Leadership Fundamentals

Do you have a “bad apple” on your team?

You must have heard the expression “One bad apple spoils the whole bunch”. In an office setting, bad apples are employees you must interact with who create a divisive or caustic environment which poisons relationships, generates mistrust, and will dilute the effectiveness of a team by distraction.

Bad apples stir up trouble like a mixing stick in a witch’s cauldron. They promote dissension and conflict. This spreads out across the entire team. Little by little, the team deteriorates, achievements lessen, unhappiness abounds and, in short, things are a big mess. It’s like a giant ball of wool that has been unraveled.

When the team is functioning at top level, it is because everyone wants everyone else to win. There is a great mix of cooperation, openness to new ideas, and a desire to learn new skills. Special efforts are appreciated by all, and all tend to strive to become a “giver”. Bad apples don’t work that way. It is to their benefit to focus everyone’s attention away from their own poor performance. Everyone is focused on all the chaos going on, so they don’t immediately identify the source of the chaos. I was guilty of experiencing — and falling for — the “smoke and mirrors” dance myself. In my case, it was a personal crisis of my own that caused me to delay my very much needed intervention. Eventually, I had to admit that no matter how hard my efforts, I could not salvage that employee/company relationship, because it required a good deal of effort by the employee, which was not forthcoming.

I write this post as someone who has had a failure.  I admit to it in the hopes it will help others. I’m not an expert — I had to learn from experience, like everyone else. I learned the most from my team, and thank them for their honesty and insight.

Once you’ve eliminated the negative personality, can the team be repaired? It can if your past behavior was primarily positive, and you’ve built up enough trust to sustain you through a poor decision. You have some good will there to help you, but once you get rid of the poisonous influence and its effect, you will have to work at it very hard. If you are a leader/manager who has let an employee divide your team, you may have lost their trust as the guardian of workplace harmony.

Oddly enough, in some instances, the resulting harmony and strength of the team will increase upon seeing your resolution of the problem.

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What Your Body Language Says About Your Collaborative Skills

A good team is built on trust, collaboration, and mutual respect. Is your body language giving mixed messages about your commitment to those values?

Here are some of the most common negative body language signs which tend to erode work relationships and create a breakdown in communications:

• At meetings, you’re usually the last person to arrive. You tend to doodle when you’re bored or uninterested in the topic — you’re not participating
• When meeting with an employee, your eyes keep checking your watch
• When someone comes to your office to discuss issues or ideas, instead of letting voice mail messaging take over, you interrupt the discussion and take every phone call
• You’re abrupt and avoid eye contact when you don’t want to consider someone’s ideas. It says you are disinterested.
• You look impatient when a co-worker “drops by” unexpectedly. Yet some great plans and projects have been generated by just such office chat. Most people function at peak levels when the atmosphere is warm and sociable.
• Crossed arms indicates a defensive posture

Be More Effective by Applying the RIGHT body language:

• Arrive as promptly as possible at meetings. Take notes  so you can follow up on tasks and projects. Ask for clarification on comments
• Respect co-workers’ time as well as your own. If you’re meeting a deadline or otherwise tied up, show your willingness to set a time later that day or the next. Get the point across that you really want to meet once you’ve gotten your tasks done. Then give your complete attention during that meeting.
• Make constant eye contact. Be open and involved. If you have a time limit [maybe another meeting coming up], state it up front:”It’s 10:00 now. I have a meeting at 11:00 — if we need more time than that, we can continue at x:xx or we can meet tomorrow when I’m free and hopefully so are you.”

That about sums it up: Use body language to express trust, collaboration, and mutual respect. Read more about the importance of body language in Carol Kinsey Goman’s book.  (Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D., is an executive coach and international keynote speaker and seminar leader for corporations, associations and government agencies.)

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To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.

Lao Tzu, 4th Century Chinese Philosopher
Tao – The Way – Special Edition

One of the things managers frequently do is assume that because they are managers, they have all the answers. Frequently, they don’t. Even sadder is that they assume they do, based on the single fact that they are managers. Yet, it should be apparent that those who have the most critical information about a process are the very people who go through the process daily and bump their heads against its inadequacies. Why on earth would you want to change or replace a process if you don’t know why it should be changed in the first place? How would you know that the process that is replacing the original is not worse?

Getting the right information at the beginning of the project, before it is set in stone — especially if it has been outsourced and contracted for with a set of specifications — would seem to be extremely critical if the project is not going to incur cost overrun. Additionally, you can bet the project will probably be late, as review of its functionality [finally!] by those who are going to use the process reveals an alarming inadequacy.

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One of the less than sound moves a leader or manager can make is to be afraid of admitting when they’re wrong. Many bad mistakes are made when an idea or vision is held on to tenaciously just because it is your own. Truly great managers are those who want to examine a policy from all angles before finalizing a decision. You put together what you believe is a team made up of highly creative and hard-working individuals. The purpose of doing that is to achieve access to the brightest and the best ideas to help you sharpen your decision-making practices, so why not take advantage of your assets?

