I am not sure how to start this TRIPLE III TIME Middle-Manager LEADERS message…except to emphasize the HUGE skill-gap that would exist without them.  Way back when…when I was placed in a middle-management role…all other workers in the organization were at least ten years older than me!  So did they really listen to what I had to say or accept my innovative concepts as valid…NO.  Therefore in a confusing sort of way nothing was going wrong…but at the same time nothing was going forward either.  And because my boss was focused on multiple fiscal and programmatic issues, his orientation time with me and all other staff was very minimal.  (Did I say stagnation?!)

Those early workplace lessons I learned were so developmentally important as I grew in my professional positions.  And the most critical factor of all was the high value of Middle-Manager LEADERS!  Hence, for this TRIPLE III TIME moment, I believe an exclusive TOP 10 Middle-Manager LEADERS list of operational priorities is in order.

1. Provide Middle-Managers appropriate leadership freedoms to exercise their valuable skill sets.
2. Ensure they are not regularly “squeezed” between upper level and front-line staff situations.
3. Provide adequate leadership and strategic planning training.
4. Apply consistent, recognized job description expectations.
5. Use an operational and administration inclusion strategy as a personnel standard.
6. Recognize each Middle-Manager as potential organizational mentors and coaches.
7. Use Middle-Managers in a “shared-leadership” fashion to set a progressive example.
8. Stress the professional growth value of asking questions…by all in the organization regarding leadership roles.
9. Minimize the potential of Middle-Managers being under appreciated/recognized.
10. Never delegate “less-than-important” tasks using Middle-Managers as the dumping ground.

Strong Middle-Manager LEADERS make a good organization/business become and remain GREAT.  Apply this TOP 10 in appropriate ways and watch creativity and growth happen.

As a continuous “student-of-jobs”… it is always easy to identify and discuss certain change trends that are common sense-ish!  The impact of technology, virtual training and learning, and changes driven by an ever expanding global marketplace. But when you think about jobs in general, doesn’t it seem like more diverse actions and responsibilities are being added to every position? Duties that were maybe more self-contained in a previous job area are now just an added expectation of EVERYONES job?

Think about it.

Now think of business and organization leadership.  Do they naturally absorb new job assignments and responsibilities because they are the BOSS?  Or do they get a “generic-pass” and personally get to decide what trends they want to be a part of… and those they do not?  However, I believe the growth terms: Leadership-Diversified creates a natural expectation that continuous improvement and job upgrade applies to EVERYONE on staff?

Would a personal, professional assessment honestly be easy to perform… probably not. However, Leadership-Diversified is a unique phenomenon that some take for granted… some believe will happen naturally and some often believe that the “little-things” are “not-my-job”. When truly it is the little things that often make GREAT LEADERSHIP happen.

Great leaders I believe need to periodically “take a look in the mirror” and ask themselves about the number of personal professional advancements they have absorbed in the last week… month… and/or year! And this assessment should also include a measurement of those job responsibilities and change-mandates they may have stepped by. Hence the major point of this Leadership-Diversified TRIPLE III TIME message is to promote that progressive leaders need to diversify themselves in reasonable harmony with others up and down the personnel groups they oversee.

“The backbone of Total Quality Management at its biggest challenge, is motivating all employees and the company’s suppliers to achieve quality goals. Leaders of the quality movement use various methods and resources to foster a quality focus, such as training, verbal encouragement, teamwork, and trying compensation to work quality. When those efforts succeed, employees and suppliers will ultimately accept quality ownership, the idea that quality belongs to each person who creates it while performing a job.”

This excerpt taken from a book entitled: Business Essentials, written by Ronald J. Ebert and Ricky W. Griffin provides a solid statement of why and how everyone in your workplace needs to support Quality Ownership.

Whether you work in a private or public sector employment situation, knowing the responsibility for providing quality products and services to everyone that walks through the door… is YOUR job! The costs for poor quality at all levels in an organization or business can result in lost revenue, increased competition, negative public opinions and even loss of reliable employees. And with the unbelievable expansion and speed of social media messaging… the sharing of poor quality service or product examples often gets shared faster than good information.

Bottomline: Never… NEVER underestimate the high-value nature of providing quality outputs. If you are in a one-on-one meeting… be sure you share accurate, up-to-date, relatable information to your customer. Regardless of what service level the individual you are meeting with comes to you for help… quality never should be taken for granted.

Also, I believe it is critical that everyone should think about quality if it’s YOUR name on the company door.  And that view of Quality Ownership should bring out your best everyday… EVERYDAY!

