Adaptable Teams and Individuals Survive Change

Leopards have spots, dinosaurs had size.  Each developed a particular competency to succeed in a fixed environment.  But when the environment changes, the most rigid species become the most vulnerable to extinction.  Clever chameleons and adaptable amphibians are flexible enough to succeed – they are better able to survive the tides of change.

Humans need to be adaptable and our team structures must be versatile in order to meet the demands of our rapidly changing economic environment.
 
To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
Adaptable Teams and Individuals Survive Change

Teams with more bodies, or with fixed hierarchies and rigid roles can be appropriate for some tasks.  A regimented sequence of robotic skills succeeds on assembly lines.  However, the fads of “core competencies” and “outsourcing” can lead organizations to become too ossified in a niche that will be gone tomorrow.

Companies require versatility on three important levels:

1. Individuals must act competently in varying roles and relationships in different teams designed to handle different tasks.
2. Individual teams must be capable of adopting new strategies when demands change.
3. Teams must alter patterns of interactions between them in order to meet changing needs.

When do problems arise?
When the organization fails to provide the necessary structure and resources, or new staff aren’t sufficiently trained in the company’s style of team processes.  Also, when someone:

1. Tries to do it all him/herself.
2. Puts self-interest above team goals and processes.
3. Plays “intrigue”, “sabotage” or “politics.”
4. Responds ineffectively to pressure, change, fear or anger.

Clever chameleons, adaptable amphibians and appropriately flexible individuals in versatile teams are able survive where dinosaurs couldn’t.

The best way to create adaptable and successful teams is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an effective plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Seven Ways to Keep Quality Employees

CEOs uniformly report that lack of skilled workers is the major barrier to growth.  The question for management is what rewards will keep productive employees.  Major complaints of staff are increasing demands coupled to decreasing compensation.

Cut costs in other areas before squeezing valuable employees.

To read the rest of this article from the Wichita Business Journal, see:
Seven Ways to Keep Quality Employees

Seven guidelines to keeping quality employees:

1. Don’t pay attention to the generic bad-mouthing of Generation X employees.
2. Don’t be cheap or loot your company at employees’ expense.
3. Be clear about goals.
4. Create a culture of incentive and reward.
5. Money is an effective reward when tightly coupled to performance.
6. Money is only one reward.
7. Reward people who “lubricate” everyone’s efforts.

Keep weeding out the negative, bullying abusers.

It’s not the economy’s fault if you can’t treat people decently while being competitive - you’re just not being creative enough.

The best way to stop harassment, negativity and bullying, and to retain your highest quality employees is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an effective plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Is bullying in the Miami Dolphins’ locker room a special case?

The Miami Dolphins’ locker room is being exposed for the hotbed of harassment, bullying and abuse that it was allowed to become.  I’ll be writing about different aspects of the situation during the next week.

Today, the two questions asked most.  Is an NFL locker room a different environment than other places – at work, at home, at school?  Is this sort of bullying new?  The answer is, unequivocally, “No!”

1. Is an NFL locker room unique and different from any other business, family or school?

One approach to answering this question would be to examine the locker rooms of every other team in the league or to ask if the winners of the last 20 Super Bowls had locker rooms in which this behavior was tolerated.  The answer given by players and coaches has been unequivocally, “No!  The bullying in the locker room was despicable.”  Great coaches don’t even tolerate hazing as a way of creating the bonds necessary to play together well in a game.

Another approach is to examine the behavior that I see in the rest of the world.  Although the violence on an NFL field is different from most workplaces, the techniques used by a bully in the locker room and the lack of defensive skills on the part of his target are no different from those in any company I consult for, any family I coach or any school situation I work with.

The idea that 300 pound guys in a violent business will automatically behave that way or even need to behave that way in order to get their jobs done is nonsense.

The key factor in the Miami Dolphins organization, like in many businesses, families and schools, is that the bully’s behavior was tolerated or even encouraged.  They allowed or enabled the locker room to become a hostile workplace.

1.  
2. Is this bullying and predatory behavior new?

Again, the answer is, unequivocally, “No.”  From around the world, in every culture, the earliest oral and written epics revolve around bullying, terror and predators.  Bullying and abuse are nothing new in human behavior.  Many humans behave that way.  We have to be taught to behave better.

Bullying as a tactic to getting on in life is nothing new for Richie Incognito.  Incognito has a long rap sheet going back at least to his college days, when he was thrown out of some schools for his behavior.  Like typical bullies, Incognito continues to bully people because he’s never been stopped with any consequences that matter to him.  He’s been able to bounce around through college and the NFL, earning his millions, and thinking he doesn’t have to stop.

In addition, when a light was shined on his behavior towards Jonathan Martin, Richie Incognito presented the typical excuses, justifications and rationalizations that bullies and predators use – that’s his personality, he was just kidding, he didn’t know that Martin minded, Martin is being too sensitive.

Jonathan Martin was not bullied because he was different.  Relentless predators like Richie Incognito attack their prey because they are predators.  Then they find excuses to justify their bullying.  Also, they pretend ignorance of the pain and damage they cause.  Typically, predators pursue prey who don’t or can’t defend themselves.

