There will come the time when you will have to fire someone in your organization. It can be one of the more discomforting aspects of management. Should you have to fire someone hopefully you won’t make the same type of mistakes that played out in last weeks firing of Shirley Sherrod.

If last weeks drama doesn’t become a case study for management students of how not to fire someone it should, what happen to Ms. Sherrod was clearly amateurish and all the senior level people involved should have known better. It’s amazing how people when under pressure will forget all reason and do what they think is expedient.

Managers at some point will have to fire people and it can be disheartening but if you follow some simple rules it can be a bit less painful and most of all a lot less embarrassing. The following rules – well let’s take line from Ghostbusters when Bill Murray quipped “more like guidelines – won’t make the process any easier but can give you a framework to work within.

1. Keep your composure, know the facts, and make no assumptions until you’ve had the opportunity to check and verify what do and don’t know. Based on all reports it’s clear that both the White House and NAACP did neither of these. Both the White House and the NAACP have sufficient experience between them to have known better, to have slowed the process down, and done some fact checking. For unexplained reasons both caved to pressure and shouldn’t have.

2. Never let people take you out of your game, never violate your own rules. The way Ms. Sherrod was fired was not normal. Asking someone to pull over to the side of the road and text in her resignation can’t be in anybody’s rule book when it comes to terminating any employee. This rush to fire her so she wouldn’t be a subject on the Glenn Beck show clearly showed they were being taken out of their game by FoxNews. Also, they were violating their own rules, before asking her to text in her resignation she was already put on administrative leave which is a normal part of their disciplinary process, but what appears to be self-imposed pressure the get her resign caused them to violate their own rules.

3. Oppose outside pressure that will cause you to rush to judgment, and object to any unsubstantiated claims of wrong doing without first checking everything out. Everyone involved in this decision allowed themselves to be swayed by the current events unfolding without checking the facts. As a manager you have a responsibility to slow the process down, you can see what happens when you don’t.

4. Wait there is no reason to rush judgment. Wait until you have all the facts. Had everyone waited and took time to look further, they would have discovered that the tape was edited and there was much more to the story than what was showed in the edited clip. Had people waited and asked if there was anything else, or what was the source of the tape, was anyone there, and what they knew about Ms. Sherrod, well, I wouldn’t be writing this post about how not to fire someone.

Firing someone is never fun, but at times necessary. So when you faced with this decision keeping you composure, not allowing the situation to take you off your game, and opposing the pressure to make a quick decision, and waiting to get as much information as you can before you make a decision is indeed showing that you KNOW what you’re doing so that when you do say to someone “you’re fired” you won’t have to back track and then say, “well maybe not.”

© Timothy A. Wilson 2010. All Rights Reserved

Last week a great number of people were caught up in what was considered a national event. Who would LeBron James sign with? It became a major media event where a number of people were watching. I’m safe in saying that when he said he was taking his talents to South Beach, there were cheers of joy in Miami and shouts anger in Cleveland. No doubt the fans of the Miami Heat basketball team have visions of championships along with a possible dynasty in the making with the talents that James, Bosh, and Wade all playing with each other.  These three (LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade) certainly have the talent but it remains to be seen if they can truly work and win as a team.

Each a star in their own right, the coaching staff is going to have to figure out how to best meld their talents together with the rest of team. While Wade, Bosh and James are going to have to determine how they’re going to handle their egos. The rest of the team is left with determining where they fit in, considering they have three superstar players in their midst. While some would consider having these three talented players a corner stone for the development of a super team, others would see it as a nightmare that won’t go away.

The fans in Miami see this as the beginning of a powerful dynasty – and it could be – management sees it as an expensive investment that must show an immediate return. The coaching staff as a challenging talent management issue that will call for some out-of-the box thinking when it comes to managing this level of talent. For those of us who are students of organizational development and dynamics this is a real life laboratory in which we can see how all the components of organizational theory, team development, group dynamics and goal setting theory work for real.

