Vareity What’s Up

Here’s the blitz of what’s on my mind and what I am doing right now:

1. Anon vs Brand? Should I keep blogging anon? What’s the value to me in doing that? If I keep blogging anon, nobody connects my expertise and writing skill to me, myself, and my actual brand — which I need. But if I don’t blog anon, can I still effectively write about the tender parts of my career development, and about the object lessons from staff and colleagues? But is blogging about others anon ethical?  I am getting alarmed with myself that I am NOT being ethical! I am leaning towards scrapping this whole thing and starting anew, as myself.
2. Is Penelope Trunk crazy or the true new wave? Is she taking the blend-your-professional-and-your-personal-and-tell-all meme to the non-useful extreme, or is she just the new normal? At least she’s ethical.
3. I am pissed at my boss. And I told him so. But I don’t think I told him effectively enough.  He stripped me of a responsibility (goal) without telling me that he’d done it nor telling me why.  And this after he happily agreed that we should de-prioritize it.  His action was more about getting control of one of my peers (he gave my goal to her boss) than about punishing me.  It’s well known that I don’t effectively influence her.  But not telling me was reactionary, and somewhat chickenshit. I’m pissed at myself for fumbling a great opportunity to be more candid. It will be on my agenda at my next career development status with him.
4. I am doing a personal brand assessment using Reach 360. They are a very interesting company that I have been following for a few years, but I’ve never used their 360-degree brand assessment tool before. I will let you know what I learn. They have good teleseminars – go check them out.
5. I am reading Back of the Napkin, and thinking about how to apply it to both project planning and communication.
6. I got great feedback from two people this week. That’s nice.
7. I am giving up one of my direct reports to someone else. I was expecting this, at about this time of year – her project is ending and she is working on something new.  But I am still bummed. My little empire is shrinking, that never feels good!
8. I think my least-resilient employee wants to kill me. Too bad. That’s her responsibility.  Just imagine how pissed at me she’ll be when I share the consequence of her behavior, hostility and inability to engage with the team — she is missing out on a great opportunity because we the management team won’t offer it to her due to track record of behavior, hostility and inability to engage with the team.
9. I am giving a stretch assignment to one of my other employees. That always feels great!
10. The stretch assignment involves an initiative I own that stems straight from the CEO. THAT always feels good!
11. I am recommitting to networking. I have set up regular lunches and coffees with some key leaders with whom I want to reconnect and talk both work and development. I still need to set up regular connections with three VPs with whom I’ve worked in the past, and one VP whom I’ve never met (but he went to my college and he may be the only other Obie at the F50C).  I have also set up some tracking so I can better manage my contacts, track stuff I want to talk about, and not let so much time go between meetings.

Cheers, y’all!

WTF Have I Been Doing??

Working, yo!

Busy bee, busy busy bee. Heads-down, goin’ to town, gettin’ down. Executing, talking back, talking sass, bias for action.

Telling all the so-and-sos to quit the bitchin’, quit the moans, and get off yr ass to do something about it if you’re gonna open yr mouth to complain.

Holding the bar, raising it higher. Holding people accountable. Expecting excellence. Expecting resilience.

Delegating up. Telling my boss what I think.

Also: spring cleaning, donating money, donating clothing, play date, day off, run run run run run very fast, makin’ chicken, baby eatin’ chicken now, fixin’ the car, washin’ the car, washin’ the laundry, seeing old friends, seeing the neighbors, bringing the bacon and frying up in a pan, eating lots & lots of bacon.

See you, space cowboys!

3 Perspectives on Reviews

Ok, I know I’m a broken record on reviews, just like I was a broken record on goal setting a couple of months ago.  Well, right now it’s annual review time at the F50C and a couple of months ago it was goal time.

So here’s the deal: I’ve given three reviews now in the 2007 and 2008 cycles where each employee got a very similar score and very similar mix of you-did-some-stuff-well-and-other-stuff-not-well feedback. I should add that all three got an average score, denoting straightforward, solid work that was not insufficient nor was it out-performance. All three reacted very differently to their very similar reviews and now I share with you my perspective on them:

Person A: Lower pay-grade, newer in career. Very resilient.  Took the review score and feedback for what they were: honest reflections of performance, and tools to use to help them improve in the coming year.  Bummed that the score was not higher but generally understood that their performance was not remarkably different from your average analyst.  Since the review has repeatedly stated commitment to improving, has tried out different tactics and is keeping the feedback front-of-mind.  Performance now is not an overnight switch to perfect but I trust completely that this person is committed to learning from mistakes and to moving from a task-checklist way of working to a more sophisticated leadership style. So far, I’m very impressed.

Person B: middle pay-grade, a bit further on in career. The review gave this person pause, although they held it together and remained very professional during the review meeting.  Their style is one to take input and digest it, consider it, analyze it for a while, so this person took the review information and thought it over. They also sought out a mentor they trusted to get a second point of view.  This was smart, because this person helped reinforce that an average score is not a NEGATIVE score, just average, and that the feedback is useful if the person was willing to use it and take action. The employee then spent the year trying out a variety of tactics and techniques to neutralize weaknesses and push out of their comfort zone, and partnered actively with me to figure out how to leverage their natural strengths to deliver more and to build trust and credibility.  This person in the 2008 cycle got a stellar review score and was also promoted.

