Inspiration matters...

30 days has September, April, June, and November… and just like that, another half year is behind us. Were you inspired by the peeps you worked with these past 6 months?

 

Working 

   With people

      You like makes

         Time go by quickly.

 

I tell people who are applying for new jobs to look closely at the people they’ll be working with: consider all the time you’ll be spending with them. You should ask questions about the company’s culture, and the annual turnover rate the company experiences – both will tell volumes about how they’re treated and treat each other.  Are these people you’ll enjoy working with? Will they enjoy and appreciate you? Ask if you could meet some of that group – the more you know, the better. Don’t be shy to talk about how you work and what you expect, and how they foster employee relations and open communications. Changing jobs is a big deal, especially if you and/or your family are relocating. The team you’ll be working with is just as important as your salary and benefits – pay attention to all three. Because, if you find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, it will change your life for the better. Look for that where you work today.

 

Amy Poehler (born 1971): American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director.

Change your mindset...

Change is hard – that’s why anyone affected by it must agree to it.

 

Real change

   Requires changing

      Your mindset before

         Changing your practices.

 

Organizational change starts with challenging the status quo, unfreezing pre-conceived notions, defining what’s in it for me, looking at all the alternatives, understanding what supports some of those and hinders others, and finding consensus about the way forward. There is a methodology to leading people through a change process and it requires finding alignment on what and how to change; it is the basis of the kind of planning intended to determine where you are currently and where you want to go. Although many support this kind of planning for change, nearly as many resist the hard work needed to do it effectively. There are no shortcuts to breaking down current mindsets – that kind of change is almost impossible without wide-spread collaboration, cooperation, and consensus. To me, that is the most challenging yet rewarding kind of corporate teamwork. The kind where everyone is involved in what, why, when, and how to change. The kind that includes alignment from the top of the organization to the bottom. The kind that can lead to real change today.

 

Simon Mainwaring (born 1967): Australian brand futurist, keynote speaker, columnist, podcaster, bestselling author of “We First” and “Lead With We”, and the founder and CEO of We First.

Work harder and smarter...

Athletes like Kevin Durant and Tim Tebow live by this quote. So do most of the players and workers I know.

 

Slackers 

   Win no awards.

      Those only go to

         Those who work hard.

 

Businesses, like sports teams, succeed mostly because of hard work. You can easily see the results – but in the background you usually find good plans, effective communications, and a leader or coach who keeps everyone focused. Sometimes you hear that a team was out-coached – meaning key decisions led to its loss. The same can be said for failed business endeavors or projects – meaning a leader failed to respond appropriately to a given situation. Planning is so important – effectively considering strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities, and then developing a roadmap to follow and clearly articulating the expected results. So are communications – keeping everyone informed and up-to-date removes uncertainty. And the leader or coach’s job then is to keep everyone focused on the objectives of the situation. Make sure you have a plan and communicate is – that’s what will allow employees and players to focus on working hard to accomplish their respective objectives. And don’t underestimate the importance of communications to keep everyone on the same page. Then coach your team and teammates so that they can work harder than the competition today.

 

Tim Notke: American high school basketball coach (career record 642-176) of the boys’ basketball team at Marian High School in Mishawaka, Indiana who were three-time state champions.

Listen closely...

Most managers are good at giving orders and instructions. Too few rate the same at listening.

 

·      Listening

·      Is the best way

·      To learn what others

·      Are thinking and doing.

 

I spent at least 4 hours a day walking around our properties – that was the best way to learn what was going on. I was very aware that many people felt that going to HR was like going to the principal’s office when they were in school – that’s why I asked everyone in the HR department to spend time walking around, created easy access service centers, and an employee online portal. When we were in their work areas, employees were more comfortable to tell us things… and we learned more about operations out there than we ever could have in our own offices. To this day, former employees tell me how much they appreciated me and my team making it easy to communicate with us and listening to what they had to say. Managers need to find as many ways of connecting to their employees as possible – be accessible and listening may be the most effective. Schedule walking around on your calendar and treat it like you would your most important meetings. It will bring you closer to your employees and signal to them that you all on the same team. Get out of your office and listen to what employees have to say today.

