Colin Cowherd vs Freddie Coleman: Who Would You Rather Work For?

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately listening to the local ESPN Radio affiliate - which is odd because I’m not an avid sports fan. However, I do consider myself fairly well versed in talk radio. I spent ten years in radio and worked in a number of different formats, including news/talk. So, I find myself listening to talk radio through both my “radio filter” and “leadership filter”.

Two hosts in particular have jumped out at me for the examples they provide for both good and bad leadership behaviors. The hosts in question are Colin Cowherd and Freddie Coleman. My critiques of these guys have nothing to do with their sports knowledge - they are both super smart and have dazzling command of their subject matter. And, in their defense, I’m basing my critiques only on what I hear on the radio. In “real life” both of these gentlemen may be completely different than their on-air personas. But on the air one host models many classic “good boss” behaviors while the other models many “bad boss” behaviors. Now, Let’s go to the whiteboard to break it down….

Colin Cowherd: I am regularly amazed at how dismissive and derisive he is to his callers. Maybe that’s part of his schtick - but it doesn’t come across as “entertaining” as it does with other talk-show hosts - it just comes off as Cowherd being a jerk. He comes off as very arrogant and condescending. I had a boss like that once. This guy was very smart - probably a genuine genius - but was his own worst enemy. His direct reports found him so arrogant and abrasive that they avoided talking to him. He talked a good game about having an “open door policy”, “empowering his employees”, yada yada yada - but he was ultimately just unpleasant to work for. Because he was so dismissive and even demeaning at times his people were mostly focused on just keeping him off their backs not on moving the organization forward- which was a shame really, because this guy was very bright and talented. Again, he was his own worst enemy.

Freddie Coleman: Freddie is like the anti-Cowherd. He has a way of making even the “dumb callers” feel like they made a contribution. He is polite and expresses appreciation and I have never heard him insult a caller or tell him to “go back to flipping burgers”. His show in general seems geared toward actually seeking out his audience’s opinions rather than using them as a springboard to launch into a diatribe or put-down. Like Cowherd, Coleman has an encyclopedic knowledge about sports - but he never comes across as the arrogant “know-it-all” that Cowherd does. I’ve had bosses like Coleman too. They are the ones that encourage input and value an exchange of ideas - even those ideas that might contradict their own.

As I stated at the beginning, I’m basing these observations only on what I hear on a radio show. These guys may or may not be anything like the way they sound, but I try to find “learning moments” all around me - even on sports talk radio! These are two guys at the top of their game professionally, but in terms of leadership styles which one would you rather work for? Put me on team Freddie!

Effective Leadership: Elevating The Coaching Discussion

Obviously, a big part of our job as leaders within an organization is to manage performance. But limiting our one-on-one discussions to just metrics is a big mistake. We should seek to have "bigger" discussions with our employees - not just interrogate them about their numbers for the week.

Here's a simple tip: Begin to ask your employees more reflective questions. "What's your five-year plan?" or "What do your really enjoy doing?" or "What would your dream job be?". The question is not so important, but the practice is. Drawing you employees out will help you as a leader to know them better and to target areas of development that will address not only those skills needed for their immediate job performance but for their long-term career development as well. And think about this: if I'm an employee with a boss who is genuinely concerned about my long-term development - not just about my current "numbers" - I am much more likely to be loyal to him/her and the company.

Effective Training: Learning To Shut Up!

One of the hardest things for trainers to learn to do is to SHUT UP! Let's be honest, what draws many of us to a training role is the opportunity to be in the spotlight. Most of us trainers are comfortable (maybe even happy) in front of a group. We might even like the little ego stroke we get from "pontificating" on subjects and being viewed as "experts" within the organization. But sometimes, our own egos can get in the way of learning.

A colleague of mine gave me this advice several years ago in regards to delivering training. I'm not saying I'm the best at following this advice but it's a great counsel all the same. He says if you have a choice between a lecture and an activity, ALWAYS go with the activity. But wait, if I'm using activities all the time I won't be able to share my wit and wisdom with the class! I won't be able to be in the spotlight! My friends response to that would be, after a deadpan expression, "....and your point is?"

Effective Leadership: Are you a "Steve Jobs" or "Bobby Knight" Leader?

David Aaker at the Harvard Business Review has an excellent post, "Steve Jobs and the Bobby Knight School of Leadership". It raises a few interesting questions? Would their management styles be tolerated if they weren't so successful? Would their management styles be effective with Gen Y'ers and Millenials? Could they have been even more successful if they had learned to scale back their negative behaviors?

