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February 2023
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CLICHÉS THAT AREN'T TRUE7/26/2021 You need an energizer or icebreaker in meetings.
It cuts the precious time for substantive issues that are needed to be discussed in the meeting. Who has a lot of time to sit down in meetings that take quite a long time to get to the real issues? Mothers know best. Not really. At a certain point, mothers gradually relinquish that role of a know-it-all and respect the independence of their children. Volunteer first before you can get a job in the organization. Not true. If you want to volunteer, fine, but keep your expectations real. Sometimes, it is not going to happen in a million years. Opportunity comes knocking once. Not true. Opportunity is ever present in many things. Our challenge is to enhance our ability to see opportunities disguised as something else. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Not true. People spent thousands of dollars on book covers alone. We judge things by the cover/appearance. Early bird gets the worm. It doesn’t follow. Some early birds get eaten because they are too early for the event. Seniority rules. Not anymore. The society and its expectations about reward and recognition fall on those able to become a real asset to the organization, not just those who have been loyal but utterly useless. There are many clichés about many things. Take time to analyze that they are not truths but sometimes meant to be excuses not to improve the situation.
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OVERACHIEVING IS A DISEASE7/14/2021  I hear from a lot of managers how their organizations want to achieve too much with a fraction of its real costs and get staff to do more than they can possibly accomplish.
The disease-to-overachieve that permeates in many organizational cultures is strong where the need is irrational leading to unhealthy decision options. Manager complain of longer work hours, additional responsibilities without supports, resources, and systems alignment, and expectations to be easy on the budget. Overachievement comes from fear. Fear of not measuring up; Fear of failure; Fear of being not being seen as a strong and viable entity; Fear of not being on par with your constituencies and networks; This fear is overcompensated by absorbing too much, too soon, and with too little. Scope creep becomes an accepted norm. Resisting this in a culture where more is great is near suicidal and would cost a career loss. I heard some time ago from a local town person that their local township is trying to be what it's not. People in the inside can't see this clearly. If you're caught up in the whirlwind of overachievement, ask your leaders, the following questions: 1. What exactly they want to remove off your plate so you can get things done on more important things? 2. What supports and resources are available right now to achieve these goals? 3. What goals are good-to-have and what are the musts? 4. What activities generate the best outcomes? These questions can lead to more realization and quite frankly, a light in the tunnel.
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WHEN EMOTIONS GET IN THE WAY7/7/2021  In an change effort, the worst leaders can do is to ignore the emotional aspect of the change process.
Impact organizations are 'people organizations.' The people are the lifeblood of the organization for which any discussion about growth, scaling-up, or stability is generally about how the people can be nurtured, developed, managed to get to your strategic objectives. While the change management field is filled with approaches and strategies to slay resistance and achieve a transformational change that any CEO would be proud of, in general, emotions can get the better of any leader. In a recent local change effort that I have studied, I noticed that the President in his speech only mentioned once that they will be compassionate with the people that will be affected by the change. Being compassionate is one thing but before they begin to determine the extent of impact that changes will have on staff, they should have the following at the back-end: 1) increased relations with every one concerned, even before the impacts will be felt, communicating what is to come and determining the best method to resolve it without accruing undue stress for staff; 2) increased trust-building; a low level of trust does not engender cooperation to find the best solutions for all parties; 3) increasing the voice of employees, whether they have a say or not, they should be informed and their voices heard; 4) build a strong follow-through in your every action; no one wants to be left behind after a decision had been made from the top; These are not good-t0-haves but are musts when it comes to managing the emotions, defusing tension, and building a more collaborative approach to solutions-finding. When one think that people will take a very rationale approach to changes is a very unfounded reaction. People have built in resistance to anything that could disrupt or alter their existing comforts, positions, and privileges. Moving them along towards a better state means more work on the journey where denial, resistance, and low-energy can bring your efforts to a grinding halt or slow motion. Emotions are powerful elements if used in a positive way. In reality, a negative emotion is a fact and must be managed well. It's risky to do all these steps after you have announced a change or about to announce one. |
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