Becoming Less Lame (I hope) - Video Blog Post #1

Lately, I've have a lot of signals telling me that I need to figure out how to use video in my work.  First, it was a session by Johnny Campbell and his Social Talent team at #TruLondon talking about creating viral videos.  I'm not sure I will ever create a viral video, but the message was clear--video is huge and very important in the emerging new media landscape.  

I've not done much in video yet because I'm not very good at it.  But, then a recent Seth Godin blog post reminded me that the only way to get good at something is to do it, a lot.  So, I'm throwing my hat into the world of video.  My video blogs will be less than 90 seconds in length as I know you don't have all day.

Here we go.  I welcome any comments or feedback, good or bad.  It will help me learn to suck less at this.  

Reebok Gets Smacked, But Who is Really at Fault?

Last night, as I was watching Diane Sawyer give me the news, I saw a story that really struck me.  Yesterday, shoemaker Reebok agreed to pay a $25 million settlement to the FTC for a claim that they practiced false advertising related to their "tone up" shoe line.  You've seen the advertisements.  These are the shoes (there's also a similar line by Sketchers and others) that claims to tone your legs and butt by simply walking in them.  Apparently, if you buy these magical shoes, they will make your legs and butt look like a Kardashian simply by wearing them around.  The FTC didn't buy it.

According to the Reuter's article, here's how David Vladeck from the FTC summed it up:

"We did get consumer complaints. We watch TV. We read the newspapers," said Vladeck. "There is no such thing as a no-work, no-sweat way to a fit and healthy body."

So, Reebok got whacked yesterday.  It sounds like Sketchers is probably not too far behind in line to get a little smack down itself.

At first, this bit of news delighted me.  We live in an era of spin where it seems that authenticity and honesty and truth are rare, so it felt good to me to see the feds come after Reebok for, what seems to me, like an obvious and blatant false advertising campaign.  Not only that, but one that preys on the the insecurities of women.  My initial thought was "Good for you, FTC.  It's nice to see the government doing something positive."

But, then I started thinking more about it.  According to the ABC News stories, there were $1.1 billion of this type of "workout without the workout" shoes sold in 2010 alone, of which Reebok sold $340 million.  How is it that so many people are buying these shoes?  Shouldn't a reasonable person see an advertisement like this and be able to make a determination that they are being sold a line of BS?  I remember when I first saw an ad for these shoes.  I chuckled because I didn't think anyone would actually buy them.  I was wrong.  Apparently, a lot of people took the bait.  This begs the question, how severely should the shoe company be punished if we are silly enough to buy a shoe who's value proposition is so clearly ridiculous?

For what it's worth, I think where Reebok got in trouble was that they made claims that involved percentages and numbers to make it sounds like they had real scientific evidence of the shoe's magic abilities.  But, even so, our bullsh*t detectors should go off any time we hear something that resembles this statement: "Get amazing results that you will value without any work on your part."

This to me as just another reminder of something that successful people learn early in their lives, there are no shortcuts.  There is only hard work and preparation.  When you work hard and prepare yourself to succeed, you will find opportunities to capitalize upon.  Unless you are born to rich parents, there is no quick way to get rich.  And unless you were blessed with really great genes with super fast metabolism, there is no quick way to get in great shape.  And, generally in business, there simply is no quick path up the ladder.  Getting rich, getting in shape and getting ahead all require hard work.  Anyone who tells you differently is deceiving you (and probably trying to take your money).

#TruLondon Summary

Quick post today to share something with you that you might be interested in if you are in the recruiting or HR space.  As you may remember, I participated in the TruLondon4 recruiting unconference earlier this month as a track leader.

The fine folks at Jobsite, who sponsored the event, have produced a really cool and quick read summary document of the event for download.  If you are interested, you can find it here.

Otherwise, back to regular programming tomorrow.  Have a great day.

When a Hired Gun is the Right Answer

Through much of my corporate HR life, I made it my goal to minimize the use of external recruiters when possible.  I had decided that when I had to engage outside recruiting services, it was a signal that I was failing to deliver on what was expected from my recruiting team and me.

