Possible

"In life there are creators and destroyers, which one are you?"
- George Lucas

Whoever developed the phrase, "ignorance is bliss", may have missed the point entirely. It seems the more knowledge we gain, the more jaded we become. If someone smiles upon us on the street we look at them sideways. It is, indeed, easier to be negative than to brave a life of positivity. With life's pressures enveloping us, we may look upon those with love in their heart as naive. Then, we grow weary and choose to invite others into our perfect world....and things get messy...

"I was thinking about how everyone is dying...and maybe it's time to live"
- Mark Oliver Everett

There are people who walk through the world waiting for others to fail. They live for the "I told you so" moment. They fear doing anything of value to others and choose only to sit in judgement. It is far easier criticise than to take action.

When Did You Give Up?
There is a man who sits on the corner stool at the local watering hole. He arrives a few minutes after quitting time each day, drinks several beers, and seeks arguments with transient patrons. He has spent years perfecting his ability to defend his lack of effort in life. He derives pleasure from making others feel less intelligent than he. If he would have spent each evening at the library he may have found a way to conquer his worst enemy....himself.

Do you have the ability to get hit and get back up? Does getting back in the ring make you a dum dum? You'll never know if you don't try.

Here's How Possible Happens....
I love being around my children because they have yet to understand the word impossible. We all rush into our careers full of motivation and new ideas. Over time, we run into people who have tried and failed too many times to keep trying. They will do everything in their power to maintain the realm of possibility in your professional world. You should exist to prove them wrong.

Start asking "what if" and never let a conversation end until you've pondered other options.

Find Something Worth Fighting For!
Completing tasks for the sake of getting them done is a waste of effort. Winning for the sake of keeping one's job is not motivating. We need to thrive personally and professionally.

What do you genuinely love? Would you pursue a career as a musician with the same lack of ingenuity that has come to characterize your professional existence? Would you be proud to bring your child into a team meeting? Is your boss someone you admire? Do you believe in what your company represents?

The same blood that pumps love into your heart, pumps energy into your brain. Your motivation is an extension of what you believe is worth fighting for.

What are you fighting for?

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Thank You!

"...and you're so much like me, I'm sorry" - Ben Folds

It seems these days my apologies and Thank You's are bed mates. I have a pedigree about me that is in equal parts inspiring and puzzling (from what I gather). Much of my time is met with furrowed brows but most all of my conversations conclude with a faithful nod. Indeed, to love me is to deal with me....so thanks to everyone who has been bold enough to try.

"we're too much a lot alike while all we do is try....carefully" - Tim Delaughter

I will shamefully admit that my greatest moments are spent in a coffee shop at 5am: coffee by my side, head phones on, lap top fired up. It may seem a sad & lonely existence, but it is merely the 2 hours a day that I escape from my perfect life. It is so very hard to welcome people into one's world...and I am responsible for so many of them.

"so let's dim the daylights for the sweethearts that we are...some times I find myself, still lying in your arms" - Ryan Adams  

I've got the greatest wife in the world: as the scoreboard goes, she may have seen the worst of me more often than she's seen me at my best. My father is simply the world's kindest man. My mother has been sick since I was in High School, I'm certain I've seen her at her worst more than either of us would like to admit. My daughter has her mother's skin and my eyes, she has more determination than anyone I have ever met. My son, like his Grandfather, genuinely cares for people in a way I could never fathom. More than anyone, my sister has taught me to become the person I am today, she gets no credit and expects none.

"comes a time when the blind man takes your hand and says, don't you see...?" - Jerry Garcia

I've been a champion, a captain, a president, a king, and so much more....forgive me for ignoring humility, but I consider none of it luck! You see, I've never been afraid to lose nor have I been afraid to be embarrassed and as a result neither has happened very often.

"make me something somebody can use" - John K. Samson 

In my mind there is a rolling credit...the humble ending to a wonderful movie...with the names of all those who have put up with me over the years. The sunset illuminates the beach, the leaves shimmer like tambourines, and we live the story of our lives.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

The Heart of Motivation

Are you striving to get closer to success or further from failure?

