Blog Articles about Leading In A Downturn
June 23, 2010
It isn’t all about the leader.
“Being aware of and celebrating differences and rewarding people for their contributions will go a long way to making sure that ensure that your team will be supportive even in a crisis.”
Read more about my views on the controversy over France’s national Football team in today’s Globe and Mail.
April 05, 2010
Commitment brings contentment. Commitment comes with the acceptance of imperfection.
In my last blog I celebrated the return of loyalty to work. According to Towers Watson people are becoming more interested in staying with one employer for life. If people are more committed to their employer, they will be happier at work.
How can you be happier if you are stuck with one employer?
You will be happier because you will no longer be searching for perfection. There are no perfect employers. Organizations are full of people and people can be difficult at times.
March 19, 2010
You cannot control anyone but yourself.
One of my clients is struggling with a meeting he plans with one of his senior staff people next week. This staff person has been difficult in the past. Meetings are always fine but have no impact. The staff person agrees with whatever feedback is offered and agrees to take action. That same staff person then proceeds to do whatever he wants which of course does not include what my client has asked him to do. My client is the “boss”. He runs the practice this staff person works in.
To further complicate matters, the staff person is mediocre. He is not awful. What should my client do?
February 09, 2010
Look for IMPACT in the Globe and Mail today.
Yesterday a Globe and Mail reporter called me and ask if she could interview me about risk. She was interested in leaders motivating their teams to take risks given the New Orleans’ Saints recent Superbowl win.
This reporter wanted to know how a leader can help his team follow him (or her) when the leader makes a risky decision. I said a number of things. First, good leaders are transparent and help their people understand the options considered and why the perceived risky path was taken. People usually need to understand the leader’s thinking in order to be supportive. Second, good leaders work with their teams. They focus on the people who are comfortable with the risk and ready to move forward and they involve those people in the change by asking for their help. Good leaders also allow those who need more time some of that extra time —within reason. Finally risks happen in a “safe” environment. If people know the leader “has their back” by really owning the risky decision, they will be more likely to embrace the risk.
February 06, 2010
Beware the Second Wave
This week I spoke with four people who have lost faith in their organizations. All four are successful. All four have very valuable and difficult to replace skill sets and business contacts. All four are feeling disaffected and not supported. All four are in different organizations.
These four people weathered the recession quite successfully. They came out of the other side of that recession tunnel, looked around and were disappointed. People they cared about had left their organization. There are new leaders and they don’t like them all. There is a new strategy and they are not at all sure it is right.
These four people may be part of the second wave. The first wave of change happened last year as most organizations restructured in response to the recession. For most organizations these changes resulted in planned terminations.
The second wave is when you lose your best people. They stuck it out and they are not sure they like what they see. Beware.
December 09, 2009
Smaller is Better Sometimes
I am currently working with three leaders who are in the midst of restructuring in some way. Two of these leaders ended up with smaller senior teams. They went from a large span of control (10 or more team members) to a small but powerful team of 3 or 4.
I got to see one of those teams in action in the past few days. What I saw was a team that was nimble and able to make decisions quickly. There was deep trust within the team as some team members made decisions that the team supported without needing major detail. Discussions were strategic and remained on track without major diversions. There was an “evenness” to the quality of the input from the individual team members – there were no weak links in terms of talent.
The leader of this team turned to me yesterday and said the following. “It is easier to lead a smaller team.” Indeed it is. Simply, things happen much more quickly with a smaller number of people.
The trend lately has been to “delayer” organizations and expand spans of control as wide as 15 people. The lesson here for me is clear. One size does not fit all. Sometimes large spans of control make sense. They fit the leader’s style. They fit the organization’s needs. Sometimes they cost more in terms of strategic decision making than the payroll costs they save.
As another client said recently, “I added a layer of VPs. I added payroll costs but I increased the efficiency of the group and reduced the overall cost to the organization.” If you want to drive change, consider adding a layer sometimes.
May 12, 2009
Give.
One of my clients sent the following comments to my most recent blog.
"Read your blog this morning about connecting with people – and I totally agree. I was at my networking meeting yesterday and we were discussing business development. One of our members brought a suggestion to the table, which I thought was so great. Instead of focusing your business development on selling yourself, focus it (particularly at this time given the tough economy) on helping others. Lending some free advice, listening to people’s issues and offering suggestions without any expectations of immediate work – I think this will pay off big in the long run."
I couldn't say it better myself. I am a big fan of free advice. Of course eventually you'll need to get paid but before you do, you should plan to be helpful. How else will people know if you are good? So, don't worry about what you are going to get from meetings. Think about what you can give. The more you give, the better you'll feel and the more your network will appreciate you and refer you to others. Nothing wrong with that.
April 14, 2009
Does Working Notice Work? Not Usually.
The downturn in the economy has pushed many of my clients away from paying severance and toward working notice. Employers are choosing to ask employees to work their notice rather than paying severance and letting them go immediately. One client asked me if I had an opinion on working notice. I do. It often doesn't work. Once you have decided to let someone go, you have mentally moved on. They have not. They can be bitter and demotivated and you can't really blame them. They were let go. It is tough for both parties to go to work each day and face one another.
When does working notice actually work?
- When it is short -- a few weeks for more junior positions and no more than three months for very senior positions.
- When the employee is reliable and professional. You can tell if they will be professional and reliable in the first few days after giving notice. If it doesn't go well, revert to severance and do it quickly.
- When the employee needs a place of work to help them look for another job.
When should you never use working notice?
- When the employee has a history of poor interpersonal skills. Bad behaviour is likely to get worse during working notice.
- When the employee can potentially hurt a client relationship or impact the security of others or of your organization.
As an employer, termination is a very difficult decision to make, even if it is the right decision. If you decide to use working notice try and park any guilt, anger or frustration and be pleasant and professional yourself. As much as possible, treat the employee the same as if you had not given notice. Continue to expect them to do their job while giving them plenty of time for job search and interviews. Keep the working notice short.
December 02, 2008
Change is good. Even when it is bad.
Some would call me "the eternal optimist". In fact, I think I am.
I wake up early every morning, sit and read the paper look on the bright side. I love what I do. IMPACT is an organization of coaches who do really great work. I am really proud of the work we do. We have a diverse set of clients who seem to appreciate our work. I think about these things and I think, "We will be fine. Just keep focusing on quality work and stay in the market."
This morning I woke up and felt tired and frankly almost battered. The current Canadian political situation (there is a crisis of confidence in our current minority government) has tipped me over the edge. It is very difficult to remain an optimist in the face of relentless, negative press on the front page of the paper.
I am happy to report my exhaustion and pessimism was short lived. By the afternoon today, the optimist is back.
I read an article this afternoon from McKinsey and it helped me move back to the "bright side". This article reminded me of something I already knew but really needed to reminded of. Change is an opportunity even when it is bad. How is it an opportunity? Change "unfreezes the status quo" and is an opportunity to do what you've always wanted to do and fix what you've always wanted to fix. (See Kotter's 8 step change model for more on this)
October 28, 2008
A Bad Economy is Good
Why? A down economy drives a lot of really good decisions. We are all tightening our belts. Our priorities shift. Things we thought were so important a month ago suddenly seem unimportant. For many, the shift is towards things that have lasting value and away from things that provide fleeting satisfaction. We take more time to enjoy that great glass of wine. Suddenly it seems more important to savour every sip. We delay purchases to focus on what we already have. A good wash and tune up and that old car still gets us to where we want to go in style. We spend more time having family dinners and less time in fancy restaurants.
These shifts are good for us personally and professionally.
