I'm curious...do you give feedback to your boss? Please take a minute and take this one question survey. I'd love your comments: what makes this easy or hard in your work environment? Thank you!

Do you need more time for what is most important?
Do you feel that your most important priorities are neglected?
Do you wish for a bit of breathing room, some reflection time?
 
In my coaching practice, I’ve found that almost every one of the (very) successful executives I work with struggles with time management. While leadership strengths and areas for growth are otherwise quite diverse, time management is for most everyone the monster in the closet, scaring us senseless with demands, deadlines and missed opportunity. I’ve found that good time management tools can help, but until we address the underlying causes, the time saved will simply disappear. Quite often, our strengths have a dark side that often shows up in our time management. Strong calendar and meeting management, strategic review of priorities and delegation practices will work – but only if you have found the underlying beliefs that are creating the issue.
 
Here are a few leadership strengths that may be impeding your best intentions with time management. Do any of these ring true for you?
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You deliver results:
Once you are leading a team, having enough time requires you to give up control. If you are great at delivering results through your personal efforts, this may impede your ability to leverage your time through your team. There is simply no way that you can do everyone else’s job and your own and have enough time for sleep. Signs that this might be an issue for you:

• You make all the decisions
• Your team comes to you frequently to solve disagreements
• If you are on vacation, all progress and work halts

 
Tactics:
Accept that mistakes are critical to learning, and that allowing your team to make those mistakes is part of being a great boss. Set up structure to allow you to have input on critical decisions, without being involved in every part of the process: this might look like a weekly touch-base on projects, or a steering committee that allows everyone to weigh in on decisions. Analyze your work, and decide: what decisions require your input, what decisions can be made without you, and what decisions require team alignment. Commit to following the results of this work, and refuse to make a decision when it belongs to someone else – this will give you more time, and empower your team.
 
Servant Leadership:
Some of my favorite leaders have a strong service orientation and find tremendous meaning in helping others. While this is a wonderful strength, it can get you in trouble if:

• Your door (literally or figuratively) is always open, and your team has free access anytime
• People prefer to bring issues to you vs. solving themselves because you are approachable and empathetic
• You put the needs of the team first, neglecting your own responsibilities

 
Tactics:
Balance is the key to success here. You don’t want to lose your leadership strength of service; you do need to prioritize yourself as well as your team. Consider setting “office hours” when you will be available to your team, scheduling personal work time (not to be interrupted) on your calendar, and coaching team members to bring problems to others. You’ll continue to serve your team, but in a way that develops their growth, and gives you time to do important work.
 
You are a great coach:
Do you take pride in your ability to make people successful? Do you see yourself as a great coach? Do you see your direct report’s performance as a reflection of your leadership? If so, you may have a problem dealing quickly with poor performance. It is difficult to deliver difficult performance messages, and especially difficult to separate employees who aren’t pulling their weight; this difficulty is magnified in leaders who believe it is possible to make everyone successful. Covering for poor performance (or spending an inordinate amount of time coaching) will not only impede your results, it will also suck up all your time.
 
Tactics:
Ask yourself: If I had to build my team from scratch, which team members would I keep on the team? If there is someone on your team that you wouldn’t choose again, it’s time to step up your performance management with clear expectations and a rapid timeline. You can also ask for feedback from each of your team members on how the rest of the team is performing; nobody wants to have to cover for a peer who is failing to pull their weight. (If you do this, make sure to ask for feedback on everyone to make sure you are fair and balanced.) Remind yourself that your job is to enable team success, and that success can only be realized if each member truly pulls their weight.
 
You are willing to sacrifice for the team:
Once you are leading a big team, in a big job, it is impossible to have enough time for everyone who needs or wants you. So, what’s most important for your own success? Your time management can only be strategic when you have a strategy. Does your calendar reflect your priorities and your goals, or is it high jacked with recurring meetings or activities that you don’t find valuable? Do you save your real “work” for after hours or weekends? These symptoms may be indicative of a lack of clarity on what time investment best supports your goals.
 
