Today I was able to take part in a behavior based question session. The key to these sessions is to find out more about people through their reactions and how they are able to answer the questions. I simply love having good conversations with people and sharing stories about what has went well in life and business.
It is important when having these types of conversations that you sight specific examples they have happened in your career. Otherwise this can be viewed as fluff. In most of the conversations it is important for you to understand the question as this causes most people trouble. Be honest and be fair, there is no answer that is right or wrong if the answer contains these 2 keys.
One questioned that I thought was interesting was, "Could you work with someone you know was dishonest with you?" This is a question that some people might struggle with but for me the answer was simple, NO. I give people the benefit of the doubt and it takes a while to build trust. However once that level of trust has been broken it is nearly impossible to regain it to its previous form. This happens in all forms of relationships, business, marriage, and friendships. How many people do you know that have been remarried? If it did not work once what is so different that it will work again, the trust is broken and will never be the same. The key to this is to be honest and do what is right. Treat these relationships as if they were jewels each one is different and unique and cannot be replaced.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Vacation
Over the past week I took a vacation with my wife to Mexico. Mexico is an interesting country and a booming economy that suffers from a minimal middle class. It is amazing to think that 40 years ago Cancun was a jungle and now it is the home of 800,000 residents from around the world. This does not happen without a tremendous plan of action. The government decided to make Cancun the next great tourist attraction and by doing so has built a multi billion dollar travel destination.
This was a pure vision and entrepreneurial spirit. Taking the chance paid off huge dividends for Mexico and their citizens. This is also true in business, you have to make educated and risky decisions to make your business successful. The decisions that a leader makes everyday will impact their long term goals. In some cases you have to make decisions that take longer to unfold, for example a long term marketing plan or acquisition. On the other hand making a quick decisions can turn into immediate results.
The last point that I will make about the vacation was the importance of taking time away from work. In this situation I had no access to email, voice mail, blackberry or cell phone. Although this was frustrating at first it made me relax and enjoy the time away. This also gives my team at the office the ability to work independently and prove their ability to go above and beyond. In some cases the team needs the time away from their leader as much as the leader needing time away from their team. I am now refreshed and ready to go, lets go 2007.
This was a pure vision and entrepreneurial spirit. Taking the chance paid off huge dividends for Mexico and their citizens. This is also true in business, you have to make educated and risky decisions to make your business successful. The decisions that a leader makes everyday will impact their long term goals. In some cases you have to make decisions that take longer to unfold, for example a long term marketing plan or acquisition. On the other hand making a quick decisions can turn into immediate results.
The last point that I will make about the vacation was the importance of taking time away from work. In this situation I had no access to email, voice mail, blackberry or cell phone. Although this was frustrating at first it made me relax and enjoy the time away. This also gives my team at the office the ability to work independently and prove their ability to go above and beyond. In some cases the team needs the time away from their leader as much as the leader needing time away from their team. I am now refreshed and ready to go, lets go 2007.
Friday, January 5, 2007
Changing Teams
Today I announced to my team that I was going to be leaving and working at another location. This afternoon I spoke with my manager and we had decided that today would be a good day to communicate the decision since next week I would be out of town. In previous experiences I do not advocate delivering a message before leaving for an extended period of time due to the impact the news might be. In this case instead of making it a mass announcement I took another approach that was very effective.
In this approach I brought team members into my office individually and let them know what was going on and why I made the decision. I spent time with each of them sharing stories of success and giving them feedback on what they have done well over the past months. I tried to take the focus away from the fact that I was leaving and focus on their own personal strengths. To my surprise there were a few that were very disappointed that I was going to be leaving and really enjoyed working with me. Although I have not been with this team for a very long time the relationships that we built were fairly strong.
The future will be very challenging for this team and the new leadership that comes in. At this point the team feels very damaged due to the amount of change that has taken place over the past few years. Today marks a new day for my career with this organization and I look forward to the challenge the upcoming year presents.
In this approach I brought team members into my office individually and let them know what was going on and why I made the decision. I spent time with each of them sharing stories of success and giving them feedback on what they have done well over the past months. I tried to take the focus away from the fact that I was leaving and focus on their own personal strengths. To my surprise there were a few that were very disappointed that I was going to be leaving and really enjoyed working with me. Although I have not been with this team for a very long time the relationships that we built were fairly strong.
The future will be very challenging for this team and the new leadership that comes in. At this point the team feels very damaged due to the amount of change that has taken place over the past few years. Today marks a new day for my career with this organization and I look forward to the challenge the upcoming year presents.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Team Dynamics
Today I spent time with my newly created team in my MBA program. In this phase we are focusing on a marketing project which includes the development and sale of a new technology. During this simulation we will be competing against other teams the winner is the team with the most profit. The team is outstanding and very diverse and will push each of us to think critically when making decisions.
You can tell the amount of trust that is being built in the program. People are losing their initial passive approach and becoming more assertive. We are all Type A personalities and it is interesting to see people develop as the program moves forward. One person in particular is outstanding and is a tremendous asset to the newly formed team. I have worked with her in the past and the experience has always been good. If I had a business today I would want her on my team.
This team will give me a ton of experience and a different outlook on how to view marketing plans across industries. We will push each other into different directions and force each other to validate their arguments (no fluff). I am excited to start this next phase.
You can tell the amount of trust that is being built in the program. People are losing their initial passive approach and becoming more assertive. We are all Type A personalities and it is interesting to see people develop as the program moves forward. One person in particular is outstanding and is a tremendous asset to the newly formed team. I have worked with her in the past and the experience has always been good. If I had a business today I would want her on my team.
