Category:

Career

What’s it for?

by Mike Gusky January 14, 2019January 14, 2019

The Principle of Priority states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what’s important first.
Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

“Urgent” is a human construct used to push someone’s agenda or bias on you or a result of your procrastination.

Urgent is created by your boss, your bosses boss, or your over demanding customer whose business may not be worth the effort required.

Urgent is not necessarily important.

Urgent is the enemy of important.

When choosing what you’ll spend your time on next ask yourself – “What’s it for?“

Unless you can answer that question with clarity and believe wholeheartedly in it’s importance then move on to the next item on your list. It may become clear and important at a later date but for now move onto the next item on your list.

If your boss is pushing their urgent over your important and you cannot convince them otherwise then you may need to give in. They are the boss.

If this is always the case – find a new boss!

Muse credit to Seth Godin and Steven Pressfield.

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Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

Peter Drucker

Career Leadership

Are you a Leader or a Manager?

by Mike Gusky November 29, 2018November 21, 2018

It’s #TBT. This was my second Leadership post on #JTC in January 2011. It’s another piece I am pretty proud of. I still believe there are far too few “Leaders” out there and way too many “Managers.” What do you think?

THE DIFFERENCE IS HUGE!

A MANAGER considers his team pawns to be maneuvered to accomplish his goals. A LEADER considers them partners to help accomplish THEIR collective goals.
A MANAGER is bossy. A LEADER is assertive with confidence and clear direction on what is expected.
A MANAGER assigns tasks. A LEADER develops a plan (involving and utilizing input from the team) for success.
A MANAGER thinks only they have the right answers. A LEADER is open to suggestions and not only will, but desires to, listen to new ideas and feedback.
A MANAGER is a middle man basically communicating down what those above told her to do. A LEADER has a vision and actually works with their team to build the plan and tell those above what they plan to do and why.
A MANAGER loves “problems” from their team so they can claim they fixed them. A LEADER loves “solutions” so they can join and guide the process of bringing them to fruition.
A MANAGER says “Do as I say.” A LEADER says “Do as I do. Let me show you how and let’s achieve something great.”
A MANAGER thinks he rules the team. A LEADER knows he serves the team and does so with a bias to success.
A MANAGER considers her role a task. A LEADER considers her role a gift.
A MANAGER takes the credit for every achievement and talks about “opportunity with so-and-so” on every failure. A LEADER is magnanimous (my dollar word for the week) promoting the teams successes as widely as possible across the organization giving them all the credit.

This has nothing to do with actual titles, it is about your philosophy. You can have MANAGER in your title and be a great LEADER.

Let’s talk about the last bullet for a moment as I feel it is a foundational element of good leadership and is given far too little focus. It’s a tricky one as I mentioned in this post. There are many “managers” who promote their teams to a point that is not justified. I am confident their motives are entirely self serving because they look to appear as some sort of great team builder or mentor. There is too much “I” in their story and if something goes wrong they will turn on their people to cast blame like a ravenous dog. OK, maybe that’s not completely a fair statement. I forgot that before they turn on their people they will look to cast blame elsewhere first, then if that isn’t possible – – – let the cannibalism begin. At the other end of the spectrum are the almost-leaders who are not promoting their people well enough and allowing the great talent in their team to basically “die on the vine.” It’s all about balance.

WINDOW – MIRROR LEADERSHIP

I consider myself a “Window-Mirror” leader. With every success I look out the window to my team that made it happen and with every failure I look in the mirror to figure out what I could have done differently to drive a better outcome. There may be specific needs for coaching team members on specific shortfalls but at the end of the day, publicly, a LEADER takes responsibility for the lack of results. It’s most certainly a two way street. Even great leaders will only be as successful as their teams will allow. If you don’t have a team of “owners” guess who’s to blame – YOU!

I could continue this list for hours on end because “The difference is HUGE!” But I want to hear what you have to add. How do you see the difference between plain Managers and true Leaders?

If you rate yourself as a manager – sorry. I hope you will take stock not offense.

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Career Leadership

How True Leaders Should Advocate For Their Teams!

by Mike Gusky October 18, 2018

It’s #TBT. This was my first Leadership post on #JTC on January 5, 2011. I am pretty proud of this piece. It still hold’s true 7 years later. Reading it has made me realize that I have slipped a little. I am probably right in that overlap between “Just Right” and “Selling yourself and your team short.” I haven’t been as vocal about our accomplishments and plans to raise the bar even further. Meanwhile, I have watched some promotions in other departments that make little to no sense. It’s time for me to adjust and get back into that “Just Right” spot in the zone.

