What two words = the greatest career moments.

“One of the greatest moments of my entire career was hearing thank you for a job well done.”  This comment came from a leader who received praise for a specific document and was recognized openly.  It was one of the greatest moments of his career.  

It was one of the greatest moments of his career.

It cost nothing.  It was nearly effortless, and it had lasting impact.  

Even better, I asked the leader to remember that feeling of accomplishment, respect, and honor.  I asked that leader to pay it forward over and over again through his team and colleagues. I reminded him that great leaders recognize others, reinforce behavior that aligns with the values and goals of the organization and people, and create a positive environment that people don’t want to leave.  I reminded him that people want to feel valued just like him.

I challenged this leader to consider how each individual on his team wants to be recognized.  Do they like emails of recognition? Do they appreciate thank you cards or group recognition?  Do they like reports of accomplishment and discussion? 

If he didn’t already know, I challenged him to ask him/her individually. 

I challenge you to do the same for every team member (and if you’re a leader, you’re part of two teams or more!)

How do they like to be recognized?  For each team member, identify how they generally like to be recognized.  If you don’t know, ask them (hint: most employees will initially respond saying monetary contributions make them feel recognized.  However, research supports the opposite so…Dig deeper. Explore what’s important to them – what makes them feel energized?
What attributes do you contribute to the team?  I also challenge you to identify  attributes you contribute to your team…what are you proud of?  What would you like to be recognized for doing or saying or being?  Recognizing and reinforcing others’ behavior and value requires a certain level of confidence and self-awareness.  You should be able to articulate and appreciate your own value.

What attributes do they contribute to the team?  Now identify 3 attributes each of your team members brings to the team.  What value do they contribute? What areas do they excel?

This is your recognition lens.  Use this lens to start looking for opportunities to sincerely recognize and reinforce the great value of your team. You will see results almost immediately.

As a Leadership Coach and Organizational Change Manager,  I share stories of gratitude and recognition over and over again.  I express gratitude to Leaders for their gratitude toward others.  I make every effort to find the good and bring out the great in these Leaders.  Then, I thank them for bringing great and ask them to pass it on.

I don’t just say thank you. I designed over 1,000 thank you cards that have been disseminated across an organization in 8 months…virtually every employee who is part of the initiative received two cards of thanks.  Personally, I distributed about 200 hand-written cards. They are placed on cube walls, tented on the top of office cabinets and desks.

One of those cards was photographed and posted on LinkedIn earlier this year. It had great impact and many likes. The recipient commented, “Found this on my desk this morning.  I know most of us shrug it off, but there really is nothing like feeling appreciated.” I smiled.

I add thank you or other words of gratitude to emails and in meetings.   The words Thank You are everywhere.  I say the words, “I appreciate YOU” daily.  And I am sincere.  I know the organization’s success depends on these amazing Leaders and the staff.  I am grateful.

How have you received recognition that felt like the best moment in your career?  How did you pay it forward?

Why Your Continuous Improvement Efforts Are Not Working

Many organizations insist continuous improvement is at the core of their values.  They build programs, hire business improvement and innovation experts and wonder why their business is still behind in their field of work. 

What’s wrong with these efforts?

A simple answer: the people.

The people don’t want to send their novel idea into the abyss where they will never associate with it again.

The people don’t want to participate in discussions that result in lists of great ideas that go nowhere.

The people don’t want to experience a leader crediting their idea fully to management without thanks to the brilliant mind who submitted the idea.

The people don’t want to send their idea off and have no further investment in making it become a reality.

The people don’t want to hear that it is not their job to improve how the organization functions.

The people don’t want to share an idea and have it blasted down or dismissed.

The people don’t want to implement someone else’s idea when theirs are ignored.

It’s the people who must live out your organization’s core values and for an organization to truly value improvement efforts, the following leadership skills must actively encourage the people living out the value:

1) Leaders understand what makes a core value a “core value.”  Core values are carried out by all employees in every day activities.  If your organization values continuous improvement, people would be engaged in improvement efforts as a regular, expected, core part of their work.

