Russell Martin and
Associates Learning Flash February 2007
It’s the month of LOVE, and just to keep it that way,
here’s our public service: What NOT To Give Her For
Valentines Day:
1. A
box of chocolates rearranged in an attempt to hide the
fact you ate the caramel ones.
2.
Any food item with the words "diet", "light", or "high
fiber" on the label.
3.
Any video starring Sylvester Stallone or Jim Carrey.
4.
Flowers from a hospital's gift shop--or worse, a
mortuary's.
5.
Any household appliance, power tool or other item from
the harder side of Sears.
6. A
gift certificate.
7.
Cash.
8.
Anything you could have bought at the gas station on the
way home, even if you didn't.
9.
An apologetic look and the words "That was today?"
We know it may make some of our readers angry, but as
loyal fans we must say: GO COLTS!!!
In
this issue:
·
Advanced Order: The 10 Steps to Successful Project
Management
·
Leadership Nuggets of Truth
·
Hardest Part of Being a Leader? Motivating YOU
·
Podcast: Leadership Alchemy: Turning Common Into
Precious
·
TQ:
Talent Quotient
·
Business Basics: Writing Tip of the Month
·
Web-Based Stress Release
·
Leadership Training for Higher Education
·
Elite 8 of Rules about Teamwork
·
Valentine Contest
·
Karma Capitalism
·
The
Seven Keys to Helping Mediocre Performers
·
Training Professionals Battle Project Team Burnout
·
AAADD – Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder
Advanced Order: The 10 Steps to Successful Project
Management
Lou’s new book isn’t due to be released until May but it
is already flying off the shelves. In November alone
nearly 3000 books have been preordered.
If you would like a chance to order the book now click
here.
Leadership Nuggets of Truth
In
our last public IT Leadership Academy, our students
documented these lessons learned (email Margie at
mbrown@russellmartin.com
for the complete list):
·
If
it is hard, it’s worth doing.
·
Leading is hard. It requires courage.
·
Learn to lead by choosing opportunities to lead.
·
We
are ALL born leaders.
·
Lead
by clearing your plate
·
Negatives can be positives.
·
Leaders feel scared and excited.
·
It’s
OK if everyone doesn’t like you.
·
Talk
to peers, use their idea to help them look good.
·
Each
new opportunity requires a new skill set.
Do
you have some IT leaders-to-be that you would like to
give an opportunity to grow? Enroll them in our March
5-7 IT Leadership Academy in Indianapolis. For more
info, check out
http://www.russellmartin.com/publicofferings.htm.
Enroll using code FEB15 before 2/15 and receive 10% off
the registration.
Hardest Part of Being a Leader? Motivating YOU
According to a recent study from Menlo Park,
Calif.-based The Creative Group, managers cited
motivating employees (at 30 percent) as their No. 1
challenge.
Considering today's business environment, managers are
stretched to their capacity and pulled in multiple
directions. Managers are often focused on the
shorter-term business objectives, such as making their
numbers and fighting fires. While they may say their
people are the number one priority, in reality,
employees often are further down the list.
Managers should start with themselves. They need to ask,
"What am I passionate about? Where do I derive my
energy? What aspects of my job do I love?" They should
find ways to reconnect with these aspects of the job
every day. These people have great teams and inspire
success in others. They find time to personally connect
with their people on a regular basis. Overall,
understanding what engages employees is the key to
motivating them. Showing employees how their work links
to the organization's strategy and success drives
performance and engagement. Finally, surround them with
other smart, talented employees. They will motivate each
other.
Podcast: Leadership Alchemy: Turning Common Into
Precious
Chicago ASTD (CCASTD) turned Lou’s closing keynote into
a podcast. Check me out on your MP3 player (or computer
of course) at
http://www.mypodcastpage.com/ccastd/2006/10/19/lou-russel-leadership-alchemy-turning-common-into-precious/
TQ:
Talent Quotient
Shareholder value and a company's ability to attract and
retain top performers are linked, according to research
from Hewitt Associates. "Human capital continues to be
the single largest investment a company makes." says
Mark Ubelhart, Hewitt practice leader for value-based
management. "Companies need to make better, more
informed decisions across the entire human capital
spectrum. Just as an organization assesses its business
conditions from a financial standpoint, it can now
assess its human capital position—HR programs, practices
and workforce—through TQ."
What steps can companies take to better manage talent?
·
Prioritize investment dollars in people programs.
·
Use
assessments to define the best behavioral style for a
job, and add it to your evaluation criteria.
·
Understand the demographic and diversity issues that can
cause pivotal employees to leave.
·
Evaluate the effectiveness of people programs using
employee surveys.
