Observations and Considerations - Page 3 of 4

May 12 2017

The Unrivaled Leader : Part 5 – How to Interview

In the support of brevity, I will now provide some basic guidelines for interviewing and hiring that have worked well for me. This again is based on both great successes and disturbing horror stories related to interviewing applicants.

One thing to keep in mind is that this whole notion of Human Resources giving you 90-days of a probationary period in which you can release a new hire for “no reason” is pure bunk. I’ve had little success in trying to accomplish this probationary release process. In the end, handling new hire performance issues ends up being no different from doing the same for tenured staff. Thus, hiring the right person is key, unless you like spending months documenting and reviewing performance issues.

Infrequently in my career, I’ve wished that I could just “fire” someone on the spot. No, not a “you’re fired” because someone pushed my buttons. Rather, in the case of a mediocre performer who is able to just bubble up high enough to get off of various warnings and probationary statuses. I have also come across staff that can game the system and works their way around the various liability concerns Human Resources wraps around performance management. I understand why HR does this, but it’s still frustrating. The same is true for someone who slowly destroys your culture. There is a need to be able to say “you there, get out” with a modicum of HR documentation required.

And that’s why it’s important to get the hiring process right.
The key parts of the interview:

Your preparation – this is tantamount, and important, too!

Don’t show up at the interview not having read the applicant’s cover letter and resume.

It’s very obvious to me when someone is scanning my resume for the first time. Schedule 15 minutes prior to the interview to read the resume and jot some questions. You can even have a standard set of questions you start with within all interviews. If you’re on a panel, share those questions with others on the panel. This way they are aware of where you’re going with the questions and can make sure they don’t go the same place or can provide supporting questions.

The Technical Portion – this should be pretty clear. In this case, you want to verify that the person knows the technical skills they portrayed in their resume and that you will require on the job. You should be able to ask very specific questions regarding technology, such as “so how does a web service work?” But be specific. And don’t resume-spew. That is, don’t spend the time showing off just how much you know.

Side Note: For many years, I used a technical test that I wrote myself which was wide and shallow (just like me!). It had a large number of questions across many IT disciplines (SQL, C programming, web programming, object-oriented programming). The applicant was forced to take it in pen on paper. The grading was not to pass/fail. While we did look for correct answers, we gave credit in areas where the person showed creativity or at least understood the concept. Applicants hated that test. I had my own team take it and they all fared very well. It was very useful because it gave us a unique view into the problem-solving technique of each applicant. We even had some that refused to take the test and thus we bade them farewell. We EVEN had a headhunting organization try to steal a copy of the test because it was intimidating their applicants so much.

What doesn’t work well is having the applicant face a panel of technical staff members who then grill this person on all sorts of discrete information. It’s glee-filling for the technical interviewers but borderline abusive for the applicant. Unless the position is very, very technical, I would avoid a panel technical interview and instead do something one on one.

Also, don’t press the applicant with trick questions or questions so pathological that one would never use such a skill in the real job.

I was once asked how to fill an array of 256 unique random integers using a single C statement. I was able to come up with a way, but not the way they were looking for. Frankly, if any of my developers wrote code like that, I would have chased them around the department with a stick. Useless questions that made me question the competence of my interviewers are not appropriate.

The “What If You Were A Tree?” Question – this is a classic. You ask someone some odd question to see how they answer it. Avoid this technique. It’s a cliché.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times – Actually, this is one of my favorite techniques. The questions revolve around “describe a time when something went really well” and then “describe a time when something went very badly”.

First, if they cannot come up with a disaster in their career, and this is not an entry-level position, then there’s a problem. It’s the same problem if they cannot come up with something that went really well! Maybe even a worse problem.

Listen for how the applicant describes the situation.

Do they say “I” and “me” a lot? Was the good situation all about him/her and the bad all about the failures of others? Press for details. Was there any recognition after the good event? Was there a price to pay for the bad event? What was the root cause of the failure? How was it mitigated going forward? What could they have done differently?

This is a solid type of question you should ask at each interview.

That annoying tick – this one is simple. Think back to when you were dating someone and how on the first one or two dates, some particular habit was cute. For example, being called “babe”. Then think about how after fifteen dates, you cringed each time your significant other said “babe”, often thirty or forty times each day. Little habits that come up during an interview will be unbelievably irritating and not so endearing months later.
Other “affectations” to look for include:

Lots of sarcasm or joking. Some joking is fine, but you don’t want to hire a clown or someone insulting.
Lots of talking. Simple questions that turn into long-winded expositions that wander here and there.
A lot of “me” talk, as in describing in great detail the wonderful traits they have, the amazing places they’ve been, the totally desirable lifestyle they lead, and so on.
Not answering questions. Listen to the answer. Are they answering the question you asked? If not, interrupt them and pose the question again.
Too loud / too soft. Does the applicant speak so quietly that you have to strain to hear or are they very loud? If those sorts of things matter, think about passing on this applicant.
They only speak to the males (females) on the interview panel. Odd behavior, something to keep an eye on. Is there some sexism going on?
They don’t seem to know anything about your organization (outside applicants). Really? They never took the time to Google information on your organization? To me, that smacks of being unprepared. Ask directly “did you research our organization prior to coming to the interview?” If they say “yes”, ask them some specific questions. Do they know what the job entails? Ask them to describe what they think the position is responsible for.
They speak very poorly of their previous position. Not a good technique and shows a lack of professionalism.
They can’t come up with any reasonable things that they could improve upon. When you hear things like “I’m too smart for my own good” or “I work way too hard”, that’s a fluff answer. Press for something substantial.
Very specific, pointed questions (or uncomfortable questions) about you or the organization. Again, a bad sign that this person has no tact.