One professional development area we have not discussed is the personnel evolution situation that occurs when someone in a company/organization gets a promotion.  Most generally during these change times… the individual getting the promotion is standardly given very reasonable instructions and higher-level guidance on position expectations and day-to-day responsibilities.  However, as a consultant I have observed many times that the person who is moving up the operational staff ladder is “assumed” to know a whole lot more about their new role than they really do. Whether the assumptions are generated by their current/past experiences with the entity or their resume credentials… the assumed knowledge about what to do… when… and where… is never as complete as it should be.

Therefore if you or someone you know falls under the:  “So… You Got A Promotion?!” situation… here is a special TRIPLE III TIME TOP 10 list of suggestions to help you/them progressively evolve

1. Don’t forget why you first applied for a job with the company/organization.

2. Develop and utilize a strong communication style with all in your employment network.

3. Always remember to treat co-workers/customers the way you would like to be treated.

4. Don’t expect those you supervise to know YOUR priorities… share them regularly.

5. Also don’t assume you know your supervisors’ priorities… always ask.

6. Try to have an “open-door” policy for co-workers to drop-in… but with time limits.

7. Don’t pretend you know “what’s going on” in the community… on the manufacturing floor… in the classroom… or in the store retail area… SHOW UP and be aware.

8. Be a constant asset in terms of encouraging progressive change and innovation.

9. However, share your NEW operational concepts…gradually.

10. Finally, don’t make promises you can’t keep or accept new duties that you are NOT trained for… honesty matters.

There are probably more professional growth ideas I could share…but these TOP 10 are a good start.

One of the toughest leadership challenges is knowing when and specifically how to address situations that call for compromise. Many times as a leader of a company or organization you assume the responsibility to make changes in policy, products, services, employment of co-workers and/or introducing anything new into the entity. Right? But what happens when someone you respect and go to for support… indicates that YOU are not an easy person to compromise with…rather most times your style is:  “Let’s Go My Way… or You Can Find The Highway!”

So with these thoughts in mind… do some personal sole-searching and think about your adaption to or resistance to COMPROMISE??

Well good or bad… right or wrong… during my professional career I followed a “BETTER-WAY” Compromising practice. What does this really mean?  In practice, my position regarding change and/or new ventures with co-workers/partnership personnel… was that if you have a “BETTER-WAY” concept or methodology than the one “on-the-table”… then compromises could take place. So if someone came to me and said they have a better plan/idea to go forward with… and here it is… we would discuss the option and decide if it would be a better growth opportunity than what I had in mind.  COMPROMISE??

As the leader, everyone was aware of my “BETTER-WAY” Compromising practice and understood that my ideas and suggestions came from a wider view of where the Agency was… where it could be and thereby respected my positions on progress.  However, in the longer term… my group also accepted that many of their cooperative compromises may occur during implementation times as the decision actions began to occur. So in a unique way “BETTER-WAY” Compromising became our own version of continuous improvement.

Therefore the suggestion via this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message is to have your own “BETTER-WAY” Compromising policy as a guide for you and for your group.  Therefore, no one gets an automatic “NO” for their ideas or suggestions but understands that they must first show a BETTER-WAY to improve an initiative…and then show professional patience for it’s acceptance and support.

When asked about how he motivated his employees to deliver consistent superior services to clients… Bill Smith of Smith, Bucklin & Associates shared the following message:

“I try to emphasize the philosophy that the more we give in this life, the more we receive. We may not be seeking that when we give, but that’s what happens. And that’s the real basis for customer service. If you don’t have that philosophy, a list of 10 things you must do to have great customer service isn’t going to mean anything.”

We have had several TRIPLE III TIME “customer service” messages over the years… but Mr. Smith’s statement about the extended value of giving every customer “a little more”… is really the finest guideline to follow!

Think truthfully about how personally you view quality customer service. Do you feel great when you get more time and attention? Do you appreciate your customer service more when you believe the professional helping you better understands your problem or situation? And do you positively share and even promote a company/organizations GREAT customer service to others? These are the outcomes you maybe didn’t think about when you did the right/extra customer service “things”… but as Bill Smith reports… “that’s what happens”!!

This week’s TRIPLE III TIME message: “Don’t Make Boundaries” specifically emphasizes not limiting doing customer service extras. Many times employees view a company operations handbook and take the most limiting practice of what type of customer service is allowed. And if it is not written in the handbook… does that mean “you better not” go beyond the rules… or does it mean doing “extra” is up to YOU!? Bottomline: No two customers will ever be the same. Therefore “Don’t Make Boundaries” that prohibit you from going the extra mile in the area of quality customer service! If you decide to go beyond the traditional boundaries in providing GREAT customer service… your return-on-investment