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Earlier this week, I was asked to participate in a senior management VC of one of the industry’s leading organizations. The main issue on the virtual table was how to communicate impending disappointing news (layoffs, salary reductions, etc.) to their employees.
As we all settled into the virtual conference room, one of the participants, who seemed a little agitated, spoke up:
“I might be preaching to the choir, but I really can’t stand those cliches that have been going around. You know, ‘every cloud has its silver lining,’ or ‘making lemonade out of lemons.’ Our employees deserve a heck of a lot more than that.”
I smiled and gave a big nod of approval. I took the floor.
“From my point of view, I don’t have an issue with what these kinds of sayings want to teach us. What I do have a problem with, though, is how they are used.”
“What do you mean, Etika,” another participant asked.
“Look, I am well-aware of the fact that delivering disappointing news to your employees is probably one of the most challenging and frustrating parts of being a leader. I’ve seen this played out many times, and it’s never pleasant, no matter how it’s packaged.”
I switched to gallery view on my VC software and saw all of the talking heads nod in agreement.
I continued, “But when you approach your employees with disappointing news, you have to put yourselves in their shoes first. This is definitely not the time to make things easy for yourselves. You’re the leaders here. You’re going to have to put yourselves out there so that they can feel how difficult it is for you to face them.”
I looked out at the Hollywood Squares and noticed a little confusion.
“I have a hunch that today many of you expected me to come with a written script to read to your employees, filled with wise advice, brimming with optimism towards the future - sayings such as, ‘when one door closes, another opens.’” But that’s not going to happen today.
I looked at my screen. Silence. Was my laptop frozen? No, they were in shock.
“Now, please don’t get me wrong,” I continued. “Those of you who’ve worked with me over the years know that I’m the first person to try to turn a crisis into an opportunity. However, as I said before, you have to put ourselves in your employees’ shoes. And frankly, they’re just not ready to hear about the “day after.” They are worried about tomorrow.”
“In fact,” I said, “any talk of optimism will probably backfire.”
I peered into my screen, trying my best to read the body language of the other participants. I could see they were looking for answers.
“So here’s what I think would be an effective way to approach things. First, each part of the population needs to hear a specific message for their particular situation. This will require dividing employees into groups, such as those who are facing a salary reduction and those about to be laid off. Then, these groups need to be separated again according to level, such as middle managers and line employees. You will need to hold separate meetings with each subgroup.”
I continued, “Begin each meeting by genuinely showing both how uncomfortable you are with the situation as well as the personal sacrifices you are making to keep the organization going. This will help your employees begin to connect with you, at least on a basic level. Not only will they see that you’re also affected, they’ll also understand you’re doing your best to restore things for them as quickly as possible.”
“The next stage is very important,” I emphasized. “Here, you have to demonstrate that the organization wants to help them during this time of crisis. It’ll take some planning, but for example, you could provide guidance in managing finances or mini-courses in improving professional skills. I’m sure you have the in-house talents for all kinds of offerings. Under today’s circumstances, all it takes is a laptop and goodwill.”
I conceded, “Of course, there’s no substitute for bringing back a full salary and stable job. But the feeling that the organization is trying, under these exceptional circumstances, to do what it can, will at least offer some encouragement to employees as they navigate this crisis.”
Many of the faces began to lighten up and I could sense wheels turning in the minds of most participants. They were formulating plans.
“I’ll leave you with this,” I said. “It’s crucial, especially since we can’t meet face-to-face, that our messages are both clear and sincere. This is the time, as a leader, to rise to this occasion.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
I’ve said it before. There’s a chronic illness plaguing our leaders and it’s called the sin of arrogance. The challenge is that all successful leaders suffer from the sin of arrogance to some degree. And there’s one area where it can create havoc: decision making.