What’s this on your ray-zoom-meh? (Resume) – worrisome things to look for on the resume:

Job hopping. Did they spend one year or 18 months at the least four jobs? Why? Ask them to explain. Are they chasing money? Do you want to invest time and training and have them skip out?
Breaks in their employment times. What happened those four years between these two jobs?
No jobs recently. This one is tough because, if this is an older applicant or someone who maybe took a sabbatical, it may be okay that they haven’t worked for a few years. But check it out.
Generic information. Look for specifics. How much did they actually contribute to the bottom line?
The Slasher. Is the resume peppered with this person coming into a job and slashing costs? Is that what you want? Maybe you do. But you can’t save your way to success, so maybe you should look for things that show growth in revenue rather than slashing of costs.
Prison Time. Why and why did they include this on their resume?

Too Friendly – does the applicant act “too familiar”? Are they touching your hand or shoulder too much? Do they act like they’ve known you previously? Are they too informal? Do they kiddingly tease you or comment on how nice looking you are? All bad omens. Steer clear of these people.
Closing the Interview – it’s very important to cut the interview somewhat short. There are few interviews that deserve to be more than an hour in length, especially first interviews. For an hour interview, use the last fifteen minutes for the applicant’s questions.

Also, make sure up front that the applicant knows how long the interview should take.

Take note of the types of questions they ask.

It’s okay if they don’t have questions. In fact, I prefer that I’m not met with a litany of questions from the applicant, especially if this is one in a series of interviews.

If the interview is not going well and this is clearly not the right person, cut the interview short. There are few things more painful than trying to drag out an interview where both parties are clear that this is not a good fit. It’s far more professional to say something like “honestly, it looks like this is not the right position for you – let’s wrap this up and save the time for some future position that you may be more qualified for”.

After the interview – take your notes and staple them to the applicant’s resume and hold onto both for some time. When you get back to your desk, make note of the positives and negatives and write down whether you think this person should be considered for the position. This is important so that when you review these notes later (sometimes much later), it reminds you what the outcome was.

In some cases, you may be required to provide HR with your recommendation. Don’t send them your notes. Summarize them and include your final disposition. Provide clear and exact information on the decision you made.

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May 5 2017

The Unrivaled Leader: Part 4 – Don’t Bullshit

This is a simple idea that seems to evade even the most competent people, especially as people move up through the ranks. It’s the idea that your superior ability or intellect gives you the superpower of being able to deceive without detection.

“If you think no one on your staff will pick up on the fact that you are misleading them, either by commission or omission, you need to reconsider your strategy.”

What does it say about you if you’ve assembled a team that is not bright enough to pick up on being misled? What will happen when they figure out that you’ve been less than honest? Will it ever be possible to regain their trust after you are caught in misdirection?

I’m not advocating spewing every little bit of confidential information to your staff. That would be very poor judgment and even poorer management. When faced with delivering bad news – news that you may not know the details or may not be able to share the details about due to confidentiality, you have to find a balance between misleading and having the integrity to treat your staff with respect.

If you’ve treated your staff respectfully along the way, truly behaved as a servant leader, made sure to listen and act upon feedback, you might be surprised just how your staff will be to go through the most difficult times at your side. It’s the fact that you are a respectable, empathetic, approaching, kind leader that makes it possible to deliver very bad news and still have the support of your team. Trust me.

People like to hear reality, and your staff is looking to you to provide them with the possible opportunities for success even if that means they need to find that success in another organization or in another capacity.

Anecdote #1 – Years ago I worked at an organization that was ultimately acquired by a larger organization that produced the exact same software that we did. Now, you can imagine the feeling in the department: that soon we’d be merged and as a result, we’d all lose our jobs. So I approached my manager and asked him whether we had anything to fear or whether he could share any details about the impact of this merger on our department.

“No no”, he said, “everything will be great. We’ll merge the teams and we’ll merge the products and have an even better offering to the market.
So I pressed him again – do I need to maybe update my resume and keep an eye out for a job, just in case?

“No No No”, he reassured again, “Just sit tight. All will be well and we’ll be in a better place soon.”
A month later, we were all called into a “kickoff meeting”. HR walked in and laid us all off.

I approached my manager and asked him why he could not even give me some idea that there was a chance we’d be let go. In fact, it was pretty obvious to everyone (see my note about having a smart staff) that we likely would be let go, but his reassurances made us trust that we’d be okay.
His response was that he was just doing his job.

If the opportunity arises, would I ever work for him again? Nope. Did he poison me to this organization? Yep.

So what was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to tell us that we’re all losing our jobs? Of course not. Well, He could have suggested that the future was uncertain, but that the worst that would have happened would be we’d be paid a severance based on tenure. He could have reinforced that it’s always good to keep your resume updated. He could have done something other than telling us everything would be fine, which was a lie.

Anecdote #2 – A number of years ago I was pursuing my MBA at the University of Central Florida (go Knights!) One of my business classes posed a thought question. Here’s the short version:

“You manage a Wal-Mart that will be closing in 6 months. Another larger store will be opening in the next town, but none of your staff will be moved to that other store. You need your staff to keep working until the smaller store closes, and then they will all be released. Do you:

Say nothing, and on the day of the closing simply arrive early and lock the doors?
Tell your staff the situation, and work with staff on job placement opportunities and/or lobby regional management for some “stay on board” compensation?

