Water's Edge Coaching

As we prepare to go on vacation, we are writing instructions for taking care of our two dogs, Duncan and Annie.  They are dramatically different personalities.  Duncan is laid back, easy going, low energy.  Doesn’t make a lot of fuss, tends to want to do things on his terms and at his pace (slow).  Annie is just one and one-half years old and has a lot of that puppy energy in her.  She goes from zero to puppy very quickly and when that burst of energy hits it is hard to contain it.  The challenge for anyone handling her is to try and contain that burst before she gets too wound up.  That requires a lot of rules, reminders, and reinforcement.  Both dogs are eager to please and seem to feel genuinely sorry when they have disappointed you.  It is almost embarrassing how much they suck up after that has happened.

So here I am again applying lessons from dogs to experiences working with managers, executives and their employees.  There is no one size fits all approach to management either.  Writing instructions for someone else on how to most effectively lead an employee would be a fools quest.  It is specific to the individual and the best you can really offer is guidelines.  It is as much art as it is science.  Success though comes from understanding who you are dealing with.  What motivates them, what hinders them, and then adapting your approach for each individual, and each style.

Ask most managers if they empower their employees and you will an answer along the lines of “as much as I can.”  Ask most employees if they are empowered enough and you will likely hear an answer along the lines of “not nearly enough.”  It leads me to wonder if this gap is an over confidence on the part of employees, or a lack of confidence on the part of managers.  I suspect it is a bit of both.  Many of us have encountered the supremely confident member of our group who is quick to tell us they are ready for any assignment.  In their minds they are truly ready, and in yours they don’t quite have what it takes.  Put in simpler terms, you have an employee who is ready and willing to take on more challenges and you have questions about whether they are “able.”   So what are you doing about it?  Lead them!  Coach them!  Challenge them!  Stretch them!  Stretch yourself by becoming a mentor and facilitating their development.  Then tell me if the gap on those disparate points of view doesn’t close.

Kim is the Associate Director at the Career Center where I volunteer and she is outstanding at saying “thank you.”  I don’t think she has ever not said thank you for helping.  From my perspective being thanked that much isn’t really required, because the pay back for me comes from the volunteer work.  BUT, IT IS ALWAYS NICE TO FEEL APPRECIATED!  Kim does that with everybody.  I’m sure if you asked Kim she would say it is really not a big deal and that she really does appreciate the volunteers at the Career Center and all that they do.  That’s the point really, isn’t it?  Her appreciation is genuine and she wants people to know it is there.  There is a lesson for all of us in Kim’s simple gesture of appreciation.  Thank you Kim!

I sometimes sound like a broken record when delivering training programs to managers.  “Delegate!  Delegate!  Delegate!” I say.  Delegating work to others is a solution that frees up time for other activities, preferably of the proactive variety managers never seem to have enough time for.  Delegating is a great way to develop talent on your team, enrich their jobs, and consequently increase employee satisfaction with their work.  So if delegating is such a powerful solution, what stands in the way of managers doing more of it?  Two reasons are usually given: time and talent.  The time issue is the easier of the two to address.  What gets planned for gets done.  Delegation requires a commitment on the managers part and a confidence that by investing time in developing my employees today, I will gain time down the road through their ability to handle additional work.  Confidence in team members is often the “deal breaker” when it comes to delegating.  It is that lack of confidence that frequently causes managers to say “What’s the point, I’ll just have to be looking over his shoulder anyhow so I might as well handle it myself.”  So… my advice to you Mr./Ms. Manager is to take a good long look in the mirror.  Ask yourself, “What is causing me to lack confidence in this person?” and then coach to that issue.  Make that individual someone you have confidence to delegate to.  Managing is all about achieving results through others.  Delagating needs to be one of your management tools.

