You’re barreling toward the next year, bent on doing it better, faster, smarter than … what?

If you look back over the last several months, certain behavioral issues have already surfaced as leading contenders for top problems. What impact are they currently having on your business and what can you do to course correct before year-end?

Visionaries are given a mandate to create a concept that moves the company ahead of the competition. Impulsive visionaries, exploding with new ideas, are having a whale of  a problem motivating their troops to follow along.

What’s the problem? Either the troops don’t have a clue what these folks are talking about,  or they understand the message; it  just keeps changing before they have time to implement  it.

What’s the outcome? All beginnings and no endings result in wasted time, energy, and money. The implementers appear more concerned about this than the visionaries seem to be.

The Solution: Maximize vision and manage impulse. Emphasize discipline and demonstrate follow though. Simplify the complex. Be available to ask and answer questions, patiently, pragmatically, and considerately.

With changes occurring as rapidly as they have, companies are hard pressed to maintain their competitive edge. To amp potential, many are going outside their current talent pool to hire the most creative minds they can find.  These innovative sorts are authorized  to drive change projects to completion as quickly as possible.

What’s the problem? Assuming that driving change and leading change are the same.

What’s the outcome? The disparity between innovative wizards and their ever frustrated direct reports appears to be widening. Mixed messages and culture clashes are resulting  in an us vs. them attitude.

The Solution: Leading a change process always takes longer than you want or expect. Slow it down, intentionally. Give people time to let go of the past. Describe the goal, identify the objectives, and go for the buy-in. Take time up front and you’ll pick up time down the line.

Service and loyalty are slipping. Employees appear more flip and fickle than ever before. Their ”what have you done for me lately” attitude mirrors their consumer behavior: nothing seems to be good enough, long enough.Impersonal merchandising machines have replaced personal retail shopping. Who needs courtesy if there’s no one to say “please” and “thank you” to when you shop on the net.

Bottom line: Employees are asked to do more, work harder and stay longer to get last year’s paycheck.

Problem: It’s hard to dance on a dime, carry more than your load, and work overtime all the time without recognition, affirmation, and life balance.

Outcome: Employees and customers will take their work effort and purchase power somewhere else.

The Solution: Address the issue now. There has to be ”something in it for me” to stay in the game. Focus on the employee as you would your customer, and focus on your customer the way your parents say it used to be. Take stock of what needs improvement and what needs repair and plan accordingly, or you may be repeating what you never fixed, in 2010.

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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 conducted seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

If you don’t have the energy to read what business gurus have to say on the subject, and want something a little more soothing, check out some Mother Goose.

For example: Jack and Jill ran up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.

Sit back, take a few liberties when you read between the lines, and you might distill a management lesson or two. For starters, let’s look at these opposing attitudes and perspectives:

“Jack, what’s with this “fetch a pail of water” and “up the hill” stuff? We have plenty of water right here so why should we bother? Besides, I’m not thirsty.”

“Trust me, Jill. I’m a strategic kinda’ guy. My instincts tell me this is something we need to do.  Besides, the hike will do you good.”

“Get real, Jack. If you want to climb that hill for water, knock yourself out. It’s a waste of time, I have better things to do, and I’m not the one who needs to take a hike, thank you very much.”

Jack, the boss, persists. Jill, the subordinate, relents. They trudge up the hill, get a pail of water, Jack falls down, breaks his crown, and Jill still insists she didn’t smack him with a bucket.

What’s the real deal? Jack’s instincts tell him what he wants and he goes after it, even if he can’t explain what it is and why it’s important. He likes to work on bigger issues and to develop strategies that accomplish longer term goals. Regrettably, he doesn’t explain his motivations or involve his employees in problem solving. No wonder they get aggravated.

Jill sees herself as a no-nonsense pragmatist. She’ll do what’s requested if it makes sense to her. Jack’s “trust me” attitude leaves her cold. Jack can persist, but whatever cooperation he gets will be against her grain, and he may pay dearly if he insists on doing it his way.

What other business insights can we learn from Mother Goose’s musings? Check this out:

Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean. And between them both, they licked the platter clean.

