely helpful tool to get us information, when we and, where we need it; I fear that we may be missing something more. If we rely only on Google for our learnings about people, new concepts, ideas, or philosophies, without exploring them more intimately, than we may fall prey to trivial pursuits of information, not a dedicated quest for knowledge and intimacy.
At home, at work, or at play, let us remain dedicated to the quest for knowledge by engaging the information we seek, and applying it to our higher pursuits. You might even want to take the time to Google the phrase,
“Two Tickets. Dodger Stadium. First Base Side”
Once your there, just follow the smell, and you’ll find the Dodgers Dogs without any help from your PDA.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

The Art of Strategic Procrastination

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:16:16 +0000

Procrastination gets a bad rap. When you hear a tale about procrastination, it usually implies or explicitly states that the offending procrastinator is being lazy. Yet, to procrastinate simply means to defer action or delay. If your procrastination is purposeful, are you being lazy or strategic?
If you’ve ever multi-tasked or had a to-do list, then you’re already well on your way to mastering the art of strategic procrastination. When determining your priorities, you’re basically identifying which tasks can be delayed. From the top down, it’s a priority list. From the bottom up, it’s a procrastination list.
It’s safe to assume that you always have a long list of tasks to complete at work and a laundry list of things to do at home (which, coincidentally, includes doing the laundry). In both cases, you constantly re-evaluate and re-prioritize tasks depending on their level of importance, the amount of relevant information you have (or don’t have) required to complete the task, and various time factors. What are the deadlines? How much time do I currently have to perform ‘X’ number of tasks? How much time will each task take? Each must be carefully considered when balancing your priorities against the candidates for procrastination.
A few weeks ago I was given an important project. I determined that it wouldn’t be difficult but it would be incredibly time consuming. The time frame given to complete the task was roughly three months – plenty of time despite the amount of work involved. I felt I had most of the information I needed in order to get started (and had been encouraged to do so), yet I had a nagging feeling that there was still more information to come. Instead of diving right in, I decided to purposefully procrastinate.
A couple days ago, I had a meeting with key stakeholders in the project and new information came to light. Because of this new information, it was determined that there was no longer a need to undertake this project. Thanks to my strategic procrastination, I didn’t waste countless hours on a project that was ultimately abandoned. Furthermore, due to the nature of the project, had I started I would have had to spend many more hours “reversing” any work that had been done.
Until technology develops a way to simultaneously do EVERYTHING at once, there will always be a need to procrastinate. Just make sure to be purposeful and strategic about it. And, if you have a procrastination success story, feel free to share it in the comment section now…or perhaps tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that…

Finding Freedom in Choice

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 22:34:16 +0000

Summertime is finally here
That old ballpark, man, is back in gear
Out on 49
I can see the lights
School’s out and the nights roll in
Just like a long lost friend
you ain’t seen in a while
and can’t help but smile
—Kenny Chesney, Summertime

Summertime

July means freedom! Bare feet, cargo shorts, windows wide open, music cranked up, a ballgame just down the interstate, and lots of time to take life in. A host of traditional events create a lifetime of memories that roll through our minds like a cool thunderstorm brings relief to a warm summer day. It is the season for discovery and rediscovery of the things that remind us why we are alive and that life is a very special occasion.
Of course, in the United States, we recently celebrated our nation’s independence by attending county fairs, downing hot dogs and apple pie (insert your favorite summer dish), and capping the evening under a summer night sky full of colorful fireworks. In July, school is out, vacations are in, the days are long, and we find ourselves actively engaging in a host of choices on how we will spend our days.
This summer I am struck by the notion that freedom is most profoundly reflected in our ability to choose what we will do, when we want to do it, and how we will do it.
While at the county fair on the Fourth of July, I was overwhelmed at the amount of different foods one person could choose from—Turkey Legs, Frog Legs, Funnel Cake, Hot Dogs, Ice Cream, Corn on the Cob, Fried Twinkies, Fried Butter—you name it. Of course, most of these foods could be quite tasty for the moment, but may take a toll on your body for a couple of weeks. But that’s summertime! A carnival of choices!
However, not every choice is healthy or most expedient for our long-term welfare or the well-being of the people we serve on a daily basis. Freedom really isn’t free at all, and there are heavy costs associated with our ability to decide who we want to be and how we will go about living out that being. And while we have so many choices in how we spend our summer days, the quantity of our choices is overshadowed by the quality of our choices.

Flight of Freedom

This summer, at work or at play, let us consider our options thoughtfully. Let us season our decisions with wisdom and the greater good in mind. To be able to choose is a blessing; to choose well is sacred.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

Whatever You Do, Don't Betray Their Trust

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:00:08 +0000

Lately it seems as if I can’t go a single day without reading or hearing about a public figure who, in some way, has committed one of the cardinal sins of leadership; betraying the trust of their followers. Leaders in the worlds of business, education, athletics, religion, government, and the like, are all getting in on the act. With each new transgression comes an overwhelming wave of shock, anger, disappointment, and disillusionment from those who once trusted these leaders.
Witnessing how these scenarios play out in front of millions is a fascinating, and frightening, learning opportunity. Generally speaking, I tend to be pretty understanding and forgiving; after all, we all make mistakes. However, a quick scan of the message boards or favorite social media sites prove that not everyone is as quick to forgive and forget.
What’s abundantly clear is that we typically hold our leaders to very high standards. This is true at all levels of leadership. You don’t have to be an elected public official to recognize the importance of building trust as a leader. I think most of us would agree that a leader is only as good as their team. But if there is no trust, the ‘team’ is not likely to be much more than a group of demotivated, self-interested individuals.
In her new book 42 Rules for Your New Leadership Role, Pam Fox Rollin writes, “Earning and keeping the trust of your team is one of your most important challenges as a leader.” She continues, “Your team members will give you the goods only to the degree they trust you to act in their best interests.”
Therefore, if you aspire to be an effective and well-respected leader, make sure to establish a strong foundation of trust with those you lead by acting not only in your own best interests, but in the best interests of those you lead.
To learn more about how to build trust, click here to Download Building Trust.

The Conditions of Unconditional

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:29:58 +0000

“Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice, but limited.” –Duke Ellington
I recently took on a media project at work that would be both challenging for me as an individual, as well as an exciting opporunity for my team. The scope of the work was well within the range of my experience and area of expertise and I felt comfortable accepting the task with a high level of confidence. Yet, I admittedly had a hint of uncertainty up-front. I had never attempted to execute this new and cutting edge approach to a media production.
The project’s producer expressed her confidence in our team to achieve the task with excellence and timeliness. During the initial creative meeting, we scoped out the big picture of what we wanted to accomplish and then came to some agreements on the specfic premise we wanted to communicate with our video.
As the meeting came to a close, she rose from the table with a smile on her face. As she exited the room, she looked back and reassured me, “Let me know if you need anything. You have my unconditional support!”
[Squealing rubber tires on the hard asphalt of my mind]
Unconditional support? What was joy and excitement near the end of the meeting, turned to cold sweat and fear in a heartbeat. Her comment haunted me for the next several days as I prepared the project details for the team. I couldn’t bring myself to ask her to clarify her comment about “unconditional support.”
As I scoped out the project, I became even more nervous when we got into the details of how we would attempt to execute its production. The task had a lot of moving pieces and would require a great deal of scheduling and planning before the project actually even kicked off. Once the project actually began, we were faced with the prospect that we would have to learn some things as we went along. A great deal of trial and error would be necessary to learn what we needed to learn before making any final conclusions on the production. We had plenty of transferable skills for the project, but there were some twists to this request.
Every detail began to feel like one more step down into a deep canyon of doubt, where the only sound that echoed off of its walls were,
Unconditonal..onall…onall Support…orrt…ort…
At this moment, I faced the horrifying notion that this project could fail. What if I screw this thing up? What if she doesn’t like what we create? What if we don’t meet her demands?
It was there, down in the valley, within the shadow of failure, her words became clear to me. There are conditions for unconditional. She would unconditionally support me—on a couple of key conditions—I got the job done right, on budget, and on time!! Ughhhhh!!!
The reality is, there are always conditions to unconditional—certain expectations that one person has for another person in a business or personal relationship. Only after we understand the core conditions, norms, and values of that relationship are we truly free to excel and become all we can be. Freedom certainly isn’t free; it comes with a cost. Unconditional support or love has a certain conditions—it comes with a certain set of norms and expectations, which if not met, can strain the trust of a relationship.
Clients and managers can’t read your mind, and don’t always know what your strengths or weaknesses are. Sometimes we don’t even know what will get us in over our heads. This is why a good Self Leader gets clarity up-front about norms and expectations, or conditions, on a given project or task. If at any point in the process you become unclear about your role on a project, ask for clarification and understand the conditions that apply to “unconditional”—then experience the complete joy have having unconditional support.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

