The Contented Cow Blog

Building Workplaces That Work

Yesterday, the US Airline Pilots Association, on behalf of member pilots at US Airways, placed a full-page ad, “A Message to Our Valued Passengers…” in USA Today (p. 5A).  The ad lambasted US Airways management for “pressuring your Captain to reduce fuel levels for your flight in order to save money.” The ad goes on to assert the aircraft captain’s prerogative to, “ensure a fuel load that will safely fly you to your destination with all the reserves necessary…” Translation: We’re in a power struggle with management, so we’re going to whip up sympathy and support by giving you something extra to worry about when you’re traveling. They might be willing to let planes fall out of the sky, but we won’t. Yeah, right.

In our book, Contented Cows MOOve Faster, we wrote about the extra effort and ensuing productivity that arise from treating employees as professionals. The model we used was that of commercial airline pilots. Though I’m sticking with the larger argument, the behavior of this particular pilot group, their union, and ultimately US Airways management bring into serious question the use of the term, “professional” for two reasons:

1. Professionals don’t take their grievances with one another into the public square, and
2. Professionals certainly don’t insinuate that safety is being compromised when it is not.

One of the reasons that our domestic airlines are in trouble is because there are still too many seats chasing paying fannies. Approximately 50,000 of those seats are controlled by US Airways.  For the benefit of those carriers (e.g., Delta, Southwest, Continental, Jet Blue) who do generally behave responsibly, I’ve resolved to do my part to equitably correct this market imbalance by making sure that my fanny never finds itself in a US Airways seat. On the premise that I’m not going to trust that fanny to anyone but a professional, our travel agent has been given explicit instructions that Greyhound comes before US Airways. Those clowns deserve one another, but not paying customers.

In the May 12 issue of Fortune Magazine (OK, I’m a little behind on my reading), PepsiCo Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi credited her father with the best piece of advice she ever got. “From him, I learned to always assume positive intent. Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent. You will be amazed at how your whole approach to a person or problem becomes very different.” The rest of what Ms. Nooyi had to say also makes a lot of sense, as do the ‘advice nuggets’ of other business leaders. Check it out.

In short, what I hear Ms. Nooyi saying is, be an optimist. You will get further in life, and far greater measure of a person’s best effort when you expect the best, rather than the worst.

I was reminded of the whole optimism thing this past weekend, while watching tributes to former Fox News editor and White House Press Secretary, Tony Snow. In a video clip now permanently seared into my memory, while at the White House lectern, Snow, knowing that he had colon cancer remarked, “Not everybody will survive cancer, but you’ve got the gift of life - make the most of it.”

The death this weekend of Tony Snow, former Fox News editor and White House Press Secretary, leaves another void, as did the recent death of Tim Russert, in the ranks of honorable American journalists.

Of course, the passing of Tony Snow, a Committed conservative, and former spokesperson for a highly unpopular president, will be mourned less audibly by the mainstream media than was that of his contemporary, Russert. In fact, I’ve been watching CNN on the plane all morning, and Snow’s death has not been mentioned. There are, after all, more important things to keep us apprised of, like the birth of Angelina Jolie’s twins.

Tony Snow had the ability to communicate, report, opine, and engage with others without the mean-spiritedness that we see in so many in the political and journalistic arenas. He was clearly George W. Bush’s best press secretary, and maybe the best holder of that job we’ve seen in a long time. With his death, and that of Tim Russert, we’re left with the likes of Wolf Blitzer, Bill O’Reilly, and David Gregory, to grind their axes in an ever decreasingly civil discourse.

I admired Tony Snow’s willingness to tell his boss he was wrong. A clip aired this weekend by Fox News, where they knew Snow best, and respected him most, showed the press secretary in a lively spar with President Bush. “I’m not going to say that,” he said to the president. “That’s BS.” The two laughed, and Snow prevailed.

We could all probably benefit from those we lead telling us when we’re full of it. So, here’s an assignment: Have a one-on-one with someone on your team. Challenge them to tell you something you’re absolutely wrong about. Something you think is golden, but that they know is bunk. Make sure they know they can tell you the truth safely, and then act on what you learn.

It would be a fitting tribute to Tony Snow.

