What To Communicate

Leaders know that communication is one of their most important jobs. Often I find leaders who know this and yet don’t do it nearly enough. At the heart of this knowledge and skills gap is a critical question.

What do I need to communicate?

Often leaders say, “I’ve already told them that, sent the email, gave the presentation.” While this may be true, not only do these communications need to be repeated, but often what is being communicated is the wrong thing, or at the wrong time.

Here is a simple rule of thumb:

Communicate why before how, and don’t switch too soon.

In most organizations and teams the “why” is missing. When the why is strong enough, the how will be figured out. Besides, if you are trying to empower your organization, as a leader you probably need to spend less time on how anyway.

Focus more of your communication and conversation on why and less on how.

Also posted on Leadership.

Employee Engagement Network Reaches 100 Members

Click here to visit the employee engagement network. In just under 4 weeks we reached 100 members. I strongly encourage you to both visit and join this network. It is for people who focus on employee engagement at work, people who want to enhance their own work, or people who are involved in writing, consutlting or doing other work related to engagement.

We have been very active in 4 weeks with over 25,000 views!

Here is just a sample of 12 of the over 100 members you can interact with:

Tim Wright who was the first member to join after I founded the network and who write a marvelous blog on culture to engage.

Terrence Seamon who is a very active and insightful community member from the American Management Association.

Rosa Say who brings a whole lot of Hawaii into her leadership practice.

Michael Lee Stallard who wrote a wonderful book and knows the importance of connection for engagement.

Michelle Malay Cater who writes with style and substance.

Judy McLeish from Toronto who writes another great blog on engagement.

Kathy Lankford who has made some very insightful comments on the network.

Michael Kanazawa who had a cubicle close to Scott Adams the creator of Dilbert and who works on big ideas to big results.

Scott Herrick who writes about careers in Cube Rules.

Guatam Ghosh who offers frequent contributions and adds a perspective from India.

Patricia Ryan Madson who brings the spirit of improvisation to the site.

Andrew Rondeau who jumped right in and got very involved in our conversations.

Obviously this is just a very partial list and it is the combination of EVERYONE who joined to make this a leading resources for anyone interested in employee engagement.

Photo Credit: The worlds network by http://flickr.com/photos/saschaaa/152502539/

David Zinger, Host - Employee Engagement Network.

7 Ways To Make Your Maddening Behaviors Work For You

Okay let’s assume you are very self aware and you are noticing behaviors that you would like to change or shift when interacting with others. Congrats! The next step is to be able to transform those behaviors into new strategies that will for you and for those around you.

In my book “The Control Freak Revolution- Make Your Most Maddening Behaviors Work for Your Company and To Your Advantage” I give in depth solutions on how to shift our actions in order to get new and enhanced results. I have been doing publicity for the book and I am commonly asked “how do we change these behaviors?”

It’s a great question and in Chapter nine I provide some help with this. In a very brief synopis here are 7 ways to make your maddening behaviors work for you:

Turn the negative into a positive for each maddening behavior transform it into new behaviors for example:

#1 Turn the negative of impatience into the positive of communicated urgency

#2 Turn the negative of being overbearing into the positive of assertive coaching

#3 Turn the negative of being over controlling into the positive of being just right controlling

#4 Turn the negative of being condescending into the positive of respecting others opinions

#5 Turn the negative of non trust into the positive of letting go slowly with trust

#6 Turn the negative of perfectionism into the positive of healthy achievement

#7 Turn the negative of being push and forceful into the positive of being flexible and adaptable

Of course none of these proposed shifts are easy to make and if you are really struggling I recommend getting support in the form of coaching in order to make a commitment to positive change and growth.

Or read the book

What Bold Thing…

Sue Melone, writer of the Boldtrek blog and I chatted on the phone last week. She opened our conversation with a question. If you have read this blog for any time at all, you know I love great questions. She asked one of the best:

“What bold thing have you done this week?”

You know a great question, because even when you know the answer, you pause.

I paused.

We talked about variations of this question that she uses in different situations:

What bold thing will you do today?

What bold thing have you done this year?

What bold thing will you do this year?

… you get the idea.

But I hope you do more than get the idea…. I hope you will answer the question.

What bold thing will you do this week?

Or, to Kevin-ize it…

What remarkable thing will you do this week?

Take your pick - they are both questions we could benefit from answering (and acting on) regularly.

Also posted in Creativity, Leadership and Learning.

