Posts filed under ‘Career Management’
Satisfaction Trumps Balance
Alex Pollock
As a New Year begins I’m sure many have added “find balance” to those New Year Resolutions…again. Many have had this dream before, but maybe this year, finally, you believe that the balance meter can be moved in a favorable direction.
Please allow me to share some personal reflections. I believe that people are really looking for satisfaction in their lives, both personal and professional. Satisfaction is different for everyone. It’s personal. We hold the key to satisfaction. We must make the effort to know what is really important to us. As leaders, we can contribute to the satisfaction of others but the responsibility for attainment is not ours.
Most people don’t have the energy they need to do the things they love and, disturbingly, don’t have the desire to do much about it. Being satisfied requires a strategy, focus, discipline and accountability. This is not a journey we should make on our own. We should have a coach or mentor alongside us.
Work is a richly rewarding part of a satisfying life. We need a workplace where we feel respected and appreciated, where our efforts make a difference, and where the challenges match our abilities.
Wishing you a year where what deeply satisfies you becomes clear and you have the courage to navigate a path to get there. Please be assured that satisfaction trumps balance!
What have been your experiences in finding satisfaction? What advice would you give those who are searching for it?
The Cost of Incivility
Alex Pollock
The world of college football recently reminded us of the impact an individual’s behavior can have on the health and culture of an entire organization.
In their book, “The Cost of Bad Behavior,” authors Christine Pearson and Christine Porath highlight how destructive a particular type of bad behavior, “incivility,” is to American business. As many as 48 percent of employees experience incivility at work at least once per week, the authors say, arguing that the problem is more than just a minor inconvenience: it’s a “largely preventable ill that begs to be addressed.” Employees who experience incivility intentionally lowered their productivity, cut back work hours, lost respect for their bosses, put in minimal acceptable effort and sometimes even left their jobs- all because of disrespectful words and deeds, according to the authors. Workplace incivility comes in many forms and includes:
- Shutting someone out of a network or team
- Setting others up to look bad
- Spreading rumors about colleagues
- Leaving snippy voice mail messages
- Talking down to others
- Taking credit for the work of others
- Making demeaning or derogatory remarks
- Being aloof
- Belittling the work of others
- Using emails to send personal information instead of spending face-to-face time
- Failing to return messages
Civility takes time and effort. It’s not just about being “nice” but it’s about mutual respect. Some of the desired behaviors include:
- Assume positive regard
- Listen eagerly without interrupting
- Seek out and integrate diverse perspectives when making a decision
- Never act in a way that could be perceived as threatening or intolerant
- Maintain objectivity when conflict arises
- Be approachable to all people
- “Serve” rather than waiting to be “served”
How is all of this making you feel? Not sure? What can you add from your experiences? Do you need to add more civility to your mix? Begin by asking those around you a few questions like:
- Do I behave respectfully to all around me?
- Do I treat those on whom I closely rely better than I treat others?
- Do I keep control of my emotions regardless of the pressures I’m facing?
- Do I take out my frustrations on those who have less “power” than me?
I’m humbled by the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Do not believe that you can possibly escape the reward of your action.” Let’s make sure we’re excited about getting our reward.
Bad Hiring Decisions Haunt Good People
Alex Pollock
Why do bad hiring decisions haunt good people? I’m involved in making an important leadership staffing decision as I write and I’ve researched some of the latest thinking to help minimize the potential for a poor staffing decision and thus prevent the long term damage that it causes.
I’ve been guided in the past by the timeless “3 C’s” of character, competency and chemistry, but I wonder if I can embellish this based on recent research. I found the work of Jeffrey Cohn and Jay Moran in the book, “Why are we Bad at Picking Good Leaders” (2011) most useful. They described what they feel are the essential attributes of effective leadership under the headings of:
- Integrity: the foundational attribute, honest, ethical
- Empathy: feel with people, social savvy, combined with integrity drives trust
- Emotional Intelligence: evident self mastery skills: “know yourself, control yourself, and improve yourself.”
