Are You A Leader By Position Or A Leader By Respect?

Written by Joe Hoolahan Founding CEO of JESI

 

Any journey worth taking often comes with its own level of risk vs reward.  Ups and downs.  The JESI journey has certainly had plenty of both. One of the greatest assets we rely on is our people.  After all – JESI to its core is about people.  Making sure they are ok.

We all hear corporations throw around lines such as; “People are our greatest assets, Without our people, we would be nothing, Our people and success go hand in hand.”

Now if this is the case, how do we maintain a successful culture and a successful business?

I would like to add the added complexity…

What if you have no idea about what path it is you need your team to take? What if you are working in an environment that has few proven rules, paths or formulas?

How do you keep your team focused, engaged and willing to walk – or -run into the greatest unknown of their working lives!

 

For me (and I would hope for my team) this is all about respect.  Respect touches many aspects of any business growth.  But when this is the starting point – the core – it allows you to start on the right foot, the same page and all be rowing in the same direction. (I think I covered most of the metaphors there.)

One of the greatest beliefs I personally hold closest is that ‘people don’t wake up in the morning and set out to piss someone off’.  If I hold this value as a truth, I can also look at nearly every challenge, error, missed the deadline, oversight- yes, stuff up… as a genuine mistake.  Ones we must learn from and reduce the likelihood of it re-occurring.

 

Respect is knowing that people will always do the best they can.  Knowing when a culture that is right, will allow people to work independently and/or remotely or anyway they need to deliver great results.

For example, I have never been a big believer in sick days or clock watching.  I have always trusted that people will demonstrate and respect the rules of the game, and not to game the system.  If a person is not at work, I respect they must have a great reason.

 

By providing a culture where people take ownership, can and do stuff up… or maybe not get it right the first time, but at the same time be accountable – this relies totally on respecting each team member.

 

I have been fortunate throughout my career and personal life where I have seen many demonstrations of where someone’s ability to ‘own it’ has earned a lifetime of respect.

As an amateur football coach, I have seen players push themselves to the point of breaking, to play as hard as they could ever imagine.  I love that some of the greatest demonstrations of true leadership have come from my involvement in sport.

For a player to admit they are no longer up to it… absolute respect. Or the player who puts his hand up to take on the toughest opposition player – respect. Or the player who sacrifices his own game for the betterment of the team – respect.  Or the player who ‘owns it’ when things don’t go right – respect.

 

Captain Gavin Cooper riles his boys up after the Cowboys win over the Roosters to reach the grand final.

Recently the sporting world was abuzz with the Cowboys Captain Gavin Cooper taking the stage to make a heartfelt speech. After losing to the Melbourne Storm in the 2017 Grand Final, Cooper went out of his way to congratulate their opponents with grace and style. For a team who was considered to be on a fairytale trip, with many outside of North Queensland not giving them much chance of winning’, they sure were the fan favourites, just going to show the amount of respect they have earned from the rugby league community and their fans.

 

This isn’t the first time the team have been in the spotlight for showing acts of kindness and respect, not long ago we saw an injured Captain Johnathon Thurston cleaning up the locker room.  Again – an amazing demonstration – instant respect.  This is not his role or job – but a great example of respect and doing the right thing.  Not just for his team – but more importantly, those who come after him

 

Respect is something that can be earned – admired.  As we know, It can also be given or lost in an instant.

 

No sporting fan, employer or workmate can ever deny all they would ask from anyone is to give their best.

So as an employer, manager, mentor or a coach, we must continually respect our people. Respect that not all jobs are equal – but all jobs need to be respected and valued.

At JESI, we have a number of key roles from Developers to Sales & Marketing.  What I admire is the ever-increasing level of respect.  Respecting that Sales without product is for nothing.  And without Sales, the product is nothing.

Our team everyday rides a number of different waves.  What I know is the level of respect is now built on some common beliefs – some unwritten team rules;
-We are all giving it our best.
-We will put our hand up when we don’t know… or we are struggling.. or need a hand.
-We all share the lows and all celebrate the wins!
-We are all having a crack!

