Articles
Article
Employee Assistance Programs Help
I read somewhere that wherever you go, you take you with you. Employees come to work and they bring all of their personal problems, health issues, addictions, and biases with them. Leaders often find themselves in the position of having to deal with the impact of these issues at the workplace. I’ve seen family problems play out between relatives who are also colleagues, spouses, personal friends, work friends, and substance users. In most cases, the problem starts out small, someth... Read More
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"The Way We've Always Done It"
Ants are among the oldest living animals on earth. With over 12,000 classified species and another 10,000 unclassified, it has been said that ants make up 10-15% of living, land dwelling life forms. In 1966, Harvard biologist, Edward Wilson, found fossils of an ant that lived around 92 million years ago, and other ant fossils have been found around Myanmar dating 99 million years old. Their group behaviors have been studied extensively, from small predatory groups, to colonies that numbe... Read More
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Win or Learn; Embrace Both
Hip Hop fans from the 1990’s will remember Roc-A-Fella Records. Also referred to as “Roc”, the company was founded in 1995 by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Damon “Dame” Dash, and Kareem “Biggs” Burke with rapper Jay-Z as its only artist. In the 18 years between 1995 and 2013, Roc would expand to include artists in every genre and even make a few movies. Artists such as Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel, and Kanye West were discovered and given the... Read More
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Feedback is Essential
I remember the first time my boss told me a complaint had been submitted about me to the bosses at the District Office. I was a vice principal and had an unpleasant exchange with a parent about an issue I don’t remember today, and that parent formally complained to the District leadership. What I do remember is the feeling that the District superintendent would read it, think I was incompetent, and let me go. It was a school district that served 20,000 students and about 2,500 empl... Read More
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Don't Dither
I recently had a conversation with a friend about an issue that is becoming a problem in his office. Recently, his boss has been holding daily meetings that last 2-3 hours where the leadership team is expected to weigh in on the boss’ every decision. During our discussion, he described in frustrating detail how his boss refuses to make a decision on anything and instead slogs his executive team through his every thought process. The team complies with the boss, afraid to say anyth... Read More
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Go Hard on Problems, Easy on People
Leaders have to maintain a difficult balance. Because leaders deal with the most difficult and contentious issues, they deal with the most invested and often difficult and contentious personalities while trying to get decisions made. Managing change and difficult issues usually brings out the wolf in most people as they sit around the table determining solutions. In the most intense times, a leader will find him or herself at a table with all invested parties trying to define the proble... Read More
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Sexual Harassment is Destructive
Linda Strong was 21 in 2012 when she started working at an Alorica call center in Fresno, California. Alorica is a privately owned firm that makes about $2 billion in revenue annually with more than 100,000 employees in 15 countries. Roughly 70% of its business is done with Fortune 500 companies in finance, communications, healthcare, retail, and technology. In Fresno, the call center had 1,150 employees. Linda Strong, a mother of two, was excited to join the team and get started. Two y... Read More
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Indirect Bullying is Real
I remember the first time indirect bullying was reported to me. It wasn’t described as indirect bullying, what was described by the employee was feeling left out by her boss. According to the employee, her boss would greet the rest of the office and walk right past her. There would be long conversations with other employees about their work, family, and other topics while interaction with this employee was limited to one word exchanges. The employee tearfully reported that she woul... Read More
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Teddys Leadership Lessons
Teddy Pendergrass was born on March 26, 1950 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between 1977 and 1982 he released five consecutive platinum albums until a terrible accident in 1982 derailed but did not end his career. His most successful song by far is Love TKO, which hit #2 on Billboard’s R&B chart and #44 on their top 100. Love TKO was written by keyboard player Eddie Gip Noble and Cecil Womack and is about how love can beat you down but doesn’t stop you from getting up and tryin... Read More
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Maslow, OSHA, and Employee Safety
Psychologist Abraham Maslow, born in April 1908 in New York City, gained fame for his writings on psychological health and how it relates to people’s motivation to fulfill their potential in life and work. According to his most famous writing, ‘Maslow’s hierarchy of needs’, people need to have basic safety and psychological needs met first before they are able to focus on any higher level needs or goals. Maslow’s hierarchy is referenced in school districts a... Read More
Article
The Interview Process
Leadership expert, John Maxwell has written, “When all things are equal, people choose someone they like, when things are unequal, people choose someone they like.” Maxwell uses this expression to talk about the importance of relationships at work or, what causes people to side with someone or turn on another. I use it in this article to talk about what drives a panel’s decision in a job interview. I’ll say it a thousand times, there are too many factors to contr... Read More
Article
Letting Go
On July 10, 2009, H. Beaty Chadwick was released from prison after serving 14 years for contempt of court. In 1995, the courts believed that he hid his family fortune to avoid making a fair settlement to his soon to be ex-wife. In 1975, he, a 39 year old corporate lawyer, and she, a 21 year old homemaker were married and settled into a life of luxury, cars, cocktail parties, and classical music. His wife claims that although she did live in the mansion, she was expected to live on $600 ... Read More
