Business Resource Center › Todd's Results 2009

Ah-Ha! Moment — In October and November, my associate and I defined and began implementing the "Relationship Management" program we had vaguely pictured in our minds for well over a year. December was the month we completed our first deliverable of this program!

To deliver this initial component, my associate and I were again required to work together in a highly collaborative manner, as we tested many ideas for this first deliverable and went through several changes in our approach. The challenge was formidable — our goal was to interpret the contents of 5 separate reports from a comprehensive "professional sales assessment" totaling 81 pages, and then present a relevant summary of this to our client-facing consultants to help them better serve our clients.

Throughout December, the two of us met several times, each time working hard to:

• Consider what results were most relevant to our overall "Relationship Management" goals of having better discussions with our clients about (a) our progress in implementing ideas to improve their business, and (b) our additional ideas for them to consider.
• Discuss ways to present the results to our consultants — who are naturally inquisitive people, eager to comprehend information, especially an assessment about them.
• Understand how these results could be used to better work with our consultants.
• Select report excerpts to tell a concise, coherent story which could be relevant and meaningful to the individual.
• Determine the most appropriate professional development activities and goals for the individual for the upcoming quarter.
• Define the "next steps" for preparing the "Executive Summary" and the "Individual Development Plan" for the individual.

We went through this process about 5 times, feeling better about things each time, ending up with a 4-page "Executive Summary" and 1-page "Individual Development Plan" (IDP) for the individual, and also our notes on how to use these 2 documents to frame the full 81-page assessment.

All of this work culminated on Wednesday, December 30, when my associate and I met with the first consultant to put this into action! We had initially planned for a 60-minute meeting, but this actually lasted about 90 minutes, because of the questions and discussion coming out of the detailed assessments. At the end of this meeting, my associate and this consultant agreed to followup in early January, to answer any other questions and refine (as needed) and agree to the activities and goals in the IDP. (This followup has already happened — and without involvement by me!)

What worked? Well, the large investment of time I had made with my associate in October, November, and December paid off! She is now well-equipped with:

• An overall vision of the "Relationship Management" program, which she is ultimately responsible for implementing.
• Specific formats for 2 key documents to get this process started with individual personnel.
• Examples or, or ideas about, specific activities to develop these skills in our personnel.
• Measures to track how well personnel are actually applying these skills in their day-to-day work.
• Techniques to maintain accountability for results in our personnel.

The hard work with this associate over 3 months — where I progressed through the Directing, Coaching, and Supporting leadership styles — has now paid off, since I can now function in the Delegating leadership style for the "Relationship Management" program. This is a huge payoff for me, since my associate is now fully Competent in the required areas and definitely Committed to producing results. And, as she obtains her results by implementing this program, the firm and its clients will benefit by having consultants even better equipped to serve our clients!

This is a very nice way to end the 2009 edition of insights and "ah-ha moments" for "Todd's Results." Come back next month when I begin the 2010 edition!

Ah-Ha! Moment — November brought awareness to several instances where the "Situational Leadership" model was vividly illustrated.

In the first instance, I continued working with an associate on the "Relationship Management" project, with large amounts of both our time being devoted to this. My time was about 70% of my associate's time (75% in October), and her time divided among Define (30%), Work (65%), and Checkpoint (5%). The time investment we both made in detailed "One Minute Goal Setting" — the key portion of the Define stage — in October paid dividends this month. My involvement trended down, and her time shifted much more heavily into Work (from 50% last month to 65% this month), and away from Define and Checkpoint. These numbers are definitely showing improvement!

A second instance came as a result of an "ah-ha" moment with this associate while working on "Relationship Management" and our overall Marketing Plan for 2009. We came up with a creative way to reach some of our best referral sources — fellow CPA's — before the holidays and their busy season, which runs from around December 15 through April 15. The two of us listed the key deliverables and overall completion date for this outreach effort, and believed we were done. Wrong! What we both failed to do was spend the extra time to do "One Minute Goal Setting" for the details of the project!

The result of this? Once my associate began to execute our ideas — which involved creation of new materials, ordering of books and supplies, and coordination of activities to pull the pieces together — things were not well-coordinated with our practice management folks. Accordingly, there were a number of missteps throughout the process, causing confusion and frustration, especially near the end of the project.

