Turn Around a Career Setback

Posted August 17th, 2011 in Career Development, Inspiration & Humor, Performance & Skill Boosters, Success & Blooper Stories | No Comments »

turn around a career setbackGetting negative feedback from your boss is not a joyride. In fact, it can be devastating. But it doesn’t have to ruin your career.

Recently I coached a talented manager who had received a not great performance review that could impact her career advancement. It’s happened to me. My first reaction was to go home and hide under the bed covers – not a very mature response.

But the next day, I let go of my embarrassment and started a list of concrete actions that would lead to performance improvement.

I then went to my boss, now feeling more confident, and reviewed my list. We agreed on two improvement areas; scheduled training and special assignments to develop specific skills; and finally set a time table to keep me on track.

Here’s what I learned from the experience.

1. Don’t react; rather reflect.
It’s far too easy to be defensive. Let the results sink in before you do anything. Does the feedback ring true? Is there concrete evidence? Does it resonate with things you’ve heard in the past?
2. Be focused on what matters most.
What are the two or three things you can start working on immediately to get results? It’s important to show improvement quickly so you won’t get labeled as a poor performer.
3. Get support from others.
Ask your manager, as well as other key people (peers, direct reports, mentors, etc) to give you regular feedback as you make the needed changes. Avoid vague questions like: “How am I doing?” Rather, ask for specific feedback. “How was my presentation on target and off target?”

How did this manager turn around a career setback?
She admitted she was a perfectionist – detailed oriented, very cautious to take a stand fearing it may be the wrong decision. That led to her projects getting behind schedule. So she decided to improve her delegation, decision making and communication skills. She also kept her manager in the loop and requested regular feedback from him.

Bottom Line
Her projects are meeting the milestones set by her boss; she is more self assured and able to let go of responsibility and authority; and she’s back on a career track for advancement.

Smart Moves Career Tip:

Get back in the saddle. It’s hard to rebuild confidence after slipping up. But don’t let it stop you from taking risks, taking actions. Winners win more frequently than losers because they stay in the game. The key is not to let your errors make you afraid of being innovative, taking risks and finding better ways to do things.

Readers, how have you turned around a poor performance review?

Do you know what YOU do today will directly influence your career in 3, 5 or 10 years?
Don’t Gamble With Your Future! Build, jump start or advance your career with the Career Success System and Career Power Coaching. Download free Career E-Book

Copyright © 2011 Marcia Zidle - the Actualizer – career strategist and leadership coach.

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Managing People More Experienced Than You

Posted August 10th, 2011 in Career Development, Leadership Development, Success & Blooper Stories | No Comments »

Managing people more experienced than youMany years ago I coached Kevin, a young manager who had just taken the reins of the facilities department of a major university. At his first staff meeting, with his much senior supervisors, he said:

“As your manager, I’m here to help you succeed. You already know the goals of our department – to make sure everything works on campus – and you certainly know your jobs very well. My job is to remove obstacles that keep you from succeeding. Then, it’s just you, your staff and the goal line.”

What sort of obstacles was Kevin referring to? Things like red tape, office politics, hierarchical nonsense, territorial disputes and so on. Kevin’s message left three critical impressions on his staff:

  1. Everyone knew that the usual complaints and excuses (Mary didn’t call back or I couldn’t get the information) wouldn’t fly.
  2. Everyone knew they had a powerful advocate for doing whatever it takes to make their goals and serve their customers (and on a large campus there were many customers.)
  3. Everyone understood that the ‘enemy’ was their competitors – the other educational institutions in the area – not “those horrible people in accounting.” The focus was on how we can make this university a super institution.

Smart Moves Tip:

Are you an absentee manager or one who is an obstacle remover? Do you stand back from the action assuming you can’t change things or do you do everything you can to help your people reach the goal line? What obstacles are getting in the way of your people do their job and what can you do to change that? How will that motivate your people? Also see Success Strategies for New Leaders and Credibility Bank Account.

Do YOU know how to lead right – motivate right – hire right – get the right results?
Don’t Gamble With Your Future! As a newly hired or promoted leader, get up to speed and productive fast with The Effective Manager and Strong Start Coaching.

Copyright © 2011 Marcia Zidle business and leadership coach!

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Are You Easy To Do Business With?

Posted July 20th, 2011 in Business Management, Customer Relationship Management, Performance & Skill Boosters, Success & Blooper Stories | No Comments »

Are you easy to do business with

Everyday your organization’s policies, procedures and processes send messages to your customers, clients or constituents.

Do these messages say: “We’re here to serve you?” “We value your time.” “We care about you.” Or do they say: “We don’t trust you.” “You are not really important.” “Stop bothering us.”

What messages are you sending to your customers every day?

Here are three ways to decide if you are easy or difficult to do business with.

1. Be Your Own Customer.
This is a must. Shop in your stores; eat in your restaurant; call your 800 number; place an order. Try to get something returned, explained or repaired. Find out how it feels to be a customer. Would you return or go somewhere else? There must be a routine in place that continually asks questions like: How can we make our services easier to use? How can we become easier to do business with?
2. Go Where The Action Is.
Direct personal contact with customers is probably one of the most valuable and least expensive methods of learning how to serve your customers better. Require all managers, not just the front line ones, to interact regularly with customers on a regular basis. They will learn not only about that particular customer, but about how to serve them better. That’s free advice. So take advantage of it.

As one production manager said: “I learned about the customer’s frustrations in getting a straight answer from a sales and I also learned that the specs we give are not very clear. I’ll need to do something about it.”

3. Rate Your Customer-Friendliness.
Check out your front end. How long to your customers have to wait to make a purchase or get a question answered? How quickly and conveniently do you process customer returns? Do your people have the power to resolve customer complaints promptly and to your customer’s satisfaction?

Check out your back end. Do you always deliver your customer’s order completely and accurately? How well do you keep them updated on the status of their order or application or inquiry? Are all your support people committed to helping the customer? If not, then train them to be more customer or user friendly.

Smart Moves Tip:

No matter how good your product is or the service you deliver, your customers have long memories and will decide to buy again, return for additional assistance or recommend you to others based on how you treat them; how you handle their order and most importantly, how you resolve their problems. Also see Are You in the Service Business and Customers Have Long Memories.

Do you have a gap between your game plan and your performance and profitability?
Don’t Gamble With Your Future! Close that gap and build your business, practice, firm or agency with The Business Edge and The Customer Experience. Get free e-book: 101 Tips.

Copyright © 2011 Marcia Zidle - the Actualizer – business strategist and coach.

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