With bullying and terrorizing like this, there is no fine line.  There is a Grand Canyon.  The only fine line is on one side of the canyon, at the edge of a cliff about some hazing or some of the expenses asked of rookies in some locker rooms.  But the vicious, despicable language, the threats against Martin’s mother, his sister and himself, the terror struck into Mr. Martin’s heart and the actions against Martin by Richie Incognito are far across that canyon.

Bullies have no place in NFL locker rooms, companies, families or schools.

The best way to stop bullying at work, in your family or at schools is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and consulting so you can:

1. Develop the strength, courage, will and determination to be and to act your best resolutely, diligently and effectively.
2. Develop a plan and master the skills necessary to create the bully-free life your spirit has always hungered for.

Since all tactics depend on the situation, call me at 1-877-8Bullies for expert coaching by phone or Skype.

Stop workplace bullying - Low Attitudes Checklist

I’ve created a checklist so you can see if your workplace is a hive of low attitudes and bullying – especially by subtle, sneaky, manipulative bullies who fly below the radar.  You’ll learn to recognize the high cost of low attitudes.
 
See the checklist – How to know if low attitudes are costing too much at work.

The form is easy to fill out and send to me with a click of a button.  I’ll call you back with your free diagnosis and treatment plan.  Or you can print the form and call me directly at 877-8BULIES (877-828-5543).
 
The best way to stop harassment, negativity and bullying, and to retain your highest quality employees is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an effective plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

"Mr. Negativity" proudly destroys teamwork

Carl loved the title of “Mr. Negative.”  He was proud of being smarter than anyone else and thought his put-downs were funny.  No matter what you said, he would disagree, counter it or top it.  His personal attacks, sarcasm and cutting remarks could bring most people to tears.  He could create a tense, hostile workplace in minutes. He could bring a brainstorming or planning meeting to a halt by finding fault with every suggestion or plan, and proving that nothing would work.  He was convinced that his predictions were accurate and more valuable to the team than the frustration and anger he created.  On his team, sick-leave and turnover were high, while morale, camaraderie and teamwork were low.  Productivity was also low because most people wasted a huge percent of their time talking about Carl’s latest exploits.

What can you do?

In this case, his manager had heard me present “How to Eliminate the High Cost of Low Attitudes” at a conference, and had brought me in as a consultant.  She wanted me to help her create a culture that would be professional, retain high quality staff and be much more productive.

Why did his manager, Jane, bring me in, instead of simply evaluating Carl honestly and having consequences leading to demotion and eventual termination if he didn’t change?  Jane thought that:

• Carl was bright and expert enough in his specialty that she was afraid of losing him.
• If she was a good enough manager and learned to say the magic words, Carl would straighten out.
• Her hands were tied because Carl was a long-term employee in a government organization.

Coaching helped Jane see that she was victimizing the rest of the team by giving in to her fears and helplessness.  Carl was verbally abusive and emotionally intimidating.  And he was subtly manipulative because he had a soft voice and a smile on his face while he sarcastically cut his co-workers to ribbons.  She saw that if she continued to give in to her fear of losing Carl, she’d lose her reputation and position because her team would mutiny or quit.

Despite these insights, Jane remained a conflict-avoidant manager.  She would allow the team to act, but she wouldn’t lead the way.  Therefore we worked around her.

I helped the team create a set of behavioral expectations for individual professional interactions and for team meetings.  It was no surprise that the list did not included any of Carl’s behaviors, that his behaviors were specifically prohibited and that the list of appropriate behaviors contained the opposite ones Carl had been bullying coworkers with.

The rest of the team voted to accept the code of professional behavior.  Carl said he’d sign but he wouldn’t change his behavior.  He’d been Mr. Negativity as long as he could remember and didn’t think he could change.

That seemed like an impasse.  No one wanted to waste a lifetime waiting for Carl to go through therapy, especially since he didn’t want to change anyway.  I helped the team realize that Carl had no reason to change.  There were no adverse consequences to him if he kept doing what he was doing.  The team needed some leverage.

Since the manager wouldn’t act on her own, the rest of the team took a bold step.  They told Carl that they wouldn’t tolerate his hostility and the tension it caused.  They said that they’d remove him immediately from any meeting in which he started his negative putdowns.  He laughed nervously, thinking they’d never really do that.  He still wouldn’t accept that his behavior was so hurtful and despised.

At the next meeting, of course, Carl was negative as usual.  He was shocked when the rest of the team immediately stood up and told him to leave.  He sheepishly did, with a parting shot that they’d never come up with a good plan without him.

He was wrong.  They did develop a good plan to deal with the problem they’d been working on. They also gave him his assignment within it.  They told him that people who weren’t at meetings must be happy with the tasks assigned to them.  Carl was outraged and protested.  He looked for support from anyone on the team, but everyone was against him.  That also stunned him.  They told him that they were following the team’s behavior code.  He could play according to the rules and take what he got or leave.  They also told him that he could be very likeable when he wanted to and they’d be glad to be on a team with the “likeable Carl.”

It took two more meetings at which Carl was asked to leave, before he began to change.  It was amazing to all of them, including Carl, that what he thought was a life-long pattern, changed when enough leverage was applied.  He really did like what he did and he also had wanted to be liked.

This example is over the top in many ways.  But I have a question for you: Did the rest of the team bully Carl or were they right in voting him off their island when he was an abusive bully?

One general lesson here is: “When the legitimate authority won’t act and, therefore, leaves a power vacuum, the most hostile and power-hungry people usually fill it.  Your task is to fill it with the best behavior instead.”