For Better or For Worse

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 19:02:05 +0000

Being employed is a lot like being married. Just as you know when you’ve found the right partner, you know when you’ve found the right employer. And once you’ve tied the knot, you’re guaranteed to have a lot of highs, a lot of lows, and a lot of the somwhere-in-between routine. But, you’re a team now. You’re committed to each other. In good times and bad…for better or for worse.
In the beginning it’s fantastic. Your happiness is off the charts. You walk around with your chest puffed out and a big smile on your face because you have someone to love, who also loves you. You’ll do anything for them and they’ll do anything for you.
Eventually, the honeymoon ends. No problem though, you’re still happy. Just like you were yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. As your head gradually decends from the clouds, the jubilant feeling of excitement might not be as intense anymore, but the love is unchanged.
As you settle into your routine, your world is turned upside down by a big announcement. It’s a…big new client! Of course, the happiness level skyrockets once again. Then, reality sets in and you and your partner look at each other and ask, “what do we do now?” Like any other new experience the two of you encounter, you work together and figure it out. From this, your bond grows and you feel even more united than you did the day you walked down the aisle.
Your bundle of joy now becomes the center of your universe. The old routine is replaced by a new routine. Your new priority demands a lot of attention and a lot of love. You and your partner sacrifice some of the attention you give each other in order to meet and exceed the needs of the new love in your lives. As always, you still love your partner to pieces though you might not be able to express it as much as you did in the past.
Just when you feel as if you’ve found your comfort zone with the latest adjustment to your relationship, you’re faced with a new and unexpected challenge. After a long, prosperous period of growth, you’re now in the midst of an economic crisis. It causes pain, discomfort, and difficult conversations from which solutions emerge. Times are rough, yet you weather the storm because you work as a team. When the dust settles, your bond is stronger than ever.
These sorts of experiences will come and go for the rest of your lives. Highs, lows, and the somewhere-in-between routine. But through it all, you can always rely upon your love as a foundation to partner together to overcome whatever obstacles you may encounter.
(And on that note, I’d like to say to my beautiful wife, Happy Anniversary Honey! Our love and our bond has continued to grow stronger since we walked down the aisle five years ago today. We are and will forever remain a team…for better or for worse. I love you!)

I can goof off at work!

Matt Youngblood — Fri, 06 May 2011 15:39:43 +0000

The wonders of technology: It has brought us the ability to do our jobs from home just as effectively as before the digital age when the option never existed…or has it?
Last week, I met with an old colleague who I used to work with at a web development company. While my profession has changed somewhat, his has, for the most part, stayed the same. He was telling me about his current job, and how it had been going.
He works on a team with other web developers on large projects. Most of the team works out the same office, but a few of them, including their manager, work virtually.
“Sometimes, it feels like I’m self-employed. I hear from my manager mostly from emails, and it’s usually in regards to the team’s current project. I only hear from them directly if I specifically ask for help or if there’s a problem with my work. If I messed up on a project, even if it was a minor detail that anyone could have missed, I get a phone call with them barking in my ear. Other than that, they don’t really check in with me on their own to see how I’m doing.
Some of the other guys on my team slack off if they aren’t assigned specific project work, even though there’s always something to do outside of projects. If I wanted to, I could goof off at work all day and my manager wouldn’t even know.”
Some people might think that this is a dream manager. You know, someone that is as hands-off as possible, that pretty much lets you work the way you want to work. However, a lot of individuals want, and even need, more structure and connectedness than my colleague received.
As virtual leaders, how can we make sure we’re engaging our direct reports who we may never see face-to-face?
Ask yourself the following:

Are you having regular 1 on 1’s with your team members? In other words, are you giving them the time they need to address issues about their performance and struggles?
How much do you know about what’s going on in each team member’s personal life? There could be personal issues your team members are dealing with that could be affecting their performance.
Do you know what their career paths are? If you don’t know where your direct reports are trying to go, don’t expect them to be working for you for long.
How connected are your team members to one another, especially if they work virtually? Do they have a team culture set up in order to avoid barriers and perform at higher levels?
Are you taking advantage of technology? If available, video chat services such as Skype Google/Yahoo/MSN video chat, etc… are free ways to give more of a personal touch to your interactions.

While working from home allows me to work in my PJ’s all day (a dream come true, I might add), it gives me another set of challenges to deal with in managing a team that might not be as hard as if I could manage them from the office.
Do you work virtually, whether that be as a leader or a direct report? What do you do to stay connected with your team members? Leave your comments!

The Curse of Anonymous Feedback

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:17:24 +0000

“Et tu, Brute?” -William Shakespeare
Best selling business book author, Ken Blanchard often says that, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” It is the fuel that provides us with information that helps redirect our efforts, driving us to become the best we can at a given skill or task.
Motivational research clearly shows that constructive feedback is a gift, and helps increase passion for our responsibilities—at work and at play. Thoughtful, well-intentioned, and timely feedback provides individuals with critical input into the adjustments we need to make as self leaders.
While feedback can be a gift, there can be a dark side to feedback that should be avoided at all costs within organizations and teams. The curse of anonymous feedback can have the opposite effect of constructive feedback, serving as a destructive force to positive change.
One of the most difficult and demotivating forms of feedback we can receive in the workplace is the type of information that creeps into our minds under cloak and dagger. The email or instant message sent to a third party, which in turn is sent to a manager or colleague, in hopes of making a person aware of some abstract dissatisfaction with a person’s performance or personality, is a difficult and sometimes dangerous form of communication.
The primary problem with anonymous feedback is that it lacks direct and clear feedback. In the three degrees (sometimes more) of separation from the author’s lips to the recipient’s ears, is a deep canyon of incomplete information and perceptions that may dilute the meaning of potentially helpful feedback—regardless of how accurate the feedback really is.
Secondarily, anonymous feedback is demotivating for teams and individuals, because it has a tendency to keep important and potentially creative conflicts off of the table of resolution and sets them adrift into a valley of disillusion. There is no proper path to resolutions. The more organizations and leaders are afraid of conflict, and don’t address it head on, the less opportunity they create for themselves to use that conflict as a creative driving force to better solutions.
When serving up a hot dish of feedback at work, or at home, take the time to overcome any assumptions you may have about giving the feedback. Season the feedback with your best assumptions about the person you are giving the feedback to. Be direct and clear and keep an open mind and ear for potential solutions or ideas to help make the learning process more efficient and effective.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

Adjust Yourself!

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 17:02:43 +0000

“”There has always been a saying in baseball that you can’t make a hitter, but I think you can improve a hitter.”
—Ted Williams
Baseball players adjust themselves. You may notice this if you take in a game this opening day weekend at the ballpark. Observe the players closely and watch as they step into the batter’s box. They constantly adjust themselves.

