That’s the question many employers are asking. The problem is, they’re listening to Conventional Wisdom for the answers. CW suggests that people join companies and stay with them for salary and  benefits; that employees have no loyalty; if they can get better down the street, that’s where they’re going to go.

In years past, employers attracted employees with unspoken promises of security, competitive salaries and benefits. What they asked in return was uncompromising loyalty. They got it.

Companies grew and acquired other companies. Their mergers turned into downsizings and the silent promises they made were as bankable as smoke. If you were lucky, your hard work and loyalty got you a pass until the next layoff was announced.

Once burned twice savvy employees (and their soon to be employed children) learned that loyalty meant “take care of yourself because no one else is going to do it for you.” They changed the game by writing their own rules: Stay with a company that treats you right. Leave a company that doesn’t. They knew precisely what that meant even though they didn’t tell anyone and no one took the time to ask. Until recently.

First, Break All the Rules, What the World’s Greatest Managers do Differently,by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, is based upon the Gallup Organization’s comprehensive employee opinion survey and in-depth interviews of over 80,000 managers in over 400 companies. It is, according to Gallup, “the largest study of its kind ever undertaken.”

In essence, it says that despite the best efforts of pay, benefits, promotions and training, it’s the employee’s manager who most strongly influences whether employees stay or leave. How’s that? The more that managers become involved and invested in their employees’ development and career success, the greater the likelihood that employees are more productive, companies makes more money, customers are better served, and yes, employees stay where they are.

When highly respected polling organizations take the time to ask the right questions, in as comprehensive a manner as the Gallup Organization has, it pays to take notice of their findings.

Employees leave or stay because of their managers, not because pay or benefits are more or less than what the folks get next door. Employees stay with managers who match strengths to challenges;  delegate decision making authority, and demonstrate a real interest in individual development. They stay with managers who enable them to accomplish something worthwhile and affirm them when doing so.

So rant and rave all you want about the folks next door stealing your employees. If you treat them right, they’ll stay. If you don’t, they won’t.

“But what if your employees don’t want to be motivated? They don’t want to be challenged, they don’t want to be developed, they just want to get a paycheck. If you demand more than they’re willing to give, they’re out the door. What then?”

Look at your hiring practices. The most critical mistake any employer makes is to hire someone without clarifying expectations. Consult with a professional who can help assess your needs and your environment (which are often different than you might think), and design an interview process that is targeted to both.

Provide new employees the training and equipment they need to get the job done. Give them specific and timely feedback; when they are performing the job well and when they need to improve and how. Motivate them by reinforcing their strengths instead of emphasizing their weaknesses. Ask them for feedback and listen to what they say:  Do you have what you need? Give us your ideas about how to do this job better. What are some ways we can improve our processes?

Take an interest in employees as people. The more you bring out their best, the more likely they are to stay. Those are employees you want to keep.

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 Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

 Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started her own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

1. The public wants to know what’s happening and what the President’s doing about it. They want to know his command of the issues; how aware, involved, and decisive he is regarding critical events and breaking news.

2. The more often the President meets the press and the public, the more on top of issues he has to be.

Political advisors aside, that’s sound advice for anyone in charge of anything. It’s of particular importance to people who have information that impacts the lives of others.

Why is it important to inform others, consistently, concisely, yet comprehensively, of events and plans that affect them? The answer appears self-evident, yet those responsible for the telling (and who should know better) are too often missing in action.

What keeps leadership and management from stepping up? Let’s examine the more obvious reasons, and deal with them one at a time:

• They don’t know what’s going on.
• They don’t know what to do with what’s going on.
• There’s so much going on they don’t know where to begin.
• They don’t know how their employees will act if they tell them what’s going on.
• Their employees might have some strong opinions about what’s going on.

They don’t know what’s going on: Well meaning employers can over delegate what they are least interested in doing or knowing, entrusting others with more decision-making authority than they should have. When the buck stops it’s on the wrong desk. Employers need to understand what’s happening and anticipate the consequences that flow from the information they’re getting.

They don’t know what to do with what’s going on: When employers and their managers feel overwhelmed by the mass and speed of changing events, they get stuck between where they’ve been and where they need to go. If they prefer the tactical to the strategic, they’re putting out fires without identifying the cause of the blaze. Savvy leaders think and act strategically and analytically. They maintain vision and perspective as they unravel and simplify the complexities of cause and effect. They communicate that understanding to tactical managers and their employees, who fix what’s broken and get the new job done.

