Buds are breaking out on trees, flowers are bursting through the soil, green is showing up in our lawns, and water is breaking through ice to flow freely again.  Spring is a great time to break through your own winter hibernation and assess your goals and strategies for achieving them.

As we go through our everyday activities it is easy to fall into a routine and focus all of our time on tasks that seem to need our immediate attention.  You know what these are for you – your email inbox, bills in today’s mail, the ringing phone, notices from friends and colleagues on social media, requests from your boss…  As Steven Covey would say – we let the small rocks fill up our daily bucket of time and the big rocks never make it onto our calendars.

As the world around us springs into new life it is time to let our big goals and projects emerge and find space to grow and mature in the sun.  Add blocks of time onto your calendar during which you will focus on the big rocks, putting aside the small rocks for this limited amount of time each day or each week.  These are the projects that use your strengths and for which you have passion.  The time will fly by and the little rocks will still be there for you to address at the end of your allotted time.  One of these projects may just be to think about what the big rocks should be for the upcoming months or year.  One may be to spend time adding blocks of time to your calendar to take care of yourself.  What is your  project that you keep putting off because it takes a big chunk of time?  You get excited when you allow yourself to think about it but put it off for another day.  As new life springs to the trees and earth around us, now is the time to let new projects and ideas spring into your life.

Break out of what is holding in your brilliance.

Rabbit is in charge and wants results. Rabbit has a clear view of the final goal and knows how to get there. Rabbit has stated the goal and explained in a loud clear voice what is expected of everyone to achieve the goal. Some people seem to be responding but Pooh is not moving as quickly and decisively as Rabbit expects.

Pooh has heard Rabbit’s commanding voice and tried to ask a question and point out one or two alternatives that will better use the strengths of the team. However, Rabbit has not seemed to hear Pooh and has talked right over the top of his quietly and calmly spoken suggestion. The question was completely ignored as if it were irrelevant.

I know you have experienced this scenario and felt like Rabbit or Pooh or someone on the side watching the interaction. Neither Pooh nor Rabbit are seeing the viewpoint of the other and each in their own way have dug in their heels in support of their own viewpoint at the expense of the team and the goal. Is there a way for them to work together to achieve the goal and still maintain their credibility on the team? Pooh could relent as she often does and do exactly what Rabbit wants. Given the value that Pooh can add to the approach, staying quiet is not best for the team.

Communication is a two-way activity Rabbit must be open to listening and Pooh must advance ideas with a passion that Rabbit can hear. Rabbit is very confident that her approach is the right one to achieve the goal. Pooh must take a few deep breaths and explain in confident clear words his approach that builds on and improves the approach that Rabbit has laid out. Sensing the passion and confidence Pooh has will allow Rabbit to hear the words and start a dialogue that will likely result in a better approach that either of them developed individually.

Notice yourself acting as a Rabbit or a Pooh or someone standing on the sidelines and modify your behavior to achieve better communication.

Every team, whether a carefully chosen set of individuals, a group forced together by circumstances, or even a family you joined by the selection of your spouse, is a group of individuals of unique abilities and perspectives.  As leader of the activity, project or organization you have the responsibility to identify the goal and communicate it in such a way that it motivates every member of the team to work with those around them to make the vision a reality.  The real goal of any leader is to help the team see what is possible and how they are critical to making the possible a reality.

Remember the team you were on that got the job done but everyone, including you, went through the motions required to finish the project?  Everyone got along relatively well but there was no energy in the team or the work of the team.  You got the work done and have forgotten about the other team members and the work accomplished.

Now, remember the team you were on that was fun and the work exciting?  Everyone worked together and despite some very tough circumstances finished the project with unexpected quality and ahead of schedule.  You still remember who was on that team and are proud of the accomplishments.

The difference between those teams is that every member of the fun team was clear on the goal and was focused on using their personal skills and talents to make the goal a reality.  The leader communicated a vision and goal so clear and compelling that all team members embraced the possibility and worked seamlessly with other team members.  Together you came up with creative solutions to problems that arose; solutions that were a collection of ideas from team members, not the leader’s or one person’s idea.  Every member of that team acted as a leader in their area of expertise, bringing their best to the team.

Every one of us has a privileged view.  We all see the world, project, activity and others from our unique perspective and bring our unique set of strengths to every team we consciously or unconsciously join.  How do you, as a leader, use your privileged view?

Deliver the Message

There is a Chinese proverb that says:  Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will understand.  How many presentations have you listened to in your life?  How many have you heard?  How many do you remember?

Every person has a preferred learning style and to be understood by all, a speaker must accommodate every learning style as well as involve the audience.

