Low Trust Environment

Yesterday I shared with you a scene I witnessed recently and asked what you thought had caused such a scene.

Photo courtesy of sshtroumpfy, Some Rights Reserved



If you missed yesterday's post, read it here.

Here is my opinion as to why the meeting went the way it did:

Short Answer: Low trust environment.

It's my opinion that if you were to ask these drivers why they responded how they did, they would tell you that the management cares very little about them, that all they care about is the bottom line. They would share this or that experience of when management broke a promise or somehow wronged them.

Is this accurate?

I don't know. It doesn't matter, perception is reality.

If you were to ask management they would probably tell you that the drivers had poor attitudes. That they had addressed complaints and don't understand why the drivers didn't appreciate the improvements that had been implemented.

Do they have a point?

Who knows. Again, it doesn't matter, perception is reality.

Neither side trusts the other's intentions, and therefore a seemingly simple form designed to improve efficiency, increase profits, and benefit, everyone serves as a wedge to drive the manager and the team he is trying to lead further apart.

This speaks to the importance of creating the correct company culture.  (Insert any of a million Chris LoCurto comments about culture here...)

If a culture of mutual trust and respect is not present, neither side will ever trust the other's intentions.

Now my question to you:

If you are in management in this position, what do you do to diffuse the situation and begin to improve the company culture?



Please share these posts with your friends, family and associates.

Twitter: @Skropp2

Where I am at today...

Hello friends, thanks so much for visiting my blog.  Today I have the great honor to be guest posting on Chris LoCurto's blog . Chris is a VP in Dave Ramsey's organization, as well as the host of the chart-topping Entreleadership Podcast!  He speaks and counsels business owners nationwide and I am proud and honored to consider him a friend. 

Sadly, I wish the circumstances were different.  Chris' step-daughter Chelsea had a brain aneurysm last week and has been in the hospital since.  So our thoughts and prayers are definitely with Chris and his family at this time. 

I am grateful for this opportunity to serve Chris during this trying time by guest posting on his blog so he can focus on taking care of his family!

So please head on over to www.ChrisLoCurto.com and check out my guest post: "A Four Year Old Could Do It."

If You're New

If you are visiting my blog today because you read my guest post, thanks for stopping by!  You have great taste in blogs to follow (Chris' obviously!). 

Feel free to check out my About page to learn a little more about me. 

During the week I blog about leadership, business, etc.  Here are some of my favorite posts:

We Hired You To Be A Leader

You Don't Matter

3 Benefits of Worrying

Leadership Lessons From the Saddle


On the weekends I've been doing a weekend blog series about another interest of mine, that is my personal faith.  I am a Mormon.  My weekend series is called "Ask a Mormon".  Each week I take a question that a reader has submitted about Mormons and I answer it. 

I give you straight answers about what we believe, why I believe it, and how we act because of it.  I don't push my religion.  I know by learning more about our respective faiths, you and I can become better friends, neighbors and/or twitter pals. 

So here are a few of my favorite "Ask a Mormon" posts if you want to check them out.  If you dont, no problem, please hang around for my weekday posts on leadership!

Mormon Misconceptions

Your Mission If You Choose to Accept It

What is The Book of Mormon?

Do You Worship Joseph Smith?

Thanks Again

Thanks again for stopping by! I hope you'll find some information of value.  If you do, please share my blog with your friends and followers as well! 

I'd also bring your attention to some other fantastic bloggers I follow.  The links are on the left hand side of my blog!  They rock and you'll really enjoy what they have to say! 

See ya around!



Twitter: @Skropp2

Do You Respect Your Mentor?

Full Disclosure:

I have only been meeting with a mentor for about 3 months, on a monthly basis.  I am not an expert mentor, nor an expert mentee. 

My purpose in the following post is simply to share with you some suggestions and ideas that I am trying to implement into my relationship with my mentor that I believe will make it more beneficial--and I hope you can take some of the suggestions and utilize them as you will!

Stuck!

To begin, let me share with you why I decided to have a mentor.  This past year I have felt stuck.  I dont mean just stuck, I mean STUCK!!!!! And to be sure that you and I are on the same page with that, I'm talking good ol' country boy, mud boggin', burried to the axles, wheels spinnin', mud flyin' everywhere, STUCK!! Got the picture now?  If not, here's one for ya:

 

Photo courtesy of margaretkilljoy, Some Rights Reserved

 

 

Stuck.  Now you get it, right? Anyways, I felt stuck and kept thinking that I needed to find a mentor.  Someone smarter than me, more successful than me, better looking than me (well, I could at least shoot for the first two!). 

 

The final push was a blog post by Mr. Chris LoCurto posted about the same time titled, "Why You Need A Mentor". 

 

Now, maybe it's just me, but sometimes I feel like God is just hiding around the corner with a two-by-four, waiting for me to walk by; and when I do... 

