Management Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-02-2023

Managing health and safety in any organisation may seem like an enormous task, but don’t forget that it’s not all down to you: Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for their own health and safety, and that of others. At the heart of UK law is a co-operative ethic —employers, employees and the self-employed all need to exercise care in what they do. This Cheat Sheet will help you get started with health and safety management and ensure that your team sees health and safety as an essential element of your organisation.

Article / Updated 04-14-2023

If you're a manager, it helps to know about some of the general characteristics of the different generations working in your company. It's impossible to learn about any generation in a vacuum. For example, if you want to know how to be a better manager for Millennials, it's important to know a little bit about the generations before and after them. Take a quick peak at the chart below to acquaint yourself with the other folks in the generational melting pot of today's work world. Birth Year Generation Traits Born prior to 1946 Traditionalist Loyal, fiscally conservative, faith in institutions, self-sacrificing 1946–1964 Baby Boomer Competitive, optimistic, professional, eager to put their stamp on the world 1965–1979 Generation X Independent, resourceful, skeptical, entrepreneurial 1980–1995 Millennial Collaborative, tech-savvy, diverse, adaptive 1996–2010* Generation Edge Pragmatic, resilient, self-reliant, tech-innate *Because Gen Edgers are still in the midst of their formative years (roughly their teenage years), 2010 is an informed estimate of the last year in the Gen Edge birth year bracket. As they move through their formative years and more research emerges, this number may change. Now that you know your place on the generational timeline, your managerial brain could be pondering just how your traits both help and hinder you with the Millennial generation, for example. Assuming that nearly every manager falls into one of three generational categories (seeing that Traditionalists make up less than 2 percent of the workforce and older Gen Edgers are newbies to the working world), take a look at how you may be similar or different to the Millennials you manage: If you're a Baby Boomer managing a Millennial: Why you'll jive: You're both optimists. Boomers are known for rallying behind big ideas, and Millennials are much the same. These two generations can connect over possibilities and dreaming up what could be, favoring brainstorming sessions and working for a mission-driven organization. Why you'll clash: You define hard work differently. Whereas Boomers are known for their work ethic of arriving early, dressing for success, and staying late, Millennials are stereotyped as being lazy. To a Millennial, hard work is defined by results, even if that means arriving late and opting to work late into the night from a coffee shop. If you're a Generation Xer managing a Millennial: Why you'll jive: You both seek transparency. Millennials and Generation Xers value honesty above almost all else from their leadership. Xers and Millennials saw institutions crumble in their youth, so to build trust with them it takes extra effort, and a heavy dose of transparency, on the part of leaders and managers. Why you'll clash: One of you grew up with the motto "There is no 'I' in team." While Xers take pride in completing a project alone, Millennials take pride in team wins. They both respect independent and collaborative work, but Millennials are more prone to brainstorming meetings, frequent check-ins, and group projects. If you're a Millennial managing a Millennial: Why you'll jive: You both value the #workfamily. Every Millennial knows that a great workplace is one where you can (for the most part) be comfortable being yourself. This makes for an environment where it's easy for Millennial managers to bond with their Millennial employees. Why you'll clash: You both value #workfamily, but you're the boss. When Millennials step into leadership, they have to take on a new persona. Suddenly, conversations that go too far into the informal (for example, a play-by-play of a direct report's crazy weekend) start feeling inappropriate, and a line now has to be drawn that might not have been necessary before. Pulling that boss card, especially the first time, can be a challenge.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-13-2022

Forget tired old management techniques that enforce a strict hierarchy. The way to engage employees is to actively coach and mentor them. Make meetings lively and purposeful and ensure employees are engaged and committed to the team and the company. Successful coaching and mentoring incorporates company, team, and individual goals to meet the objectives of each.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-12-2022

Values-based leadership (VBL) is based on core values, setting the foundation for how everyone in a company will engage and creating an expectation that the leader always operates for the greater good of all. The idea is that the leader has a well-developed character that establishes an environment of mutual respect, fairness, and trust, at a minimum. VBL serves as the guiding force to create a healthy company culture. It all starts with the leader. Here are a few key highlights for anyone considering a VBL model for an organization.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-10-2022

Great leaders have certain qualities that motivate those around them. But beyond leadership qualities, you have to develop your mission as a leader and then continuously examine your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (shortened to SWOT) to keep yourself and your team at the top of your game.