Richard Hadden is a leadership speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations improve their business results by creating a great place to work. He and his co-author and business partner Bill Catlette, are the authors of the new book Contented Cows MOOve Faster, as well as the acclaimed business classic Contented Cows Give Better Milk. Learn more about them and their work at ContentedCows.com.

When I first started my consulting business in 1989, a good friend gave me a Harvard Business Review reprint of what he described at the time as a classic article on time management: “Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey?”, by William H. Oncken and Donald L. Wass. I enjoyed the 1974 article’s entertaining style and highly useful content, and it has had an influence on me for lo these many years. Since then, this one article has become HBR’s #1 best selling article reprint ever.

When Bill Catlette and I wrote our latest book, Contented Cows Moove Faster, last year, we assserted that a leader can’t hope to inspire Discretionary Effort (Oomph!) from people until that leader has first gotten himself or herself squared away, including learning to manage the priorities that demand time and attention. To that end, we included a recommendation in the book to get the article (re-released by HBR in 1999), read it, and apply it. Since then, both Bill and I have made that recommendation countless times from the speaking platform and in the training classroom. And I suggest that if you haven’t read it - do so. You can buy it online, from harvardbusinessonline.com for $6.50. From the home page, type “Management Time” in the search block. 

Several months ago, I was booked to speak for an organization called TEC (The Executive Committee) in Dallas. Over the past 10 years, I’ve spoken for dozens of TEC groups, made up of the CEO’s and senior executives of small to medium sized (and some larger) companies. About 2 years ago, TEC changed its name to Vistage, but a few groups (in Dallas, Florida, Wisconsin and other places) have retained the TEC brand. The chair of this particular TEC group in Dallas, I was told, was a fellow named Dr. Don Wass. Dr. Wass’s office made arrangements for the engagement, and yesterday, I flew to Dallas to make today’s presentation.

While I never forgot the classic “Monkey” article, frankly, I did forget the name of the alphabetically second-listed co-author. I always referred to the article, saying “by William H. Oncken.” As the alphabetically second-listed co-author of two books, I know these things happen.

So imagine my surprise this morning when I showed up to speak for this TEC group, met Don Wass, and discovered that this gentle, thoughtful, smart TEC chair, with a PhD in psychology, was half the duo who had penned this classic piece of management literature 34 years ago.

This evening, I had dinner with Don Wass and his wife Helen. I learned that, sadly, William Oncken died several years ago. But his friend and co-author, Don Wass is very much alive and well, and he and Helen, with whom he’s traveled to all 7 continents, are enjoying their adult children, their grandchildren, and Don’s life as a TEC chair in Dallas.

Who knew?

Richard Hadden is a leadership speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations improve their business results by creating a great place to work. He and his co-author and business partner Bill Catlette, are the authors of the new book Contented Cows MOOve Faster, as well as the acclaimed business classic Contented Cows Give Better Milk. Learn more about them and their work at ContentedCows.com.

We do a fair amount of work with the hospitality industry, and to be sure, they are feeling the pinch right now. Operating on the leading (bleeding?) edge of the economy, restaurants and other food service operators tend to suffer a lot of the early pain in an economic downturn. Just ask some of the folks at Starbucks.

The current climate is especially pernicious because the very factors that are reducing discretionary spending are also causing food costs (especially dairy products and seafood) to skyrocket. As a result, restaurant operators are scrambling to take costs out of the system, and yet do it in a way that doesn’t totally alienate the guest.

Inevitably some turn to their employees, as they well should, to find ways to do more with less. But, unfortunately, the industry’s “just get it done” culture that operates fairly well most of the time can put the entire enterprise way out on a legal limb when little things like time clocks come into play. In the past month, I’ve overheard food service managers in two different chains tell employees to “get it done” while in the same breath admonishing them that, “there is (wink) no (wink) overtime.” Translation - I expect you to do it off the clock.

