Run Meetings Like a Super Villain

 

How many times have you sat through a meeting that just dragged on and on…and on? Nothing was getting accomplished and half the people were not even paying attention, checking emails on smart phones under the table or just blatantly paying attention to the tablet or laptop propped up right in front of them? If you are like me, then the answer is far too often!

Movies, on the other hand, are amazingly efficient. There is no time wasted on drudgery or banal activities. Dialogue is snappy and to the point and even the most complicated of discussions is resolved in a few minutes at most.

Perhaps the most efficient are the movie villains. Villains have a clear goal, usually the destruction of, or ruling of, the Earth. Little time is wasted on pointless meetings or discussions that do not immediately forward their evil plans.

In fact, if you want to be more productive, take a few pointers from Super Villains on how to run your meetings.

1.      Have an exotic location. You may not need to travel overseas or hold the meeting in some secret underground lair, but do make sure the meeting is set up to be comfortable with room and chairs for everyone involved. If you are using presentation tools, such as PowerPoint, or whiteboards, make sure everything is in place and working. You’ll never see a master villain foiled by his own demonstration.

2.     Skip the fluff. Nothing is more annoying than one person sidetracking a meeting with his or her own personal agenda or just eager to hear themselves talk. Keep everyone on track and on target.

3.     Risk of death keeps everyone in line. We’ve all seen the movies where one of the wayward baddies runs into a sticky end once uncovered. Your company HR director will likely object if you start electrocuting your staff or feeding them to crocodiles through a trapdoor in the conference room. However, you can hold people accountable if goals are missed or work not done.

4.     No distractions. It is hard to imagine a villain such as Blofeld, from the James Bond realm, putting up with his team reading emails or texting while he is explaining his plan to rule the world or knock-off Fort Knox. Put a quick end to the distractions (see rule #3 above).

5.     Focus on outcome. Bad guys and gals do not waste time vacillating or hesitating over decisions. Analyze the data and potential risks and then move forward on the agenda with 100% of your efforts.

6.     Decisions followed to the “T”. Or else…(see rule #3).

7.     White cat is optional. Even the most evil of villains has a human side. It is okay to let that show, at least in moderation, in front of others. After all, Blofeld always had his fluffy cat with him.

That should do it. Oh yeah…now go out and conquer the world – or at least your competition!

Get a Business Black Belt for your organization – visit www.businesskarate.com/karate-belts.

Learn self-defense for your business with Eric Smith’s new book, WorkplaceSecurity Essentials! Every aspect of protecting a workplace is compared to a self-defense skill taught to budding karate students, all in a practical and entertaining style, drawing on Eric’s law enforcement and security experience.

Eric is available for staff education and security awareness training as well as business coaching to help organizations provide safe workplaces. To learn more email Eric at businesskarate dot com.

 

 

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Leadership Woes? Look to the Stars

           No matter what industry you are in; the type of department; number of employees or diverse goals, you will hear the same cry.  Leaders everywhere seem to cry out in one voice with the same complaint – “If it weren’t for my employees, I could get so much done!”

Obviously, that is not true.  What is true is that dealing with individuals is perhaps one of the hardest tasks faced by any manager or leader.  Businesses, like most organizations, revolve around people and if you are a leader, you have to deal with people.  That can mean customers, employees, bosses, contractors, co-workers and direct reports. 

Too often people mean problems.  Or, perhaps it would be better to say, challenges.  Any group of individuals will face those challenges at some point.  It could be differences of opinion, different ideas on how to meet common goals, personality conflicts or self interests.  Too often, managers spend a large chunk of time playing arbitrator, peace-keeper, decision-maker, hand-holder, encourager and the list goes on.  How do you get past that?

When faced with some thorny personnel issue, I wonder why you rarely see details on how other leaders resolve or deal with similar problems.  Business or leadership books often gloss over the details and this aspect of leadership doesn’t get a lot of praise.  It’s not as exciting as the snap decision in the boardroom or the quick and smooth change of a corporate direction.

So, I find that I turn to one example of leadership that I remember from my youth.  Probably the classic leader, he dealt with exciting and varying challenges every week and was a hero to many.  Of course, it didn’t hurt that his organization happened to be a starship – the USS Enterprise.  Yes, I am referring to Captain Kirk (which I saw in reruns lest you think I am older than I am).

