Org-Fitness Today!

The Communication Conundrum

What do you do in a situation where you've got someone being verbally abusive? Especially if that person is a doctor.

Since some of my work is in the health care field and I have heard stories of situations similar to what I described above, I was glad to see the latest from the folks at Crucial Conversations. Crucial Conversations is book and training program based on the work of an organization called VitalSmarts.

I was fortunate to get certified in the Crucial Conversations training while I worked at Servco. What I like about Crucial Conversations is it gives great examples and tools for dealing with common work related communication issues. The training includes a basic communication model that helps people understand their own communication patterns and also how to understand more clearly the communication of those around them.

Kerry Patterson answered our tough question here.

Let me know what you think of this. If you are interested in learning more about the Crucial Conversations training program, please contact me.

Why Use Assessments?

I am a strong believer in the use of assessments for developmental or executive coaching. Maybe I should say, I am a big believer in assessments for development and learning in general. In my own experience I have taken numerous assessments over the years and find the results of these assessments to be very informative.

Assessments help me learn about myself and confirm what I already know and sometimes I learn about blind spots or get feedback on areas of my behavior that I was not aware of. Regardless of the assessment, the important thing to remember is that assessment results are just data or feedback. What I do with that data or feedback is up to me.

Recently while engaged in coaching a client, I was doing some interviews with people around this client. I use interviews (kind of like a verbal 360-degree) to help me learn more about a client and to confirm (or not) assessment results. Asking some very straight forward and simple questions I learned from Marshall Goldsmith, these interviews are an easy way to verify information about the client.

I use the assessment results and the interview data to coach the client and provide actionable feedback. Actionable feedback provides the client with something they can actually use. Of course actually doing something with the feedback is all up to the client. As a coach, I can only do so much. It is up to the client or the person being coached to make the change.

Essentially a good assessment provides a faster way for clients to learn and understand themselves. One assumption I make is that most people want to do their best. Focusing on behaviors that people can act on is key. Assessments help in this area.

Preaching to the Choir: Employee Development

For some of you, this is like "preaching to the choir" and for others it is just a reminder of what we need to be doing (or should be) with our employees. AllBusiness.com has a daily e-mail tip of the day and today's tip has to do with employee development. Titled Employee Development Is The Key to Success. Employee development has been mentioned several times by employees as the key to retention.

Here's a list of six ways to encourage employee development from the AllBusiness site:

1. Support employee development and training programs
2. Assign mentors to junior employees
3. Offer tuition reimbursement
4. Emphasize and encourage development
5. Recognize and reward employee growth
6. Promote from within

Do you offer a comprehensive employee development program? How do you encourage employee development in your organization?

Leadership, Talent Management, Coaching and Mentoring. DDI Research

DDI has released a major research report that included over 4000 leaders from 42 countries. Essentially leaders said to include more mentoring and coaching in the development cycle and include more "learning by doing." This was essentially what leaders said almost 10 years ago as I was researching my Master's thesis, The Relationship of Executive Development to Strategy Implementation.

Randy Emelo of Triple Creek Associates has done a nice summary of the DDI study as it relates to his focus, Open Mentoring.

http://www.3creek.com/resources/research/Talent_Management.pdf

http://www.3creek.com/resources/presentations/TalentManagement.pdf

While training is still a part of talent development, it is clear that including coaching in the process will make it have a bigger impact. Unfortunately coaching is underutilized by many organizations.

Just like my thesis pointed out, the DDI research found the most effective activities for learning and development are special job assignments either in or outside of a leaders regular duties.

How about you? What has been most effective for your learning and development?

Steve Shapiro: A "Cool Friend" of Tom Peters

Over at Tom Peters site, he has interviewed author Steven M. Shapiro, in Tom's Cool Friends section. Steven is the author of Goal-Free Living: How to Have the Life You Want NOW!

What I took from this interview is another confirmation that there is a huge chunk of the population out there that is unmotivated by goals. I want to read this book to learn more.

So much of what takes place in the workplace and in business in general is goal orientated. This is a good thing or a lot of work might not ever get finished or accomplished.

However, mangers and leaders must learn that many people have other factors which motivate them. Learning about what motivates people is a key management or leadership competence. This gets into an area we'll save for another day. Click here to read the interview with Steven.

More on Feedback

Just yesterday I posted 8 steps for giving feedback and then this morning I am reading my colleague, Mike Jay's blog and he reminds me of one of the most important things about feedback.

If you ask for feedback, you had better be ready to do something about it. I remember reading somewhere, that asking for feedback and not doing anything about it, is worse than if you never asked for it.

Giving Feedback

Giving Feedback. A fairly basic skill, yet one that we often forget in the "heat" of the moment. Here are eight steps to help remind us how to give feedback.

1. Be Specific. This is Feedback. If you are giving feedback, let the person know  specifically what you are giving them feedback on. Don't keep them guessing or try to soften the feedback by being vague.
2. Keep it Focused. Along these same lines, if you are giving constructive feedback, keep it focused. Don't try to sandwich constructive feedback in between praise.
3. Stick to the Facts. While it is quite easy to want to vent or "let them hear you," if you stick to the facts, it will be easier for the recipient to take the feedback.
4. Be Descriptive rather than Judgmental. Direct your comments at things that can be improved or changed.
5. Focus on the What, not the Who. Don't make it about the person.
6. Again, Be Specific rather than General. Avoid making generalizations. Focus on mechanics, structure, content, and performance.
7. Stick to the Topic. Don't get sidetracked or start bringing up unrelated issues.
8. Own the Feedback. Give first person observations. First person is always better than speaking for others.