Yes, Jack and his wife were quite a sight at dinner parties but all had to agree, Jack had developed a system that demonstrated how opposites could work well together. He and the Missus leveraged their opposing strengths by identifying and optimizing them.

Did M. Goose provide other examples? How about…

Hickory, Dickory, Doc. The mouse ran up the clock. The Clock struck twelve, the mouse ran down, Hickory, Dickory, Doc.

It’s just possible that Mother Goose was writing about the demanding medical practice of  Drs. Hickory, Dickory,  and Doc and the tribulations of their office manager, Ms. Mouse:

Ms. Mouse was emotionally and physically exhausted. Despite her many years as office manager she felt she had no future. She wanted more authority and less responsibility. Instead she got more of the latter and less of the former. Always obedient, she did whatever she was told yet never felt appreciated for her efforts. She had gone into office administration hoping to make a difference. She left, believing there was none she could make.

Doctors Hickory and Dickory were surprised to learn of Ms. Mouse’s dissatisfaction and subsequent resignation. They had always assumed she enjoyed a frenetic pace and no life, as did they. “Had she told us, we would have done something for her, like get her orthopedic shoes and support stockings.”

Only Dr. Doc appreciated the challenges that the staff faced and realized his intervention was essential to changing attitudes and behaviors. He held weekly meetings, asking for staff suggestions to streamline operations and improve patient care. He utilized their ideas, valued their input, and told them so. It may have been too late for Ms. Mouse, but office morale improved as did patient satisfaction.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, 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 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.

What’s working? Plenty. Claire (whose name is fictitious and behavior is real) is independent, self reliant, and self -starting. She thinks fast and talks faster. She’s analytic, organized and a wizard at remembering the details; all of which enable her to nail a problem at 500 paces. It’s what she does with the problem she’s nailed that’s her downfall:

“Who’s responsible? Who’s to blame? Somebody did it, own up!”

Suddenly she’s out of control, screaming, finger pointing, accusing every employee within earshot of conspiracy aimed at ruining her and the company. Once she’s satisfied the culprits have been blamed (if not found) she’s chasing another problem. By the time Claire gets home she’s exhausted. Here’s how she describes her day:

“I find problems and I want whatever’s broken to get fixed. It takes time and money to repeat the same errors, and we don’t have any to waste. What’s the matter with the people who work for this company? No matter how many times I point out the obvious, they either ignore the problem or what I’m telling them. I just don’t understand how they can care so little about their work or their workplace.”

You might wonder, what’s so bad? She’s doing her job, others aren’t, so why is that her problem and why is she getting fired? Ask her employees and they’ll tell you:

Claire’s a human wrecking ball. She thinks she’s great at finding problems? She creates more than she can ever hope to find. Just about everyone who’s left here, left because they’re no longer willing to take her insulting, in your face style. She’s one of those people who takes on too much then gets overwhelmed by the workload she asked for. She never wants help, never delegates anything, never asks for an opinion, and gets angry if you offer one. She’s a piece of work that no one wants to work for.

Claire’s in terminal trouble because she’s taken her strengths and turned them into liabilities. She assumes the worst and is determined to prove it. Her employees don’t respond to her attacks because they’re busy defending themselves. They have to because she doesn’t give them a chance to be part of the solution.

Claire’s an equal opportunity blamer. She treats her boss, peers, and subordinates the same way. She either greets them with a laundry list of what’s broken or bursts into their space with a snarling; “Did you know this was going on?” Whether she’s delivering a pronouncement or asking a question, it all sounds alike: “You idiot! You’ve done it again!”

Claire’s managing a business that’s battered by a wounded economy and a damaged national spirit. Employees need Claire to rally their support and loyalty. Claire’s boss needs her to be a problem solver, not a problem maker. As much as he doesn’t want to fire her, he needs someone who can mend, not tear the fabric of his organization.

Can she do it?

If she has to become someone else to achieve it, she can’t and won’t. Claire doesn’t want to maximize her weaknesses to minimize her strengths. She shouldn’t have to.

