What's 1st in Leadership? Breaking all the Rules!!!

"Wait, what?...Break... BREAK all the.. Rules??! 

NOOOOOO!!!!!"

YES, Dwight. 

That's the first step to becoming a great and innovative manager, believe it or not!

My group and I were assigned to read "First, Break All The Rules" by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, both a part of the Gallup Organization. This organization set out to find what the methods of the most effective managers are in attracting talented employees, keeping them, and increasing the overall profit and sales of the company. The organization dedicated the time to interview over 800,000 managers in the span of 25 years to gather helpful and unique pointers to guide current managers to discover their personal style of managing, as well as incorporating the effective methods mentioned by other inspirational managers into their work. The book focuses on the techniques of managers who break the conventional rules of the business world to lead their employees and the company to success.

This book has completely changed my view of leadership. I have always heard the basic, and almost trite sayings, "Treat everyone the same", "Leave your emotions out of the workplace", and "Fixing your flaws makes you stronger", and I have always believed them, not giving them much thought as my thoughts have been subconsciously molded into standardized thinking of the workplace. However, reading one of the interviews within the book that the organization had conducted with a fine-dining restaurant manager has opened my eyes up to the completely opposite set of ideas, and has made me see leadership in a whole new light. This manager, referred to as "Michael", stated that he does not treat his employees the same, as every individual is different and needs to be treated differently as well. He also mentioned that he STRIVES to create relationships with his employees rather than shutting out emotional connections from the working environment, and ENCOURAGES his employees to embrace their strengths and work on becoming the best "them" they can be, rather then spending time trying to "fix" themselves. 

YUP.

I have always believed in focusing on people's talents and strengths and positioning them accordingly to make the best use of what they can do, also allowing them to grow in their area of talent. I have also always believed that employee satisfaction leads to a brighter and inviting working environment, which would lead to more focus, motivation, willingness, and more profit. Instead of thinking that it is the duty of the employees to work, and the manager to overlook everything, I focus on the equal balance between the manager and the employees; the manager serves the employees, and the employees give back to the manager. This book touched upon this relationship greatly, and focused on how the concept of employee satisfaction is influenced by various factors such as good facilities, convenient and helpful gadgets (for example, back massages being able for employees who sit at the desk all day), and close, understanding relationships between employees and the manager. Great employee satisfaction contributes towards having longer-staying employees, a healthier workplace, and an increase in profit. 

Gallup's focus on creating a measuring stick to measure the strength of the workplace based on employee satisfaction really grasped my attention! The organization came up with 12 questions in measuring the strength of a workplace, with employees answering to these questions from a scale of 1-5 (1 being "Strongly Disagree", and 5 being "Strongly Agree"). These 12 questions represented the four business outcomes of customer satisfaction, profitability, production, and retention. After Gallup collected results after surveying a mass group of employees from various companies, they realized that employees who responded more positively to the questions worked in workplaces with higher profit and productivity; this result indicated to me that every little aspect of the workplace influences each other, combining together to influence the workers' opinion of their work experience. I believe Gallup's approach in measuring the strength and effectiveness of the workplace by examining the employees' feelings about their work environment rather than just examining profit or numbers is very thoughtful and touching.  

WHOA. My mind is blown.

Another thing that was mentioned in the book that grasped my attention was the idea that employees leave their managers, not the company. I have always thought of managers to be a person of status and authority, and an individual who tries their best to maintain an effective and peaceful workplace. I never thought of the manager to be the KEY to the company, or section of the company they work in, and that they are the ones that actually create the environment that the employees work in. I have never thought about how every single little thing the managers do or say influences every individual around them, ultimately influencing a talented employee's decision to either leave or stay at the company. An employee may join a company for its reputation, benefits, and pay, but how well the relationship between the manager and the employee is determines how productive the employee will be, and how long they feel they should continue working at the company. WHOA.

I... am so confused.

"The most essentially human tasks: sensing, judging, creating, and building relationships" (Buckhingham 23). This is the one thing I was confused about. Not about why these tasks are essential, but confused as to why many of the managers today do not know that these things are essential. I always thought establishing good communication was a basic thing that everyone should know, especially managers! Every little thing that I do in my daily life has a social aspect to it, and I always make sure to make connections and build relationships with others around me before jumping into any kind of action. Whenever I am part of a group and I am in charge of assigning tasks to each member, I can't expect group members to listen to me or carry out their tasks if they don't know me, and I don't know what kind of person they are! I always make sure to establish a good communication and understanding of each individual before acting out anything. Learning about others and creating connections allows human beings to build trust-> encouragement -> willingness -> motivation -> great productivity!

This book was applicable to my current role as an employee. I have been working close to a year at the Schottenstein Arena in Guest Services, and though I greatly enjoy working there, I have recently started questioning what I could do to improve as an employee and mature as a person as well. Reading about the "mountain" that all workers have to climb in the workplace has been such a big help to me. This "mountain" that is presented within the book describes the several steps needed to get to the summit of the mountain, described as questions:

1."What do I get?"----> What you, as an employee, benefit from your job.

