How many companies can create excitement about a new product like Apple does? Once again, with the advent of the iPad they are in the lead when it comes to creative disruption. Creative disruption is when a person creates something or solves a problem that transforms. Nintendo also did it with its Wii console. Did you know that one of the fastest growing markets for the Wii is nursing homes where residents can get exercise and be entertained at the same time? Wow, who knew?

Disruptive leadership is a concept that is rapidly gaining ground in the new millennia – leaders create problems that must be solved. The solving of the problem serves as the catalyst for the organization to create change, whether that change is a new product, new service, or just a new way of doing things. When an organization has to solve a problem, it can provoke the necessary motivation to make a huge leap in innovation.

It can be hard for a leader to create problems. It’s counterintuitive when you think that most of us are taught from an early age to either fix a problem quickly or find a way to get rid of it. A study on NPR a few months ago noted that in a classroom, kids with disruptive behavior have more influence than the kids who behaved. If you took out the behaving kids from the class, it made no difference to the learning environment, but if you took out the kids who were disruptive it made the class unstable in a negative way.

But we teach kids to behave and we do the same thing at work – teach people to behave by solving problems we want them to solve.

As a leader, who do you look for in the next generation of leadership? The person who behaves or the person who disrupts?

True disruptive leadership comes from learning continuously and managing chaos. While change can be chaotic and distressing to some, if an organization and its people do not evolve, that stagnation can be fatal. Apple realized it when Pat Scully kicked out Steve Jobs and they later had to bring Jobs back in resurrect the company.

Sometimes it’s better to be disruptive than to behave.

So, how to begin to think like a disruptive leader? There is a wonderful case study in Forbes magazine about P&G’s invention of Align, an over-the-counter probiotic supplement. Check it out here. In the article ,chief technology officer Bruce Brown offers the following words of wisdom for those wishing to become disruptive leaders. He says:

Be a coach, not a gatekeeper. Don’t just say yes or no – work along side your team to help them solve the problems the encounter.

Embrace uncertainty. There are innumerable opportunities for creative disruption. Disruptive opportunities are characterized by high levels of assumption and low levels of knowledge.

Learn to trust your judgment. Your gut is based on past experience and intuition. Making decisions based on only hard data might be a mistake.

Change your mind. Stop meetings midstream to get new people in the room to change the dynamics and the thinking.

Problems are opportunities to misbehave. Your mindset will determine how clearly you see what is in front of you.  Problem…or opportunity?

Aim to Misbehave is a post from: The HR Whisperer

I was listening to the radio the other day on my way home from the ever-present swim team car pool drive (an hour and a half round trip, ugh) and heard the radio jockeys talking about Valentine’s Day and an article on they found on the Internet related to “64  Ways to Say I Love You.” 

Of course, I went to check it out and thought it was great fun – and something that would be worth translating into showing the love for employees or volunteers.

You see, we don’t do that enough.  And its been worse lately as folks are stressing over the lack of jobs and the lack of a decent economy.  Recognizing employees (and each other’s) contributions takes work – strengthening the relationship takes work – and retaining employees takes work.

So, in honor of Valentine’s day, here’s my list of 64 ways to let employees know you care. 