The thing is, I'm not sure that the rest of the organization viewed it as a failure on my team when we had to use outside help.  The rest of the organization just wanted to get positions filled with the best possible candidates and they trusted me to make the right call on how to make that happen.  If I told them we needed to use an external recruiter, they usually trusted my judgement.

I think all too often, as managers and professionals, we adopt a mindset that getting external help is an admission of weakness or failure.  We try to avoid hiring consultants and advisors at times when we really need them to best do our jobs.  We rationalize that we are saving money, being responsible and doing what we were hired to do.  And those things may all be true, but if you don't deliver the results your organization expects of you, no one is going to pat you on the back for saving a few bucks or "doing your best."  There are times when getting external support from a consultant, recruiter or other source is the right thing to do.

When you should consider a hired gun:

1. When you don't have the expertise in your team to deliver exceptional results.  As an example, if you need to do some work on branding for your organization, unless you have someone who has done brand development for a living in the past, hire some with that expertise to help you.  In almost every case, if you are trying to accomplish a task where you lack expertise, it will take you at least twice as long to produce a product that is at best half as good.  If the outcome of the project is important, go find some help.  
2. When your time is stretched so thin that taking on another project will crush your (or your team's) ability to deliver on what's already in front of you.  Sometimes, even when you have the ability to complete a project, it's wise to hire someone else to do it so that you can maintain focus on the work that's already in front of you.  
3. When the project requires some conflict that might be politically dangerous.  One powerful way to use external partners is facilitate processes that might be painful or politically charged.  A consultant will often get praised for saying or doing something that might have gotten you in trouble had you said or done the same thing  When you need to shake things up or tip over the apple cart, it's far better to let someone from the outside be the instigator so that you can play the role of the hero who puts things back together on the other end.  
4. When you need to lead a group through a discovery process that might slaughter sacred cows along the path.  This is why many companies use external facilitators to lead strategic planning or succession planning processes.  These are high stakes ventures that, when done right, require leaders to take a hard look at everything in the company.  This usually leads to some insights which suggest that hard decisions must be made.  It might be that a core product has run it's course.  Or, a beloved senior executive needs to move on.  These are tough conversations that can become very personal for some leaders.  A skilled external facilitator will ask questions and push buttons that an internal person might be very uncomfortable with.  

Hiring help shouldn't be an admission of weakness, incompetence or failure.  Done right, it's how skillful leaders move the needle on important initiatives.  Inserting the right help at the right moment can make all the difference to delivering exceptional results.  

#Quotes for Inspiration

Happy Friday!  As we wrap the week and look forward to the weekend, I hope these quotes provide you with a spark of insight or inspiration.  

Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul. – Niccolo Machiavelli

 Victory belongs to the most persevering. – Napoleon Bonaparte There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still. – Franklin D. Roosevelt

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear. – Socrates 

If you want to be respected, you must respect yourself. – Spanish Proverb

There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. – Freya Stark

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. – Vince Lombardi

Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. – Ralph Waldo Emerson It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped. – Anthony Robbins,  Great things are accomplished by talented people who believe they will accomplish them. – Warren Bennis

Three Powerful Words

"It's on me."

That's what a leader says when things go wrong.

Earlier this week, the Boston Red Sox lost an important game.  They had been in a position to win when they brought in their ace closing pitcher, Jonathan Papelbon to pitch the last 5 outs of the game.  Papelbon generally closes out the last 3 outs of the game and he had successfully saved the game in 30 or his last 31 chances.  But, this time was different.  Things didn't go well for Papelbon and the Red Sox lost the game.

After the game, here's what Papelbon said about the game:

“Unacceptable,” Papelbon said. “The way I’ve been throwing the ball, I’ve got to go out there and execute. I didn’t do that, and by me not going out there and executing 0-2 pitches, I let my team down. I’ll shoulder that and take full responsibility, and I’ll be ready to go tomorrow. It’s plain and simple.” 

Those are the words of a leader.  Certainly, Papelbon's performance had a major impact on the outcome of the game, but he wasn't the only reason they lost.  Had the team scored more runs, they would have won.  Had the Rex Sox played a little better defense overall, they would have won.  But, Papelbon didn't point at any of that.  He pointed to himself and said, "It's on me."  He took more than his share of the blame for this loss which is what leaders do.  He took the blame for the loss so the team could move on.  And it makes me respect him as a leader, and I'm guessing his teammates feel the same way.

