Stand for Something, or Fall for Anything

I teach critical thinking skills to Undergraduate students.   One of the concepts to this class is not only what we think but why we think the way we do.  Of course our upbringing or enculturation has a great deal to do with the thought process.    How we adapt and react based upon the environment and culture shapes our values.   We then take those values into the world and apply them to all situations.  There is one problem with this logic and that is that not all people were brought up with the same values and ethics.

Part of being a critical thinker involves taking the time to understand the differences in others.  Why they think and act the way they do. We may not agree with these actions, but we can at least understand them.    When we have understanding we can then take the next step to bridging  gaps that could lead to conflict.  So many of us put such great effort into pushing our ways onto others that we don’t realize there is another way.   Of course, You have to stand for something, or you will fall for anything .   But, in order to stand for something you need to research, understand and critically think about what it is you are standing for and why.

We follow great leaders, but why do we believe they are great?  What is it about their thought process that resonates with us and allows us to want to take on their attributes and be a follower?   In business there are many leaders at many different levels.  You don’t have to have a fancy title to be a leader.  What you need is to understand people and their thought processes.  You need to help them to see the various views from  various angles and not just your own or their own.

I enjoy seeing how my students evolve from the first day of class when I ask them who taught them to think to the final week of class where they have grown into critical thinkers who can determine for themselves what they believe to be truth.

Do You Really Get More With Less?

Many employers believe that they will get more out of their remaining employees because those that remain fear being the next to receive the “pink slip” and head toward the unemployment line. They believe they are motivated by fear to work harder.  This is not necessarily the case.  

If ever there was a time for leadership it is now, when fear is so dominant.  Key Executives (CEO, CFO, etc.) are seeing what is happening to their competition or comparable industries and they are fearful that the same could happen to them. Their focus is on keeping profits at least level so they can remain in business.  For most the last thought on their mind is the morale of the employees that are remaining to make sure those profits happen.  Top Executives are there to vision the company forward.  Management is there to make sure that those visions are carried out. Therefore, this is where middle management comes in.  As a Manager/Supervisor what are you doing to assure that the past is left behind and your employees are focusing on the future?  (Remember, therapy is interesting in what happened in the past, coaching is all about moving into action and moving forward!)

We all know we can’t do anything about that past, the future hasn’t arrived yet so we can only live in the here and now.  Employees need to see that the fear has left the building.  If doors remain closed and long faces prevail whenever they see a “suit” walk by, then chances are they are going to feel the fear as well.  When an employee is in a state of fear, you are not getting more for less.  You are dealing with employees that are keeping their heads down out of fear of being noticed and spotted for the next round of laid offs!

As a manager/supervisor you need to get back to leading.  Call a meeting and let employees talk about their fears, address what you can and then provide the guidance to lead them back to a productive state.  Now is the time when asking what ideas and strategies your employees have for picking up morale and moving forward are the most beneficial.  Get them involved in the solution and they won’t feel like part of the problem!

Value Driven Leadership

I have been hearing more and more people tell me that their companies will not be handing out bonuses this year.  Some have even said that there will be no annual increases.  The economy is definately suffering, all you have to do is pick up any newspaper or magazine and read the headlines.

People are worried about job security.  Forget about the bonuses and raises, they just want to keep a job with cash coming in.  So, without the monetary incentive and with people feeling insecure about their future with the company, how are managers coping?  Perhaps they are dusting off their copies of Beverly Kaye’s book “Love em or Lose em” or Adrian Gostick’s “The Carrot Principle”.  Maybe “Who Moved My Cheese” or “Our Iceberg is Melting” would be good reads now since change is definately here!  Either way, managers have the responsibility to keep their employees on task and foster a culture of change.  Above all, mangers should not be telling their employees “its business as usual”.

Manager’s need to be open and honest.  What are the values of the company?  How are those values lived out in the work that is done.  In Badaracco and Ellsworth’s book Leadership and The Quest for Integrity, they state:  ”Leadership means shaping an organization so that its values, norms and ideals appeal strongly to its individual members while at the same time making the company a stronger competitor.”  Value driven leadership aligns the employee with the company.  Alignment of values between company and employee provides for a creative work force.  People value work that allows them to contribute, to be creative and to help problem solve.  When the company is seen as a community, everyone can benefit.  Go back to your brainstorming days when everyone was allowed to throw out ideas on ways to solve a problem.  Although some pretty far fetched solutions were offered, there were definately some valid ones as well.  Everyone felt that they had a say and a stake in the outcome.  They were made to feel part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Going back to what I said earlier, employees are worried about losing their jobs.  Perhaps they see themselves as one of the problems of the company.  Not they themselves, but their salary, benefit package, bonus, annual increase all equate to dollars, perhaps dollars that a struggling company does have.  If we can use our greatest assest and engage them in the solution, we may all be saved!