 

WHACK!!!!!

Upside the head. 

 

That's kinda how I felt when I read his blog post.  That post seemed to be God saying "You need to get a mentor Ding Dong!" (I'm dense enough I don't think its too far of a stretch to think God may just call me a "ding dong" at times...) 

 

So I sent a text to a friend of mine that I'd been wanting to ask to be my mentor and asked if he'd be willing to sit down with me regularly and share with me some of his vast knowledge.  He readily agreed.  And THAT is how I began my mentoring relationship. 

 

Making the most of Mentoring

One thing that I believe is very important is to respect your mentor's time.  They are doing you a HUGE favor by being willing to meet with and counsel you. 

 

For this reason, here are a few things that I have tried to do, and am trying to implement, to make the most out of the time with my mentor. 

 

1.    Time limit

Dont let your mentoring sessions drag on like a freakin' Major League baseball game (I'm not a baseball fan, I'd rather endure Chinese water torture while laying on a bed of cacti in my skivvies than watch a baseball game!). In my (amateur) opinion 60 minutes is long enough for a mentoring session, maybe 90.  Have a time in mind and ask your mentor if that is acceptable.  Then when you are there STICK TO IT!!! Your mentor is busy with their own life, don't take all their time or they will dread meeting with you.     

 

2.    Come prepared with Questions 

Don't try to "wing" your mentoring session.  If his knowledge, expertise and insight are valuable enough for you to want to learn from him, his time is too valuable to be wasted in a conversation that has no focus or direction.  Come with 3-4 questions that you want answered, it'll assure that the time is not wasted.

 

3.    Share your goals

A week before our first mentoring session, I emailed a list of goals I'd set for myself to my mentor to review.  We discussed them at that first session.  Sharing your goals gives your mentor insight into where you desire to go.  This will allow your mentor to help you work towards and achieve those goals.  It also shows the level of trust and respect you have for him as your mentor that you are willing to share your personal goals. 

 

 

4.   Ask for an assignment

Ask your mentor what she would recommend you do between now and your next meeting to incorporate the things you talked about into your life.  This shows that you have a desire to change and grow, and that you take seriously the counsel that she is giving you.

 

5.   Return and report

When you come to your next meeting report how you have done on the things you discussed the time before.  Discuss how you did on the assignments you accepted, what went well, what you could improve.  Ask follow up questions to clarify principles you discussed.  Being ready and willing to report on your successes and failures is evidence of your desire to learn and grow.

 

6.   Show gratitude

If you meet at a restaurant and have lunch or breakfast, pick up the tab.  Shoot your mentor a text or email afterwards thanking them for their time and insight.  I wrote a letter to Jason's wife and kids.  In the letter I told them that I wanted them to know what a great guy their husband and father was.  I told them that I knew they must make alot of sacrifices with as busy as he is, and that I, for one, was grateful to them for their sacrifice so he could spend a little time with me every month.  I got a text the next week saying thanks for the letter and that it had brought him to tears.  Gratitude goes a long ways.

 

 

What it comes down to...

Making the most out of the time you have with your mentor really comes down to one thing.  Respect and appreciate your mentor and their time.  If you will do these six things, you will get more out of your mentoring sessions, your mentor will be more engaged in mentoring you, and both of you will grow and develop in ways that would not be possible without your relationship. 

 

I hope implementing these suggestions will help you.  I am looking forward to implementing them in my own life with my mentor. 

 

If you don't have a mentor that you are meeting with regularly, I would strongly recommend finding one!  Read "Why You Need A Mentor" if you still aren't convinced of the importance of such a relationship. 

 

 

 

Question: What do you do to make the most of the time you spend with your mentor(s)?

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to peruse this blog! If you've found this information timely and beneficial, please share it with others!

 

 

 

Twitter: @Skropp2



Gathering Your Thoughts When You Have No Idea

Cool Ideas

 If you're like me, you get some way cool ideas on a fairly frequent basis...
 
What!!? You don't?
 
Ooohhh, let me guess,

 

You're one of THOSE people that thinks that everyone around them gets awesome ideas but you never do?
 
I used to think I didn't either. But do you know what I've found?

 

We ALL get them, but most of the time, we choose to dismiss them before we consciously realize we had one! 
 

Dismissing Ideas

 

Why do we dismiss them?  

I don't know, it's kind of silly, in all honesty.

If we listened to all the ideas we had and acted on one or two, you and I would've probably ran into Chris a couple months ago on some remote Caribbean beach just down from where we anchored our yacht! (If that's your thing...my point: we could be wealthy!)
 
Having great ideas is vital in business, leadership, and personal life.
 
I believe that you're smart. I believe you have a unique perspective of the world and that with your perspective and skills you could improve the lives of countless people! Your ideas are valuable! And they are right there in YOUR BRAIN!!
 

So how do we capture these ideas?