No, I am not referring to the kind of adjustments that disturb your sister. I’m talking about a host of mechanical adjustments, in their basic skill sets, whether they are on the field or at the plate.
A baseball hitter has over a hundred different tasks he can work on during any given pre game routine. From pitch selection, to bat grip, to placement of the feet, the twist of the hips, and the extension of the bat, there are a host of tasks that need constant attention when attempting to hit a tiny white ball, that’s moving quickly toward you, with a stick. And often, those skills necessary to accomplish one of the hardest tasks in sports, is often in need of adjustments. Hitting is a series of natural athletic talents, combined with hours and hours of preparation, training, and constant fine-tuning.
When coaching my youth baseball players, with various skill sets, our coaching staff will constantly ask players to “feel” what they are doing in either their, throwing, catching, hitting, or running mechanics. And rather than constantly overwhelm them with feedback on what they could be doing better, which can be overwhelming to any ball player, especially young ones, we often ask them to assess themselves.
“What did you feel with that swing?”
“I felt my shoulder dip on that swing,” they respond.
“What adjustment can you make?”
“I need to keep my back shoulder up, and drive through the ball,” they respond with a solution. They are now taking ownership in.
They’ve just made an adjustment!
Eventually, the really good players, start to feel what they are doing wrong as a result of committing the proper mechanics to muscle memory. On their own, they begin to understand what they could be doing better mechanically, and begin to make adjustments. They begin to coach themselves and often separate themselves from the players who are not making adjustments on their own.
At work, we can be given a project that has a task made up of a hundred different skills that we could improve on in any given day—operating a software, writing a proposal, making a sales pitch, or assessing a budget. The fact is, like baseball, the workplace is full of personal learning opportunities for us as individuals.
The more we are aware of our strengths and weaknesses on a given task or skill, the more we are able to diagnosis what adjustments we need to make on our own in order to accomplish a task at a higher level of excellence. In essence, we are learning to coach ourselves if we have the knowledge, and a clear picture of what a good job looks like on that given task. When we get to this level as individual contributors within an organization, we are ready to perform at an All Star level.
So go ahead, look at the tasks you are working on today, and ask yourself, what can I do better? Then go ahead and do it—adjust yourself! You’ll feel better, and you’re sister won’t think you’re weird.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action
The Ken Blanchard Companies

Don't Forget to Breathe

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:15:30 +0000

I close my eyes. I begin to count slowly as I inhale through my nose, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5.”
I briefly pause and then once again count slowly while exhaling through my mouth, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.”
This exercise has become routine for me. I find myself pausing to repeat this exercise regularly throughout my day. When the waters of daily life work themselves up to a rapid boil, it is this ritual that cools the water to a comfortable temperature.
Breathing was something I took for granted before my soccer career began some 25+ years ago. A couple of years into my young career I had a coach who stressed proper breathing techniques. Like most young kids just starting out in athletics, I would run hard but labor for air while breathing in and out through my mouth. Then, rather quickly and frequently, I would feel compelled to stop and hunch over, with my hands on my knees, while struggling to take in air. It felt like forever and a day before I was able to get enough air in so that I could resume playing…before quickly running out of steam again and repeating the routine. It never occurred to me that I was doing anything wrong. It was all I knew at the time. Thankfully, my coach enlightened me.
After implementing what initially felt like very minor and subtle changes, I quickly noticed an overwhelming change in my physical and mental performance. Instead of the shallow mouth-breathing that I was accustomed to, I learned how to regulate my breathing by inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. Incorporating a rhythmic intake of oxygen allowed my body and brain to function more efficiently. I wasn’t wearing down as quickly and I was playing smarter.
Of course, at some point I’d still hit a wall, only now it took much longer to reach the wall. But when I got there, no longer would I hunch over with my hands on my knees and wonder why it took so long to recover. I now stood up straight and tall, with my hands on top of my head, fingers intertwined, taking in deep breaths of air through my nose and exhaling through my mouth. Standing upright allowed my lungs to open up and fill with oxygen whereas my previously used improper technique did not. No longer did it feel like an eternity before I was able to go on, now I was ready to resume in mere minutes, or even seconds.
Upon reflection, I am amazed and amused that an incredibly simple shift in behavior could be such a game-changer. Then again, the most impactful self-improvement measures are typically the result of a simple, subtle change in behavior. The challenge is recognizing where the shift actually needs to occur. Quite often we need someone to point it out to us, even when the answer was right there under our nose all along.

Seize the Project!

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:56:16 +0000

“This is your moment. You’re meant to be here!” —Herb Books

Bartleman - Carpe Diem

Carpe diem is a Latin phrase first scribed in a poem by the great Roman poet, Horace, and has become a popular modern phrase (in some cases, a tattoo on a colleagues arm) in modern culture —Seize the Day. In Latin, Carpe literally mans to pick, pluck, or to crop. In the larger rural agrarian culture of the Romans, it was a phrase often used during the season when landowners would set out to gather their harvest—and thus earn their living. It’s a common misconception that Diem is a literal translation as “day.” The idea of a “day” in Latin refers to not only to a literal twenty-four hour period, but also can refer to a moment in time, or a specific season like the harvest.

This ancient phrase is something to keep in mind in today’s workplace. Even though our technology driven culture is a far cry from the pastoral culture Horace spoke to in his classic poem, there is a timeless relevance that is directly applicable to an environment that is driven through small seasons.
Because of the technological revolution of personal computers, the Internet, and mobile devices, today’s workplace has largely become a project based work environment. Many individual contributors and self leaders in today’s workplace don’t punch a time card, checking in at a certain time, watching the clock, and checking back out. Today’s 24/7 accesses to projects allows individuals to do their work, any time it is convenient for them to apply their skills and complete their tasks on a given project. (So, when can we do away with Ben Franklin’s annual day light savings glitch?)
A client recently called me requesting a fresh way to promote a new book release. They felt the need to move beyond a simple “talking head” video that dumps information about the book on the viewer, but rather create a story about why the book would be worth reading. She expressed her need and desire, a few ideas were conceived and planted by our team, a solution was chosen and cultivated through our team’s knowledge and skills, and a fresh new promotional video was harvested.
Most of the work we do today is through a host of projects, completed with interrelated skills, through a variety of technologies, over the course of a few days, several weeks or several months—a season. It is our glorious duty, nay, it is our privilege, to vigorously plant, pick, pluck, and harvest each project that comes into our sphere of influence.
It is our moment to embrace the needs of our internal and external clients and serve them with a passion that rivals and reflects the ancient civilizations that inspired poets to coin phrases that are as relevant today as they were when they were first scribed those words thousands of years ago. Today is our day to Seize the Project and produce a timeless legacy through the work we do—moment to moment, day to day, season to season.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

Back to Basics!

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:29:02 +0000

First Sign of Spring

Forget what that silly groundhog in Pennsylvania has to say about the arrival of spring—it officially began this week! That’s right, pitchers and catchers reported for duty this week to their respective spring training facilities in Arizona and Florida. Major League Baseball is just around the corner, and that means the fresh hopes and dreams of a new season for many fans of America’s pastime.
But spring training is not just about the dawn of a new season, it is a return to the roots of the game where players, coaches, and management, not only set a vision for the year, but even more importantly, they get back to basics of the game. Whether it is a new player in a youth baseball league, a professional rookie, or an all-star veteran with decades of experience, spring training is an opportunity to get individuals and teams back to a core set of ideas and practices in an effort to make their organization great.
Baseball, like any art, is a host of fundamental skill sets developed through consistent practice and endless repetition—a foundation of drills that must be repeated over and over for it to become part of natural and unconscious skill set. Spring training is used as a time to get hearts, minds, and bodies into shape, through proper preparation.