Person C: highest pay grade, furthest along in their career, least time at the F50C. FLIPPED OUT.  None of the feedback in the review was new, but the person had a very strong negative reaction, tears, defensiveness, and was all over the place in terms of response — could not stop talking, did not finish points, jumped from point to point to point. Most concerning to me was a serious lack of resilience around the score and message. The person used almost exclusively “always/never” language: They will always get a poor score, they will never improve or be promoted, there is nothing they can do to affect their own situation.  They also used a lot of victim language: they did out perform, just none of their partners, clients or management saw it because it was subtle. External circumstances (the project, the economy, their switch from IT to business) caused the problem.  Lots of absolutist and low locus of control language. Lots of exaggeration around how bad things really are — the sky is falling (e.g. average score = worst score ever, mix of positive and negative feedback = everyone hates them).

What about you? Who are you? I mean really, honestly: are you an A, B or C?

My Annual Review

I am delighted by my annual review today: both a raise and a bonus! And I’m super proud of my score. I think this is more good news in the category of, Good things still happen despite this crappy economy.

Here are the major themes of my review:

Communication and Managing Execution are signature strengths. This isn’t news to me; I’ve studied my strengths, weaknesses & preferences enough to know what I’m good at and be able to articulate what I’m good at.  My boss happens to agree.  Also nice to hear is that I got a lot of positive feedback from my clients and even more importantly my team.  My boss thinks I’m getting to be quite good at managing people, and in particular coaching & helping them with career development. Good, because that’s why I like to manage people! Also heartening to hear is that I cut through the spin & confusion and get teams focusing on what’s most important and high-impact.

(By the way, being able to describe what you’re good at is important — often, it’s hard to tell others what our talents are because we’re all, Well duh this is nothing special; it’s just the way I am. Isn’t everyone wired like this? No,  everyone really isn’t wired like this, whatever your “this” is!)

My key opportunities right now are:

• Watch out for being too adaptable and picking up the buzzwords & jargon.  Influence w/o authority becomes a lot easier if I keep the technospeak out of it, use plain language, and get my partners to use plain language.  This is the business-world equivalent of my ridiculous ability to pick up regional dialects, y’all, and I’m over-using it.
• Set clear end-state expectations, delegate, and then let others execute in their way. Ah, the pains of moving from heavy on individual-contributor to heavy on doing-through-others.  I know I have trouble letting go of the methodology or process, especially when deadlines are tight or execs are phoning.  And if I don’t do this, how do a) my team members have an opportunity to grow? and b) I hold partners accountable to execute?  Teach others to fish, MFK, just order the fish and stop baiting, casting & reeling for them.

None of this information is a surprise to me, as I keep a pulse check on how I’m doing throughout the year – not just at review time.  I ask my peers, partners and even my team. And I ask my boss all the time.  He has even said, “I can’t physically give you enough feedback,” — Well, yes, fluid in-the-moment feedback is probably an opportunity that routinely shows up on his annual review.  So I go get my own.

But what’s really nice about this review is that my weaknesses are good ones to have, and seen in a positive light by my boss.  He and I both believe I can mitigate them.  They’re pretty sophisticated, and not game-changingly bad, like, Can’t deliver squat, or No one trusts or wants to work with her. These are things that if mitigated don’t keep me from slipping back, but rather propel me forward.

Secrets of My Success

Hi Team,

I’ve written another guest post over at Blog@Work. Cheers to Anastasia for thinking of me!

This time, I’m revealing all my special secrets — the amazing formula for success that I followed that got me where I am today.  Amazing secret formula! Or is it??

Here’s an exerpt:

Do you have to script a 10-year and a 5-year plan, follow them to the T, and ensure every action of every day furthers you to those goals? Hells no. But some healthy post-mortem self reflection will show you the hidden patterns underlying what at the time seemed like you were just doing what seemed interesting, or were lucky – position X opened up and you got to have experience Y. Look for them. Can you repeat the patterns again? Can you use those patterns to help you take it to the next level?

Patterns and formulas can help you be deliberate when you feel the need for a structured push. But don’t forget to just go do what seems interesting.

Go check it out!

Strokin’ Teh Ego

Joan strokes my ego all the time so of course I love her, but nonetheless it’s nice to get positive feedback from a director.

Today she left me a voice mail, You’re an activator, MFK, an ACTIVATOR. I want you around me all the time!

All because I told her, let’s just declare you the owner of this data instead of asking around for permission and hoping someone drives a top-down decision. I’ll broker an agreement between you and the other department, and we’ll get the SVP to bless it and then we can just get STARTED.

Sigh. Sometimes it’s soooooo annoying working in a consensus-based culture.  And sometimes you just have to be an ACTIVATOR.

