The Day Job, Redefined

Good Thursday morning!

I LOVE the commercial when the parrot is mimicking his owner because he can't take another day at the job. Think of how many individuals we supervise and how easy it can be to fall into the rut of routine. Those are the days that seem to drag for me, when I know what to expect all the time, when the work is not challenging or stimulating, when I watch the clock for the quickest escape into the real world. I am lucky enough to not have had one of those days in quite some time. As a Team Leader, the work is always challenging and each day is full of brand new promise.

The individuals that I supervise, however, can easily fall into that rut if I am not paying attention and engaging them on a regular basis. Keeping them in mind, and understanding their work day is essential for me to inject a tad bit of freshness into a potentially mundane professional experience. In part, I think it contributes to the distinction between having a job and a career. If you come to work to punch a few buttons and go home, you have a job. If you come into the office with a focus on future development and how what you do today can translate into bigger things tomorrow, you may be enjoying a career. Let's try to keep our staff career-minded!

Enjoy this article, The Day Job, Redefined, and have a great day!

Zooming: How Effective Leaders Adjust Their Focus

We have made it to Wednesday!

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School professor, explains why executives must constantly consider both the big picture and the details. She is the author of the HBR article Zoom In, Zoom Out.  This quick podcast provides great strategy for learning to switch from zeroing in on details, and moving back to see how they fit into the big picture.

Zooming: How Effective Leaders Adjust Their Focus

Have a great day!

Cisco and a Cautionary Tale about Teams

Happy Tuesday,

When I first read this article,Cisco and a Cautionary Tale about Teams, it resonated with me. Particularly because I have divided the Production Department into several mini-teams. As I have stated in previous posts, this was in response to the JPS system. It is exciting for me to see the enthusiasm that they have when they are working in their teams. Under my supervision, they have established their workflows and clearly-defined division of duties. My concern comes in when I hear them say that they want each member to be able to perform all of the functions. In theory, that sounds a little overambitious. Although I'm a football guy, when I think of teams, my mind thinks of baseball. Not everybody can play shortstop. Somebody has to be a third baseman and there needs to be outfielders. In an emergency situation, each member should be able to slide into a clearly-defined role and work symbiotically and systematically with each other in response. Like the article states, if everybody is responsible, no one is responsible.

Enjoy the article and the rest of your day!

Leadership Lessons from the Saddle

Good afternoon,

This article provides a great analogy for leadership. Enjoy!

Leadership Lessons from the Saddle

(Sorry this post is so short. Blogger has been having technical issues all day!)
-Randy

The Right to Management Competence

Happy Friday!

Am I living up to my responsibilities as a supervisor?

Each morning, I think about this question as I ride the Metro into DuPont Circle. In a slow-paced department with few staff, it may be an easy question to respond to.  Pubs is not really structured as a slow-paced environment.We get the ball of clay in and churn out a published manuscript, all under deadline, with numerous hand-offs between departments and personalities. Lucky for me, my commute takes about 45 minutes (if everything runs smoothly), which allows for my mind to jump from one direct report to the next, thinking about latest developments and conversations. It's like clicking the remote control in my head, staying on some channels longer than others because those stars may require a little extra attention.

I also think about ongoing projects and things that I have failed to complete. I set my daily priorities and think about how best to serve my team for the day. Unfortunately, none of my preparation answers the question posed in the first line of this post. Am I living up to my responsibilities as a supervisor? Just as I expect certain things from my team, including professionalism, teamwork and commitment, I am sure that they expect certain things for me.

To a degree, being a supervisor can isolate us from the true reality experienced by our team members. In our last seminar with Natalie Loeb, Alex Uribe brought up an excellent point.

One day, he was hanging out with other members of his coworkers, having beers and enjoying life. After he was given a leadership role, his interactions had to adjust because he now had a different set of responsibilities and priorities. "He Changed."

Technically, we have all changed to some degree. Our interactions with our staff is different, as is their perceptions of us. We can no longer rely on honest feedback from our team members as a means of security that we are doing a good job. The possibility that what they say can have a negative affect on their workday may be too risky to tell Randy how awful he handled a situation. Therefore, we are met with smiles. We need to find other guidelines within ourselves in order to stay on track. This article, The Right to Management Competence, provides some jewels that can be a starting point for us to establish our own, individual frameworks.

Have a great weekend. To all of the mothers, Happy Mother's Day!