Category: Gleaner Jamaica

Japan’s economic recovery from World War II was nothing short of miraculous. Is there something that Jamaica could learn from their focus on removing waste from a narrow area of high importance? If we also could find a single point of improvement that could be applied in a wide number of areas could we see the same results?

Three New Habits That Can Save Jamaica’s Economy

Most Jamaicans are wondering “Where will the spark come from that will ignite our economy?” Instead of hoping for foreigners to bail us out, maybe we should be looking at what we are already wasting: individual time.

It may not be the path advocated by the IMF, but it’s one that post World War II Japan would readily recognize. In their recovery, they made unprecedented monumental improvements in their manufacturing operations. They leaped from being a producer of laughable products to being world leaders. Unfortunately, the cost of energy prevents us from taking that particular path, but there is something we can borrow from their approach.

We need to do so urgently. Jamaica’s productivity has been sailing in reverse ever since independence, making us one of the least productive countries in the hemisphere.

Japan had bigger problems. Due to high costs, their customers could not afford their own country’s products. In response, their companies launched an all-out effort to cut waste in order to make products more affordable.

At Toyota, the quality revolution was led by Taiichi Ohno. He declared that there are seven forms of waste which permeate factories: overproduction, motion, inventory, transportation, waiting, defects and over-processing. (Later, others added one more that may apply to us: under-utilized people.)

We also have an opportunity to cut waste, but not in factories. Instead, it resides in the way we waste time as individuals, at every level. Daily experience tells us that something is wrong – our people are under-utilized. But what would it be like to become the country with the most productive employees in the world?

We’d have to think quite differently. The latest research reveals that time itself cannot be managed, and instead we must focus on what is called a “time demand.” It’s defined as an internal, individual commitment to complete an action in the future. An inescapable element of adult life, we all create, manage and complete time demands every single day.

However, my empirical data shows our performance in this area is well below global averages. Here are three wasteful habits that challenge us in the workplace.

1. Tracking Time Demands Using Memory
Early in our teens we learn that once a time demand is created, it forms an essential link between our goals and actions. Keeping each one alive in our memory is a habit we try to teach ourselves and when the number of items is small, it appears to work. However, as we get older the stakes rise. Life becomes more complex and our teenager-taught, memory-based system fails.

Case: A colleague has a habit of making strong, confident promises in meetings, but he never records them.  You notice that once the meeting is over, he disappears along with his promises. Over time, you end up becoming his personal reminder system in order to get what you want.

Recommended: Wean yourself and others off the use of memory for this purpose. See it as a reckless practice. Instead, record all time demands in writing or on a digital device.

2. Recording Time Demands Without Processing Them
Once someone unlearns the habit of using memory and starts capturing time demands safely, a new problem arises. He/she needs to set time aside to process them all, preferably on a daily basis.

Case: If you are someone who arrives at meetings with four notepads filled with an unprocessed backlog of time demands, you are still using memory to decide which ones to execute and when.

Recommended: Go through the backlog of time demands in your notepads, Inboxes and other places of capture and delete obsolete ones. Be aggressive. Move the ones to be saved for later to a long-term home in either your To-Do List or calendar. Once the backlog is gone, develop a regular habit of emptying time demands from these places of capture.

3. Sticking with Paper
Even though you have abundant, inexpensive access to digital resources, you have not upgraded from the use of a paper calendar or To-Do list. This approach is risky.

Case: You create a commitment on behalf of a customer by adding a new task to your paper To-Do list. Later that evening, at bath time, it becomes the raw material for your child’s boat. Surprise! You scramble the next morning to repeat the conversation with your customer, dealing a blow to your reputation.

Recommended: Become as comfortable with digital devices and redundant storage as you are with paper. With the right tools and proper backups to the cloud, you will never, ever lose anything.

Today, these wasteful behaviours are common but they are not insurmountable. If the island archipelago of Japan can reverse its fortunes with focused effort on cutting waste, then maybe we can also. The time is right for each of us to undertake a personal productivity revolution.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity, a keynote speaker and a management consultant. To receive a free summary of links to all his past articles, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to read the article on the Gleaner’s website.

Many Caribbean executives simply don’t ask enough of their direct reports. Instead, they try to protect them from harsh realities, often before it’s too late to call for an “all hands on deck” approach.

Here’s what they should do instead: Why Executives Need to Challenge Their Direct Reports.

The full text is provided below.

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Why Executives Now Need to Challenge Their Direct Reports

While top executives are known for their unearthly ability to push themselves, it often isn’t enough. They also need to demand high performance from their direct reports to prevent their organizations from drifting into sorry mediocrity. Why, at this time, has their ability to direct their subordinates become so important?

In some ways, this recession has been good for Jamaicans. It is pushing us to work longer, harder and smarter in our need to do more with less. When there’s less revenue available, our companies (like our individuals) are learning to operate in a leaner fashion in order to do things they have never done before.

This may sound good in theory but how does this translate into actual, on-the-ground behaviours? If you are an executive, how should you relate to your direct reports?