Contact Margie or Vija (info@russellmartin.com)
to learn more about our hiring and retention services
including:
·
Employee surveys
·
Behavioral testing for specific jobs
·
Evaluation of people development strategies
·
Retention analysis and improvement
Business Basics: Writing Tip of the Month
Don’t mix up consequently,
subsequently. They may seem the same, but
they have very different meanings.
Consequently
means “as a result.”
The publicity committee neglected to get word out;
consequently, ticket sales were low.
Subsequently
means “following closely in time or order.”
The committee had disbanded but subsequently reconvened
to discuss next year’s event.
Web-Based Stress Release
Dan
Balzer and his team in our VNU Online Learning
Project Management for Trainers class, created this
wonderful respite.
http://bubbleshare.com/album/32123.386cb590370
Leadership Training for Higher Education
Ironically, I got this nice note from Diane Daly,
working at ASTD, who published this book for me: “Just
thought you'd be interested in this -- my daughter
Brittany is in the Leadership Program at Christopher
Newport University -- and today, the 1st day of her
Leadership Training and Planning class, they were told
that their course textbook this semester will be
"Leadership Training" by Lou Russell -- published by
ASTD! Britt says she told her professor that her mom
works for ASTD and the professor was thrilled!!! So,
our publications are enlightening minds all over the
place!” Thanks, Brittany, for making my day! If you’d
like your own copy of
Leadership Training
click here. To celebrate Brittany’s
success, enter BRIT as a discount code, and you will get
your book signed and with free shipping until
2/28/07.
"Elite 8" Of Rules about Teamwork
The
following "Sweet 16" rules included here derive from a
longer paper by NASA APPL Director Dr. Edward Hoffman
and Dr. Alexander Laufer titled "99 Rules for Managing
Faster, Better, Cheaper Projects."
·
Contracting should emphasize cooperation rather than
risk allocation. Today’s complex projects require a more
flexible mechanism, based on teamwork and collaboration,
to handle the unexpected changes that are bound to
arise.
·
Breaking down the organization's functional walls is the
minimum essential condition for teamwork. No real
teamwork can take place in an organization that
maintains the traditional division of labor.
·
Assign people for the duration of the project. Team
member continuity is vital for better accountability and
commitment.
·
A
project team should first concentrate on getting to know
one another and then on deciding how best to function as
a team. Sharing clear expectations, appreciating
cultural differences between organizations, and
understanding the different reward systems of these
organizations will reduce the time it takes to form a
finely tuned, effective team.
·
You
should make sure that members of your team feel
dependent upon each other, and share a belief that they
are mutually responsible for project results.
·
Dedicated teamwork does not require the ultimate
sublimation of the individual. On the contrary, as a
leader you should empower team members to be constantly
at their peak by giving them the necessary discretion
and autonomy to make things happen.
·
Don't ignore space and neighborhood management. Teams
must spend a lot of time together, especially at the
beginning. The chances are considerably better that
geographic proximity allows people to come to appreciate
and even like one another.
·
To
sustain performance, teamwork requires constant
massaging. Therefore, throughout the project life cycle,
master project managers ensure alignment on project
objectives, assess team functioning, and renew team
energy.
If
you have interest in growing your own project management
capacity, consider attending “The Unexpected Project
Manager” public workshop in Indianapolis in March. This
one-day, tool rich workshop will accelerate your project
success.
http://www.russellmartin.com/publicofferings.htm.
Need
more help? We are proud to offer a Jumpstart Project
Management service – send your project team to a
project management workshop with one of our consultants
who will coach them as they build real project
deliverables together in class. Contact Margie at
mbrown@russellmartin.com
for more info.
Valentine Contest
Thanks to all of you that did such a wonderful job with
the solution to last month’s puzzle. We had our highest
number of successful winners yet! And now for
something completely different…
Send
us your most hilarious Valentine’s Day story. We will
share the results (if they are suitable for public
disclosure) with all of our trusty readers in March –
well after the pressure is past. Be concise – a one
page email limit. We can’t wait…
Karma Capitalism
The
October 19 issue of Business Week reports on the
disproportionate and influential contributions of Indian
management gurus to creating corporate cultures that
balance the interests of shareholders with those of
workers, customers, the environment, and society as a
whole.
In
addition to the broad social implications, many managers
are finding in this approach guidance on their own paths
to personal fulfillment. Management courses that teach
mental or yoga exercises drawn from the Hindu Bhagavad
Gita are catching the interest of the
highly-successful-but- miserable executives seeking
emotional equanimity and better relationships with
coworkers. Read the source article in Business Week at
www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2006/gb20061019_650475.htm
The Seven Keys To Helping Mediocre Performers
By
Kevin Eikenberry
-
The right attitude. If you are thinking about someone
as “a slacker” or as someone who is not really pulling
his or her weight, then how likely are you to really
see chances for them to improve? We have to remember –
and believe – there is a difference between the person
and the performance.
