I’m heading to Austin, Texas for the first few days this week, so in celebration of the forecasted 80 degree+ weather, I’ll be sipping on something cold and caffeinated by the time you read this post.

First, some weekly reminders;

  • Remember, you set the tone for your entire team.  Show up with a smile on your face.  Ask people how their weekends were and muscle your calendar a bit to get in some more one on one time with your colleagues and teams.
  • Focus your energy on finding and knocking down some barriers for your project teams.  If you are a project sponsor, meet with the project manager, ask for an update and ask how you can help.  Then do it!
  • Make certain your team members are up to speed on the big issues.  Share performance updates and review key priorities.  Challenge your team members to evaluate their own priorities in the context of the organization and identify prospective activities or projets that don’t fit.  Then kill the projects that don’t fit.
  • Be on the lookout for positive and constructive feedback opportunities and engage.  Be specific and reinforce or focus on observable behaviors.  Remember to link the feedback to the business.
  • Hey, it’s March already.  It’s probably time to schedule your next professional development planning session with each individual team member. 

 The Bigger Picture: Are You Leveraging Your Firm’s Values as a Leadership Tool?

Many leaders and many firms miss the value of their values.  Those noble thoughts outlined and framed on the conference room wall or embedded in Lucite on your desk, are actually worth much more than the paper or plastic they are printed on. 

The theory is that the established values of the firm define standards of behavior and expectations for the day-to-day actions and decisions of employees.  Mostly, they just sit there and look nice on the wall.

If you’ve ever had the occasion to work for or with a firm that takes values seriously, you know that these are powerful tools to lead by. (For a detailed post on this topic, see: Values-Based Leadership: More of What I Learned at Matsushita.)

  • Use the values to explain the culture and expectations for citizenship and performance to prospective recruits and new hires.
  • Leverage the values as a filter for decision-making on tough people issues.  Jack Welch’s maxim was that you could be an A (top) player but if you didn’t fit the values of the corporation, there was no place at GE for you.  It’s amazing how relevant the values become if your colleagues see you making the tough consistent calls in line with those values.
  • If your firm doesn’t have a strong values-culture and values statements, create your own for your team.  I did this through a “Charter” document that outlined the expectations for performance and involvement by all team members, and it served the same purpose as a statement of corporate values would have, only it was function specific (although holistic about engaging and working with other members of the organization).  Hey, it filled a gap and was better than waiting for values statements to magically appear.

The Bottom-Line for the Week:

Engage, ask questions, find ways to help and then spend a few minutes thinking about how to apply your firm’s values to improving your leadership performance.  People value your time and your attention, and they thrive on pursuing meaningful challenges in environments where the rules are clear and agreeable.  Oh, and try and have some fun while you are at it.  Life is short and the joy is in the journey.  

-Art