#1 Energy Zapper!

Our excuses!  It takes the same amount of energy to entertain the chatter about why you shouldn’t need to do something, as it does to simply get it done.  It’s amazing how much time we waste looking for excuses.

Want to be more effective?

  • Schedule
     Use a calendar or Outlook, schedule time to get the task done, and honor it as an appointment with someone important. 
  • Do or Delegate
    Just because you don’t want to do it, doesn’t mean others may not welcome the opportunity.
  • 20 minutes
    If you’re still finding excuses, set a timer for 20 minutes. Focus on the task during that time and see how far you progress.

 © Jeannette L. Seibly, 2010

Does perfectionism get in the way of results?

Perfectionism is a relative term depending upon your viewpoint. Innovative types don’t like to follow the rules. They view others as perfectionists when they ask too many questions or are unable to see the potential success of the venture in the same way they see it. Conversely, the “dot every I and cross every T” type of person looks at others as being irresponsible and unable to plan appropriately — not perfect enough in their thought processes. They simply squash any ideas that don’t match their stringent point of view.

We are all perfectionists at some level! We love to make things harder than they are. We wait for the perfect time in our lives when the economy is good, life circumstances are stable. We wait to be working for the right company, with the right boss and co-workers. In the meantime, we postpone fulfilling our goals and dreams. People stop listening to our ideas. We are upset when others “take our ideas” and are successful!

Attitude The “perfect time” is an attitude. Fulfillment of any business venture or project requires that we focus and follow through. Declare goals. Write-down specific action steps. There is no perfect plan that will prevent inevitable challenges.  Many of us love to make systems harder than they are.  We, make working with others more difficult than it needs to be.  Hiring a coach will provide invaluable simple and strategic insights.

Integrity and ethical behaviors required.  Breakdowns are to be expected, regardless of the “perfect” plan design.  Short-cuts will normally get you in trouble in the long run. Ignoring key issues now may hurt your future reputation, financial solvency, and the ability to attract and retain top performers.  Instead of relying upon your own internal monologue of what is right or wrong, talk through challenges with your business mentor.  Use the opportunity to clarify your perspective and the required action needed to avoid further pitfalls.

Learn when to quickly move forward, and when to strategically wait.  Many people self-sabotage when the results don’t fit their “perfect” view of how they should look. Instead of dealing with the facts, they play spider-solitaire or spend a lot of time surfing the Internet. They blame their lack of focused action upon not having enough: information, time, money, or opportunities. Honor your plan, even if it seems like you’re taking baby-steps. You’ll get there!

Enjoy your achievements and the accomplishments of others, now.  Too often we excuse the importance of acknowledgement due to our ambivalent feelings about being in the spot-light, even for a moment. Appreciate others’ successes and accept their congratulatory wishes. Building upon success keeps you moving forward, and encourages the right people to work with you.

 ©Jeannette Seibly, 2010

Is attracting top performers problematic?

Or, are you a top performer who is having trouble finding your next opportunity?   The first place to inspect about yourself and/or your company, is how you talk about your employees, customers, prospects, family members, neighbors and/or competition. While you may believe using colloquialisms, profanity, or slang sounds smart, entertaining, or knowledgeable, the reality is that it provides the opposite effect.

Clean up your labeling. Name-calling, regardless of your excuse, is harmful and hurtful. It sends a negative message to others, consciously or unconsciously, about your emotional intelligence. It actually will bolster business if you speak authentically about others in a positive manner, even when they’ve made a mistake.

People are a valuable resource. When you honor everyone (and your company’s Vision and Mission statements) regardless of gender, gender choices, racial, religious and/or ethical differences, you’ll be amazed by the difference it makes. Calling women and men, girls and boys, sounds demeaning after the age of 16. Pronounce people’s names correctly. Stay away using nicknames. Be sensitive to the fact that employees may be offended and uncomfortable telling you or others to stop. As a business owner or executive, you need to ensure all people are treated with respect. Harassment suits are costly.

Take charge of your own anger. Using anger as your excuse doesn’t work, since everyone deals with some level of anger due to life experiences. Get help to find a creative way to use the negative energy in a positive manner to help others. 

Take responsibility.  In your meetings, whether one-on-one or in groups, make sure that people are referred to respectfully. Ensure any name calling is stopped, immediately. Something said in jest can actually cost you a pricey lawsuit or a million dollar client!

