Category Archives: leadership

Attitude, Best Practices, business life, Emotional Intelligence, leadership

Outer Space

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It ain’t about you.  How many times have we heard that?  And yet, we silly old humans forget.  It’s understandable.  Things go wrong, we feel before we think (a biological fact), and we react.  Those reactions are egocentric.  The chemicals jetting through our bodies are some powerful stuff!  Managing this process so that our outward manifestations take into consideration that we are not the center of the universe requires practice, self-awareness, and perhaps a ton of self-control.  Mastering ourselves can be a huge factor in job satisfaction, not to mention peace of mind.

Me, Me, Me – Oops!

The word “context” keeps popping into my head.   When our context is insular, it’s flawed. We miss things.  We make mistakes.  We hurt others.  We create drama.  There are serious consequences when we fail to recognize others’ experiences, ideas and cultures.

I recall my reaction once in dealing with a particularly egocentric community association member.  After trying to appeal to reason in every way I could imagine, I gave up.  I changed gears and said, “The thing is, there’s only one sun in the solar system for a reason.  If a person tried to be the center of the system, all the gravitational fields would get messed up and the planets might crash. It just wouldn’t work!”  It was so random she actually had to stop and think about it.  I’m not so sure I would recommend such a facetious approach as one of the “magic beans” of communication, but it actually worked.  At least I didn’t get fired.

Finding Context

One antidote?  Slow down.  See the context of things, events, people and the complicated intersections in between.  Perhaps most importantly, find the underlying principles that can apply to the situation.  If we want help to create solutions and have a ghost of a chance for happiness and peace, we have GOT to get outside of ourselves.  The chart of the universe shown above makes us laugh.  But unless we see ourselves, our experience and our attitudes in the context of the larger world, the chart is accurate to one degree or another.

“Sometimes you have to give yourself away to get yourself back.” – tw

Yes, the prospect can evoke fear.  The impulse to react from our own standpoint is a form of self-defense.  The willingness to release self-interest for a moment might make us feel vulnerable.  I also see some irony here.  The tighter we hold onto a myopic perspective in order to protect ourselves, the more we put ourselves at risk to our detriment. We are less likely to be effective in working with others, less likely to adjust our course to work with changing circumstances, and less likely to find a deeper satisfaction in work and in life. It is vital to develop and grow emotional intelligence.

As you see yourself and your circumstances more clearly in the greater context of what and who are around you, things start to click.  And you grow.  I love the way the late Jim Valvano put it, “A person doesn’t become whole until he becomes part of something bigger than himself.”

Best Practices, community associations, Human Resources, leadership

EVILuation

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No, that’s not a typo.

The Wrong Way To Do The Right Thing

I read yet another formulaic, extremely detailed performance evaluation the other day. It was everything I detest about human resource management these days. Oh sure, it had lots of buzzwords and high sounding aspirational phrases – pages and pages of them. And it was devoid of any substantive clarity…or hope. It did such a great job covering the supervisor’s butt that I suggested he write a book called Toasty Buns: How to Completely CYA by Managing Without Leading. It set up the organization to have the flexibility to take whatever action it wanted to without getting itself in legal hot water, while simultaneously leaving the employee confused and demotivated. In my opinion, it was a complete waste of a perfectly good tree.

Welcome to your annual review, Mr. Simpson…I’ve been asked to co-present with lawyers for the Community Association Institute on employment practices three times now. Before that, I thought insurance and risk management were the most challenging areas in community association management. Not anymore. Employment law is one of the most complicated and landmine-ridden areas in business. It can be intimidating and it is very easy to run afoul of the law with no malice whatsoever in our heart. Documentation of performance evaluations is a big deal. I get it.

Here’s the problem. Evaluations like the one I just puked through can easily become a vicious cycle and part of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The process breeds defensiveness, which kills motivation. It demoralizes team members. It reinforces bureaucracy and cripples leadership. It protects the organization against lawsuits while simultaneously protecting it against a workforce ever reaching its potential. It discourages staff from helping the organization to become wildly successful, which then requires more negative comments on evaluations, thus completing the cycle. Essentially, the process of evaluating and documenting performance can actually work against what the exercise was supposed to achieve in the first place – optimal performance! The lawyers are the ONLY ones who are happy.

