TRIPLE III TIME: “He or She Ain’t the Boss of Me!”
I am guessing and hoping that everyone is giggling or even laughing out loud as they read this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message title: “He or She Ain’t The Boss of ME!” And as I have thought about this topic, I am believing that most…if not all of us have heard this exclamation a time or two. Maybe it was said in jest…or maybe in an angry frustrated moment. However, I would bet that few have taken the time to assess the personnel influences standing behind this negative proclamation?!
So this week I want to take a serious TOP 10 look at the “behind-the-scenes” personnel influences that drives the: “He or She Ain’t The Boss of ME!” statement.
- Does this statement come out due to confusion on who answers to who?
- Are there one or two individuals that incorrectly assume they are managers or directors?
- Do your operations directives have oversite gaps?
- How current is your organizational flow chart?
- Is your agency/business driven by a team of micro-managers?
- Can innovative thoughts and actions be assumed in your place of business?
- Do your employees worry more about what certain people think or a quality product/service?
- Does organizational history of leadership overshadow what is actual today?
- Are job titles, earnings and/or tenure allowed to over-impact REAL Boss of Me issues?
- Does everyone have an opportunity to lead or follow based on assumptions or expertise?
These are all serious questions regarding the “He or She Ain’t The Boss of ME!” concern. Consider them one at a time to discover any Boss of Me issues that need to be addressed.
TRIPLE III TIME: “Partnershipping”
First let me just say this out front…: NO I don’t think Partnershipping is a real word! But for today I don’t think those responsible for dictionaries will care.
Second, I believe that too often today individuals, organizations and/or businesses do NOT embrace Partnershipping as a first priority when building a new initiative. And when I refer to Partnershipping I don’t just mean groups getting together…I am referring to simple, individual, person-to-person partnership actions too!
As I work with different organizations or individuals on planning for the future, I standardly ask them about their current and anticipated Partnershipping strategies. The unfortunate response is: “Well we are thinking about that…but it’s way down on our list of priorities.” And the rationales that follow include:
- It would take too long to get everyone on the same page.
- They probably wouldn’t be interested.
- It is mostly our responsibility.
- There isn’t enough money to make it worth their while.
Are these the rationales of a Partnershipping Drop-Out?
I realize I am framing the task of effective Partnershipping in a light-hearted way…but please know that it is a high-value professional development asset. Most of my best leadership and innovation achievements were (and still are) the result of old and new Partnershipping!
Bottomline: Make Partnershipping one of the first considerations when starting or restarting an initiative. Great minds can and do think alike.
TRIPLE III TIME: Public Sector Entrepreneurship III
This week’s TRIPLE III TIME message is my quarterly American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) guest columnist article. As you can guess from the title: Public Sector Entrepreneurship III…not only is this my third segment on innovation in the public service arena, but also one of my most favorite topics to discuss!
The special inspiration for this third entrepreneurship piece is contained in Robert F. Kennedy’s memorable words:
“Some men see things as they are and say Why? I dream things that never were and say Why not?”
I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did preparing it.
TRIPLE III TIME: The Art of Hiring The Right People
One of the most challenging responsibilities for leaders of any business or organization is hiring the right people. During times of economic progress the recruitment and selection of new employees becomes even more difficult due to the limited number of available hires. And even when the pool of employment candidates is higher, the challenge of selecting the best person gets clouded based on qualifications, the results of every interview and thoughts about “fit” in your group(s).
Perfection again is not possible in The Art of Hiring The Right People. However British-born American author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek offers some great advice with the following quote:
“If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.”
In my organizational leadership days, I was lucky enough to follow the hiring strategy outlined in Mr. Sinek’s words and surround myself with the right people. Did money sometimes become an issue…yes…but most times the greater challenge was to find the right place for individuals who “fit” our agency…but were not in the best employment position where they could make their maximum contributions to the “cause”.
The most important take-away from this week’s TRIPLE III TIME… The Art of Hiring The Right People message, is to prioritize the personnel-values contained in Simon Sinek’s quote. Regardless of your business or organizations service or product, you as the leader/owner know the beliefs, blood, sweat and tears that make your entity “the best in the business”! Therefore, never minimize these factors when hiring.
LEARNING MOMENTS: “Where are we going… you will know when we get there!”
