by Adam L Stanley | Jun 8, 2012 | Leadership, Teamwork
Top Traits: Defining the perfect employees
I had a whole home audio system installed in my Chicago home a few years ago. I spent more than I have ever spent on audio equipment and hired a team of twenty somethings to install it for me. I remember when they came for the install and opened all the boxes. You honestly would have thought they were installing for themselves. They were so excited about the install, and kept telling me how I really got the coolest equipment out there. Their excitement was contagious. I truly felt like I was “the man” and could not wait until my first party. When done with the install, they beamed with pride and showed me the system, how to use it and some of the fun stuff. They also discussed potential upgrades coming down the road and ways I might consider expanding.
Trait # 2: Pride in Work Product
How often do employees show this kind of pride in the work they do? When you shop at a mall, or work with your local telephone company, do you get the sense that the people working with you are actually proud of the services they are providing? I’m doubting it! Definitely not the case with BT given my recent experiences with them, but I digress …. Shouldn’t you be proud of what you do? Pleased with your work and the value you bring? Nurses comfort people. Teachers change lives and prepare our futures. Your particular job may not be as obviously impactful but you’re driving value by helping clients either directly or indirectly. And if you have chosen to work at a particular place, you should have pride in what you do. My maternal grandfather was a garbage truck operator for almost 30 years. My paternal grandfather worked at the US Post Office for 25 years after serving his first five adult years in the army. Neither of them ever made very much money. But each had a pride in their work that was inspirational.
What I like
I want employees to show a sense of pride in what they do. In what they create. The best recent example of a leader that exuded pride in the products he offered was Steve Jobs. You just knew he thought that every product he allowed out the door was AWESOME! In my current role, I have a principle that I call “pretty red bow” that is based on pride of product and service. In short, I demand that my teams think about the entire package when building a new service. Not just the technology, which may be cool as ever, but the service, the support, the way it is sold and the training provided for users. You can build the very best mousetrap but if everyone thinks it is an appetiser with crackers and cheese …. Well, you get the picture. I want them to build a service, package it well and tie it up with a pretty red bow. Get it?
My favorite employees are the ones that call or email me to tell me when a client is really pleased, or even better, when no client has said anything but they know the service they have built will excite clients. The emails that show progress on solving a complex problem, the random drop by to my office to show me a prototype of a new collaboration tool, or the demo of a new “awesome” iOS application, this is what excites me.
If you do not feel pride in the work you do, why would your boss, your team, or your client?! If you don’t feel you can be proud of your work, perhaps you aren’t in the right field. Or perhaps you are simply not working hard enough to deliver something with which you can be proud.
What I need to do as a manager to enable
Provide. Praise. Promote.
- PROVIDE. If you hire an employee and ask them to build a Bentley, then only give them a thousand bucks, a Bentley you will not get. Set guidelines that are achievable and provide your teams with the resources needed to be successful. The greatest morale killer in most technology shops today is the constant badgering on costs. We must provide opportunities for employees to shine. A great example of this within Aviva is our mobile apps competition. We’re encouraging people around the world to create prototypes of great new app concepts in friendly competition. We encourage all of the contributors and it is FANTASTIC seeing the pride of ownership among the teams that is evident in their submissions.
- PRAISE. Give credit. Give credit. Give credit. Employees, especially those in service industries, operations functions, and technology, get PLENTY of complaints and abuse. When someone creates something amazing, you MUST acknowledge it. I have seen so many managers take credit for their team members work without adequately praising them. It is shameful. As I said with respect to all hard working and talented employees (prior blog), ensure those who show pride in their work and deliver excellence get the recognition they deserve.
- PROMOTE. This should be easy for those of you with children as well as for those who remember when you were a child. Think about how proud a kid is when their artwork is displayed on the refrigerator or on the school bulletin board. Create THAT environment. Showcase the amazing products and services your teams have created. If they have pride, and it is deserved, their leaders should also be proud. And showcasing their products will encourage others to create great things as well. Be a “proud mama” or “proud papa”. You will encourage more people to take pride in their work. And when you take pride in your work, you do better work. Simple, right?
I’m proud of the folks working with me now and proud of the things we accomplished while I was in my prior roles. I will continue to seek out, provide for, praise and promote those around me who take pride in what they do. It takes all kinds to make a great team but the perfect employees demonstrate pride in work product. And I want the perfect employees along on the journey with me.
Let me know what you think. What do you view as top employee traits? How do you build the best teams around different types of team members? Are you working hard on something worth doing?
Be sure to view all of the Top Traits:
Trait 1: Hard working AND talented
Trait 2: Pride in work product
Trait 3: Fun to work with
Be Well. Lead On.
