Leadership Fundamentals

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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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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In this episode, Chris McCann, President and COO of 1-800-FLOWERS, America’s largest florist and online gift shop, goes undercover to try and understand what practices the company is lacking in and how to battle the image of his company as simply an internet business.

A little background information: His older brother, James McCann, started his chain of florist shops — at the time known as Flora Plenty — in the New York City Metropolitan area in 1976. In 1986, he made the important decision to acquire the 1-800-flowers phone number and changed the company name. They were reportedly the first company to incorporate a toll-free number into their business name. They were no stranger to leadership.

Their vision of where business was headed had them on the internet in the 1990s. They have been around for 33 years and have grown to a billion dollars in annual sales. They pride themselves on quality and in knowing who their core customers are. And they know how to keep their costs in line. They had 5 service centers a few years ago and were able to cut that down to 2, offering their employees the ability to work from home and make more money. You’ll recognize some of their companies immediately — Fannie May Confections, the Wine Tasting Network, the Popcorn Factory, Plow & Hearth.

They obviously know how to run a successful business, but they wanted to know firsthand where improvements could be made that would benefit the company and its employees. So Chris went undercover, and spent a week going to several 1-800-flowers locations. He discovered the reason why one of their most profitable locations did so well. The woman who managed it, Dee, had built strong relationships with people in the community. She treated patrons like family and their loyalty made them staunch customers. Chris recalls that his brother Jim’s philosophy is to build relationships first, then do business. Chris considered her “fantastic”. In fact, he was so inspired by her, the company named a floral arrangement after her: Dee’s Paradise.

As usual, there are employees here who are of great value. The creative floral designer who paid for her own classes and seminars to keep up with new trends in the industry. The store manager who understands that well-to=-do potential customers are put off by the company name, or don’t realize it’s an actual florist, not just an internet service. When an undercover boss is willing to go to the trenches, he leaves with a bundle of information which, if acted upon, will strengthen the company and create dedicated employees.

P.S. Chris did extremely well with the flowers, but not so good with the Fanny Mae chocolates. It was reminiscent of Lucy and Ethel’s I Love Lucy episode which took place in a candy factory. Neither one of them could keep up with the conveyor belt and ended up stuffing chocolates in their pockets and mouths and anyplace else they could think of.

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The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves; wiser people are full of doubts.
—Bertrand Russell

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a mans character, give him power.
— Abraham Lincoln, 16th American president

In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.
— Warren Buffet, American financier

“It may easily come to pass that a vain man may become proud and imagine himself pleasing to all when he is in reality a universal nuisance”
— Baruch Spinoza, Dutch Philosopher

Seek always to do some good, somewhere. Every man has to seek in his own way to realize his true worth. You must give some time to your fellow man. For remember, you don’t live in a world all your own. Your brothers are here too.
— Albert Schweitzer, Alsatian German-French theologian, organist, philosopher, and physician.

Where is all this going? The beliefs expressed above are an excellent guide to good management behavior. Why? Because the underlying meaning to true power is the art of persuasion.

How does one go about persuading people to act in accordance with management goals and their own personal goals? The answer lies with some basic ethical elements of human behavior which will align them with your own strivings. It comes down to that old saying “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

All of the above quotes have something to do with the following:

• Fairness
• Honesty
• Understanding
• Participation
• Trust

I have often wondered where we get these traits from, or more precisely, HOW we get them. I do not believe it is heredity as much as teachings. Yet the astounding fact is that we do not seem to get them just by following the good people who practice them. When I was younger, Albert Schweitzer* became one of my heroes and still is. But there were plenty of examples in the world of people who were always takers, never givers. People for whom prejudice and hatred was a part of their daily existence. People who never forgot a grudge. These people I also learned from.

They taught me the path I did not want to choose. They were self-involved, close-minded to others’ problems, almost childish in their constant preoccupation with themselves.

I would love to know where and how others learned to put personal gain and aggrandizement aside and to help others succeed.

*If you would like to read more on Albert Schweitzer, medical missionary, philosopher, pastor, and Nobel Peace Prize winner who gave so much to the world, you can read more about this remarkable man here:
Albert Schweitzer, biography

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In the April 2, 2010 airing of Undercover Boss,  Rick Arquilla, President and COO of Roto-Rooter, goes undercover to examine the daily lives of his workers. Although it’s not a particularly easy episode to watch — sewage, opening drains, pulling out hair and old towels from stopped up plumbing — it is once again a real eye opener for those, like myself, who are  interested in the day-to-day work lives of the unsung heroes of the work world. Heck, I remember one of my own crises only this year, when our kitchen sink stopped up. Who do you think we called? Yep, that’s right – Roto-Rooter! We were faced with dozens of ads in the Yellow Pages, but we didn’t want to fool around. We’ve had experiences in the past with local companies which didn’t call us back or couldn’t come within 24 hrs. In our case, there had been a built-up of grease. Parenthetically, I should say we have septic and well water. What I learned from it is to wipe grease and oil completely off pans and dishes with paper towels and try and prevent it from getting into the system at all.