1. Never Allow Coasting

In the local corporate setup, even if you found yourself in a job with a steep learning curve, there was always a point at the top where you could stop pushing yourself. You could relax and enjoy the fruits of your initial hard work. However, in today’s recessionary environment, savvy executives realize that there is no such place. That is, no-one should expect that there will ever again (in our lifetime) be a time to coast along, with spare time to smell the roses.

Today, it’s all curve. At the “top,” you should expect another curve. And then another.

As an executive, it’s your job to create challenges (i.e. new curves) for your people – much in the same way that a coach motivates a team. Good sales executives are expert at this task, but now every other manager must do the same with their direct reports.

They may hate you for it, but it’s not personal. The recession is hitting every business in Jamaica hard, especially those who earn no foreign exchange and have no overseas customers. All you are doing by asking for more is aligning your subordinates with reality. It’s a difficult task to accomplish, but you cannot wait. Your company must stretch itself to achieve the seemingly impossible long before things start to break.

2. Removing Protection

Entrepreneurs face the relentless pressure of bi-weekly payroll, monthly tax obligations, and daily cash-flow crunches. By contrast, your company’s employees are traditionally protected from these stresses if they work for medium to large enterprises. It’s been clear.  In exchange for a long-term, regular salary, they have gotten by with few responsibilities, standard hours of work and only vague requests to learn new skills.

In times past, this was the accepted status quo. In response to a global recession, your direct reports need to strip this protection away so that your company can compete.

Case in point: A Florida-based contractor explained to me that “He stopped hiring fellow Jamaicans long ago.” According to him, his new Mexican employees work all day taking only a single, ten-minute break for lunch. He couldn’t find enough Jamaicans with that work ethic to employ them.

In like manner, the recession has brought global pressures on local companies that none can avoid. Top managers must expose employees to these outside factors which demand greater individual production. The fact that these improvements must take place without the benefit of additional tools, training or remuneration is not unfair – it’s just life.

3. On-boarding People Who Demand More of Themselves

Usain Bolt has set a good example in publicly asking more of himself. In his commitment to break the 200-meter world record, he admits that he’s now older and more injury-prone.

Unfortunately, most employees aren’t like Usain – they don’t set such difficult goals for themselves. It’s up to your direct reports to recruit the rare people who have this mindset. One shortcut is to borrow the HR best-practice used to weed out the ones who aren’t up to the challenge.

It’s easy – just walk them through the worst possible day they could have if they accept the new role. This simulation provides them with a reality check that tells you, by their reaction, if they have what it takes.

If you believe that you are already hiring the right people, here’s one way to see if they are being challenged appropriately. Form an internal focus group of your most recent hires from full-time tertiary institutions. Ask them to be honest: “In order to fit in, have you scaled back your initial drive and effort since joining the company?” Allow them to share their shock at how little actual work gets done.

A company which creates the right culture must energize newcomers and employees alike to increase productivity. As a top executive, the only way to get that done is through your direct reports who must translate a continuous pressure for high performance into practical action. It’s the only way to assure your company’s survival.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity, a keynote speaker and a management consultant. To receive a free summary of links to his past articles, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com

In the past few weeks, one of Jamaica’s most prestigious literary talents won a major international prize. Below the headlines, however, is the story of a writer who has exiled himself from a country he can’t live in. Is your company also discouraging some of its best people and thereby promoting mediocrity?

Maybe those foreigners are onto something after all. Parts of the world we admire the most have become more tolerant of homosexuals in the workplace, taking active steps to encourage their contribution. I remember when I joined AT&T in New Jersey as a 22-year-old, only to be surprised at the number of openly gay individuals and LGBT support groups to be found. Like many Jamaicans who worked there, it came as a shock.

Marlon James, the 2015 winner of the Man Booker prize for fiction describes the reason for my shock in recent interviews and articles from the New York Times and UK Guardian. He points a cold finger at those who made his life a living hell as a student at Wolmers Boys. What strikes home is the fact that, for a year, I was his Headboy.

In high school, no-one would have been surprised to hear me pronounce on “the beating that B____ymen deserved.” Only four years later, I had changed. Just in time… as I entered the American workplace I learned that such hateful utterances were absolutely forbidden. Most companies had an explicit and unwavering commitment to diversity.

A few years ago, I re-discovered the wisdom of their stance via the books of Richard Florida. He uncovered a clear correlation between cities’ tolerance of homosexuality and their economic success. The data tells us that many creative types migrate to Silicon Valley, New York, London and other hotbeds of innovation. They leave behind the rejection of their hometowns for welcome places.

You may agree that it sounds like a reasonable theory.

In reality, however, it’s easy to see the negative side of my old, nasty intolerance. James openly identifies himself as a member of this group of outcasts. In his interviews, he describes his fear of being beaten… presumably by classmates like me. His forced exile shows what happens when the rampant ignorance I demonstrated is allowed to grow unchecked. It chases out would-be leaders of what could become creative new industries.

Or, to put it more plainly… hateful ignorance discourages the fellow who could come up with a product or service for your company that doubles its profits in a new segment. It suffocates the young lady who has the perfect idea of how to improve your operations, as she opts instead to migrate. It starves the consultant who, in spite of his bright ideas, you shun: he’s effeminate and has never been married.

