The Desk of Camille Hess

Its Never Over till You Say It's Over

2011-12-19T11:13:00.001-08:00

A motivational thought from Sam Maitz LMI inc.
used by permission

The power to hold on inspite of everything, to endure,
this is the quality of a winner.
Your greatest glory is not in neverfailing,
but in rising every time you fail.

It's your constant anddetermined effort
that will eventually break down allresistance
and sweep all the barriers beforeyou.
Persistence means taking pains toovercome every obstacle,
to do all that's necessary to reachyour goal.

All great achievementsrequire time.
Endurance is the crowning quality ofsuccess.

We Each Have Special Skills and Talents.

2011-09-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

A motivational thought from Sam Maitz LMI inc.
used by permission

The important points are not how many gifts you have, but how well you use them and the recognition that you have the personal responsibility to develop and use them effectively. Otherwise, they will diminish like unused muscles that atrophy.

It takes discipline to stay in shape - mentally as well as physically. Challenge yourself to reach full potential instead of accepting “good enough.” Focus and develop your strengths so that weaknesses don’t matter as much. Spend more time on developing your strengths than on trying to correct areas of weakness. Be disciplined, industrious, and persistent. Ask, and then take appropriate action:

   • What are my strengths and possibilities?
   • What can I do to develop and sharpen those skills?
   •  What do I need to do to become the person I want to be?
   •  How can I use my talents to help my organization reach its goals?

You Are Your Environment

2011-09-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

A motivational thought from Sam Maitz LMI inc.
used by permission

The first step toward getting somewhere
is to decide that you're not going to stay where you are.
Always be mindful that you are a product of your environment.
So choose an environment that will best develop you
toward your objective.

Analyze your life in terms of your environment.
Are the things around you helping you toward your success,
or are they holding you back?

You're not a captive of your environment.
If you don't like where you are,
change your environment, you're not a tree.
Don't say, "You would, if you could,"
say, "You will, because you can."

When you become a part of anything, it becomes a part of you.

View Every Problem as an Opportunity

2011-09-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

A motivational thought from Sam Maitz LMI inc.
used by permission

There isalways a good side to every situation. Stay optimistic and tryto see an opportunity in your calamities,
not pessimistic and seecalamity's in every opportunity.
The optimist sees thedoughnut, the pessimist sees the hole.

You candevelop success from any failure. Failure is one of thesurest stepping stones to success.
No element can do asmuch for you as failure can,
if you're willing tostudy it and make capital out of it.

Whenit is dark enough you can see the stars.

There is Always a Good Side

2011-08-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

A motivational thought from Sam Maitz LMI inc.
used by permission

Everything depends on the way you look at things.
View every problem you encounter as an opportunity.
There is always a good side to every situation.

The optimist sees an opportunity in every misfortune.
The pessimist sees misfortune in every opportunity.
The optimist sees the doughnut, the pessimist sees the hole.

You can develop success from every failure.
Discouragement and failure are two stepping stones to success.
No other elements can do so much for you
if you're willing to study them and make them work for you.

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.

You Won't Get Anywhere Without a Goal

2011-07-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

A motivational thought from Sam Maitz LMI inc.
used by permission

A life without purpose is like a ship without a rudder.
The purpose of a goal is to focus your attention.
Your mind will reach toward achievement only when it has a goal.
There is no achievement without goals.

Establish a goal worth working for.
Your goal will keep you going in tough times.

Always have something ahead of you.
Continuously visualize your next step.
Keep moving after you achieve your goal and set another.
Momentum is maintained by always having something to look forward to.
Constantly give yourself something to work for.

Do what you can do well,
and do well whatever you can do.
You can plant your dream.

You Are What You Think

2011-06-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

A motivational thought from Sam Maitz LMI inc.
used by permission

Loved or unloved, happy or unhappy,
attractive or unattractive, powerful or weak.

What you impress upon your mind, you'll inevitably become.
It's a psychological law that whatever you desire to accomplish
you must first impress upon your subconscious mind.

Relentless, repetitive self talk will change your self image.
You'll affect your subconscious mind with verbal repetition.
Constant repetition carries conviction.

When you change your values you'll change your behavior.
Start thinking of yourself as becoming the person you want to be.
Self suggestion will make you the master of yourself.

You can become whatever you want to be.
If you believe you can, you can.

You Can, When You Believe You Can.

2011-06-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

A motivational thought from Sam Maitz LMI inc.
used by permission

Don't be afraid of what life has to offer you. If you believe that life is worth living, your belief will help create the fact.