Tactics:
First, identify what time investment will support your goals. For instance, if you need to create organizational capacity, a good time investment is mentoring and coaching. Next, flip your approach to your calendar: instead of letting meeting requests fill open space, first schedule the work time you need, then invest time in the other activities that align with your goals. These activities may be one-on-one coaching meetings with direct reports, time with your boss, or mentoring time. Only once these priorities are scheduled should you open up to outside requests. Aligning your time investment with your goals will ensure that you are satisfied with the trade-offs you must make. Even better, you’ll see better, faster results once your time is aligned. While you may disappoint those who previously had full access to your time, the increase in your effectiveness will better serve both yourself and your team.
 
Your leadership strengths have made you successful, and set you apart from the crowd. Keeping balance and awareness of how your style may impact your time may free you to better align your time investment, increase your peace of mind, and give you the space to breathe, or (gasp!) even waste some time on yourself!

Christmas Eve, and I notice that my family’s flight home from our holiday travel on the 26th is incorrect. Somehow, my son and husband are on a different flight than I, making me feel quite Grinch-y. I sighed audibly as I began collecting my documentation to do battle with the airline to get the flight changed. Just as I’m dialing Alaska Air, I receive a phone call – from Alaska Air. The call is from a customer service supervisor, who found the error herself while reviewing phone calls to monitor service from her staff. After I picked myself off the floor, I thanked her, and of course posted this outstanding service story on Twitter.
 
We know that going above and beyond, delighting customers and truly connecting as human beings earns businesses loyalty and extremely valuable word of mouth. Unfortunately, today, we’re more often met with apathy, distraction and bureaucracy than true service. Companies like Alaska Airlines, Chick-fil-A and Costco consistently outperform their competitors in service rankings, and not surprisingly, in profitability. These companies demonstrate that terrific service is possible, that loyalty still exists, and that exceptional service has a material impact on profits. No matter your business, you can create similar results. A strategic plan, well executed is key; here are some tactics that will ensure your success:
 
People:
Your team is key to great service, of course. While much can be automated these days, true human connection is the key to a long-term customer relationship. You can’t fake engagement (How many customers have converted to online shopping thanks to the “Hi! Welcome in!” shouted from an employee buried deep in a store who doesn’t even bother to make eye contact?)

• Hiring: Is a service orientation part of your hiring process? Just asking the right questions indicates to applicants how important service is to the business. Some of my favorite questions for hiring service are:
  • When have you broken a rule for a customer?
  • What was the best customer compliment you’ve received?
  • How do you stay happy through a long shift?
  • How have you helped an unhappy customer?
• Engagement: Could you give great service if your boss was a jerk? Probably not. Your efforts to create a great place to work deliver real benefit to your business as your employees come to work happy, and pass that along to your customers.
  • Survey: Whether formally or informally, listen to your team and address their concerns. No matter how small the issue, addressing it builds loyalty and appreciation.
  • Recognition: McKinsey has found that praise from managers is more valued by employees than money. If you really want fantastic service, make a big deal about employees who break your rules for a customer – and then change the rule. Read here for more ideas on how to recognize and motivate for exceptional performance.
  • Growth: whether their goal is to get promoted or to get a raise, most employees are looking for opportunity. Investing in growth, through manager coaching meetings, training, or external coaching pays dividends in employee commitment and customer service.

• Create Meaning: We all want to feel our work is meaningful. The best customer service comes from a place of authentic connection. Help your team make that connection by establishing the link between helping others and their work. Do you sell inexpensive clothes? You’re helping people save money and feel good. Do you sell software? You’re delighting people by providing solutions to their problems. Do you sell healthcare? Well, that’s just too easy…

Process and Policy:
Inspiring your team will only get you so far; the best people can’t deliver terrific service with bad policy. Costco is known for an easy return process; Alaska Airlines actually does review calls for quality. Great service requires listening to customers for any opportunities, and then using the power of your team to find solutions.

• Review customer service calls and emails for trends; what is driving people nuts? What can you fix immediately, and what requires investment?
• Solicit your team for ideas, and reward those ideas handsomely.
• Do the math: in your policies, you are making strategic trade-offs. Are you certain that those trade-offs are correct? An example of service vs. business policies is fitting room try-on limits in retail stores. Having unlimited items allowed for customers to try on increases the risk of theft, but significantly increases sales and customer service. Test and measure, and treat every decision that impacts customers as if it will make or break your business, because it will.