Initially I thought the announcement of where LeBron James would end up was of little interest to me, but after further consideration I’m beginning to see it in a completely different light. So when they play the Celtics I’m going to watch these games from the viewpoint of what I can learn from a consultant’s perspective. Well at least that’s what I’m going to tell my wife.

© Timothy A. Wilson 2010. All Rights Reserved.

By now many have read or seen on the news the story about the Russian spies who have been here for decades. What is fascinating about this story is how in plain site they were. In the city of Cambridge neighbors were completely baffled when told they had two Russian spies among their mist. But that’s to be expected of Cambridge.

I suspect what surprises people the most is these alleged spies didn’t behave as we think spies should. They weren’t the suave debonair James Bond type we have imprinted in our consciousness. They looked and acted like everyday people. So when we read about their being captured and their supposedly spy activity it’s surprising to say the least.

As I follow this story, I find a similarity when workers come across a real manager. I mean most people have become so accustom to people who hold the title of manager but are anything but, when they meet or work for someone who is truly a manager it comes as complete surprise to them.

For many they work for managers who only know how to bark orders, take credit for other people’s work, complain about their superiors, and give their subordinates a hard time about everything. When approached with ideas on possible improvements, instead of embracing them, they respond with “that’s not how we do things here” or “you’re paid to perform not think.” Or they talk about accountability only when something goes wrong and are looking for someone to throw under the bus for their lack of oversight. When it comes time for doing people’s performance reviews, they are always late, remember only the mistakes, or can’t remember what the person did for the year.

Again it’s comes as a complete surprise when you work for someone who is completely opposite of the conventional manager many have come to work for. The type of managers I’m speaking of see their people as part of an overall team and it’s through them is that things get done.

They aren’t worried about who gets the credit because it’s truly a team effort. They take time to meet with all members of their staff, and listen to what they have to say and empower them to make reasonable changes of the work processes as long as they don’t impact performance negatively. Performance reviews are not only on time, but scheduled well in advance to allow for meaningful discussion. During this time there are no surprises it’s an honest and open dialogue about things you did well and the areas that require improvement along with straightforward suggestions on how you can improve.

When managers of this type suddenly appear on the scene it’s a complete surprise to everyone, it catches people completely off guard, conventional they’re not.

What’s even more amazing is the fact they are in our midst and people don’t know it.  What a shame.

David Morales an eight year old adorned a baseball cap with some of his toy soldiers and wore it to school as part of his show and tell presentation in support of the troops. For that he was told he couldn’t were the hat because it violated the school zero tolerance policy around weapons.

Any of you familiar these small plastic figures – that have been around for years – fully understand that this claim is as ridiculous as they come.  You would think any teacher would have the common sense to know these figures offer no threat of violence and that their little rifles are completely incapable of firing a shot.

When I read about this I remembered my childhood and how I use to carry one of my favorite toy soldiers with me, that had a flame thrower. I can only image what would happen to me if today’s rules applied when I was David’s age. For that matter, some of the pictures I drew of pretend battle scenes would have clearly been my invitation to have a front row seat in the school’s psychologist office. I can only think it was because I grew up during the Korean Conflict – the war that wasn’t a war.

One has to ask are these teachers so lacking of common sense they are incapable of thinking about what truly constitutes a weapon that would meet the criteria they claimed these toy soldiers did. In his blog Alan Weiss refers to it as “dumb-ass stupid management.”  Not only do I agree, but it is as General Honore said “it’s being stuck on stupid.” You’re stuck on stupid when you look at a three inch toy and equate that toy to a violation of a zero weapons tolerance policy which is clearly designed and developed to deal with real weapons.

I would like to think that our teachers, our educators understand the concept of critical thinking you know the ability to assess and comprehend a situation and apply a logical and reasonable solution to addressing the problem facing them. But this most recent example clearly demonstrates those we call teachers are in tremendous need of being taught not only the concepts of critical thinking but need a heavy dose of common sense added to the process.

