Are you a member of a great team, organization, or company?

If your answer to that question is "yes," then the reason you can answer "yes" is because of great people. The next question I have for you is, "What attracts and keeps the best and most talented people as members of a great team, organization or company?" The answer to that question is simple. Great managers! And that's the focus of "First, Break all the Rules" - a book by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman that offers some tremendous insights into what it means to be a great manager.

This book is certain to give any manager a lot to think about. Through empirical research conducted by the Gallup Companies based on over a million interviews of employees across a broad range of companies, industries, and countries, Buckingham and Coffman analyze the critical role of managers with respect to success and achievement. I have chosen to highlight this book in this newsletter because it relates so closely to this month's "Coach's Corner" article about how to give effective feedback.

The reason I say this book gives a manager a lot to think about is because research shows that managers play an extremely crucial role in retaining and getting the most out of a company's employees. A person may initially be attracted to a company because of compensation, generous benefits, a charismatic leader, a great reputation or the opportunity to work for a company in an emerging and exciting new industry. However, the quality and length of an employee's tenure - as well as their productivity -- is greatly influenced by their immediate manager. The authors' research makes the point that, "People don't leave companies, they leave managers." The authors go on to say that research shows that employees will forgo a range of perks that range from profit sharing to seated massages if they have a manager who states clear expectations, knows them, trusts them and is interested in them.

Another very important theory the book explores (based on extensive research) is the concept of talent. Buckingham and Coffman describe "talent" as a recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behavior that can applied productively. The authors also define "skills" and "knowledge," and differentiate these two concepts from talent. They explain how skills and knowledge are transferable between people, but are only situational. When faced with unanticipated events and changes, the power of an employee's skills and knowledge is diminished. However, talent is transferable between situations. If you have a talent of competiveness, any situation, game or contest will bring that talent out. The book also brings and addresses an issue that I struggled with personally as a manager. Is it better to try and improve the areas where your employees are weak and do not display great amounts of talent, or is it better to focus on further improving the areas where they have demonstrated talent? I'll be the first to admit that during the years I spent as a manager, I spent more time considering and trying to help employees improve areas of opportunities, and spent less time on areas in which they had demonstrated talent. How about you?

Even after reading this book, I must admit that I'm still no longer sure which approach is best. I'm always inclined to root for the underdog. I know that my own personal experiences have lead me to believe that people can overcome any deficit with hard work and commitment. At the same time, at least when it comes to situations in the workplace, the authors of this book have come to the conclusion that trying to develop talent for strategic planning, for example, in a person who hasn't demonstrated that talent is a waste of time - and they present extensive, comprehensive and convincing research to support this view. The authors' primary premise is clearly the view that "People don't change that much, so don't waste time trying to 'put in' what was 'left out' of the person's skill set." Instead, they argue, "Draw out what was 'left in,' because that's hard enough." The authors are not saying that training and education programs are a waste of time, but rather that you have to match the education and training to the individual and his or her talents.

There are three major aspects of this book that I believe make it so effective. The authors make the book relevant in business terms by basing their findings on research and support their arguments by offering examples of real managers discussing these theories and how they have (or have not) applied them within their company or organization. Also, the book defines "healthy" organizations in real business terms; productivity, profit, employee retention and customer satisfaction. Two other key aspects of the book are a 12 step questionnaire and a look at the concept of talent development.

The questionnaire was developed as a result of the authors' research, and completing the questionnaire yourself will give you a very good indication of the health of your own company, organization or team. It takes you through the 12 questions in a very strategic way - with one question building on another. The questionnaire also looks at the nuances that may apply to different organizations and industries with respect to the questions.

The authors then proceed to use the questionnaire to discuss how to identify and develop talent. Buckingham and Coffman offer "the Four Keys," and explain how managers can use them to maximize the talent of their employees. (The Four Keys are "Select for Talent," "Define the Right Outcomes," "Focus on Strengths," and "Find the Right Fit.")

The book also explores the distinction between a "manager" and a "leader." You've probably heard the expression that, "Managers do things right, and leaders do the right thing." Although the book only briefly addresses this question, it does explore this distinction throughout the entire book. The authors share their belief that managers aren't "mini-leaders or executives 'in waiting.'" In fact, great managers aren't automatically going to be great leaders, and vice versa. These two roles require very different skills. A great manager looks inward at each individual to release that person's unique talent, while a great leader looks outward. A great leader looks at what the competition is doing, and looks out to the future and alternate courses of action and at "the big picture."

In conclusion, I highly recommend this book if you are managing a team, or running an organization or company. There is no question how important people are to the success of any company, and this book very effectively shows how managers can develop their company's talent, leading to the company's overall success.
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I have to admit that I don't put much stock in fate. Living life with that approach makes life too easy. As many of you know, life isn't easy. I have heard many of the arguments in favor of the "fate" philosophy to life - such as, "How could you ever find 'The One,' your spouse or life partner, in this great big world without fate?" Maybe I'm wrong, but here's how I see it.