In the world of workforce motivation there seem to be 2 extreme camps:
1. Those who measure success only by performance metrics
2. Those who believe value contributing behaviors are equally essential success

Year of arrival on earth, organizational department, gender and/or title may play into which of the above mentioned groups one may fall under. There are those who think a job is a job; they get their work done and go home. Are they actively disengaged or simply content to work in their bubble? If we are competing only against ourselves does that make us any less competitive? Do performance results correlate to engagement? If you are a top performer but a terrible workplace citizen does that make you an asset or a liability? Should we look up to star performers based only on their performance metrics? If I am at 80% of my quota (but consistently willing to step outside the realm of my job responsibilities to help others) am I really under-performing?

What if I told you that you could crush your number and still be an admirable co-worker.

Why You Need Positive Reinforcement!
In years past, we've seen rewards and core values dismissed as "fluff". Still today, leaders are posturing that the new generation of workers shouldn't be rewarded for just showing up. However, the rise of corporate citizenship cannot be overlooked. Companies like Zappos and Toms have built their corporate mission on active value-driven participation. Community service is personifying collaborative corporate energy. Charitable contributions are now being given by employees in place of personal accolades. We've discovered that others don't need to lose for us to win. Internal competition is now being looked down upon as fuel for the entitled. Badges of goal attainment are certificates of learning more than trophies.

The premise is simple: you cannot wish to see repeated what you do not recognize!

We now know that our workforce is best served when we are humble in victory and accountable in defeat. We should reward in public and discipline behind closed doors. Rule by intimidation drives away top talent and kills company revenue. Empowering micro-manager's heavy handed tactics only entitles mediocrity.

Results Through Behavior Enhancement!
If we only reward based on statistics, two things happen:
1. The culture is built only on tactical efficiency.
2. Those who we prop up as leaders may not be the best influence on our rising stars.

Performing your job well is your first obligation to your organization. We seem to assume that if we recognize individuals for business critical behaviors they will stop accelerating. Wrong!

That which we do not recognize will not be repeated!

The top performers in most organizations are self-centered. They have to be laser focused on their personal track to success. This tends to make them disengaged co-workers. Too often, those who express the greatest self-focus do a poor job promoting the organization's collective mission.

Sustainable Success
If money is all you have to offer your employees they will leave when a better offer comes along. If your organization promotes something bigger than the individual; employees develop a belief system. You cannot measure belief: it is not a commodity that can be boxed or sold. Belief is a sustainable organic lifeblood that is hard to contract but highly contagious.

If I'm arriving only for a pay check, I will punch-in and punch-out.

If I believe in the cause, my office is everywhere!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave      

The End of the Good Ol' Boys Club

There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, "Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!"
- an excerpt from Aesop's Fable: The Boy Who Cried Wolf

A recent incident of harassment within an NFL organization has brought about consideration of age-old traditions in the workplace. There are those who consider certain rituals a right of passage and others who see no value in maintaining the way things have always been.

The world is changing. People are no longer comfortable with authority for the sake of authority and what has always been is being challenged. Tradition is giving way to innovation. This does not mean loyalty is dead, it means content is king. Information is now so readily available that it can no longer be protected. The silos are burning.

Rule #5 of the New Rules of Engagement: Be Boldly Transparent!

In this day-and-age of social media, privacy is at a premium. Why not act accordingly?

I sat in church last week while the Priest confronted the men in the audience. He posed questions to us to analyze our character. I was able to look him in the eye with great certainty. I'm far from perfect but I'm not hiding anything.

At least 2 NFL players have had a criminal past exposed this season. People have lost their jobs for protecting the entitled behavior of outstanding performers. To allow people special treatment because they possess a divine skill is no longer an option. Performance reviews in organizations are in equal part considering corporate citizenship alongside core skill metrics. Organizations are valuing collaboration over competition. Arrogance is being trumped by humility.