Adam
Adam Stanley
Adam L. Stanley Connections Blog
Technology. Leadership. Food. Life.
AdamLStanley.com
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by Adam L Stanley | May 18, 2012 | Leadership, Teamwork
Top Traits: Defining the perfect employees
Yikes – It has been a while since I blogged and I have an excuse. We are working on some amazing things at Aviva and as part of that I have spent the past few weeks in meetings. Yes, being in meetings can sometimes be a royal P.I.T.A., especially if they are pointless. HOWEVER, I have been in FANTASTIC meetings. About dreaming, creatively thinking of new ways of engaging with clients, driving change, building new systems and tools, and SHARING. So, its been tiring but GOOD. Enough with the CAPITALIZ(S)ATION, right? Smile.
So, while I’ve been “away” from the blogosphere, I’ve been observing teams, learning about my new teams here and observing vendors, consultants, baristas at my favorite coffee spots, bartenders and servers at nice restaurants, my dry cleaner, the folks that work for London Transport, and the owner of the flat I lease. And, as I observe, I’ve noted things I like about these various employees and team members. As importantly, I’m refocusing on what I as a leader can do to enable the behaviours I like and discourage other behaviors. In my next series of blog posts, I will share my OPINIONS. I am NOT speaking for any company, nor am I speaking for Cafe Nero, Fino, etc. Just me.
… Trait # 1 – Hard working AND talented
Maybe you’ve had this guy on your team: The fact is he is simply brilliant. He knows so much about every relevant topic and can think beyond any analyst you have ever hired. Give him any problem to solve and, with focus, he can solve the most complex of them within minutes. Yet, when you compare his output and the value created from his efforts to the rest of your team, he falls short. Why? Because he is LAZY. In some ways, there is nothing worse than a LAZY smart person. Like a perfectly grilled prime rib being placed in front of a vegan, a USELESS waste. Offensive even!
Or perhaps you’ve seen more of this guy: Every night as you leave the office you say goodnight to this guy. He is in every meeting, takes copious notes, has severe frown lines from constantly working, thinking and pushing himself. He rarely takes vacations and always goes that extra mile. And yet, again, output is severely lacking. Deadlines are missed and errors are made. This person, while in my humble opinion much more acceptable than the lazy genius, still falls short. These guys are great to have on the team and can be highly valuable. They have the passion but not all of the skills… Which brings me to my first trait of the perfect employee…
Hard Working AND Talented
What I like
People who work hard and think hard are the foundation of a good team. And it is these people with whom I most like working. I don’t need geniuses actually, though the occasional rocket scientist does bring a uniquely different perspective to the team. I need people who are clear about what they know, comfortable researching or asking elsewhere about things of which they know little, and passionate about continuing to improve their knowledge base. But I also need them to want to work hard, push themselves, and execute. Brilliant strategy without effective delivery is … well, what many consultants produce. (And before I get the hate mail, I can say that because I am a former consultant. And of course not all consultants produce paperweights….)
I’m looking for people who have a strong base of talent on which to build, and the industriousness to see their base as a foundation and not a ceiling. Vision to dream about going further, learning more, and gaining even more knowledge as they execute and deliver. I had an architect at a prior company (confession: I hired/poached him from a consulting firm) that was not only the most knowledgeable person about Notes to Exchange migrations, he was also truly hard working. And he was humble; which I will discuss in a future blog. I could get more out of this one person than five others more polished, more educated, and higher paid. But he had a passion for solving problems and thinking harder about ways of working. And he never stopped learning.
I need people who think and push. Who work hard and study hard. Who bring a unique skillset to the table, share it with others, and in so doing make the entire team better.
What I need to do as a manager to enable
EMPLOY. ENGAGE. EMPOWER.
- EMPLOY. I need to find these people and bring them in to my teams. Typical HR processes seem to focus on assessing skills or fit. I need to assess ability to work hard, continue to learn and dream big. My goal will always be to find people smarter than I am, that work as hard or harder than I do, and give them the opportunity to shine.
- ENGAGE. I must actively seek to connect with these high performing high value generating team members, making clear how much they are valued. Too often, the smartest guy that does little work but knows when to speak up is rewarded first. As a leader, I must continuously look to find the hard working and talented and ensure they get the recognition they deserve.
- EMPOWER. The worst thing a manager can do with any top talent is to relegate them to worker bee status when they should be empowered to make decisions. These are your leaders and should be allowed to lead. These folks should be encouraged to ask forgiveness rather than permission.