My leaning would be, as you might expect, #2. I asked my then boss and he said “most definitely #1. In his words “this is a business and there are no friends in business”. Ironically, a few years later he was laid off.

To me, a good leader is someone who represents the best in humanity; someone who, when you run into them long since you’ve parted ways, you want to walk up to them and shake her/his hand. Party of being that boss is to treat your staff with integrity and above all, don’t bullshit them.

Next: Part 5 – How to Interview

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May 5 2017

The Unrivaled Leader : Part 3 – How to TAKE Feedback

To misquote an old Seinfeld episode where he arrived at a car rental location and they had his reservation but not his car:

“Anyone can take a reservation! They key is to hold the reservation.”

Anyone can receive feedback. Heck, just use some of the suggestions in Part 2 and you’ll be getting a whole lot of feedback! But how do you make this feedback stick? How do you TAKE it? What do you do with that feedback? Well, that’s why we’re here, right?

- First and foremost, think about how you’d want your boss to behave when he asked you for feedback on her/him? That should guide your behavior in general, but specifically when listening to feedback. As you are providing input to your superior, what do you want them to do? Picture in your mind a session where you’re giving your boss feedback and she/he is behaving exactly as you want them to. What does that look and sound like? That is a clue as to how you should behave.

- When receiving feedback, unless it becomes insulting or denigrating, just sit and listen. Shut up. Do not offer debate or contradiction. Let the person and give them your undivided attention.

- No matter how crazy the feedback is, think yourself “could this possibly be true?” After all, someone thinks this, so it’s a perception. And this perception could be held by many. Just consider the possibility. Could this possibly be true?

- Watch your body language. Don’t sigh, roll your eyes or deflect. Be respectful and professional. This is ESPECIALLY true if you’re receiving feedback from a group. How you behave when receiving feedback immediately paints your staff’s perception of you. Don’t interrupt and provide your perspective.

Once you have received the feedback:

- Don’t necessarily attempt to solve the problem at that very moment. If you can, then that’s great. Otherwise, take notes and make sure you get back to the person.

- If you’ve been asked to solve particular problems, make it a priority to do so and report back. If you are asked to solve things that cannot be solved, report that as well. Just provide accurate and timely feedback. Make sure you close out the request. You’re either going to act upon the feedback or not. If you’re not, make sure people know why and then move on.

- Be humble. Thank the person for the feedback. They’re going out on a limb and taking the time to educate you on something you may not be perceiving. It’s a great service that not everyone will partake in. So many people just quietly grumble or spread bad negative information rather than taking the time to tell you what’s on their mind. Others are in need of assistance, whether with tools or support. Others just need someone to listen to their concerns, even if you cannot solve them.

- In a group setting, if the feedback is hostile, insulting, or tries to “incite a riot” by getting others to join in, you need to diffuse this. It’s important and completely acceptable to cut the feedback short and ask everyone to please be polite. Alternatively, you can ask if this can be discussed privately or at a later time (maybe right after the meeting).
- Be self-deprecating. Don’t take yourself too seriously or act in shock or get irritated, as if you are beyond reproach. If the feedback you are receiving is total nonsense, you’ll be able to address that at a separate time. Don’t be sarcastic or ridicule the person providing the information.

The bottom line is that it’s a service that someone is performing when they bravely provide feedback. You can’t ask your managers or lower staff to seek and accept feedback if you are not willing to do the same. Most importantly, there is going to be feedback that is 100% accurate and, if received and acted upon, will improve you as a leader.

Finally, as will be discussed in a later Part, acting in this way – asking for feedback, really listening, and acting on the feedback received – makes you a strong and admired leader, and this will only increase the respect your team will have for you. By receiving feedback, your staff will be more willing to receive and heed your feedback to them. It’s a win-win.

Anecdote: A while ago I was part of a focus group that was called together to provide one of my superiors feedback. That person was at our table, and their job was to ask for feedback and write it down dutifully. Instead of doing that, this person continued to remark “That’s not true!” or “Really? Really? How can you feel that way?” If it weren’t for the fact that they were bungling this session to the point of being funny, those of us providing feedback would have been upset. The message to us was “we don’t really want your feedback”.

But YOU do.
Next: Part 4 – Don’t Bullshit

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May 3 2017

The Unrivaled Leader : Part 2 – How to Get Feedback

Alright, now you’re on the right track. You have decided that feedback is essential to your success. And you’re title/position is anything from an entry-level staff member to a C-level member of executive leadership. Good for you!

In my attempt to make these posts direct and useful, without further ado, here are some specific ideas about where and how to gain feedback –

Always end the conversation with “what can I do better for you?” The job of an effective manager is to communicate a strategy or direction to staff members, provide the necessary tools and/or guidance to reach that ultimate goal, and – get the heck out of the way. But before getting out of the way, keep tabs on performance by ending discussions with questions about what YOU can do for the staff person. Don’t make every interaction a coaching session. What you really want is your staff to coach you.
Schedule one-on-one’s with people across your organization, as time permits. And when you meet, don’t discuss project status. Ask the person questions about how they are feeling, their stress level, their notions about whether the job is engaging or not, where they want to be in three to five years, what you can do to help them be successful (see #1 above). Keep it casual and interactive during the engagement. And don’t force the discussion to meet any particular time frame: don’t cut it off at thirty minutes but also don’t stretch it out to thirty-minutes. Get to a point where it feels like you’re wrapping up, and then wrap it up! Take notes if need be.
Setup “Fireside Chats” with groups of your staff members. When I used to do this, I’d have my assistant set up groups of four or five to meet with, and pick a cross-section of people who may have varying opinions. She’d then schedule monthly Fireside Chats, each with a different group. If one of the people selected for a group was generally a “complainer”, we’d also invite someone who was more positive as well. This keeps the group from moving in too extreme in any particular direction. That being said, you could also do the exact opposite and say, invite-only people who are concerned or unhappy. It’s challenging, but it allows you to receive feedback directly on the cause of concern. It also could make the group more comfortable because they are speaking in a like-minded way. Caution: if you do this, you want to make sure each person doesn’t simply build on the other’s input to create an artificial angry mob. Make sure you diffuse discussions because people are shouting – or stop the meeting and reconvene using one-on-one’s, should this occur. During these chats (and you can call them Fireside Chats because it sounds friendly), if you have the option, supply fountain drinks or light snacks. You want people to be comfortable in speaking to you and open up about their concerns. And everyone likes free food and drinks!
If specific people come up in the discussions, ask that the group speak more generally and then speak to you later to provide more specific information. After all, if someone on your team is causing problems, you want to know so that you can independently verify what’s going on.

