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| More Gazing into the Boss Mirror |
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In the September issue of the Leader Letter I provided links to my latest article published in The Globe & Mail ("Bad Boss: Learn how to Manage Your Manager") as well as additional articles and other thoughts on upward leadership (click here to read that issue). In October's Leader Letter, I reproduced an e-mail from a reader who felt I was doing too much manager bashing (click here to read the e-mail and my response).
I also reprinted Sherry Janzen's e-mail revealing how she tries to
avoid being a bad boss and her amazement at how some people end up in
those positions (click here to read her message).
Following
are two new messages that continue the discussion and provide more
useful personal reflection and thoughts on the topic.
Hi, Jim,
It's been awhile...but I've been reading you and recommending you all over the world!
I
am chuckling at the feedback as to your alleged "manager bashing." I am
with you, Jim - creating discomfort is needed because unless one has a
"visceral" reaction, there is ZERO motivation to change. I learned a
simple model almost 20 years ago about changing behavior - 1)
Awareness; 2) Breakthrough in Knowledge; 3) CHOOSING a breakthrough in
thinking (motivated by the visceral reaction to the Knowledge); 4)
Breakthrough in behavior.
Why
does SO much literature "coddle" people? It is a privilege to manage
and they should be fed back the consequences of their behaviors on
their people.
I also chuckle at
people who actually believe that mediocre/bad managers will recognize
themselves in "coddle speak." I've heard a good saying: "Jerks are like
vampires…you hold up a mirror and they see nothing."
Not
only does the person need to have the visceral reaction to become
"conscious," but they also need to realize that their current behavior
is NOT working and then need to CHOOSE to change their "belief system,"
which, as you also know, anyone can do for a day/week. It's when the
belief system is truly changed long term that the "breakthrough in
behavior" is observed.
As always, regards and deepest respect,
- Davis Balestracci
Hi Jim,
I
was put into a supervisory position albeit a small department with few
persons to supervise at a point in my life where I was still trying to
figure out whom I was. My thoughts and actions were clearly (clear now
that I look through the window that only time, experience and education
provides) formed by ego and outside influences. Through developing
mind, body and spirit I have begun to lead more through conscience than
ego, feelings rather than facts and people rather than things.
My
fear is that the people who need and can benefit the most from the
numerous articles and books from the Clemmer's and Covey's of the world
are the least likely to pick them up. They are not listening to the
feedback they are getting and quite possibly are okay with okay. The
purveyor's of the status quo who are in a position of leadership are
the bad bosses; focusing on numbers and results while turning a blind,
uninformed eye to the needs and wants of those who look to them for
guidance.
Committing to life long
learning and valuing feedback that we must seek from those we interact
with is the only way we can go from "bad boss" to inspirational leader.
I am enjoying immensely the process of leadership development and am
excited by the positive changes in professional and personal
relationships that have occurred over the last 10 years. The journey to
the stage in life where we can impact others lives in a positive manner
is wonderful and one without a final destination. Having a life partner
and work partners that are enjoying the journey with you is invaluable.
Thanks for doing what you do Jim. It is inspiring and I sincerely appreciate your efforts to help.
- Ken Chisholm CSP, Corporate Sales and Marketing Manager, Great Western Containers Inc.
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| Key Notes about Keynotes |
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Recently Corporate Meetings & Events magazine asked me to contribute an article responding to the question "How can the speaker's presentation go beyond leadership theories to provide practical applications for my audience?" Following is my response. I will admit to more than a little bias in providing this advice!
If you go to Amazon.com and search the books section on the word "leader," you'll be presented with a selection of over 240,000 books!
That's a big reading list! The choice today can be equally daunting
when it comes to choosing a speaker to help audiences improve their
leadership. And like the selection of leadership books, speakers come
in a wide range of styles and approaches. They also range from
beginning speakers with little experience to grizzled veterans who have
earned every one of their battle scars, grey hairs, or square inch of
expanded scalp skin.
The big
challenge for meeting planners is to match a speaker's style,
experience, and approach to their audiences. Keynote speaking is in the
midst of a major transition. Many audience members have heard and
forgotten dozens or even hundreds of speakers. Some of the better ones
have entertained and perhaps provided a welcome humor break from
serious meeting business. Other good speakers have brought relevant
experience that educated and stretched listeners to apply new
approaches. But the best – and rarest – speakers have "edutained" their
audiences with a rare combination of both humor and powerful insights.
