RyanWallPaper

Get Together - Grow Together

You may have heard me say that the labor challenges facing all of us is not in terms of numbers. So many people think that with the boomer retirements coming, there will be a shortage of people. It is not a shortage of people (there are more Gen Y than Boomers). It is a shortage of TALENT in the people. Hey, at least the people are in existence. If you were tasked with creating 25 year olds, ya'd be in real trouble. We just have to inject knowledge and develop talent. The following quote comes from this article:

“It’s not necessarily a shortage of talent in terms of numbers of people, but rather a knowledge gap in the workforce,” said Eric Buntin, Randstad’s managing director of marketing and operations. “Bringing generations together can certainly address that gap and help transfer that knowledge across generations to the workforce of the future. I think that’s key for learning executives today.”

Eric Buntin is correct, but what can we do to start some knowledge transfer from the gray hair to the bleached hair? Before you get too jacked and schedule and expensive off site with your next gens, take em to lunch or even for a drink at the bar. Pick some of your younger people who do have talent and invite them to be a part of your "help me" group. Let the youngsters pick the spot and just hang with them. You may find that the strategic business conversations will happen best on about the 3rd hangtime.

Once your next gens know that you care for them and their development, they will care more for you and your business needs. Upon this relationship blossom you can begin to discuss some real strategic ways to all work together and come up with the best talent development process. Understand that by focusing on their development that you are stroking a priority for them (being developed and a boss that is highly interested).

The next time you fear the shortage of labor...realize it is the talent that is scarce and something can be done about that. Why not stake much of your sustainability on how you develop your people.

Use Care With Old Awards

If your company, your department, your team etc. have received high honor awards - congratulations!

In my travels I get exposed to various areas of the country and various shops, restaurants, and businesses. What is intriguing to me is when I visit a restaurant that has the following statement blazing by their front door: "Voted the areas best dining experience in 1998!" Wow 1998, what has happened since then? This is an outdated reward. The pride of accomplishment should remain for sure, but posting such an old achievement without any subsequent awards is high risk.

Think about this hypothetical statement: "Voted one of Fortunes Best Companies to Work For in 2000 and 2001." Are you giving yourself marketability or stink-ability? If I was a job seeker and saw this, I would for sure want to know what happened and if I happen to be a customer, I am not that turned on by an outdated fact.

This is mainly risky for companies in teams that are still in the game. It is not so much a risk for old teams, as a matter of fact, if a team has a legacy, help it live on. For example, the legacy of the Brooklyn Dodgers lives on and is still celebrated by the Brooklyn faithful. When people think of the Brooklyn Dodgers, they get excited. They are a legacy, not a current team. 

Last year the Boston Celtics did not have patches on their jersey's that exposed their victories in the 80's (they were horrible last year - nobody would have cared about their past accomplishments in relation to the present reality). What did they do? They got things right with the right people and dominated this year all the way to the championship and now they can fly proud factual bravado.

My advice: If your award reception stopped 5 years ago or more, take them down (especially from customer view). Inform your people that you are taking them down and creating space for new ones. A simple message like this to your people can be a powerful ingredient in replacing your excellence back to days of old. Obviously you have to be doing a substantial overhaul of much else to get back on the plaque.

This is the last thing you want someone to say when they leave your business: "Yeah I can see why they have been 10 years since winning another one of those 'best of' awards. I'd rather the customer never know my outdated rewards.

We have to be excellent today, not just yesterday.

This post has zero intention of diminishing anyone's accomplishments.

Take A BizRead Break For This

A study done a few years back (American Booksellers Association) revealed that the average business person with 6 or more direct reports above the age 40 reads .7 businesss books every 5 years! Yes, reading will help you get ahead of the average curve. Even if you are an avid biz reader...a short break is good for you.

During the Holiday season of 2007 I was skimming the NYTimes book review. As I read through it, I began the hunt for an intriguing non-business/leadership book that was non-fiction. I was in need of that short break. I read the two sentence description for Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. It appeared to be a good story of heroism and grand valor. I hopped into my Amazon basket right away.

What was intended to be a holiday entertainment read became a grand slam in my life. I am going to make a strong prediction that 30 years from now, this book will still be in my top 5. Since my reading it I have encouraged at least 10 people to read it and purchased it for family and friends. All of them have either emailed or called me as soon as they finished it. All reviews are stellar, touching and life enhancing.

My BizRead break impacted my life in a powerful way and gave me an appreciation for our American Warriors. I stand proud saying I laughed, I cried, I pumped my fist and shouted out loud (on an airplane) while riding on the back of Marcus Luttrel's life.

You gotta check it out and you might as well buy two because you are going to be ready to gift it to a co-worker before you finish it. It's just been released in paperback so you can save $5 and put that towards a gallon of gas.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of you who daily take a crack at being a Dad. Your calling is the most noble.

