by Jim Cathcart
Cathcart Institute, Inc.

A few years ago one of my clients was a Country Club with 25 managers, 125 employees with a mixture of two languages, about 500 members and a world class facility including Golf, Tennis and Dining. They had experienced a lack of communication between departments and some of their managers weren’t taking their roles very seriously when it came to attendance at special social events. Some of the managers never complimented but frequently criticized their employees. Others never confronted bad behaviors. Relations with the customers (Members) were less than ideal. The budget available for addressing the problem was limited but they couldn’t afford to do nothing.

The General Manager decided to schedule a series of training lectures from various experts in an effort to change attitudes and, ultimately, behaviors. I was invited to deliver one of the lectures.

When I interviewed the GM to see what his goals were he told me of the situation described above. Upon looking at the plans for the lecture series I could see that it was not a coordinated series focused on the needs but rather it was a group of interesting general presentations on “teamwork”, “time management”, “communication”, etc. So I made a radical suggestion.

I said, “Don’t do the lecture series at all. Just put all your energies into addressing the real problems. Let me be your project chairman and I’ll design a plan to turn the attitudes and behaviors around.” After some discussion he agreed and I was hired to be the outside “Director of Training” for the balance of the year.

Upon closer inspection I found that there was no ongoing program to orient new managers to the Club and its ways. Sure, everyone got some training to do “their job” but there was no form of In-Processing that would assure they were all thinking in compatible ways. Nor was there any training or process in place that truly made them feel like everyone was part of the same organization, all as one. So each person quickly fell into the mindset of “I’ll handle my department and you handle yours.”

No teamwork, no handoffs, little communication, no sense of connection with other employees, and no sense of duty or commitment to serving the members and guests. These were the predictable results of assuming that everyone would “get it” on their own. But, at least, they were pleasant toward each other. And, a couple of the first level managers were exceptional performers with great attitudes despite the lack of direction from above. Of the entire group most were well qualified for their positions and were good people. Only a few had “issues.”

I determined that the first need was to orient everyone toward the Club in ways that made them proud to be a part of it and feeling an obligation to do their part to make it better. So I got their promotional packet that was distributed to every prospective member and to the press during special events. This gave me the images and content upon which to build our first meeting. We decided to work with the managers at first and to let them carry the message to their coworkers.

The press kit cover said “Welcome to XYZ Country Club”. In the opening meeting I established an open atmosphere and put the managers at ease, then I posed the question, “To whom are we speaking when we say “Welcome to XYZ Country Club”?
They said it was directed at prospective members and guests. “Anyone else?” I asked.
Yes, the media reads it too.

Then I asked what seemed to be a stupid question, “What does Welcome mean?” They said it meant that we want people to feel that we are glad they are here and we will happily help them with whatever they want or need. They said it also means that they should have no apprehension about being here, just relax and enjoy because they are “welcome” here. (Nice answer.)
So I followed up with a second question, in the spirit of Dr. Phil, I asked, “How’s that working for you? Do people truly feel welcome here? Do they tell you so? How do we know if anyone feels that way?” You see, without measures and feedback we don’t know what is working and what is not.

My next question backed them into a corner even more. “Do we want the people who work here to feel ‘welcome’? Or do we just want them to do their jobs and quickly go home? ” I said that any worker who did not feel welcome here would probably resent their job and coworkers. If we want someone’s best efforts then we have to treat them with dignity and show them that we care about them. People who are often reminded how little they matter tend to become resentful employees and they resist doing any work that isn’t absolutely required. So, everyone agreed,”Yes, we want everyone who works here to feel welcome too.”
Now I had them. So I asked, “what do you do that lets them know they are welcome here?” Silence.
I tried another approach, “what do we do or not do that causes them to feel they are NOT welcome here?” Answers started to flow. In other words, there were plenty of turn-offs being handed out but almost zero turn-ons.
Once I had made my case for new behaviors I asked the group to embrace a single, simple new policy: We acknowledge people, all people, all of the time, under all circumstances. I explained that this meant greeting each other in the hallways or at least smiling and nodding hello. It also meant speaking with people doing landscaping and housekeeping work. And it meant that all staff at all levels would begin to acknowledge members and guests too. They agreed.

