Control Is An Illusion

Micromanagers govern their kingdoms with rules, constant oversight, supervision and most often an iron fist. Their entire management model is build on "Control". And sadly, they typically spend so much time in the weeds, directing their subordinates, they struggle at the bigger picture of their own job - requiring their bosses to "micromanage" them as well.

The truth is, Control is an Illusion.

Whether you believe it or not, you really don't have control over anything but yourself and what YOU do. And the more Control and Authority you try to invoke over others, they less you actually have (just ask any parent with a teenager).

Your employees do what THEY want to do (nothing more and nothing less) - which is usually what they are rewarded to do. Thus, the concept of work in the first place.

You see, you and your company promise your employees a reward (pay) for coming to and engaging in the work you assign, and they gladly do just that . . . come to work and do what you "tell" them to do.

So the control you think you have, what little there actually is, comes from getting them to "want to do what you want them to do", not because you tell them to do it. Thus, the question that most managers have, but few are actually good at answering is "How do I get them to want to work?"

Hence the dilemma of the Manager, and the birth of the Micromanager.

But there are things you can do to change this. There are ideas you can implement and techniques you can follow to become a more effective manager. If you want to become a more effective manager / leader of your direct reports, you simply need to change your perspective and mindset, the behavior will follow. You need to see your employees as more than just things that do what they are told, when they are told, and how they are told to do it. You need to see them as thinking individuals, that think, act, behave, and are motivated much like you are.

You need to apply the following 5 ideas / steps to your management style:

- TEACH the methods and guidelines of the company,
- DEFINE the results,
- EMPOWER their employees,
- Establish an environment of ACCOUNTABILITY where employees are held accountable for results
- REWARD the behavior you want

Over the next five days, I will break down each of these 5 elements of Management (each day a different idea) to give you the tools you need to move from being a micromanager to an empowering leader and effective manager.

People join companies, but leave managers.

Marcus Buckingham & Curt W. Coffman

With Employees, Reward The Behavior You Want

Whether your business is large or small, if you have employees, you probably struggle with productivity. A recent blog on Small Business CEO called "Offering New Employees Incentive Pay Instead of Large Salaries" brings up the ever important topic, How do you compensate your employees so that they work for you, are committed to you and are motivated to do the work that is important to the success of your business?

Believe it or not, the answer is simple. But with most simple answers, the implementation is the gotcha. The answer is to reward the behavior and results you want from your employees.

It doesn't matter at what level of your business your employees are, their compensation should be directly tied to the results and / or behavior you want. From the Janitor to the CEO - everyone should be rewarded based on production - not just effort. And definitely not for just showing up every day.

Sure, if you want someone to just occupy a chair (answer phone calls / man a desk) for a certain number of hours per day, and don't care what they do when they are there, then pay them an hourly wage or even a salary. But if you want them to actually do things that are important to the success of your business then reward them for what you want done - not for showing up.

Don't kid yourself though, this is a very scary concept for both you, as the business owner, and your employees. And it requires a lot of work. For you, as the employer / manager, you will need to take the time to figure out what you want and how to measure it, as well as how to compensate it. And for your employees, they most likely have never been held accountable for their work like this before and will be initially resistant to the idea.

Truth is, almost all employees would much rather continue to get paid just for showing up and doing what you tell them to do, than have their pay be dependent on the level or quality of their work. But that's what you are doing now - and if you are like most business owners / managers, it's not working for you.

I know in the current economic and social climate, with words like this, I might be calling for a lynch mob. But to be honest with you - when you build accountability into your compensation system and reward the behaviors that you desire in an employee two things happen:

1. You increase the production of your employees while often decreasing the need for excessive management oversight
2. You share with your employees the fruits of their labor. Literally you build a band of Entrepreneurial-Minded employees.

