Posted on September 8, 2011 by Seth

If you would have asked me the answer to the question contained in the title to this article in the year 2000, you would have received a confident “command” response. I was fresh out of my 4 year stint in the military and was thoroughly ingrained with the chain of command do as I say mentality. I knew how to take orders and felt anyone in a position below me should know how to obey orders.

Over the past 11 years I have had a great deal of time to grow into a more mature outlook. I have learned that while there are times when command is necessary, more often than not coaching will help me to get further with my team members. In return the team members being coached are not dejected as a result of being chided, and I am able to give them the reasons why certain processes are used.

As I sit here writing this post I have just realized I actually used both of these methods today. This morning I arrived at a store to drop a few items off and talk to a manager about some cash handling issues. Upon a bit of investigation I revealed several deposits in the location that should have already been deposited. I lost it. I have not really freaked out on anyone in a long time, but today was one of those epic moments. I used language I shouldn’t have, and continued on for several minutes. I finally stopped and asked the manager if he understood why I was so upset and the reasons that this issue should not occur. He acknowledged my concerns and promptly left for the bank.

Later this afternoon, I had the opposite experience. I received a text message from district manager stating she had to take tomorrow off due to feeling that she was going to have a nervous breakdown. I called her to figure out the issue and found that she was trying to handle many issues at one time without the consultation of any peers or superiors. I took the time to explain to her that it is my job to help her deal with the issues she is having and she has to call me. This will help her to decompress occasionally which will in turn keep her slightly less stressed.

Do I think each situation was handled correctly? I could go either way. I do not feel my reaction to the bank issue was completely warranted, but I did have to make a point. This was a serious issue and I wanted to ensure he would handle it as such in the future. As for the DM, I do believe this was handled appropriately. If you are of a different opinion I would love to hear it.

Thanks….Seth

Autonomy Enables The Helpful To Perform

If everyone in your organization only did what was written in their formal job descriptions, your business would be mediocre at best. For your business to excel, your workforce from top to bottom needs to be full of good organizational citizens. Good citizens at work go above and beyond their assigned duties to try to help fellow employees and the organization.

Employees help each other by offering advice, lending a hand, resolving conflicts, and celebrating each other’s achievements. Employees that receive trustworthy help from others feel an obligation to reciprocate, which strengthens work relationships. Good citizens in thriving work relationships will be motivated to find ways to perform their tasks more effectively and efficiently. Employees that help each other strengthen the bonds of trust with team members and supervisors, and we know trust has a strong effect on performance.

Unfortunately, good team relationships won’t matter much if employees aren’t given the latitude to improve their jobs. And good team relationships will struggle to develop when employees can’t help each other because they are constrained to “just worry about getting your job done.”

A study by Muammer Ozer recently published in the Journal of Applied Psychology (full citation below) showed how autonomy affected the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and job performance. This study of 266 employees, coworkers, and supervisors showed that citizenship behavior improved work team relationships, and work team relationships had a significant effect on job performance.

Those relationships between citizenship behavior, teamwork, and performance are expected. What’s new here is the importance of autonomy in enabling this virtuous chain of behaviors. The study found that the links to performance were enhanced for those with the most job autonomy. Highly autonomous workers were better citizens, had better team relationships, and were better at translating those team relationships into improved performance.

Because autonomy matters so much to most workers, it matters to your business. Constrain your employees’ ability to help each other and work together to improve their jobs and you will likely also constrain the growth of your business. Help yourself by helping your employees help each other.

Time … is your friend, not your enemy!

By Kevin Kalstad, CPC  | Gecko Hospitality

In the past 4 weeks I have seen not one, but two great candidates walk away from two great job offers / opportunities. True Story!

Both situations were with different candidates and clients, but in essence it all boiled down to time. In my opinion, the candidate’s lack of patience for the client’s needs cost them these jobs. We tell our candidates that these searches take time! If the job you are interviewing has a larger title and area of responsibility, it will take even more time.

