My Door Is Always Open

When most people stop to consider what qualities and attributes contribute to someone being a good leader, they generally cite qualities such as honesty, integrity and trustworthiness.

 

Aside from these particular personal attributes, it is also common perspective that good leaders must be effective problem solvers, decision makers and communicators.

While many leaders actually embody these qualities and attributes, their leadership potential is often thwarted due to an absence of another essential leadership element that is all too often overlooked.

This important element is “accessibility”. As you think back over your working years, just how many of your various leaders professed to have an “open door” policy, yet somehow they never happened to be available when their people needed them?

When individuals who have been placed in leadership roles declare that “my door is always open” and then fail to be accessible to those who they are charged with the responsibility of leading – They are ultimately doing a huge disservice to their people, their organization and their own career.

From an employee’s perspective, when their leader tells them “if you need me for any reason, my door is always open to you”… While it may sound good, perhaps even reassuring to some degree, the vast majority of employees simply aren’t buying it based on their prior experiences.

The truth of the matter is that most employees are apprehensive about availing themselves of an open door scenario. Only in the most dire and urgent of situations will they actually consider approaching their leader. And even then, more so out of necessity than actual want to.

For the organization and the leader, the consequences are that you won’t know that there is a problem until such time as it has already become a “crisis”. The important questions, concerns, complaints and creative ideas that would have impacted your organization either positively or negatively… will simply never surface to see the light of day. 

The day to day reality of business at any level is that people have questions that require real answers, instructions that need clarification and problems that need solving. In like fashion, they also require general direction, support and encouragement.

However, when employees continuously find that their leaders are perpetually on the phone, in a meeting or out of the office – the rank and file is left in the daunting position of having to fend for itself. The results of which usually come at the expense of the organization.

While a quintessential function of leadership is that of dealing with challenges, especially people challenges – It is the very challenge of being an individual leader, that most leaders collectively struggle with.

The more successful that you and your organization become, the more exceeding are the demands for your “time”. Your finite amount of time on a daily basis is divided up between an ever increasing number of people and situations. Your prerequisite challenge is that to become an authentic leader, you must also truly be an available and accessible leader.

Leadership’s Catch-22 very much parallels Newton’s Law of Physics, where for each action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For when you as a leader devote your time to a particular person or situation, you are conversely taking time away from other people and circumstances that are concurrently competing for the finite amount of time you have to work with.

This is precisely why you must learn to become proactive as an accessible leader who clearly understands their need to be visible, accessible and involved with the people whom you lead.

Given that leadership is also about recognizing your priorities, make it your daily priority to visit with your employees, have meaningful two way communication with them and consequently learn firsthand what is really happening in this segment of your organization’s operation.

For when you do, not only will you truly be an accessible leader… you will be a highly respected leader that people willingly choose to follow.

As your valued resource partner, we can readily assist your organization, its leadership and your people to… Learn more… Do more… Become more.

 
Copyright © 2015 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC

In The Absence Of Integrity

One of the hallmark qualities of an authentic leader is his or her “integrity”. And when a leader violates their own integrity, they also violate the leadership role that they were responsible to fulfill, as well as violate the people who had come to trust them as their leader.

In the course of the past week, there have been two high profile circumstances of leadership integrity being violated in dramatic fashion. First came NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor Brian Williams who was exposed for falsely embellishing his news reports. Next came the resignation of Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber amid a growing corruption scandal.

When hundreds of millions of American workers (just like those in your organization) arrive home at the end of their workday and turn on the evening news, their expectation is to not only catch up on the news of the day – It is also their expectation to receive the factual truth about what is happening in the world around them. For whatever reason yet unrevealed, Brian Williams decided to go down the road of something other than the factual truth.

As a society, we have come to live in a time when the integrity of leadership is constantly under the microscope and more often than not in doubt. Most people simply lack confidence and resultant trust in their civic leaders, business leaders, government leaders and even religious leaders.

The corruption scandal driven resignation of Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber comes on the heels of former Virginia Governor and once hopeful Presidential candidate Robert F. McDonnell having been sentenced to federal prison after being convicted along with his wife Maureen, the former First Lady of Virginia, on corruption charges.   

Even during the weeks leading up to the recent Super Bowl, issues of integrity swirled in the midst of professional football’s “inflate-gate”. The issue of leadership integrity being comprised is no longer an isolated circumstance now and then. Rather, it seems to be taking on epidemic proportions as stories of failed leadership integrity continue to surface week in and week out.

