Men I Admire: Derek Jeter

 

Confession, I know nothing about baseball. But even I can’t ignore Derek Jeter, the captain of the New York Yankees. He announced that he will retire next year, which is probably the biggest thing to happen in baseball in years.

I won’t go through all his achievements in baseball. He doesn’t have the best numbers. But as captain of the Yankees, he clearly knows a thing or two about leadership. He is universally respected and admired…even by the opposing teams. He is a quiet leader who leads by example. No scandals, no embarrassing publicity, no regretted tweets.  Ever.

One of the quotes from him that I love is the following:

“You can’t be afraid of failing. You have confidence if you’ve had success in the past. I’ve done it before, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be successful again.”

Often people avoid the tough situations because they are afraid of failing or making a mistake. But you also don’t learn anything new.  If you have lots of different experiences and take the tough assignments, you will learn what it takes to be successful. And while it’s no guarantee of future success, it does build your confidence so that you can handle the new challenges that get thrown at you. Confidence doesn’t mean arrogance. Confidence is believing that what you’re doing will get you to the right outcome.  If you don’t believe, why should anyone follow you…and isn’t that what leadership is?

Thank you Derek Jeter, for someone everyone can look up to. Check here for his last game at Yankee stadium. Unbelievable.

 

Feedback Decoded: “You need to be more detail oriented.”

This is a new series I’m starting, which is translating what people might say to you in performance reviews, but what they really mean. I was having a conversation with someone, and she told me she got this feedback.

So here’s what it means:

It means that your manager is looking for consistency from you that they’re not seeing. Now I know everyone makes mistakes. But nothing gets more frustrating to a manager when you make lots of little mistakes, or when you make the same mistakes over and over again. It makes them feel like 1) you’re not listening or paying attention, or 2) if these things are wrong, something else is wrong with the presentation. The saying “The devil’s in the details” is absolutely true.

Here’s what helps: a checklist. Simple, but effective. Make a list of all the things you’ve gotten wrong in the past, and when you do your next whatever, make sure you check your checklist. At the least, you’ll know you’re not making any old mistakes.

Some things to put on a checklist for presentations:

  1. Spell check and grammar check. I know basic. But still see this.
  2. Font size consistency across the pages: titles always the same.
  3. Page numbers.
  4. Numbers tie: meaning a number on one page matches it on another page. Lots of time people forget to update all the places where the number is used.
  5. No slang, colloquialisms. Try not to use acronyms.
  6. Check dates: if the dates have past, the status is usually completed, but people miss this because they just cut and paste from the last presentation.
  7. If the presentation is a big one, do a table top exercise prior to submission. This is when you bring a few people into a room to read the presentation, page by page. Often, you’re in the process of making lots of updates: that’s when you start losing sight of the overall deck. Take a moment and look at the whole presentation with fresh eyes.
  8. Give the deck to someone you trust who is detail oriented to review and read before you submit.
  9. The information has to stand on its own. If I need you to explain it, it doesn’t.
  10. Label clearly: simple colors and legends. Be consistent. If orange means legal expenses, don’t make it blue later in the deck.

When details get missed the first time, it’s usually brushed off as a one time mistake. The problem happens when it becomes a pattern: then it’s not a rare occurrence, but who you are.

 

Reducing Stress

I get asked “how do you manage stress”? I’ll be honest: yoga, running, and meditation do not work for me.  And life will never be stress free. But here’s some things I do to help manage it:

1. Being really organized.

I didn’t used to be this way. For instance, now I have one of those closets where the clothes are hanging and grouped by color. It’s still a small closet, but I know where to go for what.  I don’t have clutter on top of my tables. I don’t have paper all over the place. No unpaid bills lurking with the newspapers.

What this does is gives me good line of sight for what I need and makes sure I got everything before I leave. The only time I left my keys in my apartment was when they were under the paper. When you can see what you have, you’re not searching, hunting, buying duplicates, and getting frustrated.

