mission Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

29
Jun 20
-

Workplace Confusion, What’s Really Going On?

Tags : confusion effective teams mission statement stories

Do you know what’s really going on? The end of workplace confusion starts by understanding the story.

“Get buy-in for the changes we just discussed.”

Have you heard this one?

As people we want to understand the story.

Stories Lead the Way

Someone asks, “What’s the story on this?”

Employee teams expect an understandable answer. It is often how the buy-in process starts.

We often wonder about the story. Without the story we feel sort of lost.

What may be worse is that without the story people tend to make up a story. Their quest to understand prompts them to create a reason.

Cindy is late for work. Oh, I’ll bet her car battery died again.

New orders are down this week. The marketing plan isn’t working.

Why does the boss have her door closed? I’ll bet someone is getting fired.

Every time we don’t have a story, we can easily create one.

Do you want to end workplace confusion?

Workplace Confusion

Your organization should have a mission.

A succinct mission statement would not only be nice, it is needed. You should have a strategic plan, goals and objectives, and the team should understand and be prepared with tactics for the pursuit.

The absence of a succinct plan means someone is probably making up stories.

Worse, no one knows the real story. From manager to manager the story changes.

When you have a solid mission and strategic plan and follow the metrics and measurements as outlined in the plan, teams know the story.

Knowing the story and having a united effort to accomplish it, makes a difference. It ends the confusion about what is really going on.

Employees shouldn’t have to ask, “What’s the story?”

Leaders should be making it come to life.

End workplace confusion.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

29
Oct 19
-

Organizational Purpose is a Planned Path

Tags : leadership mission purpose strategy

Organizational purpose is the single most important aspect of getting to where you want to go. It is an expectation of leadership. Does everyone know your plan?

Create buy-in for the change.

Get everybody on-board.

Rally the troops.

One way to struggle is by not making the path clear. Another way is to state what you want as the end result, only the end result doesn’t connect with any specific mission.

Workplace leaders are sometimes baffled by the lack of understanding among employee teams.

Plan the Journey

When you board a plane headed to Dallas, Texas, you expect to touch down in Dallas, Texas. Where the plane is headed is announced in advance, your ticket matches, and you are usually briefed from the cockpit or steward.

It makes sense. You arrive in Dallas.

A different way is to decide you want to go to Dallas, only there isn’t a clear plan or path. You recognize you’re going to get on a plane, yet there is no specific way you’ll get there. You may decide to swing by Nashville, Las Vegas, Orlando, or Chicago.

Cost of this undefined trip isn’t known or understood. Timing is flexible or undetermined. You need to end up in Dallas, and you’ll get there but no one is sure of when.

When the purpose or the end result is unclear or when the objectives are not connected to the measurement of time anything can happen. It often does, or perhaps, a surprising outcome, nothing happens.

When you pick a movie from Netflix, you’re usually aware of the genre and the approximate length. Sign up for the workshop and you know the date, time, and location. You’ll also have an idea of the topic and length. Even your navigation system in your car sets some expectations.

Organizational Purpose

When your organizational purpose is more like a slogan don’t expect momentum to carry you through the tough spots.

Make lots of money.

Please every customer.

Just do it.

Slogan’s are important and are typically flexible by design. They are not a mission or a road map. They are more all encompassing rather than specific. A catch-all.

Don’t count on your organizational purpose being defined by a slogan.

Worse, who knows when or if you’ll ever achieve it.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

14
Feb 19
-

The Dreaded Performance Review

Tags : mission motivation performance review purpose value

Performance evaluations and reviews are a special opportunity in the workplace. Are they clouded with inappropriate feedback? Are you about to receive the dreaded performance review?

Golden Rules

There are a few golden rules. Sadly, many supervisors don’t have adequate training or preparation to create a scenario where the review helps, not hurts, future employee performance.

Some of the rules are simple. The review should not be about a opportunity to blast the employee for poor performance or shortcomings on goals and objectives.

