Great Expectations

Great Expectations

“Teach what you expect, expect what you teach.”

Some of the greatest fears that managers face is managing conflict, performance management, low productivity and turnover.  While there is no magic trick to solve these issues completely, there is a major component they all share.  As a rule, people don’t come to work to perform poorly and be in constant conflict with others.  These are the two catalysts that affect the other two areas; low productivity and high turnover.  Where you find these issues, you will generally find people who have not been communicated crystal clear expectations that align with their job. 

 Setting Expectations early is the best way to keep Team Members engaged and highly productive.  When setting expectations consider these four areas;

The Work Itself
When we hire someone we need to make sure they have a full understanding of what we expect them to do.  Asking yourself these questions will help you determine the duties that are outside the job description. 

1.      What does success look like?

2.      What are their boundaries?

3.      What are their roles and the role of others they work with?

4.      What is the level of quality/quantity expected? 

How Communication Happens
Communication is a key component in setting expectations.  It is important for your Team Members to understand:

1.      How often you communicate?  Do you communicate by the hour, day, or week?

2.      What is your style of communication?  Is it written, verbal, broadcast on a bulletin board or newsletter?

3.      When do you communicate?  When there are problems?  Before work begins?  After the work is complete?  Both? 

4.      Why do you communicate?  Is it to explain the jobs for the day?  Is it only when failure has occurred?  When there are new initiatives that have come down?

The Timing
When we set an expectation we need to also relate the time in which the expectation needs to be accomplished.  What means one thing for you may be completely different than what is heard by the Team Member.  I need it “tomorrow” has many answers.  If you are expecting the morning and you get it at the end of the day, you can’t be disappointed.  Remember, expectations must be crystal clear.

Finally, we MUST remember…

The Culture
When people are hired from another organization, they bring their past experience and habits with them.  If those experiences and habits differ from “the way things are done around here”, there will be mismatched expectations. These mismatches can lead to a perception that people aren’t a good fit.  This can be the initial source of poor performance (perceived or reality) and the root of conflict within the team as they try to understand each other’s roles on the team.  Always remembering the three guiding principles at Watco and teaching and coaching them to every Team Member allows them to see how their efforts align with Improving Customer Satisfaction, Improving Profitability and doing BOTH over the Long Term.   

 

The IMPOSSIBLE Race!

The IMPOSSIBLE Race

The Red Queen from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Through the Looking Glass’ said it best,

"It takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.”

It is this philosophy that keeps leaders leading, great companies growing, and teams performing.  Standing at the bottom of your own career ladder can be extremely frustrating.  Particularly, if you fail to recognize that growth only comes through change and change can only manifest itself through action. 

If we are to grow we must realize that we are the masters of our own destiny.  Many times in my career as a manager and a leadership development coach I see people get caught in the “they” syndrome.  These are the people constantly waiting for someone else to step in and deliver their dreams and ambitions to them in a gift wrapped box.   I am reminded of a tale from Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, about a man on a journey who had come to a village only to find that the road ahead had been blocked by a mountain.  The man sat down to wait for the mountain to move.  Many years later the man was old and his hair was white and he still sat, waiting for the mountain to move.   He, too, was waiting for someone else to move his obstacles.

Getting caught up in the habit of waiting for things to happen in your life and your career is a bad place to be, particularly, when you work for a company that has nothing but growth and opportunity ahead.  If we don’t put action to our ambition we watch while everyone else gets promoted around us.  Advice:  Pick up the baton and get in the race!  You deserve to be a part of this unbelievable opportunity.  Take it!

Why Me?? Dealing with Disappointment

5 Ways You May Be Setting Yourself Up For Disappointment

From the time you were young you may have had to deal with disappointment.  Maybe you didn’t make the 4^th grade soccer team.  Maybe your Senior High Prom date ignored you the whole night after you spent hundreds of dollars and countless hours in preparation?  Or maybe you didn’t get that last big promotion that you just knew you “had in the bag”.  Whatever the situation, we have all at some time in our lives, had to deal with disappointment.  In fact, some people are like Charlie Brown, the protagonist, from the popular comic, Peanuts.  Poor Charlie Brown, he lives a life of self fulfilling disappointment.  If you seem to find yourself fighting the same battles time and time again or disappointment seems to follow you around like a bad penny, this article may be for you.

