Articles

Confidential Leadership Empowerment Satisfaction/Retention Survey

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Tue, 09 May 2017 15:09:03 GMT

To view or print off this Confidential Leadership Empowerment Satisfaction/Retention Survey please click here to view the PDF .

Time Management Templates

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 19:20:10 GMT

The Time Management Templates can be printed off or viewed in PDF format. Please click here to view the templates.

Coaching Skills Self Assessment

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 19:16:41 GMT

To view or print off the Coaching Skills Self Assessment, please click here to view the PDF .

RATING YOUR SOFT SKILL LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 19:14:39 GMT

Just as you have attitudes about customers, they also have attitudes about you. Each of the following characteristics play an integral part in determining the response you get from others. Evaluate yourself from several perceptions how you see yourself, how your manager sees you, how your customer sees you, and how your co-workers see you.

You can view the PDF to print out or view by clicking here.

Instructions:
Make copies and:

Complete one for yourself
Ask your Manager to evaluate you
Ask 2-3 fellow workers to evaluate you
Ask 3-6 patients/customers to evaluate you
Then compile the results on one form, and based upon an analysis of the results, focus on improving on 3 attributes of success.

5 Check Lists on Personal Success and Productivity

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 21:28:34 GMT

1. Check List #1 - Directional Strategies:

1. Choose your destiny. What legacy do you want to leave at home or work or for the charity you support?
“We all seek our reason for being” - Anonymous

The theme for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta was: “The Best Ever” and they were so successful that it became what every Olympic organizing committee following them based theirs on. The theme for the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC. was: “Own the Podium” - and they did. The most Gold Medals by a host country, 14, and third overall, placing behind the US at #1 and Germany at #2 – countries with ten times and three times the population respectively.

2. Focus on creating action steps. It is not what you think about that will create the reality of your goals, it is the actual steps you take. Get out your day planner or log into your computer and start putting in dates, times and activities.

Matthew McConaughey’s “Three Things”
In his acceptance speech at the 2014 Academy Awards, Matthew McConaughey told the world how he creates his success. “There are 3 things I need each day. - - - One is something to look up to (faith / God),

One is something to look forward to (his family / mom’s self respect - and the family he created)
And one is something to chase (his better person in 10 years).” We should all do a future self-exercise – and call it goals. How do you visualize yourself so you can achieve it”? Where do you see yourself in ten years?

3. Momentum. Just start, build on small successes. Check the Time Management workshop for 5 options of how to do this. Think of the Movie” What About Bob?” and his little tiny baby steps to get to his big scary objectives every time.

4. Measure. The truth is, what gets measured, gets done. Start by setting realistic goals. Another way of looking at it, you can’t improve on what you don’t measure. Want to lose weight, weigh yourself every day, it works to track it.

5. The Law of Abundance. While this is not an actual “law”, it is a good attitude to adopt. You can create just as big a success as you set out. Think big and act on it.

“If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.” - Oprah Winfrey

6. Key Questions: Ask and measure these three questions:

Morning - what will I do today to accomplish my O.N – optimistic numbers?
Afternoon – what did I actually do today to accomplish my optimistic numbers?
Did I trade this day for what I want – am I closer to my goals?

2. Check List #2 - Question Your Results:

What am I doing at work or home that really doesn’t need to be done – ever? Think of the time / benefit ratio. Would the time spent doing the task create value for you or can you hire someone for less fee to do it better and free you up to do what you do better? For example, should you cut the grass and clean the rugs or earn an income at twice what you would pay someone to do that for you? Children (yours of your neighbors) can be a good source of labor, and enjoy getting paid.
What am I doing that could or should be done by someone else? Who can you delegate to? Who needs cross training to fill in when someone is away so I don’t have to do it? Understand the Situational Leadership Matrix.
What am I doing that could be done more efficiently, more effectively and more quickly now? Literally every day new digital resources are being launched to process paper work and information compiled and processed faster, reducing time and costs. Check with experts and stay informed. Set up Google Alerts on that topic.
What am I doing that wastes the time of others? So often we create activities for employees that take them away from our core business. As General Norman Swarzekopf says in his book: ‘It Doesn’t Take a Hero’ - “No repainting the flagpole”. Do what matters now and make it meaningful to the employee.
How does my use of time match up with my priorities? This means what are you doing to become dispensable? That means being able to move up or out of the company to a better position. This is not being indispensible; meaning no one else knows how to do your job so you can’t move up or out.

3. Check List #3 - Prime Time Questions:

‘Prime Time’ is a well know time management concept that is an hour (or more if needed) when you have no interruptions in order to focus on big tasks and planning. The five questions that you need to ask and answer are:

What three things this week should I be doing to further my career?
What major activities / tasks should I be concerned about in my Department?
What should I focus on next week in order to move toward my personal goals?
What future problems can I avoid by taking action now?
What are the tasks that are not assigned to me as of yet, but which I should get assigned as they really do matter?

Someone once said: Three Simple Rules in Life

If you do not go after what you want, you’ll never have it.
If you do not ask, the answer will always be no.
If you do not step forward, you’ll always be in the same place.

Peter Drucker, the management guru, said:

“The important and difficult job is never to find the right answer, it is to find the right question.”

This really means not accepting things as they are or appear to be, but what would it take to create the new reality. The right question can change the future. Try it: “What if….?”

4. Check List #4 - Making Today Work For You

1. Replace perfectionism with excellence. Perfectionists take too long to start the task. Excellence means starting and continuous improvement. For example, when you start to exercise, start by doing something and be sure to measure / time it. The next time, go for a little longer time or more reps, and each time after that, do more. To ensure you start and keep to it, write it down on your calendar.

2. Love what you do. Enthusiasm is contagious, get excited about the job and it will go faster.

3. Make a commitment. A personal initiative to continually do what you say you are going to do. This becomes your reputation – and if it is good makes so many things easier for you.

"Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows." Michael Landon, 1936-1991, Actor

4. Expect the best. Create your vision for the future. Expect the best, you get the best - expect the worst, you get to be right.

The Pygmalion Effect. When we expect better or great behaviour from people, we get it. This principal of action and behaviour says that as we communicate our high level of expectations of people to them, they will respond to it by changing their behaviour. We can see that the other way around by how we communicate with young children by adapting our communication style, words, volume, to get their attention to do something we want them to do. They will start mimicking the behaviour that works for them better too.

5. Commit to Continuous Learning. Keep learning how to better your career.

6. Adopt a mentor. Figure out who you admire, that is successful in the area you want more advice on, then ask them if you can take them for lunch or dinner and ask them some questions. If they say yes, great. Then ask them to mentor you. Successful people like to be asked to help and if they can, they will. Choose well.

7. Create a pocket of excellence. Regardless of what is going on around you at work, be the best you can be. “In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take, relationships we are afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make.”

8. Control. Don’t let the things you can’t control, interfere with the things that you can control. Keep working on the goals that matter to you, your career and family.

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” Mark Twain / Samuel Clements

9. Daily Summary. Ask yourself at the end of every day: “What ideas, skills, improvements or systems did I learn today that will make me more effective in serving others tomorrow”?

10. Just Do It. Go for it.

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” Henry Ford

5. Check List #5 - How to Empower People

1. Ask yourself: “What do I see when I look my people in the eyes? Do you see caring, committed, engaged and empowered people who know what to do, or people who need to be told what to do all the time, and be checked up on?

2. Treat your people as your greatest asset. They are. And they are an increasing asset as they learn more and take on more responsibility.

3. Understand that people are motivated for their reasons, not yours. Your job is to figure out what motivates people and keep those motivators in front of them – and it may surprise you what actually does. How do you find out? Ask them.

4. Communicate well. Communication is 100% sending (questions) / 100% listening. Lack of communication is the #1 cause of workplace conflict, low morale and mistakes. “From listening comes wisdom.”

5. Replace rules with judgment. Let people use their common sense in dealing with people – like you expect to.

6. Pay attention to the small signs of respect. That is simple things like please and thank you, all the way up to recognition on special days such as birthdays or anniversaries. It is paying attention when someone walks in your office. It is not checking messages on your phone in front of people. “People don’t care about how much you know, Until they know about how much you care”

7. Pick an ideal that takes the imagination by storm. Be significant. What gets you excited may just be what gets others excited. What is new and needed?

