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Mighty Good Work

From THE YES WORKS, this is MIGHTY GOOD WORK. A podcast built on the stories of people and companies who are making good work happen. Whether it’s work as a place to be, work as a product or service, or work as a way to spend your life, we will be talking to those who are committed to excellence and who are succeeding in bringing Mighty Good Work into existence. We aim to deliver actionable guidance to people shaping business about engagement, company culture, and healthy business relationships.
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Now displaying: May, 2017
May 17, 2017

GUEST: Jacob Morgan -- Founder of The Future Organization

 

https://thefutureorganization.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobmorgan8/

Engagement efforts have failed. There’s a lot of investment in surveys and measurement, but the numbers -- and the practices that drive those numbers -- don’t change.

 

Engagement is a result of core workplace practices. It’s not affected long-term by perks. We know when perks are installed to manipulate us.

 

Employment day 1, everyone is engaged. Then, slowly, the organization breaks people down, and trains them to become disengaged.

 

Part of the problem is that when corporations are focused on quarterly profit, things like changing workplace satisfaction that take time don’t get the attention they need to move the dial.

 

We promote the wrong people. Leadership is a specific set of skills, and being a good individual contributors don’t always have the skills that leadership requires.

 

There are people skills in your company already. Seek them out and leverage those skills.


Organizations lie to recruits. We tell them how amazing and wonderful it is to work here -- even when it’s not true. Now, the new hires quickly become resentful and unhappy, not only because of the environment, but also because of the bait-and-switch.

 

If you’re an individual contributor, speak up about your experience. Manager’s be committed to the success of others. Executives, take a stand for designing exceptional employee experience.

 

The common assumption is -- You need to give your employees challenging and exciting work. But the employer doesn’t control what the work is that needs to be done. It controls the environment in which the work is done. How does the company require you to do your work? How does the company support you in your efforts? What is the culture of work in which the work gets done? What metrics are used to measure performance?

 

Results are a trailing metric. Behaviors lead results. Measuring and rewarding behaviors improves employee satisfaction and results both.

 

Environment can be controlled by the employer/organization. There are three environments. Culture. Physical environment. Technology. These three environments all play together. It’s important to deliberately design all three.

 

With every change an organization makes, it’s important to consider the impact of change on the above three environments.

 

There’s no such thing as an organization where 100% of the people are going to be happy all the time. The most important thing is how the organization responds to those people who at a given time are not happy.

 

The companies that are doing people well are treating the problem as a laboratory would -- with quick, measured, deliberate experimentation, not with a lot of drawn out thinking. Make attempts and respond to the results with new attempts.

 

This is a messy process. Decide for yourself whether this is a battle worth fighting -- at whatever level you are working. Expect that it’s not going to be easy. And the results are


Subscribe to Jacob’s newsletter: text “future” to 44222

Find Jacob’s books, The Employee Experience Advantage, The Future of Work, and The Collaborative Organization here: https://thefutureorganization.com/books/


Your host on Mighty Good Work is Aaron Schmookler.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmookler/


And, we’re The Yes Works -- Helping to make work good for people, and make people good for work.


www.TheYesWorks.com

May 10, 2017

Today, a departure from our usual format. Instead of host, today I’m the guest on another podcast. The host of the “Go Time” podcast, Greg Towne of Greg Towne Training invited me to be his guest. I enjoyed the conversation so much that we’ve decided to share it with you.

 

Today, instead of the interviewer, I’m the interviewed. And I’ll be talking about what makes for effective training, why accountability is not a  burden, but a great grace, and the way having a kid has shaped my career.

 

Thanks to Greg and Go Time for having me on their show, and allowing us to share our conversation with you.

 

Dreading failure leads to mediocrity.

 

Celebrating failure can make you less self-conscious, more flexible in thinking, and more willing to take risks.

 

“I can’t” and “That’s not my personality.” are crutches to protect us from facing fear. They help us feel safe. And they prevent us from being effective. It’s not necessary to rip those crutches out of people’s hands. Whatever people (yourself included) throw your way to excuse a lack of accountability, simply deny the applicability of the crutch. And insist gently but firmly on performance.

 

Taking unreasonable accountability for reaching your goals and performing exceptionally gives you access to success. Gives your people access to success.

 

Any success without unreasonable accountability is luck.

 

Asking for help is called employing resources. If you’re not using resources at your disposal because of pride, you’re cheating yourself (and your organization) out of success potential. And there’s no lost pride. It’s just smart. It’s resource management.

 

I speak about a client’s success in turning things around on his team. Here’s a link to a case study.

