What Makes An "A" Player?

I have a confession to make - I have been in situations where I was a "B", a "C", and, yes, even a "D" player. I suspect most people will admit that they have not always been considered "A" players.

My point? I don't believe there is such a thing as an "A" player for all situations. We've all seen it - the top person in one position gets promoted or transferred or hired to another position. And they struggle, and they either fail and move on, or worse yet, stay and survive and become that dreaded "C" Player.

What makes the difference - in one job a top person, and in another a failure or, at best, a survivor? The person hasn't changed - all the skills, knowledge, experience, behaviors, attitudes and skills that added together to create real success are still there, and maybe that's the problem. What works in one situation doesn't work in another - even though they may look like they should.

I submit when that mix of what the job requires and what the person brings to it are a close fit, an "A" player is made. When that doesn't happen, getting to be an "A" player requires adaptation, self knowledge, interpersonal skills and emotional maturity. Rarely do the elements of education, experience, technical skills and industry knowledge make the difference.

Some people have the potential andf ability to be "A" players in more situations than do other people. I submit that is true because of ability to recognize the need to change and adapt, knowledge of the key personal skills they possess and how those fit with job requirements. It's the ability to develop effective interpersonal relationships that can be sustained. It's the ability to see one's own behavior, attitudes and personal skills accurately, and deal with them realistically. It is the ability to maintain a high level of emotional control.

What is an "A" player? The right person in the right job - as measured by results. For some people, it seems they are always "A" players - don't fool yourself. It takes hard work for even the most gifted. But the fact is "A" player potential exists in each of us.

Written by Andrew Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC

4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: andycox@coxconsultgroup.com Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved

Assumptions - the Trap of Using Them to Predict Outcomes

Here is a story illustrating how beliefs we have create assumptions that can create their own set of issues and problems.

Having the freedom to choose, to me, is a very liberating idea. I first became really aware of the role choice plays in my responses and living while reading the perennial best-seller by Stephen Covey – “The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People” When I read the section dealing with choice, it struck me as a tremendously liberating concept, and one that, at that time in my life, I really needed to hold on to and make part of my own beliefs. The belief in choices went a long way to helping me get rid of a victim complex, and begin to understand my own freedom to choose.

Later, when I was conducting a seminar on leadership, the opportunity to introduce and discuss the concept of choice presented itself. The participants in the seminar were first and second level supervisors and managers for a large industrial company located in Atlanta. The response to the personal choice presentation and discussion was, at best, mixed. Some people looked at me like I was from another planet, some looked like they wanted to be somewhere else, and some seemed positively in agreement and accepting of the concept. Overall, the discussion of choice - that I had been so eager to introduce and so sure it would have enthusiastic support - contributed more negative than positive to the seminar.

After the seminar was over, I reviewed what had happened with a well known and respected seminar leader, and I mentioned the mixed response to what I felt was one of the most powerful messages in the seminar. Her answer was to tell me that in her opinion many people are not liberated by the idea of choice; that many people are threatened by choice; that many people are willing and even comfortable in letting others make choices for them; and that many people view the idea of choices more as a burden than as an opportunity.

That blew me away! But experience has led me to better understand what she meant. No wonder the idea of choice in investment decisions with Social Security funds met with such a mixed review by the voters – given the views of choice by many people in our society, that was a negative, not a positive.

Well, there went another of my assumptions – that choice would be seen as a good thing by most if not all people. That is an example of the kind of assumptions we make on a daily basis that lead us to predict outcomes and results - only to be disappointed.

I continue to believe in the power of personal choice, but I no longer assume others do. And I try to always examine my thinking to see if I have set up any minefields where I have used personal assumptions to arrive at conclusions. Good advice if you are a politician, or a leader, or someone looking to influence others to your way of thinking.

Written by Andrew Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC

Phone 602-795-4100; Fax; 602-795-4800; E Mail: andycox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved

Seeking Reality, A Crucial Skill

At a recent gathering of the Managers and VP's and C Level leaders in a large organization, they were all asked the question "If you had to rank yourself in terms of importance and contribution to our company of all the people at this meeting,, where would you rank ?" The responses were anonymous. 90% responded that they felt they were among the top 10%!! Time for a reality check.

Which brings me to the subject of this Blog. One of the key skills needed for success is to view reality as it exists - not as you wish it would exist, or want it to exist. That sounds pretty simple - it isn't.

A story: A new boss in a client company had all the education, experience, and industry knowledge to be really successful. He had the habit of assigning projects as they became obvious to him, without regard to the resources needed to get the job done. He saw clearly in his mind the need to act - and he was an impatient man. He saw there was so much to do, and so little time. Any attempt by the person assigned the project to negotiate a due date or modify the bosses assignment was met with anger and threats. So the assignee would tell the boss he would start work on it right away - because that was the only acceptable thing to say. The boss would go away satisfied that he would see results and get action - after all, the person he assigned the project said he would. He was able to report that huge progress was being made under his guidance.