We all — my associate, my practice management folks, and myself — learned the importance of:

• "One Minute Goal Setting," especially for a project which needs to be executed quickly.
• Taking the work and communication styles of others into account.
• Key project management "tricks" such as "managing the critical path," "identifying and removing the bottleneck," and "keeping one step ahead of your assistant."

The bottom line? Many lessons were learned the hard way, which none of us will soon forget.

Ah-Ha! Moment — In October, I began to more fully live out the "Situational Leadership" model from Leadership and the One Minute Manager. I did this through "One Minute Goal Setting" for two projects with the staff member mentioned last month. These two projects could not have been more different:

• The first was a small, relatively well-defined project, where she and I could quickly agree on the goals, timelines, deliverables, and other parameters of the assignment.
• The second was a new, very big, and highly creative strategic project we called "Relationship Management."

We had talked about aspects of "Relationship Management" for over a year, and knew its success would require drawing together many separate elements into a coherent whole. The problem — neither she nor I knew how this would look. Accordingly, while this project was in my associate's areas of strength, and while we would normally assess her Competence and Commitment as "High," this project's attributes — its size, fuzziness, newness, and complexity — caused our mutual assessment for her to be:

• Low Competence — Because neither she nor I could describe the DELIVERABLES of this project, she did not know HOW to proceed.
• Low Commitment — Because neither she nor I could initially envision HOW this project could get done, her motivation was low.

When someone begins a new project, the "Situational Leadership" model presumes the person needs a "Directing" leadership style, reflecting High Commitment and Low Competence — however, we found this to be true only for the smaller, well-defined project. For the "Relationship Management" project, my associate and I agreed "Coaching" was the appropriate leadership style because of this project's attributes compared to her experience and strengths. In using the "Coaching" style, I involved my associate in extensive envisioning and "One Minute Goal Setting" to not only frame the entire project, but to also break things down into manageable chunks. We agreed we would work together, in the manner described below, to make good use of my time while still allowing her to be stretched and developed by the project:

• Define — We collaborated extensively to define the goals, deliverables, actions, and time required. This was about 40% of her time.
• Work — My associate then worked by herself to flesh out the details we had just defined — this required about 50% of her time.
• Checkpoint — Finally, we got back together to go over her work versus what we had initially defined, discussed and resolved any differences, and tied things up! This was about 10% of her time.

This process was followed first for the overall project, and then for the first specific phase. For this work, my total time was about 75% of my associate's total time — this is higher than the 50% we targeted, yet consistent with my high involvement for the overall project definition, and with a much lower involvement for the first specific phase.

The outcome? My associate felt very successful about this work, because she met expectations in less than the allotted time! As she explained to me, "Todd, you worked as hard as I did when we got together. To me, this was TRUE collaboration, and it felt very good — thank you! I hope all future projects are handled this same way."

I believe these results speak for themselves.

Ah-Ha! Moment — Sometimes a book can make all the difference in the way we see things. After reading Leadership and the One Minute Manager this past August and being exposed to the "Situational Leadership" model, I thought " This is a nice, simple concept — wonder how well it works?" In September, my question was answered many times over — and each time the answer was a resounding "Right on target!" I had always heard "different strokes for different folks," so I already believed that leadership style needs to vary by person — but this book convinced me "person" is not sufficiently granular, because leadership style also needs to be tailored to a specific project or task.

Once I had this "ah-ha" moment, I realized why one staff member produced great results in some situations, yet floundered in others. Her performance on each specific task depended on the two factors described in the book — Competence and Commitment. When both factors were in place, she excelled — if either was lacking, her results were lackluster, inconsistent, or both. After I validated these concepts with several real-life examples, I shared my insights and observations with this associate, assigned her the book to read, and promised I would begin to consciously follow the "Situational Leadership" process with her. We set One Minute Goals for new tasks, assessed her Development Level, and agreed on my appropriate Leadership Style. While she was initially skeptical, by late September the hints of success were already evident to both of us.

Ah-Ha! Moment — In August "Working On The People" took two distinct routes.

