Have you ever noticed that no matter how much some things change, others remain the same? The modern workplace has changed almost beyond recognition, yet, many companies still manage their employees as if we were in the 80′s.

Twenty-five years ago, managers basically gave employees tasks to complete, providing only as much detail as needed to get the job done. Workers were almost never asked for their ideas, input or critical thinking.

Today, effective leadership involves a lot more than just telling people what to do. To achieve success you must inform, inspire and engage employees so they will choose to go where you are attempting to lead them.

Inform

Informing is the first step in aligning employees and getting buy-in. It starts with sharing the why, what and how of your strategic plan. Then discuss and get clear on individual roles in meeting the goals necessary to achieve the plan.

To feel informed, today’s employees need clarity on:

• The mission statement (why you exist)
• Guiding principles (how you will behave)
• Value propositions (what you offer to key stakeholders)
• Destination points (where you are going in one to three years)
• Strategies (key areas of focus for the entire organization)

Although the need to communicate has not changed over the years, the tools we use to communicate have. Thanks to the Internet and other new technologies, today’s leaders can (and should) communicate in many different ways.

The old standbys — memos, meetings and newsletters — still have their place, only in most cases these have gone digital. In addition to these tools, today’s leaders and managers use e-mail, intranets and online newsletters to communicate quickly and effectively with employees. They also use blogs, webinars and video clips to educate and update employees about company goals and objectives.

Companies with geographically dispersed workforces use conference calls and video teleconferencing to simulate face-to-face interactions. And the more tech-savvy companies, especially those with younger workforces, are even using instant messaging and Twitter to stay connected. Whatever technologies you employ, the key is to communicate often in many different ways to ensure that all employees are focused and aligned.

Inspire

Today’s employees want to believe that their work is making a difference in the world. To inspire others:

• Share a compelling vision of what tomorrow looks like. How will that vision make the world a better place and improve their lives?
• Constantly discuss the aspirational components of your model. Why should employees aspire to achieve the goals your organization has set?
• Share why you believe the destination is compelling. What is it about where the company is going that inspires you?
• Communicate with enthusiasm and passion. Become a cheerleader for the organizational goals.
• Ask employees what the vision means to them. Share their responses via e-mail, intranet and in company meetings.
• Share positive customer feedback. Give people reasons to feel good about what the company does.
• Celebrate achievement of milestones. We all want to be part of a winning team, so recognize the progress and success along the way to your goals.

The ultimate goal is to get employees talking about what the vision, mission and goals mean to them individually. The more they focus on these areas, the more likely you are to get buy-in and alignment.

Engage

Engaged employees bring more than just their bodies to work. They bring their hearts and souls as well as their best thinking. To keep employees engaged:

• Visit with them throughout the year to check on their progress. Make sure all individual goals remain aligned with company goals.
• Share stories of how teams are aligned and achieving goals. Highlight team accomplishments and link them to the strategy they support.
• Create an employee pledge wall or flip chart where people can affirm their commitment by listing one thing they will do differently to support the goals.
• To measure employee understanding, commitment, inspiration and engagement, take quick surveys following team or company meetings.
• Solicit questions via email or intranet and address them in open forums. Publicly thank employees for raising the issues.

Remember that as a leader or manager, your behavior speaks much louder than your words. What are you doing (and not just saying) that communicates the importance of the company’s goals? Conversely, what are you doing that might send a conflicting message? The more your behavior is in alignment with what you are saying, the more you will inform, inspire and engage your employees.

I just spent four days in Shanghai, China working with one of my global clients. We were focused on supporting a group of key leaders and managers in thinking differently – to try new approaches to cut fixed costs from their multibillion dollar organization. I have now worked with this client in numerous locations around the world and continue to be fascinated by both the similarities in cultures and how they impact the ways we work at work.

In my experience, similarities globally for leaders and managers today include:

Getting stuck in our thinking process especially when we are successful

• We appreciate the comfort and presumed certainty of doing things the same way over and over and achieving the same results we always have (especially when it works well for us). The dilemma is that everything around us is constantly changing. Just imagine for a moment that you are running your business, your team, your department the same way it was being run ten years ago…highly unlikely you would be successful. We have to constantly update our mental models (our beliefs, biases, and ‘thought bubbles’) about almost everyone and everything to be a great leader or manager today. Learning and unlearning have become critical to success. We must incorporate the new (including things like social media, shifting consumer expectations, new technology, changing competitive environments, etc.) while maintaining our core values and beliefs. It’s a tough juggling act around the globe.

