Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

In Leaders East Last , Simon Sinek provides reference to a Circle of Safety.  Our biology hasn’t changed in fifty thousand years, but our environment certainly has. Today’s workplaces tend to be full of cynicism, paranoia and self-interest. But the best organizations foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a Circle of Safety that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside. The Circle of Safety leads to stable, adaptive, confident teams, where everyone feels they belong and all energies are devoted to facing the common enemy and seizing big opportunities. - Amazon Summary In the past couple of organizations that I have worked in, there has been no circle of safety -- only a ring of fire.  How do you know when there is no circle of safety?  You can't speak to leaders with candor without instigating defensiveness.  Leaders are more concerned with the impressi...

In Bizarro World , I am starting a business with some of my best friends and colleagues.  It's a place that works with clients that want our products and services. It's a place that does meaningful work.  It's a place that inspires me and the company's employees to wake up each and every morning to do great work. For many of us, the true definition of Bizarro World (not mine) is the one that we are living in today.  If that's the case, we need to ask ourselves "why?"  Then we need to ask ourselves if there is anything we can do to fix it.

At the recommendation of Tim Ferris and Ramit Sethi , I read The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande.  It's a great book that demonstrates how a simple thing like a checklist can save lives and automate routines so that you can focus on the stuff that matters.  Though the book may be about checklists, Dr. Gawande also manages to work in a definition of professionalism that will resonate with many of you.  Professionalism is a code of conduct defined through a few expectations: Expectation of selflessness - Are you looking out for others or looking out for yourself?  Expectation of skill - Are you doing everything possible to become a master of your craft? Are you staying on top of trends? Are you looking at the skills that it takes to be the best in your field and honing those skills on a continual basis?  Expectation of trustworthiness - Do you do what you say? Is your word bond? Do you make a promise and make good on that promise?  He g...

Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can damage an organism.  In business, look at your organization as an organism under a microscope.  There are a variety of ways that toxins can get in, but the primary way would be through the people that you hire. Companies that have lax hiring standards, no real onboarding program, and free-for-all processes have a higher risk of absorbing negative toxicity.  Companies that have very stringent hiring standards, an in-depth and prescriptive onboarding program, and a culture that helps its employees thrive are usually toxin-free. A person that is a stimulant in one organization can become toxic in another organization. Is that the fault of the employee or the employer?  Culpability lies on both sides of the table. The problem is getting both parties to admit it. 

In my stellar career of management, I've had a couple of memorable quotes from my team members.  I had one direct report tell me, "Don't manage me!"  I had another one say, "Leave me the f*ck alone!" (Acronym of the title of this post.)  Ben Horowtiz has WFIO (We're f*cked, it's over).  I have LMTFA.   Many organizations today have created a LMFTA environment.  Or, maybe it's not the organization, but the employees that view the company they work for as a means to provide for things like benefits , or work/life balanc e, or a paycheck .  If that's the case, then it should be no surprise that apathy and indifference are in abundance in the workplace.  God forbid people work to make an impact or doing work that matters.   Whose responsibility is it to create a job or career that's enjoyable?  Yours or your employer?  That's probably a discussion for another post and one wher...

For those of you raising children, ages 4-5 are when your child is establishing his or her independence.  It's a period of reward because you are watching your little one become a person.  It's a period of frustration because your pride and joy begins to test boundaries and push buttons because he's known you all of his life. It gets worse when it's someone else's kid.  As an example, I coach an Under 6 soccer team and one of the kids clearly wasn't listening to me. So I told him to go run a lap around the field. He proceeded to look at me with disgust and sit down on his butt making it a point to ignore my directions. Fast forward a few decades and being a manager is not any better.  Direct defiance is replaced by passive aggressiveness.  Tantrums are replaced by "escalation" to an executive.  In the world of middle management, you have absolutely no leverage-- just like my situation with someone else's kid.  I...