In my previous post (link), I gave some background regarding how the sin of arrogance develops in successful leaders - resulting with all kinds of problems, including derailment of career goals for leaders. Even though no one is immune from the sin of arrogance, it can still be managed. But first, let’s list two major challenges associated with the sin of arrogance:
1. Inability to identify the connection between the symptoms and the disease
2. Complete denial (No leader wants to be “accused” of being arrogant.)
And the effect of denial is that when you deny being arrogant, you automatically ignore any connection between your “non-existent” symptoms and the disease - often compromising the career goals for leaders.
Now I’d like to focus on how the sin of arrogance affects one of the most important aspects of effective management: decision making.
Because the decisions of leaders have far-reaching consequences for organizations, it is important to understand how these decisions are developed in the minds of its leaders:
The sin of arrogance directly influences the way leaders interpret reality. Their focus becomes cloudy - often resulting in hapless “know it all” decision making. But when the penny finally drops and the leader realizes they’ve made crucial mistakes, denial takes over - and then the leader hunts for someone else to blame. The tragedy here is that the leader, intoxicated with their own version of reality, can’t even learn from their own mistakes.
The sin of arrogance encourages leaders to attribute themselves with superpowers that they think allow them to quickly understand, assess, and act on any situation that comes their way. Because of their rich experience, many leaders think they’ve “seen everything” and therefore let their superpowers decide what to do. Ironically, belief in these superpowers actually weakens the very qualities that have served in developing the leader, such as sharpness, determination, quick-thinking, and caution. This becomes dangerous, especially in nuanced situations the leader might not have experienced in their career. The danger here is that the more leaders continue to rely on the superpowers they think they’re imbued with, the quicker their actual performance - especially when faced with new scenarios - will weaken.
Many leaders are probably thinking, “I’m so lucky I don’t suffer from the sin of arrogance.” I completely understand their thinking, as it’s pretty impossible to analyze yourself objectively. However, with over 35 years of experience with leaders, I haven’t found a single leader who isn’t at least slightly infected by the sin of arrogance. Without it, they wouldn’t be a leader. What I will say, though, is that how much the sin affects their management performance can definitely be put into check. Here’s what needs to be done:
Become familiar with what the sin of arrogance is.
Identify any symptoms you might have.
Find out ways to ensure that the sin of arrogance does not eat away at your performance. Remember that many people live successful lives with chronic conditions.
Look out for my next post, in which I’ll help you identify the symptoms of the sin of arrogance so that you can learn to manage them - instead of having them manage you.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
You’ve worked hard and you’re a successful leader by all measures of how to measure success at work.
Everyone knows you’re a star. But they know something else as well: You’ve got a huge ego.
Don’t worry, success and egos go together, especially when examining how to measure success at work. As human beings gain power, our egos tend to grow as well.
But here’s the catch: while success will make you famous, your ego can be your own worst enemy, as a growing ego inevitably leads to what I’ve dubbed the Sin of Arrogance.
The Sin of Arrogance, as I’ve seen over the years, causes leaders to fail miserably. At first, the Sin lurks under the radar. But then it creeps out in typical leadership situations: meetings, projects management, or decision making.
Let’s take decision making. I’ve witnessed how the Sin can lead to completely illogical decisions on countless occasions. It goes like this: the Sin causes general confusion, which results in a distortion of reality. Armed with this distortion, leaders charge into situations, completely confident in their courses of action. Along the way, they develop immunity to the advice, opinions, or warnings of their team, often sounding claims, such as, “I know better than everyone else”. The decision flops.
But unfortunately, such leaders rarely see the Sin as the cause of their failed decisions. Instead, they’ll attribute flops to anything else that comes to mind. Rinse and repeat a few times, and you’ve got what I call toxic leadership.
And be sure that no leader is immune. The common denominator among leaders from all walks of life is that they’ve achieved their status based on their success and contribution to their organizations, no matter the size or type.
And every leader who’s finally achieved their coveted status must deal with the same questions: “Now that I’m a leader, will my new status help propel me even further?” “How will my new status influence my daily lives? My values? The way I work?” “What does it mean for me to be a leader?”Am I “above” everyone else?”