For those interested, I found another blogger that commented on this topic and grouped people into four blocks instead of three. Where I cover smart and lazy, smart and hard working, and not so smart but hard working, this person also addresses stupid and lazy. I of course ignored that group because I would not even consider keeping someone in that bucket on my team. As Donald Trump says, “you’re fired!” Here is the other blog.
I also found a humorous take on choosing one or the other when you only have smart/lazy or dumb/hard working as your options.
From a “real world” perspective, it is FAR better to be smart and lazy than dumb and hardworking. You see, if a dumb person does a lot of work, chances are they’re going to do a lot of it wrong since they don’t know what they’re doing. Then the smart people are the ones who have to fix everything; and they spend all their time cleaning things up instead of being productive with their smartness.
I guess that is certainly one way of looking at things. As for me, I will continue to seek out the perfect ones, while also recognizing it takes all kinds to make a great team. Most importantly, I will continue to strive to find balance in life and work toward doing the right thing. I like what Teddy says on this topic.
Let me know what you think. What do you view as top employee traits? How do you build the best teams around different types of team members? Are you working hard on something worth doing?
Be sure to view all of the Top Traits:
Trait 1: Hard working AND talented
Trait 2: Pride in work product
Trait 3: Fun to work with
Be well. Lead On.
Adam
Adam L. Stanley Connections Blog
Technology. Leadership. Food. Life.
AdamLStanley.com
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by Adam L Stanley | Feb 7, 2012 | Relationships, Teamwork, Technology, Vendors and Partners
This week, I had a very unique opportunity to be “on-boarded” twice. My new role is based in the UK however I have a base in Chicago and, at the end of the day, a US contract. Thus, my first day was in Chicago and my second day was here in London. As I reflected on my first two days, something struck me that I thought was worthy of mentioning here. Both days, my first significant contact was with Technology team members. Not the strategy or planning sessions, or beginning the challenging work with which I have been tasked. Those start tomorrow. Specifically, I am referring to the service desk and support guys that actually helped get me setup with my “kit”.
Think about it: the last job you started likely involved use of some end user technology, be it a phone, laptop, iPad, or otherwise. Before you began to work your first deal, draft your first work plan, or respond to your first company email, you were likely setup by someone in Technology at your company. And that experience may very well have established your impression of technology at your firm overall. Regardless of how small a portion of the technology budget is actually spent on end user support, this is sometimes the only part of IT to which the majority of your teams are exposed. And I have seen AWFUL on-boarding and support processes, including from large outsourcing vendors that claim to have expertise.
And as I reflected on this fact, I also considered the age old question of whether business and technology have an effective relationship and whether technology can actually drive and influence decision making. And I say “absolutely”. And, frankly, it starts Day 1. And thus, service desk and support teams everywhere must take note: you matter much more than you may ever think. Yes, you deal with some of THOSE clients whose major problem is that shortly after they learned to pose their thumbs they were given a computer with a plug and no instructions. But you also deal with the closet techies that yearned to be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs before becoming actuaries. The one that built a program in DOS years ago before she decided to go back to law school. She was so proud of that program! The HR leader who admits to not knowing much about technology that simply begs for it to be as easy and user friendly as possible so she can help her clients recruit, train and retain talent so critical for the success of the firm. And yes, also that Finance major and banking strategist that spent 10 years in consulting before taking technology leadership roles and finding out how much he loved working with tech teams. For all of these users, you have the opportunity to frame their experience from day 1. And what a difference you can make!
Every five minutes you have with a CFO, you have the opportunity to represent your technology organization to an extent few others will ever have with that leader. You can listen to complaints and offer solutions. You can share their excitement talking about a new technology then work with the rest of the Tech org in finding ways to leverage that excitement for new solutions and services. You can make executives “happy” enough that perhaps the day we have a major sev 1 outage, they are stressed and concerned but not on the warpath. Because they know we care and that we realize the roll technology plays in generating revenue and sustaining profitability. You might just get them smiling right before they go to that special funding review meeting!
Like police officers in many urban centers, you don’t always get the glory. You are typically understaffed and insufficiently empowered. You get yelled at more than you get praised, and sometimes it may just seem that you have the most thankless job in Technology. But, goodness, YOU MATTER! And for me personally, you mattered this week. To Carey, Neel and Tom, a hearty thanks. You made my two days of on boarding easy and I can be productive from day 1 thanks to your help. You may never know just what that added productivity enabled for me, or for others. But you should know that it made a difference. You made a difference. And every call you take, every desk you visit, whether your clients say it or not, you continue to make a difference. And for those who do not, I say thanks.
Be Well. Lead On.