Unfortunately, in most cases, the person complies. I say “unfortunately” because in so doing, the fuse on this little liability, which can be a very long fuse indeed has just been lit. In some cases the person, a gung-ho employee goes along with the program, and for so long as they remain gung-ho, nothing comes of it. Many others aren’t as gung-ho or benevolent, however. Some will be receptive to advances by labor unions, employee “advocacy groups” (fronts for unions), or attorneys who prefer to do their ambulance chasing with a fork. Others prefer to impose their own remedies and take advantage of a target-rich environment by beginning to confuse their money with the company’s (or guest’s) money. Either way, the business loses, and the losses are bigger than you might imagine.

Despite having a largely pro-business judiciary for some time, employers are getting whacked with stiff fines and settlements as the result of federal wage and hour law violations. The July 14-21 issue of Business Week (p. 7) reported an adverse ruling against Wal-Mart by a Minnesota judge in a case involving 2 million alleged separate instances of employees being forced to work off the clock or cut short their breaks. According to the article, in addition to the $6.5 million back pay award, the company could potentially be liable for punitive damages up to $2 billion (based on a $1,000 per event maximum penalty).

Similarly, the June 20 issue of Nation’s Restaurant News (p. 6) chronicled an expected $3.9 million settlement of two wage and hour related lawsuits against Fireman Hospitality Group, the New York operator of upscale restaurants such as Redeye Grill, Cafe Fiorello, Brooklyn Diner, and Shelly’s.

Any way you cut it, working people off the clock, or funding operations through some of the nefarious tip sharing arrangements that pop up from time to time is simply not worth the risk. Whether you’re serving tacos or t-bones, it takes a hell of a lot of covers to pay one of these supersized fines.

For the rest of us, who spend our time on the other side of the plate, we would do well to remember that when we do dine out, we’re really not going to balance the household budget by stiffing a deserving server out of a tip. Do the right thing, even though no one is looking.

You know, I just have to comment on this. Right now, I’m sitting on a Delta plane, watching CNN on the seatback satellite TV screen. About a half-hour ago, the network showed the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapshot reading on the big board at the New York Stock Exchange. The DJIA was, at that moment, up by 38.43 points. The caption on the screen was STOCKS LITTLE CHANGED.

Just now, they showed the same board, this time showing the Dow was down by 36.05 points. The caption: STOCKS TUMBLING DOWN.

Now, who wants to try to tell me that the media, especially the Ted Turner network, isn’t biased, with a preference for spinning to the negative?

Richard Hadden is a leadership speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations improve their business results by creating a great place to work. He and his co-author and business partner Bill Catlette, are the authors of the new book Contented Cows MOOve Faster, as well as the acclaimed business classic Contented Cows Give Better Milk. Learn more about them and their work at ContentedCows.com.

The Credit Union National Association has been holding America’s Credit Union Conference this week at the New York Hilton. It was my pleasure to be the speaker for one of the conference’s Thought Leader Sessions yesterday, June 30. The topic was “Contented Cows MOOVE Faster - Work is Contractual…Effort is Personal.”

In researching the Credit Union industry in preparation for the presentation, I learned some great examples of what Discretionary Effort (or OOMPH!, as we call it) looks like in a Credit Union.

It’s OOMPH! when…

• A member service representative arrives in the branch two hours early, because she can’t wait to get to work…not because there’s something at work that can’t wait.
• A lending officer takes loan documents to a member’s home, because she’s broken her leg, can’t drive for a month, and has no one to drive her to the credit union. Oh, and it’s really OOMPH! when he stops by the grocery store on the way, to pick up bread and milk for her.
• A teller balances her cash drawer at the end of the day, and is free to go home, but instead, stays to help a fellow teller who’s having trouble balancing.

What does OOMPH! look like where you work? Let us hear from you.

Richard Hadden is a leadership speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations improve their business results by creating a great place to work. He and his co-author and business partner Bill Catlette, are the authors of the new book Contented Cows MOOve Faster, as well as the acclaimed business classic Contented Cows Give Better Milk. Learn more about them and their work at ContentedCows.com.

Business Week is currently soliciting solutions to a list of “tough challenges” identified by its readers. While my response to their challenge goes thru the editing process it seemed a good idea to let our readers see it first, before it appears at BW. Here’s my reply to the question, “How do you continue to innovate when the economy is in a recession?”