Welcome to your annual review, Mr. Simpson…

Is it any wonder that, according to Gallup, upwards of 70% of American workers are classified as either “not engaged” or “actively disengaged”?

Is it any wonder that companies like Adobe, Dell, IBM, Deloitte, Gap and even GE (yes – the GE of the famed Jack Welch era “stack ranking” evaluation system ) have walked away from traditional performance evaluation models?

Evaluations, as we’ve known them, are EVIL. Hence, the title of this blog.

Can We Get This Right?

I think so. I think you can protect an organization and benefit it by setting the stage for team members to be at their best, thereby contributing to the success of that organization.

Here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of one way to accomplish the task:

  1. Have an intentional culture.
  2. Memorialize the values and the culture in writing. Make it the FIRST part of your butt-covering, legalese-saturated personnel manual. Explain The Why, and how it’s an awesome thing.
  3. In the FIRST paragraph of every position description, memorialize how each team member contributes to those values and the culture, and ultimately to the success of the organization in a win-win paradigm.
  4. Make sure every new hire has a goal list of time-sensitive and key ongoing deliverables that relate to values and culture in order to create a metric and mutual expectation. Help everyone to see what success looks like.
  5. Engage in regular discussion about how things are going. Find people doing things right and reward it. Set dates in your calendar to make it happen. MBWA (look it up).
  6. Plan to have a conversation about how team members are doing, based primarily on the stated values and culture, and highlighting goal list items or other specific, clearly communicated deliverables. Everybody writes down some talking points so they can remember them.
  7. Have a conversation, NOT an EVILuation. Reach areas of agreement on areas of success and celebrate them. Note opportunities for improvement and set a new metric. The goal of the collaboration is agreement, a plan, and ownership. If there are disagreements in some part of the assessment, allow the team member’s dissent to be recorded. Just make sure the expectation moving forward is clear and included in the plan.
  8. Type it up.  Review it together for accuracy. Everyone signs off.
  9. Execute the plan.
  10. Rinse, repeat.

Performance evaluation by discussion and collaborative action plans make sense when it’s in the context of culture. It makes sense when that culture is founded in shared values with personal and group accountability. Culture and the other best practices that set the framework for this model will be the topic of other blogs. But you don’t have to wait to get those things lined up perfectly to change the way you think about and execute your evaluation process. Do that now. The process can help to kickstart an intentional culture.

This is NOT fluffy feel-good stuff. This is hard. And it works. As Tom Peters comments in The Excellence Dividend, “Effective evaluations emerge from a series of loosely structured, continuing conversations, not from filling out a form once every six months or year.” PREACH, Mr. Peters, PREACH!

It’s not a Pollyanna. It’s about getting things done and being grown-ups. You’ll still be able to figure out if people are working out or not. And the written part will keep the lawyers happy. Most importantly, the evaluation process will actually do what it is intended to do – make sure everyone is clear about the organization’s goals and their role in achieving them.

Let’s get this done!

Best Practices, business life, Culture, Emotional Intelligence, Human Resources, leadership

Oops

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What happens when the fecal matter makes impact with the circular air-moving device? How individuals and organizations react in this moment of truth will say a lot about individual and group emotional intelligence and the culture of the organization. The secret lies in the questions asked when a mistake is made and the order in which they are asked.

What Are You Really Made Of?

Here’s how effective people and healthy organizations approach every mistake:

1. WHAT? Exactly what happened? Do we have all the facts? Only when this is clear, go to question #2.

2. HOW? How did the error happen? Have we identified the root cause, differentiating them from the symptoms? After diagnosing the mechanics of the issue, it’s time for question #3.

3. WHY? Was this a system issue, a performance issue, or a combination of the two? Do NOT shortcut this step with assumptions. Now finally…

4. WHO? Time to talk about the lessons learned – a constructive follow-up with whoever may have been involved (INCLUDING BOSSES!). Now we are all a little smarter.

Post mortem, the healthy organization will make adjustments to address root causes. It will improve systems. And it will take opportunities to learn from mistakes. Look for patterns. If all the other questions are addressed and the same “who” keeps popping up, only then is a tough personnel action warranted.