If you can identify what has caused disappointment in your life you can learn how to deal with it in the future.  Let’s look at the five ways you may be sabotaging your own good fortune.

1.      Unrealistic Expectations
In my position as a training and development professional I have worked with many individuals who are on a quest to climb the hailed corporate ladder.  They take classes, read books, attend seminars, but just can’t seem to make that leap to the next level, management.  Management, where “those people” live.  By “those people” I mean the ones that make gobs of cash for doing nothing but taking credit for what the rest of us do.  The problem is that is rarely the case.  Taking a position as a manager requires countless hours of work, professional training, and dealing with diverse and sometimes conflictual teams.  Being well informed about an expectation and what it may cost to get there sometimes requires us to be brutally honest about ourselves and the expectations and timelines we have set to accomplish a goal.  When we stop making unrealistic expectations, we start dealing less and less with the disappointing results they glean.

2.      “Me” Centered Perspective
When we are motivated by our own comfort or by not realizing the world is made up of other people that may be more qualified or just better we find ourselves fighting the disappointment continuum.  Self centeredness is a terrible existence because once you find out that the world truly does not revolve around you, you’re shattered.  When we begin to operate in a world of interdependence our paradigm changes and the waves of disappointment begin to subside in our ocean of “me”.

3.      The Karma Cloud
Oh, Karma, why do you chase me?  I like to also call this “magical thinking”.  I am surprised sometimes when I hear people blame bad karma for their disappointments.  “I should have opened the door for that lady last week and I would have got that promotion.”  Okay, maybe that is a stretch, but not far.  If you constantly live in a sea of regret or blame your bad luck on, well, luck; you will be just as disappointed as if you put your career in the hands of a rabbit’s foot or a four leaf clover.  Deal with the fact that you just weren’t prepared or someone else was more prepared.  The bottom line is; your future depends on your hard work and initiative, not your luck.

4.      Life Ain’t Fair
Let’s face it, this is not news.  We have all grown up with the age old concept that life is just not fair.  People are always going to be faster, prettier, smarter, older, younger, taller, shorter, richer, and poorer.  You get the picture.  Now face it, you don’t grow out of it.  You were born into an unfair world and the sooner you realize it and get over it, the sooner you can make your way to bigger and better horizons.

5.      It’s History!
Last, but not least, stop living in the past.  Unless you are learning from it for the future.  Thomas Edison made 1,000 failed attempts at the light bulb and now he lights the world!  In his first screen test Fred Astaire was told he couldn’t act, couldn’t sing, and could dance a little.  Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film, and Television three times!  Learn from your mistakes!  Don’t live by them or let them define who you are capable of being.  If you do this, you will actually learn that disappointment is a lesson not a place.

Its Been Too Long!

Well, I know it has been way too long since I posted on this blog. And, quite frankly, I was shocked I still had it. I remember 3 years ago trying to get in on the "information highway" of blogging and just didnt have the desire to stick to it, apparently. Or maybe I ran out of content? I doubt that since my mind really does "go a milion miles an hour" jumping from topic to topic like a over active kid jacked up on Mountain Dew and M&M's...

Here I am, though. Back. And soon to come...much more random acts of jibberish along with it.

Balloon Boy vs Gosselin Kids

I am seriously disturbed as to the media hype this "Balloon Boy" phenom has created. What is the difference between the Balloon Boy, the Gosselins and the lady that tried to pimp her daughter on Craigslist? Why is the media and the public so enraged about the parents of BB staging the apparent "floating off" of their son in a home-made zeppelin? If you ask me, the Gosselins exploit their children every single day and they are allowed to do it and get paid for it. Just because they represented by a major television network doeesn't make it any less abominable. In fact, the BB was never placed in a situation where he was going to come to any harm. Yes, his parents told him to hide and, yes, they told him to lie. That is a moral issue, folk.
This kid is being taught that he can be a fake and be on TV. Oh..... hmmmmm...... isnt that what the telly is all about in the first place? A big fake? The kid knew exactly what was going on and the lie his folks were going to tell, its alot better than causing your kids a lifetime of heartache and labelling by slapping them in front of millions of viewers every week while their parents play naughty naughty. Shame on you, people!

