Lessons in Inclusion from Special Olympics Athletes

The world is full of differences; its diversity is what makes life rich and vibrant. Yet too often that diversity results in discord and strife instead of celebrations of our individual and collective talents. Special Olympics, the world’s largest sports organization, changes the lives of people with intellectual disabilities through year-round sports training and competitions. Many Special Olympics athletes have mild to severe physical as well as intellectual disabilities. Their oath states, “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

If you ever have attended a Special Olympics competition, you know the focus is not on winning. Although many of the athletes do want to win, their true reward comes from being accepted for who they are and for celebrating what they CAN do. It doesn’t matter how well they do; what counts is that they are brave enough to put forth their best effort. In so doing, they inspire those who witness their joy in testing themselves.

At last weekend’s 2014 Special Olympics Southern California Summer Games Invitational, I was particularly awe-struck by one young gymnast. Though wheelchair-bound, she competed in the balance beam and the floor dance events. Although she cannot stand and has limited movement in both arms and legs, she found ways to work around those constraints. A whole gym full of people cheered her on, inspired by her bravery and the huge smile on her face. Athletes who forgot their routines, or dropped their equipment, or fell off equipment didn’t let those hiccups faze them. They remained true to their promise to “be brave in the attempt.” No matter where they fall on the ability spectrum, the efforts of Special Olympics athletes are celebrated and supported without reservation. Their joy comes from the freedom to be accepted unconditionally for who they are and from being part of something bigger than themselves.

Here are ten life lessons that Special Olympics athletes can teach us about being inclusive and accepting of others:

1. Have the courage to be yourself. Allow others to be themselves as well.
2. It doesn’t matter whether you “win;”what counts is having the courage to use the talent you’ve been given.
3. Perfection is not the goal. It is enough to do your very best.
4. Look for reasons to support others. Cheer them on – loudly.
5. Encourage people to test their limits. Rather than tell them they can’t do something, help them to find a way around obstacles.
6. Be delighted with your efforts. Share your joy.
7. “Small” victories often are huge. Celebrate all accomplishments.
8. The effects of the talent unleashed by creating an environment of inclusiveness and acceptance are inspiring and contagious. The world is better off as a result.
9. The joy is in the journey. Invite others along for the ride.
10. It only takes a few minutes to celebrate another person.

Are you brave enough to embrace those who seem different than you? Could your work environment be more inclusive and accepting? If so, try some of the above tips. You might just find yourself inspired by the results.

To find other articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com.

Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.

Click here to Join Our Mailing List!

© 2014 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

Results through Implementation

What is your track record for implementing your organization’s policies, procedures, programs, and initiatives? If you wrote down a list right now of all the plans developed on your watch, what percent of them could you honestly say have been transformed into actions that resulted in sustainable, meaningful results? For example, is your strategic plan driving your organization toward its goals, or is it gathering dust on a shelf? How about your succession plan? Do you have a pool of qualified candidates ready to step into key positions when vacancies arise, or do you promote the nearest warm body and hope for the best?

A critical success factor for leaders is the management of plan implementation – i.e., turning words into actions to achieve desired outcomes. The best-laid plans are worthless if they are not executed. This seems like an obvious point. Yet too often leaders fail to ensure that things get done. Last week, for example, articles in a number of media outlets took President Obama to task for his inability to move from campaign rhetoric to action to results on initiatives that he identified as high priorities for his administration. Politics aside, the facts to date indicate a dearth of follow-through on promises like providing timely care for U.S. veterans.

How can you avoid such a failure of leadership? Start with these three steps:

1. Realize that plans have two essential parts: development and implementation. It is unlikely that a poorly developed plan can be effective in achieving its desired outcome. It is impossible for even a great plan to succeed if no action is taken to achieve it.
2. Insist that an implementation plan accompany every plan, policy, procedure, program, and initiative. Such a plan is much more detailed than an action plan, which typically is a simple to-do list. The difference between the two can be compared to getting a request to bake a cake without any further information (the action plan), and being handed a recipe for the cake you’re asked to bake (the implementation plan).
3. Become a master of delegation by accurately identifying the most productive ways for you to spend your time. Here’s an effective tool that can help you achieve such mastery. Ask yourself, “Am I the only person in the world who can do [X]?” If the truthful answer is “Yes,” then do it. More often than not, however, the answer is “No.” In that case, delegate the task. Everyone will be better off: you spend time addressing the things only you can do, and others handle what they do best. Morale is enhanced, productivity increases, and the organization maximizes its performance.