Reap the Rewards:
Investing in service will deliver a significant competitive advantage. Businesses often under-invest in this area because the return on the investment is difficult to prove. Here are some good reasons to differentiate with service:

•  Gallup has demonstrated that businesses with high employee engagement deliver higher customer service results and higher profitability.
• 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated.  (McKinsey)
• 55% of consumers would pay more for a better customer experience. (Defaqto Research)
• A 10% increase in customer retention levels result in a 30% increase in the value of the company. (Bain & Co)

 
Customer delight is not only possible, but highly profitable. Here’s wishing you the success that comes from putting your team and customers first. Now, I’m off to make another flight reservation, I’m sure you can guess which airline I’ll choose.
 
 
 
 
 
 

I was lucky to be in Paris last week, exploring, learning and eating far too many baguettes. My traveling companion is a friend who fully embraces life (and is kind enough to share her Paris apartment with me). My friend has traveled the world, yet still finds delight and new surprises around every corner.

We spent a morning admiring the exquisite work of Anders Zorn at the Petit Palace - paintings that inspire awe with technical excellence, warmth and beauty. Such a thrill to discover an artist we hadn't previously known! Lunch called, and we answered at a bateau on the Seine, where I indulged with Mussels and Fries, while gazing at a bridge so ornate that Napoleon himself would be satisfied. In other words, an embarrassment of riches.

Seated next to us was a couple from New Jersey, who struck up a conversation upon hearing our California accents. Their first trip to Paris together, launched thanks to a business conference. Plans had changed, and spouses could no longer join the meeting, leaving the wife to fend for herself. Imagine our surprise when she said she would return home rather than spend a few days on her own. While we tried to encourage her that Paris offers a tremendous bounty of beauty and experience, she said she really wasn’t interested in exploring. I suspect her lack of curiosity was driven by a fear of the unknown.
What a sad thing to miss the opportunity of discovery when we stay where we're comfortable!
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Being curious brings us a rich bounty - new ideas, new perspectives, new friends. Leaders who indulge their curiosity make the most of the team around them, unlocking solutions with their questioning gaze.

Curiosity requires courage: the courage to look foolish, to admit we don't know something, to risk embarrassment. Curiosity also requires time. We may ask 20 questions before we hit an "aha!".

Three ways to live curiously:
1. Ask yourself what part of your company you understand least, then go ask an expert in that area to teach you. You'll not only better understand your business, you'll also build a broader and more interesting network. (Shout out to Keith White as architect of this approach)
2. Develop questions that demonstrate sincere curiosity to your team: What problem is most challenging for you right now? Where would you spend your time if you could? What inspires you? Sincere curiosity breeds trust as well as deeper insight.
3. Commit to learning something new. Learning Excel, brewing beer, creating a website - anything that interests you propels you into a new place and out of that boring comfort zone. Learning in one area often unlocks new perspective in another, so choose what you like, just keep growing.

A leader's job is a thinking job. Daily pressure can pull us away from reflection; taking the time to question allows you to see beyond the immediate to new potential. Curiosity is the path to discover new solutions, connections, and of course, new art!

Did you know what you were doing in your first management job? Me neither. After watching hundreds of managers transition to leadership, I've realized that we often let them struggle to learn the habits of good leadership. I wrote this book to share the secrets of leadership with new managers, with a practical approach that will guide them to successfully leading teams. I'd love your insight: which title do you like best?

Would you take a $100,000 pay cut so your co-worker could get a raise?
That’s the sacrifice that five actors from “The Big Bang Theory” made this year for their team. These actors decided to voluntarily reduce their pay so that their co-stars would be more highly compensated. We can imagine how powerful this felt to the team – the actors felt so strongly about the group that they were willing to sacrifice their money to benefit others. In our work with teams, we’ve identified a willingness to sacrifice as a hallmark of extremely high-performing teams, and an area often overlooked in team evaluations and development.