In 2013, I have been part of a speaking series called "HR as a Business Partner". We have discussed strategic organizational initiatives and HR's critical participation in change management. I want to believe that designing strategic programs, innovation strategy, culture building, and social citizenship are key HR directives; but I might be wrong.

Half of the workforce may now be viewed as irrelevant. Will they expose themselves by clinging to tradition? Will the explanation of its always been this way become an excuse for lack of inventive thinking?

While we strive to be a strategic business partner, HR may be spending a great deal of the next decade pondering the legalities of off-boarding workforce veterans. There may be an abundance of organizational psychology needed from Human Resources to battle the swift tide of this workforce succession.

If you are afraid to collaborate, you've never had a good idea!
Have you ever heard the saying, "its not what you know, it's who you know". I hate that saying! We cannot dismiss people's lack of ability simply because we love them.

I had to re-evaluate my professional life when I realized that I could not climb the corporate ladder. The people who were deemed "leaders" looked down upon this because they had backed their way into their titles by doing the safe thing. I lost faith in everything I always wanted......

Stop Protecting Mediocrity!
It does not matter when you were born, what cost center you fall under, or the distinction of your title.

There is 1 simple rule:
Let Your Awesomeness Shine!

There is no intricate performance management system necessary. It is not about who you know. If you are great at what you do you should have greater influence. If your content has no merit you can pretend for the sake of preservation but is that really how you want to represent yourself?

Success is a collective action. There are no winners when spite is the motivator.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Disengagement: I'm Not Buying It!

Gallup released it's "State of the Global Business" report for 2013. The results are unbelievable.

According to Gallup:

1. Worldwide, only 13% of Employees are Engaged at work. 

2. The Actively Disengaged outnumber the Engaged 2 to 1 in the workplace.

So, if 2 of every 10 of your employees are engaged you are an above average organization?

&

More people hate their job than those who love it?

Are you willing to accept that? 

...because I'm not!

How Do You Define Engagement?

The concept of Employee Engagement has been tied to Employee Recognition. They are not one-in-the-same. For instance, a plaque in recognition of 20 years of service may loosely be viewed as a benefit but it certainly isn't a strategic engagement tool. In the classes I have facilitated in the HR space this year, Baby Boomers are consistently pushing back on offering programs that afford the "trophy generation" a trophy for just showing up....but, then....isn't a service award the same thing? 

Gallup measures absenteeism (or lack there of) as an engagement metric. Really? Talk about rewarding people for just showing up. There is no such thing as being absent from work. We are working all the time. The problem is that certain organizations are choosing to measure engagement by the wrong metrics.
 

What's Your Currency?  

Rule #3 of the New Rules of Engagement is: Make Money a Non-Issue. What? We shall not work pro bono....what's in it for me? Guess what, fewer people are asking that question in today's workplace. 

In 2013, more people have used their recognition currency to support charities. More people in this day-and-age attend company sponsored community development events than ever before. A company's competitive advantage is now measured by how collaborative they are. 

Susan Andrews recently explained Citi's Innovation Strategy. This is a person who left the world's most innovative company to work for a bank. Why? Because it's easy to move forward at a forward-thinking company. Those who really want to make a difference take on seemingly insurmountable organizational roadblocks with a sledge hammer and a lot of conviction. 

We cannot create engagement by duplicating best practices. We have to explore and re-align to what will only work at our company. A vendor cannot sell us engagement, we have to create what is genuinely ours and use that as a strategic cultural advantage.
      

I Like Our Odds!

Engagement is the act of catapulting every employee to Self-Actualization. We don't believe that is possible because we lend too much credence to surveys, pay attention only to the squeaky wheels, buy one-size-fits-all programs from uninventive vendors, and think technology can solve human problems.

I'm not willing to accept 20% engagement as a standard for efficiency! We should all seek to be excellent not average. We should invest in our people by listening to and rewarding their ideas. We should kick down the boardroom door and put our plan on the table.