By paying attention to both the development and the implementation of plans, ensuring that their words are translated into actions that result in sustainable outcomes, and delegating necessary tasks effectively, you are highly likely to achieve the desired end.

To find other articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com.

Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.

Click here to Join Our Mailing List!

© 2014 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

The #1 job of a leader

Retired General Rick Hillier, former Chief of the Defence Staff for Canadian Forces, is a distinguished leader. So on May 5th when he declared, “The number one job of a leader is people,” he had the attention of every one of the nearly 600 attendees of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs’ annual conference in Toronto. For 90 minutes he drove home the point that leadership is all about people by telling story after compelling story about the men and women who had served under his command. Specifically, he said, there are two steps to a leader’s number one job: inspiring others to join you in what you do, and drawing inspiration from your followers to keep you going.

When you inspire others, according to General Hillier, people want to work with you to change the world. They will fight to join your team. And not only will they bring their bodies to work, which they are paid to do, they also will bring their minds. Whatever you focus on, they focus on as well.

When you are down, he continued, you need only look around you to find inspiration in the people who follow you. When you are surrounded by those who share your vision and are ready to do whatever it takes to achieve it, you cannot help but be inspired by them.

Here are nine ways General Hillier said that leaders can inspire their followers. You inspire people by:

1. Having a vision that they can get behind.
2. Aligning your priorities, words, actions, and values with that vision – i.e., truly walking the talk.
3. Thinking outside the box.
4. Equipping them properly to do the job you’ve asked them to do.
5. Being there with them and giving them credit, with compassion, in the presence of others, and in a personal way.
6. Not blaming others when things go wrong, and taking responsibility for whatever happened.
7. Standing up for them, even if it means putting your own job on the line by doing the right thing.
8. Creating learning organizations, which make people more competitive and save lives when they get to learn and practice ahead of time.
9. Being yourself, and letting others see you grow, learn, and mature.

General Hillier closed by saying that heroism comes from the leadership you provide and the inspiration you create.

How many of the nine actions above can you honestly say you practice regularly? Which one(s) will you commit to adopting today? Following these steps consistently will result in a significantly higher likelihood of achieving your vision through the efforts of inspired followers who, in turn, serve as a source of inspiration for you, their leader.

To find other articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com.

Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.

Click here to Join Our Mailing List!

© 2014 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

The Key to Successful Workplace Change Efforts

There are all kinds of changes occurring in the workplace today – e.g., adapting to new economic realities, consolidating functions, and aligning resources with revised organizational priorities. Though they take a variety of forms, change efforts share one key element: people are involved. Add to that fact the reality that human beings tend to resist change, and you have a potential recipe for disaster. The key ingredient that enables success, yet too often is missing, is the quality of your employee relationships. The return on your investment in making your employees a high priority – i.e., devoting the time and energy necessary to nurture those connections – is an exponentially greater likelihood that your change effort will succeed.

Can the desired change be accomplished if you ignore the quality of your employee relationships? Perhaps. Will it be effective? Most likely no. The best case scenario when relationships are poor: the change effort will cost more (in dollars, time, energy diverted from productive activities) than it would otherwise. The worst case scenario: the organization is much worse off than it was before, with long-lasting negative effects. Why? When you effect change by ignoring its human elements, you end up with employees who may be compliant, but they aren’t committed. Negative effects include high levels of distrust and cynicism, decreased productivity, low morale, increased resistance, unwillingness to follow your lead, a climate of “us vs. them,” and lack of ownership of the desired result. The time you “gain” by failing to make employee relationships a high priority on the front end will be miniscule compared to the time you will have to spend later dealing with the negative repercussions of ignoring or downplaying the importance of the human element in change management.