In view of today’s unprecedented breaches of leadership integrity on a global scale, it isn’t any wonder that people everywhere have become particularly suspect of their leadership in the workplace. Just like their evening news, when people show up at their employer’s place of business each day, they too “expect to receive the factual truth about what is happening in the workplace around them.”  

 

Like the hub of a wheel, integrity is what connects so many other vital aspects of leadership. And when integrity is lost, it causes an adverse cascade much like that of a domino effect. Without integrity, there is no respect. Without respect, there is no trust. Without trust, there is no credibility. Without credibility, there is no cooperation. I need not elaborate further.

A major leadership lesson that authentic leaders have emphatically learned at the hands of the former leaders who compromised and then subsequently lost their integrity is that… the “truth” matters. Ethics matter. The reason they matter is because whether your success manifests as tangible or intangible, success will always be substantive. Success in what every form it comes, is something of value, something to behold. Therefore, it must not only be “earned”, it must be earned fair and square. 

 

Simply stated, you can’t short cut, cheat or steal your way to success. That is precisely why there are patent and copyright laws. They protect the integrity of people, their work and their future accomplishments.

As President Dwight D. Eisenhower put it… “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army or in an office”.

In the absence of the highest degree of integrity, your organization will be absent of the prerequisite leadership that is necessary to fulfill its potential and that of its human resources.

As your premier training resource partner, we can readily assist in the development of your leadership, your people and their ability to … Learn more… Do more… Become more.

Copyright © 2015 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC

When Talent Walks Out The Door

Have you ever lost an employee that you didn’t want to lose or possibly couldn’t afford to lose?

For most organizations, the material costs of employee turnover are more than evident. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), its cost estimate for replacing a salaried employee is between six and nine months of that employee’s salary on average.

The SHRM cost estimate may actually fall at the lower end of loss scale, as other industry experts and economists state that replacing a talented employee can cost as much as two times their annual salary.

Regardless of where you exactly peg it, the replacement cost that occurs when talent walks out the door is huge. Moreover, the important caveat here is that this is only the “replacement” cost. While the material/financial costs of employee turnover are clearly substantial, there should be an equal and commensurate focus on the intangible cost to your organization from the ripple effect that talent loss permeates throughout the organization.

The ripple effect ever so subtlety makes it way to the shores that stretch from the boardroom to the boiler room. Executives begin asking… “What is causing our organization to keep losing such talented people, especially after the substantial investment that we have made in them.”  All the while, front line employees throughout the organization are asking “Why did John Smith suddenly decide to leave the organization?”

These are upfront questions that could be considered normal, reasonable and to some degree predictable. Of course, every organization has its culture and its internal grapevine. So before long, reasonable questions turn into rumors and speculation that ultimately lack substance.

Let’s be honest here… It’s no secret that employees in mass recognize the talents and abilities of their fellow peers. And when a talented individual chooses to jump ship, it is most assuredly going to raise the question “why”. However, the questioning process doesn’t stop there. Rather, it serves as the beginning of a series of questions, such as… “Did John Smith know something that we don’t know?” “Did John Smith get off a sinking ship before it actually sinks?” “Is our company in financial trouble and we don’t know it.” And… the beat goes on.

These are the kind of ripples that travel much more like a tsunami and their effect is just as destructive. For when attitudes become “infected”, many detrimental things can occur beginning with poor moral and declining productivity.

Given that human nature and human behavior are often quite predictable, the act of a hardworking and talented individual like John Smith suddenly leaving the company and catching his peers off guard is certainly bound to raise some red flags.

Unfortunately, it is also bound to create a very real sense of job insecurity, worry and anxiety. As I recently cited a few weeks back, 70% of American workers don’t feel secure in their job and with their company/organization.

In many cases with diligent-hardworking-talented people… organizations just like yours, don’t see the warning signs until the employee is sitting there smack in front of you informing you that they are leaving and there is nothing more that you or the organization can do to change their mind.

The reality of this scenario which plays out every business day is that all of the compliments, pats on the back, awards, raises and even promotions don’t in the end provide the true measure of what the employee has been longing for all along.

They don’t merely want to be appreciated for their talents, abilities and technical skills… because in the age of robotics, they perceive themselves to simply be one and nothing more in the eye of your organization. As stated earlier, human nature is highly predictable. Ever since their early childhood when these individuals were endlessly trying to gain their parent’s approval, the thing that they wanted most in life was to be “valued” as an “individual”.