 

Bryant H. McGill (born 1969): American author, poet, broadcaster, speaker, and activist.

Be respectful...

Whether alone or part of a greater group, respect the right of everyone to be different.

 

·      To get along

·      Doesn’t mean

·      You have to agree

·      With everything you hear.

 

We often think that people on a team all think and act alike. While they all must follow a playbook, the rules, or the instructions given, individual thinking and initiative are also important. Whether in a game or a group project, individuals are expected to seize opportunities that also support those objectives. I used to sing in a band and every now and then one of us would play a different chord or sing a different harmony, but only if they fit in. In group projects at work, we always respected and appreciated suggestions and initiatives that helped move things along. Leaders of any effort always look for cohesion, but they must also respect everyone’s right to think differently, especially when it benefits everyone involved. People are people and they’re never going to agree on everything. But, while disagreements are common, one must never be disagreeable. Respect and support everyone’s right to be different today.

 

Bono (born Paul David Hewson in 1960): Irish musician, humanitarian, and lead singer in the Band U2.

Support your peeps...

Managers who are there for their employees are known as servant leaders. They put their employees’ interests ahead of their own.

 

The goal of every leader

   Should be to serve others.

      To share power and help their

         Peeps perform as highly as possible.

 

Historically, leaders first made sure the company or organization thrived, sometimes at the expense of their employees. Unchecked, this led to union organizing as employees sought to have some say in the way the company treated them. Which led to the enactment of protective labor laws and regulations. In 1970, Robert K. Greenleaf popularized the phrase “servant leadership” and talked about making it one’s priority to serve rather than to lead.  When leaders shift their mindset and serve first, they benefit as well as their employees in that their employees experience personal and professional growth, while the organization grows as well due to the increased levels of employee commitment and engagement. The mindset of these leaders is that I serve because I am the leader, and I am the leader because I serve. Interestingly, servant leadership gained support during Covid when leaders in the most successful companies showed that they cared first about their employees, ahead of the company. It’s also interesting to note that the companies and leaders who practiced servant leadership and emotional intelligence during the pandemic forged stronger bonds with their employees than those that didn’t. And not surprisingly, those organizations are having far less difficulty recruiting and retaining employees in this post pandemic era of labor shortages. Care about and serve your employees and they will care about you and your organization today.

 

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (1943–1997): American guitarist, singer, composer, actor, humanitarian, and environmentalist known professionally as John Denver.

Make everyone feel included...

Managers must lead all employees, not just some of them. Inclusion is the key to strong individuals and teams.

 

Inclusion means everyone,

   Not just some of the people

      You deal with each and every day.

         Include everyone in everything you do.

 

It’s no coincidence that most employees feel communications in their company isn’t as good as it could or should be. Every company should have a plan for strategic communications – making sure the right information gets to the right people at the right time. Many companies talk about the importance of pre-shift meetings – giving employees a briefing on what they need to know and look out for during the upcoming shift. As difficult as they are to schedule, one company I know mandated that every employee get a daily pre-shift briefing of pertinent information they need to be effective. And as much as managers complained how hard that would be do, the company was serious, gave training on the various options they had to achieve that goal, provided technology to assist them, and included these on their annual reviews. The focus paid off and today all 50,000+ employees are included in these important daily meetings. That’s just one example of inclusion – a leader’s role is to find ways to make each of their employees feel like their personal inclusion is important. Take time to discover inclusive practices you might consider using today.

 

Sarah Greichen (born 1999): Founder of "Score A Friend" and Learn Disability Justice, groups that advocate inclusion for people with disabilities.

Bounce back...

Since work, like life, is full of obstacles and challenges, the most successful professionals must be resilient.

 

Resilient – 

   As in bouncing 

      Back when things 

         Don’t go as planned.

