The Right Bus, The Right Seat

How do you feel about your work, your career, and the direction in which your life is heading? Does thinking about it make you satisfied and happy, perhaps spark some ideas and remind you of things you'd like to accomplish, or is it something you'd rather not think about? A survey conducted by Harris interactive last year shows that 55 percent of all Americans are unhappy with their jobs. Only 20 percent feel passionate about their jobs, and a mere 15 percent feel energized by what they do. Why? It's not a rhetorical question. It's an important question with important answers that affect our health, our creativity, and our ability to stay competitive in an ever-changing global business environment. When what we are doing is uninteresting, unpleasant, or extremely stressful, creativity, productivity, and happiness all suffer. Those numbers suggest that many of us are spending a large portion of our lives doing things we don't enjoy, or in environments which feel oppressive to us, and that we often feel drained by what we do. Obviously, there are practical limitations to how closely we can follow our dreams -- mundane matters still have to be taken care of, and even when we're excited about the work itself, we may dislike the routine matters that come with it, such as invoicing, record-keeping and so on. But how can so many of us be not just unenthusiastic but actively stressed by what we do. The numbers don't lie. The National Institude for Occupational Health and Safety, Centers for Disease Control reports survey results which confirm the occupational malaise. Forty percent of workers reported that their jobs were very or extremely stressful, with 25 percent viewing their jobs as the top stressor in their lives. Twenty-nine percent felt quite a bit or extremely stressed at work. And 26 percent said that were "often or very often burned out or stressed by their work." A full 75 percent of employees believe that workers have more on-the-job stress than was experienced by the previous generation.

It's worth investigating the causes behind that stress and burnout, which is often closely related to work culture and departmental communications issues. Rather than employees going on a hunt for just the right workplace environment, or employers having to deal with excessive turnover costs, all involved can benefit from the expertise of an executive/management coach. Individual workers can get a better sense of their own driving interests, their working styles, and many other factors that affect "fit" and satisfaction -- which in turn affect health, productivity and success.

Employers, too, benefit greatly from a deeper understanding of just what motivates and rewards their most important people.

Stressed? Losing good people? Call a coach!

Lessons from "The Last Lecture"

Distinguished professor Randy Pausch gave the traditional "last lecture" to a packed house at Carnegie Mellon University in fall 2007. These lectures, given by retiring or departing faculty answer the question:

"If you had one last lecture to give students, what would you tell them?"

Pausch is a beloved figure, virtual reality pioneer, human-computer interaction researcher, co-founder of CMU's Entertainment Technology Center, and creator of the Alice software project. And Randy Pausch is dying. Last year, he felt somewhat tired and had a few digestive symptoms. He went to the doctor, only to be told that he had mere months to live because he had metastic pancreatic cancer -- the most deadly of all cancers. Yet Pausch, a father of three young children, focused on "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," his lifelong pursuit.

Pausch on How to Achieve Your Childhood Dreams

• We can't control the cards we're dealt, but only how we play them.
• Focus not on problems or death, but on how to live.
• Never give up dreams, childlike wonder, and enthusiasm.
• We benefit and learn from pursuing dreams, even if we never achieve them.
• Experience is what we get when we don't get what we wanted.
• If no one tells us when we're doing a poor job, that means others have given up on us.
• When someone pushes us, it's because they care that we are our best.
• Rejection letters are inspirational -- one more avenue explored.
• "Brick walls" are there to give us a chance to show how much we want "it."
• Have fun all the time, every day. Consciously choose to enjoy life.
• Humility is important.
• Expressing creativity is more important than pristine surroundings -- let kids paint their dreams on their bedrooms walls, and forget the resale value.
• No whining, no self-pity. ("When your father was your age, he was fighting the Germans.")
• Value people over things.
• Choose to be a "Tigger," not an "Eeyore."
• Work and play well with others: tell the truth, apologize when wrong, and look for the best in others.
• A true apology says, "I'm sorry. It was my fault. How can I make it right?"
• No one is pure evil -- be patient, and the good side will show itself.
• Show gratitude: It's simple and powerful.
• Don't complain -- just work harder.
• If we live life the right way, dreams will come to us, and karma will work itself out.