However, we may have ourselves to blame. For every David Morales story, there are stories about parents coming in to challenge the teachers about a grade given to their precious little Johnny or Suzy saying it will impact their ability to get into Harvard even though their kid is only in the second grade.

As ridiculous this story is, we have to get back to having some level of reason in how we train our teachers and how we act toward them. What happen to David Morales, is beyond ridiculous, common sense must prevail, for if it doesn’t we’re going to continue to be stuck on stupid.

Like so many others I’ve been watching events unfold around the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s by far the worst ecological disaster we’ve faced. The Exxon Valdez that everyone is using as a bench mark palls in comparison. But as expected those who dislike this president couldn’t wait to make the Katarina comparison. One has to wonder, are they so angry at losing the election that any misstep Obama takes is the justification for all the vitriol hurled his way? To be balanced, some of his supporters have no claim to impartiality, a number of them have climbed on the bandwagon of criticism.

What has transpired over the last 44 days is indeed dreadful. I understand that the people of Louisiana are worried, and angry. It seems they have been the victims of one catastrophic event after another that would drain the life fiber from even the stoutest of people. So their anger is understandable, and it’s also reasonable they feel the president should be taking the lead in dealing with this problem. Wanting the president to show more emotion, to express anger would no doubt make them feel good. People feel that if their leader demonstrates some level of emotion it’s indicative of his caring, his understanding about their problem it would make him seem less “Spock” like.

But to read the papers or watch the talking heads opine about the president’s lack of emotion, or failing to understand the “optics” of the situation, you wonder if what people want is for him to enact his version of the Klingon death howl. Now that would be a sight and we would see it in an endless loop on all the cable news shows with the crawl moving across the screen saying the president loses his cool. People want him to drop his Spock like approach and embrace the Kirk personality and like Kirk call on Scotty to find some solution that will plug the leak.

There-in-lies the paradox show some emotion but the solution to the problem has to be logical and make everyone whole. One problem, logic and emotion don’t always work well together. One has to be suborned to the other. Emotion clouds judgment.

Leadership and management place you in the decision making arena. Many of the decisions you make will significantly impact people who report to you. Leaders who allow their emotions to surface can place themselves in difficult situations. They could say or do something that exacerbates the situation instead of providing a solution.

Then there is the possibility of being seen as weak because emotions are not associated with people of power or those who are in charge. It’s not to say that one shouldn’t show anger or rage, but it has to be justified anger or rage, it can’t just be done for show. And here lies the problem with the president. He doesn’t want to do things just for show, for the thirty-second sound bite. His approach is to collect the as much data as possible, look at the totality of the situation, and present the best possible solution that invokes the greatest good for all not just the one, clearly a Spock like approach to dealing with a problem.

In his new book The Promise, Jonathan Alter explains how the president seems to have clearly demonstrated his management skills, an area many thought he would have a problem with because of his lack of actual management experience and ace the communication area. But for some reason he’s having a problem communicating effectively with the country. He’s too Spock like for them. Too Spock like, why that is a problem is unclear to me, this situation clearly calls for level thinking, unemotional thinking, anger – while justified – will not get the well plugged. People want him to emote, but who are these people?

The people who want him show more emotion, are the pundits and his opponents. Those calling for him to be less Spock like – remember Bones and his insults – is either looking for a story or something else to attack him on. Could the president be more empathic, many believe he can and will. I for one am ok with they way he is, I have no problem understanding him, but that’s because I remember the episode when Spock became emotional, and it was a pretty site.

Maybe people should be careful what they ask for.

© Timothy A. Wilson All Rights Reserved

As we prepare to celebrate Memorial Day, I’m reminded of how it was done back home in Syracuse. There would be those who would visit the cemeteries to place flags on the graves of solders, along with the official proclamations by the mayor. But what I remember most of all was the parade. Twice a year the city had a parade, Memorial Day and Veterans Day. It was an awesome thing to see when you were young. I remember the solders marching past in their uniforms and at time thinking how cool it would be to be a solider. I never really thought about the reason for the parade and why they were marching. When you’re young you don’t think about the reality of being a soldier and the wars that they fought and the anguish they were part of and witnessed. You just saw the fancy uniforms and how they marched in perfect unison. Now that I’m older and have had the opportunity to understand the true meaning behind Memorial Day I can’t help but be in awe of those who fought and died so that we can enjoy the freedom we have.