Article
Avoid Chucking Chanclas at Work
Recently, I had a conversation with a thought partner about a boss she had who would yell and insult employees at work. This boss would single people out and make them feel small in front of everyone who happened to be present at the time. Feelings were never spared. Many of us have seen it, and some of us have even demonstrated this unfortunate behavior. The conversation quickly turned to her grandmother, who was quick to throw her shoes when she got angry. I got a good laugh because m... Read More
Article
Oxytocin Fuels Performance
I am a big sports fan, and this pandemic is ruining the college football season for me. In the deep south, football season is continuing as usual with crowds, bands, and all the usual festivities. While watching a game, I heard a story by one of the sportscasters that I’ve heard a number of times but it got my attention. “If the quarterback wants to win over the linemen, he has to go and work out with them. He needs to go into the weightroom and lift with them. After a while ... Read More
Article
Money Can't Buy Love or Employee Engagement
Years ago, in a team meeting prior to negotiations the boss walked in and heard what the other side was asking for. In fairness, it was more than we could afford, and both sides knew it. He said, “We could double their salary and they’d be happy for about one pay cycle.” He may not have known the psychology behind it but he was correct. The premise behind what he said stuck with me because after years of negotiations, and my personal experience, I’d seen it play ... Read More
Article
Gratitude is Good for Business
Every time I go to a new organization, I very soon get an email or message with some version of this, “In all the time I’ve been here, I’ve never received something like this” after receiving a ‘Thank You’ card from me. Sometimes they list the amount of time they’ve been in the organization, i.e. 15-20 years, sometimes they mention the number of managers they’ve had. In all cases, they are describing the fact that they have never receive... Read More
Article
Judge for Yourself
“When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.” - Wayne Dyer
In my career, I’ve had the blessing and curse of serving in school districts in vastly different communities. I’ve had a number of jobs and have had the opportunity to meet people and learn things I never would have had I stayed in one place my entire career. One of the things that I’ll never get used to is the judgement that leaders apply to people on their own teams. Judge... Read More
Article
Inclusion Improves Morale and Performance
I read an article this week about easy composting because, from time to time, no matter how hard I work as the ‘leftover nazi’ food goes bad from time to time. I’ve buried food in my garden in the past and I wondered if it actually was helping my garden. Turns out, if it's done correctly, you can bury almost anything in your garden and if you’re patient, it will maximize your harvest. This reading got me thinking about a potato that had gone bad, gotten soft, and ... Read More
Article
Peacocking at Work
The peacock has been studied for hundreds of years, and kept as pets for thousands. Researchers have been drawn to its iridescent colors, the length and design of its tail feathers, and its group behavior. A peacock can have as many as 200 tail feathers that make up its “train” which is 60% of the bird’s total body length. If you’re ever in India you can see a blue peacock in its natural habitat, or a green peacock in Myanmar, or a smaller red one in the Congo. Th... Read More
Article
Belief Builds Confidence and Performance
Early on in my career I served as an Outreach Consultant which is an intervention person for high risk middle school students. Because I had a great boss, I learned a lot about how schools ran and many of the challenges students and parents dealt with how those challenges related to school. One of the most important lessons I learned was that kids just need someone to believe in them, and if you do, they will rise. I also learned that adults aren’t much different, if you believe in... Read More
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Evaluations; Difficult and Revealing
I took my hat, I took my stick,
My load I settled fair,
I approached that awful incubus
With an absent-minded air --
And I walked directly through him,
As if he wasn't there!
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman, An Obstacle; 1892
I had a conversation recently with a thought partner (and friend) about a difficult evaluation she had to give. As the leader, it was on her to evaluate a very popular employee who was not performing to her expected level. The prospect of having a diff... Read More
Article
During the Pandemic, Listen and Learn
“The fool speaks, the wise man listens” Ethiopian Proverb
After four or five months of working from home due to the stay at home order, many employees are preparing for a return to work. Many employees will bring with them concerns about their safety as well as the safety of people they serve and those that they care about. If you are returning to work during a pandemic, it is crucial to communicate important information and listen to your employees. Effective two ... Read More
Article
Employee Discipline; Part 2
I’ve been told that theory of discipline is good, and asked to go further into the nuts and bolts of employee discipline, so here we go. The most important thing to remember in employee discipline is why you are doing it. The reason for any discipline is ‘to make people better’. Before you get started, ask yourself a few questions: Do you have a bias about the investigation? Do you really like the complainant? Do you really dislike the accused? Are there stereotypes tha... Read More
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Employee Discipline; Difficult and Necessary
I remember the first time I was written up, yes it has happened. I behaved at work in a way that today I am not proud of. My boss caught wind of it and talked to colleagues to gather information and called me in. I had no idea what she wanted when I walked into her office. She told me that she had heard about my conduct and gave me an opportunity to tell my side. After that conversation she scheduled a follow up conversation where the offended party sat, along with my co conspirator, my ... Read More
Article
Keep Your Oar in the Water
Leaders deal with obstacles both inside and outside of their organizations or teams. It doesn’t matter the size of your group, competing agendas, individual abilities, and limited resources cause frustration that needs to be overcome in order to be at your best. It's normal to feel discouraged, not being your best is a choice. In this article, my hope is to demonstrate why you should be at your best at all times irrespective of your challenges. We all face obstacles, expect them an... Read More
