LeadershipQuarterly Supervisor Magazine: Fall 2010

In This Issue:Adding Enthusiasm to Your Leadership Skills Getting a Grip on Multi-TaskingCreative Problem Solving 101 Quiz: Your Communication StyleListening & Responding to Complaints Ten Tips: Communicating with Employees

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You’ve just been given that promoti on you’ve wanted -- and now, suddenly, you’re a manager. To help ease

your anxiety about the new positi on, remember that man-aging people means more than just giving out assignments. Good managers encourage people to do their best through their enthusiasti c leadership and moti vati on.

“The business world is changing at an exponenti al rate. Your business will likely fail to grow and compete successfully if you fail to insti ll a sense of enthusiasm in your staff ,” says Hap Klopp, the founder of North Face and coauthor of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Business Management.

Mr. Klopp suggests adding the following qualiti es to your leadership skills.

P�ssionThe best managers are passionate about their work and have a sense of urgency about what needs to be done and when.

“Leadership in management means getti ng everybody working together amicably for a common goal. It’s team building, and you’re the coach,” Mr. Klopp says. “Quite sim-ply, leadership is seeing that things happen.”

But a sense of urgency is what inspires your people to go the extra mile -- to work at delighti ng, not just sati sfying, the customer, for example.

“Passion for a product or service fl ows from the top down. If you’re excited about your job and your contributi on, it’s more likely your people will be enthusiasti c about their con-tributi ons, as well,” Mr. Klopp says.

An E�p�n�e� Ro�eGood management requires having an ongoing set of re-sponsibiliti es that combine tasks required of an administra-tor and a teacher with those of a visionary.

In additi on to organizati onal skills that include linking tasks

and creati ng a budget, for instance, managers also need to keep an eye on trends and make predicti ons about the fu

ture of their organizati ons and their positi ons in the mar-ketplace.

Consisten��There are many management styles that work. Many peo-ple prefer a democrati c approach, in which employees are

encouraged to ask questi ons, make suggesti ons, and have input.

“I like this style because it involves team members in the de-cision-making process and gives them a good feeling about themselves and the company,” Mr. Klopp says. “The one ti me this doesn’t work is in a crisis; that’s when you need to assume an authoritati ve role.”

Another management style is that of the take-charge auto-crat who doesn’t worry about what others think. “I don’t prefer this style, but if this is you, that is who you should be,” Mr. Klopp says.

The worst management style “is to waffl e and waver, to be an autocrat one moment, a consensus builder the next,” says Mr. Klopp. “If you fall prey to this malady, suddenly ev-eryone’s agenda will be more important than yours and no one will believe in your insti ncts once they see you don’t believe in them yourself.”

Sh�rin� Cre�itManagers who take all the credit for success and blame all the failures on others aren’t popular leaders or successful moti vators.

“Culti vati ng a sense of teamwork is best,” Mr. Klopp says. “Don’t think ‘you’ and ‘I’; think ‘us.’ Not only will your group be stronger for it, you’ll get bett er results.”

Wellness Library Health Ink and Vitality Communicati ons ©2010

ENTHUSIASMaddingto your leadership skills

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101

Don’t despair if the same frus-trati ng problems shackle you

at work ti me and ti me again. Perhaps you’re bored with your job or con-cerned because the competi ti on is passing your company by. Be aware that you can solve these problems with creati vity.

Whether you realize it, you already have creati ve ability. “Ninety-eight per-cent of people are creati ve, but our so-cializati on process causes them to put it on the back burner. The fastest way to tap into your creati vity is to learn how to use creati ve problem-solving techniques,” says James M. Higgins, author of “101 Creati ve Problem-Solv-ing Techniques.”

Two of his favorite techniques -- one for individuals, the other for groups -- may work for you.

Min� M�ppin�Mind mapping helps individuals brain-storm soluti ons to a problem; plan a meeti ng, party or vacati on; organize daily work duti es; compose a speech; or take notes at a staff meeti ng.

