Getting "It" Done

Do you have an "It" project that's been lingering around on your "should Do" list for a couple of months or more? You know the one... it's that project that you keep seeing on the periphery that just never seems to make it to the top of your "Must Do" list. Actually, it may even have a longer name. It could be that project you'll handle when you get "Around To It."

Whether you know it or not, that project is weighing you down. "It" could even be making it harder for you to accomplish your daily "Must Do's." Why put "It" off?

Here are some tips on getting "It" done:

1. Tell someone you are going to do "It." ~ Accountability is king! Having someone hold your feet to the fire, or just asking you a gentle question might be all you need to get "It" moving.

If you want assistance with accountability we can help. Comment on this blog and let us know what “It” you want to accomplish by what time frame. We will send you periodic emails asking how you are doing on accomplishing “It.” We help our network of consultants and coaches in this way all the time!

2. Give "It" your best time frame. ~ Estimate the number of hours you truly believe you have to dedicate in order to get "It" out of your way. Then evaluate your optimum time of day. Are you an early riser or a night owl? Do you do your best work in the middle of the night or the heat of the day? Maybe try switching it up. If you have been saving "It" for your prime time and it's not happened yet, why not allocate some off hours?

3. Be prepared to give "It" a rest. ~ You have probably been putting "It" off because "It's" a bear of a project. Make sure you build in some break time. And not just some "put my feet up and watch the weather" break time. Studies show brief periods of exercise such as a brisk walk can really help you jump back into "It" with gusto.

4. Make "It" a challenge. ~ It's already challenging, of course, or you would have accomplished it months ago, but there's nothing like a healthy bet with yourself to keep you motivated. If you estimate it will take you a full 12 hours to complete "It", assign a goal-bust time. Have a race with yourself to complete it in 11 hours.

5. "It" deserves a prize. ~ Be sure to give yourself a reward for a job well done. It could be something simple like having your favorite decadent treat for dinner instead of waiting for dessert, or treating your car (and yourself) to the premium detail package next time it's due for a wash, or allowing yourself an hour of relaxation in the middle of the day.

Whatever “It” is... you'll be glad to get "It" out of your way so you can reap the business benefits.

As A Leader, Am I Holding Myself Accountable?

Several leaders I know are fond of saying “We have to hold our people accountable.” I think the process of making sure people need to step up to responsibility is a good one, but it really needs to start at the top. Unfortunately, I see many top leaders failing to hold themselves accountable first.

Let’s envision a plant manager who has a problem of extremely low morale in the factory. The supervisors are telling the manager that people are upset because of no raise in 3 years and the threats of layoffs. They are tired of being abused and kept in the dark. The productivity is at an all time low, and the only way to take cost out is to further reduce the workforce. If you were that manager, how would you go about engineering a rapid turnaround in the performance of your plant?

One interesting strategy is push your chair back from the desk, stand up, walk down the hall, go in the bathroom, look in the mirror, and ask yourself some tough questions like the following:

• Morale is terrible in this plant, and as the manager in charge, how have I been contributing to this problem?

• What is preventing me from fully holding myself accountable for this awful situation?

• In what ways have I been trying to lay the blame on the supervisors, employees, bad economy, suppliers, business downturn, competition, etc.

• How can I deal with the current situation and business environment in a more empowering and effective way for all concerned?

• What fundamental changes in the structure, behaviors, values, and vision am I going to make to completely change the environment?

• What behaviors do I need to change, starting right now, to build a culture of higher trust?

• In what ways can I change the attitudes of the workers by changing my own attitudes and behaviors?

• Since bonuses, or picnics, or parties, or hat days are not going to have much impact on long term motivation, how can I find out what really will inspire people and then implement the proper changes to the environment?

• How can I be a better mentor for my supervisors as well as train them to be better mentors to their own staff?

• How am I going to find a way to quadruple the time I have available to communicate with people?

• Do I need assistance to solve these issues? If so, what kind of help could I use and where can I find it?

• How can I know if or when it is time to pursue other opportunities and let someone with a different skill set handle the turnaround?

Yes, that is tough medicine, and yet I believe if the cold realities in these questions were internalized by some top leaders, conditions might start to change. It is only through the behaviors and attitudes of the top leaders that real changes can be made in an organization. Once top leaders step up to their own accountability, then the rest of the organization will quickly become enrolled in a new and positive vision for the enterprise.

Accountability is Key

Unless you have been living in a cave for the last few years (which actually may turn out to be a good thing,) you will be very aware that the world economy has been going thru some pretty rough patches. The doom and gloom reporting of the media reminds us daily that we are suffering a global recession that could take years to end.

If you are familiar with Spencer Johnson’s allegory called Who Moved My Cheese? you could be forgiven for thinking that your cheese definitely got moved!