The barrier between you and success is not something that exists in the real world. It's simply composed of doubts about your ability. Your only limits to your realization of tomorrow will be your doubts of today.

If you want to be successful, start thinking of yourself as being successful. What you believe yourself to be, you are. Success is a state of mind.

Positive Mind Games

2011-06-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

A motivational thought from Sam Maitz LMI inc.
used by permission

Experiencing a setback can cause us to lose the advantage of positive positioning. How can you regain the positive attitude necessary for success? You need to think back to a challenge that you triumphed over in the past in order to put yourself in a positive frame of mind in the present. Use past successes to position your mind for new successes.

Remember this the next time you want to slow down or stop after you have completed a challenging task. Success begets success.
Your highest probability for repeat success is right after you have had success.

Making the Transition...from individual contributor to manager

2011-05-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

It has been said that we promote our best people to the level of their incompetence.

I suppose that can be true, but it doesn’t have to be.

We take those individuals who are the best technical contributors and show them that the only way to get ahead in the company is to stop what they do best (engineering, computer technology etc.) and begin to do what they have never been trained to do – manage people. To whom is the greatest level of disservice? The company? The staff? Or the individual who has been promoted? Well, it can certainly be all three.

A client of mine in Schenectady, NY is a large chemical company. I began to work with this client to help the manager of the Analytical Chemistry Department become a more effective manager. He was challenged by the “people” issues on his team. He did not communicate effectively nor delegate properly. His frustration level was high enough to affect his health and certainly his frame of mind. I have teased him many times about the fact that it took three weeks of classes before he looked me in the eye.

Some of the greatest challenges faced by technical contributors who become managers are 1) their resistance to letting go of the technical parts of their jobs; 2) their discomfort in handling the interpersonal issues among team members; 3) their inability to grasp the “big picture” and 4) their lack of management training. None of these is insurmountable; but all take an attitude adjustment.

Take my friend in Schenectady, for example. He had been an outstanding analytical chemist and, in my opinion, his career path should have been research or academia. He really didn’t like having to deal with the people issues that were part of his job as manager of the department; but he knew that, in order to make more money he had to take on more responsibility so here he was. Fifteen years into his career, he became a manager of people. Among all those degrees he held, there were no degrees in people management; just degrees in chemistry. What were the tools he needed to succeed in his present position? Could he learn them? Did he want to learn them? Ah, now that was the million dollar question!

Sometimes we have to make hard decisions in our career path design. In which direction is our arrow pointing? I use this graphic analogy. Imagine that the company’s direction is an arrow pointing north. Inside that big arrow are all the individual arrows of the people who work for that company. If all of the arrows are headed in the same direction, then the company is probably successful. It means that the goals of all the members of the organization and the goals of the organization itself are being met. But what happens when you realize that you are a member of an organization whose arrow is pointing north but your personal arrow is pointing south? There is conflict...stress...unhappiness and loss of productivity as a result of these issues. Equally at fault for retarding the forward movement of an arrow heading north is an arrow going around in circles. If individuals within an organization don’t know which way they are headed and can’t align their personal goals with the goals of the organization the same conflict...stress...and unhappiness occur. Likewise the same loss in productivity can be measured.

The only way to see to it that all the arrows are headed the same direction is for the management team to be certain that they clearly communicate the goals of the company and that they take the time to find out the goals of the individuals on the team.

Now, consider that manager of the Analytical Chemistry Department. Do you think that his personal arrow was heading the same direction as the company’s corporate arrow? Probably not. He found himself at odds with the role he was required to play. He really wasn’t good at it. He couldn’t deliver the results his management required of him. What were his options?

Number 1

He could choose to leave the company after more than 15 years of service and lose many of the benefits he counted on to fund his retirement and his daughters’ college educations. That didn’t seem a viable option.

Number 2

He could choose to change careers within the organization; perhaps become an individual contributor again. Of course the company could not justify a manager’s salary for that function. So a lifestyle change would be required, not just for him; but for his entire family.

Number 3

He could learn the skills necessary to function as an effective manager of people.
This was the option he chose. Now, what did he need to learn?

Of primary concern to me was that he became more comfortable communicating with his staff. He had two team leaders who were quite capable of implementing any plan he presented, but he had to make them aware of the plan. So he began to hold weekly meetings with his team leaders to discuss projects and strategies for performing the necessary functions of such a department within a chemical production facility.
Communication is almost always at the heart of productivity issues. Technical managers need to remember that a prerequisite for satisfactory performance of the tasks at hand is a clear understanding of the goal of the task, its parameters and its deadline. Direct, clear communication is a crucial first step for any manager.