 

Things never go exactly as planned – you almost need a plan B for everything you do. We learned that the hard way during the opening of the Mirage – right in the beginning we started losing paper applications and realized that even well-intentioned people can mis-file something inadvertently, and that a call center needed to make multiple calls before getting connected with someone. Each of these, and many more, required stopping what we were doing and coming up with a different strategy. And found that our employees had difficulty changing when told that what we were doing wasn’t working. It wasn’t them – it was just a plan that didn’t work and needed to be changed.  And found that it took more discussion to make them understand and accept the change. That’s when we learned that an optimist sees setbacks as temporary and is resilient when they happen, and a pessimist sees setbacks as a personal failure and can’t overcome them. It’s okay to fall as long as you’re open to analyzing the problem, adopting the necessary changes, and then doing what it takes to rise again. That happens all the time. Be resilient today.

 

Rupi Kaur (born 1992): Canadian poet, illustrator, photographer, and author. She rose to fame on Instagram and is considered to be at the forefront of the "Instapoetry" style.

Be transparent and truthful...

For most employees, news of the company and its policies comes mainly from their supervisors. They expect it to be truthful.

 

The difference

   Between a good manager

      And a great one is his or her

         Ability to communicate effectively.

 

One day my boss called us together and said from now on every leader in the company had to be able to explain “why” when giving directions or instructions. If they couldn’t or wouldn’t, employees could just say ‘no’. While many managers thought that was formula for planned insubordination, instead it forced them to plan, articulate clearly, listen to any reactions, and respond appropriately. All the things’ companies want and need their managers to do. This simple idea made employees feel respected – having their managers take the extra time to make them comfortable was appreciated. And it fostered the concept of transparency and truthfulness – those are the kindest things managers can give to their employees. Prepare your managers, supervisors, and professionals, to communicate effectively and make sure they are all in the know about what information needs to be conveyed to their employees. Have them practice and catch them doing it right. Make transparency and truthfulness part of your company culture today.

 

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 – 1896): American author (“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”) and abolitionist; this quote from her book “The Pearl of Orr’s Island”.

Always act professionally...

We carve out our professional reputation daily. Best to take care with such an important undertaking.

 

Everything

   We say and do,

      Tells others who we are.

         So, watch what you say and do.

 

Managers are always on – nothing is off the record or overlooked. If they stay in their offices, they lose the benefit of developing the interpersonal relationships upon which trust, and respect are built. Those who say things ‘off-the-cuff’ underestimate the importance of their words to all who hear or overhear them. Those who walk by employees without acknowledging them run the risk of creating a bad impression – one that will be hard to overcome.  Those who are unclear in their communications, or don’t communicate at all, miss the chance to help their employees be their best. Those who handle difficult conversations poorly miss the opportunity to turn a bad situation around. And those who are moody send the wrong message to those they are asking to treat your guests well. I had a discussion last week with a group of gaming executives about the difficulty in finding and retaining employees, and the fact that employees quit their supervisors, not their jobs or the company. Remember that and always act professionally. That’s the best way to carve out a good reputation today.

 

María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete - known professionally as Dolores del Rio        (1904–1983): Mexican actress who was the first major female Latin American crossover star in Hollywood.

Being fair matters...

Honesty and fairness are behaviors found in people who are proud of who they are and what they do. And it shows.

 

Pride shows

   In many ways.

      Like how you see and

         TreatFa yourself and others.

 

I was talking to some colleagues yesterday about what drives good performance and behavior. It often comes down to explaining what’s in it for them. Let them know that if they’re honest, fair, flexible, and trustworthy, things will work out for them. Leaders should let their employees know that those are attributes they admire, respect, and reward. Like with good attendance – consider giving employees extra points for coming to work every day rather than only penalizing them when their attendance is bad. Or good performance – give commendations rather than only disciplining them when their performance is sub-standard. Or customer service – reward excellent shopper reports rather than only reprimanding an individual or team that gets poor service reports. Try catching people doing things right – there usually are more people doing things right than wrong and you should respond appropriately to both. That way your employees will see you as balanced and fair. See how that works out for you today.