2."What do I give?"---->What you contribute and provide to the society through your job. 

3. "Do I belong here?"----> Do you feel you "fit in" at the company with your work methods?
4. "How can we all grow?"---> What can you do to support the whole of the company to success, and help the company grow as one, mature organization of people?

By looking over these questions, I have began to look more into my job and have been motivated to fully understand what my role in the workplace is, and discover what I can do to support the whole of the working environment and not just focus on improving my work ethic. I will try my best to reach the summit, where our focus is clear, we have an understanding of ourselves and others, and where we will have the ability to welcome challenges with open arms!!

This book has really opened my eyes up to creative and effective methods of management.

 I greatly recommend it!! Just make sure you read the book before it devours you ;)

Tuckman's Stages of Development

Being a member of the performing arts community for as long as I can remember, I am able to connect the stages of group development to my various theater and production experiences.

Let me start off with...

FORMING

With theatrical productions of any kind, the members of the cast first have to pass the inevitable and dreaded auditions to be included within the final group. There is always a thick air of tension, anxiety, and fierce competitiveness within the environment on the audition days, and every auditionee has the same jumble of thoughts rushing through their heads as they silently scan all the other auditionees in the room: "How many people are here?.. how many people are they going to accept?.. oh my gosh, only 25 people out of the 300 here? Am I going to make it?... Who's that girl? Ohh man, she's really talented. I hope she doesn't get the part I want.. I would die if I don't get this part." The auditioning process may not be the most pleasant experience, but the feeling of joy and relief after you receive the call that you made it into the final cast is indescribable! 

When the final cast is decided, that is when the real bonding and forming begins within the group of people you will be working with for the next 3 months. At the first rehearsal, a meeting is conducted, where each person stands up and introduces themselves to the rest of the cast. Rules and policies are discussed, and each person is handed a piece of paper with each cast member's contact information on it. Everyone puts on a smile and greets the others with praises of their audition, or how excited they are to work with them. Everyone wants to avoid the notorious drama that has the possibility of developing between several people over a boy in the cast, or even drama that has been dragged into the current production from a past production. For the first month or so, when everyone is finally getting used to each other and really getting to learn what kind of person each person is and their methods of how they work, each person tries their very best to focus on keeping things professional, drama-free, and friendly. 

Which leads us to...

STORMING

After some time of getting to know the cast, true colors start to emerge...

"Storming can be a short process, in which the group comes to a pretty clear direction, or it can be destructive" (219).

THIS....

Or this??

After about the first month of getting to know the other cast members and trying to figure out the most effective way to work with each individual person, the cast starts to focus on what has not worked out so far, and how we can improve this particular problem to make sure that the production will be as spectacular as it can be. This problem can be anything from people backstabbing each other within the cast, or someone trying to "outshine" everyone else in the cast by selfishly trying to stand out the most on stage when another person is supposed to have the spotlight at the time. 

This problem-solving and trust-building process happens usually by the mid point of the rehearsal process, where we have all seen what has been working, and what has not been too effective. During this time in which we all come together and try to find the best direction in which to take our successful and not too successful endeavors within the production, cast members can either take the most helpful option in discussing what we've been having issues with and working together to fix them, or throwing cast members under the bus and blaming issues on specific individuals. This Storming process can either be a quick, effective meeting with the whole cast, with each member promising to do better on their part and help others out when they need the support, or a difficult, collapsing process with an explosion of fights, tears, and yelling. In the many years I have been performing, I have observed that a good storming process results in the cast going down an easier path improving the quality of our production, rather than a destructive storming process that results in the cast taking the rocky path in producing a good show; the cast takes so much more time focusing on fixing all the drama in the cast instead of applying that precious time towards improving the production itself.

NORMING

By about the 2 months point of developing our show, everything slowly begins to fall together. Drama is overlooked or pushed back as a thing of a past, and everyone's focus on getting the show together before the opening night heightens. People begin to make connections within the cast, trying harder to stay on the same page as everyone else in the cast, and working on having one main goal. 

Cooperation, Together-ness.

People begin to be more clear with what direction they want to cast to go towards, and what we need to focus on the most at this point, which is usually a few weeks before the show opens to the public. Cooperation and together-ness is the most important aspect of the cast at this point, and everyone sees to that.

PERFORMING

 Alas! Opening Night has come!!!

A Chorus Line!

The King and I!

Hairspray!

This day is the big test of whether or not all of our methods towards producing a great show was effective or not... And not only do we find this out, a whole audience of relatives, season ticket holders, and theatre critics will be able to tell too. 