First, as committed in last month's Ah-Ha! Moment, I continued applying the "Formula 2+2" concepts (each person giving and receiving up to 2 compliments and 2 suggestions for improvement) by:

• Continuing mutual "2+2" feedback sessions for 3 persons (those from the initial small group) — at least once.
• Delivering initial "2+2" feedback sessions for the remainder of the firm.

Second, I began exploring ways to implement various individual techniques — such as "2+2" and "One Minute Manager" — within the context of an overall process. In the book Leadership and the One Minute Manager, co-authors Ken Blanchard, Patricia Zigarmi, and Drea Zigarmi describe an effective leader as one who flexibly practices four different Leadership Styles — Directing, Coaching, Supporting, and Delegating. The appropriate style is based on the person's Development Level — a function of both Competence and Commitment — in the context of a particular goal. "Situational Leadership" is what the book calls the overall context. The process comes as the leader works with the person to set the overall goal, and then shifts between the Leadership Styles as the person develops both Competence and Commitment in working to meet this goal.

Over the next several months, I will continue looking for ways to apply these concepts in an effort to increase my effectiveness with my people.

Ah-Ha! Moment — Much of my time and focus in July was definitely "Working On The People" — and this came via both giving and receiving performance feedback in two ways.

First, I conducted 4 annual performance reviews, which — despite the small size of the firm — are taken seriously and entails a comprehensive look at each person's performance over the past year, and with development goals set for the upcoming year. Each review includes a "Self-Review" by the person, as well as a "Review" by me — and a key part of the review process includes a "Supervisor Review" by each person on how I have worked with them this past 12 months. The person and I meet for around 2 hours (typically over a long lunch at a quiet restaurant) and then discuss all this. Any clarifications and changes are made, agreements are reached, and the documents establish accountability standards for both the person and me.

Second, the "Formula 2+2" concepts I had tested in February and then prototyped with a small group in June were extended to the entire firm in July. In June, the small group read the book and did a self-study exam on its concepts. In July:

• Each of the 3 persons in the small group and I gave each other "2+2" feedback — 2 compliments and 2 suggestions for improvement — at least once.
• The remainder of the firm read the book and completed the self-study exam on its content. These persons and I will begin our "2+2" feedback sessions in August.

I am finding "2+2" to be a good way to maintain good bi-directional communications with my staff. While I obviously get to share my feedback with them, I find it more helpful to receive their feedback on me — this allows me to quickly adapt my leadership style to what the staff member is saying they need from me.

As Audrey, the trainer in the book Formula 2+2: The Simple Solution for Successful Coaching, says:

"I discovered that correcting behavior was only half of the manager's job. It was equally important that I recognized and reinforced what was going right. This is the discipline of 2+2. It forces us to take a balanced look at how our people are doing, placing equal emphasis on what they are doing well and what they might need to improve." (page 21)

Well said, and equally applicable to both day-to-day feedback and formal annual reviews!

Ah-Ha! Moment — Whenever I come across the same theme in two different books, I immediately pay attention. In MJ Ryan's new book, AdaptAbility: How to Survive Change You Didn't Ask For, my favorite section, "If You're Not Stretching, You're Probably Missing Something," contains this quote:

"Rather than seeing safety as a wonderful thing we should strive for, we need to view it as a warning sign that we're coasting on past learning, rather than paying attention to what we need to take on next." (page 179)

In his book, The Pursuit of Perfect: How to Stop Chasing Perfection and Start Living a RICHER, HAPPIER Life, psychologist and consultant Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar comments on research demonstrating that:

"...for peak experience and peak performance — for happiness and success — we need to engage in activities that are neither too easy nor too difficult. If we are not challenged enough, we become bored; if our aspirations are overly ambitious, we become anxious." (page 74)

Dr. Ben-Shahar also shares this quote from Richard Hackman:
"The right place to be for maximum motivation is wherever you have a fifty-fifty chance of success." (page 75)

The common theme? Playing it safe means you're not stretching yourself enough, and you'll become bored. Stretching yourself requires risking failure. The trick is defining a goal having a fifty-fifty chance of success — this will yield the most growth, because it also provides maximum motivation.