Article / Updated 03-07-2022

Millennial moms are a big part of the workforce. How wonderful is it that the world now is less June Cleaver and more Lorelai Gilmore? Working mothers have had to chart an unknown and obstacle-ridden path for decades, and now Millennials are clearing their own way. What she looks like To get an understanding of how this working mom is different from generations past, consider the following: She is sharing. Both partners in a relationship share the roles more evenly in parenting now but, by and large, women (if studying a male-female relationship) are more likely to say that they will make career sacrifices for their families. See these stats from the Pew Research Center. She is networked. About 90 percent of Millennial moms find social media helpful in their parenting process, using blogs, crowdsourcing, and Facebook pages as a way to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, tips, and advice for Millennial mothers (Crowdtap, 2016). “We have so much access to tech now. From daycares that have cameras where you can check in, to teachers who respond via text or email, and there’s so much out there for working moms.” — Michelle S., Millennial She is not as common as you’d think. Progress continues to be made with a higher number of women returning to work after having a child, and there are fewer hiring discrepancies for working moms in big roles. However, the great strides that women have been taking are starting to take a dip. As of 1990, the United States boasted having one of the world’s highest employment rates for women. However, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, after rates consistently climbed for more than 60 years, the percentage of women (ages 25 to 54) at work has been declining as of late, falling from 74 percent in 1999 to 69 percent today. While it’s hardly a steep drop, it is worth noting. Lack of flexibility and the ability to work from home are making qualified and successful women feel like parenthood and working don’t mix. She is ambitious but concerned. According to a Pew Research Center study in 2015, 58 percent of Millennial moms are concerned about how their parenthood will impact their careers Will the DINKy (Dual Income No Kids) peer of hers get the job instead because she has more flexibility and fewer time constraints? How you can best manage the Millennial mom Managers have a unique ability to make a big difference for these women. Millennial-mom employees are looking to their managers for guidance, resources, and tools to make the most out of their careers while also being the rock-star mom they know they can be deep inside. Managers should consider simple things that they can do to better connect with her: Take a genuine interest in her personal life. Give her as much freedom and flexibility as possible. Don’t be afraid to talk about it. Support her. If you don’t know how, ask. Don’t make assumptions about what she will or won’t do after she has a baby (or two or three). Ask questions. Be sure to ask Millennial dads the same ones.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-22-2022

Being a manager is tough. Your responsibilities include improving the morale and performance of your team (even in the worst of times), staying current on social media and new communications, and being the boss who does everything from delegating to playing office politics with success. Take care of yourself first, by maintaining a good work-life balance and supporting yourself with daily affirmations, and then you can concentrate on motivating your employees.