Claire needs to let employees be part of the solution. She may be great at finding what’s broken but she hasn’t demonstrated a talent for creating processes that don’t break. Her job is to access the ideas and suggestions of those who work with the system, rather than blame them when the system doesn’t work. They can either tell her how to fix it, or if she gives them the authority, they can fix it themselves.

Bottom line: Claire needs to level the playing field. There’s a trade-off between what she needs and doesn’t know and what other employees know and need. Blaming pushes them and their information away. Her goal may be to maximize company profits by minimizing waste but she’ll never get there if she’s the only one left in the game.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, 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 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.

Helen was an attorney in the legal department of a Fortune 100 company. She valued her work, her relationships with colleagues and the professional conduct of her company.

A year or so ago, the company’s human resources department organized a minority recruitment task force; its purpose to attract people of color to the corporation. They invited Helen to join.

True to their word, the HR team appeared eager to launch the recruitment drive. The membership was openly enthusiastic about the company’s resolve. There were a few minority members who voiced concern about retention. They described instances of recruiting employees who were touted as high potential, yet once hired, were not promoted nor encouraged to post for positions that would advance their careers. Instead, they were told, off the record, that although they were doing excellent work in their current positions, they’d have to leave the company to advance.

Helen had heard these stories before; that the effort to hire was there but the encouragement to stay was sadly lacking. She didn’t know the details; the who, when and why of the stories. She left it alone.

Helen asked the group to redirect its focus to its stated purpose: recruitment. She said she’d do her part by contacting former classmates and professors from her undergraduate and law school years, endorsing the company as a good place to work. Several minority colleagues pushed back, frustrated by her apparent lack of interest or involvement in what they believed to be important and disturbing issues. Helen felt they were overreaching and should get on with the job at hand, and said so.

Several months passed. Helen continued attending the sessions yet sat on the sidelines of discussion. The committee met with only limited success. There was a clear division between those who thought the company was making a concerted effort to recruit, and those who held that the recruitment strategy was a transparent effort that lacked integrity and long term commitment. They believed the company was failing to fulfill a basic ethic that assumes qualified individuals will be allowed to compete for bona fide positions, and if their track record merits, will advance within the organization that hires them. A growing number of committee members voiced growing concern that the HR department wasn’t acting in good faith by failing to investigate reports that minority promotions were non existent.

In the weeks that followed, Helen learned that her boss, the director of legal services, was leaving the company. Helen was a senior staffer who had often run the department in his absence. She had graduated from a top ten law school, had established a strong reputation in her field, and considered herself a good bet as his replacement, particularly since the company prided itself on promoting from within. To be on the safe side, she talked to her boss and asked for his take on her chances. Helen was stunned by his response.

He told her that she was his choice and would do an excellent job, but she wouldn’t get it. He suggested she not pursue it and instead apply for a director’s position with another company.

Helen was dumbfounded. She asked for an explanation and he said he wasn’t in a position to give one. She posted for the position, and was not asked to interview. The job went to someone from outside the company, with less experience and a less than stellar track record.

She applied for a director level position with three organizations, interviewed and received offers from two. She’s now working for a multinational company, leading a team of 9 attorneys. With strong support from her CEO, she’s instituted a company wide mentoring program that provides performance feedback to all employees of color who seek career challenge and promotional opportunity. Its purpose is to improve retention. Her purpose is to combine cautious optimism with realistic vigilance. She still shakes her head at her earlier “anyone but me” experience and doesn’t want another wake up call.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, 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 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.

If you want a job here, you’ll do more with less.

You’ll demonstrate and communicate your worth to and for the organization every day you’re on our payroll.

You’ll retain and re-train qualified personnel at no cost to the company.

There are more reasons than space to describe why organizations pare their payrolls and tighten their belts. Bottom line, they want to stay in business and provide incomes for the owners, employees, vendors, and support services that depend on their continuing existence.

Reasons, no matter how prudent and sound, don’t stack up if you’re the one who gets the pink slip. The only good news about your bad news is that you know it’s over and if you want food, clothes, and shelter you’ll find another job.

