How engaged are you with your job?

A young man (traditional story) and a young woman meet and fall in love.  They spend their days just being together and spending time discussing their hopes and dreams.  They talk of the future and where they will live, what they will name their children and how many they will have.  The days rush by in a blur and time is of no consequence. 

Have you ever had a job like that?  A job that challenges and motivates you?  A job that makes you look at the wider world and think - I'm in the right place for me right now.

So how can we get those who work for us to approach their jobs in the same way?

• Purpose.

   When a newly engaged couple go out in public they pretty much have one thing on their mind.  The best for each other.  So how do we develop purpose in our people?  We define the purpose for our businesses and work units.  We thensell that vision to others and let them decide whether or not they want to engage with it.
• Responsibility.  The jobs I have always enjoyed best are ones where I have been given the opportunity to stretch my wings and make decisions.  Key decisions.  Not just lame decisions but real key decisions.  Get your people to be part of teams and projects that will expand their view and think more of not only their job but themselves as well.
• Accountability.  Couples with responsibility comes accountability.  Responsibility without accountability is like giving the keys for a ferrari to a learner driver.  When used correctly accountability will enable the people to whom you have given responsibility to have finish times and be able to move on to further projects.  In this way you create a seamless cycle.  What you do need to be aware of is making sure that there are further projects for your staff to progress onto as well...

To be honest there is no secret recipe or fail proof method for getting people to engage in the workplace.  The best thing you can do is allow people to grow themselves within the roles and responsibilities that you give them.

(Source: flickr.com/josummers)

 

Adding Value To Yourself

What you bring to the interview table as a manager is your potential and your value adding potential for your possible future employer.  Here are a few tried and true ways that say "I have what you need" on your CV.

1. Higher Education.
2. Proven Results.
3. Affiliations and Memberships.
4. Conference attendance.

Which of these have you completed/proven/attended in the past 24 months?

Dilbert - Because I Can!

LOL.

The Future

(Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego/3760056027/)

Word of the Week - Evolve

e·volve (-vlv) v. e·volved, e·volv·ing, e·volves

1. a. To develop or achieve gradually: evolve a style of one's own.
b. To work (something) out; devise: "the schemes he evolved to line his purse" (S.J. Perelman).

2. Biology To develop (a characteristic) by evolutionary processes.

3. To give off; emit. (Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/absche/3054927857/)

In order for the manager to have a long and successful career like most things there must be a process of evolving and change.  No one person ever starts with all the answers, skills or key ingredients to be successful.

One key requirement is for the manager to be able to spot new trends, understand new technologies and be able to interact and work in a co-operative way with others.  Not onle does the manager have to be able to spot the trends they must also develop a strategy for incorporating or changing to embrace those changes.

It seems to me that the older we get the harder it is to keep in touch with the technological changes and demands of the day.  However the skills required to manage and interact with people don't change - much.
The medium is different but the message's are essentially the same.

So what are the message types - encouragment, endorsement, coaching and leading.  No matter how many changes the rest of or work undergoes these essential skills are timeless and will not change.

So there are two main points to this post -

1. To be a successful manager you need to be prepared to evolve and change your style and skills to ensure your longevity. 
2. The mediums for dealing with people have changed but the messages are the same.

If you have great people skills but cannot evolve to use technology I would expect that you will end up in a more manual close range type role c.f.a mre technical managing from a distance type role. 

"To sustain longevity, you have to evolve. "  Aries Spears

Swiss Army Knife - Management Lessons - Market Placement

Mark Di Somma wrote a great post about the Swiss Army Knife on his blog back in 2008.  What he wrote is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it.

Here is a summary of his points -

• Competition can come from unforeseen places. 
• The place of manufacture and production can be used to leverage an advantage.
• Visual branding is vital.
• Who you are perceived to be selling to can also be an important marketing tool.
• The amount of time and care you take to produce your product can set it apart from it's competitors.
• Create a legacy that future generations want to interact with and own.

Here are my thoughts -

• You never know where your competitors may be coming from - so keep in touch with latest trends and fads.  You can start here for some ideas.
• Consumers are aware and passionate about who made and where made the products they are buying.  Use this as a positive.  Small countrys and towns have great appeal.
• One example of a great branding is Fuel Advertising.  They have a mock fuel pump for a door handle at the entrance of their offices.  This is a great idea!
• Way back in time Harley Davidson used to market their motorcycles to Joe Average.  Clean cut, nice guy motorbike riders.  What they didn't realise straight away was that their motorcycles didn't appeal so much to the masses as to the rebels.  So they changed who they were aiming at and completely changed their business.
• Quality is everything.  There is no excuse for selling, making, teaching crap.  There are few spaces for competitive and sustainable company's to do crap.  The same goes for managers.  Learn, train and be the best at what you do.  Quality counts.
• Do it right today and people will come back for more tomorrow!

Steve Gurney on Attitude

Steve Gurney is a multi-sport legend who has fought through thick and thin and is undoubtedly a true legend. In his book 'Lucky Legs' Steve talks about his life and gives some pointers on what it means to win and how to go about doing it.

