Personal Note From Anne:

How to manifest the life you want

As you have noticed from my blogs, they are all designed to spark thinking. All change starts with a change in thinking. You cannot change on the outside long-term if you don't change on the inside. They go hand in hand.

The other day someone was telling me about what kind of team they wanted at work. He knew exactly how they wanted it to operate. He wanted a team that operated with a high degree of accountability, respect, and accuracy. I asked him what he was doing to make that "culture" happen, and he told me he couldn't make the culture change because he didn't have the right people. His solution was to keep firing people and hiring new people- which he had been doing for over 3 years!

In his mind, he didn't have the right people. The real problem isn't the people, it is the thinking that is now infiltrated in to that department. Imagine if you are one of those team members. What they are seeing is that you stick your nose in your job and just protect it because you could be axed. So problems become buried because no one wants to be the one fired. He is actually creating a culture of fear rather than a culture of accountability.

You see the message that is sent when you fire people rather than work on changing what needs to be changed is that "you are dispensable so don't disrupt the flow."

If you want to manifest the changes you want, you need to start with YOU. Anything you see happening around you that you don't want to be a part of figure out what you are doing to contribute to it. I know this manager doesn't see what he is doing that is causing this but instead is focusing outward on "I just need the right people."

So here is a great line to ponder: You don't get in life what you want; you get in life what you are.

Make sure you ARE what you WANT.

-Anne

Anne's Outcome Insights

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Quotable Quotes

“Whatever you do, don’t play it safe. Don’t’ do things the way they have always been done.”

- Howard Schultz

Outcome Focus^® Solution

How to handle letting employees go due to the economy

Situation:

At a recent speaking engagement I had a person come up to me with this situation: I have an 8-person team in a brokerage firm. With the depressed economy we have to let some people go. I tried to put some measures in place to help facilitate sales. Some people did well with it but others did not do very well. Some of the people I have to let go are older than me and I am concerned about them re-entering the job market right now. I feel like I have let them down. How do I best handle this?

Outcome Desired:

You need to tighten the group in order to remain in business due to the poor stocks and economy. You want your people to realize you are committed to them and you feel bad about this situation.

Outcome Desired:

You need to tighten the group in order to remain in business due to the poor stocks and economy. You want your people to realize you are committed to them and you feel bad about this situation.

HOW TO HANDLE:

At first this gentleman wanted to say something like this: “I am really sorry but I need to let you go. We have some measures we have been trying to do but you just haven’t been doing them and so I need to let you go. This is really hard on me and I don’t want to do this but I need to.”

Can you sense how distraught he was about having to do this? But unfortunately, that is not the main point here and actually distracts from his message. Because he was tense about it he focused his conversation on him and on the reasons why he had to let them go. When I asked him, “If they did all that you had required of them with the new measures, would they still have a job?” He answered, “No, the economy is too tough. I would still have to let them go”.

Having said that then he should NOT focus on the measures he had tried to put in place. He needs to be straightforward, honest and caring.

BEST PHRASED:

Due to the poor economy I have to make some critical changes so we can continue to float. This means I have to pull our team back to only 3 people and I will have to let you go. I wish this wasn’t the case but unfortunately the market is not on our side. What can I do to be of help during this time for you?

He did say that he wanted to be of help in finding new jobs and recommendation letters. At this point he can expand on the good things they did and he should be prepared to talk about who is staying and why if necessary. That conversation is best to keep short, honest and be tied to performance.

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Outcome Focus^® Guest Column
Lighting your way with new perspectives!

Taking Sides: Make a Conscious Decision About Presenting All Sides of an Issue...or Only Yours

by Dianna Booher

Watching some of the town meeting meltdowns over the President's proposed healthcare plan, I'm reminded of the importance of structure in persuasion. To be more specific: When you present an idea to your boss, your staff, your colleagues, your clients, or a partner, should you present all sides of an issue or all options to solve a problem with objectivity--or only your point of view?

If you expect your audience to be either positive or neutral toward your idea/plan, present only your alternative. Overview the idea based on your criteria for a good solid solution, state the action you want, and provide the details to take the action. If the group asks questions and wants more options, you can then follow up with a more thorough analysis. If they don't want to hear other options and trust your judgment based on criteria they've agreed with earlier, then you'll not waste their time on the "also ran" alternatives.

If you expect a hostile audience, one biased against your plan from the beginning, present all sides and options of an issue, along with the pros and cons of each alternative. When chances are great that the group will hear other options and arguments from other sources before they make a decision, you'll create the extra credibility of being thorough, open, and objective about all the facts and alternatives.

Structure should be a conscious choice--not a second thought.

Dianna Booher, Author of The Voice of Authority: 10 Communication Strategies Every Leader Needs to Know and Booher's Rules of Business Grammar: 101 Fast and Easy Ways to Correct the Most Common Errors