Do You Need A "Game Face" To Make It Through The Day?

Job Fatigue And Mounting Expectations

Many executive are facing mounting pressure to produce in increasingly competitive and fast moving market conditions.  Living through the last five years of recession, and the struggles to survive and recover, has not been fun for far too many. Adding to the stress and the inevitable fatigue, executives are expected to be on 24/7/365. Not surprisingly many are not excited any more. And if they happen to be the CEO, or the head of a business unit or function, there are very few people for them to turn to for advice of support.

In coaching conversations with executives most will fess up to the fact that they experience fatigue, and a few will even acknowledge that they feel burnt out. Even so, many feel that it would be a career limiting move to speak up. They fear that it would be the start of a conversation that they are simply not cutting it, they are not up to the demands of their role.

Burnout Is Becoming A Discussable

However, executive burnout is becoming a topic that a few executives are becoming more willing to discuss as Leslie Kwoh reports on the WSJ News Hub. 

The ones who do discuss their burn out and who do take time off, or even leave their organizations all together, are mostly those who can well afford to do so.

For the larger majority of executives it is simply a question of powering through, as Dr. Srini Pillay, and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who is conducting a study of burnout among senior leaders, puts it. He acknowledges though that, "they do eventually crash".

Adding to Fatigue and Burnout

Too many organizations unconsciously add to fatigue, and the experience of burnout. They have practices that add unnecessary frustration to the challenge of getting things done in a way that is productive, fun and expressive of vision and values – just look at the process of getting an idea through a stage gate process, or the layers of bureaucracy to get decisions made.

We need to re-examine policies, procedure and rules, especially those that seem to be designed to suppress and demotivate, rather than unleash creativity and energy – a fatigue creator we can easily eliminate.

The singular focus on growth, profitability and shareholder return inevitable means that for many CEOs and senior executives employee wellbeing, including their own, is at best, a secondary concern – if it even makes it to the level of concern at all. That people are stressed, fatigued and experiencing little to no joy at work is seen by too many as just the cost of doing business.

And it doesn't have to be this way as Raj Sisodia and colleagues illustrated in their book Firms of Endearment – taking care of all stakeholders actually increases the returns to stakeholders. This is a perspective that a growing number of companies are discovering as they align with the perspectives of Conscious Capitalism – both from the eponymous book and organization.

We First Have to Fess Up to The Condition

As we know from recovery programs we first have to admit that we have an unhealthy condition that needs to be treated – and we can't do it on our own. Denial is not a viable option.

Now the Other Side of Trust – Being Trustworthy

Magnifying Trust – Being Trustworthy

There are two sides to this Trust relationship: 

Trusting: me saying declaratively I trust you,

And your role being trustworthy.

Here is some superb coaching from someone who a deeply grounding in the subject. And, some good reading about trust in action.

Is Trust Inherent in Human Nature?

Do You Think Certain Levels of Trust Are Just Inherent in Someone’s Nature or Natural State of “Being”?

That was a question asked of me by a client.  As he suspected, I do have a perspective about trust. 

For me trust is an essential context for any relationship, and a "must have" for collaboration and coordinated action. Without it everyone and everything is suboptimal – relationships, collaboration, knowledge sharing, the way we think, invent and create, the way we deal with setbacks... All of that is impacted by the presence or absence of trust

That a certain level of trust is inherent is some people's nature, is in my view, more a function of upbringing and early training than some natural inherent state of Being for human beings.
For me, the most powerful way to relate to trust/trusting is that it is a declarative state rather than an inherent natural state.

For example, if I declare that Larry is trustworthy. Which means I say [as in I declare] that I unreservedly and unequivocally trust Larry, then all my interactions with Larry are conditioned by that declaration or stand. I will not be on my guard vis-a-vis Larry. I will not second guess him or question him in my dealings with him. In all my interactions I will be biased to be open – vulnerable even – given I trust him I have nothing to hide or protect.

What  Does Relating To Others Coming From, I Trust You Make Possible?

If in relating to Larry from I trust you Larry, I observe something in his actions, or way of being with me that is inconsistent with who he says he is, or inconsistent with the agreements we have with each other, I will call it out, with the intention of waking him to the need for a correction. Given I trust Larry my perspective will be that the circumstances I observe must be/are the result of our human bias to be unconscious from time to time. 