(c)Jeannette Seibly, 2010

Would you allow 2 miles or 2 minutes to get in the way of your results?

Unfortunately, many of us do.  We are afraid to ask for help or clarification of a project.  We won’t ask for directions on how to get to a meeting.  We don’t plan or prepare for meetings, rationalizing we are too busy.  After a networking meeting, we don’t take the two minutes to connect via email or LinkedIn.  These lost opportunities cost companies millions! 

A true story!  When someone was late for a meeting due to lack of planning on where the restaurant was located, they simply gave up. They didn’t use technology (411 (directory assistant), GPS, or MapQuest).  The restaurant was only 2 miles away!

Question:  Would you work with someone who gave up so easily?  What opportunities did they lose out on? 

Answer:  We’ll never know!

1) Get in action.  Stop rationalizing why you don’t want to!  It takes the same amount of energy!  When we ask for advice, we look competent when wishing to resolve an issue, move forward to complete a stopped project, or ask for directions.  Following through sets us apart from our competition.

2) Ask the right questions up front, and then focus on those specifics.  Working smarter means asking for clarification at the beginning.  It takes less than two minutes to ask a question, and saves mega time, money and frustration in doing unnecessary work.  What needs to happen for this project to be completed on time and within budget while achieving the necessary results?  Yes, the response may take 20 minutes.  (Hint: 20 minutes now vs. 20 hours later)

3) Plan ahead for 100% success.  Plan for breakdowns and pitfalls, they are a reality.  When they do happen, do not allow them to stop you.  That is what speed dial and social media connections are for!  Don’t be afraid to use technology, ask people, meet with advisors and review your own systems for the answers.  Taking the two minutes or driving the two miles will make you unstoppable, and have you create unprecedented results!

(c)Jeannette Seibly, 2010

Work smarter, not harder

Do you limit your own success by resisting new ideas about ways to reduce your work challenges?  Are you convinced that, by working hard or being incredibly busy, you will make more money, get that new client (or promotion)?  We often tend to ignore anyone that doesn’t buy into our excuses for not achieving our desired results.  We may fail to realize that working smarter—not harder–is the keystone to achieving great results. 

1. Brainstorm ALL ideas.  What may initially seem like a repetitive conversation can trigger new solutions.  While you are generating new ideas, do not fall into the insidious trap of prematurely deciding good vs. bad, right vs. wrong, or yes vs. no.

2. Listen to the advice of others, selectively.  While everyone and anyone can help us if we truly listen, many times we’ll use the excuse of needing more information instead of taking the necessary actions we know we need to take to resolve the issue or launch the new project.

3. Multi-tasking is a myth.  Being a problem solver requires us to listen and set aside our other activities and thoughts during the conversation.  Thinking about our next meeting, playing spider solitaire or reading emails while in a conversation will have us miss nuances that could mean great solutions.  Worse, the other person in these conversations stops talking about anything significant; they know you’re not really listening! 

(c)Jeannette Seibly, 2010

Stop being part of the corporate wallpaper

Successful people run into this phenomenon frequently, particularly outside consultants and vendors.  They have helped build a million dollar company, designed new processes to solve a problem, and/or implemented a financially rewarding idea.   The results were so successful that a year or two later, they are no longer acknowledged for being part of that success.  To stay in the game, it’s important to be seen and heard.

1)     Be visible.  Show up to meetings.  Be on conference calls.  Listen for the next opportunity to support the company’s current needs.  Ask current and past employees how you can contribute.

2)     Keep a benefits log that quantitatively shows what your efforts have achieved, and share it appropriately.  Remember people are more interested in recent successes, than in something that happened years ago.

3)     Stay in touch by taking the team out for lunch, sending them coffee and bagels, or including them your e-news distribution. The key is to be seen and heard on a consistent basis.  Companies are more willing to hire a past consultant or employee with a good track record of producing results, than gamble on an unknown person.

(c)Jeannette Seibly, 2010

Turn mistakes into profits

When working on large projects or implementing new ideas, mistakes will happen.  It’s how we handle them that will move the process forward, or have everyone CYA their work for fear of retribution by the team leader, or boss.

 1)     Plan on mistakes happening. It’s how you handle them that will make the difference for the current and future success of the project, and your continued growth as a leader.  Praise publicly; counsel privately.

