I’m sure you’ve seen these three monkeys with their eyes, ears, and mouth covered. See, hear, and speak no evil is their mantra. Clearly those monkeys are not leaders. In my experience, good leadership involves doing all three of those things, sometimes very painfully. Starting with seeing, a leader can only see if he/she is being seen. A leader needs to be out of their office, walking around the office, the factory, the departments they are responsible for. This will lead to some difficult encounters. When I do this, I definitely see “evil.” I see things that make me want to scream, but I don’t. I see things out of place, I see folks doing things that make me wonder what their priorities are. Guess whose fault that is? Their leader. If everyone doesn’t know what their priorities are, someone hasn’t communicated them clearly. Further, if the leader is frequently out among the staff, everyone will be comfortable asking questions, being themselves, and the leader sees what really happens in the organization. A leader must see and be seen.
A leader must also “hear evil.” Sometimes when someone comes to my office and says, “Do you have a minute?” I clench my teeth and brace myself. Verbally, I say, “Absolutely, come on in!” Sometimes I even get up from my desk and sit at the little round table to encourage them to feel more at-ease. I’m prepared to hear whatever evil from our organization they want to share. That’s my job- to listen. To listen and thoughtfully consider the information being brought to me. I need to know my team and my organization inside-out to understand what trouble is being left at my doorstep and what to do next. Hearing what someone has to say, no matter how much I don’t want to, and being able to understand it in the context of the entire organization is the leader’s job. A leader must hear what needs to be said.
“Speaking evil” is one of a leaders most challenging, yet most important jobs. When the numbers don’t look good, when someone of high visibility leaves the organization, when there is bad news to deliver, the leader needs to stand in front of his/her team and speak that “evil” with confidence. Confidence that the organization will go on. Confidence that change is necessary, and most importantly confidence that the leader is still trustworthy. Failing to speak about the toughest subjects erodes credibility, calls into question the leader’s motives, and begs the question, “What else aren’t we being told?” Contrarily, having the courage to address tough issues brings loyalty to a leader that is pretty remarkable.
The next time you have the urge to look to those three evil avoiding monkeys for guidance, keep in mind that the easiest solution isn’t often the right one.

Here are links to 3 articles that talk about the importance of communication in leadership and in management. They are from 3 very different sources, but really illustrate my point that no matter you industry or your role, if you want to be a leader that people respect and want to follow, communication is key.

http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/12675/communication-most-important-key-to-leadership-success

http://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/27037/Leadership%20Communication%20-%20A%20Communication%20Approach%20for%20Senior-Level%20Managers%20-%20Barrett.pdf?sequence=2

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/2141.html

Best,

Heather Chandler

Another huge benefit of knowing oneself is when we understand our own fears and faults clearly, we are less likely to judge others. When we judge, it does two pretty awful things. It prevents us from forgiving others and even more importantly, it prevents us from forgiving ourselves. How can we forgive others if we expect perfection from ourselves? How can we forgive ourselves if we aren’t clear that we have faults and make mistakes? This human quality transforms us from lofty, corner office, guillotine operators to approachable, experienced professionals that want EVERYONE to succeed. Which do you want to be?

How can leaders come to “Know Thyself” better? There are so many tools! There are personality tests, behavior models, value indexes, motivator assessments, 360 reviews, IQ, EQ, and skills inventories. Many can be found online, but the best resource is to find a consultant who will send you the link for the test, they are often quite inexpensive, and then spend some time reviewing the results with you. I’ve done so many of these self-assessments, I could give you a 20 page report that has been provided to me on every aspect of myself. In fact, when shared, these assessments are great for teams to better work together too, but that’s a subject for another day. Each of these reports, when I’ve reviewed them, reminded me of the parts of me that are really unique, and special. They also reminded me of the things that I don’t do very well. Most of these reports give suggestions for how to structure the work environment to improve these weaknesses, which are often reminders for me. I know a lot of these things work! I tried them last time I got a report! But because of my challenge in this area, I stopped doing them. Each report also usually provides some new tidbits, giving me a new pointer or helping me better relate to those around me. This is really key because relating better to those around me is key to personal growth as a leader. Companies can only grow as fast as their leaders.