Once your organization has been afforded an ample opportunity to measure up and subsequently failed to meet the employee’s litmus test of being truly valued… talent will walk straight out the door and never look back.

It’s important to remember that your organization’s culture and practices are a vivid reflection of your organizations leadership and its attitudes toward employees… And that your people are staring into that mirror 24/7.

As your valued resource partner, we can readily assist your organization, its leadership and your people to… Learn more… Do more… Become more.

Copyright © 2015 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC

Two Strategic Questions

I have two very important and straight forward questions for you, which are:

 

Are your employees actually “happy” at work?

Do your employees truly feel “secure” in their jobs?

Your organization may be surprised at the answers. I recently received the results of a Rutgers University Work Trends survey study which reported that American workers are unhappy, worried and pessimistic about their post Great Recession futures.

 

With regard to Question #1… Rutgers University’s report revealed that only a scant 14% of the workers surveyed said that they were happy at work. The flip side of this finding would indicate that the other 86% of the workers surveyed were in fact “unhappy” at work.

 

The eerie thing about the Rutgers report is that it directly corresponds with a report of several years ago which was performed by Salary.com. At that time, Salary.com reported that 84% of all American workers were either “unhappy” or “dissatisfied” with their job or career. Salary.com also concurrently reported that 86% of all American workers were not fully engaged in their work.

 

When it comes to Question #2… the Rutgers report states that 70% of the workers which they surveyed did not feel secure in their jobs.

Regardless of how you frame these reports, the picture that they paint is quite somber. Given that the Rutgers University and Salary.com reports were conducted nearly five years apart – Clearly signifies that the Rutgers findings are not simply a momentary snapshot of a current circumstance. In consideration of the lengthy time frame that these feelings have prevailed, it is also something far more than a trend.

In consideration of such an extended period of time, what your organization is now confronted with is an engrained pattern of negative perception (thinking) which translates into negative feelings and then manifests as negative behavior in the form of lack of engagement, impaired productivity and indifference. Simply stated… a poor (negative) “attitude”. Moreover, that attitude has now become habitual.

As first cited above, when your people are unhappy, worried and pessimistic – They are not going to have positive attitudes, nor are they going to have “hope” of a better future. Research has time and again confirmed that there is a direct correlation between attitudes and productivity. These attitudes and behaviors also result in increased absenteeism and employee turnover.

What then are you as an employer to do? Your first undertaking is to comprehend what author Patrick Lencioni refers to as ‘The Three Sign of a Miserable Job” which he defines as:

Feeling of anonymity. As I have cited before, the number one cause of employee turnover is a lack of connection with the employer. In essence, not “feeling” that they belong. The relevant questions is… do your people feel “valued” as individuals or do they feel like a number who just happens to have some skills that your organization happens to need at the present moment?

 
Inability to measure the quality of their own work. When people don’t know how their work brings value to the organization, they are resultantly incapable of finding value in themselves and the work that they perform. In like fashion, when they don’t have performance standards to live up to, they are incapable of setting similar standards for their own lives.

Not understanding the significance of what they do and how it affects both internal and external customers. There is a clear disconnect with your organization when your people don’t understand how their work benefits the organization, let alone the achievement of its objectives and goals. This is a very common circumstance and is highly detrimental to both internal and external customer relationships.

As an employer that undoubtedly has a genuine concern regarding their workers job satisfaction, what you need to comprehend is that the above cited reports and related issues inevitably boil down to three distinct issues: 

       Organizational Leadership.

       Communication.

       Personal Leadership (on the part of the employee).

The good news is that all of these foundational issues can be readily addressed with appropriate developmental training.  

As a valued resource partner, we can readily assist your organization and your people to… Learn more… Do more… Become more.

 

Copyright © 2015 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC

2015 HR Survey Results Are In

In case you haven’t reviewed the Harvey Nash HR Survey 2015 as yet, there are a number of highly interesting facts contained in this year’s survey that you should take note of.

 

38% of HR professionals reported that their organization did not have any strategy in place for formal talent management including employee engagement, development and succession planning.

HR professionals stated that they are less satisfied today with the progress being made by diversity issues than one year ago. This sentiment is further reflected by the 7% drop in diversity satisfaction on an overall organizational basis. Nearly half of all organizations (48%) were not happy with the lack of progress with the diversity efforts of their organizations. Which raised the question… Has diversity progress stalled?