 

Kate Spade (1962 – 2018): American fashion designer, entrepreneur, and fashion icon. She was the co-founder and co-owner of the designer brand Kate Spade New York.

Your reputation is a reflection of you...

Never underestimate the importance of your reputation. Or take it for granted.

 

We are 

   Judged by

      What we say and do.

There are no do overs for

   These – they remain forever.

 

I’ve always felt that an employee’s record, if truthfully documented, should be shared for a bona fide reference check.  Emphasis on truthfully documented. What we do and say should follow us around – that would be a powerful motivator for good behavior, performance, and attendance. That would be the ultimate accountability. Of course, I realize that for a reference check companies are currently only allowed to confirm and employee’s date of hire and separation, and last position held, not why they left or whether we’d rehire them. The fear of legal challenges has forced companies to create policies to restrict this sharing of information. Realistically, if you know someone at another company, this information may be (and often is) gained through those back channels. So, why not let our work – good, bad, or indifferent, speak for itself? Let those whose work is good proudly share it; if it's not, their pride should motivate them to improve it.  Stand up for personal responsibility and accountability today.

 

Astrud Gilberto (1940 – 2023): Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer and songwriter who gained international attention in the mid-1960s for her recording of "The Girl from Ipanema”.

Be an optimist...

To me, things are always looking up. I guess you’d say I was an optimist.

 

Be proud

   Of your positive

      Outlook on the life

         And times you enjoy.

 

Optimists almost always see the glass as half full.  Instead of half empty. They think positive thoughts through good times and bad. Even when they’re uncertain, that positive attitude gets them through. There were times when opening hotels when we were worn out, and the road ahead seemed long – in my head, all we needed to do was take a break, look on the bright side, and keep at it. That’s why hiring for attitude is so important – it’s what you need to rely on when the going gets tough. You can’t look down or think you can’t continue – keeping your eye on the objective helps clear your mind. You can’t be rigid in your thinking – staying flexible helps you find a way forward. You can’t be negative – being positive helps motivate others. It becomes a source of pride – this “I can” attitude. It’s infectious – others feel it and are inspired by it. It keeps everyone going. The sense of achievement – however small, is like a rainbow at the end of a storm – it inspires you to come back again and again. Look up and find that rainbow in everything you do today.

 

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889 – 1977): English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred in, and composed the music for most of his films.

Be ever so simple...

It was such a simple idea: recruit college graduates for a growing company. And it became a marvelous program.

 

Fresh ideas

   Meshed with

      Experienced pros.

         It changed a company

            And shaped an industry.

 

We called it the Management Associate Program – MAP for short. The goal was to fill up to 10% of our total management positions with college recruits, leaving a much larger percentage for regular internal promotions. Room enough for everyone to grow. And hoping that the new 10% reinvigorated the other 90%. Golden Nugget was expanding – building the Mirage and hopefully others). It worked beyond everyone’s expectations – the company’s and the recruit’s and their colleague’s. The first group of recruits started on June 12, 1989 – one of them, a friend for all these years, wrote me again yesterday, as he has every year, to thank me for that initial opportunity that changed his life. And every year I write back to thank him for allowing me to be a part of something so simple that produced something so marvelous. The more than 300 men and women who became Mappers during a 12- year period changed so much about our company and the entire gaming industry. They’re now leaders everywhere. Don’t ever think that something is too simple to make a difference: if it’s a good idea, it will succeed. Be ever so proud of the simple things you do today.

 

Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr (1831–1919): British novelist and teacher.

Be as good as you can be...

Nobody expects you to be perfect… But you should strive to be as good as you can be.

 

Being committed

   To being your best

      Is the best anyone can

           Ever expect you to be.