64 Ways to Show Employee Love

1. Be courteous.
2. Encourage physical and mental health.
3. Have fun. 
4. Don’t compare employees to each other.
5. Give your full attention. 
6. Trust. 
7. Truly listen to what the employee is saying (no multi-tasking!).
8. Be respectful.
9. Share some humor.
10. Be interested in the employee’s interests.
11. Be a cheerleader. 
12. Highlight the employee’s accomplishments.
13. Bring in pizza.
14. Ask for input.
15. Let bygones be bygones; embrace the present – and the future. 
16. Accept the fact that nobody’s perfect. 
17. Play hooky together. 
18. Show interest in the whole person, not  just the at-work person.
19. Catch more flies with honey than vinegar – be nice.
20. Apologize. 
21. Live by the Golden Rule.
22. Better yet, the Platinum Rule-do unto others as they like…unto them.
23. Tell the employee you appreciate him or her. 
24. Take a group picture and post it in your office.
25. Encourage risk-taking and from that, learning.
26. Talk about the day.
27. Laugh.  Best de-stressor outside of prescription drugs.
28. Pick your battles.
29. Have a vision and share it with inspiration.
30. Don’t be competitive; it’s a team effort.
31. Forget about labels – everyone is unique and special.
32. Don’t forget about the commonalities, though.
33. Have an ice cream sundae contest.
34. Watch a great teambuilding movie together like Remember the Titans.
35. Write a “you did an outstanding job” note once a week and mean it.
36. Share company war stories or historical (hysterical) tales.
37. Keep your word.
38. Have them plan the work and then work the plan.
39. Go to a seminar together.
40. Encourage them to join a professional association.
41. Bake cookies in the microwave and share.
42. Be a good idea-bouncer-offer.
43. Show your gratitude; you really can’t do the job without them.
44. Consider employees’ perspectives.
45. Respect personal lives and personal time.
46. Praise publically.
47. Correct privately.
48. Be a person that others want to be around.
49. Take pride in the employee’s large accomplishments.
50. Take pride in the employee’s small accomplishments, too.
51. Share a sincere compliment about the employee in front of other people.
52. Make time for the employee.
53. Recognize that everyone makes mistakes.
54. Give $1 lottery ticket, because they are a winner no matter what.
55. Give space when they need it.
56. Communicate a lot.
57. Be honest.
58. Ask for feedback on your leadership style.
59. Do something constructive with that feedback once you get it.
60. Teach tolerance.
61. Reconnect – do a fun team building exercise.
62. Give the benefit of the doubt.
63. Tell them how important they are to the success of the team and of the business.
64. Be a servant leader.

 True leadership does not dominate – it cultivates.
– HR Whisperer

64 Ways to Show Employee Love is a post from: The HR Whisperer

Yes, this is really me in Steamboat, CO!

With the new year beginning, I started thinking about what the year might hold for the workplace and employees.  Well, I’ll be honest; I was really thinking about snow and skiing.  Those two are at least fun —  I know,  I know.  Unless you have to get on the roof with the hairdryer to de-ice the gutters before the second storm hits and the snow wrecks the house (true story).   Been there, done that.  Sunny Florida beckoned.  I went.  Still miss snow, though.

But it did get me thinking about employees and their needs.  There’s this old adage that says, red sky at night, sailors’ delight; red sky at morning sailors take warning.  Meteorologists and sailors alike know that a red dawn means high water content from an approaching low pressure system.  Simply put, a [snow] storm is brewing.

Well, we have a red dawn coming.  Employers have enjoyed loyalty from their workforce, especially with the down economy.  While 2010 may still be a downer, things seem to be looking up job-wise, which means that employees will soon be on the move again.  There’s a tempest coming and with it new work ethics, attitudes and priorities.  It’s the perfect storm.

But, in spite of record unemployment, a dismal economy, and Gen Y entering the workforce, employees still have the same expectations they always did.  Spherion points out in its 2009 Emerging Workforce Study that despite the significant change workers have witnessed over the past few years, there is surprisingly little change in how they perceive the employment relationship.  While people may stay at an organization because the current economy demands they do so, holding a job and being motivated in that position are two vastly different things. 

So, how can organizations prepare for the stormy employer-employee relationship in 2010?  Three things: 1) concentrate on the social-emotional connection, 2) offer developmental opportunities that link to the organizational mission, and 3) take advantage of social media.

          Focus on the social-emotional connection.  One of the greatest causes of misery for employees is the feeling that the organization they work for isn’t interested in who they are and what goes on in their lives.  Combat this by training supervisors in social-emotional intelligence.  No matter what the business climate, the generation of the worker, or the technology available, all people want to feel important.  The Hawthorne Studies of 1924 found that if managers paid more attention and cared about employees, it raised morale and increased productivity.  That still holds true today: a recent worldwide engagement study that found that organizations with the highest percent of motivated employees increased income 19% and earnings per share 28%.  Creating the social-emotional connection also means that basic HR programs have to be in place to meet employee needs.  This includes having a decent compensation and benefits package, providing accommodations for the disabled; offering flexible work arrangements, establishing special-interest networks, and presenting good career prospects.

          Provide developmental opportunities that link to the organization’s mission and vision.  The “perfect storm” of the emerging employment contract implies that there will never be job security, that employment will be contingent on added value, and that workers have the right to demand the freedom and resources to do their jobs well.  So, if workers are to add value, help them by providing ample opportunity to improve skills and capabilities.  There are many ways to do this such as through education and training, job enrichment or enlargement, coaching and feedback.