While Randy Pausch makes it clear that his last lecture is for his children, millions have seen and been changed by it since its posting online.

• The video is worth watching in its entirety, and can be seen here: http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/.
• Pausch also gave an 11 minute reprise of the presentation on the Oprah Winfrey Show October 7th, 2007, which can be viewed here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8577255250907450469&pr=goog-sl.
• High-resolution downloadable versions of Randy's videos can be found at www.cs.virginia.edu/robins/Randy.
• And his book, "The Last Lecture," which delves deeper into these life lessons, is available here: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Last-Lecture/Randy-Pausch/e/9781401323257/?itm=1
• Other Links: www.randypausch.com www.etc.cmu.edu www.alice.org

Flexible & friendly beats smart

Wharton@Work asked members in its December 2007 poll, "What are the most important qualities you look for in team members?" They answered:

• Flexibility/adaptability - 40 percent
• Interpersonal skills - 29 percent
• Specific functional skills - 15 percent
• Intelligence - 12 percent
• Loyalty - 4 percent

Turns out that most of what you really need to know, you DID learn in kindergarten.

As parents, many of us know that one of the competencies expected before children progress in school is the ability to transition smoothly from activity to activity on agendas set by circumstances. And getting along with others is, of course, essential at all ages. What's interesting here is how unimportant intelligence and loyalty are. Once you think about it, though, it makes perfect sense. We've all known people who were incredibly bright, but very difficult to work with. Stanford-Binet intelligence tests don't measure emotional intelligence, which is far more important in teamwork than spatial manipulation ability in most cases. Personal loyalty, too, can be problematic, if it prompts people to cover up unproductive behaviors, support faulty premises, or avoid challenging things which may cause problems later.

Teams drive work

Why should you keep those important team characteristics in mind? Because they are the driving force behind work, according to Wharton's January poll. When asked if leaders or teams primarily drove their work, 52 percent of members said teams, 34 percent said a balance of the two, and only 14 percent said their work was driven by leaders.

Smart is as smart does, my mother used to say. Smart leaders put their money on teamwork.

Workplace frustrations

A recent USA Today "snapshot" presented results of a survey to 1,200 workers listing their top five workplace frustrations. The results:

1. Poor communication by senior management about the business - 17 percent
2. Office Politics - 16 percent
3. Lack of teamwork - 15 percent
4. The use of politically correct language - 9 percent
5. Nosy co-workers - 6 percent

Let's break them down:

Poor communication about the business

One of primary benefits Barr Corporate Success brings is an immediate focus on identifying the top strategic objectives for a business, and, equally important - communicating and cascading those objectives throughout all levels of the organization. If you don't know how, we do. It's critical that front-line employees have the knowledge, mindset, culture, and tools to bring upper-level initiatives all the way down to customer relations. Front line employees want and need information, and to know what really matters and will contribute to their success by contributing to the company's success.

Office Politics

Politics are no more or no less than an expression of power struggles in poorly defined structures, confusion about objectives, and a lack of trust in co-workers. Teams must have the time, space, and structure to know each other, know what matters, and pursue it cohesively. Individual team members must be held accountable for behavior that divides and sabotages teams. Incentives must be geared toward rewarding all efforts that contribute to the success of the team in meeting defined objectives, even those efforts that are less visible, or harder to measure, and similarly, behavior that rewards the individual but damages the team should not be rewarded. It may sound complex, but Barr Corporate Success has simple, straightforward tools to align your company's systems with its goals, and eliminate the distractions of destructive competition, converting that energy into productive cooperation.