 
1. Be Aware: Pay attention to what you're thinking. Some of your best ideas will come when you are supposedly "not thinking". Proactively ask yourself what you are thinking about.
 
2. Write it Down. Committing your ideas to paper conveys to God (and your subconscious) that you value those ideas. When I show my wife I value her cooking, I typically get to enjoy MORE great food. The same applies here: Assign value to your ideas and you'll begin to receive and recognize more fantastic ideas!
 
3. Sundown Rule. Before the sun goes down the next day, share your idea with someone. Your spouse, children, close friend, mentor--someone! Articulating your idea out loud will clarify your idea and spark other related ideas in your mind and from those with whom you share them.

4. Come back to them. Keep all your ideas (good, bad, or ugly) in a note book or on 3x5 cards. Go back and review each idea once every couple weeks or each month. Some time may give you added perspective on an idea.
 
5. Act! You may have no idea how to bring your idea to fruition, but don't let that stop you! Take a cue from Andy Andrews. Andy says if he doesn't know what to do he asks himself this question:

"I know you don't know what to do, but if you DID know what to do, what would you do RIGHT NOW? (emphasis added)

Then make plans to do that one thing with your idea right away. Research the idea. Write a blog post about it. Do a brainstorming session. Seek further counsel.
 
YOU are intelligent. YOU have great ideas. You just need to convince yourself of as much!
 

 

Question: What do you do to recognize and develop new ideas each day?

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings! Please pass them along to your friends, family and associates if you find them valuable!



Twitter: @Skropp2

 

We Hired You to Be a Leader

We Hired You to Be a Leader

In a previous post I talked about an interview Chris LoCurto did with Joe Scarlett, former CEO of Tractor Supply Company for the EntreLeadership Podcast. If you haven't listened to the podcast, do yourself a favor and click here to listen (be sure to scroll to the bottom to listen to the bonus interview!)!

In the interview, Joe talks about his love of delegation. Bragging (rightfully so, in my opinion) that he had delegated so well that as CEO he made very few actual decisions.

Photo courtesy of Mays Business School, Some Rights Reserved

He told a story about when he was a young leader in an department store in charge of closing the store. In order to get finished he rolled up his sleeves and began emptying garbage cans etc. While do so the store manager came to him and said, in effect, "We didn't hire you to empty the garbage, we hired you to lead. "

What a profound statement. Joe said that after that delegation became his middle name!! He says if you learn to delegate you'll never become a workaholic.

Delegation

Delegation is the key to keeping balance in your life. Joe says living a balanced life and not letting work take over is a mindset. He says you must do 4 things well:

1. Build good teams

2. Delegate responsibility

3. Trust people to get the job done

4. Set up checkpoints to make sure things stay on track.

his definitive statement on delegation was:

"if you can't delegate responsibility you can't move up the ladder."

Question: What is your view of delegation? How can you delegate so you can be a more effective leader?


If you enjoy these posts please share them in your social circles! 



Twitter: @Skropp2

What Do Tractors Have to do With Leadership?

What Do Tractors Have to do With Leadership?

A lot if you're Joe Scarlett.

Photo Courtesy of www.joescarlett.com 

Mr. Scarlett is the retired CEO of Tractor Supply Company and founder of th Scarlett Leadership Institute. Recently Mr. Scarlett was interviewed by Chris LoCurto for Dave Ramsey's EntreLeaderhip podcast. I would strongly recommend listening to the whole interview. You can find it, along with a bonus interview with Mr. Scarlett here.

I could write 5 blog posts on the information in the interview, and I just may. But for today I want to share the 5 things Mr. Scarlett advised aspiring leaders to do to prepare for leadership.

Prepare for Leadership

1. Set Clear direction

"Do the people that work for me, do they clearly know where we are going?" 

 Know where you're going, know where your organization is going. Be able to convey that direction to your team members.

2. Delegate

"If you're micromanaging, forget about it, I'm not gonna promote you."

Mr. Scarlett spent a lot of time on delegation. He said the ability to delegate is one of the most essential skills of a leader. If you can't delegate your success is limited to only what you can personally do.

3. Humility

"Do you have a big ego? If you really think you're great, you can stay where you are!"

Being humble is an critical to being a great leader. 

4. Communication

"The further up the ladder you get, the more important communication becomes."

Always be honing your communication skills, verbal, written etc. know how I give a speech, write a report, pitch an idea to the Board of Directors, etc.

5. Be a cheerleader

"Be the first one to recognize performance."

Be a positive uplifting influence. Be the first to praise and encourage. Celebrate success. Smile

This was just one small portion of a fantastic interview. Again, click here to listen in its entirety.



Question: What are you doing today to prepare for greater leadership opportunities?



If you just LOVE these posts (or even moderately like them) please pass them along to friends, family and colleagues!

Twitter: @Skropp2