There’s so much going on they don’t know where to begin: Managers who procrastinate are avoiding what comes first in favor of what comes last. Effective managers dial into the issues and ignore the static. They focus their time and energy on what’s important, instead of what’s making the most noise.

They don’t know how their employees will act if they tell them what’s going on: When leaders and managers side step issues to avoid the prospect of conflict, they further complicate problems, erode trust and diminish loyalty. It takes courage, honesty, and integrity to manage employees and the information that affects them. Effective leaders and managers are knowledgeable about the choices they make and realistic about the consequences of their actions.

Employees might have strong and opposing opinions about what’s going on: If employers adapt the adage, “what they don’t know won’t hurt them,” they wrongly assume their employees live on the dark side of the moon. Today’s workers are savvy. They are highly aware of talk in the press, in the markets, and on the street. What they don’t know, they create, resulting in rumors that hurt everyone.

If employers avoid sharing information because they fear strong, negative reactions, they’re delaying the inevitable, multiplied. Whether the news is good or bad, employees want to know. They want to prepare themselves and plan, emotionally and intellectually, for what might happen. If it turns out fine, they’re relieved. If it doesn’t, they’re ready. Employees trust bosses who demonstrate consideration, compassion, and consistently tell the truth.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.

Mary is a seasoned executive assistant. She’s able to see what needs doing and gets it done. She thinks on her feet, consistently makes good choices, and good decisions. She’s hard working and dedicated to her job; organized, good with details and sees how they connect to the big picture.

She’s professional in demeanor, personable in relationships, articulate and well read. She sounds great and her boss agrees. 

“Hello, I’m Larry, Mary’s boss. Mary’s all that she’s described to be, and more. In fact, she’s so much more, I’m able to delegate everything that I don’t want to do. I don’t like to manage people or things, I like to lead. So, I leave the managing to Mary. What specifically? Performance reviews. It’s tedious and time consuming to write them and unpleasant to conduct them. So I have Mary do them for me. I sign them and she delivers them. I don’t like to meet with direct reports. They like to complain and I don’t want problems, I want solutions. So I ask Mary to listen to their complaints, fix what she can and let the rest go.

I want to do what I’m paid to do, and that’s to be the big picture guy. I’m great at it. I love it. Thank heavens that’s about the only thing that Mary’s not good at doing or I’d have a struggle on my hands.”

“I’m Mary. Larry nailed it. He has me do everything he doesn’t want to do (did he mention shopping for family gifts and canceling dinner engagements?), but I draw the line when it comes to critiquing his direct reports. He once asked me to fire someone for him. I flatly refused, Larry never did it and the person still works here.

Keep in mind, please, that I am his executive assistant, not his executive vice president.  I do not have the title, authority, power, or paycheck to do the things he asks of me. His direct reports look at me as though I’m on some ego trip, giving orders like I’m in charge. I’m caught between a boss who relies on me to do his job and a staff that resents me for doing it.

“I’m Harry, one of Larry’s direct reports and I’d like to weigh in on this discussion. We don’t give Mary respect because we know she’s a stand in for Larry, who doesn’t have the courage to tell us, in person, what we need to know and what we need to hear. We admire his intelligence and his ability to sell our vision and our mission. He has great interpersonal skills when it comes to meeting, greeting, and securing financial support for our worthwhile endeavors. What he lacks is an ability to engage our support. He shuts us out and thinks shoving Mary in our faces makes up for his omissions. He’s wrong and its unfortunate that Mary’s paying the price.”

Mary does what her boss asks because; “I need this job until the market improves. Then I’ll have no choice but to leave and work elsewhere.”

Mary does have choices. Larry wants solutions, not problems. Mary creates a win-win if she can objectively describe the challenge, available options, and her recommendations for resolution. First, she gets Larry in the loop. He’s unaware of the consequences of his actions. Let him know that his subordinates feel shut out of the process; that her intervention makes the situation worse instead of better. If Larry prefers to delegate to her as before, she recommends that he include her on the management team, with the title, authority, and salary commensurate with the position.  Whatever decisions Larry makes, Mary has responded proactively, assertively, and responsibly. She’ll know where she stands and can make better-informed career decisions going forward.

And Larry, if you’re reading this, you have time to turn situations like these around before the economy does the job for you. Change your paradigm and you can change negative outcomes to positive results.

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Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at www.thecoachingassociation.com.

It occurred to me that you might want a little advice too; about how to handle these calls, particularly the ones you’d rather not get, and to remind you that their job search is not your burden. Getting a job is up to them, not up to you. With that in mind and if it helps, here are some tactics you might want to consider when asked to perform a service you’d rather not do.

