Over the years, I’ve learned that people tend to act and respond according to how their treated. So, if we want employees to act more like stakeholders in the business, we need to treat them more like stakeholders … we need to make them “partners” in the enterprise and provide them with opportunities for greater involvement. And, as I Quit, But Forgot to Tell You points out, that means doing things like …
• Teaching team members the basics of the business as well as their jobs.
• Sharing information about your organization’s challenges, finances, and future plans.
• Helping each person see the big picture and understand his or her part in it.
• Soliciting employee input and ideas on processes and purchases.
• Giving the people who do the work a say on how it should be accomplished.
Bottom line: When employees are treated as partners, senses of ownership, involvement, and responsibility are more likely to set in. And the pride that comes from contributing as a true stakeholder can fill a powerful personal need that we all share.
Lead well ... LEAD RIGHT
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Inspired to Lead
Leadership is not a top-down impulse but rather a bottom-up impact. The greatest leaders in history have not been dictators but rather directors – leadership maestros who used their gifts of vision, values and purpose to orchestrate actions that served a cause greater than themselves.
Giving orders is not leadership. Giving hope is. Leaders who serve the interests of those they lead earn far more than the obedience of their followers, they earn their respect.
Are you an inspired leader? It is good to reflect on how well we are living up to our own leadership challenges. How well are you serving your team and your organization? When was the last time you asked the people you lead how well you are meeting their professional needs? When was the last time that you took a few minutes to sit with each of your team members and asked them what you can do better to help them be more effective or more satisfied in their work? Have you ever asked your colleagues how you can inspire them to excel? Go ahead, ask the questions and do not fear the answers.
Inspired leadership is not about weak and strong; it’s about right and wrong. It’s about doing things the right way, for the right reasons and using your position of power, trust and influence to serve. Serve as a facilitator to get things done. Serve as a mentor to grow your team members. Ultimately, the most inspired leaders serve as an example to others that the pinnacle of leadership is reached when you care more about others standing atop the summit than you do about your own view.
Giving orders is not leadership. Giving hope is. Leaders who serve the interests of those they lead earn far more than the obedience of their followers, they earn their respect.
Are you an inspired leader? It is good to reflect on how well we are living up to our own leadership challenges. How well are you serving your team and your organization? When was the last time you asked the people you lead how well you are meeting their professional needs? When was the last time that you took a few minutes to sit with each of your team members and asked them what you can do better to help them be more effective or more satisfied in their work? Have you ever asked your colleagues how you can inspire them to excel? Go ahead, ask the questions and do not fear the answers.
Inspired leadership is not about weak and strong; it’s about right and wrong. It’s about doing things the right way, for the right reasons and using your position of power, trust and influence to serve. Serve as a facilitator to get things done. Serve as a mentor to grow your team members. Ultimately, the most inspired leaders serve as an example to others that the pinnacle of leadership is reached when you care more about others standing atop the summit than you do about your own view.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Heart of a teacher
The Story of Mark Eklund (A True Story) by Sister Helen Mrosla
He was in the first third grade class I taught at Saint Mary’s School in Morris, Minnesota. All thirty-four of my students were dear to me, but Mark Eklund was one in a million. Very neat in appearance, he had that happy-to-be-alive attitude that made even his occasional mischievousness delightful.
Mark talked incessantly. I had to remind him again and again that talking without permission was not acceptable. What impressed me so much, though, was his sincere response every time I had to correct him for misbehaving. “Thank you for correcting me, Sister!” I didn’t know what to make of it at first, but before long I became accustomed to hearing it many times a day.
One morning my patience was growing thin when Mark talked once too often, and then I made a novice teacher’s mistake. I looked at Mark and said, “If you say one more word, I am going to tape your mouth shut!” It wasn’t ten seconds later when Chuck blurted out, “Mark is talking again.” I hadn’t asked any of the students to help me watch Mark, but since I had stated the punishment in front of the class, I had to act on it. I remember the scene as if it had occurred this morning. I walked to my desk, very deliberately opened my drawer, and took out a roll of masking tape. Without saying a word, I proceeded to Mark’s desk, tore off two pieces of tape, and made a big X with them over his mouth. I then returned to the front of the room. As I glanced at Mark to see how he was doing, he winked at me. That did it! I started laughing. The class cheered as I walked back to Mark’s desk, removed the tape, and shrugged my shoulders. His first words were, “Thank you for correcting me, Sister.”