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Consistency is the Key
I received a call this week from a friend who felt like her relationship with her boss is deteriorating. She told me that in a conversation with her boss, she was told that she was doing a great job. Later that same day, in mixed company, her boss made a comment suggesting that she doubted her confidence and laughed with the group. This event caused my friend internal conflict because, to her, it felt like the boss was laughing at her and not with her which brought feelings that her boss... Read More
Article
Hope is Your Fuel
In 2014, I heard a speech given by one of my teachers that included references to a book titled, Invisible Man. You’ve likely heard of it. I hadn’t read it since high school but was inspired to pick it up and give it a look. I’ve read it at least once a year ever since that day. What stands out to me in the book today is the hopeful spirit of the Invisible Man. Given some of the challenges today, dealing with COVID 19, unrest about people’s personal and profession... Read More
Article
Delegating is Elevating
“The surest way for an executive to kill himself is to refuse to learn how and when and to whom to delegate work.” James Cash Penney, founder of J.C. Penny
On November 24, 2019 I wrote Micromanaging Diminishes Everyone to talk about the causes and effects of micromanaging. Micromanaging is usually driven by the boss’ distrust or dislike of an employee, or the boss’ personal insecurity. Micromanaging’s negative impact on the team ripples out beyond its tar... Read More
Article
A Friend In Need... Inspires
As a young teenager, I was a big World Wrestling Federation (WWF) fan. I soaked up as much action as I could every chance I got. I was all about the hero and villain plot, the big costumes, and personalities. I would save up, borrow, and do whatever it took to go and see WWF live when it was in town. My favorite wrestler was Sylvester Ritter, aka, the Junkyard Dog who, in addition to being a Hall of Fame pro wrestler, he was an All American football player at Fayetteville State where he ... Read More
Article
Dont Stress, Have a Good Day
Leadership is stressful. At any time, you can be blindsided by a crisis that you’ve literally spent no time preparing for. Often, your superiors haven’t experienced it either so the entire team is blindly feeling around for the best way to respond while critics observe and report about your incompetence. When the worst isn’t happening, much time is spent covering your bases in an effort to prevent the preventable stressors from wreaking havoc on your organization. Combi... Read More
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Measure Twice, Cut Once
On July 31, 2006, in Rocklin, an affluent suburb of Sacramento, CA. a parent arrived at the Phoenix school to enroll her child. She was given a tour and told that there were no openings for her child. She was offered to be placed on the waiting list because at the time the school was short staffed due to two recent teacher resignations. The family was disappointed and sent an email to Phoenix administration complaining about what they were told. On the strength of that email, Phoenix adm... Read More
Article
Preschool Bias Influences Everything
In 2016, Yale researchers studying racial bias in the classroom decided to do a two-part experiment. In the first part educators watched black and white children together and in the second part, the educators read vignettes on misbehaving students. In each situation they were asked to identify and rate bad behavior. 135 teachers were shown a video of four children (a black boy and girl, and a white boy and girl) playing and asked them to look for potentially problematic behavior. The cat... Read More
Article
Dunbar's Number Works at Work
“If you wait for people to come to you you’ll only get small problems. You must go and find them. The big problems are where people don’t realize they have them in the first place.” - W. Edwards Deming.
In small organizations it's easy to manage people, enforce rules, and make sure your vision is coming to life while remaining in compliance with the law. As your organization gets bigger, even the best of intentions can’t control everything at al... Read More
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At Work, Pursue Peace, and Shine
About 2500 years ago, Sun Tzu was born in the Qi region of the Zhou Kingdom in ancient China. He grew to be a general in China, a military strategist, writer, and philosopher. He is most well known for writing The Art of War which some say is the best book ever written on war strategy. In The Art of War, General Tzu describes victory and defeat in terms of psychological states. According to him, victory lies in your ability to unsettle the enemy psychologically from harmony (strength)... Read More
Article
Baboon Behavior at Work, Works
Stanford professor and neuroendocrinologist, Robert Sapolsky, was born on April 6, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York to immigrants from the Soviet Union. As a young boy, he could be found reading about what it would be like to live with Silverback Gorillas. At 12 he began writing to primatologists. In high school he began teaching himself Swahili. In 1978, he earned his B.A. in biological anthropology from Harvard and left for Kenya to study baboons in the wild. In 1979, Sapolsky returned to Ne... Read More
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Torture Does Not Work At Work
Being in COVID captivity, I’ve had plenty of time to research leadership pitfalls and missteps, and the consequences that come from this behavior. If you follow my work you know that bad leadership impacts the people, the organization, and the bad leader him or herself. So does good leadership so do it for yourself. One particularly disturbing case involved an employee and his manager at Prosper Inc.
Prosper Inc. (Salt Lake City, Utah) is a company that offers entrepreneur... Read More
Article
Discrimination Investigations Can Be Difficult
Whenever I meet an African American human resources leader I make sure to ask one question before the conversation ends. That question is, “What do you use as a filter for racial discrimination?” I usually go on to describe the position black leaders are in during the hiring and discipline process. As soon as you hire black, you’re accused of being someone who only hires black. If you don’t “sufficiently” discipline black, you are seen as someone who go... Read More
Article
Lean Into Discomfort Like Ann and C.P.