There are many other ways to solve the problems that the Carl’s of the world cause at work and at home.  A stronger manager would have done it by herself.  Jane obviously had problems as a manager and wouldn't step outside her comfort zone to solve them.  Her boss soon took appropriate action.

It’s also a different matter if the negative person is the manager or boss.  There are many other problem behaviors that can be resolved with the Behavioral Code approach.  In other blog posts I’ll cover those bullying situations at work.

Please tell me your story so I can be sure to respond to it.

The best way to stop harassment, negativity and bullying, and to retain your highest quality employees is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an effective plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Don't try to make all your employees happy

Don’t try to make all your employees happy.  But do make your best employees happy. Do you recognize who the best employees and managers are?

We can’t define who the best are, but we all recognize them.  They’re the ones with inspiration – the inner drive to accomplish things and succeed.  At all levels, they’re superstars and solid, steady, productive professionals.  They’re the beavers eager to learn, develop skills and be competent and productive.  They want to be efficient and effective.  They have great attitudes; they take responsibility and they care.

They’re the ones who anchor a culture of success.  They keep communication channels open and they get along well enough with other productive individuals in order to make their teams succeed.  They take care of customers and teammates.  They partner with employees on other teams when success depends on joint effort.  They’re the low-maintenance people we can count on.l

It’s a pleasure to make them happy.  They appreciate your efforts and respond with more of their own.

You can generalize by thinking that your organization has about 15% stars and 75% solid producers – all in that group of high quality employees you want to keep happy.

The other 15% are the problem adults.  They’re the whining complainers, hyper-critical bosses, lazy slackers, negative discouragers, backstabbing rumormongers and gossips, know-it-all squelchers, micro-managing nit-pickers and turf-protecting power brokers – to name only a few.  They’re unproductive, but always have excuses they think justify their unprofessional behavior.  They create hostile workplaces.  They’re energy vampires – they can suck the life out of any effort.  No matter how much you give them, it’s never enough.  They’re not grateful and they don’t give back.  They demand or connive to get more.

Don’t try to make them happy.  It’s an impossible task.  You’d have to cater to them and give away your organization to them.  Instead, good leaders and managers help them go somewhere else.  Maybe they’ll be happy at another company or maybe you can get them a job in a competitor’s organization.

Give your time, energy and goodies to your high quality employees.  How?  You don’t need my top 10 list to get started making your best employees happy.  Maximize their chances for success.  Give them all the training, equipment, operating systems and support they need to succeed.  To high quality people, accomplishment is an aphrodisiac.  Beyond that – ask them.  Every individual will have an individual list of desires – training, opportunities for advancement, cleansing their environment of losers, more flex-time and money, etc.  Then do your best to give it to them.

What if there’s more than 15% bottom feeders at your company, and management doesn’t care?  Be one of the best employees.  Try to get the attention of leaders.  If that doesn’t work, go be a best employee at your competitor’s company.

The best way to stop harassment, negativity and bullying, and to retain your highest quality employees is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an effective plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543. 

My staff doesn't care: What’s the problem? Is it me?

Honest self-evaluation and course correction are key traits of great leaders, managers and employees. For example, suppose you complain that almost everyone in your department or organization is turned off and tuned out.  Are they all just a bunch of self-indulgent, narcissistic, lazy slackers or a rotten generation – or have you failed somehow?

To read the rest of this article from the Philadelphia Business Journal, see: My staff doesn’t care: What’s the problem? Is it me?

http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2009/10/12/smallb3.html

If your office is typical, you’d expect that a small group of employees won’t care no matter what you do.  They’re abusive, bullying bottom-feeders.  Their lack of discipline, responsibility and effort comes from the inside.  Begging, bribery, appeasement and coddling may make them happy, but won’t make them more productive.

Another small group, on the other side of a bell curve, will work hard all the time.  They take responsibility and care about your company’s success as well as their own.

But if that middle group, roughly 80 percent, doesn’t care, be honest and look at yourself.  You know that most people do care and want to be productive.

Learn what you can do to eliminate the high cost of their low attitudes.

Will you convert everyone when you start doing what you need to?  No, but you’ll see who are bullies, who’s in the bottom-feeder group and who’s so hurt, angry and disaffected that they can’t be won over.  Be kindly when you help these latter people leave.

All tactics are situational.  Expert coaching and consulting can help you create and implement a plan that fits you and your organization.

Stop Subtle Office Bullies Before They Kick You Around

Cowards die a thousand deaths, the brave die only once.  Don’t give in to supervisors or coworkers who try to bully you.

Some bullies have obvious strategies for getting their way - threatening, harassing or attacking behavior designed to cower you.  The most pervasive forms of bullying, however, are done by people who violate social codes.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
Stop Subtle Office Bullies Before They Kick You Around
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1997/04/14/smallb8.html

These subtle bullies rummage through your desk, letters and e-mail, listen to your phone calls, get jealous if they’re not included in everything, belittle you in a seemingly humorous way, spread gossip, negativity and/or sarcasm, give the silent treatment, ignore your pressures and deadlines, trample the boundary between professional friendliness and personal intimacy, and create cliques that subvert teamwork.