Corporate Culture: 10 Warning Signs of a Toxic Boss at the Interview

Here's some information on how to determine a bad potential boss:

10 Warning Signs of a Toxic Boss at the Interview

Effective Leadership: Coach to behaviors not metrics

The call center business is very metrics driven. We operate in an environment where everything is measured - hold time, handle time, conversion rates, dropped calls - you name it, we measure it. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's even an Avaya report that will show you the number of times the toilets flush in the employee restrooms. Well maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit but it's not hard to understand how we can sometimes fall in to the trap of managing to metrics instead managing to behaviors.

It is not uncommon at all to walk past a coaching discussion and hear something like this: " Well, your AHT (average handle time) is 540 seconds. Get that down to 480 by next week." Unfortunately, this supervisor thinks he's "helping" his agent be saying this. The reality is this is not helpful at all. If the agent knew how to reduce their AHT to 480 seconds don't you think they'd already be doing that?

A much better approach is to arm the agent with the specific BEHAVIORS that will help them accomplish the goal. Instead of saying "get your handle time down", the effective coach would give the agent specific action items that will result in a lower handle time, for example: follow the required call flow or ask this specific question at a specific time, etc. And this doesn't apply to only AHT discussions. This applies to any aspect of managing performance.

I am not saying that metrics or numbers are not important. On the contrary, in the call center industry, particularly in the call center outsourcing industry, meeting metrics is how we make our money. But their is a huge danger in holding agents accountable to metrics instead of behaviors and here's why: Agents do not control metrics. BUT agents do have complete control over their behaviors. If the right behaviors are happening the metrics will take care of themselves.

An agent feels empowered when he or she leaves the coaching discussion with specific, observable and measurable behaviors to put in to practice vs. feeling demoralized after getting beat up over their "numbers". And here's something to keep in mind: If agents are doing all the "right things" and still not hitting the metrics than we have probably showed them the wrong "right things". Make sure you focus on the "critical few" behaviors that will have the biggest impact on performance.

Remember, managing performance is about changing behavior. It's as simple as that. And you will never change behavior by focusing on a number. You have to focus on the right behaviors and hold your team members accountable to those behaviors.

Effective Leadership: Get Your Kicks on Route 66

My family just completed our annual vacation. This year we took an RV to Oklahoma to visit Laura's parents and then swung over to see the Grand Canyon on our way home. It was a great visit. I wanted to share at least one thought I had while driving home - and trust me, we did alot of driving!

If you've ever driven on I-40, which runs across the southwest US, you'll notice that much of its path parallels Route 66. In fact, every few miles you can exit I-40 and actually drive on "Historic Route 66". Perhaps it's because Route 66 has such an iconic presence in our culture or perhaps I was just spending too much time watching mile markers and cacti roll by, but I kept thinking about this old stretch of pavement. I thought about how times have changed since it was originally built. I thought about how the construction of I-40 forever changed Route 66 and the little towns that had sprung up beside it - many of those towns are now ghost towns. I thought about the men (there were probably a few women too) who built the old highway. In all of these instances I was really thinking about a legacy - I was thinking about what was left behind.

The hundreds or thousands of people that built Route 66 are, for the most part, dead and gone now. Yet there is something left behind - some of it good, some of it bad. There's the romantic aspect of Route 66 that recalls a different, maybe cooler and more care free time, that makes us sing songs and think of old TV shows or grainy home movies from the 50's and 60's. But there is also a legacy of lonely stretches of crumbling asphalt running past abandoned gas stations, hotels and restaurants - a street of broken dreams. I guess the true legacy of Route 66 is in the eye of the beholder.

As leaders, what will our legacy be? Will our life's work be left to crumble and decay after it's replaced by "Interstate 40". Or will we leave something behind that will be of true value for all that follow in our footsteps - something that won't be discarded when the next new thing comes along. Again, as so often is the case with leadership, it comes back to that stewardship question: did I leave people better than I found them?

Effective Leadership: The secret to happiness...

I had the opportunity to attend the ASTD national conference in Washington DC this past week. It was a great experience and I'll try to get a few posts up specific to what I learned. One recurring theme reminded me of a comedian I heard a few years back. His bit went something like this: "Hey, you want to know the secret to happiness? Lower your goals!" He may have meant it as a joke, but there's a nugget of truth in his statement; though I would rephrase it a bit. I wouldn't say to lower your goals but to have fewer goals.