Just
as customers today are demanding "just in time, just for me" from
companies, audiences are losing patience with speakers using overly
theoretical or purely entertaining approaches. It's often useful to
learn "what's new." But it's even more useful to learn "what's
working." The most powerful keynote presentations today are well
researched, relevant, and tailored to the audience's industry,
organization, or profession. These presentations are delivered by
professional speakers who are currently working with individuals,
management teams, or organizations to implement their ideas. This
experience can then be brought to the platform to illustrate key
messages with current examples and humorous anecdotes or insights.
"Edutaining" speakers go beyond theoretical concepts or general
principles to practical applications that audience members can use the
very first day they get back to their workplace.
Effective
professional speakers bring an outside expert's view and voice to
reinforce and inspire the changes needed inside the organization. The
better ones speak, train, and facilitate dozens of times per year with
a wide variety of groups across industries and countries. They rarely
give the same presentation, workshop, or retreat twice. When coupled
with extensive writing of books, articles, or columns the credibility
and depth of expertise shines through to audiences and deepens the
impact of their presentation.
To
avoid being burned by a speaker who looks great on a demo video clip or
has an impressive looking background, effective meeting planners dig
deeper into the speaker's experience and referrals or testimonials. Do
his or her keynotes, workshop, retreats, or consulting draw from a core
of simple and practical frameworks that have evolved over years of
extensive research, writing, and application? Does the speaker tailor
his or her presentations to the audience's needs or meeting themes? Can
the meeting planner review a list of presentations showing the ways the
speaker has tailored presentations in the past?
One
way to assure that a speaker is relevant and practical is to establish
his or her track record of repeat Clients and long term consulting or
training relationships. Are his or her approaches and material good
enough to continue working with? Or is the speaker's client list a
series of one-time engagements?
Another
way to assure the quality of a speaker is to determine if he or she is
Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). The CSP is the only earned
designation for professional speakers. It signifies "exceptional
achievement through a proven record of speaking experience." CSP
speakers meet rigorous requirements for a number of fee-paid
presentations, number of clients, continuing education credits, and
consecutive years of successful business experience. Less than 3% of
the estimated 15,000 speakers in the world have the CSP designation.
The
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word "practical" as "relating
to, or manifested in practice or action: not theoretical or ideal."
Speakers that connect with and impact today's audiences blend
inspiration and an entertaining style with highly practical
applications that move listeners to action.
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| Pet E-mail Peeves |
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As I continue my campaign to tame the e-mail beast (click here to read the September 2004 issue dedicated to this BIG and growing problem),
I find that so many managers in the audiences I work with vigorously
nod their heads at the need to develop e-mail ground rules within their
organizations. But most seem to feel powerless to do much about it and
are content to point fingers at "they" to fix the problem. That's
classic victim behavior. It sure ain't leadership!
An item in the September 23, 2005 Globe & Mail
entitled, "Less is more for office e-mail: poll" reports that
"twenty-nine per cent of 250 advertising and marketing executives
polled cited being copied on superfluous 'reply all' messages as the
most irksome e-mail practice." Overly long messages annoyed another 16
per cent in the survey and 13 per cent were irritated by typos or
grammatical errors.
What are your e-mail
peeves and suggestions for taming the beast? Send me (you can even cc
the entire CLEMMER Group) an e-mail (as long as you'd like with typos
or grammatical errors if you want) to [email protected] (you will need to have my address correct or the Great E-mail Guardian will disgustedly hurl it off into cyberspace).
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| Defining and Living Organizational Values |
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The
CLEMMER Group has been working with the Canadian division of an
internationally owned services business. The company has been in Canada
for just ten years and growing very rapidly. This spring, we started
working with them to define and more effectively shape their
organizational culture, after one of the senior executives read my Globe & Mail article on "Team Spirit Built from the Top" (click here to read the article).
A
key part of any culture shaping is clearly defining and living a core
set of four values (there should never be more than five). We started
the process during a two-day off-site retreat (that included other
assessment, priority setting, and strategic planning activities). The
CEO and EVP then put together a lengthy first draft refining rough
vision, mission, and values we did at the retreat. Following is my
response to this draft as we got ready for the next steps at a
follow-up retreat.
