BLOOMING WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED

“You’re not going to do this forever. There’s a finite amount of time you’re going to be doing this. Do this really, really well. And if you do this really, really well, everybody will see that, and they’ll move you onto the next thing. And you do that well, and then you’ll move." ~Gene Ross, as recalled by Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy's

"Truly charity has no limit; for the love of God has been poured into our hearts by His Spirit dwelling in each one of us, calling us to a life of devotion and inviting us to bloom in the garden where He has planted and directing us to radiate the beauty and spread the fragrance of His Providence." ~St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Hunger? Chutzpah? Impatience? Go-Getter?

How do you characterize that insistent quality--what I refer to as "career energy"--in the Leaders you train, coach and develop? How do/did the Leaders you report(ed) to characterize that quality in YOU?

I think back to my early energized career and how I couldn't understand my own Mother's serene satisfaction with her plateau in the professional world. Lost on me until many years later was that my Mother had found her niche in the workplace, and it balanced very nicely with her other life areas. Not until I had grown personally and professionally, stumbling repeatedly along the way over my own hubris, did I come to appreciate that each of us has the opportunity to "bloom where we're planted."

Many of us are familiar with a variation of the story of the three steelworkers atop the skeletal girders of a future skyscraper. A reporter happens upon the three men at the end of their shift and asks each of them what work they are performing. The first steelworker replies with exhaustion, "I do what I'm told, welding day after day." The second steelworker replies saracastically, "I'm constructing the frame of a building for do-nothing suits." The third steelworker pauses, wipes sweat from his brow, and looks skyward hopefully and smiles, "I'm a member of a crew dedicated to raising the finest office building this City's ever seen, in which our sons and daughters will one day earn their living upon graduation from college..."

Any one who has ever weathered a sanitation strike or a transit strike knows firsthand that there are no insignificant professions in our society. Even when participating in volunteer work, I find that I often don't encounter much competition for roles that involve cleaning restrooms or picking up trash--and so I readily request those jobs because I know that when they don't get accomplished with passion, the visual (and olfactory) results are embarassingly unpleasant. Dirt under my nails is good for my soul.

Reflect back to someone you met who may have been performing a menial task, but was doing it with gusto and enthusiasm. I love to tell about the young gentleman sweeping the street at DisneyWorld's Hollywood Studios who saw me and my wife reviewing our map, and walked right over to us and happily escorted us halfway across the park to the show venue we were seeking. We all must remember--as I did that afternoon--to find that individual's Leader and point out our satisfaction with his/her team member's committed action. Remember, a caring someone may have done exactly that (as Terry Lundgren remarks further in the link above) for YOU at the dawn of YOUR career.

TODAY'S QUESTIONS: Turning our attention to our own Team--to the Leaders and future Leaders, as well as to our plateaued Team Members--how are we receiving and perceiving that insistent characteristic or lack there of?

• Are we acknowledging and encouraging the individual's career energy?
• Are we harnessing and aligning that energy for the good of the organization?
• Are we coaching and focusing the individual to reduce potential negative consequences of misguided career energy?
• Are we designing succession plans that incorporate these individuals into appropriate roles and providing stretch goals to translate that raw energy into meaningful experience?
• Are we engaging the plateaued individuals at periodic intervals to assess whether they have career energy brewing?

LOYALTY AMIDST LETHARGY

“People who love only once in their lives are. . . shallow people. What they call their loyalty, and their fidelity, I call either the lethargy of custom or their lack of imagination.” ~Oscar Wilde

