How To Manage A Team That Is More Professional Than You?

This question surprised me. I was interviewed for a podcast with a Q&A session, and this question was submitted in advance by an attendee. How would you answer the question? Here is my approach.

 

First, I encouraged the attendee to realize that he was promoted to the position by leadership for solid reasons. Perhaps during his performance review, he could acknowledge what he sees as his strengths, and then ask his leader what strengths she saw that enabled him to earn a promotion.

Second, I acknowledged that it’s often awkward for a new leader to begin asserting himself in a leadership position with his new team. Often, the ‘new’ team, is the ‘old’ team, filled with colleagues he worked with side-by-side. Regardless, he has a new role, and a new function to perform.

Third, I suggested he rely on some structure. I often use models and routines in unfamiliar situations. My structure with teams, whether new or old, whether it’s my first meeting with the team, or the last, is to start with some variation of these four points;        

       1. These are our goals, and this is why they are our goals

        2, This is our progress

        3.  These are examples of behavior I see from specific people that will enable us to reach our goals

         4.    Next steps

I always start with these four agenda items. I believe it’s important for team members to know these items will be discussed first.  This is about consistency, and routine, and predictability which I believe a leader should exhibit. I will only start with another topic when there is a significant personal accomplishment, or misfortune, that it is important to acknowledge.

 

Here is some elaboration on each agenda item.

 

1.    These are our goals, and this is why they are our goals

Sometimes teams choose their own goals, but they’re usually assigned. Life isn’t fair. Regardless, assigned goals are goals. Maybe the team has been a consistent high achiever, or higher levels of the organization have significant stretch targets. Always remind the team why the goals are assigned. Early in the year you’ll want to spend significant time on this, and less time as the year progresses.

 

2.  This is our progress

If your team has an online dashboard, it is easy to display this. This should enable any team member to refer to this when they wish to view team results. Acknowledge the progress on the goals.  If it’s early in the year and there is little or no progress, acknowledge that and move to the next item, which is always the most important.

 

3.  Examples of behavior

Progress is the result of action. Name the people and acknowledge the actions of team members that move the team towards goal achievement. Examples could include adding some prospects to a sales funnel, making follow-up satisfaction calls to recent customers, or making progress on some team-based training initiatives. Recognize the behaviours you want to see other team members copy.

 

4.  Next steps

This is your chance to summarize and focus the team.

 

Conclusion

This was such an interesting question from an attendee. How do you manage a team that you perceive as more professional than you?  

Ultimately, I believe the answer lies in understanding your specific function as a leader, and being a predictable and stable force in guiding the team to make progress. Your specific function as a leader is to enable the team to achieve their goals, and to develop the skills of your team members.

I previously wrote about this in this e-book https://a.co/d/ccjzou0 and in this blog

post https://gycz.blogspot.com/2023/08/how-to-focus-your-distracted-team.html

 

 

 

Becoming A Confident Speaker - Jeremy Bennett Podcast

Recently I interviewed with Jeremy Bennett for his Insights from Atlantic Canadian Business Leaders podcast. Jeremy asked some excellent questions and the session proceeded very professionally and efficiently.

During the interview, Jeremy requested that I offer some tips for anybody who has an upcoming  presentation. Here are the 3 tips I offered. You can also view the clip at Jeremy’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSGrHfLC3Z8

 

3 Tips Should You Have an Upcoming Speech

1. Your Audience is on Your Side

 

Relax and realize the audience wants you do well. You’ve undoubtedly sat through speeches when the presenter struggled badly.  It’s painful, isn’t it? I’ll bet during that presentation you were quietly rooting for the presenter, silently urging him on, maybe even smiling and encouraging him as best as you could.

 

People in an audience want to learn something, be informed, and ideally be amazed and delighted. 99% of the time the audience is rooting for the speaker to do well.

Take comfort in realizing your audience is on your side.