Growing up I idolized Ernie Banks.  By the time I was old enough to start caring about whether the Chicago Cubs won that day (an affliction I still suffer from) Ernie had moved from playing shortstop to playing first base.  But he was still Ernie!  Still Mr. Cub!  He brought a boyish enthusiasm to the game, best captured in his quote “Let’s play two.” Reflecting a message any boy could understand, on a day as beautiful as today, let’s play two games of baseball.  I don’t recall ever seeing Ernie Banks not smiling, except maybe when he was about to put a ball out on Waveland Avenue.  I’m in my 40s now, still obsessed with the Cubs, and I still idolize Ernie Banks.  I keep an Ernie Banks autographed baseball on my desk in my office.  It reminds me of the enthusiasm, hope and sheer joy that Ernie brought to the ballpark every day, and through his actions, lifting the spirits of legions of adoring Cub fans.  That autographed baseball reminds me of my sincere desire that we all could feel the same way about our work.  That as leaders we create that environment for our teams that energizes them.  As employees we must be vigilant about giving our all to the team.  As job hunters we should seek out work that engages our head, hands and heart.  Thank you Ernie Banks!  Let’s play two!

The focus of my coaching business is on creating inspiring workplaces leading to an engaged workforce.  Most people that I talk to about my business think that it sounds great in theory, but view my position with a healthy degree of cynicism.  Truthfully, many meet it with an unhealthy degree, stating they would be happy just to have people seem slightly interested or spending less time surfing the web or a litany of other bad behaviors.  So they ask…. how do you do that?  I usually reply, “Simple, build bridges and remove barriers.”  Remove the barriers that stand between you and an engaged workforce, and build bridges that connect the paths of organizational vision and employee interests.  Stop treating people like they showed up to work that day inspired to give their least.  If they in fact have, you’re clearly doing something wrong!  Your job as a leader in an organization answer is to inspire others to give their best each and every day.  Looking to improve morale?  Take a look and the strength of your bridges and the size of your barriers?

I have spoken to two people in the past week who were unhappy enough with their current employer to choose to quit their job.  One acted to save their sanity, the other acted to get out of a really bad situation.  Both people knew that in this economy, their decision was a risky one.  Yet both felt so aggravated about the situation they were in that leaving seemed the best option.   I know both of these people well enough to know their decision was not made without careful consideration.   These were not impulsive overreactions to a bad situation.  Every month more than 500 people click on an ad I run on-line that simply says “Feeling Stuck.”  It is designed to reach out to potential career coaching clients.  500 people and that number is increasing each month.  That’s just the number that choose to click on my ad and my ad only appears when people are searching for career coaching.  How many people might be feeling stuck in their job in your company right now?

I understand that not everyone is a good fit in your organization and for some leaving is the best option for all parties involved.    That’s not true of everyone though.  You know it, I know it.  How productive is an employee that is feeling stuck likely to be?  How many employees being half as productive as they could be can your business tolerate?  What are you willing to do about it?  We both know if you had equipment that was being half as productive as it could be you would invest the time and money to get it running at maximum speed.  Why treat employees with less attention than our equipment then?

I am not taking a stand for either side (employee or employer) in this blog as much as I am taking a stand for talking with each other.  For creating a workplace in which your employees can flourish.  They win and you win when you get to that point.  Act now, before the really good ones become fed up enough to leave.

Spring Training is upon us bringing with it the hope and excitement of a new season to baseball fans all over this country.  As a life long fan of the Chicago Cubs, I have gone through this cycle of excitement ending in disappointment many times in my life.  At this time of year, it’s a thrill just to see people throwing a baseball or swinging a bat.  It brings about some visceral reaction that takes me back to my childhood.  Waiting for the snow to finally melt from the near by park and the ground to become dry enough that all the kids in the neighborhood were willing to risk not getting too muddy playing ball.  I can only imagine what it must feel like as a professional baseball player or a coach on a professional team.  There is nothing but possibility at this time of year, and questions, and wonder.  Will the rookie phenom be all he is expected to be?  Does the grizzled veteran have one more year in him?  Can the talented player who has always been a bit of a “head case” get it together enough this year to play to his potential.  The excitement at this time of year is all about the anticipation I think.  What does this have to do with coaching, or leading?  Hell I don’t know.  I have baseball on my brain.  Come to think of it, I guess there is a lesson here for leaders and managers though.  What are you doing to build up that level of excitement and anticipation with your employees?  At the end of the project, or fiscal year, or whatever the relevant time frame might be… how are they likely to feel?  Do the end the year with the euphoria of feeling like a champion?  Do they walk away discouraged like so many Cubs fans at the end of another year of disappointment?  Its up to you to guide your team to fulfill their potential.  it starts today.  Play Ball!