Category: Performance Management

We provide full service talent management and talent development consulting services. Read our blogs in this category for stories and best practices from real clients and real research on Performance Management.

  • Want to be a millionaire? A Good Leader? Manage Your Time First

    Want to be a millionaire? A Good Leader? Manage Your Time First

    Want to be a good leader? How about a millionaire? Manage yourself and your time first.

    What does it take to think like a millionaire? In reading The Millionaire Mind, I was struck by what seemed to first be a contradiction. Based on the study of almost 1000 millionaires, it was obvious these individuals as a group managed their expenses just as wisely, if not more, than their revenue generation. Most bought at discount retailers and had very small or non-existent mortgages by buying older homes that retained or appreciated in value.

    Keeping costs low is a priority in the millionaire household, except with what the book described as “do it yourself” projects. Most millionaires captured in the study did not cut their own grass and if something broke in their house, they didn’t fix it, they called an expert.

    At first glance, this doesn’t seem like a managing cost approach. However, upon further inspection, it is not a matter of keeping costs down, it is a matter how your time is best spent because time is money. If the cost equation involves devotion of ones time, especially for someone who has learned how to generate revenue (as most millionaires have) through their time, best to outsource those non-essential tasks to someone who can do them more effectively. Which actually saves money.

    What does this have to do with leadership? Maybe leaders could learn a thing or two from the millionaire mindset. One thing I find that is a frequent area for tactical leadership coaching of what is really personal leadership (instead of actually leading others) and that is the issue of time management.  It is difficult to lead and guide the work of others if, as a leader, we have difficulty managing our own work and time.

    We’ve devoted several blog posts over the years to this topic that you can view here:

    Personal Leadership on Purpose

    A New Take on Time Management

    5 Ways to Find Your Productivity Sweet Spot

    Saying ‘No” to Something is Saying ‘Yes” to Something Else

    Schedules Communicate Priorities

    But what can you take from all of these, and what do we work with clients on helping them manage their time better? What does the millionaire mindset teach us? It’s pretty simple:

    • Define Your Purpose see the mission statement and goal setting links in this post.
    • Vet how you spend your time by that purpose. A helpful way to do this is by looking at Covey’s approach- is it urgent/not urgent, important/not important. The goal is to be in the green on this grid- or in Quadrant II by spending your time on tasks that are important, but not yet urgent. It’s simply being proactive. Notice that many of these items in Quadrant II deal with developing others – values clarification, relationship building, empowerment.

    Image source: https://www.franklincovey.com/blog/manage-your-time-and-energy-effectively/

  • 6 Steps for Maximizing Feedback Through Feedforward

    6 Steps for Maximizing Feedback Through Feedforward

    Described by Marshall Goldsmith in his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, feedforward is a process to solicit help in improving your performance once you’ve gotten feedback on what you need to improve upon. In our coaching process, and in many others, this is done through a 360° feedback assessment. (If you want other tips on how to solicit feedback yourself, Goldsmith’s book has a methods you can employ, or you can read ideas we recommend here.

     

    How to do it:

    Once you get feedback, you then follow the feedforward process as Goldsmith describes by:

    1. What do you stink at? Pick the behavior you want to change or improve based on the feedback you’ve received. In our coaching process, this should be reflected in the goals the individual sets as a previous step in the process.
    2. Tell people what you stink at. Describe the behavior you want to change one-on-one with anyone. It could be co-workers, your boss, your spouse, anyone. They do not have to be an expert.
    3. Ask for help. Ask the person for two suggestions on how you could improve in this area in the future. There should be no discussion of the past- only the focus on the future.
    4. Shut up. Listen to the suggestions, take notes if you desire, and thank the person for their suggestions. Don’t comment or judge their suggestions, just thank them.
    5. Repeat steps 2-4 with other people. As many as you like, the more the better.
    6. Stop stinking. Once you have a list of suggestions, commit to implementing what will work for you and regularly communicate your efforts to those involved.

     

    Feedforward at first can appear to be a process that leaves one vulnerable, and many people think that others won’t provide honest input when asked. But if done correctly, it can build your capabilities as a leader not only to help improve your performance but engaging in the process will convey humility, which is a trait many people actually seek in a leader they are want to follow.

    Have your ever sought someone’s input on how to improve? If so, what were the outcomes of you implementing their suggestions?

  • Looking for a Magic Wand in 2014?

    Looking for a Magic Wand in 2014?

    Are you a leader with a talent management problem like turnover, absenteeism, employee engagement, etc.? What if I gave you a magic wand in 2014 and it could wipe your problem out?

    One way to do this is to see yourself as a key driver of organizational strategy and results and then use this mindset to drive talent management process improvements that connect back to bottom line results. This mindset is your magic wand.