This shunning takes place in subtle forms I still struggle with. Recently, on CaribHR.Radio, I interviewed an expert on LGBT workplace issues. She said that most people don’t want to know a fellow employee’s sexual orientation – echoing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” But then she questioned me directly: “How would you respond if a man puts a picture of his boyfriend on his desk?”

I felt an old but familiar revulsion, sharply honed by my Wolmers years. Startled and embarrassed at my unwelcome feelings, I mumbled an incoherent reply. Her unspoken question was obvious: “Why should a particular employee be prohibited from doing what everyone else openly and freely enjoys?”

Alas, there seem to be no easy prescriptions, but here are two places to start if you intend to promote an environment of innovation within your company.

1. Assume the Facts

Contrary to the wishes of many, you probably already have gays, bisexuals or employees on the “Down-Low.” They could be in your executive, or a sensitive position and your acceptance of this possibility is a useful beginning.

2. Look for Your Self-Interest

It might be too hard to think about doing good things for homosexuals as a group. If so, start by looking out for your own self-interest. Your job as a manager is to do the best for your company. Indulging in revolting feelings is not in your job description. In fact, they hurt you in the long-term because you are pushing away innovative Marlon-James-types. Or CEO-of-Apple-types. These unfortunate outcomes undermine your success.

If it’s in your self-interest to create more tolerance, find small steps that fit within a Jamaican context. For example, explore what multinationals do in parts of the world that are intolerant, where hate is a matter of fact AND law. I became a different person in a few years courtesy of a transformative experience – so can your workplace.

This is no idle wish: facing down intolerance is, perhaps, one of the pathways to excellence here in Jamaica. If that’s true, your firm would benefit from encouraging and protecting diversity, rather than “loving up” mediocre sameness.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity, a keynote speaker and a management consultant. To receive a free summary of links to his past articles, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com

Some scoff at social media, believing that it’s all a young people’s fad that will soon pass.

But there is growing evidence that those who spend the time to develop their social media skills are benefiting. They are learning some critical, non-trivial capabilities, while adopting the unique habits required to be an effective professional in this new era.

In this article, I look at why these skills are now important and more than “nice-to-haves.”

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How Social Media Skills Are Changing Business Forever

Is social media just a passing fad that mature business-people can safely ignore? Is it all just a waste of time? Does lasting, meaningful social activity only take place in person; not over the Internet?

Recently, a Kingston-based friend of mine was intent on taking a destination vacation in the USA with his extended family of nine. He booked 10 days in a motel, thinking that was his best option. However, after he Googled the destination, he discovered AirBnB, the short-term rental service. A  search of the neighbourhood revealed that he could get a beautiful private house in the same location for half the price.

But there was a catch. He learned that AirBnB landlords are not obligated to rent their property to anyone who can afford it. Instead, they only approve people they trust. How does someone who has never met you and lives thousands of miles away come to entrust you, a stranger, with one of their prized possessions? The answer might be obvious – social media.

If you are an AirBnB renter who has never used the service before (and, therefore, has never been rated on the website by a landlord ) you are an unknown entity. In order to reduce the risk, the service encourages property owners to do something unusual. They learn how to check you out online, via sites like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and company websites. Your public presence on social media, in particular, helps determine whether or not you represent a high risk – the kind of tenant who will ruin their home.

In this case, my friend had a problem. Porn hackers had just taken over his Facebook account, forcing him to start a new one. To a stranger, it would appear as if he had just joined the social network a week ago… a big red flag.

The answer was simple. He needed to beef up his Linkedin profile so that prospective landlords would come to see him as a competent, trusted person. Unfortunately, up until then, his profile looked like an orphan – a place he had visited only once or twice. We added a headshot, biographical data and details of his work history.

In a day or two, the landlord signaled her satisfaction and the subsequent vacation was a total success.

The fact is, a weak online presence may not elicit critiques from your close business associates here in Jamaica. They, like you, may argue “they don’t have the time” to “play around” with social media. Listening mostly to each other, you may all be convinced that it’s unimportant. It may be an echo chamber: a comfort zone in which your friends are just saying and doing the same things.

You may be mistaken in thinking that it doesn’t matter. Obviously, your lack of a profile communicates something to the landlords on AirBnB. The broader question for business-people is “Who else might care?”

A while back, my wife received a message from a man who was coming to Jamaica from Europe to do some business. He wanted to meet her and possibly engage her services in the future.

A quick check on Linkedin raised suspicions: his  profile was also an orphan written in utterly vague language. It took some time, but deeper Google searches showed that his company had a reputation for running a particular scam. Apparently, they knew how to enter a country and extract the information they needed for free, before selling it to their clients.

My wife declined the meeting.

You may be comfortable with the unclear image you are creating online, but there may be opportunities to receive discounts that are passing you by. Also, others outside Jamaica may be ignoring your offers to engage, or making sure they are too busy to take your call.

Social media use for business purposes requires a distinct skill, but don’t wait for the classroom training to be offered. These platforms are evolving too rapidly.

Last year I picked up an ebook that described in detail the  skills required to make effective use of the latest version of Linkedin. I was shocked. Unknown to me, the social network had evolved. Within a few weeks, I picked up hundreds of new connections in one of my key markets overseas.