Job satisfaction on the part of HR professionals continued to fall over the past year. A significant drop of 5% meant that less than one third (32%) of all HR professionals were “satisfied” in their HR role. Conversely, this translates into 68% of all HR professionals being “less than satisfied” with their professional career role.

The concern over an 11% leap in ageing workers placed this issue second on the list of Labor Market Challenges for the year.

Skills shortages dropped 8% over the past 12 months which also placed it high on the list of Labor Market Challenges for the year.

Talent scarcity has become a greater challenge within the past year which has resulted in placing greater importance on employee engagement, as well as organizational culture and values.

44% of HR professionals are expected to change jobs within the next 24 months.

The “Top 3 Priorities” of Boards for 2015 are:

 

            #1 Priority         Develop leadership capability.

            #2 Priority         Improve talent management.

            #3 Priority         Grow employee engagement.

The “Top 3 Issues” of major concern are:

            #1 Issue            Ageing workforce.

            #2 Issue            Demand for flexible working.

            #3 Issue            Employee education not meeting skill needs.

As you can readily see, the vast majority of the expressed concerns center around two key organizational issues… Leadership Development and Diversity Training (in particular Generational Diversity).

In our role as a Premier Training and Development organization, our two signature development programs are “The Leadership Academy” and our Generational Diversity Program “Leadership For The Ages”.

I invite you to learn why our municipal and corporate clients along with their participants rate our programs so highly in comparison to all other professional training they have previously received.

As a valued resource partner, we can readily assist your organization and its people to… Learn more… Do more… Become more.

Never Forget Who You Are

You frequently hear reports of leaders who for a time “forget who they really were” and who lost touch with reality amidst the trappings of success and their station in life. Many a state governor, congressman and business executive have fallen prey to this fall from prominence and public grace.

 

Several recent events reminded me of the story about a former United States Under Secretary of Defense who was delivering a corporate speech to a gathering of over one thousand business executives several years ago.

 

During his presentation, he paused for a moment to take a sip of coffee from the Styrofoam cup which he was holding. As he briefly gazed at the cup in his hand, he interrupted his presentation to then say…

“When I spoke last year at this same venue for this very same event, I was at the time the Acting Under Secretary of Defense. I was flown to this event business class. When I arrived, there was a car and driver waiting to take me from the airport to the hotel where someone had already checked me in. I was then taken directly up to my room.

The next morning we I came downstairs, there was someone waiting in the lobby who then took me to this very same venue where I was taken to the back entrance and then escorted directly to the green room… At which point I was served a cup of coffee in a beautiful ceramic mug.

It is now a year later… and I am no longer the acting under secretary. This year I flew coach and then took a taxi to the hotel where I checked myself in. This morning, I took another taxi to this same venue… walked in the front door… and found my way back stage on my own. At which point I had to ask… Do you have any coffee? After which someone simply pointed to the coffee machine over in the corner. I then poured myself a cup of coffee in this Styrofoam cup.

The object lesson is this… the ceramic mug of coffee was never meant for me. It was meant for the position that I held. What I ‘deserved’… was a Styrofoam cup.

As you become more successful… As you do well in life… You will be rewarded with many advantages. People will refer to you as ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma’am’… They will carry your luggage… They will hold doors open for you… They will bring you a cup of coffee or tea without you even asking for it. But it’s not meant for you, it’s meant for the position that you hold… And when you move on… they will give all of those things to your successor.

Never… ever… forget who you are… and that what you ‘deserve’ is a Styrofoam cup.”

I can personally relate to the former Under Secretary’s message, as I have had a somewhat similar experience a few years back myself. After boarding my U.S. Airways flight from Dulles International to the Denver International Airport in Colorado, I soon found myself along with the rest of the passengers and crew grounded on the tarmac for over three hours due to several mechanical difficulties with the aircraft.

After finally disembarking from the disabled aircraft, we boarded another plane for the flight to Denver. Unfortunately, by the time that the plane finally took off, it was more than apparent that I would miss my connecting flight out of Denver to Helena, MT. Moreover, the 10:20 PM, flight was the last flight out for the night. Therefore, I was destined to be stranded in Denver later that night.

Prior to the delayed take off from Dulles, I placed a cell call to my client contact in Montana to inform them of the unexpected delays and that I would miss my connecting flight in Denver. I was advised to just relax and enjoy the flight and to call them once I had landed at Denver International.

