Leadership Crack Head: Addicted to Your Smartphone?

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Val Ries

Addicted to Smartphone

Why Are We So Addicted To Our Phones? 

I see so many people who are seemingly addicted to their smartphones! It truly makes me wonder some things…

  • I wonder what the average daily count is of people checking during dinner, while driving, in a meeting, on the phone with someone else?
  • Ever meet someone who is texting while engaging in a conversation with you, and then letting you know that they are listening?
  • Is our work really that important, that we need to stop being present in the moment and get back to people every 2 seconds?
  • What is driving this addiction and how might is be negatively affecting us?

Searching for Reason

I have been trying to understand the reason why people are so “distracted” by their devices. In all honesty, I must admit that I am addicted to the prospective thrill of seeing a new exciting email message arrive.

And then I become disappointed when the new message on my device is only another Living Social coupon…

I also feel the need to get back to people so quickly these days. I feel that if I don’t check every 2 seconds that I may risk not giving “excellent customer service.”

Surely I can’t be connecting to my kids, friends, employees, family AND living in the moment while constantly looking at my phone waiting for the next great thing to show up.

This bothered me very much. So whenever I could, I sought out the reason(s) why people are so seemingly addicted to their phones. And then one day I came across something.

I now think I might finally understand the reason…

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L2L Reader Survey 2013

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“I find good and useful tips, suggestions, and valuable content through L2L
which makes my organization and me more effective. Keep up the good work!”

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Understanding Power vs. Force

During a meeting with my business coach, she shared David Hawkins – Power vs. Force chart. Mr. Hawkins describes this chart as the hidden determinants of human behavior.

I went digging for something on this chart that could shed some light on why millions of us are in a romantic relationship with our phone. Out of 17 levels, scoring 20-1000, lowest to highest respectively, I found the word DESIRE!!

Click on the chart below for a full explanation.

Power vs Force Chart

Yes, this makes sense; the desire for reward, accomplishment, a new client, to be praised for great service, all of these things that could be present in an email, text or voice mail. Then I realized, according to this chart “Desire” is only 6 out of 17, with a score of 125.

But wait, isn’t it good to desire things, to have goals and wants? Then I kept reading, and understood the dichotomy.

Understanding Desire and Priorities

According to Dr. Hawkins, “Desire is also the level of addiction, wherein it becomes a craving more important than life itself.”  This craving can then lead to frustration when you don’t get the response that you want.

Ahh- hence the disappointment in the Living Social coupon!

The egotistical answer sitting in front of me did strike me hard for a second.

Then I got over myself and looked at the lesson in all of this:

The bottom line is that nothing is more important to me then my family, friends and vision to help others. So when I’m focused on my priorities, I will make a promise to be fully present on those things and not my phone!

The world (and the coupon) can surely wait as I check my phone periodically and not constantly.

Are you addicted to your phone? Are some of your priorities out of line with your top values? What are ways you balance being present with the task at hand, while knowing their might be important messages waiting for you? I would love to hear your thoughts!

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———————–
Val Ries, RN, MBA, CPC
Val Ries RN, MBA, CPC is CEO of the Ries Company
She helps leaders RECHARGE so they have the strength to impact the world
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Web | Blog | Book

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How Effective Leaders Can Use Social Media

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Robert Cordray

Social Media Icons

Being a leader of a team has many faces.

One almost has to be a paranoid schizophrenic to have effective leadership skills nowadays.

So many voices talking to them and so many personalities that they must exemplify to fit all the roles they play, it’s a wonder they stay sane.

Changing Business Landscape

The business world has drastically changed in the last five years.

Social media has swept in and torched the landscape like Smaug from the Hobbit. The land looks different from what it used to look like, and now we have a bunch of fresh young pines sprouting up all over our companies who are intimately tied to the social media machine.

LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumbler, Foursquare, and whatever else people are using…they are using it a lot.Generation Xers and the Baby Boomers are just as active as the Millennials and their use of social media in the workplace.

Company leaders have to lead, and one thing we can rest our laurels on is that social media opens up a new line of communication that we didn’t have before.

When used wisely social media can enhance leadership capabilities.