“Significance means service, doing things that impact people in a beneficial way. It is not just going out there and bragging about a certain thing you have done, but showing people how they can apply it to their lives and improve something. That to me is what significance is all about.” Dr. Mehmet Oz, ‘Dr. Oz’ on TV

8. Set bold goals. What bold goal would you set if you knew you would not fail? As Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind.” and you will pretty well succeed in any goal you set. Make sure it is a S.M.A.R.T. goal, otherwise it is just a wish.

S – Specific. Means a number attached to it: By Jan. 30th. 2017 I want $100,000.00 in my investment account. It is clear of the who/what/where/when and sometimes even why?
M – Measurable – you can see the number. At 50,000 you know you are half way to that success. Progress or not, on track or not or you need to pick up the pace?
A – Attainable – realistic/achievable - based on what to do and will do – action. The time / benefit ratio and progress.
R – Realistic / Relevant – believable, better than your previous best and something you really want.
T – Time Related – there’s a deadline attached to it, sense of urgency.

9. Light a fire of intense burning desire.

Conceive the idea – what would you like to do? A burning desire to accomplish? Maybe it’s your newly discovered life purpose.
Believe in yourself and abilities – have the self-confidence in yourself to get started. Think ‘little tiny baby steps’ from the “What About Bob” movie – and just start.
Achieve the results – create it, keep at it. Set a deadline, plan it out, set the milestones to measure the success. If necessary, hire a coach. Take a time management course to prove to you what your priorities are.

10. Practice “The Greatest Management Principe in the World”

‘Things that get recognized and rewarded, get repeated.”

When you recognize or acknowledge good behavior, you get more of it. When you don’t recognize bad behavior, and you allow that to be the culture of the office.

"Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others, belong to us as well.” Voltaire, 1694-1778, Philosopher & Writer

Compensation Incentives in the Oil & Gas

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 21:08:29 GMT

This article was originally published in an issue of Canadian Consulting Engineer Magazine

Employment recruitment tactics are changing. New younger, professional employees no longer automatically take what companies offer without question. They are more assertive and demanding about having life balance. When it comes to compensation benefits, organizations have to think outside the box in order to attract new employees.

The Situation : The ongoing and increasing skilled labor shortage will continue to drag company productivity and profitability down. Most engineering and oil and gas companies have a backlog of work and not enough employees to complete the projects. Overtime is needed, delays are the norm, budget overruns are common. What do successful companies offer in order to stand out from the competition in order to attract new employees and retain more of the ones you currently have? With overseas mega projects recruiting Canadian talent to build their projects, the stakes are high.

The Solution : The starting point is a competitive salary which continues to escalate upward. In many cases bonuses of up to 35% of the salary are necessary to attract employees to locate to remote locations. To be really successful, you need to offer a competitive benefits package that is valued by the recipients – without creating an attitude of entitlement, otherwise loyalty decreases.

The Trends : Lets review some of the trends in the oil patch today. The key new one is Health Care Spending Accounts instead of cash bonuses. This gives employees the opportunity to be consulted in picking and choosing from a flexible package range the benefits specific to their needs today and alter them as their career path changes. For example, early in the career, orthodontics might be a higher percentage of the dollars allocated and then later in life, a switch to vision, massage and chiropractic care. With some companies you can take in cash what you don’t use of the allotted amount or transfer to pension plans.

Vacation pay is being increased. What was the industry standard of two weeks for new hires is now almost universally three weeks and after being employed two years you get four vacation weeks. One company is recognizing previous industry experience to be counted toward your years of experience. Another has a formula of your age less 20 to determine vacation weeks based on two weeks for every ten years. For example, a person aged 50, less 20, equals 30, so with two weeks for every 10, gets you six vacation weeks.

Days Off : An industry leading company in Canada recently started giving every employee two Fridays a month off, 24 in total. To earn this, you take either a shorter lunch hour or work an extra 30 minutes the rest of the week. Other companies offer new employees a range of from five up to 17 paid personal days off every year.

RRSP’s : Matching of from 3 1/2 % up to 6% of annual salary and some match up to an additional 5% in savings plans. Profit sharing for everybody in some companies linked to company profitability.

Maternity Top Up Benefits : Increasingly seen is maternity top-up benefits of up to 100% for 36 weeks for new parents and adoptive parents.

Other industry specifics are :

10 discretionary flex days – no questions asked
Adding a paid day to long weekends
Work extra hours to get every summer Friday off
Corporate offices shut down for up to 10 days over Christmas
Company car and parking lot allowance
Health club membership and scheduled time in work day to attend
On site fitness facilities and a professional fitness trainer provided
Phased in retirement leave programs
$200.00 a month health spending account to spend how you want
On site day care and on site room to house students during teacher Professional Development days. One sources senior care facilities
Scholarships for children entering University
On site dinning room with subsidized prices
Birthday - one paid day off, even if it falls on a weekend or holiday.
Compassion leave – 3 – 8 paid days, more if travel required
Finders fees – up to $3,000.00 for referring new employees who stay
Parental leave – men can take more time off for newborns
Happy Staff – lots of recognition events such as new babies and birthdays
Education – more in house training and off site courses with tuition fully paid to drive up competencies and productivity

Performance Contracts : To ensure employees appreciate the above average industry benefits and at the same time improve personal productivity and ownership, one company has each employee sign a ‘High Performance Contract’. This sets goals and objectives for them that are in sync with their supervisors and it is reviewed quarterly up to four times a year, depending on their experience level.

This article was created by Bruce Lee who is an event speaker, author, productivity coach and MC. His passion is working with individuals and organizations to enhance their leadership results and individual productivity through strategic planning sessions and hands on workshops in business acceleration that will improve the bottom line, increase market share and employee and customer loyalty and retention. Each keynote or workshop he presents includes a variety of additional resources and tools after to support the training and measure new skill levels.

TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES & TIME SAVER TIPS THAT WORK

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 21:03:46 GMT

Simple but effective ideas to improve your efficiency. - What would you do with an extra hour a day?

1. Must Do’s
- Keep reviewing Alan Laiken’s question: “Is this (activity you are about to do) the best use of my time?”

Ask yourself Townsend's question: "Is what I am doing, or about to do, moving me toward my objectives?"
Set high expectations for each and every day.
Decide to stop procrastinating on large tasks.
Rewrite your personal goals and activities, and reprioritize them at least every three months. The world changes, we change and so must our goals. Consult your family on the validity of the goals for them. Think 5 years out.
Get at least 10 minutes of programmed exercise every day; and throughout the day use every opportunity to walk, stand, climb stairs, bend over, etc. This promotes health, and increases your "Prime Time" by reducing fatigue.

2. Office Organization
- Start by clarifying your personal and professional priorities.

Focus on income generating emails and letters or proposals as your priority at the start of the day.
Place every task into one of the Priority Matrix quadrants.
Focus to eliminate the top 10 Time Wasters
Write it down. Do your thinking on paper. You will make quicker and better decisions if you write down the pros and cons of a line of action.
Discuss time management with your boss and with your coworkers and determine what you can do as individuals and as a team to use time more effectively.
Think of the Pareto Principal – the critical few versus the trivial many – where to spend the time and energy?
Keep a Time Log then ask yourself: What am I doing that can be done better by someone else?
Control time spent in meetings. Do you need to be there? Can you submit a report? Can you turn up at a certain time and leave after? If running the meeting, start and end on time in respect of others time.
If you find it difficult to get any "quiet time," try to arrive at the office before anyone else, to gain uninterrupted time for planning and other tasks.
File, file, file! Avoid clutter. Keep everything you are not working on out of your immediate working area and out of sight, if possible. Always tidy up your desk and work area before leaving the office.
"Let your fingers do the walking/surfing" before running errands for personal items or office supplies. Phone to compare prices, determine availability, hours of operation, specials, if they deliver or not, etc.
Write a memo to yourself, for future reference, whenever you have completed a difficult task which is going to recur. You will benefit from an experience when you have a written record of mistakes and lessons learned.
Work on only one item at a time.
If a conversation on the phone is dragging on, try standing up. Your conversations will be shorter.
Establish your lowest productivity hour as "interruptions" hour. Encourage your subordinates to see you then.
Try to avoid being placed on hold on the telephone. It takes less time to call back.
Hire specialists / consultants so you don’t have to invent the wheel.
Take a Speed Reading or Memory Techniques course so you can learn to read routine material more rapidly.
Never put uncompleted activities from today at the top of tomorrow's "to do" list. You must reprioritize them.
Never do errands at work on impulse. Plan your route carefully, handling as many errands as possible each time at lunch, or going to and from work. Can the activity be pushed back a day or two to be more convenient?
Don’t be afraid to give yourself time to relax, to meditate and “blue sky”. This allows you to relax, become less stressed and more creative.