What happens to layoff survivors? They’re the ones who sort through the aftermath and divide the workload that’s left. They go through the motions realizing that they’re commodities to be bought and sold; they’ll be asked to terminate others; told to do “more with less” and that work isn’t supposed to be fun.

For the past several years, employees were riding high because unemployment was at an all time low. Companies were jumping through all kinds of hoops to woo them, only to lose them to the competitor down the street.  Just showing up became reason for celebration. Suddenly, or so it seems, businesses find themselves back in the ‘80’s when everyone was more mean than lean, and the handwriting on the wall said “like it or leave it”.

In truth, employers don’t like it, they don’t expect that you will, and they don’t want you to leave. If you go, you’ll take knowledge, productivity, and reliability with you. If that isn’t bad enough, it will take time and money to replace you. All are in short supply.

Where does that leave the employer? Hopefully, learning from

experience. The last time the economy shuddered and businesses quaked, employers withdrew from their employees. They shut down communication with the people they needed most and created the workplace of  “what’s in it for me?” Without intending, they gave employees a reason to be cynical.

Employees are more street savvy now. They’re more independent, self reliant, and self-protective. They’ve learned to deal with change, get retrained, and negotiate their worth. They aren’t mad when they leave, they just leave.

You’re the boss. Level with them. Tell them what’s going on, where you want to take the company, the challenges to overcome, and the part you’d like them to play in making it happen. When employees are part of the solution, they’re not part of the problem. They need to hear that you need their intelligence, creativity, and flexibility to be successful.

If layoffs are in the cards, tell them. If you’re not sure, say so. You have an obligation to lead. If you turn around and no one’s following, that’s a strong indication that what you’re doing isn’t working.

If more of the same isn’t the answer, and you don’t know what to do differently, invest your money where there’s a high rate of return: enroll in quality leadership development programs and take your key players with you.

Read what leadership practitioners and gurus write on the subject. (John P. Kotter’s Leading Change; Morrell and Capparell’s Shackleton’s Way ; Buckingham and Coffman’s First Break All the Rules are examples of good reads.)

Create a team of diverse thinkers who can rally around a central vision and mission. Over communicate: say the same thing seven times in seven different ways. Celebrate victories, no matter the size.

Keep it simple, keep it honest, and lead by example.

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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 conducted seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Let’s face it. You don’t have to speak up if you don’t want to. You don’t have to ask for what you believe is rightfully yours. Just be prepared for the consequences when you don’t:

She told me that she worked harder than anyone in her department. She came early and stayed late. She did her job in addition to what others didn’t want to do or never got around to doing. She never asked for anything in return. She didn’t think she had to. She knew she was appreciated. People smiled at her and thanked her for the extra that she did. That extra enabled them to arrive late and leave early. She couldn’t understand why she was never promoted and they were. She couldn’t understand why they made more money and she made less. But she kept her counsel. She didn’t want anyone to think that she wasn’t appreciative of the company and the job they let her do.

Gender aside, if she sounds like you and you want more than what she’s getting, you need to become more assertive. How can you do that and remain true to your character?

Most reticent people draw their energy from within. They want time to think and space for that reflection. Their preference for quiet becomes problematic only when they are asked to respond in the moment, without time to consider the issues and ponder their consequences.

Do they sound like you? If so, and you want to be able to slow down the people and process long enough to get your bearings, I have a few techniques for you. Tailor them to fit your style:

• State the obvious. You want time to think: “I’ll get back to you with that information no later than 2 o’clock this afternoon (or whatever time you need to get the job done).
• If the questioner is impatient and wants an immediate response, confirm that you heard the request. Then clarify your understanding of it before immediately responding to it.  Not only does it buy you time to think, it gets at the crux of the issue: “Tom, I understand that you need that information immediately. What else is going on that’s impacting the project? The more I know, the better I can help.”
• Go slow to go fast. Ask open ended questions: “Tell me more…”; “Help me understand…”. You’ll save time, effort, and good will by knowing at the beginning what is needed at the end.

