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Written by Tom Wall
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Tuesday, 27 July 2010 06:35 |
Until only a few years ago, one of the highlights of being around a radio during the noon hour was hearing a warm and friendly voice say, “Hello Americans, I’m Paul Harvey.” Paul Harvey, a radio legend who passed away a little over a year ago, would report the day’s news and share interesting stories about the lives of famous and accomplished people as well as funny, hard-to-believe tales of people you’ve never heard of. And without a doubt, it was his “Rest of the Story” that Harvey’s avid listeners looked forward to each day.
This past week, we witnessed how the “rest of the story” ultimately redeemed some controversial comments made by ex-USDA official Shirley Sherrod. In the original video footage, she can be seen making some alarming, racially-charged comments. Upon the release of this footage, the White House and the USDA swiftly forced her resignation from the department as a result of her comments. However, it turns out the video that was initially circulating on the internet had been unfairly edited to showcase racist remarks and didn’t truly capture her full message or the context in which she intended them. Nonetheless, the White House acted first and then asked questions later.
Unfortunately, a lot of people rush to judgment when it comes to managing relationships at work and at home. Sure, sometimes we’re on the receiving end of knee-jerk reactions, but more often we’re the ones who make them. Let’s admit it; everyone’s been guilty of making hasty decisions before gathering enough information that would lead to the right conclusion. Or maybe you’ve been known to go into a situation with a preconceived opinion of what probably happened and you allow it to influence your decision, regardless of what the truth may be.
Now I’m not saying you have to hear everyone’s excuse-laden story as to what, why, or how something occurred. Many times, the reason something happened really doesn’t even matter. In all reality, it’s the end result of these actions and the outcome that speaks for itself. For example, when someone doesn’t show up for work and also neglects to call in, there’s usually no good reason for it. Other times, you struggle to discover the truth of a situation and you’re forced to
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Written by Tom Wall
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Tuesday, 20 July 2010 06:50 |
You’ve heard the old saying about the “last straw breaking the camel’s back”, right? Although it seems like just another cliché, how many of life’s hassles and headaches would you say are due to the “last straw”? You know... the little things you said you’d deal with awhile ago, but then you put them off because they really weren’t that big of a deal.
As minor issues add up over time, you find yourself becoming more inconvenienced and frustrated every day. Eventually, these annoying little problems turn into big concerns that start causing measurable damage and need to be stopped and resolved immediately. And that tends to be how it goes when it comes to employee-related issues.
You neglect creating simple, clear policies and protocols to help you address problems when your team goes off track. You justify your lack of follow-through to being too busy, not good with conflict, or uncertain that you will find a better replacement. And then... you’re pushed to your limits. The “camel’s back” breaks and your only remaining solution is to fire the team member in question. In hopes that everything would’ve just fixed itself, you chose to put off dealing with this person until it was too late. You probably even said that from now on you’re going to avoid these long, drawn-out problems and have policies in place and enforce them. But then you got busy and now you’re convincing yourself that the current, similar situation is different from the last one and it won’t end up the same.
Does that sound somewhat familiar? The bad news is that it’s tends to be a recurring theme. But the good news is that you’re in pretty good company. It seems that everyone who has to deal with employees, coworkers, contractors, tenants, neighbors, friends, family... actually, people in general... all face the same awkward reality when wishing to correct unresolved issues.
So what can you do from now on to avoid finding yourself in this familiar position when you’re managing your employees? Ultimately, there are only two steps you need to follow. Number one... determine what you truly expect from your employees. Not what you’d merely like them to do, but what you need them to do. Just as principled coaches are willing to bench their all-stars for missing practice, you need to be uncompromising on a few basic values and
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Written by Tom Wall
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Tuesday, 13 July 2010 06:20 |
It’s just another harsh reality of life, we’re all replaceable. Sooner or later, someone or something comes along and ends your reign at the top. Ok, maybe you’re not at the top quite yet. Nonetheless, you’re still working hard to keep moving onward and upward to get there. Or, maybe it’s true... you may have already been on top and now you’re trying to work your way back to where you belong. Either way, it seems no person or company stays on top forever... remember when Blockbuster Video, Brittany Spears, Krispy Kreme, and the San Francisco 49ers seemed unstoppable? And then, somehow they were replaced.