In my mind – that is respect.

 

Joe Hoolahan is a speaker at IML Leadership Matters Conference: 7 attributes of very successful leaders at Rydges Southbank Townsville on Tuesday the 17th October 2017.

 Book tickets here.

 

 

Managing Millennials

By Sharon Ferrier, Director of Persuasive Presentation

In 1953 William L. Patty and Louise S. Johnson in their book “Personality and Adjustment” lamented about the youth of today and wrote about a quote attributed to Socrates

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

Although a fabulous quote, it has now been debunked as a myth. But what is interesting, is that the youth they were referring to are the baby boomer leaders and managers of today.

Every generation sees the generation that follows them as less respectful, narcissistic and more easily distracted. And I have no doubt that in 20 years’ time Gen Y will be making the same complaints about Gen Z!

In 2009 Daniel Pink published his book Drive and introduced us to the idea of intrinsic motivation and the personal need for autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Dr Jason Fox, himself a millennial, expands on this idea in his book Game Changers and links motivation with gaming techniques: Goals, Rules and Feedback.

Fox explains that:

Goals – align with purpose and the inherent reward of the work.

Rules – calibrate challenge which contributes to mastery.

Feedback – enhances the simulation and keeps people working with autonomy.

So what can we do as managers and leaders? A manager recently lamented “If people would just do as their told life would be so much easier.” The reality is, is that the days of command and control are over and none of us like being told what to do. When we are told to do something without consultation, we react with our inner 10 year old that says “Yeah? Make me!”

We need another tactic. Pushy people cause resentment and if we’re passive nothing gets done. We do have a third alternative however, and that is persuasion.

Here are some ideas on how to apply it.

Align goals and vision

I have a friend Helen, whom I refer to as Midas Woman. Helen has the Midas touch with dysfunctional teams. She is flown around the country by her organisation and magically transforms low performing teams into exceptional teams that end up being the top performers in their field.

A few months ago I was determined to find out how Helen did it. After an excellent meal (and quite a bit of wine!) I cornered Helen and asked her how she did it. She replied with “I listen, ask about their dreams and goals and then tell them what they want to hear.”

What??!! Surely it cannot be that simple?

Helen went on to explain. “I focus on what gets them out of bed in the morning, why they chose to work in this industry and what they value in their work. I then align their values with the company values and smooth the path for them to succeed and enjoy their work. Sometimes values do not align and I highlight this and explain that they may never be happy working here and support them in finding a new position.”

If we accept the validity of intrinsic motivation, we need to make an effort to understand what our people want and need. Persuasion means ‘to win others over, not to defeat them.’ In order to do this, we need to link the organisational goals with the individual.

Rules and guidelines

According to McCrindle Research Millennials over their working life will have over 17 jobs and five different careers. Managers need to be ready to induct employees efficiently so they can be productive as fast as possible. Inductions programs need to focus on core skills and culture and then be supported by on the job coaching and mentoring. Millennials (Gen Y) are known for asking ‘Why?’ A strong company manifesto consisting of “This is who we are and this is what we do.” needs to be communicated constantly.

Feedback

When we think of feedback we automatically add a negative in front of it. And yet quality, meaningful feedback is essential for improvement and job satisfaction. We all like to be recognised and to see progress. MBWA (Management By Walking Around) still applies and when it comes to persuasive communication, there is nothing more effective than face to face.

Have fun

Generally, many baby boomers see work like a plate roast and three veg, where the meat and vegetables, like work and leisure, do not touch. Alternatively Millennials see work and play more like spaghetti bolognaise where everything is interconnected and interrelated.

I remember years ago visiting a fudge stall at the famous Quincy Market in Boston. The fudge was made fresh daily and as the staff were making it, they would break into song and encourage customers to sing along as well. It was fabulous and the queues went out the door. I was equally enamoured when I heard about the FISH philosophy which was founded in the Seattle fish markets.