Here are seven ways to create and maintain quality employee relationships that will make your workplace change efforts proceed more smoothly:

1. Be open and honest. Share the bad news as well as the good.
2. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you find you cannot keep a promise, immediately let employees know why.
3. Ensure the change process and decisions are procedurally fair – i.e., transparent, free of bias, and with meaningful opportunities for input by employees at every step, not just at the end.
4. Utilize a variety of media to communicate your message consistently and frequently.
5. Listen to what’s on employees’ minds. Show that you truly have heard them. Seriously consider their concerns/suggestions/feedback.
6. Paint employees into the picture as soon as possible – before the picture is fully or largely formed – so they feel a sense of ownership.
7. Explain the decision process at each step. Opt for more inclusion vs. less.

To read about additional steps you can take to create and sustain excellent relationships with your employees, take a look at my recently published article Relationship Excellence: 9 Steps for Providing Relationship Leadership. Although the article was written for leaders in the fire and rescue service, its lessons are universal. There also are links to two previous articles in that relationship excellence series.

To find other articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com.

Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.

Click here to Join Our Mailing List!

© 2014 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

How to Demonstrate Your Workgroup’s Value

The workplace is a competitive environment. How can you ensure your team, function, or department obtains the resources it needs to achieve its goals? By demonstrating the value you provide in ways that catch the attention of your stakeholders.

Regardless of the size of your work group, the following process will help you identify and communicate in a compelling way the impact you have on your organization. For example, let’s consider how workgroups at a large public university might make a persuasive case for the value they provide. Like other public institutions, those in higher education have come under the microscope and suffered massive budget cutbacks. Thus demonstrating value has become more important than ever.

1. Identify clearly the desired end result.
   For our example, the university’s vision is to prepare students for success in a changing world.

2. List the ways that your workgroup affects that end result.
   This step is especially important for staff positions, as employees in those jobs don’t always see a direct connection between their work and the organization’s desired outcome. For example, custodial staff ensure the classrooms and offices are clean and safe so students can learn and faculty can teach. Trades workers maintain the classroom and office buildings where people learn and work. Human resource professionals ensure staff get the training they need to perform their jobs supporting student learning. Administrative assistants perform tasks that enable faculty to focus on teaching, students to focus on learning, and administrators to focus on supporting students’ success.

3. Frame information so it provides a context that is meaningful for your specific stakeholders.
   Educating your members and stakeholders is key. Focus relentlessly on outcomes. Make sure your workgroup is able to show students how it enables their success. Demonstrate how you are using taxpayers’ money effectively to educate tomorrow’s leaders. Provide evidence of the quality of education students receive and how it will enable their success in life. Couch the information in ways that answer the implicit question that all stakeholders ask about the services you provide: “What’s in it for me?”

4. Communicate the above information widely using a variety of media.
   Use words, pictures, charts, and graphs appropriately to get your stakeholders’ attention. Disseminate the information through an intranet, the university’s web site, social media outlets, newsletters, and interactions with students, staff, administrators, faculty, community members, and alumni.

5. Assess the results and adjust as necessary.
   Monitor the results of your relentless focus on value. Tweak your efforts as necessary. Educating your own members about how they contribute to the vision will enable you to be effective in demonstrating the contributions your workgroup makes to the organization.

Any size workgroup may use the above process to demonstrate its value. For the most part, the resources required are minimal. Simply frame the information you currently present so it focuses on the outcomes important to your stakeholders. Convey it in language and terms your stakeholders can understand and relate to easily.

Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.

Click here to Join Our Mailing List!

© 2014 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

Alignment through Enlightened Self-interest

Years ago as a FedEx employee, I learned an important lesson in motivation. At that time I worked in the Mergers and Acquisitions department of the Treasury division. Those were heady days, with the company growing by leaps and bounds. One day we learned that a new pay-for-performance program would be implemented; it required all employees to identify outcome measures that demonstrated their value. While additional pay certainly was attractive, we scoffed at the notion that anyone could measure what WE did. As a result, we failed to turn in the required measures. Paying us a visit, our human resources (HR) representative made the situation very simple: “no measures, no money.” We came up with the requisite measures in record time.

