A Millennial's request, "Tear down the walls!"

The following is the original post and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Before one of the 70+ million Millennials reaches for their favourite social media app and criticizes me for speaking on the generation's behalf, I will say that this is on behalf of one of your brethren. If a "tweet" does come my way, I should point out I have hired and worked with dozens and dozens of Millennials, as well as call some of them friends; it does offer me some "street cred" with regard to leading, managing and working with this high potential generation - This brings me to a recent lunch, and the topic at hand.

"They just don't get it... we are in these high walled cubes, I feel isolated; if I need to talk to someone I have to get up and walk all around. It's very inefficient", he said. After a bite of his burger he continued with, "They have to tear down those high walled cubes and put in smaller walls, that way we could communicate and work more effectively!"* This spurred on a much broader discussion as we finished our lunch.

Give or take a couple of years, Millennials (or Gen Y) were born between the early 1980's and the early 2000's and now represent the largest demographic in the workforce (70 Million strong in the U.S. workforce alone). Highly publicized and "profiled", they are smart, tech savvy, have a high sense of empowerment**, hold a strong sense of work life balance, a willingness to "walk" when they are dissatisfied, and are very "collaborative" in their approach to learning, working and representing themselves. 

When my Millennial friend said, "They just don't get it", he was referring to leadership's lack of understanding that collaboration and creating an environment for collaboration is a key fundamental for the Millennial Generation - "Tearing down the walls" was as much a literal statement, as it was figurative one... he literally thought this would be the only way he capture management's attention. I suggested that would be grounds for dismissal; he agreed.

As we continued to discuss the importance of a collaborative environment, it struck me that I have rarely seen "collaborative" at the top of the list of attributes when leaders are discussing Millennials; it's usually "tech savvy, high sense of empowerment**, sense of work/life balance, etc, with collaborative sometimes not even making the list.*** Developing a collaborative environment, particularly for Millennials is key to enhance productivity,  individual and team development, and retention - All things high on a leaders list.

Tear down the walls if you can: Create an environment where communication is easy and engages the larger group; smaller cube walls are better than larger cube walls as they encourage professional collaboration, instead of social collaboration that can come with a sense of isolation. Remember, every Millennial has a smartphone, and they are talking to the person three cubes down one way or another. 

Create open environments: Specifically design and designate an alternative space for a different perspective, idea sharing and problem solving; I have found an available white board is convenient for sharing messages and creative thinking. Depending on your workspace this may be difficult or be considered disruptive, but with some creativity and reinforcement of office decorum, you can solve this and increase productivity.

Management by Walking Around: A business concept tracing back to the 1970's and popularized in the 1982 book "In Search of Excellence" **** which in its simplest form is randomly (or sometimes with design) connecting with your reports by "walking" over to see them. For Millennials this is a tangible example of engagement and the collaboration that is so important for them.

Add transparency to your lexicon: There are always situations when information cannot be shared, but wherever possible be as transparent as possible. Like the physical act of "Managing by Walking Around", being transparent with information allows the Millennial to engage, develop understanding and participate in a process (if only from the sidelines) - As mentioned earlier, they are a smart group so you will get great feedback. That brings us to the last point that came out of our lunch...

Whenever possible, ask the question, "What do you think?" - they will tell you.

I hope I have done well by my Millennial's friends request... he will let me know I am sure. And for any Millennial that has read this far, I would like to offer some other thoughts on "Collaboration":

• Collaboration, although important to the Millennial Generation is not just amongst yourselves -Collaboration is intergenerational. You know that old guy of 45 down the hall? Go talk to him, pick his brain, see if he has thoughts to help you with your project, and maybe vice versa.
• Collaboration is a two way street and doesn't mean waiting for your manager to "bring it your way". Collaboration is working together, raising issues professionally and getting things closer to being more "right" than "wrong". Remember, we are all leaders without a title. *****
• Collaboration doesn't mean you are correct. Collaboration means you are working together to find a better solution. 

Ok, now I think I have done well by my Millennial friend's request.

gpe

* The quote is almost verbatim, but there is a little artistic license.

** It seems people are saying Millennials "have a high sense of empowerment", where I know many Gen X-ers who would just say it's "entitlement".