Last week while at a mixer, I ran into a published author from the Bay Area who writes and evaluates other professional writers; a peer reviewer. Whenever I meet an accomplished writer in the area of leadership I pounce on the opportunity to ask questions about their inspiration, accomplishments, and tips for ways for me to improve. People who review for professional journals are usually the most knowledgeable as they evaluate the work of other professionals with an eye for scientific va... Read More
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People Are The Most Important Thing
On September 2, 2019, Billy Foister, a 48 year old stocker in the Amazon warehouse in Etna, Ohio was overcome by pains in his chest. He tried to continue working through the pain as he had for over a week but on this day, the pain knocked him off of his feet. He lay on the ground in that busy warehouse for over 20 minutes before anyone stopped to check on him. Just a week prior to his collapse, he went to the AmCare (medical) center at the Amazon site complaining of chest pain and a head... Read More
Article
Workers' Comp Works
Workers’ Compensation (Workers’ Comp) was initially established in 1881 by Otto Von Bismarck in Germany. In America it was referred to at Workman’s Comp until the name was changed to the more gender neutral, Workers’ Comp. Otto Von Bismarck would later lead the effort to unify Germany then became the first Chancellor of unified Germany in 1890 but prior to that his 1881 idea evolved into what he called the ‘Sickness Insurance Law’ in 1883, ‘Accid... Read More
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The Last Word
August 29, 2019 Shelley asked me to do this…
I am honored that he asked me to speak of him today…
I’ll start by giving honor to God and to the “clergy”... The kindness of the people of this house is overwhelming, you can feel it as you approach the building. If I lived in Fresno, this would definitely be my church!
As I look around the room, It is humbling to see the different faces. Take a moment to briefly scan the room yourself… Literally,... Read More
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Management Training; An Ounce of Prevention
I've been writing weekly articles each week for the past 15 months, often times I find inspiration from lessons learned on movies, books, articles, or my own experiences or mistakes. This time a simple ‘expensive human resources mistakes’ google search produced 118,000,000 results on bing. The biggest themes I pulled from the information I read was the lack of training that results in noncompliance with labor laws and regulations. I’ve covered many labor laws and resour... Read More
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The Temptation of Retaliation Hurts Everyone
I often find myself quoting Newton’s Third Law of Motion when talking leadership with a struggling manager. Newton’s Third Law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the context of the conversation, if someone hits you it's natural to want to hit them back. As a boss, supervisor, or manager, you have the means to return fire in ways that can be painful to people in reaction to their words, actions, or behavior that bothers you. And the temptat... Read More
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The Americans With Disabilities Act Works for Everyone
In 2008, Josefina Hernandez, an 18 year Walgreens employee in San Francisco had a hypoglycemic attack due to her diabetes and needed to stabilize her sugar. She usually carries candy in her pocket for instances such as this, but on this day her pockets were empty. Looking for relief, Josefina went to the snack aisle and grabbed a bag of chips and began eating them. She was observed and approached by a security guard who didn’t understand her situation. When he asked her why she too... Read More
Article
The Wallace Effect
Okay, I have a confession to make, one of my best friends has outed me and now I’m going to get ahead of the looming national controversy (in my mind) by saying it outright… I have never seen the movie Braveheart. Okay, he shamed me last week, I’ve watched and enjoyed it since then. The reason the movie came up was a conversation we had about leaders and why people follow them passionately vs. passively. The example he used was “The Wallace Effect”, using t... Read More
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Overtime Is Expensive.. Not Paying Costs More
I’ve been putting off writing an article on overtime because I didn’t see it as necessary because, I assumed, that overtime was an issue that people generally understood. In my time writing, I’ve done the research on it and have seen it show up as a common personnel problem but still put it off as a subject. Today, while researching another issue, I ran across a number that caught my attention. Of all wage and hour violations, 42% are related to overtime; 80% of all Dep... Read More
Article
Good Decision Making Saves Time and Frustration For Everyone
One area leaders get into trouble is in decision making, and not necessarily because of the decisions they make, it’s usually the process. Decisions usually fall in one of three areas 1. Executive Decisions, leaders have to make a call and cannot seek input or share responsibility. Confidentiality usually drives these types of decisions, others know they can’t know the details and they will need to roll with the outcome. 2. Collaborative Decisions, these are decisions that re... Read More
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Conflict Resolution at Work
Recently, I had a conversation with friends about the social conflict between people of different races and how differences can be closed without diminishing anyone. The prevailing feeling was that it could not be resolved because of the zero sum nature of social equality. To put it simply, for me to swim you have to get out of the pool, and to create equality means people enjoying the pool have to agree that some of us have to get out so “others” can get in. One pe... Read More
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Proper Workplace Investigations are Essential
If you are working in Human Resources, Compliance, Ombudsman, Legal or a related department, a good amount of your work will be investigations. Whether it’s responding to complaints, looking into egregious incidents, or responding to grievances, you will be expected to follow a process that is comprehensive, and unbiased, and that you will follow up with all parties involved. In some organizations, the process of following up will be laid out in your employee contract or organizati... Read More
Article
Wrongful Terminations Are Just Wrong... And Expensive
It has been said that next to losing a spouse or a child, losing our job can be the most emotional experience in your life. The insecurity that comes with rejection, uncertainty about how bills will be paid, and the loss of identity that comes with having a job and bringing home the bacon has driven some to emotional breakdown. It is for these reasons, and the impact on the organization, that bosses should be careful to properly execute terminations and to pursue them for the right reaso... Read More
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Great Leaders Recognize Magnificence
I had a conversation with someone in the financial industry who was struck by a recent recognition that had happened in a recent staff meeting. A few days prior to that meeting, an employee caught a customer trying to pass a fake wire to her company of over $1 million. These types of false wires cost real estate, and stock brokerages millions annually, because as technology improves, this kind of fraud becomes more and more difficult to track. Back in the day you wrote a check or brought wit... Read More
Article
Confirmation Bias.. And the Doobie Brothers
Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, or interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that affirms one's prior beliefs or hypotheses. According to Psychology Today, “Confirmation Bias occurs from the direct influence of desires on beliefs. When people would like a certain idea or concept to be true, they end up believing it to be true. They are motivated by wishful thinking.” Confirmation bias is the precursor to the self-fulfilling prophecy where one would ... Read More
Article
Whistleblowers Are Safe
Early in my career, I had a boss who I’ll call Christopher. One day an employee came to me reporting that she was the target of sexual harassment so I took her to Christopher so that she could tell him what she had told me. She told Christopher and he was appropriately shocked and sympathetic for her. She expressed to him that she did not want to file a report, instead she wanted to be transferred to another department. She explained that her fear was rooted in having to work with ... Read More
Article
Micromanaging Diminishes Everyone
I was recently approached by a leader who has a boss who is an intense micromanager. According to my friend, her boss wants to go over every document, review every agenda, and asks her to report her every move during the day. It sounded to me like more time is taken reviewing her every action than any reasonable boss has for one person. My first question to her was, has there been a problem with your performance? Are you on a performance improvement plan? Is this an intervention for past... Read More
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Follow The Blow Fly
The blow fly was given its name in Old England because it would lay eggs on meat and before that meat could be prepared or served, it had to be “fly blown”. An interesting fact: they do not lay eggs at night. Shakespeare makes references to blow flies in at least three of his plays including The Tempest, love’s Labour’s Lost, and Anthony and Cleopatra.
