Work is Important

Many people will spend up to 95,000 hours of their lives on the job. Work is not just how we make money, but it also is the source of many of our psychological needs such as the need for significance and fulfillment, and self-esteem. Because work is such an important part of our lives, we should do the best and be the best that we can.

The structure of work is changing, and that affects the way that jobs are organized. Most organizations recognize the need to have a flexible workforce.

Employees Should Strive for Personal Mastery

A previous post covered Peter Senge's conception of a learning organization. Personal Mastery is a major element of a learning organization to which every employee should aspire. Personal Mastery is a phrase used for high levels of the discipline of personal growth and learning.

For a company to continue to grow and be successful, they must be learning organizations. Learning organizations learn only by their individual members learning. Employees that strategically and consistently learn optimize their potential and reach high levels of personal mastery.

BR: Emotional Intelligence 2.0

Emotional Intelligence was a previous topic, now followed up with a book review on the same topic, "Emotional Intelligence 2.0" by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves. They refer to Emotional Intelligence as EQ and remains a very popular topic in organization and leadership training.

Every day there are highly intelligent and well-educated people struggling to navigate in the world, while less intelligent and educated people are excelling. It has been thought that Emotional Intelligence (EI or EQ) makes the difference. EQ is harder to measure than IQ, but its power has been made clear.

The 4 P's of Persuasion

Employees should understand marketing methods. The 4 P's of Persuasion is a framework to formulate persuasive written messages in a sales pitch or when pitching an idea.

The 4 P's are a method of written communication in marketing, advertising and corporate communication. They are a persuasive technique that stresses some critical points; to generate convincing, forceful, powerful, seductive and strong messages.

Understanding Power

The essence of leadership is the use of power. Company leaders usually begin as regular employees and most employees eventually reach a place of leadership and power to some degree. It is important to understand from where power comes.

"Power" is a complex and elusive topic to understand. Power was once open and easily recognized. In the modern age, power is often nuanced, covert, and hidden. Good leader's use their power to make others and society a better place, but Lord Acton reminds us that power is easily corrupted. We should all be so lucky to work for servant leaders, but many leaders use their power to manipulate or force their subordinates to action.

It's a Thing! A Learning Organization!

"It's a thing" is a series that highlights concepts that employers and managers use and sometimes evaluate employees with that they may not be aware.

A learning organization is the business term given to a company that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself.

Develop by Overcoming Personal Constraints

One of the best ways to develop one's self is to discover and overcome things that hinder or constrain you from advancing. The Flipside (2007) gives you strategy for overcoming your greatest constraints.

The Strength’s Finder 2.0 has been criticized for only focusing on a person’s strength and the Flippen Profile has been criticize for focusing only on a person’s weakness referred to as constraints. The commonality of both assessments is that they both acknowledge that a strength or a weakness used to an extreme becomes the opposite. The Flippen Profile (TM) identifies behaviors that constrain a person from fulfilling their greatest potential.

Discover and Develop Your Strengths

Good employees proactively develop themselves personally and professionally. It is important to increase knowledge and skills. "Hard skills" are learning specific things such as new computer programs, marketing, accounting, working on cars, laws and regulations (e.g. OSHA, HIPPA), styling hair, medicine, operating machines, etc. "Soft skills" include listening, communicating, managing emotions, time management, leadership, team building, empathy, self-motivation, goal setting, etc. Developing soft skills are as important as developing hard skills.

Many companies have development programs. Most development programs exist to develop skills that address the organization's needs. Employees should also manage their development separate from development for the company. There are many ways to develop yourself, one is to discover your strengths and develop them.

People do what they are motivated to do!

We often hear managers complain that their workers are not "motivated." However, I remind them that people do what they are motivated to do and they do not do what they are not motivated to do. Fortunately, most employees are motivated with paychecks (the carrot) and do not need much more motivation. There are some employees, unfortunately, that require more effort to motivate in becoming productive and efficient.

Motivation is the drive that compels someone to act because someone else is directing them toward a goal. You can say that motivation is the ability to change behavior. Motivation that comes from inside the person to control their behavior is known as intrinsic motivation. Examples of intrinsic motivation are personal development and personal satisfaction. Motivation that come from external factors such as rewards or the threat of punishment is extrinsic motivation. 

Show Up Early and Stay Late

One of the most valuable lessons that I learned at work was to show up early and stay late. No one taught me this lesson, I just learned it through experience. This has helped me in every job I have had.

I have heard it said that being early is on time, being on time is late, and late is unacceptable. Managers expect every employee to be punctual and dependable. That means that you come in when you are supposed to and on time. That is the minimum expectation, but good employees exceed the expectation.

Every Workday is Goundhog Day

In February of 1993, one of my favorite movies was released. Groundhog Day the movie has since become a classic that is played every year around the actual Groundhog Day. 

The movie is about a news weatherman, Phil Connors, who mysteriously begins to replay the same day over and over. In the end, he changes from a self-centered egotist to an altruistic gentleman--and wins the girl.

From the first time that I watched the movie, I loved it because of the idea of reliving events over until you actually get it right. I wish it was that way with personal or career development, but in reality there are no "do overs." We must live with the consequences of our actions both good and bad. But everyday you go to work, you get the chance to do your job better than the day before and correct any mistakes. In that sense, every workday is a Groundhog Day!