Finally, take notes. Spend time listening, NOT speaking or defending – no matter how direct the feedback is. Ask probing questions. Bring out comments from members of the group who are not saying anything. At the end, review the notes/action items you took. You’re not promising you can address every concern, but in my experience, most of the concerns will be fairly straightforward to resolve.
End all staff meetings / stand up meetings with an “open floor”. Set aside fifteen minutes or more at the end of the meeting to take any questions about anything. Ask if the staff has heard any good rumors. If you have managers and staff reporting to you, remind your managers before the meeting that this is about staff feedback and not theirs. If you have managers who want to provide feedback, use a one-on-one, or get all the managers together without staff and ask for their direct feedback.
Note: if you have managers that may intimidate your staff to not speak, first, don’t invite your managers, and soon thereafter, change their behavior or move the offending manager out of the organization.
Install a suggestion box. There’s no shame in having a simple way for people to provide input. Make sure paper and a pencil are nearby and check it periodically. And take the time to acknowledge any suggestions you do receive – especially those that you cannot practically address.
If you are the leader of an organization, create and distribute a “climate survey”. Make sure the survey is not too lengthy. Search for samples on the Internet and give people time to complete their surveys. Include open-ended questions where staff and management can supply unstructured feedback.
Don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation casually when you run into someone in the hall. Listen to me: if you have a large team, it does not matter if you have forgotten the staff person’s name. Just say “I’m sorry, I just don’t recall your name” It won’t be taken as hard as you think. BUT, if you forget their name repeatedly, then I suggest you practice some memory games. In this hallway conversation, ask honestly how things are going. Or ask about a specific project or something noteworthy that occurred in your organization. Make it a casual two to give minute “hello!” and part with “good speaking to you”. This makes your staff comfortable in seeking you out to provide feedback.

I’ve always used the story that I want my staff to be comfortable saying “hello” when they see me out of the building, or at a store or restaurant. I use Target as an example as in “if I see you in Target, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable to say hello – or try to avoid running into me.”

Next: How to TAKE feedback

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May 1 2017

The Unrivaled Leader : Part 1 – Seek Feedback

This article is one entry in a multi-part series of articles that will ultimately be compiled into a compendium.

❉ ❉ ❉

The Setup

As a normal course of employment, you are subject to formal feedback. Annual reviews, periodic one-on-ones, and so on will force you to provide and receive feedback. These official requirements are an attempt to reinforce how important it is to communicate up, down, and sideways across your organization.

Interestingly, both when you are at an entry-level and when you are at the senior-most levels (C-levels), you may not be as inclined to elicit information on your performance (or company performance) – and this is a big mistake.

As an entry-level employee, you most need to know how you’re being perceived, beyond the official channels. This is a time when you’re establishing informal communication points and it’s key to establish these quickly. Seeking such information shows others that you’re engaged and aware of how important perceptions are. Informal channels may provide unforeseen opportunities.

But often, after a series of promotions, this need for feedback seems to diminish. Why is this? Sometimes this is because the workload increases as with career progression and there just isn’t enough time to search for out-of-band feedback. In some organizations, senior management discussing performance with lowly staff is considered gauche and something that breaks the appearance of separation between executive management and staff. After all, when you make it to the upper rungs of management, there must be something really special about you, right?

The Servant Leader

“Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world”

The modern servant leadership movement was created by Robert Greenleaf in his essay published in 1970 entitled “The Servant as a Leader” – but the idea is an ancient one. This style is related to ethical leadership where leaders are governed by rules to make sure their actions are just and align with the corporate culture.

Many organizations want servant leaders. The opposite would be leaders that practice autocracy, or command and control styles (authoritative). Both servant leaders and authoritative leaders can be effective depending on the situation. For example, during times of crisis where quick action is needed, autocratic decisions may be necessary. Let’s assume for this article that you want (or your organization wants) you to be a servant leader.
Servant leaders need their staff to be satisfied and content with their jobs. They want to make sure everyone is on board with the company’s direction and vision. They constantly check in to make sure the organization at all levels is moving in the right direction and that concerns are addressed. It encourages staff participation in decision making, also known as participative management.

This is sometimes confused with “leadership by democracy” where leaders move forward based on consulting and gaining consensus on the appropriate path. That is not usually the case and not leadership at all!

The Directive

Regardless of whether you want to be a true servant leader or even if you would prefer to be more authoritative, the feedback loop is key.

►Next: Ways to get that feedback.

