Month: March 2017

leadership dot #1755: distinguish

March 22, 2017March 21, 2017by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Those who live around train tracks often learn to distinguish the sound of one train vs. another: a passenger train sounds different from a freight train; one railway uses a different sounding engine vs. another, etc. The same is true for connoisseurs of automobiles: experts can tell by the hum of the engine what type of car is passing by. My dogs know that one truck parked in front of the house means a friend is here, while another truck parked there is visiting elsewhere.

My hearing is piqued by the sound of the mail truck. Although the community mail boxes are several houses away, I can tell when the mail truck is pulling up and can distinguish that sound from all the other passing traffic. It is an efficient skill to have!

Whether your ears are tuned to trains, cars or mail trucks, remember that the nuances are not in the hearing of the sound, rather the meaning our mind associates with it. You and I both hear the same traffic in the background and the same noise the postal vehicle makes, only it is in my brain that the distinctive sound of the truck signals it is time to go get the mail.

Be intentional about the meaning you choose to attach to sounds in your world. You may not need to distinguish the mail truck, but perhaps you become attuned to the sound of a client walking in the door, the grumble of a client before they walk out the door, a teapot just before the water boils or a child just before they have a meltdown.

Be intentional about giving meaning to what you hear so you bring the background to the foreground.

leadership dot #1754: metabolism

March 21, 2017March 20, 2017by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Most people know that a person’s metabolism slows down as they age. The cruel fact is that even if you keep your food intake steady, unless there is an accompanying increase in exercise, it is likely that you will put on weight. Eating the same amount of food no longer is enough of a strategy to maintain a desired appearance.

I think the same thing occurs with people in the workplace. Their metabolism equates to energy levels, and it is at its highest when the employee first begins a new job. After a person ages in the position, their work metabolism begins to slow. Things become routine. Expectations are raised. The newness wears off and the numbness sets in. Something different has to happen for the person’s performance to continue at its desired levels.

Whether planning an exercise plan as you grow older or a performance plan as you become seasoned in your job, keeping the concept of metabolism in mind will help you know when you need to increase the effort just to maintain. It’s a great goal to work smarter, but, unfortunately, you’ll need to work harder, too.

leadership dot #1753: evaluation

March 20, 2017May 30, 2017by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

In many organizations, the employee evaluation process is a reflection tool rather than a vehicle for determining pay raises, yet it still can be a valuable tool in the supervisor’s arsenal. If conducted in a developmental and intentional manner, the evaluation can inspire and guide employees to do their best work in the coming year.

I have developed a handout of a seven-step outline for a process that will allow you to conduct effective employee evaluations:

Determine the purpose of the evaluation — developmental or tied to merit pay
Develop a system to allow you to account for the entire period. (My notebook method works well for this.)
Develop a set of questions to foster conversation and reflection, and share them in advance.
The conversation should both look back and look forward.
The evaluation should not contain surprises.
End with a focus on a short number of goals.
Be intentional about process protocol — I always had the employee begin

If you have created a culture where everything is assessed regularly, it should make the conversation about the employee’s performance a natural part of your cycle. Don’t minimize the importance of learning from the past and planning for the future — together.

leadership dot #1752: play with me

March 19, 2017August 31, 2017by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Oftentimes in an organization, we get locked in to who our customer is and spend all of our energy coming up with new ways to communicate with that group. It takes an extra dose of thinking outside of the box to develop a new audience, but that is what Mattel has done with their new Barbie campaign.

After decades of advertising to young girls and moms, Barbie’s new focus is on dads. Mattel rolled out this campaign with eight full page ads in People, including two pseudo-covers featuring Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan and actor Jerry O’Connell. (I can’t imagine what that cost!) “The World’s Greatest Dads Tell the Greatest Stories” proclaims their headline, and the ads reference a research study that shows dad’s involvement with his children’s play contributes to their development. Of course it is supplemented with a Barbie.com/dads site, that includes instructions on “how to play Barbie” and a #DadsWhoPlayBarbie hashtag for posting pictures that could win dads $25,000 or a trip to Mattel where their child could become a Barbie Designer for a day. (It never mentions “daughter”)

Think about the lessons you can take from this campaign. Is there a new audience that you could reach with your same product? Can you provide instructions on how to use your product or service in a different way? Do you have something to offer as a grand prize that can’t be obtained in any other way? You may not be able to afford the grand splash that Mattel used, but I’ll bet if you play around with their idea, you can imagine your own new story.

leadership dot #1751: handle

March 18, 2017March 17, 2017by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

One of the more unique forms of advertising is the handle on the tap beer dispenser at bars. Each brand has only a few square inches to distinguish itself from the other brews, and hopefully to entice the consumer to ask for it by name. Companies use this space creatively and try to get the most out of their limited allocation.

It reminded me of the CB-radio handles that truckers used to use in the days before cell phones. These infamous monikers would distinguish one driver from another and infuse a piece of personality in the label just by their unique name. Examples included: Rachet Jaw, Treefrog, Sod Buster, Large Marge, Snow Snake and, of course, Big Buddy.