I just can't believe that I was destined to be a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down and confined to this chair. I am not angry or mad about it. Would it really be useful for me to blame fate? I just can't believe that from the day I was born, I was "fated" to be a quadriplegic. I don't believe I was in some sort of trance, walking to the dock at the age of 24, mindlessly diving into the water - headed for an experience that would alter the rest of my life forever.

I'm slightly exaggerating here, but even those who do believe in the power of fate would have to agree that there are some problems with an attitude towards lifein which there is no personal accountability. If that was the case, then the decisions I made that morning didn't change the fact that I was "predestined" to be paralyzed.

The problem I have with viewing life as ruled by "fate" is that this would automatically require me to adopt the belief that "It's not my fault that I am paralyzed" - and lead me to reject any sense of responsibility. When you don't accept responsibility for your life, you become a spectator. You only become passively involved in your own life because -- no matter where life takes you -- "fate" holds all the cards. I will tell you from experience that there is no spectator role in life when it comes to overcoming true adversity. Blaming fate for everything that happens in your life also robs you of your greatest weapon - your ability to influence your own life, as well as (most importantly) your ability to make it better. If you truly believe that fate handed you this adversity and all the circumstances and complications that come with it, how can you expect to rise above the challenge? People who have passively accepted what "fate" has handed them, without any sense of personal responsibility, are the people who say, "My dad was an alcoholic, so I am too -- and I'll always be an alcoholic." These are the people who say, "My mom was always overweight, so I'll always be heavy." Difficult circumstances are hard enough to overcome even when we do accept responsibility for these challenging situations. Now try and do it with that kind of passive mindset. It can be very tempting to do this, and it happens all the time. The unfortunate result is that you frequently see people giving up and just accepting what life has thrown -- and will continue to throw -- at them.

Following my accident, the doctors not only told me I was a quadriplegic, but they told me I would never be able to live independently again. They declared that an independent life was now impossible for me. They told me that I would now need someone to do the simplest things for me - to dress me and feed me.

If I had made the choice to "let fate have its way" following my accident, this morning someone would have helped me get out of bed, bathe, and get dressed. I would have needed someone to feed me. One day not long ago, I would have gone to my oldest daughter Liza Jane's Christmas recital in my electric wheelchair and traveled with someone to open doors and do other simple things for me.

Let me tell you about one day I enjoyed recently -- by not buying into the idea that "fate" had altered my life. On that particular morning - just like every other morning -- I got myself out of bed, showered, and dressed myself without any help. (It takes nearly two hours for me to get dressed on my own, but I do it). I helped my young children "go potty," got them dressed, made and fed them breakfast and drove myself to a breakfast business meeting and then -- in my manual wheelchair -- saw and videotaped my daughter's recital. It was a great day! To be honest, every day may not be easy, but I can honestly say that every day is so much better - and filled with so much more joy - than I would ever experience had I adopted the "fate" philosophy of life. I wanted to share the details of this particular day with you even though I wrote this article a few months ago. While I was updating the article, the events of that day truly brought a smile to my face.

My real goal here isn't to convince you that "fate" doesn't exist. I'm not a philosopher or a theologian. I'll leave that decision up to each of you. In my opinion, if fate does exist, I believe that it only plays a small role in shaping my life. I believe that life is shaped by the decisions you make, both good and bad. I certainly didn't expect to be paralyzed after my dive, just as you probably didn't expect some of the consequences of your decisions. If you are happy in your life, be proud of what you have done - take responsibility for the decisions you've made that have brought you to this point, and give yourself the credit. If you are not happy with your life, and find yourself experiencing adversity, know that you have the power to change that situation. It may not be easy, but you really can overcome "fate."
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I have chosen to discuss the important and always challenging subject of "feedback" in this month's Coach's Corner. You'll read more about giving effective feedback to your business colleagues and employees - and a wide range of opinions on this subject - in this month's book review. (The book I look at this month is "First, Break All The Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently" by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.) The book profile examines the critical role the manager plays within an organization and how the manager can help to develop the unique talent of any employee. Feedback is essential to this process, and plays a critical role when it comes to people development in the workplace. With that said, I want to share some tips that I believe will help you be a better manager and help you develop your people more effectively.

When it's time for you to give one of your employees their year-end review, do you think that it would be difficult for you to tell that person, for their overall review score, "You're a one." I would imagine that some would reply, "No, if that's what that employee deserves, then that's the score." Others may agree that this low score is justified, but may still not be completely comfortable going into that review session. Further, what if that employee is totally taken by surprise by such a low evaluation, and they never saw it coming?

As a manager, how comfortable are you with this scenario -- delivering that abysmal year-end score to an employee -- now? Whether your employee deserves The fact is that you, as a manager, dropped the ball. One of your employees may be surprised by a difference in one rating in one category or another, but if your employee is surprised by their final overall score, then you failed as their manager -- at least that year. the score at this point is almost irrelevant.