~

We are a nation of individualists with a long history of self-reliant mavericks. But our world has become interconnected in myriad ways, from social media platforms to shopping online. Not too long ago, individuals could deliver great results without considering the broader organization. Today, the impact of a decision runs through an entire company. If a retailer changes a product, that change will reverberate through marketing, physical stores, customers, supply chain, digital, and associates.
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Working together is no longer just HR’s concern, but a prerequisite for success. As business has become ever more competitive, harnessing the full power of a team is required. But human nature often gets in the way. We often see leaders behaving as if their success was possible without their peers. Hoarding resources, neglecting to share information, and failing to support a peer’s initiative are all symptoms of a team that is failing to work and win together.  
If we had to pick one thing that best predicts teamwork and a team that wins, the frequency of “taking one for the team” - or sacrifice - would be at the top of the list. 

​It is not sacrifice if you love what you're doing.
~ Mia Hamm

Sacrifice has a negative connotation, conjuring images of denying ourselves that croissant for the sake of our diet.  However, when we are passionate and committed, sacrifice isn’t that hard, and we barely notice this effort in pursuit of our goals. A team that is willing to make sacrifices to advance the aspirations of the organization is a team that is aligned, focused, and committed. A willingness to sacrifice is the apex of team performance. It is certainly not natural to give up your resources for others, not matter how deserving they might be.
 
A few common and visible examples of team sacrifice:

• Freely sharing information, resources, and talent.
• Taking on others’ commitments.
• Giving your time, energy, and attention.

Here are a few real-world examples of sacrifice in action:

• We facilitated a team budget meeting where a team member volunteered to take on a higher sales goal, even though she knew it would be challenging, and the risk of failure was very real. Why? She understood that her peer was working through a turnaround situation, and her higher commitment meant her peer could lower his sales goal and gain some "room to breathe". Without this sacrifice, one player would surely have missed their goal, impacting morale and future results. Instead, both leaders achieved their sales budgets, and the boss benefitted from the team producing unprecedented results.
• We worked with a company that was expanding into new markets, and required talented, internal managers willing to relocate to these new locations. The leadership team responded with full support for the company goal, encouraging employees to move, and finding talented managers to take their place. It would have been much easier to keep their best players, but the sacrifice these leaders made enabled the company to grow and realize incredible success.

Here are a few deeper, less obvious examples of sacrifice in action:

• Thinking about your First Team (the most senior team on which you serve) first.
• Being willing to use political capital to support your peers’ projects.
• Giving up time in the spotlight.

• Making the time for the “not-urgent-but-important” things like meeting with peers.
• Being proactive, inconveniently thinking ahead and giving people the heads up.
• Apologizing, sacrificing one’s ego, and demonstrating vulnerability.

• Being open and willing to change strongly held beliefs and perspectives.
• Admitting to mistakes in group settings.
• Holding yourself accountable to team goals.

Failing to focus on your highest-level team can have disastrous consequences for one's career. One leader we observed delivered phenomenal results, enabled by building a team of high-performing managers. While this leader supported his team in their pursuit of goals that served him, he also made sure to block any attempts to promote or move to a bigger job in the company, in order to protect his results. Eventually those great results caught the attention of Senior Leadership, who considered promoting him, but he was rejected as a candidate due to his inability to promote (or sacrifice) anyone off his team.

A team will always appreciate a great individual if he's willing to sacrifice for the group.
~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

What can leaders do to inspire this level of performance?

1. Shared Goals and Vision: Aligning your team around a clear objective greatly enhances your chance of achievement. Team members with individual goals as their priority will act as individuals, not as a team. You will see sacrifice when it is in people's best interest.
2. Reward and Recognize Sacrifice: Your people are looking for your guidance and direction. If you reward individual accomplishments, you'll get some wins, often at the cost of team goals. However, if you recognize and reward actions that require sacrifice, you'll see your team respond.
3. Encourage Disagreement: Get comfortable with disagreement during meetings and on topics you care about. Conflict means people are passionate, and are openly sharing their POV. Set guardrails - conflict should only involve the business problem, never devolve into personal attacks. Encouraging open discussion not only encourages better ideation, but creates true alignment when consensus is reached.
4. Relationships: Devote time and attention to creating connections, personal relationships and building trust. With all the urgent tasks to complete, relationship building is often the easiest task to neglect. Trusting relationships are critically necessary for a team to operate; nurturing these relationships will pay off in results both today and tomorrow.
5. Pick Team Players: Team members will only sacrifice when they feel the team is worthy of this effort. Allowing even one member who puts their personal success first will undermine all your efforts at collaboration. Selecting team members with shared values around teamwork and sacrifice will lead to a team that exceeds your greatest expectations.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.
~ Mr. Spock