2) Leaders empower employees to ask “why.”  Context is an invaluable tool in achieving creative, innovative ideas.  When employees ask why, they are provided context that leads to sensical and sensible work solutions. Leaders also ask, “what can we do better?” and work with their team to plan large and small changes.

3) Leaders ensure all people are engaged in improvement activities. Ideas are shared and implemented at every level.  It’s an ongoing expectation for individuals to express new ideas about process improvements, training ideas, collaboration and communication, leadership expectations, and workforce culture.  New ideas are on agendas for team  meetings, strategic planning and achievement celebrations.  

4) Leaders facilitate improvement activities.  All leaders are trained to coordinate improvement efforts and flesh out new ideas with employees.  They understand what decisions they and their team can make and when they must partner across teams to effectively improve services. They share this insight openly with their teams.

5) Leaders understand the power of engaging employees in carrying out improvement efforts. They teach individuals to create propositions and manage mini-projects, making all efforts to partner with the customer and get it right the first time.

6) Leaders are courageous. They don’t believe in placing blame and instead have confidence in their ability to take calculated risks. They model courage and reinforce acceptable risk-taking of employees by removing obstacles and empowering people.

7) They believe employees who do the work every day know how to make it better. They know employees’ ideas are critical to the success of the organization.

If an organization truly values improvement, leaders are hired and trained to reinforce organizational change and innovation at all levels by supporting and empowering people at all levels.

Employees are REGULARLY expected to spend up to 40% of their time learning, training others, and testing new ideas. It’s what makes the organization thrive.

Leaders understand the process for implementing new ideas and regularly coach employees to share and implement ideas.

If you’re wondering why your organization isn’t ahead in your field, consider engaging the people in solutioning. Odds are, they have great ideas about what makes you lag behind and want to invest more in the success of your organization (because they have been waiting for you to ask the question and want to be part of the organization’s success)!!

In my work with teams, I design programs that energize and empower employees to implement new ideas and teach leaders to effectively and fearlessly manage innovation.

We eliminate the elusive “insert idea here” phenomena (fill out this form and press send…to receive a “thanks for your idea” auto response and then radio silence). Instead, we engage employees in regular discussions and teach them to propose their great ideas openly, taking responsibility to see the idea through to implementation.

For future retirees, we create legacy plans and make 30 year old dreams become reality.

The energy is electric. The people are creative and innovative and tireless. It’s an experience every organization should feel at its core.

What is the best way you have found to share and implement new ideas at work? I would love to hear successes and lessons learned from you!

For more information about Carolyn Vreeman, Leadership Coach and Change Manager, visit http://www.vreemanconsulting.com.

How to Know if You’re a Bad Leader

There are many obvious signs of poor leadership: perpetually sick employees, rapid turnover, low team morale, etc.  These signs become apparent over time and let’s face it: in leadership,  time is of the essence.  Leadership happens now, in this moment, in everything we do. So, how can you tell of you’re a bad leader right now?  Below are some tell-tale signs:

1)  You talk about the work and not the people.  If you’re spouting off loud and proud about the work that’s been accomplished while neglecting and/or under emphasizing the importance of the human effort that went into that work, your ship will soon leave without you.  It’s the people who are your greatest resource, not the ship they built.

2)  You talk about employee’s hours and work location, and you have dedicated resources, policies, and daily time to manage employee requests to work from home, work different hours, or not work at all.  You keep a calendar of off-time rather than a calendar clarifying work coverage, deadlines, and other work-related tasks.  These out-dated management traditions are infamous for stifling engagement and team-building while creating confusion about priorities and work responsibilities.

3)  Your staff regularly reach out to you for answers.  Your job as a leader is to bring the horse to water.  Teach them where to find the watering hole.  If your staff are coming to you for answers, you are teaching them not to think for themselves and there’s a word to discribe that: disempowerment.  You feel needed, they feel incompetent. That’s a win/lose.

