They have this song titled “Toes”. The words of the chorus go like this:

“I’ve got my toes in the water, a_ _ in the sand,
Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand.
Life is good today. Life is good today.”

Life may be good for Zach and the boys. They’re selling lots of CD’s and having fun. How many other people though can claim “not a worry in the world” or “life is good today?” From all I’m reading and hearing, not many.

Oh, it’s gotten some better than last year at this time but people are still losing their jobs and having a hard time finding new ones. Businesses are either watching their customers spend less or losing them all together. Homes are still losing value and foreclosures continue to pile up.

It’s not a pretty picture. But since you already know that, what are you going to do about it?

You can’t control the deficit, consumer spending, interest rates, job losses or the mood of the Country. You can control you, so how do you turn this into a time of opportunity?

Pete Peterson, former Secretary of Commerce and past Chairman of the Blackstone Group, was a highly successful and prosperous business leader. Today, in his 80’s, he is a philanthropist and author of The Education of an American Dreamer. Having been through many a downturn, his first suggestion for weathering this storm is to “take responsibility for the future.”

How does he suggest you do that? Peterson says to, “Focus on your comparative advantage.” In simpler terms, know the factors that differentiate you, that make you unique. He also emphasizes this next point. “Resist the seductions of a little more pay”, he says, “or a little nicer office or a little better title if it does not play to your strengths.”

In today’s economic climate, business and career success both depend on how creatively you think, how well you adapt to change and, most importantly, how willing you are to take whatever action is required to develop your own opportunities.

I got an e-mail from a limousine company yesterday telling me that they were offering a new service, affordable and reliable transportation for the adult and senior community. They’ve purchased easily accessible vehicles and their goal is to be a reasonable alternative to taxis for those who no longer drive. An innovative idea and a great new service.

Never forget that your success depends more on what you do for yourself than on what the world or anyone in it does for you.

Invention and creativity drive business. They can also drive your career success.

Tom Welch, President

How was your 2009 and what are you going to do differently to make 2010 wildly successful for both you and your organization?  Here’s how I responded to Bob.  See if it doesn’t offer some clues to help make your success easier to find.

“I often ask this question of my executive coachees as well as audiences I address.  Why does leadership not work so well?  Survey after survey proves it doesn’t work.  We have a larger percentage of the workforce disenchanted with their job.  We have ineffective organizations.  We lack trust.  We lack true collaboration.  Leaders get poor grades.  We attend leadership training over and over again ad nauseam with little improvement.  We keep firing coaches in every sport looking for that one leader who can produce a winner.

And yet, look at what you are accomplishing.  Do you know why?  Because you are not only a student of effective leadership, you are a doer who holds yourself accountable.  You know how to analyze your team and build relationships to get the most from them while, at the same time, inching each member closer to engagement.  The right people doing the right things for who they are and led in a way that makes them productive and fulfilled.

You have also kept it SIMPLE.  You identified, with your team’s help, your 3 major initiatives and as a team, you then developed a plan of action to move you forward.  You helped the team hold themselves accountable for the results.  Defined roles, accountability, a compelling direction and an atmosphere of openness and trust.  The magic formula.

And isn’t it funny that others are now asking for your secrets.  Good for you.

You should be so proud of all that you have done and yet, still anxious to make it even better.  What a kick!”

How can you make it even better for you?  Here’s a thought.  Show up at your job tomorrow morning, just like you do every other day, but think differently.  Think like a consultant.

Approach your daily activities creatively.  View your job, your fellow employees and your customers with new eyes.  Then, ask yourself what you might do better.  How can you use your unique knowledge to improve you while also helping others succeed?

While you’re thinking, keep in mind that SIMPLE is the key to change and success.  Simple gets done.  Complicated does not.

Another tidbit to keep in mind is that simpler success takes more than just knowledge.  You’ve probably heard the old saying, “knowledge is power.”  I don’t buy it.  Lots of organizations have loads of knowledge but they are not necessarily successful.