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 Mary Walter, MBA is a renowned business change agent, talent developer, and leadership coach. With over 20 years experience in Senior Executive Roles, she has the secret to accelerating team effectiveness and transforming results. Mary serves clients with a focus on measurable change, and solutions that align with the business model and customer priorities.
​Follow Mary on Twitter: @marykatewalter

​I’ve been so fortunate to work with some fantastic leaders in my coaching practice: highly valued at their organizations, they typically are high-achievers with big roles. These leaders typically want to make a difference, and are often the first to raise a hand to take on a new project or problem. The downside of this drive? Time to think, and time devoted to the Important but not Urgent.

The Urgent has gained power that is unprecedented in our history. Fueled by technology, constant access, the demands of competition, and our always-on twitter feed, our attention is swamped by urgent demands. Leaders cannot realistically ignore the urgent: email must be read, employee issues addressed, and boss phone calls must be answered. However, the increasing focus on urgent issues means something must slip; Important (but not urgent) tends to be the area we put off for another day (which rarely comes).

When was the last time you reflected on your business or your team, with no distractions?
When did you have your last breakthrough, creative idea?

Many of my clients find these moments when they finally step away – on vacation (or in the shower!). What’s the risk of waiting for your rare break to indulge in Important work? Is this a trade-off that will deliver the results you need in the long run? 

Broken businesses often force leaders to address both urgent (to stay in business) and important (to stay in business long-term). I’m impressed with Marvin R. Ellison, CEO of J.C. Penney, and his ability to make decisions that are necessary for today, while looking aggressively toward the future. JCP delivered positive EBIT for the first time in five years in 2016 (urgent), while exploring new business opportunities including home remodeling (important). The “urgent” focus was not without pain, as J.C. Penney has been forced to close stores, affecting employees and customers. If previous leaders had devoted the right balance of priorities to both urgent and important, the business might have navigated the path to the future with grace instead of pain.

You remember the feeling of looking through binoculars: you suddenly are blind to the nearby, wholly focused on the distant. Putting yourself in that focused, forward-looking state can unlock the thinking that will lead to Important ideas. Truly important thinking may require more than just turning off your phone. Get yourself out of the urgent zone by physically separating: come in to work an hour late, and spend that time somewhere that helps you think. 

Here are a few questions to ponder:
What Important opportunity can you see if you look only forward?
What will be different in five years? What needs to happen today to enable that future?
What legacy are you leaving for your successor? 
If you took over this business tomorrow, what would you change?
What is your best competitor missing that you can exploit?
What are your customers thinking?
Which employee would benefit the most from your support?

What Urgent task can you delay, avoid or ignore?
Where are you spending your time that is a poor investment for the future?
What areas are truly Urgent, and require your effort?

Leaders who learn this balance between Important and Urgent will lead us to the future while protecting the present. Your focus and balanced leadership are needed more than ever to navigate a rapidly changing world. I can’t wait to hear your next big idea!

Follow me on Twitter! @marykatewalter

We know that diverse teams perform better. We know that diverse teams are smarter and more innovative. But we continue to find that teams do not truly reflect our communities and customers, and we don’t realize the benefits of diversity. Women are underrepresented in many leadership roles, leaving great talent “on the bench” and creating a disadvantage for companies that don’t have access to all the talent available.

I’ve talked with many leaders who would like to promote more women, yet haven’t been able to make it happen. If you want great results, you need a great team; you can’t have a great team without diversity. Your work in this area is as important to your results as your work in strategy and planning. 

So what’s a leader to do?
I used to believe that a meritocracy was the best path to diversity; that equal treatment would allow great talent to rise. I now realize that view was naïve, and underestimates the differences in our culture and even our hidden bias. I now recommend that leaders adjust their approach to the person (treating everyone differently), to foster the best talent in their organizations. 