          Take advantage of social media.  Social media is the new way of connecting and tech-savvy workers are using it to keep in touch with friends and family, share information, surf for a new job, and provide opinions on their work and their workplace.  Social media is a virtual conversation and because of this, business is now a virtual conversation.  With the advent of social media, an organization’s brand or reputation can be literally one comment away from disaster – from a Twitter blurb, Facebook post or Epinions review.  Someone out there is talking about the organization and they can say whatever it is they want.  What you can do though, is help manage the conversation.

Managing the conversation however, does not mean telling employees what to say.  It means creating an authentic atmosphere where people can initiate a conversation.  In the era of business transparency, empowering people to tell the truth can be risky, but also rewarding.  Think about how your organization can use social media to its advantage.  Introduce rules of engagement for employees and encourage them participate with an understanding of those rules.  Use social connections to share information about the company – create organization Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, or company wikis and blogs where people can share information, celebrate accomplishments, trade opinions. If something bad pops up, have a person in the organization accountable for responding to it appropriately.  Just keep the conversation going.

While workers may be staying in their respective jobs due to the economy, if the relationship is not a strong one – or is abused – when the storm is over, employees will leave for greener pastures.  Whether it’s today or tomorrow, organizations that invest in their people will find that their people will invest in them.

Employee Snow Storms is a post from: The HR Whisperer

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, I’ve decided to share my top ten reasons why any organization should be thankful for HR.    Here goes:

 10 – We figure out where to find people to get the job done, even if there are no niche employees to be found who are experts in Java, HTML, Sequel Pro, Cobol 2.56a, team building, play a mean set of drums, AND come to work on time – sober.

 9 – We understand that it is difficult to merge Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Al-Hijira, Bodhi Day and the Wiccan Yule for the annual holiday get-together.  But we do it anyway.

 8 – We explain – in simple terms – why NO ONE will be getting a raise this year, merit or otherwise.  We also explain why the C-suite got an increase in stock options.  We’ve got the bruises to prove it.

 7 – Instead of asking, “where’s the form for that?” we take care of it.

 6 – We tell you that your supervisors suck at managing people and then try to do something to make them better.

 5 – We say “no” even though the boss may not like it or it hurts, ’cause it’s good for business.  We also say “yes” when it’s good for business.

 4 – We routinely manage FLSA, ADA, FMLA, COBRA, OSHA, and HIPPA  – hell, do you know what these even are?

 3 – We cover your ass, legal and otherwise.

2 – We take care of all the people crap no one else wants to deal with.

 1 – We put the LEAD in Leadership.

First Annual We’re Not Turkeys List is a post from: The HR Whisperer

It kills me, just kills me, when I read about HR-related issues in BusinessWeek magazine.  I know  it is a business-related sheet and all, but they don’t always make me feel all warm and fuzzy when they start talking about the human side of things.  It’s not often that an article will catch my eye, but in this case one did and so is the inspiration for this week’s blog. 

The October 5^th article, “The No-Cost Way to Motivate,” by Patrick Lencioni who also wrote The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, focuses on the fact that no matter who you are or what you do, everyone wants someone to be interested in them, both personally and professionally.  Lencioni says:

                “One of the greatest causes of misery for employees is the feeling that the person they work for isn’t interested in who they are and what goes on in their lives, personally or professionally. Regardless of how much money people make and whether their jobs suit them, if they feel anonymous they’ll dread going to work – and return home deflated…a manager needs to be interested in employees from a professional standpoint too, not only in job details, but also in motivation. And a big part of this is helping people figure out why their job matters to someone, somewhere in some way large or small.”

The famous Hawthorne Studies of 1924 found that if managers paid a more attention to employees and seemed to care about them, it raised morale and increased productivity.  That was followed by an additional 80+ years of research that essentially told us the same thing.  Then in 2008, Towers Perrin did an employee engagement study that found that  firms with the highest percent of engaged employees increased income 19% and earnings per share 28%. 

So it seems everybody is getting on the bus.  Even BusinessWeek.  So why don’t we see it in practice then?