In my practice, thousands of leaders have answered these questions with one common answer: “Nothing has changed for me; I’ve just got more responsibilities.”
But when I’ve asked their subordinates or peers, I’ve gotten a completely different response. Without exception, they feel a significant change in the way their leaders behave, see themselves, and relate to the environment.
But of course, even if faced with such feedback, leaders will deny any change. And even if, deep down inside, the leader believed there might be a grain of truth, they’d justify the “slight change” by saying things such as “the role requires it”, “it’s healthy to keep some distance”, or “those people are just jealous”.
The problem here is that such denial will keep the Sin of Arrogance alive and moving, though possibly at a slow, undetectable pace.
Before I close, I want to ask successful leaders to stop and take note of how easily the Sin of Arrogance can appear - especially following success. Yes, leaders, it’s almost unavoidable, but it can certainly be dealt with.
Look out for my next post, in which I’ll continue to explore how the Sin of Arrogance negatively affects decision making.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
We all start off our career with great aspirations and dreams.
But for a shocking 70% of us, these dreams will never come true.
No promotions. No influence. No status. No executive paycheck.
Many people think that career success is for the “privileged few” - those who graduated at the top of their class from Ivy League schools, or who somehow started their career off with a bang, or who just got a lucky break.
But after 35 years of research, I can assure you that none of these privileges contribute to career success.
What does count, though, is active career management.
In fact, if you don’t work towards landing your first promotion within the first five years of your career, your chances for further promotion could be reduced.
This doesn’t mean that you’ll never be promoted. What it does mean, though, is that it is never too early to manage the next step in your career.
Leaders: When was the last time you actually had time to plan your own career?
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Enjoy : )
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
A few years back, I was called into an organization to try to settle a conflict among the executive leadership. From what I understood, certain leaders were accusing others of the fact that the organization wasn’t fulfilling its potential.
As I prepared for my meeting, the word “potential” was really gnawing at me. Of course, I had my own understanding of the word, and used it widely in my practice. However, to help narrow the rift among the leaders, I needed to understand what they meant by potential.
I made a series of appointments with some of the leaders involved with one question in mind:
What is organizational potential?
My first stop was the CEO. When I asked him the question, I received the results of the latest marketing research: market share, competition analysis, etc. This all led to the increased market share the organization should aim for. For the CEO, the organization’s potential was the market share left for the taking.
I then moved on to the VP business development. I was met with a similar answer, as she explained new markets, innovative products, and some possible M&As down the road. So from her perspective, organizational potential seemed to be business growth as well.
After a quick coffee break, I headed to the office of the VP product. I received an answer similar to the VP business development, but with details about new product lines, new products for existing lines, and increased market share. There was also mention of the need to improve logistics. With regard to organizational potential, I was definitely seeing a pattern.
As I crossed the campus to the VP of HR, I wondered if I would get a different response. And of course, I did. Her answer was that for her, organizational potential is the organization’s people. Of course, I wasn’t at all surprised.
After a long day, I returned to my office to think about what I’d learned. It was clear that the fact that the VP HR’s office was on the other side of the campus wasn’t accidental. I decided that I’d make another appointments with the CEO to ask him this simple question:
Do the organization’s people represent any kind of organizational potential?
The next day, when I posed the question to the CEO, he looked a little surprised. “Of course, our people are the most important part of our organization.”
So when I asked him why he hadn’t mentioned people at our previous meeting, he responded “because it’s so obvious - so clear that it doesn’t even need to be mentioned.”
In my mind, his answer was telling me something else: that this organization’s people weren’t seen as the key to its potential. Worse, they were being taken for granted.
I had my work cut out for me and continued working with this organization for quite a while.
Unfortunately, as I look around, this is a common story. Most organizations do not see the obvious connection between their people and the organizational untapped potential.
How do you help organizations reach their potential through their people? I’d love to hear from you.
Leaders is the time when your career can either soar north or plummet south. Unfortunately, for most Leaders, plummeting is the default. It’s not because they’re not talented or lack the ability to soar, an example of how to measure success at work. It’s actually because the flight path was never planned very well.