I am going to try and illustrate why leaders should stay social media savvy in order to further their goals and objectives.

Social Media Increases Speed

In business, speed can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

If you can act quickly and decisively on the right information you can make a lot of money. Conversely, if the information vital to decision-making is unavailable due to lack of communication speed, a missed opportunity can leave an indelible mark on the leader and the company.

Social media drastically speeds up the communication machine.

Sure, email is still fast, but it’s not 23-seconds fast. I say 23-because when something important happens, let’s say something political, my phone sends me a push notification and by the time I open it up it seems like it’s been about 23-seconds.

An email sent to your inbox will not be seen that fast.

An employee could share something on the company Facebook page or send a direct message which could be seen by you or other decision making individuals in the organization and acted upon quickly. I love that!

Social Media Increases Communication

I believe we’ve already had a paradigm shift when it comes to communication.

There are lots of naysayers out there who think that communicating via text or smart phone is doing a disservice to the psyche of everyone in the world. I understand that body language and other verbal subtleties are lacking in electronic communication, but the fact of the matter is some communication in the workplace, to get things done quickly and efficiently, doesn’t require body language.

It doesn’t bother me that employees might tweet each other instead of getting out of their chairs and walking two or three cubicles down the aisle.

That’s because a tweet or direct message is light years faster than standing up and walking to someone else’s desk.

In my experience, social media does not distract or isolate employees. On the contrary, it brings them together, albeit in an online space, and speeds up talking points. As a leader I believe we should encourage employees to utilize social media this way to communicate when appropriate.

Social Media Humanizes

There is something about a “quick” email, when you compare to social media, that sucks the life out of the message. In an email it is too easy to confuse the emotional meaning behind the words. I’ve sent a number of quick emails over the course of my career that were construed in a negative way I didn’t intend them to be.

People thought I was being too “mean” or too “bossy” in the way I came across, but in reality I just wasn’t being excessively polite by saying please and thank you and each sentence!

By communicating via social media you actually feel “real” to the recipient.

Starting out a direct message by saying “hey Jack, do you have a second?” And then as that person responds you can engage them in a real-time conversation in a way that can’t be done through email. 10 years ago people used to use instant messaging regularly in the same fashion, but IM has gone WAY down in usage.

I think instant messaging will be dead in a few years…it’s already on life support. So, by having a real-time conversation using a social media platform you humanize your electronic communications making them much more effective.

This in turn makes you a better and more approachable leader.

Don’t go crazy using social media, but don’t give it the cold shoulder either. Social media, in some form or another, will be with us for the foreseeable future. It has a lot of advantages, and don’t get me wrong it does have disadvantages, but I think the advantages heavily outweigh the disadvantages. Use it wisely and use it well, it should increase your effectiveness and power as a leader.

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———————

Robert Cordray
Robert Cordray is a freelance writer with over 20 years of business experience
He does the occasional business consult to help increase employee morale
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Web

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Leaders: Getting Out of Email Hell

Posted on November 15, 2012 by David Grossman

Email Hell

It seems as though at times the email faucet never slows. And the more emails coming in – and the more emails to sort through – the higher our stress.

The question for leaders is this:

What can you do to help your team focus and be more productive? And what steps can you take to reduce your own email overload?

Our new research, the 2012 Work-related Email Perception Study, provides a unique view of how employees in a variety of industries, roles and functions perceive email and the strategies they feel are most helpful in dealing with its frequent excess.

Perception & Reality

The detailed results offer interesting insights:

  • Email is seen as an effective and necessary communication tool by more than three-quarters of all audiences (84% of executives; 83% of middle managers; 77% of employees)
  • Limiting email outside normal business hours  is seen as very effective by few (11% of executives; 20% of middle managers; 13% of employees)
  • Limiting email during normal business hours carries even less support (8% of executives; 15% of middle managers; 11% of employees)

Through our research employees said they want guidelines and policies to help address the overwhelming amount of irrelevant email that fills their inbox each day.

And while dealing with irrelevant email has become a challenge – and frustration – for almost everyone, middle managers are feeling that pain the most.