- Vision: forward-thinking with a sense of possibility and wonder, innovative
- Judgment: focus on the important while seeing the “big picture”, take decisive action
- Courage: the ability to “act with grace under pressure”
- Passion: the drive to achieve, learn and master
In hiring decisions I’ve been encouraged to do my homework by the axiom “ You will get what someone has already gotten… no excuse for surprises.” I found the techniques that Cohn and Moran suggest, such as scenario discussions to be most useful for determining whether a candidate does indeed possess the desired attributes or not.
Help me out please. Have you ever made a poor hiring decision? What lessons can you share from the experience? What attributes do you view as important for leaders to possess and what techniques to you use to assess competency during the recruiting process?
More Pay is Not the Way
Alex Pollock
As I write, the storm clouds are gathering around the already sputtering national and global economies. Companies are reacting to this stiffening headwind by toying with the idea of re-engineering initiatives, requiring even more effort from employees while reducing spending, including employee compensation packages.
With employee engagement levels still stalled in many organizations from the 2008-2009 recession, how can we best motivate employees, who are, after all, our greatest resource?
“Current research seems to suggest a mismatch between what science knows and what business does,” Daniel Pink writes in his book, ‘Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us’. What do we know for sure?
- We are internally motivated to learn, create and better our world
- Coaxing us with external rewards and threatening us with punishment demotivates
- Goals we set for ourselves are positive, while those that are thrust upon us can have negative effects
- Higher pay does not guarantee greater engagement
- We yearn to be treated ‘fairly’
- Extrinsic rewards should be unexpected and offered after the task is complete
- Praise and useful feedback are much less damaging than cash and trophies
- People who are intrinsically motivated are better coworkers
I’m challenged by Pink’s thought that “effective organizations compensate people in amounts and in ways that allow individuals to mostly forget about compensation and instead focus on the work itself.”
What has been your experience with finding ways to keep yourself and coworkers motivated and committed to your organization? Do you agree that “more pay is not the way”?
Are You a Victim of Network Inbreeding?
Pat Perry
Are you a victim of inbreeding…network inbreeding, that is?
Herminia Ibarra, a blogger for Harvard Business Review, describes an inbred network like this:
“For the past fifteen years, I have asked the executives I teach to list the people with whom they have discussed important work matters over the past few months. Then, I ask them to fill out a grid in which they identify who knows whom among the people on that list. Invariably, most of the people they talk to also know and talk to each other. This kind of network, while cozy and cohesive, is, simply put, inbred. It also tends to be internal, operational (not strategic), and historical, an artifact of the executive’s past work history and not his or her future possibilities. It turns out that this kind of network is also deadly for collaboration.”
I believe it is a common trap many, if not all, of us fall into quite unconsciously. We are comfortable with our own, we want to relate with others who share the same challenges. But what we are inadvertently doing is narrowing our perspective and the ability to gather different thoughts to forge truly new ideas. According to Ibarra, it’s especially beneficial for us to diversify our thinking by interacting with professional from all levels of experience.
“The research is clear,” she writes. “For a more innovative and profitable result over time you are better off with a mix of newcomers and old-timers.”
I particularly liked her suggestion to spend time with younger professionals because I think we often overlook the value of the emerging leaders among us. Changing our habits could do more than help us become more comfortable with social media; it might help us better prepare our companies for the leaders of tomorrow.
Think about it. What does your network look like? Do you have a well-diversified network, or not? What are some of the surprising professional insights you’ve gained from those outside your usual network?
Pat Perry is President of the NAEM Board of Directors. Follow her on Twitter at @pitterpatperry.
Past presidents’ series: My How Time Changes Things
Dick Pastor
Starting this month, we’re kicking off a new series on the Green Tie, featuring blog posts by the former presidents of NAEM. First up? Dick Pastor, Vice President of Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Group.
During his term as president of the Board from 2002-2004, Mr. Pastor oversaw the implementation of the Association’s Management Excellence Certificate at Carnegie Mellon University.
Recently I had a chance to reflect on how time changes things. With the arrival of my first granddaughter, I thought about the differences that I have seen since my kids were born.
I started my career in the environmental field in 1969. The same year the Cuyahoga River actually caught fire in my hometown of Cleveland, and just a few years after an inversion caused a four day air pollution incident in which 80 people died in New York.
