Tech Tools: Managing and Sharing Your Calendar

Organizing your Time: The Problem

I was working with a client recently who was having some problems synchronizing schedules internally. My client is a small consulting company with about ten employees who evaluate EPA and OSHA compliance for their clients.

Employees of this company regularly travel to visit with clients nationwide, and each employee tracked his or her own travel schedule individually using Outlook’s calendar. As a result, any time the company needed to schedule something that required the attendence of all employees, they had to ask each employee for a list of dates that would work. Full Story →

Hollywood, the Constitution, and Your Future

I just saw Will Smith’s The Pursuit of Happyness for the second time this week, and I had forgotten what a powerful movie it was. Or maybe I just wasn’t in a position to truly appreciate it when it first came out. It’s like studying Shakespeare in high school: at the age of fourteen you can’t even begin to appreciate the language or relate to the feelings in his plays (years later, that hasn’t improved much). But with time comes perspective, and I saw this movie in a completely different light.

 

Hey. Don’t ever let somebody tell you… You can’t do something. Not even me. All right? You got a dream… You gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period. - Chris Gardner, The Pursuit of Happyness

  Full Story →

Sun Tzu on Leadership - Part 6 of 6

“Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon the as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Leadership - Not Just Management

As a business owner or manager, how do you motivate your troops? Do you manage employees by budgeting, controlling and staffing, or do you lead by setting a direction, aligning people and motivating? George Ambler over at The Practice of Leadership explains the difference extremely well:

• The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.
• The manager administers; the leader innovates.
• The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it.

There’s plenty more where those came from at the above link, be sure to take a look.

John Kotter does a fantastic job describing the difference between management and leadership in an article he wrote for the Harvard Business Review. He drives the point home with a military analogy:

A peacetime army can usually survive with good administration and management up and down the hierarchy, occupied with good leadership concentrated at the very top. A wartime army, however, needs competent leadership at all levels. No one yet has figured out how to manage people effectively into battle; they must be led.

Take Braveheart, for example (yes, I’m seriously going to reference Braveheart in a quasi-academic setting). William Wallace was a leader who knew how to motivate troops to tackle insurmountable odds. Of course, the thing about insurmountable odds is they’re really tough to… surmount. As a business owner, the trick is to motivate and inspire your employees toward a goal that isn’t doomed to fail from the beginning (see my previous post on choosing the path of least resistance).

Inspire, Lead by Example

So how was William Wallace so effective as a leader? There were three main reasons:

• He was extremely passionate and believed in the cause
• He led by example and never asked a subordinate to do something he wouldn’t do himself
• There was a clear benefit to following his lead (in this case, the chance of winning their freedom)

Here’s another story that really illustrates the techniques of leadership. A commentary on The Art of War, written by Tu Mu, shows how a famous general, Wu Ch’i, inspired his troops:

He wore the same clothes and ate the same food as the meanest of his soldiers… and shared every hardship with his men. One of his soldiers was suffering from an abscess, and Wu Ch`i himself sucked out the virus. The soldier’s mother, hearing this, began wailing and lamenting. Somebody asked her, saying: ‘Why do you cry? Your son is only a common soldier, and yet the commander-in-chief himself has sucked the poison from his sore.’ The woman replied, ‘Many years ago, Lord Wu performed a similar service for my husband, who never left him afterwards, and finally met his death at the hands of the enemy. And now that he has done the same for my son, he too will fall fighting I know not where.’

Again, this is probably an example you probably won’t (and shouldn’t) encounter in your own life. There are probably better techniques for removing poison these days, but there’s no question that it would inspire loyalty. Lord Wu lived among his troops, fought beside them, and would do anything to protect them. No wonder they were willing to dedicate their lives to his service.

By comparison, you’ve got it easy. If you’re an entrepreneur like me, your passion should be obvious. Share your passion and your vision with your employees. Include them in that vision. Show them how they’re an integral part of reaching the goal, and let them know that they will be rewarded for their part.

How do you (or should you) inspire your troops? Drop me a comment with your thoughts, and while you’re at it, subscribe to this blog.

Sun Tzu on Managing Troops - Part 2 of 6

“The consummate leader cultivates the Moral Law and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Discipline and Accountability

When Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War, the reigning king asked him to prove the merit of his work by applying it to a group of untrained women. To do so, Sun Tzu organized 180 women into formation and named the king’s two favorite concubines as officers. Here’s what happened:

Sun Tzu went on: “When I say ‘Eyes front,’ you must look straight ahead. When I say ‘Left turn,’ you must face towards your left hand. When I say ‘Right turn,’ you must face towards your right hand.

Again the girls assented. The words of command having been thus explained, he set up the halberds and battle-axes in order to begin the drill. Then, to the sound of drums, he gave the order ‘Right turn.’ But the girls only burst out laughing. Sun Tzu said: ‘If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, then the general is to blame.‘

So he started drilling them again, and this time gave the order ‘Left turn,’ whereupon the girls once more burst into fits of laughter. Sun Tzu: ‘If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders are clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of the officers.‘

So saying, he ordered the leaders of the two companies to be beheaded… and straightaway installed the pair next in order as leaders in their place. When this had been done, the drum was sounded for the drill once more; and the girls went through all the evolutions, turning to the right or to the left, marching ahead or wheeling back, kneeling or standing, with perfect accuracy and precision, not venturing to utter a sound. Then Sun Tzu sent a messenger to the King saying: ‘Your soldiers, Sire, are now properly drilled and disciplined, and ready for your majesty’s inspection. They can be put to any use that their sovereign may desire; bid them go through fire and water, and they will not disobey.”

Before I continue, I want to point out that I’m not advocating the beheading of concubines or employees. Such practices within your business would likely have a devastating impact on morale.

The principle, though, is a good one. If you clearly outline your expectations and the penalty for failing to meet them, they must then be enforced. If they’re not enforced, they’re meaningless and your entire staff will realize this. The best way to handle this, in my opinion, is to get your employees to help set the penalties for breaking the rules. Decide collectively what should happen to someone who is habitually late for work. Then, when the situation arises, be sure you follow through. Sun Tzu explains it like this: “If a general shows confidence in his men but always insists on his orders being obeyed, the gain will be mutual.”

Reward for Success

“For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

I realize the story above comes across a little harsh and Machiavellian, but there is a flip side to properly managing your troops. Discipline must come first, but you should also reward your employees for their hard work. In war, the victorious general should share the spoils of war with his men because it was by their effort and their sacrifice that victory was achieved. Likewise if your business has an extremely successful year, your employees should reap some of that reward. They were the ones who made it happen. They were the ones following your (sometimes totally unreasonable) orders. Shouldn’t they get a little something for all their hard work?

If employees aren’t rewarded for their performance, the only incentive is to avoid being punished for doing poorly. This is a great way to breed an apathetic and mediocre workforce. So give them praise and encouragement. Share with them the spoils of war, and they’ll be ready to fight.

What’s Next?

Sun Tzu on Tactics - Part 3 of 6*

*Coming Soon, check back in a few days…