 

2. Arrive Early, Minimize Surprises & Make Acquaintances

 

In my experience, it’s beneficial to arrive very early for a couple of reasons. First, you should scope out the speaking environment. Is there a stage? Is it elevated? Are there distracting lights? Is there a microphone (If there is, use it. The organizers have more experience with the room than you likely do, and they’ve decided a mic is helpful for attendees).

 

Second, I suggest you mingle and make some acquaintances with attendees. A friendly chat or two should relax you, and later you might make eye contact with your new acquaintances in the audience as you speak from the stage.

 

If you’re usually not comfortable initiating a conversation, simply start with something you have in common. My go-to question is “what brings you to the event tonight?” I previously wrote about starting, and ending, casual conversations here;

 

https://gycz.blogspot.com/2024/06/gycz-professionally-ending-networking.html

 

3. Know Precisely What You’ll Speak About, Not Precisely What You’ll Say

I find that many speakers worry about forgetting something they planned to speak about. Don’t worry about that.  If you do forget a section, your audience won’t know. Only you’ll know, and if you remember your omission later during your presentation, you then have the power to share that content or not. You have the power.

Sometimes speakers try to memorize much of their material.  I don’t recommend this. It’s too easy to forget precise words and sentences.  It’s easier to remember the big concepts and the sequence you plan to speak about.   

Regardless, I like to take some notes on stage. This is usually one sheet of paper with large notes, and sometimes simply a 5 x 7 index card. My notes contain my key speaking points, my outline. I don’t need many reminders about my content, but I find it comforting to know I have it, and as I reach conclusion, I like to scan the structure in case I have forgotten some content and do want to address it. 

Don’t worry about precise words and sentences. Plan your structure and approach, and speak to your audience like you would speak to friends.

 

Conclusion

There are many approaches to speech preparation. I hope you find these three tips helpful. 

The Halifax Explosion and Saint John Toastmasters First President

I’m interested in the balance between humility, and recognizing and celebrating achievement.

Recently I’ve read some articles on an increasing narcissism in society, and our general inability to productively and politely manage disagreements. As I explored this theme, I discovered the article below in which the author asserts that we need more humility in our society.  I do agree. But are we sometimes too humble? Are there times we fail to recognize and celebrate achievement?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/meaning-making/202008/how-to-become-more-humble

 

Learning About Saint John Toastmasters First Club President

A few weeks ago, I learned about Les Harrison, the first president of my Saint John Toastmasters club (#1479), which was founded in 1954.

Lieutenant Harrison, was undeniably an absolute hero, saving hundreds, and maybe thousands, of lives on December 6, 1917 during the Halifax Explosion.  A New York Times headline from December 10, 1917 reads;

 

(https://www.nytimes.com/1917/12/10/archives/prevented-second-halifax-explosion-harrison-boarded-blazing.html)

 

The disaster occurred 30 minutes after two ships had a collision. The subsequent explosion killed 1,800 and injured 7,000 in a city of 60,000 people. The 250-foot-long ship Mont Blanc, full of explosives on route to support WW I allies, was launched 1,000 feet into the air. This was the largest manmade explosion that had ever occurred to that time, before the nuclear bombings in WW II.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion)

 

Lieutenant Les Harrison and his father Captain James Harrison happened to be in Halifax Harbour when the massive explosion occurred. Soon after the explosion, they boarded a second ship full of explosives and extinguished an onboard fire. Their actions saved many lives.

I learned of their heroism, and humility, because I received an email from Les Harrison’s grandson, Ian Bliss. Ian lives in Ottawa, and is President and CEO of Northern Shield Resources, a company traded on the TSX exchange. He wrote that his family was downsizing, and he possessed a silver tray that had been presented to his grandfather Les to commemorate his term as the first president of the Saint John Toastmasters club on its founding in 1954. The tray is now in the club’s possession.

 

Founding Members

 

Our club houses a list of the charter members, the founding members of the club. The name Les Harrison was not familiar to me. Several other names were familiar to me, such as Philip Oland, who led Moosehead Breweries through a tremendous period of growth and expansion (Oland was born in Halifax in 1910 and his family moved to Saint John after the explosion in 1917).  During his career, Oland received the Order of Canada, and the Canadian Forces Decoration award.