2)     View your people as experts and able to work out differences; it’s not your job to fix any personality quirks.  Resist micromanagement; yet, be willing and able to step in when it’s critical (this should be a rare occurrence).

3)     Stay focused on the goals while managing the milestones.  Remember, the failure of a project normally occurs when the team did not create true goals, weak milestones were established, busy work is deemed a result, and details are overlooked or not considered important.

(c)Jeannette Seibly, 2010

Performance Evaluation Reminders Worth Repeating

In order for a company to succeed as a whole, its managers need to help their individual employees succeed by effectively managing their performance. All managers can benefit from these reminders.

Managers’ Attitude Matters

“The attitude of managers is critical,” said Jeannette Seibly, Human Perfor­mance Coach and Consultant, SeibCo, LLC (Highlands Ranch, CO). “Managers must have a mindset for the employee to win.”

The goal is to evaluate the employee’s performance, not attack their character; to build the employee up, not tear them down. This shouldn’t be a “gotcha” kind of meeting, said Seibly. Nothing in the assessment should come as a surprise to employees.

Seibly also noted that too many managers go into evaluations frustrated because they do not know what needs to be done to fix a performance deficiency. This “frustration will come across more than anything else” during the evalu­ation, she warned. She suggested that the manager should “ask a boss or ask a mentor” for guidance.

Communication Skills Are Key

Whether having an informal performance coaching conversation or conduct­ing a formal annual performance appraisal (PA), managers should be reminded of these best communication practices.

Be specific. Sweeping generalizations can too easily be misinterpreted or misunderstood. Employees need to know exactly what they must stop doing or what they should continue to do.

Support the assessment with evidence. Evidence doesn’t necessarily have to be tangible (e.g., a letter of praise from a customer); the manager’s visual observation of an example of stellar or substandard performance can suffice.

Written PAs should include narrative comments to support ratings/rankings. Copying comments from the employee’s previous reviews or only changing a few words here and there isn’t acceptable.

Set goals. Focus on improving or sustaining performance in the future, rather than dwelling on past mistakes. Negative feedback should include steps for improvement.

Take protected class and protected leave out of the picture. Watch for signs of illegal discrimination. For example, age shouldn’t be noted as the reason for an employee’s inability to learn new technology, just as leave taken under the Family and Medical Leave Act shouldn’t be used as evidence of an attendance problem.

Talk with employees, not at them. Some managers try to come across as more authoritative than necessary in order to be taken seriously. More times than not, however, this will backfire and put employees on the defensive. Use the following approach.

Do use a collaborative tone. Instead of telling the employee they should do this and they should do that, ask for their input on how to improve or maintain performance. You want “a two-way conversation,” said Seibly.

Employees should be allowed to explain their actions and question the assessment, within reason. It’s good to know what’s on the employee’s mind; if the employee’s thinking is flawed or the manager has misunderstood, this is the time to clear the air.

Don’t sweep any awkwardness under the rug. For example, a recently promoted manager may have difficulty criticizing a friend and former peer. The manager should acknowledge this awkwardness and stress that the meeting is professional and not personal.

Do use the sandwich approach. Seibly recommends saying two positive things, followed by two changes the employee needs to make (make them doable!), and then end by making two more positive points. This approach is “so much more positive and powerful than anything else you can do,” said Seibly, who cautioned against listing more than two changes at once for fear of overwhelming the employee.

Don’t apologize for negative feedback because doing so gives the impression that the assessment is inaccurate.

Reprinted with permission from Personnel Legal Alert, © Alexander Hamilton Institute, Inc., 70 Hilltop Road, Ramsey, NJ 07446.  For more information, please call 800-879-2441 or visit www.legalworkplace.com.

Rewire your reactions to your boss

Bosses are human too, or so they (like us) often forget. Many employees have good, or at least tolerable bosses that listen to employee ideas.  It’s particularly difficult to get your ideas and points across when you have a bad boss.  If you have this challenge, consider whether it could be your attitude or behavior that’s the cause:

1)     Before a conversation with your boss, practice in front of a mirror; pay particular attention to your facial expressions.  Tape record what you wish to say, and listen to the words you choose. Some words can cause an emotional reaction before your idea is fully presented.

