Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Leading With Passion

Light a match in a dark room and watch as the light instantly overcomes the darkness. Observe the power and grace of that single, solitary flame dancing with life. Now light several candles or kindle a fire and experience the added warmth and comfort extending from that first, vulnerable flame through others. This is the heart and soul of leadership - the essence of inspiring others. It is about courageously casting off fear, doubt and limiting beliefs and giving people a sense of hope, optimism and accomplishment. It is about bringing light into a world of uncertainty and inspiring others to do the same. This is what we call passion, the fire within.

Passion is a heartfelt energy that flows through us, not from us. It fills our hearts when we allow it to and it inspires others when we share it. It is like sunlight flowing through a doorway that we have just opened. It was always there. It just needed to be accepted and embraced. Under the right conditions, this "flow" appears effortless, easy and graceful. It is doing what it is meant to do. It is reminding us that we are meant to be purposeful. We are meant to be positive. We are meant to be passionate. We feel this when we listen to and accept our calling in life. We feel it as inspiration when we open the door of resistance and let it in.

Inspiration springs forth when we allow ourselves to be "in-spirit," aligned with our true essence. Stop and think about it: When you feel truly passionate and inspired about someone or something, what frame of mind are you in? What are you willing to do? What kind of effort are you willing to put forth? How fearful are you? Chances are, you feel motivated to do whatever it takes, without fear or doubt, to turn your vision into reality. You grow in confidence. You believe you can do it. You are committed from the heart and soul.

These "essentials" serve to guide and remind leaders how they can "open the door" and facilitate flow. By practicing these essentials, you will tap the extraordinary potential in yourself and others and realize results you may never have dreamed possible. Look to any inspiring leader and you will see these key factors in action. Observe the best of the best and you will witness the power of passionate leadership. Make no mistake - leading with passion inspires world change. It is the only thing that ever really has.

Use these essentials - to:

•             Clarify purpose, context and meaning
•             Create a compelling vision to focus intention and attention
•             Gain commitment from the heart, not just agreement from the head
•             Set priorities and focus efforts on what matters most
•             Recognize and accept the power of grace
•             Foster more creativity and innovation
•             Demonstrate integrity and build trust
•             Lead by passionate example
•             Generate growth in yourself and others
•             Awaken the Spirit in work

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Rescuing Troubled Projects


What are the common reasons that projects fall into troubled waters and what steps can be taken to get them back on the right path? Depending on the organization you work in and your level of authority, appropriate responses will vary, but here some corrective actions that span many situations.

Even the most seasoned and skilled project managers may, at one time or another, find themselves at the helm of a troubled project. Having a project in trouble does not necessarily signal the project manager is doing a poor job. Projects can go off course for a variety of reasons, and some are outside the span of your control. What are some of the common causes for projects to fall into troubled waters and what are some prudent steps to get the project back on course?

If you poll a group of seasoned project professionals with the question, “What are the chief causes of troubled projects?” you are likely to receive a variety of responses, though there will be some commonly attributed causes. 

At the macro level, projects generally fall into trouble for one or more of three reasons:

1) Poor Planning 
2) Misaligned Expectations 
3) Ineffective Risk Management. 

Let’s elaborate on each of these points.

Poor Planning: Planning is a foundation of project management. Within the context of this article, planning is not limited to the development of the “Project Plan.” Having a well-defined project plan, with realistic estimates and work packages covering each necessary activity to achieve the project objectives, does not inoculate a project from falling into trouble. 

Additionally, proper planning for your project should include defining, gathering and properly documenting all of the project requirements. Vague or open-ended project requirements are a recipe for trouble in most situations unless your organization has mature processes or uses time boxing for requirements such as in Agile. Failure to capture all requirements and gain absolute clarity on them can lead to too much change during execution, and potentially derailing behavior on the project. It is not good behavior to debate with your key stakeholders “what the requirements really meant” after the work has been performed.