So what has time changed since then?
- Size and Concentration: Back then regulators were striving to reduce the amount of pollutants being discharged. Primary wastewater treatment was state-of-the-art, but direct untreated discharge was the norm. Today we are fighting to get to part per billion in discharges and have elaborate treatment technologies to ensure the water is of a better quality than drinking water standards. Exotic scrubbers, injection technologies, and continuous monitoring have replaced the smokestack, and modeling now takes into account not only local impacts but regional transport and soon global impacts as well.
- Workforce Composition: In the early days, if there was a woman involved in the environmental field most people thought that she was there to take notes or get coffee. Today some of our most respected professionals are women heading environmental or sustainability departments for major, worldwide corporations.
- Skills Required: It was understood in the early environmental days that you just had to be an engineer to be able to do anything meaningful in environmental work. Most thought that a bachelor’s of science was not enough but you really needed at least a Masters in a specific engineering discipline to lead and make decisions regarding the environment. If you were not an engineer then you were relegated to a sample taker. Today the skills required to be proficient in environmental work not only require technical skills but also business acumen and interpersonal skills. You now not only understand BOD but also the social impacts of your operations.
So time changes things, but does it change everything? I would say that throughout my career, the one most prevalent thing that has not changed has been the dedication and enthusiasm of the professionals in the field. And for my granddaughter’s sake I hope that it never changes. What have you seen change in your career?
Dick Pastor has more than 42 years of experience in the environmental field, including 18 years of government service with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources and 15 years with the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Before joining Shaw he was Director, Environmental Services for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., where he developed the environmental management and services program for the company, going from a staff of 1 to a staff of 27 professionals. He also played a significant role in the early development of the company’s sustainability program.
During the course of Dick’s career he has taken a personal interest in assisting others in the field with their personal and professional growth. Dick has served as President of the National Association for Environmental Management where he was instrumental in developing an executive training program for EHS professions that helped bring the profession into the Board room. Dick also served as Chairman of the Hazardous Waste Treatment Council, a Board of Director of the National Solid Waste Management Association and a Trustee of the Institute for Professional Environmental Practice.
Staying Connected
Megan Lu
Every Friday, I, along with every PG&E employee, receive an e-mail from the CEO. It provides a link to the CEO’s blog in which he shares the issues that are on his mind – issues and challenges facing the company, how we’re going to rise to meet them. He also recognizes employees and teams for their successes.
The title of the e-mails (and the blog) is always the same: “Staying Connected”. When I first joined PG&E I thought that was a clever play on words; after all, we are a utility. It’s our business to help people “stay connected”. Recently, during a particularly busy day at the office, it occurred to me that “staying connected” isn’t something that’s only applicable to the CEO.
During the course of a typical business day, I have interactions with many people.
- Working with my direct reports. We update each other on current hot topics, what progress has been made on projects, what steps were to come next, with whom we had to partner, how we are going to communicate and where we are going as team.
- Meeting my internal business clients. I meet with the leadership teams of my internal client business groups regularly. We talk about their issues, how Environmental Operations can help them face those challenges. I also provide updates on new requirements their team may have to comply with in the near future, and work with them to achieve compliance.
- Working with a cross-departmental team. We were pulled together to address a concern by one of our external customers. Before our initial meeting, there’s a flurry of e-mails to prepare. What message would we send? How do we send it? How do we address their concerns? What do we need to do before we meet?
- Maintaining external/agency relationships. There are meetings coming up with some regulatory agencies to review the work done to date on plans to be submitted for their approval. We confer internally to go over questions, options and expected questions. Then, we make sure we provide open, transparent and clear communications with the agency to demonstrate our commitment to compliance and doing the right thing.
- A former colleague contacts me via LinkedIn. We exchange e-mails and catch up on what’s happened since we worked together. It’s always great to keep in touch; plus those former colleagues are always valuable resources when I’m trying to solve a particularly difficult issue.
As environmental professionals, it’s imperative for us to keep the communication flow going in order for us to be successful at what we do. At the end of the day, it’s clear that “staying connected” is a significant portion of my job. I “stay connected” over the phone, face to face, by e-mail and by social media.