3. Subordinates
- The people closest to the job know the best way to improve it – ask them for suggestions.

Always delegate slightly more than what you feel the subordinate is capable of handling – set high goals.
If you are always "putting out fires" ask yourself after each crisis: (a) Why did it occur? (b) What can be done to prevent its recurrence? and (c) If it does recur, how can I handle it better next time?
Expect others to succeed; it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Don’t micro-manage others. It is frustrating for them and time-consuming for you.
Calculate what you and each of your subordinates are worth per minute so tasks receive a cost / benefit look.
As often as possible provide written instructions to subordinates to prevent interruptions for both of you.
Since your own time use is tied to the effectiveness of those with whom you work, arrange a time management seminar for your entire organization, so that you can mount a concerted attack on wasted time.
When you go to work, pretend you don't know anything. What you will learn from asking and listening will save you a great deal of time. Jack Welch built GE to a huge corporation by asking lots of questions to the front line.

4. Paperwork
- Remember Parkinson’s Law: Work expands to fill the allotted time.

In handling correspondence, consider answering routine letters and memos on the original. Change “To” to “From” and “From” to “To”, make your notes, run through the office copier for your own records, and returning the original to the sender.
Purge your files annually. You'll be able to find needed items quicker and will save on storage costs.
Create "slush files”. Have a specific place to put all papers which are not important enough to file permanently, but which you feel uncomfortable about throwing away just yet.
Set up a desk date file (sometimes called a future file, a suspense file, or a tickler file) to provide an automatic method of bringing papers to your attention on specific dates in the future.
Use window envelopes where appropriate for correspondence, saving time of second typing of name and address.
Except for file cabinets and your desk, remove from your office any item on which you accumulate paperwork.
Divide seemingly overwhelming tasks into small increments and attack them one at a time.
Do one task each day that you don't like to do. It's good discipline and it will help you through the tough times. It will force you to make the decisions you should make on a timely basis.

5. At Home
- Where do you want to spend your time? Think of the Dr. Leo Buscaglia quote: “Live everyday as if it were your last – you never know when you’re going to be right.”

Plan each night what you are going to wear the next day, and lay it out ahead of time.
Hire someone else to do yard work, housework, and other routine home chores where possible.
Plan your TV viewing a week ahead to be more selective. Never turn on a TV set just "to see what's on."
Consider moving closer to your place of work. If you saved just 15 minutes on commuting time each way, you would gain an additional three weeks of home life or working time per year!
On the weekend, plan and schedule your personal chores and errands for the next week.

6. Traveling

Purchase or borrow from your library, CD’s or cassette tapes on time management, leadership, self-motivation, and similar subjects, as well as any which are available in your professional field, and listen to them whenever you are traveling in your vehicle.
Carry a portable recorder when traveling or making calls. It is the most convenient way of making detailed notes following a phone conversation, or while driving or flying.
Buy paperback books; remove a chapter at a time, and read it during your waiting times.

What are the good habits taking you closer to success or the bad habits holding you back? Created by Bruce Lee 403 – 241 – 6212 bruceleespeaker@shaw.ca

BRUCE LEE’S LEFT HANDERS GUIDE TO THE WORLD

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 20:31:46 GMT

International Left Handers Day is August 13th. Sinister is almost verbatim for left-handed - a compliment! Gauche - French for left - meaning clumsy. Left friendly sports: Swimming / horses. Left handed execs earn 5% more than right handed ones. Initially prepared by Bruce from 3 sources, including Patrick’s daily calendar, July 8/97. Incas revered left handed people, saw them as bringing good fortune!

Bruce can be reached at 403 – 241- 6212 or BruceLeeSpeaker@shaw.ca for additions or corrections. Left hander newsletter: www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk

How to Remember Names

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 19:13:00 GMT

This article was one of a series that appeared in issues of the Canadian Consulting Engineer Magazine.

Attention Association Repetition

Do you have trouble remembering names? Lots of people do and pay the price for it embarrassment and potential loss of business. How would you like to be able to remember the name of every person you meet, regardless of whether you are meeting him or her in a personal or professional context?

The answer to improving long-term name memory is a simple and effective system called "The L.I.S.T.E.N. Name Memory Formula originally created by Brian Lee and edited down to the abbreviated L.I.S.'N. version.

"L" is for LISTEN

Listen carefully to the person's name when introduced. Pronounce both names correctly immediately. When most people are being introduced to someone new, they are listening to make sure their own name is said correctly. Because we don't focus on the other person's name, we don't hear it. More importantly, if we don't say their name back to them to ensure accuracy, it does not go into our short-term memory. Saying the name out loud, a practice also known as "auditory reassurance," is key to getting it right. Focus on their name, not yours. Memory is the art of repetition - but you have to pay attention.

"I" is for INITIATE

Initiate, ask fun questions about their name. Even if it's not obvious, ask the origin (is that Irish?), what it means (you will be surprised by what people tell you), whether they are related to someone with a similar name. Most people like to be asked questions about their name, especially if it is unusual or difficult to pronounce. In my case, questions come almost automatically. "Bruce Lee? Thought you were dead." Are you related to the actor Bruce Lee?" "Do you know Kung Fu?" These kinds of exchanges make for a fun and memorable introduction. Because you ask questions, you hear stories, which creates more connections in the brain and gives better retention. Memory is association .

If the person has a really difficult name, ask how they spell it. That way you mentally see it and hear it. In effect, you are practicing it. Anyone who has a difficult name does not mind you asking how to say it, as getting it right is a sign of respect at the start of a new relationship.

"S" is for SAY IT OFTEN

Use their name three times in your first meeting, taking advantage of this opportunity to talk to them about them. The first time is when you are first introduced and you say back their name for clarification. "Cindy Crawford, so nice to meet you." The second time is somewhere in the conversation where you can use both names, without seeming obvious: "So, when Cindy Crawford is not at these events, what do you do in the real world?" Or, "So, Cindy Crawford, what is it that interests you about this event today?"

"N" is for NOTE 4 FACTS

This is the best tip! Write four identifiers about your meeting and conversation on the person's business card. To obtain their card, offer your own first. The next time you meet the person you will remember them. This makes a great impression and says, "You are important to me." Here are the F.A.CT.S. of what to jot down.

F - Facial Feature . Who do they look, walk or sound / talk like? I used to be told I looked like Dick Clark or Jack Nicholson, so I changed my hairstyle.

A - Activity and facility . For example, "Our training day, Westin Hotel" C - Contact date and City. "Calgary, July 8th. 2014."

T - Topic of greatest interest . What was the most important item they talked about? A new consulting project? Their favorite vacation spot?

That's it! A simple formula for name memory that will stay with you. If you become interested in a new person and apply the above strategy, you will increase your attitude towards them, your own self-confidence and your reputation with others.

Attention, Association and Repetition. That's all it takes.

This article was created by Bruce Lee who is an event speaker, author, productivity coach and MC. His passion is working with individuals and organizations to enhance leadership results and individual productivity through strategic planning sessions and hands on workshops in business acceleration that will improve the bottom line, increase market share and employee and customer loyalty and retention. Each keynote or workshop he presents includes a variety of additional resources and tools after that will further support the training - and measure new skill levels.

Meetings That Count - How to Run Productive Meetings

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 19:07:34 GMT

This article was one of a series of articles to appear in issues of the Canadian Consulting Engineer Magazine

Meetings can be the greatest asset or the greatest time waster. Here are seven golden rules on how to run these gatherings more effectively. W hen was the last time you went to a meeting at your office, or at your client's office, knowing it was going to be a waste of time?

You can very easily take control of meetings and get results. Meetings are supposed to be a way of: (1) sharing information, (2) creating and brainstorming ideas, (3) making and/or implementing decisions, and (4) ensuring everyone who should contribute actually gets heard. Keep these objectives in mind. Time is a precious resource -- don't waste it in unproductive meetings.

Here are seven attributes of effective and productive M.E.E.T.I.N.G.s that you should master.

M -- Meeting Decision . Decide if it is really necessary to hold it, and if you should attend. Remember that not all meetings need to be held, especially if there is no new business, if key people will not be there, if necessary information will not be ready, or if the reason for holding the meeting is no longer viable. Keep asking yourself, "Is this the best use of my time and my client's time?"