By contrast, Facebook business pages have recently been rendered impotent. Only paid advertisements are actually making their way to fan’s news feeds, forcing many companies’ strategies to change.

The landscape is changing so fast that the rules must be re-learned every few months. That’s why you simply cannot set up a social media unit and relax. These are now executive skills that cannot be explained in the abstract – they must be experienced firsthand.

In fact, they have become far from optional. They represent a must-have for the business person who is serious and global-minded.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity, a keynote speaker and a management consultant. To receive a free summary of links to his past articles, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20151011/francis-wade-how-social-media-skills-are-changing-business-forever

What if business success has something to do with being enlightened? In this column I highlight a single skill that can be found in both spritual and corporate success-stories.

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Business In a Rut? Stop “Should-ing” on Yourself

One way that leaders in local companies get stuck in a rut is by refusing to accept the current business world… as it is. While it sounds obvious, there are many who are losing profits by complaining incessantly that the local environment isn’t the way it should be. How do you get yourself unstuck, if you are?

A friend of mine once taught me a trick. “If you call a large company (such as your least favorite utility) and get someone on the phone who is incompetent, just thank the person and hang up. Then, using what you have learned, immediately call back and

talk with someone else. Repeat the process until you get the answer you want, using your newfound knowledge on each subsequent call.”

Another American friend of mine (before the 9/11 terrorist attacks) shared that he often received first-class upgrades on flights. How? By simply making a polite request at the counter.

Finally, a vice president in a general insurance company advised me that there are some people who negotiate lower car insurance rates.

“How?” I asked.

“By asking.”

In each of these cases, I was stunned. Like many, I am likely to hang up after the first bad call, feeling upset. I also rarely ask for the extras I want and (even worse) believe that requesting a “bligh” is equivalent to doing something bad.

Now, it’s obvious that I only get myself stuck when I fall into these traps. In each of these three situations, there is an effective approach that most people don’t pursue. When you are a businessperson, the cost of stopping yourself is not only in personal convenience but in profits. What do you need to do to make sure that you can “Wheel and Come Again” as often as you need to, without a hint of frustration?

1. Find the Thought Behind the Stress

If you are feeling stressed for more than a quick instant, it’s a likely sign that you need to ask some deeper questions. For example, if you think the world has to change in order to regain your peace of mind, you will suffer. Jamaica’s recession is teaching us that waiting around for business conditions to improve, and for happiness to descend with it, is suicide. When we understand that stress isn’t predetermined by outside circumstances but involves our own thought patterns, that’s a strong beginning.

2. Look for the “Is-World” Beyond the “Should-World”

One of the stressful thoughts I struggle with is:  “A company should be staffed with competent people who can anticipate my wants/needs as a customer.” It’s a perfect example of what some call “Living in a Should-World.” When I am in this mindset I am preoccupied by the way things should be, complaining that my critical standard is not being met. I become impatient, upset and ineffective.

The alternative is “Living in the Is-World.” In this frame of mind, someone accepts what life has offered at that moment fully and completely. It doesn’t mean that he isn’t trying to change things, it simply implies that progress starts by “hugging up” reality.

Businesspeople who do so are free to act without frustration. They are unfazed, quickly accepting the way things are and acting accordingly. Not to say that this is easy, but a long recession shouldn’t be wasted: it is a special time to comprehend big, lifelong lessons.

3. Realize that No-One is to Blame

Sometimes, in corporate life, no person is at fault. A few CEO’s ago, I was standing at the counter of a Digical store trying to use my loyalty points when I learned they had “expired.” Unknown to me, there was a new policy. Since then I have learned that the company had every legal right to change the programme. Furthermore, it had announced the change in the press.

However, I have spoken with over 10 employees (plus a number of my friends) who also had their points deducted, to their shock. They also had no clue the change was coming, costing them valuable points in their account. One employee’s mother was “killing him” with complaints.

But I’m lucky… I have been using my points over the years. Other patient accumulators are the big losers.

Oftentimes, when I recall the incident, I feel cheated. As if a trusted partner who sends me lots of texts, a monthly bill and regular email chose to quietly remove money from my bank account.

I struggle to accept this reality but try not to give up. On each call to Digicel, I complain loudly about the “injustice.” Here I am writing about it.

Even though I’m clear that my appeals might fail, I still feel empowered when I take action. That’s a benefit of not “Should-ing” on myself and accepting the reality of what is.

Francis Wade is a management consultant, keynote speaker and author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity. To receive a summary with links to past columns, or give feedback, email: columns@fwconsulting.com

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20150927/francis-wade-business-rut-stop-second-guessing-yourself

We Jamaicans think it’s rude to call someone “incompetent.” In my latest column, I show that this “politeness” is a big mistake on our part as mediocrity is allowed to fester, grow and bear a bitter fruit.

We need a kind of personal courage that is hard to find, but would let us get past knee-jerk defensiveness.

The article was inspired by the high level of incompetence that surrounds us each day. For example, the recent drought, which apparently caught the National Water Commission by surprise, could have been mitigated by competence. When we don’t strive to deal with our incompetence, bad things happen… leaving us to wonder how and why. The answer is far simpler to implement than it seems, especially for those who already deem themselves to be “smart.”

