Part of my role at work is to facilitate teams. Before jumping into problem-solving, I always make sure that the team has a vision.

Many organizations  develop Vision Statements.  I guess that’s alright, however, I think that once you write it down, the magic is lost.  A vision is something you see in your mind’s eye.  Once the team members get the concept, they can visualize where the team needs to go.  The vision is the destination while the work to get there is the map and that is left brain activity.  As you know, the left side of the brain is the logical side, what I call the mechanical side while the right side produces creativity and dreams.

Once the team is on it’s way to solving the issues the members identify, I constantly remind them of where we are going so that the vision stays clearly in their minds.  This is ”the juice” that keeps the momentum and the motivation alive.

19,000 square feet of carpet was wrong and it was four days before the company was moving into it’s brand new facility.  A CEO whom I used to work for would have threatened to sue or worse.  This CEO made a deal – repaint the walls to match the carpeting and things are square.

The results?  Actually it looked better than planned and the contractor made every effort to make the rest of the move a smooth experience for everyone concerned. 

Yes, it is true that someone along the way made a mistake and the contractor could have lost a bundle on this particular job, but I believe that the CEO in this case made a better (one might say a spiritual one) decision where only good could come from it.  Another decision might have been justified, but both parties would have lost.  Overtly or not, chances are the contractor would have gotten even before the company moved into their spot.

I learned from negotiating class that making a compromise is a lose-lose because no one really gets what they want.  In this case the compromise worked to every one’s advantage.

Yep.  Win-win is still the best policy.

Remember the concept that managers are servants to their employees?  The concept works well when you turn the organization chart upside down. In this form, you can see who is really serving the customers – your people who are making the product or providing the service.

It then makes it easy to see that our role as managers is to provide the support and service to our people so that they can better serve our end customers.  We are no longer “supervisors.”  We hire the right people, provide them with the right tools and then get the heck out of their way.  Tools are encouragement, software, training, coaching and efficient processes.

It is also important for us to involve them in the decision-making along the way.  Involvement gets their ownership and their commitment to provide over-the-top customer service.  Oh, and be sure to tell them what the end-customer wants – they need to know.  In the electronics industry, we used to periodically send some of our assemblers or other operations personnel to our customer sites along with the sales people so that they could taste and feel the customer.

If you are like me, you worry about how your offspring are going to make a living. It seems abundantly clear to me…

Consider this: Which job sector offers the best pay, best benefits and best job security?

If you’ve paid attention to the latest news’ developments you would know that I’m speaking about the Federal Government. According to the data, federal employees are now earning double compared to the private sector. The average federal employee compensation package is $81,000 in wages and $41, 000 in benefits. The average private sector employee makes $50,000 in wages and $10,000 in benefits.

So, when counseling your kids about their career possibilities, just “show them the money.”

Now, if they care about job satisfaction and contributing to the GNP they might have to look elsewhere.

One more casualty is about to happen. Harley Davidson is considering a move out of Milwaulke which would jeoparidize almost 2000 jobs.  Our beloved U.S.A. Motorcylce company just needs the union to make concessions, but they won’t even return the company’s phone calls.  This type of arrogance will only harm their members.   

Milwaukee is als0 the city which used to be known as the beer producing capitol. Schlitz Brewing claimed that they made Milwaukee famous, but that was before their union problems drove them out of business.

If you’ve read my blog entries in the past, you would know that I also hold the Labor Relations personnel accountable for the demise of manufacturing in this country.  Most of the time, Human Resources in these unionized companies have not done their companies a favor by giving away the store.

I feel sad every time a manufacturing company bites the dust – not just for the company and the employees, but for our entire country.

To be effective at this technique, I have had to know my boss inside and out. My job was to find out what was important to her and help her execute those initiatives near and dear to her heart.

I had a boss who came in early and since I have always been an early bird,  I made it my purpose to meet with him before the workday started. These one-on-one’s became my opportunity to not only bond with my boss, but to take as many monkeys off his back that I could.  The reward of tackling these issues and solving them was immense and I also became invaluable to him and the company.  He began to lean on me more and more.  I took on more responsbility as time progressed – my job grew and so did I. 