Losing focus on the right things to spend our time on

• I have yet to meet anyone in the global workforce today who is not stretched too thin, doing too much with too little. And we are surrounded by so much noise (hundreds of emails, constantly changing data, continuously shifting priorities, etc.) that it is increasingly difficult to focus. We get our emails on our PDA’s but don’t keep our top goals and strategies in front of us. We get clear in our head on what we expect or want to happen, but forget to communicate it to all of the stakeholders involved. I often find employees working hard on initiatives and strategies that are outdated or should have been abandoned. But no one told them or for some reason they chose to stick with what they knew even if it was the wrong thing. Or worse, individuals continue doing things because “that is the way we have always done it…I know leader X thinks this is important because one time, in a meeting two years ago she asked about it…”

Believing we have communicated enough and gotten others engaged in what we are doing

• By the time most leaders and managers have communicated where you want others to go, you have had the opportunity to really think about and process it. You have worked out all the reasons for the journey and destination and rationalized away most of the fears or hurdles you might have. Unfortunately, you have to slow down just a little and get your whole team up to speed. Otherwise you are like the runner breaking through the tape at the end of a race, but your team is at a different stadium or just starting to warm up – you are in different places. Inform others and then work constantly to inspire and engage them. Remember, they have a lot competing for their time and attention too!

Get back to basics even when everything around you tries to divert you into complexity. We are living in a time when there will always be more to do than you can. Things are only going to get faster – today is likely to be the slowest it is going to be as you move forward.

• Make strategic planning a way of life because it involves exploring the environment you operate in and considering different approaches. Ask yourself and others “what if…we considered a different angle, took a different approach, we are wrong, this information means something different to someone else…?”
• Set clear expectations of what excellence looks like so you and everyone around you can focus on the right things
• Communicate constantly about strategies and excellence so that you and your team are informed, inspired and engaged in doing the right things
• Constantly learn & unlearn. Test yourself every time you are absolutely, positively sure you are right or find yourself doing it exactly the same way you have always done it. Pause and ask “what if…I am wrong, there is another way, things have changed around me…?” Try to constantly update your mental models about the world, your work and everyone in it.

Although doing some of the actions noted above will feel a bit like you are going slow, remember: There is never time to do it right but always time to do it over is NOT the mantra of winners! Pause to think differently, focus, set clear expectations, communicate and unlearn every now and then to get it right the first time.

Uncertainty has become a norm today. The world is moving at a pace that is hard for us to manage physiologically and the future is less predictable than we ever imagined it would be. Our history (including our successes) is less and less predictable. Based on these constantly changing conditions, how do we make timely and good decisions today? How do we deal with the fact that there is so much information available to us, changing so rapidly that we can’t possibly get all the data we sometimes want?

First, remain sensitive to the symptoms of poor decision making:

• Ideas and options have been discussed ad nauseum – they have been talked about, put on a ‘parking lot’, set aside, and keep popping up in meetings with no resolution or action taken
• Decisions get made with no discussion or data available – sometimes based on who talks the loudest or has the most seniority in the meeting
• Alternatives are ignored or risks are minimized beyond reason
• Meetings go on and on but there are no notes, no follow up and no actions taken as agreed
• Decisions get made but not communicated
• Decisions get made and changed, again and again for no apparent reason
• Facts or data are ignored because they are uncomfortable or ‘politically incorrect’ to discuss
• Same issues/opportunities/challenges keep coming up over and over
• There is never enough time to fully discuss something

Second, state your intentions and commit to making good decisions:

• Describe what a good decision looks like to you as a leader (this does not have to include lengthy or bureaucratic processes) – just a simple, “we will discuss the data available, examine alternatives, and review risks in a timely fashion…”
• Focus participants in decision making on exposing their thinking process: what data do they have, what does the data mean to them, what assumptions are they making and therefore what action(s) are they recommending
• Establish what criteria you will use for the decision (i.e. one criteria in purchasing is usually price). Don’t discount less quantifiable criteria such as customer service.
• Allow people to be heard no matter their level or expertise – great ideas and different perspectives often come from those who know less than the experts
• Compare your options to your definition of winning or excellence for your organization – does the ‘answer’ get you closer to your defined destination or not

Third and perhaps most importantly:

• Do the things you stated as your intentions above. Practice creates excellence and your words will mean little if your actions don’t align.

