Respect, Power & Knowledge

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In watching the debate, if it can be called that, last night, 3 things hit me – Respect (or lack thereof), Power (or illusion of) and Knowledge (or lack thereof).

Respect & Civility:  Throughout the presidential, vice presidential and even the Ohio senate race debates, the candidates have shown little to no respect for each other, for the moderator and for the audience.  They talk over each other, ignore time limits, and answer the question they wish had been asked instead of the one that was asked.  Where has common decent civility gone? The abject rudeness and disregard for another’s opinion and time is horrendous.  If we want this behavior to change, it has to change with us first.  So…

What are we like in our own organization? How do we really treat each other, not how do we think we treat each other?  At your next conversation or meeting, observe your behavior and those with whom you interacting.  Try asking yourself:

  • Am I really listening to what the others have to say or am I preparing my response as they talk (the ‘pre-emptive’ strike)?
  • Did I show up on time (e.g., a few minutes early) and what does that say about how I view the others’ time, hence worthiness and importance?
  • What tone of voice am I using? Do I undermine what I say by how I say it?
  • If my kids behaved like me, what would I do?

Power:  Obama and Romney talk about what they are going to do, without many specifics, as if it were all in their control.  They are going to reduce the deficit, change the budget, cut taxes, increase taxes, send aid, change trade treaties, etc. etc.  Last night, my 15 & 12 year old children asked me how the candidates can say all that when they don’t have the power to do it – when it’s really congress’s power to set the budget, legislate, ratify treaties etc.   While the president can influence these decisions, in essence, he is  ‘powerless’ given the constitution (which demonstrates the power of influence).   This is why our votes for the House and Senate are so critical.  Many of us have confused the roles and responsibilities of the executive, legislative and judicial branches – and so have those in those branches!  So…

In your organization, take a look and see if you’ve given those with the responsibility the actual power and authority to be responsible.   Have you empowered teams to actually accomplish their objectives? Do you hold people accountable for things they cannot control or direct? When you give someone the “power” without the tools and teams to make it real, frustration and anxiety increase which decreases morale, productivity and of course passion.  Would you want to be in that position?

Knowledge:  It’s virtually impossible to sift the fact from fiction between the candidates and facts can be in the eye of the beholder - context matters.  Few U.S. citizens do as much due diligence into the candidates they vote for as they do into the new TV, smartphone or car they will buy.  Part of this has to do with lack of interest, lack of understanding of the ramifications, and lack of education – and I don’t mean K-12 or college.  I mean lack of true education of what it means to be a citizen of the U.S.A. and our responsibility to maintain our freedom.  Thomas Jefferson wisely stated, “An educated citizenry is a vital request for our survival as a free people.”  We risk losing our freedom by abdicating our role to the politicians to decide for us.  So…

In your organization, do you provide, educate, train, and teach your people the knowledge they need to really do their job? To understand and embrace the mission and purpose? To identify with your customers’ issues and challenges that you are trying to solve? Do you view them as “career-long learners” who want and need continuing education on matters directly and indirectly relevant to their responsibilities, now and in the future?  Do you have an educated ‘citizenry’ of employees who can do their jobs and delight your customers excellently?

Let me challenge you this election season to not only go vote – our duty and our incredible right - but to look at your organization and assess how you are doing in supporting and encouraging it’s Respect, Power and Knowledge.  Be grateful for our rare and incredible freedom – and give that to your people as well.

What's Your Company's Family Tree?

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Another wonderful guest post by a friend & client, Lisa Lehman at Thogus.  It's not that I'm abandoning my posts here, it's just that so many wonderful things are happening that I want to share.  Thogus's president, Matt Hlavin, is blessed with 2 brains - one in his head and the other in Lisa's.  Her initiative to create a family tree atThogus Family Tree Thogus has had an impact beyond expectation.  Read it and see if you can create your own company's family tree!  And I'm sure Lisa would be willing to give advise. 

Getting to Know your Company “family” by Lisa Lehman

Studies suggest that most of us spend more time with our co-workers than we do with our families.  Not shocking if you have a commute that requires you to leave before the kids are up or maybe you work afternoons to accommodate your spouses work schedule so that a babysitter is not required.  Whatever your situation, working 40 hours a week is more than the waking hours you spend with your own family in a weeks time.

Thogus decided to take a look at every employee and sent out a brief survey (8 questions actually) to really get to know him or her.  The questions included asking about their families (spouses, children, pets), what hobbies or interests they have outside of work, where is their ultimate vacation spot, even something as simple as their favorite food.  The most important question to me as a resource to our Employee Management team was asking our employee to provide an unknown fact about themselves that they were proud of.  Reading those, at times, took our breath away.  How about our shipping clerk who tried out for three (3) major league baseball teams when he was 17 or our in-house fabricator who worked on the International Space Station.  We learned more about our employees in eight Thogus Wear Blue Day(8) questions then we had in years.  It was simply awesome!

Once the survey was returned, the employee’s name was placed on a leaf and put on our “Thogus Family Tree”.  Once the leaves started going up, the excitement was contagious.  We would receive surveys several times a day as each employee was ready to turn in their survey, laugh at what they wrote, and proud to see their leaf on our tree.  We kept each survey in a binder for quick reference when rewarding our team or when we see an article that may be of interest to them.  It’s amazing to see the faces light up when you ask them about something they love.  It is and will remain a defining moment in our culture.  We chose to dig deep and the payoff wasEmployee's Thogus Tattoo! BIG.

Our employees were able to share the things with us that are closest and dearest to their hearts.  We have many that are proud parents and grandparents (one employee has 11 grandchildren).  One was named after a Ninja Turtle and one who spends his weekends volunteering with his dog at nursing homes.  All in all, we have a group of employees that are as unique as their fingerprints.  In an effort to bring us together, we wanted to uncover the common and uncommon traits we all have and use it to gain a stronger and more loyal bond between the employee and the company. 

We made a decision to get to know our employees so that they are treated as an individual; one who just happens to also be an employee of our company.  Now we know that when we host luncheons, we have a vegetarian or when we raffle sports tickets, we have more Pittsburgh Steelers fans than Cleveland Browns.  The idea was simple.  Who are we as individuals and how can we help foster the morale in the Patrick Gannon & Matt in Stratasys "3D" printing machineeight (8) hours we are together every day.  One thing is for sure, we have a lot more to learn about one another and that makes us more than just co-workers, we are a family.

We use the information to better understand how our employees tick – giving us a chance to compliment their individuality.  If they are inclined to art and music, we know that they may be visual learners and great listeners.  If they have jumped out of an airplane to parachute, we know they are adventurous and may be up for any challenge we give out.  We noticed that 50% of our employees had a pet so we decided that our next community outreach would benefit a local pet shelter.  The bottom line is that we want them to know that we are listening.  That we understand who they truly are and respect that they have big, beautiful lives outside of work.