These insidious behaviors usually go unchecked because they are not recognized as bullying.  People live with their hurt, irritation, frustration and anger because what bothers them are violations of unwritten, supposedly personal codes, not written rules.

If you advertise that you’re hesitant or afraid, if you whine or if you suffer in silence, every bully in the neighborhood knows that there’s a victim waiting to be taken advantage of.

Coping starts when you label these tactics as bullying in order to mobilize yourself into taking effective action.  Protect your boundaries and standards; your personal ecology in your personal space.

Set team standards about privacy, space, turf, possessions, interruptions, punctuality, gossip, sarcasm, negativity, and boundaries between professional life and personal life.

The personal agendas of pathological bullies are more important to them than the goals or processes of the team.  They have many strategies to keep you from maintaining your standards.

Appeasement is never effective with determined bullies.  They’re boundary pushers who always want more.

If you’re consistent, resilient and persevering, these people may find easier prey elsewhere - or the whole team may close ranks against them.

Your peace of mind is essential.   Face your hesitations and fears.  Do what’s good for yourself, your tasks and your team.  Have courage, have hope, have a plan.  Be the hero of your life.

The best way to stop harassment, negativity and subtle bullying is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an effective plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Don't Stress Out Trying to Motivate Slackers

You’ve heard it a hundred times, “A great manager can motivate anyone.” Hogwash.

The fact is some slackers simply don’t care and are beyond motivation.  And it’s a waste of your limited time and energy to keep trying.  If you’re sick and tired and stressed out because you’ve accepted responsibility for motivating slackers, prepare for the inevitable effects of continued frustration and emotional pain.  You’ll be exhausted, burn out and get physically ill.

Unfortunately, managers often find themselves pressured to motivate everyone.  And both they and their bosses may see these managers as failures when they can’t pull it off.  It’s time to give them a break.

To read the rest of this article from the Business First of Louisville, see: Don’t stress out trying to motivate slackers

http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2007/05/28/editorial3.html

Many slackers are like teenagers who don’t want to take out the trash or clean their rooms.  They pretend they’re not responsible or don’t know how.  They act as if there’s a debate going on between them and their managers, and they don’t have to do the work unless they like the bribe.  Slackers are sneaky, manipulative bullies.

Motivating your employees is an important part of being a good manger.  It’s also important to recognize the ones who can’t be motivated, so you don’t waste time trying to do the undoable.

If they’re not performing, let them know immediately and link consequences and rewards to performance.  You can’t make them happy enough to work hard.  If they don’t respond to praise or fear with increased productivity, let them look for a job where they’ll be appreciated for slacking.  Or, maybe, a termination will change their slacker attitude.

You’re not looking for people who require constant motivation and micromanagement.  You’re looking for people who come to you inspired and eager to face challenges, who take responsibility and who succeed.

Keeping a slacker forces good performers to pick up that slack.  You’re simply spreading the stress around so you don’t have to bear the whole burden.  That’s a poor reward for a good performer.  It’s as if you’re saying, “I can count on you so I’m going to give you a bonus of extra work.  We’re going to continue paying that underperforming slacker while you carry their slack in addition to the two jobs you already do.”

The most dismal cases are in organizations that promote slackers to management or allow slacking managers to stay.  That  spreads slacking over a wider territory.

In the real world it’s everyone’s job, including a president or CEO, to motivate his supervisors that he’s worth keeping.  Why should it be up to your managers to motivate the slackers on your payroll?  Slackers should be working hard to motivate you to keep them.

Slackers create the same symptoms.  Performance decreases.  Behavior sinks to the lowest level tolerated.  Narcissists, incompetent, lazy, gossip, back-stabbing, manipulation, hostility, crankiness, meeting sabotage, negativity, relentless criticism, whining, complaining, cliques, turf control, toxic feuds, harassment, bullying and abuse thrive.  Power hungry bullies take power.

Don’t waste your valuable people time on slackers.  You won’t make things better being a peacemaker.  Begging, bribery, endless praise, appeasement, endless ‘second chances,’ unconditional love and the Golden Rule usually encourage more harassment, bullying and abuse.  Stop emotional bullies and stop bullying.

High standards protect everyone from unprofessional behavior.  You can learn to eliminate the high cost of low attitudes, behavior and performance.

All tactics are situational.  Expert coaching and consulting can help you create and implement a plan that fits you and your organization.

It's not what you say – but how you say it – that counts

Effective communication isn’t just what you say.  How you say it is equally important. Consider the case of Pam, Jennifer and Greg.  Pam and Jennifer were valued employees about to be discarded because of a simple communication style difference.

To read the rest of this article from the Business Journal of Jacksonville, see: It’s not what you say – but how you say it – that counts,

http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2005/03/28/smallb3.html

After Jennifer researched possible solutions to a problem, she’d tell her boss, Pam, the conclusions before presenting how she’d arrived at them.  Pam felt manipulated and insulted and considering firing Jennifer.

At the same time, Pam was getting great results but sensed that her boss, Greg, was upset with her.  He looked bored and impatient in their meetings.  She’d overheard him saying she was a fuzzy thinker who didn’t have the incisive mind necessary for promotion.

She’d tried to please him by giving him more extensive reports of potential projects, especially the process by which she’d gathered the information.  She wanted to make sure he had all the details so he could make up his own mind before she presented her suggestions.