Social Security ...hmmmmm

Just to get your mind to pondering... check out these exerpts regarding Social Security


Fox News July 30
The signed bill that delineates these new regulations is a response to the accounting scandals at WorldCom, Enron, Tyco and other large companies which left thousands of employees without retirement savings and investors with valueless stock shares.
"This new law sends very clear messages that all concerned must heed. This law says to every dishonest corporate leader: 'You'll be exposed and punished. The era of low standards and false profits is over. No board room in America is above or beyond the law,'" Bush said.


Fox News July 30
Earlier in the day, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina told the Democratic Leadership Council that fiscal responsibility has vanished from the government since Republicans claimed the White House from the Clinton administration.
"Washington can't ask businesses to do more unless we live up to our responsibilities as well," the senator said. "We can't just complain about Enron's books. We have a duty to put our own books in order."
The federal government has returned to deficit spending and the parties are bickering out whether that was caused by Bush's tax cut or by a combination of the war on terror and an economic downturn.
"There is no economic leadership coming from the White House," Daschle said. "If they won't lead, Democrats will." "In the span of a year, this administration has turned fiscal responsibility on its ear," said Kerry, "turning a budget surplus into a budget with endless deficits spurred on by an irresponsible and unfairly structured tax cut."
Republican national chairman Marc Racicot said the Democrats' criticism rang hollow coming from senators who had failed to pass a budget during a time of war and economic uncertainty. He described that failure as "an abdication of responsibility and failure of leadership."
DLC members call themselves New Democrats, who believe in blending a pro-business approach with traditional Democratic values. They say it's fair to criticize the Bush administration for being too closely allied with big business.

National Center For Policy Analysis
But demographic factors are accelerating Social Security's problems: Life expectancy is increasing faster than expected -- in 1940, a 65-year-old man could expect to live another 12 years, today it's 15 years, and by 2040 it will be 17 years. The fertility rate is falling faster than expected -- from 3.6 children for a typical woman of child-bearing age in 1960 to just two today and a projected 1.9 by 2020 -- and is already less than the rate of 2.1 needed just to replace the existing population. The elderly portion of the population is expected to rise from 12 percent today to 20 percent by 2050 increasing the number of retirees from 34 million to 80 million. The smaller working-age population and larger elderly population means that where there were more than five workers for each retiree in 1960 and 3.3 workers per retiree today, by 2030 there will be just two workers to pay the taxes for the benefits of each retiree.