This team will give me a ton of experience and a different outlook on how to view marketing plans across industries. We will push each other into different directions and force each other to validate their arguments (no fluff). I am excited to start this next phase.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Turmoil
Today was a day filled with turmoil both positive and negative. I was met at my office with my new manager to talk about some time sensitive topic regarding possibilities in my career. As an employee there is nothing better than feeling appreciated and valued. As this conversation continued I found myself talking about my team and some challenges that we are facing.
After the meeting with her I was then approached from a member of my team who has been having major concerns about her career. In my experience as a leader I have never seen an employee so damaged by an organization. This person has lost total confidence in the organization and has become highly unmotivated. This is certainly a disservice for the employee and the organization. During the conversation the challenges were about money and ability to move up. However her recommendation was she wanted to take on a lesser role?? This is very troubling as someone wants to reduce their workload but expect more compensation.
Upon ending the conversation early, I felt it would be appropriate to have another conversation after the emotions had taken there course. I explained to her the view of moving down and how I feel she has the talent to be a leader in the organization. We concluded with myself setting up a meeting with her an Sr Mgmt to have a conversation about career planning. My fear in this situation is to lose a solid employee due to a short term emotional break down. However as a leader I recognize that now is not the time to have this person in a leadership role as she can and will have a negative impact on the team.
After the meeting with her I was then approached from a member of my team who has been having major concerns about her career. In my experience as a leader I have never seen an employee so damaged by an organization. This person has lost total confidence in the organization and has become highly unmotivated. This is certainly a disservice for the employee and the organization. During the conversation the challenges were about money and ability to move up. However her recommendation was she wanted to take on a lesser role?? This is very troubling as someone wants to reduce their workload but expect more compensation.
Upon ending the conversation early, I felt it would be appropriate to have another conversation after the emotions had taken there course. I explained to her the view of moving down and how I feel she has the talent to be a leader in the organization. We concluded with myself setting up a meeting with her an Sr Mgmt to have a conversation about career planning. My fear in this situation is to lose a solid employee due to a short term emotional break down. However as a leader I recognize that now is not the time to have this person in a leadership role as she can and will have a negative impact on the team.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Conference Call
Today I had my 1st conference call with my new peer group. I thought the call went fairly well and you can tell the leader is trying to be very positive and up beat. The challenge with this form of communication is that people sometime multitask and are not paying full attention to the topics at hand.
The other area of concern that I had is the call did not have a very good flow to it an seemed to jump from one topic to the next. In a meeting environment it is better to have short quick hit meetings than long drawn out meetings. Although there are times when these are necessary they should be limited as they strain the group and lack productivity. This particular call was the 1st meeting for most of us and there was very little interaction. This is to be expected since there is a lack of trust amongst the group. People are beginning to find out who they will partner with, who they can call for questions, and who they can vent to.
My tip for performing conference calls is keep them short, 30 minutes or less. Keep the topics short and to the point, conversations with a group on the phone need to be quick and to the point as you will lose participation. Engage people and ask questions directly to people keep them on task this will keep people on their toes and engaged.
The other area of concern that I had is the call did not have a very good flow to it an seemed to jump from one topic to the next. In a meeting environment it is better to have short quick hit meetings than long drawn out meetings. Although there are times when these are necessary they should be limited as they strain the group and lack productivity. This particular call was the 1st meeting for most of us and there was very little interaction. This is to be expected since there is a lack of trust amongst the group. People are beginning to find out who they will partner with, who they can call for questions, and who they can vent to.
My tip for performing conference calls is keep them short, 30 minutes or less. Keep the topics short and to the point, conversations with a group on the phone need to be quick and to the point as you will lose participation. Engage people and ask questions directly to people keep them on task this will keep people on their toes and engaged.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Culture
Over the past few days my wife and I spent time in New York City for the New Years Eve festivities. Immediately as we entered the airport the amount of culture that is in the city is amazing. People are from all over the world and have found themselves in New York for this holiday event. As we were in Times Square preparing for the celebration we were talking to people from Tennessee, Brazil, Venezuela and all parts of Asia.
America is a melting pot for all people and the notion of freedom brings people to unite as one large population. As we spent time with all the different people across the world one of the most ironic things took place. A group from Columbus, Ohio was standing next to us and we began talking. To make it more interesting some of them were in the same industries which made conversation very smooth and easy. Although the world is so large, in the grasp of 1 million people it is amazing that you can seek out people who are relatively neighbors.
The power of networking then becomes apparent. It is amazing the response and enjoyment you can have when you do not block yourself off from trying new things. I think it is imperative for any leader to continue to put themself into uncomfortable situations this is how they grow and build relationships that would no longer exist. Be open to new people, new ideas and new cultures as they make up your own personal culture.
America is a melting pot for all people and the notion of freedom brings people to unite as one large population. As we spent time with all the different people across the world one of the most ironic things took place. A group from Columbus, Ohio was standing next to us and we began talking. To make it more interesting some of them were in the same industries which made conversation very smooth and easy. Although the world is so large, in the grasp of 1 million people it is amazing that you can seek out people who are relatively neighbors.
The power of networking then becomes apparent. It is amazing the response and enjoyment you can have when you do not block yourself off from trying new things. I think it is imperative for any leader to continue to put themself into uncomfortable situations this is how they grow and build relationships that would no longer exist. Be open to new people, new ideas and new cultures as they make up your own personal culture.
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