Challenges for new CEOs

A recent USA Today Snapshot^® referenced an interesting study. Asked to name the top challenges they face in their first 100 days on the job, 1,400 chief executive officers said:

• Increasing productivity - 30 percent
• Increasing profitability - 20 percent
• Personnel decisions - 13 percent
• Building rapport with new staff - 13 percent

Study results reaffirm Barr Corporate Success's DISC (Dominance-Influence-Steadiness-Compliance) and PIAV (Personal Interests, Attitudes, and Values) profiles for those who work in profit-oriented leadership positions. An interest in the bottom line is critical in roles requiring careful management of resources. A CEO's natural tendency is to focus first on numbers, a comfort zone and primary accountability, rather than "emotional intelligence" strategies.

However, Barr Corporate Success's 20+ years' experience in high-level management strongly suggests that neglect of rapport, teamwork, employee engagement, and motivation seriously impairs strategic plans to improve profitability and productivity. Even CEO's with stellar track records can fail spectacularly if they start off on the wrong footing with their senior leadership teams.

Becoming familiar with current financial conditions in a new post is a no-brainer, but CEO's are well-advised to also establish strong rapport with direct reports. Those who do so reap the benefits of a better grasp of the skills, engagement, and styles of the team who will implement strategies which improve the bottom line. The result is smarter personnel decisions, messages that cascade throughout the corporation, more effective implementation, and very real financial gains. Disregarding the expertise and input of those who best know current conditions has dire consequences in today's difficult business environment.

Yes, market conditions are tough. But now is the perfect time to secure market position, find new markets, and develop a leadership team able to navigate stormy waters. Understandably, business owners and senior management are hesitant to commit scarce capital to consultants. They're right to be cautious. Some consultants offer recycled information, and induce eye-rolling or clock-watching with touchy-feely, time-consuming seminars.

Unlike so many of us, as her associate, I (Jodi) can attest Krissi Barr never wastes time. There may never have been a more effective time manager, or one more able to provide 100 percent signal, 0 percent noise! Our clients have written countless letters to affirm the value Krissi has delivered and the results they've reaped. Barr Corporate Success's services are focused, efficient direct consultations with specific information and hard data which quickly identify wasted time, money, and human capital. Clients are often amazed at the stark difference between Barr Corporate Success's results and those of prior consultants. Executives and their teams are never left thinking that time with Krissi might have been better spent elsewhere.

Let's face it: Only companies with an agile, engaged, and effective senior leadership team will be able to withstand and adapt to these economic conditions. The expertise of Barr Corporate has saved struggling clients before, and improves the bottom line of current clients every day.

Krissi will gladly discuss strategies to overcome the challenges you're facing, and offer concrete strategies to seize opportunities. Call (513-470-8980) or e-mail her today.

Going in Circles at 150 MPH

It's one thing to be excited, motivated, and passionate about our work. It's another to be overwhelmed, consumed, out of balance, and in danger of burn-out. Many of us who have a "high sense of urgency" must be on the lookout for the effects of overwork, over-controlling, and allowing work to over-run our lives.

To re-assess and identify some potential fixes, consider the following:

• What would happen if I did less?
• What tasks can only I do? What can I assign to others?
• Is the business running me, or am I running the business?
• What message am I sending to my employees?
• If I fell under a bus, what would happen to the company?
• Is my family suffering because of my job?
• Am I taking care of myself? How is my physical health?

Many of us pay lip-service to the notion of work-life balance, but continue to neglect it.

Don't fall into the trap.

Neglecting your physical health, the state of your family, and the effects that over-work have on you overall actually costs you productivity. It's easy to enter a spiral of diminishing returns by becoming so overtired, stressed, and physically unconditioned that your time becomes less productive. The key is to make sure is that the right steps toward personal and professional success get done. Without a plan, and regular reassessment of your progress, you can get lost in constant busy-ness that does NOT move you closer to your goals.

Check your professional and personal "vital signs," making limited, intermediate goals that contribute to long-term objectives.

Examples of professional vital signs:

• Have lunch with at least one past customer a week.
• Meet with 4 new customers a week.
• Add X prospects to your database a week.
• Reduce your paperwork or admin by X hours a week.
• Sell X dollars/units a week.

Examples of personal vital signs:

• Spend X hours a week reading inspiring or motivational material.
• Exercise one hour 3 days per week.
• Dedicate non-working hours to your family and hobbies, not more work.
• Listen to one self-improvement or motivational CD per week.

Reassess, review, reallocate, recharge and renew -- step back and make sure you're moving in the right direction. Call or e-mail us today for a complete "vital signs checkup"!