Your Daily Poetry: My Groovy Learning (Free Verse, I’m Not Rhymin’ Yo)

In regards to  entirely unrelated set of
Mildly hysterical partners,
I was reminded once again
Sometimes best response is

Stay away

Do absolutely nothing

The hysterical people will sort themselves out.

Does not always work
More art than science
Always seems to resolve in my favor
I am hysterically unscathed

Sometimes helps to ask a small question
Like seeding a cloud
So that it rains
Just bring umbrella

Or get coffee

Return when dry.

Rant About a Bunch of Leaders in a Twist

I am very frustrated today.  Let me just describe the situation to you in a neutral fashion:  a bunch of mid-level managers, certainly though all in pay grades way above mine, all with their man-panties and lady-panties in a twist, and none able to agree with each other on:  a) presenting problem, b) possible approach, c) solution options.  All with a falsely heightened sense of urgency. None (well, maybe one) with a methodical approach. And I am caught in the middle.

I am feeling a little sorry for myself, and also pulled in about four directions simultaneously.

Hmmm, I should buck up.  Buck right the hell up.  What would I tell my employee, if this were her caught in the middle?

• You add value by creating clarity, simplicity and a methodical approach where this semi-hysterical group of leaders can’t.
• Don’t rely on your leader(s) to fix this for you. Influence w/o authority.
• You want to be promoted? Act like you already are.  How would a Manager Level 3 handle this?
• It’s your job to get these partners organized, cooperating and moving forward.
• Need the boss to actually fix something? First identify really clearly what you need. Then delegate up, setting really clear expectations. Don’t just ask him to “help me manage Leader X” — that’s too vague.
• Be a calming influence.
• Help Leader Y and Director Z act. Stop their spin.

Interestingly, I can do all this.  Creating clarity, finding a plan through the mud, calming, stopping spin, bias for action are all things I do.  I’m a little tense about influence w/o authority, but that is on my developmental agenda for this year.  And gee, the powers that be (God? Universal force for good? Martians?) have handed me a perfect opportunity here on this old silver platter.

I really need to stop feeling sorry for myself.

For now I will just adjourn to watch Battlestar Galactica on DVD.

Quick Tips: Writing Reviews

I really do appreciate how my boss writes performance reviews.  He is to the point, possibly blunt, but I like that he doesn’t mess around with empty words or fluffy crap.  He is a wonderful editor of the reviews I write.

He just edited three for me: a top performer, a B-player and my bottom performer.  Here are the simplest, best tips I’ve learned over the years from him:

Top Performers: Celebrate. Three cheers for them, and make sure they know it.  Say thanks, in writing.  Tell them what they’re known for.  Tell them you want them to take their signature strengths to the next level, and tell them what that level looks like.  Celebrate all the wins. Yay for great results!

B-players: Lots of concrete examples. Ah, the tricky fate of the B-player.  They are walking along the fence and can fall off either side.  Give lots of concrete examples of specific behaviors that aren’t working — it’s been my experience that often times B-players can’t see what they’re doing wrong; they don’t “get” it.  Help them get it.  Spell it out, especially if they’re Gen Y. Or passive aggressive like we Minnesotans are.  Bonus tip: Raise the bar way up. Tell them it’s raised.  Tell them how high.  It’s also been my experience that B-players will meet your bar. Don’t give them a lame bar.

Problem performers: Pick a theme. Do NOT give a litany of all the stuff that bugs you and all the crap they’ve done wrong. You want to prompt new behavior, not demotivate and destroy. What is the one, two if you must, game changing behavior they can focus on?  Just like your stars: what are they known for? Make sure you’ve got solid examples. Make sure this is the game-changer that their clients, their staff, your leadership peers are all talking about.  Tell them this is their opportunity to take this golden ticket and rock it.  Rock it means neutralize, not turn into a talent. How many people are given the courtesy of a frank and honest assessment? Tell them to rock it.  Tell them it is their choice.

Oh and duh — are your performance reviews over for the year?  Well, start giving this feedback NOW, and keep doing it all year.

What if you’re an employee, not the one writing the review? Well, make your boss be frank and honest.  Ask what you’re known for. Ask what your signature contribution is.  If they can’t answer, start asking your peers and clients and staff. Ask those people anyway.  Why are you waiting for your boss to give you feedback? Don’t give away all your power – go out and ask for it yourself.

GREAT NEWS!

Remember my car dealer?

PROMOTED last weekend.

We took our car in for service and met him for breakfast and as we were leaving a guy in a dress shirt pulled him aside and when he came back he was PROMOTED.

He’s now the Sales Manager for the  dealership, leading the entire sales force. He has been working hard to get this position for a while now, driving mad results selling financial instruments, focusing on developmental opportunities / priorities, and enlisting his boss and leadership as allies towards his goal.  Worked really hard.

And BAM, PROMOTION.

In the AUTO INDUSTRY.  In this CRAPPY ECONOMY.

It is possible, folks.

What are you working on???