Heritage Foundation Executive Memorandum- by David C. John
Americans' Lack of Knowledge About Social Security.
Although Social Security is the government's most popular program, many Americans now little about how it operates and how its benefits compare with the returns from other retirement investments. For example: Millions remain convinced that Social Security maintains a savings account in each of their names with money in it, even though there is no direct connection between the amount of taxes paid and the benefits an individual eventually receives in retirement. Few realize the low rate of return on Social Security retirement taxes. For example, a household of two working, 30-year-old earners with children averages a mere 1.2 percent. Most do not know that the trust funds consist only of IOUs and that, even if these are fully repaid with future taxes, Social Security will be insolvent by 2015 unless it is reformed.
Giving Americans the Facts.
For most Americans, the YSSS, which goes to 123 million workers annually, will be their sole source of official information on the benefits they should receive in retirement. Yet these statements downplay or omit important information about those benefits. They include an accounting of Social Security taxes the individual worker has paid to date, the worker's eligibility for benefits, and an estimate of the various types of benefits the worker and/or family could receive under different circumstances; but while workers are told that they will receive a specific dollar amount from Social Security, they are not told that the money may not be there for them. Nor are they given any idea of the return on their taxes. Provisions in H.R. 634 and S. 354 are designed to ensure that workers receive a more complete picture of Social Security's financial future in their benefit statements. The proposed changes in the YSSS would inform workers about:
How Social Security's projected financial difficulties could affect payment of their benefits. A general (and easily overlooked) paragraph on these problems is hidden at the end of a letter from the Social Security Commissioner, and the reference to Social Security's financial problems does not clearly state that these problems will apply to the individual worker and his or her personal benefits. Under the Straight Talk bill, the YSSS would inform workers that although benefit estimates are based on current law, Social Security's financial problems could cause it to pay less than that amount. A similar disclosure is required of underfunded private pension plans by the U.S. Department of Labor; Social Security would simply match this standard. How Social Security's trust funds differ from private-sector trust funds. In its fiscal year 2000 budget document, the OMB explained that the Social Security "trust funds" do not contain stocks, bonds, or other assets that could be sold directly for cash. Unlike private-sector trust funds, the Social Security trust funds contain only IOUs that will have to be paid back with future taxes. As the OMB noted:
These balances are available to finance future benefit payments...only in a bookkeeping sense. They do not consist of real economic assets that can be drawn down in the future to fund benefits. Instead, they are claims on the Treasury that, when redeemed, will have to be financed by raising taxes, borrowing from the public, or reducing benefits, or other expenditures. The Straight Talk bill would require the SSA to include similar text in future statements. The estimated rate of return on Social Security retirement taxes paid. The Straight Talk bill would require that the YSSS include a chart that plots implicit rates of return by birth year. Similar to a chart found in the GAO's August 1999 report on Social Security's rate of return, this chart would illustrate that the rate of return from Social Security has decreased both steadily and dramatically. Workers would see that unless the current system is reformed, they can expect a lower rate of return on their taxes paid than their parents and grandparents received. More important, they would see that their children and grandchildren will receive even less from Social Security in the future.
Conclusion.
Working Americans should be told the truth about Social Security's financial future and
its impact on the retirement benefits they expect to receive. As taxpayers, they should have a right to this information, which can be provided by the Social Security Administration at little or no cost. The additional information provided pursuant to H.R. 634, S. 354, and similar bills would go a long way toward enhancing the quality of the Social Security debate and enabling Americans to plan more realistically for their retirement years.

What is happening to education in America???

In a country that is considered the second richest in the world it is a shame to know that 13% of our student population never even graduates high school. Locally our public school system generated over $62.9M (2001-2002 school year) representing $5,913 per student annually.1 Nationally the average per student is approximately $6,100 so the argument that we lack funds for high education expectations would be moot. Equally disturbing is the performance of our students on the National Achievement tests. In the year 2002 eighth graders in the State of Arkansas scored below the National Average on all four test categories; Mathematics 261/274, Reading 260/263, Science 143/149, and Writing 142/152.2 The question that you may ask is “Why are we so far behind the National Average?”...the question we should be asking ourselves as parents and as a community is “How can we produce the next generation of leaders?” Even nationally according to the PISA mathematics and science literacy assessments eight countries outperformed the United States in mathematics literacy, and seven had higher average scores for science literacy. The United States had higher average scores than seven countries for mathematics literacy and seven for science literacy.3 (this is out of twenty seven nations in the OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). If the nation's report card is in this much turmoil, then it is not impossible to believe that the future of out children has got to start on the local level.

You may wonder what is hindering out children’s academia. I believe it starts with the focus on extracurricular activities. The local school system only requires that our athletes (football players to cheerleaders) obtain a 2.0 GPA starting in the eighth grade.4 if a child is already only achieving this level of mediocrity one can only imagine the negative effect of additional time spent away from studies will have. It is my opinion that a student should not only be required to perform to a higher level in school, but also have one teacher and one personal recommendation to be able to participate in extracurricular activities. This would entice children to want to perform to a much higher standard to be able to be the quarterback of the football team, the head cheerleader, the forward on the basketball team or the pom squad captain. Of course, this is only one area. As parents we have got to be involved in our child’s education. If last weeks Science test is not important to you, it will not be important to your child, nor will last nights homework. As a community we have got to sponsor more education oriented community events, our children and future leaders need to know that education is important to our entire community; whether it is a book drive, volunteering as a speaker at your local school or even having a company sponsored career days. I believe another enticement to a child’s need for education is their dream of success. We as a community have a responsibility to reveal to them the opportunities that are available to them with the proper education and commitment.
Our school system does not need more funding; it needs more support from its parents, teachers, and community.


Footnotes:1 http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch_detail.asp
2 http://nces.gov/nations reportcard/states/profile.asp
3 http://www.urban.org/
4Arkansas Activities Association / Little Rock, AR

Birth of the Elephant and the Donkey:

Oddly, two unconnected events led to the birth of the Republican Elephant.