If you get a call from an acquaintance, a friend, or relative of a friend, who asks you to serve as a reference, pause. And in that pause, ask a few questions.

“I appreciate your considering me as a reference. Let’s talk about the kind of job you’re looking for so I can determine if I’m the right person to help you.”

Listen to caller’s response. If it’s fuzzy, incomplete, or ill considered, suggest that he clarify his objective (or rationale) and get back to you. If he does, and can make a good case for the job he seeks, indicate that you will be his reference with this qualification: “I am pleased to speak on your behalf. I will describe to the prospective employer how I know you and the degree to which I am aware of your experience and expertise. Will that work for you?” Whether it does or doesn’t, you’ve demonstrated care and consideration.

If the caller is someone who has worked for you in the past, whose social skills are impeccable, and skill sets are not, and you believe that she is better suited to different line of work than that to which she is applying, say so. And suggest that she ask her other references for feedback regarding her current objective. If you’re outnumbered, let her know that the other references would do a better job for her than you would.

If the person calling is someone who has worked for you in the past, whose skill sets are impeccable and social skills aren’t, ask what he has done to improve in that regard. If he indicates a targeted effort with positive response, indicate that you will speak positively about his technical prowess and that you are pleased to hear that he is becoming more effective in his communication style. Suggest that he would do well to have additional references who can speak to that aspect of his performance.

Use the same degree of honestly and cordiality with those who would ask to network with you. If you are open to the possibility, ask how you might be a resource. If the person doesn’t know, you may be in for a long meeting in which you do all the work. Instead, ask her to get back to you with a plan. If she does, and is clear about the outcome she intends be sure you’re comfortable with it. If you’re not, you’ll unwittingly un-do the good will and time you have expended.

On behalf of job seekers who respectfully ask their references for permission, and their networking contacts for time and perspective; to those of you who so graciously assist them, thank you. Thank you for working with them, encouraging them, and telling them the truth.

* * * *

Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started he own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

“That? We did that.” “Been there, done that.” “Oh no, not that!”

Are they likely to be intrigued by the artifacts of our technology? Influenced by the incivility of our interactions? Impressed by the chaotic management of our business processes?

We haven’t done a great job of learning from the past and here we are, sending a message to the future. That’s taking procrastination to a whole new level.

Instead of boxing up a time capsule of errors and omissions for an unknown generation some 100 years hence; let’s create time release capsules and open them often, consistently, and over time while we can still do something about the challenges we face.

What should be included? How about:

The best ideas of the week and why they worked. Names of the people with the best ideas and how they got their points across. Names of the best implementation teams of the week and how they did what they did to deserve the honor.

Another week’s worth could be:

The biggest blindsides of the week and steps you’ve taken to correct them. The biggest blindspots you have and what you’re doing to reduce them. The biggest blinders you wear and what you’re doing to remove them.

And a third week’s worth:

The best leads of the week and who got them, the best deals of the week and who did them, the best saves of the week and who made them.

Opening the capsule now enables you to learn from an immediate past to avoid repeating errors, to confront what’s not working and replace it with what is, all while keeping an eye on future goals and objectives to achieve them.

If you don’t, you’re rehearsing mistakes to the point of forgetting that’s what they are. The most common problems you’re apt to encounter aren’t mechanical, they’re human. When a part breaks, you do whatever it takes to get it fixed. When the problem is your colleague, the human tendency is to wait, avoid, and hope the problem will go away. It won’t and will become increasingly difficult to handle.

Handle your problems now.

Keep your comments direct, descriptive, objective, and non- judgmental. Here’s an example:

You’ve become increasingly frustrated with a peer: “Our team meetings are always held on Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m. You’ve been a half hour late the last three times we’ve met. Because your project is key to our current change process we’ve not been able to begin the meeting without you. Your colleagues have indicated their frustration and it’s impacting your credibility. Let’s figure out how to make this work for everyone.”

Then use basic negotiation strategy: Get tough on the problem (and go easy on the person); find out what you don’t know; stay objective; brainstorm for solutions; decide on an action plan that benefits everyone involved.

It takes practice to get better at this “appropriate confrontation” stuff. That means starting now. Anything else is procrastination and belongs in a time capsule.

* * * *

Yes! You may use this article in your blog, website or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at www.thecoachingassociation.com.

“Why?” we ask. “What do you want to accomplish?” 

Hesitation.

