The Third Zone

Specialists in Organizational and Executive Leadership

Success At Work Is Limited Where Trust Is Lacking

Just imagine being in a relationship … any relationship … where you lack a feeling of trust in another person.  For sure this is a challenge and even potentially dooms the desired success.  Now envision this in your workplace and specifically in your department, your team or even the overall leadership you are paid to follow and support.  Do you trust those around you providing direction or leadership?  If not … success is limited or basically AWOL.

In coaching an individual in an organization, what often comes up as a root cause of their frustration or unhappiness is the lack of trust in another or others.  It serves to undermine the person’s desire and willingness to apply themselves to be and do their very best.  In fact, it is this missing trust that is the forerunner of turnover that occurs when someone feels they can’t or won’t continue to extend effort needed to achieve the intended goals.  And it’s a well-known fact that turnover and the resulting need to find and recruit new employees is so very costly in addition to the impact on morale that it makes sense to work hard to avoid this.

Waiting until the lack of trust becomes so evident that it appears to have no resolution doesn’t serve anyone of us … the company as a whole or certainly the individual.  However, by recognizing some of the indicators to a lack of basic trust can allow anyone to address it before it moves to what appears to be an irreparable state.  In writing for Psychology Today, Nan S Russell authored an article entitled Trust: The New Workplace Currency. She points to 10 yellow flag conditions that indicate an existing lack of trust as follows:

  1. People only doing what needs to be done or what’s asked of them, nothing more
  1. There’s a silo mentality, with limited collaboration, cooperation, and information sharing between departments
  2. Safe decision making with only limited or mediocre innovation is typical. Thoughtful risk-taking is the exception
  3. Complaining, finger-pointing, and blaming, with little personal accountability, ownership of mistakes, or stepping up to take on responsibilities is commonplace
  1. Highly competitive behaviors exist with aggressive opposition or blocking of others’ ideas
  2. Pertinent information that’s needed is withheld thus hindering good decision making
  3. Alignment between words and actions is not the norm and even key decision makers say one thing and do another
  4. Rumors come true more often than not since official communications operate with a last-century-spin-mentality, and transparency is for other people
  5. Policies, systems, and procedures are grounded in a belief that, for the most part, employees can’t be trusted, and need to be prodded, monitored, and controlled
  6. Top down command is the preferred style and most who lead believe influence comes with their titles, not realizing right behaviors, not right titles, drive results

It’s fairly safe to presume that you, the reader, may well be seeing any of the above indicators in your workplace.  The question is what can you do about it so that you can remain enthusiastic and committed to helping both your organization and you succeed?  It’s simple.  Bring it to the attention of someone who can help affect the change you want and need.  Is it HR?  Is it the person in whom you lack the trust?  What’s important is that we find someone … anyone … who will be open to hearing the concern and either take action or make suggestions as to what you can do.  Very often … in fact most often, the person creating your lack of trust is quite unaware of things they are doing that actually undermine their intention.  Don’t be surprised when you get a real “Thank You”.
Mike Dorman

Leading … And the Learner Within

It makes no difference if you are running a company, division, department or project team … you are the leader and, of course, your goal is to be as effective as you can be in order to get the job done with maximized success.  It’s what your organization expects of you, what you expect of yourself and what those you are charged with leading hope you will provide.  And yet, managing is comprised of doing things the right or wrong way and that clearly impacts the ultimate success you achieve.  It’s the learner within that allows us to excel in our role.

I don’t believe there is any course, workshop or book we can read that will enable us to be the ‘perfect’ manager.  And when we are given the leadership role, it is often because we demonstrate certain qualities that the ‘bosses’ believe will enable us to be effective.  So that’s a good starting place. 

And yet, we are all going to make mistakes … guaranteed.  And one important aspect of being effective in our leadership role is to allow for and leverage the shortcomings we experience and embrace them as a means of the learning what they all hold for us.

I came upon a recent article by Christopher Tammearu in which he identifies several common, counterproductive mistakes made by managers.  I believe that he hits upon issues that, to the extent we can avoid them, will enhance our overall effectiveness.  Here they are in summary