Within one week of the new policy people started communicating more. It took some supervision to get everyone to practice the new behavior but once they knew we were seriously committed to acknowledgment, then everyone started speaking and smiling more often. It’s hard to ignore a friendly hello or a smile and eye contact, so the effects were felt almost immediately. A simple behavior had produced dramatic effects. But much more work was still needed.

Our next management session focused on the Why behind all of the things we do. I asked each of them to explain why their department was important to the organization and why each role within it was needed. This was hard for some, they had never thought that way. They could explain How all day long, but they seldom thought about why. And a Why overrules a How every time. The person who knows How may have a job but the one who knows Why will usually be their boss.

After several sessions like the above, each building upon the others, we got to a point where every manager and many of their coworkers could easily explain how the country club worked, what each part of it did for the members and the owners, and how every one of their jobs fit into the system. They knew why they did things in the ways they did and what the value of each behavior was. They agreed to become more accountable for their outcomes and more cooperative with each other. The group had become a team and they cared about each other as well as the club itself.

The lesson here is that Behaviors always follow Mindset. Change the Mindset and you will change the Behaviors.
But to sustain the Mindset you need Systems. And all systems within the organization should grow out of the purpose, mission and vision (the DNA) of the Club in this case.
Between Mindset and Systems are Skillsets. People need to be continually trained in the Skillsets that allow them to perform at an excellent level.
Mindset, Skillsets, and Systems are the key to transforming a group into a Team.
For more information on how you can use ideas from this case study contact me at jim@cathcart.com.

by Jim Cathcart

My friends and investment advisors Bill & Mary Staton of America’s Finest Companies recently posted the following in their monthly email report:
Brian Wesbury of First Trust Advisors sums up our thinking nicely, “Last year, U.S. exports, industrial production, real-hourly compensation, corporate profits, federal tax revenue, retail sales, GDP, productivity, the number of people with jobs, the number of students in college, airline passenger traffic and the Dow Jones Industrial Average all hit record levels. For the third consecutive year, global growth was strong, continuing to lift (and hold) millions of people out of poverty. In relative terms, the first five years of the current recovery have been much better than the first five years of the 1990s recovery.”

Now pause for a moment and reread the quote above.
Then answer this question, “What kind of shape is our economy in at present?”
Next question, “How does this compare to all the news you’ve been hearing and reading?”

My guess is that your impression of our economic status prior to reading the above, was that we were in a down economy and worse off than during the Clinton administration. The knee jerk response is “yes, but now we are at war and the economy is not the whole picture.” Of course it is not the whole picture, but please get it that we have a robust economy right now DESPITE being at war. That is a big point.

In most situations the drains from fighting a war would sap the economy so much that it would be struggling for survival. The reason ours is not is that the current administration’s economic policy of reducing taxes is working.

Our newly elected Democratic majority seems to be on a feeding frenzy to remove tax breaks and increase taxes on the business leaders, the ones who drive the economy. They claim that the “rich” are paying too little and the “poor” are paying too much. So they want to raise taxes.

Now, what’s wrong with this picture? The economy is fantastically strong, jobs are plentiful, unemployment is way down and has stayed that way for years, tax income to the federal government is up due to the booming economy…so they want to “fix” it???

Folks, it doesn’t matter what political party you embrace, the economy is driven by Ownership not by employees. Providing tax incentives to business owners is the quickest way to get increased salaries, increased tax revenues for the government and increased employee benefits. Successful companies with lower tax burdens tend to be more generous with benefits and raises. Struggling companies always tighten their belts and reduce what they pay to the employees, in order to survive.

Please do not listen to the politicians who are telling you we need more taxes. And for sure don’t listen to those who claim that forced pay increases (via higher minimum wage laws) will help the workers. They won’t. Never have and won’t in the future. The more the employer HAS to pay to the government and to their employees the less they will invest in new technology, new products and new ways to grow the business. Businesses that grow require more employees (more jobs!) and they try harder to retain their good employees (more pay raises and benefits!).