4)  You tell your staff only what will help them do their jobs.  It’s not always the “do this because I said so” management style that’s troubling.  It’s also the, “Only this snippet of information is relevant to you” style that breeds problems.  People hear, “You don’t trust me” or “you think I am an idiot.” 
Great leaders strive for transparency,  wanting their staff to know nearly as much as they do so they can work through the big picture and tactical work together.  Although you can’t always share everything, striving for more rather than less will help you reap better results.

5)  You set the goals.  If you’re in the habit of writing out full goal plans with tactical objectives and measures without input or investment from staff, you’ve got great plans and that’s it. They look smart, but what you’ll find yourself repeatedly saying is: “Didn’t you look at the plan?!?” Its meaning was lost between your brain and the paper.

6) Your staff learn to manipulate you into thinking it was your idea.  Do people lay nuggets of information in your path, hoping for that magic day when you promote their idea as your own?  Think about the meetings you have with others: do great ideas pop up or are they “just discussing” until you break open that nugget?

7)  You are frustrated by poor performers…and you have a lot of them.  Poor performers are disappointing,  not frustrating.  A good leader understands that a poor performer isn’t usually bucking the system on purpose.  They need tools, training, or to find another ladder on another building to climb (a new job). That’s one of the challenges in working with people (Have doubts? Talk to a teacher).

8)  You give people responsibility without authority.  People who are given responsibility without authority are destined for failure…they can’t win!  You can’t be responsible for a home, for example, without being given authority to make decisions about the maintenance of the home.  In this house, you’re a guest or tenant and someone else is truly responsible for the home and that person has full authority as well.

9) You believe all good ideas come from the top…uh, because the people who make the big bucks got there by idea-sharing? Not usually.  Most people are promoted because they were the top performer on their team.  The people who do the work every day have the best ideas about how it can be done better.  Even if that was you pre-promotion, it’s not you now.

10) You don’t trust others.   You don’t seek out the good intentions in others.   You don’t ask questions or work every day to build healthy partnerships. You feel you have to protect your staff rather than coach them in learning conflict management skills.  You perpetuate an “Us vs. Them” group think.

11)  Others don’t trust you. Are you terrible at following through on something you committed to do?  Do others ask you to do things?  If your answer is yes and then no, these are sure signs you should hang up your hat as a leader…and that’s not a bad thing.

Let’s go back to #7.  It’s not that you’re incapable of doing the job, it’s that you’re not good at doing the job.  That simply means you would benefit from training, additional tools, or to find a new ladder on a building that’s right for you.

I know, I know…I grew up in a ladder workforce – the only way was up.  Today’s workforce is different.  It’s expected to take the jungle gym to the top, trying on loads of fun roles so you understand best what suits you.  If leadership doesn’t float your boat, try something different and fear not negative repercussions because, frankly, your passion has yet to be unleashed and the world is ready for the passionate you.

How to Lower the Levy and Increase Employee Engagement

“What will the public say?  Tell them we lowered the levy and steadily increased employee engagement.  That should get their attention.”

This is what happens when you update your work culture and focus on results.  This is what happened to a small county in Northern Minnesota, and they are proud to talk about it. 

In the summer of 2013, I met with the Director of Community Services in Crow Wing County.  She described the transformation she hoped to achieve,  and I designed a program to help them get there.

A few months later, I trained their leadership and 14 Champions of Change in three days…a training the Champions and leaders will never forget. It was a training that re-energized the workforce for years to come.

This program helped leaders and teams update their culture and gain autonomy at work and home.  Each employee was able to choose how, when, and where they did their work.  The leaders learned the skills necessary to manage the work and abandon outdated management practices (counting heads, time stamps) that limit employee productivity and engagement in the workplace. 

Results workshops helped teams clarify results and identify meaningful indicators for the organization, effectively condensing over 200 metrics and measures to just 20 meaningful indicators of productivity and organizational success.  The organization’s goals were aligned throughout every level from line staff to top leadership: every voice heard.