The second step is coaching the team along the way. Technical managers must remember that their job is not to do the job, but to manage the people who do the job. Managers provide resources and clout when necessary to enable the technical team to complete the project/experiment on time and within budget. They are there to be mentors and coaches, teaching techniques and providing their team with expertise in certain areas. They must remember, however, when to step back and let the team do the work. This management skill is effective delegation.

The third step is accountability. Holding the team accountable for the completion of the task/project by a certain date is equally important. Empowering the team means that you give them the freedom to succeed, to make choices and to produce results.

These are the challenges facing engineers or any technical individuals who become managers in today’s corporate environment. The transition can be successful if technical managers are given the tools to succeed...just don’t forget that those tools are management tools.

Better Leadership: What’s it worth?

2011-03-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

Maybe it’s time to ask ourselves some tough questions:

Who is ultimately responsible for the productivity of the company?
Who will the stock holders hold accountable for profits?
Who sets the direction for the company?
Who identifies the goals?

If your answer to these questions is “I am” and “I do,” then let’s talk.

The word “leadership” is bantered about a lot these days, but what does it really mean? Webster defines leadership as “the position, function, or guidance of a leader; the ability to lead.” Well, that sounds all well and good, but how do you learn to lead? Are you just born that way?

I don’t think so. The “leaders” I’ve met have just been ordinary people struggling “to guide; to show the way by going along with or in front of the rest”. The challenge is great.

“To be the way or means of bringing something to a particular result” can be a pretty weighty responsibility.

If you are in charge, then what are you doing to help leaders, yourself included, be better at leading? Hmmmm.....good question!

Good Leadership Can Be Measured in Dollars and Cents

2011-02-11T08:09:00.000-08:00

Overall, any improvement in leadership can be measured in dollars and cents. Increased productivity, increased profitability; these are the measurable results of more effective leadership. And I don’t just mean leadership at the very top.

A client of mine in Upstate New York is a good example. They are the second largest food service company in the country and they were challenged by several changes in leadership a few years ago. As a result of these changes, two districts in the northeast were combined into one district covering four states. The district leadership, recognizing the challenge of combining these territories and wanting to do so without sacrificing the service level to their customers, identified the need to invest training dollars in the Operations leadership. The goal of this training was to help the Operations Leadership Team increase their effectiveness as leaders.

At the beginning of this training, productivity through the transition was at 67%. Over the next 12 months, I worked with each individual leader in the Operations area; from the VP of Operations to the day and night Warehouse Supervisors. By the end of the year, productivity had risen to 93%. Why? What had changed? I surely had no magic wand!

The leaders had changed. They weren’t different people, but they were people who had identified the skills they needed to improve in order to do their jobs more effectively. If the leaders are better leaders, the people are better producers.

Why? Because the leadership team had fine-tuned their ability to identify and clearly communicate the goals, to stay focused on those goals and to coach and develop their people. Everyone on the team had focus. Everyone was headed in the same direction. Everyone cared about being successful, reaching their goals. This is the kind of effect strong leadership can have in just one organization. The results of that improvement were measurable results. The value in dollars and cents? The value of a 26% increase in productivity. Some results, wouldn’t you say?

Good Leadership Characteristics...what are they?

2011-01-27T12:09:00.000-08:00

Think back on all the leaders/bosses you’ve ever known. Get a mental picture now of a specific person or persons. This has to get personal. What characteristics did that individual have that made him or her the “best”? It might not be one individual, maybe it’s a conglomeration of several individuals you’ve known, each with his or her own special skills.

I’ve asked many of my clients this question and here are some of the most often identified characteristics:

The best leaders have integrity.
They are honest, direct, clear communicators.
They care about people.
They have business savvy.
They are good listeners.
They empower their teams.
They know what the goals are and clearly communicate those goals.
They trust their team to be responsible for results.
They treat people with respect.
They lead by example.

How do you stack up? Whether you are leading a company, a church community, a family, a classroom, a sports team...even a country, these are good solid qualities to strive for, don’t you think?

Roll all these characteristics into one leader and that’s a tall order to live up to – at least for us mere mortals. So what should we do?

Well, here’s my suggestion. Break it down into the specific skills we need to learn in order to be a better leader. And then we prioritize the ones we need to improve in first and begin there. You remember that old saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Well, all improvement begins with identifying the goal and working toward it one step at a time.

Don’t you agree?

Camille Hess - The Results Group International