It's a Thing! Emotional Intelligence

"It's a thing" is a series that highlights concepts that employers and managers use and sometimes evaluate employees with that they may not be aware.

Just a few years ago, Emotional Intelligence (EI) was a new topic. Today it seems that everyone is talking about it, yet I find that few people apply it to personal development. Having an understanding of EI is important because it is now a major measuring stick by which employees are measured. I have heard many managers say that a particular employee is not "too high" in EI. The ramifications for not increasing your EI is the difference in a job or no job at worst and the difference in a promotion or no promotion at best.

Conversations are Crucial for Success

Three of the most requested topics for organizational training are communication, team building, and dealing with difficult people. All three require conversations, but few people understand the power of conversations.

Communication in the workplace continues to be a topic that everyone is interested in because it is vital for success. I recently wrote on the topic of having crucial conversations. This week, we look at "Conversational Intelligence." Everything begins with a conversation.

"To get to the next level of greatness depends on the quality of the culture, which depends on the quality of the relationships, which depends on the quality of the conversations.
Everything happens through conversation."

~Judith E. Glaser~

BR: 5 Gears: How to be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time

What would it be worth to your organization to find a way where employs could function together better, be more productive, and people could connect better?  àPriceless!!

Have you ever been focused on a major project or trying to beat a deadline when some one comes into your work space and wants to visit? Or have you been in a social environment and a fellow worker wants to talk shop? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to get in sync with others at work? 

Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram wrote 5 Gears: How to be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time to shed light on workplace behavior that hinders a companies relationships and efficiency. This book has been called "a game changer" by many people. In fact, that was what I thought when I first heard about this book.

How to develop your talent?

There is a movement by Human Resources departments to hire the most talented people. Many people will be left behind if they do not understand what these hiring professionals are looking for in their applicants. They are looking for talent.

"If I were running a company today, I would have one priority above all others; to acquire as many of the best people in the world."

~~Jim Collins~~

author of "Good to Great"

__________

BR: How to be happy at work!

Life is too short to be unhappy at work!

Far too many people spend year after year at a job that leaves them unhappy and unfulfilled. This is not fair to them, their families, and fellow employers. Annie McKee wrote How to be Happy at Work: The Power of Purpose, Hope, and Friendship for Harvard Business Review Press (2017).

It's a thing: Employee Engagment

"It's a thing" is a series that highlights concepts that employers and managers use and sometimes evaluate employees with that the average employee may not be aware.

In a training meeting, I learned about employee engagement. Employee engagement is when employees are motivated to contribute to the success of an organization, they give the best of themselves each day, they are committed to the company goals and values, they exhibit a sense of teamwork, while they have an enhanced sense of their own well-being. Employees that are not engaged show the opposite of these qualities. Employee engagement is a quality that modern owners and managers are looking for in their employees. Employees that are engaged rise to the surface of the company and are promoted into the highest positions. Employee engagement is becoming part of the developmental matrix looked to for employee advancement.

After learning about employee engagement, I had an interesting conversation with an employee. I shared with them what I had learn (and was learning) about the benefits of having an engaged workforce and they responded, "I didn't even know it (employee engagement) was a thing." What we both realized was that some managers were measuring their employees on things that they might not even be aware. She went on to tell me, "If I know that my employee wants me to do something or be a certain way, then they should let me know so that I can develop it." I agree! There are many more things that business owners and managers are aware of that the average employee is not.

The primary reason for this blog is to educate employees to what many managers are seeking so that they can become better employees.

Why is employee engagement important?

Good Employees Understand the Art of Service

Good employees serve. Service is the action of helping or doing work for someone.

Organizations serve other organizations and people in some capacity. In a 2016 Gartner CEO survey, CEOs rated customer service, after growth,  as their most important priority. It has been said that in today's knowledge sharing and hyper connected society customer service is marketing. The dissatisfaction of products or service is known throughout the local industry in lightning speed and can kill your business. Attention to service is paramount and is the responsibility of each employee, not just the management. We need to master the art of service.

BR: "Good to Great by Jim CollinsDisip

The sub-title of "Good to Great," Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't, reveals the purpose of this book. Collins determined to find out why some companies made the leap from good companies to great companies and others did not.

To find how companies go from good to great, he first needed to identify great companies. He looked for companies that had 15-year cumulative stock market returns at or below the general market with a transition point followed by a period of returns above the market over a 15-year period. The companies needed to exhibit a "good-to-great" pattern. All companies were compared to the other to ultimately determine what distinguished good-to-great companies from the others. Eleven good-to-great companies were identified: Abbott, Fannie Mae, Kimberly-Clark, Nucor, Pitney Bowes, Wells Fargo, Circuit City, Gillette, Kroger, Philip Morris, and Walgreens. Collins found numerous celebrated factors. I found that "Good to Great" is one of the most referred to books in leadership study.

Good Employees Are Driven

The number one quality that employers want in an employee is DRIVE--whether they know it or not.

I recently read an article that stated that "drive" was the number one characteristic that companies look for in employees. This caused me to look back over my work experience. I realized that I was driven in some jobs, but not so driven in others. Analyzing why, I decided that personal interest in the work and confidence in my ability to do the job were my two determining factors for being driven at work. I can see from my own experience that when I showed drive, I was more successful and more satisfied with my job. Employers desire to see their employees driven to advance themselves and the company. If you are not satisfied at work or are not advancing in the job, examine your drive--you may need to step it up.