In order to implement these ideas, there are two things that you must do:

1. Figure out WHAT you want to reward.
2. Decide HOW to reward it.

So first we start with "WHAT" to reward. And that means writing Job Descriptions - Roles, Responsibilities and Goals for every position in your business. And yes, I know nobody wants to do this - as it is one of the most difficult things you will ever do as a manager / business owner. But, in spite of the hard work involved, I've got some good news for you, when you are done writing the job description with the help of your employees (as much as possible), you will literally be amazed at what happens. The work that you say you want to get done, will get done. And most likely they will be happier and more committed than you have ever seen them before.

Truth is, in the absence of a job description or your direction, employees will begin to do what they think they need to do. This isn't a bad thing, but it's rarely exactly what you want done. So don't leave things to chance - figure out what you want done, what you want them to do, and make it happen.

Second, in the process, is HOW you are going to compensate for accomplishing what the job description says for the your employees to do.

Traditional pay is usually built around one of three models: hourly, salary, or commission. None of these pay systems are bad, per se. However, you are getting what you pay for.

- In the case of hourly wages, you get hours. Production requires continuous management.
- In the case of salaried employees, you are paying someone to be there when you need them and to do a job, but whether they do it well or not, they still get paid. Again production requires continuous management - or a very well laid out plan.
- In the case of commission, you get results - but only exactly where you define them. But what you don't get is any form of allegiance to the business - because the employees are pretty much working for themselves.

I believe the answer is the blend of the compensation methods - a compensation system where the employee gets a base salary (I recommend 50% of target average income), including some form of benefits, plus some form of "results-based compensation" that is attached to their goals. And as they begin to produce what is required of them, they earn more and more - often with no limits, except their own ingenuity and hard work.

With this form of compensation, you are doing three things. First, you are demonstrating a level of commitment from the company to the employee by giving them a salary that they can count on (even though they won't be able to live on it). Second you are giving them incentive to do the work that you want done, minimizing the "oversight" of constant management - literally the compensation has built in accountability. And finally if they decide to produce more than is expected of them, they have the ability to take home an even higher salary, as they benefit with you in the profits of their labor.

So, if you are tired of struggling with idea of either being a micro-manager or not getting the productivity that you want and / or need, then think about doing something a bit different - think about rewarding the behavior and results that you want from your employees.

Seven Essentials of Team Building

A Team is defined as an group organized to work together. And truth is that unless you are a hermit, at some level, you work with others to accomplish goals - both personal and business. The others in your group might be employees, friends, family, suppliers, or even customers. But no matter who they are, if you share a mission or vision then you are a Team. It doesn't matter if that team is formalized on paper, just a verbal agreement, or even a passing relationship, the success of the vision almost always depends on everyone working together - as a single entity.

Unfortunately, just because you put a group of people together in a tight confined space doesn't mean that they will in fact work together. Working together requires, at some level, Team Building.

Throughout my career in both the Military and as a Business Coach, I have found that there are Seven Essentials of Team Building that when present help the team work better and make the combined effort of each member more than just the sum of the individual team members. Unfortunately though, when any or all of those elements are absent, teams become little more than a group of individuals sometimes working together - sometimes not.

The Seven Essentials of Team Building are:

1. Write out the purpose of the Team - The purpose or shared vision of a team is why the team exists in the first place. It is the glue that binds the members of the team and motivates them from the outset. The more each member believes in the vision, the stronger the glue. And whether your team is new or years old, it is important to invite every member of the team to either participate in the development of the vision or agree to it.

2. Create a culture of Trust - Without a doubt, the most important element in any group of people working together is that they trust each other. I'm not talking trust that they will do their job - that's important. But what's really important is that everyone on the team must trust enough that they feel they can voice their opinions without retribution or embarrassment.

3. Set Team Goals - Ones that every one agrees with - Moving forward is about knowing what's important and not important, and getting everyone to agree. This is all about creating goals. It's about defining the rules of the game of your business - knowing how to keep score and what winning looks like. If you don't know the rules, it's not much fun.

