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May 2010: What's In This Issue

1. THE BEST OF THE CORPORATE CURMUDGEON –
   How to cut the time spent managing in half
   


2. THE BEST OF JT & DALE TALK JOBS –
   – Cheated out of a bonus?
   – Recovering from a bad email

HOW TO CUT THE TIME SPENT MANAGING IN HALF

By Dale Dauten

'Diaper' spelled backwards is 'repaid.'

That insight comes from Gary Gill of Indianapolis, commenting on my recent assertions about managers who think of their departments as "family."

As I noted in that column, "What family is really like an office team? I don't know of anyone who's walked into the parental home and said, 'Mom, I just got an offer from another Mom and, well, it's a great offer. But I'm willing to consider counteroffers.'"

Not that "family" isn't a sweet and appealing metaphor, but being the department's mom or dad is to invite employee visits of all the wrong kind....

• If you solve employees' problems, what do you get? More problems.
• Skilled at chasing away the blues? You get more blues. (And by blues I mean complaints, suspicions, accusations and "Somebody stole my yogurt out of the refrigerator.")
• Save someone's butt and what do you get? Well... you get the point.

However, what I hadn't considered is that the choice of metaphor/style isn't just the boss's alone - an employee can choose to opt out of the family, and actually be better for it. I recently heard from Ed Leighton of Chicago, who passed along this experience:

"Our boss was a new mom, so the employees in our department said and did all the right things, becoming well-liked in return. Unfortunately, they spent whatever goodwill they may have gained by repeatedly bothering her with petty concerns. Meanwhile, while the boss's body language was screaming 'Leave me alone!' she let the angst-filled rhetoric continue. So most of her employees would glom onto her and not let go. I read the signs and made only brief and necessary contact. In the end, the glommers spend enough goodwill to have that account go bankrupt, and when it came time for the boss to make hard choice, they were gone."

Ironic that it has become a cliche that when jerks are reneging on deals they earnestly rationalize, "I have to think of my family." And yet, the wise boss soon learns to jettison the family - or, if wise in time, to jettison the metaphor.

I prefer the metaphor of "ally." If you hire allies, you don't have to make "fit" the chief job requirement - what is "fit" but being "the good child"? No, you can make the chief requirement the right talent. Plus, you don't have to spend your days investigating yogurt theft. I know there are plenty of great bosses who are proud of their "servant leadership," but there's a difference between "servant leadership" and "servile leadership," and it starts in choosing which view of the workplace to embrace.

Here's a tidy example of the difference, from one of my favorite gifted bosses, Dan Hagerman of Phoenix. He tells me that there was a time when, leaving the office, he would say to his employees, "Call me if you need anything." And they did - often. Why solve a problem when your boss is so good at it? Then he changed his farewell remark to, "Call if something comes up that you can't handle." Then, when they called, he would tell them, "I know you can handle that." And they did. Once he resigned as Dad he had the time to be the leader. And his company just gave him a second consecutive national award for what he and his team have accomplished.

©2010 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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I SMELL A RAT

Dear JT & Dale:
My boss sent an email letting us know we would be receiving our bonuses. However, when they came out, my name was not on the list. (I only recently became eligible.) Since we have a new executive team, my boss said she would get it straightened out. When I still didn't receive it, I e-mailed her and she responded back "Rats," and said she'd check into it. When she got back into the office a week later she mentioned she saw my e-mail about my bonus but had not responded. I didn't say anything but was taken aback since she had responded. I later realized that she had retracted her email response. (I had not opened the e-mail, just previewed it.) She said she'd straighten the bonus out at the half-year, plus get me some extra money for salary. Should I tell her what I know?
– Chenny

DALE: Ah, an interesting dilemma: Is she (a) a good person trying to do right by you without pestering her new bosses, or (b) duping you while helping management weasel out of what you deserve. Retracting the e-mail would certainly argue for conclusion... UNLESS this happened: It suddenly occurred to her that the term "rats" could be misinterpreted. She probably meant it as an alternative to an expletive, like "shoot" or "drat"; then it hit her that it might seem as though she's calling the new executives "rats" - OOPS! and DRAT! - and thus, she retracted it.

JT: A creative hypothesis. However, this is another instance to assume the best and prepare for the worst. If you have a review coming up at midyear, I'd wait and see if your boss can make good on her word. Help her do so by asking what you need to do to make sure you are prepared for the review and so you can make it easier for her to get you the raise and bonus. Keep track of everything you do on your end in the event the situation and/or players change. (Perfect example: What if your boss leaves before you get this straightened out?) I know it doesn't seem fair that you have to do all this extra work, but it pays to be tactful yet proactive.

Dear JT & Dale:
I am trying to recover from a bad communication with a potential employer. I am an unemployed physicist trying to move out of physics and seek work as a data analyst. Upon sending a resume, I got a response that said,

"I'm glad to see you are also a Toastmaster."
"When I read your resume I can't help but wonder two things. First can we keep you challenged and second how much compensation are you looking for?"

Sadly, I replied with the following very bad e-mail:

"To alleviate your concerns, my interest in doing data analysis would keep me engrossed in this position. Concerning compensation, I would be content to receive the industry norm for this field, as posted in your posting, which is similar to what I received as a physicist."

It's been two days and I haven't heard anything, so I thought I would send her recovery e-mail, but don't know what to include.
– Tina

DALE: Don't be too hard on yourself -- it wasn't a BAD e-mail. The hiring manager asked a pair of useless questions and you gave expected answers. (The questions are useless because who is going to say "Yes, I'll soon be bored witless and resenting the stinking pay and I'll be looking to slide out as soon as I can.") On the other hand, yours wasn't a great response, mainly because of missed opportunities.

JT: Sure, it would have been nice to make a personal connection by following up on the Toastmasters comment. And yes, there might have been some more convincing answers to his questions. However, remember the purpose of every resume and application -- get to the next step, the interview. So the real missed opportunity was how eager you are to meet in person and explain why the challenge and salary are not issues. What you need to do now is call and say that after sending off your response, you realized you didn't fully explain yourself. So, instead of filling up his e-mail inbox with another note, you thought you'd call and ask for a meeting to explain how it could be a huge win-win for both parties. Pick up the phone and get the meeting.

DALE: Notice, Tina, that JT said "get the meeting" not "get the job." Don't put all that pressure on yourself by thinking that you're going to call and persuade the person to hire you. Just move things forward, get the meeting, and then make sure you're the best prepared person the hiring manager has ever spoken to. That's what you can control, and that's how you should evaluate your performance as a job applicant.

Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a professional development specialist and founder of the consulting firm, jtodonnell.com.

©2010 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.