What’s that smell? Smokescreen.

Some people just need the manual.

With that they can learn to operate sophisticated machinery, concoct amazing creations and delight the world with their new found inspiration.

Some people need others to read the manual, show them the ins and outs of the machine, test the recipe a few times, make the final product, QA it for them, package and put it on the shelf with a nice description card then hand over all the credit as they slink into the shadows on their tippy-toes.

Some call the latter illustration ‘taking ownership’; the few to see through the smokescreen call it ‘insecurity’.

C.A.R.E.

Do you c.a.r.e.?

My friend who last inspired the ‘leadersh*t’ story came up with another golden nugget, but this time he gave the overused ‘acronyms for people who can’t grasp concepts’ a run for their money:

C  Cover

A  A$$

R  Retain

E  Employment

Having had to grind my teeth through another pointless acronym-overdosed, unimaginative ‘motivational’ session some months back I found this refreshing and at least, entertaining. After all, my friend is in the coaching business and this was simply fitting.

This brings me to another interesting observation this week: if you hire an architect to build your house, and by that you literally expect the guy to do it, you can’t be upset if it doesn’t quite get finished on time or if the plumbing doesn’t work. A lot goes on in the synchronisation of a project and its success hinges on the actors who prop up the sound, lights and sell the tickets. It is too easy for a customer – whether internal or external – to say “there is something wrong” but most of the time they can never quite figure out where it went wrong. This is why the gun is never given to the customer, but is usually in the hands of the architect (provided they were actually around throughout the entire project, and not having a pina colada whilst having pushed their responsibilities on to a contractor).

Several years ago I had a customer who would get into the pub early doors, for a couple of pints and light banter. John (let’s call him that) was very unassuming, hardly fussy and always had something interesting to say. In as far as I knew, the man ran several businesses one of which was a modest consultancy. During a conversation about management and running businesses, John gave me advice I’ll never forget (amongst others):

“Anyone can point out problems; people are programmed to look for faults in others, but only a good leader is able to step up to the plate and solve them.”

Inevitably you can identify problems and complain about it – but if you can find a way to solve it, you will earn respect regardless of what your title is for that day, week, month, year. Life will always present you with problems and people will always come to you with them (anyone who tells you “I hired you to do X, don’t come to me with your problems” is a prick – period) so escapism is only going to demonstrate that you either don’t have what it takes to solve it with them, or you just don’t know what to do anyway. Refusal to act reflects apathy and lack of conviction, and therein part carelessness.

So do you and your employees care?

The Leadersh*t Position

Who’s your driver today?

Boy, it has been a helluva year AND we’re still not done yet.

I have no statistics but observation alone tells me that the last quarter of the year is usually chock-full of articles related to leadership, management and strategy issues. And aptly so, when it is also the most reflective (good and bad) time of the year, before people mentally shut down for the holidays.

An associate wrote recently:

“If your team dreads coming to work because of you that’s call leadershit. If they love what they do and do it because they believe in what they do that’s call leadership. You just need to stay the heck outta their way.”

Very introspective for this time of year.

It also prompted me to think:

“If I hired a co-ordinator who didn’t book my hotels, organise the transportation, confirm the meetings, prepare the documentation and ready the pen for signing – just so as it should be – then the failure is not on the co-ordinator, but on me.

Even if the co-ordinator was incompetent, I am dumber for investing in incompetence.”

(in which I hope never, ever happens.)

This came when I thought of a metaphor recently presented about a crashing plane in relation to a failing team. To me, there is always only room for one pilot, one captain, one driver and one chieftain.

Not two, not three, not five and three quarters.

ONE.

Coincidentally, most vehicles and systems operate that way and for good reason too. You can always have a co-pilot, co-driver, co-GPS programmer or Assistant to Chief on Dinghy but you never have two wheels going at the same time – because that will inevitably, lead to a real crash.

Or clash, whichever comes first.

One driver in the cockpit, everyone else is a passenger with a function (or not). In the end, the decision lies in the driver’s hands and that includes taking the wrong turn, not re-fuelling the vehicle and not engaging the brakes on time.

Everyone else can sleep, but the driver should never sleep or take their hands off the wheel. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what gets people ‘killed’.

So who is your driver today?

Of tea, drivel and project management

In the last few days, there have been a lot of communications going on in my sphere.

I am an extrovert after all, and generally attract a bevy of interesting extroverts to the table. It can be quite a wild ride during conversations; never exhausted of energy and opinions. I often tell people that if they were to observe my family during dinner, they may mistake us for having a go at each other when we’re really just having one of our animated debates. And yes, there are raised voices and varying facial expressions but we’re used to that. It’s what makes our meals and car rides oh-so-exciting.

It does unnerve our guests which is why we pretty much keep to ourselves on the weekends.

I was recently in a similarly animated debate, except this time it was with a business associate. We were discussing the mechanics of a project when it became apparent all three of us had different assumptions of the capabilities of the tools employed in the project. We all had differing roles: one was support from front end, the other support from back end and one project manager. As project manager I developed the objectives and delivered the only way I knew how. I sourced for the information and disseminated them the way I always have. I launched the project and executed it the way I believed would make the most sense.