And now over two years later, they continue to report increased employee engagement and better results, lowering the levy for the 6th year in a row, an amazing accomplishment:   http://www.brainerddispatch.com/news/3894248-crow-wing-county-board-levy-lowered-6th-straight-year

Last week, I presented the Focus on Results Program to 30 MN County Commissioners.  Without prompting, Crow Wing County talked proudly of their successes from a Commissioner’s point of interest, and recognized that the benefits are far greater than decreasing the levy or employee engagement.  The real benefits are experienced by the client who is able to meet with their social worker more easily and thanks to technology has resources and online applications in hand, the social worker who is 40% more productive on focused, undisturbed activities, and the teams who have clear coverage calendars and work together as adults to improve how they do business, putting their ideas into action.   The true accomplishment when an organization focuses on results is gauged by service to customers and clients: the people we are here to serve.

And when a culture transformation in an organization like this takes place, you can see it, you hear it, and most importantly, you feel the renewed energy and passion in your workplace.  I felt that passion shared in that room with 30 MN County Commissioners.  It’s electric.

What would it take for your organization to focus on results?

Interested in transforming your culture at work and need a little help?  Contact Vreeman Consulting, LLC: vreeman.consulting.llc@gmail.com.  This work is what I was meant to do.

Leadership Lessons from Vietnam

It’s 1986. I am 10 years old. I awaken regularly to my father’s cries mid-night. As a child, I learned to close cabinets softly, that loud bangs triggered emotion.

I turned the pages of the photo album, viewing army uniforms. I created my own stories about the men and women in the pictures, wondering in silence because I knew the memories were too painful to put into words.

As I got older and braver, I asked questions that were mostly left unanswered. During my teenage years, our family took a road trip to see a man my dad thought was the last living member of his army squad. The man had whiskey for breakfast. His life was hard.

It is 2009. For the first time in over 30 years, my dad is contacted by an old army friend he thought was missing since 1968. He was invited to a reunion, the second ever, organized by sisters who lost their brother at war. He learned he wasn’t alone, and he started talking.

This year (2015), my sisters and I joined him at the reunion. We heard raw stories of war: we heard stories of fear, pain, strength, and commitment. We experienced love, respect, and heroism. We learned about the challenges these men faced finding jobs and investing in their future careers when back home, and we finally understood the silence.

We were introduced to the Captain who my dad claims kept him alive. Captain McGinnis greeted us with pride and loving, joyful tears.

I had the opportunity to have a heart -to- heart with the Captain. I wanted to know how, in a battle of life and death, he kept his confidence as a leader.

Q: “As a leader, how did you maintain your confidence in battle?”

A: “As their Captain, it was my job to keep them safe.  I walked among my men with bullets flying and I knew I was protected – I had an aura, a shield of safety around me.”

Q: “What would you tell others to keep them motivated as leaders?”

A: “Have confidence that you were chosen to walk with them (your staff). Train them to walk without you. Believe in God and believe in yourself- you were chosen for this work, do it with courage.”

Q: “How did you keep everyone aligned when they were so far apart trudging through rice fields?”

A: “We knew what to do.  We were trained well,  respected,  and we made the right decisions out there.  We saved each other’s lives.” October 17th, 2015. Interview with Captain James McGinnis, served in the Vietnam War, 199 Charlie Company.

For almost 40 years, veterans from the 199th Company who spent time in combat together lived their lives wondering what happened to friends they fought alongside in the Vietnam rice fields in 1968-1969.

In 2009, thanks to sisters of a soldier killed in combat, these soldiers started to reconnect again and eventually met again at their Captain’s home. Every year, more veterans of Charlie Company are found and reconnect. After years of silence, they have begun talking and healing.

Q: “Captain, What is your final advice for leaders new and old?”

A: “Let the Lord guide you.”

Captain McGinnis passed away on November 22nd, 2015. His courage and love lives on through all of us. View his obituary: http://m.legacy.com/obituaries/jdnews/obituary.aspx?n=james-mcginnis&pid=176710710&referrer=0&preview=false