Is that what you and your organization do? Or…

The Flip Side

Guess what question unhealthy organizations and ineffective leaders ask first? ”WHO DID THAT?” Sadly, every single time I’ve shared this concept, the people in the room give me the answer before I have to say it. They’ve all seen it at some point. The problem is that starting with “Who?” makes it difficult, if not impossible, to accurately answer any of the other more crucial questions.

Why?  Because Bang & Blame is a horrid leadership model.  In a culture where blame is the rule, people will rarely stick their necks out to do more than absolutely necessary.  It’s just not worth the risk.  Their defensive mindset kills any hope for excellent performance.  They are unlikely to be forthcoming when things go wrong.  And that applies to those who choose to stay, because Bang & Blame pushes self-starters out the door.

Give Up Perfection To Get Closer To It

I know that might sound ridiculous, but it’s true. Everyone will err from time to time. In the human condition, all mistakes are opportunities to learn. There’s a classic business tome about an IBM exec from the sixties whose ill-fated decision cost the company dearly. Upon being summoned to CEO Thomas Watson’s office, he prepared for the inevitable firing. Watson reportedly asked, “Do you know why I’ve asked you here?”

The executive replied, “I assume I’m here so you can fire me.”

“Fire you?” Watson replied, “Of course not. I just spent $10 million educating you.”

There are two choices. You can hold everyone to an unrealistic standard, punish imperfection, drive people into butt-covering cocoons, encourage bare minimum performance and build a culture that will aspire to mediocrity at best. Or you can embrace mistakes as opportunities for learning and find that error rate actually decreases as you build a culture of empowerment, personal responsibility, trust and growth. Only one of these is a sustainable model for profit and customer service success.

community associations, condo associations, Cooperatives, Governance, HOAs, leadership, Management, Strategic Planning

O Say Can You See?

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“Tom, aren’t there any good management companies out there?”

That was the question posed to me by a condominium association board member circa 1988. I was in my formative years in the management business. That client knew me in my first incarnation of self-employment. I had completed a very successful plastering and painting project. I had only begun to venture into part-time, on-site management services the year before. That one question helped me to crystallize an Aha! Concept. Let me explain.

The Devil’s In The Details

I really enjoyed working with this group, even though they were rather “high maintenance.” They were enthusiastic, dedicated, and genuinely nice folks. They had an older building, the logistics of which amplified the inequity of scale faced by most small associations. They had a central HVAC plant to serve less than 30 units. The units were large and spread through only four stories, so even the cost per unit for roof maintenance and eventual replacement was much higher than most buildings.

There were other factors that added to this condominium’s challenges. Most units were owner-occupied. There was a seven person board, and there were several active committees. In a way, this was the perfect condominium – it seemed like every unit owner was involved! But this led to an unintentional consequence. At only 20+ units, they didn’t seem to justify much of an on-site maintenance or management presence. All that active participation meant that volunteers were in the details of every facet of the operation, which led to innumerable questions and a desire for fast and detailed response. Off-site “cost-effective” management and engineering services were always going to be reactive. This group was never going to be satisfied with the status quo. I knew a little about the history of that condominium, and knew they had already fired most of the companies I would have recommended at the time.

The Aha! Concept – System or Performance?

I’ll always remember this client because it helped me to formulate a frame of reference that became a core issue for much of my consulting work ever since. I noticed that most boards defaulted to a common position when something was wrong. They tended to conclude that they were getting lousy results because somebody wasn’t doing their job. This was one of the first clients to help me realize that you have to figure out if you’ve got a system problem, a performance problem, or a combination of the two. Until you figure that out, you are always answering the wrong question. It is unlikely you will get the results you seek. My 1988 client needed to find a way to get more proactive attention (and pay more), or lower their expectations. Status quo approaches were never going to give them what they wanted.

It’s Not Easy

It can be tough for volunteers serving on a board to see things clearly to determine the root of their dissatisfaction. There are a myriad of potential reasons why.

  • It’s not their full-time job. They may lack the time or expertise needed to accurately diagnose the situation.
  • They may be too close to the situation to see it clearly.
  • They may have been fortunate to have had an excellent manager or other service providers who regularly exceeded the specifications of their agreements. Great performance can mask a deficient system. God help the next good, but not great, manager…
  • They may be resistant to the idea that it might cost a little more to get what they need, exacerbated by a market flooded by management companies inclined to over promise and roll the dice.
  • They may not recognize that all associations have life cycles. The systems that met yesterday’s expectations may not be able to handle today’s realities, much less tomorrow’s. Of if only I had a dime for every time I heard “Well we’ve done just fine with x for the last ten years, we shouldn’t need it now.”
  • There may not be many free thinkers out there prepared to offer creative solutions, or companies geared up to offer those customized services, especially to a smaller association.

