One thing is sure. You won’t love your job if you hate your boss. First and foremost, people leave companies (or churches or universities or whatever) because of who they work for and they stay because of who they work for. It is the day-to-day interactions of boss/employee that make the most difference—one way or the other.
The October 28 (2013) edition of Forbes featured the 50 Best Small Companies. Four executives were asked, “How do you charge up your employees?” I don’t much like the idea of having to “charge up” employees because it implies they show up “charged down.” Fortunately, the four answers had to do with everyday leading that make employees show up already charged up:
#1: Share the rewards with everyone. Make sure all employees feel like they will benefit, not just a few at the top.
#2: Say “thank you” and show appreciation in small ways (e.g., an afternoon off after a late night of “saving the bacon”).
#3: Actively seek and encourage new ideas and creative solutions to both old and new problems.
#4: Celebrate success and do it every chance you get. Look for small things to celebrate. Progress is a great motivator.
Today would be a good day for you to help your employees love their jobs. Had a really good month? Give everyone a carwash coupon. Ready to finally solve that nagging-every-month problem? Ask for their ideas instead of insisting on your own. And so on…. You’ll be surprised at how much difference it makes.
(You can read the Forbes article for the specifics at http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2013/entrepreneurs-clinic.html)
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells at The Hard Lessons Company
Most of you aren’t old enough to remember Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons: “Sherry”…“Rag Doll”…“Big Girls Don’t Cry”…“Walk Like A Man”—all hits I can hear in my mind even still. Call me and I’ll sing a line or two for you. (Trust me. That is all of my singing you’ll want to hear.)
One of their lesser known songs was “Silence Is Golden”:
Silence is golden
But my eyes still see
Silence is golden, golden
But my eyes still see
If you are a mom with three preschoolers, silence is golden. If your house has an interstate 100 feet from the back door, silence is golden. If you sit next to an incessant talker who thinks you are interested in every detail of her (or his) weekend, silence is golden. In our personal lives, “silence is golden” is often our heart song. But in any organization’s life, “silence is golden” is actually a death song.
An international study of “high-stakes projects, programs and initiatives” by the VitalSmarts organization (see Influencers by Grenny, et al), found that 88 percent of the people surveyed believed that the projects they were working on “would eventually fail.” However, less than 10% of those same people “said that it was politically acceptable to speak openly about what was going wrong.” Let me repeat: 9 out of 10 thought their project was headed for a train wreck and 9 out of 10 kept silent about it. This type of behavior is referred to as the “code of silence.” I wonder if that is why the ACA (Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare) website launch has been such a disaster.
If you are in leadership, one of your main responsibilities is to break the “code of silence.” You have to make it normal behavior for people to speak up—not shut up—when things are on the road to failure. How you respond to bad news will be the primary factor that determines whether the truth is surfaced or submerged. So it’s up to you. Nine out of ten people are silently watching your train run off the rails. Can you really afford that?
I would like to hear your stories of “silence is golden” disasters. Respond in the comment window.
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Express Employment Professionals is the 5th largest employment service in the US. Founded in 1983, Express had sales in 2012 of $2.3B and more than 600 franchises. Per their website: “Our mission is to help people find jobs and our client companies find good employees, and to help those clients make those jobs and those employees even better.”
When Express CEO, Bob Funk was interviewed by Stephen Moore for a WSJ article (9/21/13, Where the Jobs Are—and How to Get One), he pointed out that many people are unemployable for three reasons that have nothing to do with the economy, government, CEO pay, outsourcing to China, and so on. He says, “I guarantee I can find employers tomorrow who will hire you” if you can meet only three minimal qualifications.
Want to guess what the three are? College degree—no. Technical skill—no. Movie star looks—no. Here they are:
#1 Integrity—simple: don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal.
#2 A strong work ethic—show up on time and do your job, every day.
#3 Able to pass a drug test—stay clean (one out of four applicants fail the drug test).
Imagine that. For people who are honest, willing to work, and drug free, Funk guarantees he can find them a job tomorrow. Further, Funk says “most employers will gladly train them with skills to fill higher-paying jobs.”
Funk is not saying that getting skill training is not important: “Express has as many as 20,000 jobs the company can’t fill because the workers don’t have the skills required.”