Up until this point in your career, you might’ve taken careful baby steps - from entry level to team leader and finally to middle manager, honing in on whatever background you’d come to your company with. Of course, this path has served you well so far as a respected middle manager. This is a reasonable indicator of how to measure success at work.
But what’s the next step? At this stage in your career, planning this next step requires a complete change in mindset. Many successful middle managers decide they want to vye for the most senior position in their discipline. For example, a mid-level marketing manager might set the goal of becoming the chief marketing officer. Naturally, they might begin to meticulously plan their climb towards this position, rung by rung up the corporate ladder. The rationale here is that each rung would be a “realistic” move as the years go by. And, if they’re lucky, they’ll reach CMO status one day. If not, they’ll be left by the wayside along with the majority of frustrated middle managers.
So how can you make sure you don’t become a middle management castaway? The first thing you need to do is think big. Solid career planning that leads to real results requires that you take the time to think out-of-the-box when it comes to your ultimate career dream. Taking the mid-level marketing manager as an example, trying out “what if” scenarios is key. For instance, what if you envisioned yourself as CEO or in another C-suite role? Would a series of short term, step-by-step plans to move up the ranks in marketing necessarily make sense? Of course not. To be a CEO, you would need to acquire experience in nearly every other discipline in the company. But if you limit yourself to in-the-box planning limited to the next rung on your career ladder, you’ll miss the big picture...and find yourself stopped in your tracks.
Only after taking the time to think big can you then start to see the multiple paths available to you to achieve your ultimate goal. And once you’ve identified these paths, you can then begin to choose one to plan your next step.
When you’ve chosen a path, formulate goals that will allow you to stick to it. Don’t make what I call the gym membership mistake and commit to seven workouts a week. Instead, aim for two days and then build up gradually. For instance, if you know you want to learn about the financial side of your company, attempting to gorge on every financial report in sight is unrealistic. Sure, just like the gym, you’ll start out with great intentions and full of energy. But then, little by little, the stack of reports will start gathering dust and you’ll blame yourself for failing to live up to your own expectations.
A much more productive plan would be to munch on a couple of reports for a given amount of time and then to increase any intake as time permits. The important thing is that once you have your overall vision in place (and not just your next short term move), accomplishing your vision bit by bit will lead to real progress.
To summarize:
Give yourself some time to work out your ultimate goal, leaving “realistic” short-term goals aside.
Make a plan towards accomplishing this goal, acknowledging that there are mutliple paths.
Begin one or two steps towards the goal, increasing these steps as you are able.
Good luck and don’t forget to dream!
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
A business associate of mine stopped me in the elevator the other day lamenting how quickly 2020 had passed without any new business opportunities. I told him that this was indeed unfortunate, but that he probably shouldn’t expect any for 2021 either. Stopped in his tracks, he looked at me with a combination of shock and consternation. Of course, I understood his reaction, so I began to explain that there’s simply no such thing as a year without new opportunities...
Contrary to what we’ve all been raised to believe, opportunities do not come knocking at our door. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that they don’t exist. On the contrary, opportunities are abound everywhere - but they aren’t going to show up at our doorstep. So how do we see them? By occasionally allowing ourselves to divert our energies from the daily grind. Once we lift our heads out of our never ending to-do lists, we’ll notice that there are bigger and greater things out there that have the potential to move us to the next level.
My New Year’s wish for all of us is that we’ll take the time to notice all of the exciting opportunities out there, making 2021 a year to remember.
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
At this time of year, as we gather with our loved ones to celebrate the holidays, we find ourselves reflecting on our lives - family, friends, and career. Often, we ask ourselves where we are in achieving our dreams. Are we completely satisfied? Are we possibly a little disappointed? This is probably why one of the most popular greetings during this time of year is “may all your dreams come true.”
So what about your career dreams? Have you met your own expectations? To help you along, allow me to wish you 4 things this holiday season.