Fresh Eyeballs

It may be time to take a fresh look. Seek out and listen to innovative ideas. Take advantage of opportunities to network with other volunteer leaders. See if your city, county or state facilitates programs for board members. The Community Associations Institute is an excellent resource for any community association. CAI Press includes a hugely diverse library of material. Professionals in the field and volunteers contribute articles and educational seminars through CAI National and local chapters. An underutilized feature of CAI membership for volunteers is the networking aspect that is available through participation in local and national programs

If nothing seems to be working, don’t give up or settle. Maybe most importantly…don’t assume. Dig a little deeper. Look a little harder. You might just find what you really need.

change management, Communications, condo associations, Cooperatives, HOAs, leadership, Management

We Are All Geniuses…or Insane. Your Call!

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I’ve heard this quote, widely attributed to Albert Einstein, for a long time. As it turns out, he may or may not have ever said it. Thing is, it resonates so well that it’s easy to attach genius to the observation. So why not Einstein?

We silly humans tend to choose familiarity over change, even if it makes us miserable. I’ve noticed it in my world of community association boards and managers. Instead of taking an honest look at our results and trying to figure out how we got there, we’ll practice what Canadian brand transformation specialist Alan Quarry calls “glue diligence.” We do it because we’ve always done it that way, and dang it, we’ll never change!

…And then we blame everybody and everything else for our frustrations and failures…

One of the most important changes we can make is to see ourselves differently. For the longest time, the thought of being a salesperson made me cringe, just a little bit. But a few years ago, I realized sales and marketing were weak areas in my business skillset. It was time to hit the books. Funny thing is, a few of the writers I learned from in my study of leadership through the years started off as sales guys.

THE ART OF LEADERSHIP AND SALES

I didn’t fully connect the dots until I read Daniel Pink’s brilliant book To Sell is Human. It finally hit me. I gave myself permission to see myself and my role a little differently. The art of leadership is the process of helping people move from one place to another. Outstanding leaders share a vision so compellingly, people buy in because they see the benefit. Yes…BUY IN. Therefore, leaders sell and it’s a good thing.

Sales done right has never been ugly. Great salespeople believe they have something of value to sell, provide service and value first, and create a space where people can see themselves taking advantage of the value proposition. They are not selfishly manipulative. They are connecting dots. In essence, they don’t sell anything but an idea, creating a space for others to buy. They understand the wisdom of Jeffery Gitomer’s words, “Nobody likes to be sold, but everybody likes to buy.”

THE SUPERPOWER

The process of sales is the process of leadership. If we are to lead, we must sell. And to be truly effective, we need the superpower all great leaders and salespeople have – the ability to be an agent of change. This is leadership at its highest level – the ability to lead change, sensing when and how to initiate, support or facilitate it so that the stakeholders in an organization make it their own.

And yet, how many board members and community managers see themselves as leaders, salespeople and change agents?

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS….A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

So many times it comes down to communications skills. We all have a tendency to communicate from our standpoint. Managers are trained to be technically proficient. Board members may be trained in governance. Unfortunately, as a result both are frequently ineffective. They are “doing their jobs” while missing the point. It has led to community association members disconnecting from their communities. Quoting from memory a comment from the Wall Street Journal, “People tend to have the same emotional connection to their HOAs as they do the Internal Revenue Service.” Ouch. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Think about how the message is received and you might realize you are coming off like Moses descending the mountain with stone tablets from God. Our message may be important, but it’s not THAT important. Worse, we may be accidently sending the message that people exist for the governing documents, when the truth is that those documents exist for the people. Or you may be coming off like a mean nun with a ruler, ready to whack all those disobedient children.

It doesn’t matter what you say. It only matters what is heard. And while you can never control what’s heard, you really need to think about the message and work your brains out to communicate from the receiver’s perspective, not your own. That’s what great leaders, salespeople, and change agents do. Make it real. Show the value. Explain the Why. And be patient. Because until you do these things, you’re just part of the increasing noise in your members’ lives.