Where are those 20,000 jobs? In accounting, IT, robotics, welding and engineering. A degree in the history of southwestern native pottery will get you a job in…retail (but only if you are honest, hard working and drug free).
Funk has a lot of other interesting things to say about employment issues in America. Read the entire interview at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324492604579087044033601178.html
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
More accurately, she is a heroine: Elinor Otto is 93 years old. Yup, 93. She works a regular five-days-a-week, eight-hour shift at the Boeing plant in Long Beach—not in an office, not as a receptionist—as a riveter on the C-17 assembly line. She takes a riveting gun in hand and hammers in rivets on a military aircraft, just like she did back in 1942 during World War II. She has been riveting longer than I have been alive, and I’m 69. Amazing!
According to the LA Times (At 93, This Rosie Is Still Working by Samantha Schaefer, 9/18/2013), she “is out of bed at 4 a.m. and drives to work early to grab a coffee and a newspaper before the 6 a.m. meeting. In the Boeing lot, she parks as far from the plant as possible so she can get some exercise. Every Thursday, she brings in cookies and goes to the beauty parlor to have her hair and nails touched up after her shift ends.” According to coworker, Craig Ryba, “She’s an inspiration. She just enjoys working and enjoys life.”
In Chapter 9 (A Hard Hat For Everyone) of my book, 16 Stones, I shared my own thoughts and experience with Rosie the Riveters:
It is common today for women to work in heavy industry factories. They do all the things men do on assembly lines, in machine shops, in quality labs, and stockrooms. But that hasn’t always been the case. It started during World War II when the men were off fighting, and workers were needed to produce airplanes, tanks, rifles, jeeps, and bullets. Women stepped up and were immortalized in a hit song, “Rosie the Riveter”:
All the day long, whether rain or shine, she’s part of the assembly line.
She’s making history, working for victory, Rosie the Riveter.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that without thousands of Rosies, the war would have dragged on for years longer than it did. The women had no experience, but they were motivated to get the job done—and they did.
I had my own Rosie the Riveter experience in the late ’80s. While serving as VP of Finance for a midsize aerospace company, we were confronted with a crippling thirteen-week strike. At least it could have been crippling, but it wasn’t. Why? Because accountants, secretaries, engineers, buyers, vice-presidents, and even the lawyers all “went to the factory floor” to keep production going. Since they didn’t trust me with anything that moved or made noise, I was a wing wiper, meaning I took a rag, squirted Trike (trichloroethylene) on it, and cleaned excess adhesive, oil, dirt, and grime off of aluminum surfaces before they went to the paint shop. We were organized, inspired, and well led by our president, John Kleban. For thirteen weeks, our motley crew, by working hard with enthusiasm, kept the production lines moving and our customers satisfied. That is when the value of a hard hat for everyone was indelibly imprinted into my leadership DNA.
At 93 and still working, Elinor Otto is living my dream. I have always said, “I want to work as long as I can, and when I can’t, drop dead at my desk.” Today, my desk is in my home office and Dottie (my wife) will be the one who finds me. Of course, I am aware that I don’t get to prescribe my future, but as long as I can, I am going to stay on the assembly line of life, doing something useful in a way that honors God.
Elinor Otto reminds me of one my biblical heroes, Caleb, who, when 85 years old said:
I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken. (Joshua 14 :11-12 NIV)
Eighty-five and taking on the Anakim giants. Ninety-three and still driving rivets. That is living life to the fullest. My bucket list can wait. I have all of eternity for it.
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You can order a copy of 16 Stones at 16stonesbook.com or online at Amazon, B&N, etc.
© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
“Practice what you preach” is an old adage that applies to leaders more than anyone. A leader’s credibility is always on the line and on display. So before the snow and cold comes, I am going to practice what I preach and head for Maine. Why? I need to escape for a while. The following excerpt about escape is from my book, 16 Stones.
ESCAPE: I have found, at least for me, fully restorative rest only comes with escape. My body, soul, and spirit all need occasional escape from the everyday world. For years my escape has been either the North Georgia mountains or the coast of Downeast Maine—a week of nothing but coffee, a good book or two, eating catfish or lobster, and listening to the creek or watching the waves. There is no doubt in my mind that without escape, the stress of running a midsize company or later serving a large church would have produced what Bill Hybels calls “many broken pieces rattling around inside me.” For Hybels, escape is on his sailboat. He says in Courageous Leadership, “I shudder to think where I’d be today had I not given myself permission to take up boating again.”