Jennifer and Greg are “bottom liners.”  They present options or conclusions first so people can analyze their reasoning to see if they’d arrive at the same ones.  Greg wants a conclusion up front so he can decide rapidly whether he likes it or whether he needs to hear more details.  Once he reaches a decision, he doesn’t want to waste his time on extraneous information.

Pam is a “processor.”  She reviews how she arrived at a conclusion before giving her favored option.  That way, people can make up their own minds, without manipulation, to see if they arrive at the same one.

Miscommunication resulting from different communication styles causes escalating hostility, extra work, diminished productivity and lost profits.

Each style has benefits, but each also creates problems.  How do you discover what they are? Ask someone who favors one style about its advantages and about the problems with the other style.

Take responsibility for matching preferred work styles and communication.  Although it’s easy to become righteous in defending your favored style of communication, results are more important than style.

People are not their titles or functions, they’re individuals and most are trying to do their best in ways that have worked for them before - despite what you may think about them because you favor your style and can justify why it’s best.

In our time, diversity makes the problem worse.

Learn to detect other people’s preferred styles and how to communicate effectively in that style.  That’s not too much for you to learn. You’re a human being, designed to learn these styles rapidly.  That’s how all babies learn to please and manipulate their parents.

Whenever possible, communicate face-to-face when something might be sensitive or at the first sign of a misunderstanding or adverse emotional response.  Don’t text or use e-mail.  Get away from your desk and share coffee or food.  Create a human interaction with two people trying to understand how to talk to each other to get the best results, not an interaction to see who is right or can beat the other person down.

I typically focus on preferred styles in about 30 different situations.  A few other examples of important communication style differences are: saying things bluntly vs. talking around a subject; preferring written vs. verbal communication; brainstorming by talking vs. talking only after making a decision; focusing on the exact dictionary definition of words vs. expecting people to read between the lines; communicating in thoughtful monotones vs. passionate variations.

Are your messages going unheard or are you misunderstanding individuals and groups with different communication styles?

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

No-conflict workplace won't resolve problems. Anger goes underground when it's avoided

     

Dealing with conflict in corporate America is a problem of extremes.  Ineffective leaders either use confrontation and bullying as weapons to beat employees down, or they mandate conflict-free zones.  Both extremes suppress effective disagreement, drive opposition underground and create toxic environments. To read the rest of this article from the New Mexico Business Weekly, see: No-conflict workplace won't resolve problems:  Anger goes underground when it's avoided

http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2003/09/01/smallb3.html

While bullying bosses are recognized problems, the cancerous effects of no-conflict zones usually fester unnoticed until they metastasize. In the quest to be respectful of people’s feelings, ineffective leaders have covered up problems or rushed to easy, token resolutions.  They have abandoned the most effective tools for creating innovation and improvement - challenge and opposition that promotes creativity and brings out the best efforts of worthy staff.  Conflict-avoidant managers cannot be effective leaders.

The problem is not disagreement; the problem is escalation – in either direction. The challenge for leaders is to find the sweet spot between the extremes.  The key to success is the fundamental agreement to use the opposing forces for the common good while preventing escalation.

One organization I worked with had decreed there would be no emotional responses or disagreement. Everyone was required to be calm, sweet, kind and reasonable in public.  Disagreement was hidden behind closed doors and, even then, had to be circumspect and cloaked in appreciation and praise.  There were very strict communication formulas, ostensibly so no one’s feelings would ever be hurt.  Not only were sticks and stones forbidden, but also honest words.

Typical of such poisonous situations, overt channels of responsibility, authority and accountability had become shams. A small clique of the most difficult and manipulative people used their hypersensitivity to control the organization behind the scenes.  The best games-players intrigued to make decisions in their own best interests.  Quality employees started leaving.

Apposition is a better word than opposition to describe passionate disagreement that promotes the greater good. Your opposable thumb and forefinger often appose by pushing against each other hard so you can pick up your pencil and get to work.  Apposition creates opportunity and promotes success.

If disagreement has been suppressed, the initial steps in transforming a toxic culture will seethe with emotion. Pay the price and move through the flare up.

You don’t need to initiate angry confrontations in order to be clear and firm about standards of productivity, quality or behavior.  But if the other person wants to start a fight or throw a fit, effective leaders learn to deal with emotionally charged interactions rapidly and effectively.

Conflict is nothing to be afraid of - appreciate and respect worthy opponents who bring out the best in both of you.

The best leaders seek areas of disagreement and challenge. Emotion, challenge and disagreement power the engine of leadership.  To drive success, moderate and direct that fuel appropriately.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Don’t Tolerate "Stars" Who Bully at Work

Nobody likes a bully.  But imagine that your best salesman is a bully.  You’re faced with a dilemma that may make you hesitate.  Heroism and skill will be required to maintain standards. To read the rest of this article from the Cincinnati Business Courier, see: Don’t Tolerate “Stars” Who Bully at Work

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2003/04/07/smallb3.html

Even if the bullying is flagrant and public, you might think twice before risking a major revenue stream confronting that person.

Even worse, if bullying is more subtle and private – like a bully “sales star “ cuts others out of their share of a sale; undermines other sales people; verbally intimidates and abuses support staff - you may be tempted to hesitate and ignore the initial rumors.

A prevalent assumption in our society is that the first time you hear about a problem, you should minimize it, give people the benefit of the doubt and hope it goes away by itself.  That assumption is wrong.