 Next time things go wrong, instead of looking around for who's to blame, try these three words.

"It's on me."

Archive Redux: Performance Appraisals Must Die

This is one of my favorite short posts that I've written.  I originally published it earlier this year as my corp HR team was working on solving the performance appraisal problem within our organization.  I love talking about performance appraisals because of the angst that it creates for people.  I'm perplexed why it seems so hard for organizations for to do the right thing and walk away from this craziness. 


I'm hoping that more people will step forward to share an alternative, to reveal how they've found a better way.  Because, make no mistake, there is a better way to manage and drive performance.  And it doesn't have anything to do with an appraisal.   


Performance Appraisals must Die
Originally posted 3/9/11

As every other HR department has done before and will likely do again, my team is working on answering the question, "What should we do about our performance appraisals?"  So, I've been thinking a lot about the topic lately.  That means I've had my radar up for information and solutions about performance management.  It seems to me that the performance appraisal is a perfect example of how Paul Hebert explains that HR is caught in the monkey trap.  Letting go would set us free, but we just can't seem to do it.  I think that's a mistake and here's why.

This is what I have found to be almost universally true when you talk to people about performance appraisals.

1. Managers hate writing them.  Even the best managers hate them, regardless of the form you use.  Too much work for what they get out of it.  
2. Employee hate receiving them.  Regardless of how great of a manager you have, the process of the once a year sit down is riddled with anxiety and angst.  
3. HR hates administering them.  It's an enormous black hole of time and energy, and no one loves you for doing it.  
4. There is no evidence that traditional performance appraisals have any impact on performance, good or bad.  At least I've not found anyone who has any data either way.  
5. Despite what some HR folks may argue, having annual performance appraisals usually makes it HARDER to terminate a low performer because most managers generally resist addressing performance issues within the appraisal itself. 

If these five things are true, it would seem that the solution would be to stop the insanity and pull the plug on performance appraisals.  Here's what should happen if you do.  Managers and employees both love you more.  Your HR team gets back some time that can be invested in work that matters.  Organizational performance won't change and you'll be better able to swiftly address employee performance issues.  Where's the down side?  

Who You Know Matters - Another Lesson from the Firing of Carol Bartz

I have, like many people, been watching with great interest the unfolding story of the firing of Carol Bartz, the recently former CEO of Yahoo.  It's been a really interesting story to follow because both sides have handled the situation pretty poorly, making for some great stories to read.

Yesterday, I stumbled across this post on the continuing saga.  As I read through it, one particular quote jumped out at me regarding how Ms. Bartz had been seemingly blindsided by this firing.

“She did not know it was happening, even if she probably should have seen it coming,” said one person familiar with the situation. “And she had no allies at the company to warn her, either.”

She had no allies.  Granted, she was new to the company having only been there about 2 1/2 years, but "no allies" to warn her that she was standing on the railroad tracks and a train was coming?  At that level, it seems odd to me that she had not one strong ally who would have given her a heads up.

It makes me wonder about her leadership style.  It also makes me wonder about Yahoo's internal leadership culture.  Was she trying to build key relationships, but others weren't really interested in engaging with her?  Or, was her leadership style one that drove people away?  Perhaps some of both.

Either way, this can serve as a powerful reminder to cultivate strong relationships within your organizations.  Allies and alliances are important, in good times and bad.  Ask yourself this question, if you were about to be blindsided at work, do you have an ally at work who would give you a warning?  Perhaps more importantly, who are you being an ally to?  These alliances can make a huge difference to both your performance and your enjoyment of your work.

Relationships are important.  Just ask Carol Bartz.

The Wanting versus Doing Disconnect

One of my blind spots as a manager is that I project my ambitions and work ethic on others.   I work pretty hard--not sure if it's genetics or growing up on a farm that caused it.  And I have always been motivated to succeed quickly.  As a result, I have always jumped at any opportunity to learn and grow.  If a company offered up a book club, I was there.  If they gave me a chance to go to a seminar or training, I was on it.  I felt like these opportunities were my chance to propel myself ahead and I didn't want to miss a single one of them.  