After six months, this boss was stunned to find that all these projects were half done, or hardly started, or mired in lack of resources. He saw this as a challenge to his leadership. His reaction was to terminate some of the managers who had failed to perform, and bring in new people with "energy" to get things back on track. They didn't - the same things happened to them - and after eighteen months on the job the boss was fired - but not until he had cost a number of good people their jobs, and caused the business to suffer.

The moral of this story: Saying something doesn't make it so, no matter how hard you try. The personal skill this boss lacked was the skill to see things as they really are, rather than how they would be if his ideas were in place. This boss was so convinced of the rightness of his ways that he could not see the possibility that there may have been acceptable alternatives. His ego wouldn't allow it. The result was two parallel planets - his world as he saw it, and the world measured by results.

Success in any business enterprise requires a large dose of reality - both personally and organizationally. Take the time to inventory your view of reality. Check with people you trust, seek out facts that can't be disputed, seek out people that are outside your usual suspects, listen to what is said - and then challenge yourself and your perceptions to get closer alignment of your view and the reality of world around you. It's a crucial skill.

15 Competencies For Success

Over the years we asked leaders what competencies are essential to success in organizations. We received lots of answers, but the following 15 really cover so many of the essential requirements, we wanted to share them with you.

Dealing with ambiguity

Dealing with paradox

Integrity and trust

Strategic ability

Managerial courage

Managing vision and purpose

Negotiating

Learning on the fly

Command skills

Political savvy

Customer focus

Decision quality

Sizing up people

Innovation management

Building effective teams



The Cox Consulting Group LLC; Ph:602-795-4100; Fax:602-795-4800
E Mail:andycox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/
Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved

Success in Personal Leadership and People Selection

Leaders we work with keep giving us their beliefs and advice on how to succeed based on their experiences. Here are beliefs and advice on Personal Leadership and People Selection

Personal Leadership

·In a new job, three things you need to do right away ; get to know your boss and his top three expectations; take action and fix an issue that you have inherited; and identify and establish positive relationships with your universe – the people and their processes that have direct impact on your job.

·Step up to situations you instinctively feel are issues the first time they happen – once you have let them go the first time it becomes more difficult to approach them the second time, and by the third time it's becoming impossible - practice Constructive Confrontation.

·90 to 95 percent of the answers to any organization’s issues lie within the people in the organization – getting that “collective genius” to work is a source of huge competitive advantage.

·Replacing assumptions with expectations is critical to success – and it is done through the establishment of goals that align individual effort with organizational goals.

·Your savings and investments buy you independence and the freedom to make choices – and make you much more effective and valuable as a person not compromised by need when you have to take a stand – on anything.

· 17% of the population learns by reading. That means 83% learn by observing, doing or a combination of the two. Ensure your development processes and programs reflect this reality.

·The biggest mistake is making a mistake and then not admitting it. Leadership is the ability and willingness to step up to mistakes and fix them and be accountable, while others simply wring their hands and hope for the best.

·Your set of skills, experiences and accomplishments have broad application to a variety of opportunities – place a high value on how much you bring to the table.

·Encourage constructive, “what if” dreaming – encourage turning dreams into goals that lead to action that lead to the dream being fulfilled.

·Opportunities will be presented to you - some will be more obvious than others. Train yourself to think in terms of opportunities – particularly if you instinctively think in terms of consequences. Remember, only 30% of the population thinks in terms of opportunities while 70% think in terms of consequences.

·Avoid putting your boss in the position of having to choose between you and another person - bosses really dislike being put in that position. There is a good chance your boss will resent having to do it, and even if you win, you may lose!

People Selection

·If you have a manager who constantly communicates they could do better if only they had better people, you have a management problem, not a people problem.

·In successful organizations, every hire is seen as an opportunity to improve the organization

·The manager of the person being hired must be accountable for the hire decision – it's amazing how many managers do not consider the decision to hire to be their decision.

·Make sure you have a hire process, and insist that it is followed – sloppy hiring leads to all kinds of things – all bad. Most employee lawsuits arise out of poor selection processes and practices.

·Other things being equal, hire the smarter person. Make sure your process can identify applied intelligence as part of the selection process.

· Leaders will know within 90 days whether or not a person is going to make it. If they are not going to make it, they take action quickly.

Andy Cox, President
The Cox Consulting Group LLC Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800;
E Mail: andycox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com
Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved

Success - Keys To Getting There - Change and Accountability

The leaders we work with just keep providing us with more and more of their beliefs and perspectives and advice. It is our pleasure to pass them on. Here are some beliefs and suggestions for making successful changes and for creating self responsibility and accountability.

Change

·There are Four Stages in the life of every successful change process – from the smallest to the largest. They are: 1 - Enthusiasm, 2 - Frustration, 3 - Renewal and 4 - Success. They always occur in this order.

·The single best way to create commitment and alignment of effort in change situations is through a goal setting process that starts with macro goals and creates the opportunity for every person in the organization to set individual goals that support the big organizational goals.

·People don’t resist change – but they really resist being changed!!

·The most difficult kind of change is to change individual behavior – but it is the most effective and the highest leverage kind of change.