4. Gain Commitment to Goals - Everyone's Commitment - Once you have goals - it's time to gain commitment to those goals. That sounds simple, but real commitment means the willingness to be held accountable. In order to increase the level of commitment from each team member towards the goals, make sure that they have an opportunity to share in the process of creating the goals. That doesn't mean they have to be involved in the process at every stage, but they should feel that their voice was heard in the developmental process.

5. Hold Each Other Accountable - Don't count on the Leader - Goals mean nothing if they aren't met. And the only way they are going to be met, is if there is accountability within the team. Too often, the only one that is holding anyone accountable on the team is the leader - but the most effective teams create a culture of accountability where everyone is responsible to the team - not the leader to fulfill their commitments and generate the desired results.

6. Build A Reward System - Don't be afraid to build into the team culture, a reward system that promotes the behaviors and social norms that are important to the team. In many ways, your Team Reward system is built-in accountability, that works independent of other forms of individual accountability.

7. Maintain Integrity within the Team - Integrity is defined as either a steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code, a state of being unimpaired; soundness, or a condition of being whole or undivided; completeness. All of these definitions tie directly to what matters here the most - making sure that every member of the team puts the team first, before their own needs - by not breaking the bounds of trust.

These 7 Essentials are designed to give you the beginning tools to take your team from just showing up and working together - to generating success. As you go about your day, look at the teams in your life (your family, your office, your friends, all the employees, or just the volleyball team at the YMCA) and ask yourself how well each of your teams actually works.

If you want to know more about how to implement any or all of these Essentials in your team,
feel free to contact me at coach.jj@impossiblefutures.com.

Give Your Time And Attention To The Positive

I read a quote last night by a new friend of mine, Freda Mooncotch of AlphaWomen.com, "Negative experiences scream for attention, but you have to go hunt for and embrace the positive ones!" It touched me in such a powerful way that I felt compelled to write about it on the spot and share it with you all today. And I thank Freda for her permission to use her powerful quote.

This is a lesson I seem to highlight a lot in coaching sessions. Reward the right behaviors. And know exactly what reward looks like - it's not always easy to spot.

I used to have a boss that would have meetings (closed door meetings) with his higher staff when he really wanted to lay into them and focus their attention. However, the rest of his time was spent in near solitude. And he hardly ever spent any time praising his staff when they did things correct. The interesting thing was I can clearly remember him getting frustrated, because he couldn't figure out why, no matter how harsh he got with his staff, they kept screwing up.

Why do you think it happened? Why do you think they continued to screw up?

In my opinion, it was because, more than anything, his staff valued his time - even if that time was filled with negative feedback. They wanted to do the right things, but more importantly, they saw his time as the bigger reward than the punishment of getting yelled at. And people do what they are rewarded to do. Don't get me wrong, they would have preferred to have praise and opportunities to consult with him in positive situations. But since that never happened, and they could only get time with him (to hear his opinions and to share theirs) by "screwing up", then unconsciously, that is what they were going to do.

The key here is that if you want a behavior or habit to develop either in yourself or in others that touch your life, then teach them and reward that behavior. It is the best way to make sure you get it again and again.

Unfortunately, this isn't the standard style of management, leadership, training, or parenting in our society. Instead, what we tend to do is tell people everything we don't want them to do - by yelling, screaming, or punishing by some other form. And somehow, we hope they will be able to figure out what to do correctly from knowing clearly what not to do.

As common as this is, it rarely works - and yet we just keep doing it. The problem is simply that the opposite of wrong is not right. You can't just tell someone what not to do. You must tell them what to do. Because the opposite of wrong is not right. That's not to say it couldn't be, but there is no guarantee. I know this sounds like common sense - but as we all know, "Common Sense is not Common Practice."

So the trick here is communicating what is "right" and making sure it's clearly understood by defining the end state / goal that you want to achieve. Be as clear as you can from the beginning. Then teach them what you want done and how you would like it done (if that applies). If you don't care how, and are willing to give them leeway, that's fine, too. You can do that. But they still need to know what the result should look like - what you are going to hold them to. And this requires work and attention - not something most of us are good at.