Spring Training

Organizations would do well to look closely at baseball’s annual rite of passage from winter to spring. February is a great time for individuals and teams in the corporate world to get refocused on their personal and collective goals for the year. It’s also a great time to get back to basics, making sure they are executing the fundamentals of their responsibilities in the workplace, ensuring that they are aligned with the overall efforts of the organization.
Just this past week, The Ken Blanchard Companies celebrated what we call our Week of Excellence—an annual week to get together in departments and teams to briefly celebrate the accomplishments of the past year, but more importantly get focused on what we are trying to set out and accomplish for the coming year as an organization and as individuals. In years past, we would hold workshops that would orient newer employees to our core offerings and how those offerings fit our day-to-day operations.
It is also a great opportunity to hold workshops on emerging technologies and trends that may affect our business over the course of the next year, and how we might engage those trends and make them work to the benefit of our organization and clients. We are also often blessed to hear from our Founding Associates and remember our history that naturally reminds everyone what the purpose of our business is.

Common Focus

These annual celebrations are a great time to see friends and colleagues that we may have not seen in sometime. It’s a time to praise each other for a job well done in the previous year. But even more importantly, it helps us all get back to the basics of our work. It is our annual spring training!
Organizations and individuals around the world would do well to take a week each year to hold a “spring training” for their people to get their people refocused on why we do the work we do, and how to do it best. Excellence never comes easy, but it does start with a foundation of work ethic and fundamentals that we should never take for granted. Let us be properly prepared to answer that age-old spring call, “Play Ball!” Or is it, “Get to Work!”
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

Leading from Within

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:17:20 +0000

A colleague of mine recently came to me distressed and anxious about a new role he was being asked to fulfill on a relatively new work team. The New Year brought on new goals, for himself and the young team. He was nervous; not about whether he could meet the demands of the new role—a position he has had high performance in for quite sometime within the organization—but rather he was discouraged that they did not ask him to manage the new work team.
“I never knew you wanted to be a manager, Jon” I expressed surprise in his disappointment.
“I don’t really,” he explained. “I like what I’m doing and I believe I do it pretty well, but you think I’d be asked to manage the team, given all of my experience in this role.”
“But you just said yourself that you don’t want to manage people. It would probably stifle your creativity if you had to be burdened with the details that come with management.”
Jon shook his head in discouragement, unable to pinpoint the source of his anxiety over the new dynamics of his team.
“What’s the real issue here?” I asked pointedly.
“The real issue?” he scoffed.
“Yeah, why are you so disappointed when you will still be doing what you’ve always done, perhaps even better with a new manager,” I tried to draw him out.
Then Jon poured out his emotions over the unsettled dynamics of the team and how they weren’t properly chartered and even potentially set up for failure. The new manager seemed nice enough, and was a good people person, but she didn’t know anything about the skill sets required by the individuals performing the daily duties of this work team.
“I’m the real leader of this team. I’m the one who has to meet with the client up front, get real clear on what they are asking for,” Jon offered a passionate plea. “And I’m the one that has to face the client when the rear their angry head when the job isn’t done exactly the way the want!” he added with exclamation.
Ahhhhh! There it is! A common misperception in workplaces all around the world. Managers aren’t always leaders, and leaders aren’t always managers. The business literature of the 80s and 90s, before the digital age dramatically changed the face of the workplace, often preached management and leadership as synonymous with one another. And to a degree, they still are. A manager needs to develop good leadership skills. Filling out monthly or annual reviews is one thing, getting down to the heart of the matter and drawing people’s potential and passion out of them is another.
On the other hand, there are organizations around the world that are full of great leaders as individual contributors and within teams—great managers of self—that know exactly what they are doing and how to make the team and the organization more efficient. These are individuals that don’t need to sit behind a title or be in a traditional position of power to make a significant contribution to the organization.
“Jon, that’s just it. You are the leader of this team. In fact, it seems that you have a team full of great Self Leaders. You don’t need a title to make yourself or your team more efficient. There is no secret to it.”
He shook his head in suspended agreement, until the light of reason brought a smile of revelation to his face.
“Leadership is an attitude, not a position,” he surmised like only a blossoming leader could.

The Resolve!

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:51:31 +0000

Tis the season for resolutions—a fascinating tradition that occurs at the beginning of every New Year and inspires our imaginations with hope, possibility, and a new will to power. A season when we have an opportunity to wipe away the old and raise up the new, with one stroke of the clock.
If it sounds too simple, than it probably is. We know that when the party ends and the vacation is over, and most of the college football bowl games have been played, the real New Year begins. We get back into the daily grind, returning to work, to school, to life and all of the issues that did not seem to disappear with the toll of the twelfth bell just a few nights ago.
We are a week back into reality now. How are your resolutions fairing? Or were you too stubborn to make any resolutions?
Whether you testified to anyone regarding your resolutions, or you’re the Scrooge of the New Year and are above such petty traditions, there are some key insights on one’s self, through the idea of resolutions that may be worth pondering before you get lost in the whirlwind of this new year.
Conflict
The very term, resolution, implies that there is some sort of conflict in our lives. Some habit or trivial pursuit that does not align with our core values and seeks to threaten our good will and service to others. Before a person can begin to set and keep a resolution, they must first clearly define the conflicts of their personal or professional lives, before they can set any course toward setting a reasonable resolution.
Resolution
Unfortunately, many of us treat resolutions like a penny being tossed into a wishing well, a blind hope that perhaps that some miracle will occur by casting our burdens upon a streak of time in the night sky, as if the new number on the year of our calendars will magically help us achieve our wildest dreams. Often, we begin setting goals that aren’t measureable, trackable, or even reasonable—a lukewarm prayer at best. But good Self Leaders are able to come up with a simple plan on how they will achieve their goals/resolutions for the year, and then find a means (a project at work or a hobby in your personal time) applied toward that end. In fact, it is through the means that resolutions are most effectively achieved.
Cinderella
Recently my teenage daughter (that is as much a confession as a proclamation of joy) boldly announced that she was going to audition for the lead role in a local performance of the classic tale, Cinderella. The competition was steep, and she knew it, but decided to step out in faith and resolve that she would give it her all in achieving this goal, and allow destiny to take its course. What she learned from previous auditions is that the dream cannot simply be a declaration of your resolution. There were many hours of voice lessons, dance lessons, acting lessons, and strange gargling sounds from some healing potion that would come from her room at all hours of the night. Through hard work, a few set backs, consistent effort, and a dedication to the end goal through a variety of means, she achieved her goal.
Resolve
Resolutions are good! But as all things that are good, they are also hard. It’s not too late to set a resolution for this year. But even more importantly, set your mind on resolving the major or minor conflicts in your personal and professional lives through productive and consistent means. Learn to love the process of achieving the resolution. Be persistent, even after failure to achieve your resolution with some silly notion of perfection. This is the very notion of a resolution—a resolve or determination. In every great story, there is a great conflict, and often even a great battle or two before the lead character resolves that conflict and achieves a new level of goodness—for themselves and those that serve. Be resolved this year!
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action
The Ken Blanchard Companies

Transcending Time!

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:13:18 +0000

“Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!” –John Keats, Ode to a Nightingale

image courtesy of einstein's lock

I recently celebrated what many in our culture may call a “milestone birthday.” Though some of my acquaintances may as well have called it a “mill-stone birthday”—a heavy number hung upon my personhood, just before being cast overboard into an ocean of time.