The blow fly gained its usefulness in modern forensics because of its ability to detect dead or rotting meat. L... Read More
Article
Great Leaders Have Thick Skin and Tender Hearts
I recently read an article by Mikki Kendall, written in November 2016 about the number of times Michelle Obama had to endure rude, racist, sexist or stupid attacks and it occurred to me how thick a leader’s skin has to be. As I read, it also struck me that she didn’t ask for the public life that was thrust on her and the grace with which she carried herself during her season in the spotlight. She and her husband have both written on her feelings about going into politics, she... Read More
Article
Meetings Are An Opportunity To Lead
A while ago a friend invited me to a meeting to give feedback on the interaction between two warring factions of one of his teams. Out in the field, two groups created camps and were launching grenades at each other from a distance. In the conference room it was even worse with verbal jabs, eye rolling, snarky statements and side conversations wrecked staff meetings. The meeting I attended was an effort to bridge the gap and bring the two sides together with the hope of creating a cohesi... Read More
Article
When The Game Seems Fixed
The first recorded international sporting contest pitted Bristol’s Tom Cribb vs. Tom Molineaux an African American freed slave from Georgetown, South Carolina in a bareknuckle boxing match for the ages. The date was December 18, 1810 and was a cold, rainy day, typical climate for the time of year in East Grinstead, Sussex.
At stake was a national pride and given the contrast of the fighters, people buzzed with excitement. Crib was the people’s champion, a national treasure,... Read More
Article
Paul O'Neill's Habits; Safety and Communication
In my research, anytime I come across another Fresno State Alum, it gets my attention. Paul O’Neill was featured in a book I read last year about habits. Charles Duhigg’s, The Power of Habit, makes the claim that most of what we do is habit and that you can change your life simply by changing your habits. A long time before Duhigg wrote his book, Aristotle wrote, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Essentially, if you can ... Read More
Article
Leonard Lawrence and the Consequences of Melancholia
In 1987, the Movie Full Metal Jacket was released in theaters around the world. I enjoyed about the first 40 minutes of the movie and usually got bored with Vietnam. The first half depicted basic training for marines who were to be sent to the war. Movie viewers were delighted by the brutal Gunnery Sargent Hartman played by Lee Ermey as he unloaded on the overweight and dim witted Private Leonard Lawrence played by Vincent D’Onofrio. The scene was set at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parr... Read More
Article
Sexual Harassment Harms Everyone
Sexual Harassment has taken center stage in recent years but it isn’t new at all. If you look up Me Too or go to the movement’s Facebook page you’ll find over 170,000 friends and followers sharing stories, giving updates on legislation and seeking support in protecting people from this type of harassment. Me Too was first used by Tarana Burke in 2006 because she was unable to help a 13 year old girl who confided her assault experience with Burke, so she shared her story... Read More
Article
Hostile Work Environments Don't Work For Anyone
One of the most unreported and uninvestigated issues in any workplace is the hostile work environment. Usually the harasser is someone of a higher rank and does his dirty work behind closed doors or intimidates any witnesses who knows of their behavior. The harasser does not have to have positional power though, that person can also be someone with the social power to ostracize and intimidate others making the claim more difficult to prove. Surprisingly, the harasser can also be a subord... Read More
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Paid Administrative Leave; the what and why
If you have ever been placed on Paid Administrative Leave it can be an emotional experience, to some it feels similar to being suspended by the principal. Thoughts and feelings swirling around in your head can shake your confidence. Who made this fraudulent claim about me? What does it mean? Am I going to be fired? What will people think? You can easily lose your cool if you don’t understand this type of leave. Usually, Paid Administrative Leave is used to give the organization spa... Read More
Article
Your Leaves Are An Asset
If you’re like me, and I’m probably the worst example, you’ve had jobs that offered leave time and you’ve never investigated it. I’ve accrued time, used time, contributed to catastrophic leave and never gave my leave time much thought outside of that. As an educator, leaves combined with school vacations and non-workdays can be a confusing mess even when you pay attention to it. Until recently, I took the easy route and just ignored it. In this article I&rsq... Read More
Article
Property Rights and Due Process At Work
In 1689, Philosopher John Locke theorized in the Two Treatises of Government that a person owned himself and his labor and his labor brought about ownership of the land he worked. In the context of the time, compensation was not an issue because land was plentiful and money was not. Therefore, you and your labor brought with it ownership rights to the land you worked. That philosophy has been argued and translated for centuries and has been applied to labor law and your “ownership” o... Read More