Now, if the situation persists, then I would encourage Larry, and support him [coach him], to either be more conscious and to do some work to strengthen his practices, or, change how he speaks about who he is and what he can be counted on for, so his speaking matches his way of being and his actions. 

Our Default Relationship to Trust and Trusting

The default relationship to trust/trusting that most people have, is to hold trusting in abeyance till you "prove you are trustworthy" – and that takes time. So you don't get to be trusted immediately. The first "slip" on your part will be evidence that you are not yet ready to be trusted. 

In the paradigm in which I don't yet trust you, when we are not yet in a relationship predicated on trust/trusting, I don't have any room or context to "confront you" about your behavior or way of being except from a background context of making you wrong — which, when expressed, will prompt your self-protection/defensiveness. In other words, you will justify or make excuses for whatever happened that is the source of my complaint or upset, which just gives me even more reasons to withhold trusting you. I conclude you are not responsible, you are not someone I can count on/trust.

The best case scenario in this paradigm is a tentative transactional relationship in which I am just waiting to be let down by you, at some point about something. 

The worst case, is one in which I am coming from find the flaw/find the evidence of your untrustworthiness in all my interactions with you, I will experience an escalation of disappointments, mounting evidence that you are not trustworthy to deliver what I want or Be who I want you/need you to be, which inevitable leads to a break in the relationship — or in an organizational setting, you being fired.

President Reagan's Favorite Slogan Was, "Trust, But Verify"

My version, the perspective I prefer is Trust, as in I declare you are trustworthy AND I trust you – most often implicitly expressed. Also, implicit in a trust-based relationship, is the understanding that you can count on me to support you to act consistently with your espoused values, and commitments, and to support you and collaborate with you when your actions and way of being are inconsistent with who you say you are so you can wake up and correct.

My experience the place that most senior leaders come from is trust needs to be earned, it's not a given lightly. And, even when it is given, it is given sparingly and conditionally. Even after years of working, some folks never experience being trusted, and that is consistently expressed in the employee satisfaction surveys and exit interviews. 

In the scenario in which most interactions have, as the underlying context, find the flaw, the mark of a good manager is one who can find the flaw before any harm is done, before any opportunity is lost or risk incurred. This causes those being managed to Be tentative, conservation, risk-averse, honing to the tried and true, and when the chips are down relying on their relationships with their managers to get off lightly when flaws are [inevitably] found, or when breakdowns occur.

When Trust and Trusting Is Part of the Context/Culture 

When trust and trusting is part of the context/culture responsibility and accountability are natural expressions, as is straight talk, having difficult conversations, giving and receiving feedback and so on. 

We don't need to be defensive or guarded in a trusting relationship; we can be who we authentically are. When people are expressing who they authentically are, hiring is easier, putting people in the roles where they can contribute most is easier, fessing up to where we are not reliable and need help and support is easier, just so much of what it takes to create a great company is easier.

Getting Things Done – As A Discipline, A Way of Life

Yes, But Can You Deliver?

If not an explicit question, certainly an implicit one, every executive wants to know, when all is said and done – can you deliver? Can I rely on you to produce specific, measurable, desired results, in time – and can you do that consistently and reliably. And, just to raise the bar, can you train and lead people to do the same?

Execution is what translates a desire or ambition to achieve something into desired results. Speaking a desire or ambition to achieve something without execution and results is wind-bagging – empty noise, designed more to impress in the moment than to cause something to happen in the future.

Making things happen is a leader's most important job. Yet few who aspire to leadership have rigorous, replicable and reliable practices to cause things to happen. And, even fewer executives appreciate what it takes to transform the culture of their organizations so as to replace the established thinking and actions with the kind of thinking and actions that will be needed to make audacious goals real.

Talk Is Cheap – Or Is It We Cheapen Talk?

My view is we cheapen talk. We cheapen it by speaking of bold visions, grand plans, inspiring values and then we don't act consistently with that speaking. This way of being/behaving, lacks integrity. It is inauthenticity at its most blatant. It is the source of much of the lethargy and despondency in most organizations. It explains why so many people are resigned. Why they listen to almost every leaders plans with skepticism. 