As a history buff, I have often lost myself in reading about famous battles such as the battle at Thermopylae, the Alamo, Gettysburg, Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Bulge. The fact that there were men who were willing to give their lives in the support and belief in freedom can’t shouldn’t be lost. While for some Memorial Day, signifies the unofficial start of summer, it’s still a time for us to reflect on what being a soldier means. I won’t spend a lot of time discussing it but suffice it to say those who make a choice to put their lives on hold and put on a uniform do command our respect. When we consider that today we have an all volunteer army it’s is indeed astonishing that young men and women are willing to step forward and do what they do. 

While May 5, 1868 is said to be the official establishment of Memorial Day it was actually celebrated on the 30th of May that same year. Each state and town has it way of celebrating it with the most common of laying of flowers on the graves of soldiers. While we think and remember those who have fallen, we must also consider and remember those who are still in harm’s way. There are thousands who are away from friends and families, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, faithfully serving and standing guard so we may happily attend our backyard barbeques and family gatherings. I don’t think they begrudge us enjoying ourselves, in fact I think they wouldn’t have it any other way, perhaps wishing they could be home with their family and fiends enjoying the celebration.

So when you lift that beer, or take a bite of that hotdog, take a brief moment to thank those who aren’t able to be with their family. Just take a small moment in time to think about what they are doing and have done to allow us the freedom we sometimes take for granted.  I don’t say this to make you feel bad, just to cause you to consider that we pay a price for everything we have and we should take nothing for granted. We have our freedom because there were those who answered the call when those freedoms were threaten and were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that we could continue our way of life.

Keep not only those who laid down their lives in your thoughts, but also those who still live and stand tall, and pray they may return home to their families safely.

Happy Memorial Day and enjoy your summer.

What is with people and cell phones? Why do they think everyone wants to here their business? I’m sitting in a coffee shop and getting the full low down of some woman’s entire wedding plans as she is discussing all the inane details with a friend for everyone to hear. Why she doesn’t take this call outside is beyond anyone’s comprehension.

Right now I know about how a member of the groom’s family will be making special dishes for only some people of the wedding party and not others, that her husband to be is upset with her for warning people about his nefarious womanizing brother.  Not to mention where they will be staying and when they will be living for their honeymoon. This is information that I don’t need in my life but because of her misguided belief that she thinks everyone should know she is getting married she is inflicting this protracted self-inflating conversation on those of us who just want to enjoy our coffee check our email,  or read the newspaper.

I’m not advocating for the elimination of cell phones. It’s just that the ubiquitous use of them has resulted in people suffering under the delusion that somehow any call they get on their cell phone is one that needs to be shared with all within earshot. I’m convinced this has happened because cell phones themselves are relatively cheap and just about everyone has one. There was a time when they were the toys of the rich not to mention the size of a brick. In fact that’s what the first portable cell phone looked like a brick with an antenna sticking out. You had to have money to afford the phone and pay the roaming charges.

I suppose we can blame Star Trek because all the phones look like the communicators Capitan Kirk and Mr. Spock carried. But since Star Trek was one of my favorite shows, I refuse to blame them for the crassness of some people who just don’t have the common sense to realize that those around them really don’t want to know that Aunt Bessie is coming to the wedding. After all they only used their communicators as intended to have Scotty beam them up. Which gives me an idea, maybe there is an app I can download on my phone that will allow me to beam this person to a location where someone will really want to hear what she has to say. If only.

