Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Devil’s in the Details

One of my favorite sayings…particularly when I’m working on a project. While it’s important to have the big picture, the strategic view, the long term perspective, what trips people up is the detail.

Why? It takes a long time to figure out that someone’s strategy is wrong. It can take years….and perspectives can shift dramatically depending on the circumstances.

But details can trip you up immediately. And visibly. So as you progress in your career, never forget that the details matter.  I have found many times that if you spend 3 hours now, you’ll save 60 hours later. Mistakes are much harder to rectify the further you’ve gone down the road.

Making It Easier

One thing people have shared with me is that they like to post the Lessons Learned list on their work wall, as a reminder. I’ve included an easy to print version for those of you who’d like to do the same. Go to “My Lessons Learned List” under Pages on the top right hand corner to find it.

Enjoy!

Instincts

You can learn a lot through reading, school, on the job classes. But unless you couple it with experience, it’s like a free floating fact in your brain…interesting, but what do you do with it?

If you haven’t had the experiences yet, listen to your instincts.

A good friend who astonishes me in his ability to size people based on very little information explains his prowess this way:

“I grew up in a tough neighborhood in Brooklyn. So when a guy’s walking down the street towards you, you need to be able to size up pretty quickly whether or not he’s going to shake your hand, or knock you out. Are they a friend, or a hustler?”

Our ability to rationalize and over-think things often gets in the way of our instincts. When your instinct kicks in, listen.

Improvements to Lessons Learned

You’ll notice I added a “register here” section to the site so that you get an email alert when I post (along with the hundreds of emails you get already!)

Also, a reader asked me why I didn’t enable “comments” to the site. While I try to assume positive intent, people can say things which are hurtful to each other (have even seen this on breast cancer blogs!), so I don’t allow comments. Maybe someday.

Thanks for the feedback…..

Humor in the workplace

TV shows always depict the workplace to be a place of general hilarity and fun.

So not true. A workplace is where you do work, it’s not where you play.

In my career, I’ve seen people play pranks, send emails, make a joke in the spirit of “being funny.”  So here’s the biggest difference between work and personal: in your personal life, if someone thinks it’s not funny, they’ll just ignore you. When someone at work thinks it’s not funny, they can make a complaint or worse, or you can set off a chain of events which you did not intend. (BTW,  I have never seen this end well, no matter how innocent the act was.)

Once there is a complaint, it will need to be investigated. And your intent will not matter: what will matter was whether or not the injured party was justified feeling the way they did.  They will look at emails. They will look at text messages. They will interview other employees.

If it crosses your mind that “this might not be a good idea”, listen to your instincts and suppress the urge. Want to be funny? Poke fun at yourself.

 

You didn’t get promoted…now what?

Nothing is more disappointing than not getting something you were expecting/hoping for.

In my career, I have had many people come to my office upset because they didn’t get promoted. I always ask the one question:

“Did you have a conversation with your manager about promotion?”

Every time, the answer is no.

I know everyone wants to believe that their works speaks for itself. That it will come to them because they deserve it. That it’s impolite to bring it up if your manager hasn’t.

Nope. Here’s the reason why: your manager may think you’re not interested.

Once you have the conversation, a couple of things will happen:

1. Your manager will be supportive: you’ll work on a plan together to make it happen.  If your manager is supportive, you’ll probably see the change right away. Someone I spoke to who did this saw that she was given much more exposure, invited to more meetings, and given the ball more frequently. That’s exactly what should happen.

2. Your manager might be surprised and not think you’re ready. The question you need to ask is “Is my promotion an if or a when question”?   Someday is different than never.

If the answer is “when”, you need to have a frank conversation about what you need to work on. Is it platform, perception, or performance? (see LL#24)  Create a set of action steps with your manager, and schedule a quarterly touch base on how the plan is progressing. Don’t get too hung up on timeframes: you want to be ready when it happens.

If the answer is “if”, meaning they’re not convinced you can operate at the next level, you need to ask yourself the hard question: “Is my manager right?”

I have had many conversations in my career with people who thought they were ready to be promoted, but I didn’t agree. Often it’s a timing issue. But sometimes, it’s not, especially at the more senior level. It’s a hard conversation to have because the individual compares themselves to other people at that level, or because they are strong performers in their current role.  But that’s not the only thing needed. So here are two things to think about:

1. Do you trust your manager’s opinion?  If your manager is telling you you’re not ready, are they specific with your areas of weakness? Is your manager respected within his or her peer group?  Have you heard this feedback before? Do you think other people you respect would agree with your manager’s assessment? Do you respect your manager’s opinion? Do you think it can be changed?

2. Why do you think you should be promoted? Will you be able to meet the criteria of the new role? Have you demonstrated that consistently to a meaningful population? Why does your opinion differ from your manager’s?

Keep in mind: it’s easy for a manager to put a candidate forward, and let the process weed weak candidates out. It’s a lot harder for a manager to have the honest conversation. It may not be what you want to hear, but at least they told you the truth from their perspective. There is nothing worse than 1) the promotion that clearly was too early, or 2) the loss of a talented person who didn’t realize they were on the promotion track.

So in order to prevent those two things from happening, have the conversation before you decide what to do next.

 

Do what needs to be done today

It’s easy to get frustrated when your day is interrupted, or doesn’t go as planned. Unexpected phone calls, meetings cancelled or moved up, crises, problems. So how do you cope?

No matter what happens, make sure you do what needs to be done today.

As long as you stay focused on that principle, you’ll work on the right priorities.  You’re likely to spend your time wisely. More importantly, you’re setting up for a better tomorrow.

A big lesson learned for me? Schedule capacity. That means you block time out on your calendar. Sprinkle half hour  placeholders throughout your week to make sure you create capacity for the unplanned. I used to schedule my day with back to back meetings. I would have no time to deal with important issues without disrupting my whole schedule. I would get frustrated because by the time I got back to my desk, everyone was gone.

So before you let the day’s emails, appointments, and requests take over your day, make sure you’ve decided what needs to be done today. But also make sure you have the capacity to do it.

“Clear eyes, full heart.”

For those of you who have watched Friday Night Lights….you know what this means.

This was a show that got a lot of critical acclaim, but didn’t get the attention of the masses.

It’s available on Netflix: the hero of the show is the coach: he  is an amazing example of leadership. He’s tough, he’s demanding, and he’s loved. He’s noble. This was his motto.

Watch here on youtube a tribute of the show. Take a moment and give yourself a shot of inspiration. Can’t lose.

Happy New Year and Thank you

As we close out 2014 (where did it go?) and get ready to dive into 2015, I wanted to wish everyone a happy new year…health, happiness, and success in 2015.

I also wanted to thank all of you: this blog started as a hobby this spring, and it’s been great to know in my small way, there are those of you who find it helpful and valuable. I’ve gotten notes and emails which have been so heartwarming…definitely keeps me motivated to keep writing.

See you next year!