Think about the handle you would use to describe yourself or your organization. It could be a good icebreaker or exercise in branding, but how would you communicate the essence of who you are in a beer tap handle or a CD-radio name? The limitations may help you get to the core of what distinguishes you from the other swigs or rigs.

leadership dot #1750: Irish

March 17, 2017March 16, 2017by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

It is the day when most everyone wears green and claims to have a bit of Irish heritage. Just as I wondered about the history of Valentine’s Day, today got me thinking about why we celebrate this holiday, and why we do so in the way we do.

St. Patrick’s was an Irish priest and those in Ireland celebrated his feast for centuries. But the line between a religious celebration was blurred with the first St. Patrick’s Day parade, held in New York City in 1762. The Church declared the day to be a reprieve from the restrictions imposed during Lent, so the New Yorkers took advantage of the opportunity for celebration. The first parade became a vehicle for Irish soldiers who were members of the British Army, as a way for them to overcome homesickness and connect with each other. Over the years, the “parades became a display of solidarity and political strength as these often ridiculed Irish immigrants were frequently victims of prejudice.*”

Green is omnipresent on today’s feast day, but blue was the color originally associated with the holiday. Legend has it that those who were wearing green would be invisible to leprechauns, thus spared from their tendency to pinch people. More likely, green evolved from the day’s association with Ireland, also known as The Emerald Isle.

Whether you indulge in green beer, green donuts, cabbage with corned beef or any of the other traditional foods of this feast day, I hope you also go back to the core of the celebration and rally against prejudice, especially against those with low social status. May the luck of the Irish shine upon you as you take on that challenge.

*Sources: www.hellokids.com: History of St. Patrick’s Day.
Christian Science Monitor: Why Do We Wear Green?

leadership dot #1749: bake sale

March 16, 2017March 15, 2017by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Rather than offer a sale to inspire purchasing, a local bookstore recently ran a promotion whereby you received a piece of homemade pie for every book purchased. The tasty treats were much more of an incentive than a discount!

The pies were made by a local church group who was hoping that some of the purchases would be children’s books for their child care center. The pies sat there are visible motivation to act — either to give the book to them or kept it for yourself. I didn’t see anyone in the store who did not buy at least something.

This particular pie promotion did not even cost the bookstore anything as they partnered with the church group. How can you provide incentives for your clients that go beyond the usual discounted price? Is there something you can do to motivate people to engage in the behavior you are seeking? Offering an unexpected treat may provide a slice of happiness as well as drive your sales. It provides a whole new meaning to bake sale!

leadership dot #1748: dispensable

March 15, 2017March 14, 2017by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I recently met with a colleague who was preparing to go on maternity leave. She talked about the logistics involved to allow her program to run without her for several months, and how she has spent her time delegating and training others for her departure.

“I spent the first five years of my career trying to become indispensable,” she said. “And then I realized that was not a sustainable lifestyle. I have spent the next five years of my career trying to make myself dispensable instead!”

We talked about how letting go is a hard lesson to learn for anyone in a new role: new employees, new parents or new leaders — at first, everyone thinks they prove their value when others are reliant on them. It is only with wisdom that people learn that the true measure of their worth is how people operate without them there: how the child or employee lives out the values you have imparted without your monitoring or how the work is done when you are away.

It reminded me of a quote from one of David Ambler’s Guidelines for Working With Students: “Accept the fact that we are not an end to ourselves. With each new program and student, we should work toward the end of eliminating our necessity.” It may seem counter-intuitive, but it a maxim that ultimately rings true.

What steps can you take today to make yourself just a bit more dispensable than you are? You’ll approach your work differently if you make eliminating your necessity the goal.

leadership dot #1747: reconfiguration

March 14, 2017March 13, 2017by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Every week before class began, some students and I would rearrange the room from the traditional rows to a U-shaped set up. This allowed participants to see each other — and engage in conversation — without having to turn around or talk to each others’ backs.

On the last night, when we had all student presentations, we left the classroom in its original format. What a difference it made. There was no engagement. There was a great deal of chatter and distracting side conversations from the back row. There was an air of formality instead of collegiality that had been present in the other class sessions.

We took a moment to pause and reflect on the difference the classroom set up made. Yes, it was a hassle to rearrange at the beginning and to reset at the end, but it made it a better class. I wonder why classrooms aren’t set in a discussion-mode by default.

Think carefully about the setting where you want learning to occur. A U-shape is much better than rows. A round table beats rectangular by eliminating the “head” spot. An open square has different dynamics than a smaller table where participants are in close proximity to each other. A podium creates a barrier between the class and the presenter.

It can be easier to leave the set up as you find it, but it is exponentially worth using your brawn to benefit your brain through reconfiguration.

leadership dot #1746: breach

March 13, 2017March 10, 2017by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

When I was a novice driver, my mother was constantly admonishing me to be careful behind the wheel. “I know you are a good driver,” she would say, “but there are bad drivers on the road that you need to watch out for.”

I thought about her perspective after I picked up the mail and saw a letter from the IRS. It seems that the thief who stole computer data from my former employer used it — and my W2 from them, complete with social security number — to file my income taxes for me this year! I am obsessive about safeguarding my identity, but because someone else didn’t protect it, I am left to suffer the consequences.

The situation reminded me that there are times where you need to play defense. You aren’t able to prevent bad drivers or data breaches, so you buy insurance and the IRS invests millions in flagging questionable returns. Offense is a lot more fun, but follow my mom’s wise advice and factor defensive moves into your time allocation and budget.