Archive for February, 2007

Earlier this month, two University of Washington researchers released a study titled Rotten to the core: How workplace ‘bad apples’ spoil barrels of good employees. This interesting article validates what everyone experiences in the working world. “Bad apples” absolutely destroy trust and the performance of a team.

A negative atmosphere is contagious. People will react to a negative atmosphere in a number of ways, often unconscious, with a loss of trust and subsequently loss of high performance as the outcome. Because “bad apple” behavior is often not task related but more often subtly undermining of the team’s trust, it is very hard to identify and deal with especially in behavioral terms. It is hard to let someone go because they “make others feel bad”. Yet, this bad apple behavior is very costly for the functioning of a team. I once had two team members quit in the same week because they could no longer tolerate the “bad apple” of a senior, very talented team member.

So what can you do if you have a ”bad apple” on your team?

1. Pull the team together and as a group set “norms” for effective behaviors in the team. Discuss how you are going to hold each other accountable. This sets the baseline for what the “rules of engagement” for the team are. As a result, when those norms are violated (which is what “bad apples” are really doing), there is already an accountability mechanism set up. These norms also gives the boss concrete behaviors with which to coach the person.
2. Be careful not get caught in triangulation. The “Bad apple” can frustrate you so much that you commiserate with your other team mates. This kind of triangulation actually reduces trust even further and accomplishes nothing except allowing you to vent.
3. Try to understand where the person is coming from. Maybe there really is something you can do to help. Sometimes “bad apples” can act as a sort of “canary in the coal mine”, reacting to a real issues that should be dealt with.

If you boss is a bad apple, you still might try the norm setting technique. However, it is much harder for a team to hold a boss accountable for the “bad apple” behavior. Still, it is worth a try. No matter what, don’t get hooked into the bad apple behavior. Try to not respond or avoid it. Ultimately, you need to work for someone you trust. If your boss is a bad apple and you can’t trust that person you will need to find another job.

Technorati Tags: team-building, bad apples, leadership

Recent articles on leadership from around the web…

• The Pros and Cons of Distance Leading
  HR Magazine dives into the challenges manager — employee relationships face when distance is added to the equation. Clearly distance learning has its pitfalls but also has its benefits.
• How to Know When It’s Time To Go
  Thinking about quitting your job? It’s a seller’s market but the decision to move should be made carefully. BusinessWeek warns us that the decision should be done with a minimum of emotion and maximum analysis.
• Because Traveling is Part of Your Job
  Distance leading is great, but sooner or later, we are all going to have to get on an airplane. From “first class for less” to getting flight times in “real-time”, Business 2.0 points us to six websites that will help us travel smarter
• 2017: A Look at the CEO of the Future
  Chief Executive Magazine gives us a look at what the CEOs of year 2017 might look like. With hostile directors, heavy-handed investors, and steep regulations, the future doesn’t necessarily look bright.

Technorati Tags: leading, changing jobs, traveling, CEO of the future

We recently asked the Leader’s Studio team the following question: “In your experience, what is the most common mistake you see new leaders making?” Here are their responses:

Jodi Taylor’s response:
Not knowing how to delegate and build a team. New leaders are successful because they have performed well at their technical tasks. They are typically responsible and knowledgeable. However the minute, they become a leader, their real job changes. They need to learn how to get the task done by motivating, communicating and developing others. This is an entirely new set of skills that what has made them successful so far.

Not understanding that the role of a leader is different and their impact is different. Leaders need to learn how to put on the role of a leader, understand that their responses suddenly have a larger effect than when they were just a team member and that they have become a role model for the rest of the tram so that there are behaviors they can no longer engage in.

Fred Harburg’s response:
Failure to learn from mistakes and achievements. Most new leaders are so invested in appearing competent that they are blind to what they are doing that is just not working or that is working exceptionally well. It’s hard to overestimate the importance of learning from every experience and from every outcome, both good and bad. When learning stops so does growth.

Robert Ginnett’s response:
Jumping right into the task and not working on the team. Remember, most new leaders got selected for that position because they were good individual contributors at the task. But as a new leader, their job is not to do the work themselves. And this brings us to my definition of leadership: the leader’s job is to create the conditions for the team to be effective.