After all, a well-rounded age certainly should beckon us to pause, at least just a little, and encourage us to not only contemplate the number of years we have experienced in our lifetime, but how well we are prepared to live that experience going forward.
While celebrating this particular anniversary of my birth, what was once a group of abstract words by a bard named Keats, who had written about some ancient bird being timeless while sitting in a plumb tree signing some abstract melody, finally became clear to me.
We are mortal; our work is temporary, because we live with a knowledge of the past—a time when we did not exist within our organizations—a time when we did not exist at all. And yet, in the very same breath, we cannot help but hope for a better tomorrow, because we think forward toward a time when we may no longer be able to contribute as effectively as we can today. “Life is a very special occasion,” as Ken Blanchard would say.
The truth is, our work, as well as our lives are made up of thousands of moments, within thousands of days, within a host of years. However, our personhood is not defined as a number, nor is it simply a climb toward some peek whereby we reach the top only to rapidly descend down the other side.

photo by J. Diamond Arnold

If anything, it is a canyon full of wonder and mystery, adventure, discovery, and eventually we will get to it’s core, it’s source, and we will drink from it, and we will rise, because we were meant to rise, up the other side to graduate into glory because of what we discovered within it. And down there, within the canyon walls, we will have left a worthy legacy for our friends, our family, our clients—and perhaps even for a person or two who may not have understood us.

We were not meant to flippantly celebrate, nor are we to adamantly deny the number of years we have lived—but rather we should embrace the capacity to transcend time and sing a melody we were always meant to sing before human notions of time existed. Songs of a worthwhile project at work that has the potential to change a client’s life for the better, songs of a tender moment with a child, or a chorus announcing the discovery of some great idea or purpose that will make things more productive for a greater good.
So sing immortal birds, for we were not born to die, but rather to live beyond the boundaries of time and leave a legacy that cannot be defined by a number!!

Don't Take it Personal; Don't Make it Personal

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:55:50 +0000

I stared at the computer screen one last moment, fingers poised to pull the trigger on the Send icon, firing my message, Ney, my rebuttal—a careful defense of my character, into cyberspace. I would Reply To All so that they will know that I am an innocent man. That these half-truths, disguised as feedback, were not only misleading, but they were hypocritical—achieved only last week in a similar fashion by the crafty accuser herself.
But something’s just not right. Something feels very amateur—something is unprofessional about all of this, I thought to myself. My index finger slowly retreated from the mouse pad and sat back in my chair and glanced out the window, thinking about the mess.
Breathe.
I poured over the email one more time, looking for a clue, some insight, as to why I felt so unsettled about sending this message.
The first paragraph was fine—a clear and concise summary of the main issues at hand. Issues that the team had been struggling with for over two months now. My blood pressure stabilized and the soreness in my throat subsided.
Then the second paragraph began to burn bright blue, like a new star, hot with passion, where responses to the so-called feedback streaked across the screen in a blur and my emotions welled up from my belly, through my neck, and into my eyes.
There in the blur, like a cryptic message evolving into your native language, it became clear to me. I was focused on the earth’s shadow cast across the moon’s face, rather than taking delight in the bright side that reflected the sun’s light. I had taken it personal.
Not only did I take it personal, I spent the last several lines of the email making it personal, by needlessly pointing out all of the behaviors that were similar to what I was being accused of. I envisioned innocent by standers, caught in the cross fire of two co-workers emotions, rolling their eyes in disgust.
There I sat, like a little boy that had been sent to his room for getting into a ticky-tacky argument with his sister. Silent and surprised that I had gotten worked up so easily. I’m glad I took that moment to reflect before sending out that piece of correspondence. As I went back through the email and deleted all of the unnecessary comments and unnecessary defenses, I felt a great sense of relief in knowing that I don’t need to take it personal, nor do I need to make it personal.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

Give Me Training or Give Me Death!

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:42:41 +0000

I say: take no thought of the harvest, but only of proper sowing. –(Famous Dead Poet), T.S. Eliot, Choruses from The Rock
You want to be better! It’s not a question. If you’re reading this article, you have a desire to perform on a higher level—at work and in life. You’re the fraction of the workforce and society that is ready to perform, learn, and live a better tomorrow than what you’ve achieved today.
But how do we get better? How do we really make worthwhile contributions to our family and friends, our organizations, and our clients, day in and day out?
WE TRAIN!
And I’m not talking about that old dinosaur called Two-Day Seminars or Workshops. The days of one- or two-day classrooms as “training solutions” are ineffective and dying. That’s teaching; that’s not training. I’m talking about a consistent effort to purposely get better at your job through a series of activities, experiences, and acquisitions of knowledge, skills, and competencies that are integrated into your workflow as the actual learning process—not a 15-minute follow up to some mountaintop experience you had last week. Training is a long distance race! It’s not a few toe touches and jumping jacks.
While the classroom itself still holds some meaning, the idea that you only get better in a classroom simply is not true anymore. There era of Dead Poets Society has moved beyond standing up on your desk and shouting about seizing the day, it’s a continual effort outside the classroom, in the real world, actually seizing moments. You can learn theories and skills in a classroom, but you can’t be trained to use them. You can’t create a habit in a Two-Day Workshop. With technological advancements, the idea that Soft or Off-the-Job training takes place outside of your normal workflow (in a classroom, away from your desk, pontificating some abstract leadership philosophy on a mountaintop) is Dark Age thinking. Seminars may be events, but they’re only events. Seminars and workshops don’t make us better; they only make us think about getting better.
Your colleague who is going to run in a marathon this fall doesn’t go to a one-day motivational seminar, or runners’ workshop, and think that he’s prepared to run 26.2 miles tomorrow—he trains for the event by exercising daily on a strict schedule, eating the right foods, getting the proper rest, and shedding a few drops of blood, sweat, and tears as prepare for race day.
If you’re not training, you’re dying from a slow and painful mediocre contribution. It’s not meaningless work, but it could become so much more if we take the leadership, the people, and the technical skills seriously enough to put them into action and apply them directly to our everyday real work and real lives. The next generation of leaders and learners want training, real sustained training, and through that training they want to make great contributions to the world and the workplace.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

Why Lead Now?

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:48:16 +0000

THE QUESTION
When I first entered the workforce, I craved the idea of becoming a leader. I didn’t care what it was. I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to figure it out. I wanted to lead people to the Promised Land—a heroic, epic, charismatic leader marching his team to glory.
And then someone asked, “Where are we going?” Huh? “Why are we going there?” sung another doubter. Questions…Questions…Questions! I shouted in my best Hamletic-Angst.
Then—like a digital TV satellite feed interrupting your favorite reality show, High Def beauty fading to thousands of distorted pixels, just before they send the next victim home—what was clear to me early on, had subtly became distorted to me now.
THE CONFLICT
An Odysessy and two years later, I have doubts about leadership. I may be a heretic for confessing this, as a disciple of Ken Blanchard’s leadership philosophies, but is everyone really a leader? We’ve all known someone that is leading that shouldn’t be. Furthermore, many of my peers, myself included, want nothing to do with management. We just want to do our jobs, and do them well. Why did I ever want to be a leader? Why would I ever want to lead in the future? Why lead now?
In many ways, leadership is a thankless pursuit. At a local level, at a corporate level, in government, and even often at home, people rarely stop to recognize your tireless efforts of getting out emails, making phone calls, or putting up with other people’s shortcomings, doubts, and immaturity. Few, if any, thank you for organizing meetings, explaining the vision, collecting money to pay fees and bills, even delegating responsibilities.
But that’s the HOW of leadership. Leaders, good leaders, need to know WHY they are leading.
THE RESOLUTION?
Leadership is a means to a greater end. It is not an end unto itself. Leadership is the board to the surfer; the bat and the glove to the baseball player; the point shoes to the ballerina; the pen to the writer; the instrument to the musician. The opera is within, and leadership is the voice that allows others to hear what you already know, feel, and desire deep down.
Leadership becomes most unclear to us when we get so focused on the how of leadership that we forget the why. Leadership is about going somewhere—to a city on a hill that may or may not even exist. It’s about getting to a better place tomorrow, because of what we do today.
Frankly, it’s easy to figure out the how of leadership. You can read books, go to seminars, find a mentor, and even experience moments that will teach you the concepts of how to lead. But until you put it into action, until you step off the front porch of your house and go forth into a brave new world, get dirty, suffer setbacks, make mistakes, and put up with all of the burdens that come with trying to help people be better, the burdens that come with making yourself better, then you will not know why you need to lead now.
In every good thing—a good company, a good sports team, a great player, a thriving community, a comfortable t-shirt, a delicious sandwich, a good experience—you will find a leader, or a cluster of self leaders, who know EXACTLY why they are leading now.
Do you know why you lead now?
Jason Diamond Arnold
The Ken Blanchard Companies
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