How do you stay connected?
Megan Lum is Manager of Environmental Operations, Shared Facilities for Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
Would you fire your boss?
Alex Pollock
I recently read that 24 percent of employees in the United States would fire their bosses. Does this surprise you?
Well, workplace engagement research supports that if workers feel their supervisor cares about them as a person they aren’t as likely to want to fire them. Is this problem limited to the U.S. workplace? I don’t think so.
Gallup studies of 4.5 million employees in 112 countries indicate that fewer than one in every two employees feels strongly that they have a supervisor who cares about them as a person. With data now showing a link between workplace stress and medical issues such as coronary heart disease, “organizations need to take the workplace environment and the quality of employee/manager relationships seriously, because the health of employees may have an enormous effect on the bottom line in lost productivity, absenteeism and insurance costs’” according to Dr Jim Harter, Chief Scientist in Gallup’s workplace management practice. (From the book “Decade of Change”)
What’s your reaction to this research? Are we just bad at picking good supervisors and managers or is the issue more complex? With all the efforts to appear “green” and globally sensitive to the outside world, do companies now need to dedicate effort at regaining the hearts of their employees? With all the talk recently about reinventing and reinvigorating the American economy it seems to me that upping employee engagement would be a great place to start. What do you think?
A Tale of Two Generations
Stephen Evanoff
I recently participated in a discussion among senior environmental, health and safety (EHS) managers about how to attract recent college graduates and young professionals into the EHS management field. It occurred to me that this discussion, like most others on this topic, consisted exclusively of a bunch of Boomers, whose perspective and assumptions may not reflect those of the Millennial Generation they were discussing.
The careers of the people in the room and the EHS management profession began at the same time and grew in tandem. It as exciting for us. There were new regulations. Public expectations were increasing. We had top management attention and support, and hefty budgets. We were able to build programs, conduct research on and deploy new technologies, and establish new career paths. Boomers have experienced the EHS profession as a growing, dynamic, and prominent discipline within our companies. A career spent in EHS management had great appeal to us.
But, over the past decade, changes in our profession have been much more subtle and incremental. I wonder, now that EHS management is a mature and recognized component of business management, does the Millennial Generation view our field as less exciting and innovative than we did?
Sure, society faces major challenges ranging from loss of biodiversity, global warming, deteriorating ocean ecosystems, deforestation and limited water resources. But, when it comes to core EHS management programs, such as auditing, training, and compliance, have we lost our luster in the eyes of the Millennial Generation?
Should we begin to shift our EHS career paradigm to a model designed around bright, capable, young people who are more interested in mastering the basics of our profession and then moving on to careers in other parts of the business? If so, it would have a profound impact on how we manage our people and programs.
Am I “out in the ozone” in my thinking, as we Boomers used to say when we were kids? What have been your observations and experiences?
Why readers make better leaders
Alex Pollock
“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them” — Mark Twain
Last summer, I attended a two-day meeting focused on improving leadership effectiveness. More than a dozen speakers gave their perspectives on what makes leaders effective. I was struck by the one trait nearly everyone viewed as essential — a ferocious appetite for reading.
I noted the speakers didn’t just target books or articles in their chosen field, but also included works that would broaden their worldview . What these leaders all had in common was a commitment to self-improvement and an interest in translating this insight into value for others.
For me, reading has also shaped how I see the world. In particular, the books that have had a life-altering effect on me include:
“The Power of the Servant Leader” by Robert Greenleaf
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey
“The Leader of the Future” edited by Frances Hesselbein for the Drucker Foundation
“Bringing Out the Best in People” by Aubrey Daniels
“Leadership by the Book” by Ken Blanchard, Bill Hybels and Phil Hodges
“12: The Elements of Great Managing” by Rodd Wagner and James Harter
“The Leadership Challenge” by James Kouzes and Barry Posner
Through insights from authors like those listed above I came to view leadership as a “relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow.” Effective leadership goes way beyond a title on a business card; it’s about building relationships.
What are some books or articles that were game changers for you? Please take a few moments to share how the authors changed your paradigm. We can all benefit from the journey of others.