© Timothy A. Wilson All Rights Reserved

Recently I wrote about the doorman strike in New York. In a recently published Op-Ed piece in the New York Times James Collins pointed out: “they provide an extra layer of face-to-face social connection that is not strictly “necessary,” but is tremendously gratifying nonetheless.” These comments reminded me of statements I’ve heard about top managers and company leaders.

Similar to tenants who depend on their doormen for that “face-to-face social connection” a growing number of senior managers have defaulted to their staffs looking to them to provide that level of connection with employees, becoming overly dependant on carefully scrubbed management reports, or on surveys results that rarely are enacted.

While the size of the company can be a factor that prevents senior management from getting to know all their employees, it doesn’t prevent them from gaining an understanding about what their employees have to deal with while working at for their company perhaps taking a hint from the CBS program Undercover Boss would provide some guidance and assistance in that area.  

This show provides a great example of CEO’s of well known companies going out into the field – undercover – to find out what it’s like for the people who work for them. No filtering of information they are getting it straight the real deal as one would say.

If you’re a leader in your company getting to know what you’re people have to deal with on a daily basis just to meet the demands you put forth to help make the company profitable is extremely valuable. Having that information filter through doorman like managers is a luxury that you should skip because there is nothing like getting it directly trust me, you’ll be much better leader and manager.

© Timothy A. Wilson All Rights Reserved.

Well it appears that the doormen of New York have won. According to DNAinfo.com an agreement has been reached that will grant a 10% wage increase along with a 20% increase to their benefits. It seems those who live in buildings that have doormen won’t have to sort through mail, screen guests, or take out their own trash. For those of us who don’t live in buildings that have doormen we might find this entire situation amusing. I admit that I do. But let me shed a different light on the subject.

Perhaps if we looked at it from viewpoint of employees losing the services of a group of people they depended on and they now have to do the work of that group. It may be that they can do the work but is it a good use of their time? Is it cost effective to have them take on this additional responsibility? If you have a group that is highly productive, what happens to that productivity by adding a set of disjointed responsibilities to the mix?

Ok am I reaching here? Yes I am I just find this story downright funny. Regardless of what these people are used to or that having a doorman is included in their rent or condo fees, it’s just downright funny to me to think this people are worried about having to take out their own trash, sort their mail, or hail their own cab. But as I’ve already said in an earlier post, only in New York.

© Timothy A. Wilson. All Rights Reserved

Peter Drucker coined the term “knowledge workers” long before it became fashionable in today’s business lexicon.  In The Daily Drucker 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting The Right Things Done, he points out that “knowledge workers will have to manage themselves, they will have to place themselves where they can make the greatest contribution.”  Anyone who considers himself or herself a knowledge worker needs to understand who they are, what their strengths are, what are their values, how they can work to achieve results, where do they belong, and where don’t they belong.  As important as these aspects are toward becoming a knowledge worker, the most important aspect is having good and consistent feedback so you as a knowledge worker can work to improve and get better.  This means, getting clear and specific communication on what you need to improve upon.

For most people who work in the corporate arena this feedback is supposed to come from your direct supervisor or manager.  However, the ability to give meaningful and constructive feedback to a subordinate is something that many supervisors and managers find very difficult.  Too often, when supervisors or managers attempt to provide constructive feedback, the message is vague, mixed, unsubstantiated, or so convoluted the receiver requires Solomon like wisdom to understand the message.  This doesn’t work for a knowledge worker.   The knowledge worker needs feedback that is clear and concise, so they can initiate appropriate action. 

If you are a supervisor or manager who have knowledge workers working for you, you need to hold yourself accountable for making sure you deliver feedback that is clear and concise, and not subject to misinterpretation.  As a knowledge worker, you are also accountable for letting your supervisor or manager know how to provide you with useful feedback.  By insuring you’re, getting feedback you can use allows you to analyze the information, so you can make appropriate decisions on the projects you and your team are working and you can place yourself where you can make the greatest contribution.

This allows the knowledge worker, supervisor, and manager to ACT R.I.G.H.T™ in your respective organizations.

 © Timothy A. Wilson 2010. All Rights Reserved.