An Englishman named Tony Buzan originated the technique, which starts with a core idea and works outward in-stead of from lists or outlines. The idea resembles streets radiati ng from the center of a city.

“What makes mind mapping work,” says Mr. Higgins, “is that it mirrors the way the brain thinks, from a central idea out, with connecti ons made be-tween thoughts.”

Ho� to Min� M�pDraw a small circle in the center of a large piece of unlined paper, and in

Cre�tive Pro��e� So�vin�

it write a word or draw a picture rep-resenti ng your main topic. This is like the center of your city. Radiati ng from the circle, draw lines representi ng your topic’s diff erent facets. These are like your city’s main streets.

On each line print only key words rath-er than complete sentences. Connect smaller lines to the main ones to rep-resent sub-categories, ideas, items, or names. These are like your city’s side streets. Whenever you think of a new idea, simply add a line where needed.

To spark more creati vity and add orga-nizati on, use diff erent-colored ink for diff erent categories, or draw symbols next to similar or interrelated items.

Besides awakening your creati vity, mind mapping allows you to see the total picture on one page.

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Stor��o�r�in�With storyboarding, a group can come up with a multi tude of creati ve ideas quickly while viewing them in an orga-nized fashion.

To use storyboarding in a group set-ti ng, encourage people to call out their ideas no matt er how off -the-wall or outrageous they sound -- and allow no negati ve comments. One person’s zany idea can spark creati ve ones from oth-er group members. Later on you can decide which ideas to use.

As people express ideas, someone should write them on separate 4-by-6-inch sti cky notes, which should be placed on a wall so everyone can see the ideas together. Put the notes under appropriate headings, and move them around as needed.

Begin with these three headings: Topic, Pur-pose and Miscella-neous. When several miscellaneous ideas have the same line of thought, group them under a new heading.

When dealing with a complex project, create four separate storyboards -- one each for planning, ideas, organizati on and communicati on.

B���n�e Your Br�inMind mapping and storyboarding use both the brain’s creati ve right side and its linear left side. “This is important,” says Mr. Higgins, “because you want a balanced brain so you can take your creati vity and do something with it.”

Have you ever had the thought, “I’m not creati ve. I can’t even draw a straight line”? If so, you’re not alone. Many people think that there is some essenti al relati onship between creati vity and the ability to make art. If they can’t paint like Picasso, sing like Josh Groban, or sculpt like Henry Moore, they don’t dare claim to be creati ve. It feels like an arrogant thing to say about yourself, if you’re not an expert, not making a living from your creati ons, not well-known and publicly acclaimed for your imaginati ve gift s.

Why, when creati vity is our very birthright, do so few of us feel cre-ati ve? Why, when we’re asked to think of someone creati ve, do we rarely think about ourselves, but of the public fi gures that have de-fi ned creati vity over the years? We think of Monet, Mozart, Jackson Pollack, Martha Graham, Ansel Adams, always the fi gureheads, when the real truth is that every one of us is a born creator. That’s the hall-mark of being human: the ability to create, to turn something invis-ible into something visible, to forge a poem out of a feeling or a song out of a sorrow.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Creati vity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Inventi on, says that creati vity

doesn’t happen in our heads but in the interacti on be-tween our imaginati on and our social context. It’s a mat-ter of experience and response, a matt er of relati onship to others and a commentary on the signifi cance of our encounters. Creati vity is the vivid expression of who we are in the world--our imaginati on begets our thoughts, our thoughts beget our words, our words beget our ac-ti ons, our acti ons beget our experience, our collecti ve experience and expression begets our culture. Each of us is contributi ng to the creati on of the cultures we par-ti cipate in.

The world is not divided into two groups of the creati ve and the uncreati ve. If there’s a disti ncti on, it’s between those who are creati vely producti ve and those with un-expressed potenti al. We’re creati ve by default. We’re geneti cally predisposed to create. Each of us, to varying degrees, is intrinsically moti vated to create, to be origi-nal and to solve challenging problems. The questi on to

ask is not, “Am I creati ve?” but rather, “What inspires me to create?”