Let’s invest in education and raise the standards of performance so that everyone becomes productive. Leave the taxes low and get them lower if we can. That will stimulate business growth as we have seen it do for years now. Stop the insanity of the politics of good intentions and return to the policies of reason, logic and proven methods. Our economy is strong, please encourage your congressional leaders to stop tinkering with it in order to feel good about changing things (which, incidentally, don’t need changing.)

Invest your energies in the issues that do need our attention: eliminating terrorism from the world, stopping the victimization of innocent people and expanding freedom and opportunity to all.

by Jim Cathcart

If you can’t lead yourself then you aren’t ready to lead others.
Stated more positively: When you learn to lead yourself the world is yours!

In 1977 I formed Cathcart Institute for the expressed purpose of “Helping People Grow.”
Since then I’ve worked with psychological researchers, organizational development specialists, managers, authors, poets, trainers, olympic athletes, philosophers, historians, scientists and motivators to determine how people can gain more control over their lives and more capacity for self direction.

My assumption has been that by empowering others to lead themselves effectively I will expand the contributions they make to the world and all of us will ultimately benefit. When I’m hired as a motivational speaker my task is not to motivate others but rather it is to show them how to continually motivate themselves. If I only motivate them from the outside then they remain dependent on others to get them going. But by showing them how to sustain Self Leadership, they are free to grow on their own.

For Managers, the best thing they can do for their employees is to teach them to manage themselves. As each person becomes more self-managed, their supervisor is freed to apply energy to other opportunities.
I have often informed my new employees that I expect them to continually learn and grow on their own, to become more valuable to my company and their career with each passing day. Yes, I support their learning in some ways, but the responsibility to learn and improve is theirs, not mine. I let them know that just as they expect me to grow the company, I expect them to grow themselves. If either of us stops growing then we should part company.

For Parents, the task of getting children to complete their homework is often a decades long assignment, and an unpleasant one at that. But if they can cultivate in their children a love of learning, they may never have to worry about homework again. The kids don’t do homework on their own unless they feel a personal desire to do so. Outside pressure only creates a temporary stimulus. Show them the benefits and joys of learning. Show your own love of learning through your actions and teach them techniques to make learning more enjoyable and easier, then you can stand back and watch them grow.

In Sales, the sales managers that teach their representatives to become their own sales managers are freed to focus on producing more and better sales. Those who do not are saddled with the eternal duty of keeping their team motivated. Share the information freely and hold people accountable for taking initiative. Keep the numbers of what is working and what is not obvious to everyone. Things that are measured tend to improve.

There is an underlying concept here: Responsible TO vs Responsible FOR.
If I’m responsible FOR you then all things have to begin with me. When I don’t act then you don’t act, but you get to blame me for your inaction.
On the other hand, when I’m responsible TO you to provide direction, support and encouragement, then if I don’t do my part, you are still in the drivers seat. I’m just a resource. That is as it should be.

Examine your own patterns. Do you condition others into the posture of waiting for your lead or do you expect and allow them to take actions on their own? Often our own policies and practices can work to defeat our desired effects. For example: if people are instructed to not take any creative action without your prior approval then creativity will not happen. But with the freedom to use their own best judgement they are allowed to explore best solutions. We only get new ideas when there is enough room to experiment.

Trust your people enough to give them some room. Allow them enough margin for error that they can take chances, but not so much that you put the entire enterprise at risk. Teach standards of performance, core values, best practices, and legal limits, but leave room for innovation. At least allow them to stumble and possibly fall as they progress toward your goals. Teach them how to Fall Forward when they experiment.
Don’t encourage them to be “Risk Takers” instead teach them to be “Opportunity Seekers.” Show them how to explore within reasonable limits of risk.

For Self Leadership to emerge, there must be: Trust, Support, Open Information Flow, Clear Guidelines, Resources and Compelling Goals. People step up when they have a reason to do so (the root word in Motivation is “Motive”) and when they have permission to act on their own.

For more on Self Leadership Skills, go to www.selfleadershipskills.com.