5 Behaviors Great Bosses Never Do

Mohandas Gandhi

Here is an excerpt from another outstanding article written by Jeff Haden for BNET, The CBS Interactive Business Network. To check out an abundance of valuable resources and obtain a free subscription to one or more of the BNET newsletters, please click here.

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What you don’t do can make as much or sometimes more impact than what you actually do — and can also say a lot about your leadership style and abilities as a manager.
1. Deliver annual performance reviews. Annual or semi-annual appraisals waste everyone’s time. Years ago my review was late, so I mentioned it to my boss. He said, “I’ll get to it… but you realize you won’t learn a thing. You’ve already heard everything I will say, good or bad. If anything on your review comes as a surprise to you I haven’t done my job.” He was right. The best feedback isn’t scheduled; the best feedback happens on the spot when it makes the most impact, either as praise and encouragement or as training and suggestions for improvement. Waiting for a scheduled review is the lazy way out. Your job is to coach and mentor and develop — every day.

2. Say, “Look… I’ve been meaning to apologize…” Apologies should be made on the spot, every time. You should never need to apologize for not having apologized sooner. When you mess up, ‘fess up.  Right away. Don’t you want employees to immediately tell you when they make a mistake? Model the same behavior.

3. Hold meetings to solicit ideas. Many companies hold brainstorming sessions to solicit ideas for improvement, especially when times get tough. Sounds great — after all, you’re “engaging employees” and “valuing their contributions,” right? But you don’t need a meeting to get input. When employees know you listen they often bring ideas to you. Plus, the better way to ask for ideas is to talk to people individually and to be more specific. Say, “I wish we could find a way to get orders through our system faster. What would you change if you were me?” Trust me: Employees picture themselves doing your job — and doing your job better — all the time. They have ideas. Be open, act on good ideas, explain why less than good ideas aren’t feasible… and you’ll get all the input you can handle.

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To read the complete article, please click here.

Jeff Haden learned much of what he knows about management as he worked his way up the printing business from forklift driver to manager of a 250-employee book plant. Everything else he knows, he has picked up from ghostwriting books for some of the smartest CEOs he knows in business. He has written more than 30 non-fiction books, including four Business and Investing titles that reached #1 on Amazon’s bestseller list. He’d tell you which ones, but then he’d have to kill you. You are invited to visit his website at: www.blackbirdinc.com

Launch: A book review by Bob Morris

Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition
Michael A. Stelzner
John Wiley & Sons (2011)

If your product, service, project, or business were a rocket….

Where to begin?  Unlike Michael Stelzner’s previous book, Writing White Papers, this one has a much wider focus as he explains

• Why most marketing initiatives fail
• Why the Internet is “the Great Paralyzer”
• What Channel Overload Syndrome is (COS)
• How to determine whether or not people trust your business
• The elements of the Elevation Principle
• Why the formula proposed really does work (GC + OP – MM = G)

All this is covered in Chapter 1, “Rockets Don’t Fly Themselves.” There are eight others, followed by (count ‘em) five appendices and then a glossary. So, what’s this book all about? To paraphrase Stelzner’s response to that, this book provides a detailed manual for creating “combustible” content, rich, magnetic content that attracts people and opportunity, creates or increases interest in what is offered…whatever the ultimate objective(s) may be, wherever and when the competition may appear.

If your product, service, project, or business were a rocket, everything depends on a successful launch. After that, figurative language (e.g. fuel, lift, thrust, boost, trajectory, drag) simplifies and clarifies explanations. Obviously, “fuel” provides energy and contributes to power so it is an essential resource or could be viewed as several resources: the talents and efforts of people in combination with sufficient funds to cover various costs of operation. Also, “trajectory” could refer to the path on which growth develops.