See the original article for details.

• Don’t let an untreated splinter lead to gangrene or a bullying problem fester. For every incident you hear about, there are usually five that haven’t reached you.  This is just the first time the bully was exposed.
• Respond to such incidents immediately. Look for patterns of behavior, try to find witnesses to the incident or people who have been bullied separately.
• Bullying patterns of behavior test everyone’s courage and skill, especially the leadership team. Set the standards by biting the bullet rapidly with bullying sales stars.
• Usually, the abuse builds to a crescendo, but then subsides temporarily - so you give it more time. Eventually, you’ll spend so much time focusing on repeated incidents, you’ll be exhausted. That is a tip-off:  The “cancer” has spread too far.
• After you act, you’ll be amazed at what surfaces. You’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg.  Over the next two to three months, you’ll hear many more stories of bullying and hear many sighs of relief.”
• Even though the leadership team is insulated from the worst of the pain, you have to lead the way in demanding civil behavior as well as productivity. You’re just following common sense.
• Test sales managers. It’s easy to talk theories, but decisions can get more difficult for a sales manager when facing a bullying star might mean unmet quotas, lost personal bonuses and more time and money training replacements. The longer managers cover things up or let situations go unresolved, the more credibility and influence they lose.  They look like enablers or collaborators. Eventually they will have to leave - along with the bully they’ve coddled and protected.
• Test the support staff manager and the “abused” individual. Courage is required to blow the whistle, since leaders usually favor sales stars.  Don’t throw fits; gather facts and document evidence of patterns.

You can’t precisely measure the negative effects of bullying on everyone’s productivity, but every time you remove one of those thorns, the benefits will be dramatic.

Even if sales take a temporary hit, morale and productivity will increase across the board. Company revenues will shortly overcome the loss of that particular bully’s sales.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Team Agreements Keep Companies Healthy

Vision and goals are the heart and mind of your company.  Teamwork is the engine that drives physical performance - products, service, productivity, costs, pricing and marketing.

Your company can’t guarantee successful, integrated performance - but if you don’t provide organizational leadership that coordinates effort, you do guarantee failure.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
Team Agreements Keep Companies Healthy
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1997/06/16/smallb5.html

The structure and the teamwork guidelines must enable employees to work more effectively and efficiently. Guidelines, flexible enough to accommodate to changing situations and to benefit from creativity and different styles, take precedence over individual preferences.

To maintain consistent performance, the following agreements must be honored, from the CEO to the lowest supervisor and employee:

• Stand-up clearly, directly, matter-of-factly and firmly for the company standards and teamwork guidelines.  Take sides with the standards, not the personalities.
  
• Hold everyone accountable for great teamwork and human skills, as well as technical competency.  Teamwork can’t be maintained when top leaders loot the company or when employees can use threats of lawsuits to blackmail the company into violating its standards.
  
• Hire, train, encourage, demand, evaluate, and reward good will and good cheer.  Have consequences for ill will, laziness, etc.

Someone unhappy with these agreements can try to change them according to your policies and procedures or he/she can leave.  Someone generally unhappy with life cannot be allowed to infect the whole company.  A healthy body must isolate or remove foreign objects.

Chain of command and chain of communication aren’t enough.  You need specific guidelines for proactive teamwork policies and procedures.  There is no “perfect” set. Some of my favorite ones are: - see original article.

In order to have a coordinated and well-functioning corporate body capable of obtaining the success you envision, you must provide an appropriate structure, an integrated system, effective nutrition, and consistent training.  Teamwork keeps the body healthy, and aligns effort.

The best way to develop team agreements for professional behavior that will stop harassment, negativity and bullying is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an effective plan that eliminates the high cost of your low attitudes.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Master Your Fears to Manage Workplace Change Effectively

Whether you’re managing a forced or chosen company reorganization, downsizing, career or personal change, fear shuts the doors of your mind, limits your horizons and choices, throttles your energy and resources, and thwarts success.  Master your fears to manage change effectively.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
Master Your Fears to Manage Workplace Change Effectively
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1997/08/25/smallb5.html

People in our culture typically respond with debilitating fear to ambiguity, uncertainty, unpredictability and the potential danger of change.  Victim-thinking, paranoia, stupidity, ignorance, and narcissism become rampant.  Tunnel-vision, defensiveness, survival-thinking, inactivity, and back-stabbing increase.

To develop effective attitudes you will have to protect yourself from the epidemic of fear spread by the media and most people you know.

• Some of the common “fear-viruses” and their antidotes (read the original article) are:
• “The global forces of a shrinking economy are too powerful for any individual.”
• “When a lot is on the line, you’re supposed to react with fear.”
• “Any time your feelings are hurt or you don’t get what you want, it’s a tragedy.”
• “Society owes you a living; comfort, convenience and success are your right.”
• “Any mistake can be fatal; if you stumble, get knocked down or pause on your treadmill, it’s a portent of inevitable disaster.”

Don’t let self-bullying, self-doubt and self-abuse sap your strength and determination, and make you ineffective.

Take charge of the choices that you do have.  Persevere though the days seem tedious and your efforts appear to be without effect. Be the hero of your life; master the changes you face.