With this particular individual, I became a good friend, confidant and right hand person.

Today, I am submitting a letter to my local newspaper. The reason I am including it my blog is because I believe that it is relevant to all Human Resource people everywhere, especially for those of you who are in the public sector. One more time, I ask the question, “Where is the common sense, the proper judgement, the sense of fair play, in the HR departments in our government? How does the compensation and benefits personnel get so out of control?” If you answered “Feathering their nest” and/or “Conflict of Interest,” you would probably be right. Anyway, here is my letter….

We recently heard about the city of Bell in Southern California where the city officials are making outrageous salaries and are walking away with pensions around the half million a year each.  Although not approaching these figures, I am sure that our own city employees are doing very well.  On the other hand, most of us in the private sector are struggling to get by and hoping that our own savings in a 401K plan will let us squeak by in our old age.  The monument to our local government excess is being erected on the site of our previously beautiful park.  If the government is the servant of the people, you would think that they would be tightening their belt during these tough times just like we are.  We are doing everything we can to save the homes we live in while, at the same time, our city is building a huge extravagant home in our midst.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there is something wrong with this picture.  Oh, and I miss the gazebo, a symbol of “Small Town, USA.”

I just watched Invictus, the movie about President Mandela using the 1995 Rugby World Cup to unite his country.   His challenge was to alleviate the white citizens’ fears while not losing the black citizens support.  The South African Sports Committee had already moved to eliminate the Rugby team’s name and colors because they signified apartheid to the committee and to the black populace who rooted against their own home team.  Mandela reversed their decision and subsequently encouraged the team to improve so that they could win the cup.  He felt strongly that his country needed a big win for national self-esteem and he needed both sides to participate.

The “Nelson Mandela Model” should be the basis for every company takeover or corporate merger.  He wisely knew how important symbolism is to human beings.  We treasure our logos, history and lore.  I learned early on from Dr. Charles Hughes that the best thing to do in a “takeover” is to preserve as many of the policies, procedures, logos, mores, customs and values of the previous regime.   Without this type of respect in action, resentment is sure to set in. 

By the way, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, rent the DVD and you’ll see for yourself how successful his strategy was.

The year is 1896.  General Electric is one of the 12 companies listed on the DOW.  Besides still being listed on the DOW, GE was considered the largest company in the world by Forbes magazine in 2009.  General Electric has over 304,000 employees.  In the depth of the current recession, GE earned $30 billion.  Even during these dark times, the company is still spending a large percentage of it’s revenue on research and development.  The company also knows how to use PR to the max by positioning itself as a green company.  They call this initiative “ecomagination.”  President Obama uses Immelt as one of his financial advisors.

What is the constant factor that has kept GE in a lead position for over 100 years?  Good Management.  Jeffrey Immelt credits much of his company’s success to their leadership program – LIG (Leadership, Innovation and Growth).  Immelt tasks his managers to “Drive change and develop other leaders.”

GE has had great management  even prior to Immelt.  We all know about Jack Walsh, of course.  Before Walsh, General Electric was known for how they developed their managers by rotating their upcoming stars to head-up different divisions.  GE proved that good managers could successfully run any type of business whether light bulb manufacturing or airplane engine production facilities.  They also wrote the book on project management.

President Reagan, who hosted GE Theater on 50’s television, mouthed their slogan at the time, “Progress is our most important product.”   Obviously, it still is.

• Focus on the task at hand
• Pat attention to detail
• Make friends wherever you can
• Never give up
• Free you mind and the rest will follow (block out the obstacles)

So what does this have to do with Human Resources or Management?  To me, everything.  I’ve always maintained that the key to running a successful company is hiring winners and provide a winning environment.  Yes, it is that simple.  If we in HR can screen our applicants for the above winning traits, we will not only be the heroes of the organization (probably the unsung heroes), our companies will grow and prosper.