When personnel challenges come along, I find myself thinking, “This never happened to Captain Kirk.”  For all the bickering between Dr. “Bones” McCoy and Mr. Spock, or Scotty’s worries about the Dilithium crystals, at the end of the day everyone came together and performed 100% to save the day.  One could say that they had to, as their lives depended on it.  But in modern business, everyone’s livelihood, if not life, is on the line.

The question then becomes how to coax that ‘starship’ level of performance out of each player in a modern workplace.  There are whiners and tattle-tales; those who complain and think that nothing is fair; jealousies and arguing, even backstabbing.  And of course, there are the stars who continually work and strive and the danger is that they will be forgotten, perhaps comparable to the Enterprise’s crew in the red shirts (you know how that always ended for them). 

Is it important how a leader or manager responds?  Can you ignore the human factors and barrel ahead towards your goals?  Spock might have done that as being only logical, ignoring human feelings and emotions.  On the other hand, Bones might go to the other extreme, focusing on the individuals.  Maybe Kirk is a good example after all.  At times, compassionate and human.  At other times, driven to achieve and protect his ship (read business) at all costs and complete his mission.

And that may be the real lesson and the ultimate answer.  Be mindful of the human factor, but don’t sway from your ultimate goals, whether saving the universe from Klingons or trying to turn a profit in tough times.  After all, as Spock said, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

              

Eric Smith, CPP is the leading authority on organizational self-defense.  He has extensive experience in law enforcement as well as security management.  Eric is available for staff education and security awareness training as well as business coaching to help organizations provide safe workplaces.  To learn more visit http://www.businesskarate.com/profile.html. 

Leaders Don't Have Autopilot

A leader has many roles – setting goals, inspiring others, developing strategy are some examples.  But the most important is keeping teams and individuals on track.  Without this ability, the other roles will never be met.  It is also the most difficult.  No matter the education level, or pay scale or task, keeping teams or departments and all the individuals that make them up on track is by far the most challenging job a leader has.

Shortly after I first moved into a management role, I had lunch with a former boss.  He asked me how I dealt with people always coming to me for assistance or questions or needing something.  I hadn’t talked about it, but realized just how right he was and how he must have had that in his role.  And, of course, I wondered about all the special requests that I had gone to him for in the past.

The idea stuck with me and I have grown to realize that leadership is all about people more than anything else.  Addressing the needs of customers, staff, direct reports and keeping the individuals on your teams working towards the same end is the real work at hand.

Throughout my management experiences, I have encountered a number of similarities, no matter the exact job or task involved.  Namely, as a leader you are constantly striving to keep your followers or employees on track.  You may have a set vision or destination in mind and specific steps needed to get there, but you can never lose sight of what your group needs.  Because no matter how carefully you’ve trained them, developed them or inspired them, people lose that vision and things fall apart.

               Individuals will find reasons to argue and debate and work against each other instead of working for each other and the common good.  It is not due to malice, at least not always, nor any kind of bad intention.  It is just natural that a group of people will all have different ideas on how to get things done or on what to focus on.

               As a department leader, I have seen supervisors with worries about handling difficult individuals.  Sometimes, it seems as if they are more worried about being popular than meeting goals.  Other times, they are more focused on having someone do things ‘their way.’  The result is that they lose focus on the goals and end up losing the respect of their own reports and can become overbearing themselves and lose any esteem they may have had.  But the common thing is that they seemed surprised at the challenge.  That is exactly what they are supposed to be dealing with.  Difficult individuals and their differences. 

               As a leader, you will always have a target on your back – people will focus on what you do or don’t do and watch what example you set.  This is where your focus on vision is essential – people will see what you are trying to accomplish and follow if they believe.

               As a leader, you must develop, nurture and grow that belief.  This is where your knowledge, experience and most important, your judgment, come into play.

               Once you’ve done that, you cannot sit back on cruise control or autopilot.  Your ship needs constant tending and tweaking.  Individuals will wander and falter.  This is what separates great leaders – keeping everyone on track.

               And that is the difference between true leaders and just managers.  Being able to negotiate the minefields of individual differences, emotions, jealousies, private goals and personalities is critical.  And for the true leader – you cannot let down your guard or coast on auto pilot.  Issues come up too fast and too frequently.  The best of teams will fall down.

               So turn off the autopilot and forget the cruise control and settle in for a long, and often, bumpy, but rewarding ride.