This month’s Inspiring Innovations LEARNING MOMENTS podcast gives my Mother a special voice in providing a unique professional growth message. The “setting” for the MOMENT is classic… and the LEARNING is simple but too often overlooked.
And I am sure you are wondering about the title: “Where are we going… you will know when we get there!” and how it fits as a label for this month’s Inspiring Innovations LEARNING MOMENTS podcast?
Well listen closely and you will find out!
TRIPLE III TIME: “Are You A Good FINISHER?”
This week’s TRIPLE III TIME message recommends that you put yourself in the “witness chair” and directly ask yourself a series of questions that all revolve around a major leadership issue: “Are You A Good FINISHER?”
- Do you finish a project completely before starting another?
- Do you have a habit of starting multiple projects/initiatives but only following through and completing the one or two that you like?
- As a leader do you assume the “starter” role and delegate FINISHER work to those that work with you?
- Do you work with others that have to wait for you to move forward so they can do their work…because you are not a good FINISHER?
There are many more questions that can be asked in relation to the basic: “Are You A Good FINISHER?” challenge…but this TRIPLE III TIME message will try hard to be focused.
I believe establishing and maintaining professional priorities centered on being a good FINISHER is critical to serving as a high-quality leader. In my old and new worlds-of-work…if I say I am going to do something…I am going to do it. This priority setting stance is then my driver to ensure I also retain an exemplary FINISHER position on the achievement/completion of promises I have made!
Good intentions often don’t come with good FINISHER results. Also being recognized as the King or Queen of great ideas…does not hold much leadership weight…if a good idea is never firmly initiated and operationally FINISHED.
This week take an extra solid look in the mirror and ask: “Are You A Good FINISHER?” Are you a positive (or not so positive) professional example in this area? Look around at others in your circle-of-colleagues…do you “stand-out” or “stand-behind” as a good FINISHER?
Be thorough and honest.
TRIPLE III TIME: The Power of Career Stories
This week’s TRIPLE III TIME message is totally and simply all about highlighting The Power of Career Stories. Everyone has a unique Career Story to tell. Age doesn’t matter! The Career Story told by a twelve-year-old to their aunt or grandmother has tremendous value with regard to their new understanding the challenges of a “soon-to-be” teenager in today’s world. Likewise, the 70-plus year old with almost 50 years of customer service experience from both the public and private sectors, can explain “QUALITY” better than any textbook.
One of the most educationally impacting components of my college class instruction structure is the sharing of Career Stories by professionals I invite in each semester. Whether it is a local business person, elected official, public servant, instructor colleague or maybe just a great friend; the learning value of each Career Story is priceless.
Sometimes listeners are drawn in by the passion of the speaker and the energetic words they use to convey the highs and lows of their life journey. Other times a certain Career Story focuses on a specific vision that a person had at one time in their life but it was somehow denied due to personal circumstances. Each Career Story always carries its own special personality and areas of continuous learning.
Bottomline: Take some time to make a page of notes about YOUR CAREER STORY. And if possible, hold a CAREER STORY time event in your workplace. This area of professional sharing can have a positive workplace culture impact…and you will never know if you don’t give it a try.
TRIPLE III TIME: The Negative Side of “Always A Better Way!”
If you look at my website, spend some time reading past blog messages and/or listen to a few Inspiring Innovations LEARNING MOMENTS podcasts, you will realize a continuous theme that suggests there is:
“Always A Better Way!” (To Get It Done)
Now at first glance this belief statement appears innocent enough and hopefully encouraging, however if taken with a negative spirit…I appear to be proclaiming that no matter how well you complete a job or task you are accomplishing it will be “Never Good Enough”.
During the course of my career, I have been told that on occasion the drive to find “Always A Better Way!” to improve a service or project has prompted co-workers, organizational partners or colleagues to believe their ideas, support or work will never be sufficient in my view…no matter what. And the negative side to this personal or professional belief is that it causes individuals to lose their motivation and creative energy to go above and beyond what is normally expected.
So given this “Always A Better Way! vs. Never Good Enough” analysis…what is the TRIPLE III TIME message I am really trying to deliver this week?
Because we are all people who work with people everyday…EVERYDAY, be sure to convey a progressive, positive “Always A Better Way!” SPIRIT as part of your operational style. I believe individuals will honestly recognize a “Never Good Enough” negative message when they hear it. However, the key will be in the quality, effective communications you use. I think you know what I mean.