As the HR Whisperer, this particular concept is one that I have been preaching about for years.  To be motivated at work, everyone needs what I call the EDA:  exercise, discipline and affection.*  You’ve got these, then you’ve got engagement.

Want to motivate employees and get them engaged?  Then use EDA:

Exercise – Give employees the opportunity to improve their skills and capabilities.  There are a ton of ways to do this, such as through education and training,  job enrichment or enlargement, coaching and feedback.  Provide opportunities for folks to have input into decision-making and to be innovative in their thinking or problem solving.  Exercising the brain keeps people interested and involved.

Discipline – Work with employees to set goals and strategies to achieve those goals.  The discipline of planning the work and working the plan creates that line of sight for achievement.  Additionally, provide challenging work assignments that not only broaden skills, but can serve as career advancement opportunities.  This will demonstrate to employees that stick-to-itness will reap rewards.

Affection – Employees continually tell us they want senior management interested in their well being and good relationships with their supervisors.  Lack of a good supervisor relationship is the number one reason people leave their jobs.  In Social Intelligence and the Biology of the Pack Leader, I talk about the importance of the supervisor-employee relationship.  To me, this is the biggie — and Lencioni agrees.

Of course there is no sure fire, quick fix.  Motivation depends on the individual’s perception of what is a valued motivator to them.  But even BusinessWeek tells us that if we pay attention to our employees and work to meet their needs, we’re going to get a pretty decent return on our investment.  And that’s a no brainer.

*I must give credit to Cesar Millan, whose catch phrase for creating a balanced canine is “exercise, discipline, and affection.”

Exercise, Discipline and Affection is a post from: The HR Whisperer

Living in Florida has really gotten me accustomed to thunderstorms. I was driving in the car with my husband the other day and we were looking at these gorgeous fluffy clouds that were stacking up on top of each other. My husband, the wonderful scientist that he is, put on his meteorologist’s cap and educated me on the concept of convergence.

CAUTION: THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD!

The University of Illinois defines convergence as “an atmospheric condition that exists when there is a horizontal net inflow of air into a region. When air converges along the earth’s surface, it is forced to rise since it cannot go downward.” This happens a lot in Florida. Since the state is a peninsula, it gets battered with moist cool air coming in from the Atlantic and the Gulf coasts. When that air interacts with the heated land mass it forms those beautiful stacks of clouds called cumulonimbus. If the convergence is strong enough, which it is during the summer months in Florida, those cumulonimbus clouds often end up turning into thunderstorms.

Of course this discussion on convergence got me thinking once again about human behavior. What if a team has people with both “hot and cold air,” who are converging at a rate that makes them clash, causing massive thunderstorms?

Now, when we talk about convergence in an organizational teaming sense, it means that the group has come together to complete a task in which the impact that each person has on the task and on the team is profound. We could also define this as synergy – when the outputs are more than the sum. Bruce Tuckman is probably most famous for his “form, storm, norm, perform” model, in which he illustrates the development of teams. He says that when teams are in the storming stage of development they are not yet a team as they are internally focused or driven by personal agendas. It is when the group moves into the “norm” stage, where social and other rules have been established, that the group transforms into a team. At this point things do become very powerful and electric – and this spark of energy is just what the organization needs.

But what if this convergence is more like Florida’s thunderstorms rather than a Fourth of July celebration?

Here are some things you can do to help move your group from storming to norming:

• Educate the team on the concept of social/emotional intelligence; that while they cannot control what other people do or say, they can control how they respond. When we are aware of how our emotions control our responses and how our responses control our behavior and ultimately our success, we are more apt to modify our behavior to be more effective. It’s the concept of calm, assertive energy.
• Make sure there is a team mission that clearly identifies what the team is to do and how it will go about doing it. A good team mission will provide clarity, delineate a reason for being in existence and align members around a common goal. Once the mission is in place, you can start dealing with the issues of trust and integrity to help develop and strengthen the teaming relationship.
• Make sure that everyone on the team has an individual role to play. People want to be a part of something bigger, but they also want accountability. When they know what individual success means, they will be more apt to exert the effort to contribute to the team goal as well.
• Develop some team ground rules or a working agreement. If everyone agrees on a certain way of behaving, individuals are more apt to adhere to those roles since they had a part in making them.
• Serve as a coach, no matter what role you play in the team. Most often the coach role is reserved for the team leader or facilitator, but I personally feel that when we all have accountability for building the team, we can build that trust through our demonstration of compassion and empathy for other team members. It takes patience and courage, but you can help move the team from storming to performing through the consistency of your behavior.
• Don’t let the conflict stay in the clouds. Help the team leader or facilitator draw out and resolve differences before they get to critical mass. Conflict in teams is normal; it’ how you deal with it that is important. Not acknowledging conflict just makes things worse.