How long might these searches take? From the time we get your resume, to when you might get an offer, these are generally how long these searches might take.

Assistant Manager and or Sous Chef: Six to Eight weeks

Chef and or General Manager: Eight to Twelve weeks.

District or Area Manager: Twelve to Thirty Six weeks.

Bottom –Line?

We would urge you to be patient with the process. We want to place the right candidate, with the right client. More than ever, great companies are truly counting the total cost of each and every new hire they make. Hang in there with us, and we will get you a great job with and excellent company!

Send us your resume today to start the process. We never charge a fee to you, our candidates.

As former outplacement counselors, we created these questions for our clients to practice in advance of their interviewing candidates as part of their interview preparation. These questions should be asked and answered both positively and in job-related terms. This is the first rule of a solid interview process. Try asking yourself some of these interview questions and see how your answers would resonate with you! That will provide you some context to better hiring.

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Why do you want to work here?

3. What are your strengths?

4. What are your weaknesses?

5. What do you know about us?

6. Why should I hire you?

7. Why did you (or why do you want to) leave your current employer?

8. If you could turn back time and live your life over, what would you do differently?

9. Describe the ideal work environment for you.

10. Tell me about the worst boss you ever had.

11. If you could change one thing about your last (current) job, what would it be?

12. How do you think your coworkers would describe you, both good and bad?

13. How do you think your bosses would describe you, both good and bad?

14. In prior performance reviews, what were your opportunities for improvement?

15. What are your greatest accomplishments so far?

16. Describe yourself in three words.

17. Are you interested in managing or leading others? Why or why not?

18. How do you define success?

19. Besides money, what do you value or need most if you are to have job satisfaction?

20. Have you ever been fired (laid off, outplaced, etc.)? Explain the circumstances.

21. If you gave your last boss a performance review, what would he or she need to change?

22. Do you prefer to work alone or with others? Why?

23. Describe a difficult situation or task that you had to deal with, and how you did so.

24. How do you feel about travel or relocation?

25. Is there anything that would physically or mentally prevent you from performing this job?

26. What other organizations are you pursuing, or are pursuing you?

27. Do you consider yourself to be creative? If so, give some examples.

28. How would you describe your personality?

29. How much are you expecting to earn in this job?

30. How do you feel about incentives, which are heavily tied to performance?

31. How do you feel about psychological tests?

32. How do you feel about drug tests?

33. What are your goals for five years and ten years out?

34. Do you prefer a job with clearly defined tasks, or one that is more self-directed?

35. Do you prefer to work for a man or a woman? Why?

36. How do you feel about working in a diverse workplace (with minorities, for example)?

37. If you could change three things about yourself, what would they be?

38. Do you consider yourself to be a traditionalist? Why or why not?

39. What motivates you?

40. Do you think that people are basically lazy and need to be pushed to perform?

41. Have you ever had to fire someone? Explain why and how you did it.

42. If you could be in your own business, what business would it be?

43. Do you consider yourself to be more of a people person or a taskmaster?

44. What qualities do you think are necessary to be a leader?

45. How long do you anticipate being in this job, or with our organization?

46. Do you believe that success depends more on what you know than on whom you know?

47. How do you perform under stress?

48. Do you keep current in your field? How?

49.  Do you have any role models? If so, who are they, and why are they role models?

50. What more would you like to know about the job, or about this organization?

Excerpted from The Everything HR Kit: A Complete Guide to Attracting, Retaining, and Motivating High-Performance Employees by John Putzier and David Baker. Copyright ^© 2010 John Putzier and David Baker. Published by AMACOM Books, a division of American Management Association, New York, NY. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Have you ever entered a new workplace wondering what the heck you got yourself into? Or, have you ever thought of quitting after the first week because you felt no one cared? Restaurants can lose up to 50 percent of their newly hired employees within the first two weeks simply because no one bothered to create a proper introductory plan. Employee turnover is so common that we expect it, but sometimes we forget how costly and damaging it is to our business. The first two weeks of starting a new job are always critical. Here are eight steps to approaching an employee’s first day at the job:

The Eight-Step Approach for New Employees

1. Have Uniforms Ready on Hand. If you provide staff uniforms then make sure you are ready to offer one either prior to the start date or on the very first day of employment. It’s always a good idea to keep extra on hand in various sizes. You just never know when a damaged uniform needs to be replaced. Arriving to work on the first day without having a proper uniform to wear is embarrassing for the company as well as for the employee. Customer perception is everything.

2. Orientation. Before an employee physically starts work, a proper orientation should be conducted. The orientation is the first step in welcoming new employees and showing them that they are part of the driving force behind the success of the business. Part of the orientation should include a tour of the restaurant as well as the background story of the restaurant.

3. Provide an Employee Manual. The manual can be separate or combined with a training manual. Policies as well as an employee’s job description and responsibilities should be outlined in the manual. New employees react better to companies that are well organized and are focused on training. Good employees appreciate businesses that take their job seriously. Take the time in creating a professionally designed employee manual.

4. Assign a Trainer. Good workers are not necessarily good trainers. Designate an employee within the station that has strong skills set in training. The first few days should involve the new employee shadowing the trainer.

5. Start on a Slower Day. Never start a new employee on a busy day such as a Friday or Saturday. A busy environment is no place for training. It is already difficult to try and focus on the task at hand let alone trying to guide a trainee to learn the ropes. From a new employee’s perspective the operation may appear to be unorganized or overwhelming to the point that the thought of leaving is considered.

6. Don’t start at the beginning of a Shift. During the start of a shift, things can become hectic. Stations are being prepped in time for service. New employees need time to absorb information. Schedule new employees during a slower part of the day so that the proper attention can be given. Allow enough time before scheduling the employee to take part in the opening procedure.

7. Set Reasonable Expectations. Depending on the individual, each one has its own pace for learning. Some excel faster while others require more time. Expect mistakes and allow reasonable time for employees to shine. Sometimes it’s the ones who need more time that become your very best.

8. Follow-up. As an owner or manager, a personal follow-up should be conducted with the new employee to examine progress from the first two weeks of employment. A personal assessment is encouraging for new employees and shows that you are interested in their success. An employee performance

9 Steps to a Happier, More Effective Work Life

David Peck
Senior Executive Coach
Goodstone Group, LLC

Leadership Lessons: The Law of Superb Execution By Brian Tracy

Leaders are committed to excellent performance of the business task at hand, and to continuous improvement. A leader is the person who chooses the area of excellence for his or her team.

A leader knows that excellence is a journey, not a destination. Leaders are committed to being the best in everything they do. They constantly strive to be better in their key result areas. They compare themselves with people, organizations, and products or services that are better than they are, and they are continually improving.

Standards of Excellence…
Leaders set standards of excellence for everyone who reports to them. They are ruthless about weeding out incompetence and poor performance. Leaders demand quality work and insist that people do their jobs well.

The leader sets the standard of excellence. No one, or no part of the organization, can be any better than the standard that the leader represents and enforces. For this reason, leaders are committed to personal excellence in everything they do.

Leaders are Learners…
Leaders are learners, continually striving to be better in their work and personal lives. They read, take additional courses and seminars, and listen to audio programs in their cars. They attend conventions and association meetings, go to the important sessions, and take good notes. They are committed to learning and growing in every area where they feel they can make an even more valuable contribution to their work.

Inspiring People…
People are most inspired when they feel they are working for an organization in which excellence is expected. The very best way to motivate and inspire others is for you to announce your commitment to being the best in your field or industry. Then, continually benchmark your performance and the performance of your organization against the very “best in class” in your business.

