A Lot, Too Late

Leaders are born with ears.  Most of them, anyway.  And you would think that they would use them for good instead of evil.  Well, not necessarily evil - just to do nothing.

Here is the story.....it's performance appraisal time.  A self-appraisal is requested by all team leaders to be submitted before the actual performance appraisal is conducted.  This is standard operating procedure in many organizations.  This self-appraisal helps individuals see their accomplishments and their performance gaps making it much easier on the manager delivering the actual appraisal - let's face it - we are usually harder on ourselves than our bosses are in these terms.

So the self- appraisal is handed in.  On the day of the appraisal, this leader asks his team member to attend the meeting.  And the meeting ensues...in this way...the leader takes out the self-appraisal and writes checkmarks where he agrees and 'x's' where he does not.  Little discussion, little dialogue, no inkling of what the employee can do to improve for next year.

But there's more...

The following year, the leader has moved on to a different position.  A new manager is in place and it is appraisal time.  She asks that the self-appraisal be brought to the appraisal meeting....not to be reviewed by her before.  She actually does not have an appraisal written for the meeting but states that there is no increase this year because targets have not been met.  It's discretionary, she says!

What do you do?  Ask the obvious question, what is this based on as you are a new manager and no objectives were in place to measure against anyway?  The answer is - take it up with the last manager, that is the answer they provided for me to give you.

Whoa!  All kinds of issues.  Where to begin.  This employee asked for clarification from senior leaders - none ever came.  Instead what came was a barrage of visitors to the area to see if things were up to snuff.  Needless to say, there are still no specific objectives except for 'reach the goals'.

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Energy Zapper or Sapper

Are you plugged in?  Is your energy operating on high?  Or are you missing part of the connection?

How your leader responds to this is important.  You want to have high energy and perform and optimum levels because you love your job and what it does for people.  Sadly your leader is an energy sapper - sucks away the energy as opposed to an energy zapper - giving you energy to move forward, be creative and innovative with your solutions and project development.

What to do?  Let them know.  Try to identify for them what they are doing to sap the energy from you.  Let them know what inspires you and gives you energy to perform at your peak.  Leaders are human and can need a hand understanding what works best for you - let them know.  They will thank you in the end!

Meeting CANCELLED!

So much for preparation!

Leadership Not to Do


In this world of telecommuting, doing more with less including more work with less people or covering more territory with less reps, nothing hurts more than a leader who would choose to cancel a planned meeting the night before without a viable explanation. 

The leader needs to realize the preparation the team makes to arrive at the meeting ready to participate - whether it is spending time (sometimes hours) preparing reports, consolidating notes, developing presentations, travelling and finding accomodations.  All of the preparation goes for naught and the respect for the leader drops notches at a time! 

A leader needs to foresight and discipline to visualize his/her team and understand the pressure they live with to perform above and beyond expectations.  Once the leader can see this clearly, they can also capitalize on the evolving relationship and the developing mutual respect.

What to do if this happens?  Clearly express to the leader your disappointment and provide the notes prepared for the meeting so that you can ensure that they understand the importance of your participation.