With nearly 20 years working for myself, I can think of many times I've really stretched myself — many times, I succeeded, and many times, I have come up short. Regardless, I've always been spurred on by having a challenging goal worthy of my efforts.

Ah-Ha! Moment — Having successfully founded and led a technology consulting practice for nearly 20 years, I have had to change the focus and service offerings of the firm over this period, as new technologies and techniques have supplanted older ones. During this period, I have held fast to one hiring rule — I always hire smart, hard-working, nice, reliable people because I know they will never go out of vogue. When technologies and service offerings change, I am confident in my people — confident they will work hard, master the new technologies and techniques, and apply them to new service offerings.

MJ Ryan summarizes all this incredibly well in her new book, AdaptAbility: How to Survive Change You Didn't Ask For, where she writes:

"The name of the game is staying relevant, and the life cycle of relevancy is getting shorter and shorter." (page 178)

Recognizing the need to stay relevant, I had one of my consultants in May begin to reskill himself on a new set of technologies — doing this gives my firm flexibility in assigning personnel to different projects, better matching availability and domain-specific knowledge with specific client needs.

Ah-Ha! Moment — As people adapt to being part of a high-performing team, they may think they can showboat and get away with it. Ray Regan, who played for Coach John Wooden in high school, tells what happened to a teammate who had trouble with teamwork and sharing:

"One day Coach decided to teach this guy a lesson. He took us aside and said to pass the basketball to the showboat and then immediately run to the middle of the court — all four of his teammates — sit down, and let him face the other squad alone. It was Coach's way of showing that everybody helps everybody or nothing gets done. The showboat started passing the ball after that." (From Coach Wooden's Leadership Game Plan for Success, pages 120 and 121.)

Virtually everyone on my staff has showboated at some time while playing on my team. My tactic is similar to Coach Wooden's — I withhold resources of the firm, such as the time of their coworkers or my own time, which causes them to work harder to get the job done. (Regrettably, I had to do this in April.) The person quickly gets the point — "Todd means business, and I better play the way he wants, or I'll end up doing this all myself." Yes, it DOES take 10 hands to score a basket!

Ah-Ha! Moment — On March 26, 2009, we held a Firm Meeting where I went over results for the prior year, set forth goals for the upcoming year, and announced a "theme" to help keep everyone focused on the key items we need to accomplish this year. For 2009, our internal theme is "It Takes 10 Hands to Score a Basket" — a quote from legendary basketball coach John Wooden. The point? While we have always been a firm of talented individuals, we have not always had to play together as a coherent team.

So, as the team's coach, I described areas we needed to improve — and then we set about improving them through two presentations:

• "Roles and Responsibilities on Engagements" — We formally defined roles applicable to every engagement, and the responsibilities these roles have to each other — and then made these concepts "real" by illustrating them with 3 actual client engagements.
• "Communication" — We continued a training session we began last November, concentrating on how to adjust your communication style to that of the client you're serving, how to actively listen, and how to give and receive feedback.

With these fundamentals now in place, I have begun running my players through drills during practice to make these concepts a part of their natural client service game.

Ah-Ha! Moment — In late 2008, I came across a wonderful little "business fable" book called Formula 2+2: The Simple Solution for Successful Coaching. Its bottom line premise — to develop your people, you need to provide timely, focused, and specific feedback, and to follow-up on this feedback. Furthermore, so as not to overwhelm your folks, you need to give balanced feedback — both compliments and suggestions, and only give 1 or 2 of each at a time.

In February 2009, I conducted my first 2+2 meeting with a staff member. While she and I both understood the premise and process, the book was right — the first few times, such meetings will be awkward. Nonetheless, we both see the benefit of the 2+2 approach, and will both work through the awkwardness in future meetings.

Ah-Ha! Moment — In December 2008, my Accountability Partners and I attended a workshop, where we heard the following quote from one of my favorite authors, John C. Maxwell — "People are your only appreciable assets." I had never really looked at People that way — of course, People need to be maintained and developed, but unlike other "assets" of an organization (including Process and Technology), People's value to an organization increases with their experience. This insight on People helped me shape the overall theme and specific areas for 2009 because, more than in years past, People will need particular attention to keep morale up and maintain focus on controlling what each individual can control — themselves.