For the first week of shows, the whole cast is required to stay behind after the show ends to discuss what worked, what didn't, and what we need to improve on with the director of the production. After that week of our director still motivating us, we are on our own, and we have no more meetings, rehearsals, or pep-talks. It is up to us to motivate ourselves and other members of the cast. Someone down in the dumps? It's up to us to cheer them up. Someone was 2 counts behind in a synchronized dance, and made the whole scene fall apart? It's up to us to bring that up and help fix that problem without causing any drama or making that person feel bad. As we perform, we are constantly norming, storming, and forming. And in the end, after all of our hard work, we become one big family. Reading the critics' reviews from the newspaper aloud together, finding the joy in each opportunity to make our show even better, and drowning in our own tears after the closing performance after 3-4 months of working together is just a few things that make the whole experience so... MAGICAL.

ONE! Singular Sensation...

"INFJ?? What's That? A New Kind of Weight-Loss Program? It Sounds Absolutely Horrid."

No Simon, it's not! It's the 4 letters to my personality type that the Jung Typology test has calculated for me after I answered a couple of questions relating to the way I act in daily life.

The 4-letter personality type that I scored after taking the Jung Typology Test was INFJ, or “Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging”.

My Strengths

My strength percentages of each personality type were:

Introverted: 44%

Intuitive: 50%

Feeling: 62%

Judging: 78%

                                INTROVERTED

My Introverted personality means that I like to keep to myself often. I enjoy being social at times, but I also love being by myself on my free time and reading a book or perhaps watching a movie on my laptop alone instead of hanging out all the time. I find that I work best alone, since communication is not one of my talents, and when given the option to have a group or to work alone for a project, I always choose to work by myself, since I find it a more effective use of my effort & energy to get things done on my own time using my own ideas without having to worry about what my group members think about me, scheduling meetings out of class, or worrying that a member will not complete his/her work.
You will not find me chatting up a storm in a room full of people or at a large social event, but will most likely find me curled up in a chair in the library, my nose glued to the middle of the book.
It doesn't mean that I don't like talking or am scared of other people, since once I get comfortable and start talking, I'm such a chatter-box; as a Guest Services position at The Schottenstien Center, I am required to interact with guests and co-workers and I greatly enjoy doing that. However, I am not one to initiate the talking process. I spend the majority of my time concentrating on things by my own. Of course, I'm not always introverted, since I love going out once in a while, love talking to others to learn more about them, and dancing up a storm!!

                       INTUITIVE 

Ahh don't tell me you didn't see this coming!

My Intuitive personality means that I am constantly thinking and worrying about the past or the future. I am constantly wishing I could have lived in the '80s, constantly wishing I could go back to my childhood days filled with Harry Potter books, Fruit Roll-Ups, and Courage the Cowardly Dog, when the only homework I was assigned was to color a picture of Smokey the Bear. I worry about any mistakes I may have made in the past, and I am constantly paranoid of what's going to happen in the future: 5 years from now, will all my efforts and hard work be worth it and bring about days of sunshine, or will there only be a huge TROLL getting in the way of me achieving success and happiness?? (That's a HP reference, by the way.. -_-). I often have many doubts about the decisions I have made or have to make, but always strive to stay open-minded, often being attracted to new, unusual, and bizarre things.

FEELING

Just like Andie in "Pretty In Pink" (played by Molly Ringwald), my Feeling personality means that I tend to be very sensitive and let my emotions control myself majority of the time in everything I do. When looking at a person, the first aspect I think about is their feelings at the time, how they feel about me, how I feel about them, and how we feel about the current situation that we're in. Since I care so much about making people feel good about themselves, I tend to compliment others all the time. What's quite ironic is that though I put in the effort to lift other's spirits when they're feeling down, I fail to do that for myself, and usually end up having breakdowns now and then. I tend to take everything said to me personally, and constantly worry about the things I say and if I said them in the "right" way to avoid hurting anyone's feelings or make them think less of me. If you haven't seen "Pretty In Pink", I greatly recommend it ;)

JUDGING 

My Judging personality means that I constantly focus on finishing up whatever I started. I feel incomplete and restless whenever I leave something half-done, or unsolved. After brainstorming and intensely analyzing the situation to come up with a solution to a problem, I do not like to change the decisions that I have made. I like to follow the rules and make sure that everything is working in its proper way: I am very "by-the-book" and detailed about things, and always make sure to do everything step-by-step, little by little, not leaving a single concept or factor out of the process. Sometimes this meticulous quality of mine is troublesome, since it would take me forever to finish just a simple project. I'd like to work on improving this time-consuming characteristic of mine!

I was not surprised at all that I got these results. I think that each trait explains me very well, and it very accurate. I actually took this test when I was still a junior back in high school, so I was familiar with these personality traits of mine.
However, what surprised me was that my results have not changed, and has still stayed the same 4 letters, INFJ. Junior year in high school seems like such a long time ago, and I took this test about 2 years ago. So much has happened since then, and I thought that perhaps the life events that I have experienced would have changed who I am as a person, and how I view things. I guess I have not changed as much as I thought I did!