Knowledge plus execution plus measuring progress plus analysis plus change plus persistence plus leadership plus engagement….that’s POWER.

History has shown us two distinct paths to success in organizations.  Both paths include right people doing right things, right mission, right culture, right strategy, right structure, right leadership and right execution.

Strategy, Structure, Culture and Execution.  Those are the building blocks and you must approach them in the right order.  Without the right people and all that goes with attracting, keeping and motivating those right people, no matter how much you execute your processes, your structure and strategy won’t work.

The other path to success runs through clear roles, accountability, a compelling vision of direction (and why) accompanied by an environment of openness, trust and challenge.  A McKinsey Consulting study showed that nothing else even comes close to improving performance like these 4 factors.  And the study was a big one…400 business units in 230 companies around the world.

Finally, and this is crucial, your improvement plan for simpler success can not be aimed strictly at organizational improvements.  If your people don’t see value for themselves, you’re doomed.  You have to incorporate challenge and growth for each and every individual.

Leadership and enhanced engagement are your big guns.  That’s where you’ll get your biggest bang for you, your team and your organization.  Combine leadership, engagement and process improvement and let the good times roll.  Couldn’t be simpler or more fun!

Tom Welch, President

Seems that a 65 year old British pilot who was suddenly blinded by a stroke during a solo flight from Scotland to southeastern England successfully landed his plane after he was talked down by a Royal Air Force pilot.

Jim O’Neill was about 40 minutes into his flight when his vision suddenly went black.  Fortunately, an RAF Wing Commander was in the area and was able to fly close to O’Neill’s plane and radio directions.  Nonetheless, what a feat to land an airplane when you can’t see a thing.

Amazing story but what’s its purpose in terms of your business or your career?  Let me make it really simple.  If a blind man can land a plane, you can do whatever it takes to get through this period of economic upheaval we are facing.

I don’t say that in any way to minimize the circumstances many of you are enduring.  Businesses are losing customers.  Many have already shut their doors.  Those customers still around are spending less.  Revenues and profits are falling big time.

Every day, more people lose their jobs.  GM, Ford, DHL, Circuit City, Lehman Brothers and the list goes on for companies big and small having to lay off workers.  Foreclosures continue to rise.  Food banks are having a hard time keeping their shelves stocked.

It is not a pretty picture.  It’s bad.  But, since you already know that, what are you going to do about it?

How do you turn this into a time of opportunity rather than a time of fear and demise?  In 2015, wouldn’t you like to look back on 2010 and say, “That’s when I really changed my life and I’m so glad the economy forced me to do it because I’ve never been happier than I am today.”

Peter Weddle ran one of the first resume data bases, Job Bank USA, so he had lots of opportunities to talk with people employed in any number of various professions.  He’ll tell you that the majority of people he encountered over the years did not like their job but few were willing to do what was required to start anew.  “They’d rather stick their heads in the sand,” Weddle said.

Other than a nose full of sand, that technique won’t get you far.  In today’s economic climate, business and career success both depend on how creatively you think, how well you adapt to change and most importantly, how willing you are to take whatever action is required to develop your own opportunities.

If you have a job that you fear will go away, there are things you could do to enhance your value to your employer.  If you’ve lost your job, you need a plan for what’s next.  If you own a business that has dramatically slowed, you need a revised strategy to attract new customers.

Last week, I spoke to a group of employees from one of our clients where I coach several of the business leaders.  These high potential people I addressed had just completed a two-year personal development program that exposed them to all aspects of the business.

I was there to congratulate these up and comers but my message was larger than that.  I challenged them.  “What are you going to do with all this new knowledge?”, I asked them.  “How will it enhance you?  How will it help the company and the other employees you work with?”

“Tomorrow morning”, I suggested, “not Monday morning or next month or next year, but tomorrow morning, show up at your job just like you do every other day, but think differently.  Think like a consultant.

Approach your job differently.  View your job, your fellow employees and your customers with new eyes.  Ask yourself what you can do better.  What can you do differently?