One of the conference sessions I attended featured Ken Blanchard, author of "The One-Minute Manager", who applied this take on the Pareto principle: 20 percent of what a person does accounts for 80 percent of their success. Think about that. Most of our success comes down to just a few key behaviors! This concept lines up with the findings in an awesome book called "Influencer" which says the key to changing behavior is to identify the few "vital behaviors" instead of trying to change a laundry list of behaviors.

In managing the performance of our teams we will likely have much more success focusing on a few rather than many behaviors. It's no different on a personal level - we can't beat ourselves up over a litany of behaviors. Instead, we should focus on those vital behaviors that will have the most impact.

More to come....

Corporate Culture: The Victory Garden

I've started writing a blurb in Center Partners' monthly newsletter, "Off the Hook". Here's this month's column:

Have you ever planted a garden? Just a generation ago everybody had a garden but, unfortunately, it is becoming a lost art. Gardens are a lot of work! It’s not as simple as throwing some seeds in the dirt and hoping they’ll grow. To have a good, healthy garden you’ve got to have the right kind of soil. You’ve got to till the ground. You’ve got to clear rocks, sticks and other debris from your garden plot. You have to fertilize. You have to rake. You have to sow your seeds. You have to weed. You have to water. You have to keep critters (and in my case, kids) out of the garden. Are you getting my point? Good gardens don’t just happen. They require substantial planning and effective execution on the part of the gardener. And even with all the plowing, planting, raking, hoeing and watering, there’s no guarantee that you’ll have a good yield. No wonder gardening is becoming a lost art!

I think gardening is the perfect metaphor for building a healthy corporate culture. A great work environment doesn’t just happen on its own. Just like a garden, building a healthy, vibrant culture at work requires substantial planning and effective execution. It requires effort from every individual at every level of the organization, and we might not see the “fruits (or vegetables!) of our labors” immediately. But one thing is certain: every organization will have a culture. The question is will it be a culture that we have carefully planned, fed and nurtured? Or will it be whatever culture we allow to take root? Any gardener knows that growing a bumper crop of delicious veggies takes a lot of work but growing weeds takes zero effort on our part. It goes deeper than that though, because weeds will actually choke out the good, healthy plants that we want to grow. So the gardener’s job is not just to nurture the good plants but to pluck out the bad ones as well. It’s a constant fight - The never ending battle of man vs. weeds! (Start dramatic theme music here.)

The folks at the executive and director level of Center Partners are actively engaged in conversations about CP’s culture as we speak. You’ll be hearing and seeing more about this in the coming weeks and months. On a personal level, it has been very exciting to observe and participate in some of those conversations. I have been impressed with the insight, imagination and commitment of the people involved in the process. But everyone, not just the executives and directors, have key roles to play in CP’s culture. My kids get sick of me saying this, but we have a fairly common mantra/question in our home: “Am I being part of the problem or part of the solution?” Maybe, in keeping with the whole gardening theme, we could ask ourselves, “Am I nurturing a nice healthy garden or a scraggly weed patch?”

This past fall my family sat down for a dinner we made from things that came only from our garden. We had potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, raspberries and strawberries. Believe it or not, we felt a great sense of satisfaction knowing that we had “grown” all of those yummy fruits and veggies ourselves. Similarly, I think we can all feel proud of the culture we’ve grown and are growing here at Center Partners. We all have a stake in the kind of environment we have here at CP and it’s up to each of us to decide whether we want a Victory Garden or a weed patch. If we choose the Victory Garden then let’s all dig in and get our hands dirty!

Effective Leadership: "Sit right back and you'll hear a tale..."

I've always had a great affinity for Gilligan; I grew up watching reruns of Gilligan's Island every day after school; I can sing the theme song (both versions! If you're a true Gilligan afficienado you know what I'm talking about) word for word; I've even been told I have an uncanny resemblance to Gilligan himself - not sure if I should be proud of that or not. Believe it or not, I learned a few good lessons from "little buddy."

Remember the episode where Gilligan makes a set of wings? In one scene he has his wings on and is flapping madly and actually hovering about ten feet off the ground. He says "Skipper! Skipper! Look at me! I'm flying!." Skipper replies, "You can't fly! It's impossible! Get down from there!" So Gilligan dejectedly crashes to the ground. Gilligan was actually flying until Skipper "shot him down" with what he said.

Here's the moral to that little story: People have a tendancy to live up to their expectations. If you set the bar low - guess what - that's exactly what you get. If you set the bar high - that's exactly what you'll get. This is basically the same theme as my last post. We can "condition" people to perform (or not perform) by what we say (or don't say) to them.