One part of his book is all about - how to. I have especially enjoyed chapter 24 where Gurney talks about the mental approach.

I will paraphrase a few of his key points here -

• You create your future through your beliefs, attitudes and resources. You can set yourself up to win.


• Create a future you want by meditating on it through a positive way c.f. a negative one.


• The law of attraction works!


• State your goals and desires in a positive way and by focusing on what you can do.


• "Energy flows where attention goes"


• Figure out if your goals are 'towards' goals (positively focused goals) or 'away' goals (driven by fear or similar).

I totally recommend this book to anyone who wonders - What does it feel like to win? or - How do I get better and achieve better results?

This book is written with the beauty of hindsight and wisdom gained from some hard lessons learned. This is not a flash in the pan story but rather a story well crafted and very, very funny!

Who are you talking to?

Check out these research results from Mckinsey -

• People in the 60 largest cities in China spend around 70 percent of their leisure time on the Internet;
• In smaller towns, the corresponding number is 50 percent;
• The PC is fast replacing the TV set as an entertainment hub;
• One in five consumers between the ages of 18 and 44 won’t purchase a product or service without first researching it on the Internet;
• The volume of e-commerce in China more than doubled last year.

So if you are selling something, have a service to offer, or are looking for blog readers - try publishing your pages in Chinese! (That's not a joke).

We have completed this exercise at work with Spanish and guess what - our website hits went through the roof for South America!

My boss is now off to China next week for a visit as well. The possibilities are endless...

(Source: https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Marketing/Digital_Marketing/Chinas_Internet_obsession_2546)

Life Lessons - To Do List

The choice is yours.

"How we spend our days is of course - how we spend our lives" Annie Dillard.

(Thanks to Daphnee Maree for posting the graphic.)

Swiss Army Knife - Management Lessons - The Knife

The Swiss Army Knife is just that - a knife. It is a knife bundled up with extra components that make it indispensable.

knife: noun - 1. An instrument for cutting, consisting essentially of a thin, sharp-edged, metal blade fitted with a handle; 2. A cutting edge; a blade.
verb (used with object) - to apply a knife to; cut, stab, etc., with a knife . (Dictionary.com)

A knife has one primary purpose - and that is to cut. There are any different types of knife available to people. Many different knives serve many different purposes but not all knives are suitable for all situations. The size of the knife determines where and when it can be used.

Example - you wouldn't use a slasher (long blade) to remove a splinter. Nor would you use a butter knife to blaze a trail through think underbrush.

The Swiss Army Knife (SAK) is a fantastic knife (with a small and appropriate sized blade)because of it's adaptability. It isn't threatening in it's size but it can punch above it's weight when required to. The SAK could remove a splinter or alternatively it can be used to separate and cut through vines, ropes and leather boots.

What lessons can we draw from the SAK knife blade?

• The knife blade is usually the first item people look at and pay the most attention to. Work on developing a stand out skill or function that people can see from the start and makes others sit up and take notice of you.
• A knife needs care and attention paid to it to ensure it retains it's edge and it's function. The same is true for the manager. Managerial skills must be kept oiled and sharp.
• Don't overstate or make too much noise about your skills. When the time comes you apply your skills in an appropriate form and size which is determined by the task at hand.
• Try to make sure your particular area of focused skill is appropriate to the rest of your abilities.
• Blunt knives (as well as skills) are highly dangerous and ought to be avoided or fixed as quickly as possible.

Swiss Army Knife - Management Lessons Intro.

What is old yet hasn't aged, has hardly changed since it's conception, is an essential item for Boy Scouts and was made popular in a TV program?

After posting a photo of a Swiss Army Knife it got me thinking. Could I use the army knife with it's many tools, facets and quirks as an analogy and an illustration for managers.

The answer? Yes. Yes I can. (LOL)

In order to appreciate the knife we must first understand it's history and where it has come from. Here are some facts about the knife -

• The knife is 125 years old. Great designs, functionality and usefulness make the knife an essential item.


• The knife was originally designed to provide soldiers with - a knife, a can opener, a reamer and a corkscrew. These tools enabled to the soldiers to complete a wide variety of tasks including the assembly of their weapons.


• There are five main variations on the original model.


• MacGyver made the knife glamorous by showing off it's usefulness while trying to get out of many a sticky situation.

So what can we learn/apply so far?

• Usefulness and adaptability lasts. If you are useful and can adapt to different situations - you will always be in hot demand. The ability to apply yourself in arrange of ways is the best trait to have!


• Train and gain competence and expertise in about four or five different areas. Those areas can be overlapping or poles apart. The main thing is to make sure you have a range of skills and not just one skill.


• There are basic skills and competencies that can be carried over across all managers and managerial positions. Find out what those are and work on them.


• Situations that allow you to apply your skills practically is a good thing. MacGyver was always getting himself into sticky situations. What did he do? Every time he went back to basics and used the tools he had to change his situation.

Keep reading the blog as I work my through the basic elements of design and functionality of the knife. Learn with me lessons on management and managing that you can apply now!

Dilbert funny - career's