You have knowledge that many others in your organization don’t have.  You worked for that knowledge.  You persisted to finish this program.  How will you now put your new found wisdom to work?”

I offer that same challenge to you.  No matter your circumstances, how can you view things more creatively.  What can you do better?  How can you use your unique knowledge to provide service to others?  What do people need that you have?

The most successful, happy people who pass through this planet in good times or bad rarely find someone or something to blame when life isn’t going right.

Rather, they stand tall, look in the mirror and know they are responsible for their own results.

Tom Welch, President

Here’s why: We spend the majority of our waking hours working and we don’t take many days off. ABC News reports that we give back 438 million vacation days to our employers every year. Even when we take vacation time, we spend an average of 60 percent of it checking e-mail and doing other job-related duties. That’s a lot of work time.

You’d think, with all that time we spend on the job, that we enjoyed our work. Just the opposite seems true. About four in five workers says they’re disenchanted with their jobs or careers. Half would consider changing careers and one in four are planning on doing so this year. Talk about unhappy!

Yahoo statisticians see the evidence every Sunday afternoon. Just around the time we begin thinking that the weekend is about over, searches for sample resignation letters, recruiters, resume templates, cover letters and interview questions skyrocket.

That’s why the best thing you can do for yourself and your career is spend some time analyzing your work and how it’s affecting your life. We often contemplate things about ourselves that we’d like to change.

One key to making an effective, long-lasting change is focusing on the one thing that can have the most dramatic impact on how you live your life. Because we spend so much time working and because the dissatisfaction level with our work appears to be so high, making some work-life changes seems appropriate.

Often, the difficulty is getting started. Peter Weddle, who founded one of the first Internet career sites, JobBank USA, points out that the most people he speaks with dislike their job, but because of fear or inertia, few will do what’s required to start anew.

“They would rather gripe and stick their head in the sand,” Weddle says.

If that describes your situation, here’s some good news. You may not have to start anew. With some subtle changes, you could drastically improve your current conditions. If you want to make more wholesale changes, that may not be as hard as you think. Knowing where to begin is half the battle, so here are some ideas:

• Your degree of work and career satisfaction are based on several factors, but the two most critical have to do with the talents and skills you enjoy using and your career values.

• When your job lets you use the strengths you enjoy and meets your career values, your degree of fulfillment is high. When one or both of those is out of balance, you are dissatisfied.

The following exercises will help you gauge your balance. Do that and then adjust your job or career based on your discoveries.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Make a list of both your work and personal accomplishments that have made you proud.

These accomplishments don’t have to be big in the eyes of the world. Anything that made you proud when you did it could easily be considered an accomplishment.

Once you’ve compiled your lists, go back through each accomplishment and jot down the skills and talents you used in getting that accomplishment done. You’ll find that many of the same talents and skills repeat themselves. Those that do are some of your strongest skills.

Those skills are your strengths and you probably enjoy using them. They are the skills you used most often to achieve something and you usually succeed at something because you enjoy doing it.

The more you use those strengths, the happier you are. Many people spend way too much time trying to correct weaknesses while ignoring the strengths they possess. If something comes easily to you, it’s most likely one of your natural talents. Try to use it as often as you can and see how much happier you become.

VALUES

To determine your values, ask yourself this question: What is the most important thing I need in my job to be happy?

Realize, there are probably many things that you would like a job to offer. But to start your list, figure out what is the most important thing you want in your job.

Once you’ve identified the top one, ask yourself what is next on the list. Continue this process until you have listed seven to 10 values. For the final step, go back and compare each value against every other value. Ask yourself again which one is most important. This step is necessary because, upon reflection, the order of your values may change.

Now that you know your most important values, you should understand that if your job does not meet your top career values, you will be unhappy in what you are doing. The reverse is also true. If your top values are met, satisfaction is easy to come by.

Armed with these discoveries about your strengths and values, you can set out to make either minor or major adjustments to your job or career. Once you do, you’ll find that the improvements can have a dramatically positive effect on how you live your life.