Article
Let The Contract Be Your Guide
One of the first things I tell new administrators is to read the contract. Sometimes called the agreement, or “the bible”, this is what will guide the decisions you make about hiring, overtime, discipline, evaluations, leaves, and other issues related to the work being done in your new role. What you want to read with an eye for is what is emphasized in the contract. That tells a story about where the organization has been. The truth is, most agreements and contract language is the s... Read More
Article
Management of Employee Rights Is Part of Leadership
Today, let’s go back in history for a minute to shed light on a recurring problem in Labor-Management interactions that end up costing organizations a lot of money, costing people their jobs, and brings public humiliation for way too many. Employees have rights whether they are represented by a formal union or not, and even if management feels as if the employee is caught “red handed”. Part of management is protecting these rights. In two particular cases, good labor pr... Read More
Article
A Whale of a Leadership Example
I’ve always been interested in documentaries about animals. As I have shared in the past, there is a direct correlation between human and other mammal behavior. Those similarities are especially profound in the Orca. Also known as killer whales, these animals have brains very similar to that of humans, one profound difference is an exaggerated limbic system which controls emotions and social behavior. Marine neurologists say the orca is more emotional and more social than human beings beca... Read More
Article
Successful Union Collaboration is Essential to Success
Unionized labor began in the late 1880s. Samuel Gompers’ American Federation of Labor stood out early because of his organization and leadership strength. The purpose of unions is to empower workers, unifying their collective strength to achieve better working conditions. Representing workers, union leaders negotiate wages, benefits, contract language and they represent members in disputes with management over violations of that contract. Essentially, they give a voice and power to... Read More
Article
Stephen Shelley and the Magic of Motivation
Matthew 13:31-32 tells the parable of the mustard seed: “The kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air can come perch in its branches.” This parable has been broken down numerous times and delivered with more slants than a geometry class. In that spirit, here is one more slant to add to the quive... Read More
Article
What You Can Learn About Leadership From Beyoncé
In a conversation last week with a friend about the start of school next month, he shared his frustration about leaders talking the talk but not walking the walk. His district is about to embark on a three day in-service about equity, and improving student performance. His frustration is rooted in the amount of time spent on the in-service compared to the actual commitment of site and district leadership toward equity for the kids who show up for school every day. Usually, equity is spoken of as... Read More
Article
Encouragement is the Secret Sauce
Not long ago, Bloomsberg University (Pennsylvania) researchers, hoping to learn about the impact of verbal encouragement decided to conduct a Treadmill Test. They found 28 students, 12 men and 16 women, and created conditions they hoped would encourage the students to give maximum effort. The students were subjected to four three minute exercise stages on the first day with no encouragement. Afterwards, blood was taken, and their ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) was measured. One week later, ... Read More
Article
The Rule of Reciprocity is Shockingly Strong
Chicago, IL native, Juwan Howard, is one of the all-time great basketball players from the University of Michigan. The first of what would be known internationally as the Fab 5 Freshman basketball recruits for the Wolverines in 1991. He was critical in the recruitment of the other four freshmen, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson. They would go on to become the first all-freshman starting lineup in college basketball history, would make the tournament championship game in 1992... Read More
Article
Get Your Mojo Back
I recently had a conversation with a colleague who felt it necessary to point out that I needed to get my mojo back. During the short but powerful talk, more like a mini lecture, it was clear others recognized something was off with me. It was the second conversation in one week with two different people on this topic. I said to myself, okay, and I decided to study, write and get my mojo back. My hope is that you can use something that will help you find, improve or get yours back too. T... Read More
Article
Take Advantage of Their Mistakes
2 Samuel 11 in the good book tells a story about David and Uriah. David was a Great king, honored by everyone including Uriah, the Hittite. Uriah served in the king’s army, and was blindly loyal to King David. Uriah’s name means, “God is my light” and was a man of flawless character. Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, was a very beautiful woman. While Uriah was fighting a war, King David watched Bathsheba bathing and fell in love with her. Later, he slept with Bathsheba and s... Read More
Article
Bully Bosses are Imposters!
