Social Media explained in 2 minutes – guest post from bitrebels.com

Leaders Cannot Be Blamers: 3 Things – guest post by QAspire

The true test of a leader is when things don’t go as planned. Worst yet, when things fail.

In an organizational context, I have seen so many leaders who drive the project/initiative right from the beginning – yet when the project fails, they blame others. They blame senior management, the organization culture, their own team members and sometimes even the customers. It tells me something – if you decide that you want to blame “others”, you will invariably find those “others”. That is an easy choice, and the one that puts everyone down.

When leaders indulge into the blame game, they lose respect because they throw a negative vibe around. This vibe is powerful (and sometimes even viral), because it comes from someone who is supposed to be a leader. It spreads fast, harms reputation of leader and culture of the organization on a longer run.

If you are a leader at any level, here are three things worth noting:

• Blaming is easy but taking responsibility, learning from mistakes and implementing those lessons to improve constantly is difficult. It is these difficult things that makes a real leader. Similarly, for an organization, building a culture where people are not afraid of taking responsibility is critical.
• Leaders need to watch and choose their words. Every conversation with others is an opportunity to make a difference. When you talk negative, focus too much on problems and blame others, you are missing the opportunity.
• Leadership is about using “we” language more than “I versus them”, and that kind of leadership owns the failures as much as they own their successes. It is about celebrating the contributions from each team member when team succeeds, and take collective ownership of failures, learn from them and improve. It is also about knowing when to step up and take the lead, versus when to step down and let people perform.

Bottom line:

Leadership is not just about enjoying the fruits of success. It comes with a fair share of failures as well. We cannot be the leaders who blame others.

   
http://qaspire.com/blog/2011/03/07/leaders-cannot-be-blamers-3-things/      posted Mar 6.2011

Is your work chaotic? Try herding cats! (this video is an oldie but still funny)

Getting a good sleep (guest blog by Jim Estill)

Great advice on dealing with the stresses of life and business……. thanks to Jim Estill for his blog update:

1 – Have a good place to sleep. Cool enough, dark enough, with a good mattress etc. A small amount of investment and planning can make a huge difference.

2 – Avoid drugs. The obvious ones – caffeine and alcohol both impact sleep.

3 – If getting to sleep is a problem, learn to still the mind. Some ways to do this include progressive relaxation and meditation.

4 – Avoid “mindless” end of day activities that are too easy to keep doing. The most obvious one of these (that is not a problem for me since I have no TV) is TV. Computer games can have the same effect.

5 – Have a going to bed ritual. I find I cannot get to sleep easily if I do not give myself a bit of wind down time before bed.

6 – Try not to eat too late. I tend to have a problem with this one since I often do not get home until late. I often eat dinner at 8:30 or 9 and know this is too late.

7 – The obvious – go to bed early. Sounds simple but it takes planning.

8 – Learn to nap. This one is a bit of do as I say because I can go weeks without napping. That said, I do know how to nap well. I like napping for just 21 minutes. I can get up without feeling groggy and 21 minutes is not enough to make me feel guilty.

9 – Exercise. I like to exercise first thing in the morning. exercising too close to bed keeps me awake. In my SYNNEX CEO days I would take the redeye back from California and run for an hour. That run revved me up enough to stay up for the day.

Nightmare team projects – tips to turnaround into success

      A DAUNTING TASK    +     IMMOVABLE DEADLINE

My worst team project ever turned into my most successful accomplishment.  How?  By rebuilding the group into a great team! 

Here was the recipe we started with:

- a daunting task never-before accomplished in our business or industry,

– an immovable deadline (failure could sink the business),

– a team of intense, diverse individuals who fought, stormed and drove each other crazy.

Imagine the following individuals (identities have been changed to protect privacy):

Chris – a.k.a. “Eeyore”, the gloom and doom guy.  Slow but thorough in his work.  Knows operational issues within the company better than most.



Sandy – a.k.a. “Gerbil on speed” – talks forty miles a minute, thinks even faster.  Easily annoyed by people who cannot keep up to her trail of thought.  New to the company but quick to understand and improve processes.

Jerry – a.k.a. The Comic with a strange, warped sense of humor.  Giggles  and offers humorous (or not so humorous) commentary without mercy until the group cannot stand it.  Very high technical skills, can troubleshoot anything in the business.

Alex – Social butterfly.  Loves coming to work, but gets little done because of time spent walking around and chatting.  Good understanding of market issues which could impact the project.

Ryan – Control freek.  Project leader in charge of making the objectives on a very tight deadline with the above individuals, who are the only “experts” in the particular areas needed on the project.



Month 1 – the group worked on this project 50% of their time.  They spent every afternoon in month 1 formulating a critical path timeline with key milestones.   Ryan (the leader) was late to most meetings, building resentment in the group for wasting their time.  Within 2 weeks, every individual had complained about other team members to anyone in the company who would listen.

…….time for group dynamics review:

1) admit breakdown within the group

– gain acknowledgement from all group members of frustration

– identify key frustrations and areas of breakdown

– group identified frustrations into “themes”

2) review end vision and goals to ensure all group members agree

– identify “gaps” in vision

– brainstorm solutions to gaps

– conclude with all group member on the same page for the “final vision”

3) have the group set its own ground rules of behavior

– attend meetings on time – personal commitment

– come prepared with all relevant materials

– don’t commit to more than you can deliver

– acknowledge the others’ contributions

– agrue respectfully if you disagree with an approach

– bring solutions not complaints to the group

– MRI (most respectful interpretation) used at all times

4) identify group members’ strengths and contributions

– senior leaders regrouped with the team in a teambuilding setting

– senior leaders identified each group member’s unique contribution to the team

– team members each acknowledged their own individual styles and the advantages of the group’s diversity

This DISC evaluation process helped “restart” the project – members refocused on the end goal, learned to appreciate team members’ differences and were able to gain traction in their execution of the project plan.

Bottom line: don’t forget to deal with the people issues on your project – they are the key to your eventual success!