Manic Middle

Manic Middle

If you are one of the lucky (!) ones, you have found yourself with not just your job, but many other peoples' jobs as well. Layoffs have created the 'opportunity' for middle managers to do their job while also being an expert on training, leadership and project management. How can you possibly balance all three? Here are the Top 10 tips for each. Add your own in comments!!!

TRAINING:
1. Identify what behavior change you want before your build training.
2. Identify the constraints of your training (time, cost, environment, scope) before picking the delivery method (online, live, blended).
3. Recycle: Check for resources you can beg, borrow, steal - it's probably been done before, at least some of it.
4. Lecture as a last resort.
5. Work with a great simulation and drive learning through debriefs. My favorites come from www.hrdq.com and www.thiagi.com.
6. Teach with a Game Show - Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, etc. Check out www.learningware.com.
7. Remember the three ways people learn: Visually, Auditory, Kinesthetically. Honor all three.
8. Remember the seven ways people process (Gardner's Multiple Intelligences). Interpersonal, Linguistic/Verbal,Spatial Visual, Bodily Kinesthetic, Logical/Mathematical, Intrapersonal, Musical
9. Assign parts of the experience to others to develop and teach. OR... leverage experts in the company to be speakers.
10. Believe that your students are strong and capable or you can't teach them.


Source: The Accelerated Learning Fieldbook and Training Triage, Lou Russell

LEADERSHIP:

1. Spend a few minutes (or use an online assessment) to find out your own strengths and opportunities for improvement.
2. Build a chart of the strengths and opportunities on your team - figure out how to fill in for each other.
3. Be explicit about your delegation: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely (SMART)
4. Know yourself - a great leader knows his or her own strengths and challenges.
5. Surround yourself with people who compliment your strengths.
6. Practice resiliency; know how to see the possibility in the immediate future.
7. Remember that COACHING goes forward, THERAPY goes back. You're not a therapist.
8. Ask yourself "Do I REALLY need to add my two cents to what has just happened or is it good enough? Stop micro-managing.
9. Build good processes - your brain alone is not scalable.

10. Believe that your people are strong and capable.
9.

Source: Leadership Training and IT Leadership Alchemy, Lou Russell
PROJECT MANAGEMENT:

1. Clearly identify the project objective. How will success be measured?
2. Identify and cultivate stakeholders.
3. Prepare to practice Flexible Structure from Day 1.
4. Visually draw a picture of the project scope.
5. Document the business objectives: how will this project increase revenue, avoid cost or improve service?
6. Identify and plan for risk.
7. Clarify the priority of time, cost, quality and scope.
8. Get the fewest of the best resources on your team.
9. Try to get as much multi-tasking (other work) off the plates of your team as possible.
10. Laugh at the insanity.


Source: Project Management for Trainers and 10 Steps to Successful Project Management, Lou Russell

Continue to strengthen the hands of the strong,

Lou Russell lou@russellmartin.com
www.russellmartin.com
Check out all my books at

This Month's Contest - Valentine's Day Contest

For more than a century, the makers of NECCO Sweethearts Conversation Hearts have come up with some of the sweetest ways of saying "I love you." Every Valentine's Day the company presents new messages on the tiny colored hearts that have been a holiday tradition since the Civil War. I have been to their amazing outlet in Cambridge MA, not sure if it is still there but used to be right off the green line.

The new sayings for 2008 were weather and nature-inspired sayings that "capture the day-to-day frenzy of forecasting changing weather patterns" and "pay tribute to Americans' ever-evolving affections." They include "Melt My Heart," "In A Fog," "Chill Out," and "Cloud Nine."

What is a word/phrase that has been on a heart since the first manufactured candies came out in 1902?

Send your answers to info@russellmartin.com and win fabulous prizes!!!

The ABCDs of Learning Objectives

Creating learning objectives is critical to success when developing learning interventions. They are really your contract with your learners and everything else is driven by them. In Lou’s book The Accelerated Learning Fieldbook, Lou Russell shares with you how to leverage ABCD to create great learning objectives. Learning objectives are the contract with the learner. They should answer the questions "What can the student DO after the learning event that they could not do before?"

