 | ASK ROXI
Please answer this one question survey so I know what's on your mind.
| Q:
If a good leader needs to treat everyone "fairly", does that mean that he/she treats everyone "the same?"
A: NO. In fact, treating everyone "the same" is the opposite of treating everyone "fairly."
Read on if you want more on this topic...
I expect you have heard of and/or experienced a situation where two people have the same/similar job title and pay, yet one is a high producer and the other is not. This gets much worse when the low producer gets paid more or has more "status." What rankles the high producer and others around the low producer most is if/when they "get away with it." In fact, one of the fastest paths to low morale in a team and organization happens when fairness gives way to sameness.
Sometimes this problem arises from misguided "kindness" or "loyalty." Often it is motivated by the leader's inability to engage in difficult conversations or deal with conflict. In the end, left unattended, your best people will get sick of it and either stop performing or leave. The worst performers will drag down the organization.
Fairness happens when everyone understands the expectations/rules/norms and holds themselves and each other accountable to them. Trust builds in that space and distrust builds when no one pays attention, particularly when the no one includes the leader.
In over 35 years of leading all kinds of people in all kinds of roles, including unionized staff, I have not had ONE law suit, a grievance, or an arbitration because I treated people fairly. The people who did experience those problems were often leaders who held no one accountable, held people to different standards, or held everyone accountable for the actions of a another(s).
Fairness has ALWAYS been one of our most deeply imbedded human barometers. We know fairness when we feel and see it - and we know it when we don't.
When you model and lead with transparent fairness, you will be trusted more. You will be respected and appreciated for your fairness, even from those who are not performing up to par.
********************************* LET ME KNOW YOUR QUESTION AND YOU MAY SEE IT HERE NEXT MONTH!! |
|
|
 |
Greetings!
Welcome back! What a perfect year to LEAP forward! I am so delighted with the positive responses so many of you sent me after the first "ASK ROXI" newsletter. Please keep your ideas and questions coming.
This month our focus is on Personal Accountability. It seems an appropriate topic after looking at Resilience last month. It may feel like we have a dearth of Personal Accountability within our culture and around the world. This is often a topic of conversations I'm hearing these days. And yet...I find that the leaders and teams I have worked with for so many years care deeply about their people, their results, their reputation, and their service to others. I know there are bad guys out there, and I also know most of us are the good guys.
I do believe we've developed some bad habits, gotten too busy to pay attention, and we are under a heck of a lot of stress from every direction. I'd like to help ease that a bit. Some timely reminders and tips about how to be more mindful of our thoughts, beliefs, actions, and feelings... can go a long way to help us focus on those things that can make us more effective in all our roles, particularly our leadership roles.
I received a question after the last newsletter. The genesis, if examined a bit, came as a result of someone choosing to or not to take personal accountability. So this month we are reminded that, "it all begins with me." |
|
LEADERSHIP INTENSIVE
5 days that will change your life...
We have a few partial Scholarships left if you register NOW! This is a GREAT opportunity to network and learn from other leaders who may share your challenges and help grow your insights...
|
| | Registration Deadline: March 15, 2012 (extended) |
|
PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY
We know it's true. Each of us is in charge of ourselves - our choices, actions, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and of course, our personal learning and development as leaders.
I had a head on collision with this reality last year when I realized, once again, only I could "own" the choices that led me down a path that was not at all where I wanted to go. Sure, I could easily have found someone or something to blame - like a headless bank, government, or corporation. And I would have had LOTS of company cheering me on, throwing arrows, many of them justified. I could have blamed a client for "not getting it" and in years past, my boss or my peers or my staff, but in the end - the choices I made and continue to make, have the biggest impact on my life and happiness. The good choices and the not so good choices. The fabulous news is - YOU are in charge. The not so fabulous news is that there is, ultimately, no one else.
John G. Miller, Cornell '80, wrote a book and founded an organization focusing squarely on this topic. The book "Personal Accountability" (Denver Press) was one of those books I had intended to read long ago, but didn't, until recently. It sat on the shelf in my office, staring at me, for a number of years. Timing is everything, they say. Yup - right book, right time. I've been teaching this concept to leaders for years, and still, I relearned and integrated some important insights from John's no nonsense approach.
Within the book are some powerful reminders and paradigm shifting thoughts. Here are three of his and my thoughts merging on this topic to help you reframe your thinking when things don't go quite as well as you hoped or expected. READ MORE... |
|
5 THINGS GREAT LEADERS DO A Few EQ (Emotional Quotient) Factors Give yourself a score: 1:Needs Attention 2: OK 3: Doesn't Need Attention - Read/understand own emotions and recognize the impact on self and others
- Know one's strengths and limits
- Know and have a good sense of one's self-worth and capability
- Think and act with optimism - seeing the "upside"
- See and seize opportunities for contributing to the greater good
|
5 THINGS FAILING LEADERS DO A few EQ (Emotional Quotient) Factors Give yourself a score: 1:Needs Attention 2: OK 3: Doesn't Need Attention - Discount others' emotions and perspective
- Miss key organizational clues, norms, decision networks and politics
- Blame others for outcomes
- Avoid dealing with and resolving conflicts
- Isolate self and/or team from others in the organization
A combined score of 30 is the highest possible and 10 is the lowest possible for all 10 items. How did you score yourself on these EQ factors? How would your staff/boss/peers answer these questions about you? How would your significant other and/or best friend score you? This is a good place to begin looking at where you want to boost your EQ and your leadership effectiveness. Next month there will be others to think about. |
|
|
I am glad to be in touch with you again this month. Please take a moment to join my email list so you will be sure to receive my monthly, "ASK ROXI" newsletter. Of course, you may always opt out anytime by unsubscribing (see below). As a reminder, you are most welcome to forward everything in this newsletter to anyone you think would enjoy and benefit from it. I was delighted to receive new requests this month to receive it. Let's keep 'er rollin'!
Please stay tuned for information about our VERY EXCITING and unique on-line Leadership Learning courses launching this fall. As I mentioned in January, we are building our program so it will be accessible and relevant for everyone, no matter where you are in your leadership journey. You will have choices about what, how much, and when you want to learn and practice. And it will feel like having your own personal leadership coach - at your pace in your space. On a larger scale, IMAGINE how great it would be to have a group of leaders on your team learning with each other and from each other. My goal is to create great accessibility to reliable, validated, proven TOOLS AND SKILLS that you can APPLY right away. Stay tuned to learn more! Warmest Wishes for an ABUNDANT Spring. See you next Month! |
 |
|
|