Health and Safety Program versus Culture

Building on the highly customized Courageous Leadership for Health & Safety training program we designed for Barrick Gold (see July 2006, December 2006, and December 2007 issues – The CLEMMER Group’s training and consulting division has been rapidly expanding our offerings and expertise in this area. As word of the dramatic results of Barrick’s program (75% reduction in safety incidents over three years) spreads, I’m having more conversations with health and safety professionals as well as senior executives about The CLEMMER Group helping them improve their safety performance.

But far too many leaders don’t get the difference between “sheep dipping” people throughout their organization in a training program and truly shifting the culture and daily leadership behaviors.

See Health and Safety Bolt-on Programs or Built-In Processes from the August 2003 issue for a deeper look at this critical distinction. The article also has a “commitment continuum” that is central to Barrick defining expected leadership behavior and one of the keys to their success. You can also watch me presenting this difference in a nine-minute video clip at http://www.clemmer.net/video (scroll down to “Quality and Safety Leadership”.)

ZENgagement: Work is Pervasive

Employee Engagement is all about work.

Speaking about the daily activities in which humans engage, everything is work — being alive and in a body is already work. Every day there is eating and sh..ting and cleaning up. There is brushing and bathing and flossing. Every day there is thinking and caring and creating. So there is no escape from work — it’s everywhere. for Zen students there’s no work time and leisure time; there’s just lifetime, daytime and nighttime. Work is something deep and dignified — it’s what we are born to do and what we feel most fulfilled in doing. ~ Norman Fischer, Zen monk abbot, (From Howard Gardner’s Responsibility at Work).

Photo Credit: Blue Sky! by http://flickr.com/photos/foxypar4/1065840918/

Control is OK Says Article in Best Life Magazine

No one wants to be called a control freak- if feels negative and judging. However we have viewed control freaks in an ‘all or nothing’ way in my opinion.

In the February issue of Best Life Magazine an article on the mind body connection states that people who suffer chronic back pain can obtain relief by learning to ‘control’ their thoughts about pain itself.

In my new book, “The Control Freak Revolution” my point is that we want to be a positive control freak that controls our minds with positive thoughts and we want to use positive behaviors to get better results with others.

Why is it a ‘revolution’? Because it is time that negative control freaks wake up and recognize the difference between being an overbearing and unbearably controlling person in a negative way and transform their controlling into a positive and inspiring way of being and interacting with others.

I have a quiz in my book in Chapter One which is free on my site www.cherylcran.com and I also found another quiz here http://www.blogthings.com/areyouacontrolfreakquiz/

Find out what level of a control freak you might be and work at becoming the most positive control freak possible.

At The Heart Of Great Listening

I could start this article extolling the importance of listening in our everyday lives, in our ability to lead others, in our ability to improve relationships and communications in general. I could lament that while throughout our school experiences we were taught the communication skills of writing and speaking, but seldom was any time spent learning the skills of listening.

I could do those things, but I won’t.

You’ve heard and said all of those things before. There is no value in me going over that litany again. Besides, if we had all bought into those arguments, we’d be walking around as better listeners. Sadly, for most of us, most of the time, this isn’t true.

That chorus of comments assumes or implies that the heart of great listening is skills.
I don’t agree.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe the skills of great listening are important, I just don’t think that is our problem. We know how to listen; we’ve exhibited the skills at some points I our lives. We just don’t do it nearly often enough.

So, if it isn’t skill that keeps us from consistent great listening, what is it? I believe there are three factors: Intention, Attention, and Effort. Let me explain.

Intention

When you begin communicating with someone your intention, conscious or subconscious, will directly impact how you listen. Consider this short list of possible intentions:

• You want to persuade the other person.
• You want your point of view heard.
• You want to get through this conversation as quickly as possible.
• You want to build the relationship.
• You want the person to like you (more).
• You want to “set them straight”.
• You want to give them some feedback or coaching.

I could expand this list, but this is enough to make my point. Your intention at the beginning of the conversation will have an impact on how completely and carefully you listen during the conversation.

Want to be a better listener instantly? Set your intention on the other person instead of yourself. Intend to understand their message. Or, to be more blunt:

Stop being so selfish.

Great listening is an act of caring, of service and, yes, of love.

Make the conversation about the other person; desire to understand their perspective, ideas and thoughts. With this intention your mental mandate is no longer muddy and you will listen more effectively.

Attention

In every communication encounter we make a choice - subconsciously or consciously. The choice is whether or not we are going to pay attention. This is separate from our intention; however, they are closely linked. The reason I separate them is that even if our intention isn’t crystal clear, we can make a choice in the moment to pay attention.