Don’t:

• Pretend there is a decision to be made when there isn’t. If there really are no options, there are no decisions.
• Make a decision and then change it after conversation with one person or if you get one piece of additional data without discussing it with all the people initially involved.
• Delay because you don’t have all the info – you probably never will
• Delay by second guessing yourself to death – get clear on whatever is stopping you from making the decision and discuss it. You might be surprised that others were thinking the same thing or even have an answer or data to address your concern.
• Hide decisions. It is better for people to know the truth than have to fill in the blanks guessing – they most often make up much worse stories than the real one.

Not knowing or not getting a decision is often times much worse than bad news or tough decisions. If you have ever worked in an organization that was in a holding pattern or had a boss that could not make decisions, you know firsthand how frustrating it can be. Whatever decisions you make, make them with the best data you can get, measured against criteria you have considered, with a good understanding of the advantages and disadvantages for whichever course your choose. Discuss and share them openly so everyone stays aligned and focused on winning.

It was tough making a choice about my blog topic this week. Do I write about what we are seeing in leadership in the world today or what we are not seeing; do I provide more tips on thriving in a tough economy; do I offer guidance or a checklist on engaging your employees and yourself to win…? or do I write about what my week was really all about?

On March 10th at approximately 7:30am I had a massive heart attack. Now to set the stage, I am a 46 year old female in pretty good shape. I eat right, work out and generally take care of myself (although some would say I work too much and too hard). I don’t have a lot of stress in my life other than the normal stuff most of us are dealing with on a daily basis. I am a Type I diabetic (which means I am insulin dependent) and have been for 30+ years. Heart attacks are always a concern for long term diabetics but you still don’t believe it will ever happen to you.

The ‘massive’ heart attack happened when I was walking up the stairs at a client site Tuesday morning. I got out of breath and felt a sharp but quick pain in my chest. As soon as I walked into the conference room I sat down for a few minutes and the pain as well as the shortness of breath went away. I just thought I was really out of shape since my travel has taken me away from consistent exercise for six months or so. I proceeded to deliver a three hour presentation and then have lunch with the group of executives. I felt fine and had plenty of energy.

I left the meeting, drove 30 minutes to a hotel, checked in, participated in conference calls and worked on client projects until dinner. I had a lovely dinner, a good glass of wine and went to bed early (about 9:30pm). I was tired but I had gotten up at 5am to drive to my earlier client site so it did not seem unusual to me.

At 11pm I sat straight up in bed and was hit with excruciating upper back pain. The muscles between my shoulder blades ached with a deep, dull feeling. I had been having the back pain on and off for three months but thought I had just injured some muscles working out. No sharp pains anywhere so I took ibuprofen and went back to sleep…until 1am when I awoke in almost unbearable discomfort again. Now I knew I could not just keep taking 2 ibuprofen every 2 hours, but I did take one more, pace around the room a lot because it hurt much worse to lie down and finally ended up sitting in a chair and falling asleep until 2am…when I was wide awake again with massive, but dull upper back pain and then… the vomiting started. I literally crawled into the hotel bathroom and stayed there for an hour or so…this lovely cycle continued until about 7am. At that point I called my client for the day and mentioned I would not make it. I showered, washed and dried my hair, ate a bowl of oatmeal and packed up. I departed the hotel at 9am and drove about 1 ½ hours back to San Diego straight to urgent care.

You may be wondering, “Why in the heck didn’t she call 911 during the night?” Well, back pain is generally not a life threatening condition. I was out of town and certainly did not want to get stuck in a hospital away from home. I stay in darn good health so could not imagine this was anything more than strained muscles that were just getting worse.