James Gordon Bennett's New York Herald raised the cry of "Caesarism" in connection with the possibility of a third term try from President Ulysses S. Grant. The issue was taken up by the Democratic politicians in 1874, halfway thru Grant's second term and just before the mid-term elections, and helped disaffect Republican voters. While the illustrated journals were depicting Grant as wearing a crown ,the Herald involved itself in another circulation-builder in an entirely different, non-political area.

This was the Central Park Menagerie Scare of 1874, a delightful hoax perpetrated by the Herald. They ran a story, totally untrue, that the animals in the zoo had broken loose and were roaming the wilds of New York's Central Park in search of prey.Cartoonist Thomas Nast took the two examples of the Herald enterprise and put them together in a cartoon for Harper's Weekly. He showed an ass (symbolizing the Herald) wearing a lion's skin(the scary prospect of Caesarism) frightening away the animals in the forest (Central Park). The caption quoted a familiar fable:"An ass having put on a lion's skin, roamed about in the forest and amused himself by frightening all the foolish animals he met within his wanderings". One of the foolish animals in the cartoon was an elephant, representing the Republican vote, not the party, the Republican vote - which was being frightened away from it's normalties by the phony scare of Caesarism.

In a subsequent cartoon on November 21st, 1874 after the election in which the Republicans did badly, Nast followed up the idea by showing the elephant in a trap,illustrating the way the Republican vote had been decoyed from it's normal allegiance.Other cartoonists picked up the symbol, and the elephant soon ceased to be the vote and became the party itself: the jackass, now referred to as the donkey, made a natural transition from representing the Herald to representing the Democratic party that had frightened the elephant.

#4. Bad Teeth

Ewwwww!!! Trying to carry on a conversation with someone with bad teeth is so distracting! There is a gas station down the road from me that must have a qualification of really bad teeth. The women just want to talk and talk and I never have any idea what the full conversation is about because I literally cannot take my eyes off the little black hole of tic tacs pointing every which way inside... Some of them just have brown nubs sticking out of their really pink gums. Seriously, I know that not everyone can afford the dentist, but a toothbrush is cheap! And how can you go about a day without brushing your teeth?

Several years ago I worked in an office with several other women. One day the girl over the cubicle wall says to her cube mate "I forgot to brush my teeth today, do you have any gum?"
All I could think was "gross", "gross", "gross"..... How do you forget your teeth?? And believe me, she should have had no problem with that because every time I spoke to her she had things stuck in her teeth. I have no idea what they were, I have no care as to what they were.

Ok--- just yuk.

Isnt my dog so cute? I got her from a friend.... It is so weird because I don't really like pets ( I just can't take the committment) but I have two dogs! I got Sugar about 2 1/2 years ago from the pound. She is a chocolate Lab and soooo sooo sweet. Thus the name Sugar. I was travelling quite a bit summer '06 and my boyfriend has a male Chocolate Lab, Hampton. Both of them are fixed so I left her with him for a bit.... well, by the end of the summer, she and Hampton had fallen in LOVE. Needless to say, she lives with him in sin at my boyfriends. Now, I got "Itchy" (the redhead in the pic-- the dauschund!) from a friend who could not care for her any more... She is a great dog, too! So sweet and so calm. No shedding... eats very little...Only problem is my 18year old daughter has decided that when she moves out in June, she and her boyfriend are taking my dog! They are in love love love with Itchy...

Guess I will have to take on another animal. Maybe I should get a fish??

#8. People Who Talk When Your Fave Song Is On

You ever been with someone sitting around listening to the stereo or riding in the car and this great song comes on that you havent heard in forever? Generally, I will gleefully snatch the volume knob and turn it up, all the while squealing "OH! I LOVE THIS SONG!". It is really quite a sight. You would think that they were announcing the winner of the multi state lottery winner and I was holding the winning ticket. Well, my boyfriend is one of those people that feels that must be his cue to talk. He will start talking over the music about the first time he heard the song, or how the band should really consider getting back together or something. All I want to do is listen to the freaking song. It is like he has this little voice in his subconscious that says "hey, dude, pssst....now, now. Tell her everything you know about the song."