Now, most of us will have some opinion of how this sorry situation came about. Hot contenders for blame range from the greed of the financial institutions to the inadequacies of the lending processes, from the outrageous bonuses promised to bankers to Joe Public who went way over his credit limit when he borrowed money to buy a house he just could not afford.

Whilst financial institutions are challenging and/or grudgingly accepting proposals for increased regulation of compensation and bonuses, many of them (including some of those heavily bailed out by government) are complying with new rules to reduce bonuses whilst increasing base salaries to compensate staff that would lose out.

We have to retain good staff, of course!

Accountability is Key

Let’s put the word “Accountability” on the lab table and dissect it so that we can explore the complete understanding of the word.

Business Dictionary defines “Accountability” as:

Obligation of an individual, firm, or institution to account for its activities, accept responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in a transparent manner. It also includes the responsibility for money or other entrusted property.

My old copy of The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines “Accountable” as:

Responsible; required to account for one’s conduct (accountable for one’s actions).

Which is echoed in the online version of The Compact Oxford English Dictionary.

So, in the great scheme of things, whatever happened to accountability?

Personal Accountability

When I was a Project Manager – I was responsible for delivering projects within the triple constraints of project management, whilst the upper management was ultimately accountable for liability, direction, vision etc. However, I held myself personally accountable to the client, their relations, to myself and to any higher being who might be interested.

When I moved into the consulting sector I began to understand more of accountability for sales revenues, for knowing about my territory and customers needs, and for being a responsible and honorable representative of my company. I understood that commissions (i.e. the cash in my pocket) would increase or decrease in line with my activities and results, so that I was also accountable for my take home pay.

Organizational Accountability

When I became a senior manager I learned more of operational accountability and performance bonuses, both individual and for team achievements. I had “soft” targets about how I did my job, but the cash still followed the overall revenue and profit budget locally, regionally and at a corporate level.

Again, I held myself personally accountable for the well being and development of my staff, but their pay and bonuses would be awarded based on mutually agreed targets. All of us were subject to a corporate ruling that poor results = low or zero bonuses and the possibility of a pay freeze until the next year. Each year we would receive the rules that would be applied to our particular situation, changed as necessary to reflect corporate drivers. After all, if the corporation did not survive none of us had jobs!

One year we had achieved very average local results, so although the profit margins were not badly hit, the management performance bonuses were negligible. Another year we did ok in some departments and the staff all received good bonuses, but overall the corporation’s operating results were below projections so the management’s performance bonuses suffered.

Yet another year we massively exceeded all our operational targets nationally and received substantial rewards in line with the annual guidelines, even though other international subsidiaries suffered because their results were not up to the mark. Our local performance had boosted the overall corporate outcome on that occasion, allowing bonuses to be paid.

Did we retain our good staff, even in the lean times? Yes we did, because each of us took ownership of the part we had to play in the success of our worldwide team, as well as locally.

Nobody likes to be blamed for bad results and as leaders the buck might really stop with us. By acknowledging our own levels of accountability and clearly identifying to our team the expectations for their deliverables, we are more likely to stay ahead of the game and maybe even spot new cheese (opportunity) in times of change.

What are you personally accountable for? 

Are you willing to stand up and be counted when something goes wrong – then take corrective actions whilst learning from the experience? 

And when things go right, do you also try to learn something from the experience and pass that knowledge on? 

Do your team members also know what they are accountable for and understand the consequences of their performance in relation to themselves and to the wider organization?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Three Most Difficult Words for Leaders to Say

As leaders, we all know the importance of setting a good example.

It’s one of the five fundamental practices of exemplary leadership. It obviously makes sense to set a good example. Why, then, is it hard to admit a mistake?

After all, we want those we work with to be accountable and accept responsibility for their actions.

The 3 Hardest Words to Say

I think the three hardest words for a leader to say are, ‘I was wrong.’ I would like to be able to say that I have never made a mistake… that I was never wrong, but you all know I would be lying. The fact is, I have made a number of mistakes as a leader… and I hated when it happened!

Even worse, though, was having to admit ‘I was wrong’… sometimes in front of a group of people with whom I worked.

And yet, I can honestly say that I never walked away with a sense that I lost “market share” as a leader. If anything, I felt the opposite occurred. People seemed to respect the fact that I would admit that I made a mistake. Of course, the admission was usually accompanied by an apology or sharing steps I would take to fix my blunder. But, depending on the mistake, this may not be enough.

Difficult Getting Real

We have all heard comments like; ‘to err is human.’ If we as leaders believe this, then why is it so difficult for us to be real… to admit we made a mistake? Too often, leaders try to ignore a mistake… pretending it didn’t occur, cover it up, or blame someone else. And yes, if I am honest with myself, I am sure that somewhere along the way I have done these too.