A: Who is the Audience? Be as specific as possible. The more specific, the more retention. [NOUN]
B: What behavior will change? How can this behavioral change be measured? [VERB]
...and the optional...
C: Under what conditions? What will the learner have WITH THEM (for example, a jobaide) when they perform this behavior? Or, what will the learner be WITHOUT when they perform the new behavior (for example, help from their manager)?
D: To what degree? How long will the new behavior take, are their quality measures, or how many times / at what rate (for example, put out a wastebasket fire in 1 minute)?

Exercises are driven by these learning objectives, in fact, everything in the class is driven by these. Remember to Lecture as a Last Resort!

Lou Russell lou@russellmartin.com

Change and People

William Bridges has a wonderful model for understanding change. There are three parts that people go through when transitioning through a change:

1. Endings
2. Neutral Zone
3. New Beginnings

When a change occurs, whether chosen or not, people start with the emotions of ending. This is a confused time, and often people behave as if the change has not occurred and there is some way to 'go back'. You can't leave Endings until you can go conscious with what you have lost. Then the grieving begins, and you move into Neutral Zone.

Neutral Zone is very confusing because you can't go back, but you don't know what the future looks like either, so you can't go there. It's a bit like Jonah in the belly of the whale. It's dangerous and confusing (like Star Trek). Some people never get through it. Interestingly enough, once people become cynical, which can be very exhausting for a leader, they are actually moving out of the Neutral Zone, considering the possibility of a future.

The journey to New Beginnings starts by being able to imagine some good that will come from the new place. As a leader, help your team imagine some benefit after discussion of what has been lost. Until a person can imagine a beginning, they can't leave the neutral zone.

If you'd like help with your team, please let Margie know at mbrown@russellmartin.com or 3174759311. Check out for our workshop and webinars scheduled on this topic. Check out more about this model in the IT Leadership Alchemy book. And continue to strengthen the hands of the strong!

Lou Russell

Give Em' All an A+

I recently received and read the book The Art of Possibility. The authors tell the story of giving top music students an A+ before the class began. This powerful idea can be applied to education, training, leadership and project teams with dramatic results. How would your students behave if their goal was learning, not grades? What would you do differently at work if you didn’t have to worry about politics, or competition against others or measures that don’t make business sense? Put another way, what would your life look like right now if you weren’t stressed and worried? Here's how it works:
* Ask your students at the start of class to imagine it is the end of class and their grade is A+ (or in training, they have just had the best workshop experience of their entire life). Give them blank paper to write you (as the instructor) a quick letter explaining what made the A+ / best workshop happen. What did they learn? What did the student do? What did you do? Use these letters to motivate the students and to adjust to their pertinent learning goals.
* Ask your staff to imagine that this quarter was going to be the best one in the history of the organization. Same deal - have them write their own email to you as their boss imagining the amazing quarter and why it turned out so great.
* Ask your project team to take a deep breath, stop racing, and imagine that the project you share is going to be the most successful project anyone of you have been on. Again, ask everyone on the team to write a note thanking the other members of the team and detailing why the project was successful. Have each team member read their notes.

Did you have fun doing this? What did you learn? I'd love to hear your thoughts about this experience so email me at lou@russellmartin.com or lou@lplusearn.com.

How cold is cold??

COLD IS A RELATIVE THING. . . . . . .
65 above zero:Floridians turn on the heat.People in Wisconsin plant gardens.60 above zero:Californians shiver uncontrollably.People in Wisconsin sunbathe.50 above zero:Italian & English cars won't start.People in Wisconsin drive with the windows down.40 above zero:Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats.People in Wisconsin throw on a flannel shirt with their shorts. 35 above zero:New York landlords finally turn up the heat.People in Wisconsin have the last cookout before it gets cold.20 above ZeroPeople in Miami all die.Wisconsinites close the windows , but will take their children trick-or-treating .Zero:Californians fly away to Mexico.People in Wisconsin get out their winter coats but still have Bonfires 10 below zero:Hollywood disintegrates.The Girl Scouts in Wisconsin are selling cookies door to door.20 below zero:Washington DC runs out of hot air.People in Wisconsin let the dogs sleep indoors but will go ice fishing for hours 30 below zero:Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.Wisconsinites get upset because they can't start the Snow-mobile.40 below zero:ALL atomic motion stops.People in Wisconsin start saying...'Cold enough fer ya?'50 below zero:Hell freezes over.Wisconsin public schools will open 2 hours late