It is maddening.

#5. Unoriginal People

Now, don't get me wrong. I like to be an inspiration or muse for other people, but sometimes people just go to far. Like this girl at work, if I take a step out and put together some random clothing articles to make an outfit, she will soon follow suit. If I part my hair on the side, then clip it with a barrette, welp, the next day her hair will hold the same coif. She absolutely drives me nuts. I have worked with her for two years now and it gets no better.

I have a strange little habit of finding a song for every single occasion. Example: if I am stapling a group of papers together and I miss the spot I want it, I might break out in "I Missed Again" by Phil Collins, or if I am walking across the room and lose a shoe, I may croon to the nursery rhyme "Little Betty Blue" and talk about her holiday shoe. So, when this girl started doing that as well I knew that she was a mimic. A poser. A fraud. A copycat.

I just want to scream, "Look, dammit, be you!"

#2. Cold Toilet Seats (little annoyances)

You will never beleieve what I just found in the internet.(MAN! Is the internet not just the most useful thing ever??) My #2. Thing That Drives Me Crazy is solved..... look at this link>>http://www.knovelty.com/warmseat.htm.

No more cold toilet seats. I wish it were that easy. Cold Toilet Seats is an analogy, if you had not figured that out. It is really like inevitable things that you have to put up with in daily life that are just so dang annoying. Like people who can't make up their mind at the drive through or doors that are not marked push/pull or the way a liquid dishwashing detergent bottle can't be made in a way that will allow you to dispense the entire bottle or.... cold toilet seats. (which now seems to be a solved dilemma)

Maybe I just need to be patient... one toilet seat at a time. Or maybe I need to learn to "hover".

Who?

There are so many cool personality tests in the internet. I like this one because it actually is not a million questions long.
Try it for yourself: http://similarminds.com/global5.html

I teach adults for a living. Do you know what it is like to teach adults? Especially, soft skills. Usually, by the time someone in the company decides that their employee needs soft skills. It is way too late. The person comes in with the thought that I am either going to waste their time, or lead them to the river of koolaid they have been searching for their whole life. Either way.... it promises to be a long haul.
There are several things I have found about adult learning.... (this works for the little guys too)
First, HIT THE GROUND RUNNING... If they dont have time to wonder why they are there, then you are one step ahead of the game.
Second, Make sure all the passengers are on the right flight. If they are in the wrong class, that could be a big reason they are not connecting with the material.
Third, start on time. Dont tell them there will be 4 hours of material but start late, take 56 breaks.
Fourth, Tell them what you are going to tell them
Fifth, Tell them.
Sixth, Tell them what you told them.
Seventh, make sure when class starts to introduce yourself and any other instructors. Also, announce where the restrooms, water fountains, etc are.
Generally, people want to be entertained, and to know that they have learned something. If you keep them busy, they will prove to be a much better audience.
One last thing..... I always find that it is best to announce right away that you don't serve koolaid.

Rob Schneider in the buff- I would like to see that

NOT! Yike!
But let me give you a little example of this kind of truth. When my daughter was young she was so conservative. I truly thought she might be the next Ann Coulter. Her opinions rans strong, especially about fiscal responsibility, abortion, premarital sex, drugs, underage drinking... you name it. So, you can imagine how I might have felt when at the ripe "old" age of 16 she approached me about birth control. This was NOT Brad Pitt naked....you get thepicture. Not that I didnt NEED to see it. I would have just preferred ole Rob to have kept his clothes on.

Bare Naked

Isn't it amazing how the truth rarely comes without a huge price? Some people believe that a person really doesn't want to know the truth. They may be right, or people may just not want to "see" the truth.

A friend told me a story. It goes something like this.
Truth and Lie went for a little afternoon swim. After a while Lie got out and put on Truth's clothes.
Now, my friend, that is the end of the story. But... there is a moral, wherever you see a dressed up lie, the bare naked truth is not far away.
My original thought on that was, "WOW! You are right!" But the more I thought about it, I began to picture what that might look like. If the bare naked truth looks like Brad Pitt, well, that would be great. But, what if the bare naked truth looks like Rob Schneider? I may not want to experience that. What I am saying is this, be careful when you ask for the truth.