What’s one of the most damaging outcomes of not admitting mistakes or that we were wrong? Loss of trust! Stephen Covey in his book, The Speed of Trust, quotes a variety of statistics that show the lack of trust. Among them are the following:

• 51% of employees have trust and confidence in senior management.
• 36% of employees believe their leaders act with honesty and integrity.

Covey goes on to say that trust is the ‘key leadership competency of the new global economy.’

According to Leigh Branham in The 7 Hidden Reasons People Leave, one of the top seven reasons voluntarily separate from an organization is loss of trust and confidence in senior leaders. So, not only may we lose the trust of others, but we may lose good employees.

Moving On

What do we do when we make a mistake? Dennis and Michelle Reina in their book Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace, suggest there are a number of actions we can take and among them are ‘admit mistakes.’

When we admit mistakes, we and others can learn from those mistakes, as well as open the door to restore trust.

How about you? How do you handle mistakes? Do you tend to admit them or take some other option? What suggestions can you offer to help other leaders to be honest enough to admit their mistakes?  What are other impacts for failing to say, ‘I was wrong?’ What do you think are the three hardest words for Leaders to say?

But They are Not Me

I was on a hike with my friend Cliff, when he started talking about how he gets great photos of all his outdoor adventures right there on his cell phone.

“It’s so easy, Surya,” he said, “You just plug your phone into a USB port on your computer, upload to your Pictures folder…” as he kept describing the steps I’d have to take, it started to sound less and less like English and I kept asking more questions. He stopped short of saying, “C’mon, any dummy can do it,” but I could tell that’s what he was thinking.

Easy? I don’t think so. Not for me.

“So, Cliff,” I interrupted, “How’s your [blog] article writing coming along these days?”

As Cliff knows, I have been writing articles my whole life.

“What’s the problem, Cliff? It’s so easy! You just think of something, imagine what you would do in a similar situation and describe it in simple words. That's all there is to it.”

He got my point.

Technology is easy for Cliff. Writing comes easier to me.

What’s this got to do with leadership and accountability? The people you work with are not you. There are going to be tasks in the work day that come more naturally to you than to them.

They are not you.

This is one of the first things I remind leaders of when they start complaining that a person or team is not living up to their expectation. When what the leader is really expecting is what THEY would do in the same situation.

The key is to approach these situations respectfully and professionally. You don’t rub it in people’s face or act as though there’s something wrong with them. They are not you. And that’s not a fault, it’s a fact. There are plenty of things they are good at that you are not. Acknowledge people for their strengths, and then clearly define what you want them to do; without assuming they should already know, and without judging them for not knowing.

They are not you. And don’t forget it.

While many people would rather die than speak in front of a group, public speaking is another one of those things that comes naturally to Dr. Surya Ganduri. He offers keynotes, presentations, tele-seminars and webinars as well as corporate and annual meetings, offsite retreats and full-day or half-day facilitated workshops designed to suit your business culture and help you create accountability throughout your organization. Contact him today to find out more.

Quantum Physics of Belief - Awareness

For the past few months, I was writing about our beliefs thru the science of consciousness and extending those patterns to the business world, to suggest innovative ways of using this wisdom to lead and succeed in a business environment that is constantly evolving at a rapid pace. Once we reach a greater understanding of how our thoughts and beliefs, in addition to actions, are actualizing the world, our organizations will run differently. This realization sheds light on how the role of leadership is changing and which types of leaders will become the most sought after in the 21^st century.

As per quantum physics, the thoughts and beliefs of people in an organization have an impact on the events that occur. In particular, when groups of people intend that a particular outcome is achieved, the intentions themselves have an impact on events, so that the outcome is more likely to occur in the direction of the intentions. An intention is a conscious desire for a particular outcome and a belief that the outcome can be influenced.

To have the highest intentions for the success of an organization, be it a business or a nation, people need to feel responsible for it. Taking responsibility for something means you understand you have a role in creating it and therefore can help create something different. Even if we haven’t taken action to contribute to a particular organizational outcome, our thoughts and beliefs are influencing the outcome of any organization of which we are part of. When we accept this responsibility, we stop blaming others for the outcomes, and naturally develop intentions for the success of the organization. These intentions then help promote success.

Our businesses and societies will therefore, be better off when people accept their responsibilities for having created the current conditions and then lend their intentions, if not also their actions, to improving conditions. Ultimately, each individual will have to decide whether they accept this responsibility and where they will place the focus of their intentions. Inevitably, leaders play a pivotal role by either helping or hindering a strong sense of responsibility in their organizations. So the question is ‘how good are our current leadership practices at getting people to feel responsible for the outcomes?’