But, throughout my management career, I've managed far fewer people who felt this same way than those who would happily skip a training session so they don't get behind on a day of work.  This made me crazy.  I felt like I was failing as a manager when my teams wouldn't get as excited about reading a book together as I did.  I just didn't understand how someone could pass up an opportunity to learn and propel their career ahead.  

Now, I know that projecting my ambitions on to others isn't a healthy way to manage.  I don't do it on purpose.  I also know that not everyone is a careerist who is trying to climb the ladder as quickly as possible.  But, despite knowing this, I still struggled with this issue.  And then, one day, I finally realized why this bothered me so much.

The issue wasn't really that these people wasn't interested in development opportunities.  If they don't want to learn, that's their choice.  The problem was that they weren't understanding and embracing the consequences of that choice. In many cases, their intentions for their career--what they wanted out of their work--wasn't aligned with what they were doing to move themselves along.  

In career discovery conversations with individuals, I'd hear about how they wanted to move up into bigger jobs with bigger salaries and more responsibilities.  They were focused on getting more, but the disconnect was that they weren't willing to do more.  What they wanted was out of alignment with what they were willing to do to get it.  This is where my frustration really came from.  

Want ≠ Do

The learning moment for me was that I needed to do a far better job of being transparent with those who I managed about how they would get ahead in my team.  They had to learn, to grow, and to prove through their actions that they were ready for more.  It's on the leader to lay out what it takes to get ahead, what that investment of time and energy looks like, so that when someone does want to climb that ladder, they know the path (and the consequences of not choosing that path).  

I also had to learned that so long as I was making this clear to my people, I needed to quit worrying about those who weren't taking advantage of the learning opportunities in front of them.  The accountability for their career was now squarely on their shoulders.  I would provide opportunities but it was up to them to capitalize on them.  

This is also a good reminder for us as individuals.  We need to be in a regular conversation with ourselves about our intentions versus our actions.  Are you doing what is required to get where you want to go?  Do you know what is required to make it happen?  Results follow from our actions and we will never get the results we desire without putting the right time and investment into getting them.  

Let's make it happen.  

Awesome Free Stuff for HR: Attend The Recruiting Conference in Chicago as my Guest

If there's one thing I know about corporate HR and recruiting, it's that money for conferences can be hard to come by.  Conferences can be such a great way to get energized, learn about what's happening in the industry and meet some great peers from around the country.  I hated the task as a manager every year of determining who got to attend what conferences (if any) and who didn't.  I always felt like I was depriving someone of a great development experience by not allowing them to go to a conference.  And to make matters worse, I know the past couple of years have been tough ones and many of you may not have had any money left over to attend even a single conference.

That's why I'm excited to be able to make this offer to you as a reader of my blog.

On November 1-2, OnRec is hosting The Recruiting Conference in Chicago.  It looks to be a very interesting line up of topics and speakers including some industry vets like John Sumser and Gerry Crispin along with some great practitioners who will be speaking about what's working in their business.

As a happy byproduct of being a speaker at this conference, I have been given the opportunity to bring someone as my guest to the show.  I have one Gold Pass to give away which gets you into the two day main conference on Nov 1-2.  That's a value of $995--for free!  Just because you either read my blog, happened to stumble upon this post by way of Twitter or LinkedIn, or someone who thinks you rock sent you a link to this post.  Either way, a free conference is a great conference.  You will have to get yourself there and feed yourself, but that's generally the easy part of a conference expense to justify.

So, if you would like to attend this conference as my guest, please email me your name, title, company, and contact info by next Monday, September 19.  I will randomly select a name from those who email me and you will be the lucky winner of this free conference pass.  Whether or not you want to see, talk to or hang out with me at the conference is completely optional and entirely up to you. That being said, I would be delighted to spend some time with you if you are interested.

So, there you have it.  A shot at a free recruiting conference.  All you have to do is make sure you could attend and send me an email.  I'll do the rest.  Winner will be selected and notified on September 20.

Good luck.

Going All In

We spend too much time hedging our bets, playing it safe, having a back up plan.  When we have a decision in our life that's really important, it seems wise to leave an escape plan, "in case things don't work out."