What Has Become a Blur…

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:33:32 +0000

What Has Become a Blur to You Since Last We Status Updated?
Ralph Waldo Emerson was noted for greeting friends with the question, ‘What has become clear to you since we last met?’ His intent was a challenge to his friends to assess the progress of their thinking and their lives.
How do we answer Emerson’s question today? By what means do we stop to think about what we have learned since the last we met with a dear friend?
In the 21st Century digital age of virtual social networks, where a person can have a thousand plus friends, who update them by the moment, on car issues, virtual farming concerns, their toddlers latest bowel movements (complete with instant pictures), or the latest conversation they just overheard at the local coffee shop, I fear that we may not be able to as readily and significantly answer Emerson’s question in our own lives—simply because we have lost the ancient exercise of reflecting, pondering, and considering the more meaningful things in life.
We are addicted to instant updates! And it has become a little distracting. So, I pause to reflect, “What has become clear to me since last we status updated?”
In the course of writing this article, my iPhone buzzed with half a dozen different text messages, and my computer popped up six different InBox alerts regarding comments friends made on my Facebook page. With every ding, I was tempted to stop my current thought process regarding Emerson’s question and go read the latest comment on my wall, or eagerly open up my text message. Which is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, however, it has distracted me from really meditating on what I’m learning about life and work at this particular moment in time.
It’s not that these forms of communication are evil, or meaningless, however, they have not only significantly created an anxiety over keeping up with all of the information that daily flows into our stream of conscious, but it has more importantly blurred the clarity that comes from pausing during our day to know what is really becoming clear to us. In many ways social networks have brought us back in touch with old and new friends, which can be a good thing—just don’t allow it to get us out of touch with who we are today!
J. Diamond Arnold
Consulting Associate with The Ken Blanchard Companies
Co-author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

Perception is Reality

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:13:26 +0000

The phrase—Perception is Reality—has always bothered me, particularly as a member of a generation that values authenticity and individuality. We are workforce of individuals on a quest to make a name for ourselves, empowered by a technological revolution that instantaneously allows us to publish our thoughts and ideas to a brave new world. We don’t want our personal image defined or judged by anything or anyone beyond our own existential will to define it—as reflected in our daily FaceBook status updates. History is made by those who Tweet it!
Or so we would like to think.
Fact is, other people’s perceptions of you in the workplace write just as much of your legacy as all the time you spent crafting a clever and creative social network profile. Like it or not, perception does matter when you’re working with other people. No matter how much we want others to think we are hip and cool because of the new and savvy way we go about our business at work—others are always defining us by what we do (or what we sometimes don’t do), as much as we are trying to define ourselves through our quest for individuality.
Whether it’s a conflicting style of dress or style of communication (@that post you made last week, complaining about your colleagues lack of urgency), people are consistently creating and alternative reality about you. Even though you had a great time at your best friends birthday party last week, your colleagues (some of which are also FaceBook “friends”) may not find your double fisted wine cooler bottle photos as entertaining as you did while celebrating the anniversary your friend’s birth. The perception of carelessness or immaturity—even if you were being a perfectly responsible adult (minus the Coyote Ugly table dance)—can translate into your workplace relationships.
One voicemail left unanswered for a period of more than 24 hours may fall short of the expectations of one co-worker who complains to three co-workers. Those three co-workers bring it up over lunch to four other co-workers. And the perception grows into an even greater reality—whether it is true or not. When speculate as to why a project wasn’t delivered within a certain period of time, assuming that you let the project fall into a “dark hole,” they begin to assume you’re disorganized. When people start making up the reasons for your personal or professional behavior, they can start creating a reputation for you—and that can become a big problem.
A good self leader wants to manage their own reputation by being proactive and wise about what they share with others—in the real world and the virtual one. Little things like, being organized, keeping promises, following up, and simply keeping your eyes and ears open for any “bad press,” will help you develop and maintain healthy relationships—a major point of power for your workplace success.
Unfortunately, many colleagues don’t come directly to you to clarify a perception that they may have about you, but indirectly gossip or question your reputation in front of others—and not always with spite or malice. Be willing to take in, even false perceptions about your work, so that you can actively engage those perceptions and work hard on maintaining a good reputation within your organization.
Though you are not the sum total of all the negative perceptions others may have about you, those perceptions are a part of an equation that defines who you are. But denying that perception is reality will only hurt you and your reputation in the long run. It is better to actively engage those perceptions and work hard to build Raving Fans with every client you serve, than to sit back and ignore the rumors. Until you inoculate yourself with this reality, you may suffer the unconscious fate of an unmanaged perception rearing it’s ugly head on you, your team, and your career.
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action
Blanchard Keynote Speaker

I Need Help!

Blanchard Associate — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:00:30 +0000

So you want to lead now? Then don’t be afraid to ask for help. Up and coming leaders will learn to over come their egos and fears, and ask for help. Listen to Best Selling Business Book author, Ken Blanchard speak to the importance of asking for help in the workplace.

Jason Diamond Arnold

Managing Peak Performers

Blanchard Associate — Wed, 19 May 2010 22:47:56 +0000

As both a baseball fan and a not-ready-for-prime-time “expert” on leadership, I’ve been following the Hanley Ramirez story as it has unfolded over the last couple of days. Ramirez is the talented superstar shortstop of the Florida Marlins who was removed from a game earlier this week for not hustling. Ramirez was not at all happy about the decision made by his manager, Fredi Gonzalez. As a result, a very public feud is now playing out in the media. (Click here for more.)
Translation. There was an isolated incident where the manager questioned the effort of his peak performer. The manager’s response to the incident ultimately resulted in a much larger problem affecting not only his relationship with his peak performer, but also affecting their relationships with the other players on the team, their relationships with the rest of the organization, and their relationships with the organization’s clients (or fans). Furthermore, it has opened the door for the competition to inquire about the availability of the organization’s peak performer. While Ramirez’s response to the manager’s decision cannot be condoned, one can reasonably question if this ugly mess of a situation could have been avoided had the manager taken a different approach.
There was a poll today on ESPN where readers were asked to choose between two responses to the following question.
“What do you think of Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez benching Hanley Ramirez during a game for not hustling after a ball?”
As I write this, there had been just over 30,000 total respondents. 88% of those people said this was a “necessary move to send a message” while a mere 12% said Gonzalez was “picking an unnecessary fight with his star.” Given the choice between the two, I’m in alignment with the minority but let’s take a look at the choices and I’ll tell you why.
Necessary move to send a message.
If a message needs to be sent, it is important to first define WHAT that message is and also HOW that message needs to be sent. Since we have no way of knowing if any of the other possible messages, or their various methods of delivery, would have been more effective we cannot definitively say this was THE necessary move. For instance, it has been well documented by the player, the manager, and the media, that Ramirez sustained a leg injury earlier in that same game. Instead of choosing the public embarrassment route, is it at least possible that things might have gone better or different had Gonzalez pulled Ramirez aside in the dugout after the play and said:
“Hanley, you looked really slow to that ball. I know you told me the leg was fine but it doesn’t look fine. Be honest with me. Are you sure you’re OK to continue? If not, let me know now so we can start treating it and get you ready for tomorrow. But if you stay in, I’ll be watching. And if it looks to me like you’re hurting, I’m going to pull you out of the game.”
Picking an unnecessary fight with his star.
If you’re a manager, your goal is to bring out the best in your people and to unite them in pursuit of a common goal. Your team will have members who possess a varying level of commitment and competence at any given time. When you notice someone’s commitment or competence dip, it’s your responsibility to help get it back up to its optimum levels. Public embarrassment is usually not an effective way to accomplish this. This is especially true when it concerns your peak performer who possesses a track record of superior performance and production. Again, the goal is to help lift them back up, not isolate them and knock them down even further.