We had another follow
up day with the full management team in October where the values were
finalized and we directly or indirectly focused our discussions on
living the values through their ongoing organization improvement and
business planning processes. The CLEMMER Group is now working with them
to refine core competencies, extensive communication strategies and
processes, leadership training programs, a "(ABC) Way" cultural
awareness program rolled out through the whole company, project teams
developing and steering detailed implementation plans around the
company's key business and culture shaping objectives, and the like.
All of this will revolve around their core values.
Hi "Mike,"
You
have put together a very strong draft to work from here. I have helped
hundreds of management teams develop and live values over the past few
decades. I've found that the process of developing your values and the
discipline of living them are ultimately more important than the final
document itself. Below are a few articles on our web site I recommend
you read (click on the titles to be linked to the full article). Most
of this material comes from my Pathways to Performance book.
Bridging the Rhetoric-Reality Values Gap
Show, do not just tell what the organization stands for. Senior
management must work as a team to lower the teamwork snicker factor
when declaring teamwork to be a core value.
Bringing Values to Life
A key test of whether core values are alive and real in an organization
is to ask team members at random to recite those values. If they can't
do it without referring to a piece of paper, there are either too many
values or they aren't being used in daily operations.
Pathways and Pitfalls to Clarifying Organizational Values
Effectively using values to care for the context and provide focus to a
team or organization can be very difficult leadership acts. Discover
the Clarifying Organizational Values approaches that can help you to
avoid the pitfalls and pave your organization's pathway to success.
Pathways and Pitfalls to Living Organizational Values
Core values are critical to effectively leading people. Discover the
Living Organizational Values approaches that can help you to avoid the
pitfalls and pave your organization's pathway to success.
Two Keys to Adding Values
Designing statements, putting them into action and consistently showing
what the organization stands for.
Here are a few suggestions I'd give you based on this draft:
- Boil
all this down to a one page summary. The full explanation you have here
is excellent for giving more depth and richness to what's intended. But
you need a simple statement to capture your vision, 3-5 values words or
short phrases, and a statement of your purpose. This "one pager" can
then be the poster of (ABC's) Vision/Values/Purpose that you hang on
the wall, put in plans, reports, etc. and is top of mind for everyone.
- Rather
than using general philosophical quotations you might drop them
altogether or put in statements from your family's founders/heritage to
show how the traditions/philosophies continue.
- I
don't clearly see the connections between the notes from the vision and
values session of our retreat last spring and this document. I am sure
you and "Joe" built on this work in putting this together. You should
show the connection or use some of the words (possibly could be in the
discussion with the management team) from this session.
Now
that you have developed this draft – and once you have the one page
summary – we need to get the management team involved in debating and
discussing what's meant by what you've written here. The session in
October would be the ideal retreat setting for this. As I've outlined
in some of the articles above, the second part to this exercise is to
discuss what living these values would mean for everyone in management.
We could do a version of Keep/Stop/Start doing in discussing management
behavior for that discussion. We would likely have them read the above
articles in preparation for this discussion.
Great
start! I look forward to working with you to further refine and bring
alive this document. It will be the centerpiece of the culture you want
to build for (ABC).
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Permission to Reprint: You may reprint any items from the Leader Letter in your own printed publication or e-newsletter as long as you include this paragraph:
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"Reprinted with permission from the Leader Letter,
Jim Clemmer's free e-newsletter. For over 25 years, Jim's 2,000+
practical leadership presentations and workshops/retreats, five
bestselling books, columns, and newsletters have been helping hundreds
of thousands of people worldwide. His web site is www.clemmer.net."
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| Thoughts That Make You Go Hmmmm...on Values |
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"I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them."
- George W. Bush, American President
"We
did not find any specific ideological content essential to being a
visionary company. Our research indicates that the authenticity of the
ideology and the extent of which a company attains consistent alignment
with the ideology counts more than the content of the ideology. "
- James C. Collins and Jerry Porras, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
"Mission
and vision statements have almost always given me a sense of sadness
because they are written without insight and, consequently, have the
spiritual depth of a dime. How many employees in your company have the
corporate mission statement taped to their refrigerator at home because
it excites their soul into action on Monday morning?"
- Ian Percy, Going Deep
"But
in order to reap those rewards, we must begin our research for meaning
when things are going well. A tree with strong roots can withstand the
most violent storm, but the tree can't grow roots just as the storm
appears on the horizon."
