Performance Booster Series - Your Reputation

Building a good reputation is an excellent investment. A good reputation can take you much further in life than you can go with a poor one.  Be who you are but be the best you can be while you’re doing it.  The pay-offs are worth every challenge you meet on the road to a good reputation.  Your happiness, success and quality of life increases when you have a good reputation.  Social networking sites have shown all of us that your reputation can be influenced and altered in a second.

Your online reputation begins with content posted and made available to the public.  It's not acceptable to talk badly about others, display or post questionable photos on Facebook or other social networking sites. It will come back to haunt you. Questionable photos include any photos that make you or others look bad; any photos you wouldn't want to share in a job interview. Don't create a false sense of security about who can and who can't see what you post.  All your posts are a click away for all to see; copy and paste and your post just went viral.

Nothing can tarnish a person’s reputation more than being viewed as professionally immature, untrustworthy or dishonest. Hold yourself to a high personal code of conduct so that any day or night of your life could end up in the media and not be an embarrassment.

Remember that how you treat others on the job or at home is likely revealed later in a conversation where you're not present. Do your best to resolve sticky issues without being triggered by your anger and self-centered interests. Disrespectfulness, like rudeness, is long remembered and not easily forgiven. Your actions build your character; your character builds your reputation.

In every role in life you play, whether that is as a family member, spouse, employee, community leader, member of a religious faith, friend, public servant or business leader you represent that partner, group or company to others. So your words and actions, or even the lack thereof, can build up, reinforce or tear down your reputation along with those you represent.

Boost your performance in every role you play.  Build a reputation you can be proud of for yourself, your family and every key connection you have!

Still learning,

Honey

The Power of Planning - Last in a Series of Five

Boundaries

As you gain muscle with planning you will find that the need to establish and respect healthy, flexible boundaries will be important to your overall success. 

It may be challenging to set boundaries with yourself and others.  Take responsibility for learning all you can about boundaries.  Research what they are and evaluate if they are missing in your life.  The less you know about them the less equipped you are to have them and to honor others' boundaries.  Learn what to do about establishing them, how to go about honoring them in yourself and others.  It will aid your professional maturity and protect your plans, relationships, self-esteem and goals from sabotage. 

There are fixed boundaries and there are times they are valid and imperative.  There are loose boundaries and sometimes they are the right fit.  The best personal boundaries are flexible.

Examples:

Fixed boundary - you never misuse your PC as spelled out by IT.

Loose boundary - within reason you can choose what is on your work station – photos of family, etc.

Flexible boundary - you choose who you eat lunch (you can say no) with but you cooperate and eat with a team when asked or required.

Three Tips for Setting Boundaries at Work

1.      Focus on how to fix what is broken versus how it got broken and who is to blame.  

2.   Swallow your pride, ask for help or delegate when managing overload.   As soon as you know you have over-committed go tell the truth, express regret and work on a realistic agreement.

3.      Handle your emotions with professional maturity - becoming known as a drama queens or hot tempered will harm your reputation.

Put planning to work for you and you will find it works! 

 

Still learning,

Honey

The Power of Planning Series Third of Five

Spend time where it counts the most!   Priorities are what help you determine what to do first, second, etc.  Remember a calendar is for appointments, even if they are with you.  A “to do” list is an accounting of what you need and want to do.  You will need to use both every day. 

Find the best option for you to stay on top of both your calendar and your “to do” list.  Maybe your work/lifestyle is the perfect fit for all your contacts, to do list and appointments to be on your Smartphone.  Maybe the program on your computer that houses a calendar, to do list and contacts is your solution.  Find the right solution for you. 

Definitely these two power tools – calendar and to-do list - must be mobile.  You don’t have to shower with them or sleep with them, but any other time a best practice is that they are within an arms-reach.  I still use my paper Franklin Covey binder/planner.  I wouldn’t trade it.  I have tried to move away from it and my efficiency and organization has suffered for it so it is here to stay with me.   I pencil in appointments on the monthly tabbed page as well as the day sheet of the appointment.  Looking at what I am committed to by the month is imperative for me to stay on top of planning.