The professional world is shifting. If we don't change the way we design organizational initiatives (and promote those initiatives to tomorrows rock stars) we will drown on the ship called "Efficiency". Being average is not good enough. We need to stop relying on the turn-key stop gaps and seek to change the world.

We can change the world....one employee at a time!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave   

Creating the Essentials

None of us enjoy Monday Mornings. My Monday this week was especially challenging. Despite the transition from weekend wonder to work mode, our neighborhood experienced a power outage. I was awaken by my i-pod and showered in the dark. I navigated the halls by i-pod light, woke the kids up early, and we drove through the dark to find breakfast. Many of our neighborhood establishments were closed. Monday Dread: no light, no food, and 2 kids in-tow unsure why the Apocalypse was upon us.

With a character building morning behind me, the rest of the week seemed easy to conquer. It made me think: what do I really need and what have I been taking for granted? Indeed, our success is determined by a disciplined loyalty to a few simple actions.

Unconventional Approach
People are now more connected than ever. We no longer have to rely on publications for filtered information. There are people who speak with our own voice who we can interact with every day...people who we may never meet in-person. Consumerism is search-based, advertising is visual, and selling is no longer a matter of convincing but connecting.

If you do not speak with a unique voice, your time here will be ending soon.

The Ability to Differentiate
If consumers spend half of their time researching and there are millions of options; you better be doing something different. Likewise, if you come to meet with me you better know as much about my company as I do.

No one wants to be sold to anymore. People want you to paint a picture of the future with their brush...to inspire, to personify a future of infinite possibility.

What do you create that no one else can and why does it matter to me?

Genuine Purpose
Are you interesting? When you sit across from me will you bore me to sleep with corporate speak or will you grab my attention?

Think about the people who you remember meeting. Not so much friends or colleagues, but that person who caught your attention in the coffee shop by challenging your interest.

If you don't believe in what you are doing, no one will buy from you. If you don't have the ability to create something completely unique, no one will need it. If you can change my life in one conversation, I will follow you.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Set My People Free

Our developments in life are often predicated by tough love. Some times people tell us what we want to hear and some times people tell us what we have to hear. It is the metaphorical slap in the face by someone we respect telling us to stop acting like a baby and get our shit together.

People who risk alienating us may indeed be brave enough to save us. It might be a performance review, advice on the state of our start-up venture, or a friend telling us to dump the person we have been pretending to love.

We would rather hear that we are great than to hear we suck. This validates our behavior and keeps us on our path....which is awesome if we are moving forward. However, if the path we are strolling is a downward spiral to mediocrity, someone might need to grab us by our collar and slap us.

We all want to be loved by our peers, but if we love the people with whom we work, we owe them the favor of honesty.

When is it time to ring up the proverbial wake up call?

It's Time For You To Quit!
There are studies that measure one's level of engagement. Most of these studies tell us that half the people in the workforce hate their job. There is no merit to a survey that uses canned questions to tell a detached CEO that the company is doomed. You can, however, tell if someone is actively disengaged just by sitting next to them.

If a morning salutation is met with 17 different complaints (involving deeply personal insults at one's boss and co-workers) that person is beyond help. Some times the best advice you can give someone is that it is time for them to leave. I consistently preach the value of organizational culture and how engagement can improve retention. With that said, a certain degree of autonomy can be healthy. Some times people need a clean slate simply for the sake of losing their baggage.

Disengaged employees are poison! They turn Super Stars into skeptics, destroy optimism, and deflate every room they enter. They give the well-intentioned a reason to hate life because misery loves company. Over time, we tire of these grumps and they end up in the break room talking to themselves.

I'm Going To Tell You Something You Don't Want to Hear!
The majority of our peer conversations could be categorized as verbal complaint files. When we are frustrated we want to hear that our side of the story is the truth. We want validation that our frustration is not a result of our failure but the fault of others to understand our brilliance. In reality, when we fail to recognize our faults, we default to neutral.

People will nod their head, pat you on the back, and buy you a beer. Shortly after, they will call everyone of your co-workers and tell them to stay away from you. We often think that we are influencing others to join the resistance when they are actually marking us to be quarantined.