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Why High Performers “Hug Up” Their Incompetence

We all know that it’s rude to call someone “incompetent.” Unfortunately, this polite norm blocks Jamaican employees from outstanding accomplishment. The solution is to embrace rather than eschew individual incompetence. Here’s why.

People who are experts in a field by virtue of their experience or knowledge have something in common with those who are highly accomplished. They all have an acute sense of what’s missing… the gap between who they are and who they could be. Operating on a knife’s edge, they are forever trying  to expand themselves in areas where they feel an acute lack of competence.

This thirst for results drives them to search and eke out the smallest gains, even if it’s just a fraction of a second in a sprint, a few runs in an innings or a tiny bump in sales revenue. They believe that closing these infinitesimal gaps  is all-important; that accurate self-knowledge is the key.

Over time, they also develop an eye for competence in fields which are unfamiliar and unrelated to their own. High performers can recognize each other, but not because they understand the technical details. Instead, they pick up on the blood, sweat and tears invested in closing competency gaps, whether the hours are spent in surgery, sculpture or in the gym.

By contrast, the average person looking at these same people may not see any connection. Too many believe that  becoming great is just a matter of tapping into God-given talents. In other words, for them, it doesn’t take much for Usain to be Usain. All he had to do was wake up and discover his birthright.

This misconception isn’t shared by high performers, who aren’t misled. One indicator they use to separate high performers from the fakes is  a measure of how someone relates to their innate incompetence.

The fear of incompetence

High performers embrace their incompetence, “hugging it up” from sunup to sundown. The rest of us live in a different world. For us, the worst thing that can happen is to be openly labelled as incompetent, or seen by others as stuck in this condition. Therefore, we resist the label and pretend to have what we don’t, acting as if we can do what we can’t.

Smart people, in particular, have this problem in spades.

Oftentimes, they realize they are well above average at a young age, able to process thoughts faster than their peers.  Many use this ability unwisely: instead of pursuing a life balanced on the edge, they seek comfort. A place to relax and enjoy their advantage in peace.

They learn to use their smarts to bamboozle others, showing off their talents as they protect their comfortable place in life.

Some know better. Ask those who have migrated and you may uncover their true experience. Thinking they were highly accomplished, they discovered far away from home that they were nowhere near the edge. For me, that moment came when after, a few days as a Cornell freshman, I discovered that several of my new friends had perfect SAT scores.

I instantly felt very, very small.

To make things worse, a few weeks later, in casual conversation with a graduate student, I reported my 85% mark on my first computer science test. He asked a single question: “What was the mean?” (i.e. the average score.)

“86%,” I answered.

“You only got a C+!… that’s all!”

In response to my shocked expression, he explained that grades in the engineering school did not correspond to a particular, set range. Instead, they were based on a Bell Curve in which half the class received a B- or better, and the other half received a C+ or worse.

His subsequent advice on how to improve my grades were well-intended, but I processed little of it at the moment. I had graduated at the top of my class at Wolmers, but that meant little in this new, demanding environment. Here was stark evidence of my incompetence.

While migrating to experience higher workplace standards may not be a realistic option for most employees, we can all start by owning our incompetence. For example, many workers shine when they are reassigned to a new boss with better interpersonal skills. Too few managers take this fact as evidence of their incompetence. Instead, they deflect responsibility and continue on, business as usual.

It’s understandable. Looking for examples of high performance and measuring ourselves accordingly takes a lot of hard work. The journey isn’t for everyone.

However, there is no escaping the accumulated consequences of this cowardice. When the number of people in your company seeking out new areas of personal incompetence can be counted on one hand, you have a problem. When 3 million people hide from their incompetence, the result is also predictable… decades of anemic economic growth and a worldwide reputation for low productivity. We can do better.

Francis Wade is a management consultant, keynote speaker and author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity. To receive a Summary of Links to past columns, or give feedback, email: columns@fwconsulting.com
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20150913/francis-wade-why-high-performers-hug-their-incompetence

 

 

 

Listening skills are one of the few that we use almost every day, as long as we are in some kind of conversation. For many professionals, it’s a bit like breathing. Until something goes terribly wrong, we don’t notice our level of skill and do little to improve our capacity from one day to the next.

In this article, I make the point that this approach is mistaken, providing a single way (among many) to think about advanced listening skills.

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How to Rescue Low Employee Followership with Advanced Listening Skills

Executives are often amazed to discover how much they can accomplish with advanced listening skills. Unfortunately, the path to developing them is shrouded in mystery, resulting in a numbing mediocrity that undermines their best efforts.

If you are an executive (or a professional who aspires to top leadership) you are likely to be blessed with great analytical skills. Plus, you have an ability to think on your feet and quickly put thoughts into words. You are also driven to communicate in powerful ways, recognizing the critical need for a leader to develop committed followers.

If you happen to be a leader who is unable to develop the “followership” you’d like, you probably aren’t thinking of fixing the problem with better listening skills. Perhaps, like many, you assume that they are easy to learn, and not that important. You may believe that you are better than your colleagues, trusting that you wouldn’t be where you are in your career if you weren’t already well above average.