Quiet Desperation

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:34:19 +0000

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”—Henry David Thoreau
Upon graduating from college—more than a short time ago now—my roommate and I set out on an adventure across the United States. We wanted to celebrate the achievement of earning the sheepskin trophy we called a diploma, while we mourned the impending doom of embarking on a career in the workplace. It was a farewell tour to the good life of freedom and independence from “The Machine” of modern capitalism—or so we thought.

Walden

One of our first stops was Boston, Massachusetts, to visit a good friend attending Harvard Law School. While there, we made the short trip out to Walden Pond, just down the road in Concord. I personally wanted to see the place where Thoreau made his noble stand against society, isolating himself in a cabin and crafting one of the greatest literary rebellions against the status quo in modern history.
It wasn’t until recently, when I picked up a copy of Walden, that I was dumbfounded by the basic premise of his masterpiece: The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. It was a wake up call!
After a decade in the workplace, this phrase hit me harder than ever, and I thought to myself, “Have I become one of the masses living a life of quiet desperation? Where did a decade go so quickly? What have I achieved? Why have I not made the cover of Rolling Stone?” Furthermore, how does it come to a point in our careers, or in our lives, that we get to a place of quiet desperation? Where was that class in the university? Who majored in Mediocrity? Who went to get an MA in QD?
Nobody plans on settling for the status quo. Nobody enters the workforce and says, “I want to be average! I want to be mediocre! I want a dull and boring job!” Yet, the line between great and average is often very thin and can creep up on us if we are not diligent.
The truth is, we want to be great! We want excellence, meaning, and worthwhile achievements in our life and in our work. There is a voice inside of everyone that craves greatness—a call to live, lead, and love at a higher level.
Thoreau’s exposition was less about the judgment of such lives that have lost their way, but rather a call for individuals to reach beyond settling for the monotony of everyday life—those who have forgotten how to lead themselves. This American classic has encouraged me to continue to be diligent in reaching for my dreams, through the art of self-reliance and a passion to reach for higher levels. As Thoreau concluded, near the end of his book, “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
Don’t settle for quiet desperation. Work well and lead the life of possibility you were meant to live.
http://youtu.be/yii9b1HE9lA
Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

The Personal Life Clashes with Productivity

Matt Youngblood — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:54:46 +0000

For the last 12 months, I have been trying to buy my first home. My wife and I decided it was time to find a place we could truly call “home.” 10 months ago, I entered into a sales agreement to purchase a property. It was a dreaded short sale, and I knew going into the agreement that I would be spending a lot of time waiting on the bank to approve or deny the sale of the property. However, if we could get it approved, we’d be purchasing a home at a great price while interest rates were at historical lows.
To date, I’m still working on this sale. Ever since I entered into that contract agreement, I’ve felt less productive. Part of my drive to complete work is lacking. Don’t get me wrong, as I still finish all of my duties and tasks because it’s what I was hired to do, but a lot of the enthusiasm that I used to have is missing. I still love what I do, but the stresses of this real estate deal have been a major distraction.
I’m using this example because for a lot of us newer leaders, we don’t always think about what is happening with our direct reports outside of the workplace. Too often, we assume that because someone under our management isn’t performing, it’s because they “have a bad attitude” or “they don’t care.” It’s time to step back and ask this question: What does the big picture look like?
Does this individual have a personal problem they may be dealing with? Are they behind on their mortgage payment? Did someone they cared about pass away recently? Did they leave the coffee pot on at home? As leaders, we need to be understanding in these situations. It is our duty to accommodate, but also help the individual refocus at the same time. We may be in a position of power, but we also serve those who report to us.
The lines between the career and the personal life are blurred. Our personal issues follow us to the workplace, and our work issues are a main topic for the dinner discussions at home. Remember this the next time you’re presented with a challenge from a direct report. You’ll have a better outcome, and it should happen much more quickly instead of reprimanding the individual.
I want to hear your comments. Did you have someone with a personal issue that affected their productivity? Did you personally have a situation that affected those around you in the workplace? How did you overcome it?

The Secret to Employee Retention

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:11:04 +0000

“SHOW! ME! THE! MONEY!” In the last 14 years, you’d be hard pressed to find a more memorable movie quote than this classic delivered by Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire. In fact, if you can think of one that has had more widespread appeal and longevity, feel free to drop it in the comments section and we’ll open it up for debate.
Those four simple words summed up the collective mindset of multiple generations of workers across all industries. Simply put, if you really value my contribution, prove it. After seeing that movie for the first time, we all went into our next performance review with the “show me the money” attitude. The sobbing you heard in the theater wasn’t your girlfriend’s reaction to Tom Cruise telling Renee Zellweger, “you complete me.” No, that sobbing you heard was CEOs and Managers recognizing that Gooding Jr. had just given their employees a new-found sense of confidence and empowerment. Instead of dreading performance reviews, we now were looking forward to them.
After all, there’s a big difference between just being key talent and knowing you’re key talent. When you have the confidence in yourself to know you’re key talent that makes it more difficult for your organization to hold on to you. Let’s face it, these days it’s not finding talent that’s challenging for employers, it’s retaining it. The good organizations are actively searching for ways to improve employee retention.
So what’s the secret? As Gooding Jr. later states in the movie, the secret is…the kwan. The kwan?
“Yeah, man, it means love, respect, community…and the dollars too. The package. The kwan.”
That right there is the quote from this movie that those same CEOs and Managers should have memorized. There should be a “Kwan” motivational poster (patent pending) on the wall of every HR department. The kwan is the secret to employee retention. It’s not just the money. It’s not just love. It’s not just respect. And it’s not just community. It’s the package. When an employee says “show me the money,” the response should be, “I’ll do better than that, I’ll show you the kwan.” As expected, the employee’s natural response would then be, “you had me at hello.”
Love your employees, respect your employees, provide your employees with a healthy work environment, and compensate your employees well. If you’re lacking in ANY of these areas you just might lose your best talent to the competition.
Fun Fact: Did you know the human head weighs 8 pounds?