Having fun and being effective are not mutually exclusive. Over the past decade we have seen a dramatic reduction in the formality of workplaces. Great teams are diverse and encourage inter-generational communication. We need to view both sides of the coin, to integrate the past but also view our organisation with the fresh eyes needed to prepare our company for the future.

About the author:
Sharon Ferrier is the Director of Persuasive Presentation. Sharon’s background is in sales and marketing and along the way has studied business administration, marketing, management, journalism as well as more eclectic skills including comedy, improvisation and the art of persuasion. As an award winning speaker and salesperson Sharon uses her skills to help people become persuasive and influential speakers.

 

 

Sharon will be speaking at the Adelaide Masterclass on Engaging the work force – how leaders engage and inspire people to prepare for change on the 31st of October 2017.

Book today

 

Trust: Hard To Earn But Easy To Lose

 

If there’s one thing that ensures team success, it’s trust.
By Kate Jones

 

Trust is the key that unlocks the door to more innovative, agile and productive organisations.

Yet it barely rates a mention in boardrooms across Australia, reflecting an even more worrying trend – society’s growing mistrust of institutions.

Declining trust is a problem for governments, banks, the media and even non-government organisations. Research shows flagging trust means the majority of people think societal and economic systems are working against them.

The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer, which samples more than 33,000 respondents from 28 countries, found people’s concerns centre around corruption, globalisation, immigration, an erosion of social values and the pace of innovation.

Across the four institutions of government, business, media and NGOs, business was viewed as the only one that can make a difference. Three out of four respondents agree a company can take actions to both increase profits and improve economic and social conditions.

Business leaders play an important part in rebuilding trust and it all starts in-house.

Today’s fast-paced advances mean there is a greater emphasis on explaining the impact of innovation to employees and what it means for their jobs. There is the ongoing need for businesses to pay employees fairly, constantly improve benefits and provide job training.

Being a trustworthy leader is all about establishing credibility, says business psychologist Sebastian Salicru, author of Leadership Results: How to Create Adaptive Leaders and High-performing Organisations for an Uncertain World.

 

“Leaders need to be fair by displaying consistency in decision-making . . . and sharing their influence and power appropriately”

 

“This means acting with integrity and being role models of the principles, values and behaviours they uphold,” he says.

“More specifically, building credibility entails enhancing or repairing their psychological contracts with their people by fulfilling the expectations employees have of them, building trust by communicating openly, keeping their promises, demonstrating competence and good judgment.

“They also need to be fair by displaying consistency in decision-making, providing opportunities for others to share their views, share their influence and power appropriately, and provide ongoing feedback to their teams.”

Winning a team’s trust is a marathon and relies on being respectful, welcoming feedback and admitting mistakes, Salicru advises. Losing it can be a sprint.

“Don’t assume people know what you expect from them, don’t pretend that you know everything, don’t blame others when things go wrong, don’t display favouritisms, don’t bully, abuse your power or discriminate against others, don’t avoid conflict and don’t try to be liked or seek approval from others,” he says.

Restoring strong team trust will translate to consumers, giving them confidence to do business with an organisation and recommending that organisation to others. Flowing from this are healthy customer relationships, which fast-track business growth and build sustainable brand equity.

“It manifests in increased sales, repeat business, customer loyalty and brand ambassadorship,” Salicru says.

“In turn, this affords you and the organisation brand differentiation, good reputation, and greater competitive advantage. In the longer-term, this means increased market share, sustainability and business growth.”

Maintaining trust has and always will be crucial for business leaders. Leaders can do this by working towards putting people, their employees and customers, at the centre of everything they do.

 

‘You Must Have Passion and You Must Care’

Stephanie McConachy MIML has very strong ideas on what makes a great leader and she plans to practice what she preaches. By Carolyn Boyd

Pounding the pavement training for half-marathons, Stephanie McConachy has a ritual. She arranges a three-stage music playlist in advance. “It’s all about the race strategy; you can’t go too fast too soon,” she explains.