E -- Effective Organization . Take the time to plan and organize. Chances are you have attended numerous unorganized meetings. To avoid this in your own meetings you must ensure that there is a proper system in place. An agenda prepared and circulated well in advance is crucial. Also, choose a convenient location that has the proper amenities and environment.

E -- Excellent Attendance . Ensure everyone who should be there, is there, and that they are prepared to participate. Here are some steps to make it happen.

The agenda sent out before the meeting should identify clearly who is to do what at the meeting, covering everything from reporting information to contributing resources. It should also indicate what decisions will be made.
Make sure the agenda includes the date, the time, and the location.
If the meeting is a regularly scheduled meeting or part of a series of meetings, ensure it is consistent with others.

One of the things that launches a meeting well, is to do a "Good News Report" after the meeting is called to order. Go around the table and each person quickly mentions "the best thing that has happened to me since the last meeting, both personally and professionally." This tactic charges the room with renewed interest, and creates a better understanding among the people you are sharing time with. Try it, but start with the best attitudes around the table first!

T -- Target Objectives . Zero in on the things you really want to accomplish. A wellplanned agenda is the tool you will need. Have extra copies for those who always turn up without it. If you are in charge, get to the room early and ensure it is set up properly. Call the meeting to order on time; if you wait for stragglers, not only do you penalize those who were on time, you waste everyone else's time at $$$ per minute, and conversely you reward those who arrive late. If a meeting tends to ramble on beyond the scheduled ending time, then schedule the end to be exactly lunch break time!

Make sure you share the objectives for the meeting with everyone. Give priority to timesensitive issues and be aware of a logical sequence for items on the list; how they were placed on the agenda may no longer be current in terms of priority.

I -- Independent Chairperson . Ensure that he or she knows the role. An effective chairperson is a must. The individual running the meeting should be prepared to be just that. Their goal is to create a sense of urgency, efficiency, and knowledge. They ensure participants share facts, not opinions, and keep the meeting focused and moving. Summarizing major points, including liberal use of a whiteboard or flip chart to record points, to list options and votes on choices, is part of the chairperson's role.

Most importantly, the chair observes how members react to the comments of others and how discussion affects the group as a whole. He or she should actively listen when others are talking, and make notes on good ideas so that they don't get dropped. Sometimes an idea spoken can change the whole result of the meeting if it is captured.

Sometimes disagreements occur between people with strong personalities. To ensure the meeting does not break down, ask other participants with strong opinions about what they think would work or be fair. If no compromise can be reached quickly, break off the discussion for a set period of time. A useful tactic to ensure everyone speaks and is heard in a meeting is to alternate going round the table starting on the chairperson's right, then on his or her left.

When you're closing the meeting, summarize the actions to be taken (this can be done by the chairperson or the person recording the minutes). The chairperson's final words should acknowledge everybody for their participation and contribution.

N -- Need for Rules . Attendees should be aware of the basic rules, protocols, and procedures. Depending on how large the meeting is, be prepared to take votes and to use common Parliamentary procedure to approve projects, minutes, reports, and activities. A good resource is: O. Garfield Jones' “Parliamentary Procedure At A Glance” (Penguin Books, 1991).

G -- Great Follow Up , the most important part! The minutes need to show who was there, what was discussed, what decisions were made, actions to be taken (next steps), and who is responsible for the noted actions. Also, the next meeting date, time and place need to be included.

On your own, seek constructive feedback as to how participants felt the meeting went, and what could have been improved upon. In particular, if there is someone who is always causing problems, be prepared to talk with them to ensure their behavior improves for the next meeting (but that is another article).

This article was created by Bruce Lee who is an event speaker, author, productivity coach and MC. His passion is working with individuals and organizations to enhance leadership results and individual productivity through strategic planning sessions and hands on workshops in business acceleration that will improve the bottom line, increase market share and employee and customer loyalty and retention. Each keynote or workshop he presents includes a variety of additional resources and tools after that will further support the training - and measure new skill levels.

What the Best CEOs Know - A Book Review

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 18:49:01 GMT

7 Exceptional Leaders and their lessons for transforming any business. Author: Jeffrey A. Krames. Book Review by Bruce Lee

This fascinating book looks at 7 exceptional company founders and explores the traits common to them that helped make their companies successful. Jeffrey’s list is very similar to other lists such as “The Top 10 Most Admired Companies” in the US and even the Global Most Admired. He points out that very successful leaders are not flawless, that they make mistakes, but then they learn from them. Overall, they are visionary builders of organizations who create great business models. What makes this book so unique is that in addition to exploring what they did and why they did it, he looks at what might have happened in they did it differently. He poses questions like: “What would Michael Dell do in this case?” and then provides an answer based on their operational savvy.

His final list is of visionary builders is made up of: Michael Dell of Dell Computers , Jack Welch of GE , Lou Gerstner of IBM , Andy Grove of Intel , Bill Gates of Microsoft , Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines , and Sam Walton of Wal-Mart .

Their Traits:

1. They start with a view of the marketplace and work back to meet customer needs – called being customer centric , or from the outside – in . Del Computers builds each computer to every customer specifications – this is about as customer focused as you can get – and created a $56 billion dollar company. Wal-Mart made a commitment that every American gets the lowest price an anything - no matter where they lived in the US. (Note: as of 2007 Dell has also moved into the high profit supercomputer market.)

Not in the book, but as an FYI for statistical comparison, Wal-Mart was the largest company in the world from 2002 – 2005 with sales of $315 billion. Exxon Mobil moved them out of first spot with a huge 25% sales increase in 2005 to finish at $339 billion. In 2006 they took back the #1 spot with sales of $351 billion - almost a billion a day. The rest on his list placed on the Fortune 500 list for 2006 at:
6 GE $168 Billion
15 IBM $ 92 Billion
34 Dell $57 Billion
49 Microsoft $44 Billion
62 Intel $35 Billion
276 Southwest $9.1 Billion

Other select companies in 2006 were:
H.P #14 at 91 billion, Boeing #28 at 62 billion
Costco #32 at 60 billion, Target #33 at 59.5 billion
Disney #64 at 34 billion, FedEx #68 at 33 billion

2. They all had an Evangelic Leadership Gene . This is not to be confused with charisma. This trait is described as ardent, crusading enthusiasm for jobs, companies and their career. They were zealous, and did not have magnetic personalities (such as Bill Gates and Lou Gerstner) but could get their people to buy into the future through changes that needed to happen.

3. They understood the critical role of culture and how it would take years, not months to transform the culture to achieve key corporate goals. The example is with Lou how he had to move IBM from a complacent culture to one that is competitive where the customer was listened to. They instill a feeling of dedication to winning in the market place. For example, Herb at Southwest Airlines wanted a culture of fun by the staff so customers would see it and remember it as a fun experience from check in to landing.

4. They are a First Mover . They would see emerging products and ideas and got in on it. Examples would be Microsoft for new computers that needed software, and Wal-Mart for the emerging discount store trend.

5. They would implement best ideas regardless of where they were first heard of. He said the hallmark of learning companies was knowing that they did not have all the answers. Sam Walton would spend up to half of the time he spent in stores actually in competitor’s stores and copying ideas from them. You can absorb good ideas and improve on them. Jack Welch would say that it was employees jobs to borrow ideas and bring them to GE

6. They would advance the leadership body of knowledge in some fashion, rewriting the playbook. Bill Gates, as a result of helping create the ease of putting information on computer desk tops, so that anyone could move it from person to person, made almost everyone “Knowledge Workers”. Jack Welch said business is simple and there is merit to being informal in how ideas get generated. Business is about building the intellect of the organization – becoming a learning organization.

This article was created by Bruce Lee who is an event speaker, author, productivity coach and MC. His passion is working with individuals and organizations to enhance leadership results and individual productivity through strategic planning sessions and hands on workshops in business acceleration that will improve the bottom line, increase market share and employee and customer loyalty and retention. Each keynote or workshop he presents includes a variety of additional resources and tools after that will further support the training - and measure new skill levels.