Upon touch down in Denver at 12:30 AM, I immediately called my contact who instructed me to proceed to a specific gate at the airport where a car and driver would be waiting for me. They reassured me that I would not be spending the night stranded in Denver and that the driver would explain things more fully from there.

As I proceeded through the airport terminal, I saw extensive lines of my fellow co-passengers waiting to deal with a customer service representative about their unanticipated circumstance and how the rest of their night would unfold. Then too, I didn’t exactly know how mine was going to unfold either.

When I got to the specified gate, I was met by a very polished chauffeur who whisked me away in his limousine and then informed me that we were going to the commercial side of the airport where a private jet was awaiting me. My first thoughts were… are you kidding me? Are you talking to me?

A few minutes later we arrived on the commercial side of the airfield which was completely dark with the exception of one brightly lit facility which belonged to a corporate charter company. As I entered the facility, the gentleman at the front desk inquired… are you Mr. Swank? To which I replied yes. He (the owner) replied… I don’t know who the heck you are… but you must be someone who is pretty darn important to get me and a top notch private pilot out of bed in the middle of the night!    

He then introduced to me to my pilot who escorted me to our corporate charter. Moments later, I found myself viewing a gorgeous western night sky while aboard what I equated to be my “Pretty Woman” flight (hope you grasp the movie reference). A little over three hours later at 3:40 AM, we quietly and discreetly touched down in Helena, MT where my contact was patiently awaiting my arrival.

For many people, this event may have seemed very surreal. After all, it was potentially a once in a life time experience. While my ego could have soared for a moment, it never did. For I realized that it was entirely about the agenda for the next business day… it wasn’t about “me”.

In closing I, like the former Under Secretary urge you to keep your head about you and to realize the perks which you enjoy are for the position you hold or will one day hold and are not for you. The top CEO’s of America’s Fortune 500 companies typically only have an average tenure of about three and one half years.

So, never ever forget who you are and where you came from. Your deserve a Styrofoam cup… just as I deserved coach and a night stranded in Denver.

The Leadership Academy… Learn more. Do more. Become more.

Copyright © 2015 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC

New Beginnings

While the arrival of January 1^st signifies the official start of the New Year, very rarely does it translate into new beginnings. The fact is that less than half of the U.S population even make a New Year’s Resolution to begin with, let alone keep it.

According to the 1/1/2014 report issued by the University of Scranton Journal of Clinical Psychology, only 45% of American’s actually make a New Year’s Resolution in the first place. Of those that do, only a scant 8% are successful in keeping their resolution and achieving their personal objective. When viewed in terms of the U.S. population in its entirety, only 3.24% of Americans from an overall perspective keep their resolutions.

The thing that I find ever so intriguing about the University of Scranton’s findings is that they so accurately mirror another college study that pertained to goals achievement. Some months back I was listening to Joel Osteen one evening who was talking about a goals study that had been conducted by Princeton University several decades ago. The research team had surveyed the graduating class to find out how many of the graduates actually had “written” goals for their life.

Only a mere 3% of these esteemed college graduates actually had written goals for what they wanted to achieve with their lives. After tracking the graduating class over a period of twenty years, what the researchers learned was that the three percent of the graduates who had written goals at the time of their graduation had:

            Higher earnings.

            Greater wealth.

            More friends.

            A lower divorce rate.

            Greater work-life balance.

            More happiness.

While I can’t speak for you… from my perspective, these six life factors translate into one all important thing… “success”.

In case you’re interested, the reason “why” this is so important in present day January 2015 is the fact that the conclusion of the University of Scranton’s more recent research was that “People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals that people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.”

The good news is that your New Year is still brand spanking new, so if you haven’t chosen a meaningful resolution (goal) for this year and you want a real shot of increasing your chances tenfold for achieving meaningful success in 2015… Then allow me the privilege of helping you to make a sound decision.

Here’s the important question that you need to answer… “What is the one thing in your life that absolutely has to change?” No fudging allowed. You know exactly what it is. Now go write it down on paper and then write out a real plan to achieve it.

Lastly, ask yourself one more question… “What is the consequence that you will have to live with (maybe forever) if you don’t change it?”

I often share the following original quote from my book during workshops and events… “Success is out there for the taking… If you are willing to do what it takes.”

Here’s to your every success in 2015 and beyond!

Copyright © 2015 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.