“I want them to work together better than they do now. They barely talk to each other, and when they do, it sounds more like sniping than conversation. Worse than that, they line up at my door, wanting me to solve their problems and settle their disputes, and I don’t have time for that. So, I thought I’d get you to do some team building with them. I don’t have to be there do I?”

A day of team building will be as effective as the manager is willing to participate, watch, listen, learn and lead. No gathering of individuals will automatically become a cohesive unit unless there is a compelling reason. “Because I want them to!” isn’t reason enough.

If you want your team to work as a team, start by getting out there with them. Clarify the outcomes you want and why you want them. Be specific about what the deadlines are and how they’re connected to outcomes. Tell them who’s accountable for what and how you’re going to measure it. They need to know.

It’s your job to find out what they don’t know and what they need to know. You need to know the resources they’ll need and the resources that are available. You need to be accessible; not to solve their problems but to know what the problems are.

Team building exercises provide opportunities for participants to observe strengths and abilities in themselves and others that they would otherwise miss. Your challenge as their manager is to take that awareness from the off-site to the work-site. If you assume that every employee automatically carries that learning back to the office and applies it, you’ll be disappointed. It is your job, as their manager to make the connections, see what they miss, understand what they don’t, and clarify the differences again and again.

Evaluate your team. Do they share your vision for the future? Do they know you have a vision and that they play a part in it? Are each of them aware of the unique part they play?

Do team members trust each other to get their part of the job done? Do you trust them and they you? Do they believe that you are telling them the truth and communicating with them as responsible adults?

Do you hire the talent you need to get the job done? Are you doing more of the job than you ought because you fear that delegating will result in failure? Your failure?

Do you confront conflict as it happens, in a candid and considerate way? Do you know what the problems are because you can see them, as well as experience the fallout from them?

Bottom  line: Communicate goals, concretely. Communicate individual and team accountability, specifically. Manage obstacles to success, whether interpersonal, operational, or financial, fairly. Focus on results.

Get used to not having all the answers. You’re in this job to ask the right questions in a clear, efficient, and effective way. Your team has the answers.

A strong team has complementary strengths: interpersonal, problem solving, and technical. It’s not likely that each employee will possess all three. That’s the value and wisdom of  teamwork. That’s synergy. That’s what you might discover on a crisp day during an outdoor “team building” exercise. The challenge is discovering it on the job, and celebrating it when you do.

* * * *

Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at www.thecoachingassociation.com.

You are supposed to lead, manage, empower, empassion, conceptualize, sanitize, systemize, and fund raise on a shoe string budget and a strung thin staff.

The boss is your board, the public is your client, and you are your most severe critic. And that’s just part of the load that you carry.

You supervise the activities of countless volunteers so that money can be raised, and important goals can be achieved. Your organization can not function successfully without them.

You appreciate your volunteers and tell them so, as often as you can remember (along with the others things you’re trying to remember; like when you last cleaned your house or visited your in-laws).

Those cherished volunteers (and may their numbers multiply) come from all walks of life and all levels of experience. They are independent, self reliant people. They aren’t paid for their time or effort. They offer both freely because they want to. As noble as that is, and as good as they are, there’s a challenge that accompanies such a gift.

They don’t have a boss and don’t want one. They don’t have to show up on time, or even show up. They don’t have to complete a job or stay until the job is done. That’s the whole idea. That’s why they volunteer: to make a difference, but to do it in their own way.

In a perfect world, it works perfectly. Volunteers universally step up to the plate. But in the world where you live, it can feel more like herding cats. You encourage here, and cajole there, and sometimes feel that you’re running in circles, just trying to keep everything and everyone on track and moving forward.

So many masters. So little time. Especially if you put too much pressure on yourself. As a director, you can meet and exceed probably two thirds of what is reasonable to ask of yourself. It’s not that you can’t do it all, but that you insist that you can.

Optimistic board members want to believe they can hire miracle workers who squeeze water out of rocks (or squeeze the work of ten out of a payroll of three), and envision more than possibly be attained. Their newly minted, altruistic directors arrive filled with inspiration and boundless energy. If they spin themselves into a frenzy proving that they can achieve unrealistic goals, they run the risk of burning out on the very fuel that got them there in the first place.

The most savvy directors know how to lead people, manage process, and massage egos. They know that the most critical measure of their success is dependent upon their ability to build, value, and sustain a team of staff and volunteers that complement each others strengths.

They realize that their paid employees aren’t in it for the big bucks or high falluttin’ titles, so the successful leader takes time to listen to ideas, reinforces initiative, appreciates effort, and says so, with gusto.

