|
Home
About Dr. Rinke
Keynotes
Seminars &
Workshops
Personal
Development
Management
Development
Consulting
Executive
Coaching
Client Comments
Client List
MAKE it a
WINNING Life
Products
WINNING MANAGEMENT
Products
MAKE
IT A
WINNING
LIFE eNewsletter
To Contact Us
|
Editor: Dr. Wolf J. Rinke
Publisher: Wolf Rinke Associates, Inc.
(c) 2005 Wolf J. Rinke
Vol. 8 No. 4, August/September 2005
========================================================
----- Feel free to forward this eNewsletter to others. -------
***To get your own FREE subscription click on the link above***
IN THIS ISSUE
1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
2. DON'T PLAY TO WIN--Part I
3. GO FIGURE?
4. HUMOR BREAK
5. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
6. ABOUT THE EDITOR
7. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
===================================================
REALITY CHECK
===================================================
"Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do
in order to achieve what they want to achieve."
--Tom Landry
===================================================
1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
===================================================
We all lie! Now that I have your attention--employees are more likely
to lie about their performance when difficult goals were set and missed,
as well as when they had nearly achieved their goals.
ACTION STEPS
Ask team members to set their own goals. Then review it with them to
make sure that their goals are just slightly out of reach as opposed
to establishing unreasonable stretch goals. Be sure to celebrate incremental
achievements not just the final accomplishments of goals, and whatever
you do "don't play to win"--see the article that follows.
Source: S. Grover, "The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but
the Truth: The Causes and Management of Workplace Lying." Academy
of Management Executive, 2005, 19 (2):148-157.
===================================================
2. DON'T PLAY TO WIN--PART I
===================================================
Given the Enron, Arthur Andersen, WorldCom and-the-list-goes-on-and-on
mess, I feel a need to talk about the obvious. Because apparently, it
ain't very obvious. Playing to win at any price is bad business over
the long term. Especially since many companies are creating an unethical
culture. For example, 44% of all non-management employees who observe
ethical misconduct at work, such as abusive or intimidating behavior
toward employees or lying to employees, customers, vendors or the public
do not report such misconduct because they believe that no corrective
action will be taken or they fear that their report would not be kept
confidential. In addition, fewer than three in five employees who did
report misconduct said that they were satisfied with the organizations
response. The 2003 survey of 1,500 employees, conducted by the not-for-profit
Ethics Resource Center in Washington, DC, further reported that although
there has been the first overall drop in misconduct seen in a decade,
American workers feel increased pressure--more than twice as great--to
compromise ethical standards at times of mergers, acquisitions and restructuring.
And that workers and managers under the age of 30 are far less likely
to report misconduct, with only 43% reporting such conduct compared
to 69% for all employees. Similarly 21% of younger managers with low
tenure are about twice as likely to compromise ethical standards than
their older counterparts.
Leaders who only know how to play to win, often lose. Because they
begin to see themselves as omnipotent, able to control their own and
their companies destiny. Not sure what I'm talking about? Think about
perfectly good companies that were run into the ground such as Enron,
Arthur Anderson, WorldCom, Tyco or Rubbermaid. All run by perfectly
intelligent and competent CEO's who wanted to win and instead lost billions
of other people's money. Their desire to win came about because, according
to S. Finkelstein, author of "Why Smart Executives Fail,"
they practiced five specific habits of highly unsuccessful leaders.
In this issue we'll talk about the first three and then follow it up
in the next issue with the other two habits as well as specific action
steps to take to make sure that you do not succumb to these dysfunctional
habits.
1. Cultivate an unethical culture.
Hey wipe that yawn off your face. This is clearly not obvious. Look
at all the giant corporations that flamed out in the early 2,000s. (For
example see paragraph 3--Go Figure.) There is no getting away from it,
whatever you--the leader--do, will be emulated by your team members.
And just a few bad apples can very quickly bring your company, organization
or department to its knees, especially if it is one that sustains itself
on intellectual capital, like most companies do today. (In other words
when a factory is run into the ground you still have a factory, when
an Internet or service company goes kaput, it is gone--think of all
the dotcoms that went down the drain.)
Of course if you ask people if they are ethical or honest, everyone
will raise their hands. (See for yourself. Ask that question at your
next All-Hands meeting or see "News You Can Use" above.) On
the other hand, see who will vote in the affirmative to this question:
"You are pulling out of a parking space and ever so slightly touch
the car next to you. You get out and notice that it actually produced
a pretty long scratch. You look around and are convinced that no one
noticed. How many of you will put a note on the other car, giving your
name, address, telephone and insurance number before you drive off?"
(To keep their response anonymous, ask them to write their answer on
a 3x5 card, and pass it to you.) The few, if any, positive responses
will startle you. You see--being ethical is non-negotiable if you are
a Contrarian Leader. You can't just act ethically if someone is around
or if it is convenient or expedient. Because, as I learned in the speaking
business, the microphone is always on. Let me explain:
I was conducting a full day seminar for an audience of about 100 people--if
memory serves me right in Minot, ND--and about midmorning the participants
were working on an interactive exercise. I used that time to go to the
bathroom, so I can be available for the audience during break times.