INSANITY OR GENIUS?

If you are not connecting with your community or your client, if you are frustrated, it may be time to stop the insanity. Make a change. Start with how you see your role. Be leaders. Be sales people. Be change agents. Communicate like the best leaders and salespeople with the change agent superpowers.

Change the message and the delivery so it actually reaches your audience. It’s about them, not you. Make it real. Show value. Be a genius!

Thanks to Ed Loonam, PCAM, of Property Management Associates in Virginia Beach, Virginia, who gave me the inspiration to turn my SEVA-CAI CA Day sparks talk into a blog post!

Best Practices, change management, community associations, condo associations, Governance, HOAs, leadership, Uncategorized

Dear Boards: Suck It Up and Be Transparent

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James Dyson developed over 5,000 prototype designs for his revolutionary vacuum cleaner between 1979 and 1984. Nobody cared until 1983. An Italian appliance maker agreed to sell them by mail order. It was not exactly a success; only about 500 units were sold that year.

But Dyson was undeterred. He never forgot his unhappy experience with a typical vacuum in 1974, when he noticed it seemed to lose suction easily and required a lot of maintenance to maintain optimal performance. He knew there had to be a better way. He was sure his “cyclonic separation” technology was the answer.

Who Wants to See Dirt?

One of the key features of the vacuum was its clear plastic dirt collector. Market research at the time said people would hate it. But Dyson sensed that people would want to see the results of the vacuum’s performance, no matter how ugly it might be. So in 1991 he launched Dyson Appliances Unlimited. Was he right? Today Dyson is a multi-billion pound (British) company employing over 8,500 people. But you don’t need to know statistics to see his impact. Take a look at the appliance shelf at your local department store or Amazon page. How many competitors copied him?

Historically, vacuum cleaners trapped dirt in a hidden bag that was removed and thrown away. The clear dirt collector went against the grain of conventional wisdom at the time. In his ebook Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become?, Michael Schrage quoted Dyson: “The interesting thing is that when I did this, all of our competitors just fell about the floor laughing; they were actually delighted that I’d been so stupid. And the retailers wouldn’t have it . . . We went into the stores, and our vacuum has all this (expletive deleted) in it. The retailers are absolutely hostile. They say, ‘No, no, no, it’s a complete mistake—make it smoked or tinted or something.’ But I persisted, because I found it really fascinating that you could see exactly what was happening; you could actually see the nature and texture and type of dirt you’ve picked up.”

Schrage concluded, “While Dyson’s transparency defied the industry’s conventional wisdom, customers knew they could see with their own eyes how well their innovative technology worked. Dyson offered a simple, easy, and inexpensive user experience that invited customer confidence….Transparency creates trust. Dyson’s contrarian innovation was an investment in trust. Dyson empowered his customers to come to their own real-time conclusions about his product’s performance. “

What’s This Got to Do with Community Association Governance?

Too many boards of directors of community association are nervous. Nervous about contention. Nervous about bad PR. Nervous about looking unprepared. Nervous about being wrong. Reflexively, they retreat into secrecy, even when state or local statutes require open meetings.

I get it. People can be tough. Most communities have hard cases living in them. I remember Elvira, a unit owner in a particularly contentious condominium I once managed. She was the Board’s harshest critic, never missing an opportunity to call out any and every imperfection. When I asked her why she didn’t step up and serve on the Board, it became clear she didn’t want to be accountable. She just enjoyed holding others accountable.

I also remember my first condo management job. I was a contracted, interim building manager for a small and elite condominium in Washington DC. I went to work every day with a knot in my stomach, certain I would blow the building up. At the end of my tenure, the whole community threw me a going away party. It was amazing. I cornered one of the board members and said, “I don’t understand. This was my first management job. I made plenty of mistakes. Why were you so happy with me?” I’ll never forget the answer.

“Tom, you told us about every little thing that went wrong. We knew if anything really bad happened you would be honest about it. You have no idea how valuable that was to us to have a manager we could trust.”