If this is an annual or semi-annual review those shortcomings should have been addressed long ago.

However, the review should be about goals and objectives. It should include meaningful and valuable goals that are directly connected to the larger organizational mission.

The Agony

Why do people dread performance reviews?

There are probably at least several reasons. Here are a few:

They’ve had a bad experience in the past.
The team is chattering about upcoming reviews and citing how terrible that day will be.
There is little or no understanding of the real purpose of the review so they see no value.
Setting goals and objectives makes them accountable to change.
Their supervisor has identified that reviews are a meaningless waste of time.

You get the picture. One or more of these characteristics have plagued or undermined the true purpose and value associated with performance reviews in many organizations.

Dreaded Performance Review

If you are a supervisor you have a responsibility. You should also have a commitment to the success of every member of the team. Future employee motivation is likely directly connected to the successful performance review.

Consider that your team will react to their review. One way or another. Do you want the next six to twelve months to show positive performance improvement?

Above all, the success (or not) of everyone will largely be based on what happens next.

-DEG

Do you need help with creating a positive culture and experience connected to the employee performance review? Contact me.

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

09
Oct 18
-

Strategy Failures You May See Coming

Tags : failures mission strategic planning strategy time

Nearly everyone wants a good strategy. Being more strategic will pay off big when the strategy you plan for is the right strategy. Why do so many teams and businesses get sideswiped with strategy failures?

Planning Mistakes

The first mistake that many organizations make is that they hire the wrong strategy consultant (doing it internally, without external expertise, may also be a mistake).

Who is the wrong consultant? The consultant who believes he or she is the only one for the job and the consultant who believes strategic planning is about a SWOT analysis. Both are wrong.

Strategic planning includes much more than a SWOT, much more than asking about problems, and much more than suggesting do X and you’ll achieve Y.

One example is the strategy of how the business will use its time. Time is something you’ll never get back. Yes, you can start again but if the competition didn’t have to, good luck catching up.

Understanding Time

Restaurant owners understand time. Bad weather and nobody comes in for dinner. That revenue is lost forever. When your patrons choose to eat at home that is a meal you’ll never get back. The day is lost, the time is lost, gone.

The business that ships a commodity product understands time. When your customer waits the threat of the customer seeking a different vendor is pending. Being the quickest is likely linked to your brand. If it takes too long, business may be lost, gone, done. Forever.

Then there is the business that is built around value. The confusing part of value is understanding where you waste your time.

Value is subjective and having just enough is good. Doing more than enough could arguably be a waste of time. Working towards perfection takes time, and you’ll miss everyone who wants it the quickest.

Strategy Failures

Too many strategy planners get stuck in the moment of assessing what the company wants to do and confusing that with what the company needs to do.

Creating a clever mission statement is good. Stating you’ll become the best in your region, state, or the nation may be a want, but that has nothing to do with understanding how you’ll position for that achievement.

Don’t want to waste your time? Strategy failures often develop from the first mistake you make.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

25
Sep 18
-

Why Experiential Learning Matters In Your Workplace

Tags : experiential learning job descriptions lifelong learning mission

Do you have a path for growth? Are you leading employees in your workplace, and if so, how are you helping them develop? Experiential learning may be the missing link for the success you seek.

We’ve all heard it before. Heck, there is a good chance we have said it ourselves a few times.

I learn by doing it.

I’m a hands-on learner.

Experience matters more than textbook.

Experiential Learning

While there is some truth to the idea that we all learn differently much of our learning is based on the reflection of the task or action. Listening or seeing, engaging our senses is part of it, but our reflection makes the difference.

This is not necessarily the same as hands-on learning. Sometimes the words are used synonymously, however, differences exist. Experiential learning is based on learning by reflection.

Why This Matters

We can tell someone to wear safety equipment. They can even practice wearing it. If there is no reflective thought about why this matters it will have much less chance of becoming a positive habit.