  • Having a false sense of respect, admiration and/or appreciation
    One key element of being a successful leader is our ability to earn the respect of those we lead. Who among us is inclined to give 110% to a boss we don’t respect?  And if, as a leader, we can’t earn that respect we will never tap into their full potential and thus we won’t be able to excel together.
    Suggested solution: Lead from the front.  Don’t hide in the office behind other duties and conference calls and join the team in the trenches when times are rough.
  • Conducting Pointless and Poorly Planned Meetings
    There is no such thing as having too many meetings as long as they are properly scheduled, structures, organized and interactive with participants. As an effective manager it is our responsibility to decipher information into content relative to our team and project and then deliver it effectively without wasting time or resources.  Just having a meeting without clear purpose or need subjects us as leaders to mockery and thus, discredits us.  In turn, this leads to a lack of respect and hurts our ability to reach our objectives as a team.
    Suggested solution: Not all information requires a meeting. Ask ourselves as a manager … can this be summed up and sent in an email.  All participants should know ahead of any meeting time … when, where, duration, relevance and topic(s) of discussion.
  • Being an “Intimidating Boss”
    Tammearu indicates that 3 out of every 4 employees in the U.S. are open to new job opportunities and are actively testing the job market. This is especially true today when unemployment is at its’ current low level.  The intimidating boss actually believes that employees should be grateful to have a job and would do anything to keep it.  That manager doesn’t understand the true cost associated with aimless firing and provoking cause for someone to quit (the cost of which is estimated to 150% of that person’s salary).
    Suggested solution: Cultivate a positive work environment that thrives on appreciation and teamwork.  Acknowledging team members and showing appreciation for the life-blood of your group for if it wasn’t vital it wouldn’t exist.
  • Giving Up
    Tammereau identifies this as probably the most common mistake made in management today … giving up on the team/group as a whole or on select individuals, giving up on the goals, the customer or making a difference. Managing is not easy and we accepted the responsibility of leading when we accepted the job.
    Suggested Solution: Rather than thinking ‘what’s the point, we need to be thinking what I could do differently?  Giving up on anything related to our job as leader will show and if we aren’t firing on all cylinders … neither will our team.

I don’t expect that anyone reading this will argue with the importance of being the most effective leader in order to achieve the most effective and desired outcomes.  Numerous books and articles are written by the experts that support the belief that the very best leaders consider themselves to be ongoing learners.  And it’s not just learning from the books, the courses or the bosses … it’s also learning from those we lead.  We are put into leadership positions for many reasons however one of them is not because we have all the answers and know more than anyone we lead.  What is necessary is our ability to be vulnerable and open to what we can learn and do better tomorrow.
Mike Dorman

Extraordinary Performance Wanted: Genius Not Required!

Almost daily we can read or hear of someone who did something out of the norm … something we would view as ‘extraordinary’ in that they reacted spontaneously, took a risk and did something that is often beyond their own wildest imagine.  Perhaps they saved a life by getting another out of a burning house … or broke some performance record on a field … or invented something that would impact the lives of millions.

I’m sure I’ve met some of these people although when working with them in my role of a business leadership coach, it seems that they often leave that version of themselves outside the office door. As they define and describe their personal goals in terms of what they want to achieve professionally they invariably have lofty visions of what they want to accomplish and the recognition that will advance their career and the related rewards. However, rather than support these ambitions with a similarly lofty approach to their work performance, they describe their attitude and efforts in a very ordinary way.  Such as …

  • I’m very dependable and reliable in that I work the hours expected, have never used a sick day and keep my head to the grindstone
  • I know my job well and my boss knows she/he can rely on me to do it right and get it completed when expected.
  • I can be counted on to put in extra time when requested as I am definitely a team player.

This is good and most companies dream of having 100% of their teams doing just this.  This is what is expected, appreciated and ordinary … especially for those determined to keep our jobs.  However, this rarely translates to standing out and being recognized for a difference that we, individually, bring to the work we do.  That requires extraordinary effort being put forth by ordinary people.

In recent days I came upon an article written by Sandeep Kashyap that very effectively speaks to this.  And the most encouraging aspect of his writing is the realization that extraordinary doesn’t require genius.  It only requires that we, as ordinary people, put out the extra effort, little by little, until what we are doing and accomplishing is truly extraordinary.  So simple right?  Actually as Kashyap presents it, it is quite straight-forward. Here are the steps he identifies that can make the difference and move us toward our true goals:

  1. Find your extraordinariness
    This means finding a niche wherein our strengths outnumber our weaknesses … one that excites and scares us at the same time. We all have what it takes to be extraordinary and bringing that out will take everything we’ve got.  If struggling, ask yourself how an extraordinary leader would have handled the situation. You don’t have to do extraordinary things to be extraordinary. Just do ordinary things extraordinarily.
  1. Set ridiculously high standards
    Most people underestimate what they can do. Thus we settle for something mediocre, average or ordinary.  Factually however, we are capable of accomplishing a lot more than we think and such underestimation of our potential gets in the way of becoming extraordinary.  To overcome this, set insanely high standards which in turn, will propel you to be your best and push yourself harder.  And in doing so, even if you fail you will fail above everyone else’s success.
  1. Stretch your comfort zone
    Going from ordinary to extraordinary can be uncomfortable … even painful.  And yet making this movement successfully requires a willingness to push ourselves into the land of the unknown.  Those of us determined to perform at this level accept the discomfort as a price for achieving the goals we have set for ourselves.
  1. Visualize your future
    The one ingredient that is a must is our 100% conviction to become extraordinary. To the extent that we can visualize such we have won half of the battle. Be relentless, stubborn and obsessed.  Anyone can become extraordinary — both in personal and professional lives. It just comes down to asking yourself this simple question: What would an extraordinary business professional, leader, teacher, father or whatever you aspire to become do today? Then go and do it the extraordinary way.

Does it seem difficult or unachievable?  I think not for I often meet people who have the vision and the goals.  That’s a good beginning. Silencing the external and internal voices that tell us that we can’t achieve this is critical.  And making it happen just requires the added action steps that will move us from good to great … from ordinary to extraordinary.  It’s our individual and personal choice and being that we are all just ordinary people, how exciting to realize that we can go sky-high just because we made up our mind to do so and are willing to put in that extra effort.  What a great way to begin the year!!
Mike Dorman

Why Not Trade Jinxed Resolutions for Sustainable Achievements for 2018?

We’re all familiar with those New Year resolutions that we make as we approach the forthcoming year.  We probably did it again during the past week or so and in the overall, they suffer a bad rap … or do they?  In the overall they can be seen as jinxed resolutions from the start.  Statistics reveal that the lion’s share of all resolutions are gone … kaput … by the end of the first week of January!

“Why” you ask?  Here are some of the key reasons:

  • Setting them during the holidays often falls into the category of something we think we should be doing and then it’s pass the eggnog please
  • They are often devised without any real sense of commitment or passion for whatever they are and …
  • They tend to be built around things we think we should be doing rather than things that will take us closer to well, thought out and desired goals.
 Is this saying that we shouldn’t think about our goals for the coming year?  Absolutely not.  However it is saying there are a few things that can convert our jinxed resolutions to actual accomplishments.  Here are some keys to making that happen:
  1. Goals we set should be of a reasonable size that make them realistic and attainable. Climbing any hill or mountain is accomplished taking a series of steps.  Achieving one’s goals is no different.
  1. Goals need to be quite specific which enable them to be measurable. Rather than I will work out at the gym 4 times a week … I will work out Tuesday, Thursday. Saturday and Sunday for 60 minutes each time.  Rather than I am going to earn a raise and advance my position at work … I am going to find out what would be expected of me to warrant a raise and promotion at the company and then create the specific plan to do the needed learning and improvement.
  1. Goals need to have personal meaning to you. Achievement of any goal needs to feed something important to us.  We need to understand the benefit that the accomplishment will bring.  Maybe it’s the ability to keep our job or maybe it’s a desire to have a more well-rounded life.  In some way it must feed something we value.
  1. Goals are often achieved through a process of trial and error … not perfection! Our success in reaching an important goal is often accomplished through a series of steps and some of these will be missteps.  Still, there is beneficial learning that we will need and should value as we move toward our goals. 
  1. Reward yourself for the progress you are making as you progress. Too often anything short of successful completion is considered a kind of failure.  Celebration before the ultimate goals is reached is looked upon as unwarranted emotion.  Not so.  Positive acknowledgement of where you have arrived is one shot in the arm that keeps us moving forward.
  1. Find an ally to whom you are willing to be accountable. Making changes, regardless of how much one may want them, isn’t easy especially when the change bucks engrained habits of old.  Your change buddy can be a terrific asset to helping you accomplish what you want to do.

It’s safe to say that in our work lives, most of us have goals that we are expected to achieve in order to be considered a value and contributor to our organization.  These goals are often built around a specific plan involving steps that we need to take to get it done!  Treating our personal goals related to any and every aspect of our lives should be approached the same way.  Just resolving to replace our often jinxed New Year’s resolutions with a meaningful, measurable and reasonable plan will make a huge difference.

Here is a ‘must watch’ and brief video featuring a four-year-old child explaining “the problem with New Year resolutions“. It’s a “from the mouths of babes” moment that brings with it some simplistic wisdom.  It’s worth the 2 minute watch and just might be your motivator for the year’s goal planning.
Mike Dorman

Contact

Toll Free: (866) 902-3777
Direct Phone: (949) 733-3777





    The Third Zone
    (Headquarters)
    5319 University Drive #212
    Irvine, CA 92612