New leaders, often feeling anxious about their new position—and often without any organizational training or support—jump to the task because they know they are good at the task. But as a leader of others, it is their team’s job to get the task done and the leader’s job is to help them make that happen.

Marilyn Tam’s response:
Making decisions too quickly without the proper information - or - Not making decisions until it is too late. The common theme in this conundrum is that new leaders are not sure of how to deal with the elevated level of responsibility and they either jump to immediate conclusions based on insufficient data or wait until the issue becomes a crisis.

A way to move forward gracefully is to:

1. Ask Questions
2. Assess the situation
3. Gather information from the range of sources
4. Act and coordinate with all relevant parties.
5. Determine the right decision based on the mission and purpose of the company/division
6. Keep following up to ensure that the process is on track to attain the desired outcome

Most of all, new leaders should feel comfortable to know that every leader makes mistakes; just make sure that contingency plans are in place should a decision turns out to have undesired results and learn from your mistakes.

Technorati Tags: leadership mistakes, leadership, new leaders, teams

Recent articles on leadership from around the web…

• Leading the Toyota Way
  Recognizing that their corporate culture is one of their key differentiators, Toyota has opened the Toyota Institute to teach future leaders Toyota’s prized management secrets and to reinforce their culture, The New York Times gives us a look inside the Toyota Institute.
• Want to have more fun on the job?
  Fast Company gives us 10 ways to inject more fun into the workplace. Some of their suggestions: mid-day wardrobe changes, karaoke, and labeling inter-office email “FEEL FREE TO IGNORE THIS USELESS DRIVEL”.
• Leadership lessons from great presidents
  CIO Magazine celebrates Presidents’ Day by pulling out their history books to share leadership lessons from past presidents. What made George Washington great? Passion. “No one hated the Brits as much as he did.”
• Teaching business in grade-school
  The LA Times takes us through a “Kiddie-MBA” program that teaches business skills to elementary school kids. According to the program’s advocates, teaching business gets kids to expand “their options beyond firefighter, veterinarian and other common fifth-grade career picks.”

Technorati Tags: leadership, career, toyota, fun on the job, presidents, teaching business

Recent articles on leadership from around the web…

• The Myth of the Born Leader
  We believe that leadership skills have to be developed. Dave Heine of CLO Magazine agrees. In this month’s issue, he shows us that it takes more than genetics to make a leader.
• Corporate Culture and the Bottom Line
  It’s clear that corporate culture affects the bottom line. CLO Magazine gives us a look into how and why.
• Don’t Let Success Drag You Down
  Business 2.0 takes a look at the ‘Competency Trap’, how it can get you, and ways to avoid it. “Avoiding getting trapped by our own skill and success is a difficult, almost impossible, task.”
• Vernon Jordan on Born Leaders, Listening, and Never Saying “I Told You So”
  Newsweek editor Richard Smith talks with Vernon Jordan about leadership. Mr. Jordan gives us his insights on why some leaders and politicians fail and the role charisma and hard work play in leadership. “It’s like there are some preachers who are very good preachers but who are very poor pastors.”

Technorati Tags: leadership, careers, leadership myths, corporate culture, success, competency trap, Vernon Jordan

Recent articles on leadership from around the web…

• Why you should be nice to your grumpy co-worker
  The Houston Chronicle tells us that your grumpy co-worker might be the one motivated enough to make things better. “It’s the happy, cheerful folks who tend to think things are going well and that there are no problems to be solved.”
• Departing boomers make room for Gen-X leaders
  We’re all interested in what’s going to happen as 75 million baby-boomers leave the workforce over the next 10 years. CIO Magazine gives us an analysis of how gen-X-ers can fill the vacancies.
• Female executives improve the bottom line
  More women executives = 35% higher return on equity. That’s a pretty compelling argument for gender diversity. SHRM Online walks us through one company’s long-standing efforts to help women advance is paying off.
• Ask the ethics guy!
  The Ethics Guy (a.k.a. Bruce Weinstein writing in Business Week) gives us five simple principles to guide our conduct. They might not teach these in b-school, but they definitely teach them in kindergarten.

Technorati Tags: careers, leadership, grumpy co-workers, women executives, ethics