From time to time, ask your supporters how you’re doing because when you involve others in your accountability, the change is more apt to last. In his book, “Change or Die,” Alan Deutschman points out that real change occurs most easily when there is an emotional connection made, a relationship with someone or a group that inspires or reinforces that change.

• Blow your own horn once in a while.

Strong contributors feel that if they do excellent work, they will be noticed and eventually get their just reward. Sometimes that happens but often, it doesn’t. If you are a superior performer, my suggestion is that you subtly make people aware of your results. Document and discuss your accomplishments. No chest thumping but an attentive effort so your boss and others are aware of what you are getting done.

When we checked references on one of our director-level executive search candidates this week, her previous regional president, Bill, had many positive comments about Shelly.

He also had one suggestion. Bill said, “I thought she should do a better job of promoting all that she accomplished. She definitely added value and she should have better marketed the benefits she brought to the operation so everyone would have understood what she accomplished.”

Well said on Bill’s part and advice you should heed.

• Be known as a positive, upbeat person.

No one but you can control how you feel about anything in life. You control your thinking, your beliefs and your actions. The greatest resource you have is the power to change your attitude towards something. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

What you believe is your choice. You design your world. You can choose the way you look at your world. Those who choose the positive approach are more respected and more apt to be viewed as a valuable contributor to an organization.

You can’t control the economy but you can control you. That can make all the difference.

We also talk about strategy, structure, culture, trust, communication, accountability, collaboration and measuring results. But the real payoff comes from getting better as a leader.

As strongly as I feel about the value of leadership, there is a “but,” and the but is this: If you don’t have talented, hard-working, enthusiastic people to lead, how effective can you be at leading?

Companies like to say employees are their biggest assets. Yet most companies are ill prepared to find, develop, motivate and retain a talent-rich workforce.

Organizational leaders acknowledge the problem. In a 2006 McKinsey Consulting survey, respondents said that finding talented people would likely be the single most important effort for the rest of the decade. In an updated 2007 study, almost half of those surveyed expected increasing competition for talent to affect their companies over the next five years. No other global trend was nearly as significant.

Despite all the talk and concern, efforts to better select and retain the best talent have been weak. Attempts at improvement tend to get squashed by short-term business pressure.

In a January McKinsey Quarterly article, “Making Talent a Strategic Priority,” the authors stated that “talent issues have unquestionably moved up the boardroom agenda but they have been insufficient at best, superficial and wasteful at worst.”

In attracting talent, those organizations putting best hiring practices to work today will reap the benefits for years to come. The war for talent will only get worse as baby boomers retire in greater numbers and globalization increases.

No matter the size of your organization or business, the right talent can add untold value. And best practices to attract that talent don’t have to be difficult or complicated. Here are a few suggestions based on my 30-plus years of locating executive talent for our clients. You can benefit from this expertise by following the above suggestions:

• Think marketing. You’re recruiting talent. What is it about your company that would lure the best candidates? Build your recruiting message around that. Effective branding means that you should make your organization a place where people want to be.

• Know what you are looking for. What type of skills, talents, traits, interests, experience and education best suit your needs?

• Think superior performance. In a year’s time when I am giving my new employee a performance review that is nothing short of superior, what has she accomplished? Analyze those accomplishments to determine the skills and talents needed to get those things.

• Improve the interviewing skills of everyone involved in the selection process. A critical ingredient of that improvement is a thorough understanding that a candidate interview is both assessment and sales. Balance both to attract the best talent. When you do it right, your compelling message is delivered and backed with stories of both company and individual employee successes because stories help to paint a picture in the candidate’s mind.

Remember to develop a deep understanding of what you need and combine that with a savvy approach to interviewing so you not only intelligently assess candidates but also create an air of enthusiasm surrounding your organization and the position for which you are recruiting. In today’s market for talent, motivation has to take a front seat.

When executives and even many of those below the executive rank are considering an opportunity, they first contemplate the impact they can make. Next is the opportunity for growth. Then the leadership qualities of the person they will work for followed by the growth potential for the company and finally compensation.