Working With Generation Y Employees

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 18:36:37 GMT

One of the interesting things that’s happening in the workplace today is having four “generations” working together. In particular, the new hires known as Generation Y. Generation Y, also called Millenniums and the Echo generation, were born between 1981 to 1999. (Baby Boomers were 1946 - 1964, Generation X is 1965 to 1980 and Traditionals are pre 1945.) They are called the Echo Generation because they want (reflect/echo) what Baby Boomers have created for themselves over the past 40 years. Boomers have worked hard all their lives and now can have some rewards for it. The Gen Y, having grown up with it, just expects to have it. All their lives they have been asked questions and had their opinions acted on. For example, “Where do you want to go for vacation? Where do you want to go for dinner? What room in the new house would you like? What color would you like it? Where shall we go for dinner? Shall we go shopping for new clothes for you? The world revolves around them. They need to be treated a little bit differently as a result. For one reason, are they having choices of jobs. So you as an employer, you need to understand how do you motivate and work more effectively with a Generation Y employee in order to get and keep their enthusiasm and loyalty they bring to a new career,

Here are a few quick insights. They want a workplace that promotes balance. You need to give them plenty of advice on career management and career growth and succession planning.

They want to be treated as equals even if they don’t have the experience. They don’t want people to be over authoritative or paternalistic because they’ll just leave. They are sensitive, feelings are important.

We need to communicate vividly with them so use words like amazing and not good. So get to the point - quickly, because they have a short attention span and that’s because of all the media today. Show them the growth in the job they can look forward to. Give lots of feedback and stretch them, so they have something to brag about.

Keep them in a team environment and never say, “When I was your age” because that tends to annoy them. So if you’re hiring Generation Y, there is a lot of enthusiasm and loyalty to employ and retain..

Their main strength is technology! Take advantage of that knowledge.

For more details, go to this free webinar I recorded recently: http://XiosoftPresenter.com/?eventid=3849834

Demographers:

Generation Y 1981 – 1999 20% of workforce
- 14% are over 55, and will retire in 10 years
- Canada faxes potential employee shortage of 1.2 m by 2020
- Called Millennial’s
- Called the Echo Generation
Baby Boomers 1946 – 1964 (age 44 – 62) 42% of workforce
Generation X 1965 – 1980 29% of workforce
Traditionalists: Pre 1945 9% of workforce

Aged 19 – 27 today.
Less deference to authority
Bosses to earn their respect
Work in a business they respect
Lifestyle matters
Prefer texting over phoning, read online than meetings
Have higher than average motivation & work ethic
High job supply means quitting on impulse
Parents coddle them, not hold them accountable

And to provide the origin of the terms Generation X and Generation Y

Generation X : A term popularized by the Canadian fiction writer Douglas Coupland in his 1991 book “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. Coupland’s title came from the work of Paul Fussell. In his book “Class” from 1983, the term "category X" designated a part of America's social hierarchy rather than a generation. As Coupland explained in a 1995 interview, "In his final chapter, Fussell named an 'X' category of people who wanted to hop off the merry-go-round of status, money, and social climbing that so often frames modern existence." Coupland felt that people his age were being misclassified as members of the Baby Boomer generation. He made no explicit request for a new generation to be named, but did want to set the record straight that people towards the end of what is typically classified as the baby boom generation really had almost nothing in common with those at its beginning and middle. As a final FYI, the term McJob came from this book and all characters are named after Antarctic geographic locations.

In the UK the term was first used in a 1964 study of British youth by Jane Deverson. Deverson was asked by Woman's Own magazine to conduct a series of interviews with teenagers of the time. The study revealed a generation of teenagers who "sleep together before they are married, don't believe in God, dislike the Queen, and don't respect parents," which was deemed unsuitable for the magazine because it was a new phenomenon. Deverson, in an attempt to save her research, worked with Hollywood correspondent Charles Hamblett to create a book about the study. Hamblett decided to name it Generation X.

Generation Y : alludes to a succession from Generation X.

Generation Z : is a tentative name for the generation born after Generation Y. According to the book “Generations”, this generation, which the authors (William Strauss and Neil Howe) simply call "New Adaptive" pending a name reflecting their observed character, will be born from 2004 to 2025.

Conflict Resolution - Winning With Difficult People

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 23:42:31 GMT

Why are some people, be they friends, clients, family or co-workers, so difficult to deal with? How can I talk to them without getting mad? What, if anything, did I do to create a tense situation and cause them to lose control?

The reality is we all have difficult people in our lives. Professionally, they are clients or colleagues, or our boss. Personally, they can be people we live with or gave birth to!

People become difficult for a variety of reasons – some of them justifiable. Perhaps their needs are not being met, or they have experienced poor communication or service. Perhaps the culprit is the lack of authority to deal with the problem, and they resent having to always defer to someone else.

Some people are quick to anger and take their frustrations out on the nearest person they perceive as lower in status than themselves. And, we let them. Worse yet, we react negatively by taking their anger personally. We get angry right back at them, and "fire the client" by being difficult ourselves. In other words, we have successfully become the problem.

There are two primary types of conflict. One is performance-based. This type of situation is caused when a person's work performance -- whether it's an issue of quantity or quality -- is not meeting expectations. It creates stress and problems for everyone.

The second type of conflict is relationship-based. You don't get along with the client or business associate for various reasons, but particularly because the other person's behavior and personality clash with your preferred communication style. In your opinion, they might be overly aggressive or demanding, too detail orientated, or just slow to respond.

Ironing things out
When you find yourself in a tense situation, one solution is by "results management." You should work to become very clear about what the problem seems to be, write it down, and work on creating constructive win-win solutions.

The fact is that we have choices ranging from doing nothing and continuing to feel guilty about possibly causing the situation, to changing our attitudes about the other person and the event. Our attitudes can range from, "That's just the way they are and I can live with it because it's not about me," to a full-blown decision to resolve the situation once and for all!

If you decide to try to iron out the situation, you will have to meet or talk with the other person. When you do so, seek to understand them and ask lots of questions. Also, keep these strategies in mind:

* Focus on what happened, not who caused it.

* Assume a positive intent by them (it may just be that their personality style does not allow them to communicate effectively).

* Let them know your positive intent -- you want to find a solution.

* Reinforce what your shared goals are. As the client, their goal is what they hired you for; yours is to create and deliver the service.

* Set a time frame for solving a problem when it arises; let nothing stay unresolved. Conflicts are best handled within 48 hours. Remember how bad you felt the last time you had a difficult situation and then how good you felt when it was resolved quickly?

* Resolve to learn from the situation and share your findings with everyone involved so it does not happen again.

* Both parties should commit to changing the cycle of conflict. This might mean more frequent communication until trust is re-established.

Remember, everybody is different in how they manage others and in their expectations for how they in turn are managed and supported. You must have different solutions to every situation. As Abraham Maslow said, "If the only tool is a hammer, you treat everything like a nail." This article suggests several tools, but the best tool is having great communication and clarity every step of the way.

A final reminder: there are two main sources of difficult behavior – the other person, or you. Make certain you are not the cause of it!

Personality Styles
The easiest way to reduce conflict is to know the other person's basic personality style and use it on them! Here is a short but simple way to "read" them.

The "Director." Direct, strong-willed, to the point, sets lots of goals, makes decisions, wants results and punctuality. Can be seen as aggressive. Solution: Go directly to the problem, be specific about actions and results. Don't waste their time

The "Inspirer." Fast-acting, fast-talking, a high-risk taker, competitive, personality plus. Exerts influence with high verbal skills. Solution: Talk about ideas, use energy and listen to them.

The "Supporter." Passive and slow to change, flexible about time, cares about people. Help is his or her middle name. Gets the work done. Solution: Talk with them to them about them. Pace their concerns, take away their fears of being challenged.

The "Critic." Analytic by nature, number cruncher, well-organized, inquisitive, slow acting, low risk taker, follows the rules, co-operative, creative. Solution: Be accurate, collect information, show logic and link steps

DISC PERSONALITY STYLES MATRIX
How to Recognize and Win

Bruce Lee is president of Encore Seven Inc, an international training company specializing in leadership, customer service, personal productivity and empowerment. 403 - 241 - 6212 www.BruceLeeSpeaker.com bruceleespeaker@shaw.ca

Corporate Retention Strategy #1 – How to Build Trust

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 19:13:20 GMT

Trust = speed = productivity = profitability

Organizations are discovering over the last few years that a great workplace culture has more to do with the little things that increase employee retention than almost anything else. The employee is made to feel an integral part of an amazing company. As the company moves from being “a place to go to work”, to becoming “a great place to work”, it is their leaderships people skills, how they relate to each employee that matters. Managers need to be seen as approachable and they are willing to listen to new ideas. You start with competitive compensation rates and health care benefits. (see related article on compensation and benefits)

As I have identified with clients over the years, it is the word trust, along with its intrinsic meaning and the perceived value of that word, that resonates loudest with employees. This is where the employee feels trusted, is treated like family and is seen as a valuable part of the team. They know that they are a part of the success of creating the growth of the company and they enjoy the energy and the excitement that goes along with that growth. It is reinforced to them that they are making a recognizable contribution to the organization and it is celebrated. A high performance, forward thinking, motivational work culture is continuously nurtured. Needs are fulfilled and appreciation is shown.