One mistake we make is equating different with escape. Let me clarify: taking your office to a different place is not escape. An open briefcase and ringing Blackberry at the beach is different, but it is not escape. Senior pastor, you can round up a couple of pastor buddies, play eighteen holes and then have dinner, all the while talking about your church problems. That is different, but it’s not escape. Business leader, you can take your team to the Willow Creek Leadership Summit (which I highly recommend) to be inspired and challenged. That is different and worthwhile, but it is not escape. Escape is leaving it all behind, emptying your mind of your ordinary work as Exodus 20:9 calls it, and letting God repair and refresh you from head to foot. In my own experience, I have found that I can get physical rest in a couple of days; however, mental and emotional rest usually takes a week or more.
You need to escape, but who you escape with is also important. My wife, Dottie, is wired much like I am. She doesn’t need to be entertained; she doesn’t have to be sightseeing all the time; she doesn’t need to be talking all the time; a day of nothing but sitting on the porch with a good book or working a puzzle is fine with her. She is a great escape partner. Once a year, I spend a couple of days alone, intensely seeking God, but most of the time I escape with her. My point is, choose your escape partner carefully. Remember, the purpose of escape is to detox from the stresses of your ordinary life, not just drag them to a different place.
You can order 16 Stones at 16stonesbook.com or online at Amazon, B&N, etc.
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company.
There was nothing worse in junior high than being “called to The Office.” Nothing good ever happened in The Office. The best case was having to stay after school; the worst case was…well, use your imagination.
Back in the mid-80s, The Office in our Nashville plant was at the end of a long, dark mahogany row. Even walking down the hall was intimidating. It was a throwback to junior high. Who knew what was going on behind all those closed doors? Most employees called to The Office believed that Dante got it right when he wrote, “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.” Walking that long dark hall to The Office was like going to hell.
In 1985, we were blessed with a new leader who did three things to help change The Office culture:
Sadly, in too many organizations today, being called to The Office revives those junior-high fears. Leaders—who are actually bosses using fear as a leadership tool—sit behind their closed doors waiting to dispense Don Vito Corleone style discipline (check out The Godfather) to terrified employees. And then they wonder why the best and brightest don’t stay around long, why morale is so low, why productivity is so low, and why nobody ever tells them the truth about anything.
If your organization has a The Office culture, do something about it today! Open the doors and turn on the lights. Better yet, get out of The Office and walk the floors. Be visible, accessible, and personable. Fear is a lousy, ineffective leadership tool. If you use it, it is hurting you and your organization. And, it will continue to hurt until you do something to change it—starting with changing yourself.
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
After 25 years, the traditional recognition award is a watch—recognition for long service (I got one). It says, well, “you have been here a long time.” Most employees would rather have received a rubber chicken about 20 years earlier.
That’s what they do at Yum Brands. CEO David Novak gives out rubber chickens as recognition for exemplary performance. Everyone wants a rubber chicken. It is proof that the company knows who is “bringing it” every day, or “saved the bacon” during an emergency. It is proof of being known and appreciated. Every employee wants to be known and appreciated—personally, not just as part of a group or team.
Now, rubber chicken awards may seem silly to you, but at YUM (KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell), they are a central part of a culture that says The Only Way To Make BIG Things Happen (the sub-title of Novak’s book) is by Taking People With You (the title of Novak’s book). Does it work? Oh, yeah. YUM has outperformed the S&P 500 by an average 12% per year since 1997. That means $1000 invested in the S&P 500 in 1997 would be worth about $1850 today; $1000 invested in YUM would be worth about $6500 today.
There is more to employee—or volunteer—morale and engagement than recognition alone, but it is a good starting place. What have you done lately to personally recognize employees (or volunteers) who “bring it” everyday, or have “saved the bacon” recently? It could be a personal note, a gift card for a car wash or lunch, a cup of coffee in your office, or a ______________________________. (You fill in the blank and let me know what has worked for you by sending a comment.)