- The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, The Art of Happiness
"Arthur
Andersen, Enron, and Salomon Brothers were all brought down, or nearly
so, by the rogue actions of a tiny few. But the bad apples in these
companies grew and flourished in the same kind of environment: a rotten
corporate culture. It's impossible to monitor the actions of every
employee, no matter how many accounting and compliance controls you put
in place. But either implicitly or explicitly, a company's cultural
code is supposed to equip front-line employees to make the right
decisions without supervision."
- Ram Charan and Jerry Useem, "Why Companies Fail," Fortune
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| My New Appointment at University of Waterloo |
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This
summer I was appointed as a Practitioner in Residence for the masters
(MASc) and doctoral (PhD) students in the University of Waterloo's
Industrial/Organizational Psychology program. Part of what I will try
to bring students is a chance to see the theories they study applied in
real organizational situations through live case studies. That
certainly fits with my focus on practical leadership. My first worry
about the title was that I would have to live in residence at the
university (having visited the residence of our two oldest kids in
their first years at another university). I was relieved to learn that
won't be the case! Since this is a new position, we're still trying to
define the ways I can help the program. After an initial meeting with
the faculty and students, I am looking forward to contributing to this
fine school and program.
You can get more information on the UW program here.
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| Coming Events |
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Navigating Adversity - very low cost ($25 per person) presentation in Kitchener, ON Canada - November 19 and 20, 2005
It's
been a few years since I have delivered any low cost fund raising
sessions in my hometown - the Kitchener-Waterloo area. I am especially
excited to provide this two hour presentation on Navigating Adversity.
For only $25 you get a ticket to the presentation and a copy of Growing the Distance: Timeless Principles for Personal, Career, and Family Success
(that retails for $25 alone) - and ALL the proceeds go directly to the
High on Life Challenge to help teenagers in our community (everyone's
time, the space, and all materials are donated)!
This
presentation is a unique chance for me to talk about my personal growth
approaches that are rapidly evolving and resonating with audiences,
relate a recent health challenge (where I got to intensely practice the
mind/body/spirit connections I have been preaching for years), raise
funds for a very worthy cause, introduce people to the Unity Centre and
it's principles that have been so helpful to Heather and I for the last
16 years, and provide how-to approaches for harnessing the power of
visualization and affirmations.
If
you're familiar with my approaches and have heard me speak before, this
is a unique chance to get an update and a recharge. It's also a rare
chance to bring loved ones, a spouse, friends, or co-workers who may be
struggling with difficult challenges or could use some inspiration and
practical tools for looking at their situation - or life - in a new way.
The
great thing about the Unity Centre is that it's small and intimate.
That also means we don't have a lot of seating available. We are
expecting sell outs for all sessions. So register early to avoid
disappointment. It could be a few more years until I do something like
this again.
Click here for more information and to register.
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| Top Improvement Points from October |
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| Putting the VIP in The VIP Strategy |
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A reader from Tunisia writes,
"I really would like to know what VIP stands for in The VIP Strategy."
During
our Achieve Group days in the mid 1980s, Art McNeil and I put this book
together, structured around the firm's "Vision Integrated Performance"
model for team and organizational leadership. When Key Porter published
the book in 1988 (my first), we all decided it would be fitting to also
talk about The Very Important People Strategy. So the title has a
double meaning.
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| Feedback and Follow-Up |
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Hello Jim,
I
just wanted to say that your e-mails and web site are fantastic! I met
you at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer last fall when you
presented on the LEADER Course. Your book, The Leader's Digest was inspiring! Your experience and examples have helped me in my profession!
Thanks!
Ivan L'Ortye, Dundas Ontario
I am always delighted to hear from readers of the Leader Letter with feedback, reflections, suggestions, or differing points of view. Nobody is ever identified in the Leader Letter without their permission.
I
am also happy to explore customized, in-house adaptations of any of my
material for your team or organization. Drop me an e-mail at [email protected].
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Keep learning, laughing, loving, and leading -- living life just for the L of it!
Jim
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post or pass this newsletter on to colleagues, clients, or associates
you think might be interested. If you received this newsletter from
someone else, and would like to subscribe, click here: www.clemmer.net/subscribe.shtml Phone: (519) 748-1044 ~ Fax: (519) 748-5813 ~ E-mail: [email protected]
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| Copyright 2005, Jim Clemmer, The CLEMMER Group |