The best way to learn how to protect and defend yourself from your own self-bullying thought viruses is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti self-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of your low attitudes.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Drive a Stake into the Hearts of Work "Vampires"

I consulted with someone who was slowly being sucked dry by work “Vampires”.  She felt too drained and fatigued to produce what she needed to.  She spent too much time off-track listening to “soap operas” or helping people do their jobs.  She tried to help others to settle their conflicts only to find herself in the middle and being blamed by everyone.  She took everything to heart and tried to make everyone happy.  She thought that the most important thing was not to hurt anyone’s feelings.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
Drive a Stake Into the Hearts of Work "Vampires"
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1997/10/13/smallb3.html

• Let’s focus here on the attitudes and some action plans she now uses.
  Attitudes always come first.
  
• She responds to the warning signs she previously ignored: where vampires lurk, what they use for cover, and how they catch people unawares.
  She is committed to saying, “No” when it’s appropriate.  She reaches “burn-out” with people who continue to take without giving back.
  
• She learned how to say, “No” by observing, asking good teachers how they do it, and practicing (trial and course-correction).
  
• She identifies the warning signs she previously ignored: where vampires lurk, what they use for cover, and how they catch people unawares.
  
• She puts responsibilities where they belong and she doesn’t get caught in the middle of other people’s problems.
  
• She needs good solid blocks of time to do her own tasks. She demands them and preserves them. That’s her first priority.

And if she ever again feels drained and fatigued after interacting with someone, she just has to get the garlic and stakes - check her attitudes, develop a strategy, gather her resources (determination, perseverance, resilience, flexibility, humor), use her skills, and take appropriate action.

The best way to learn how to protect and defend yourself, and to set high standards is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes in your workplace.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

"Masters of Change" sets leadership standard

Most business books aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.  But once in a while a business book has the potential to change the course of individual lives and therefore, the life of a society.  These are usually not books on “how to” do business; they are books on “who” you can be when you do your business.  These books alter how you think about your business in relation to the larger arena of your whole life.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
“Masters of Change” sets leadership standard

ttp://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1997/11/10/smallb7.html

“Masters of Change,” by Dr. William M. Boast with Benjamin Martin, (Maracome Press, $14.95) is such a book.  Dr. Boast was well known on the speaking circuit, having spent years clarifying his message to the likes of IBM and Motorola.  Mr. Martin is Director of Special Projects at Mentis Technology Solutions.  The book is a pleasure to read; it captures Dr. Boast’s voice as if he was with you, speaking richly, deeply, directly and straight-forwardly.

This book is the first completely human and thoroughly pragmatic approach to leadership in a world of massive and sudden change.  Its conclusions are not justified by a set of preexisting moral principles taken on faith, but are based on a careful study of a hundreds of leaders who succeeded or failed in handling change.  The authors have extracted universal qualities, guiding principles and attitudes of masterful leaders.

“Masters of Change” focuses on leaders being their best when things are at their worst.  Like these masters, you need appropriate drive, determination, perseverance, resilience, stubbornness and flexibility so you can act effectively, intelligently and responsibly.

The book is loaded with stories and quotes that will reverberate within you for decades.  Its historical sweep and meticulous detail make it a challenging and inspiring work. It will become the foundation for the next generation of leadership thinking.
 
Start your Christmas shopping now.  Buy a case of Masters of Change and give copies to your friends and colleagues.

The best way to learn how to deal with change, especially for mature people caught in rapidly changing industries and professions, is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Bullies destroy codes of professional conduct

Effective teamwork stands on four legs - all are necessary.

• Tasks must be clearly defined.
  
• Roles, abilities and resources must be appropriate for achieving desired results.
  
• Good people must individually do their share and work together effectively to overcome style differences.
  
• Codes of professional conduct must be set high enough and must be defended.

Bullies destroy the third and fourth legs.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
Bullies destroy codes of professional conduct

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1997/12/15/smallb4.html

While team leaders frequently violate standards by flagrant favoritism, nepotism and misuse of power, more frequently, I see teamwork breaking down when individual team members are allowed to continue violating team codes of professional conduct.

Caring and support do not mean catering to someone’s whims or to the most infantile or selfish behavior of any individual.  You can stretch yourself in order to help someone, but there is always a breaking point beyond which productivity suffers.  The most caring and supportive strategy is to inspire people and hold them accountable to live up to professional conduct and standards.

Whatever pious or soaring phrases are in mission statements and codes of conduct, the reality of organizational culture is clarified during an employee’s probationary period.  On-going, accurate and honest evaluation and feedback are necessary to defend that code.  Daily examples are needed in which a   new employee is held accountable for behavior and performance.  Managers must create precedents by documenting an employee’s willingness and ability to meet expectations.

Your work team is not a therapeutic environment and is usually not your family.  In a therapeutic environment or a family, maintenance of relationships may take precedence over tasks.  You may tolerate destructive behavior in order to maintain connection.

In your work team, however, tasks take precedence over relationship.  Camaraderie serves tasks; relationships may last 30 years or only until the task is done.

Senior managers, team leaders and individual team members each have 100% of the responsibility, authority and accountability for defending the code of conduct that protects them.  If this support to teamwork breaks, both relationships and productivity fall.