McConachy chooses her music based on beats per minute, focusing on getting her running rhythm just right for different stages of the race. The methodical approach is not so different to how she has charted her career – recognising that during the early years she had to lay the foundations, take the time to get involved and gain broad experience.

The Adelaide marketer has recently been appointed to the Institute of Managers and Leaders’ board after spending seven years on the organisation’s committees, including South Australia’s Young Professional Group and the Young Manager Advisory Board.

Growing up as the daughter of two self-employed business people — her mum is a dentist with her own practice and her dad is a geologist — McConachy saw first-hand that a strong work ethic can take you places. They taught her, she says, that you need to work hard to get things done.

Throughout her early career, the 29-year-old has had a string of role models. One quality has stood out to her about each of them. And it’s this single, impossible-to-measure quality that McConachy says makes a great leader.

“They were really passionate about what they were doing, they were enthusiastic, they had really strong belief and purpose,” she says.

McConachy has always been fascinated about what makes people tick. As the third of four children, she played the role of the “agitator and disruptor — that annoying third child, but also the mediator”. At university she started studying psychology but switched to marketing as it seemed a more interesting career that was still about getting inside people’s heads.

In her role as a marketing manager for global consultancy PwC, McConachy leads a team across Australia. She tries to live by the mantra of “just do it” — even if everything she does isn’t perfect. And she tries to be the type of leader she admires.

“It’s incredibly important that they care about the team that they’re leading,” she says.

It’s about taking the time with people. “It’s not just a ‘Hey, how is it going?’, but actually connecting with everyone on a one-on-one and asking them, ‘How are you today? What’s going on?’ And actually wanting to know the answer.

“If you don’t understand the people you’re leading, you can’t effectively lead them. That care and that curiosity is really important.”

For McConachy, communication is key to being a great leader: “Having that big-picture vision is incredibly important, but more important is how do you actually communicate it? Without communication, you can’t lead effectively, because no-one actually knows what we’re trying to do. Half of us are trying to go to the North Pole, the other half to the South, which just doesn’t work.”

McConachy says the leaders she admires are excellent communicators. “They often have that charismatic edge, but they can communicate really effectively and get their vision across so they take you on the journey with them,” she says. “They’re not just pointing and saying, ‘Go there’. They’re saying, ‘OK, we’re going to go there and this is how we’re going to do it and here’s a paddle for you’, so they bring you on that journey with them. And you want to follow them. You want to get on board.”

Trust is also an important factor and it goes both ways.

“I need to be able to trust my leaders,” she says. “I want them to trust me and to give me that space, because without that trust, I can’t do it all on my own; you can’t do it all on your own, we need to work together. You need to have that trust that if you fail, you fail and we can work it out. And I trust you enough that we don’t need to be in each other’s line of sight every single second to make it happen.”

While she agrees some people take to leadership more naturally, McConachy argues leadership skills can be learnt. “Some leaders just have this X-factor and you go: ‘How can I bottle that? What actually even is that?’ But soft skills can be developed. EQ [emotional intelligence] can be developed as well. Self-awareness is very important for leaders and sometimes it takes people a little bit more digging and listening and wanting to take on that feedback to get there, but it can be learnt.”

Having recently joined the The Institute of Managers and Leaders’ board, McConachy hopes to bring a unique perspective to the role, but stops short of saying she can inject a ‘youth voice’. The 29-year-old can certainly provide insight about the issues facing younger managers and leaders.

“I’m just really excited,” she says. “Looking around the table and talking to everyone it’s such an amazing group of people.”

McConachy has her sights set on further board roles in the future. “I see that as a real aspiration to be a non-executive director with a portfolio of board appointments,” she says. “I’m currently on a few other committees and would love to get involved with more boards in the future.”

Outside of work, McConachy can be found helping her furniture-designer husband in his business. Or out and about enjoying the top-class food and wine that the lush regions around Adelaide produce. And she is also focused on her next half-marathon. But that’s OK, she has a game plan.