Negative conditioning or negative messages have a way of becoming self-fulfilling prophecies. As an example, look at our current economic situation. For the past 18 months the media has been bombarding us with how bad the economy was. Even though the vast majority of Americans were still doing ok financially, the media (and some politicians') constant drum beat about the economy forced people to actually change their behavior - in a way that just caused more harm to the economy - they spent less money! Don't get me wrong, there are some major issues going on in our economy right now but if you believed what much of the media and politicos are saying we are on the verge of armageddon. The reality is the economy today is bad, but no where near as bad as it was even during the late 70's and early 80's. It goes to show if you say something often enough and loud enough people will begin to believe it and act the part.

Good leaders inspire. Good leaders play on the positive not the negative. Good leaders bring out the best in people - not the worst.

If the Skipper would've been on his game in that episode he would have encouraged Gilligan in his apparent successful attempts at flying. Who knows, maybe they could have flown off the island years sooner? Anything would've been better than the professor's coconut powered distress beacon!

Career Management: "Every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man!"

We recently had a young man complete six weeks of new hire training at our Couer D'Alene call center. Unlike his classmates who took full advantage of the company's rather casual dress code, this young man dressed in business attire throughout training. It wasn't until the newhire group graduated that the class realized this individual was a new agent just like them. They had all assumed he was their manager observing their performance in training - simply because of the way he was dressed!

ZZ Top reference aside, how we dress is quite important. I know we've grown up hearing things like "don't judge a book by it's cover" and "looks don't matter", but the reality is looks and dress do matter. People make judgements about us based on how we dress. The last thing we want is for our personal appearance or dress to be a distraction or detriment to how we are perceived in the organization.

In a career exploration class I facilitate we actually spend a lot of time talking about how to dress in the workplace. The adage about dressing for the job you want instead of the job you have makes total sense! And though it may seem superficial, one of the easiest things you can do to help yourself move up in an organization is to upscale your wardrobe.

Employee Motivation: See you at the top....of Maslow's Hierarchy

Any of us who've sat through a psychology 101 class are at least aware of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. In 1954 Abraham Maslow mapped out his theory on motivation and it has become one of the standards in explaining what makes us tick. Without dissecting his entire pyramid I want to jump straight to the top - the self actualization level of the hierarchy. What does self-actualization mean? In my view, when a person has reached true self-actualization they feel they are doing what they were put on this earth to do; They are living their potential; They have met the "measure of their creation". Now be honest: How many of us have met or will ever meet this level of satisfaction? If you could choose to do anything in the world you wanted to do would you choose your current job? It's ok if you said "no".

Think about what makes you...you: What are your key talents, interests, strengths, capabilities etc... If you are fortunate enough to have a "job" where you are able to leverage each of these, chances are you will be pretty doggone happy at work. In "First, Break all the Rules", Marcus Buckingham points out that the great managers are those that focus on their employees' strengths and "manage around" their weaknesses. He doesn't mention it by name but isn't he really talking about self actualization? Being able to do what we do best (or being able to use our key talents, interests, strengths and capabilities) on a daily basis is a huge motivator. This approaches that state of Self-Actualization.

There's alot about Maslow's that we could discuss - and we will in the future. But for now, think of opportunities to match projects or tasks that may come up with the individual strengths and interests of your team members. And here's another thought to leave you with in regards to Maslow's: The higher you move up the hierarchy, the more "bang for your buck" you'll get. Focusing on the higher level needs of an individual will yield bigger performance results than the lower level needs. Stay tuned....

Bad Leadership: How Not to Manage a Team (Part 1)

I actually heard this on the floor the other day. I walked past a supervisor's desk while she was doing a one-on-one with a new agent. She had two sheets of paper in front of her and was saying "These are my team's numbers with you and these are my team's numbers without you. You're dragging my whole team down." Wow! How do you think this new agent felt? Do you think this agent left that discussion wanting to do a better job? More than likely he left wanting to find a better job. I can't say that I blame him...

Corporate Stewardship: What I Learned from Boy Scouts and Sheep Herders

A long, long time ago I was a Boy Scout. In addition to memorizing the scout law (“a scout is trustworthy, loyal, brave”, etc…) my scoutmaster made us memorize the Outdoor Code. I won’t recite it for you, but one of the main ideas was that you should always leave a campsite better than you found it – clean up your mess, don’t leave a fire-ring, have little or no impact on the environment, and so forth. It makes sense - it’s Common Courtesy 101. But there’s a broader application. The Outdoor Code is basically introducing the concept of stewardship isn’t it? I think there is value in looking through the “stewardship lens” as we view our roles as leaders at work.