Article / Updated 10-21-2018

Having insight into your audience’s wants and desires will help you comprehend the factors that lead to their perceptions of authority, leadership, values, virtues, and work ethics. These are mobilizing factors. Here, you gain that insight by breaking down the workforce into the beautiful Quad — the four generations currently operating in the workforce today. During adolescence, people make determinations about what is cool, healthy, natural, and worth their time; sexuality emerges, and passion and ambition start to pique their interest. Opinions based on outside influences create the framework to ultimately determine what they want. The formative years also play a large part in determining how people will view the world. Their perceptions and reactions to different stimuli, such as how their parents raised them, current events, music, politics, and so on, create opportunities to draw conclusions on safety, security, money, career, government, and so on. These outside factors create their mindset and way of being in the world. Although no two people will react the same, general conclusions about generations can be derived. Listen with an open mind. Don’t judge. Be aware of what may be your own preconceived notions of who and what each generation in the Quad represents. Generational cohorts are defined by a period of development within a certain span of time. To some extent these boundaries are arbitrary, and defining and labeling generations can vary from sociologist to sociologist, though for the most part they vary by only a few years. The author uses the research of noted sociologists William Strauss and Neil Howe to bracket the generational periods. Feel free to adjust the years based on your understanding if needed. In the figure, you may be surprised to be classified not as a Baby Boomer, but on the outer edge of Generation X. Or you may be more Millennial than you knew. There are three main generations that make up the current workforce: Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials. On the outskirts are the almost completely retired Silent generation and the emerging Homeland generation. Together, they make up the “bumper” generations of the current workforce and are classified as the fourth part of the Quad. Just so you know, the Quad has mixed feelings about you, the leader, and what you can or can’t do. They wonder about your ethics, trustworthiness, and commitment. Are you surprised? You may chalk it up as normal, and it is. But you should know why they may mistrust you. Emotional intelligence, sensitivity, and reflective moments will be a staple on our journey together. Everyone has life experiences that help create perceptions of how things should or will be. Each cohort has reason to be skeptical and critical of leaders in general. Events and experiences may have caused them to mistrust authority and leadership. These events fostered the seeds of mistrust. Workers of all ages have become exasperated by leaders who lack authenticity, compassion, and transparency. Will their leaders do what they say they’ll do when they say they’ll do it? Tell them the truth and take responsibility. For example, in 2015 Japan’s Takata Corporation recalled their airbags and set out to repairs tens of millions of products placed in Honda motor vehicles. However, it wasn’t without pressure from U.S. regulators that set this remedy in motion. Takata leadership took responsibility for the issue and ultimately made it right. The Quad is a reflection of our society — fatigued by empty promises, unaligned values, and the inability to trust authority. They want more. The good news is that they are willing to give more. You can’t change history or their life experiences, but there are some things you can do to change their experience right now. That starts with you, not them. Welcome to values-based leadership.

Article / Updated 10-21-2018

Sometimes staying the course and holding steady are great. But at some point, everyone must upgrade their systems, thinking, and ways of being to continue to be viable. There’s a concept in nature called bifurcation. Bifurcation is a process that nature takes to renew itself. Usually it involves a disruption or inflammation that precipitates a split, a morphing into two. For example, deep forests are prone to fires. Within the forest are types of trees, spores, and other flora that require excessive heat for them to reproduce. With fire, they grow and multiply. Without it, they rot and die. One branch of possibility becomes life-affirming as a result of the disruption, and the other (without the disruption) could lead to the species becoming extinct. When you apply bifurcation to business, you see that normal disruptions happen, and as a result — for example, the market crash in 2008 or massive corruption scandals — the system is forced to make a choice: review, reflect, and enact change, or do nothing at all. Doing the latter often results in the company petering out into extinction. Many companies and their leadership have taken this route. Not all disruptions or course corrections are a result of such large issues. Consider the following as potential signs that a change is needed in the leadership approach: Excessive competition: While competition will occur, overly aggressive and destructive or disruptive behavior will crumble teams. The attributes and principles of values-based leadership become the remedy. Exclusions and exceptions: Creating an environment where only some people need to follow the rules disrupts the level playing field of fairness where everyone has access to opportunities. Excessive gossip and rumors: These are key indicators that there is a lack of communication and lack of trust seeping into the organization. Team failure: Teams fail to work together to reach their goals. Us versus them: When teams, managers, and leaders are pitted against one another, progress is inhibited. Employee turnover: High levels of turnover create gaps in wisdom and continuity in the organization. The decline of trust and motivation: These elements create the foundation where people work together for the greater good of all involved. Lack of ownership: Leaders and employees who aren’t tapped into the vision, mission, or purpose for the organization’s work create apathy. Stagnation: Lack of innovation in processes, problem solving, products, services, production, sourcing, and technology causes a great deal of frustration for employees. The preceding bullets cover just some of the many issues you can list as reasons to consider making a change. The figure illustrates the crossroads. When the decision is made that something must change, which is where you may be in this moment, the next step is to conduct a review to determine how to course correct and then roll out adaptive action and rewrite the future. You may be on a course that’s not sustainable. People may begin walking away from the company, or apathy may continue to weigh down progress. In your heart, you’re probably thinking, I just need to give this one more shot before I walk away. Or: This place has massive potential, but things have to change. What’s scary is when leaders either refuse to see they have a problem or don’t care enough to make any changes. That, inevitably, leads to extinction — dismissal of leadership and potentially the failure of the company. You make the choice to grow, change, and adapt and create a brighter future — or not. To make this choice, you need to be a leader who is open-minded, ruthlessly self-aware, and willing to look at the truth of your results. You also need to be savvy enough to understand that the world of business is changing. Will you keep up or be left behind? Although remnants of the old, establishment way of operating linger on, this Millennial wave is becoming tremendously influential and will continue to lead us into a more progressive view of business. Already leaders of today are required to deploy a more comprehensive set of tools that go well beyond a technical skill set and a lofty education. Empathy and awareness are being added to leaders’ skill set. So-called “soft skills” are no longer considered intangibles. They’re a big component of why people will want to work for you and with you, and why they’ll aspire to follow the leadership image you provide for them. The use of self-reflection is important to gain insight into yourself and your motivations. You must consider what it will mean for you to operate in a “we” rather than “me” environment. Reframing how to view business differently sets the foundation for your journey: Is what I’m doing about me — or about them? Who is this serving — me or them? Am I setting up a culture that evolves around me — or around us? You have to assess the selflessness of your leadership. You’ll need to make decisions that affect the whole. Knowing which course to take may become murky but be sure that you’re thinking of the whole — the we — of the organization. When it gets into me territory, you’re in trouble. Everyone has a survival mechanism that’s designed to look out for number one — to protect yourself. But when it comes to your leadership role, we must always be part of the equation.