However, consider that the popular definition of “listening” (in a two-person conversation) is limited. Most people define “listening” to be more or less the same as “hearing.” In other words, if you have heard all the words the other person has said, then that’s the same as having good listening skills.

That’s a mistake.

Unfortunately, if you are a smart ambitious person, you may be pretending to listen. See if this fits: While the other person is talking, your bright mind races along, assessing multiple thoughts in a flash. You fill the gap between the end of your last sentence and the start of the next one with your own thoughts. Their voice is little more than background noise.

Therein lies the problem. When you are caught up in your thoughts, you aren’t actually listening – not in a deep way. Instead, you are multi-tasking – giving only what’s called “continuous partial attention.” In other words, you are switching your attention between your thoughts and their words. At your worst, a tiny fraction of your attention is on the other person… your thoughts are far more interesting.

If you have ever been accused of not listening by someone you may be guilty of this habit, which some call “pausing to reload.” Perhaps you defended yourself by repeating every word the other person just said, maybe without skipping a beat. However, this represents the lowest level of listening I mentioned before… “hearing.” According to a number of studies, full communication involves a wider blend of channels: 55% relates to body language, 38% to tone of voice and only 7% to the words spoken. Take this research to mean that when someone reduces communication to just a bunch of spoken sentences they may be missing out on the 93% that’s not resident in the words.

Based on this finding, here is one expanded way to listen that is far more powerful, and actually builds followership.

Listening to Leave the Other Person Satisfied

If you can leave someone in a conversation with the experience of “being heard” you have given a shared gift. This is no generic, fleeting emotion. When the experience takes place for both people, there is a deep sense of fulfillment and connection. It is a oneness that is often present when people fall in love, become good friends in a click or come up with a brilliant idea for a new business.

By contrast, when one or both people feel as if they are not being heard, the outcome is disastrous. Lots of words get repeated. War breaks out.

Fortunately, there are simple techniques to use as remedies. Just ask “Am I getting all that you are saying?” after you have paraphrased their words aloud. Pause, listen and watch to see if they think that you are capturing their words, emotion and intent. Tune into your inner guidance to detect any discrepancies or inconsistencies.

Another useful technique is the practice of meditation. In most forms of the discipline, you learn to ignore your inner thoughts and bring your attention to a single point of focus. Without suppressing any given thought, you train yourself to retain a laser-like focus. In a conversation, this point of focus happens to be the other person and the message they are trying to communicate.

Unfortunately, these are techniques you are unlikely to use under pressure. For example, recall the last time you were verbally attacked. It may be hard to imagine yourself paraphrasing or granting laser-like attention in that episode.

The good news is that the techniques associated with advanced listening are especially suited for these difficult interactions. Using them involves deliberate practice sessions that might be uncomfortable, but build invisible muscles.

After all, Serena Williams and Chris Gayle take their time on the practice court or nets seriously. So should you if you are serious about developing advanced listening skills and employee followership.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity and a management consultant. To receive a free Summary of each of his past articles, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20150830/francis-wade-rescue-low-followership-advanced-listening-skills

People blame the lack of me-time in their lives on their circumstances and in this article I try to show that it has more to do with a lack of personal skill.

 

Why You Have So Little “Me-Time”

As a knowledge worker, you aren’t alone if you find yourself running out of “me-time” – the time you need to spend taking care of yourself. If the amount is far below your expectations, here’s why.

Back when you completed your tertiary studies or apprenticeship, finding “me-time” probably wasn’t an issue. However, as you assumed greater commitments over the years, you probably started to feel a squeeze. Today, if you are an ambitious, Type A individual, you may have an acute problem. Your high energy levels and competitive spirit have made it easy to create more time demands than other people. This has had a positive effect – more recognition and promotions – but also an expensive, accumulated toll.

What kind of toll?

Well, if you define “me-time” as the discretionary hours spent each away from work, community obligations and church responsibilities, then it covers the following:
– Opportunities to recharge between intense projects
– Date nights with a spouse
– Play-time with your kids
– Long chats engaging your parents
– Hanging out with friends
– Daily devotions and/or planning

When you allocate time away from these activities, it takes a toll.

In an earlier article (August 31, 2014) I mentioned the need to spend 15 hours with your spouse per week if you hope to maintain the relationship. Recent research backs this up, showing a direct, negative correlation between time spent together and the probability of one day being divorced.

Some adults fail to see the need to spend quality time with their children. When I was a teen, a friend shared that one of the worst days in her life was when her parents forgot her birthday. Perhaps they just weren’t spending enough “me-time.”

Most articles that address this problem focus on the need to make explicit, written schedules that produce the desired balance. “What gets scheduled gets done” is more than a cliche. It’s backed up by researchers like NYU’s Peter Gollwitzer, who coined the term “implementation intention.
It describes a time demand that also specifies a specific start time, duration and location. Data shows that implementation intentions dramatically increase the odds that a task will be completed.

It follows therefore that if you want more “me-time” all you need do is schedule it. Unfortunately, this particular time demand is one of many which each deserve an equal commitment. Why not schedule them all? If you have ever tried this technique, you know that there are some major obstacles.