*** I will admit I have not been staying up my Millennial reading, so it's quite possible "collaboration" is now high on the list when it comes to talking about what is important. 

**** In Search for Excellence was written by Tom Peters and Robert H Waterman. It's one of those business books, that although it is 30 years old, you should read.

***** A reference to the book "The leader who had not Title" by Robin Sharma. In my opinion a fun and required read.

Unless proven wrong, they made the right decision.

Recently I found myself sitting around a table involved in a "hardy and dramatic discussion" about a business decision that had to be made; in the end, this particular decision did not go the way I had hoped. 

Experience has shown me that the decision making process is usually a mixture of "hardy and dramatic discussion", facts and figures, risk tolerance, gut feel and a smidgen of "hope" - And must lead to making an "actual decision"! 

It is always tough being on the wrong end of a decision; at the very least, it can challenge your conviction or belief systems and at the very most, your livelihood. As I reflect back on the dynamics around the table, I thought I would share some thoughts:

• Although decisions are made based on facts and figures (data if you will), the ability to communicate the information is key. It is with effective communication that a clear understanding is articulated, pros and cons weighed, and the risk of making the wrong decision is minimized. The phrase "being on the same page" comes to mind.
• The decision making process is different for everyone; how they process information, the speed in which they make a decision, their risk tolerance, or the circumstances for needing to make a decision. It is important to understand the circumstances requiring a decision, as well as how the people involved make their decisions - This way you can work within their "decision making comfort zone". My experience is when a person is outside their comfort zone they will either delay the decision or default to a "no".
• Once a decision is made you need to respect it, even when you disagree.
• You need to support the decision to the best of your ability once it's made. If you fundamentally cannot support the decision, you need to be clear on your position... there may be consequences, but you will be respected for it.
• Decisions need to be made to drive action; even a wrong decision is preferable to a non-decision or an endless decision making process. You can always "course correct" a wrong decision, but not much can be done with a non-decision. 

As I look back at the decision made around the table, which as I say did not go the way I had hoped, I do respect that it was made; I have also taken on an interesting perspective - "Unless proven wrong, they made the right decision".

So there you have it, I have made the decision to prove them wrong.

gpe

The self-sabotage that comes with arrogance.

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

I know people who, without a smirk or a twinkle in their eye, have told me that their arrogance was a positive quality*; I have coached people, who although did not openly admit it, portrayed every quality that comes with the word. I will stress that am not talking about those people who have a healthy confidence in their abilities, their potential or use personal drive as a measure of their success, but rather those people, that in an insulting way believe they are better, smarter, or more important than other people.

I was in a coaching and development conversation one time and asked, "Why are you sabotaging yourself?"

To that he replied, "What do you mean?"

I told him his arrogance and self-righteousness was palpable, particularly in meetings and there were considerations that came with it. I went on to point out why I saw it as self-sabotage:

• With so little experience and nothing truly proven, he was compromising his credibility; I went on to suggest there is a big difference between believing you can do something and actually doing it. I finally pointed out that "on paper" he was the same as everyone else on the team, and his position of being better had no "data" to back it up. (As they say, "In god we trust, everyone else bring data.")
• His unfounded arrogance impacted his ability to work with other members of the team and only with teamwork would he be effective in his current position. With his current behaviour of dismissing others, he was limiting his ability to learn essential skills involving teamwork, learning and "playing well" with others.
• The dynamic he was creating on the team with his behaviour was causing friction and making it difficult for the team to meet its objectives; this was impacting how management was looking at him.
• Looking at the world through the "rose coloured glasses of arrogance" would impact his ability to self reflect and understand development opportunities for his future success.
• Although he did have potential and would ultimately could be very effective, I pointed out that my experience was that at any given moment there is always someone smarter, more successful, more talented, richer, etc - Arrogance is a wasted and destructive endeavour.

It turned out to be a great conversation because in the end, as arrogant as he was... he was smarter.

gpe 

* In all the years I have been coaching, training or developing sales and marketing people, I have never seen "arrogance" defined as a competency; I will go out on a limb here and say arrogance is not a positive quality.