They can turn a “no” into a “yes”, and “why you can’t” into “here’s how you can”. They do it consistently and they do it often.

They state their expectations early, clearly, and completely to staffers and volunteers alike.

They take time out to celebrate every victory, as a team.

They realize that everyone wants to make a difference, in their own way.

The most effective board members believe in the organization’s mission, connect with its message, and work together to make it happen.

They follow through when they say they will and say so when they know they can’t.

They provide guidance without guilt, and support without strings.

They understand that commitment is defined by their time, talent, and the intangible spirit of doing whatever it takes.

We all benefit from the work of non profit organizations. Some of us are direct beneficiaries and realize that we couldn’t have made it, emotionally, financially, or physically, without their help. Others of us benefit indirectly by the assistance our neighbors and friends receive at a time of need.

We are all enriched by their presence.

They help us become a community that cares.

* * * *

Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at www.thecoachingassociation.com.

I’ve been living at the same address for over twenty years. The fence moved in before I did. It was sturdy, redwood, interwoven, and taller than I am. I knew my back neighbors only by the top of their hats: baseball in summer and woolen in winter. They couldn’t have known me by much more.

One day we met, kind of. The top of my head spoke with the tops of theirs and we talked about our enduring fence and what if we just… took it down. We considered the pros and looked at the cons and decided the whatif’s? were greater than the sowhat’s?

Whatif I got a dog and you got a baby? Whatif you sold your house or I sold mine and one of us needed a fence because the new neighbors were mean and nasty? It’s too risky. It’s better to leave well enough alone. Maybe it’s supposed to be that way. After all, good fences make good neighbors…

In late spring, a storm came, and when it left, it took the fence with it. For many days we busied ourselves in the aftermath, chopping, stacking and hauling until finally, we looked up and saw ourselves face to face over a space that once had separated us.

Nowwhat? How would we relate without the walled protection of whatif’s and sowhat’s?

Across the country companies are consolidating their holdings and closing the divide that separates departments and business units. The motive to merge comes from a logical look at the bottom line; it’s cheaper to operate under one roof than many. If you work in closer proximity to what you make, market, and ship you’re more likely to talk to each other about what you know, do, and need. Or so it would seem.

People tend to hold onto the old ways, the established, institutionalized ways; the good fences make good neighbors ways. Instead of crossing over invisible lines, departments and business units remain protective of what was. Barriers, real and imagined, remain in place.

What can you do to remove internal blocks to communication, whether real or perceived?

Observe that it’s happening.

Point out the obvious.

Point out the obvious to the oblivious.

Get together with the oblivious and the obtuse.

Learn their objections.

Overcome the obstructions.

Develop mutual, agreed upon objectives.

Reap the benefits

If what you do is what you did, what you’ll get is what you got.

Communication is the most basic, fundamental, foundational, no cost, no frills tool you have at your disposal. Use it wisely and use it well.

“This is what we do over here and (keep it simple) this is how we do it. Here’s what we need from you to do our job and to help you do yours. What do you do, and what do you need from us?”

If you insist that good fences make good neighbors, the least you can do is install a gate that opens both ways.

* * * *

Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at www.thecoachingassociation.com.

By means of illustration, I have a story for you. It’s called, “The Pineapple.”

One day Alice (I’ve changed the name to protect the bold) went to her favorite grocery store to buy a pineapple. She took it home and sliced it open. It was one bad piece of fruit. Rotten to the core. She called the store manager, described the pineapple’s condition and asked if he would like her to return it for a refund.

“There’s no need,” he said, “we trust you. Just remind us when you come in and we’ll be glad to refund your money or deduct the amount from your next purchase. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. We’ll look forward to seeing you soon.”

Alice was disappointed with the pineapple and very satisfied with the manager’s gracious response.

The next day, and because she was in the neighborhood, she stopped at another location of this favorite store. She selected another pineapple and told the check out clerk of her conversation with the sister store’s manager.

“Where’s your receipt?” said the clerk. “We can’t refund your money or exchange a product without a receipt.”

Alice was startled by the abrupt reply, but explained the situation again, indicating that she had not kept her grocery store receipt, never expecting to have to prove her pineapple purchase.

“We cannot do anything without a receipt,” said the clerk, “store policy.”

Alice asked for the store manager.

He appeared immediately, if somewhat impatiently, and quickly asked Alice to explain her problem. She described the pineapple, as she had to the first manager, and indicated her desire to exchange it for a healthy one.

