Archive for October, 2010
The buck stops with…. someone else
Oct 29th
So what have Melissa from The Apprentice and Roy Hodgson got in common?
Both appear to have a problem accepting responsibility for things going wrong. Instead they have a tendency to point the finger of blame elsewhere, which is a sign of someone who is not capable of, or willing to learn from mistakes.
In the latest episode of The Apprentice Melissa is fired by Alan Sugar following a dismal performance in the sales task that was set for them. Jamie the project manager of her team decided to take over the sales pitch after Melissa failed to listen to their customers and annoyed them by continuing to try and sell them a product that was clearly not suitable for them. Meliss’a reaction?
“I have a very, very strong skill set and if you’re threatened by me that is your business but don’t set out to undo me, I’m not having it. He thinks he can do a better job than me at my job? Idiot!”
Watching the whole episode and the follow up show on BBC 2, it was quite clear that Melissa didn’t believe she had done anything wrong and therefore did not deserve to be sacked. In her eyes her team losing the task had absolutely nothing to do with her.
Since starting as Liverpool manager Roy has come under increasing pressure and he has come out with a variety of comments which demonstrate this, such as his criticism of the team he put out against Northampton when they lost on penalties. Here he is building up his team’s confidence following victory against Blackburn last weekend:
“With the team we have at the moment, if people expect us to really play a lot better football than we did for 70 minutes at the start of the Blackburn game they are going to be asking a lot.”He seems to be taking every opportunity to criticise the players he has and to make it clear that he is not the problem. Here are some comments from today’s press conference when he was asked about his transfer plans for January:
“We have got a lot more expensive failures on our list than good players that we have brought in for next to nothing.”
The vast majority of the players who have played for Liverpool this season, are the same players who finished second 2 seasons ago with a record points total, and is also the same squad that had the largest number of players from the premier league at the world cup this summer. Instead of building up his players Roy seems to spend his time building up himself by referring to his 35 years experience in the game:
“To suggest that suddenly because you move from one club to another, the methods that have stood you in good stead for 35 years and made you one of the most respected coaches in the Europe suddenly don’t work.”
Leadership experts, such as Peter Drucker, identify a number if traits inherent in really successful leaders. Melissa and Roy would do well to take heed of at least two of them:
- The best leaders never stop learning and are relentless in their desire to acquire new skills and challenge the methods they use.
- They take responsibility for decisions and the actions of their team. If decisions don’t produce the desired results they don’t look to automatically blame the performance of those involved.
Melissa has already fallen by the wayside, it remians to be seen what will happen to Roy, after all he does have 35 years experience in managing struggling teams!
Team work and peak performance
Oct 14th
The story of the rescue of the Chilean miners trapped underground for 69 days has been an emotional and heart warming story of man’s ability to overcome adversity. The whole world has been glued to the TV to watch as each of the miners has been bought to the surface to be greeted by friends and family.
For example people working in Curry’s have been reporting large numbers of customers walking into the showroom to watch the rescue on the TV’s on display in the store, such is the interest in what’s happening in Chile.
Other than admiring the ability to get the 33 men out of the San Jose mine, is there anything we can learn from the rescue?
During more than two months underground, the miners’ rescue and support team grew to more than three hundred people, including communications experts, doctors, psychologists, launderers and cooks. The level of teamwork above ground has been tremendous with everyone sharing the one common goal. There is certainly something we can learn from this when the full story comes out about how the rescue was planned and how they managed to rescue the miners ahead of schedule.
What has really been interesting is what has happened with the group of men trapped underground with nothing to do but wait for a rescue which was forecast to take at least 3 months. The Navy psychologists working above ground advised that the following should be implemented:
1) The 33 men be split into 3 groups – smaller groups would encourage each individual to become more attached to the team they were in, greater interaction amongst a smaller group would lead to more ownership and responsibility being taken by individuals and it would be easier to provide support to each other as it would be harder for individuals to “hide” amongst the bigger group.
2) Each individual was given a specific task to focus on, eg a camera was sent down for one of the group to create a film record of life underground, someone was given responsibility for communication with the outside world, another looked after food, another exercises and so on. Having a sense of purpose helped build and maintain a sense of community and created goals for the whole group to achieve. Uncertainty was reduced as each person knew what was expected of them.
3) Outside stimulus was used to maintain spirits – e.g. videos of football matches were sent down, games were supplied and so on, all with the aim of keeping minds active.