As a university professor, I taught a required HR course that our fully employed MBA students usually assumed was about the “soft” side of management. Given that a sizable percentage of the students were engineers returning to study finance or accounting, the first day of class each semester found me facing a room full of adults who believed they had better things to do than learn about HR. Having been in their shoes when I worked at FedEx (i.e., a finance person who didn’t want to be bothered by “pesky” HR folks), I delivered this message: “Although you must take this class to earn your degree, the fact is that HR is the only course in this entire program in which you will learn things that will be of use regardless of your profession. Whether you are – or want to be – a manager, an employee, or a business owner, you will learn things you will use the rest of your life. So you can choose to be miserable for the next fourteen weeks, or to focus on learning information that will serve you well for a lifetime.” After I adopted that introduction, my MBA classes became a lot more enjoyable for the students as well as for me.

These examples exemplify the use of the biggest motivator I know: enlightened self-interest. The key to appealing successfully to people’s enlightened self-interest is to focus on the word ME in answering the question, “What’s in it for me?” from their perspectives. The answer cannot be about their team members, their organization, their friends, or even their families; it must be about them personally. In the first example, the benefit was higher pay; in the second, it was the value that would accrue to individuals as a result of knowing the ins and outs of managing people effectively.

The “enlightened” part of this concept is important: because we don’t always know what’s in our best interests, education plays a key role in aligning interests. In the first example, we learned that earning the rewards truly required measurable performance outcomes. The MBA students discovered that paying attention to something they had to do anyway could result in tangible benefits. With interests aligned, life became much easier for all parties, and desired results were achieved more rapidly and without the drama.

Next time you want or need to align others’ interests with your own, try appealing to their enlightened self-interest. You’ll be amazed at the results.

Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.

Click here to Join Our Mailing List!

© 2014 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

The Power of Procedural Fairness

Leaders constantly have to make tough decisions that result in outcomes over which they have little or no control, such as when they must allocate scarce resources. Often those results seem unfair, or they have consequences that neither the leaders nor their employees like. The good news is that while leaders may not be able to control the outcomes of many decisions, they CAN control the process by which they make those decisions – i.e., its procedural fairness. This point is important: research and experience show that people will accept even undesirable outcomes IF they perceive that the processes used to arrive at those results are fair.

For example, let’s say there is only one open position and three equally well qualified candidates. There is no funding for additional positions either now or in the near future. Two of those individuals will be disappointed. However, if all three knew in advance the decision-making criteria, if they perceived that the decision process was transparent and free of bias, and if there had been an opportunity for them to provide meaningful input, then they will accept the outcome because the process was fair.

Perceptions of procedural fairness have implications for important workplace attitudes and behaviors. For example, compared to employees who see decision-making processes as unfair, those who perceive them as fair are more likely to go above and beyond what their jobs require, perform at a higher level, and trust decision-makers. The organization benefits as well: employees who perceive decision-making processes are fair are more satisfied with their jobs, committed to the organization, forgiving of workplace disappointments, and likely to contribute to organizational change than their counterparts who believe they are unfair.

Procedural fairness has many applications to decision-making in the workplace. Examples include decisions related to setting pay, making promotions, developing and implementing workplace rules, effecting organizational change, addressing disciplinary issues, and engaging in teamwork. There are many opportunities every day for leaders to realize the benefits of procedurally fair decision processes.

In short, fairness of the decision-making process is critical to the legitimacy of decisions as well as employees’ acceptance of them. Ensuring that employees perceive decisions as procedurally fair literally can transform your workplace from one in which complaints, distrust, cynicism, and dissatisfaction are common, to one in which employees take disappointments in stride and continue to contribute positively to the organization. As a leader, you have the power to shape your employees’ behaviors in a positive way or a negative way. Which outcome do you choose for your organization?

To learn seven steps you can take to ensure that your organization’s decision-making processes are perceived as fair, take a look at our article Ensuring Procedurally Fair Decision-making Processes.

Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.

Click here to Join Our Mailing List!