Krissi Barr 513-470-8980, krissi@barrcorporatesuccess.com

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Make More of Your Time!

You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it. Charles Bruxton

When you pack for a family vacation driving across the country, do you fling your luggage into the back of your car, allowing it to fall however it may? Of course not! You would run out of room!

Instead, you carefully choose the luggage you use so that it will fit in your trunk, pack accordingly, and leave a little room for souvenirs. When you've assembled everything you need to take, you put the big luggage in first, and fit smaller items around it, compactly placing everything so you'll have as much room to move around in the car as possible. You prioritize, compartmentalize, make decisions, and maximize use of space.

Maximizing use of space is much like maximizing use of time. Do you pack your day as thoughtfully as you do your car?

Probably not. Most of us don't. But if you've packed for a big trip, you DO have within you all the skills and practices you need to make the best use of your time.

Some simple time management techniques can increase our output while reducing our stress. Time flies and you are the pilot. Fortunately, some simple planning tips -- some of them counterintuitive -- can help us use our time carefully.

Tips for getting the most out of your day.

Don't work late into the night.

It saps energy and makes you less productive the following day. Surveys show that working late at night causes you to go to bed with a mind racing, recounting today's events and planning tomorrow's, and makes you less likely to get restful sleep. The habit of working late at night also gets built into your schedule and reduces your sense of urgency to finish tasks earlier in the day.

Arrive early, and leave on time.

You can not only boost your productivity, but improve your work-life balance, since family members are impacted more heavily by absence in the evening than leaving earlier in the morning.

Limit the length and number of meetings.

Frequent and uncontrolled routine meetings without defined agendas are a huge time waster for all concerned. Purpose-driven meetings with clear agendas should result in clear accountabilities, and defined follow-up dates, allowing you to focus on tasks that bring the greatest results.

Set aside uninterrupted project time.

Anything that interrupts you and breaks your train of thought costs you time, in the long run. Hang a do-not-disturb sign on your door, turn off your cell phone, route landline calls to voicemail, and turn off "new e-mail" notices.

Make Monday count.

Build some momentum by getting off to a good start Monday, working on individual tasks and digging in on important projects, which helps the rest of the week flow better. Fridays are a good day for staff meetings that to set group agendas that will be addressed by each person on Monday, with a brief follow-up Monday afternoon.

Prepare the night before.

Choose, set out, and, if needed, iron tomorrow's clothing. Pack kids' lunches, set the timer on the coffeepot, and have your packed work bag by the door. You can even preserve morning momentum by filling up your gas tank on the way home, or at lunchtime, rather than in the morning.

Don't over-plan.

The average person can only realistically plan about 50 percent of his or her day. We all generally underestimate the amount of time a task might take by at least 20 percent, and tend not to anticipate and allot extra time for interruptions and other delays. When we overplan, it later costs us time rolling tasks over to the next day and adjusting our daily planners.

Get specifics.

When someone says, "as soon as possible," define exactly what that means, and why. Sometimes, people operate in default crisis mode. Their "as soon as possible" may not be the same as yours -- does that mean drop everything because we need this now, or that we only have a couple of weeks to get X done? Find out, or you will allow unnecessary stress and time pressure to hijack your day.

Our clients often seek our advice on time management, and in addition to these tips, there are more specific steps you can take to produce Amazing Performance(TM). Give Krissi a call at 513-470-8980, or e-mail her, krissi@barrcorporatesuccess.com, to find out how Barr Corporate Success can help you.

We'll leave you with a (brutal) quote that might inspire any of us:

"Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." H. Jackson Brown

Let's Get to Work!

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Job Satisfaction on the Wane?

The Conference Board reports that U.S. worker job satisfaction has declined 14 percent in the past two decades, and is still in a declining trend. According to a TNS survey of 5,000 U.S. households, the percentage of workers satisfied with their jobs, by year, was:

• 61 percent (1987)
• 59 percent (1995)
• 51 percent (2000)
• 52 percent (2005)
• 47 percent (2006)

The figures are no cause for alarm, necessarily, but indicate a troublesome trend. Why do we pay close attention to satisfaction trends? Because each employee's job satisfaction statistically correlates with whether he or she will quit, and his or her absenteeism rate. And overall satisfaction rates strongly correlate with productivity and profitability. Management Malpractice reports, “...The decline in job satisfaction is widespread among workers of all ages and across all income brackets. Half of all Americans today say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from nearly 60 percent in 1995.

But among the 50 percent who say they are content, only 14 percent say they are "very satisfied."

This report, which is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households, conducted for The Conference Board by TNS, a leading market information company (LSE: TNN), also includes information collected independently by TNS.