Core Competencies…
Leaders identify their core competencies, the vital tasks they do that are responsible for them being in business. They continually look for ways to upgrade these core competencies to assure that they maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Leaders think about the future and identify the core competencies that will be required for success in the years ahead. They then develop plans to acquire those core competencies well before they will be needed to compete effectively in the marketplace of tomorrow.

Action Exercise:

Identify your personal core competencies. What are the essential skills of your job, the abilities that make you valuable, if not indispensable? What core competencies do you need to acquire if you want to be the best in your field in the years ahead? Make a plan today to develop the key skills and core competencies you will need tomorrow.
____________
Brian Tracy is one of the world’s leading authorities on leadership and business success. His fast-moving talks and seminars are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that you can apply immediately to get better results in every area. 

Three Qualities to Take the Paralysis out of Decision Analysis

By Larina Kase, PsyD, MBA

When we think of what makes someone a great leader, one characteristic that comes to mind is decisiveness. We do not envision successful leaders standing around appearing unclear and uncertain. Instead, we view them as people who are able to quickly arrive at their decisions and communicate the goals to others.

Leaders often have to make challenging decisions, such as what direction to move their company in; whether to keep an employee, reposition them or let them go; whether or not to share “bad news” with stockholders, and many other such challenges.

Great leaders understand how to balance emotion with reason and make decisions that positively impact themselves, their employees, their customers and stakeholders, and their organizations. Making good decisions in difficult situations is no small feat because these types of decisions involve change, uncertainty, anxiety, stress, and sometimes the unfavorable reactions of others.

Great leaders also know when to move quickly and proceed with the available information, versus when to take more time and gather additional information. When leaders opt to pursue additional information or avenues, they must also know when to stop. While a large amount of data may be desirable in a perfect world, the data gathering process can utilize too much time, and the vast amount of data can also be paralyzing and take attention away from the big picture or key data points.

This article will explore three crucial qualities that great leaders must develop to become great decision-makers: emotional intelligence, the ability to handle uncertainty, and the ability to weigh evidence with intuition. The article concludes with a step-by-step process employing these characteristics to arrive at the best possible decision given the many variables that can and will come into play.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence, the ability to understand and manage your emotions and those of others, is one of the most important qualities a leader must possess. According to the authors of Primal Leadership, a leader’s emotions are contagious. This is why resonant leadership is so important—a leader’s mood will resonate with others and set the tone for the emotional climate in an organization.[1]

Emotional intelligence consists of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Self-awareness is the foundation for all aspects of emotional intelligence. It involves being able to accurately assess yourself. Before you can change, you must be aware of your thoughts, feelings, and actions. Self-management entails the ability to understand and control your emotions, adapt to change, and adopt an optimistic outlook. Social awareness is similar to self-awareness but the focus is external and involves understanding the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others, as well as how to relate to other people. Relationship management is crucial for great leadership and includes qualities such as being influential and inspirational and developing others.

Here we will focus on one of the core components of self-management: emotional self-control. When you have developed this skill, you will recognize your emotions, be influenced by them, but not blinded by them, and be able to calmly and clearly express your decisions to others even when you experience intense emotions within yourself and from others.

Emotional Self-Control and Decision Making

Imagine that you were presented with a critical high-stakes situation with a significant potential downside and you needed to make a decision and take action right away. You would likely have a significant emotional reaction, including feelings such as anxiety, fear, or anger. Unfortunately emotions such as these cloud our ability to make good decisions. When we get into the emotional part of our brain, our innate reaction is to protect ourselves. We get an adrenaline rush or flight-or-fight response, and short-term survival is the immediate goal. As you can imagine, being in this state is not particularly conducive to making strategic, long-term decisions. This is why emotional self-control is so important. Great leaders are aware of their emotional state and are able to manage intense emotions so they can make smart decisions.