Best,
Heather Chandler

Frequently, I discuss leadership and creating a great place to work with someone. Whether it is a job candidate, another leader, or an advisor, it’s a subject that almost everyone has some experience with. One analogy that often comes up is the comparison between leading and parenting. I’ve often bristled a bit at that analogy because as leading is to being a parent, as following is to being… a child? That makes me wince.

Comparing those who are the reason for the company’s success to children that I’m trying to parent is as insulting as thinking parenting like kids are mini-adults. I expect and enjoy participation, divergent ideas, innovation, and a variety of skills that require a high level of self-awareness, experience, and skill from those who I lead at work. Frankly, there isn’t much that’s more infuriating that a four year old with divergent ideas and a high level of innovation. It’s also my responsibility to teach my children self-awareness, experience and skill. With those I lead, our values dictate that it will always be built upon, but they must “show up” with a strong dose of it already in place. The values that our organization is built on are the same as I personally work to instill in my children, but that does not translate into the same interaction and group personalities (or at least I sure hope not!).

Most companies don’t even use the word “employees” anymore – it’s “co-workers”, “associates”, or “teammates”. To use the parenting metaphor cuts a chasm between leaders and their team. It’s part of an “us vs. them” mindset that can’t exist if it’s a great place to work. It’s just plain demeaning.

How did such an inappropriate reference become so commonplace? I have some ideas. The first one is frustration and “the buck”. Both as parents and as leaders of organizations we are “where the buck stops”. When things aren’t going well, we are frustrated. We immediately compare the situation to the other time when we feel helpless and like things that out of our control still stop at our doorstep. That’s at home. So we, as leaders, compare the frustration at work to that at home. Instead of finding our part in a solution, we look for other places to outwardly shift the blame. As leaders, we’re often accountable to no one, so it’s easiest to blame the team members. Just like when kids don’t behave, we say they are out of control and we find reasons everywhere but ourselves. Although our teammates are nothing like children, it’s a familiar feeling and we give ourselves a “pass” by making the analogy to parenting.

As leaders, our first job when things aren’t going well is to ask, “How can I influence a change in this situation?” WE have to behave differently to get different results. It’s not about “parenting” our organization, it’s about leading through example, accountability, and empowerment.

The recession was over in June 2009. Didn’t you hear? I haven’t seen it, although I’ve been told repeatedly. Everyone is pinched, and to me, it seems even tighter. The longer the stress continues, the harder it seems to breathe. It isn’t necessarily more stress, but stress naturally seems like more when the duration goes on.

This creates challenges for a leader. Friends, colleagues, family members, and employees lose homes, lose cars, suffer layoffs, and then to no ones surprise health problems – both physical and mental, develop. This is a natural consequence of long term stress. In the old economy, things were so busy, and there were a lot of stressed and overworked people. It was because things were expanding so quickly that people were doing the job of two until people were hired. The great thing was when bonuses were paid, the money was there. Sales and profits were at an unmatchable pace. Today, the stress of being overworked is coupled with no raises or bonuses and double the work because your cube mate’s job has been eliminated. Completely different kind of stress.

The good news is that at Sealstrip we have had limited layoffs since we’ve always been lean. We’ve experienced some of the same downturns in sales, but we work with every employee in every department to ensure their needs are met, while the company’s needs are met. We use rotating hours reduction schedules ensuring that everyone shares the work and the lack of work, we offer time off without pay that doesn’t affect vacation or personal time, and we encourage people to continue their education – offering flexible hours. We have continued paying for education, as an employee who is better educated is more committed and does a better job.

We’ve scaled down our awesome events to be merely “lots of fun”. Covered dish events, $5 gift cards, recognition in writing, and flexibility in schedules ensures employees know that despite a weak economy, this is still a great place to work. Speaking of which, in addition to our 2 consecutive awards for Best in Berks County, this year we are in the 100 Best Places to Work in PA!! Strong culture and great employees are what put us there.

Most of us (ok, not me) figure we don’t have anything to say and that a company newsletter would be boring, and tell people stuff they already know.  I contend that a company newsletter is the perfect way to reinforce values, your culture, goals, and even repeat things that are really important.   We have a company newsletter every two weeks.  I try to make it relevant, writing about current issues.  Often as leaders we hear about general morale or individual incidents but we know that if we get involved, it becomes a “big deal” all of a sudden.  Once I’ve heard the same concept/issue from more than two people, I figure that LOTS of people are thinking about it.  They are either wondering if I’ve heard, I know, or if I’m going to do something.  Often I can use the newsletter as a way to convey how our culture can handle something and my perspective on a subject.  Here’s a sample of a recent newsletter article I wrote:

What’s Your Gift?