Never underestimate the impact conveying the right communication SPIRIT can make!
TRIPLE III TIME: “Me…Disorganized…No Way?!”
“Within you resides a beast that has the potential to devour your energy, focus and productivity. For lack of a better term, let’s call it the Beast of Disorganization. The Beast feeds on bad habits! The Beast absolutely loves bad habits! It cannot survive without them. The Beast especially loves the fact that disorganized people don’t think of simply changing their habits, but seem to look everywhere else for solutions to their problems. If you are not currently organized, there is a good chance you will never get organized or stay organized until you change some of your counterproductive, chaos-generating habits.”
This Beast of Disorganization paragraph comes from a book entitled: Getting Organized by Chris Crouch. And if you were to read his entire self-help book, we all would rethink our answer to the question contained in this week’s TRIPLE III TIME title: “Me…Disorganized…No Way?!”
Today I believe most of us operate in a zone of “Disorganized Denial”. Even those who feel and come across as totally together and organized…may be so structured that they don’t leave open spaces for creativity and innovation. Think about some questions Chris includes in his book…do you:
- Operate in an extremely cluttered environment and can’t even maintain reasonable order in your workspace?
- Can’t effectively and efficiently process and follow up on your incoming paper, e-mails, voice mails, etc?
- Can’t seem to establish, determine, or stick to your priorities?
- Haven’t learned to use your time in a rational manner?
- Can’t seem to stay focused on…or follow up and get closure on…simple tasks and projects?
- Can’t handle many of the basic skills critical to your success?
We could continue to debate “Disorganized Denial” and your level of potential disorganization…but this TRIPLE III TIME message is more about offering some very basic suggestions to improve your overall life/work organized status.
Let’s try focusing on a few helpful factors:
- Use the control YOU have over your ability to be at least somewhat organized.
- Don’t allow yourself to be/get “crowded” in your mind or physical space.
- Work on one thing at a time. Multi-tasking may work on occasion but not effectively as a life-style.
- Don’t have “stacks-of-stuff” everywhere and argue you know where everything is.
- Prioritize and stick to them.
- Likewise as you prioritize make sure your priorities have a REAL purpose.
- Remember the idea of keeping things simple makes a lot of sense.
- Don’t let technology or social media contribute to potential disorganization.
- Embrace the organizationing actions that lead to great project completion.
- Finally, everyone has how to get better organized advice…but it’s YOUR job to take action.
A fun TOP 10…on an always important topic. Give improved organization a chance…it can only help!
TRIPLE III TIME: A Strategy Behind The Strategy
It was mid-term exam time for my American Government & Politics classes this past week and for the most part all of the students did fine. And as I passed the corrected tests back and gauged the reactions…one young man pointed his finger at me and stated: “Now sir I know why you make us do those one page Position Papers each week…to get us practiced to answer these essay questions in the same manner…right?”
Well I did NOT deny the accuracy of this discovery and I completely agreed and said: “Yes I do practice having A Strategy Behind The Strategy for helping all of you get totally ready to get an A on these exams!” And you can guess he was very proud of his revelation and was rewarded with smiles and multiple nods of support from his classmates! I too joined in the smiles…but mine came more from a remembrance of my Dad and his use of A Strategy Behind The Strategy for getting me ready for my tomorrows.
What do I mean?
Think about it…as a very young boy he put me “in charge” of all of our baby calves. I didn’t think it was right…but when he later said he didn’t think I was old enough to drive a tractor yet…I reminded him how much I could do when I was “way young”…and so I was very ready to do tractor-driving jobs…and MORE WORK!
Do you think Dad had A Strategy Behind The Strategy?
And if you don’t think I picked up on Dad’s strategies…I have to tell you I was caught many times by a co-worker or two. Like when we cross-trained everyone in organizational services and even sent “office-people” out in the field to help client-customers face-to-face. Or when we tried to better communicate in a more complete way about Agency activities every week.
Do you think I had A Strategy Behind The Strategy for reducing “that’s not my job” attitudes or “I can’t do that stuff cause no one told me” claims?
Bottomline: Always think about having A Strategy Behind The Strategy as a means of creating personnel and organizational growth. It helps you and those around you consider “What Next?/What Else? possibilities.
Inspiring Innovations, Inc. 