Personal creati vity is not about intelligence or informati on. It’s about inspirati on, from the Lati n spiritus, meaning “breath, courage, the soul.” Creati vity is about being fully alive, living courageously, or as the painter Joan Miro´ says, “Expressing with precision all the gold sparks the soul gives off .” When is the last ti me you felt fully alive? What is it that calls forth your courage and trumps your fear of shar-ing your soul? Knowing this is the key to discovering the creati vity that is waiti ng to be expressed through you.

For more on Jan Phillips, visit htt p://janphillips.com/home.htm

Wh�t is Cre�tivit�

An����?

�� J�n Phi��ips

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Krames Staywell

A job that requires you to multi task has many facets -- and you're re-

sponsible for keeping all of them func-ti oning at a high level. Being responsi-ble for a range of acti viti es and projects keeps your job interesti ng but it also can make you feel overwhelmed.

It takes skill to be successful at a job with many prioriti es. You must be or-ganized, good at managing ti me and profi cient in setti ng prioriti es.

The following recommendati ons can help you increase your chance of being successful at every aspect of your job.

An����eThe fi rst step is to analyze your job. You need to know which tasks are re-quired, and how to set prioriti es in getti ng them done. You also need to allot the appropriate amount of ti me to each task.

To begin, take two lined pieces of pa-per and ti tle them Urgent Tasks and Plan-Ahead Tasks.

Urgent Tasks are those that must be done immediately, such as answering the phone, taking care of customers and dealing with the daily crises that are inevitable. List all of these on one sheet of paper.

Plan-Ahead Tasks are anything you can schedule in advance, such as writi ng a report, att ending a meeti ng or plan-ning for a new product or service. List all of these on a second paper.

Prioriti�eNext, rate the tasks on each page as A, B or C, with A being the most impor-tant ones. This takes some thought, and you may want to get your supervi-sor's input.

Plan-Ahead tasks that are important for your company's future success also should rate an A. These are tasks such as developing a new product or doing market research.

The problem is, these important tasks can easily be set aside to take care of the more pressing ones. But it's essen-ti al to fi nd ti me to do them, or your company's future may be at risk.

S�he�u�eThe next step is to schedule these tasks on your calendar. To make it easier to organize your tasks, use four diff erent colors to highlight them on your two lists, based on their frequencies:

• Daily Tasks = Yellow• Weekly Tasks = Green• Monthly Tasks = Blue• Yearly Tasks = Pink

With your calendar and your two pages of tasks, set aside blocks of ti me for performing each task. Use the same color you used on your lists to highlight on your calen-dar the block of ti me for each task. That way, you'll be able to see at a glance if it's a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly task.

First schedule all of your A tasks, then the B's, fol-lowed by the C's.

Using your calendar enables you to see if you have enough ti me to do all the tasks assigned to you. More than likely, you'll discover you don't have enough ti me to do everything, so here are some opti ons:

• Armed with your task lists and your calendar, go to your su-pervisor and together work out a doable plan

• Search for ways to do some tasks more effi ciently

• Look for unnecessary tasks that can be eliminated. Look at those you rate as C and deter-mine if they're necessary

The more tasks you have, the more essenti al it is to plan. Set aside ti me each week to plan the next week. Look at your calendar and make any necessary adjustments.

Ensure Su��essEven aft er your plan has been put in place, it has to be managed. To do so, check your task list each week for items that can be eliminated or ti me frames that need to be expanded or shortened. If you do a litt le fi ne-tuning, your multi ple prioriti es will cease to be a source of stress or frustrati on.

Krames Staywell

Gettin� � Grip on

Mu�ti-T�s�in�Plan-Ahead Tasks are anything you can

each task. That way, you'll be able to see at a glance if it's a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly task.