It is no mean feat playing project manager. If there is one observation I can make it is people often get lost in the processes and sub processes depending on where they are in the maze of the project. People can become engrossed with one area of the project and forget the rest of the set-up, resulting in delays and re-alignment of responsibilities to regain momentum and direction of objectives. This process  is an on-going and requires not only determined focus, but skilled communications as one can be dealing with 3 to 300 people on any one project.

The deal here is not to aim for perfection but to achieve efficiency and harmony in the middle of chaos.

So it turned out that my associates had clearly misinterpreted the tools being used which then led to quite an animated discussion on expectations, objectives and fundamental planning approaches. It was rather surprising to discover the varying opinions and somewhat strong outlooks; at certain moments they seemed almost forced and disharmonious. And that can happen especially when finances and operational disruptions are at risk or involved; nobody wants to be responsible for an avoidable snafu. We re-evaluated what was important to each individual representing their field, determined the real operational needs, identified the critical areas and roughly estimated the commitments required to make this project happen. We then agreed to re-establish the project layout once again – to be re-confirmed so we were sure we understood each other, of course.

A flurry of communications followed from the meeting, some of which were exasperating as we pulled plugs out along with half a dozen or so ‘I’m sorry to inconvenience you’ and ‘we’ve had to re-evaluate this process, so please bear with us’.  This isn’t uncommon in project management of course but it does occur when communications are not at its peak either from a lack of experience, key stakeholders unfamiliar with project management requirements, differing management styles and disconnected exchanges.

At the core still is that communications is not at its peak.

Ideally, project managers get to select their key players – but that is not always the case. Often times, you deal with what you got. And your only defense or advantage, depending on how you see it, is the 6 inches of mush between your ears and…your ears. The ability to communicate with certainty, negotiate around conversational minefields and orchestrate a discussion is possibly the most important skill a project manager can have. It is always a little nerve-wracking especially in a room full of opinionated or heaven forbid, highly-strung individuals who want to have a say. Some even like to have a mini outburst every now and then. You know, the type you want to just tell to ‘chillax’ as some so aptly put it.

Some negotiation skills I find extremely useful and especially when discussions become increasingly tense or animated:

• Choose to listen intently to others. Make notes if necessary, but don’t allow too much air time especially to ‘ranters’. Each individual is allowed an opinion so long it does not impede on others giving theirs.
• Mediate fairly but firmly. Do not allow the discussion to become abusive or deviate greatly from the topic at hand. You need to be in control to ensure everyone is involved, cued-in and responsive in a positive way. This may be somewhat difficult if you are dealing with several authority figures but project management calls for the hard hat to be put on, so make sure yours is secure.
• Allow for breaks when it gets too intense. The team is made up of people with all sorts of temperaments so when necessary, call for a fiver to give everyone some head space. Or a cry (yes, it happens).
• Exercise empathy well. A lot of the time, people feel they are not heard or understood. It is human nature and survival instincts to demand to be understood before we attempt to understand. In many environments, such as manufacturing, frustrations run high because people are working against machines and systems. Throw a couple of suits into the mix and it won’t be long before there is a We vs. Them standoff. A project manager needs to show that they are keen to understand challenges from all parties and then work with them to achieve sustainable solutions to meet the objectives.  This takes good listening skills and a broad objective view of issues at hand. Be understanding but also be emotionally detached – the other person is being emotional, you need to stay objective. Otherwise, the both of you will be too busy wallowing in emotions and nothing will get done.
• Stay focused on your objectives. Each project calls for a set of objectives or goals. You will encounter problems and challenges throughout the implementation and execution of the project but everyone needs to know the objectives by heart. Only then can you navigate your way through the issues and agree on the course of actions.

I recall a moment in time when I was sitting on the balcony with a friend: teas on our laps, feet on the coffee table and just willing the evening away. It had been a long day but we realized we hadn’t stopped talking for almost two hours recounting the week’s activities and happenings. Neither of us felt tired or overwhelmed. In fact, we felt an understated understanding between us – as if we complemented each others’ need to speak and be heard.

Which is odd for two extroverts, if you can picture it.

In an ideal world, an extrovert is paired with an introvert. One drivels whilst the other listens. My friend makes this observation in relation to us and I laugh – I couldn’t imagine a life with an introvert. I told him I would find that boring (based on my previous experiences). I appreciate them in my life but I couldn’t imagine living with one; that I needed to feed on the energy of an extrovert to feel that my relationship was well and alive, not just bobbing along. I believe that people come together – be it in relationships, friendships or work – mostly out of common ideals, values and social conditioning. Personalities aside, you need those things to keep your relationships worth investing in and alive. My friend knew I was a motor-mouth the moment we met and I instinctively knew I had a worthy sparring partner in the nattering department although he hid it well. Thankfully, the two of us innately understand that in order to exist in some form of acceptable harmony suitable communications skills have to be employed and deployed at the right moments. He tries not to talk over me when I am on a rant and I let him go on about something or rather for as long as he wants at times.

This applies greatly in our day-to-day communications at work. We are regularly dealing with people of different temperaments, cultural and social conditioning and neuroses. It would be impossible to tango between several individuals in succession but if one is keen to be a part of the game, and not too busy just trying to be heard, great exchange of ideas and phenomenal breakthroughs can be achieved. It takes a few tries, maybe several miscommunications and the odd foot-in-the-mouth scenarios but the best of us will eventually find a balance we are comfortable with.

Now if you don’t mind I’m going to put the kettle on, make tea and listen to some quality drivel.