"This information reveals that approximately one-quarter of the American workforce is simply 'showing up to collect a paycheck.' The survey finds that job satisfaction has declined across all income brackets in the last nine years.” from Management Malpractice."

Satisfaction and profitability aren't a dichotomy, but instead are linked reflections of the underlying effectiveness of leadership practices.

If you suspect that your employees are simply showing up to collect a paycheck, all is not lost. Much can be done, with adjustment of management styles, assessments to get the right people in the right seats, and amazing performance goals.

Barr Corporate Success can help drive teams and individuals to outstanding profitability and job satisfaction. Call or e-mail today! Return to Barr Corporate Success For more data and analysis of worker satisfaction, causes, and effects, please see : http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/13/business/workcol14.php, accessed 8/4/07. U.S. Job Satisfaction Keeps Falling, The Conference Board Reports Today. Source: The Conference Board, Feb. 28, 2005 http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=2582, accessed 8/4/07. http://www.managementmalpractice.com/in_the_news.php

"The No As*h@#!@ Rule"

We apologize for using a word that may offend the sensibilities of some. We'll alternate between the vulgarity, and the more accepted "jerk." We hope that after reading, you'll agree it's worth discussing.

As you can tell from the length of the post, we like the book. Read it!

Stanford University professor and Robert Sutton has not only legitimized the word "asshole" in business conversation -- he's made it practically unavoidable.

"It all started in 2003 with a half-serious proposal that I made to Harvard Business Review, when their senior editor Julia Kirby asked if I had any suggestions for HBR's annual list of 'Breakthrough Ideas.' I told Julia that the best business practice I knew of was the 'no asshole rule.'"

Despite Sutton's expectation that no such title would ever be published by HBR, the article was embraced, and drew so much media attention that he followed it up with the frank, amusing and well-researched book, very directly titled The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't. If you're actively dealing with a jerk, read it. You may find help with your current situation, and at worst, will better be able to recognize and avoid assholes in the future.

Sutton offers welcoming reassurance to anyone who has ever thought, "I don't care how productive this guy/woman is, it's just not worth it to put up with him/her."

Experts agree, and for sound business reasons. Assholes are not worth it. Sutton shows that whatever numbers the jerk generates in terms of individual sales or productivity, more comprehensive metrics prove that jerks take a tremendous toll on morale, overall productivity, and unnecessary turnover.

A partial list of factors Sutton suggested we consider when calculating TCA (Total Cost of Assholes)

• Distraction from tasks, the effort devoted to avoiding unpleasant exchanges, recovering from them, avoiding blame.
• Damaged sense of safety and an environment of fear that discourages "discretionary effort," suggestions, risk-taking, learning from own and others' failures, and honest discussion.
• Reduced motivation and energy at work.
• Stress-induced physical and emotional illness.
• Potentially impaired mental acuity.
• Continual and ongoing bullying transforms targets into assholes.
• Absenteeism
• Turnover due to asshole's abusive supervision, plus time spent looking for new job while at work
• Costs of victims' retribution toward the company.
• "Combat pay" for those who stay.
• Time spent "cooling out" victimized customers, contract employees, suppliers, outsiders, and internal employees who are victimized.
• Settlement fees and successful litigation by both victims, and alleged assholes (wrongful termination claims).
• Increased health insurance costs.

When those factors are considered, it becomes apparent that assholes cost more than they are worth. Add in the damage to personal lives, marriages, and other relationships, and assholes become a toxin that must be removed.

Have you experienced or witnessed any of Sutton's "Dirty Dozen"?

These are common everyday actions that assholes use.

• Personal insults
• Invading ones "personal territory"
• Uninvited physical contact
• Threats & intimidation, both verbal and non-verbal
• Sarcastic 'jokes' and 'teasing' used as insult delivery systems
• Withering e-mail flames
• Status slaps intended to humiliate
• Public shaming or 'status degradation' rituals
• Rude interruptions
• Two-faced attacks
• Dirty looks
• Treating people as if they're invisible

If you haven't, then you're among the lucky few. Sutton cites one study showing that 27 percent of workers in a representative sample of Michigan residents experienced mistreatment by someone in the workplace, with one in six reporting persistent psychological abuse. And a 1997 study of 130 U.S. nurses found that an astounding 90 percent reporting being victims of verbal abuse from physicians during the previous year.

If you have, then you're obviously not alone. We empathize. Without real concrete incentive to change, such as forceful intervention from higher-level management or powerbrokers, it is difficult to stop an asshole. While some are unaware of the effect their behavior has on those around them, others may simply not care, or not be able to control themselves.