For an example of aligning attitudes and expectations to avoid your project getting into trouble, imagine you work in a functional organization, and you know that project priorities and your authority over team members is low. A functional manager assigns a “top person” to fill a key project role. While this may “sound OK,” depending on your organization this “top person” is likely to have competing objectives with the project, and it is probable that high-priority functional tasks will take priority over tasks for your project. So instead of ignoring this risk or hoping for the best, set up the resourcing to succeed by planning the work appropriately. This is one of many planning elements that can cause a project to veer into trouble.

Misaligned Expectations: Stakeholder’s expectations often change through a project’s life. Indeed, stakeholders themselves, including the sponsor, often change. Most project teams capture their stakeholder’s expectations at the start, and devise means of prioritizing and deciding when conflicting expectations exists. However, do you continue to pay attention to changing needs and changing stakeholders? Projects that fail to identify and respond to stakeholder changes (e.g. when new people come on board and/or the organization needs to change direction) are prone to sway into trouble.

Have you worked on or known of a project where key stakeholders have suggested changes very late in the project (what could be called “constructive feedback” on what has been built)? Late changes or the potential for them can signal trouble quite quickly. A project should have a natural cycle that allows stakeholder’s constructive feedback and input in the requirements early, and to taper off as the project progresses through execution. If you have properly planned, managed and captured stakeholder expectations, and have good communications in place, the level “feedback for changes” should be minimal and controllable.

Ineffective Risk Management: Risk management should underpin all project activities. Remember that risks can be positive (opportunities) as well as negative; however there is no such thing as “positive trouble.” All trouble is bad. Risk management is not just about maintaining a Risk Register. It is about considering all risks and devising ways — as a team — to categorize risks, devise ways to respond to them, agree on these responses and put actions into place to track them. Risks are related to all aspects of projects — schedule, budget, safety, quality and everything else. Ineffective risk management comes about when the project fails to carry out these activities properly. Trouble on projects can arise from the “unknown Unknowns.” Therefore, management and contingency reserves planning should be included in your risk response planning.

What steps can a project manager take to steer a project back on course if it finds itself in this position? Much research exists, and we do not propose to go into much detail here. Depending on the type of organization you work in, and the authority granted to you, the exact tasks will vary. Below are a few “corrective actions” that can span most types of organizations.

1. Early detection. Firstly, try to prevent it from straying into trouble. Projects do not normally fall immediately into trouble; they “take a path towards it.” Having a system and routines in place to provide early detection is key to limiting the impact when projects begin to display telltale signs of trouble. A project manager must be willing to “sound the alarm bell” and know that they have the support of the project’s key stakeholders to implement early corrective actions. However, many factors can prevent such early warning signs being recognized or heeded.

2. Accept responsibility. The project manager and others must accept the responsibility for the project being off course (within their extent to control it). The project manager must also take responsibility for getting the project back on track — with the help of the right stakeholders. If the project manager cannot do this, management needs to work out how to help the project manager overcome the problems, perhaps with the help of a Risk Response Team that works alongside the main project team.

3. Be flexible and open to feedback. Every project has a unique set of stakeholder and project team members. What may have worked well for you in previous projects, may not work best for your current project. Be willing to solicit feedback from your team and adapt the workings of your project as needed.

4. Be willing to re-contract or re-baseline. This is especially true if expectations have been missed. Consider the steps and processes used to identify, prioritize and agree on a collective set of project expectations. If needed, conduct a thorough review and be willing to go back to “square one” and revisit the business case for the project, ask “Does it still align to strategy objectives?” and “Is the project still worth undertaking?” Expectations do change and stakeholders change. Be willing to review expectations in your stakeholder routines and embrace changes via change controls if needed.

In conclusion, we have only covered a few aspects of troubled projects in this article. If you work on many projects in your career, it is likely that you will be, or have been, involved in a poorly performing project at some point in time. Key to limiting the damage is to know how to spot the signs and to “stop the rot” early if you can. If it does happen to you, try stepping back and looking for the root causes of the problem (knowing that this can take time to do), don’t fall prey to rash reactions, and determine solid ways to address the problem or trouble proactively.

Denial can be a powerful force preventing you from acting. Keep close communication with your project stakeholders, be open about things, and if you have to implement a mitigation plan, make sure you keep track of actions, and as positive progress starts to occur let them know how things are shaping up, hopefully for the better.
 


Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Positivity is King

Let’s say you’re walking down the street and encounter someone who expresses their negativity to you and every other passer-by. In this kind of situation, it’s easy to avoid them; you just walk right on by. Maybe shake your head a little. But if that negative person is an employee or customer it’s not so easy to walk on by, is it?

Every entrepreneur needs to surround themselves with positive, happy, constructive people. Part of your recruiting and hiring process should be designed to identify these kinds of behaviors and root out the negative ones.  But even in the best companies, a negative person can get hired; and sometimes, it’s a case of a positive employee turning into a disaster.

In researching this article I found a plethora of material and tips on how to effectively deal with a negative employee. Much of this advice can be boiled down to a few simple steps, all of it in keeping with the E-Myth Point of View.

As with constructing a house, the foundation is of ultimate importance in supporting the rest of the building. That’s why it’s so important that you create a culture – right away – that emphasizes positive values and attributes and articulates those values clearly. It’s about reinforcing the kind of attitude you want to see in the workplace. You should also have a clear communication structure in place where managers meet with their direct reports on a regular basis. If you’re meeting regularly, don’t let negative behavior go unrecognized and unaddressed.


Specific Steps to Address Negativity

Here are some steps you can take when you encounter problems with negative employees. First, observe and quantify the employee’s negative behavior. It takes observable and tangible examples and more than one instance to label an employee negative. When confronting the employee, you’ll need to describe the specifics of the negative behavior and how it affects your company and the other employees. It’s not enough to simply say, “Tom, I feel like you’ve become a negative influence around here.” You need specific examples like, “Tom, you’ve been overheard after meetings telling other employees you don’t like the direction we’re taking. Why not address those issues directly with me?”

It helps to get support from others in the organization, such as another manager, to both verify what you’ve observed and perhaps even sit in on the meeting with the employee. Don’t try to extract a confession out of the employee or get them to apologize. You just want them to know you are aware of their toxic behavior.
Next you want to demonstrate good leadership by re-aligning the employee with the organization’s values, purpose and goals. Lead them to the realization that their behavior is affecting their success and undermines the organization. Ask the employee what will help them turn their negative behavior into positive behavior. See if they have an explanation which will help you understand the situation more clearly. If the cause appears to be personal, perhaps you can refer them to an employee assistance counselor. If the explanation is work related, this provides an open invitation to ask more questions, listen, coach and mentor them. Sometimes understanding that there is an organizational cause for the behavior leads you to correcting it and improving the overall company culture.

Always be vigilant that you don’t turn cause the employee to become more negative. You can never change a negative employee (or customer) with negativity. Don’t expect miracles. Just get them to elevate their awareness and know you are aware of their behavior. End the discussion with a positive belief that they can change.  Most importantly, you must deal with negative behaviors swiftly and firmly because negative employees create suspicion, tension, hostility and undermine leadership.

Most insidious are the negative employees who come to work on time each day and are good workers technically, so traditional performance evaluations will grade them adequate or even better. The work environment can be a happy, productive place, though it isn't always that way. One little bit of negatively can seep through the workforce quickly, bringing down both the productivity and morale of your people.

Finding out where the negativity lies is usually a question of knowing and communicating with your staff. Regular communication systems that keep you in touch with your employees along with a management commitment and sensitivity in dealing with these issues can make all the difference.


Negative Customers

Employees are one thing, but what about dealing with negativity from customers? Again, it comes down to the same principles of communication and remaining in close connection so that you can right a negative situation immediately. As the E-Myth Point of View expresses, a customer complaint is always an opportunity, and one can use their complaints and concerns to innovate the fulfillment process to better serve the customer. Quick communication and action usually placates the customer poised to turn negative over a bad experience.

Sometimes customers can turn toxic just like an employee. One of my clients likes to say that at times, he has to “fire a customer.” What he means is that it makes good business sense to cut the relationships with those customers that are draining his energies, causing too much wasted time and not sufficiently adding to profits. It’s never easy, but occasionally the diplomatic and clear severing of the relationship is the best bet; as your product and service may be misaligned to their expectations, causing the negative behavior.