Because those factors influence top talent, your mission as the hiring authority is to assess, communicate and then sell the company and the opportunity based on those factors. That approach will give you your greatest odds for success.

Tom Welch, President

I’m sure you’ve met this type of person or hopefully aspire to be one. They continually excel in their fields, outperform their peers, and despite what’s thrown their way, seem to always come out on top. They are well connected, and they work for and succeed in great organizations. This is the type of candidate I try to identify for our clients, and I have found two core truths in identifying the best of the best.

They succeed with the Best.

Great companies have great employees. These companies are progressive and proactive. Their superior workforce leads them to success. Netflix’s CEO and founder, Reed Hastings, published a must read for all business leaders in his Reference Guide on our Freedom and Responsibility Culture. In it, he states that his company operates like a professional sports team, not a children’s recreational league. The coach’s job is to hire, develop and cut effectively so there is a star in each position.

Sounds tough…. even cutthroat doesn’t it? But you can be certain that in an “only the strong survive” culture, well, only the strong survive. It’s that type of philosophy that has made Netflix successful, and why seeking out candidates who have found success within successful organizations is your best source for great performers. They keep the best and cut the rest.

They network with the Best.

Part of the recruiting process requires referrals. I think its part of human nature to be helpful. So when I ask one of my leads for a recommendation, I am inevitably referred to someone who’s in the market, or unemployed. But are they the best?

Rephrasing that question will always lead to a different answer. I’m not looking for someone who’s looking (the rest); I’m looking for someone who’s the best. You would be surprised at how the same few names will continue to pop up in the course of a search, and that is the person I want to recruit.

I’ll never forget asking a very successful sales executive for the best sales referral in his contact folder, and his answer was, “I only have rock stars in my rolodex”. Great answer from a great source and the message was clear. He only surrounded himself with other great sales people.

We all know the difference between Mr. Right and Mr. Right Now. The cost of the wrong hire is hard to quantify, but can in some cases lead to disastrous results for an organization. The difference is do you take the time to find the best or can you afford to settle for the rest? Next time I’ll discuss what it takes to assess those referrals to ensure that they’re also the best fit for our client.

Laura Ray, Director

Why do two people both selling the same product have widely varying degrees of success? Why does one person walk into the boss’ office and come out with a raise, while another who performs equally well gets shot down?

Chip Heath, Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University’s School of Business, has been looking for answers to those questions for the past decade and he now thinks he knows why certain messages stick and others don’t.

Before we get to the why, let’s first understand how Heath defines a sticky idea.

“It is one,” he says, “that people understand when they hear it, that they remember later and that changes something about the way they think or act.”

Read that definition again and then think about how often you have been frustrated because something you told someone was misinterpreted or never acted on at all. Or vice versa. Maybe a colleague unclearly communicated with you and your actions based on that communication turned out to be disastrous.

We’ve all had those unpleasant experiences. So, how do we limit them in the future?

Maybe Heath’s findings on making any form of communication more effective could help. He offers six traits of sticky ideas: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions and stories.

I think the solution can boil down to four concepts:

• Keep your message simple.

• Make it concrete.

• Make it unusual or surprising.

• Use a story to support your message whenever possible.

Here’s how the theory can work in practice. An executive named Adam that I coach on becoming a more effective leader is president of a $200 million computer company that he built from scratch.

With Adam’s reputation of being a clear communicator and a successful business builder, it was only natural that his daughter’s boyfriend, Bob, would ask for some advice as he approached graduation from college.

Unfortunately, Adam was unsure of how to guide boyfriend Bob and he did not want to leave the young man with an unclear message, so he asked for my help.

When I spoke with Bob last week, I discovered that he’s about six months away from a bachelor’s degree in physics from Emory University. Like many young people approaching graduation, he’s not sure what his next step should be. Maybe a master’s degree in engineering or possibly an master’s in business administration?

Or should he go to work? And if that’s the choice, what type of job should he look for?

A confusing time, no doubt, but also a time when confusion can turn to clarity by pondering a few simple questions that call for concrete answers. After posing some of those questions to Bob, it turns out that his real interest at this juncture is to get a job.