“Transparency creates trust”
– Michael Schrage

Humility and openness are invaluable. They set a tone and can change the game. My mentor Arthur Dubin, President of Zalco Realty, and I still recall a president of a condominium we helped turn around back in the day. The condominium had been the victim of paralysis by analysis. This was due in no small part to egos that got in the way of seeing reality and being responsible for decisions that might not work. A brilliant oncologist, this president was always willing to admit when he didn’t understand something. He asked the questions others were afraid to. His standard line was, “talk to me like I’m 5 years old.” The board became more comfortable discussing matters openly and sharing information on topics in progress with owners. All their dirt was in the open. Nobody got sued, the community came together, and stuff got done. More than 20 years later, Arthur and I still reminisce about “Dr. Bob” moments every so often.

Consumers pay good money for a vacuum and want to see the results. They trust their money was well spent, even if what they see might be a bit distasteful. They know the technology works. Seeing the results allows them to draw their own conclusions. Community members pay their fees. They want to have confidence that the organization they are funding is working well. They want to have confidence in the process, even when the news is a less than pleasant. Seeing the process unfold allows members to buy in for themselves.

So your gut reaction may be to stay “safe” in the shadows. This is a fear-based decision. You already know those don’t work out too well (FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real). You may make assumptions about how members will react to seeing the dirt. And it’s true that in our litigious society there are reasons to be discrete. But knowledge gaps will be filled by the rumor mill. The Law of Omitted Data (i.e. if a percentage of information is omitted or missing, bad data will spread at an exponential rate over time) runs amok. This creates a vicious cycle of distrust, secrecy and dysfunction.

So yes, it can be tough ESPECIALLY in challenging times and with bad news. Take a deep breath and be as open as circumstances permit. Change the game and begin to turn vicious cycles into success cycles. This is not theory. It works. Give it a shot – suck it up and be transparent. When the results start to flow you’ll be glad you did.

change management, community associations, condo associations, Cooperatives, Emotional Intelligence, HOAs, leadership, Management

CONTEXT!

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I’ve noticed the word keeps popping into my head more and more. Frequently, my job is to fix stuff. I walk into a lot of situations where people aren’t on the same page or worse. I try to dissect all the factors, and it seems more often than not, lack of context is at the root of the problem in one way or another. As soon as I have all the pieces and can see how they fit together, the rest is easy. Context issues can rear their ugly heads in all kinds of scenarios.

GROUP DYNAMICS

Ever been in Board meetings where certain agenda items go on forever? I remember one client who debated the merits of adding a walkway to a portion of their community for months. It wasn’t budgeted, but it could have improved safety. It could have benefitted many residents, but in theory it might have created a nuisance for those who lived close to the proposed walkway. Discussion and debate started in the weeds and got deeper as time went on. Emotions ran high. In the end, the idea was squashed and the process left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. The Board is hoping nobody brings it up again. Lack of context ran amok.

If your group is considering a new idea, or a recurring one that never seems to get settled, listen very closely. You may well find that there is a bi-level dialogue going on. The overt conversation is on the merits of the idea in play. But sometimes the reason the subject takes forever to flesh out is because people are struggling to figure out if the thing is really important, timely, or how it fits in to a bigger picture. That subtext can be a sign the group lacks clarity on shared values and vision. If that’s the case, context can be gained by taking the time to achieve consensus on those deeper points. (No, not at a Board meeting – it’s a separate exercise .) With the underpinnings of values and vision in place, things go a lot smoother and quicker.

CHANGING THE MESSAGE

Context also comes up in day to day conflicts. Association members may chafe in matters of covenants enforcement. It’s understandable. After all, who likes to be told they are in the wrong, or feel controlled? All too often, when the nastygram from Big Brother arrives in the mailbox, the missing link is context. Unless the reason for a community standard is understood, that standard, whether enumerated in CC&Rs, rules, policies or procedures, feels irrelevant and maybe even arbitrary. Context can sometimes be achieved by taking the time to explain the reason for the standard, and why those standards benefit everyone in the long run, ESPECIALLY the individual. I’ll never forget my boss telling me that an owner from a former client had called him to complain about a manager who had followed me at my last on-site management job. When he mentioned her name, I had an immediate emotional and physical reaction – I thought she hated my guts. But her comment provided a golden lesson: “I didn’t always agree with Tom, but he always told us what he was going to do in advance, and we always knew why he was doing what he was doing.” Changing the message can help to establish the context.