Lack of Teamwork

Teams suffer from a variety of ills, chief among them being a failure to understand that each team needs a diverse group of talents and styles to initiate projects, see to the details, and ensure results. Different work styles bring different strengths and talents. Barr Corporate Success has some amazing programs to foster mutual respect and understanding of what each team member brings to each project, and to the company's long-term goals.

Politically correct language

This listed item, in my opinion, reflects many people's frustration at having their intent misunderstood or mischaracterized. All of us have occasionally misspoken or made an offhand comment that flopped with the audience. When among friends, we speak freely, knowing that others will understand us, call us on something borderline, and give us the benefit of the doubt if we express ourselves badly. But in a business environment, we interact with a much wider group of people with whom we have less in common. That's why offering opportunities for employees to get to know one another on a slightly more personal level, through team-building exercises, can be groundbreaking. It's difficult to get much done if one is watching every word he says, or parsing everything another says, looking for something objectionable. Such an environment lacks trust and understanding, and is poisonous to cooperation. When teams know, understand, and trust each other, miscommunications and frustrations over word choices are much less of a problem -- because they're much more likely to be brought out into the open, and resolved very happily.

Barr Corporate Success has a team-building program that involves personalized assessment of work styles and personal interests, attitudes, and values. When a team sits down together, and understands one another's styles and driving interests, the team as a whole draws together and better appreciates the advantages of diverse talents and styles. Call 513.470.8980 for more information about DISC- and PIAV-based team-building programs.

Nosy Co-workers One person's nosy co-worker is another person's best friend at work. Again, It all comes down to lack of trust, violation of others' boundaries, and different styles. We can help.

It's inspiring and uplifting to know that these top work peeves can be easily solved with the right tools. Imagine how productive your company will be when those frustrations and distractions are out of the way, and every employee's attention is focused on achieving important goals with their teammates.

Warning Signs

To succeed in business at any level, but particularly at the executive level, having a finely tuned radar for who can and who cannot be trusted is critical. Beef up your radar with the following. According to author Mark McCormack in Staying Street Smart in the Internet Age (Viking/Penguin), be especially cautious of those who:

• Rarely do what they say they will.
• Push their work onto you.
• Do not apologize for being late.
• Tell you, "I'm too busy."
• Reject your ideas out-of-hand.
• Won't let you off the hook when you're in a jam.

All the above are indications that a person is concerned only with their own needs, and unwilling or unable to consider other points of view. That rigidity and lack of empathy can indicate a lack of what we would all call, simply, "character," so be on the lookout.

Work-life balance tops pay

To recruit and retain the best workforce, it's important to know what people want. A recent Hudson survey of 1,634 workers who have been in their current positions for at least 5 years ranks the primary reason they accepted their current position. (Please note that respondents were to choose the one most important reason.)

Top Responses

1. Work-life balance and flexibility - 29 percent
2. Compensation - 23 percent
3. Work culture - 13 percent
4. Training opportunities - 5 percent
5. Advancement opportunities - 5 percent

Are your recruiters and advertisements emphasizing advantages that bring the most candidates, and offer what jobseekers are looking for? It's worth a second look.

What spurs innovation?

What is the most important driver of innovation for companies?

Many of us might say that innovation is driven by having the most creative talent on board. But we would be wrong. While it is important to have talented people working with us, an unsupportive environment can quickly turn off the creativity switch, and send our creative people into a defensive posture where they fear making a mistake, feel unsupported, and avoid taking chances -- the backbone of creativity and innovation.

By the numbers, top execs say the important factors in innovation are:

1. Supportive corporate culture (53 percent responding)
2. Top management support (21 percent)
3. Clear processes and measurable goals (13 percent)
4. Creative talent (5 percent)

Source: Textron survey of 150 senior-level executives

The bottom line: Build an environment open to creativity, which drives innovation, and innovation will come.

Barr Corporate Success has the tools and the knowledge to unleash the creativity, enthusiasm, and productivity of your workforce. To discuss your situation and needs, please contact Krissi Barr: krissi@barrcorporatesuccess.com or 513.470.8980.