 

The problem with trying to be perfect is that you’ll never achieve it. And you’ll make yourself unhappy and unfulfilled. I once told an interviewer that I wanted to be the best HR professional in the world. Thinking back on that, I now cringe, knowing that was an incredibly unrealistic thing to say. In hindsight, I should have said that I would hope to be a wise, just, thoughtful, and fair HR professional. Maybe I should have said I wanted to be a good person, one who others could rely on for good advice, coaching, and inspiration. Each of us should strive to be as good as we can be in everything we do. That’s a worthwhile goal. One we can be proud of achieving today.

 

Carl Ransom Rogers (1902–1987): American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach (and client-centered approach) in psychology. 

Build a culture people can love...

People that love their work act it and show it. In everything they do. Every day.

 

It’s obvious

Who they are.

Make sure you let

Them know that you

Know and appreciate them.

 

I believe there are people who naturally love what they do.  But I also believe that managers can foster a culture that people love to work in. And it’s in that kind of work environment that employees find satisfaction. Those managers communicate clearly and effectively – policies, instructions, and general information. They listen closely – to what employees have to say. They make sure employees know what to do and why – because they explain things to them. They see themselves as coaches rather than disciplinarians, helping employees discover and achieve their goals. And they catch their employees doing things right – setting a positive tone. A tone employees love. And love to work in. Find the people who love their work and create a culture that supports them and fosters that feeling in others who may be prone to that. Don’t leave this to chance: be curious about what they think and like, eliminate obstacles that prevent them from doing their jobs, and provide them with everything they need to be productive. Make it easy for your employees to fall in love with their work today.

 

Sister Lauretta (Mary Lauretta) Thompson (1914-2014): After 44 years as a Coesfeld Sister of Notre Dame, she joined the Notre Dame de Namur community for the next 35 years. 

Get excited about making something new...

Once I got the software development bug at Mirage and Bellagio, I was passionate about pushing the envelope farther.

 

·      One thing

·      Led to another.

·      And each left me 

·      Wanting to do more.

 

In the 4 years after the Bellagio opening, the state of software, network, and internet development made things eminently more possible. For Wynn Las Vegas, we designed a completely online applicant capture and tracking system that could automate and analyze every step of the hiring process. And then we decided to make the rest of HR paperless – from onboarding to separation, and everything in between. We hired developers from PeopleSoft and challenged them to develop software that would use all its features. The most exciting moment came when we opened the application line at midnight on November 1^st. We weren’t certain what would happen – nobody had tried taking applications online for hourly positions prior to that. At the appointed hour we held our breath and waited – at first, nothing happened. But then the first application came in, then more, and at the end of 24 hours we had more than 12,000 applications; in the following 5 weeks, 120,000 more were received online. We were over the moon that we’d created something that wasn’t’ there before. If you’re passionate about something, don’t give up on your dreams. Make them into something new today.

 

Neil Gaiman (born 1960): English screenwriter and author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, and audio theatre.

Jump with confidence...

Sometimes you don’t know where your ideas might take you. Be prepared to follow wherever they take you.

 

·      Ideas come at 

·      All times of the day.

·      Don’t let them get away.

 

Most great ideas include a leap of faith – following your instincts into the unknown. Case in point was the first paperless idea I had: right after the Mirage opened, the debrief included the difficulty handling 55,000 applications. They were filed and retrieved up to 10 times each, and often got lost or misfiled – we decided to seek technological alternatives. We checked with Xerox and Microsoft, and both had no interest in that kind of project at that time. We networked with colleagues and friends and discovered a new product called Jet Forms – you filled them out online and the data was mapped to appropriate computer files. That led to a 5-year effort that was like jumping off a cliff and then building our wings on the way down. It resulted in Bellagio’s system that allowed all 90,000 applicants to enter their application data into 100 computer terminals and that data stored in a new applicant tracking system that we built. We had no idea when we started what that end solution would be, but we kept at it until we finished. The best ideas are often unclear at first and then worth the effort when finished. Follow your ideas passionately today. 

 

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012): American author and screenwriter. The New York Times called him "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".