First schedule all of your

Using your calendar enables you to see if you have enough ti me to do all the

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Listening� Responding

He�rin� Co�p��intsNo one likes to hear complaints. But it's part of your job. Here's how to deal with complaints in a positi ve way.

Take Complaints Seriously Take all complaints, even small ones, seriously. Taking acti on on a small complaint may prevent a big problem from occurring later.

Get the Full Story • Ask for facts and other infor-

mati on.• Probe beneath the surface to

get a bett er understanding.

Look for Hidden Problems Someti mes a small complaint is a way to get your att enti on for bringing up a more serious concern. There may be hurt feelings or a need to correct a mis-understanding. Ask, "Is there anything else you would like to talk about?"

Receive Complaints Without Judgment Avoid criti cizing the employee or ma-neuvering him or her into defending the complaint.

Tell the Employee What You Plan to Do If you can’t act immediately on the complaint, tell the em-ployee when you can initi ate ac-ti on. Then sti ck to your promise.

Learn From Complaints Complaints can be a nuisance. But complaints oft en contain hidden mes-sages that are useful for you to know. For instance,

• Complaints keep you in touch with staff frustrati ons.

• A complaint may point the way to other underlying problems.

By being open to all complaints you make sure people will feel safe coming to you with the important informati on you need to know.

Respon�in� to Co�p��intsWhen employees come to you with problems, it's important that you reas-sure them that they will get a fair re-sponse.

• Review the complaint and what steps you have taken to evaluate and respond to it. This demonstrates your interest and willingness to get involved.

• Focus on what is right not who is right. This way you can deal objecti vely with the facts of the case.

• If you made a mistake, admit it and explain what correcti ve measures have been taken. Everyone admires a person who can admit a mistake and take acti on to repair any damage that has occurred.

• If you were right, explain why. Someti mes a com-plaint is simply a result of a misunderstanding about rules, policies or procedures.

• Be objecti ve and factual in your response. Stay with the facts about what you did and what the outcome was. Avoid nega-ti ve or demeaning comments.

• If the complaint is out of your jurisdicti on, fi nd out who the employee needs to talk to and set up an appointment. If the complaint questi ons your authority or judgment, clear the way for the em-ployee to talk to your boss.

• Regardless of the outcome, it is important that the employ-ee leave your offi ce feeling positi ve about how you fairly handled the matt er.

Parlay Internati onal ©2010

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Take all complaints,

even small ones, seriously.

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Listening�

He�rin� Co�p��ints

Receive Complaints Without Judgment Avoid criti cizing the employee or ma-neuvering him or her into defending the complaint.

Tell the Employee What You Plan to Do

QUIZ: Your Communicati on Style: Asset or Liability?

Good communicati on is a matt er of give-and-take. Good communicati on styles involve listening carefully to the other person and to your own responses. Poor communicati on styles tend to be one-sided. Review these statements and answer yes if they fi t your communicati on style.

1. When there’s an argument, I get tough so my opponent will back down sooner.

2. I don’t have to spell out procedures. People are smart enough to fi gure out what I want them to do.

3. I expect people to know when I’m speaking confi denti ally.

4. I may not always know the answer, but I feel it’s my responsibility to act like I do.

5. If I sound more technical, it will give me more credibility.

6. Someti mes I know the answer to a problem, but I believe it’s bett er to let the person fi gure it out on his or her own.

7. In conversati ons, I use my eyes as well as my ears to listen.

8. If I don’t know what to say, I say nothing.

9. I pay att enti on to how I’m coming across and how the person is responding, so I can improve my communicati on skills.

10. When I’m listening to someone, I take notes and ask lots of questi ons.

Find the corresponding anwers on the following page.

yes no

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Your Communication Style: Asset or Liability?

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Parlay International ©2010

1-51. Arguments rarely solve anything. You may overpower an "opponent" with harsh judgments and name calling, but it doesn't mean you've won. It's better to de-escalate, using phrases such as "I can see you have strong feelings" or "Let's summarize our main differences." If tempers are hot, it's better to set a time for further discussion when things have calmed down.