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Feb 23 2017

The Difficulty of Managing Mediocrity

There are few things in personnel management more challenging than managing mediocre performers. For this article, I’m defining mediocrity as people who ebb and flow – they do an okay job usually, often slipping into performing poorly but when approached the reset back to…below average (not meeting job requirements).

As we all know, high-performers are a pleasant problem to have and generally require little management. And consistently low performers usually fall prey to detailed performance documentation, which leads to termination or the person moving on to another organization.

Beyond the management aspect, most organizations are saddled with very specific Human Resource policies that, at best, make it tedious to manage low performers out of the organization and at worst cultivates a culture of average-to-low performing, long-tenured employees.

If all that is not enough stress, you have to consider the impact that your middling performer is having on the staff that is performing well. Quickly questions about favoritism or “why does he/she tolerate this?” will bubble up.

If you have a manager as a direct report who is having trouble managing a low performer, you’re faced with the question of whether it’s your manager that is the issue and not the staff member. This is especially unnerving when the staff member approaches you about being poorly or unfairly coached by your direct-report manager. We’ve all had an ineffective manager who may not have seen our potential, and you don’t want to be the person perpetuating that poor management.

Finally, pile this all on top of the workload you already have and it becomes truly unmanageable. The inclination becomes to just shuffle people around and ignore the problem.

Keep in mind, managing organizational performance has two masters.

First, you and your team are obliged to provide value to the organization in return for remuneration. Not providing value or providing lackluster value is a breach of that contract. At the same time, your organization wants to keep turnover low and develop staff members into solid contributors. These two goals are sometimes at odds with each other but as a solid manager, you must fulfill both.

If you’re in this situation, there are some possibilities:

Work with your Human Resources (HR) department to have a “nuclear option” where you or an executive can release a staff member who continues to be a low performer. Some may say this is a lazy option, but there are simply times when it’s far better for both parties to part ways without a protracted and often ineffective performance management process. The option could include a modicum of severance to lessen the blow on the targeted staff member.
If the person in question declines but once you write them up they improve enough to be off “written warning”, you must not start over the next time performance slips. This process should be looked at as a journey. It should be simple to refer to the four write-ups the staff member had, and the fact that s/he slipped back again when processing their termination form. “If you improve but return to poor performance, our next step will be termination.”
Take time to plan six months of deliverables and layout your own plan to measure and document performance. In other words, don’t doll out one task at a time. Have an overall plan where the deliverables are ultimately aggregated such that if 7 out of 9 deliverables were provided late or in poor quality, it should be sufficient to write-up that staff person. Do the same for the “written warning” period.
Try to separate your human nature feelings for this person from their performance. So often we’re dealing with someone who is pleasant or command sympathy. But sympathy is a two-way street. Your employees must sympathize with the impact they are having on you and your team. Also, if your feelings are ones of resentment, you have to put that aside and be objective. A protracted performance management engagement can be derailed if you lose your temper or make a snide remark during coaching sessions.
If you have questions as to whether they are managed appropriately (as in, they report to one of your managers), you can switch the reporting structure to another manager that you have confidence in, or if you have the bandwidth, you can manage this person side-by-side with your direct report and use this as coaching for your manager.
If this person has chronic health issues or is taking medication that is impacting their performance, you must make Human Resources aware immediately. The American Disabilities Act protects employees who health conditions that make it challenging or require additional assistance to complete one’s job. HR can help chart a course that takes into account their disability or may decide to part ways under a transition plan that includes severance. Either way, leveraging HR for assistance is key.

I tried something years ago that I would not necessarily recommend unless you have a very good relationship with this person. I unofficially sat down with the low-performer and suggested that this organization is just not a good fit and that if this process were to continue, a) there likely was not a “happy ending” in order and b) the overall process will be stressful for everyone involved. In this case, the staff member just did not have the programming chops to keep up with the workload. Working at another organization where he could leverage other skills was likely a better fit. In the end, they left and were actually much happier elsewhere. Six months later I ran into this person at the grocery store and they thanked me for encouraging them to leave.

How do you manage mediocre employees?
(image courtesy of Lifehacker)

willrwills 1 Comments

Feb 20 2017

Trade 30 Minutes for Undivided Attention?

We’ve all noticed that in our digital lives we tend to be forever connected. Certainly, our phones are with us at all times now, as are our wearable’s, glasses, tablets, laptops. Far too often our focus is on our devices and not what’s going on around us. This can mean missing seeing a beautiful mountain vista or putting a severe strain on a relationship during dinner.
One area where this digital-fixation is having a significant impact is during business meetings.

It’s not uncommon anymore to find attendees lugging a tablet or laptop to meetings to “take notes”.

As a result, presenters are finding it harder to hold their audiences’ attention.

At a recent work meeting, I had the opportunity to “work the lights” for a few minutes and in doing so, had a vantage point that was behind a whole row of people in attendance. During my time standing, none of the people I was spying on were paying attention to the speaker. Every single attendee in front of me was busy responding to emails, reading documents, or even updating their Facebook accounts. It was disappointing. The poor speaker continued to do his best to engage everyone though no one (except me) was making eye contact with him. It was waste of his time and a loss for the audience.

At another meeting a few years ago at a customer site, I was presenting information on our software with another colleague when I noticed my audience had their faces glued to their laptops. As an experiment, I started comparing our software to Metamucil, explaining how it helped with difficult (hard) situations and often reduced the effort the consumer had to spend to complete their tasks. Other than my co-working snickering, no one else reacted.

