The Happy Burro

(eleventh in a series titled Issues Managers Face in the Workplace)

I enjoyed a brief vacation recently in the beautiful red rocks of Sedona, Arizona. One of the local shirt shops sells t-shirts and sweat shirts that are washed with the red rock dust of the local landscape. The one I bought has this written on the front:

“Life is Short – Play Dirty.”

Early on while attending graduate school at the University of St. Thomas, I held a part-time job loading semi-trucks for UPS. My shift was 9pm to 1am, provided a good wage and full medical benefits. It was a dirty, physically demanding job. Each loader averages 2,000 20lb packages per shift. The environment was fast-paced. If I wasn’t keeping up with loading my trucks, the chutes would get full of packages and the conveyor belt to the entire dock would have to be stopped. If this kept up for too long, the unloaders on the other side of the building would have to stop. You get the idea: DO NOT STOP! Our dock supervisors were not part of the union. They had strict instructions to “never assist with the forward motion of a parcel” and to focus on “managing” the dock and loading employees. They even had to wear ties. The holiday season is fraught with a significant increase in package volume. I was in charge of three semi-trailers and was starting to fall behind. This happened to all of us. We would help each other out – literally three minutes of tag-teaming a chute and semi-trailer could get one ahead again. Three minutes. Yet everyone had three times the volume. My dock supervisor jumped in, tie and all, and helped me for three minutes. Saved me, really. He didn’t think twice about getting dirty because the job, the goals of the organization, and his team, required it.

Get Dirty

Doing the work of a manager means getting to do strategy, planning, integrating, thinking, directing, and leading. There isn’t much time for any ‘doing’ – that’s why you have a team, right? What good could you possibly do if you try to do the work of your team? Being an enabler is not what managing is about. Yet with scarce resources and unexpected challenges, sometimes getting along side one of your employees and helping out is exactly what you should be doing.

Do Not Muddy the Waters

The error of exuberance happens when a manager starts to get involved in absolutely everything. No job, no decision, no meeting happens without manager input, approval, and validation. One cannot operate like that. Why do you have a team of smart, dedicated employees if you are going to do all their work? Be mindful of taking on your team’s daily work when they truly need help, not just when you feel like inserting yourself because you have some extra time.

Culture of Dirt

Establishing the ability to interact with your team – trust each other – is key to getting dirty. If your employees are afraid to ask for help, you’re too ‘strategic’ to get dirty with them, or they feel your intent is anything but a willingness to serve, your efforts will be for naught.

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Here are some outstanding experts in a variety of work-related fields, courtesy of our friends at FastCompany: the FastCompany Experts Blogs!

Joe Raasch :: Feb.22.2008 :: Employee Engagement, Innovation, Leadership :: 4 Comments »

(tenth in a series titled Issues Managers Face in the Workplace)

New York’s own Giants won Super Bowl XLII. How did a team of regular guys get by the one team destined for greatness? The New England Patriots, one game away from an undefeated season and winners of three of the last six Super Bowls! The Giants last held the title in 1991. The Giants were 12 point underdogs going into this game. And then the week-long pre-Bowl festivities were over, the fans in the stands, and the game began…

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“I think we just had a great will on this team, just a great group of guys. There was something special about this group. We were determined and we had great faith in ourselves. We had leaders across the board in every aspect. Everybody knew their role and their responsibility. No matter what we’ve been through, I think it’s helped that a lot of the players have been together for the last three or four years. We’ve just learned to deal with adversity and learned how to overcome mistakes, a bad play or a disappointment, and put it behind us and forget about it. We just had total faith and confidence that no matter what is thrown at us, we can handle it and we can overcome it.”

- Giants Quarterback Eli Manning (from Giants site)

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Big plays

Making big plays is part of winning in business or anywhere else. Anticipating and preparing for big plays allows one to execute them when necessary. Should you build your team so you only reach your department/organization goals with big plays? Of course not. But be prepared when your team is called to step up and deliver…big.

Consistent Defense

The Giants’ defensive team did not play a perfect game. They played a consistent game. Not predictable, but dependable. That is where your team can learn to deliver each day. Not perfectly, not predictably – dependably. Efficient and effective.

Never Give Up

You are competing every day. For resources, budget dollars, revenue, and clients. Really, for your very job. Many cliches come to mind. Facing adversity together as a team builds character, resiliency, and faith. Reality is, it really isn’t over until the end. Never.
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Want more on never giving up? For a football themed book, try the biography “When Pride Still Mattered – A Life of Vince Lombardi” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss.

Joe Raasch :: Feb.19.2008 :: Employee Engagement, Innovation, Leadership, Performance Management :: 4 Comments »

(ninth in a series titled Issues Managers Face in the Workplace)

Today is “Super Tuesday.” There are 22 US states holding presidential caucuses or primaries. There is a stronger-than-ever push to get out the vote. Are you choosing to participate? Change in the workplace happens in similar, if a lot less spectacular, ways.

Opt In: Action

Participate in the process. Volunteer for the extra project. When the opportunity presents itself to join a major company initiative that means leaving your current job for a few months or years, try it. Don’t like the way the monthly birthday club works? Join the planning committee. Want more out of your annual team or company off site event? Volunteer to be on the team that builds the agenda. You get the idea – if you want your voice heard, you have to participate. You won’t always get your way. And you shouldn’t always get your way. Learning happens in victories, defeats, and compromises. Tom Brady, quarterback of the New England Patriots football team, learned a lot from each Super Bowl appearance. If you watched the game this past Sunday, he has the chance to learn from defeat as well.

Opt Out: Reflection

You have the choice to not actively participate in the change. Just like deciding to not vote today, or any day, you can choose to let others decide the “who, what, where, when, why, and how” of the pending change. Here is the opportunity for reflective change. Wait and see what happens. Who is affected? What process will be different? How will the change affect you? Then you can move to action. This isn’t the time to try to stop the change, or complain that you don’t have a voice. You opted out. Accept what changes with grace.

Make Room for Change

As a manager, how do you support the change process with your team? By letting them participate. Sounds simple. Bring opportunities to your team to be part of change projects. Nominate your best employee to be on a long-term change team (see: Net Exporter of Talent post). Create a culture that says it is OK to participate – to opt in. Create a culture that says it is OK to wait and reflect – to opt out. If you give your team the choice to change, the power to participate, the room to engage, they will.

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Want more on change? The definitive series is in progress right now at Steve Roesler’s All Things Workplace blog. When you visit, ask him when he’ll be publishing his book on change management!

Joe Raasch :: Feb.05.2008 :: Change Management, Employee Engagement, Leadership :: 2 Comments »