When people are first learning, take time to reward them more often - build their confidence along the way. Let them know that you care about how they are doing, giving as much positive feedback as you can stand to give at each step of their progress.

If they make mistakes - correct them, but do NOT punish them - so long as they are honestly trying to learn.

The more you focus on rewarding positive behavior and less on highlighting negative bad behavior, the more often you and your staff will do the right things. And the less often you will see negative behavior.

Try it. I'm pretty confident you will be awed by the results.

Are You Getting What You Are Paying For?

It is simple psychological truth - people "do" what they are rewarded for. So the questions are: what do you employees consider a reward? and what are you rewarding your employees for?

It may sound silly, but when you pay an hourly wage - you are rewarding hours (not work). When you pay a sales commission, you are rewarding sales (nothing else). And when you pay a salary - well, more than anything else, you are rewarding commitment - but to what?

So how do you get your employees to want to do the work you want them to do - at the level you want them to perform? Simple right, you reward them for it!

Furthermore, I've heard it said that real Leadership is getting others to want to do what you want them to do. So in essence, what we are talking about here is building leadership (both organizational and personal) into your culture as much as rewards.

If you want someone to produce higher quality, then reward quality. If you want your team to work better together, then reward teamwork. These ideas sound simple, but their implementation is on of the biggest challenges you will face as an owner or a manager. It takes very thorough commitment on your part to figure out what it is EXACTLY that you want from your employees as well as figuring out exactly what each employee considers a 'reward'. And that is something very few owners / managers actually do.

First, if you want your employees to do what you want them to do - you must clearly spell out what you want them to do. And then you must describe for them what doing it well looks like. I I know you think you might have already done this - but if it isn't written down, where both you and your employee can read and review it regularly, it isn't done. And statistics show that less than 1 in 5 Americans actually have a clearly defined job description and know exactly what is expected of them.

Most business owners have ideas of what they expect - but rarely do they do anything but bitch about how their employees aren't meeting their expectations. In this "job description", for lack of a better term, you need to include what you consider the "bare minimum", what you consider "good" work, what you consider "great" work and what would completely blow your socks off. Take your time with this - think it through.

Now here's the tough part (as if it hasn't already been really hard to get all of the above done). Now you must figure out how to reward (compensate) each employee so that if they do the bare minimum, they will get the bare minimum they need (or desire). If they perform a good job, they will get paid a good salary. And so forth. And you must share it with the employee so that they understand and can commit (or not) to the job. This then puts the ball in their court - and you soon find out what type of employee you have - one that is motivate, or one that is just trying to collect a paycheck. Either way, you can rest well at night - because you are getting what you pay for.

I appreciate anyone who has endured this blog to this point - results-based compensation is not easy and shouldn't be implemented without thorough thought and consideration. Most that have tried it with less than stellar results did so without due diligence in the process. Take some time to think about each of the questions I've brought up in the article. You will find that the solution isn't in the answers - it is in the process of searching for the answers.

Do You Love What You Do?

People always ask me "Why do you do what you do?" The answer's easy - and it's not because of the money (although I do believe the money will come). I do what I do, because making a difference in someone's life by teaching and empowering them to reach their full potential is my passion - it is my dream.

How about you? Are you pursuing your dream - your passion? Or are you just putting in time at a job that pays the bills?

Do you think that chasing your dreams is just fanciful idealogy? Do you think "It'll have to wait for the next time around?"

I've got some bad news - there may not be another "time around". This may be all you get. And its a tough reality to face - but it may not last as long as you wished hope it would.

So you have a choice. You can either, live your life, content with having a good life, where you go to a job you don't hate, and pay your bills on time - knowing someday you'll get to retire. Or you could take a chance and commit making your dream a reality - making it happen, while risking the chance of completely failing - and maybe losing everything you currently have.

The choice is obvious to me. Greatness is born from risk not safety. Take a chance and go for "Great".