The Power of Giving Up
Are you motivated by the need to prove others wrong? There is no achievement in that game. Are you trying to motivate your employees by telling them they can keep their job if they perform well? If so, they will do just enough to stay employed.

Some times you need to pack up your baggage and leave the past behind. There is always reflection in change and an ability to re-create ourselves. There is no shame in quitting something you hate doing.

The best way to help someone understand that they are ruining your company culture is to ask them to validate their complaints with action items. If they have no answers, they will cast themselves upon the island of the malcontent.

Let them go. They will thank you later!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Assumed Authority: A Cautionary Tale

Last week, I wrote a piece about my journey to finding the perfect job. I know many are not so lucky. Some studies even indicate that most people hate their job. I found Dave Kerpen's latest contribution to the LinkedIn blog famously entertaining. The post highlighted the worst job candidate traits uncovered by a myriad of hiring professionals. Some examples were laughable, others were simply human. As I read Dave's post I found myself slightly put off by the assumed self-importance of these so-called hiring experts.

I investigated the marketplace for a solid year before joining my current company. I took any interview I could get to sharpen my skills and understand my options. I must say that the habits of interviewers can be as ludicrous as those of the worst job candidates.

Hiring professionals are the first line of promotion for any company. Make no mistake about it, the hiring process is a two-way street. I understand the notion that beggars cannot be choosers, but I would assume that any company would want to hire the best people and retain them for as long as possible. Many of the experiences I had speak to the contrary.

Don't Even Interview Over-Qualified Candidates
I was shocked by how unprepared many hiring professionals were. In many cases, I was called the wrong name and several neglected to research my qualifications.

If your job requires 3 years experience and I have 15, do you really think I want to go through the process of validating my skills to your commission only, fresh out of Jr. College, recruiter?

Don't Assume The Candidate Is Desperate For A Job
I received unsolicited advice from hiring professionals about how to format my resume and how to position myself in an interview. In some cases, I was never even extended the common courtesy of a "thanks but no thanks" email.

It is dangerous to assume a candidate is desperate for a job or to underestimate any given candidate. In fact, I would venture to guess that those who are most polished in the interviewing process are most used to interviewing.... so hire them, watch them leave in a year, and count your losses. At least your recruitment firm will have a solid spot in your budgeting plan.

Be Aware That Any Given Candidate Could Be Interviewing You Some Day

Whether you are interviewing potential hires, evaluating vendors, or managing employees; you should put yourself in the seat across the desk. Assuming you hold the seat of authority in any of the aforementioned processes is nothing more than a crutch of formality.

Have a little empathy...

I understand we become a slave to our process. I know that we all have directives and standards by which to achieve our objectives. I know our time for nonsense is limited and those asking for employment cannot determine hiring standards.

The greatest companies find the greatest employees. Long term employees come naturally to organizations. The process is effortless; not strained. It's called a natural fit: we've got a great job, you have extraordinary talent, let's have a conversation to see if there is a fit.

It's that simple.....

How much money is lost in the vicious cycle of filling spots for the sake of filling them and then back-filling them again?

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

One Year Later

Unlike a lot of my friends, I have only had a few jobs in my 16 year professional career. Some in the Silicon Valley see this stability as a red flag, I see it as a badge of honor! This blog (and several seminars that I conduct) impassion the need for companies to foster culture. The premise of the economy stifling the hiring process may help control HR budgets, but truly talented people always have options. So, this week I figured I would flip the script and advise the employee. It is true that HR needs to create engaging programs, but at some point, employees need to carry the torch.

Making a career change is one of the most difficult processes anyone has to navigate. I had the good fortune to make an educated choice a year ago. Here is what I have learned in my first year of employment at the world's most awesome company.

Hard Work Still Works
We can look back at our professional failures and pin point areas where we could have done more. While it is never wise to confuse effort with results, those who work hard (and smart) always find a way to win. Indeed, if you are the first one at the office and the last to leave; success is immanent.