Truth be known, operating in a difficult economy gives everyone a better appreciation for what it’s like to be an entrepreneur. The wind is chronically in your face, and it seems there’s never enough time, capital, or runway to draw an assured breath. You’re scared, but you keep going. Maybe it’s because we’re too Committed or just too hard headed to give up.

Whether in a start-up or a high-performance team deep inside a larger institution, entrepreneurial behavior involves the relentless and passionate pursuit of an endeavor in which one has a vested interest. By definition, this behavior is contingent upon Focus, Passion, and Trust.

Focus: In the words of former NFL head coach, Jimmy Johnson, “confused players are not very aggressive.”  Even more so in difficult economic times, it is imperative that leaders at every level make darned sure that all hands on deck understand, really understand where the ship is headed, why it’s going there, and what that means. Despite having more communications modes, gear, and doodads at our disposal than ever, we probably do a poorer job of communicating (as in making meaning) regarding this stuff than at any time in history. As a quick litmus test for your own organization, ask the next ten staffers you bump into to jot down a list of the organization’s three (3) highest priorities. If they’re all the same, call me. I’d love to hear more about how you do what you do. If not, get busy.

Passion: Operating in the incredibly difficult, commoditized air transport business, Southwest Airlines flies the same planes to the same places, serving the same stale peanuts as its competitors. (Actually, some of their competitors have recently decided that eliminating the peanuts will be the ‘secret sauce’ to achieving prosperity.) For better than thirty years, Southwest has beaten the competition senseless not so much with planes or routes, but by hiring people who are capable of, and inclined to be a bit more passionate about what they do. In short, Southwest recognizes that there are more folks who have the talent to fly and fix their planes than those who, by virtue of pace, preference, and values fit their merry band. Unlike the competition, they’ve figured out that it should be unlawful to lock customers up in an aluminum tube for long periods with cranky employees. In other words, talent is important, but so is attitude.

As leaders, we need to realize that passion is not a static condition that can be ignored or taken for granted. We must cherish it, invest in it, see that it is well directed, and above all else, set the example to be worthy of its expenditure in our workplace.

Trust:  At the end of the day, trust is the central lubricant that allows the entrepreneurial juices to flow – trust in one’s self, your ideas, the people around you, and in your support systems. Sadly, due to the ongoing reinvention of the ‘deal’ in the workplace, trust is in as great a demand and low supply as well, uh… oil. The pressures of an eroding economy make this even more the case.

If you’re truly worried about keeping alive the entrepreneurial instincts in your organization, this would be a great place to start. Consistent with the premise that people would rather “see a sermon than hear one”, turn off the PR machine, put the lawyers back in their sound proof offices, and begin taking visible steps to demonstrate that you personally, and your organization can be trusted to do what you say you’re going to do. Make it abundantly clear that you’re not going to stop at doing what’s legal, but what is right. In similar fashion, be strident and unapologetic in demanding that those with whom you work and partner are similarly convicted.

I can’t promise you that doing these things will convert your organization to a bunch of fire-breathing entrepreneurs, but it’s pretty safe to say you’ll never get there without them. Good luck and Godspeed!

A thought leader in the areas of leadership and employee engagement, Bill Catlette is a seminar leader, keynote speaker, and executive coach. He helps individuals and organizations improve business outcomes by having a focused, engaged, capably led workforce. For more information about Bill, his partner Richard, and their work, please visit their website at www.contentedcows.com

Tim Russert was not only a highly respected journalist, as a Vice President at NBC News, he was a manager, and a real leader. And by all accounts, he was the kind of leader who did a remarkable job of inspiring OOMPH! from those who called him “boss”.

During all this weekend’s tributes to Russert on his and competing networks, I’ve been struck by the descriptions of the man, not the journalist. He listened to the people entrusted to his leadership. He cared about them as human beings. He recognized that they had lives outside their work, because he had a life outside his work. And he spent time finding out about what was important to his employees.

When you’re gone, or retired, or have moved on to another phase in your career, will people talk more about the quality of the work you did? Or the quality of the person who did the work?

It has been less than a half-day since his passing, and the world is already a less friendly, less authentic, less informed place. Tim Russert will be missed by all who value decency, professionalism, and candor.