 

Training that’s information transfer is ineffective because people go into auto-pilot, especially under stress. When training is habit-forming, it creates change, even in people who may be reluctant or resistant trainees.

 

Work is more and more about experience, community, affinity. Work is more and more the place where we get those things, instead of other gathering places of communities in the past.

Work is built on relationship. The stronger the relationships, the stronger the work.

 

Accountability can be a pleasure -- when you’re striving to perpetually become better.

 

Perfection is impossible to reach Striving is worthwhile. It’s enlivening. It gets people up in the morning to go to work. It’s uncomfortable, but rewarding.

 

“That’s just the way things are,” “That’s not me,” “We’ve always done it this way…” Those phrases are a death knell.

 

Comfort and complacency are tempting, but boring.

 

Managers, supervisors, leaders who invite and inspire us into the roller-coaster of striving are the people whom we most appreciate.


Thanks again to Greg Towne for hosting me, and for allowing me to share our conversation with you.

 

http://www.gregttraining.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtowne/

May 3, 2017

SHOW NOTES:

GUEST: Lee Cockerell - Executive Vice President, Disney World

 

Lee's website - www.leecockerell.com

Time Management Magic Course - www.timemagiccourse.com



Lee Cockerell has had a long and storied career in Hospitality, starting as a banquet waiter for Hilton, later helping put Marriott on the map, and eventually retiring after 10 years as Executive Vice President of Disney World.

 

Now, Lee’s professional life is dedicated to sharing the wisdom he’s gathered over the years. Lee, you’re conducting workshops, delivering keynotes, doing a podcast of your own with our mutual friend, Jody Maberry, and consulting with leaders who care enough to become great.

 

So I’m really glad to have Lee Cockerell on our show, dedicated to helping you create Mighty Good Work.

 

Here are a few notes from our conversation.

 

When you’re the boss, your behavior can have a profound effect on the people who work for you.

 

Intimidation behaviors stem from low self-confidence. If you’re finding people intimidated by you… check your own confidence level.

 

Consider your authority and status when interacting with people.

 

Ask yourself, “Who am I?” Do people trust you?

 

Success boosts your confidence level.

 

“The world needs less big, bad bosses, and we need more teachers… Role-modeling is a gigantic responsibility.” Don’t underestimate the power of it.

 

Management is defined as the act of controlling. Keeping important aspects of business on track requires a great deal of organization.

 

With better organization, most people could get 50% more done.

 

Train, test the effectiveness of your training, and respect the responsibility of being a role-model.

 

Management is what to do. Leadership is how to be. How to be there for people. How to be a person of honesty and integrity. To be a person who can have the hard conversations. We can be more respectful, and more respectable.

 

What can I do, and how can I improve my behavior?

 

Have people in your life who will tell you the truth about how you’re doing and who you’re being.

 

We do not see ourselves the way other people see us.

Take a good look at the things you believe. Don’t believe everything your parents told you. Don’t believe everything you hear. Don’t believe everything your culture has led you to believe.

 

Treat people as individuals. Not as a group.

 

People only change in two ways: Education or crisis. Make it easy for your boss to tell you the hard truths -- so you can learn by education rather than through crisis.

 

The people who are close to you can give you great feedback about even your professional life. Listen. Give them credence.

 

Life is all connected. Physical health, family health, emotional health… These all affect your performance throughout your life including at work. You can’t have one personality at home, and a different one at work.

 

Take stock on a regular basis. Strive consistently.

 

Change is tough. It takes time. There are setbacks.

 

People will tell you the truth if you’re consistent about setting the environment where people are not afraid of you one bit.

 

Plan your day for effectiveness, not by default.

 

Look to the future. Start putting things on your calendar, and have it before you need it. Do it now so the things that come up later have space, and your life doesn’t get out of control.

 

Your personality must not conflict with your responsibilities. Effectiveness has requirements.

 

Be careful what you say and do. People are making meaning from everything they observe of you.

 

Culture starts at the top, and it affects attitudes.

 

Don’t stay in a job that’s changing you for the worse. Move on.

 

Three things that make the difference: 1) Hire the right people. 2) Train people. Test the training. Enforce the training. Train them so well their confidence skyrockets. 3) Create a culture where people know they’re valued, and they want to come to work.

 

You can’t find the time. You must make time.

 

Books by Lee:

http://www.leecockerell.com/books.cfm

The Customer Rules

Creating Magic

Career Magic

Time Management Magic

 

Lee's website - www.leecockerell.com

Time Management Magic Course - www.timemagiccourse.com

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