At the end of the year, I was asked to teach junior-high math. The years flew by, and before I knew it, Mark was in my classroom again. He was more handsome than ever and just as polite. Since he had to listen carefully to my instruction in the “new math,” he did not talk as much in ninth grade as he had in third. One Friday, things just didn’t feel right. We had worked hard on a new concept all week, and I sensed that the students were frowning, frustrated with themselves, and edgy with one another. I had to stop this crankiness before it got out of hand. So I asked them to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then I told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish the assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed me the papers. Charlie smiled. Mark said, “Thank you for teaching me, Sister. Have a good weekend.” That Saturday, I wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and Iisted what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday, I gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. “Really?” I heard whispered. “I never knew that meant anything to anyone!” “I didn’t know others liked me so much.” No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. I never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn’t matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another again.
That group of students moved on. Several years later, after I returned from vacation, my parents met me at the airport. As we were driving home, Mother asked me the usual questions about the trip, the weather, my experiences in general. There was a lull in the conversation. Mother gave Dad a sideways glance and simply said, “Dad?” My father cleared his throat, as he usually did before saying something important. “The Eklunds called last night,” he began. “Really?” I said. “I haven’t heard from them in years. I wonder how Mark is.” Dad responded quietly. “Mark was killed in Vietnam,” he said. “The funeral is tomorrow, and his parents would like it if you could attend.” To this day, I can still point to the exact spot on I-494 where Dad told me about Mark.
I had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. Mark looked so handsome, so mature. All I could think at that moment was, “Mark, I would give all the masking tape in the world if only you would talk to me.” The church was packed with Mark’s friends. Chuck’s sister sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Why did it have to rain on the day of the funeral? It was difficult enough at the graveside. The pastor said the usual prayers, and the bugler played taps. One by one those who loved Mark took a last walk by the coffin and sprinkled it with holy water. I was the last one to bless the coffin. As I stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to me. “Were you Mark’s math teacher?” he asked. I nodded as I continued to stare at the coffin. “Mark talked about you a lot,” he said.
After the funeral, most of Mark’s former classmates headed to Chuck’s farmhouse for lunch. Mark’s mother and father were there, obviously waiting for me. “We want to show you something,” his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. “They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.” Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded, and refolded many times. I knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which I had listed all the good things each of Mark’s classmates had said about him. “Thank you so much for doing that,” Mark’s mother said. “As you can see, Mark treasured it.” Mark’s classmates started to gather around us. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, “I still have my list. I keep it in the top drawer of my desk at home.” Chuck’s wife said, “Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.” “I have mine too—in my diary,” Marilyn said. Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet, and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. “I carry this with me at all times,” Vicki said without batting an eyelash. “I think we all saved our lists.” That’s when I finally sat down and cried. I cried for Mark and for all of his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don’t know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for that they are special and important. Tell them, before it’s too late.
Copyright Simple Truths, LLC, all rights reserved and reprinted with permission.
He was in the first third grade class I taught at Saint Mary’s School in Morris, Minnesota. All thirty-four of my students were dear to me, but Mark Eklund was one in a million. Very neat in appearance, he had that happy-to-be-alive attitude that made even his occasional mischievousness delightful.
Mark talked incessantly. I had to remind him again and again that talking without permission was not acceptable. What impressed me so much, though, was his sincere response every time I had to correct him for misbehaving. “Thank you for correcting me, Sister!” I didn’t know what to make of it at first, but before long I became accustomed to hearing it many times a day.
One morning my patience was growing thin when Mark talked once too often, and then I made a novice teacher’s mistake. I looked at Mark and said, “If you say one more word, I am going to tape your mouth shut!” It wasn’t ten seconds later when Chuck blurted out, “Mark is talking again.” I hadn’t asked any of the students to help me watch Mark, but since I had stated the punishment in front of the class, I had to act on it. I remember the scene as if it had occurred this morning. I walked to my desk, very deliberately opened my drawer, and took out a roll of masking tape. Without saying a word, I proceeded to Mark’s desk, tore off two pieces of tape, and made a big X with them over his mouth. I then returned to the front of the room. As I glanced at Mark to see how he was doing, he winked at me. That did it! I started laughing. The class cheered as I walked back to Mark’s desk, removed the tape, and shrugged my shoulders. His first words were, “Thank you for correcting me, Sister.”
