H.A.T.'s off to you!

Around the office, October is annual review time.  It seems that every manager in the organization is scrambling to come up with information about their direct reports that should be included in an annual performance appraisal.  The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.  I have a general thought, that most leaders truly share, and that performance feedback should be a process, not a form.

As leaders, our direct and indirect reports should have an understanding of how they are performing throughout a review period.  Rather than looking at appraisals as a "have to do", look at this period as a "get to do". 

We all know when we are on our "A" game and when we are performing at a C+ level (at best).  We understand that we all have good days, and bad days.  When it comes to annual performance appraisals, they should not look at singular events, but a body of work in its entirety.  Much like the saying, "You can't judge a book by it's cover", a leader conducting annual appraisals should look at a persons work in context.

I love this time of year for the following reasons, but in all honesty these are conversations that really need to be occurring throughout the year:

• I get to celebrate successes of my direct reports
• I get to another opportunity to provide formal feedback on how they have progressed throughout the year
• I get to speak one on one and discuss an important topic, them
• I get to learn a little more about what their expectations are of me as a leader
• I get to provide my direct report focused feedback as to how they are developing and the direction that we mutually agree they want to go
• I get to recognize the little things that they do that may be "just in a days work" for them, but make a big difference

Appraisals should never be a surprise for the recipient.  Throughout the year, it is important for leaders to provide consistent developmental feedback.  Development needs not be a negative, but rather a way to capitalize on individual accomplishments and continually setting more aggressive goals and challenging where the bar is set.

As a leader, I have been fortunate to be mentored and developed by true leaders who were interested in the development of others.  As a result, I make every attempt to instill this into the cultures I am a part of, and definitely with the teams I am associated with.  Working in a silo stifles vision and innovation.  Create a forward working culture through consistent and appreciative feedback.  When you do, it makes the annual appraisal a much easier process.

H.A.T.'s (Happy Appraisal Time) off to you if you have culture, environment, a style as described above!

Have a great week!!

Inspect what you Expect

One of the greatest attributes of a leader is to be able to develop those whom are being led, as well as become a leader among their peers.  As a leader of people, it is drilled in that in order to be successful an effective leader must delegate.  What happens often times is that leaders delegate tasks, however, they do not effectively follow through to make sure assigned tasks are completed competently and on time. 

When assignments are not effectively executed, many leaders become managers, or even worse, micro managers because in their minds, they can not trust that when they delegate the task is able to be completed.  As a result, a leader can never truly develop their direct reports. 

It is important to remember that most tasks fail not as a result of the person the task is delegated to.  They typically fail because the assignment of the task has not been set up properly.  There are a myriad of leadership classes that leaders can learn the principles of effective delegation, but here are a few key reminders.

• Provide background  - What is the problem that is needing to be resolved and why is it important to the organization?
• Gain commitment - Is this a problem that has relevance and is not perceived as simply busy work.
• Resources needed - Who and what is required for effective execution?
• Time frame - When does the task need to be completed?
• Checkpoints - When will there be progress reports?
• Review - Once the task is completed, ensure that feedback is provided to the person that the task is delegated to.

Feedback throughout an assignment is essential, but in setting up the task assignment, it is important for the leader to allow two way feedback to all of the above points.  A sure way to see a task fail is if the person responsible for completing the task gets the feeling that they are flying blind.

By allowing mistakes and course corrections to occur, leaders develop others by providing them valuable experience and instilling confidence in others abilities.  At the end of the day, we always need to be thinking succession planning.  The best way to do that is by allowing others to drive results and providing individual feedback when timely and appropriate.

Remember, leadership is not about us, it is about the constant strengthening of the organization and applies to all organizations.

Have a great end to the week!

Mountains or Molehills

As leaders, we always hear that we need to pick our battles.  The key to being successful, is to know what battles are the ones that need to be fought.

For me, choose to fight those battles that have a direct impact to my team and functional area first, then the ones that impact me second.  The way I look at it, if I have the support of my team and my customers, I will not have to fight as many personal battles. 

There is one belief that I have thought which I follow consistently.  My molehills are others mountains.  In other words, situations that are not that significant to me, may be very significant for others.  As a leader, it is necessary to be a sounding board for others significant issues, even if there is little consequence to me.

Not every discussion needs to be turned into a saga.  Most times, those bringing an issue or a topic up are looking for a sounding board as opposed to receiving a specific action.  It is important that as leaders we provide that sounding feedback and make sure that if we are going to be providing feedback that the person is willing to receive feedback.  Ask permission by saying something like, "If I understand your concern...."  Then follow up by asking, "I have some suggestion on how to handle this, would you like to hear them?"  In doing so, as a leader you have taken the emotion out of the conversation and then are strictly focused on the situation at hand.  Remember, a molehill for you is another persons mountain.

Let your team and your peers know that you are a confidential sounding board for them, and these individuals will move your mountains for you when the time comes.  Remember, your mountains are others molehills.  If you don't have to climb or move a mountain, then don't.  Keeping this in mind will create a more productive, trusting, and loyal environment.  As a leader, you can then spend less time fighting fires and more time on improving processes and products.

Your molehills are others mountains.  Keep this in mind over the next week.