This is exactly why job descriptions matter. Goals and objectives matter. Job descriptions connected to the department or organizational mission are the best. However, none of this will make a difference if the employee doesn’t make a psychological connection.

In simple terms, it is about why this task or duty matters.

“This is what I’m paid to do,” is not a connection with the task. It is a connection with the reward.

“I’ll get fired if I don’t,” is not a connection with the task. It is a connection with the punishment.

Leadership Assumptions

Many workplace leaders are in a leadership role because of their technical attributes. They have a proven track record of success in a specific business area. It may be technical skills or it may be intellectual contributions, or both.

One of the biggest challenges that organizations face is that they often focus too much on the technical aspects and not enough on the cognitive skills.

One question tells it all, “Are you interested in lifelong learning?”

If you believe you’ve mastered all that you need to know, you are likely right, you’re done.

-DEG

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

17
Jan 18
-

Doing Your Best Work and Getting Your Card Punched

Tags : best work card punched career mission skills

Chances are good that the job market in your area is very competitive. It may also be a possibility that opportunities for advancement within your organization are highly competitive. Are you doing your best work?

Career minded individuals certainly believe that they are.

Honing Your Skills

You work hard to hone your presentation skills. You intentionally put effort into networking and building relationships. In many cases you are continuing your education either formally or informally.

Simply put, you are career conscious and focused on growing.

All of this work. All of this effort seems like the right thing. You get your card punched every step of the way. You have the mechanics of career improvement covered, you’re positioned.

What often happens next is that you start worrying about the wrong things. You worry if you said something wrong at the luncheon. Perhaps you didn’t give enough kudos to the boss, or when the CEO asked a question you jumped in to answer but later felt that you gave a silly response.

Your Mission Objective

Your mission has been to build all the key ingredients and then get visible. It is a good plan. The only problem may be that it is the plan of many. So many that now you just blend in. You aren’t exceptionally special, unique, or the perfect fit. You are the same fit as everyone else.

As a result, you are not standing out. You are blending in.

Maybe it isn’t that hard. Maybe the card punch isn’t as important as you once believed.

Your Best Work

You might get hired without the degree, without the certification, or even without the perfect resume.

Sometimes getting the card punched is not as important as doing the work that you do. It is probably always a good idea, but it doesn’t make you stand out.

Great work on the other hand, usually does.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

15
Jul 14
-

Genuine is Smart

Tags : character Genuine mission smart

Genuine sells. People know when they are getting something genuine, not because someone says it is so, or because the marketing, literature, or propaganda say it is so. We have genuine parts, genuine draft [beer], and genuine authentic foods, but it doesn’t matter what they say, it matters when you know.

We are a product of our life experiences; buy, sell, trade, feedback, opportunities, success, and failures. Active people are interpreting data, analyzing feedback, and considering observations from others actions and behaviors. They learn, or they don’t.

It is the person who over does it, under does it, speaks nonsense, repetitively acts foolish, or uses others ideas as their own brand. They stand out, but not because they are great, because they are obvious.

Genuine is part of character, part of trust, and part of your success. Just like in marketing and advertising, you can have a good idea and spend too little, or a bad idea and spend too much. The idea that works and supports your mission is what you constantly seek. You strive for it because it is real, it is genuine.

Some will always want genuine, some are satisfied with a knock-off. When it comes to people, products, and services, genuine sells, genuine is smart.

Be genuine.

– DEG

Photo Credit: Mark Morgan

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: mission

Jun 20

-

Stories Lead the Way

Workplace Confusion

Oct 19

-

Plan the Journey

Organizational Purpose

Feb 19

-

Golden Rules

The Agony

Dreaded Performance Review

Oct 18

-

Planning Mistakes

Understanding Time

Strategy Failures

Sep 18

-

Experiential Learning

Why This Matters

Leadership Assumptions

Jan 18

-

Honing Your Skills

Your Mission Objective

Your Best Work

Jul 14

-

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