Now, about public speaking. The higher you rise in an organization, the more often you’ll be called upon to make formal and informal presentations. You may never be great at it, but you can always get better:

• Know what you want to say and why it’s important to say it.
• Organize your speech into talking points.
• Speak from your core and not from your head.
• Vary your approach without changing your message.
• Practice in front of a full length mirror.
• Critique your performance. If you’re bored or confused, so is your intended audience. Get back to basics: Does your message stay on point? Are you getting your points across in a compelling manner? Are you challenging your audience to think differently than they otherwise might? Do you want them to take action? If so, have you told them what they need to do?
• When you give a speech in real time, focus on your audience instead of yourself. Speak to individuals whose body language signals that they are receptive to your message. For every person you connect with, you collect two dozen or so who are sitting nearby and believe that you’re speaking directly to them.

Once you’ve learned out to speak, your next development opportunity awaits: Your ability to listen.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, 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 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.

There are many people who inherently know which pathway to follow. They wait for permission to follow it.

Others know what they do well but worry they’re missing out on something better. They want someone to identify possibilities they may have overlooked.

Many like the safety of  “one road, one ticket “. They know what they have to do and do it, not because they love their work but that it’s work they can do. They know what to expect, their income is stable and their future secure. They manage themselves and their lives with constancy and steadfastness.  They are not prepared, emotionally or intellectually, for unexpected change.When that change comes in the form of a pink slip they become immobilized. Layoff, or termination without fault, defies their belief that good, hardworking people should be valued and retained. They don’t know what to do or where to turn.

And so they sit; the frustrated, the permission seeking, the worried, and the shell shocked, waiting for strobe lights to illuminate the path and point the way to the place they need to be. It doesn’t happen that way.

If you’re parked on a bench next to them and you’re interested in techniques that get you going, grab a pencil and a pad, you’ve got some work to do:

Start by taking inventory

What do you do well, naturally? What do you currently enjoy or have enjoyed as a hobby or pastime?  Do you prefer working alone or with others? If with others, how many others are involved?

If others are involved, what part do they play; what part do you play? If you prefer independence, what’s your preferred project or task?

What’s important or meaningful to you? What do you value in others? Describe the best boss or coach you’ve had; describe the best places you’ve worked. If you don’t have any positive memories, dig deeper. Who was your favorite teacher? Your favorite relative. Why?

When are you at your best? Are you more effective working hands-on, managing the practicality of day to day concerns in a workplace that has structure, order, and organization? Are you better at working with possibilities, creating outcomes not earlier considered?

Do you like to work from a checklist, with the expectations clear and the deadlines observed, or are you better off without boundaries, rules or regulations, figuring things out as you go?

Weave together your preferences.

I’m an independent, hands-on, pragmatic problem solver, preferring to work with tasks than people. I enjoy variety, flexibility, and mobility. I’m at my best when I can streamline processes, expedite outcomes, come in under budget and ahead of schedule.

Or possibly: I’m a team leader and a team player. I like to know what the goals are, and the payoffs that come from making them. I enjoy strategy more than details and design more than implementation. I’m able to understand what motivates and encourages people by listening to them. I put what I learn into practice by treating the people who work with me as I would my best customers.

Your strength profile becomes the foundation of your resume, your cover letters, your networking, and your interviews. It remains constant, no matter the company, the client, the product or the process.

Now get out there and start meeting people who enjoy the same things you do. Brainstorm job possibilities or directions that make sense. Follow up on ideas, call people you know and people you’re introduced to. Let them know who you are by describing what you do best and why you want to do it.

* * * *

Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, 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 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

The first is a free radical existing in a conservative, hierarchical institution. He’s as difficult as he is brilliant, appealing, and maddening. He has a small but adoring claque of supporters who follow his lead and go wherever he takes them. He thrives on their adoration and holds them close; his inner circle, his chosen few.

All would be well without a glaring glitch: he has more ardent enemies than faithful friends and his enemies work to stop him at every turn. They rail against him to anyone who will listen and the listeners are legion. They vow to stamp him out, to rid the business of the likes of him.

