Another Thumbs Up

I have lived in the Valley of the Sun for 15 years now and have on most days had a view of the McDowell Mountains and Tom’s Thumb if I chose to look that direction. (For those of you not familiar with mountains in the Phoenix area, Tom's Thumb is a large, granite rock formation near the top of the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale, Arizona. As you might imagine, it looks like a thumb poking out of the mountains and is visible from quite a distance.) I have even hiked to see Tom’s Thumb up close a few times. Until yesterday, when I casually ended my blog with “Tom's Thumb giving the whole day a 'thumb’s up',” I had never thought about it as a positive sign or encouragement. You can bet that I will from now on. It drew my eye again this morning.

It’s a great reminder for me that inspiration, motivation, or whatever I am looking for is available at any time if I am willing to open my eyes, my heart, and my mind to finding it.

In the Moment

Many of the most tiresome communication challenges can be solved by "presence." I'm sure you have heard that before. Being in the moment means that you are listening and responding to the person in front of you, not the person you think walked in the room, the person that fits the stereotype, the person they were yesterday, the person HR told you about or even the person you knew when you were a kid. Being in the moment means that you notice what's going on with you: When did your gut tense up? What really made you angry? What do you really want out of this exchange?

But if it is really such a powerful tool that we all know about, why don't we do it all the time? Like anything else, living in the moment takes practice. Yoga and deep breathing are great exercises to help you practice, but finding the time and a quiet place can be difficult in even the most organized life. The best way I have found to practice is to get out in nature.

I like to hike and was fortunate enough to move into a home near the Phoenix Mountain Preserve a few years back. As I head out the door, I am usually deep in some conversation, speech or lament in my mind, but at some point in the hike, I surrender to the desert. If you go to, say, Hawaii, beauty hits you over the head with every tropical flower, waterfall or beach. The desert is much more coy with it's beauty. You have to look up to see the mountain against the impossibly blue sky. You have to pick out that proud saguaro standing in the shadows and you have to pay attention to hear that quail family's panicked conversation as you break up their party. I try to notice as much as I can so that I can still see it in my mind when I need a refresher throughout the day.

Today, the air had a chill, but not quite a bite. The sun guilded, casting the mountains, creosote, cactuses and scrub in a soft light, without blinding. I could see the McDowells, though hazy, to the East, and Tom's Thumb giving the whole day a "thumb's up."

Thank Goodness for the Experts

My cat has had a rough February. One day we got up to find one of her eyes clouded over. We took her to the veterinarian who seemed very concerned. She said that a host of different issues, some terminal, could be causing the inflammation. She gave us some medication to try and a week to see how the cat responded. The cat, Ladybug, never seemed to be in pain and never pawed the eye at all. By the next week the redness had cleared and the eye looked a little better. But by the following weekend, the eye looked red again, and angry. We returned to the vet, who ran a battery of tests and referred us to a veterinary ophthalmologist. Who knew there was such a thing?!

Our vet had given us sage advice, run the appropriate tests and raised our awareness of issues that we needed to know about. She did everything right. However, it was not until our consultation with the eye care specialist that I felt that I understood the scope of the problem and the possible solutions. I now know that I can make the right decisions, no matter what the results of the tests are. That's the power of the expert.

The specific experience, understanding and the language of an expert are worth the extra cost when the stakes are high. Most days a generalist suits me fine. For most topics, general information and rules plus my own powers of logic and research can help me make the decisions I have to make. But if I begin to lose sleep and second-guess my decisions, then I know it's time to call in some help. Whether it's a professional organizer, a coach, a marketing professional or a veterinary ophthalmologist, thank goodness for the experts!

The First Step to Great Communication

As a communication coach, I can help you overcome a fear of public speaking. I can help you determine the best communication structures for your company. I can debate the value and detriment of political correctness and I can help you write a great paragraph. I can even help you tackle that conversation you have been avoiding for years. What I cannot do is make you take care of yourself.

Taking care of yourself is critical to your relationships at work and at home. How many times have you snapped at someone because you were overly tired? How many apologies have you made (or should you have made) because of things you said when you were sick or hungry? The thought that great communicators put into their words cannot be "thunk" if the tank is empty.

So figure out how much sleep you need and get it. Figure out how to have a healthy diet and get some exercise. Figure out if your spirit is getting the nourishment it needs. Then come see me and we will work on the rest of it.

Money Talks...Loudly

I tell my clients all of the time that their compensation system is one of their most powerful communication vehicles.

If your highest-paid employee violates company values, you are telling your team that the values do not matter.

If you give everyone the same pay increase regardless individual performance or company performance, you could be saying either that team matters most, you value equality, or risk/innovation is not a company priority.