Most of us need and want to look at issues from many sides and consider the possible repercussions of our policies before they are set in stone. There is wisdom in gathering alternate views and considering suggested alternatives. One of the key rewards in listening and reviewing additional points of view is that people buy into policies they have contributed ideas to. It’s that simple. They also take ownership of ideas that make sense to them and seem possible to carry out. The trouble with top-down decision-making is that it’s hard to enforce if it doesn’t make sense to the people who must carry it out. Unfortunately, too often one of the strong reasons people want to manage other people is so they can make decisions for those people based solely on what they themselves want. Too often, when the policies or implementation doesn’t work out, it’s those other people who get blamed for the failure.

The failure is not simply a policy that doesn’t work. The failure is a loss of trust, a discouragement of sharing ideas, and to put it bluntly, a lack of faith in your judgment. That doesn’t mean everyone expects you to be right all the time — they don’t. They simply expect you to listen, to ponder, to be open to other ideas.

When we talk of good management, the same terms come up again and again: trust, communication, inclusion, employee engagement.

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While looking around the web and thinking about leadership topics, I came upon this article about employee loyalty and thought it well-written and thoughtful, so I wanted to share it with you all. So I’ve copied it here and, of course, credited the writer. It reminded me of how years ago, when my husband and I had our own typesetting company, one of our employees referred to it as a “sweet shop”. When we asked him what he meant, he told us it was the fact that “when you come into work, you feel like you’re home.” That feeling promotes a sense of loyalty that is as strong as steel. So that is why this article interested me. Without further rambling on my part, here it is.

Back in 2008, my firm was asked by The Lane Construction Corporation to conduct a survey of their employees on the topic of loyalty. The results of the survey, and the additional unanswered questions that were raised by them, have been the subject of much of my thinking time ever since. While I have formulated many theories on how Lane’s culture of loyalty developed, the one conclusion that can be drawn is that the culture is unique and worthy of being documented.

Background

Prior to conducting the survey, loyalty had been extensively discussed and debated by Lane’s management, primarily during planning sessions. Management felt that the company’s culture was strong and formed the foundation for aggressive growth. The company had pursued growth through internal channels, as well as acquisitions, without a deterioration of quality or an undue strain on their infrastructure. The growth had led to improved financial performance, and it was only natural that management wanted to continue on that path. They felt that the company’s culture was strong and able to support further expansion, but they wanted to be sure. In addition, they simply wanted to confirm that all employees felt about Lane the same way they did. Therefore, they decided to undertake a double-blind survey of all employees that would assess the strength of their culture and the loyalty of their employees. At the time of the survey, Lane had approximately 1,200 employees.

The survey was conducted online in a manner that completely preserved the confidentiality of the participants. All programs and databases were deployed on our servers, under a sub-domain web address that was secured. Participants were given unique user names and passwords, to ensure that there was no unauthorized access to the website. However, once access to the website was granted, there was no attempt to attribute answers to survey questions to specific individuals. No session data were maintained, and no cookies were set. In essence, all reasonable steps were taken to ensure that participants could submit their responses to survey questions in a totally anonymous fashion. The goal was to ensure that participants answered survey questions openly and honestly, without any fear of possible reprisal.

Survey Results

To some of us, the survey results were nothing short of astounding. A full 75% of all participants responded that they were totally loyal to Lane, and would not even consider offers from other companies under any circumstances, even if those offers were for better opportunities or higher compensation. Many of us feel a sense of loyalty to the company for which we work, but most of us would be excited for an offer of a better job or higher compensation. Not at Lane. Three quarters of Lane employees said they would not leave under any circumstances. The remaining 25% of employees said they considered themselves totally loyal to Lane, but would consider offers for better opportunities or higher compensation. In our experience, the views of this remaining 25% are more reflective of almost all employees at other companies.

The survey touched on several other topics related to loyalty, but it was the main results of the survey that caused us to pause and consider the implications for Lane. Immediately, we began asking ourselves obvious questions, such as:

* How did this type of culture develop at Lane?
* Does Lane’s culture provide them with a competitive advantage?
* Can the culture be sustained?

In the remainder of this document, we will try to explore each of these questions in a little more depth.

How Did Lane’s Culture Develop?

No one at Lane seems to be able to answer this question, but employees seem to know that the culture is real, and that it has been there for a long time. The culture seems to be a natural assumed part of their everyday working life at Lane. The Lane Construction Corporation was founded in 1890, and it would not be surprising to us if it were learned that the company’s culture stemmed from those early days.