At the end of the year, I was asked to teach junior-high math. The years flew by, and before I knew it, Mark was in my classroom again. He was more handsome than ever and just as polite. Since he had to listen carefully to my instruction in the “new math,” he did not talk as much in ninth grade as he had in third. One Friday, things just didn’t feel right. We had worked hard on a new concept all week, and I sensed that the students were frowning, frustrated with themselves, and edgy with one another. I had to stop this crankiness before it got out of hand. So I asked them to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then I told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish the assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed me the papers. Charlie smiled. Mark said, “Thank you for teaching me, Sister. Have a good weekend.” That Saturday, I wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and Iisted what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday, I gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. “Really?” I heard whispered. “I never knew that meant anything to anyone!” “I didn’t know others liked me so much.” No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. I never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn’t matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another again.
That group of students moved on. Several years later, after I returned from vacation, my parents met me at the airport. As we were driving home, Mother asked me the usual questions about the trip, the weather, my experiences in general. There was a lull in the conversation. Mother gave Dad a sideways glance and simply said, “Dad?” My father cleared his throat, as he usually did before saying something important. “The Eklunds called last night,” he began. “Really?” I said. “I haven’t heard from them in years. I wonder how Mark is.” Dad responded quietly. “Mark was killed in Vietnam,” he said. “The funeral is tomorrow, and his parents would like it if you could attend.” To this day, I can still point to the exact spot on I-494 where Dad told me about Mark.
I had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. Mark looked so handsome, so mature. All I could think at that moment was, “Mark, I would give all the masking tape in the world if only you would talk to me.” The church was packed with Mark’s friends. Chuck’s sister sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Why did it have to rain on the day of the funeral? It was difficult enough at the graveside. The pastor said the usual prayers, and the bugler played taps. One by one those who loved Mark took a last walk by the coffin and sprinkled it with holy water. I was the last one to bless the coffin. As I stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to me. “Were you Mark’s math teacher?” he asked. I nodded as I continued to stare at the coffin. “Mark talked about you a lot,” he said.
After the funeral, most of Mark’s former classmates headed to Chuck’s farmhouse for lunch. Mark’s mother and father were there, obviously waiting for me. “We want to show you something,” his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. “They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.” Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded, and refolded many times. I knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which I had listed all the good things each of Mark’s classmates had said about him. “Thank you so much for doing that,” Mark’s mother said. “As you can see, Mark treasured it.” Mark’s classmates started to gather around us. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, “I still have my list. I keep it in the top drawer of my desk at home.” Chuck’s wife said, “Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.” “I have mine too—in my diary,” Marilyn said. Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet, and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. “I carry this with me at all times,” Vicki said without batting an eyelash. “I think we all saved our lists.” That’s when I finally sat down and cried. I cried for Mark and for all of his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don’t know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for that they are special and important. Tell them, before it’s too late.
Copyright Simple Truths, LLC, all rights reserved and reprinted with permission.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Charging the Human Battery
One choice, just one, can change your life forever. Simply put, your life today is what your choices have made it, but with new choices, you can change directions this very moment. For me, that idea alone is highly motivational because it offers tremendous hope, regardless of circumstances, for a better tomorrow.
Your life-changing choice may be to switch careers, to leave an abusive relationship, to go back to school, to stop drinking, to adopt a child, to start a business, to lose weight, to start a charity…to name a few. If you have the courage to do so, you could make any one of those choices, or others, today. And you would change your life.
Sometimes it’s a different kind of choice. It can be to not quit, to not give up in the face of adversity. We’ve all been there.
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen received 77 rejections for their idea Chicken Soup for the Soul. They had to make a decision each time…should they throw in the towel and say enough is enough, or should they keep trying to pursue their dreams? You know the rest of the story. The 78th publisher said “Yes” and they went on to sell over 100 million books.
So never forget that you are only one choice away from changing your life. Do you have the courage to make it?
Your life-changing choice may be to switch careers, to leave an abusive relationship, to go back to school, to stop drinking, to adopt a child, to start a business, to lose weight, to start a charity…to name a few. If you have the courage to do so, you could make any one of those choices, or others, today. And you would change your life.
Sometimes it’s a different kind of choice. It can be to not quit, to not give up in the face of adversity. We’ve all been there.
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen received 77 rejections for their idea Chicken Soup for the Soul. They had to make a decision each time…should they throw in the towel and say enough is enough, or should they keep trying to pursue their dreams? You know the rest of the story. The 78th publisher said “Yes” and they went on to sell over 100 million books.
So never forget that you are only one choice away from changing your life. Do you have the courage to make it?
Monday, April 12, 2010
DOING THE RIGHT THING
A potential ethical dilemma happens when one has to choose between two options which are both correct. For instance, it is right to …
• Apply rules and procedures equally, without favoritism. And also right to give special consideration to hard working, dependable and productive employees.