“A strong beat can get you through,” she says.

FIVE PEOPLE STEPHANIE WOULD INVITE TO LUNCH

“First, I need someone who could bring the lunch, so a chef. Heston Blumenthal (pictured) has really challenged people’s perception of what food is and can be. So Heston to bring lunch and also to challenge us. Then Seth Godin. He’s a marketing genius and he’s just such an inspirational person and all throughout my marketing career, Seth’s been my go-to. I’d also choose Louis Theroux, the British documentary maker who’s forever curious. He’s disarming, he tackles any type of topic. He would ask really interesting questions, so probably get the best out of that group dynamic. Then I need a fictional character – Yoda. I love his quote: ‘Do. Or do not. There is no try’. He could bring a bit of wisdom to the group. And then Madonna, the queen of rebranding and reinvention. She would add a bit of a wow factor and bring some fun stories.”

Game of Moans

How to get your team to air their grievances and equip them with tools to independently problem-solve

 

By Candice Chung

 

One of the simplest ways to gauge the health of a relationship is by measuring the lag time between identifying a problem and bringing it into the open. In fact, social scientist Joseph Grenny argues the same litmus test can be used to reveal the effectiveness of any team or organisation.

“You can predict with nearly 90 percent accuracy which projects will fail — months or years in advance,” writes Grenny in his book Crucial Conversations. In most cases, the predictor of success or failure is a team’s ability to hold difficult conversations. “For example, could they speak up if they thought the scope and schedule [of a project] was unrealistic? Or do they go silent when [a team member] begins slacking off?”

Good leaders recognise the importance of getting their team to speak up. The reality, however, is that most workers tend to do the opposite — bottling up mid-range, mid-temperature niggles since it often feels like an easier way out.

“The two main reasons employees are wary of airing grievances are ‘I don’t want to get in trouble’ or ‘I don’t want to make trouble,’” says James Carlopio, organisation psychologist and Adjunct Professor of Business at Bond University. This is because opening up about certain grievances tend to involve elements of social or political risk.

Marcus Crow, co-founder of uncertainty management firm 10,000 Hours, calls these everyday gripes ‘the undiscussables’ — they are typically related to personality clashes or battles over resource allocation. In other words, things that involve potential losses for one or more of the parties involved.

“These are things we don’t talk about, but we should. And it’s hard to do because you’re going to risk saying something that could exclude you from the mainstream way of thinking in the organisation,” says Crow.

While there is no overnight solution to get staff to open up— since it takes time to cultivate genuine rapport and trust — the good news, says Crow, is that a team’s communication fitness can be built up over time.

To start, try asking for regular feedback in low-stakes situations. “For instance, at the end of every group meeting, check in and ask, “How did we just do?” and invite some brief commentary from the group — so the group gets a chance to reflect on its work,” says Crow.

Marcus Crow, co-founder of 10,000 Hours

A helpful thing to remember is that when employees have critical feedback, it’s usually a sign that they care, says Zivit Inbar, Director of people and performance consultancy group, Different Thinking. It’s therefore important for managers to reward candour by fostering an open culture and taking negative feedback seriously.

“Culture is all about managers modelling behaviours in a consistent way. To build a culture of honesty and openness means that the managers themselves must be honest, open, accept different opinions…admit their own mistakes and foster learning from errors,” says Inbar.

Once employees feel they can safely air their grievances, the next goal is to set up a framework for the team to independently problem-solve.

“The [short term] focus is to solve the immediate problem so that it does not impact on work productivity. After that, it’s important to show employees exactly how [an issue is] fixed and highlight important information along the way,” says Carlopio.

In the end, Crow believes most teams already possess what’s necessary for successful conflict resolution — what doesn’t happen is the practice.

“There’s no magical call to arms from leaders that will leave the team feeling empowered,” says Crow, “Rather, it’s by experiencing the leader making time, or the practice of sitting together and reflecting on hard-to-tackle issues that you’ll build up your proficiency to work together and problem-solve.”