2. Simplifying.

Simplify what isn’t that important to you. What I wear isn’t that important to me. Black, gray, cream, and navy. I could be a librarian. Everything goes with everything else. My jewelry is the same every day with the exception of my necklace. I can get dressed in 5 minutes…I’m not looking for the skirt that goes with this top and needs this jewelry. Variety is exciting and interesting…but for me, it’s also stressful. Yes, it could be defined as boring. I’ll take boring over drama. Maybe it’s important to you…it makes you happy, builds your confidence. That’s fine….but simplify the other stuff. Having everything be complicated is too hard.

3. Being choosy.

I don’t accept every invitation, I don’t go to every event, I don’t see every movie, I don’t read every book…you get my drift. I try to only do the things that I think will be great. If I hold a high standard of what I do, I’m going to be pretty happy with my choices. Is there any worse feeling than thinking something was a waste of time?I was once working on an Internet website, and the developer I was working with had a great phrase: “we need to carefully curate.” I love the idea of being deliberate about your choices.

4. Limiting social media.

I know this is hard for some people.  To someone on the outside looking in, it feels like a lot of one upmanship. Is it going to make you feel good to know every thing going on in other people’s lives and to have to keep up? I think this stresses people out more than they realize.

5. Do it now.

That saying, “don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today”? Absolutely reduces stress. When you tackle that which needs to be done today, you progress. You move the ball forward. When you don’t, you’re just procrastinating. I have never seen a situation get better as a result of putting things off. If you feel like you have too much to do….it’s not that. It’s that you’re not prioritizing. Think…what do I absolutely have to get done today? There’s your to-do list.

 

 

 

4. Administrators react, managers anticipate. Be a manager.

In my career, I’ve seen two kinds of people. Managers and administrators.

Administrators react. They are good steady state people. They maintain the status quo. When things go wrong though, they tend to panic.  They can be bureaucratic. They’re typically not change agents.

Managers are different. They have a sense of urgency. They are the ones who are always looking for the weakness in the process, the next thing that will go wrong before it does. They constantly pressure test, they ask “what if”, they have a plan b. They solve for the problem before the problem even happens. They are continuously improving.  They are not afraid to address the elephant in the room. They will bring up problems, but will also create answers. They are passionately motivated to do the right thing. Even though they look for faults, they’re positive and optimistic, because they believe in getting better.

Managers are often unsung heroes because there is no drama. We have a culture that likes drama, the rescuing, the adrenaline rush. I heard a great description at one company: “We’re so good at putting out fires, we’ve become pyromaniacs.”

But eventually, someone asks “Could this have been avoided?”  So be a manager.

 

 

11. Don’t aim for perfect. Aim for the best you can do.

We come to work with a desire to perform, to excel, and to do the best job we can.  Many of us have been trained: in school, by our parents, by our peers, by the media to be perfect. Perfection is the ultimate goal. Or is it?

I would argue that perfection is impossible and that it actually creates different kinds of problems for people, especially at work. So here’s what I’ve seen:

  • The person who is always working late hours, missing deadlines because the work output isn’t perfect.
  • The person who delays making a decision, deferring it because they need more analysis, facts, and people to check with to make the perfect decision.
  • The person who is afraid to make a decision for fear of being wrong and not being perfect.
  • The person who takes it personally when something goes wrong because they’re not perfect.

So let me clear…you can’t be at an unacceptable standard of performance. You have to be accurate. But getting to the next level of “perfect” burns a lot of calories…and the law of diminishing returns starts kicking in. Not to mention, the clock is ticking. Remember the professor who marked you down a grade when your paper was late? Well, that also applies at work as well. “Perfect” delivered late isn’t perfect.

No one expects you to be perfect at work…. you’re expected to make mistakes. Now, some mistakes it’s hard to recover from (see Lessons Learned number 1), but most mistakes you can, depending on how you handle it. No boss will ever tell you perfection is the goal…but continuous improvement is. That means 1) fix the problem, and 2) make sure it never happens again.

Here’s the analogy I often use: yes, we need a flight plan in order to take off. But if we spend all our time on the tarmac trying to account for every possibility that could occur, we’re just burning fuel and time. Once you get the plane in the air, you’ll have the ability to make inflight adjustments. You always want a plan B. But at some point, you have to go.

You are not perfect. You know that: so stop holding yourself to that standard. What you are is someone who can learn, and gain experiences to be successful in what life throws at you. What’s better than perfect? Peace of mind knowing you are doing the best you can do.