Article / Updated 10-21-2018

Values-based leadership (VBL) continues the evolution of how we choose to engage in business. It’s the next step in the integration of one of the initial Conscious Capitalism principles: Business is good, noble, and heroic because it provides ethical opportunities for everyone. VBL expands on Conscious Capitalism using a specific, yet customizable, set of values as the platform for norms of doing business with others and internally. Each step in this leadership model leads to an organization that performs at maximum capacity. Within each of the five sectors, specific tasks, actions, and behaviors need to be instituted. This is the starting point of your journey. Here is an overview of what each sector means: Values-Based Principles: There is a difference between what’s implied and what’s expected. Clarity on which principles are selected by each leader for themselves and their organizations is the foundation for the process. Character of Leadership: You’ll hear me say many times that character can’t be faked. It can be evolved and directed in more constructive ways, but it’s not something you can fake, not for long. It is who you are. On our journey, I’ll show you how, where, and why you need to expand on who you are to become the leader others really need and want right now. Building an Environment of Trust: This is the part of your company culture that’s crucial — without it, you’ll fail. Trust in the leadership, one another, and the path you’re all on together will determine how productive your teams will be. Simply put, if they don’t trust you, they most certainly won’t follow you, at least not wholeheartedly. Employees Engaged: Either they’re part of the process and the organization’s success, or they aren’t. Your willingness to invest in them will speak volumes to them. That investment comes in a variety of applications, such as training, development, benefits, perks, and simply making them part of the process. Performing at Maximum Capacity: The first four elements bring us to this point. Let’s reverse the thought process. Engaged employees who are actively involved in the company’s success are working from a place of trust. They are all in. This was achieved because the leader has led by example with clarity, consistency, and empathy. People love working with people who they truly believe have their best interests at heart, and not just the bottom line. So, are you in? Your reaction to the top-level view will tell you a lot about your own capacity to evolve, change, grow, and adapt. What’s your willingness level at this point? Rank it from one to five. One means “I’m really not interested at all.” Three means, “You’ve got my attention but I’m not sure,” and five means, “I’m all in.” If you’re at a three, teetering in either direction, read on. Fours and fives, you’re definitely in the right place.