END OF YEAR PAIN RELIEVERS

I lacked a certain kind of courage as an executive.
I didn't want to fire or downsize or lay-off anyone who had worked closely with me, laughed with me, done projects with me, put up with me, been employed by me.
No one deserved to be surprised by a sudden end of employment unless they had been unethical or done something illegal.
That included someone not performing well or someone profoundly irritating.

I wanted to avoid the pain, so I had to have pain relievers.  These two 
pain preventers worked for me.  I did fire people but it was never a surprise and always a transparent process.  Here's what kept me pain free.

1.  I never overstaffed my function.  I didn't want to let anyone go because I
had allowed people creep to occur.  Doing too much with too little seemed to keep people happy---if they were recognized and got a break every once in a while.

2.  This is the most important one.  I mention it as we approach a new year.
DON'T BE BLIND TO THE IMPORTANCE OF A FORMAL (the tone can be informal but the doing has to have the importance of something formal) PERFORMANCE REVIEW AND DEVELOPMENT CONVERSATION.  Everybody kind of hates doing them.  Everyone kind of hates participating in one.  Do it.  Do it.  Do it.
At least twice a year.  

Under staff and over do performance conversations.
Two great pain relievers.

ARE YOU A SCROOGE?

There are all kinds of ways to be an executive scrooge.
None of them are great for business.
Check yourself out:

Do you cut interactions  short to save time and miss the crux of the issue?

Is every conversation focused on cost rather than growth?

Are you afraid that recognition will make people work less hard?

Are you afraid that stating a problem publicly will make it worse?

Do you use too few words to communicate context and direction?

Are you stingy with raises and praise?

Do you withhold promotions too long so they are almost insulting?

Do you always look for deficiency first?

Is your first response "No"?

Do you wait too long to give major development opportunities to top people?

Stinginess can wither a business and create an atmosphere of contraction rather than of expansion and possibility.  Money is so not the only currency for an executive scrooge.  So spend more--time, attention, development, respect,
information about the business.  Spend, spend, spend.

SMALL M MORAL LEADERSHIP FOR YOUR COMPANY

I've been reading and thinking about Nelson Mandela and his moral leadership that impacted the world.

My immediate reaction was to write about how moral leadership was sorely needed in business today.  Then I thought twice.  And, of course, when one thinks twice, things get confusing. 

Moral has to do with right and wrong, good and bad. Honesty.
Is that needed in a company that makes my--say--paper clips?
What's the need or benefit for a moral leader and company of integrity?

It's worth a discussion with your Executive team.
What's constitutes right for our customers?
What's constitutes wrong for our customer's
And what constitutes good and bad for our customers?
What constitutes honesty for our customers?
This is not for customers to answer in a focus group.
This is for your top leadership group to agree on as a moral standard for the
company.

Now do the same conversation with the focus on the people working in the company?

I'm always a little afraid of rigid right and wrong.  Too simple, even too simple minded.  A business doesn't need to change the world.
But it does have to have its own kind of moral standard and integrity that fits
the business it is in.  

Try the conversation to see if there is  tight agreement on good and bad, right and wrong for customers and associates.  Make the answers specific and tangible.  Don't be blind to the power behind this kind of moral alignment for your company.  I think it will take you beyond generic company values into renewed inspiration for your business.

GETTING IT DONE ADDICTION

I love getting things done
It's one of my great pleasures
I feel freer afterwards, like I've earned a reprieve

Most business leaders share my addiction 
Straining toward results gets locked into the DNA
Pushing tight deadlines is daily business

Here's the tricky part
The constant push pops rivets
There is an art to the pacing of organizational accomplishment 
You are in charge of the "getting things done" environment of your company
Don't disperse that energy by applying it to everything always
Think physics
Gather that energy for what matters most
Constant steady pressure creates a systemic resistance --kind of like results gridlock.  

ARE PEOPLE GRATEFUL YOU ARE IN CHARGE?

Gratitude for you as a leader is a great measure of the kind of job you are doing.  I have appreciated some of my bosses.  I have liked some of my bosses.  I supported all of my bosses.  

But I have been grateful for only a few.  
Here's what they did:

They trusted my style and it was not that of corporate America (whatever that is).

They gave me great breadth to use my creativity and skills.

They made sure I understood the dynamics of the business---money making, 
people systems and functions.

They set context for my work so that I could work freely.  I understood the point in time the business was in and its history.  I "got" the strategy.

They demanded good work from me.  They expected good work from me.

They had a sense of humor when things went wrong.

They stayed the course in both the business strategy and who they were.  There was no Jekyll and Hyde dynamic.

They wanted good things for ALL the associates of the business.

They took their power role with a grain of salt.

They were likable and real.

They were competent.

They kept stretching the competency of themselves and the company.

Mostly, I knew that I would like to go through tough times with them.
Now, that's a compliment.  Would your people say the same?