ASSUME NOTHING

Sometimes confusion and conflict are the result of missing data. It’s really easy to jump to conclusions and muck up the works. I get reminded of that when I get a call or text from one of my favorite managers, who reaches out for assistance on thorny issues from time to time. I listen to a scenario, offer some potential solutions only to hear ,“I don’t think that will work, because (followed by a new factor not previously revealed).” Note to self…slow down, gather all facts, get full context. I think part of the challenge may be that we are encouraged to think quickly and get to the bottom line as fast as possible. But we aren’t necessarily thinking deeply. In the end, conflicts and confusion can get worse, not better, and we accidentally (and ironically) take more time to resolve matters by tying to save time by being fast. One strategy to get full context is to assume nothing and keep asking questions until the root of a matter is clear. Once the context is understood, then move toward potential solutions.

So, the next time you find yourself feeling conflicted and confused, make sure you see the full context of whatever you are dealing with. In the end, it will save you and the people around you time and heartburn. And you might just get something done!

Budgeting, community associations, condo associations, Cooperatives, HOAs, leadership, long range planning, values

The Vision Thing

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The words keep falling out of my mouth. I see it again and again. So many boards think their mission is to keep fees low, period. Ironically, the mindset that this engenders pretty much guarantees that in the end, everyone will pay more.

Never forget that the budget is a tool. It is part of the plan that provides the means by which the community’s needs are met. At a higher level, it can be part of the plan that provides the means by which the aspirations of the community are met. It is the tail, not the dog.

Don’t get me wrong – a fiduciary has a duty to make sure that members’ assets are well utilized. But there’s a huge difference between price and cost. A low price up front can mean tremendous cost later on. A myopic focus on trying to make sure expenses do not exceed the budget plan (key word PLAN) leads to a vicious cycle of failure that goes something like this:

A “we can’t afford it” mindset begets a budget that ignores the reality of the facilities, operations and shared values of community, which begets a budget filled with artificially low line item values, which begets cheap, shortsighted financial decisions during the year, which begets poor quality repairs, supplies, and low reserve funding, which beget Band-Aids and deferred maintenance, which beget emergency response repairs, poor curb appeal, and increasingly unsatisfactory service, which beget negative community spirit and higher accumulated expenses, which beget fear of conflict and board exhaustion, which beget more shortsighted decisions making until….

The bottom drops out. Special assessments, huge fee hikes, and/or debt service (unless the financial condition of the association has been flushed so far down the toilet it’s no longer an option). Ironically, in the end everybody pays more because the board managed down to the budget instead of leading up to a vision.

Vision doesn’t have to be a pie-in-the-sky, magical thing. It can be pragmatic. In working with community association clients, I’ve learned to start with a simple annual planning session. Tell me what you want to do and I’ll tell you what’s important to you. Which means you’ve identified your values. Which leads you to your vision.

So start with planning.  Establish a disciplined, robust budget preparation process. Lead.  And truly serve your members. That is your duty. It’s hard at first, but ask those who have tried to lead associations out of the ashes. It’s much worse.

Going cheap at all costs may be a value, but it does not lead to a sustainable vision. Walk around without your glasses and eventually you will stumble and fall. Don’t be afraid to open your eyes and get the help you need to see clearly.

Human Resources, leadership, Management

How Do They Walk?

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Many, many years ago we had a receptionist who didn’t work out. She started strongly enough – she was mature, helpful and friendly. She even brought in tasty baked goods from time to time – bonus! But, over time, things got weird. This became one of the formative experiences in my business career. It gave rise to one of my favorite and oft-repeated refrains – “You really don’t know someone until you either marry them or hire them.”

I recall the story as told to me by Eddie, one of our managers at the time, recounting a highly instructive lesson shared by his mother, Viv. Viv, you must understand, was one of those ladies who you knew within five minutes of meeting her that she had lived a lot of life, she was going to tell you exactly what she thought, and she was probably somebody you wanted on your side in a dark alley. According to Eddie and my best recollection (after having retold this story a couple dozen or so times), as he tried to describe the pros and cons of our receptionist’s performance the conversation went something like this:

“Eddie, STOP!”
“What, Mom?”
“Just tell me one thing – how does she walk?”
“Huh??”
(impatiently…)”How does she walk? Does she get on up along, or does she shuffle when she walks?”
“Hmmm…come to think of it, she kind of shuffles…”
“Fire her. You’ll never change that.”