We can always improve on how we give feedback. One other thing to keep in mind, think about how you would want to receive the same feedback. In other words, put yourself in the recipient's shoes. Empathy is a powerful emotion.

Benefits of Business Coaching

Often times people ask; "What is coaching?"

One of the best ways to answer that is with results. Business coaching can have an impact on many areas of a business. There is increasing evidence that coaching is one of the most powerful ways of developing people. More importantly, coaching can add to bottom line business performance in the following ways:

• An increase in productivity
• Increased customer service
• Reduction in costs
• Increased bottom line profitability
• Increased retention of key people
• Improved relationships with direct reports
• Improved relationships with direct line manager
• Improvement in teamwork
• Reduction in conflict
• Improved working relationships with clients

These are typically areas of concern for all businesses, small or large. Performance improvement in these areas is all possible with the support of a good business coach.

Public Education in Hawaii and Transformation

Randy Moore spoke at my Rotary club (Rotary Club of Metropolitan Honolulu) this past Thursday. His topic, Act 51 and Reinventing Education for Hawaii. Here is a link to the Act.

Randy is the past CEO of Kaneohe Ranch and has a strong business background. He retired from the corporate world a few years ago to become a middle school math teacher in a Hawaii public school. I doubt many CEO's would choose this occupation and he has to be admired for his willingness to do this.

A few months back, State School Superintendent, Pat Hamamoto, tapped Randy to assist in the redesign of Hawaii's public schools. This will be no easy task as anyone familiar with the challenges facing public schools in Hawaii will attest.

As a parent with four children in the public schools I have a vested interest in seeing the schools improve. My daughter serves as the student representative on the newly formed SCC (School Community Council) for her school.

My question to Randy at the end of his talk had to do with the first point of his talk. The school principals are being asked to take on a completely different role from what they have had in the past. Essentially they will be held accountable for their schools progress and be responsible for managing their schools much a like a business manager must manage his or her business. In the old world, principals were told what to do and essentially passed the buck on up and fundamentally, this is what is wrong with the system.

My question had to do with how are these principals going to be trained for this new position? From a business perspective, this is like asking an employee or even a supervisor to now run the business and to be responsible for the performance of all the staff, to create and manage a budget, and to submit a business plan as to how all of this will be done. 

Randy's response was good--he gets it. Essentially he said they have budgeted 500K for training. (click here for the DOE-Hawaii Principals Academy press release) He admitted this was not enough. Most Hawaii principals have grown up in our system where they have never had to do this. He cited a San Diego district who went through a similar process and in five years time, this SD district had a 90% turnover rate of principles. Now that is change!

I heard some comments and discussion among Rotarian's saying that is what will work. I was shocked the first time I heard that Hawaii principals were unionized. Randy did start off his talk by saying principals will get a hefty raise of over 30 percent over the next two years. This is being given to them as a way to justify that principals will now work a 12-month schedule. They'll need the time to make all of this work.

Randy also used as an example how you could break the principals into three groups regarding the transformation. Much like Bridges does in his work. Many of them are in the large middle group of transformation. A smaller group is holding back and resisting these changes, and finally a small group is embracing he change.

Part of me is a bit skeptical in all of this. Looking at my fellow Rotarian's, while many have good ideas and strong opinions on how to improve the public schools, very, very few of them have sent, or are sending their kids to public schools. My own opinion is that the fact that Hawaii has so many private schools, and people have so many options besides the public schools, exasperates the problem. Take away the private schools, and believe me, change would come extremely fast to the public schools.

Ah, this is could be the topic of another post, back to finish this one.

I really get that Randy is working hard on this and his business perspective is good for the system. However, I just can't help but wonder how many principals will shake their heads, yes, yes, yes, all the time while looking at their nice fat State of Hawaii retirement benefits, and be counting down the days to take advantage of them.

Lose Five Pounds in Two Days??

As many of you know, I like to run. I post the following with this disclaimer: Don't try this diet without the proper training.

This post has more to do with extremes: read with caution, act with even more caution. Dean Karnazes, ultra runner and author (Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner), was recently quoted describing this diet:

Lose five pounds in two days, the Dean Karnazes way

1. Eat eight PowerBars; one large pizza; four bananas; two grilled chicken sandwiches; one large bag of Doritos; one cheesecake; five large chocolate chip cookies; two cinnamon buns; four peanut butter and honey sandwiches; three large beef burritos; one bag of pretzels; one Thai chicken wrap; one ice cream sandwich; two servings of macaroni and cheese; one chocolate eclair; three doughnuts; three bags of trail mix; three bags of french fries; one bag of chocolate espresso beans.

2. Drink one Slurpee; two smoothies; one large chocolate malt; 30 bottles Pedialyte.

3. Run 200 miles in 46 hours, 17 minutes.

Total calories consumed: 27,934

Total calories burned: 44,000

Total weight loss: 16,066 calories or roughly five pounds

Here's a link to a recent article on Dean as he tours the country promoting his book.

I would not expect Dean to see his eating habits as a serious way to lose weight and neither would I expect you to take it that way.

Losing weight means eating healthier, exercising more, and making wise choices.

So eat the apple for a snack and get out there and do something--walk, run, ride, swim or paddle.