Everyone has “gifts” – or “strengths”, as we call them in business, and “challenges” – or “things we suck at”, as I call them.  No one does everything  fabulously.  In fact, it’s kind of an interesting self analysis to think about your strengths/challenges, ratios, and intensity.  The ratio is just a list of things you are good at and a list of things you aren’t.  The intensity is answering – HOW good am I at these strengths?  Some of us are “the best ever” at our strengths.  These are super-strengths.  Super-strengths usually have super-weaknesses that go along.  There are stories in history of geniuses that barely get through day to day life.  Most of us aren’t like that though.  Most of us have a big jumble of stuff we’re good at and stuff we’re not.  The key to being really happy day to day is to do most of what you are good at (and enjoy) and least of what you aren’t so good at.

When we structure jobs here at Sealstrip, we consider this.  I believe that if you struggle with details you shouldn’t be entering data.  If you are introverted, you probably won’t be happy making presentations.  If you like to interact with others, you probably won’t like sitting at a computer with no people time.  If you need a predictable, unchanging environment you probably shouldn’t work here.  Just Kidding!

But we know that our constantly changing environment is enjoyable for some and not so much for others.  Those who prefer routine are best in jobs that don’t change a lot.  That’s what makes the world go ’round.  If everyone was good at the same things, and liked things the same way, nothing would ever get done. It takes EVERYONE.

Now when someone is on your last nerve because you need    details and they don’t seem to care, or when someone is asking for every tiny piece of information that seems irrelevant to you, we can lose sight of those strengths.  Remember, if someone is different than you, it’s wise to be thankful they are here because if they (or someone with their strengths) weren’t,  YOU might need to do those tasks that they are good at and you aren’t so much.  By having people of very diverse skills and strengths it gives us the opportunity to fill your time with MOST of what you are good at and LEAST of what you aren’t.  If you feel we’re missing the mark and you are doing most of what you are least good at – speak up, for heaven’s sake!

So sort of like the “benefit of the doubt” that I’ve been asking you to give each other, consider these tips for us all to get along better -

1. When someone is not providing what you need- consider what you are good at and how you can use that strength to help them so they aren’t getting on your nerves by not “getting it”.
2. When you see something being screwed up all the time, ask yourself what strengths you would bring to it that would “un-screw” it - usually if you can see a problem clearly, you have the strength to help fix it.
3. Make a list of what you good at and a list of what you are not good at.  Be thoughtful about it and when someone asks you to do something, genuinely consider the list and tell them, “I’m really good at that, I’d be happy to do it.” OR “I’m not great at that, I can give it a shot, or I can help figure out who might be.”  There is no harm in suggesting that someone else might be better for a task – unless that happens with every task.  We are all good at stuff and it’s great for every one of us AND the company if you get to do what you are best at.
4. Lastly, rather than focusing on weaknesses, make a list of coworkers and find their strengths.  Don’t be afraid to claim your strengths and help others claim theirs.  It makes us all more confident and higher performing.  If you need any help, I can think of things for EVERY SINGLE PERSON employed here.  That’s why you are part of our team.  We see the greatness in you.

A speaker and author with some incredible life experience, Frank Maguire, said, “Great workplaces are not defined by wages, technology, the annual report, or even working conditions, but rather feelings, attitudes, and relationships.”  These three things are often influenced by our feelings toward one another, and our mutual appreciation for what we each do.  I’d like to ask you to consider, every day, how your feelings, attitudes, and relationships are working toward creating a great workplace.  Thanks, You’re the Greatest!

What I’m reading this month:

• Drive, by Daniel Pink
• You’re the Greatest, by Frank McGuire
• The Prime Solution Imperative, by Jeff Thull

You really should read:

• First Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Location, Location, Location” in regard to real estate.  The question that answers is, “What are the 3 most important things when selling property?”  Going out on a bit of limb, since there was the choice to list three different ones, convential wisdom has said that location is SO important, we’ll list it for all three to make a point.  So, here I go, out on the limb to answer the question, “What are the 3 most important things in Creating a Great Place to Work?”  My answer:  Communication, Communication, Communication!