But I digress. Let’s get back to the show, shall we? We first see Rick in New Orleans, then in Chicago. He’s going under the name of “Hank”. Once again, the employees have a hard time training the newbie. You can see this in their expressions, rolling of their eyes, and their comments. It’s obvious their  opinion is that this newbie is NOT going to make it. What really amazes me is how good most of these people are at their jobs. I’d do anything to hold on to them. For instance, the customer service person who tells him “you talk AT the customers and interrupt them”. He concedes that he has done that a number of times. She explains “I love our customers”. She tells them “basically, you want to be their hero”. He admits ” I gotta be a little warmer and fuzzier”.

I loved it when he was back in New Orleans, and being shown the ropes again at a nursing home with a problem. His “teacher” is obviously frustrated and says “Today’s his first day. Only time will tell — he may be my boss one of these days.” Well, that made me grin. Rick said “This was probably a little more than I had bargained for.”

As with past shows, he gets to have a one-on-one conversation with one of the workers. Chris reveals his past problems and recovery from alcohol and drugs, something that almost destroyed his life. Rick can fully sympathize, because his own father was an alcoholic, and it destroyed his life and impacted on his children. You watch Rick experience very emotional reactions, and he is clearly in tears hearing the worker’s story. In the end, he confesses “You taught me how to be a better person”.

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“A close friend of mine, a senior manager for a large London publishing company and the epitome of steadiness and understatement, suddenly, around thirty-five, found himself plunged into a complete abyss over the path his life had taken. He looked around one day and wondered how he could carefully construct, over so many years, a daily life he could barely endure.”

–David Whyte, The Heart Aroused : Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America

It’s a cumulative thing, this losing of the soul.

It may start with something as simple as keeping silent when you disagree with your boss’s opinion.

If you’re a manager contributing to loss of soul

– It may have dawned on you that as you rose up through the ranks,  those friends and associates you used to lunch and chat with all the time are no longer  part of your “friendships”. In fact, your friendships are now with those who are on similar rungs of the corporate ladder and have status the same as yours or greater — never lower.

–  You no longer share personal information with those lower on the ladder.

– All or most of the information you know about your employees would fit nicely in a spreadsheet.

– You cannot tolerate anyone knowing that there is something you do not know or do not have the answer for. Ignorance in any business topic must not be admitted to. Therefore, you have drifted into becoming very guarded in your conversations. Others quickly recognize this, and so a loss of trust occurs. Without trust, your direct reports won’t feel they can raise any issues with you, so now the loss of trust is accompanied by deception and avoidance of hot topics. Because of the working relationship the above generates, you suspect — and are undoubtedly correct — that the team is talking about you negatively behind your back. But at least they know who’s in charge.

– You cannot remember the last time you were able to laugh at yourself or admit to any shortcomings.

Experiencing Loss of Soul

In the middle of the road of my life I awoke in a dark wood where the true way was wholly lost
-- Dante Alighieri

Losing the soul in the workplace is almost like a bereavement. There is a disconnection, a lack of engagement. The days seem longer, the accomplishments diminished, talents feel unappreciated or unused. An emptiness settles in. There is a general feeling of unease, being on guard, being less open. Where the emotional high of workday anticipation carried you along to work on wings, you begin to feel a heavy heart and feet of clay.

The challenge in modern corporate America is to hold on to the values we are taught in our personal lives – creativity, compassion, duty, sharing, and yes – understanding. In order to be whole, we cannot separate our humanity from our working lives.

Recovering the Soul

If you are in management and you have been in the same workplace for a long period of time, it may not be possible to recover the soul without moving on and moving out. Your persona has been established there and it will be difficult to change it, but it can be done — with patience and resolve. Initially, those who have worked with you simply won’t believe that the change in you is anything but temporary.  As time goes on and day settles upon day, this should come to pass. As long as it’s an honest resolve and deeper understanding, it can be done.

Take a good look around you. Do you see individuals, people with objectives, losses, striving, creativity? Or do you just see bodies performing tasks? Do you believe that most people want to give their best effort? What are your beliefs and when was the last time you looked at them? When was the last time you looked at members of your team as something more than job titles?

There is a wonderful dialogue in Amy Tan’s book, The Joy Luck Club, where June  protests to her mother:

... no matter
what you hope for...

I'll never be more
than what I am.

And you never see that!

And her mother responds:

I see you. I see you.

We must all see each other.

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