If you reward most heavily on longevity, then you are communicating that you value those actions that allow people to stay there over time: Loyalty? Stasis? Quality?

What is your compensation system saying about your company's values?

Accountability During Rough Times

During boom times, we build reward systems to help create an accountable organization. We offer meaningful bonuses for those who help push the company toward and beyond its goals. But now that some companies have watched their bonus pool dry up and the new goal is to stay afloat, how do you create accountability?

It's not enough to parrot unemployment numbers and repeat, "You are lucky you still have a job," to get your employees committed to the company goals. Here's a cautionary tale from a company in a creative industry that is watching its revenues go down.

This company called a meeting with sales personnel and other staff and instituted strict new procedures for their sales team. They handed out a letter with a list of new requirements, including daily logs of all activities and mandatory time in the office for anyone who missed their monthly goals. Their sales force is entirely commission-based, and now most of them are looking for a new opportunity.

Members of the sales team were insulted that they were berated in front of other staff members. Even the most successful among them, with a 20-year track record, has watched her commissions decline with the company's dropped sales.  They say the list of demands will do nothing to convince prospects that their product is worth buying. Some express that the company's previous culture of autonomy and flexibility is their main reason for working there.

Here's the sidenote that demonstrates a huge opportunity missed: the trends indicate their product could survive, and among competitors, it is a phenomenal product.

What if those leaders had instead presented to their team the issues: lower revenues, missed quotas, mixed trend indicators, and customer dissatisfaction; and asked for ideas for what could be done? What if they had asked their seasoned sales team what they needed to make sales easier? What if they had, as a team, tried to figure out a way to address customer concerns? My guess is that they would all be a little more committed to the solution and maybe to the company as a whole.

Sometimes accountability does mean tracking every little step. Sometimes individuals have to give up preferred working styles for the health of the organization. Sometimes team members need help meeting their goals even when they don't want it. In times of crisis, dictatorship is sometimes the best answer.

Rough times do not give the owner of any company the freedom to push too hard. In fact, not only will key employees leave as soon as they can, you can bet that their creativity and commitment to the company in the meantime is dead or dying. That's not in the best interest of anybody. Those companies that make it through the tough economy will be stronger and better for it. There will be a reshuffling of talent on the other side and you want to make sure you are on the right side of the dealer when that day comes.

The Leader's Voice

What does it mean for a leader to find their "voice"? It's not about hoarseness, though with cold season in full swing, it could be. It's not about being "sassy" or "savvy" despite the popularity of those terms. It's not even about saying what you mean, although that helps. It's certainly not about being comfortable.

A leader who has found their voice is authentic. They do and say the right thing, even when it makes them lose the popularity contest. They move others because they speak their truth even while recognizing that other stories hold some truth too. In the mirror at night, they look themselves squarely in the eye and know that they have done their best that day.

Cultivating your authentic voice is lifelong work. It requires that you know your values and recognize when they have changed. It requires learning how to listen, really listen, to the people around you, friend and foe. It requires careful thought, not only about yourself and your own dreams, but the concerns, fears, and triumphs of those you wish to talk to. It requires that you understand that when you open your mouth that what you say matters: it affects you, the people around you, the people around them, and the people around them...

Mahatma Ghandi, who is considered the "Father of the Nation" of India, clearly found his leadership voice. He once said, "The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within."

Find yours. Wake it up. Let it out.

The Courage to Communicate

Being a great communicator takes courage. The root of the word "courage" is the Latin word for "heart." Having courage is having the heart to do the right thing even if it is the hard thing.

Take for example the leader who has an employee that is not acting in accordance with organizational values. I have met a number of these leaders and it is their courage to act that differentiates the good ones. Take Mark, for example, he heard from a number of employees about some questionable actions by a manager. He collected information from all of the stakeholders and made the tough decision to let the manager go. He communicated his decision to the manager, the team and other stakeholders clearly and with integrity. The morale at his company dragged for a short period, but it picked up and they went on to post a great year.

Now, think about Bill, who did not want to hurt the feelings of his employee, no matter how many people complained to him. Finally, after a year of complaints, low morale, and intervention from Bill's own supervisor, he made the decision to let the manager go. Rather than talking directly to the employee, he talked to others and waited until the end of the day to say, "Don't come back." The employee felt blindsided and the co-workers felt that their input had not been heard and that their jobs were not secure. Everyone had hurt feelings that lasted beyond the termination and it took much longer for that organization to recover.

Leading is not easy and courage is not offered in most leadership training classes. Most leaders learn about courage the hard way. Take "heart" this month and look for places in your life where the courage to communicate would make a big difference.