Tom Simms oversaw a similar growth period in the paint brush factory his father started (https://www.simms.ca/)

George Crosby started Crosby Molasses and developed a company that sells product across Canada and the United States (https://www.crosbys.com/)

As I was unaware of Lt. Harrison, I asked Ian about his grandfather’s career. He wrote that Les Harrison and his dad were ship captains, guiding sail and steam ships from Saint John, Halifax, and Portland across the Atlantic.  More details about the ship they boarded, The Picton, and the event are contained here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Picton

 

Ian also wrote that Les, in 1917, was “one of a relatively few number of people that had a working automobile so (they) spent days shuttling injured to hospital.” Of note, on the day after the explosion, Halifax endured a major blizzard, complicating rescue activities.

 

For More Information - The Legion magazine

The publication The Legion Magazine has published articles on Canadian Military history and veteran affairs since 1929. Below is a link to a comprehensive review they published on the Halifax explosion and in which they write of the heroics of the Harrisons in boarding The Picton and extinguishing the onboard fire.  

https://legionmagazine.com/features/halifax-explosion/index.html

 

From The Legion magazine;

 

“Capt. James W. Harrison, Marine Supt. of Furness Withy Co., recognised the danger of the ballast exploding, and made his way to the ship with help from his son, Lt Leslie Harrison. He commandeered the tug Weatherspoon and ordered its captain take him to the Picton.”

 

“Picton’s survivors had been taken to hospital, but marine superintendent Captain James Harrison headed for the ship, knowing 1,300 tonnes of munitions were still in the hold and that fire was consuming the nearby sugar factory. When he arrived aboard, Picton’s bow was metres away from a burning pier and the bridge was on fire. He put out the flames and ordered tugs to pull the ship away from shore.”

 

Conclusion

Undeniably, our society could benefit from more humility and less self-regard.  But I also believe we could benefit from a greater culture of celebration of recognition and achievement.

I was delighted to learn about the heroism of Lieutenant Les Harrison, and his father Captain James Harrison. Such heroism should be recognized and celebrated.

Poor Communication Skills Are a Career Killer?

Recently I spoke with someone who has begun a job search. He is highly qualified and has a record of solid achievement. However, I did observe that his listening skills are not strong, and I thought about how this could affect his interviews and interactions. I will soon ask his permission to offer what I experienced during our interactions. Ideally, a new interaction will provide me with a couple of fresh examples and an opportunity to request permission to offer my observations.

His listening skill gap became obvious to me as we talked and he would interrupt before I completed some sentences. Such habits would not play well in an interview.

At times when I was responding, he appeared to be thinking about what he would say next and I would often have to repeat what I had said.

Cost of Poor Communication Skills

Poor communication skills can be costly during a job interview. Sometimes interviewers can’t pinpoint poor communication skills as their concern, but will simply feel that the candidate isn’t strong.

Our ineffective interaction made me curious about the cost of poor communication skills in general, and particularly poor listening skills.  I found some excellent case studies linked below that pertain to written content and poor communication as it relates to companies, but I’ve not found much about the costs to individuals.

https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/chapter/casestudy-costpoorcommunication/

Cost To Business

This article below further discusses costs to businesses

https://www.vantagepartners.com/insights/costs-of-poor-communication-skills

 

A “Career Killer”

A “career killer” is how this writer considers poor personal communication skills.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/silent-career-killer-how-poor-communication-skills-can-sadharajan/

 

How to Improve Personal Communication Skills

Communication is a skill. Skills can be developed. Skills can be taught, learned, and developed if someone is interested to learn the skill. The best athletes in the world practice basic skills such as making free throws, putting, dribbling, and fielding.

To be an effective communicator an individual will need some knowledge of effective skills and techniques, a regular opportunity to exercise the skills, and performance feedback on their effectiveness and opportunities for improvement.