• Keep information given to you in confidence. And also right to report violations of laws, rules and ethical standards.
• Tell the truth. And also right to be tactful and considerate of peoples’ feelings and emotions.
• Be concerned with short-term results. And also right to focus on long-term growth and stability.
When identifying and choosing between two seemingly right decisions, it helps to look at common criteria or questions. Try asking: What decision …
• Is most in line with laws, regulations, and corporate procedures?
• Is most in sync with organizational values?
• Provides the greatest benefit for the largest number of stakeholders?
• Establishes the best precedent for guiding similar decisions in the future?
• Apply rules and procedures equally, without favoritism. And also right to give special consideration to hard working, dependable and productive employees.
• Keep information given to you in confidence. And also right to report violations of laws, rules and ethical standards.
• Tell the truth. And also right to be tactful and considerate of peoples’ feelings and emotions.
• Be concerned with short-term results. And also right to focus on long-term growth and stability.
When identifying and choosing between two seemingly right decisions, it helps to look at common criteria or questions. Try asking: What decision …
• Is most in line with laws, regulations, and corporate procedures?
• Is most in sync with organizational values?
• Provides the greatest benefit for the largest number of stakeholders?
• Establishes the best precedent for guiding similar decisions in the future?
Thursday, April 8, 2010
"Walk The Talk”
Here’s a lesson from Reality 101: You earn the right to expect others to do things by doing those things yourself. And that lesson applies directly to business ethics.
What do you expect from your organization and the companies you do business with as a customer? Do you expect your boss to be honest and fair? Do you expect to be treated with dignity and decency? Do you expect quality goods and services in exchange for your hard-earned money? Do you expect others to respect your time and keep their commitments? Of course! You expect all of those…and a whole lot more. And it should be no surprise that your customers and co-workers have the very same expectations of you!
Giving what you expect to get from others is called integrity. Expecting what you fail to give yourself is called hypocrisy. Don’t be a hypocrite — our world already has more than enough of them. Instead, choose to be a role model of ethical behavior. We need all of those we can get.
“If you want to feel proud of yourself, you’ve got to DO things you can be proud of. Feelings follow actions.”
~Oseola McCarty
What do you expect from your organization and the companies you do business with as a customer? Do you expect your boss to be honest and fair? Do you expect to be treated with dignity and decency? Do you expect quality goods and services in exchange for your hard-earned money? Do you expect others to respect your time and keep their commitments? Of course! You expect all of those…and a whole lot more. And it should be no surprise that your customers and co-workers have the very same expectations of you!
Giving what you expect to get from others is called integrity. Expecting what you fail to give yourself is called hypocrisy. Don’t be a hypocrite — our world already has more than enough of them. Instead, choose to be a role model of ethical behavior. We need all of those we can get.
“If you want to feel proud of yourself, you’ve got to DO things you can be proud of. Feelings follow actions.”
~Oseola McCarty
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Learning to Dance in the Rain
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
~Melody Beattie, therapist, author
Someone wise once said, “Circumstances don’t determine your character—they reveal it.” Who we are as human beings is revealed most clearly during times of struggle, hardship, pain, and suffering. It’s easy to be a good person when things are going great. But when times get tough, that’s when you’ll really find out stuff you’re made of.
Nowhere is this more true than with regard to gratitude. Are you grateful when the storm clouds gather, and it rains on your parade? Can you find gratitude in your heart when you don’t get what you want? Do you feel grateful when illness strikes, loved ones don’t show up for you, jobs and careers disappoint, and nothing seems to be going your way?
Gratitude is not a fair weather virtue. True gratitude means appreciating your life no matter what the storms may bring. Is simply being alive gift enough for you to feel grateful?
“You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.”
~Brian Tracy, motivational speaker and author
~Melody Beattie, therapist, author
Someone wise once said, “Circumstances don’t determine your character—they reveal it.” Who we are as human beings is revealed most clearly during times of struggle, hardship, pain, and suffering. It’s easy to be a good person when things are going great. But when times get tough, that’s when you’ll really find out stuff you’re made of.
Nowhere is this more true than with regard to gratitude. Are you grateful when the storm clouds gather, and it rains on your parade? Can you find gratitude in your heart when you don’t get what you want? Do you feel grateful when illness strikes, loved ones don’t show up for you, jobs and careers disappoint, and nothing seems to be going your way?
Gratitude is not a fair weather virtue. True gratitude means appreciating your life no matter what the storms may bring. Is simply being alive gift enough for you to feel grateful?
“You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.”
~Brian Tracy, motivational speaker and author
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)