Powerpoint and overhead projection are efforts to add deeper dimensions to the first three rules of making your message stick.

1. Say it out loud
   • Auditory learners learn best by hearing the message.
2. Write it down
   • Visual learners learn best by reading the message.
3. Draw a picture
   • “A picture is worth a thousand words.”  We think in pictures, not words, so illustrate the point whenever possible.

Make it Stick

4. Make it relevant
   • We remember what is relevant to us personally.
5. Say it again
   • Tell them what you will tell them, relay your message and then tell them what you told them.  In children’s books the same words are used over and over again on every page.  The repetition helps them remember the words and puts them in context.  Make your message stick by using the same methods.
6. Evoke emotion
   • Make them laugh, shock them, surprise them or tug at their heartstrings.  Think of your favorite commercial and what elements make it memorable.  Use those ideas in your next presentation.

Make it Live

7. Let them help
   • Tactile/Kinesthetic learners learn best by moving, doing and touching.  Engage them in role plays, small group discussions, and other activities that allow participants to move and practice the concept.
8. Let it loose
   • Involve the audience in adding their ideas to your information.

1. They all have a common goal (no pun intended).  Their goal is to get the ball into the net behind the defending goalie.
2. They all clearly understand the team goal and how it is measured.  Their team has to get the ball into their net more times during the game that the other team.  They can look at the scoreboard at any time during the game and know exactly how many points they have relative to the other team.
3. Each player understands their position on the team.  They are an Attacker, a Midfielder or a Defender.  They play center, right or left in one of these areas.  They have the freedom to move around the field as the ball moves but in general stay in position relative to the other players.
4. Each player understands their role on the team.  Each team members know where the other team members are at all times and move the ball to them when they can to get it closer to the goal.

Steven Covey in “The 8^th Habit” includes the results of a poll of thousands of companies across multiple industries on employee engagement and corporate understanding of vision & objectives.  He found that:

• Only 37% said they have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve and why
• Only 20% were enthusiastic about their team’s and their organization’s goals
• Only 20% said they have a clear link between their tasks and their organization’s goals and fully trusted the organization they worked for
• Only 15% felt that their organization fully enables them to execute key goals

Covey compared these results to a soccer team.  If a soccer team responded to the poll in the same percentages:

• Only 4 of the 11 players on the field would know which goal is theirs
• Only 2 of the 11 players would care
• Only 2 of the 11 would know what position they play and know exactly what they are supposed to work for
• All but 2 of the players would, in some way, be competing against their own team instead of the opponent

Even if you don’t believe the statistics in the poll  fully reflect reality for your team, it is unlikely that you would score 100%.

• Do you and your teammates all see the same goal at the end of the field?  Ask other members of your team to describe the team and organization goals and how they are contributing to the goals.
• What is your position on the team?  What value do you contribute from your position? Make sure everyone knows what  position they are playing on your team.

I would love to hear what discoveries you make by asking yourself and others these questions.

Trees are a lot like people.  They offer different gifts to the world but are all important and valuable.  In our yard we have an apple tree next to a group of cottonwood trees.  As I looked out my office window last fall I saw the cottonwood leaves litter the ground and fill the air as they fluttered down like tiny yellow gliders.  The apple tree, which experiences the same sun conditions, the same rocky soil, the same high water table and the same day and night air temperatures, was still fully dressed in leaves which stubbornly remained green.  The apples slowly ripened and remained on the tree for the deer and our family to enjoy.  The horse chestnut tree held onto its large leaves as they changed from green to vivid yellow and the horse chestnuts grew and began to ripen.  Rather than dropping its leaves over the course of days or weeks, one day nearly all the leaves tumbled to the ground adding amazing variety to the yellow ground cover of other leaves.

Every one of these trees brings its own gifts to our yard just by being their natural selves.  Just like people, they interact with the world in ways that are unique to them.  We all have gifts that are uniquely ours to bring to the world.  So stand tall like the trees in my yard and offer your gifts for the world to see.

My friend’s response reminded me of two things I should have considered when phrasing my feedback to her.  One, she is female and second, an Enneagram Type Six.  So why can’t I just provide feedback honestly and directly without considering things like gender and personality?  Feedback should always be honest and direct but must take into account that we all hear differently.  What we hear comes through the filters that we have developed through our life experiences and the personality and gender with which we came into the world.