You might want to check out the planner options at www.franklincovey.com.  I prefer the 8 ½ x 11 Original-Monarch style and use the ring binder so I can hole punch timely, related documents like an airline reservation or a meeting agenda and have immediate needs all in one place.  Adding ruled paper for notes and a few of the forms Franklin Covey sells are favorites of mine.

I do have my Outlook calendar with business-related appointments so it is available to my work team, for scheduling meetings and it syncs to my Droid.   A key planning habit for me is to review my Binder calendar with the Outlook calendar every day. Building valuable habits like planning takes discipline and fierce determination.  Build it, it's worth it.

Plan for this to be your best year.  The year to have the time of your life!  


Still learning,


Honey

Coaching Yourself & Others - The Beginning

Having a personal development coach was one of the best investments I ever made of my time and money. For over three years, several times a month, my coach taught me key factors to put to use in all kinds of situations.  I had someone encouraging me, gently confronting me and teaching me the importance of planning, evaluating and progress.

I think coaching done well is life enhancing, if not life altering.  Today I coach myself and others.  I work passionately at teaching others how to coach themselves.  I've learned first hand you can coach yourself. It's not magic. It's not quick. It works. It helps create an awakening, accountability, compassion and the importance of self-evaluation.

Coaching Choices is a method I've developed and utilize myself. The method incorporates the teachings of William Glasser, MD who authored a theory on motivation called "Choice Theory."

Here is the beginning of the first of 5 steps to take to get Coaching Choices working for you:

Step 1. Wanting

This step is about learning what you want, what you want to have happen. Purchase a spiral notebook with five sections. The first section is about Wanting. List everything you want to have happen. Look at what you wish was different, look at what you have you want to keep, look at how you want to be perceived. Write all that down. Focus on your Wanting. Dig for what you've wished was different, examine what you frustrate over and about.  Ask yourself, "what have I wanted for a long time? What have I put off wanting?" Write everything down on your mind that comes up.  No rush, but do it.  Maybe do this for ten days.

Review what you've written. Maybe you have a relationship in jeopardy, maybe you want to quit smoking, maybe you want to go back to school or obtain a promotion. Maybe you want to quit worrying, maybe you want to lose weight or change jobs.

When you think you've listed your hopes, dreams, wants, frustrations, fears and ambitions, it's time prioritize what you want. Now create your Want list and begin to number them by priority, immediacy, need and your desire to achieve them. Your list could also include important facets of your life that you think are going well and that you want to keep doing well.

Coaching yourself begins with identifying what you want to have in your life, keep in your life, work for in your life, and discovering what you have that needs attention and what you might need to give up.

Coaching Choices continues...tune in to tomorrow's blog as we work on helping you get what you want through coaching yourself.

Still learning,


Honey

Moving Forward…Coaching the "Chip on My Shoulder Employee"

Where are we?  Oh, yes, wishing Mary wasn't a pain.  The process I am sharing is NOT a quick fix.  It's a solution.  So here we go.

You had asked Mary to write down the behaviors and skills she thinks that are required in order to be very well thought of on the job.

On her list for behaviors she wrote:  Friendly, team player, dependable and professional.  Under skills she has: Know the job, accuracy, computer-related skills, and problem-solving.

You look over the list and tell her you think this is a great start.  Ask her to share her thinking about both lists.  Your job is to listen, to encourage her to speak about both lists.  Don’t ask her to defend what she came up with.  Ask her to share how she came up with it.  Inquire if there is anything more she wants to share about either list.

You are thinking she’s missing some behaviors and skills you expected.  And, you have witnessed first-hand that she is definitely falling short on excelling at several on her list but you don’t share your thinking.