“He’s dangerous!” they say. “He’s not to be trusted with your information, your career, your friends, or your wives.”

No matter how strong the opposition, he’s promoted. Higher he goes, defying gravity, logic, and the best efforts of those armed to bring him down. What protects him from constant ambush and frontal attack?

He makes money. Lots of money. He makes money for stakeholders and shareholders. To them this guy is unbeatable and they want him untouchable. They’re not interested in what he does as long as he’s left alone to do it.

He’s a rainmaker who lives on the edge and dances on the bubble. He answers to no one despite rank and file’s insistence that he be reined in and held accountable for the error of his ways.

What does this rainmaker want? It’s not the money, and the chase is getting old. He wants respect from the top and a place at the table. He wants to be a decision-maker and power broker, but he doesn’t have the political savvy or patience to get there.

The only weapon his antagonists have is the one he can’t defend against. What he wants most he’s least apt to get. He wants legitimacy. He’s target practice and it’s all coming from friendly fire. He’s getting tired and it’s getting old. His sacred circle is getting smaller. The bursts of applause are sounding like one hand clapping. He doesn’t know if he can do it anymore.

Unsavory character #2: This one looks like all style and no substance. He’s a smile wide and an inch deep. He’s a charmer who knows what to say and when to say it. He knows who to know and where to find them. Most importantly, he knows their secrets. This handsome rake with the twinkling eye works when he pleases and it seldom does. When you know where the bodies are buried and who buried them, you don’t have to.

He’s been at the same company since he found the keys and he has no interest in leaving. Why should he? He’s moved up the ranks without removing his jacket. He’s due to retire in just a few years with an unbroken record of pocketing the work of others then passing it off as his own. Does anyone dare blow his cover? Not unless they’re willing to have their name and reputation permanently tarnished. And there isn’t anyone around willing to take the chance.

Unsavory character #3: The gatekeeper. This person is in charge of keeping the institution safe from internal attack. She believes that the enemy is us, so she is ever vigilant. No one has asked that she be. No one believes there’s a threat. She contends that’s the case because she never rests.

She stands by the entrance with her eye on the clock. She jots down names and times of arrival. She returns to her post at the close of day, notebook in hand, cross checking for early departures. She gives her reports to managers who ask what else she does in the course of her day. She bristles, stung by the question. Then carefully notes who said it and the time it was said. Her reason for existence at this or any job is to create a problem that doesn’t exist.

What can be done about these three?

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, 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 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

She said she’s getting out of the business.

“Why in the world would you do that? You’re more successful than you’ve ever been. You told me that you love your work and the feeling you have when helping people get what they want. It’s working! Why leave now?”

She said that business is booming and she has to drive customers away with a stick. She’s making lots of money and the challenges keep coming.  The problem is that she’s working herself to death.

The way she looked when she said it told me how awful her truth was.

“So slow down. Take on fewer customers. Take a little time for yourself.”

She said that she couldn’t.

“That doesn’t make sense. How could you not?”

She said it doesn’t work that way.

“Then why do you drive yourself so hard? Why do you push until you burn out?

“Because it’s there”, she said, “because it’s there.”

How many of  you  pound rock and push it up hill because the rock is there and the hill’s in the way? You’re programmed to do it the way  you’ve always done it. Regrettably,  you’re going to get what you’ve always got.

Without meaning to, you’re taking a job that you love and working it until it kills you or you kill it.

In this case, my friend is killing it. She’ll probably be under lawn and garden arrest before garnering the necessary strength to venture back into the work world and do it yet again. Does she have a problem? You bet she does. She needs to change her program.

There are people in all sectors of work who happily share this individual’s unrelenting drive and ambition. Those who have enjoyed success  balancing the effort they exert with  the benefits they receive, continue to be happily productive.  Yes, they really do it all.

They have the ability to understand where, when and how the most important  aspects of their lives intersect and have the discernment to effectively relate those, one to the other. That’s called perspective.

Perspective without action is theory without application; it may be interesting but do you care?