The worst thing that can happen in a job is being asked to leave without knowing why.  In the past I've written about being rolled off of a project and describing it as one of those life failure moments.  In the world of management consulting where failure is not an option, being asked to leave before it's your time is the kiss of death from a career standpoint.  But we all know that that's not the case.  At least from a"being rolled off" standpoint, the Partner was good enough to sit face-to-face with me and tell me that I wasn't meeting his expectations. It didn't really feel good at the time and I still look back upon that moment as one that completely sucked, but at least I got honest feedback.  But what do you do if a client fires you and does not give you any reason whatsoever?  Is that and should that be acceptable?  In my opinion, as a grown adult, there should be reasons as to why someone is fired or rolled off. How likely is it ...

In Seth Godin's startup school , a lady asks whether consultants are or can be entrepreneurs.  Godin, after clarifying the question, says that almost always consultants are freelancers.  According to Godin, the return on equity is low in the consulting industry. Per one of my previous posts, consultants also trade time for money (see Donkey Strategy .) In addition, the only way to scale is by adding more people which in the long run is sustainable with A LOT of work.  A some point in a management consultant's career, he or she will get what I'll call the "itch."  Whether it's the itch to hang out your own shingle, or the itch to see if you can build a product yourself -- a consultant will get the itch because 1.) He gets tired of telling clients how to do things better without them listening; or 2.) She's just tired of serving two masters-- I'm sure there are many other reasons as well. If / when you get the itch, remember that the gap betwee...

There is a constant struggle between Strategists and Operators.  Strategists wax lyrical frameworks, charts, rigorous analysis, smart sounding assumptions that go into recommendations that will transform the organization.  As an Operator, it's hard to understand what all of that crap means.  Everything with a Strategist is high level -- middle management can fill in the details.  The Operator wants details and wants to understand why any of it is important -- in layman's terms. The Strategist makes recommendations based on logical structuring and fact based thinking.  The Operator makes decisions based on emotion.  The most effective consultants are the ones that can bridge strategic thinking with the emotion of operating at any level.  It's those consultants that effect meaningful change. 

Are you a Consultant or a Contractor?  The Contractor has a skill that is easily commoditized.  The Consultant has skills that can become commoditized with education if he or she does not continue to grow. The Contractor is never on time and does not respect a customer's time. The Consultant lives and dies by meetings and calendars because they respect the client's time. The Contractor shows up, does the job, and collects the check.  The Consultant's job is to deliver value every time she shows up. The Contractor only thinks about the immediate next task in the context of a particular job.  The Consultant thinks about his or her activity in the context of the bigger picture. The Contractor never asks what you are trying to accomplish and why you need his services.  The Consultant always asks about your goals and objectives and should know why you need their help.  The Contractor could care less about a customer's well-being. The Con...

I've observed executives use a rhetorical question as a way of thinking out loud to themselves.  Unfortunately, to the casual observer or a management consultant, the rhetorical question can be misinterpreted as an opportunity to provide an answer as quickly as possible. The first step to answering a rhetorical question is to not answer it at all.  Over time, and through some hard knocks, I've learned that silence is your most powerful ally when a rhetorical question is asked.  If you are like 9 out of 10 consultants that feel like you need to fill in the quiet space, you will end up soliciting more questions that you really don't want to answer. Management consultants want to jump to conclusions and solutions as quickly as possible.  Executives typically want to think through the problem at hand and assess all of the options before making a decision.  The rhetorical question is one way of doing this.  So do yourself a favor. When you hear a...

You only need one.  One client.  One methodology.  One point of view.  One follower.  Even though there aren't a million people reading this, there is at least one. That's the person that I write for.  To start your own thing, all you need is someone to be inspired and committed to what you do.  Eventually that inspiration and commitment becomes contagious -- or it may not.  But at the very least, you know you are not on an island in feeling the way that you do. 

As a middle manager is it your responsibility to keep your people busy?  For the longest time, I felt like the answer always had to be "yes."  After all, if your people aren't busy, then that reflects on your ability as a manager to plan the work. Why would you need that person anyway if he or she doesn't have enough to do?  When a person comes to me and say, "I'm bored," or "I'm being underutilized, " my reaction is first defensiveness and then I quickly think about how I can get him or her busy.  However, part of being a good management consultant - or professional for that matter- is to find ways to be productive and not be bored and not be underutilized. You can make a contribution to the office. You could work on your start up idea. You could do all the administrative stuff that you don't do to begin with.  There is always something to do.  The relationship between a Manager and a direct report is a tw...