One obstacle is a misconception. Too many of us believe that becoming a better time manager involves discovering a single method and applying it diligently for the rest of our careers. This is incorrect. Instead, if you hope to survive the inevitable increase in time that life brings, you must evolve your behaviour.

Fortunately, my research shows that there is a standard track for knowledge workers to follow in their development in this area. Success relies on your ability to make the right shifts at the right time from one method to another. Here are five examples that can help you retain all the me-time you need. Each of them involves picking up a new practice, as stated, and they are listed here in approximate order of complexity.

Change 1 – From mental calendar to paper calendar

New practice – Carrying a printed calendar everywhere. Back in the 1990’s, toting around a leather notebook-planner was a sure sign of being a serious professional. Taking the extra step of converting a time demand from a mere thought into a written object transforms it.

Change 2 – From paper calendar to digital calendar

New practice – Managing an electronic device. It is all too easy to use a smartphone without mastering the necessary skills. They include keeping it charged, backing it up to the cloud and making its calendar available on multiple platforms.

Change 3 – From only scheduling meetings to scheduling all major tasks

New practice – Placing all your tasks straight into your calendar as soon as they are confirmed. Eschew To-Do lists.

Change 4 – From manually juggling your schedule to using software

New practice – Obtaining and using some of the most recent software like Timeful or SkedPal. (I play an advisory role in the latter.) Both use artificial intelligence to produce an optimized, custom calendar with the press of a button.

Change 5 – From doing your own scheduling to trusting an executive assistant

New practice – Training and trusting someone else to manage your schedule. Share your priorities so they are never violated.

While most people find themselves stuck at Change 1, there are knowledge workers at every level here in Jamaica. The reason so few are able to progress, is that five changes are to make. But they are the only way to keep finding the “me-time” you need to function. For those who are successful, “me-time” is not an afterthought, but a matter of consciously refining hard-won scheduling skills.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity and a management consultant. To receive a free Summary of each of his past articles, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com

 

 

A few years ago I coined a new term – the “promisphere.” It’s a simple place to start in transforming a company’s culture.

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If you suspect that there is something wrong with your corporate culture here’s one way to start cleaning things up now, before the situation worsens.

The “promisphere” in your company is defined as a network consisting of every promise ever made. Each individual commitment contributes to the overall promisphere, regardless of its current state. Because a promise is a human invention of the mind, according to Promise Theory by Bergstra and Burgess, it’s little more than a psychological object. However, the promisphere is a powerful indicator of your company’s health as it limits what can be accomplished, especially when it’s in bad shape.

Picture a fish-tank. The fish are like employees and the water can be compared to the promisphere. Each time, when a fish poops, it pollutes its own surroundings just a little. Over time, if nothing is done to correct the situation, the water poisons and kills all its inhabitants.

In like manner, in your company, whenever someone breaks, forgets or abandons a promise it pollutes the promisphere. Eventually, the problem escalates if nothing is done to reverse the effect and getting even simple things done becomes harder. As the bonds of trust fray, people are forced to invest a greater effort to maintain the same level of productivity. After a while, those who care the most get burned out and either stop trying altogether, or circulate their resume in an attempt to abandon ship.

If this resonates with you at all don’t despair yet. Every company has a promisphere and if a leader insists that his firm’s promisphere is absolutely clear… don’t believe him. The reason is simple – companies are staffed with imperfect human beings who make promises every day and fail to keep them. In other words, the promisphere is continuously being polluted, without exception. The danger is not taking urgent action to reverse the decay. What can your organization do to make sure that it’s promisphere is being cleaned up?

1. Prevent “Executitis”
Like pancreatitis, executitis is a slow, silent killer. It’s a condition in which top managers lose touch with their people, including the state of the promisphere. After some time, even well-meaning executives come to believe that broken promises don’t matter very much. They trust that, at the end of the day, staff will give them a big bligh, understand the pressures they are under and just forget about past promises. It’s not an insane tactic. Working Jamaicans trust their leaders far too much, leading to disillusionment when they see them ignoring the promisphere.

They make it too easy for executives to ignore the power and intelligence of the crowd – their staff. Leaders fail to notice that even a brand new employee can recall a broken, unfulfilled promise made decades ago. They don’t simply disappear.

On the flip-side, an executive who understands the promisphere and how it’s being polluted every day, is hyper-aware of every single promise he makes. It’s hard work to stay on top of all of them, but it pays off in the trust it generates.

2. Develop Skills
An executive who is aware of the promises he makes also must become skillful at cleaning things up when they are broken. Sometimes it requires a simple email, for example, apologizing for arriving late at a meeting. At the other extreme, I have seen executives write and read letters to their staff, taking responsibility for failing to perform their duties.

These are the sort of actions that clean up a company’s promisphere. Others include
– telling the truth openly
– seeking reconciliation
– asking for forgiveness
– making amends
– offering apologies.
In all cases, responsibility is taken wherever it has been lacking.

It’s heady, transformative stuff. I have written letters like the ones I described and as gut-wrenching as they are, they often do change everything. The first attempt can be stressful, but anyone can deliberately strengthen their skills via intense practice sessions with a trained coach.