One symbol of the culture is Lane’s published Mission, Vision, and Values Statement. Care for People is clearly spelled out in the Values Statement. We believe that these types of corporate documents are important to defining and developing a culture. However, even more importantly, Lane seems to have lived up to their stated values over many years. When asked to provide examples of instances when Lane demonstrated their values to them, employees cited numerous times when the company continued to pay them during periods when construction projects were halted for various reasons. They also cited numerous situations when the company came to their aid during periods of personal tragedy. Therefore, it is our conclusion, that one element that has contributed to the development of Lane’s culture is a clearly stated set of values regarding people. In addition, the company seems to have adhered strongly to those stated values, even though other decisions may have been easier and less expensive. In other words, the company has “walked the talk”.

Legacy is certainly another element that has played a role in the development of Lane’s culture. A high percentage of employees have been with Lane for many years, and in some cases, through generations of families. A case in point is David Benton. David is currently Executive Vice President of Lane’s Southern Division, and he was the sponsor of the survey of employees that we conducted. David has been with Lane for over 30 years. His father was with Lane for over 40 years. His brother is currently with Lane, has been there for over 40 years. His father-in-law was with Lane for over 40 years. His brother-in-law is currently with Lane, and has been there over 20 years. David’s legacy at Lane may be somewhat extreme when viewed against the average employee at Lane. However, there are numerous examples where multiple members of the same family worked at Lane for at least some period of time. Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude that many employees view Lane as something more than just a place to work. The company is linked to the family history of many employees, and that has certainly contributed to the development of the Lane culture.

Does Lane’s Culture Provide a Competitive Advantage?

There is no doubt that Lane’s culture is a strategic asset. Most companies with which I am familiar would deeply covet such a culture. It is also easy to conclude that Lane’s culture provides the company with operational strengths on a day-to-day basis that are just not present in other companies. However, for a strategic asset to become a competitive advantage, it must be able to be leveraged in the marketplace. It also must be visible and evident to customers, suppliers, and competitors. When viewed in this context, the answer to this key question is not so clear.

Lane currently acquires almost all of its business through government sponsored bids. In the bidding process, as long as all bidders can demonstrate the technical ability to do the job, the lowest bid wins. Having employees that are more experienced in the company’s methods than those of competitors does not necessarily translate directly to lower costs. A highly experienced workforce would probably translate better to a company strategy of higher quality, rather than one of low cost producer. However, Lane’s experienced workforce does lower costs of a project in an indirect way. The higher level of knowledge and experience on a project reduces the amount of rework that must be done, the processes are cleaner, and fewer mistakes are made. Nevertheless, these attributes do not necessarily lead to a low cost bid on a project, and any government entity that is choosing a vendor for a project would be hard pressed to select one that is not the lowest bidder.

It is our conclusion that while Lane’s culture certainly provides the company with operational strengths and flexibility, it does not provide a strategic competitive advantage in the markets where Lane currently competes. This would likely change if Lane decides at some point to enter markets where quality of work is paramount to winning jobs.

Can Lane’s Culture be Sustained?

Another obvious question that comes to mind when being exposed to such a unique culture as Lane’s, is how long can this last? There is no way of predicting, but it seems to have lasted a long time at this point. One way that strong cultures get changed and diluted is through mergers and acquisitions. Yet, Lane has made many acquisitions over the years, and has folded them into the company and their culture very effectively. The Lane culture appears to exist everywhere in the company, regardless of how employees came to be part of Lane.

In fact, Lane’s culture was probably a strength when integrating acquisitions. Seeing and meeting large groups of loyal, dedicated Lane employees would have to ease the anxieties of employees whose companies were being acquired.

Lane has grown significantly over the past several years, through internal growth as well as acquisitions. During that growth, the company has done a masterful job of maintaining the strength of their culture. However, the question at hand is can it continue? There is no doubt that the company wants to continue to grow, and more acquisitions seem likely. Logic would say that further growth over time, especially through acquisitions, will lead to dilution of culture, regardless of how strong that culture might be. Our guess is that Lane’s culture will evolve over time, as is only natural, but most of the major attributes of the culture will be carried forward. The culture is so strong at Lane that it is impossible to believe it will totally disappear within the foreseeable future.

* * * * * *

The culture of loyalty is extremely strong at Lane. In our view, it is one of a kind. It took decades to develop, but was certainly guided by the company establishing values that it thought were right, and then living up to those values. While the culture provides a wealth of operating advantages to the company on a day-to-day basis, it does not necessarily create a competitive advantage in the market in which Lane currently does business. However, the culture is strong enough to be a competitive advantage should Lane decide to enter different types of markets. We believe the culture is so strong at Lane that we would not bet against it surviving over the long term. It has already survived through numerous growing pains, business pressures, and economic cycles. In our opinion, the culture and the company will go hand-in-hand for many more decades into the future.

McGee Partners LLC is a professional services firm located in Avon, Connecticut. The firm offers professional services in the areas of business management, financial management, and business improvements. More information about McGee Partners can be found on their website at http://mcgeepartners.net William M. (Bill) McGee is a Managing Partner with the firm and led the survey on loyalty for Lane.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_McGee

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