·The ability of an organization's people to support and embrace change is its single biggest source of competitive advantage.

·The middle 80 to 90% of the people in any organization represent the biggest single opportunity for increased competitive advantage.

·Follow the 24 Hour Rule!! When faced with a life altering piece of news, or any other event that demands a response – be it about health, career, family – step back for at least 24 hours and process it – do not make decisions during this period of time. If others press you to – resist. There are a very few situations that won’t allow a 24 hour period for processing.

·Small changes lead to big changes. Identify the big change demands – then start with small incremental changes. Most people think in terms of big change – lose 100 pounds; quit smoking; learn a language; get a new job. Those are great, but they are made up of a series of small changes – the snack we replace with a 10- minute walk, the book we read every month instead of watching TV. And the sum of those small changes is huge! The key is to act today.

·Choice –people that think in terms of opportunities find personal choice is exciting and liberating. It is of equal importance to realize that for people who think in terms of consequences - and what they might lose - personal choice is a scary and threatening concept! And about 70% of the population thinks in terms of consequences.

·When starting anything new, write down your first impressions, how you feel, the way you look at people and problems ---whatever you think is important. Put it away – don’t look at it for a month – then read it and be amazed at how much progress you have made and how your perspective has changed. Write a new letter and wait another month to read that one. Prepare to be amazed at yourself!

Self - Responsibility and Accountability

·Always assure that accountability is clear. There must always be a single person accountable for every project, function and responsibility. Where accountability is not clear, the risk of failure is high.

·You do not have to pay someone else’s dues – only your own – and that is enough

·You are responsible for your own choices, actions and decisions – in all cases – without exception – always.

·Victims blame others for problems; leaders fix the problem. Find the lessons to be learned and see the same thing doesn’t happen again, and press on.

·You are responsible for your own success at work. It may be tempting to turn that responsibility over to someone else, but remember, even assuming you can find someone willing to do that, their idea of success for you and your idea are probably very different!

·By the time you realize you have been complaining about your job or your boss or your career, be aware that you have been behaving like that for some time, and you may be “toxic” to others around you. If you can’t change that behavior, get out and start over somewhere else –with the experience having taught you something.

Andy Cox President
The Cox Consulting Group LLC Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800;
E Mail: andycox@coxconsultgroup.com
Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved

Advice From Leaders on How To Succeed

Leaders we work with provide advice on how to succeed. What follows are some of those pieces of advice.

People Relationships

·Become an observer of behavior – first your own behavior, then the behavior of others. Understanding how you and others act and interact is a powerful asset – a top 5% asset.

·Creating and maintaining positive relationships with people is the most important behavior in determining your success

·Technical ability in your chosen career is necessary – the ability to work effectively with people is absolutely necessary, regardless of your career.

·Judging others is a recipe for career failure - you will be wrong in your judgments because you will use your own motivations, experiences, attitudes and beliefs as the basis for judging – and yours are not theirs.

· Listening beats speaking 70% of the time. When you are talking, unless you are the rare person skilled in accurately reading body language, you are learning very little.

·You cannot change the way people treat you – you can change the way you treat them.

·Be sure you perform at a personal level of conduct that meets or exceeds what you expect from others – placing higher standards on the conduct of others than on yourself is a sure way to lose the respect and trust of others.

·30% of the population thinks in terms of opportunities; 70% thinks in terms of consequences. Opportunity people and consequence people have a really hard time understanding and dealing with each other. But both are absolutely essential to the success of any enterprise – creating synergy between their behaviors creates competitive advantage.

·When you are tempted to “fire off” an answer to an E Mail – remember – there is nothing easier for someone to do than to forward that response. When using E Mail, stick to the facts and keep your emotions out of your writing. Always write as if you are writing to a boss you do not know, have never seen, but who has complete control over your career. If you need to react, pick up the phone or, better yet, meet face to face.

·Become really good at the art of Constructive Confrontation – a top 5% behavior. Learn to deal with the issues without defensiveness and with an end in mind.

·There is nothing more devastating to a person than to communicate by your actions that you don’t expect much from them. Low expectations are the root of low performance. If you expect little, you will get little. Tell people by your actions that you expect the best from them – people will respond positively 99% of the time and will exceed your expectations.

Time – Trust – Respect

·Assumptions are the destroyer of trust. Replace assumptions with clear expectations and goals.

·Time is a variable – based on the level of trust you have with your universe of people. The higher the level of trust you have with your universe the more freedom you have to use your time for the important, high leverage things.

·Trust comes from meeting or exceeding commitments, expectations, goals and keeping your word – there are no other ways to get and keep trust.

·There is no more disrespectful action a manager can take than to be wasteful with the time of his/her people. When meetings routinely start late or run late; when time commitments are not kept; when reviews are late; all those actions proclaim loudly that the manager is more concerned with things other than his/her people.





The Cox Consulting Group LLC Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800;
E Mail: andycox@coxconsultgroup.com
Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com
Copyright 2006, All Rights Reserved