The results of our research demonstrate middle managers spend 6,000 minutes (100 hours) on irrelevant email each year. That’s not just email, it’s irrelevant email. Additionally, supervisors spend 5,250 minutes (87.5 hours) and employees spend 4,250 minutes (71 hours) on irrelevant email every year.

Those numbers add up pretty quickly for any organization.

Solutions to email overload do exist. As a leader all eyes are on you and your actions play a central role.

Getting Out of Email Hell

Here are some email best practices that you can blend into your communications today:

Use email to:

  • Provide directional information
  • Share a status update, briefly, in the message
  • Include additional information through a link or attachment
  • Offer time-sensitive information uniformly to a group of recipients
  • Record of your communication

Don’t use email to:

  • Give negative news or feedback
  • Describe complicated, detailed or lengthy topics
  • Keep the recipient from having the chance to respond in a conversational manner
  • Discuss topics that are nuanced and require context to understand fully

Email tips and best practices:

  • Keep messages short and clear to read; use bullet points to highlight information
  • Be clear in the subject line by briefly explaining the content of your message
  • Detail when you need a response and what you’re expecting
  • Pick up the phone if the email chain is going back and forth; recognize that email is not always the right vehicle, especially for complex topics
  • Respond quickly
  • Proofread your emails for correct spelling, grammar and punctuation
  • Double check you’ve used the right email addresses and attachments; avoid distributing proprietary information
  • Answer all questions to limit avoid back and forth messages
  • Use “Reply All” only when everyone needs to see your message
  • Check with the recipient to see how they would like to receive large attachments
  • Avoid message that contain nuance or sarcasm; email doesn’t express either one well

Email overload touches just about everyone and every organization. Yet solutions do exist.

Smarter Communications

With a smart plan and the right approach, email can become the effective and efficient communication tool it was meant to be within your organization.

At the same time, you’ll raise the bar of your overall communications, reinforcing the benefits of face-to-face and voice-to-voice communications.

See here for more on the 2012 Work-related Email Perception Study

So, how ugly is your email inbox? What tips can you implement now to handle the volume and urgency issues that keep increasing? How can you get a total handle on your email communications before 2013 rolls in? I would love to hear your thoughts!

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———————
David Grossman
David Grossman is Founder and CEO of The Grossman Group
He is a much sought-after Consultant, Speaker, and Executive Coach 
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Emerging Leaders: Leading the “New World”

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Michael R Stanford

Leading Technology

As leaders in a professional environment, we always aim to convey a message with good intentions. However, we can oftentimes fail. This is because we haven’t crafted our message for the correct target.

Our messages are not always clear because we don’t always understand our audience.

Engaging Future Leaders

I am a person, a leader, a mentor who aims to engage future leaders and develop an understanding of methods to connect with all generations to enhance communication and leadership growth.

There is a huge divide between the “Net Generation” and other generations because technology has exponentially developed this group of people.

Who knew that social media would be the greatest influence over a group of people?

A Growing Divide

Teachers, coaches, mentors, and leaders a like struggle to connect with the new generation of leaders. And this disconnect between these groups becomes more clear as the years progress.

Our job as leaders is to make sure our future leaders are ready for the future world, starting now to develop the “Net Generation,” helping them understand the advantages and disadvantages that technology has created for them.

Technical Edge

Cutting Through the Crowd

Now, many may understand the advantages of being tech savvy which are:

  1. They are able to connect with larger audiences more globally.
  2. They can work faster with more mobility.
  3. They can understand more and have more resources to produce results and develop others.

A Double-Edged Sword

What many don’t understand is that there are disadvantages as well:

  1. Everyone is under a microscope and the world of Human Resources is stronger than ever with fewer people and more resources. This means that social media can be used for hiring practices to get a better snap shot of people. People and leaders alike need to watch what they post as posts are seen by more than just friends and family. Networking circles are larger than ever before.
  2. Verbal communication skills have become diluted; much of today’s communication is via device without speaking.
  3. Connecting with multiple generations has become more difficult because the differences have become exponential.

Closing the Gap

Now, to close the gap between generations to enhance communication and develop “simply great leaders” we must teach listening and understanding, which are the basics to human interaction and chemistry.