One thing to remember though, is that in this age of instant communication, our customers (or employees for that matter) can broadcast their negativity immediately. It’s incumbent upon the business owner and managers of the organization to understand their customers and communicate with them regularly. When negativity rises with customers, it can usually be transformed when you come from a place of genuine concern and by demonstrating a caring attitude, listening to them and giving them more from the relationship than they were previously receiving.


Positivity Is King

As business owners, you set the tone and tenor for your organization. Attitude and energy are infectious. At E-Myth we point out that a business is a reflection of the leader. If you emanate positivity and instill that same sense in your culture and team, then the negative behaviors will quickly stand out against this foundation of positive expression. Regular meetings and communication with employees will demonstrate the managerial commitment to deal with undesired behaviors. Nip the negativity in the bud with positive mentoring and coaching, and lead your employees (and customers) with your exuberant positive attitude! 

Sell Yourself: 14 Steps to Creating a Powerful Personal Brand


One of the best ways to articulate your skills, experience, knowledge, and overall worth in today's competitive job market is to create a personal brand that helps you stand out in the crowd.

According to management expert and author Tom Peters, "We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer of a brand called You."

This article explores 14 steps to creating a successful personal brand.




Step 1: Determine your unique value proposition
Spend some time thinking about what makes you different than your peers -- your strengths, your passions, and your goals.

If you left your job today, what would your company and colleagues miss? Know who you are, as well as who you are not.






Step 2: Find out how others see you
Ask trusted colleagues, co-workers, and friends for four or five adjectives they would use to describe you.

What are you good at? What are your strengths? In which areas do they view you as "irreplaceable?"








Step 3: Identify your goals
Where would you like to be in six months? One year? Five years? Ten years?

Defining your goals is necessary to crafting a message that helps you reach them.








Step 4: Identify your target audience
Just like Starbucks knows that their target audience is coffee drinkers, you need to define to whom you want to send your message.

This will not only help you hone your message, it will help you deliver it to the right places.







Step 5: Reorganize your priorities
You're probably used to putting yourself behind your company, co-workers, and clients.

You still want to be loyal to these groups, but be loyal to yourself, first.








Step 6: Pay attention to the details
Everything you do ultimately contributes to your personal brand.

Once your brand has been defined, make sure that the little things -- the way you dress, your body language, how you behave with co-workers, the emails you write -- are consistent with your brand message.





Step 7: Update your resume
Go through your resume to determine it gels with your brand.

Ensure that your resume accurately defines who you are, and is in line with both your short-term and long-term goals.







Step 8: Become a social networker
Set up accounts at social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Ask those in your target audience to subscribe to your pages, and update on a daily basis.

Make sure your updates are germane to your branding message.







Step 9: Build your own website
Your website should highlight your professional accomplishments, your skills and knowledge, what you stand for, and your overall value.

Make it primarily about you, not your company or clients.





Step 10: Blog
Platforms like WordPress and Joomla make it easier than ever to promote yourself to your target audience.

Commit to posting a couple of times a week on topics that your audience will find interesting and educational, but that also highlight your unique skills and experience





Step 11: Get published
Write a book, contribute to industry publications, or simply update the content on your own website.

Being published is an ideal way to promote yourself as an expert in your field.







Step 12: Go offline
Be sure to promote your brand in person, too.

Join and participate in industry groups, give talks at conferences, or offer to spearhead a large project that highlights your unique talents.








Step 13: Tend to your marketing network
Be sure to keep co-workers, colleagues, clients, and friends updated about what you are doing.

Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool, and what the people in your network say about you will ultimately have an effect on your brand.






Step 14: Review your brand (and how you portray it) frequently
Are you portraying your brand in a way that's concise and easily understood?

Is your brand message consistent among all platforms? A regular review will ensure your message remains clear.






Sold!
If you want to be successful, creating a personal brand isn't just an option, it's a necessity.

Whether you aspire to get that promotion or land your dream job, creating a compelling and consistent brand will help you meet your goals.