We need to be vigilant so as to notice when our own speaking and actions are misaligned. When we see that happening one or the other needs to change. Either we change our speaking to match our actions or we change our actions to match our speaking.

Most executives, when confronted with enterprise wide skepticism, lethargy and low morale are surprised, upset even. They blame employees as if they are the source of the condition rather than the effect of a condition. 

My coaching of leaders is to have the perspective that they cause what is showing up in the organization. I ask them to say, and own: What is showing up in my company, or division or team, is a direct function of, or expression of my leadership – as if I directly asked for it. Because, implicitly you did ask for it.

Execution Is A Process To Cause Action That Produces Desired Results

Ten Basic Steps

1. Make a Declaration with a this shall be intentionality expressed in the speaking – a declaration with, implicit in the speaking and way of being, we will do everything we know how to do so that our intentions are made real. It is the executive's version of Martin Luther King's I have a dream or John F. Kennedy's We Choose to Go to the Moon. It is clear, unequivocal, bold and audacious - a BHAG.
2. Create a Structure to Allow For the Fulfillment of the Declaration. Without a process or structure to keep our (declarative) speaking about our intentions in existence, it is unlikely they will be realized. If we don't have a process to translate our speaking into action and outcomes, it will get lost in the mass of speaking that goes on every day. It will be forgotten.                                                                              
3. Create Milestones Back From The Future.  Plot milestones back from the future end state - the goals and objectives you are accountable to produce - with specific measurable results to be produced at specific points in time.
4. Forecast – Extend The Past. Forecast the probable outcomes, continuing business-as-usual, with best case, most likely case and worst case scenarios. The difference between to declaration, the BHAG and the forecast is the gap to be closed: This gap defines the space for generating, invention and discovering. It shows clearly the scale of the breakthroughs that need to occur for the declarations of BHAG's to be made real.
5. Build From The Existing Base. Given the results that need to be produced what needs to be stopped, what needs to be started, what needs to be continued, and what needs to be done differently. 
6. Create Clear Accountabilities. Broadcast them so there is no ambiguity who is accountable to whom for what outcomes by when. 
7. Know Your Actual ResultsAnd as close to real time as possible. Have milestones, forecasts and actual results on visible display shaping day-by-day actions. Failing to deliver on the results we are accountable for is not a cause for disciple or complaint. However: Not knowing whether one is succeeding or failing is a cause for discipline; and not flagging that failure is a probability given the current trajectory (outlook) is cause for disciple.
8. Establish and Align on a Set of Practices. Rigorously follow processes. Surface and deal with setbacks and breakdowns and/or failures to meet milestones or fulfill on an accountability so they can be handled and a breakthrough produced. Build on what works, correct what doesn't and put in place what's missing by doing after action reviews.
9. Speak So As To Cause Action and Desired Outcomes. Make requests, make promises – without requests and promises, have the point of view nothing will happen.
10. Pay Attention to What's Working. Look for every and any sign of things working. Acknowledge people for everything they do that works. Look for excuses to celebrate, to keep enthusiasm and morale high.

Resources

Books: 

• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen.
• Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan and Charles Burke.
• Know How: The 8 Skills That Separate People Who Perform From Those Who Don't by Ram Charan. 

Quotes

• Wherever you find something getting done, you find a monomaniac with a mission. Peter Drucker
• The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him. The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself. All progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw, Maximums for Revolutionists
• It is not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows the triumph of high achievement, and at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly. Theodore Roosevelt
• Accountability is taking responsibility before the fact, rather than after the fact. It is taking a stand, and standing by it. When those who are accountable are right, they take the credit. When they are wrong, they take the heat. It's a fair exchange. Accountability is a way of working. Those who practice it have an unspoken respect for each other. And a visible disdain for the absentminded apologizers, mumbling excuse-makers, and trembling fence-sitters who run from integrity as if it were the plague. Shearson/Lehman Brothers

   

Meetings, Meetings, Please, Not Another Meeting

How Can I Get My Work Done With All These Meetings

The dominant complaint in most organizations is that too much time is spent in meetings. Followed by, most meetings are a waste of time. This widespread complaint is a wonderful opportunity for leadership, for someone to step in, or step up, and make a contribution by transforming meeting effectiveness. And it can be anyone who participates in meetings. It doesn't have to be the boss or the person who called the meeting.