“Lack of loyalty is one of the major causes of failure in every walk of life” ~Napoleon Hill Fidelity to the Team and to the Leader is of the utmost importance, without which revenue, profits, geographical expansion and new product development join the downward death spiral behind morale, personal development and organizational pride. That being said, what is a team member to do when it becomes apparent that the Leader either is or has become ineffective? The client who brought the question to me found herself in the unpleasant situation at a large multinational corporation. Through our coaching, I learned that he had spent approximately 7 years at the organization, and had thrived under a prior Team Leader. When the Team acquired a new Leader, our client continued to employ the project management methodology that was used successfully throughout the corporation for product development and testing, only to learn gradually that the new Leader expressed little interest or enthusiasm for the methodology. Apparently the new Leader preferred a more dynamic, free-flowing development & testing process, which appeared to be more agile, but in fact created confusion and fostered lack of accountability within the Team. Attributing the new Leader's approach to her prior experience and training, our client committed himself to learning the Leader's project management preferences, work style and desired outcomes, but found himself repeatedly stifled and often removed from vital communication. The lethargy of this new Leader's lack of interest and lack of investment signaled a downward Team trend to our client.  Wishing to build upon his career and remain with the Organization, our client continued to remain loyal to the Leader, but began to lose confidence in that Leader due to her blind spots. The passage of time revealed that this Leader actually suffered from a professional weakness in the realm of project management, and promoted another individual who likewise dismissed the efficiency of the project management methodology. Three members departed the Team within a short period of time thereafter, though two remained within the Organization. I am a firm believer that one remains publicly loyal to the Leader, even when the Leader is misguided or underdeveloped in a particular area. Areas of disagreement are discussed personally, and professionally, behind closed doors. But each member of a Team is personally responsible to the continued success of the Organization at large, above being responsible to the Team and its Leader. Our client sought to remain loyal to the Leader, but understood that the Leader's failure to employ--and to actually diminish through her ignorance--the project management tools and methodology provided by the Organization amounted to pruning the healthy branches from the Organization's fruit tree. Eventually the tree would fail to bear additional fruit and decays. Thus, since our client's Leader and Assistant were both unconsciously working against the good of the Organization by ingraining their own personal comfort zones, we developed a professional plan whereby our client could remain loyal to the Leader; produce his own exceptional work product; apply the methodology in principle when called upon; and transition to a different Team upon which he could continue to contribute fruitfully to the good of the Organization. It then remained up to the ineffective Leader's Leader to identify measured increases in turnover, increases in error rates, and decreases in product development efficiency. Our client never had to speak ill of his Leader, allowing her professional ineffectiveness to be her own unmasking. TODAY'S QUESTION: How have you personally managed professional situations where an ineffective Leader stymied your own growth or your contributions to the Organization's objectives?

THE ROLE OF FAITH IN PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." ~Matthew 7:7-8

"I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs." ~Frederick Douglass


A man (we'll call him "Fred") had approached me after a meeting to speak to me further about the role of faith in organizational settings. I could tell that he was uncomfortable amidst the lingering group, so we stepped off into a vacant conference room to speak privately.

"Cris, how can you live your faith so openly in business settings?," he opened.

"Well, Fred, I strive to conduct all of my affairs consistently, regardless of the setting. So, I guess I don't really notice the difference between the business setting and all other settings, " I replied.

Fred's face betrayed his consternation, and then he stammered out, "But aren't you afraid you're going to offend someone?! I mean, I've seen you speak openly not only with our employees but also with our clients." Now I understood more about the basis of his concern.

I paused for a moment and then calmly replied, "Yes, Fred, I am concerned about offending Someone...God." I continued, "Each of us has been endowed by our Creator with certain gifts, often mastered through great effort on our part, often undertaken solely on our faith or the faith of our loved ones. Some of us are great lawyers, doctors and engineers, while others of us are great welders, longshoremen and meat packers. God's love for us and investment in us have absolutely nothing to do with our earning capacity, but have everything to do with how our lives can influence and improve the lives of our fellow men and women through our service to them."

Fred interjected, "But, Cris, let's be realistic--not everyone believes in the same God as you and I. What if they think you're imposing your views upon them? Aren't you afraid to lose their business?"

"Fred, that's the funny thing about my experience with the role of faith in professional situations...everyone believes in something. Whether I'm coaching an individual or facilitating a team building leadership exercise, I incorporate the principles that also undergird various faiths. If you observe closely, then you will notice that I only introduce the specifics of faith when the other person opens the door.

"Nearly every day, a colleague, a client or a waitress at a restaurant will invoke faith in the context of a conversation. Just as likely in the supermarket line and the pharmacy, as well. I simply remain open to the discussion, never offering more than is being asked for." I paused, sensing that Fred wished to offer a response.

"Now that you mention it, Cris, your principles are universal...and I have seen you speak of God in response to an other's invocation. Never consciously realized the subtlety before," Fred concluded.

"I'm thankful you approached me about your concern. As people of faith, we have an obligation to give our best effort each day, consistently, regardless of our locale. And, further, when the door opens to a deeper discussion with another, we can prayerfully thank God for the opportunity to serve Him through out chosen vocation. I'll be interested to hear how that works for you the next time I'm in town, Fred..."


TODAY'S QUESTION:  Are you able to authentically incorporate your faith--regardless of which faith you adhere to--into your chosen vocation and career to achieve consistency of character?