The manager asked for a receipt from the first purchase. “It’s policy,” he said, “store policy.”

Alice, embarrassed and annoyed by the direction this was taking, asked, “Do you think I’m trying to cheat you out of the price of a pineapple?”

The manager did not respond to her question and repeated his request for a receipt or the case was closed. As he turned to leave, Alice made a request by suggesting:

“Here is my card. I’m the President and CEO of a fairly large company that operates in this area. Every year during the holidays, I present hundreds of gift certificates from your store, to my employees, vendors, and account representatives. If you’ll check your records you will see that this amounts to considerably more than the price of a pineapple.”

The store manager slowly turned to face Alice. This time his response was quite different.

“I didn’t know that. I’ll refund your money, or you can take a new pineapple, whichever you prefer.”

The manager followed her to the parking lot, pleading that she allow him to refund her money. “Take a fresh pineapple!” he begged. “Take two!”

“No”, said Alice, “you didn’t trust me or value me until you realized that I represent significant income for your store. You have lost me as a customer. How many other customers have you lost in your desire to save the cost of a pineapple?”

What outcome do you seek? Any strength, overused, becomes its own liability. Whether you’re selling tires, automobiles, or pineapples, overindulge your quest for cost savings and cost efficiencies, and you’ll save money at the expense of customer service, satisfaction, dedication, and loyalty.

Short term gain, long term loss. You do the math.

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Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

 Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at www.thecoachingassociation.com.

“If the last 50,000 years of man’s existence were divided into lifetimes of approximately sixty-two years each, there have been about 800 such lifetimes. Of these 800, fully 650 were spent in caves.

Only during the last seventy lifetimes has it been possible to communicate effectively from one lifetime to another – as writing made it possible to do so. Only during the last six lifetimes (375 years) did masses of men ever see a printed word. Only during the last four (250 years) has it been possible to measure time with any precision. Only during the last two (120 years) has anyone anywhere used an electric motor.

And the overwhelming majority of all the material goods we use in daily life today have been developed within the present, the 800th lifetime.”

You’d think with that perspective, everyone in your organization would feel overwhelmed by change.  But, as we all know, it just ain’t so. Some folks thrive on it. Particularly those who are in charge of making it happen. The rest find themselves somewhere along a continuum: some frozen solid, some grudgingly moving along, some gasping for air while running as fast as they can.

How about you? If  you are stuck, why are you? And what are you still holding onto?

If you lead a team and they’re stuck; why are they? What are they holding onto and why won’t they let it go?

Take the time to figure it out. Relentlessly pushing yourself and your employees won’t get you “there”  faster when you’re not ready to leave where you’ve been.

William Bridges, a leading change management consultant and author of several books on work transition issues, is complexity simplified when he writes, “It’s the transition, not the change that people often resist. Every transition begins with an ending. We have to let go of the old thing before we can pick up the new – not just outwardly, but inwardly, where we keep our connections to the people and places that act as definitions of who we are.

Bridges’ Seven Principles of Transition Management elaborate:

1. You have to end before you begin.

2. Between the ending and the beginning, there is a hiatus.

3. That hiatus can be creative.

4. Transition is developmental.

5. Transition is also a source of renewal.

6. People go through transition at different speeds.

7. Most organizations are running a “transition deficit.”

Does it help to change the word “stuck” to the word “transitional”? It should, if the description better fits the condition.

Anyone who has lost a long held job or meaningful relationship, knows and understands grief. Grief fills a transitional period that separates what was from what is yet to be.

Wise managers understand and acknowledge that time. They realize that many employees grieve their losses as sweeping change moves across a formerly stable workplace.

Wise managers help their employees gain closure. They know that denigrating the past or those who represented it only extends the period of mourning.

Wise managers remove excuses to hold onto the past. They make their case for why change is necessary; what is at risk if change doesn’t happen; and what the future direction will be.

Wise managers figure it out. They involve more minds than their own. They consider solution options and assess the upside and downside impact of each.

Wise managers make their decisions while developing  an organized plan of implementation. They incorporate multi-level feedback loops and adjust as necessary.

Wise managers communicate more times than they think it’s necessary, then communicate some more. They say it, write it, and say it again.

WHY we’re making these changes;

WHAT are the means and method for making them;

WHO will play a part in moving the organization forward;

HOW it will look like when we’re done.

A sense of urgency is enough to stimulate some to action; others just need a road map. The majority need a reason why. Give them what they need and there’s a better chance they’ll follow you into the future.

* * * *

Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at www.thecoachingassociation.com.