In Australia, there is an expression, ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’ that is used to describe what we Americans from the south call, ‘Crabs in a bucket’. In Australia, poppies in a field pretty much grow to the same height, if you look out on the field you’ll see a sea of blooms. Every now and then you’ll see one that stands higher than the others. The one that stand out is usually the target of pruning shears. The bully boss who targets a high achiever like the ... Read More
Article
What You Can Learn About Leadership From Jon Taffer
One of my favorite Sunday routines is watching the Bar Rescue marathon. Bar Rescue is a reality show that features Jon Taffer, a hospitality industry consultant who specializes in bars, pubs and nightclubs. Taffer offers the staff his professional expertise, and renovates failing bars in an effort to save them from going out of business. For me, it’s encouraging to see the turnaround, the creative ways he reinvents the bars and the manner he rallies teams together and gets them on the righ... Read More
Article
Be Careful What You Wish For
Outside of my regular 9-5, I also coach new and aspiring administrators. One thing I make sure to emphasize to everyone is the fact that this job is tough emotionally, you have to be prepared to deal with attitudes and conduct you may not see anywhere else in your life. More than that, you are not able to respond to these attitudes, and this conduct the way you deal with it in your regular life. That painful lesson was not lost on me. Early in my career I fell into this trap, reacting instead of... Read More
Article
Their Precious Possessions
Aristotle once wrote, "For most things are differently valued by those who have them and by those who wish to get them: what belongs to us, and what we give away, always seems very precious to us." Essentially, what he is describing in The Nicomachean Ethics book IX is what psychologists today call The Endowment Effect. Also referred to as the mere ownership effect, describes the hypothesis that people acribe more value to things merely because they own them. Usually, once you own or h... Read More
Article
Animal Research Relates
Psychologists study animal behavior, how they interact with each other, stress, and their environment to explain why they behave the way they do. This research also sheds light on human behavior and is reliable because animals don't worry about what the researcher is thinking or try to get the 'right' answer, they just be. Animals just carry on with their lives without a care about what observers are thinking, the social impact of their behavior, or what someone may think or write about them. Hu... Read More
Article
Be The Anteambulo
Dee Edwards recently opened a church in Sacramento and invited me to her first service. During that service she laid out her vision for the church and the roles of the people in it. When she got to herself, she described her role, the pastor, as the first servant meaning it was her responsibility to serve everyone as they carried out their responsibilities serving the church and the community. There is a Latin expression for this role, it is Anteambulo. The Latin definition is, “one who go... Read More
Article
Failure of Leadership
On September 3, 1939 Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland. An act historians say sparked World War II. German soldiers converted an old Polish army barrack into what would be known as Auschwitz 1. Auschwitz, generally refers to a complex of about 40 concentration and extermination camps built and operated by Germany in Poland during World War II. The first prisoners were German criminals who arrived in May of 1940. The first Gassing of prisoners, mostly Jewish, was conducted in Sept... Read More
Article
Embrace the Rocky Road
My friend and mentor, Dr. Mike McCoy, is quick to tell anyone who will listen, “Make no enemies”. In leadership there are very few words more key to your success. When it’s your job to get things done through other people it is essential that you reduce the number of people looking to undermine your vision or torpedo your career. Inevitably, someone is going to be upset by you, your decisions, their perceptions or expectations. That is just part of leadership. If you’re n... Read More
Article
Celebrate Good Times, Come On!
In a recent conversation about my leadership strengths, one stood out to me and it may seem obvious to others but until this conversation it never occurred to me. That is the ability, willingness and desire to celebrate my people. In a December 1, 2018 article ‘Get Hits and Be a Hit’, I wrote about three levels of compliment you can use to motivate your team. If you want a simple rule to use to motivate your team through compliments, take a minute and read it. This article will make ... Read More
Article
Gossip and Rumors at Work
Very few things can melt away trust in an organization as fast and efficiently as rampant rumors at a workplace. These usually uninformed messages swirl around your workplace like a kerosene soaked grassfire. Employees and leaders alike are targets of this vicious conduct and almost always fall victim to its destructive impact. We all, at one time or another, have played a part at the water cooler or in the parking lot or (gasp) the teacher’s lounge. This article is intended to help you to... Read More
Article
Forgive and let it go
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone describe a leader by saying, “once you’re in his cross hairs, you never get out.” Or it’ll sound something like this, “Ever since (blank) happened, the boss has shut down and won’t talk to me.” These are common descriptions that have been shared with me, yours may sound similar or very different. Usually it speaks of someone who has taken an incident or comment personally and as a result is... Read More
Article
In Leadership; Fear is Unfair
Unfortunately, all too many of us have experience with a fear based leader, commonly referred to as a workplace bully. If you don’t recognize this term or how it may be applied at your workplace I’ll take a moment to help you identify it. Benedict Carey of the New York Times describes bully bosses this way, “A boss who loves making subordinates squirm, whole moods radiate through the office, sending workers scurrying for cover, whose very voice causes stomach muscles to clench ... Read More
Article
Service Ethos
On June 14, 2018 one of my colleagues, we’ll call her Linda, and I were having a conversation about a problem that was facing our district. We quickly got it resolved and moved on to other topics. As we wrapped up our conversation she mentioned to me that, in her view, I had a positive impact on this giant district. She used the term, ‘service ethos’. I had never heard that very positive rumor but it made me feel good that someone used such a term to describe me. The rest of th... Read More
Article
Winning the Crowd
When a corporation is seeking to roll out a new product or service they use the innovation adoption lifecycle to guide their behavior. They look at the market as divided up into five parts. The first 2.5% are called Innovators, the second 13.5% are called the Early Adopters, the third 34% are the Early Majority, the fourth 34% are the Late Majority, the fifth section of the market is referred to as the Laggards.