4) Communication on progress made on the rescue plans was constant with the groups given tasks to help prepare for the rescue attempt. As well as maintaining spirits this also helped the group keep their connection with the outside world and gave them a sense that they had a role to play in getting them out.
5) Coaching and counselling was offered and provided to various people in the group to help them manage their emotions and to deal with the ordeal they were enduring.
Whilst the specifics are unique to the situation the miners found themselves in, the general principles laid down by the psychologists can be applied to any team of people:
1) Communicate the vision and the goals to the whole team.
2) Explain how each individual has a part to play in the successful outcome and give constant feedback on progress being made.
3) Allocate specific roles to each individual and make sure they understand how this fits in with the overall goal.
4) Create sub groups of people to help and support each other to achieve specific objectives.
5) Offer coaching, training and support where necessary.
It is brilliant to see each miner being bought safely to the surface and the people of Chile should rightly be very proud of their achievement in bringing the miners to safety. Whilst each miner will be extremely relieved to have escaped the mine, each one has looked confident and relatively relaxed as though the outcome was only what they expected. After all they knew the plan, they knew what they had to do and they knew what to expect.
This rescue operation can teach those of us who manage teams of people what steps we need to take to give our people the tools to fulfill their role to the best of their ability and to ensure peak performance from our team. How many of these 5 steps do you currently employ with your team?
Are you superstitious?
Oct 10th
Superstition: “1.An irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.”
Despite having a makeover for the first of the live shows for X factor Matt Cardle still wore his green cap on stage for his performance last night.
Why does he insist on wearing it? Does it improve his image or his performance? Ian Rush, record top scorer for Liverpool FC, used to soak his boots in water before taking to the field. Robbie Fowler, another Liverpool legend, wears football boots that are half a size too small for him along with two pairs of socks in the belief this will make his feet more sensitive to the ball.
I’ve been working with a senior manager recently who has to present to over 500 people every year at their company’s annual conference. She is a very successful individual, a brilliant public speaker with awards for inspirational leadership. However prior to each conference she still finds it necessary to buy a new outfit specifically for the event, as she feels this will help her to stand up and deliver her keynote speech.
These are just a few examples of rituals that many many people follow in order to help them produce their best in a variety of situations. Speaking to the senior manager she believes that a new outfit makes her look good, which in turn makes her feel good, which then leads to a job well done. Her experience and skill set suggests that she doesn’t need the added boost of a new outfit to give an excellent speech, but it certainly seems to give her a pyschological boost.
When Ian Rush failed to score in a game did he blame it on poor technique, lack of concentration or the fact that his boots had started to dry out?
Last night Matt produced an excellent performance and should sail through to the next round of X Factor. Was his performance down to his singing ability or his green cap? How will his performance be affected if he is “ordered” to leave his green cap in the dressing room? Research has shown that people follow superstitutions as it gives them a feeling of greater control of situations and leads to increased levels of belief and confidence.
Having a superstition, like having a lucky green cap, is not harmful and can actually help the individual to relieve anxiety and keep an individual calm. Instead of relying on a cap or wet boots to provide the boost to confidence and belief it is possible to learn techniques to achieve the same effect.
The starting point is to recognise and accept what you are good at. Try this exercise.
1) Get a pen and paper and write down the three things that you most dislike about yourself – most people find this to be easy, the hard part for some is stopping at 3!
2) Now write down the three things you most like about yourself – now it’s getting tough. Be specific, give examples and don’t stop until you have got 3!
3) Ask a friend or colleague to answer the same questions about you.
How similar were the answers? Did you manage to write down three things that you like about yourself? How honest were you?
People tend to be their own worst critics and will be far harsher about themselves than friends or colleagues. we all have an inner voice which is our biggest critic and it revels in telling us what we do badly, where we go wrong, what we can’t do. The trick is to quiet this inner voice. Everyone has faults and weaknesses, but by putting your focus on your strengths and accepting your weaknesses you will find your self belief begins to grow. Self doubt feeds off the attention you pay to perceived weaknesses, so focus instead on what you are good at.
It will be interesting to watch the likes of Matt and Rebecca as they progress through X Factor. The feedback from judges, coaches, mentors and the audience will strengthen their self belief and they will start to ignore their inner voice that has been telling them that they can’t do it, others are so much better than them and they can’t possibly succeed. Rebecca will start to look down the camera and Matt may even leave his green cap in the X Factor house. When he does you will know he has conquered his inner voice.