After much thought, I think I’ve come up with a workable solution.
In your next 1+ hour meeting, require that people put away their laptops during the meeting. If they have tablets to take notes, that’s fine, but require that they stay in their note-taking application. In return, you will agree to shorten the meeting by 30 minutes. Maybe for thirty-minute meetings, reduce the length by 10 minutes.

This will give attendees time back to return to their desks (or stay put, I suppose) and answer their emails, update social media, or whatever else they need to do.

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Jan 9 2017

The Consumer Electronics Show In Less Than 400 Words

If you’ve ever been to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) you know that it’s overwhelming. The CES floor fills up both the entire Las Vegas Convention Center and the Venetian/Sands Expo area. It brings 20,000 people to the city, which makes traffic dandy. By now you’ve probably read the myriad of press releases about hot technology at the show, mergers, and acquisitions, and trends.

“While you can find technologies as diverse as dryers that automatically fold your clothes, to underwear that shields your private parts from radiation, a majority of the expo is more mainstream.”

Below, I’ve boiled down the CES to a pithy list of technologies and discussions:

5G – it’s 4G plus one! 4G will be around for a long time, but plans are underway by all the major carriers to support an even faster, ubiquitous cellular network technology.
Amazon Alexa – over and over. In your car, in your office, how to program it, what it does.
Artificial Intelligence – making machines smarter and smarter and until Skynet
8K TV’s – you thought 4K was enough? Nope!
Sensors – everywhere things are being monitored, from your clothes to your wrist, learn more about yourself than you ever cared to know, and unwittingly share it with Google, who will keep good care of that information.
Drones – still a thing. Lighter, last longer on a charge, better camera.
Self-driving cars and bolt-on self-driving technology, along with sensors (see above) that detect other cars, pedestrians, small dogs.
Augmented and Virtual Reality – live a life away from your dreary actual life, plus overlay your glasses with all sorts of pertinent information about the things you are seeing.
Smart Homes – everything in your house will talk to everything else all the time and it will all do things that you want when you want it to.
Internet of Things (IoT) – now that this is out there, the main concern is how do we secure it?
Samsung – really wants to be a leader in all things technical, and even lead where Google is going.
Health – clothing that monitors you (see sensors), glasses that tell you how healthy your work out is (see Augmented Reality)
Robots – robots that watch your children, walk your dog, dance in unison, and serve your every need (see Skynet)

Those, to my best recollection, were the big items. Anything else that caught your eye from the press releases that I missed? Do let me know!

Will R Wills 0 Comments

Jan 8 2017

Are You Naked And Don’t Know It?

In the famous tale by Hans Christian Anderson, an Emperor who cares only about his appearance unwittingly hires two shysters who pretend to sew him fantastic new clothes at great cost, but in reality, produce nothing. They convince the Emperor that only noble people can see such clothes. The Emperor, despite not seeing the clothes himself, cannot admit as such and thus he walks around naked. When the Emperor shows his ministers, they are too afraid to say anything. In fact, everyone is afraid to tell the Emporer the truth until he appears in a parade, naked, and a young child with no such pretenses calls out that the Emperor has no clothes! This cry, taken up by others in the crowd, reaches the Emperor, who continues to walk down the street, still confident that such common people did not have the upbringing to appreciate his wonderful clothes. In scientific terms, this is known as pluralistic ignorance.

How does a 150-year-old tale apply to you and specifically to management?
During the normal course of business, but most notably during staff and departmental meetings and communique, you might find yourself preaching to your staff certain virtues or practices. Common examples might be:

The importance of honest communication
Making sure you ask your staff for direct feedback
Suggesting that failures are okay as long as we learn something from them
Asking everyone to tighten up on expenses
Keeping an open door policy
Having the ability to publicly admit that you were wrong
Turning back an initiative that appears to be less fruitful (or more painful to your staff) than thought at the onset
Recognizing and addressing poor performance
The importance of avoiding cronyism, and acting impartially

…and so on.

These are all noble and supportable initiatives and can factor in improving the workplace culture and ratcheting up performance. In the best case, it can socialize to your staff that you understand the importance of these behaviors. At the same time, you are also suggesting that you (and your management team) will support the behaviors by participating in them.
But are you?
To find out,

you must ask yourself and others: am I adhering to these guidelines? Most assuredly your staff and peers will know whether you are or are not.

The only thing more destructive to culture than not establishing such guidelines is not adhering to them personally.
As a good manager, you can often avoid such dangers by following some basic practices:

Keep an open communication channel down to the most junior staff person. In fact, your newest recruits (much like the tale above) may be the most honest with you. Longer-term employees may have been blunted by previous attempts to raise concerns. Meet regularly with staff in a casual environment.
No matter what feedback you receive, be receptive, take note of it, and later ask yourself “is this possibly true?” It may not be true, but the perception exists so considering it a truth both reinforces that you are willing to take feedback and provides an opportunity to examine what may be causing this perception.
Be careful not to constantly socialize a litany of best behaviors. Pick certain key behaviors that you feel are key to the success of the organization and make sure you personally live by them.
If you are in senior management, make sure your managers also live by the same behaviors you are suggesting. Don’t rely on them to report to you whether they do or do not – meet with their staff periodically.
Establish some sort of recurring survey to receive feedback on the culture, then keep an open mind of the feedback you receive. Act upon the items that are of most concern.
Make sure you treat your staff with the same respect as you treat your management team. Do you joke and appear at ease with your management team and then tense up with you speak to staff? If you’re preaching that we’re all in this together, then you need to treat everyone as part of the “we’re all”.

If you create a culture of trust where everyone believes that management walks the walk, and acts in the best interest of the individual, and thus collectively of the firm, you will have established a high-trust, resilient and positive culture from top to bottom.
And you will be fully clothed.