How cold is cold??

COLD IS A RELATIVE THING. . . . . . .
65 above zero:Floridians turn on the heat.People in Wisconsin plant gardens.60 above zero:Californians shiver uncontrollably.People in Wisconsin sunbathe.50 above zero:Italian & English cars won't start.People in Wisconsin drive with the windows down.40 above zero:Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats.People in Wisconsin throw on a flannel shirt with their shorts. 35 above zero:New York landlords finally turn up the heat.People in Wisconsin have the last cookout before it gets cold.20 above ZeroPeople in Miami all die.Wisconsinites close the windows , but will take their children trick-or-treating .Zero:Californians fly away to Mexico.People in Wisconsin get out their winter coats but still have Bonfires 10 below zero:Hollywood disintegrates.The Girl Scouts in Wisconsin are selling cookies door to door.20 below zero:Washington DC runs out of hot air.People in Wisconsin let the dogs sleep indoors but will go ice fishing for hours 30 below zero:Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.Wisconsinites get upset because they can't start the Snow-mobile.40 below zero:ALL atomic motion stops.People in Wisconsin start saying...'Cold enough fer ya?'50 below zero:Hell freezes over.Wisconsin public schools will open 2 hours late

Obamify your message as a leader

I love this... notice how you forget about 'the politics' or the economy, how depressed you are, how bad the world says you should feel, and you FOCUS on your customer. Good advice...and it won an election.

You might be asking yourself, "What can I do to engage my staff and encouraging them to do their best work and inspire a positive culture at our firm?" Pete Blackshaw, EVP of Digital Strategic Services, Nielsen Online Author, "Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000" www.tell3000.com , recently wrote a letter regarding marketing to customers in challenging times. While most of you are not responsible for external communication, you can make a difference in the results of your company by improving your organizations response to internal customers. Pete's letter suggested Obomafying your 2009 communication:

"Obamafy Your Marketing Mindset: Forget the politics-just focus on what the Obama campaign did with their website. Every customer counted. Every visitor was given something to do, no matter how small... Oh, and they followed up, consistently, always with relevant and useful information. In tough times, every opportunity is, well...an opportunity."

This is sage advice for CIO's and other IT leaders who lead and serve internal customers in challenging times.

5 Simple Leadership Actions with Huge Potential
1. Set a new positive vision for your team based on today's realities and repeat it often. (Even if you have done this before.)
2. Show each direct report how the vision relates to their objectives.
3. Ask them to do the same, and so on.
4. Ask them to identify positive stories and share them up, down and sideways, repeat them often.
5. Celebrate the victories! With your team and customers.

We'll be having a leadership public in May--- want to come? www.russellmartin.com

Let's set a goal for failure

Is anyone else sick of the gloom and doom of 2009? Does anyone have any GOOD news? Here's a wonderful postcard that marketing genius Raquel Richardson sent to me recently. Expect the best, move with gratitude, or you will paralyze yourself with fear. Leaders, this is especially true for you, and as you go, so goes your team.

Have a good day!

Lou

Learning can be hard or easy, retained or not

Love this quote from a smart old guy...

Aristotle: "For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them."

Great poem to start 2009

Go to the people.

Live among them.

Learn from them.

Love them.

Start with what they know,

Build on what they have.

But of the best leaders,

When their task is accomplished,

Their work is done,

The people will remark,

"We have done it ourselves."

- Old Chinese poem quoted by John C. Maxwell