© 2014 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

Specificity Works Wonders

When you ask people to do things, do you always get the results you expect? If not, you can significantly increase the likelihood of getting exactly the outcome you envision by increasing the specificity of your requests. By “specificity” I mean giving others the information they need to do as you ask.

Many people believe that when they make a request, they are giving others all the details they need to take the appropriate action. More often than not, they are wrong. Why? The appeals lack specificity. For example, saying, “Just fix it!” or “Just make it happen!” leaves a lot to the imagination, especially if the person you’re relying on isn’t clear about what “fixing” the issue means to you, or how to make “it” happen. Maybe you aren’t really sure either.

Here are some benefits to increasing the specificity of your requests: greater productivity because less re-work is required; less frustration because everyone is clear about the desired outcome; and decreased stress because people don’t have to guess what you mean and you can be more confident that you will get the result you want.

Below are seven ways to increase the likelihood that people will be able to do what you’ve asked them to do by boosting the specificity of your requests. Some are appropriate for all types of requests; others may be needed only when the assignment is new or complex.

1. Think through your request in advance – e.g., exactly what outcome you want, to what extent (if any) you need to specify the methodology, and what constraints must be considered (e.g., cost, resources, time).
2. Determine which assignment-related decisions you’re willing to delegate and which you are not, then provide the necessary guidance.
3. Articulate clearly the outcome or result you are requesting.
   1. Provide enough detail so the “picture” of the desired outcome in the other person’s head is the same as the one in yours.
   2. Agree on how you both will know the assignment is complete.
4. Describe the impact of the assignment – i.e., what difference it will make when completed.
5. Check for understanding: ask the person to tell you what he/she believes you want, and/or how he/she intends to achieve that outcome.
6. If the assignment is complex and/or long lasting, provide designated check-in times to ensure things are on track.
7. Follow up afterward to let the person know what difference the assignment made. For example, “As a result of the directory you developed, you’ve made everyone’s lives easier because people inside and outside the organization now know exactly who to contact for their needs.”

Thinking through what you want, then giving people all the information they need to successfully accomplish what you’ve asked them to do will make everyone’s job easier. Why not let specificity work wonders for you?

To find other articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com.

Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.

Click here to Join Our Mailing List!

© 2014 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

How to Set Supervisors Up for Success

Research and experience consistently demonstrate that the #1 reason employees leave organizations, and the primary reason they join unions, is dissatisfaction with their immediate supervisor. Unhappy workers cannot possibly provide excellent products or services, which means the organization’s bottom line will suffer. To increase the likelihood of success in your business, make sure you can attract and retain good employers by investing in your supervisors.

Research in the 1980s revealed that there are specific behaviors that influence employees’ satisfaction with their supervisors. None of those behaviors – e.g., the extent to which supervisors listen to workers, the way they treat those who make mistakes, and the degree to which they follow through to ensure problems get solved – are rocket science. However, people who are promoted to supervisory positions without benefit of training, preparation, or support seldom are fully successful because they simply haven’t been given the opportunity to learn how to manage effectively.

Here are seven ways that you can set your supervisors up for success:

1. Provide realistic job previews during the selection process so candidates have an accurate picture of the position’s requirements.
2. Ensure the candidates are willing and able to do (or learn to do) the appropriate managerial tasks.
3. Once candidates are hired, set specific expectations of performance by clearly defining the required behaviors and results.
4. Provide the necessary training and professional development at the beginning and throughout the supervisors’ careers.
5. Help them make the transition from employee to boss.
6. Reinforce desired behaviors and results.
7. Help them pay special attention to the behaviors that influence employees’ satisfaction with their supervisors.

Providing this kind of support increases the likelihood that organizations will achieve their goals because they are able to attract and retain good employees. As the economy continues to improve, people will have more choices about where they work, especially those whose skills and abilities are highly valued. Supporting your supervisors so they can manage effectively will result in a huge return on the investment in their success.

To learn about additional behaviors that influence employees’ level of satisfaction with their supervisors, as well as how you can increase the likelihood of the supervisors’ success, take a look at our article How to Increase Employees’ Satisfaction with their Supervisors.

To find other articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com.

Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.

Click here to Join Our Mailing List!

© 2013 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.