More on Leadership Behaviors

In January, I wrote about "Leadership Behaviors" which tracked back to a post by Lance Secretan about a recent study by a Florida State University Professor that found that employees don't leave companies, they leave bosses...

I happened upon a post by Olivier Blanchard, on his Brand Builder blog which comes to the same conclusion, here's what Olivier had to say:

"I was browsing Upstate Magnet yesterday (a small local business publication), and came up on this great little one-page article written by Jack Smalley (SPHR with Express Personnel).

Having seen top performers leave organizations time and time again, Jack's points seemed sadly familiar. I have encountered them all myself, and I have to admit that each one of these can consitute a good reason for even the most talented, hard-working employee or manager to go seek greener pastures. Combine any two or three - or all five - and you can expect to spend a whole lot of your HR department's time searching and hiring top talent to replace the folks you weren't savvy enough to hold on to in the first place.

Olivier goes on to tell us about "six things your company may be doing to chase away top talent: (go to full article for details)

1. There is no link between pay and performance

2. They don't perceive advancement opportunities

3. Their contributions are not recognized

4. Management has unclear or unrealistic expectations

5. They will no longer tolerate abusive managers

6. Constant reorganization of management   

And adds:

"As an aside -
Typical traits of lousy managers:

- Excessive demands & personal sacrifices.- Placing their department in a continual state of crisis.
- A demand for employees to be available at all hours.
- Setting unreasonable deadlines.
- Pony Express management style (Ride 'em till they drop), causing burnout, stress and depression in their people.
- Risk-aversion.
- Abusive treatment of employees.
- Being too busy to make themselves helpful.
- Acting annoyed at requests for help, advice or insight.
- Nepotism.
- Making last-minute unilateral decisions that make absolutely no sense.
- "Big Stick" management. (Screw up, and I will hit you over the head with the big stick.)
- A complete lack of trustworthiness

One of the conclusions from the article was as simple as it was astute, and it is this:

Most employees don't quit their jobs. They quit their managers.

That's pretty powerful... and absolutely correct.

I know it's pretty obvious for many of you, but it is well worth bringing up from time to time."

When will people in management start to realize the implications of their behavior?

-Susan Martin, Business and Leadership Coach       

Costly Mistakes of Working "In" Instead of "On" Your Business

Years ago, in his bestselling book "The E-Myth Revisited" Michael Gerber pointed out that the typical entrepreneur, business owner or professional spends most of his or her time working "in" the business, instead of working "on" the business; and this is the most significant reason that most small businesses don't work.

Not much has changed since.  The vast majority of clients I've met since starting Business Sanity have certainly followed suit.  After all, it makes perfect sense, since so many people start businesses because they have a specific talent, ability or skill; and want to use it to make money for themselves, rather than a boss.  The trouble begins when they continue to behave as though they're working for someone else, and just do the work; not run the business.

What are some of the areas that are overlooked when you only work "in" the business?

• Sales and marketing: So many business owners neglect to go after new business when they're busy; as a result, they fall into the dreaded "feast and famine" cycle and tend to get desperate and scramble when things are slow.
• Strategic business planning:  Many are so pre-occupied with the work at hand, that business planning gets pushed to the side, often indefinitely.  Often this behavior leads to "crises management" and downhill from there.
• Finances: Depending upon the size of the business, all sorts of financial issues are overlooked, from paying bills and doing invoices to bookkeeping, to financial planning and analysis; dangerous territory that's too often tread upon.
• Production and quality control: There's nothing worse than when you get the business and then screw it up.  Maintaining on-time deliveries and a high standard of quality were never more important.
• Time management and productivity:  Getting caught up working "in" the business often eats up your time, so that you have none left for running the business. 

What areas of your business have been neglecting by working "for" not "on" the business?

-Susan Martin, NYC based business coach.

Should Women Attorneys Pretend to be Single?

I'd thought I'd seen it all, until I read a recent post in the Wall Street Journal Law Blog entitled "When You Land the Interview, Should the Ring Come Off?" Here's the post in it's entirety, but click on the link above anyway, just to see the tremendous response it's gotten:

"Should women applying for law-firm jobs take off their engagement or wedding rings? Our friends at the Wall Street Journal’s Juggle blog posted the question to its readers earlier this week, which generated a few dozen interesting responses. One in particular caught our eye:

I am a formerly practicing attorney and now a headhunter for lawyers . . . . [P]artners in various places have said to me, in unguarded moments, that they still prefer men associates to women because of the whole child rearing issue . . . . A guy with a wedding ring and a newborn, can sucessfully use that fact to show that, although he has changed jobs a great deal and has a less than conventional resume — now he has settled down and is, for the prospective employer, a good long term investment. A woman, with that same picture, would be regarded as a higher risk of leaving the workplace unless maybe she could convey that she had a husband with an unstable income. I have never counseled anyone — whether male or female — to remove their wedding or engagement rings for purposes of an interview. The troubling thought is that maybe I should.

O Law Blog readers, please weigh in."

The question is:  How can we go from a society where work is valued ABOVE all else?

-Susan Martin, NYC based business and work life balance coach.

Dealing with a difficult boss

A recent article by my friend and colleague Career Coach Dale Kurow, entitled "Dealing With A Difficult Boss" is geared toward employees; but has some great insights into dealing with customers, partners and other difficult people as well.

Dale talks specifically about "screamers" and "hypocrites" and give some great tips about how to handle them:

The Screamer: "Learn to judge the best times to approach her. Tone of voice, body language, time of day, all these hold signs of her emotional barometer. That’s the key to getting what you need and avoiding many of her outbursts..."

The Hypocrite who is prone to mood swings: " Whether things are good or bad, you need to control how you respond and not join your boss on his emotional rollercoaster. Be patient and professional at all times. Use a “charge neutral” voice, an even, unemotional tone..."

Read the entire article here.  (You'll have to scroll down to the featured article)

-Susan Martin, NYC Business and Leadership Coach

Leadership behavior

I often hear clients complain about their employees and many of these complaints are justified, some employees just don't care, lack judgement, have no sense of urgency, are lazy...

But employee's attitudes aren't the only thing at play here, like all human beings, they react to the way they are treated. 

Unfortunately, not all bosses treat their employees with the basic respect all people deserve.

Bosses and managers can inspire and motivate their employees, or scare them away, depending upon what types of leadership behaviors they exibit.

A recent study by a Florida State University Professor Wayne Hochwarter, associate professor of management in their College of Business found that employees don't leave companies, they leave bosses; primarily because they have:

• Given them the "silent treatment"
• Failed to keep promises
• Haven't given credit when due
• Spoken negatively about employees to others
• Or, blamed others for mistakes they've made

Lance Secretan hit the nail on the head when responding to this study in his recent post:

"...I have been astounded by the number of leaders who use leadership behaviors that demoralize, are abusive or dishonoring, and counterproductive. It astounds me, even after all these years, how few choose to lead in a way that inspires." read more...

What types of leadership behaviors exist in your company? 

-Susan Martin, NYC Business and Leadership Coach