If you are the leader, get started today. Right now, get up, go tell someone how much you appreciate her contribution to the organization. Better yet, give him a rubber chicken or _______________. Pick someone else and do it again tomorrow, and the day after, and….
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
We have had an unusually cool August—highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s. On one recent night I decided to sleep with the door to our screened porch open, looking forward to some cool fresh air as I had sweet dreams. About midnight or so, a passing skunk decided to turn my sweet dreams into a smelly nightmare. After closing up the house, it was back to bed, but the foul odor lingered through the night, spoiling my cool fresh air and sweet dreams.
Per Wikipedia, four-legged skunks stink up the place by squirting a liquid from “two glands, one on each side of the anus. These glands produce a mixture of sulfur-containing chemicals such as thiols, traditionally called mercaptans, which have a highly offensive smell.” I think I have seen two-legged skunks do the same thing in conference rooms and offices.
Gossip really stinks. That is why the Dave Ramsey organization has a rigid “no gossip” rule.
Arriving late to meetings really stinks. It is rude, sending a message that your time is more important than my time.
Talking too much really stinks. It is arrogant, sending a message that your opinion is more important than my opinion. (I was guilty of this in a Friday morning meeting.)
Laziness really stinks. If you don’t do your job, someone else will have to.
Self-focus really stinks. Your kids are cute, but they are not the cutest kids on the whole planet (my grandsons are), and not many people really want to hear a minute-by-minute account of your weekend.
__________________ really stinks. Fill in the blank and send it to me in a comment.
If you are the leader, it is your job to keep “mercaptans” out of your workplace. Skunks aren’t easy to reform, so you may have to get rid of them.
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company.
Have you ever been dissatisfied with the service you are receiving and asked to “speak to the owner”? Why? You expect to get better service from the owner than from an employee. It doesn’t always work, but often it does. Why? The owner has more at stake than the employee. Your future business is at stake. An owner has more to gain and more to lose than an employee, so an owner will look at every situation differently than an employee.
The truth of “think like an owner” inspired a leadership fad a few years back to “transform your company by getting your employees to think like owners.” The think-like-owners consultants made a lot of money trying to sell and implement this concept. By and large—like most fads—it has been a failure. Why?
In other words, only an owner can truly think like an owner.
However, there are some companies—Publix for example—where it works. Why? The company actually gives an ownership stake to all employees. From Forbes (August 12, 2013), The Wal-Mart Slayer by Brian Solomon: “All staffers who have put in 1000 work hours and a year of employment receive an additional 8.5% of their total pay in the form of Publix stock.” Now, that’s a real way to incentivize employees to think like owners. The result? Publix is more profitable by a wide margin than Wal-Mart, Kroger or Whole Foods.
The think-like-an-owner mantra is especially important at Publix because their highest priority is customer service (followed by quality, then price). They don’t even try to compete with Wal-Mart or Kroger on price. At Publix, it is all about serving the customer, so they fill the store with owners, not employees. It works.
There is more than one way to incentivize employees to provide good service, but don’t try think like an owner unless you plan to actually make them owners.
I would like to hear your ideas about incentivizing employees to provide great service. What have you seen work?
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
The military ranked first. Lawyers ranked last. Business executives were ranked only one notch above lawyers. The question was: How much do you think __________ contribute to the well-being of our society? The choices were:
The results of the Pew Research Center survey (4006 adults, April-May 2013) were:
You may be wondering, What about the politicians? Well, since many of them are lawyers….
I don’t want to argue with the results, but let me suggest that business execs (of which I have been one) deserve this rating because of highly public self-inflicted wounds. Every day, the WSJ and other business news outlets are reporting on business executive misbehavior:
I am saddened by the constant attack on capitalism in America today. But there is an easy way to stop it—operate businesses with integrity, values, a purpose greater than profit, and for the well-being of all stakeholders (owners, customers, employees and community), not just a few at the top. In other words, get out of the headlines!
I am not sure that business executives can ever rank higher than the military or doctors or clergy. But surely by conducting our affairs in an honest and balanced way, we could move up the list. If you are a business leader, it’s up to you. No one else is going to do it.
I would love to hear your comments about this subject.
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
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