2. No matter how smart people are, they deserve a clear picture of the expected results. It will save them and you a lot of false starts and embarrassment.

3. If you don't feel comfortable telling someone you're speaking confidentially, don't discuss the matter at all. Avoid "confidential" revelations except when absolutely necessary.

4. Avoid the pitfall of having all the answers. Some alternatives: "I'll have to think about it"; "Let's talk more about it and see if we can come up with a solution"; "What do you think should be done?" or "I don't know, but maybe so-and-so does."

5. Using technical terms, jargon or complex words may not be the best way to get a message across if your audience doesn't understand. You don't have to impress your audience with big words and technical jargon. To gain credibility with your audience, you need to convey your message in terms they can easily understand.

6. Unless it's a simple procedural question, giving people a chance to draw their own conclusions sometimes helps them grow, and they'll be more likely to follow up on answers they find for themselves. There's often more than one right answer anyway.

7. Body language, tone of voice and phrasing say things that words don't say. A pleased expression and confident stance may tell you there's full agreement. A pained expression, a discouraged slump or nervous fidgeting can be an invitation to probe.

8. Saying nothing gives you a chance to think about the problem and how you want to respond to it. You don't always have to jump in immediately with a plan or solution.

9. No one is born with perfect communication skills. Be on the lookout for things you'd like to improve, whether it's too many "ya knows" or getting too many puzzled looks from the people you're talking to. If your communication is frequently misinterpreted, work on explaining more clearly and getting people to explain to you what they think you said.

10. Taking notes can help you remember what was said and help you organize it. Asking questions is a good way to clarify meaning and to let the speaker know you're listening and you understand.

These communication styles could backfire because....

These are good communication styles because... -6 10

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Make it easy to talk with you. Have an open door policy in your office or arrange office hours when you’re always available.

Talk with each employee regularly, even if an employee never approaches you.

Get “personal” some of the time. It shows that you recognize employees have a life, not that you’re nosy. It softens the edges of your communication to take a moment for brief personal interchanges: “How’s the new baby?” “Is your brother feeling better after his operation?”

Know the person you’re talking to. Review an employee’s personnel file before discussing a problem, change, or opportunity.

Maintain confidentiality. Never repeat anything told to you in confidence.

Avoid being judgemental. Never judge people’s personal or lifestyle choices.

Be slow to judge an infraction of rules or standards until you have the whole picture.

Invite feedback. Unless you’re perfect, your employees’ frank assessments can help you do a better job if they’re not afraid of retaliation. Ask for both positive and negative feedback, and thank the employees who provide it.

If employees make comments to you that are inappropriate or unfair, continue to treat them on the basis of their job performance, not their opinions of you.

Don’t be afraid to say no. It’s not enough to expect your employees to be honest. You must be honest and tell them no when you mean it.

Parlay International ©2010

Here are 10 tips for keeping the avenues of communication with your employees wide open.

TENtips:

A Note to Supervisors...

From time to time, situations arise when a supervisor is not sure how to re-spond to a particular behavior. The EAP is available on a 24/7 basis for consul-tation on issues such as: referring an employee to the EAP, how best to respond to and manage difficult behavior in the workplace, and whether training or some other form of group intervention (such as an organizational intervention or a conflict resolution) may be helpful for a particular situation. The EAP can serve as an ally to anyone who is working with a troubled employee.

MINES believes that employees are an organization’s most valuable resource.

Your EAP is always available to provide you and your employees with support.

Toll-Free: 800-873-7138 • www.MINESandAssociates.com

• 24/7 supervisor consultation regarding prob-lems in the workplace

• Assessment of behavioral risk on the job

• Return-to-Duty conferences

• Advisory services in writing, revising, and implementing policies

• Supervisor and Manager training

• Unlimited formal Work Performance Referrals

• Coaching for management and leadership skills

• Conflict resolution for supervisor-employee problems

MINES and Associates ©2010

www.MINESandAssociates.com