A steward is someone who has been given responsibility and accountability over something – usually something of high value. For the good steward, it is not merely enough to “take care of” his charge – that’s the bare minimum. The good steward wants to leave his “something” better than he found it. A good example is illustrated in a discussion I heard in Sunday school a few years back. The teacher asked the question: “What is the difference between a sheep herder and a shepherd?” The class consensus went something like this: A sheep herder is a hired-hand. He takes care of the sheep because he has to – he’ll get fired if he doesn’t. He does the minimum required to keep his job. But don’t expect him to go above and beyond or to put himself at risk when danger emerges (i.e. wolves, robbers, storms). The shepherd, on the other hand, does what he does out of genuine concern – even love – for his flock. He will leave the flock to go after the lone lost lamb. He will risk his very life to protect his sheep. But the shepherd’s focus is not only on keeping his sheep safe from harm but also on helping them grow, prosper and be happy.

So you may be saying, “Okay, this shepherd talk is great for Sunday school class, but what about here at work?” Good question. But before we leave the sheep scenario, let me ask you this: if you were a sheep, would you rather follow a sheep herder or a shepherd? And here in the real world, would you rather have a sheep herder supervisor who is “managing” you like another unpleasant task (i.e. doing the least amount of work required) or a shepherd supervisor who is genuinely interested in helping you grow, prosper and be happy in your position? In which scenario are you most likely to enjoy your job? In which scenario are you most likely to perform better?

In a work setting what does stewardship look like? Am I suggesting you’ll need to risk your life fighting off wolves for your agents? No. What I am saying is that our relationships with agents will be more satisfying and productive for them and for us if we think of ourselves as not just managers but as stewards. The next time you get a new agent on your team I challenge you to ask yourself: “What can I do to leave this agent better than I found her?” Then work to ensure that every interaction you have with that agent builds on that theme.

Stewardship is a very deep concept that can be applied to every aspect of our lives. For the sake of this conversation we’re just applying it to our roles here at work. But there is tremendous power in approaching our day to day job related duties as a steward. Oh, I almost forgot to mention. There’s another word for steward with which you may be more familiar. The word is “coach”.

Effective Teams: The Tao of Ralph and Sam

Some of you who have attended CORE training recently have probably heard me mention the greatest cartoon ever made – the old 1950’s Warner Brothers cartoon with Ralph and Sam. Ralph was a coyote (played by Wyle E. Coyote) and Sam was a sheep dog. The episodes always began with Ralph and Sam meeting each other and walking to work together. “Morning Ralph”, “Morning Sam”, they’d say and they would ask about each other’s kids, wife etc. Then they’d finally get to work – and this is where the fun started! They would each punch in to the SAME time clock then go to work. Sam’s job was to guard the sheep and Ralph’s job was to steel the sheep. Of course what follows is ten minutes of slapstick mayhem and violence – Ralph always at the receiving end – like falls from cliffs, explosions and anvils landing on heads. It’s the good clean fun we expect from those great old Warner Brothers shorts. But believe it or not, there’s a message for us in these brilliant cartoons.

I’m sure we’ve all experienced times where our team or department seems to be at odds with other parts of the organization. Perhaps it takes the form of a process that is so cumbersome it becomes a major performance blocker or maybe it’s an attitude (implied, inferred or actual) that says “that’s not my job”. Whether these problems are intentional or unintentional they have the same effect: they get in the way of us being truly effective.

At one of my previous companies we would refer to the accounts receivable department as the “sales prevention” team. While it was purely unintentional, their processes were very customer “un-friendly” to say the least. Ironically, one of this company’s stated aspirations was “let’s make it easy for our customers to do business with us.” Frankly, the A/R team made it easier for our customers to do business with our competition!

My example may be extreme, but can you think of anything we might do that conflicts with other parts of the organization? Are we ever guilty of self-inflicted “catch 22’s”? Do we ever feel like we’re our own worst enemy? It sounds very simplistic, but I think the key to avoiding the “Ralph and Sam” syndrome is to keep the big picture in view. One of the risks of departmentalizing is “nearsightedness”, where we lose the ability to see things that are farther away. Our focus becomes our own group or department sometimes at the expense of the larger objective. The more we can do to help our teams understand the big picture, the more agent buy-in we’ll have. That means “Ralph and Sam” will actually be working with each other instead of against each other.