This time, however, was different, because I had forgotten to turn off
my lavaliere wireless microphone. Of course, as luck would have it,
there was another gentleman in the bathroom at the same time. So we
had a lively discussion while standing at the urinal, until someone
from the audience came in to let me know that my mike was still on.
When I returned, red-faced and embarrassed, virtually the entire audience
was rolling in the aisles. (Well maybe not quite, but they did have
a heck of a good laugh at my expense.)
The same applies to your behavior--your ethics are always showing, and
your team members are always--yes I mean always--taking their cue from
you, even if you don't think they are watching. And if you don't like
that, get out of leadership now! You'll never be great at it because
great leaders will do the right thing, even if it is at their expense.
2. Think that they are "hot stuff"
Unsuccessful leaders think that they or their services or products
are the hottest thing since sliced bread and that their customers or
team members can't to do without them. They forget that any success
always has a component of luck--being in the right place at the right
time. They forget that they, just like all other human beings, tend
to externalize failure and internalize success.
A high tech global company I've been working with comes to mind. Until
the reality of the market place began crashing in they thought that
their employees were lucky to have the privilege to work for them--hey
we do neat stuff--and you can't work for anyone else that lets you play
with cutting edge technologies as we do. Their feelings about their
customers were pretty much the same: you are lucky to have the opportunity
to use our products. So be grateful and stop complaining about some
of the glitches in our applications.
Some of these leaders avoid eating a slice of humble pie at all costs
and instead begin to believe their own resumes. The fact is--here comes
what you don't want to hear--being an effective leader takes persistence
and hard work, and has nothing to do with being hot stuff.
3. Act like monkeys
These leaders see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. Jim Collins,
author of Good to Great and Built to Last has spent years figuring out
what causes companies to succeed over the long run. According to him
the key sign that distinguishes great companies from mediocre ones is
how the leaders deal with reality. Are they dealing with the brutal
facts or acting like monkeys attributing the facts to something or someone
else. An example of how to do it right is Andy Grove of Intel. When
the Japanese were taking their memory chip business away from them in
the late 80's Mr. Grove faced the brutal facts and decided to abandon
their cash cow and instead switch to the manufacture of microprocessor.
An example of how to do it wrong in the extreme is NASA. According to
a Washington Post article (7/13/03, pp. A1 & A13), in the final
report by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board Linda Ham, the head
of the mission management team, told her colleagues that she saw no
need to obtain a better image of the damage done to the ill-fated Columbia
space craft or to attempt to rescue the astronauts because "I don't
think there is much we can do." That comment resulted in everyone
acting like monkeys and ultimately caused the demise of all astronauts
and the spacecraft. Worse, they had done it all before in 1986 when
the Challenger exploded, with apparently few lessons learned.
Look for the next issue of this eNL in which I will describe the other
two habits--Make poor decisions because they are too successful;
and Build a "it's my way or it's the highway" organizational
culture. I will also share specific smart steps you can take to avoid
these dysfunctional behaviors.
SOURCE: Based in part on Chapter 7 of my book Don't Oil the Squeaky
Wheel and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve Your Leadership Effectiveness,
McGraw-Hill, 2004.
==================================================
3. GO FIGURE?
===================================================
In keeping with the theme of this eNL, I came across the following in
the Wall Street Journal 7/15/05 p. B1.
It appears that Thomas M. Coughlin, the former No. 2 executive at Wal-Mart,
with a compensation package of more than $4 million a year, is alleged
to have stolen as much as $500,000 including ordering employees to provide
him with 51 Wal-Mart gift cards with a value of $100 each, so he could
recognize Wal-Mart "All Star" employees. Instead Mr. Coughlin
used the cards to "purchase" such things as a $1,000 shotgun,
compact discs, vodka, wine, a fishing license and Polish sausages. Go
figure?
===================================================
4. HUMOR BREAK
===================================================
Phrases used by highly unethical interviewees:
Phrase: I take pride in my work.
Meaning: I blame others for my mistakes.
Phrase: I am very adaptable.
Meaning: I've changed jobs a lot.
Phrase: I'm highly motivated to succeed.
Meaning: The minute I find a better job, I'm outta here.
===================================================
5. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
===================================================
There is only one more full day seminar this year which maybe open to
you, especially if your company is a member of the Institute of Management
Studies (IMS). Contact the Chairperson for additional information.
Winning Management: Building a Peak Performance Workplace
10/5/05 Houston, Gail Brichford, houstonims@aol.com
===================================================
6. ABOUT THE EDITOR
===================================================
Dr. Wolf J. Rinke, CSP is an internationally recognized keynote speaker
and seminar leader who delivers customized presentations that combine
story telling, humor and motivation with specific "how to"
action strategies that participants can apply immediately to improve
their management and personal effectiveness. He is also a highly effective
management consultant, executive coach and author of 13 books including
Don't Oil the Squeaky Wheel and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve
Your Leadership Effectiveness and Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies
for Building High-Performance Organizations available at www.WolfRinke.com
To take advantage of Dr. Rinke's services call 800-828-9653 or mailto:WolfRinke@aol.com
===================================================
7. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
===================================================
We will not make your name or e-mail address available to anyone. Period!
If this was forwarded to you and you would like to receive your own
FREE subscription click above.
|