Will R Wills 0 Comments

Nov 3 2016

The Fear of The Fear of Public Speaking

According to StatisticBrain.com, 75% of women and 73% of men suffer from speech anxiety or the fear of public speaking, also known as “glossophobia”. Borrowing from a Jerry Seinfeld routine, he noted that people are more afraid of public speaking than dying, such that “given the choice, people would prefer to be in the casket than delivering the eulogy for the person in the casket.”

About five years ago, I suddenly developed glossophobia. It happened as I approached my 40’s. It struck with horrifying consequences. Suddenly, in the middle of a presentation, I would experience a panic attack. I was unable to continue, my heart racing, and unable to catch my breath. I immediately forgot everything I was going to say. It really frightened me because I had not previously experienced such anxiety. And throughout my life, I’ve been very comfortable presenting in front of very large audiences. I’ve hosted entire IT Conferences, single-handedly, without a trace of serious nervousness. Worst yet, the panic attacks continued. I started dreading doing any presentations and then even conference calls with large audiences. Something had changed and I desperately needed to find out what – and correct it.

“Suddenly, in the middle of a presentation, I would experience a panic attack. I was unable to continue, my heart racing and unable to catch my breath.”

I started searching for examples of others who had experienced such problems and stumbled upon a number of very successful stars who were in a similar situation. Celebrities like Donny Osmond, Leann Rimes, and Paula Dean all struggled with social anxiety and panic attacks.

For me, Osmond was the most intriguing. At the same time, I was searching and coping, I actually happened upon a television special specifically about Osmond’s issues. As he described, in the mid-nineties in the middle of a run of starring in Jason and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Donny Osmond started suffering panic attacks. The child star who had been performing in front of thousands since age five suddenly was calling in sick, or faking his way through performances. What had happened? He was Donny Osmond! How could he feel such anxiety? How would he correct this? In short, he ended up in lengthy therapy and taking all sorts of anxiety minimizing drugs.

Neither of those options seemed palatable but the idea that others had experienced the same onset of anxiety made me feel that there was hope.
The best part of the situation is that I had a boss that was quite supportive and would keep an eye out for my attacks, jumping in and taking over. He sat and listened to me, in astonishment, as he watched someone who had been so outgoing and confident now nervous about presenting information that I knew very well. I also had peers and direct reports that I confided in who would also rescue me if they noticed me faltering.

Now that I’ve generally been able to address my anxiety without therapy or medication, I want to pass along some tips and techniques that work for me – and some interesting information that I’ve found after speaking to other speakers that I consider dynamic and talented.

The Fear of the Fear
My first revelation was that I was starting to fear the feeling of fear. Having a panic attack is a horrible feeling – one that you don’t forget. After a few panic attacks during presenting, I started to worry well before my next presentation. I was feeling that panic feeling days and weeks before my presentation. It would come and go, but when I had it, it was as if I was presenting and panicking. My brain was making me relive the worst possible moment over and over, and it caused me to dread presenting. Was I having a mental breakdown? Was what I was feeling unique to me?

“My first revelation was that I was starting to fear the feeling of fear. “

I decided to find the answer by approaching my peers who I thought were very good speakers and asking them directly “do you get nervous before presenting?” The answers I received were interesting and reassuring. A summary of the most common answers included:

“Yes, I still get a little nervous but once I get going on stage I get over it very quickly.”
“Yes, but I would not describe it as nervousness. It’s actually more like adrenalin and I’ve learned to almost like that feeling.”
“Yes, I get very nervous, but then I realize that I’m totally prepared and so I talk myself to a more calm state.”
And from one speaker who always seems so confident and cool while presenting: “I’m nervous the whole time. I’m not panicked, but in the back of my head, I do get a little edgy. It keeps me on my toes.”

The message was most speakers still feel that twinge of nervousness prior to the limelight, but they are able to muscle through it. Some presenters do a good job of hiding it. Or, they change that nervousness into excitement. Now, this was a technique I could practice! It did feel good to know that even the best speakers have some derivative nervousness just like me. I’m not so special after all, and that was okay with me!

So given my research and my experience, I would like to present the ten things I did to basically overcome my panic attacks and push through the nervousness to present and present well.

1. Prepare
I used to speak completely off the cuff, with few notes. I knew what I wanted to say and was able to pivot quickly. But when nervousness set in I would often find myself completely lost on my next point or not recalling key information that I wanted to pass along.

So, to address this I started actually writing out word for word what I was going to say. I would write it out exactly how I wanted to present it, including pauses, colloquialisms, and interjections, and I would bring those notes to my podium. I didn’t read the notes word for word, but I did skim over them as I spoke. I used this technique early on, knowing that eventually, I would have to abandon this. Presenting while staring at notes standing behind a podium did not exude executive presence. But this gave me a crutch and, early on, helped me get back out in front of people. These days I don’t write out such detailed notes.

2. Improv
Since my early twenties, I had been interested in comedy and improv. I actually had performed some open-mic stand-up comedy while living in Jacksonville and generally enjoyed it. Now, twenty years later, I wondered if improv could help me with my nervousness. I signed up at the venerable SAK comedy theater in Orlando and proceeded to take and pass Levels 1 through 4. I stopped and did not proceed to their Conservatory Classes, something I might take up down the road.

Improv was an interesting experience. I had always thought (and received feedback) that I was quick, clever, and funny. So I had a high level of confidence. What I found was that there are a LOT of people who are funny – and it felt like most were funnier and quicker than I was. It was a unique experience, both enjoyable and humbling. I had a fantastic instructor in Level 1 named “Bob Kodzis” who was quite supportive. I made a number of friends that I still have today.