I have…

  • Spent some time developing myself to understand the complexities of social media.
  • Utilized social media as a leader and employer to get a better understanding of this topic and to help develop young leaders.
  • Used social media to make decisions about hiring leaders into organization in which I have worked.

Emerging leaders need more guidance and coaching than ever before so we need to be there to help.

Mentoring New Leaders

I have mentored emerging leaders and the key to success is to find common interest with leadership goals and practice one-on-one communication through coaching practices.

Unfortunately, as business professionals we have fine lines as to how much we can inform new candidates and employees in regards to business do’s and don’ts ; we have to generic, ensuring equality and professionalism which can hinder the growth of potential emerging leaders.

Today’s leaders need to step out of their comfort zone make a difference for the future.

Taking the Time

Taking time to develop and educate future leaders, raising awareness about the effects of social media though sincere coaching and development; this is what we need to build a stronghold of the next generation leaders.

Effective communication is about listening and understanding while conveying a message that a person or group of people will understand. The best way to convey a message is to understand the audience to which it is being conveyed. Keep in mind that the great leaders of tomorrow will encompass the teachings of the leaders of today.

So how are you doing in bridging the gaps that exist in your organization? How well are you reaching out to those in different generations to help your operation run smoother? What are some of the (technological) barriers that are keeping you from better engagement with others? I would love to hear your thoughts!

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———————

Michael R Stanford is Doctoral Learner at UOP
He does occasional motivational speaking for community colleges
Email | LinkedIn| Facebook | Web

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Leading the Future: In It to Win It

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Rich Bishop

Windows Phone 8

The Canadian firm Research In Motion (RIM) is largely responsible for the number of smartphones that are in service around the world. They began selling pagers in 1998.

At the time, businesses had no option but to have their mobile employees carry laptop computers everywhere . If they needed to review or create email, they had to find a place to plug the computer into a network.

It worked, but it wasn’t easy.

Finding Business Solutions

RIM sought a way to make this easier. In 2003, they introduced their first BlackBerry smartphone. This new technology allowed business users to receive their email right on their phones. It was a revolutionary new idea that left the other electronics companies scrambling to duplicate.

Even as time went on and other devices started becoming available, BlackBerry had a hold on the business market. But as time and technology marched on, RIM seemed to have missed opportunities to keep ahead in the market.

Leading the Competition

The recent success of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android-platform smartphones began in the mass consumer market and has gradually made its way into BlackBerry’s business market. Now, RIM is struggling to maintain its slim market share as it is being pushed out by these more innovative options.

Short-term success is difficult to achieve. It takes a great deal of hard work and a certain amount of luck. RIM did a great job of seeing a need in the market and filling it.

Long-term success, however, is even more difficult to sustain. A different recipe is needed for this.

How the Mighty Fall

Organizations tend to peak and then find it difficult to maintain that success over time. (See this article by Jim Collins on “How the Mighty Fall” for a great explanation.) Yet there are certain organizations that seem to continuously be in the spotlight of success year after year.

It seems as though pieces of the puzzle are constantly moving, but these organizations are always the ones leading the way.

Apple released the iPod MP3 music player  in 2001. Digital music players had been on the market for some time, but Apple took them to another level. They had an incredibly simple user interface and very few buttons. They over-took the market leaders shortly after their launch.

When Apple saw what BlackBerry was doing with phones, they knew that they could take their iPod success into the world of smartphones.

They began the project in 2004 and released the first iPhone in 2007.  They created a smartphone that took the best of BlackBerry’s email and internet capabilities and added the music capabilities of the iPod with a built-in digital camera.

It took the smartphone to another level. Now, iPhones and Android phones are in the spotlight while RIM is struggling to stay alive in the market.

It’s difficult, especially in electronics, to stay ahead of the pack. Any time you are at the top, you will find it very difficult to stay there. However, there are organizations like Apple and Google that have been there continuously over a long period of time.

Next-Gen Technology

In addition to the steps that Apple and Google have taken to surpass existing technology and products on the market, longtime technology leader Microsoft is jumping ahead of the pack and breaking new ground in this market with an upcoming release of Windows Phone 8.