BACK TO WORK

I started back to work yesterday after the holiday break to realize I was a little behind on the feeds I have sent to my work email since I managed to actually not open it after December 29th. Many bloggers had posted a #YearInReview piece including this one from Seth Godin. What an amazing list. I have been following Seth’s Blog for almost two years now and nearly every post resonates with me as if he is reading my mind and sending the message specifically for me. If you haven’t read Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? you need to go buy it right now.

Anyway, back to the point…

PRODUCE & PROMOTE

These lists reminded me of a key element to leadership that I wanted to share. Its another point of balance that requires a leaders attention. Unfortunately you cannot just churn out results and always expect them to receive the right level of recognition with out a little promotion on your part. I spent quite a few years early on in my career plugging away at over-performing and creating value with a purist attitude that the efforts of myself and my teams should just be recognized without any promotion on my part. I considered promotion of my teams accomplishments “flag waving”. This stance did not put me all the way down in the “martyr” circle of the included diagram but it most certainly had both myself and my team in the “productive but frustrated” quadrant.

Over the years I came to a realization that just being productive wasn’t going to be enough. I was going to have to call out both the current and planned achievements of my team for them to receive the recognition they deserved. My number one responsibility as a leader was to be their biggest advocate, cheerleader, and quite simply PR person.

Now be careful – you can go to far as depicted in the diagram.

Too much promotion and you are “full of yourself.”
- You have to balance your teams productivity with the level of promotion you apply to their accomplishments. Its not a 1:1 ratio or you are just a “flag waver.” Focus more on productivity and then with the increased momentum start talking them up. Be justified in your promoting.
Promotion without productivity results in being nothing more than a politician.
- All rhetoric and no results? We have enough of that in D.C. – Stop talking and MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN!
Simply flying under the radar with neither productivity nor promotion.
- Make sure you don’t lose those photos or you are going to lose your job!

COMMUNICATE RESULTS AND FUTURE PLANS

Here is one way I promote my team a minimum of twice a year (there are many others I will share later). I recommend you do some version of the same for your teams sake. At the middle and end of the fiscal year I send my team what is basically a #YearinReview (or #midyearinreview) thanking them for all their hard work and accomplishments. I list a sampling of their accomplishments thus far for the mid-year or in total for the year end communication. I also list a sampling of our agreed to plans for future success reminding them of where we are headed and how we intend on maintaining the momentum.

Now here’s the trick – its complex – pay attention – you may need to print this out to refer back to as you attempt this for yourself. Are you ready?

I copy my boss and his boss on this communication.

It’s that simple. The main purpose of the communication is to let my team know that I recognize everything they do and that I am grateful for their efforts. If you don’t honestly feel that way then don’t do this or the insincerity will be very apparent. The copy to my boss and his is secondary to the true purpose. And never copy further than one step above your own manager. You most likely do not have much interaction higher than that and honestly it will just appear creepy and absolutely self serving. If there is a reason for it to go higher up the chain it will be forwarded by them. That is if they are a good leader and promote their teams.

Where would you place yourself on the matrix?

Have you thanked and promoted your team lately? If not, do it because they have earned it!

If you wont be their advocate, who will?

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Career

Out Sick

by Mike Gusky February 13, 2011

BALANCE

Well, I am actually returning from being sick. I should have posted an “Out Sick” sign on Monday. I have been pretty ill all week and most likely looked a lot like this pooch. I am still only around 80% but much better than this past Monday morning.

The most interesting part of this week has been my reflection on being “out of balance” even when it comes to being sick further cementing my need to keep working on convergence. I get sick once, maybe twice a year. It is usually directly related to a change in season primarily Fall to Winter. I was in Florida the two weeks preceding so I am contributing this event to my immune system believing it was a Fall-Winter conversion as I landed back in the frozen tundra we call Ohio. I turn into a big baby when I am sick and have been known to whine for my “mommy.” 🙂 Everything comes to a stand still EXCEPT my career. I have not missed a day of work due to illness in over 10 years. There was a time I wore that fact as a badge of honor – in retrospect it is actually a badge of stupidity and completely contrary to my actual philosophy on driving efficiency and making things happen.

Work Smart?