“Mary, you and I are going to routinely meet.  And, we are going to meet to explore what you want, looking into what you need to do to get what you want, together we are going to build a plan to ensure you get what you want and we'll decide some ways to measure how close you are to getting what you want.  How does this sound to you?”

She is skeptical but agreeable.

Have her sign and date the list, make a copy for yourself, she keeps the original.

Give her the next assignment.

“Mary, look over the list each day for a few days, as you do ask yourself if there is anything you want to add.    Then before we meet a week from today I want you to rate yourself using the 1-5 scale on each behavior and skill.  Remember 1 would mean the lowest score you could give yourself, 5 would mean the highest score you could give yourself.  Bring this to our meeting next week so we can talk more about this.”

Stay tuned for Monday’s blog where we explore what else could have happened in this coaching session. Like, what to do if Mary simply won’t make a list or crosses her arms and folds them tight and scows at you in a very uncooperative manner refusing to participate.

Still learning,

Honey

What to Do with the "Chip on my Shoulder" Employee

So here's the situation:

This employee consistently has a chip on her shoulder and her moodiness is a pain. The weather is more predictable. You go to work, the world looks pretty good to you, and the door opens and "trouble" has arrived.  As she whizzes by you without so much as a look you're thinking I need to address this.

Frequently her co-workers complain about her moodiness and her brisk and blunt comments to them. She demonstrates her angriness by slamming doors and huffing and puffing.

This isn't a new issue; this has been going on awhile. It’s not every day but it’s way too often. 

You've prayed it would change, you've approached the mine field around her work space with armor on and been told "I don't bother anyone and I don't want anyone to bother me. I am here to do my job and that's what I do."

You've brought the stressful, disruptive, unkind and sometimes rude behavior up in reviews with her but nothing changes.   She might never change but you must!  So let's get busy on this!

Here’s a question for you and suggestions:

As her manager what do you WANT to have happen? Get real, get honest. Here's what others with an employee such as I have described have told me. "I want the behavior to stop." Well, actually, they've also said things like "I would like to smack her." "I would like to fire her." "I wish she'd leave."

What you want to have happen needs to be in alignment with the company's policies and expectations.  It needs to align with your responsibilities as a manager and your personal value system.

You decide what you want. If you decide you want to address the behavior and create a mutual understanding of what needs to happen going forward I can help you.  Here is your assignment if you chose to take it:

1. Make a list of specific examples of recent behavior that you want to stop. Do not exaggerate. Be factual. Be descriptive. Do not be dramatic. Act like a reporter describing what you saw, heard and what others have reported.  Do not be prepared to go back over months or years or even throw the book at her but you must be able to describe in detail the behavior you saw, heard or was reported to you.

2. Schedule a coaching session; you can do this via email, phone or in-person. Here’s a suggestion on what to say.  “Please make plans to meet with me for 10-15 minutes Wednesday morning at 8:15.”   If she asks what's it about tell her you have some things to go over with her.  That’s all you tell her.

If you routinely (hope you do) coach then you are dedicating your next coaching session with Mary to addressing this issue.   Addressing is the beginning.  It is not the end.

Best practices for all coaching sessions: be calm, sit on the same side of the desk or sit around a table, have water for you and her, have a clock where you both can see it, have paper and pen for each of you. Do not answer your phone or email and put a do not disturb sign on the door.

3. "Mary, I wanted to meet with you to determine something. I would like to know how well thought of you want to be as an employee of the company and as a member of my team. On a scale of 1-5 what would be the number that fits best – using a gauge of one meaning it doesn't matter and five meaning you want to be held in high regard, what number – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 would be the number you want?"

Expect possible derailments of questions from Mary including what's this about, what do you mean, etc. Just stick to the script. You need her to answer the question.

You don’t defend, over explain or get into any behavior issues at this point.  Stay focused on this first question.

I will blog on this again tomorrow. Between now and then I want you to make a list of what you think you would say according to the number she gives you. Then you can compare you answers to mine.

Until tomorrow…

Still learning,

Honey