Holiday Wish #1: Unleash your dreams.
At this magical time of year, dare to dream what you’ve never dreamed before. Dreams allow us to think “out of the box” - to transcend the normal borders of our imagination - beyond how to measure success at work. Use your innate ability to dream about your dream career - especially if it seems to be “the impossible dream.” You see, such “impossibility” is actually the stuff dreams are made of...and facing impossibility in your dreams is the only way to overcome it in life. Here are four useful reminders that will hopefully get you dreaming:
Just as in fairy tales, in real life, dreams are meant to come true.
Every great thing we’ve ever known - ideas, inventions, cures - started with a dream.
If you don’t have a dream, you can’t make it come true.
Holiday Wish #2: Visualize your success.
This holiday season, do overtime. No, not at work - visualizing. Clearly visualizing the results of your dreams is a crucial bridge towards making the impossible a reality and part of how to measure success at work. This is because of the simple fact that anything you can visualize, you can accomplish.
So start by visualizing yourself in your corner office. What does it look like? Where is your desk? What’s the view outside your window? Then visualize yourself in different situations in your new job. What’s it like to run a staff meeting? Give an important presentation? Determine a budget? Don’t worry if your visualizations are a little dull or blurred at the beginning. The more you visualize, the sharper and more detailed the images will become. And make sure that your other senses (hearing, smelling, feeling, maybe even tasting) get in on the act as well. The more senses you involve, the more you’ll actually really know what it’s like to have your dream job. So close your eyes and get to work.
Holiday Wish #3: Put your visualization into words.
After you’ve visualized your dream job in as much detail as possible, seize the opportunity to express it in words. When we put our dream job into words, we make it concrete so that we can set the goals needed to turn it into reality. When putting your visualization into words, here are some general questions you should answer:
1. What is your dream job?
2. When do you want to begin it?
3. What are some of the major milestones you’ll need to accomplish along the way?
So start putting things into words - whether you write them down or record them, now is the time.
Holiday Wish #4: Plan it out.
If you’ve gotten this far (with or without the egg nog), consider how you’ll start realizing your dream as you begin the new year. Of course, this isn’t the time to make a very detailed plan, but while you’ve got things going, it would be a good idea to think about the following:
1. Break down your overall dream job goal into smaller, more manageable “mini-goals.”
2. Assign a rough due date for each of these mini-goals.
3. Keep your eyes on the ball. No backup plans.
4. And of course, believe in your dreams!
And finally, I’d like to wish you a very joyous holiday season, filled with love, happiness, and peace for all.
Best wishes
Etika
P.S. And don’t forget. Great managers are made. Not born.
This, of course, would be the game changer - worth everything you could give, wouldn’t it? So here’s my 3-step process on how to get it:
1. Spot the differences. Make a list of the differences between you and the person who actually got the last promotion. Did they have different skill sets? Personality traits? Accomplishments?
2. Grow your grapevine. Schedule meetings with a variety of people at your company who can give you an honest opinion about how others see you. Are you seen as a viable candidate for promotion? What do people value in you? What would they change in how you do things?
3. Crosscheck your info. By now, you’ve got a lot of information. Make up a chart of your strengths and weaknesses versus the person who was promoted. Did you really have a chance for this last promotion? If so, how can you position yourself better next time?
Following my 3-step discovery process to make sure you’re not passed up the next time a promotion opportunity comes along. In the full EMP course, you’ll have the opportunity to take the Executive Mirror Questionnaire, which will help you pinpoint those areas that your boss will never tell you about.
So remember that the 3-step discovery process will help you:
1 understand how others see you as a manager;
2 identify what you have to learn or do to get promoted next time;
3 shorten the time it’ll take for your next promotion;
4 reduce the frustration and heartache associated with not succeeding.
I’ve put together a 6-hour power course to help you get the promotion you deserve. My GIFT to you. No sales. No marketing. for FREE . Get started today.
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Enjoy : )
And always remember:
Great managers are made. Not born.
https://myexecutivemirror.com/
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