Achieved Strategies

We continue the Wake Up and Shake It Up blog series with me.  We’re winding down the series that’s generated tons of conversation. Let’s keep it going.

The gloves are coming off.  This month you’ve read 12 different bloggers’ posts on the why and how leaders need to shake up how they show up as leaders.  I asked the guest bloggers to challenge you and your thinking about what your leadership needs to be to make a difference in your organization…today.  That’s why we called it Wake Up & Shake It Up.

Let me revisit a point I made recently: Atrocious reminders of what happens when a leader places profit before people surround us (BP, Toyota, Massey Energy, Enron, Radio Shack, and so on.) It’s short-term thinking that may help the balance sheets. And the intricate connections that bind employees and the organization tears a little more. The outcome, employees become more disconnected from the organization’s purpose.   And more and more employees simply show up, “plug-in” to do their work, and “unplug” at the end of the day.  No joy. No passion. Lack-luster performance. Lack-luster profits.

Damn it!

What is it going to take to recognize that profit and people doesn’t need to be an either or choice? We need you and all other leaders to remember that the people who show up to work are in a relationship with you.  And many of the relationships out there need some repair.  This may not apply to you.  Try this.  Answer the three questions below to see if you have some repairing to do.  If you answer the questions below and are disappointed in your answer, you need to plan how to reconnect with your employees.

• How have I nurtured the relationship between my employees and me?
• What is my way of being that is driving my thoughts and actions?
• What am I not seeing, and who can help shine light into my blind spot(s)?

I believe at the heart of people and organizational success is how you view your employees.  If you see employees merely as objects, you are capping the heights of success.  If you see employees as people, recognize that they have a story to tell, and have a life outside work then you’ve removed the cap.

Okay, so where am I going with all this? It’s this: We need you and every leader to shake up how you show up to lead your employees. Wake up to what you’re doing that’s not working. No more rationalizing actions.

So, what can you do to reconnect with your employees? Here’s a list to get you thinking and planning your next steps.

1. If you laid off employees, stop secretive senior leadership trips to upscale hotels and resorts. Hold them onsite or at a local hotel.
2. Prepare middle-managers to start conversations with staff who may be struggling with the loss of coworkers, increased work loads, longer hours – give the anger/pain a voice and deal with it, don’t pass it off as the employees’ responsibility. You made the decision. Help them.
3. Invite employees to identify processes that are cumbersome, cause errors, time consuming and have them participate in streamlining them.  Pass the savings to the workforce.
4. Evaluate your customer service levels and surveys? Have they taken a hit? Is there a relationship between decisions that impacted the workforce and service level scores? Share your insights with your team, the organization. Identify next steps.
5. Locate areas in the business where performance is high. Observe what’s going on. Inquire into why things are going so well.  Determine what you can learn from the observations/inquiries and duplicate in other areas.
6. Spend personal time writing down what you stand for as a leader. Apply that to how you help people become rock stars in their work.
7. Learn the change curve and how to coach people through the different stages of change.
8. Remember that what you do will be viewed with some skepticism. Mindfully reconnect with people by openly sharing what you’re doing and why. Be transparent. Be consistent.  Encourage conversation.
9. Don’t pay your senior leaders big bonuses and tell employees that they won’t get much of a pay increase. This is outdated corporate crap that is eroding employee trust.

Let’s hear your list. Share them below.  Remember, we want to include your comments in the special eBook to commemorate this special blog series that comes out in July.