Communication takes many forms and there are many subjects about which to communicate, so those three little words encompass a lot of general advice, so I’ll get more specific throughout this and future blogs.  Today’s topic, and a KEY to communication is company meetings.  How often does your company have meetings that EVERY employee is expected to attend?  Many companies have them annually, some have “picked up the pace” to quarterly.  This is an improvement, but especially when things are changing rapidly, I advocate for 4-6 week intervals for company meetings.  I know, it sounds a bit crazy – it’s a lot of money and organization efforts to get almost every employee in a room for almost an hour, every 4 to 6 weeks.  I promise, the effort is worth it!

There are many reasons to have company meetings this frequently.  One contrary comment I’ve heard goes like this, “I do them annually and everyone just stares at me.  Imagine if I did it more often, they’d be zombies!”  The reason they have that blank look at the once a year meeting isn’t because they don’t care or aren’t interested.  First, it’s because they are thinking, “Wow, if we’re all here, there must be bad news, if he/she is here, it must be really bad.”  They haven’t seen or heard you in so long they are just trying to figure out what the bad news is, and who you really are and what your angle is (whether they can trust you, really).  Second, when you say things like, “we had flat performance, below goal, and this year we are planning for a slow recovery with the possibility of the double dip recession affecting our projections” they wonder if it’s English and again think, “Ok, what’s the bad news?”  Third, when you present a ton of information about the past and the future, once per year, they are wondering how it compared to last year?, does it matter?, how does it relate to them or their job?, and it sounds a lot like last year’s rah-rah speech, from what they can remember.

Company meetings at least twice a quarter (every 4-6 weeks) allow for some pretty cool results, based on the following information conveyed, that surely can’t be done in annual meetings:

1. Educate employees – so many things can be covered.  This is one of the key areas that takes about 20 minutes of every company meeting.  Employees can be educated on what things are included in Gross Profit and Net profit (you don’t need to share either exact number if you aren’t comfortable, but educating employees about what is included makes a huge difference).  Sometimes we focus on one big topic, such as insurance.  Most employees have no idea the total cost of all insurance- from healthcare to workers’ comp.  By sharing numbers and types of coverage, employees understand the legal requirements for businesses, they understand how their actions impact the company, and they understand that things they may not see are part of the cost of compensation.  Another opportunity to educate employees is in new or even existing products.  Most employees know a lot about their job and maybe their department.  Most know little about the company, distribution channels, customers, and products.  This knowledge is invaluable when you are working to create an environment of big picture thinking.  Lastly, an opportunity to educate employees about what other departments do.  Silos are often created when we don’t understand and appreciate what a co-worker or another department does and it’s role in the company’s success.  By sharing how crucial each department is, every employee develops an appreciation for their co-workers.
2. Financial performance- Whether you use open book management, closed book management or somewhere in between, it’s imperative that employees know how things are going, right from the leader.  It can be as simple as we are up/down by x% over last year’s sales, or it can be as complex as sharing this year’s goals, how we’re tracking toward them, and what needs to happen to achieve/exceed the goal.  Many company leaders feel that if they don’t share all the numbers, from revenue to net profit, they shouldn’t give any info.  That philosophy keeps employees in the dark and human nature, rather than information, takes over.  Others think that employees either don’t care or can’t understand the numbers.  I guarantee that if you provide numbers once a year – only a couple will understand.  However, if you provide the same numbers or percentages, show how they’ve changed over time, and do it regularly, everyone is capable of understanding and when they understand, they DO care.  I try to be creative with what numbers we review.  Some are always the same, others are one timers.  For example, looking at healthcare as a percent of total payroll over the last 5 years or quantity produced vs hours worked over the last 3 years.  Sounds complex, but when employees really get some of the numbers, they can help improve them!
3. What ever happened to…  This part of the meeting allows employees to ask questions about what they’ve heard – from the leader or others.  One way this time is used is when people have spent time working with a prospect, they are invested and they want to know what the outcome was.  This is a chance to answer to everyone and update people.  They don’t want to feel their work everyday is wasted.  They want to know the outcomes, even if they are negative.  A negative outcome explained might even result in an idea on how it could have transpired differently with different efforts.  A common frustration of employees is initiatives that don’t continue and they don’t know why.  If you start a new process or procedure, employees need to buy on to it at the start, which is a great company meeting topic, and then if you discontinue it, they need to know why!  Be honest – “there wasn’t enough cooperation”, “we found the information we gathered to not be relevant”, “the paperwork turned out to be much more than we thought”.  Whatever the reason, knowing the real reason stops the negative rumor mill.
4. Loyalty and Values- I’ve saved the best and most important for last.  Company meetings are a leader’s opportunity to connect with employees, really show loyalty to them and convey company and personal values.  I care enough about my employees to take an hour a month to really talk to them about what’s important to me, and what’s important to the company- and really, what’s important to them.  As our workforce evolves to include less baby boomers and more Gen X and Millenials, connecting with people is even more important.  Research shows, Baby boomers work for a company- they are loyal to the company, regardless of the leader.  They want to see the results, they want a strong company, they want to work there for life.  Gen X and Millenials are just the opposite.  They work for their leader.  They are loyal to the leader and their vision.  This creates the need for leaders to really get out there and show who they are and WHY they are the leader to follow.  In company meetings, I work to connect with employees building the loyalty they have for me- trust in me and my vision, and expressing my loyalty to them by keeping them informed and up to date on where we are and where we are going.  As the work force evolves over the next decade and fewer baby boomers are in the workforce, this will become more and more important in retaining your best people.