2)     Listen to learn.  Most people are reactionary.  Someone says “x” and we’re off talking about “y” before the person has had a chance to complete their first sentence.  Listen carefully to what they have to say.  Pause and count to three before responding, after they’ve completed talking.

3)     Stick to the facts. We can become emotionally charged on certain issues.  Before your meeting or presentation to your boss, research the facts, so that you have objective points.  Be able to provide possible solutions and be open to considering new options you hadn’t considered.

(c)Jeannette Seibly 2010

Erasing Racist Graffiti And Tracking Down The Unknown Artist

Finding graffiti on company property is, at the very least, a sign that someone is disrespecting company property.  But if the graffiti consists of racial slurs, then it becomes a form of racial harassment.  An important step to putting a stop to workplace harassment is interviewing and disciplining, as needed, the harasser.  So what is an employer to do when graffiti is done covertly and the perpetrator is unknown?  Just because you have a difficult task ahead of you doesn’t mean you don’t have to try.

Bottom line: If management-level personnel are aware of the existence of harassing graffiti, and there are no sufficient investigatory or remedial measures taken, then the employer risks intervention by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and may ultimately be held liable in court.

ANONYMOUS HARASSMENT STILL MUST BE INVESTIGATED

Employers are expected to make a good-faith effort to track down the harasser, beginning with a prompt investigation.  Even if your investigatory efforts don’t yield any definitive results, you can document that you tried.

             •           Interview possible witnesses and targeted employees.  Also speak to other shift leaders and department heads.  You may be able to uncover information outside of the shift or department that is directly affected by the graffiti.

             •           Use common sense to find leads.  For example, review work schedules to see who was on site at the time the harassment occurred or determine who has access to the area where the graffiti appeared.  You could even try to compare employees’ handwritten records against handwritten graffiti.

             •           Offer a “carrot” to anyone who provides information that successfully leads to discovering the harasser’s identity.  The “stick” alternative: Announce that bonuses or raises will be eliminated in order to pay the cost to clean/repaint/replace defaced items or to pay for a full-time security guard if the harassment continues.

             •           Consider hiring an outside investigator.

REMEDIAL MEASURES COUNT, TOO

Even if you are unable to determine who the graffiti artist is, you need to do what you can to stop the harassment. 

Remove the graffiti as soon as the investigation allows.  (Just don’t make the mistake one employer did and order the target of the harassment to clean it up!)  Before removing the graffiti, “don’t forget to take pictures and document the time and date,” advised Jeannette Seibly, Human Performance Coach and Consultant, SeibCo, LLC (Highlands Ranch, CO).  This may help you identify the guilty party in the future.

Reaffirm your employer’s commitment to upholding its anti-discrimination policies.  Send out an e-mail or hold department meetings, and reassure employees that the company is working hard to ensure nothing like this happens again.  Review the company’s anti-discrimination policies, and remind employees to immediately report the appearance of offensive graffiti and any other signs of harassment to HR or to their managers.  Also require supervisory personnel to report graffiti that they see immediately.  Do not wait for an employee to complain about it before acting.

Be very clear that anyone who participated or aided in the harassment will be terminated, as will anyone who participates in any future acts of harassment.  Seibly recommends zero tolerance.

Consider installing surveillance measures (e.g., video cameras, spyware).  Consult with Legal to see whether it is doable.  Even setting up “dummy” video cameras in plain sight of employees (who’ll think the cameras are real) may effectively curtail misbehavior.

 Provide anti-discrimination training.  “Make sure all employees, supervisors, managers, and executives attend,” said Seibly.  “This will send a message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”

AN UGLY TRUTH

 Racial graffiti is not uncommon at worksites around the country.  One reason, according to Seibly, may be generational differences.  “This is the first time in U.S. history that all four generations are in the workplace at the same time,” she noted.  “With younger employees in the workplace, it’s important to remember that their view of ‘harassment’ is different than the older employees….  In many areas of the U.S., the younger generations use racial and gender slurs as part of their normal conversation.  They don’t think about it.  They don’t have a broader perspective that their words carry weight.”

Seibly strongly recommends ongoing training as a way to “get everyone on the same page” regarding what is acceptable at work and what is not.

Reprinted with permission from Personnel Legal Alert, © Alexander Hamilton Institute, Inc., 70 Hilltop Road, Ramsey, NJ 07446.  For more information, please call 800-879-2441 or visit www.legalworkplace.com.