Reigning in Emotions for Strategic Decisions

In order to make strategic, long-term decisions, we must know how to bring down the intense emotional reaction so that we can engage a different part of our brains (the prefrontal cortex), which is responsible for looking at the big picture and long-term planning. Paradoxically, the way to do this is to accept and allow whatever emotional reaction we are having and choose to focus on the facts as much as possible.[2]

Trying not to experience an emotion is like trying to pull a rollercoaster backwards as it heads down the hill. It takes a lot of effort, which ultimately backfires and we feel worse. Instead, simply jump on board and ride it out. The intensity of the emotions will quickly pass and then you can think logically. The goal, however, is not to take feelings out of the decision-making process. It is simply to keep them from taking over and losing emotional self-control.

Managing Uncertainty and Choices

Why is it so difficult to make decisions? Perhaps it is because the variables and the outcomes are often uncertain. We do not like uncertainty. Uncertainty creates discomfort and analysis paralysis. We try to analyze the situation from every angle to alleviate the sense of uncertainty. These efforts are often futile and waste valuable time and energy because so often we must make decisions in the face of uncertainty.

The Lengths We Go to Avoid Uncertainty

In a 1992 study conducted by cognitive scientists Amos Tversky and Eldar Shafir, college students were asked whether they would purchase a great deal on a trip to Hawaii over their holiday break. They were told that they would receive the grade on their most important exam before they had to decide. Of those who were told that they passed the exam, 57 percent said they’d go for the trip. Interestingly, a similar percentage (54 percent) of those who were told that they failed also said they’d go.

When researchers designed uncertainty into the mix, results changed dramatically. Students were told that they would not receive the exam grade for two days and that they could buy the trip now, pass on it now, or pay $5 to wait for two days until they received their grade. The majority of students (61 percent) said that they would wait. The first part of the study showed that students for the most part wanted to go if they passed or if they failed the exam, but here they were willing to pay to wait and find out their grade.

This study shows the lengths that we will go to avoid uncertainty. Students seemed to think that knowing their grade would help them make a good decision when in reality it would not make a difference in their decisions.

We are often paralyzed by uncertainty and end up basing our decisions on things that aren’t even related. Question your attempts to find certainty before making decisions because you may be seeking a false sense of security. Much like the aforementioned method to reign in negative emotions to achieve emotional self-control, acceptance is a crucial starting place. If we are able to accept the uncertainty rather than try to resolve it, we can focus our limited time, energy, and money on making the best decisions in the face of an uncertain outcome.

This does not mean that you should not bother to analyze a situation before making a decision. Various analyses can be helpful in providing the information necessary to make the best decisions in the situation. The key is to know when what you don’t know is important, and if so, how to go about gathering the necessary information to resolve the uncertainty. If what you don’t know is not important, then the next step is to accept the uncertainty and proceed in spite of it.

If, however, you find yourself getting stuck or investing too much time or other resources in the analyses, ask yourself if the uncertainty that you are attempting to resolve is truly resolveable. If not, it would be best to accept the uncertainty and move on.

Limit Your Choices

One of the decision-making mistakes we commonly make is to give ourselves a lot of options. We figure that if we consider every possible alternative, we will have better choices and make the best decision. Sometimes we do this exhaustive search as a way to resolve uncertainty. We assume that if we go through everything, no stone will be left unturned and there will be no uncertainty. The problem is that we are likely to get overwhelmed and make no decision.

In 2000, Sheena Iyengar of Columbia Business School and Mark Lepper, chairman of Stanford’s psychology department, conducted a study in which two tasting displays of gourmet jams were set up in an upscale supermarket. They had 24 jams set up for tasting in one display, and just six jams in the other. They found that more people were attracted to the table with 24, an equal number tasted at both tables, and a huge difference in purchasing resulted: only 3 percent of those who had tasted at the table with 24 jams bought a jar, whereas 30 percent of those who had tasted at the table with six jams bought a jar.[4]

This study and various others like it show that when there are more than five or six options, people have a more difficult time deciding and often opt not to make a decision. To help yourself and others effectively and efficiently make decisions, limit your options. Keep options fewer than five and you will find it much easier to make a decision.