Don’t Pass on Passion

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:20:37 +0000

Some of the best advice I was ever given was from a former co-worker—let’s call him Tim. Tim was a middle-aged man working in the IT department at a very reputable corporation. He was highly compensated but every day when I passed his cube he looked depressed. One day I walked over to him and asked him if everything was going ok. He looked up at me and said, “No, I’m not doing ok. I’m 37, have 2 kids, and hate my job.” I was utterly shocked! “You hate your job? But you get paid so much money and have so many perks as an employee here.” He smiled and said, “Yeah, it’s all gravy, but this job isn’t what I’m passionate about. I don’t jump out of bed saying to myself, ‘I’m living the dream.’ I usually say to myself, ‘I’m dying on the inside’.” At that moment I didn’t know what to say, so I continued to walk on by. He stopped me and said, “Don’t ever pass up the opportunity to do what you’re passionate about.” I smiled, nodded, and walked to my desk, and since that day never forgot those words.
Passion is a strong emotion; it’s a feeling in the pit of your stomach that wakes you up in the middle of the night. Passion is the thing that you should be striving for. When your passion becomes a reality it transforms into your ultimate dream job. And who doesn’t want to be working at their dream job?
For so many of us, working has become a chore, something that we just have to get through to pay the bills. No true magic reveals itself at our jobs, just mountains of paper work, annoying co-workers, and outrageous bosses. But this is unacceptable. People should not be settling for less, they should be transforming their lives and searching for what they are passionate about doing, and DO IT. And if you don’t know what your passion is, that’s ok—for now. But don’t ever stop looking for that thing that could take you from boring to extraordinary.
Below are three tips that can help you navigate through life, not ever passing on your passion. What are some other tips that you can contribute to this list?

“Whatever you do—whether it’s getting the coffee, whether it’s putting the finishing touches on that dress—do it 110 percent. The people you work with will notice, and that will be rewarded.” Jenna Lyons, the executive creative director at J. Crew.
“It’s about working hard, following your dreams and finding your zone.” Buddy Valestro, TLC show, Cake Boss.
Living out your dream job is about creating something that will make someone else stop in their tracks. “We’re all so busy in the brouhaha of everyday life. If you stop a businessman in the lobby of a hotel or if you make something in a restaurant and they’ll stop and say, ‘That’s amazing,’ you’ve done your job.” Known as the rock ‘n’ roll florist, Jeff Leatham.

Xoxo Nish
P.s Never stop reaching

Leading In Levi’s

Matt Youngblood — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:02:35 +0000

You have to love the dress code. It’s a set of rules on what to wear in the work place, but rules are meant to be broken… Think of the employee that comes into your office who likes wearing the same shirt they wear on laundry day, or the person dressed in those grey sweat pants on a daily basis. (Are those the same pants you had on three days in a row?)
These individuals are the topics of the water cooler conversations at your work place, but most of the remarks seem to be negative. Sure, they might not have a taste in clothing that we agree with, but these negative comments always make us forget how these employees actually perform. We quickly forget that the person wearing the brown khakis with the shredded pant legs is also the same person that helped us meet our project deadline last week.
Why is it that we’re so quick to pass judgment, especially based on appearances? I’m not saying you shouldn’t look professional, especially in front of customers, but how do the clothes you wear impact your performance? After all, some of today’s greatest leaders are walking around in jeans. Look at Steve Jobs, who is at the helm one of the most successful technology companies in the world. Even in the political world, President Obama has been seen on occasion wearing jeans. Both of these individuals are greatly successful, but their appearances don’t always show it.
Today’s lesson is this: The look doesn’t matter as much as the act. Don’t cast someone out because of the way they appear. It’s who they are and how they perform which really matters.
Now, where are my fuzzy pink slippers?

The Pursuit of Excellence—Not Perfection

Blanchard Associate — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:38:58 +0000

“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.” ~Confucius, Analects

Stina Persson, Perfectly Flawed

Perfection is an illusion. The notion that we can attain something or achieve some task or talent that is without a flaw is misleading.
Our culture speaks of perfection in sports with phrases such as the perfect game in baseball, where a pitcher gives up no runs, no hits, no walks, and his team makes no errors—in essence, none of the opposing team’s players even reach first base during a so-called perfect game. Legendary football coach Don Shula once led his Miami Dolphin football team to what has often been called the perfect season, going 17-0 on their way to winning a world championship.
In the workplace, we often hear people speak of perfection in terms of a project or a product; “This product must be perfect before we release it to the public!” “This report must be flawless because it’s going to be seen by the executive team!”
Are the things we refer to as perfect, actually perfect? Did the pitcher who pitched the perfect game make absolutely no mistakes? Did he hit his spot on every single pitch? Did Shula’s football team have a flawless season, committing no turnovers and allowing no opponent to score on them throughout the course of the perfect season? And how is the report that is being sent out to the executive team deemed as flawless? It has no spelling or grammatical errors? It has no bad or risky ideas? The content is full of explicit details on how the company can make easy millions?
What we often call perfection is really not perfection at all. If we continue to pursue what we call perfection in our personal and professional lives, we stand to miss one of the most valuable lessons in life—the ability to overcome our mistakes.
Scott Peck, in his best-selling book The Road Less Traveled, begins the book with this simple truth, “Life is difficult.” Life, both at home and at work is full of challenges, setbacks, frustrations, and disappointments. It is everything but perfect!
Does this truth mean that we should just accept our fate and live a life of disappointment? Are we to settle for mediocrity or being content with the fact that we are imperfect and live in an imperfect world?
By no means! In fact, understanding that perfection is an illusion frees us to engage our flaws, to rise up to meet our daily challenges, to embrace our mistakes as lessons on how we can get better and how we can lead ourselves at a higher level—excelling beyond average to meet the demands of that voice deep down inside of us that cries out for goodness. This is the pursuit of excellence—not perfection. And excellence does not come easy. It is crafted over time and wrought with setbacks, and yes, many flaws. It is within the pursuit excellence, not perfection, that we find personal and collective greatness.
***Author’s Note: As an author at Why Lead Now, and a Co-author of Situational Self Leadership in Action, my passion is to encourage and inspire the individual contributors of organizations to pursue personal and professional excellence. Today’s next generation of leaders are full of energy and passion to make the world better—including the workplace. The articles found in this column will focus on Leading Yourself at a Higher Level, challenging us to be the best that we can be in our journey to a better place—personally, professionally, and collectively.
—Jason Diamond Arnold

The Terrible Two-Year-Old Meets the Workplace

Matt Youngblood — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:11:57 +0000

The term “terrible two’s” doesn’t seem to quite fit with the age, at least not in my daughter’s case. My daughter will be 4 at the end of this month, but even with the 2-year age difference, her temper tantrums seem to be worse than ever. When her emotional fuse is lit, it’s time for the duck-and-cover maneuver.
It’s always a struggle to get her to follow directions at this point, but it reminds me of how being a young father sometimes mirrors being a young leader. There are usually valuable lessons to be learned about employees in the work environment in these situations. My daughter has shown me that partnering and being positive will always produce a better outcome, and the same carries over to the business world.
It used to be that if my daughter had an emotional meltdown, my instinct was to be the demanding, drill sergeant-like father figure. After all, a child needs discipline! What’s wrong with instructing your child to give you 20 pushups and run a lap? I’m being sarcastic, of course, but I still “demanded” my daughter listen to me. All I was doing was throwing gasoline on the fire, and the ear-piercing screams would grow louder.
It’s similar in the work environment. Let’s say you have an employee who reports to you, and lately this employee isn’t performing up-to-standards. When confronting this employee about their current behavior, what kind of reaction would you get if you “demand” the employee shape up or ship out? I bet you’ll be checking your car later making sure it wasn’t keyed…There’s a better solution for this.
When my daughter’s face turns as red as a tomato and the tears begin, I now take a different approach. I ask her why’s she’s upset to draw out her reason for the meltdown. I tell her it’s ok, I love her, and offer help if the situation calls for it. For example, if she refuses to clean up her toys, I’ll offer to help her (initially) with the cleanup. After the cleanup starts, I find I can walk away after a minute and she’ll finish the job. No tears and no migraines follow.
The same goes for your employees. You need to draw out the reason(s) for the bad performance, give them an emotional boost through positive dialog with compliments, and find out what type of help they need from you in order to get the desired outcome. You’ll quickly find that a positive outcome will always follow.
I welcome your comments! What lessons have children taught you about the work place?