And there it was – one of the more valuable pieces of business advice I ever got, wrapped up in two pithy sentences. Those 6 words helped me pull together some guidelines that have served me well.

The Takeaways

• Little things about how people act can tell you a lot about them. Pay attention.
• Hire slow, fire fast.
• You can put people in a position to show character, but you can’t teach it. It’s going to be there or it’s not.
• Don’t waste time and energy trying to change deeply rooted behaviors. If those behaviors are not in synch with the values of the organization, it’s over.

There is one last lesson related to this story. Viv finished her life course a few years ago, yet the message lives on. You never know where life’s lessons are going to come from. There is huge value in taking the time to listen carefully to others and connect the dots to your own life and experience. Then pass it on. You never know how or when it’s going to make a difference. Thanks Viv and Eddie!

community associations, condo associations, Emotional Intelligence, HOAs, leadership, Management

Emotional Intelligence is the Where the Magic Happens

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I’ve worn a few different hats through the years, but for the most part my job has been to do one of two things – fix stuff or make stuff better. I do other work, of course. But those two have been at the heart of the work that really mattered most over the past decade or three.

I’ve partnered with and supported dozens, probably hundreds, of board members, managers, and other professionals who serve community associations (definitely hundreds, I suppose, if you count conference and workshop participants). There have certainly been times when a lack of technical knowledge contributed to the situations I’ve helped people to get through. But frequently, that’s been the easy part to fix. More times than not it was the human factor that was at the root of the toughest problems, to one degree or another. The biggest challenge can be the ability to see ourselves, our circumstances, and the people around us in context. Then we can figure out the best means, methods, and timing to apply all that technical knowledge. That’s what gets things done most effectively and keeps them going smoothly and sustainably.

For the most part, it’s not a lack of IQ that kills us, it’s a lack of EQ. Book smarts has its limits. Emotional intelligence is the difference maker.

You’ve known it when you’ve seen it, and you know when it’s was missing. You’ve been around others who are comfortable in their own skin and make connections, and you’ve suffered the company of those who aren’t and don’t. You’ve seen those who seemed to magically make it all come together and you’ve seen clueless bosses and board members steamroll their way into one debacle after another. One way or another, whenever we are living and working with other human beings, it is personal and group emotional intelligence that makes the difference between knowledge and wisdom, between success and failure, between achievement and frustration.

Jackson Pollock at work in his studio, photographed by Hans Namuth, 1950

We work with people we cannot control. Therefore, we need to deal with the human experience, like it or not. This means going deeper, learning the art of this work and embracing leadership. And the art of leadership requires a knowledge of the palette of emotional intelligence. It is this art that connects on a deeper level, engaging both heart and head, merging motivation with intellect.

John Eliopolo recently posted a great graphic on Linkedin.  It provides a thumbnail to wrap our brains around the components of emotional intelligence:

 

It starts off as an inside job – Learning yourself and figuring out how to impact others and manage yourself. It then looks outward – figuring out where others are coming from and adjusting your approach to make connections and get stuff done.

These are not fluffy “soft skills.” It takes work to master them. Research in the behavioral sciences has revealed the chemistry behind it and its organizational impact. It can be studied, measured, and grown. It helps young managers and new board members avoid burnout and find fulfillment in their work. And we had better start talking about it in our world if we are to begin converting some of the vicious cycles common to our experience into success cycles.

This is not to downplay the importance of competence in the nuts and bolts of the business. As Joe Wise, owner of Wise Property Solutions in Johnson City, Tennessee correctly states “EQ does not patch a deficiency in technical or professional knowledge.” But it’s time we went beyond technical proficiency and a focus on designations as a measure of professionalism. We will be judged neither by the knowledge we possess nor the letters after our names. We’ll be judged by what we get done and the impact we make. So let us start talking about how to add emotional intelligence to our artist’s palette and learn how to do the hard work that makes the magic happen.

For any who might be attending CAI’s 2018 National Conference , I invite you to join Joe Wise and I as we present on this subject on Thursday, May 10. Let’s get this conversation started!