Through Improv, I found confidence in performing, especially since Levels 1 and 4 had a “showcase” at the end where we put on a real show in front of a live audience. It was nerve-wracking and exhilarating – and great fun.
What Improv taught me was that I could stand in front of a group and talk about anything without any preparation. I didn’t need notes and could come up with material without much effort. It was a great confidence booster.

I think of this when I find myself nervous. I say to myself “heck, I could get up there and get an offer from the audience and create a whole scene, so presenting material I already know will be a breeze!” This helped.

3. Reality Check
Sometimes as I’m about to present, I think to myself “in an hour I’ll be back at my desk and this will be behind me”. I practice “mindfulness” and try to take myself out of the “right now” and think about what is happening to me as if I was a spectator.

Mindfulness is a useful technique that I use even when I’m not presenting.

4. Break Up The Monotony
Having to present twenty PowerPoint slides full of material is not only boring to the audience but it is also stress-inducing. It’s just talking and talking, and it is difficult to allow for a few seconds of silence to catch your breath. So, now I try to add some multimedia. This accomplishes three things:

It allows me time to be “off-stage” and catch my breath
It provides for more a more interesting presentation
It breaks my presentation into thirds or quarters and this allows me to track my progress towards completion.

I’m not suggesting that you pepper your presentation with home movies or clips from South Park. Any multimedia needs to be pertinent and appropriate. Also, it cannot be too long. A few minutes tops. And you should introduce the clip and summarize it afterward.

Another technique I have is that I might find a co-presenter for materials or parts of the presentation. I introduce an expert to provide some additional insight. Again, this has to be well thought out and appropriate. And nowadays I don’t use this technique, though I found it helpful early on.

5. A Life Line
I found that having an outlet available takes away some of the anxiety. That is, I have one or more people who can answer any questions or elaborate on a particular point. This is like a co-presenter except that these individuals stay out in the audience. I may even let them know that “I might ask you to elaborate on this” so that they can be prepared.

If I became nervous, I could always say “hey Eric, what would you say is our potential list of customers” and let Eric expound on this. I would use this time to take a drink of water and gather myself.
But here’s the key, just knowing that I have that lifeline takes away a lot of anxiety. I rarely now have to use these lifelines.

6. Turn Anxiety into Excitement
Like one of the survey takers said to me, nervousness and excitement are closely related emotions. I practiced turning my nervousness into excitement. I’d say to myself “Hey! I’m getting the chance to present and many people will not get this chance!” I knew that I do present very well and always get great feedback, so this is yet another chance to spread this joy to more people. I talk myself into being excited about the upcoming presentation. And when it goes well, I congratulate myself privately on doing a good job.

7. Calm Down
When you are about to go on, your nervousness can often peak, causing your heart to race and your breathing to speed up. I’ve found that forcing yourself to breathe deeply and slowly, and paying attention to how you are controlling your heart rate can actually make yourself feel calmer. This gives you the ability to control your body and your reaction.

Some people may need a relaxant to prepare for a particularly stressful presentation. And while I do not, I know others who do and find this useful. The challenge is not to look “drugged up” unless you’re presenting in front of pharmaceutical companies.

8. Take Notes While Waiting to Present
One of the funniest things in comedy is called a “call back”, which in general is a reference to something that has already occurred. While waiting to go on, always have a notepad and pen with you. Take note of things the previous speaker said that you can emphasize as well. Also, sometimes things said can be used for humor. The current speaker may mention something that you can use as a light, personable attempt at humor. Have your presentation printed out and with you, and flip through it (quietly) as the current speaker speaks and annotate points that they made that you can make on the appropriate slide.

I recall one example where my boss’ boss presented something before me that was about the traits they are looking for to fill a particular position. The words he used included “never let you down”, “never give up”, “never lie” and to me, this sounded like the lyrics to the Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up”. I made a note, tried to remember and wrote down the various phrases in the song, and then suggested in my presentation that Rick Astley could be the right person. Got a solid laugh and put me at ease. In fact, as I read off the lyrics to the song, people quickly knew what I was doing, but I methodically went through the lyrics to the end before I announced Rick’s name as the best candidate.

By the way, taking notes has the added benefit of taking your mind off your presentation.

9. Rehearse
An easy technique to help with nerves. Rehearse and rehearse again. Driving to work, speak out loud to yourself, and pretend you are presenting. Time yourself. Record yourself. But in general, know your material and your speaking points. This helps stem a key facet of insecurity while presenting.

10. Stand on Stage Beforehand
A simple technique that helps me is to get up on the stage prior to the session being opened. Walk around the stage to every edge. Look out over the empty chairs. Imagine what it will be like when there are people in those seats. Get comfortable with the layout of the stage, the location of the podium, the controls you will need to flip through your slides.

Also note that in presentations on large stages with a sizable audience, you will likely have spotlights on you. This has two effects: it makes it quite warm on stage, so be prepared to sweat. And it makes it difficult to actually see the audience. It’s why performers ask for the house lights to be brought up when addressing the audience. But it can help you because if feels like you’re presenting to an empty room. Sometimes you can see a few rows upfront and that’s good because it gives you some feedback.

***

I can’t say that these techniques will work for you. Heck, you may need lengthy therapy and medication – and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’re like me, just knowing that others have similar problems can make you feel a little more confident that you, as well, can address the fear of public speaking. And maybe using some of these techniques you can get back to giving knock-out presentations.

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