If meetings are to be productive - that is forward the vision, strategy and values of the organization - then the people who want to demonstrate leadership need to think about the design purpose of each and every meeting then follow some rules and guidelines to make them work.

Given virtually everyone in an organization attends meetings, putting the key elements of attitude and behavior that leaders want to see in the organization's day-to-day functioning into the design of meetings will go a long way towards transforming the culture of the organization.

Meetings are fundamental to the design of organizations. Transform the design of meetings and that will contribute to transforming the organization. Not only will productivity be improved, so will morale, relationships and the general vitality of the organization.

Anyone who aspires to be a leader can be seen as a leader by just going about their day-to-day business participating in meetings with colleagues, whether one-on-one or in larger groups. Leaders can change meeting interactions and outputs by being aware of what's going on, and intervening with a few questions and requests that can make meetings contribute to transforming work-life instead of be the bane of work-life.

Some Fundamentals of Meetings That Work

The amazing thing is that most people know what contributes to meetings that don't work. Everyone I have spoken to about the huge drain on time and energy that results from unproductive meetings can list off in a heartbeat what needs to change. The problem is that many people think if they can't change everything about unproductive meetings then it is not worth the energy to change anything.

Here Are Some Things We all Know

1. If we don't have a purpose and intended outcome the meeting will waste time, effort and energy. So don't lead a meeting or participate in a meeting until that is clear. If it is not clear ask.
2. The purpose and intended outcome needs to be specific, measurable and in time – beware of those jargon laced gobbledygook statements that nobody understands. If you don't understand ask, that's what leaders do.
3. When we are intentional stuff happens. If you are going to be in a meeting be intentional – this is the outcome I want, less than that will not be acceptable. 
4. Are the right people in the room to accomplish the intended outcome? If not reschedule.
5. When you are a participant in somebody else’s meeting, and you get clear that participating does not forward your accountabilities. At that point you should politely excuse yourself and leave.

During the Meeting, Manage Conversations With Rigor

When we boil down the job of leading and managing and examine what is really going on, it soon becomes clear that all people are doing is having conversations with each other, a constant back and forth. Really effective leaders and managers know how to manage this back and forth, this constant network of conversations. For example:

1. If you are in a conversation for information sharing, then do nothing but share information.
2. If you are in a conversation for possibility, then do nothing but create possibility until you have enough to work with – so as to decide on the available opportunities to act on. Stop all conversations for "I don't agree", "It can't be done", "We tried that it didn't work", "How are we going to do that"...
3. If you are in a conversation for action, then listen for promising – who is going to do what by when so as to produce X desired outcomes. If a meeting ends without promises for action and outcomes, in all likelihood it was an unproductive meeting.

Watch Out For The Ways People Can and Do Derail Meetings

Consciously of unconsciously people derail meetings, which means that the intended outcome is not produced. Here are some derailers you will recognize:  

1. Speaking equivocally when action is called for – practice identifying uncommitted speaking in the many forms it shows up and simple ask for specificity
2. Defending the past with reasons, explanations, opinions, theories, beliefs, justifications, and so on, rather than speaking for the future to which the leadership of organization is committed, and which each meeting needs to be forwarding.
3. Being attached to interpretations ungrounded in facts so that the conversations devolve into defending differing points of view rather than facing and dealing with facts.

Keep The Meeting on Purpose

ANYONE can keep a meeting on purpose simply by pointing out when it strays and making a request that we return to the conversation at hand.

If the meeting is moving too slowly, or is getting off purpose call a time-out and redirect the meeting.

To ensure that relevant off purpose topics are noted, use some parking-lot mechanism to keep these topics in existence. Just prior to the wrap-up of the meeting you as leader, and the participants, can decide how they should be dealt with – if at all.

And remember, it is possible to make a difference, produce great results and have fun, enjoy the interactions with colleagues, and be satisfied with a job well done.