 

 

Great Leadership Moments

One of my favorite movies is “Rudy”. It’s based on a true story about someone who against all odds, goes to Notre Dame, and gets to be a member of the football team. Because he is small and short, he doesn’t get to play but he shows up to every practice with heart and soul.

I won’t ruin the end for you if you haven’t seen it. But one of my favorite moments is when it’s the second to last game of the season, and he still hasn’t played.  Watch what his team does.

That’s leadership.

 

 

Communication Lessons Learned

I always thought communication skills were a no brainer. Obvious. What’s the big deal?

Then I had the benefit of working with someone who I call “Yoda” who taught me that communications has best practices. So a couple of things he taught me:

1. Communication in companies has changed. It used to be more like a newspaper: you’d report on what happened. Now, communication is more akin to a political campaign headquarters. The information coming in is constant, and you’re continually refining what you communicate out in response to what your voters are telling you.

2. When you develop your key strategic messages, they need to be simple, meaningful, and take into account what you want people to know, think, do and feel. They shouldn’t change significantly year over year. What you choose to emphasize may change.

3. Framing the message is critical….meaning context is key. A memo sent out “we’re closing down stores” feels different than a CEO getting in front of everyone and saying:  “As you all know, our company has had some financial challenges. While we have reduced our expenses where we can, the senior team has decided that we will need to close stores in the Midwest region this year.  We haven’t yet decided which ones. We will communicate to those impacted people as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support while this is going on.”

Be honest about what you know will happen, what may happen, what won’t happen. That way you’re always telling the truth, but you’re not waiting until you know all the facts before communicating. Remember, in the absence of information, people will make up their own version of the truth to fill in the gap. Make sure you involve human resources and legal if the situation needs it. I find HR to be a great group to run ideas by.

4. What you say means nothing if your behavior doesn’t support it. You can’t say you care about people if your behavior suggests the contrary. People look for the symbols that indicate the message is real. So if you say people are important, and then you spend more time in all hands meetings, improving benefits, refurbishing the cafeteria, you will be much more credible.

5. Optics matter. You may not necessarily be doing anything wrong, but the optics don’t work. Remember the three big automakers who asked Congress for billions of dollars? Later it was found out that they flew in on private jets.

What do you when your project’s failing

When things go wrong, it can be scary. Downright terrifying. But there are ways to turnaround those projects. A couple of things that have helped me.

1. Figure out what the problem is and tackle it directly. What is the issue that got you here? Make the hard decision, and get agreement. Most projects are a function of effort plus deadlines. Usually, when projects go wrong, it’s because you run out of time. The only way to deal with time is 1) get an extension, or 2) cancel or defer some of the deliverables. Figure out which path you’re going to take, and get agreement with the parties who will be impacted.

2. Encourage honesty with your team and make sure you have the right team in the room with you. Everyone gets to contribute, but you’re the leader. It starts and stops with you. Don’t expect a decision from your team: expect them to provide you all the information you need to make an informed decision and to tell you if you’re wrong.

3. Now is the time to micromanage. When things are not going as expected or when the margin for error is nil, I institute morning and afternoon checkouts. A lot of things can change in a day. Everyone’s expected to be either in the room or on the call…most times, they show up. Sometimes you can’t afford to wait till the next day to get a status.

4. Communicate: if your project’s in red RAG status, say so. Keep it in red even when you think it’s amber/turning green. Yes, you’ll continue to get unwanted attention. But I never like to flipflop statuses: nothing’s worse than going to amber only to go back to red. It raises the question “Do you know what you’re doing?”

5. Be factual and simple in your updates: sometimes it’s email, sometimes it’s a presentation, sometimes both. Overcommunicate.  I often use monthly calendar slides for team updates: I’ll show the time we have left, and I’ll have what we need to do scoped out on the calendar.  I’ll put in all the major deliverable dates, buffer time (for anything that might go wrong), and most importantly, the end date.  It gives a very clear depiction of what we have to do and the time we have to do it: the two variables I need the team to focus on.

Crisis management isn’t fun. But you learn the most about how to get things done by running to the fires and knowing what to do when you get there.