If you want to replace your blind spot with insight and are ready to do something about what you see,  take ownership of the part you play.

I have some questions for you. Take your time when answering them. You rushed yourself into these problems, you can’t rush  yourself out of them.

• Who’s doing what to whom? Why? For what purpose?
• Who stands to benefit? Who stands to lose?
• How much work is too much? How do you know?
• Why should you care? What difference will it make?
• Separate your professional goals from your personal needs and evaluate the latter in terms of the more humanistic aspects of your life: the emotional, intellectual, the physical and spiritual. Take a weekend walk and talk to a friend. Leave your watch at home.
• Where have you developed most?
• Where have your grown the least?
• If you were to seek internal and external balance, what difference might it make in the way you live your personal and your professional life?
• How difficult is it for you to acknowledge and describe your personal needs and wants? Who nurtures you? Who willingly carries the load for you when you’re tired and encourages you when you’re down?

This is not a gender issue. The need to be whole and affirmed for who you are, not just what you do, is something that we all share, universally. If you believe that the weight of the world sits squarely on your shoulders, you allowed the world put it there. Sit down, take a load off. Someone else can pound rock for a while.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, 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 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.

I’m getting used to calls about workplace stress. What’s gotten my attention lately are all the calls about workplace abuse.

American business and industry are known for having more workplace stress, abuse, and violence than our counterparts in other developed nations. The simple explanation is that we are more competitive, entrepreneurial, and bottom line. We seem to like that. Not that we are violent,  but that we are competitive. Stress is the norm.

Add to that mix, our recent and increasing drive to do it all faster, with fewer people, so that we can make more money. Little wonder that stress, the feeling, has turned into abuse, the behavior.

What does it look and sound like? Probably like home, on a really bad day. Gone are the company manners, and replacing them are the screamers and tantrum throwers.

What happens next depends on the organization. In some, the “disgruntled” are removed quickly and quietly, never to be spoken of again. Sometimes the abuser becomes the scapegoat and is shunned. Sometimes they are ignored or tolerated. On occasion, abuse turns violent, and becomes the lead story on the 6 o’clock news.

What’s acceptable anger and what’s abusive behavior? The answer lies in degrees.

You all have those days when nothing goes right, inside or outside the office, and your defense mechanisms jam. You lose it,  expletives flying and steam released, until you can collect yourself  and return to your regular programming.

If it happens once in a great while and you’re otherwise considered a great performer, all is forgiven. They call you “human” and “normal”; like they know. That’s acceptable.

If you are typically over the top, allowing your frustrations and impatience to spew all over the office and splatter its human contents, you are uniformly considered a jerk, and worse. That’s abusive and unacceptable.

What should you do when someone loses it all over you? Don’t jump in the mix with them. It doesn’t make sense to argue with or attempt to mollify someone who’s acting out. Give the person space and time to work it off. Their temper is typically self directed or situation directed, and not directed at you. Go about your business.  Obviously, if  they are threatening themselves or others, get help immediately.  If they are abusive, let your management know. Abusive behavior is dysfunctional and unacceptable in a public workplace.

Abusive behavior is unacceptable for more reasons than the discomfort that it creates. When these excesses are tolerated, there is  higher absenteeism and increased turnover. Employee safety,  company security, and product quality are affected. And if  you’re sensitive to the bottom line, that hurts.

Before you wrap this up and put it away, what are you treating; the symptoms or the cause? Are abusive employees, who have managed to get you angry, distracting you from recognizing the systemic workplace problems that are at issue?

If you will objectively listen to what they’re saying instead of how they’re saying it you’ll have a chance to solve both problems.

In the 1990′s, W. Edwards Deming boosted business recovery when he incorporated the principles of Total Quality Control into American factories and government. When these principles were systematically practiced and the standards of workplace behavior were changed from negative to positive, the resulting  behaviors changed accordingly.

Make it easy to remember:

Break the code of silence and confront abusive behaviors.

Involve employees in decisions that affect them.

Resolve employee issues rather than avoid them.

Replace employee fear with trust.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, 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 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.