DASHBOARD GROUP

Archive for May, 2011|Monthly archive page

The Last 1000 Feet

In Execution on May 31, 2011 at 6:52 am

Well, it was another wild finish at the Indy 500 this weekend.

Dan Wheldon won after rookie JR Hildebrand crashed – in sight of the checkered flag – on the very last turn.

A 500 mile race translates into 2,640,000 feet.  Dan Wheldon led just 1000 of them.  It just happened to be the 1000 feet that mattered.

Winning in the marketplace is about closing sales.  Many organizations do hundreds of things right, only to crash in the last turn and lose the sale.

So, perhaps the story of the 100th running of the Indy 500 is a good reminder about winning.  33 teams started the race.  All had hopes of winning.  All worked extremely hard.  Many had real chances.  But in the end, it was Wheldon who made that famous “fifth left turn.”

Take time this week to review your pipeline, and get focused on the last few steps required to close the sale.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

It is not where you start …

In Leadership, Strategy, Teamwork on May 23, 2011 at 7:18 am

This weekend was the qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Congratulations to Alex Tagliani for capturing the coveted pole position. But as racers say, “It is not where you start, it is where you finish!”

Since 1910, only 20 of the winners have come from the pole position. 500 miles is a long way, and lots can happen. In fact, many cars don’t even make it through turn 1 of the first lap.

For several years back in the 1990s, Nortel sponsored an IndyCar team. Part of my responsibility was to manage the racing program. It was an incredible experience, and I learned lots of lessons about high-performance organizations and the importance of focus, efficiency, and resilience.

In 1997, Nortel / Treadway Racing swept the Indy 500, with Arie Luyendyk finishing just .570 seconds over Scott Goodyear. It was an amazing 1-2 finish for the team. (More on Scott Goodyear next week.)

Building a high-performance organization is a long-term effort. It takes months, even years, of relentless effort.

Just like winning the Indy 500.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking…Accelerate Your Results.

The Long Uphill Climb

In Employee Engagement on May 16, 2011 at 7:36 am

While the winners of the Best Places to Work awards are celebrating, the organizations that did not win are having a range of reactions.

Some organizations “sweep the results under the rug.”  They basically ignore the feedback, often using the excuse that the survey results are rigged somehow.

Some organizations react with anger and retribution.  They are mad at the employees, and go into a rant that “they should be happy that they even have a job!”  The worst offenders even try to identify who the disengaged employees are, and plot some kind of retribution.

Some organizations actually study the results and identify areas of improvement.  Some even convene task forces to work on the issue.  However, in our experience, most of these task forces will fade away, action plans will never get implemented, and the tyranny of the urgent will prevail.

The best organizations see the survey results as a sobering wake-up call.  They share the results with everyone in organization, and develop real action plans to improve.  The CEO has a “conversion experience.” Rather than delegate the issue to a powerless task force, the CEO decides to make employee engagement their number one priority.  They own it, drive it, and get their entire executive team engaged in the process.

Improving employee engagement is really, really hard.  Getting to Best Place to Work levels is a long, uphill climb.  Most won’t try.  Some will try but give up.  A few – perhaps 1% of organizations – will make the commitment.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

The Winners Circle – Best Places to Work Awards

In Employee Engagement on May 9, 2011 at 7:47 am

Each year, the Washington Business Journal recognizes the 50 best places to work in the greater Washington area. 

These awards are based on the results of the Best Places to Work employee engagement survey, which was developed by Quantum Workplace.  The survey contains 37 questions and used a six part likert-scale model (strongly disagree, disagree, somewhat disagree, somewhat agree, agree and strongly agree).

Unlike other workplace awards programs, there is no subjective element in selecting the winners … judges don’t tip the scales based on their opinions or advertising revenue.  The employee engagement score is the only criteria. 

The BPTW program yields tremendous benefits.  In our opinion, an organization’s employee engagement number is a critical one on the Dashboard.  Every participant gains statistically valid data about employee engagement, which can help them improve their performance. 

According to Quantum, organizations with employee engagement scores in the top ten percent experience measureable results, including:

  • 87% show increased revenue
  • 86% report increased market share
  • 57% report lower employee turnover

Congratulations again to the winners.  Full speed ahead!

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust. 

Shift Your Thinking.  Accelerate Your Results.

A Follower Worth Leading

In Employee Engagement, Leadership, Teamwork on May 2, 2011 at 8:03 am

Last week, we challenged leaders to take a hard look at themselves to see if they were “a leader worth following.”

This week, we turn it around to challenge followers … to see if they are a follower worth leading.

In our work, we see all kinds of organizational pathologies.  One of the most damaging is employees who undermine their boss, and “throw them under the bus.”  This kind of behavior kills organizational performance, and must not be tolerated.

So, what makes someone a follower worth leading?  Great followers:

  • Accept (and implement) decisions that they were not included in
  • Highlight their boss’s strengths, rather than criticize their weaknesses
  • Express concerns privately and directly, rather than at the water cooler
  • Give the boss’s initiatives their very best, even if they don’t fully agree with them
  • Keep their word, meet their deadlines, and make their numbers … not one-time, but every time

Great leaders are rare.  But perhaps great followers are even rarer.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust. 

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

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