Of course, no human being is literally replaceable. Without question, every person is unique in their own way. Unlike material things that can be easily replaced, you cannot. The essence of who you really are... your personality, sense of humor, and beliefs make you one-of-a-kind. But as it relates to how you fit into the rest of the world, life continues to move on even when you do. In business, even if an entire company relies on the talent, expertise, and strengths of just one individual, eventually someone else will take this person’s place. And if that key person isn’t replaced by someone with similar skills in a timely manner, it’s likely that a different company will either buy the ‘leaderless’ organization or simply focus on capturing its market share. Some way or another, the world keeps turning and we all move on.
Now by no means am I saying that striving to do your best is a waste of time and energy. The reality that we’re all replaceable shouldn’t discourage your current efforts, but rather motivate you to focus on creating and shaping your own future. Whether your name is on the building or you’re a newly hired employee, you ultimately control how replaceable you are within your organization. If you’re relentlessly working on solving tough problems, learning new skills, and cultivating new relationships, you’ll be pretty hard to replace. On the other hand, if you merely show up and do your job without challenging yourself and others, you’ll be one of the first people to go when these tough times get
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Written by Tom Wall
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Tuesday, 29 June 2010 06:50 |
It’s hard to believe that summer is officially here and this weekend we’ll be celebrating the 4th of July. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were ringing in the New Year. So what have you done with your first six months of 2010?
Like most of us, you probably started out the year by setting some personal goals that you were determined to accomplish. The question is, how well have you done so far?
I confess, I’ve only achieved a little more than half of my goals that I made for the first six months of 2010. Even though I did “what you’re supposed to do” when setting goals, I’ve fallen short. My goals were challenging yet realistic, had target dates, were written down, and were categorized so I could take a balanced approach at channeling my energy. I even shared them with you in order to force myself to be more accountable with my objectives.
I think the primary weakness in my goal setting efforts is that I didn’t keep my list in a place where I could see it every day. It turns out that the list I wrote in January didn’t really serve as the constant reminder that I ultimately needed.
But, the interesting detail that I learned after the first half of the year is more about what I remembered to focus on and what I essentially neglected. In fact, I’m somewhat disappointed in what that reveals about my priorities. As you can
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Written by Tom Wall
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Tuesday, 22 June 2010 06:05 |
When you hear the phrase “the haves and the have-nots”, what’s the first thought that tends to come to mind? You think in terms of money, right? But that’s only one category that people like to use when “keeping score”. Now, by no means am I about to make the case for the expression “money doesn’t buy you happiness”. For what it’s worth, I’ve seen and heard enough stories to know that it doesn’t. In fact, most of us have already come to that conclusion a while ago. But at the same time, let’s be honest. Not having money makes it really difficult to pay for the things we want and need to live comfortably. And although we all classify needs, wants, and comfort differently, it’s hard to deny the reality that financial needs exist.
So if it’s not money that separates the haves from the have-nots, then what is it? I say it’s attitude.
Regardless of whether your business is cash flowing, your retirement fund is growing, or your short-term financial goals are being met, your attitude is truly what influences what you wind up with in the end. I know, that sounds really naïve. And maybe it is. But whenever I get the opportunity to interact with people from varying backgrounds, I’ve found that they all tend to have different perspectives about life, work, and money. And it also appears that, over and over, the people that seem to be the happiest generally have a great attitude. They may or may not have wealth (or even health), but somehow they’re able to find the positive in their own life’s experiences. And despite not having many of the tangible things they wish they had, the one thing they do have, a great attitude, seems to supplement the rest.
Having a relentlessly positive attitude tends to sustain them through the hard times and fuel their resilience. In contrast, it seems that many people who complain about not having what others enjoy are actually lacking more than just material possessions. The real difference between the haves and the have-nots is the type of attitude and outlook that it takes to attain these desired outcomes.
As difficult as it is sometimes, I try to remind myself to stay positive and accept that I can’t control the curves that life throws my way or the current state of the economy that affects my business. All that any of us can do is to work hard at improving the services and products we offer and the cost of providing them. And really, that’s always where we need to invest our time and energy. For over a year now, the dairy industry and the rest of the economy have experienced
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the link is a business management column written by Tom Wall, president of Dairy Interactive, LLC and Language Links, LLC for owners and managers within the dairy industry. Tom’s Wall is your link to these free weekly reflections on employee management, leadership and life.