The innovators are the creators of the gizmos and gadgets. They will buy new produ... Read More
Article
The Job Hunt Is Worth The Frustration
Getting your dream job can be a frustrating thing. Not the envisioning yourself in that position, not the targeting of that position but it’s the chase of that position. I work with many aspiring and new administrators who are looking for their first opportunity or the next step in their careers and one thing is consistent; the hunt can take a lot out of you. It will not only take you out of your comfort zone and make you feel very vulnerable. I am certain that if you are looking to take t... Read More
Article
Brush, Brush, Brush
John Lennon wrote “We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it.” I am a firm believer that as a leader your people need to be your primary focus. The thing is that your focus needs to be on your people from the instant you decide you want to work in their organization, be on their te... Read More
Article
Start This Convo at The Top
The proud papa in me wants to brag about my oldest daughter who has become a leader in her own right. She’s a junior in college and works in the multicultural center at her university. Part of her job is to put on programs that connect African American students to the university and to develop a bond that will connect the university to the black community at large. The past two years she has put on a Natural Hair Night at the university there are vendors and hair experts, a demonst... Read More
Article
Three Reasons Leaders Lose
In my time as a leader, I have made many mistakes, some of which have threatened my ability to get things done, some have threatened to torpedo morale and others have threatened my tenure. Those experiences have led me to explore my mistakes and what could have been done to avoid them. I am sure this experience is not unique to me. Longitudinal research has revealed that between 1960 through 2015, average tenure of site principals has shrunk to three years. People are not staying in the professi... Read More
Article
The Evaluation process actually works so work it!
We have all been there. We see the appointment on our calendar and we watch the clock ticking closer to the time that we are to go into our supervisor’s office and get our performance appraisal. We can feel our hearts pounding in our chest, palms sweaty as no fewer than a billion thoughts race through our minds. “What’s he going to say about that time I… How much will she weigh my absences… He had better mention my shining moments” and more. The performan... Read More
Article
Psychological Safety
I am fortunate that although I have an hour plus commute to work I get to spend this time with a clinical psychologist who treats wards of the state in the San Francisco Bay Area. He serves as a filter for my ideas about leadership and motivating teams of people to perform at a high level. In one recent conversation with him I brought up the concept of Psychological Safety as an explanation for workplace misbehavior. I do this hoping that he will not explode in laughter at my sophomoric understa... Read More
Article
Stay Sharp
Abraham Lincoln once said, “If I had six hours to chop down a tree I’d spend four sharpening my axe”. As leaders are very aware, your success is always in the preparation. I tell the people who I mentor that the best response to anxiety, that uncomfortable feeling you get before you take on a difficult task, is preparation. When it comes to getting things done, preparation is everything. In the context of leadership, preparation for getting things done is the cultivatio... Read More
Article
Manage Your Relationships
One huge misconception new leaders have about their performance is the idea that your competence, your ability to do your work well, is the primary factor that determines your job satisfaction and longevity. Organizational researchers will tell you that not only is that not true but your ability to do your job isn’t even in the top 5 of most important factors in your tenure. The truth is that there are any number of factors both inside and outside of your organization that can end your tim... Read More
Article
Its Time To Go
Many people who like to look at their lives and careers as having an upward trajectory often wonder when its time to leave an assignment for the next. Being one of these types of people, I often work without a parachute, switching to organizations where I have no history or established resources. Having a career such as this has clear advantages such as not having violated any sacred cows or offended anyone in this new environment. This career path also has disadvantages such as a lack of access... Read More
Article
Consider Them First!
“When a person tells you that you hurt them, you don’t get to decide that you didn’t” – Louis CK.
I received a call from a concerned boss a short while ago. He was concerned that his people seemed to be behaving despondent toward him. At his most recent staff meeting he was shocked to find that there was very little support for his newly initiated employee recognition program. He was further disappointed because in another staff meeting he received resistance... Read More
Article
Maintain Your Cool
No matter what your position is or your level of responsibility you will at one time or another deal with someone who will test your patience. I once had a colleague who looked for any opportunity to self-promote, belittle others or act in ways that made the working environment more difficult for others. His conduct was absolutely infuriating. In those days, before I learned a few tips and tricks, I would respond to every comment, internalize every slight and meet him at his level. Essentially f... Read More
Article
Perception is Reality
“Our minds influence the key activity of the brain, which then influences everything; perception, cognition, thoughts and feelings, personal relationships; they're all a projection of you.”
- Deepak Chopra
Growing up in my mother would always tell me to, “Stop worrying about what other people think”. In a conversation with my wife one morning I brought up this expression to which she added, “Stop worrying about what other ... Read More
Article
Get Hits And Be A Hit!
When most people think of compensation, myself included, our minds go straight to the “cha-ching” sound of an old school cash register with visions of dollar signs dancing in our heads. For good reason, bills, inflation and the kids’ activities seem to be playing ‘Hungry Hippos’ with the family finances (pardon the reference to my childhood). Living costs are real and unless your job helps you meet your responsibilities, that job will soon become a source of stress ... Read More
Resources
DO IT ANYWAY
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Excuses are what stand between success and failure. Hence, it’s important that you identify the characteristics needed to move past life’s hurdles. In this book, you will discover the courage, power, and resilience necessary to push you forward. After taking the journey with iconic women in the Bible, you are sure to remove all barriers that attempt to block you from accomplishing your dreams. Challenges will become opportunities, difficult test will become testimonies, and your setbacks will become platforms for a comeback.The reader is left with no other option but to relinquish all excuses and adopt the motto… “Do it Anyway!”
Do it for Yourself
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Servant Leadership
Have you ever been in a leadership position, putting in the time, working hard, and still struggling to bring your team together? You are not alone. In fact, you are in good company. This feeling of frustration is likely spreading from you to your entire team and causing real damage, and you may not even know it's happening. It was this very feeling that led me to write the book I wish I had read before getting into leadership. Leading isn't about checking boxes or managing resources, it's about connecting with people and setting them up for success. I chose to focus on checking boxes and focusing on things rather than people and I learned a few painful lessons I hope to share with you in this book. I hope it helps elevate you and your leadership.