This post is dedicated to my amazing Dad Chuck Wall. I was not with my dad today as many miles separated us, but reflection was with me much of the day. As I sat in church this morning and listened to a powerful lesson for Dads, I just kept thinking that I hit the jackpot with my Dad. I shed a tear, cracked a wide open smile and got a belly full of laughter throughout the morning and it continued along the day. All of it at the hands of who my Dad is and what he means to me. He is a star to me and always will be. Obviously I decided to write about it and provide a few of the many lessons from Dad that have contributed to my fulfillment, leadership and life growth. All of these can enhance your existence in business and in life. I hope all Dad's find encouragement from this and even those of you who are not Dads yet. Even if you never have the chance or desire to be a Dad - you can apply these to your life and your leadership:

1) Even when you have little, you can give a treasure of love/encouragement and that is what grows your children.

2) Take the time to know your kids better than anyone. It will be from this knowledge that you know what they need most.

3) Advise them closely, but give them the margin to make the decision.

4) Pick up the phone (no matter how old they are) and ask them if anyone has told them they loved em' today? It does not matter if you were the first or not -- your call is the one that will make their day.

5) When you are too busy to talk or even very frustrated, always do your best to call them back and catch up when you have a better time.

6) Model generosity.

7) Laugh together, especially when you do not feel like laughing. Your kids will know how much effort that took you and they will shine from it.

8) Have a loving conversation with them within an hour of them getting married.

9) Hold them to a higher standard and be their biggest fan.

10) Encourage and affirm them.

I draw on #10 most of all as this is a treasure I receive from my Dad very often. I have over 50 emails saved, half a dozen voice mails (the others would not save that long) and more than 10 handwritten letters (some dating back 15 years ago). They always lift me up and help me believe I am better than I am. I have found that many Dads do not affirm their children. Just come out and tell them how much you love them. 

Write your kids a surprise email, handwritten note or drop them a voice-mail this week. They will keep the email or note forever and the voice-mail will last as long as the bandwidth allows it. Giving the gift of encouragement will never reduce your Dad Brand!

This is a flavor from Dad following: my first blog post That's my boy....he knows what he wants to do, he knows who he wants to do it with and he loves both with a passion....his boss is Jesus Christ and his father is "Almighty God"....he is the best and most genuine freind one can have....and I am blessed beyond comprehension to be his Dad.

CWW 

While not with my Dad today - it has been a superb Father's Day. After all, our closeness always has us together. I hope you will choose the same path...

Leading Up - Get A Workout

If you are not the head cheese (CEO, Chairman) then you have to effectively "lead up" to those above you. Our friend John Maxwell talks about leading up and provides us the knowledge that one of the main avenues of leading up is to lift your leader's load. Matter of fact, you should consistently be on the lookout for ways to take something off your leaders plate.

Here is some advice on how to approach lifting your leaders load so that you get stronger while doing it: Focus most of your load lifting attention towards areas where you are gifted. For example, imagine that your leader has to craft a letter to one of your customers confirming the commitment as to how you are planning to handle a recent service failure. Well, you happen to be a gifted writer and word-smith. Go confidently to your leader and request to take this on for her. If you happen to get a bemused look, proceed by selling your ability to handle the task. Give the letter your gifting and your boss will be appreciative when she proofs it. You lifted her load and put together a fantastic response letter that your customer will thank you for. Your leader looks good because of you. But wait - the real bonus is in store for you: What happens is your strength has been exposed and you are more fit after this workout. 

I call it your workout because you lifted the load (took on a task) where you were strong and your Leadership muscles became toned to your boss.

You can apply this thinking to any area of lifting your leaders load. Just think: What is my leader having to deal with that I know I am good at? Have the courage to go to her and offer to lift that task.

Here is a formula to realize as you do this: if you can be doing it in areas where you are strong 70% of the time - that is an excellent scenario. As for the other 30% of the unsexy things you might have to lift - as Frank Sinatra says "That's Life."

If you find yourself only able to lift in your areas of strength 20% of your time - give that 20% a rockstar effort and watch your ratio improve.

For more great knowledge on leading up. Read JMax's bestseller The 360 Degree Leader. 

Talk Their Praises Worldwide

Recently I gave a shot at a new avenue of praise for an associate. In our organization, we regularly have people doing extraordinary things and coming up with extraordinary ideas that add value to life. As many of us do, we have measures in place to praise and recognize milestones, accomplishments, etc. Some is monetary, some is a token (plaques, certificates, special meals, etc). What is something we can do that is cost effective but far reaching with value, exposure and emotional benefit?

Praise your people on YouTube. Give someone a certificate and it goes on an office wall or a refrigerator. The only limitation that this great gift has is that only a few can see it. The family members and friends on the other side of the country or world for that matter do not get to see it.

The WWW allows you to broadcast your quick message for someone's excellence. Here are a few tips to think of when filming a praise nugget:

1) Keep it within 90 seconds.

2) State the specific thing they did.

3) Tell them why it adds value to the business and to life.

4) Tell them how proud you are.

See an example here from my first you tube praise video:

">