Rather than staying content in the tried-and-true space of desktop computing, Microsoft is exemplifying the  ”in-it-to-win-it” mentality by creating a single platform in Windows 8 (scheduled release Fall 2012) that will run laptops computers, a new tablet computing device called “Surface,” and new smartphones.

This single platform idea for business users leapfrogs existing hardware/software offerings because of a seamless integration that will allow people to both consume content (like on iPhones and Android devices) but will add an easy and effective way to create content as well.

Questions:

  • What’s the secret of long-term technology winners?
  • How can these organizations be at the top when there are thousands of others vying for a spot?
  • What do they do differently to convert short-term success into long-term viability?

Answer:

They adopt the right characteristics that insure their success.

Leading the Future: 4 Characteristics

The organizations that continuously succeed over time have four main characteristics:

Great Leadership

Great organizations begin and end with great leadership. The people at the top have to be the driving force in success. You can’t expect continued success if the leadership team is a revolving door.

Continuity of leadership is essential. Those leaders have to keep driving forward.

Q: What does your leadership group look like?

Hunger to Win

Organizations that win over time aren’t ever satisfied with just a single win. It is their objective to win every single day. It’s important for them to push for their people to win all the small battles, because then the big ones will take care of themselves.

Q: What are you winning today?

Dissatisfaction with Status Quo

Death comes to those organizations that just keep things the way that they are. The world is constantly moving, and to try to stand still is to allow the world to pass you by. This appears to have been RIM’s problem with the BlackBerry. They were not innovative enough in a time of great innovation.

Q: Is your organization trying to just stand where it is?

Focus on Improvement

If the status quo is not satisfying, then your organization has to continue improving. Apple seems to come out with a new version of the iPhone once a year, and each new release focuses on making improvements to the design. Microsoft is making its next platform ubiquitous. Your organization must focus on continuous improvement to stay ahead of the competition.

Q: In what areas can you improve?

Timeless and True

These characteristics are true for small companies, large companies, and even sports teams. Focus on these four characteristics of a successful organization and you’ll be well on your way to staying ahead of the pack.

Success isn’t easy, but are you doing the right things to stay ahead? Is your organization properly looking into the future and adopting the characteristics of long-term market and leadership success? What can you do in your position to help your organization stay on top and keep the “in-it-to-win-it” attitude alive and strong? I would love to hear your thoughts!

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———————
Rich Bishop
Rich Bishop is President of Bishop Coaching & Consulting Group
He serves with hands-on approach to Development through Coaching & Training
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Web

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Leadership Development: Going Extinct or Merely Transforming?

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Rachel Wallins

Leadership Coaching

Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of attending a few conferences, symposiums and small gatherings comprised of different groups that represent various functions in the training and development worlds.

At these functions, I was surprised to see one common theme carried through like a red thread in the form of a couple questions.

The questions are similar to these:

  • In today’s VUCA world (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity,) is the need for Leadership Development professionals diminishing?
  • As the expectation that business leaders own more of their development and with online/social media-delivered learning becoming more the norm, will training professionals become obsolete?

While the group’s initial reaction to these questions were defensive in nature, once we got past fearing for our jobs, the conversation got interesting.

New and deeper questions emerged:

  • If, as we posited, our expertise were  to be in less demand, what role would we play?
  • As boards are expecting business leaders to take more responsibility to drive bottom-line results with fewer dead bodies left in their wake, at what point do they become self-aware enough where we are no longer needed in the same way?
  • Do we have to become as savvy about finance, EBITA, P&L statements and gross margin as they are becoming about flexing styles, providing feedback and writing an excellent set of goals?

 

On Specialization and Preferences

“But wait…” many thought.

“If we had wanted that type of role, we would’ve gone down that path. We love our jobs, and don’t want to see them change so fundamentally!”

The discussions followed some of these themes:  

Yes, things are changing.

And yes, classroom learning is becoming outdated to some extent.

Measuring Results

At one symposium, we had a mix of vendors and talent leaders in the room. The question was asked about measuring the impact of learning programs, not in dollars but in positive adaption of behavior change.

In other words, how can we tell if the program actually made a difference beyond good scores on a smile sheet.