However, when our intention is clearly focused on the other person, it is much easier to make this choice. In fact, the best way to make the attention choice a habit is to get our intention in our communications more clearly set.

There are two parts to our attention in a listening situation and they are both important - attention to the person (which intention helps with significantly) and attention to the topic.
In short, get interested in both!

When you do you allow your listening skills to improve.

Effort

Listening is hard. We have to put our interests aside for the moment. We have to fight through our thoughts, unclear word choices, a million distractions.

It takes effort.

And it isn’t a passive activity when done well - it requires energy and engagement and thought. It isn’t a fluke that great listening is often called active listening. Great listening is an active, participatory process.

To do it well, we must work at it.

It is really just this simple. If you want to improve your listening effectiveness, don’t ignore the active listening skills of paraphrasing, making eye contact and more; just don’t start there.
Start with your intention and purpose for listening, continue by resolving to place your full attention on the other person, and based on those two factors, make the effort.

We all know the fruits of listening more effectively are many. Intention, Attention and Effort will give you a roadmap for success.

 

Most Popular January Improvement Points

Here are the three most popular Improvement Points we sent out in January:

“Many people lose the boss lottery and, through no faulhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif t of their own, end up reporting to an ineffectual manager. You may not have chosen your boss, but you don’t have to be a victim of his or her weaknesses.”
- From Jim Clemmer’s article, “Bad Boss: Learn How to Manage Your Manager”
http://www.clemmer.net/articles/article_306.aspx

“‘How long have you worked here?’ ‘Ever since my boss threatened to fire me.’ Far too many people have retired, but still show up for work. Others have resigned but still go through the motions and are on the payroll.”
- From Jim Clemmer’s article, “Apathy and Cynicism Zap Our Spirit”
http://www.clemmer.net/articles/article_49.aspx

“We must ring true to ourselves by exploring our inner space, gathering feedback on our personal behavior, and ensuring consistency with our stated values and principles.”
- From Jim Clemmer’s article, “Growing the Leader in Us”
http://www.clemmer.net/articles/article_81.aspx

 

Interview on Essential Techniques for Employee Engagement (Part 4)

Message Maps and the Rationale for the 4 Techniques of Employee Engagement

This is the fourth in a five part series interview with Graeme Ginsberg from London. Graeme is the Managing Editor, Research and Reports for Meclrum - the international research and training company focused on internal communication. I requested the interview go get a better understanding of Melcrum’s research and their current publication: The Practitioner’s Guide, Essential Techniques for Employee Engagement.





I think the technique that many readers may be unfamiliar with is message maps. I believe a message map is a visual communication tool to help individuals tell their organization’s story more effectively. Is that correct? Can you tell us a little more about this.

Message maps help managers capture the core messages of a topic. The topic might be something quite broad and abstract in nature – like where the organization, an initiative or an individual is heading. Or it might be something tangible – for example, an announcement about a product launch or annual conference. Message maps act like blueprints that guide all subsequent communication on the topic – ensuring consistency, whether it’s a CEO speech, an employee newsletter, website copy, a press release, marketing collateral, or whatever.

When it comes to creating the message map after the messaging session, less is definitely more – it’s presenting core and supporting messages so they’re really transparent and accessible. But the message map doesn’t necessarily need to be ‘visual’ in the sense of having arrows and boxes. It’ll depend really on the organizational culture and the topic – the message map could equally be a more traditional page of bulleted text. The Guide gives an example of each type of message map.

Can you tell us why you focused on these particular techniques? What was the background to this Guide?

It was becoming clear to us from our conversations with communication and HR professionals that the discussion around engagement had moved on considerably. Organizations weren’t so much debating what employee engagement means and whether it can drive business performance – they were now telling us that they wanted to know how they could actually achieve it. We had already produced our Employee Engagement report in 2005 – a very comprehensive research report covering the strategic issues around engagement – and we realized that one of our Pracitioner’s Guides would be the best way to provide the hard-hitting “how to” information that they needed for implementation.

We talked to practitioners at our annual employee engagement conferences in the UK, US, Australia and Europe and they told us that they really wanted to understand the techniques for engaging employees, rather than simply getting more information about particular channels. Action teams, Appreciative Inquiry, message maps and storytelling quickly emerged as the techniques most widely used by organizations – and also the ones that people wanted to know most about – so we focused on them.

Part 5 (next post): Conclusion

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