Planning is important.  Commitment is the game changer.

What would happen if you didn't have a back up plan?  How would your behavior change if there was no back up plan--if failure really wasn't an option?

Never underestimate the power of true commitment.  True commitment is when you take out the predetermined excuses and bail out plans.

Commitment gets it done.

It's Just a Game

As I watched the first Sunday of NFL football yesterday, I started thinking about the fact that these grown men actually play a game for a living.  They study the game, practice the game, prepare to perform in the game, and condition to perform well in the game.  In addition, they study their opponents to get a deep understanding of how they play the game in hopes of uncovering some insights that will provide an advantage.  

This makes me wonder why people some times get offended when I talk about viewing the workplace like a game.  Here's how dictionary.com defines the word "game":

Game -  noun - a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or enduranceon the part of two or more persons who play according to aset of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators.

If you have any interest in advancement, recognition or increased compensation and you think that work isn't a competitive activity with spectators, you are kidding yourself.   The people above you are watching you perform on the field next to your peers every day.  While we talk often about the utopia where every employee puts the interests of the company or the greater good before their own, the reality is that we work to provide our self (and our families) with a quality of life.  And, most people want more than they are getting from the company at any given moment (regardless of whether they are willing to do more to get it).  In order to get more in most companies, you have to outperform or maneuver the person next to you in a way that gets the attention of the "management."  That sounds like a game to me.

In addition, there are certainly rules to this game.  As a member of the HR community, I can attest to rules because we create most of them.  Rules for how and when you can get promoted.  Rules for how performance should be measured.  Rules for what differentiates a good employee from a bad one. These are all written rules.  Then there's the unwritten rules of culture, history, and status quo.  All of these provide walls within which you must play this game as you work to get ahead.

So, work really is and should be viewed as a game.  A serious one, but a game none the less.  If you approached your "game" in the same way and with the same rigor as professional athletes do, I suspect you'd find yourself getting promoted in a hurry.

The other upside of taking a "game" mindset to work is that most games are truly for your enjoyment or amusement.  I love it when pro athletes get interviewed and talk about how blessed they are to "get to play a game I love for a living."  This is what we should aspire to.  Find a game (i.e. job) you love to play and then play it with reckless abandon.  Study, practice, prepare and condition to be the very best at your game.  The rewards will be great if you do.

Playing a game you love and getting paid to do it is a blessing.  I wish that blessing on everyone.

Disarming the Corporate Bully

My Dad has taught me a lot of important stuff throughout my life: never let anyone compromise your integrity, better to be lucky than good most days, working hard will set you apart, etc.  But, yesterday over a coffee with a friend, I was reminded of one of the most important lessons he taught me.

Like most kids, I was a teen age "know it all" who thought I was smarter than the rest of the world (some would probably argue that I never grew out of this, but I digress).  My Dad, to entertain himself mainly, took great pleasure in pushing my buttons in this regard.  When I would start running my mouth about some particular topic, espousing my vast insight on the issue, he would always take the opposite side of the issue and start provoking me.  At that age, not only was I an annoying know it all, but I was also a bit of a hot head.  I would get really worked up, to the point of being angry in these discussions.  The more fired up I got, the more my Dad seemed to enjoy the conversation.  He was teaching.  And, I never won an argument.

Dad was tweaking me.  He was pushing my buttons, and I responded every time.  And when I responded, I lost my cool and with it, my ability to have a civilized conversation.  In these moments, I stopped listening and stopped learning.  And, I used to get really angry with him for doing this to me.

Of course, I eventually realized that he wasn't doing anything to me, he was just making a couple of comments in the context of a conversation about some topic or another.  I was choosing to react to his comments as hostile and in doing so, I completely lost my head.  Once that happened, I had no ability to engage in a real conversation and any opportunity I had to influence was lost.

The main lesson I took from all of this was:

Most times, you take away a bully's power by choosing not to engage.  

If you don't fight back or freak out, you aren't any fun to bully.  This doesn't mean that you become a push over, but it means that you can't let others dictate your emotions and responses to situations.