Trusting Your Intuition

Excellent leaders often say that they go with their gut to make decisions. They are able to trust themselves and their expertise and not get stuck in the cycle of over-thinking. The more you know about a subject, the more reliable your intuition will be. Make yourself an expert in your field and your intuition will be your best guide.

Intuition Leads to Satisfaction with Decisions

Participants in a study conducted by Timothy D. Wilson and his colleagues at the University of Virginia and the University of Pittsburgh were asked to choose a piece of art to hang in their homes. Half of them were asked to think rationally about their choice, and the other half were instructed to go with their gut. Those who went with their feelings rather than their analysis were happier with their selection. We can rationalize our way into anything, but our first impressions often tell us how we really feel.[5]

How to Hear Your Intuition

You may have heard intuition described as a nagging little voice inside you. It typically speaks softly rather than screaming out at you. Unfortunately in our non-stop, busy, technology-filled worlds, it can be easy to not hear our intuition. It is always speaking, but we are often not listening.

Hone your skills at listening to your intuition by building some form of meditative practice into your daily life. It doesn’t have to be actual meditation; it can be a few moments of reflection, a warm bath, a walk with your dog, and so on. We are typically so bombarded with information all day (television, radio, Internet, cell phone, Blackberry…) that we miss out on opportunities to notice ourselves thinking and feeling. To hear your intuition you must have some time when you’re a human being, not a human doing. Build periods of quiet into your life and you will be surprised at what you hear.

Decide Your Way to Great Decisions

Great decision making takes practice. As you now know, this process requires a certain level of comfort with discomfort. We could play it safe and defer important decisions to others, spend hours and hours analyzing and agonizing over every option, or we could accept the level of risk and go for it. Many people are afraid of making a bad decision or the wrong decision. We can only do our best with the information we have available to us at the time. There is typically not a right or a wrong answer. In the worst-case scenario, however, you select the wrong option. Even if you choose an option that reveals itself to be inferior in the short-term, you will learn that you can handle the outcome and make the best of it. You may even find unexpected opportunities by going down the “wrong” path.

Practice this process using the following steps:

1. Decide whether to take action quickly or gather additional information. If you decide to gather additional information, create parameters to determine what information is essential and when to cease your information-gathering process.
2. Be aware of the emotions that come up as you proceed with your decision. Accept the emotions and allow them to guide you without controlling you.
3. Recognize the uncertainty elements in the situation and decide how much of the uncertainty needs resolution. Know that most situations cannot be calculated with complete certainty and, even though it may be uncomfortable, it is often necessary to accept the uncertainty and proceed.
4. Allow yourself to hear your intuition. Do not over-think important decisions because you may talk yourself into something that goes against your instincts and experience.
5. Seek out opportunities to thoughtfully and proactively make challenging decisions. Recognize that even “negative” outcomes may be better than you expect, and gain confidence in your ability to make great decisions.

Be a leader in your personal life and career by committing to make difficult decisions in a timely manner. The best way you can inspire others to change is by making changes yourself. Practice this process and become a confident leader of yourself and others. Just think of all of the time and energy you will save in the process, and how great you will feel as you remain calm, trust yourself, and make great decisions.

About the Author(s)

Larina Kase, PsyD, MBA, is a professional speaker, author, and recognized expert in peak performance, anxiety and stress management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Kase holds a doctorate in psychology and master’s in business administration, and her unique approach has been featured in magazines such as Inc., Entrepreneur, and SELF, and on national TV and radio. She has coached executives from companies such as Verizon, Intel, Morgan Stanley, and Ernst & Young. The author or coauthor of seven books including The New York Times bestseller, The Confident Speaker, her latest book, The Confident Leader, is about how to utilize emotional intelligence, anxiety and energy management, and inspirational leadership to confidently make difficult decisions and address key challenges.