Sutton writes of several levels of asshole:

• "Temporary assholes" are having a bad day or moment. Miscommunications and frustrating situations can at times bring out the worst in all of us. All of us have probably offended, if only by rolling ones eyes during a difficult meeting. As long as offenses are infrequent, apologized for, and an isolated aberration from usually friendly, respectful behavior, temporary assholes are part of life.
• "Certified assholes" are workplace polluters who "display a persistent pattern of episodes that end with one 'target' after another feeling belittled, put down, humiliated, disrespected, oppressed, de-energized, and generally worse about themselves."
• "Flaming assholes"... 'nuff said.
• "Two-faced backstabbers" are particularly noxious weeds. They "have enough skill and emotional control to save their dirty work for moments when they can't get caught, and are much tougher to stop, even though they do as much damage as a raging maniac."

Sutton proposes two steps for detecting assholes: find those who persistently leave others feeling demeaned and de-energized; then look to see if their victims generally have less power and social standing than the tormentor. The basic hallmark of assholes is "kiss up, kick down." Does the alleged asshole persistently leave the person he interacts with feeling worse about him- or herself?

Hundreds of cross-disciplinary studies have attempted to define practices that lead to greater productivity. Supportive, warm work environments that reward risk-taking and creative thinking are often most productive. Assholes utterly destroy creative, supportive, productive teams and create a contagion of anger, resentment, and bad behavior. The more powerful the asshole, and the longer his or her behavior goes unaddressed, the more widespread the effects, and the harder to recover from.

Sutton writes, "Research on everything from student groups to top management teams reveals that constructive arguments over ideas -- but not nasty personal arguments -- drives greater performance, especially when teams do non-routine work."

Certain industries in particular are haunted by the myth of the "temperamental rock star", which misleads companies into hiring and retaining -- with gritted teeth and clenched fists -- assholes who put up good numbers. They're often considered part of the price of doing business.

Sutton writes, "There is so much evidence that civilized workplaces are not a naive dream, that they do exist, and that pervasive contempt can be replaced with mutual respect when a team or organization is managed right -- and civilized workplaces usually enjoy superior performance as well."

There is hope. The workplace is changing as the nature of our work shifts more to knowledge work requiring good interpersonal relations and teamwork. Owners and management are paying attention. For example, Virgin founder Richard Branson devised a test to avoid assholes; he dressed as a chauffeur and picked up candidates personally. Other companies are actively training HR and other hiring professionals to weed out asshole candidates.

In the meantime, Sutton recommends you ask yourself: "Am I part of the problem, or part of the solution?" Your answer may determine the course of your career.

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Bob Sutton's blog

Relationship Woes?

Good relationships aren't difficult -- bad relationships are! In a business environment, poor relationships are also expensive. An Adecco Staffing survey of 1,000 workers reports that 49 percent of employees say yes, their relationship with their boss directly affects their productivity.

Yeah, it's that important.

Many managers don't really understand what motivates and matters to their employees. We sometimes assume, or think we know, but we don't. Let's look at another study, this time ranking the factors that most influence employee performance. In this study, not only were employees polled, but managers were also asked to predict what those employees' rankings would be. Were the managers right? Take a look.

What Managers Expected Employees to Say

1. High wages
2. Job security
3. Promotion within the company
4. Good working conditions
5. Interesting work

What Employees Really Say Influences Them

1. Full appreciation of work done
2. Feeling of being in on things
3. Help on personal problems
4. Job security
5. High wages

Feeling appreciated and clued-in ranks higher than wages largely because to be appreciated and well-informed prepares us to make outstanding contributions, meet critical goals, and make smart decisions that will result in career growth.

Think of the stereotypical editorial assistant, fetching coffee and doing front-line work -- the pay's not high, the prestige isn't high, and he hasn't chosen that environment to learn different blends of coffee beans. He's learning the business, making a contribution to the big picture, and working toward a fulfilling career.

Make time for important conversations...

Do you have to know the names of your direct reports' pets? Of course not, but knowing your employees' life and career goals helps you leverage what you and your employees have to offer one another into a healthy, productive relationship. A global consumer response survey of 1,625 workers gave some insight into welcome conversation. What aspect is most important when employers communicate with workers?

• Giving insights on how to be more effective (52 percent)
• Showing how to fit into the company's vision (47 percent)
• Explaining the company's vision (45 percent)
• Engaging on a personal level (41 percent)

Build those relationships. To your direct reports, you are the company. The company's strategic goals and how it all fits together comes from you. If you can't sum up those strategic goals, go to your boss, who may go to her boss... It's a conversation that may have unexpected benefits!

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