Sometimes our company meetings include a powerpoint of the issues, sometimes I use the dry erase board, sometimes I use music, props, or just me- talking and explaning, but all of the time, they are taped and every employee is expected to be there or watch the video.  This is key information that no one can miss.  There have been studies that show that human nature focuses on the negative.  We have more words in the English language to express negative emotions than positive, and people look at negative images for longer than positive ones, as two examples.  Therefore, applied to the work environment, we know (and have all experienced) that people often assume the worse, expect the worst, look for ways they aren’t being treated fairly, and notice the negative trends the most.  It’s frustrating and as a leader I often wonder how I can fix it.  Well it turns out it’s science, I can’t fix it.  The way to work against it, is to COMMUNICATE.  Company meetings are a key communcation tool.  Every employee hears the same thing, directly from the leader - takes the “whisper down the lane” factor out, takes the fear of the unknown out of the equation.  People will still be negative, some more than others.  When I have regular company meetings, informed and educated employees aren’t afraid of what tomorrow may bring so rather than contemplate the worst, they can put all their energy toward positively achieving the company goals.  That’s really powerful when every employee is aligned in that direction!

Next month, continuing Communication, Communication, Communication, and the other ways to get it flowing to Create a Great Place to Work!

What I’m reading this month:

• Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath (some of the last paragraph is info I learned in their book)
• No Excuse! by Jay Rifenbary

You really should read:

• First Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

Through these values and our Guiding Principles (more on Values and Guiding Principles another day), these “best people” will put our customers first, because I put our people first.  They will always come through to create a happy customer.  Whether that customer is an outside or an inside one, happy customers are a result of every team member giving their “all” every day.  Really showing up, not just making time.  Happy customers mean strong sales and good profits, and happy customers beget new customers.

We also are able to make the best investments in our organization- meaning people, facilities, and product, when we have the best people providing advice, feedback, and their expertise.  Every leader knows their organization is only as effective as the value of the knowledge they tap from their team.  So now, as I hope I’ve convinced you why Creating A Great Place to Work – whether you are a company leader, team leader, supervisor, or manager – has real, tangible value, I will begin a monthly sharing with you of what Sealstrip is doing and what you can do to create someplace special where people LOVE their work and really feel it matters.

Whether you want to make more money, sell more, get the best people applying for openings, keep employees from moving on, become more efficient in any or all departments, reduce silos, or just increase the spring in employees’ steps or the heads nodding at company meetings, creating a GREAT PLACE TO WORK, will do it all.

Now you just need to know HOW.  For some, it’s intuitive.  For others, like on the new CBS Show, they need to really be put in the shoes of the everyday employee to actually get it.  Check this spot for next month’s post, the first key – Company Meetings – not as easy as you’d think!

This month, I’m reading:

• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell
• Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

If you haven’t yet read, I really recommend:

• Good to Great, by Jim Collins (no kidding, if you haven’t, you better read it NOW)
• The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni (as well as all his other titles)
• Mastering the Habits of the Rockefellers, by Verne Harnish