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Making it a “win-win” conflict
“To Thomas Jefferson, the argument interrupted the song. To John Adams, is was the song”
Several years ago I worked with a company that produced special parts for the U.S. military aviation industry. The workers in this shop were good at their job, and were also critical thinkers. One day I was talking with Vernon, the owner, about his team. He talked about Larry, an employee he liked very much. He liked Larry because he was a nice guy who always got along and did his best to keep peace and harmony. Larry was a “people-pleaser” and a peace keeper, Vernon said, “I wish everyone was like Larry”, and I replied, “No, you don’t”. You see, people who are peace keepers often avoid confrontation. Sometimes, confrontation is just what we need to do to preserve peace and prevent resentment.
Here is an example: A couple weeks ago my wife and I went to a local steakhouse. We both ordered the same thing, and we were served quickly. Even though the steaks didn’t look like the picture on the menu, we shrugged our shoulders and dug in anyway. As we were eating the steak, I asked my wife if she thought they could have given us something different than we ordered. Joyce asked the server, and we found out we had been served a larger and more expensive steak than we ordered. Each steak was twice the price of what we expected. We brought it to the attention of the server. She said she could give us 10% off, and that was all she was authorized to do. She said if that wasn’t acceptable, we could talk to the manager. Being the peace keeper, I didn’t want to elevate the situation, but Joyce did. Politely and tactfully, Joyce said she would like to talk to the manager. They had a good dialogue, and the manager gave us an adjustment that was more than fair. We were happy. Mistakes happen. We liked our server and we like the restaurant. We will be back. If we had not confronted the manager, we would have probably not returned. This is an example of when confrontation is good. Joyce created a “win-win”.
Employee engagement: What is your “battle cry”?
“I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go”
– Bumper sticker
As you might have guessed, the above jingle was morphed from a scene in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This phrase reflects an attitude about work. When I read that sticker, I questioned how much the driver enjoyed their work. Probably not much. Then I wondered what their level of engagement was in their work. Do they give it their best? Hmmm…
One of the best examples I have observed of a team engaged in their work occurred on a flight from Phoenix to Chicago about 20 years ago. From the moment we entered the gate area, we could sense a high level of energy and excitement. It was easy to see that these people surrounding us liked their work. They were all smiling and having fun.
When we boarded the plane, that lively feeling continued. The flight crew was busy doing their work. They weren’t “whistling while they worked”, but they could have. I’ll bet it would have been permitted. When we were all seated, one of the flight attendants picked up the microphone and gave her speech:
“Welcome aboard flight #___ non-stop to Chicago. We will be serving dinner on this flight. I want you all to turn to page #29 of your in-flight magazine. In the right hand column you will find all the beverages and entres listed. We ask that you review these at this time (meaning now!) and make your selection. This will help our servers be more efficient. Please note, we are completely out of what do you have?
Everyone laughed. It was a fun flight. The crew was having fun and so were we. It is no wonder that the core values at Southwest Airlines are their employees, having fun, and customer service. (In that order)
Having faith in the “can do” spirit
“Success comes in cans”
-Fortune Cookie
Many people know the story of Sir Roger Bannister. The legendary runner from the UK achieved something that physiologists said could never happen: In 1954, he broke the 4-minute mile. He believed he could do it, and he did. Since that event, the 4-minute mile has been broken hundreds of times. Bannister led the way.
This is a great story we all love to hear. It reminds us that many of the barriers to success are in our thinking. Bannister thought big!
My question is, “Where can we think bigger?” About 20 years ago I was working for a company that did an excellent job of tracking sales goals. Among the chatter throughout the sales team, the most common topic was the record revenue goal for one month: $320K. Many of us would come fairly close, but we always fell short. Like breaking the 4-minute mile, the $320K record was a barrier in our minds.
Then one day a new kid came to town. Hi name was Dan and for some reason he wasn’t aware of the 320K mark. He fervently dug in to his work and within three months he broke the 320K barrier by nearly 40K. It wasn’t a fluke. For the next several months he kept breaking the threshold. In less than a year he left to start his own company. We all loved Dan and were sorry to see him go. We missed him but we knew he left us with a gift of wisdom we could never forget: We challenged ourselves to think bigger and put our goals in a “can”!
Leaders dare to lead
“Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake”
-William James
Most of us live far within our limits. We always remember those teachers, parents, coaches, and other special people who took the time to see our potential and push us to our limits.
In 5th grade, I was an under-performing student. One day at the beginning of the school year our teacher, Mrs. “M”, announced a big project that was upcoming: A class yearbook! As she described the details of the endeavor, I thought to myself, “That’s going to be a lot of work for someone.” I was right, and I soon found out it was me! Mrs. “M” announced that I was the editor. I didn’t want the job, and politely and respectfully told her “no thanks”. She wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. She said she had seen my writing and communication skills and I was the one for the job. “You really mean that?”, I asked. “Yes, I do!”, she replied.
I got to work on the project and gave it my best. It turned out great, and during the process I was able to develop my natural talents to a much higher level. The impact of Mrs. “M’s” challenge is still working for me today at age 74.
One of our jobs as a leader is to help build others and make them more successful. To do this, we need to push our team members out of their comfort zone in the direction they were meant to go. Mrs. “M” helped me to wake up, see my gifts, and dig in.
Be a resourceful leader
Many years ago I was working for a company that put a big emphasis on mentoring. As a senior account rep, I was approached by my supervisor (Bill) to mentor a team member who had just been hired. With my natural love of coaching, I eagerly agreed to take on the mentor assignment. The first thing I did was ask Bill, “What are the most important areas of professional development you would like me to focus on?” Bill replied with a predictable menu that included prospecting, tracking, learning specific terms, and sales language. Then Bill concluded with, “And I want you to work with him on the weekly forecast sheet we turn in every Monday.” I looked at Bill and saw a twinkle in his eye. I thought, “You son of a gun”. You see, I was not consistent at turning in my weekly forecast sheet. I knew that was going to change immediately if I wanted to lead by example – and I did. Bill knew it too. How sneaky! He tricked me! No, he didn’t. Bill was just being a resourceful leader. His delegation was well thought out. He designed it so that both me and person I was mentoring would grow.
Instead of nagging me about doing my report every week, Bill put me in a situation where I would naturally want to do it. I did become consistent with my reports and I didn’t feel manipulated. Bill created a “win-win”.
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