That conclusion alone was good progress, but we only had soft concrete at that point.

What type of job? A few more simple questions and we discovered that he had a strong interest in research and development. He likes to design and build, starting with nothing and taking a project to completion. I also learned that Bob would like to use those skills in either high tech, biotechnology or aerospace engineering.

Perfect. The concrete is now hard and Bob is ready for the next step, marketing himself into his first job.

He listened intently as I laid out a simple, yet highly effective job search marketing campaign. He would talk with engineers from all three industries that interest him. He would detail his strengths and interests. He would use a short story based around one of his previous accomplishments in life and ask for their advice.

From that, Bob would get referrals of other people with whom he would have similar conversations. He would contact alumni and fraternity brothers working in the industries and companies he would like to join.

This unique self-marketing approach would differentiate Bob from his resume-sending, intern-job-post-looking competition. And because I’ve seen it work time and time again, I am confident that his efforts will lead him to an exciting, well-matched first job.

People will understand and remember his message because it will be simple and concrete. He will stand out among the crowd, and those with whom he communicates will help Bob in his endeavor because of his sincerity and his unusual approach.

Now, think about how you can incorporate simple, concrete, unusual and story-like to help you and those around you grow into highly effective communicators who get results.

Tom Welch, President

When I’m asked what a researcher does for a retained executive search firm, the answer is simple….find the absolute best of the best talent for our clients. I am the equivalent of a football scout for peak-performing executives.

One of the advantages our clients enjoy in partnering with a retained firm is our ability to find, assess and influence the highest achievers. How does that differ from a contingency firm? Here’s one example.

We don’t post jobs on career boards or scour databases for candidates. If we did, we’d accumulate resumes a lot faster than we do now but we don’t think faster is better. We think better is better. So, just like Pete Carroll, we are relentless in our pursuit of the best executives. They will help our clients win!

USC would not be one of the most successful football programs in the Country if their coaches tried to fill the roster by running ads in the Daily Trojan or networking in the Student Union Building. They might save a lot of money on recruiting and they’d probably get lots of applicants, but how would that team perform against Florida or Texas or Alabama?

See the difference? Carroll and his staff spend countless hours analyzing statistics, watching game film and talking with high school coaches. Once the top talent has been identified, personal interviews are conducted to further assess the potential recruits. The best of the best get offers to play USC football.

Next is influencing. Each potential football recruit needs to understand why USC is his best choice for both the short and long term. Individuals’ needs and values must be considered. The school that does that best gets the best.

That’s recruiting and it’s not fast and it’s not easy. Yet, a top pick can make or break a team and a coach. Business is no different. If you don’t search for talent like Pete Carroll searches for football players, you’re really not recruiting, you’re just hiring, and you won’t attract the best of the best.

In the coming weeks, I will talk more about what retained executive search firms, like R.I.C. Executive Search, do to identify, assess and influence those high achievers.

Laura Ray, Director

Update: It will be interesting to follow how Carroll adapts his aggressive recruiting style to that of the NFL as he makes his staffing and player selections in the coming months.

What effect does that have on the individual who endures this daily grind? The answer is frustration, disengagement and job dissatisfaction.

How about the organizations that count on these people day in and day out? It will come as no surprise that they are also negatively affected. A typical employer is faced with a fourth of its employees completely turned off by their jobs. Half of its workers are simply doing just enough to get by and only 25 percent are engaged, enthusiastic and highly productive.

Let’s go one step further. In a global study of 30 countries, researchers attempted to discover which countries have the happiest people. The U.S. came in right in the middle at number 15. Wouldn’t you think we would score better than that?

Consider this. On average, American workers spend 70 percent of their waking hours either getting ready for, traveling to and from or actually working. That’s 70 percent!

All those hours affect your attitude, self-esteem, balance, happiness and fulfillment. If only 25 percent of workers are fully engaged and enthusiastic, it’s no wonder we’re halfway down the happiness list.