Upon arrival in San Diego, urgent care admitted me immediately, did an EKG and the doctor called 911 to transport me to the hospital. Within about three minutes of the doctor calling 911, my small room at urgent care was filled with nine or ten young, buff firemen ready to whisk me away. For a moment I thought I had died and actually gone to fireman calendar heaven. Ah, but my dream was short lived as I was whisked into the ER at the hospital, given nitroglycerine, hooked up to every machine available all while all my blood was sucked from me. I hung out in ER in between having dye shot in my veins, medications administered, more blood sucked out, etc. for about eight hours and then I was transported to the Cath Lab where three shiny new stents were inserted into my heart.

Then off to recovery and a flirtation with the ICU since my heart would not stabilize. Six long days later I was released with enough medication to kill a horse or to keep me around a few more years! The sharp pain with shortness of breath was my ‘biggie’. The three months of nagging upper back pain, multiple small heart attacks.

It has been a roller coaster ride filled with emotional and physical ups and downs. One thing so many people have said is “slow down.” But you know, this whole experience does not make me want to slow down. It does make me want to get more focused on what I contribute to who and when so I can do my darnedest to make it happen with whatever time I have left. It makes me want to suck everything I can out of what this world has to offer so I can give as much back as possible. It makes me want to make sure I am living in a way that my children will remember and be proud of. It makes me want to love my friends and family even more so there are no questions when I am gone.

I don’t think I’ll be slowing down, but I will treasure the moments more along the way and I will stay even more focused on doing what I love to do – supporting others in their success – because that is what keeps my spirits high and able to ride whatever roller coaster comes my way!

So, if you had a ‘biggie’, what would you do differently the next day? Anything?
What is it you keep putting off? What are you waiting for?
If you were gone tomorrow, what would you most regret? Can you do something about it now?

…and most importantly, what are you so passionate about that even a massive heart attack is not going to keep you away and what are you doing to make sure your life is filled with that passion?

Thank you for the cards, flowers, twitters, notes and other ways you have reached out over the past week or so. I deeply appreciate the incredible people I am fortunate to know and although I probably won’t stop running most of the time, I might just power walk every now and then so I can continue to support you and your success in whatever small ways I can for a little longer! Thanks for letting me!

What are you saying and who are you saying it to?

Remember that, in a void, employees will fill in the blanks with meaning and interpretation typically much worse than the truth! They will MSU (make stuff up). We are all quite good at it; interpreting body language, tone and inflection and often jumping straight to conclusions based in very little data! Right now, all of us are surrounded by negative messages. They dominate the news, breakroom conversations and radio waves. Almost everyone has a friend, family member or neighbor who has been laid off or will be soon. It is critical leaders over communicate and constantly state where you are going and why you can still win.

Employee ponderings are likely to include:

• Is leadership clued in to what is going on?
• Is the company responding quickly enough or will we be the next one to fall apart?
• Is my project still important?
• Am I still important?

Whether you are directly hearing these things are not, it is highly likely they are common thought bubbles among employees. Quite simply, almost everyone is at least a little worried about their job these days (according to a recent workplace poll by Gallup of US workers, more than 80% of all employees are ‘deeply concerned about the success of their organization’). This is a dramatic increase from one year ago when numbers averaged in the 20% range!

Remember, as leaders, we have been in countless meetings looking at the current environment and exploring how and why we can still win in the future. However, employees have not been privy to these conversations. They do, however, see messages and are impacted by cuts in travel and other expense reductions. They hear stories, typically with little data to back them up, about competition and what is going on in the market. After living in tough times for several months (and even longer for some organizations and industries) and with employees already feeling a bit worn down, it is more important than ever to over communicate!

Setting the stage and leadership responsibility:

• What are the key messages you should communicate right now and what do you want all managers communicating throughout the organization? How can you keep this in front of managers and employees?
• What are the significant forces at play in our markets?
• How is our company positioned to win?
• What is leadership concerned about AND addressing?
• What is staying the same despite all these changes?
• What are the top three most important business priorities for the next 3 months? …next 6 months?
• What are some personal feelings about the current situation (what does it mean to leaders to navigate through this with a strong team, how are individual leaders keeping themselves focused, etc.)?