The answer to this is complex and multi-faceted, but for now let’s focus on the degree of egocentricity that leaders possess. The reality is that most business leaders got to a position of leadership by showing that they were better than others, so it’s natural for them to continue to proliferate that feeling. Furthermore, business structures are hierarchical in nature, and top executives really are held more accountable than those at lower levels. These factors are a natural hindrance to getting all employees of a company to feel responsible for the company’s outcomes.

I must point out that I am not talking about just holding people accountable for the results of their job. There is a huge difference between a person feeling motivated to achieve specific job results vs. feeling responsible for the outcomes of the business.

Getting all employees to feel responsible for business outcomes requires that we adopt a different belief about what type of leader is most effective and then begin to choose different types of leaders. We need leaders who are humble, to the point of being understated and even self-effacing. This doesn’t mean they are not strong enough to make tough decisions, because they need to be, but they need to be able to stand in the presence of their followers without usurping their power. Business research actually shows this type of leader is more effective.

As a leader, the way you perceive the world around you has a huge impact on your decisions. The way you perceive is determined by all the life you have been living (or NOT living) until now!

There are many levels of decision making and the way you perceive your surroundings determine if you are a great decision maker or just an average Joe trying to make it through the day.

There is a new paradigm emerging. Until now mankind has allowed itself to blame anything and anybody for almost everything and thus leave huge opportunities to take responsibility behind. Huge opportunities to become better at being human beings and greater Leaders in our families, our lives, our communities and even in our countries have been left behind.

This psychological malfunction has brought humanity to where we are today and the leaders of today – whether we are leading multinational companies or we are leading our selves through life, are going to be extinct very soon if this continues. Evolution is determined by survival of the fittest and until now this blaming strategy has somehow worked – at least to some degree. The strategy is: I am right therefore you are wrong! Or I am innocent and you are guilty. Polarization. Segregation.

We must realize that this strategy will destroy us if we continue. Or at least it will destroy the archetype of blaming which is needed, and make a perfect transition into a new era. The old strategy was dividing everything – in me and you, good or bad etc. The new strategy which we will need to make a decent world is: Wholeness!

We have to learn to think in 'us' instead of 'you or me'. Every decision a leader makes that is based solely on his or her own perception of life is doomed to fail. (S)He does not realize that even the smallest decision is a thread in a web that includes all living creatures, and anything from 'outside' can make their decision fail. You can't make a decision without being aware of everything else that can influence your decision and you can't be aware if you don't train your awareness!! Just like you can't play piano like Mozart without practicing!

This awareness has multiple levels. The first level is to be aware of yourself! You have to be aware of your emotions, your thoughts, your (determined) actions, and your behavior. You MUST know why you have the feelings you experience. You have to know why you think the thoughts you are thinking. You have to know why you are acting the way you are acting. You have to be able to watch your self from outside your self!

The next level is the same but your awareness now includes other people’s thoughts, feelings and behavior. The ability to be aware of other peoples’ lives is much easier if you know and understand what is going on inside your self. First it is our family and close colleagues. Next it is those that I don't know personally but they come and go in my life. It is people from other departments in my company; it's the people on the street and in the shops. Those I see but not necessarily talk to.

The third level is to apply the same awareness to the whole world. Be aware of everything; All the time. And make decisions accordingly…

We are going to change evolution. This is not an easy task. But on top of the biological evolution we now have to focus on the evolution of consciousness; We even have to add the evolution of consciousness.

We all have a responsibility for this planet. It is not just those we pay to run our country that has this responsibility. We ALL have! And the only way we can do it right is by training our personal awareness skills.

One of the absolute key traits of The New Leader is Self Awareness. Know thy self. This kind of personal mastery demands having a heightened understanding of one's own behavior, limitations and motivations, skills and a mindset of Global awareness.

The patriarchal leader is on his way to extinction. He did not make it through evolution of awareness and now The New Leader evolves and takes over the world stage. The old leader was disciplined and there were no room for emotions as they could negatively influence decisions – well some people really believed this stuff! On our way to Leadership at the World Stage, Awareness and Leadership becomes wholeness. The outcome is Impact, Power, Insight, Integrity, Ethics beyond measure and Social and Emotional Intelligence. Creative Intelligence followed by Spiritual Intelligence will also be active ingredients in Leader Skills in the future.

The lessons we learn from scientific and business research can give us great insight into how to improve the leadership of nations. Here is a radical statement but one that is supported by research: stop making governments responsible for the economy. The science and business research show us that we are collectively creating the conditions of our economy and, furthermore, that getting everyone to take responsibility for it will improve the conditions. Yet we are continually expecting our leaders to fix it and then blaming them when they can’t.

I have no desire to get into a discussion of which political ideals are more correct. However, I do think John F. Kennedy was on the right track when he said “ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”.  These words reflect an understanding of the importance of each person taking responsibility for the world we are creating.