For over 35 years, my Toastmaster club (www.toastmasters.org) has been my primary vehicle to develop and practice elements of strong communication.  Other interactions in many business and personal engagements provide me with additional opportunity, however, for me Toastmasters remains a regular occasion to plan, speak, listen, and receive suggestions for further communication and leadership development.

 

Practices of Effective Listeners

 The most common advice to improve listening results is to exercise “active listening.” A key for me in active listening is to paraphrase and repeat, and avoid formulating a response. When you begin formulating a response, you become eager to offer your thoughts, and you disconnect from the work of listening.  

Paraphrasing or simple repetition demonstrates that you are listening, and further invites the speaker elaborate.

Avoiding a response causes the listener to organize what she has heard and to ask further questions of clarification.

For more on effective listening see https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-active-listening-3024343

If Told You’re Not Listening

Here is a point of view on how to manage when you’re informed that you’re not listening

 

https://kellblog.com/2020/02/08/what-to-do-when-someone-says-youre-not-listening/

Conclusion

Poor communication skills can be costly to people and businesses. Communication is a skill, and with intention and practice, skills can be developed.

Wired to Achieve

Do you know people who seem to be “wired” to achieve? Perhaps you are. 

It’s an admirable trait. In his book The Yellow Pad, author Robert Rubin uses the term intensity to describe the trait, a trait he epitomizes. He describes his drive, his personal intensity as “a keen focus on succeeding in whatever (he’s) doing.”

Is there another term that encompasses this trait? Maybe tenacity?  Perseverance?

 

The Yellow Pad – A Very Good Book

I picked up a copy of Rubin’s The Yellow Pad at my local library, and have since bought a copy. The book is featured here (sign-in to Goodreads required):

(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/172581178-the-yellow-pad).

 

I liked the book but loved this passage; 

“We become what we become in part because of the way that we’re wired. But within that context, we also become what we become because of our choices, the way we meet challenges, the traits we cultivate, and the qualities we amplify through our lives.”

 

Robert Rubin, The Yellow Pad

 

 

Remember Grade 4?

Rubin writes about his life, and his career, including his time as Treasury Secretary for U.S. President Bill Clinton, and his time as an executive on Wall Street. After he completed a few appearances in national media during his time in Clinton’s cabinet, he received a letter from his former Grade 4 teacher Mrs. Collins that caused him to think and then write about the attributes and traits that made him successful.

His teacher wrote to him and asked “Are you the Robbie Rubin who was in my Grade 4 class in Florida?” And of course he is, but of course he has changed because of traits and qualities he cultivated and amplified. Everyone of us has changed because of our experiences, how we responded to those experiences, and the traits we’ve chosen to cultivate. These days it seems a small, but loud number choose to cultivate traits that create fear and division.

Here are the traits he mentions;

• Intensity – a keen focus on succeeding whatever he’s doing
• Ability to Keep One’s Head, i.e. to remain calm
• An energetic curiosity. He also writes about an eclectic curiosity
• Being true to oneself
• Professional integrity

 

These are wonderful skills, attributes, and traits for anyone to develop. It seems to me that today many people are overcommitted to a volume of engagements, and under committed to succeeding at those that will have the greatest impact. If someone has too many engagements, it is difficult to succeed at each. While people will “try,” it can be difficult to succeed at all commitments.

 

 

What Is Essential?

Often during presentations, I display a quote attributed to Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius.

 

“Most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more time, and more tranquility. Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?’”

 

You’ll have more time and tranquility. And accomplish more that has more meaning.  I question the need to ask yourself “at every moment,” but we can ask ourselves frequently.

 

Developing This Trait

 

Here are some tips and a point of view on developing the trait of achievement orientation from www.indeed.com  

 

In summary,

• Focus on how to structure your team
• Communicate clearly about your goals
• Respect your employees
• Engage in personal interactions
• Take the time to follow up
• Reward good work

 

A link to the full article https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/achievement-oriented-leadership

 

My POV On Keeping a Team Focused on Achievement 

For further ideas, particularly on communicating goals and progress, I wrote an e-book related to this topic https://a.co/d/7DfDnez