Now I Know How Bruce Springsteen Feels (well, sort of)

I was a little taken aback, and was somewhat embarrassed, by the response of the audience on Saturday when I closed my keynote address in front of 1,500 people.  This was more than the usual polite applause and then, gradually, some in the auditorium began to stand (I’m still awaiting the official photos from the event, which I will certainly post when they arrive.).

The event, the 2009 Northern California Career & Leadership Summit at the Community Presbyterian Church in Danville, CA is in its 7th year, and I was one of three speakers on the program.

How does one respond to a “standing ovation” if one has never been the recipient of such a response. It was a little uncomfortable, to say the least, but a learning experience for which I look forward to applying again soon, hopefully.

It is certainly a rush to complete a performance knowing you gave 100%, connected with a large group of people and very well may have significantly inspired some in that group to do something different afterward.  

For 33 years and 62 live performances, Bruce Springsteen, has done that for me. Now I know how Bruce feels (somewhat) as he stands on stage, holding the hands of his bandmates taking that final bow before they leave the stage. I also now understand why he plays live so often and has historically played marathon concerts, its a rush to have other people enamored with what you are providing them.

A lot of lessons learned in this process that I’ll be writing about over the next few days and weeks. I have to prepare for another presentation, a somewhat smaller venue of a conference room and 25 workshop participants on Wednesday.  Just like Bruce, whether its 25, 2500, or 25,000 I’m committed to giving 100% each time out!

Much thanks goes out to four very special people, professional mentors who helped make this success possible (or necessary as Yogi Berra once said), and have me excited to pursue the next opportunity:

Dr. Shirley Garrett - (www.ShirleyGarrett.com) my most immediate speaking/performance coach, who helped me craft the speech over a weekend intensive and then worked with me to tweak it over the ensuing two months. Shirley also helped with specific stage performance and delivery tips that were invaluable, as was her wonderful wordsmithing and on-going encouragement and support.

Jane Atkinson - (www.SpeakerLauncher.com) I’ve been a member of Jane’s Club Quick Start, a monthly coaching program that has been a consistent development tool for the last 7 months. Thanks to Jane’s program I selected my focused lane “Helping Leaders Create Champion Organizations,” my new brand. Without that decision early on in the Club Quick Start program, my message for this keynote would not have been as focused and inspiring as it turned out to be. This blog is a testament to my work in her program.

David Greenberg - (www.SimplySpeakingInc.com) My original speaking coach from 2 1/2 years ago who got me started on livening up my presentations. Although progress since our sessions 30 months ago has been slower than I would have liked, David has been a constant inspiration, resource and friend for me. I appreciate his candidness and professionalism to refer me to Shirley Garrett shortly after reaching out to  him to help me with this project.

Dr. Alan Weiss - (www.SummitConsulting.com  www.ContrarianConsulting.com ) Alan may be the most intelligent and most challenging personality I’ve ever come across in my life but I have to thank him for his constant push to exceed the limits we all place on ourselves getting to the next level. Before attending his Million Dollar Consulting College two years ago (where the original concept of this Champion Organizations brand was birthed) I never would have imagined believing I could present to an audience of this size and get the results I did. Alan has no idea of the impact he has had on my growth in the last three years but his is a constant inner voice that has a strong tendency to override the critical one inside my head, allowing me to continually stretch my comfort zone!

I highly recommend each of these professional speaking and consulting resources above.

Whose Fault Is Poor Employee Performance, Anyway? It's the Leadership…Always!

I hear on a regular basis how business leaders are frustrated with the level of responsibility and ownership employees take on the job. It’s my belief that this phenomenon is always the fault of the business leaders who are complaining about this to me.

That may sound harsh and it may sound too much of a global generalization but  we have to start somewhere and this is the premise I’ve found that gets the best results for my clients.

Many small businesses, and a lot of large companies, fall short of having the performance management systems that are one-third of the tripod strategies necessary to create champion organizations, the other two being a) a compelling Vision & Strategy, and b) effective leadership throughout the organization.

Whenever I begin working with organizational leaders to begin their transformation to a championship culture, we work on adopting the belief that the employees are not at fault for failing to take responsibility and ownership of their roles. I place the blame firmly on the leadership for not:

a) hiring properly at the outset;

b) setting clear expectations after an individual is hired;

c) creating the environment with the accountability and support/feedback structure that nurtures the type of performance desired which allows the individual to contribute at the highest level they can.

I ask the leaders to take a step back and offer everyone a blank slate from past experience and begin anew with a completely new approach that offers a more effective performance management process, which includes:

1. Setting clear performance standards and expectations at the beginning of the employment relationship;

2. Providing specific, respectful and timely feedback on an employee’s performance;

3. Understanding what motivates the individual and rewarding them accordingly, not expecting everyone to be motivated by the same things.

4. Providing clear insights as to the positive contribution the individual makes to the overall vision and purpose of the organization and letting them know how they make a difference.

This provides joint responsibility for developing the desired performance of the individual team members and the team as whole. It gives both sides specific guidelines for what is expected and how to bring out and nurture the desired performance. This is the beginning of the process and when leaders take this approach, more often than not, team members rise to the occasion. They do so because of three fundamental beliefs that make this work, which I’ll write about next time.