Katty Kay and Claire Shipman have written about one barrier to women in leadership in The Confidence Code. There is a strong case that men and women approach work differently, and that women are more likely to doubt their abilities and readiness for promotion. If we treat people as if they are the same, we will surely leave our less confident leaders sitting on the bench.

Here’s the story of how a leader sparked my ambition and gave me the gift of confidence:

I was running a large retail store early in my career. I had been promoted from a smaller operation to a large, complex, turnaround assignment. I had made some progress, but was struggling with results as I was learning how to turn around a broken team. Thankfully, a senior leader named Dave Eske recognized my potential, and took the time to tell me so. Dave expressed to me his faith in my abilities, his recognition of my strengths, and his belief that I could be an officer in this company one day. When Dave told me this, I was only trying to get my store running right; it had never occurred to me that I could rise to the level he described.

Here are three things Dave did right:
1.   He recognized potential and the need for confidence.
       Dave didn’t assume that I would see the opportunity that he saw for me; he was explicit in showing          me what I could accomplish.
2.  He was willing to take a risk, and share his honest thoughts on my abilities.
       Leaders are often hesitant to fully express their enthusiasm for someone’s potential; what if they              are wrong? What if they need to later give the person difficult feedback? I’d recommend taking the          risk; your sincere belief in a leader may transform their perspective. 
3.  He advocated and sponsored my success.
        Dave continued to coach me in my development, and supported me in discussions with his peers             about talent. His ongoing support backed up his belief in my abilities.

Dave sparked my ambition, and grew my confidence. I went on to become an officer at our company, leading national store operations. I’ll always be grateful for his support.

We can make a difference in advancing diversity and women in leadership, and realize the fantastic business benefits of having the best team. Let’s find those leaders that need a confidence boost, and get them off the bench and into the game!

I started my career in Retail back when Black Friday was hot, hot, hot. I remember TV’s and cameras selling like doughnuts at a Simpson’s convention, and crazed women grabbing  $9 sweaters right out of the box before I could get them on the shelf. It was a thrill, for retailers and for customers. Families shopped together, and it became a tradition in many households to wake up at dawn and head out, armed with credit cards and optimism.
 
Things have changed. Today, customers are going through the motions, trying to find that sense of adventure, of camaraderie. Instead shoppers are increasingly finding false “deals” stale experiences and cranky associates. Thanksgiving openings have drained enthusiasm by intruding on family time. In some cases, shoppers are even finding danger, with crowds driven to insane behavior by the false promise of a limited deal.
 
The business impact of this weekend is significant, yet it is also in decline. Fewer shoppers are venturing out to shop, and Millennials in particular are not impressed. Black Friday sales accounted for 6% of holiday revenue a decade ago, this year it is likely to be 4.3%. While this year may be a boom year with pent up demand due to election distraction, the trend toward online is certainly increasing, and eroding profits and loyalty. If retailers respond by continuing to lower prices to attract customers, the revenue will eventually be offset by the profit loss. While the bargain shopper needs to be satisfied, there is a need for innovation to attract a broader base.
 
So, what’s a retailer to do?
What if we took a new approach, and created an event that resonated with values?
What if we made it fun? Could we make it social?
After all, if it’s really just about the bargain, why go out at all when you can get it online easier and faster? What could stores do?

• What if retailers truly aligned digital and stores for a scavenger hunt?
• What if “checking in” to a number of stores within a day earned you discounts?
• What if Saturday became “Sister Saturday”?
• What if retailers truly embraced giving back, and encouraged non-profit partners to stage events in stores on this busy weekend “Give Back Sunday”?
• What if stores staged fashion shows early Saturday morning, getting customers in stores, and increasing margins with shoppers looking for inspiration, not just a bargain?
• What if associates were engaged with bonus potential, and the empowerment to create retail theatre?

 
Some retailers have already moved toward connection and experiences: Sur La Table is holding cooking classes; The Vitamin Shoppe brings customers in with a kombucha bar.
 
Given the huge financial impact of this weekend, retailers won’t be changing their strategy anytime soon. But the indicators are clear; a change is coming, and the smart move is to begin to experiment now to find a real connection that will give customers are reason to enjoy the weekend, be a part of their community, and delight in the holiday spirit.  Good luck to all you hard-working retailers; wishing you a terrific 2016!