Useful reading:
Learned Optimism: Martin Seligman
Mindsets: Carol Dweck
Building relationships is key to sales
Oct 5th
So has Cheryl Cole lost the plot? There has been uproar since she made her decision on which 3 acts she wanted to take through to the live finals in the X Factor. Viewers have been ringing ITV in their droves to complain and there are acres of news print on her wacky decision to take Cher and Katie through to the next stage of the competition.
Based on what we saw over the weekend Cher and Katie did not deserve to go through as they were both unable to complete their audition with suggestions neither of them could cope with the pressure placed on them. Gamu, Treyc and Anasatacia were all better singers than Cher and Katie but were discarded.
As Cheryl wants to be the winning judge again why would she decide against better singers in a singing competition?
One of her comments to the contestants at the weekend was quite telling when she told them that, due to her illness, she had not met some of them at the auditions and had therefore not yet been able to make a “personal connection” to them.
It was quite clear that Cheryl was not making her decision solely on the quality of their voices. If so Treyc and Gamu would have gone through instead of Cher and Katie. Other factors influenced her decision and these included her feelings and attitude towards each contestant. She appeared to feel a closer bond twoards Cher and Katie and that gave them the edge in the decision making process.
This is the same in many different scenarios and is particularly true in sales meetings. Price is an important factor in the sales process, but the relationship you have with a potential client will have far more impact on the ultimate decision made. The better the relationship the greater the trust the client will have in what you say, the more confidence they will have in the service your company will provide and the more difficult they will find it to say no to you. Obviously you still need to have a product or service that is of value to them with a price that is realistic, but the strength of the relationship can be the decisive factor in the decision.
I have been coaching in sales situations where a client has been happy to pay a higher price for a service that they can get cheaper elsewhere, because the the relationship between them and the sales person has given them the confidence that the after sales care provided will be superior to the competitions. The client is perfectly happy as they place value on having a close relationship with the people they deal with at that company. Demonstrating empathy and having a “personal connection” carries great weight in the potential success of the business relationship.
It would appear that in Cheryl Cole’s case it is a similar scenario. She will have spent time with each of the contestants during the final auditions and will have felt that she could have the greatest impact with those that she had the greatest connection to; Rebecca, Cher and Katie. She hasn’t picked the best singers, but she has gone with those that she think she and the audience will make the greatest connection with.
As the cliche says; people buy people first.
Now who’s going to get picked in the wildcard session this weekend? Will it be personality or singing ability that gets the nod?
Self Belief
Oct 1st
Judges houses in X Factor this weekend. It’s been interesting that one of the most common phrases used by Simon Cowell again this year has been “I think (s)he has a great voice but (s)he has just got no self belief”. It was the same with Paul Potts and Susan Boyle in Britain’s Got Talent. This year one of the contestants struggling with lack of confidence is Rebecca Ferguson from Liverpool:
She is interviewed at the beginning of the clip above and explains how she was told “her life was over” when she fell pregnant at a young age and she should give up her dreams. What people say to us and how they react to us has a great impact on how we view ourselves and Rebecca’s story is a great example of how we can knock people’s self belief without having that intention.
Rebecca’s got a great voice but if she wants to win the competition she will need to start having more faith in herself and her ability. As long as they are not too cocky people tend to gravitate to those individuals who are confident in themselves as they radiate a feeling of optimism, success and fun. These are factors people want to associate with.
When communicating with people we need to consider what is the likely impact of what we say and do, as we can give a completely different message to the one intended if we are not careful. This is particularly true when you are managing others. As a manager you have a position of authority and the things you say tend to be magnified by those who report to you and can easily be distorted.
Roy Hodgson at Liverpool is an example of this. Prior to the game in Holland this week he was reflecting on the Northampton game and what he would have done differently. He commented that the problem was that he had given all his “quality players” time off to prepare for the game on saturday and the result was that he didn’t have anyone of great quality on the bench who he could bring on to try and win the game. I’m quite sure he didn’t mean to belittle the players he did use in the Northampton game but how good must they have felt hearing these words?
Here is a clip from a film “She’s out of my league”, where Kirk’s friends are discussing why beautiful girls don’t tend to go out with guys like Kirk. It’s interesting in the examples they use that the girls that do go out with guys out of their league do so for specific reasons. As Kirk can’t offer “benefits” like this he has no chance. Nothing like a bit of encouragement from your friends is there! 
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