Learn to Read People
Every company has the can-do, super-energized, bastions of empowerment: Believe in them, follow them, and help them grow the company in their likeness. Every company has the excuse-making, self-important, spoilers of motivation: Ignore them and they will go away. We have to accept the good and the bad in every company and learn to navigate accordingly. While I am not one to posture, it is important to know where to spend your energy.

Study Your Audience
In this day-and-age of the educated consumer; traditional selling is dead. People don't want to be cold-called, they don't want to hear slick talk, and they don't need you re-iterating what they just read on-line. Sales people should not go to seminars to sit among other sales people. You should go where your audience is, sit by their side, and learn their issues.

Trust me, it is far more important to be seen as a peer than someone who is selling something!

Believe in What You Do!
The blogosphere is run amok with smart asses. I know because I am one of them. We challenge convention, insult the uninventive and call out stifled creativity. This cannot be the way we conduct ourselves in the workplace.

My friend Steve Browne is a breath of fresh air because he combats the skeptics with unwavering positivity. He simply refuses to let the bastards grind him down. People like Steve are proof that one person can make a difference.

If you do not empower those who complain, they will stop complaining.
If you transform complaints into action items, you will make progress.
If you believe in what you are doing, people will jump on your back and take the journey with you.

Some people will run out of professional options. This will cause compromise which will lead to the hating of one's life. Don't let that happen!

Move forward every day. Pay attention to the people who are doing extraordinary things. Ignore those who seek to destroy progress.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

The Fault Line

I have no problem admitting my faults, I just need you to forgive them

It is interesting how little we focus on vulnerability in the workplace. It seems we are consistently promoting what we are doing well without recognition of our faults. Specifically in middle management, it seems absolutely forbidden to show your hand to your subordinates.

 

How will this play out in the forthcoming workforce exodus?

 

Hundreds of thousands of workers are reaching the legal retirement age. Positions will need to be filled by others who may have never managed and those people will be managing people who don't want to be managed.

 

It's Time to Navigate this Conundrum!
 

Are those exiting the workforce still trying to prove themselves?

I don't get it..... If you have 30 years of workforce excellence behind you, you should be proud of your experiences and willing to share them. I try to give insight to young professionals
to help them avoid making the same mistakes that I have. While we all want to prove we still matter, shouldn't we be grooming the leaders of tomorrow to ensure our legacy remains in-tact?

 

Are those entering Leadership roles ready to lead?

As a Generation X-er, I feel we have been a forgotten generation (and I am fine with that). Studies have focused on the stereotypical workforce habits of Generation Y and the Baby Boomers with very little mention of those in the middle of their careers. If the Baby Boomers are clinging to their titles and the Gen Y-ers are changing the way we lead, how will Generation X lead?

 

My contention is that by leaving Generation X out of the workforce motivational argument, you have allowed (us) to focus on our work.... Imagine that: a workforce driven to succeed on the basis of their merit.

 

Are those entering the workforce ready to be lead?

A young man recently asked me what I thought about the current hiring landscape. I told him that his talents would land him a job. He was instantly relieved by the advice. Everyone had been telling him how difficult it would be to transition from College into the workforce, no one told him to trust his ability. Do we warn young people of the perils of the professional world because we want them to be prepared or because we are envious of their youth?

 

As we discussed last week, a title wave of Succession Planning is roaring toward shore! With the above mentioned scenarios in mind, we should ask ourselves the following question:

Why is it so important to label employees with a motivational score based on when they were born?

 

No Generation Y-er has ever agreed with the articles written about their generational habits. Baby Boomers are tired of hearing that the corporate world is changing. Generation X.....who are they?

 

What if the title wave gave way to common sense? What if we were willing to admit that we don't know everything? What if we were ourselves in interviews instead of memorizing bullet points and pretending we possess skills we do not? What if we focused on collective progress instead of protecting our titles?

 

Save the drama for your Mama and get to work!

 

Don't Forget to Remember!

 

Dave