Teamwork is supported and celebrated. Activities to bond people together are instituted. There is an attitude of not wanting to leave your friends. In fact, work is a great place to go and contribute because your friends work there too. When you hear your employees tell others that “This is a great place to work.” you know you’ve created that great culture.

Chinese philosopher Confucius once said: “Love your job, and you will never have to work another day in your life”. Furthering that idea, H. Jackson Brown Jr., said: “When you find a job that you love, you add 5 days to your week.” This is what successful companies create when they build a culture of relationships based on trust.

Trust includes :
- Integrity : - doing what you say you are going to do, and standing behind your promises, values and mission statements.
- Effective communication : - so employees consider themselves an insider, knowing exactly what is going to happen in the future, the good news and how the bad news, when it happens, is being handled. This includes financial information – not just budget key numbers.
- Pride : – a great sense of accomplishment in both the company and themselves
- High regard : – respect for the rights, values and beliefs of everyone regardless of age, sex, race or religion
- Rapport : – everyone gets along, feels comfortable and can even share their personal life successes and short comings with supervisors.

Here are some examples of how some very successful companies of all sizes and industries today engage their employees. What is interesting about this is most of these successful companies were modeling these examples as early as 1982, as identified in landmark books by Tom Peters’ “In Search of Excellence” and re-enforced in 1991 by “Thriving On Chaos”.

A unique office environment. One company purchased all the fixtures from a restaurant that was closing down that had 1950’s diner style fixtures and décor and created an exciting new space to both meet client’s in and for the staff to enjoy their lunch break. (Pictures available upon request.)

Annual themes. Employees and management are solicited for annual marketing or customer service focus themes, from employees for the business itself, or for the annual conference and conventions that the company organizes.

Autonomy. Employees are fully empowered to make decisions, ask questions and delegate to the level appropriate for their job description. In other words, less time from the initial idea or challenge, to the action or solution.

Career growth / education. Continual support of educational course and/or personal coaching.

Celebrations! Continual celebration of milestones in each employee’s personal and professional careers. Includes: “Welcome” to first day of work catered lunch with all employees, recognizing 3rd month anniversary, annual employment anniversaries, birthdays, wedding anniversaries, etc.

Community Involvement. Support employee’s charitable work by allowing them to help out at events. Examples would be blood donations or being a volunteer driver.

Customer service survey forms feedback. Immediate sharing of positive customer service survey forms feedback of great service by individual employees. If appropriate, the great results would be shared with everyone at work. Any negative feedback would be delivered in a one-on-one coaching manner, how to improve upon the situation.

Equipment. The latest equipment is provided in order to improve productivity and enhance creativity. Appropriate immediate training on upgrades is provided

Flexible hours. Consideration is given to extra-ordinary or unusual family matters so that work time does not have to be taken off. Other employees schedules are consulted so no long term overload is created.

Focus groups with employees – formal and informal. This is to capture issues and perceived problems and deal with them immediately. This can be done in house or through outside vendors who maintain anonymity.

Gift certificates. Managers are given Starbucks gift certificates to give to employees who deserve a bit of recognition. One bank recently added a Starbucks outlet in its head office to make it easier for employees to get their coffee.

Interest free loans. For various purposes such as assisting employees through a short term financial challenge, but usually for helping with a home purchase. It is available after a certain length of employment.

Management evaluations. Employees get to rate their bosses as to how they are doing their job. The focus of the questions is on the soft skills. (See “Leadership Empowerment Survey” or “C.O.A.C.H.” documents or request information on Corporate Ombudsman.)

On-time Performance Reviews. Complete with action plans to clear up deficiencies and suggested educational objectives in order to promote.

Personal touch. A personal note or call to employees spouses when the employee has to work longer than expected hours.

Play together. Regular staff outings organized to continue bonding. Examples are: bowling, pool, lazar tag, B-B-Q’s, bungee jumping and spa retreat days or weekends.

Professional expenses. Company pays annual fees and conference expenses associated with employee’s professional designations.

Profit sharing plan. One that is meaningful to everyone, may be several levels. Great goals set with buy in from everyone, that are constantly measured.

Promoting from within. A policy of constantly checking to see if employees are ready to move up. There is extensive cross training and grooming of supervision skills before the promotion opportunity comes up.

Stress Recovery Rooms / Productivity Recovery Rooms. A remote room where employees can go for a power nap or quiet time, or undisturbed reading research time to just relax and catch their breath.

Wall of Fame. Every new customer and /or employees pictures are posted on a wall.

Just Published : “Trust Me – You Won’t Be Sorry: How Trust is Your Competitive Advantage in the World today” Check out the web site for Bruce’s book on trust.

This article was created by Bruce Lee who is an event speaker, author, productivity coach and MC. His passion is working with individuals and organizations to enhance leadership results and individual productivity through strategic planning sessions and hands on workshops in business acceleration that will improve the bottom line, increase market share and employee and customer loyalty and retention. Each keynote or workshop he presents includes a variety of additional resources and tools after that will further support the training - and measure new skill levels.

83 Successful Supervisor to Manager Terms For Productivity

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 14:05:49 GMT

“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.” Tom Landry, Coach

Exercise: Which of these is a Skill, Attribute or Intelligence? Put a letter S or A or I for your guess in the ___ after the number. At the end of all of them see if there is a common theme to all these. Then let me know what you decided.