So what’s the solution in terms of your own career or in terms of your company? To find out, let’s answer two questions.

Do organizations operate at less than peak performance because of the individuals who make up the organization? Or, do individuals operate at less than peak performance because of the organization itself? In other words, is all this dissatisfaction the fault of employers or employees?

Actually, those are trick questions.

You obviously need to work on both the organization and the individual. Where would you start?

I advise our clients to work on their organizations by working on the individual. Guide each employee to career success and peak performance. The employees will in turn lead the organization to business success and peak performance.

A growing number of organizations are discovering that improving employee satisfaction is not overly difficult or costly.

Charles Watts, a principal of the consulting firm Towers Perrin says, “A lot of the drivers of engagement are subtle issues that don’t require a lot of capital outlay. They take work.”

The success formula is simple but not always easy because management is often under the mistaken impression that the organization is already running on all cylinders. Study after study has shown that’s far from the truth.

James Clifton, chief executive officer of the Gallup organization, claims that, “The essence of effective people management is managing emotion.”

To feel more emotionally involved in work, individuals need the freedom to use the skills and talents they enjoy using, doing something of interest while having their values met. Once those foundations are in place, individuals need a leader who understands what it takes to guide and coach employees to success and peak performance.

Leaders who drive results develop star performers and get everyone moving in the right direction. Effective leaders make it their mission to help others succeed.

“Good people come to companies because they believe they have a chance to expand their capabilities and fulfill their destiny,” says Larry Bossidy, former chief executive officer of Honeywell. “And you have an obligation to help them. Work as hard as you can to fulfill other people’s expectations.”

The renowned business guru, Peter Drucker, has a favorite question he presents to leadership audiences.

“What is your business,” he inquires. Many varied answers always follow, but not the one he’s looking for. “Your business is training and developing people,” he says. “But not through fear or like robots. Leadership is about treating people well.”

The 2002 Watson Wyatt Work USA Survey demonstrated that employee satisfaction increases shareholder value. The greater the level of communication and trust and the better the employee performance feedback, the higher the shareholder value.

Bottom line — engaged employees are happier and more productive.

Leading is about trust, values, character, honesty, respect, optimism, communication and simply caring about employees as people. All of that soft stuff that’s too ill-defined to truly make a difference.

That’s the stuff that real leaders take care of first.

Tom Welch, President

None of this surprises me because as I travel to coach executive leaders or speak to large business audiences, I conduct my own informal surveys. My findings aren’t much different. Close to 80% of the workforce is disenchanted with their job or career.

Why? For the most part, the answer is stinky leaders. That’s what I hear over and over again. That’s what exit interviews have told us. The # 1 reason people leave a job is because of a bad boss.

The big question is, why all those stinky leaders? And the even bigger question is, what can you do about it? No need trying to find blame. Instead, let’s see what we can all do to improve our ability to lead.

We’ll barely scratch the surface of this exhaustive topic, but that could be good. Maybe one of the reasons for the stench is that we’ve made this whole leadership thing too difficult. There’s too much to think about.

Why do you stink as a leader?

You make it too complicated.

How do you define leadership? If you’re like me, you’ve heard lots of explanations and they’re probably long and arduous. Long and arduous doesn’t get done. Simple gets done.

Think about this. Leadership is “helping others succeed.” That’s it. You can add a few more words like, “around a common cause.” But real simply, as a leader, you help your people succeed.

In my coaching of executive leaders, I have two goals. One is to help them live a happier life. The second is to help them be more effective in their work so they can make more of a difference for others. They accomplish both those goals by helping others succeed.

You don’t lead yourself first.

Before you can effectively lead others, you have to understand your own passions, skills, talents, values and interests. What drives you to succeed? You need to love what you do to enthusiastically help others. Your authentic self, that is uniquely you, must come through naturally in your words and your actions.

Leaders fail from arrogance, egos and insensitivity. If you have an overwhelming need to impress others, lose it. Use your passion and drive to help your team and organization succeed for a common cause. The best leaders serve others for the benefit of all.