-
The right role. Whether we are a supervisor or a peer,
our role needs to be one of helping and assisting, not
pushing or demanding.
-
The right work. Sometimes people aren’t performing at
their best because they aren’t doing the work that is
best suited for them.
-
The right purpose. We all are motivated by doing
things that we see have a greater purpose. Help people
see a bigger picture of how their work fits into the
overall picture, and you might be surprised at the
change in their performance.
-
The right expectations. People tend to rise and fall
to the level of our expectations – and these aren’t
just the things we say, but also the things we
believe.
-
The right support. Sometimes people are performing to
the level of their understanding and skills. Once you
put some of these other keys in place, help people
think about what additional skills or help they need.
-
The right passion. We can’t give people a passion for
their work, but when we apply the other six keys and
help people in those ways don’t be surprised if their
passion has been ignited (or re-ignited) for their
work.
One
More Thing:
All of these keys are things that you can do. You can’t
change a person’s performance by brute strength or force
of will. But you can, regardless of your position, find
ways to help the person improve performance on their
own.
http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/ezine/06/issue3_46_print.asp
Training Professionals Battle Project Team Burnout
Training Magazine’s Online Learning News & Reviews (OLN&R)
recently spoke with Lou Russell, president and CEO of
Russell Martin & Associates and the author of
IT Leadership Alchemy (Prentice Hall, 2002) and
Leadership Training (ASTD, 2003), about some of the
most effective ways to lead staff, project teams, and
even oneself through burnout. Here's what she had to
say:
OLN&R:
What are some ways that training professionals can help
teams to minimize stress and burnout?
Russell: Prioritize and delegate. A big part of
managing stress is having the ability to manage what is
important to you; understanding, realistically, how long
things take to get done; and delegating. So, help team
members to focus on the project as a whole rather than
on the individual tasks associated with the project. In
other words, team members need to prioritize instead of
trying to manage 5,000 different things at a time.
One
of the most important things you can do when dealing
with team stress and burnout is to acknowledge the fact
that they exist. If a team member is burned out, he
wants someone to say, 'Wow. You are really going through
a rough time right now.' Problem is, everyone is going
through a rough time right now and everyone is waiting
for someone to say the same thing to her. Thus, we end
up in situations where no one on a team is acknowledging
the stress of others or empathizing with them. Just
spending an hour listening to the team and acknowledging
what team members are going through can be very
powerful.
Create a team to-do list. As the trainer, go in, sit
down with each team member one-on-one and create a
spreadsheet that lists everything that needs to be done.
Based on that list, ask, "Realistically, how much do you
need to do? How much can you delegate?" Once everyone
has created a spreadsheet, merge the individual
spreadsheets of the entire team together and display the
completed document for all to see so that every team
member understands what his or her colleagues are up
against.
A.
A. A. D. D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder
This is how it manifests: I decide to water my
garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my
car and decide my car needs washing. As I start toward
the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch
table that I brought up from the mail box earlier. I
decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I
lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in
the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can
is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the
table and take out the garbage first. But then I think,
since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take
out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills
first. I take my check book off the table, and see that
there is only 1 check left. My extra checks are in my
desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk
where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to
push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock
it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I
decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it
cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase
of flowers on the counter catches my eye -- they need to
be watered. I set the Coke down on the counter, and I
discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for
all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk,
but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the
glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with
water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left
it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we
go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I
won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I
decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but
first I'll water the flowers. I pour some water in the
flowers, but some of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some
towels and wipe up the spill.... Then, I head down the
hall trying to remember what I was planning to do. At
the end of the day:
·
The
car isn't washed
·
The
bills aren't paid
·
There is still a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter
·
The
flowers don't have enough water
·
There is still only 1 check in my check book,
·
I
can't find the remote,
·
I
can't find my glasses,
·
I
don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done
today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all
day long, and I'm really tired. I realize this is a
serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it,
but first I'll check my e-mail.
Meet Lou on the Road
Again this year Lou will be speaking all around the
country. Below are the dates and locations for the next
few months. If she’s going to be in a neighborhood near
you drop her a note – she’d love to see you.
February 26-27, 2007 Training 2007 Orlando, FL
April 21, 2007 Mid Atlantic AAA Newark, DE
May 7, 2007 Newport News, VA
May 8, 2007 Dayton Chapter of PMI Dayton, OH
May 10, 207 Mid-Nebraska PMI Lincoln, NE
May
23, 2007
Office of Personnel Management, Denver, CO
Lou Russell
President/CEO
www.russellmartin.com
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