http://mergespeaks.com/blog/">Turning Managers into Leaders

So you’ve probably seen the latest “video-gone-viral – how professional violinist Lukas Kmit handled the situation when an errant cell phone went off during his performance. If you haven’t, take 90 seconds to do so below.

Funny, right? But what I really liked about this clip is that it demonstrates how presence of mind and a sense of humor can turn what could have been an ugly situation into something much much more pleasant. It would have been so easy for the violinist to have lost his cool; after all, “turn off your cell phones” had probably been announced several times before the concert started. But instead, he kept his wits about him and turned something bad into something great. As a result, he’s probably gotten more publicity in the last week than he got previously in his entire career!

So is there a message there for the rest of us? I think so! In our day-to-day work lives, we face a myriad of unexpected situations, many of which can be professionally devastating if we don’t respond appropriately. Two things can make such situations better:

1. Not taking ourselves too seriously (Lukas Kmit didn’t)
2. Giving ourselves permission to improvise (Lukas Kmit certainly did)

Can you think of situations at work where doing these two things could have (or did) make the outcome better? Do share!

You’ve probably found yourself in situations where you’ve come dangerously close to losing your composure.  Perhaps it’s a frustrating employee, an irritating colleague, or even an exasperating client; whatever the cause, you know that as a leader, it’s important to stay poised, positive and unflappable, even in trying moments, and to think clearly and stay focused when the pressure is on.  C’mon, we’ve all had the experience of doing something in the heat of the moment that we regretted later.  So what can you do to maintain your self-control?

The first step to exercising restraint is to identify your main triggers – the things that cause you to get upset, irritated or impatient.  It’s actually worth your while to make a list of the main triggers that get you all hot and bothered.  Perhaps it’s people interrupting you, colleagues who seem incompetent, someone who talks too much, folks who are rude, lateness, clutter, or too much noise.  Ask yourself: what are the things that not only irritate me, but also drain my mental capacity?   Once you can clearly articulate what causes you to lose your cool, you’ve just taken a giant step towards staying calm, composed and unruffled in the face of stress and strain.

In the coming months, I’ll periodically offer up other specific ideas for maintaining self-control.  But for now, I’d like to know what you do.  What specific actions do you take to keep your cool under pressure?  Do share!

In earlier posts, I’ve blogged about dealing with problem employees.  Specifically, I’ve highlighted the significance of determining whether your issue with your problem employee is one of performance, behaviour or attitude, and the importance of articulating the problem, clearly and succinctly, so that the employee “gets it”.

But before you ever raise the issue with the employee, you need to ask yourself a very important question – is it important?  Does what the employee is doing really matter to overall team performance and productivity.  Or is it just an irritant that drives you crazy but in the end has no negative effect on productivity or performance.  Ask yourself – what would happen if I took no action?  The unfortunate truth is that employees often say or do things that aggravate and infuriate us, but ultimately have no impact on team productivity or department performance.  If that’s true, then let it go!  Take a deep breath and ignore it.  If you are a manager or supervisor, you’ve got enough on your plate to deal with, without taking on issues that don’t have a negative impact on overall operations.  Only if it is truly important should you continue to move forward and raise the issue with your employee.

So … do you agree?

Last October, I blogged about dealing with a difficult employee, and the importance of determining whether the problem is one of performance, behaviour or attitude.  Once you do that though, you still have to raise the issue with the employee if  you want to successfully resolve the situation.  In other words: you have to be able to articulate the problem, clearly and succinctly, so that the employee “gets it”.  I mean, if you can’t describe the issue to the employee, then the likelihood that the employee will actually take positive steps to improve the situation is slim to non-existent.  So here’s what you need to do to clearly articulate the problem.  Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re in a position of formal leadership in your organization, sooner or later, you’re going to be faced with the problem employee.  This is the employee who misses deadlines, presents sub-standard work, is frequently tardy or absent, uses the telephone excessively for personal use, complains constantly, or has a tendency to be a “know-it-all.”  You know – the one that takes up a disproportionate amount of your time at work, and if that isn’t enough, keeps you up at night.

So … how are you going to address this problem issue with your employee?  Read the rest of this entry »

Delivering bad news is not easy.  Your objective is to soften the blow without sugar-coating the facts.  And your two biggest obstacles will likely be separating your emotions from your message, and listening more than  you talk.  To make this process easier (and more effective) I’ve identified seven definitive things that you must keep in mind.  You can read them in my latest article in the July/August issue of CGA Magazine.

By the way, what do you think?  Have I missed anything? Please add your thoughts below.

Negative people … they’re in every workplace. You know who they are. They never have anything good to say about anything or anyone. They languish around the office. They are victims in a world that is conspiring against them. And lest you fail to notice, they are quick to point out why something won’t work. But worst of all: their sour attitudes bring the rest of the workplace down.

It’s this contagious and toxic nature of negativity that creates havoc in workplaces and causes untold grief for managers and supervisors. The effect negative people have in a workplace is akin to adding a few drops of coffee to a glass of clear water. Within minutes, the drops of coffee swirl and spread through the water and immediately cloud and darken the mixture. Just a few negative people can dampen team morale and productivity. So what can you do about it?  Read the entire article in the September/October 2009 issue of CGA Magazine here.

So you’ve had to fire someone.  Whatever the reason, it was likely one of the toughest things you’ve ever had to do as a supervisor or manager.  So you lost some sleep, sucked it up, took a deep breath and did it.  The hard part is over now, right?  Wrong!  Unfortunately, the toughest part is taking care of those who are left behind.  Any kind of employee termination can have a negative impact on the other employees on your team unless you take positive steps to overcome it.  This means that you must take action, or run the risk of having your team weaken and falter.  What to do to get your people re-grouped, re-focused, and moving forward?  Read the entire article in the July/August 2009 issue of CGA Magazine here.