Adam
Adam L. Stanley | ALSWharton Connections
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by Adam L Stanley | Jan 23, 2012 | Life, Relationships
Each relationship between two persons is absolutely unique. That is why you cannot love two people the same. It simply is not possible. You love each person differently because of who they are and the uniqueness that they draw out of you.
William P. Young, The Shack
Do you have friends that seem great at tearing you down but never seem to build you up? Even worse, are you such a friend? I will admit there are a couple of people in my life that I am convinced accept me solely because of my corporate success or other temporal aspects of being. I sometimes get the sense that if I were homeless, had children out of wedlock, were exceptionally unattractive based on their criteria, or otherwise against their standards for who to love and appreciate, I would be a side thought. So, I spent the weekend thinking about who I love and who deserves to be loved. The answer is: EVERYONE AND NOONE. If we used the standard of truly deserving to be loved, perfectly living God-fearing saints, there would be ZERO people that should be loved. However, if we assume that everyone is flawed, don’t we all at least equally deserve love?
So, who do you love? Here is my list.
unresponsive, overdramatic
Predictable, blond
Grumpy,
determined
Passionate, judgmental, introverted
angry, short
restless
distracted
Hindu
Bald, chubby
complicated, idealistic, dissatisfied, anxious
Brunette, nosy, knowledgeable
trustworthy
polite, picky
cheerful, beautiful
observant
Fit
insecure, doubtful, tall
cheeky, single
grateful
Nervous, handsome
Fashionable
encouraging
simple, Buddhist
dependent, rude
awkward, Christian
naïve, divorced
Obese, plain, scruffy
self-conscious
pessimistic, Latino,
hot!
incompetent, conservative
inflexible, straight, Chinese
cowardly
Unkempt
Stupid, bitchy, liberal
Widowed, vulgar
selfish, unhappy
cynical, gay, married
needy, feminine
Kind, frumpy
Hairy, suave, healthy
Irrational
Sexy
childish, passive
calculating
Lesbian
fussy, camp
quixotic, Caucasian
Irritating, nice, sweet, helpful
understanding
sympathetic
smart, black
friendly
Vegan
indecisive, redhead
anal, diplomatic, sentimental
Addicted
Organized
Fat
dependable, long hair
Masculine, tolerant
modest, short
romantic
reflective, clean
Meat and potatoes only
confident
TOTAL ASSHOLE
Bipolar
logical
Australian, British, Kiwi
sensible
engaging
cute, aware
Self-righteous
dedicated
loving, queeny
impatient, stubborn, critical
talkative
reciprocating, meticulous, short hair
Tall, naughty
patient
loyal, compassionate
forgiving
admiring, silly, faithful, caring
considerate, skinny
apologetic
Dirty
Flawed
I’m sure I’ve missed some traits or groups but I think you get the picture. Imagine if everyone person to whom you showed love resulted in another person loving you? The person you dismiss because of their speaking style, their clothing, their job or lack thereof, their race or religion …. May just be the person that changes your life one day. And perhaps, by showing love to that one stranger, you just might change theirs.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7 (TNIV)
“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” Mitch Albom
“Selfish persons are incapable of loving others, but they are not capable of loving themselves either.” Erich Fromm
Love BIG. Lead on.
Best,
Adam
Adam L. Stanley
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“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.”
Winston Churchill
by Adam L Stanley | Oct 6, 2011 | Food
Everest
440 S. LaSalle | Chicago, IL
SHORT VERSION:
Everest, while an absolutely fantastic experience I would recommend to friends, colleagues, and anyone who asks, was not good enough to win me over either Avenues at the Peninsula or Les Nomades. I do, however, think it had better food than Alinea, better service than L2O, and a better overall experience than Ria. If you love French food, and can only try one uber expensive fine dining experience this year, go to Les Nomades. If you want to get a distinctly Chicago experience that is almost as good but has a better view of our city in a historic building, go to Everest. If you can afford to do both, by all means, HAVE AT IT and invite me to come along if you like! Avenues is still #1 on my list of the restaurants given Michelin stars, but I STRONGLY RECOMMEND Everest and would go back again (especially if someone reading this review invites me to be their guest. Smile.)
LONG VERSION:
Continuing on my Michelin star restaurant quest and admitting up front that this review is biased based on comparison to the other Michelin star restaurants at which I have dined. See all reviews of the list here http://bit.ly/nGR9Vc
Most relevant comparisons: L2O (quality of food, value relative to others); Sixteen (decor highlighted by beautiful views); Avenues (Service and staff) but unlike Avenues, Everest is not CLOSED now.
Food: 5
Roasted Maine lobster in butter and ginger sauce almost made me cry it was so good. The terrine of Foie Gras with black mission figs was the perfect balance of sweet and savory. The wild halibut with heirloom tomatoes was perfectly prepared and amazingly flavorful. The veal? Not so great and quite the disappointing final course.