In general, conversational rituals of men often involve opposition such as teasing and playful put-downs.  Men expend effort to avoid being put-down and put in a position “lower” than the other person.  Women, on the other hand, use rituals that maintain an appearance of equality between people in the conversation and consideration of the feelings of the other person.  Neither set of rituals is right or wrong, better or worse than the other.  It is important in a conversation to recognize the ritual that is put forth rather than relying solely on the literal meaning of the words being said.

When my friend said, “you do that too” she was responding in such a way that equality would return between the two of us.  Within her conversational ritual I had raised her to a different level with the compliment.  She was unable to “hear” the compliment because she was in an uncomfortable position in the conversation.

If I had accounted for what I knew about her I would have phrased the feedback in a way that she would have heard without discomfort.  I probably would have said something more like, “isn’t it great to be a woman with the ability to adjust your presentation to the mood of the audience?  You did that especially well today.”  This phrasing would fulfill her need to maintain a sense of equality between us and allow her to hear the feedback.

Do you hear what I hear?  It is good to have a reminder that we all hear through our own filters.  Consider your filter and that of the other person’s in your next conversation especially if it is not going as expected.

Don’t know your filters?  Ask someone you trust or attend one of my Active Listening workshops.  for immediate resources check out “10 Practices for Active Listening“

Think of your project and your company as a green and growing tree that bears fruit.  In order to ensure its ongoing health, countless decisions are made daily, weekly, monthly.  Each person on the project and in your company has a good history of making decisions in certain areas.  The area and level of decision is different for each person but each individual has a history.  These areas of good decision making history are leaf-level decisions.  These decisions can by made and acted on.  You do not need to hear about them.  It is your goal as a supervisor and project manager to move more decisions out to the leaf level for each person.  That is how you will know and measure the progress each person is making in their development.

There are four categories of decisions.

Leaf Decisions:

• Make the decision.  Act on it.  Do not report the action you took.

Branch Decisions:

• Make the decisions. Act on it.  Report the action you took daily, weekly or monthly.

Trunk Decisions:

• Make the decision.  Report your decisions before you take action.

Root Decisions:

• Make the decision jointly, with input from other people.  These are the decisions that, if poorly made and implemented, could cause major harm to the project or company.

The analogy of root, trunk, branch, and leaf decisions indicates the degree of potential harm or good they can make to the company as action is taken at each level.  A trunk decision isn’t necessarily more important than a leaf decision.  Poor decisions at any level can hurt an organization, but if you unwittingly yank a leaf off a tree, the tree won’t die.  A leaf decision will not kill the tree if it is poorly made and executed.  A wrong action at the root level, however, can cause tremendous damage.

The goal of the Decision Tree is threefold:

1. To identify clearly which categories decisions and actions fall into, so that an employee knows exactly where he or she has the authority to make decisions and take action.
2. To provide employees with a clear upward path of professional development.  Progress is made when decisions are moved from root to trunk to branch to leaf.
3. To assist companies in consciously developing grassroots leadership within their organizations freeing up executives to take on more challenging responsibilities themselves.  A direct outcome of using the Decision Tree is that learning is provoked.

Developing other leaders is a major responsibility of every leader.  Developing others allows everyone to rise to a higher plane of responsibility.  If those around you believe their job is to do what you tell them, you’re sunk.  Neither of you will develop to take on higher responsibility.  So help yourself and others by moving decisions up the tree.

One day as I was maintaining the hot tub that I never found time to use I asked myself why.  Both my daughters are in college so I should have plenty of extra time.  That day I made the decision to use the hot tub regularly rather than just clean and maintain it.

Guess what I discovered?  By taking 20 minutes a day to do absolutely nothing I saved at least twice that much time.  I honored my commitment to use the hot tub and soak for 15-20 minutes each day.  I let my mind wander or go blank.  I do not intentionally focus on anything while I am letting the warmth seep into my bones.  Suddenly I find that inspiration to a dilemma comes to me when I am not consciously thinking about it.  I am clearer about my priorities and tasks for the day and write more quickly and clearly.  All of this has added up to working more efficiently and effectively.

Currently I am reading “Heroic Leadership” by Chris Lowney.  He writes about the best practices of the Jesuits who have been a successful company for over 450 years.  One of the disciplines they practice is taking five minutes three times per day to examine the opportunities and challenges of the day and how they reacted to them.  This self examination provides ongoing feedback and allows them to incorporate lessons in real time and ensure they are acting in ways that move them toward their goals.

Do you need to have more time in your day?  I suggest you find it by taking five minutes to do nothing.  Sit comfortably in your chair or on the couch, in your bathtub of warm water or even your hot tub for ten minutes tomorrow.  I wonder how much time you will save or what inspiration will come to you.  Let me know and I will pass on your experiences in a future newsletter.

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