The vendors had no answers…

We all agreed learning programs, delivered the traditional way, need to be better measured and evaluated for impact on the bottom line or they will become irrelevant in today’s economy.

On Handling Blind Spots

However, learning is only part of what we do as Leadership Development professionals. If leaders knew where they needed help, we wouldn’t have jobs.

But the very definition of a blind spot is that you can’t see it.

Key areas of our expertise lie in delivering assessments, providing coaching and development programs, and providing opportunities for leaders to improve in targeted areas, which then helps them drive their business more effectively.

Removing professional trainers and coaches from that equation would leave many leaders unaware of their issues and thus unable to solve them.

Having a neutral party come in, diagnose individual or team challenges, and provide solutions to resolve said challenges are interventions that we all agreed continue to be key to businesses’ ongoing success.

The Final Word…

So what was the verdict of our many discussions?

Some aspects of leadership development may disappear.

But if we continue to evolve with technology, bring a higher accountability for tracking and communicating impact to the bottom line, and add value with our ability to help drive awareness,we will be needed for a long time to come.

So what are some of the changes that you seen materialize over the last 10 years in the leadership learning space? How has technology helped or hindered actual performance you have seen? What are you doing about bring better controls and measurements to your practice to help prove bottom-line results? I would love to hear your thoughts!

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———————-
Rachel Wallins is VP Leadership Development at Wolters Kluwer
She provides overall Talent Management Strategy Development and Implementation
Email | LinkedIn |  Web 

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Leaders: Who’s Managing Your Social Media?

Posted on May 14, 2012 by C.K. Brechin

Tweet

Companies invest millions of dollars a year on their brand, whether they realize it or not.

Everything a company does – from how they engage their customers, to how they recruit employees and how they market their products — are all rolled up in a corporate brand and contribute to people’s perceptions of that brand.

But one aspect many companies simply fail to acknowledge as a significant part of their investment is.

This simple fact has two big word: social media.

What’s in a Word?

With the advent of social media, the value of “word of mouth” has gone up exponentially. That 1970s Faberge commercial that follows along the lines of, “I’ll tell two friends and they’ll tell two friends” has shifted at a pace comparable to Moore’s law and the progress being made with processing power.

In a recent Nielson Social Media Report (October 2011) it was found that 60 percent of social media users create reviews of products and services, and that consumer created reviews/ratings are the preferred source for information about product/service, price and product quality.

In addition, the report also found that 70 percent of social media users make online purchases, 12 percent more than other online users do.

The case in point is that your customers are out there talking about you. And they are doing it now.

They are either positively or negatively influencing others’ purchasing decisions regarding your product or service.

So Where’s the Training? 

A recent survey of HR professionals by the Society of Human Resources Management found that 68 percent of organizations have employees who use social media to reach external audiences, including potential customers and employees. That same survey (Social Media in the Workplace) also found that only 27 percent of employers provide social-media training to their employees. (Only 27 percent!!)

A company’s online brand must be responsive, authentic, and innovative in order to maintain both existing “fans” while also attracting new “fans.”

Due to the fast pace of change in the social media arena, companies must think ahead and create a plan that can evolve with the market.

Enhancing your Business and Brand

The beauty of social media is that you can use and tailor it to your needs. This flexibility gives you quite a bit of freedom when using the various avenues available to you to support and build your brand and business. However, you need to be doing a few key things to be utilizing it to its full potential.

It is important that you learn how to correctly use social media so that you don’t let it manage your brand; You need to manage your social media to enhance your brand.

Questions for Leaders

With that, we suggest you ask yourself the following questions concerning your enterprise:

  1. Do you have a social media policy for employees that represent your brand?
  2. Do you allow your employees to add your organization to their LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter accounts? (Why or why not?)
  3. Have you, as an organization (or as an individual) offered or received training on the importance of social media and the positive and or negatives it may have on you or your organization? (Many companies have an employee termination clause in contracts around disparaging or inappropriate use of social media. Then again, many don’t.)
  4. Do you use social media for “brand-building?”
  5. What, if any, analytics do you track?

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———————–
Kim Brechin is Principal at Look-Solutions
She manages & leads high performance teams within competitive markets
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Web | 503-869-3304

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