Dessert was absolutely fantastic, both the selection of cheeses and the Alsace Style Plum Financier, fromage blanc Tuileries, with cinnamon glace. Yum! Cannot pronounce most of it, but boy was it good! I could have done without the paired Hungarian Riesling poured with it, but that leads me to the wine review….
Wine note (part of Food rating):
I am not going to change my system and rerate all restaurants based on wine but I do find that with these upscale dining experiences the wine can make or break a particular venue. The fact is, Ria is made better by their sommelier and his personal participation in the evening. Likewise, the embarrassingly poor explanation of wine pairings at L2O hurt my experience there. Unfortunately, Everest was more like L2O. Note to restaurants: I can read. If all you are going to do is read the label to me, save it! At Everest, most of our wines were poured by a somewhat grumpy server who did not smile the entire evening. At one point, he poured a French Pinot Gris that was definitely a bit sweeter than my norm. No, I am not a wine expert but I do drink it a lot. I mentioned this to him when he served the next bottle and he just about scolded me saying, “It was NOT sweet, maybe off dry but not sweet.” Whatever grumpy!
Service: 5
Unlike Les Nomades, where I felt the server enjoyed making us happy, this place had servers that seemed to do it because it was how they were trained. Strangely, the net result is the same, but I left with a slightly less satisfied feeling after my meal at Everest. Yes, everything was well timed. Yes, every course was served seamlessly, explained well, and picked up at just the right point after completion. But the team seemed just a TAD sterile. Don’t get me wrong, here. Service was spectacular, but do I remember anyone in particular or have fond thoughts of the team overall? Not really. The kitchen team at Avenues that seemed to be having a ball or the service staff at Ria that worked so hard to please made me WANT to give them a 5.
That said, this team gets it. You are paying a lot for a meal and it needs to be an experience that is both memorable and flawless. I did not have to ask for anything the entire night.
Decor: 4
It took me a while to get over the fact that I felt as if I had walked back into the 80’s but was missing Madonna, bad hair, and rubber bangles on everyone’s wrists. I mean mirrors, white walls, somewhat gaudy lighting, and white art deco furniture was a bit overwhelming. But the view, oh the view, it makes you forget everything else. We initially were seated at a table removed from the windows but when the restaurant cleared, we were asked if we wanted to have our cheese and dessert at a window. Spectacular view of the city. And while the decor is a bit dated, the restaurant was clean, ambiance pretty nice and the noise level minimal. There was also artwork from an Italian sculptor that is a friend of Chef Joho that was pretty cool.
Value: 3
Tasting menu at $125 per person for roughly 8 courses was higher than many and equal to a few of the other high end of the restaurants on the list. The wine pairing was a bit pricey relative to the others at $98 per person. The champagne was ridiculous with a glass of Mumm at $24 (More than a bottle at Binny’s). Our meal for the two of us was $570 so with tip this was a $700 meal. I do not give this restaurant a 3 because that is ridiculous, though most will agree that this cannot be a normal meal. However, relative to some of the other restaurants on the Michelin list which have great food at much better pricing, I would say Everest is a lower value.
Overall: 5
This is getting harder as I reach the final restaurants on my quest. I saved a few of the highest rated for last. Just how do you compare venues like Everest, L2O, Ria, Avenues, and Charlie Trotters when all of them are clearly leaders in fine dining? All of them would arguably be classified as 5 star restaurants in their own right. And, frankly, you are guaranteed to have a good meal at all of them. But alas, I must try hard to differentiate amongst the “dining gods”. Everest, while an absolutely fantastic experience I would recommend to friends, colleagues, and anyone who asks, was not good enough to win me over either Avenues at the Peninsula or Les Nomades. I do, however, think it had much better food than Alinea, better service than L2O, and a better overall experience than Ria.
In relationship with #foodies,
Adam
Adam Stanley
Adam L. Stanley Connections Blog
Technology. Leadership. Food. Life.
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I want employees to show a sense of pride in what they do. In what they create. The best recent example of a leader that exuded pride in the products he offered was Steve Jobs. You just knew he thought that every product he allowed out the door was AWESOME! In my current role, I have a principle that I call “pretty red bow” that is based on pride of product and service. In short, I demand that my teams think about the entire package when building a new service. Not just the technology, which may be cool as ever, but the service, the support, the way it is sold and the training provided for users. You can build the very best mousetrap but if everyone thinks it is an appetiser with crackers and cheese …. Well, you get the picture. I want them to build a service, package it well and tie it up with a pretty red bow. Get it?