__ Accountable - be accountable for all your decisions and actions: Take a ‘The Buck Stops Here’ approach. Don’t blame others, just correct the mistakes ASAP, learn from them and share. For real success, try Accountability Agreements. (An article and sample are available upon request.)
__ Adaptability – can change tasks as needed, flexible to new situations, change ready
__ Appearance – look professional at all times – weight, grooming, clothes, body odor, jewelry, shoes are shined, breath is fresh, brief case looks new, Even your car is clean if you are visiting prospects and clients. Your desk is organized if prospects and clients come to your office.
__ Assertive – being able to express yourself confidently – feelings, beliefs, though
__ Attitude – maintain a positive one at all times. A smile is a great addition. Have a mirror handy to see if you are smiling. Check out this smile on this singer – nice to be around: http://youtu.be/1G0sOA6hTg0
__ Authenticity – can admit mistakes, be real and natural to people
__ Available – make time to meet your people to help suggest solutions to their problems. Act as a coach or mentor to them.
__ Bureaucracy – eliminate as much as possible so your staff are as close to the decision making process as possible and protected from unnecessary rules or regulations
__ Busy Work – ensure tasks that are assigned actually create something of meaning, reduce paperwork wherever you can, i.e.: move weekly reports to monthly = eliminate where possible. Ask for relevance on them – what would happen if we changed the system?
__ Care – “You Must Care” – Read the General Zias story on how he supported his troops from day one of Training Camp. (copy available)
__ Coach – get one and you accelerate your career. Be one and you help others get ahead faster. Coaches identify with you how to get projects done quicker with fewer errors. See the mention to my coach Berni in the SAM section.
__ Coaching – be one to your staff. Be there to encourage, support and champion.
__ Confidences: if an employee shares something with you in confidence, keep it.
__ Confidence - speak with authority and enthusiasm all the time, show faith in yourself, your experience and your skills.
__ Connect With Your Boss – meet regularly to review weekly priorities and suggest changes well in advance so there is no time conflict.
__ Conflict – zero. Reduce grievances as early as you can so there are no difficult people or situations that cause them. See article on Conflict Resolution. Take D.I.S.C. Personality Profile, or start with P.IA.V. A good course will provide insights to fact finding and improved communication skills.
__ Control – stay in control. Take control. Take charge: see the Reverse Stress Test
__ Consistent – in how you treat people and say about them in front or behind them. People need to know expectations of them and what happens from a discipline point of view when they don’t meet them – no favorites.
__ Communicate Uphill – keep your direct boss informed early of challenges you or your employees have so no surprises. Check with your boss how often they want to connect with you – and keep to it.
__ Communication - Communicate well, as it’s the only thing we have in common with anyone. Good communication – good results. Poor communication creates mistakes, mistrust and low morale. This includes how you communicate with your customers. Ensure there is a system in place to regularly communicate, be it a newsletter, an actual letter, or a call.
__ Common Sense – does the action you are taking make sense? Ask: “What would _________ do in this case?”
__ Creativity – encourage it from your people at all levels. From new products or current product line extensions, to better services or bundles, maybe less customer support, better systems. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Maya Angelou
__ Credit – give credit where credit is due, praise their initiative and contribution to the bottom line if successful.
__ Cross Training - make sure someone knows how to do the job of the employee who calls in sick, takes vacation time or has a sudden emergency and will be away for a short while. This ensures work gets done on time and no backlog to catch up when the person away returns.
__ Culture – defined as “How employees do their job when the boss is not around.” Watch what happens when you are not around – maintain “fairness”.
__ Decisions – you are paid to make them. Do them on time with fact based information. Put them in writing to everyone who needs to see them.
__ Discipline – discipline people in private, don’t embarrass them in front of their peers. Be fair, firm and focused, one issue at a time if more than one.
. __ Documentation – write it down, especially in dealing with conflict, to ensure accuracy. Good for annual reviews too.
__ Education – continuing education via conferences, on-site training and webinars to advance the skill levels of your people – but they all must be reported on after returning as to what was learned and what can be implemented.
__ Empowerment: the definition is: “Seeing the best in others, helping them see it in themselves and holding them accountable.” This means really getting to know your people.
__ Empathy – understands and appreciates what is going on for others, not judging.
__ Expectations – set high work standards. Quality, timeliness, reports, communication, expenditures to budget.
__ Example – set the standard of the work you want done by actually knowing how to do it yourself. And be able to do it well. “You cannot become what you need to be, by remaining what you are.” Max Dupree
__ Exceed the Position Expectations. Be your best at everything you do. Set high goals and expectations. This year my theme is to create a series of “Personal Bests”.
__ Flexible – can accept things will change and act on them appropriately.
__ Goals – set, measure, review, change, increase, must be the S.M.A.R.T. Goal standard: S – Specific - Means a number attached to it: “By Jan. 30th. 2015 I want $100,000.00 in my investment account”. M – Measurable – you can see the number. At $50,000 you know you are half way to that success. A – Achievable – realistic based on what to do and will do – action. R – Realistic / Relevant – believable, better than your previous best T – Time Related – there is a deadline attached to it. Also identify the daily key numbers that you need to hit to create a great day! "I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change." Jim Rohn
__ Gratitude – show this for what your people do, an “attitude of gratitude’ goes a long way to developing people. Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers. As a speaker said, “to put customers first, put employees first”.
__ Growth – grow your people by constantly challenging them to aim higher, take on bigger projects, do cross training. Send for training as often as possible.
__ Hire Smarter - A company founder I know says he: “Always hires people smarter than he is to run my business” A great idea! This means looking for the right qualities and specific experience – which may be attitude.
__ Honest – of what you say and how you deal with people. It creates your character and your lasting reputation. As Albert Einstein said: “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters, cannot be trusted with important matters.”
__ Ideas – encourage new ideas from people all the time, not just at weekly/monthly meetings or annual reviews: adopt the Jack Welch standard of seeking out new ideas from anywhere you hear of them and bring them back to your organization.
__ Impartial / Fair – be seen as fair in everything you decide and how you deal with people, that it does not change from day to day, starts with getting all the facts. “Look at what you want to be, not what you are going to do.”
Impulse Control – resists acting on impulse, stops temptations from driving actions.
__ Independence – self-reliant and self directed in thinking and actions to be taken.
__ Integrity – leads to character and reputation. Stand for what is the right thing to do.
__ Know Your People – have each person fill out a “My List” form. (copy available) Be sure to MBWA (Manage by Wandering Around) some time every day. Talk to your people, support them.
__ Language – no bad jokes, sexist comments, swearing, sarcasm, gossip, rumors.
__ Leadership – the ability to take charge and get things happening, looking for new opportunities all the time to help others grow. “Leaders are persuasive when they can show the relationship between the employee’s expectations & the ultimate reward if the order is carried out properly.” Lester Bittel
__ Listening – understand your employee problems early by talking and listening regularly. This also falls under M.B.W.A. (below) and coaching. The more you listen, the more you see.
__ Loyalty – show it by what you say about the company and its people – and your people will be loyal to you and may even follow you up the ladder as you are promoted.
__ MBWA – Managing By Wandering Around – get out of your office and be seen with your people and talk with them, to them, about them. It should be at least 15% of your time during the day – then there are no surprises. * A recent report by Leadership IQ states: “Employees who spend about 6 hours a week with their boss are: 29% more inspired, 30% more engaged, 16% more innovative and 15% more intrinsically motivated than employees who spend only 1 hour a week.”
__ Mentor – Get one to fast track your career development. Be one to your people. At the very least, consider it company based coaching.
__ Moral – work to constantly improve it. People who feel good about themselves produce good results.
__ Network – who do you need to meet within the company (lead hands, benefit claims, shop stewards, payroll supervisors) or similar organizations? Attend appropriate conferences, trade shows, meetings and Christmas / special event parties to see and be seen. Invest in great looking business cards that actually mean business.
__ Orientation / On-Boarding – does your department have an effective orientation and on-boarding / Passport program for new hires or new transfers that will increase time to productivity?
__ Organized - get organized early and stay organized and on top of everything. Ahead of time is even better. Really plan your schedule. See the Time Management suggestions in Addendums 3 and 6 that follow this.
__ Optimistic – sees the good side of events and people, has positive/realistic attitude.
__ Outcomes – everything is about results, measure it that way. What outcome do you want to achieve in any task / project you set up or are a part of? Know what you are good at and keep raising the bar. Get employees involved in setting it and see how quickly it becomes the way of life.
__ Performance - recognize and acknowledge exceptional performance in others, set high expectations of what the activity form them needs to be & how it will be measured. The ‘Self Tests’ that follow are an example. “Trust yourself, you know more than you think you do.” Benjamin Spock
__ Personal calls – don’t do them on work time, keep to your breaks. Don’t abuse the privilege your company gives you.
__ Praise – be real in your comments to your people. They have built in ‘skunk detectors’. If what you are saying is not based on fact and really sincere, you lose credibility.
__ Pride – take pride in your work and that done by your team – let them know it.
__ Problem Solving – do not engage in solving employee problems for them. Walk them through it, coach them. See: “Care and Feeding of Monkeys” by Bill Onkin for an effective insight to this. Help them generate ideas and solutions to problems to implement.
__ Productivity: Soft Skill – have everyone attend a “Time Management” course so that they can keep on top of the real work priorities (copy available)
__ Productivity: Technical / Key Numbers: encourage software and equipment / technology upgrades to make the work faster/efficient “Good enough, never is.” Debbie Fields
__ Promises - keep your word, do what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it. This helps create your reputation.
__ Quality – people pay for it and then expect it. Ensure no defects, understand the cost benefit of making things error free. Demand quality from your suppliers and vendors. Success is always in the details.
__ Record Keeping – what daily record systems need to be kept to ensure details, people engagement, purchases, equipment status? A good idea is to have a space to write down at the end of the day the people you are grateful for – the ones who helped you accomplish your goals.
__ Resource idea: It has been said: ‘Your people are your greatest asset.’ They are, especially as they grow and mature in the job and get experience to be more productive. Treat them as your greatest resource.
__ Respect – of the person, the skills and enthusiasm they bring to the position, regardless of age, sex, color, ethnicity, or religious belief.
__ Reverse Stress Test – a banking term that requires them to identify potentially catastrophic events that ‘could’ happen (worst case) and develop plans to handle it. Be aware of what the company has planned and see if it goes far enough. See where you fit in and what extra precautions you can suggest to ensure no major time delay when one occurs.
__ Safety – ensure workplace safety / standards, ie: appropriate safety clothing is worn, no ice on sidewalks, no loose shelves. Be proactive, do a facility audit and know the emergency procedures and where equipment is stored and if current or needs to be re-charged, restocked or replaced.
__ Self-Regard – understand own self , is accepting of limits and potential
__ Self-tests – consistently measure how your people see you (strengths and weaknesses) and then strive to improve in the deficient areas. I have three you can download for free and are included in this book to view.
__ Sense of Humor – be sure to have one and share it form time to time.
__ Stress – only two things cause stress, so ensure these situations don’t come up:
1. Unmet expectations of work being done by someone
2. Personalities – how someone behaves is not acceptable to you. A good conflict resolution course will show you all the skills necessary to handle any situation.
__ Stress Tolerance – can handle stress - see above note.
__ Success – “Success is never final”. This means that it is ongoing. Once you get to it, you need to rest for a bit, create new plans and goals and then push to the next level. Create a “what’s next?” attitude with new goals, new vision, and a new future.
__ Timeliness - be on time, at work, at meetings, at events – consistently punctual.
__ Timeliness of Decisions – you are paid to make them, make them on time!
__ ‘To-Do’ Lists - time planners, daily organizer. Keep one (paper based or digital) so you can track your accomplishments for your annual review.
__ Training – constantly upgrade the skills of your people with the technical courses they need and the soft skills such as: Time Management, Generations, and Trust. Training improves productivity at so many levels. There is an ROI to it when done properly.
__ Trust – be trustworthy. When an employee trusts you, engagement, creativity, moral, productivity go up. Learn what creates and destroys trust other than this list. See my book on this topic.