I know from experience just how much multi-tasking is required of a manager these days. Hitting month-end numbers, attending meetings, writing budget reviews, handling people issues, meeting project deadlines, not to mention the proverbial senior management "fire drills." After all this, where does a manager find the time for people development? As a manager, this is one of the most crucial parts of your job -- and you have little to no time for it. As a matter of fact, some managers are never appraised on their ability to develop people.

Since you can't do everything yourself, you need your team. I want to share some tips that will help you get the most from your people, and also help your employees achieve recognition and success. The most fundamental aspect of effective feedback is being candid. If you can't be candid, you can't expect to see improved performance on the part of your employees -- and if you're not candid, that lack of improvement is more your fault then theirs, especially with young people.

Effective feedback is:

Not delivered in the form of a feedback "sandwich" - This "sandwich" is the strategy of squeezing the negative, constructive criticism you're giving an employee between a couple of positive thoughts or comments. There are a lot of reasons to use the "sandwich" approach" - "he tried really hard," "she has been having a tough time coming up the curve," "maybe I wasn't clear enough," and so on. It doesn't matter if a goal was missed, if an employee's behavior is negatively impacting productivity, or if team morale is lagging, all of these situations need to be addressed specifically, and without distraction. By "sandwiching" your important evaluation between two more positive comments, what you have done is lessen the significance of your evaluation. If you opt for the "sandwich" approach, don't be surprised if you end up with the same undesirable behavior a month, six months, or a year later.

Timely - When it comes to giving an employee a negative feedback, the longer you wait, the less effective the feedback. With the passage of time, you remember less of the situation you wish to correct, and therefore you may soften your comments. Your employee has also put the situation out their mind, or rationalized why the undesirable situation ever happened. (As time passes, they may even see the situation as someone else's fault.) Now that time has passed since the incident in question, how many chances has your employee had to work on improving their behavior? If you haven't delivered the feedback the answer is none. As a manager myself, I've frequently said, "I don't have the time now to speak to my employee, I'll do it later." Putting it off for a few hours quickly turns into putting it off until tomorrow. Pretty soon, it's three days later, then a week later, and now you're reluctant to deal with the situation at all.

Specific - I've received a lot of feedback over the years -- some good and some bad. By this, I don't mean "negative" or "positive," I mean effective. Effective feedback is something I can work with to get better or feel good about. One incident always comes to mind when thinking about effective feedback. It wasn't a pivotal moment in my career, but it was a classic example of unproductive feedback. After I had delivered a Powerpoint presentation, the only other person left in the room besides myself was one of our company's senior managers. As he walked out he said, "Good job, but you need to make it more tight and work on it." I thought sarcastically to myself, "Thanks! That was very helpful." You're not helping a person unless you explain specifically what was wrong. It would have been far better for this senior manager to say, "Bill, you need to give more background on the root cause." He might also have said, "You didn't give enough time to the alternate scenarios." Comments like these would have actually been helpful.

Objective - Remaining objective when giving feedback can be a challenge, and I'd like to share a few lessons I've learned over the years about objectivity. First, don't be temped to give an employee more credit than they deserve for one of their strengths just because it is one of your own weaknesses. Because I am not always great with managing each step of a process, I recall being very impressed with one of my employees who could pick apart a process and improve it. I continued to score him very high until one of my bosses reminded me, "It's his job, his focus, so don't get too carried away." Another example of just how difficult it can be to offer an objective evaluation concerns a manager I worked with who had always had a difficult time giving negative feedback to the people he was personally close to. The better he knew the person, the harder it was for him to manage objectively. I reminded him that regardless of the relationship, you are not helping your employee by protecting him or shielding him. I encouraged this manager to try and maintain some distance. You have to be close enough to know the person, but not so close you can't provide critical and necessary feedback when required.

Delivered as part of a smooth process - It's a smart idea to develop a process to collect data and note employee progress on an ongoing basis, especially if you have direct reports that have direct reports. Remember, feedback is meant to spur along progress, and make it possible for employees to achieve and exceed goals. You can't keep track of everything, so ask your employees to be part of the process. Ask them each to submit monthly or bi-monthly accomplishment reports to you. This will allow you to track progress, recognize outstanding achievement, and also address a lack of progress in real time. For example, I can't tell you how many times I found myself wishing I had known more about the progress of a project earlier as a deadline approached. I also recommend scheduling regular one-on-one meetings or other meetings where individual performance can be discussed. If you don't make a conscious effort to do this, you'll certainly come up with countless reasons and excuses not to do it. You'll find yourself saying, "I only have 10 minutes before my next meeting," or "I can't go over this now; this employee has a deadline to meet for me and I can't afford for it to be late," or countless other good reasons and bad excuses.

There's no doubt that systems for delivering effective feedback can be challenging to establish, but the benefits are well worth the effort when it comes to achieving and exceeding ambitious goals, and when it comes to employee morale. Be sure to e-mail me and let me know about feedback strategies you've found to be successful!
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