You haven’t created trust filled relationships.

The Watson Wyatt USA Work Study found that less than 40% of employees at U.S. companies trust their leaders. Are you kidding me? The foundation of leadership success is trust. And by trust, I don’t only mean keeping your word. True trust is complete vulnerability. You and your people can say whatever is on your mind because you are doing it in a collaborative fashion for the benefit of all. No repercussions or back stabbings. Simply open and honest communication.

How would you complete this next sentence? As a leader, it is critical that you view your business through the eyes of your ___________________. If you said “employees”, take a gold star. Keeping that thought in mind, make sure your people understand your definition of and your commitment to trust. Assure that their perception of that trust is the same as yours.

Once you have that high degree of trust, you can freely empower your people. You can let them innovate and grow. Lou Gerstner, who is credited with saving IBM, recently said, “Creativity and invention are the key business skills.” Let your people use their authentic strengths to take your team to a level of superior performance. Give them permission to fail because as Thomas Edison once proclaimed, “Failure is the predecessor of success.” Do that and innovation will lead the way to renewed results.

You don’t understand the value of employee engagement.

Engaged employees are happy and productive. They are self-motivated and naturally passionate about what they are doing. They get meaningful results by using their strongest strengths.

As a leader, your goal is moving your people as close to engagement as possible. An engaged employee is using the talents and skills he enjoys. He is working around people he respects. She has her values met and she feels she is making a difference.

It is your leadership responsibility to make sure that each of your people is in a role that closely matches their authentic self. Assure that they are using and developing their strengths. Leaders help produce passionate workers when they understand superior performance, know how to hire right, how to inspire and how to recognize and reward their people.

You don’t communicate clearly enough or often enough.

In a recent research report by Watson Wyatt, Effective Communications: A Leading Indicator of Financial Performance, the data demonstrated a solid correlation between communication effectiveness, low organizational turnover and strong financial performance. Yet, ineffective communication is constantly near the top of employee complaints about leadership.

Talk with your team as a group. Let them know what you know. As Sam Walton said, “Communicate everything.” Give your team an opportunity to express their opinions. Everyone wants to have their ideas heard. It’s not only good for the pure value of communicating, it also helps with the trust building.

Even more important is to talk with your employees individually. Get to know their skills, talents and values. Get to know them as a person and not just an employee. Understand how they want to be led. That’s right. Lead each of your people in the way that makes them the best they can be. The Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, is outdated. Go with the Platinum Rule. “Do unto others the way they want to be done unto.”

Learn how each of your people likes to be recognized and rewarded. Know why an employee says something as opposed to simply knowing what was said. Listen. Genuinely engage when an employee is talking with you. Forget the multi-tasking. Show you care.

Most employees want to know three things: What you want them to do, how you will measure them and how you will compensate them. Weave all this information into several, ongoing, one on one discussions. Make your people feel important. Then, watch commitment, loyalty and productivity skyrocket.

You don’t hold yourself or your people accountable.

Do you ever measure how your leadership is progressing? We measure lots of business statistics but we fail to measure the biggest contributor to success, leadership improvement. This lack of accountability is why so much of leadership training loses its value. Understanding what to do is one thing. Doing it for the long term is another. Accountability leads to behavioral change.

Do you know how your people perceive you as a leader? They’re the best judges. Why not ask them. Do it every few months so you not only know what to improve but you also get some feedback on how you are doing. That’s holding yourself accountable.

Also, make sure your people are accountable. With their input, set timelines and put measurement criteria in place so you both can assess progress. The effects of our actions on a daily basis are hardly recognizable, yet over time, huge accomplishments occur. Keep moving toward the goal each and every day. Measure the progress as often as needed to stay on course. You’ll be amazed at the results and your people will truly be aware of the difference they are making.

There you go. Six strategies to help you remove that leadership stench. That’s enough to get you started. Now, it’s up to you. Remember, understanding what to do won’t get it done. Doing it will. Doing separates the leaders from the pretenders.

Tom Welch, President