And finally: Traits of a GREAT LEADER - They:

Pursue their roles with passion
Consistently demonstrate solid values
Lead with their hearts
Connect with people / Communicates well
Demonstrates self-discipline
Share the vision

Conclusions to this exercise:

Attitude is the critical ingredient of heroic leadership and personal success.
We already possess all these qualities of greatness with us. We just need to work on some more than others. If they are important, we can and will.
To improve any attribute, we must exercise the power of choice!

In other words, as has been said many times before:
“It is your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude.”

NOTE: This article was originally created for my book: “Trust Me – You Won’t Be Sorry – How Trust Is Your Competitive Advantage in the World Today” The book can be obtained from my web site Book Store: www.BruceLeeSpeaker.com If you have any suggestions for this article, please let me know

Total Employee Engagement Is Not an Option

accounts@cc94.com (Conscious Commerce) — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 13:52:04 GMT

Note: This was written for Medical Home Summit News, a US based health care publication but the ideas here will transfer to most organizations. Published February 2015

Engagement is no longer an option for you or the patient. With service expectations continually going up, an engaged workforce may very well make the difference between you being a profitable, well thought of hospital and clinic, or not. As it is the front line employee who has the most contact with the patient, it is their interaction with your patient that makes the difference between creating a successful, well understood, meaningful relationship and the return visit or referral or not.

It is the patient’s opinion of the quality of the interaction with all your people that matters more, from a HCAHPS measurement point of view, than the given success of the actual medical treatment they receive.

The quality of the interaction, the interpersonal relationship starts with the degree of engagement your employee has and shows each patient and their visitors. The all-important ‘patient experience’ is determined by the level of engagement shown by all your employees with the patient. Another way of looking at it is called: “knowledge translation”. The patient can tell when the employee is not there for them by the lack of communication, empathy and understanding of their inexperience in what can be for them a very frightening and intimidating health care environment with unknown causes of their symptoms or a fear of a repeat of the worst that has happened to others in similar situations.

The bad news of engagement:
Recent surveys show that only 30% or employees are fully engaged. That means the majority of your employees are either fully disengaged, doing all they can to drag down your facility, or at best, just bidding their time until something better comes along. A consulting company report states: “50% of healthcare workers do not intend to remain with their current employer”. How well do you measure your employees’ commitment to you and the patient?

The good news of engagement:
A highly engaged workforce, that really understands what it takes to create and maintain trust in the patient and co-workers, will on average improve your bottom line by: generating 20% higher revenue, create a better reputation for you, go above and beyond the expectation of the patient and the job, have better soft skills (communication, listening, empathy, responsiveness, time to visit), have fewer sick days, be more creative and have much higher morale. There is a greater commitment to the organizations mission and fellow workers, personal growth is championed and there are fewer complaints to deal with, meaning your strategic goals are achieved quicker and customer / patient / resident satisfaction scores and retention levels go up!

What does it take to create a culture of engagement? It revolves around three key ideas:

Total management engagement and accountability. This means everyone being committed to providing the resources, support and training to all employees, regardless of their role and responsibility to the patient experience.
Having empowered, enthusiastic front line employees that understand just how important they are to the success of their facility by how well they perform their job, regardless of the circumstances that make it less than ideal for them or the patient. A 1% change in an employee’s attitude translates to a 2% change in patient/ resident satisfaction scores. How well are you measuring your employee’s attitude? When anyone understands their role and impact they have and get acknowledged and supported for it, their personal productivity can jump up by 40%. Think of the impact that will have.
Execution of the cornerstone of engagement called “K.E.E.P.”. It is paying attention to the details as noted in the following section.

The Magic of Engagement is “K.E.E.P.”

K: Keep the good people you already have by supporting, educating and promoting them. De-staff your negative performers by corrective action planning. Track complaints, measure productivity, set up accountability agreements so that when they are not met, can validate their termination. As healthcare speaker Brian Lee has stated: “The problem may not be the ones who quit and leave for more pay, it’s those who quit and stay.” How many people do you know who exhibit this attitude? You can’t afford to keep them on any more. If you do nothing to eliminate the negative people in your workplace, that means you consent to that attitude and performance level. As you probably pay those underperformers the same amount you pay the good performers, you raise the level of dissent and lower the level of performance, as it is the bottom dwellers that set the level of delivery for everyone else.

E: Empower your people. Empowerment means seeing the best in others, helping them see it in themselves and then holding them accountable to bring that every day. I have an acronym that sets out what that should look like and is easy to remember, S.A.M. “S” means set high expectations of the work day, performance levels, quality of work, patient engagement touch points and attitude. Be sure to measure it by one or two of the resources I can provide for you. “A” means provide lots of acknowledgements and appreciation. We grow up by responding to acknowledgement and it means as much today as it did when we were children. We thrive on knowing we did a good job. When someone does a good job, exceeds the expectations, goes out of their way to assist a patient, let them know how much you appreciate it and of the difference it made. Go into detail as to what it was they did and share that with others on the team so they can be reminded of what good performance looks like. Rude, negative or indifferent employees are not acceptable and should not be tolerated by anyone. Get rid of the unwritten rules that chip away at a culture, such as: smokers get more breaks, letting employees complain about patients openly, or not acknowledging someone quickly at your work station or by the call light. Make people feel important by what you say to them and how you say it and the return will be immediate. Be sure to provide the financial resources to allow them to step up to assist the patient, such as providing cab fare, a phone call to family, a toy for a scared child, or a meal. “M” means make a difference by believing in them more than they believe in themselves. Help them step up and take on new duties and activities by making the time available to learn it correctly and practice it. Show them a better career awaits by what this new skill will allow them to do in the future.

E: Education makes the difference. Apart from the required ongoing professional education requirements, the best way we have found to educate and inspire consistently better service, is to deliver a customized three hour workshop on customer service by teams of four of your employees to all your employees annually, and have it included as part of the onboarding and orientation sessions. When your people are learning, they are not leaving. By having your front line employees deliver the workshop, your front line employees will own the customer satisfaction problems and that is how you win every single time. We call these front line trainers ‘service excellence advisors’. Combine this with the best ideas, scripts and strategies from our HCAHPS webinars and you will see your scores shoot up. Ensure the new ideas you want to get implemented and the HCAHPS scores specific to a department and hospital wide get shared at service huddles so everyone knows where to focus on next.

P: Play. Make your workplace time together ‘fun’ by playing together. Loyalty at work is crucial and the impact one employee can have on another one is significant. ‘Sticky Relationships’ or friendships, ensure you want to stay where you know that you matter, that you make a difference in the lives of others. In an environment where no one cares about the culture or their co-workers, it is easy to decide to leave as you know you won’t be missed. Plan quarterly (or more) department wide events where everyone turns up and has fun. Have time set aside to acknowledge the great performance stories by individuals or departments since the last quarterly get together. Get creative on what the event theme will be and where it should be held. Do not scrimp on the cost as the return will be immeasurable in attitude, appreciation and increased teamwork.

Conclusion. Done properly, a ‘K.E.E.P.’ culture of engagement will ensure you grow, sustain and maintain motivated, customer driven employees that improve on the care they provide that creates a better patient experience, improves communication, reduces stress, empowers all other employees, and effectively deals with the non-performers. Engagement means better individual performance, higher productivity and improved profitability – it pays off.