    Wait a minute you say! It can’t be that easy. Just thinking strategically can’t eliminate (insert your problem here). Recently, I described a process to a group of HR professionals that I think can help you connect corporate strategy and values to solve problems through talent management interventions.

    This process led one company to a $4000.00 direct cost savings each year just by connecting their corporate values to their selection process. Not to mention, they have made three new hires with this new process. Each of these hires are performing at the optimal level per their performance standards, saving the company an estimated $210.00 a day in absenteeism costs and approximately $54,000 a year per hire in turnover costs. These changes may not have been easy as waving a magic wand, but they weren’t rocket science either.

    You can download the handout from this presentation here to help you walk through the steps of waving your magic wand.

    What is one of your talent management processes that in its current state, needs a good dose of the magic wand?

  • 2013 Year In Review

    2013 Year In Review

    This year, I made my professional and personal goals public in order to demonstrate one effective characteristic of goal setting- going public with them.

    So, did going public help? Here’s how this year shook out:

    Goal 1. Maximize productivity in the morning.

    Result: Accomplished, but room for improvement. I didn’t get up as early as I had planned, and I really owe more credit to this happening to my running accountability partner and my early-bird three year old than I do myself. But, mornings have gone a lot smoother this year.

    Goal 2. Grow company revenue by 30% or more in 2013.

    Result: Accomplished. Revenue growth was 58% (gross profit), Net Income growth was 38%. We have been so humbled this year by the trust our clients have put in us, and the exciting and fun work we are getting to do!

    Goal 3: Cook dinner and sit down as a family to eat at least four times a week. 

    Result: A complete flop. One, I didn’t track it, so I couldn’t tell you how many times we did or didn’t do it specifically, and two, I know we didn’t come close to doing this. We sat in front of the TV with crap food more than I would like to admit.

    Goal 4: Be committed (as I have been the last two years) to one day a week at home with my little boy.

    Result: Almost, but not perfect. Stuck to this for the month of September where so many things hit at once work wise. He went to school three of the four Thursdays in September.

    Goal 5: Express gratitude to those closest to me.  

    Result: Accomplished in the sense that I tracked it this year and was more conscious of how I express appreciation to others, particularly those that interact with daily. On average, I sent one handwritten note to a person each week.

    Goal 6: No debt except our house by the end of the year.

    Result: Accomplished! Accomplishing goal #2 made this happen.

    Goal 7: Read 30 books.

    Result: Accomplished (just barely). Read 30. See Year End Book Review.

    Other year-end review notes:

    Our top blog post of 2013: With almost 25,000 hits: 2 Questions for Striving Servant Leaders

  • Flexibility to Reduce Workplace Stressors

    Flexibility to Reduce Workplace Stressors

    I attended a seminar last week discussing ways to improve productivity and communication in the workplace. One thing that stood out to me in the presentation was the emphasis the presenter placed on eliminating stressors so that people could be innovative and creative. He placed a value on innovation and creativity as the only differentiating factors in creating a sustainable advantage.

    What if standard or traditional work arrangements are creating workplace stressors and reducing innovation and creativity?

    This leads me to consider a tie to a book I mentioned last week,  The Elephant and the Flea  and its emphasis on employing free agents. Charles Handy writes,

    “Meantime, more and more people are going to become aware that their knowledge which drives innovation and creativity has marketable value. They will be reluctant to sell it for a time-based contract, a wage or a salary.  They will want to charge a fee or a royalty, a percentage of the profits.  The difference is that a salary is paid for time spent, whereas a fee is money paid for work produced, irrespective of the time spent on it.” (italics mine.)

    The beauty of this model is that you not only get results, but you get people who are less stressed because they are in control of their own situation, which allows them to be creative and innovative and produce better results.  It also may cost you less.  Many who charge a fee for work produced don’t come with the added cost of a benefit package.

    Or consider the FutureWork Institute described in the book Now You See It. Describing the founder of the institutes philosophy, the author Cathy Davidson writes,

    “The workplace of the future had to start taking into account the life desires, not just the work ambitions, of workers.  She was convinced that the best, most creative workers in the future might not be workaholics with the eighty-hour workweeks, but people who had figured out what way they love to work and how they work best.”

     

    My two year old snoring is eliminating my stress and fostering my creativity…

    As I sit hear writing this post on a Saturday at home, my two year old is asleep in my lap.  Although it took a little maneuvering to get him situated so that I can type,  I can’t help but think that creativity does come when we are in control of when and how work gets done. But maybe that’s the point… blurring the lines of work and life so much that you don’t realize to consider it work, which fosters creativity and innovation.  What could eliminate stress and make writing more enjoyable than two year old contently asleep in your lap?

    What way do you love to work and how do you work best?

     

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