3. Find Courage
Unfortunately, new awareness and skills aren’t enough. It’s challenging to have a confronting conversation with a boss, colleague, direct report or other stakeholder. Cleaning up the promisphere calls for a level of courage many executives don’t possess.

People will do anything to avoid these tough conversations indefinitely, trying hard to find plausible reasons to avoid them altogether. If you doubt this assertion, bring to mind three people you don’t believe you can effectively confront regarding a broken promise either of you has made. (If you cannot find an example, just ask someone who knows you well.)

Courage can be developed with the support of your colleagues. They can provide emotional cover.

Fortunately, the manager who avoids executitis, but grows in skill and courage makes staff members feel respected as they clean up the promisphere. They restore the capacity of their companies to perform.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity and a management consultant. To receive a free Summary of each of his past articles, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com

Click here to access the online Gleaner version of this article.

I was listening to a Knowledge at Wharton podcast recently in which Peter Capelli was being interviewed. He described the mismatch in the USA between those who are looking to hire talent and those who job-seeking.

At the same time, my wife and I have been sharing about the number of friends we have in the USA who are jobhunting in their 50’s, having recently been laid off. Most are being replaced by younger staff – less expensive, better users of technology who are likely to improve their productivity faster.

Jamaica (and most of the Caribbean) doesn’t have that particular problem, but our youth would argue that we do little to develop new talent. That’s the topic I decided to focus on in this week’s article.

 

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It’s a human resource mistake that appears, at first, to be a smart strategy: only hire people who can hit the ground running, without any training. Unfortunately, your company could be sowing the seeds of mediocrity in the form of a short-cut that draws long-term blood.

In the wake of the global recession, U.S. companies are complaining that they cannot find the workers they need. As a result, a huge number of jobs are going unfilled. At the same time, the unemployment rate among recent graduates is disturbingly high, as it is in Jamaica. According to business author Professor Peter Capelli, the reason is simple. Companies are looking for candidates with at least five years experience.

The logic, which also applies to local companies, is understandable. To fill an open position, just find someone with all the experience required. This is an extremely expensive option as these qualified people usually aren’t floating around looking for employment. They already have stable jobs and their employers are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to keep them happy.

This predatory approach is, according to Capelli, a way of compensating for a lack of internal training. In 1979, a young employee received 2.5 weeks of training per year on average. By 2014, only 29% had received any training whatsoever in the past five years.

My observation is that companies are expecting employees to train themselves.

This is not crazy thinking. Back in the 1990’s, thousands of workers sat in classrooms to learn Windows, Excel and Word. Today, almost no-one is trained to use these programmes… instead, without a single paragraph of explanation or a minute of video they get themselves and running in an instant. Today’s employee has learned how to teach themselves.

Unfortunately, this miraculous, modern-day skill doesn’t scale to include other areas of learning. Even the most adept self-learner has a difficult time picking up decent “soft skills” such as negotiation, time management and leadership. Furthermore, the horror stories I hear coming from university departments lead me to think that more academic education doesn’t help.

The ultimate answer is simple: change the way your company conceives of human resources and their role in the enterprise.

Unlike a computing or financial resource, a human resource has the innate ability to learn and grow in stature. However, in most companies how this happens is a mystery. They may have excellent internal processes for tracking every penny, but have no clue how a leader develops within their own walls. The actions required and the time someone needs to invest to learn these skills are the stuff of myths and anecdotes.

Many human resource professionals argue that it’s better to have the perfect training system than to be forced to search for the perfect employee. Yet, your company is cutting back on employee development and doing little to leverage the low-cost training available via the internet. Why is this happening?

Reason #1 – All Costs and No Benefits
Perhaps your internal management systems, like many others, is lopsided. It reports primarily financial metrics which highlight all the costs of a training intervention but none of the benefits. As a result, employee development is the first item your organization cuts from every annual budget. Making a balanced decision to offer training requires different tools, which your company lacks.

Reason #2 – Hiring for the Short Term
Disney and Southwest Airlines are a few of the companies known for their policy of hiring primarily for attitude. This is especially true in customer-facing positions where months (not years) of technical training are required. Their stance is that specific skills can be taught, but the right frame of mind cannot. This particular tactic makes perfect sense when your company takes a long-term perspective.

Reason #3 – Hiring a Whole Person vs. a Functionary
Your company may be typical in these recessionary times, hiring people for jobs they can perform right away. However, it runs the risk of staffing itself with people who are expert at soon-to-be-obsolete functions. A better strategy might be to hire fast learners who can pick up any technology quickly while changing their behaviour to suit new circumstances. Oftentimes, these nimble employees lack experience due to their age, but are better able to transform the job itself. Some of them may already be in your company, stuck in a dead-end job. Most companies are weak at identifying talent that is sitting right underneath their noses.

The trap of mediocrity can be avoided but great companies aren’t built by cherry-picking talent from outside. Instead, they build training systems that take available people, building enduring cultures around them. In these times, this approach “costs” more but there is no such thing as a company cost-cutting its way to market dominance. That only comes from investing in people with the highest potential.

Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity and a management consultant. To receive a free Summary of each of his past articles, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com

Click here to read the article on the Gleaner website.