The best way to learn how to set high standards and retain your best people is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes in your workplace.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Maintain Standards to Retain the Best Employees

An effective strategy to find and keep the best employees at every level of your company requires that you avoid desperation and be clear about what you want, how to recognize these people and what it takes to make them and your company outstanding.  Don’t settle for harassment or bullying; for laziness or mediocrity.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
Maintain Standards to Retain the Best Employees
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1998/02/16/smallb4.html

The most important factor for retaining the best employees is providing quality coworkers in a supportive atmosphere.

Know what you want and search until you find it.

• Seek work ethic and desire - drive, dedication, endurance and eagerness to succeed.
• Examine technical skills that fit the specific tasks.
• Select personal styles that fit and complement specific tasks and teams.
• Use probationary periods effectively.
• Demand the willingness to defend your culture - your standards, expectations and codes of conduct and communication.
• Keep workers who take personal responsibility for success.  Demand what’s required for success.  Provide what’s needed for success.  Reward success.  Replace employees who don’t produce success.

You can tolerate some initial mistakes from a dedicated person; don’t tolerate mistakes from a person who is lackadaisical.  Don’t give people a license to fail.  To keep the best people, give them personal rewards, surround them with competent coworkers and demand their best.

The best way to learn how to set high standards and retain your best people is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes in your workplace.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

How to Supervise Adults When They Act Like Children

If employee conflict often makes you feel like an adult trying to manage difficult children, you’ve hit on the most effective approach for dealing with these behaviors - take charge and give these difficult adults consequences and incentives to grow up and develop adult strategies.

To read the rest of this article from the New Mexico Business Weekly, see:
How to Supervise Adults When They Act Like Children
http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/12/02/smallb3.html

We all recognize childhood behaviors like avoiding responsibility, empty promises and blaming; possessiveness, jealousy and constant controlling; forming catty cliques or swaggering gangs; attention seeking, disruption and resistance; insensitivity to the feelings of others; fear, dependence and helplessness; threatening to hurt themselves or embarrass us.  We also label types like spoiled princes and princesses; picture-perfect little professors; martyrs, pouters, sulkers; people-pleasers; petty tyrants.

Bullies (harassers and abusers), victims and rescuers try to force others into complementary roles in their triangle.  Don’t get sucked into this Bermuda triangle.

Don’t let temper tantrums - exploding in anger, withdrawing in hurt or giving a very loud “silent treatment” - control your team.  Train employees not to expect bribes or rewards to keep them from acting out in public.  While they’re in “time out”, continue decision-making and group process.

In adults, child-like behaviors are habitual reactions to hurt and fear - maintained by ignorance of more effective strategies.  Self-protection and personal agendas become more important than co-workers or productivity.

Some general guidelines and strategies

• Effective authority depends on your willingness to replace out-of-control employees.
  
• Don’t try to appease these employees; their desires are infinite and unquenchable.  Your job is not therapy; your job is maintaining goals, quotas, productivity and behavioral standards.
  
• Difficult employees hope to justify their outbursts by finding situations in which they’re wronged.  Separate the child-like behavioral patterns from the content of the situation and deal with both.
  
• Determine who responds to an encouraging coach or mentor and under what circumstances; who responds to a firm taskmaster; who you can reach one-to-one; who responds to public exposure.
  
• Notice which employees seem to push every boundary you set, thwart every approach you make and blame their problems on your communication style.

Ultimately, these employees are 100% responsible for themselves.  If they don’t grow-up rapidly, you can’t afford to waste your time.  You’re much more productive when you’re working with “A” and “B” students eager for success, not personal victories.

The best way to learn effective leadership skills is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes in your workplace.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Recognize and Resist the First Signs of Mutiny

We can resist enemies we can recognize and name.  We've made progress fighting identified inequities based on race, ethnic origin, religion, gender, etc.  The battles are far from over, but they have been joined and society's voice is clear

Recently, I've been coaching increasing numbers of leaders who have failed to recognize mutiny and, therefore, have not effectively defended themselves and their missions.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
Recognize and Resist the First Signs of Mutiny
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1998/04/13/smallb6.html

These leaders are being told that

• Taking charge is morally reprehensible elitism.
• Setting high standards and quotas, requiring professionalism, holding people accountable and not accepting excuses is too threatening.
• A hierarchical structure and promotion based on merit is dictatorial.
• Seeking success is selfish, undemocratic and damaging to themselves and their families.

The leaders I've coached are intense, hard-working, demanding and focused on success; they're not arrogant or abusive.  But they are being told that there's something anti-social about their drive, standards and styles.

The primary purpose of leaders is not to be sweet; it's to get somewhere, to produce great results.  The primary function of leaders is alignment of their own effort and the efforts of others.

Recognize mutiny in people who do not accept your authority, goals and standards and criticize you when you judge performance, hold people accountable, insist on personal responsibility, and don’t accept excuses or forgive temper tantrums.  Recognize mutiny in people who use harassment, bullying and abuse.

These mutineers usually blame your style for their failure.  Style is not more important than results.  Results determine which style is appropriate.

If you're an employee told by other employees not to work so hard or produce so much, recognize that you're being lured into mutiny against your company and yourself.

If you're an employee with leadership drive and capability, don't stay where you're brutalized.  Go where your talents are appreciated and you can flourish.

Leaders must be fanatics, demanding tremendous energy and effort, and rewarding go-getters. Leading is a great act of courage and daring.  Don't let the enemies of that creative fire get away with mutiny.

The best way to overcome your hesitation and to learn effective leadership skills is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes in your workplace.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.