Have A Strategy

 First of all I want to credit my friend, client and fellow golfer, Deb Waitkus, with the idea for this article.  Deb is the founder and CEO of Golf for Cause.  She is an expert in demystifying the game, turning ‘Golf into Gold^TM, and leveraging golf for business.  The Rules of Golf which as you may know can be very obscure, daunting, and at time bewildering.  It struck me as I read them there are many parallels between golf and leading a business.  The rules of leading effectively can also be quite daunting and at times bewildering. 

The Royal and Ancient Club may not have had business lessons in mind when those rugged Scotsman devised this challenging game, but they did us all a great service both recreationally and professionally when they codified the rules of the game over the years.  Here are a few samples of how golf and business parallel each other.

For those of you that are golfers I have adapted the Slow Play Test from Golf for Cause newsletter to a Slow Play Test for Leaders and Managers.

Slow Play Test for Leaders and Managers                                                                                      Yes      No

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The older I get the more powerful this saying is yet living this philosophy is challenging.  If you saw the movie or play, Chicago, you may recall Renee Zellweger singing this line to Richard Gere in a jail scene from inside her cell.  I certainly hope none of you ever face that set of circumstances, yet even in these circumstances she recognized she loved the life she lived despite the consequences of her choices.  Can we each say the same about our lives? 

One of my clients is a realtor to high-end clientele. I recently asked her if she was envious of the vast wealth many of her clients have. “No,” she said.  “My goal is to be happy in my life with balance in all aspects of it. I want to live with purpose and within my means.”  I had a great respect for her already, but my opinion was reinforced significantly by this statement.  For her the grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence or security wall.  She finds a way to see the green grass right where she is.

 I have a few personal beliefs that help me stay centered and content. 

* Know your personal mission – I know the purpose of my life and the value I am providing.

* Short-term goals with a future focus – If you have longer-term goals then near-term goals help you stay focused on that objective while achieving results and accomplishments now.  When I focus on my own plan and objectives I tend not to get caught up in unrealistic wishes or the lives of others. 

* Be a realistic dreamer – Dreams are important.  They cause us to stretch beyond where we are while living in the reality of today.

* Know yourself well – Be self-aware, reflect and self-examine.  This helps me stay focused on all the reasons to be content where I am rather than being envious of others.

* Surround yourself with positive people – We get what we focus on and those around us shape our world-view so choose to make it a positive picture.  Doing so helps make our self-fulfilling prophecy positive and filled with possibilities.

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http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

Thinking in pictures, seeing circumstances as a series of cause and effects, and using theoretical models or mental models as guides for making decisions comes natural to about 50% of the population.  To 50% of the population seeing things in this perspective is a bit more of a challenge.  It isn’t a matter of intelligence or education.  It is a matter of natural preference for how we see the world. However, for all of us learning to see and use mental models as decision-making aids can be very beneficial. 

Simple 2 X 2 matrices are easy to remember, can represent a wide variety of situations in a simple format, and can help you sort out complex situations and reduce them to a manageable few set of circumstances upon which to base your decision. The model below is a great tool for sorting out the impact any employee has on the performance and culture of an organization.  However, it is particularly useful in sorting out the importance of a manager’s or supervisor’s performance versus their impact on the culture of the organization.  If you believe as I do that the more a manager or leader understands the importance and visibility their role plays in shaping both the organizational culture and the results they are able to achieve, the more valuable this model becomes as a tool for decision making.   Here is the model…

                                                                                                Culture

So how do you read the matrix and how do you use it to make effective decisions?

Time Bombs – you all know who these employees are.  They are the ones infecting everyone else with negative attitudes, rumor and innuendo, etc.  They may be good performers despite their negative attitude, but you can’t afford to have them infect others and undermine the performance-based culture you are trying to foster. They are carriers of infectious diseases.  Get your documentation in order and terminate them before they infect other good performers.

Losers - This group of employees don’t ‘get it’. They don’t understand the culture you are trying to create nor are they performing.   They are the one’s you’ve tried to train, you have tried to motivate and they just don’t respond.  The difference between the Losers and the Time Bombs is the Losers aren’t infecting others so they are less dangerous.  Identify them, try to rehabilitate them, and if unsuccessful, terminate them.

Positive Potentials – This group is probably the majority of your employees.  They are solid contributors and they behave according to the organizational values.   Nothing really wrong only you know they have more potential and could become real Superstars.  Corrective action and coaching can get them to step up to the challenge and become real leaders.    

Superstars – Their name describes their behavior and value. They understand what is expected and why it is important, they are leaders, they are high producers, and they positively influence the behavior of others.  These are the real keepers.  They are early adopters and the leaders who help move your organization forward toward your goals. 

Very frequently I run into situations where managers know an employee is in the Time Bomb or Loser category, but they haven’t 1) documented the employee’s performance or 2) talked with the employee.  When I ask them why, they often say, because it is so hard to hire employees that I can’t afford to lose them.  My position is that it is better to have fewer employees who are either Positive Potentials or Superstars than to deal with the ‘carrying costs’ of managing the poor performers.  You all know how much time you spend trying to manage the behavior and performance of these few when your effort would be so much more enjoyable, rewarding and productive if it were spent helping and developing the majority who really produce and help you achieve your goals.  It’s the 80/20 rule, but we get caught up in spending 80% of our time on the wrong group of employees.

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://joycefriel.blogspot.com