It was a very busy week. My calendar was basically booked from start to end with meetings, many of which I was actually leading to launch a new process for this upcoming week. No matter how bad I felt there was no way I could take a day or two off. I couldn’t even spare the time it would take to go to the doctor. I would have to just “suck it up” and work through it. That is what I told myself. So despite pleas from my wife and even some chastising from a few colleagues that I should get to the doctor I pushed through the week at anywhere from 20 – 50% efficiency. There in lies the rub. When I look back at the week I just want to slap myself. The process I HAD to get trained in is actually now on hold due to some technical issues and despite my working through the week completely miserable I still feel behind on items I wanted brought to closure. Had I taken Monday off and went to the doctor and possibly even Tuesday off to recouperate I could have most likely accomplished so much more Wednesday through Friday that I would actually be farther ahead.

I am certified in Six Sigma & Lean Manufacturing. I have proven skills in evaluating a process, removing waste, and driving efficiency and quality to the tune of millions of dollars. I am confident that if you asked anyone that has worked for or with me they would tell you I “work smart” and “get things done.” But I am not smart enough to take a day off work and see a doctor when I am sick. Just another example of how our thought process can become clouded when things are out of balance. So the journey continues.

How are you out of balance? The first step is to just admit it!

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Career Leadership

Are you a Leader or a Manager?

by Mike Gusky January 22, 2011

(This will serve as my “Career” point of focus goal post as I don’t have any new goals for this first convergence target. The opportunity in other areas is far too drastic and in need of focus.)

THE DIFFERENCE IS HUGE!

A MANAGER considers his team pawns to be maneuvered to accomplish his goals. A LEADER considers them partners to help accomplish THEIR collective goals.
A MANAGER is bossy. A LEADER is assertive with confidence and clear direction on what is expected.
A MANAGER assigns tasks. A LEADER develops a plan (involving and utilizing input from the team) for success.
A MANAGER thinks only they have the right answers. A LEADER is open to suggestions and not only will, but desires to, listen to new ideas and feedback.
A MANAGER is a middle man basically communicating down what those above told her to do. A LEADER has a vision and actually works with their team to build the plan and tell those above what they plan to do and why.
A MANAGER loves “problems” from their team so they can claim they fixed them. A LEADER loves “solutions” so they can join and guide the process of bringing them to fruition.
A MANAGER says “Do as I say.” A LEADER says “Do as I do. Let me show you how and lets achieve something great.”
A MANAGER thinks he rules the team. A LEADER knows he serves the team and does so with a bias to success.
A MANAGER considers her role a task. A LEADER considers her role a gift.
A MANAGER takes the credit for every achievement and talks about “opportunity with so-and-so” on every failure. A LEADER is magnanimous (my dollar word for the week) promoting the teams successes as widely as possible across the organization giving them all the credit.

This has nothing to do with actual titles, it is about your philosophy. You can have MANAGER in your title and be a great LEADER.

Let’s talk about the last bullet for a moment as I feel it is a foundational element of good leadership and is given far too little focus. Its a tricky one as I mentioned in the Produce & Promote post. There are many “managers” who promote their teams to a point that is not justified. I am confident their motives are entirely self serving because they look to appear as some sort of great team builder or mentor. There is too much “I” in their story and if something goes wrong they will turn on their people to cast blame like a ravenous dog. Ok, maybe thats not completely a fair statement. I forgot that before they turn on their people they will look to cast blame elsewhere first, then if that isn’t possible – – – let the cannibalism begin. At the other end of the spectrum are the almost-leaders who are not promoting their people well enough and allowing the great talent in their team to basically “die on the vine.” It’s all about balance.

WINDOW – MIRROR LEADERSHIP

I consider myself a “Window-Mirror” leader. With every success I look out the window to my team that made it happen and with every failure I look in the mirror to figure out what I could have done differently to drive a better outcome. There may be specific needs for coaching team members on specific shortfalls but at the end of the day, publically, a LEADER takes responsibility for the lack of results. Its most certainly a two way street. Even great leaders will only be as successful as their teams will allow. Chris Brogan posted a great piece on Escape Velocity discussing ownership while I was drafting this post. Check it out here. If you don’t have a team of “owners” guess who’s to blame – YOU!

I could continue this list for hours on end because “The difference is HUGE!” But I want to hear what you have to add. How do you see the difference between plain Managers and true Leaders?

Lets build it together. Tell me your thoughts and lets get the list rolling! I will update with my own as well as your additions in a future post.

If you rate yourself as a manager – sorry. I hope you will take stock not offense.

P.S. I almost forgot. You can find my “Career” point of focus goals here. It is currently at the bullseye for this first convergence target so its complete until the next target. Of course there is a list a mile long of goals within my current position that I will drive to completion and SUCCESS but thats another story.

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