Remember, in a team sense, thunderstorms can be a good thing.

It’s Not Nice to Fool with Mother Nature is a post from: The HR Whisperer

You know, as the HR Whisperer, I’m really enamored with the whole idea of creating top performing organizations through positive behavior change. One of my favorite mentors, Cesar Millan, says, “A dog that doesn’t trust its human to be a good pack leader becomes unbalanced and often exhibits unwanted or antisocial behaviors.” It struck me that the same is true for people in organizations. We need to have strong leadership because in many cases our very business survival depends on a stable, organized and motivated team. Business survival instinct is perhaps one of our greatest natural motivators in the workplace and if a person is not guided well, it can not only result in unwanted behavior but total chaos in the long run.

So, I’m digging this concept and working it through in my brain as to how this relates to human capital and wouldn’t you know, I web-stumbled across an article recently published by Harvard Business Review (September 2008). Written by Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis, “Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership” discusses new studies of the brain that show that business leaders can improve team performance by understanding not the psychology, but the biology of social intelligence. How cool. It struck me that scientists have discovered a biological underpinning to what makes a good leader great, which could toss more fuel on the fire in the “leaders are born, not made” camp. (Which I don’t subscribe to, by the way. I believe that anyone, given time and effort can change their behavior – even interpersonally. That’s why I’m in the business I’m in. Oh, I feel another blog topic coming on! <huge grin>)

More on the biology of leadership from Harvard Business Review:

“The salient discovery is that certain things leaders do—specifically, exhibit empathy and become attuned to others’ moods—literally affect both their own brain chemistry and that of their followers. Indeed, researchers have found that the leader-follower dynamic is not a case of two (or more) independent brains reacting consciously or unconsciously to each other. Rather, the individual minds become, in a sense, fused into a single system. We believe that great leaders are those whose behavior powerfully leverages the system of brain interconnectedness…If we are correct, it follows that a potent way of becoming a better leader is to find authentic contexts in which to learn the kinds of social behavior that reinforce the brain’s social circuitry. Leading effectively is, in other words, less about mastering situations—or even mastering social skill sets—than about developing a genuine interest in and talent for fostering positive feelings in the people whose cooperation and support you need.”

Wow. The idea that leaders need good interpersonal as well as functional skills has certainly been around for quite some time. As a matter of fact, Goleman coined the phrase, “social intelligence” to discuss this very thing. But what he and Boyatzis are talking about here is different – they’re saying that we have these things in our brains called mirror neurons that mimic what another person does. As social beings, when we “consciously or unconsciously detect someone else’s emotions through their actions, our brain’s mirror neurons reproduce those emotions and allow us to instantly share that experience.” Ever notice when two people are deep in discussion they tend to hold their arms the same way or cross their legs at the same time? That’s the mirror neurons in action.

 So, how can leaders take advantage of this brain interconnectedness? If it stands to reason that followers will create a social connection with their leader, it also stands to reason that they will emotionally feel whatever it is the leader is feeling and behave accordingly. If leaders are emotionless, don’t smile or otherwise engage their followers, they will not activate the mirror neutrons in a positive way, leading to distressed and nonperforming followers, and thus the potential for business chaos. Body language plays a great part also. If a leader’s body language doesn’t jibe with what is being said, the follower will go with the body language. Bodies don’t tell lies, mouths do.

 The bottom line is that when people feel good about what they are doing, when they have a social connection with their leaders, when they feel part of something that is bigger than them, those mirror neurons come in handy. Reinforce the brain’s social circuitry — if you want to motivate those around you, create a positive atmosphere. If you want higher performance or enhanced creativity, be in a good mood and show you care.

If you truly want the best from your followers, kick those mirror neutrons into high gear and create an environment where sincere respect, fun, laughter and performance are a serious part of your business operations.

Social Intelligence and the Biology of the Pack Leader is a post from: The HR Whisperer