Stelzner introduces and then thoroughly examines what he calls “The Elevation Principle Formula”:  Great Content plus Other People (e.g. strategic allies, business partners) minus Marketing Messages (i.e. hard-sell) equals Growth (GC + OP – MM = G). Here are a few of his key points within an excerpt cluster:

“Once the marketing messages are caged, the focus of your company shifts from ‘What can we sell you?’ to ‘How can we help you?’ You shift from pitching products to boosting people. Instead of investing in ad space, you invest in creating great content, experiences, gathering points, and communities where people who need help can find it…The result: You no longer need to sell! Instead, you demonstrate your expertise by the content you produce, the ideas you show case, the stories you share, and the people you attract.”

Stelzner clearly understands the “what” of accelerating business growth and briefly but sufficiently explains its key components. The great value of this book is derived from how brilliantly he explains the “how” and “why” of business growth, more specifically the acceleration of business growth, within a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective program. He would be the first to agree that it would be a fool’s errand to attempt to adopt or even adapt all of the information, insights, and advice he shares. It remains for each reader to determine what is most relevant to her or his own situation as well as what is most appropriate to the given organization’s strategic objectives, core values, and available resources.

Speaking of resources, Michael Stelzner offers free resources to his reader that can be obtained by clicking here. They will supplement the abundance of resources provided in this book. They can help leaders of almost any company (whatever its size and nature may be) to (a) attract leads, prospects, and opportunity without actively and aggressively selling, (b) gain direct access to influence people in their industry, and meanwhile (c) connect with and earn the trust of prospects, customers, and others of unique interest and value.

Three Industry Trends in Talent Management That You Need to Know About

Here is an excerpt from article written by Sharon Daniels and Robert Vulpis for Talent Management magazine. To check out all the resources and sign up for a free subscription to the TM and Chief Learning Officer magazines published by MedfiaTec, please click here.

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Against the backdrop of a fragile economy, here are emerging trends every talent leader ought to know to effectively engage new recruits and manage current talent.

Stock markets may be volatile and job numbers may fluctuate, but even in the midst of this fragile economic environment, businesses remain focused on increasing and investing in their workforce.

A recent Business Roundtable survey found that 52 percent of CEOs expect to increase hiring this summer. As organizations restock their roster from a talent pool flooded with workers from previous downsizings, it’s important that leaders recognize trends that have emerged to most effectively engage these new recruits and manage current talent.

Here are some of the top trends in the talent management space along with recommended action steps for talent leaders.

Career Pathing. Even though they leave college with little work experience, top grads want to know where and how they’ll fit and progress with prospective employers — not just today but years from now. A recent University of Iowa research study found that while investing in training and development does help employee retention, if businesses don’t provide a chance to move up in the organization, people will leave anyway. Today, organizations that offer structured progression paths are more enticing to millennials who increasingly make up a greater portion of the workforce. For them, clearly delineated career road maps outline the journey and temper expectations. A structured career ladder — that matches promotions with experience, training and responsibility — helps ground everyone in reality.

Action Step: Talent leaders should create clearly defined career paths for positions within the organization and source them with employees who are focused on career progression.

Technology. Fundamentally, people are hard-wired with an innate desire to connect with one another so they can share knowledge and experiences. This desire for virtual connectedness is playing out in the professional arena as well. More often top talent is looking to social and mobile media to engage with potential employers. Findings from the 10th annual Source of Hiring report revealed that 39 percent of firms manage prospects and candidates through social media tools. The usefulness of technology extends far beyond recruiting, however, as tools such as Yammer, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter provide effective venues for associates to connect and create compelling environments of informal learning.

Additionally, command of these technologies better equips companies to manage their online reputation, which is vital as many clients and employees rely on digital reputations when evaluating companies. From recruitment to learning and development to customer engagement, technological possibilities have expanded and a robust menu of applications is readily available.

Action Step: Explore new technology platforms that foster connections with current employees, potential employees and clients.

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To read the complete article, please click here.

Sharon Daniels is the CEO of AchieveGlobal, a workforce consultancy. Robert Vulpis is the executive director of HR, learning and development at Morgan Stanley.