Following is a template to assist you in communicating effectively:

• Develop the story
  • What has happened
    • honest and candid, providing as much information as possible (remember that employees will always fill in the blanks with negative stories so give as much detail as possible while focusing on the positive)
  • What’s next
    • where the organization needs to go & why
      • business justification
      • customer needs
      • industry demands/trends
      • internal efficiencies
      • what will it look like when we get there (as best as you can tell today)
    • what are the advantages/benefits of getting there
    • address implementation specifics for any changes
      • timing
      • how people will be kept informed throughout the process
      • employee responsibilities
        • employee next steps and “to do’s”
        • describe the support (e.g. people, technology, assistance) that will be provided
  • What it means to me
    • speak to both what it means to the leader(s) as well as what it means to each audience member
    • identify key things that will not be changing (what could provide a sense of stability, continuity, and identity to the group?)

You cannot communicate too much in tough times and there is little that is more important. Take the time each month to develop your message and make sure it gets shared throughout your organization.

Tips for being aware, asking the right questions, and making timely decisions

One of the few commonalities of almost every article, study or book about leadership is an agreement that self awareness is critical to be a great leader. Today, more than ever, it is important to understand what is driving you – what is influencing your behaviors, your decisions, the data you gather and the choices you make? What mental models, assumptions and beliefs do you have about the world, the economy, your company, your competitors, your employees, etc?

Following are a few questions to ask yourself to indicate how you are performing as a leader in tough and uncertain times:

• Are you delaying important decisions?
  • There is nothing worse for employees than uncertainty right now. Make tough decisions even if you don’t have all the data you would like to have. You can almost always change them later, but not making them causes tremendous anxiety and a real lack of focus in your organization, draining energy and productivity.
• Are you spending too much time in your office, avoiding communicating?
  • Even if you don’t have all the answers and there are things you cannot communicate, talk about what you can. Tell employees as much as you can – the good and the not so good. They are making up much worse in the breakroom, so fill in the blanks with more accurate information.
• Are you ignoring the input and insight of the market, competitors, customers, employees, others?
  • Those closest to the customer often know the most about what you should and could change quickly to retain customers, market share, etc. Ask them! And if ideas are offered, even those that seem like a stretch, consider them seriously.
• Have you considered multiple ways of winning?
  • If you are still trying to do the same things you were six or seven months ago, wake up and smell the burnt coffee. Things have changed and you must adapt your strategies and actions to adapt to the new realities.

Following are a few tips for continuing to be a great leader in tough and uncertain times:

• Spend time evaluating what is and what isn’t possible.
  • Take stock of what you do know about your industry and the economic climate. Be cautious to check your understanding – just because you knew it a year ago, does not mean it is still accurate. Invest in getting better business intelligence right now. It will serve you well.
  • Do scenario planning to expand your brain’s ability to see multiple alternatives and course of action. Ask yourself and others “What if…?” You’ll be amazed at what people can come up with if you give them a target and then ask questions to help them see it and believe it is possible.
  • Examining and considering multiple possibilities will help you be prepared to take action if an opportunity presents itself.
• Prioritize so that you and others remain focused on the right things.
  • Once you have reset your strategies and tactics, make sure everyone in your organization knows what they are. Most people are working incredibly hard today. The problem is, some are working on the wrong things – projects and initiatives that are now unimportant or less important to success. But no one told them! Constantly communicate priorities and the ‘why’ behind them.
• Deepen customer relationships.
  • Make sure you have a senior executive assigned to connect with significant customers on a regular basis. Customers are making tough decisions on where to spend limited dollars, so make sure your name is front and center because you have built a good relationship.
• Work on building as much resilience in your organization as possible.
  • Things are changing at a pace that is almost impossible for us to absorb and assimilate. Resilient organizations are focused, proactive, positive, flexible and organized. Don’t assume your employees can constantly adapt to all that is going on. Make it one of your areas of focus and invest the energy to build the capability to deal with the accelerating pace of change.
• Examine everything!
  • Just because something served the organization well a year ago, does not mean it is the best approach today. Pause and consider all the things that are ‘set in stone’ and consider changing them to adapt to the current environment.

Someone will win. Will it be you and your organization?