Within organizations, I have seen this kind of aggression used to gain politic power and to distract attention from what really matters.  If I am a manager or VP over a division that's not performing extremely well, a tactic I can use to keep the heat off of me is to pick on another area (HR anyone?).  If I start pointing fingers and accusing others of being responsible for failing to support me appropriately and they respond, the attention within the organization is now drawn to either the conflict or the other department's response.  Either way, the eyeballs are off of me and my lousy performance.  It happens all the time.  And, we usually take the bait.

Don't get caught in this trap.  It's tempting to feel like you need to defend yourself and fight back every time something like this happens.  However, if you are taking care of business and performing in your own right, then the best response to an act of aggression is often a non-response.  Be polite, be friendly, and add no fuel to the fire.  A vast majority of the time, the bully will simply go away.  They have now power without you giving it to them.

And, the happy by-product of this approach is that your level of day to day aggravation will decrease dramatically.  We give energy to much of the turmoil around us.  When we stop feeding it, most of it goes away.  Less aggravation leads to a lot more fun at work.

Thanks Dad.

The Danger in Adding Too Much Value

Some lessons are hard ones to put into actual practice.  I have a project that I've been working on the past several months.  One part of this project has been giving me fits.  The harder I worked at the problem and the more creative I tried to be, the farther away from a solution I got.  I kept trying to find a new and creative way to attack this issue, to add some new value.  But,  nothing was working.  

But, finally I stopped.  I went clear back to the beginning and started over.  I asked a few more questions.  I listened.  And what I found was that the solution was simple.  Painfully simple.  I think that I so wanted to show off my creative abilities that I was taking a straight forward problem and making it complex.  I was trying to add value where it really wasn't needed.  

I think this happens a lot in our work.  We attack a problem or situation with a flurry of ideas and approaches when something far more simple is called for.  To justify our existence (and our salary) we have a compulsion to spring to action, to roll up our sleeves and do some work.  The irony is that often times, the best thing we could do is the simplest, even the easiest.  Sometimes, the best way to add value is to do nothing.  

To check yourself before you run off to create a bunch of work, start by asking these questions:

• What is the ideal outcome (or What do you want to see happen?)
• What is the simplest way to make that happen?
• Is there any risk with following this simplest solution?

In human resources, the place where we try add too much value every day is employee relations.  Employees and managers come to us with basic problems every day.  Because we want to prove our value, we take on these problems and launch interventions and investigations.  This makes us look and feel busy.  But, a majority of employee relations issues stem from a communication gap between two people.  If we asked the three questions above, we wouldn't launch into intervention mode.  Rather, we'd coach the person in front of us to go have a conversation with the other person with whom they have a issue before we would take any action.  It's amazing how many issues get resolved this way.  

So, the real question is this: do you want to be busy or get results?  I sure wish I had paused to ask these questions at the beginning of my project because I can't get my time back.  But, I suppose it's better late than never.  Don't make the same mistake I did.  Find the simple path and follow it.  

Talk is Cheap (and I only care about your actions)

I think one of the most powerful things we can do as leaders is to help people understand the disconnect between their intentions and their actions.  People will often talk a good game about what they will do or what they intend to do, but it's much harder to do it--particularly when there is risk of failure involved.  Talk is cheap and we have that in abundance.  It's much harder to actually do the hard things that might scare us.  

Sometimes, it is important that you be the bucket of cold water that is thrown in someone's face.  My best mentors throughout my career have been those who would tell me the unvarnished truth about where my words didn't match my actions.  It never feels good to hear these truths, but they have always made me better and propelled me forward.  Sadly, it has become less and less common for people to tell each other the truth.  This doesn't mean that we should be cruel, but rather be courageous enough to help someone else see that they are creating their own frustration by not doing what needs to be done in order to live up to their own intentions.  

#Quotes for Labor Day

As we enjoy a day off to celebrate the spirit of the American worker, I thought I'd share a few quotes to inspire us as we return to work tomorrow.

There's no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love.  There is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen.
-Wayne Dyer 

The nearest way to glory is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be.
-Socrates

The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.
-Bruce Lee 

Everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.
-Robert Louis 

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
-Thomas Jefferson

Have a great holiday!