WorkPuzzle

Vulnerability and Leadership

My previous post addressed the far reaching negative impact of rudeness on a culture's performance and creativity.  In contrast, today I'd like to discuss an alternative to that type of leadership...the vulnerable leader.

People want to be led by real people.  We respond best to leaders who don't have all the answers, who admit mistakes, and who are willing to apologize when appropriate.  The following excerpt, written by John Baldoni, expresses this idea very well:

"No one aspires to leadership to reveal vulnerability.  In some ways  this may be the antithesis of our expectation that a leader remain always in control.  We want our leaders to be strong as well as bold; we don’t like to see them weak; we don’t want them to be humbled.  But at the same time, we need them to show humility.

Showing humility is an acknowledgment that you are first and foremost human, capable of doing good things but also aware that you have your shortcomings.  Yes, dealing with those failings is a sign of vulnerability, but doing so reveals courage rather than cowardice.  Aspiring to self-perfection is a fool’s errand; admitting to falling short and resolving to do your best is a sign of strength.

There is another aspect to vulnerability; it has mass appeal.  The leader who is willing to admit he or she does not have all of the answers but still tries, is one that seems more believable than someone who pretends to know it all.  It has been said many times that dictators are those who have all the answers.  Leaders by contrast have answers but are smart enough to understand what they know and what they do not know."

Finding that delicate balance between confidence and vulnerability is a life-long balancing act.  But, if you make it a personal challenge, it's worth the effort...

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below. 

How Rudeness Impacts Performance

You probably have concluded by now that Ben and I share a strong pet peeve regarding the practice of rudeness and arrogance, especially concerning managers' attitudes and behaviors toward new agent candidates.  Like an abusive individual who is dating, an arrogant manager might attract a few desperate, insecure partners, but they're guaranteed to miss the cream of the crop.

Furthermore, new evidence suggests that rudeness impacts even more than successful hiring:

In three experimental studies, the simple act of being a witness to rudeness displayed by a peer or an authority figure toward someone, significantly reduced the observer's performance in routine tasks, as well as creative tasks.  In addition to this, rudeness appeared to be contagious.  The observer became less civil to others.

So why does rudeness persist?  Why do we allow people, especially managers, who impact so many, get away with it and set the contagious behavior in the office?  My hypothesis is that when the economy was booming, some arrogant-prone people attributed the success of their office to themselves, rather than the profound amount and frequency of money changing hands.  And, like an abusive spouse, people became so attached to these people that everyone just accepted their behavior.  Some of these people may never revert back to a spirit of humility and kindness to others, while some will hopefully change.

A few years ago, I had the unfortunate experience of witnessing this phenomenon first hand, while I watched the performance of my son's high school varsity basketball team over a period of three years.  No one doubted the coach's knowledge and strategy when it came to basketball, and everyone was aware that he had inherited some excellent players and had the opportunity to do very well.  But, the coach was a bully.  Not to everyone...just to the players who weren't the stars.  He clearly disrespected the players that he didn't see as huge contributors.  The result was a team who consistently underperformed.

This research confirms what all of the parents suspected:  The bullying of some players impacted the performance and creativity of all players.

The implications of these studies are too important to ignore.  It's not just the victims of rudeness who are impacted, rather everyone.  Much as second hand smoking impacts everyone within inhaling range, rudeness impacts everyone within earshot.  In these current times, where we must squeeze out as much performance and creativity as possible, how much rudeness can we afford to ignore?

Source:
Porath, C. and Erez, A. (2009). Overlooked but not untouched: How rudeness reduces onlookers’ performance on routine and creative tasks, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109 (1), 29-44

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below. 

The Progress Principle: How Small Successes Can Make a Big Difference

I’m picking up a new book this week—it is called The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work.  I learned about the book from an interview I read recently by Daniel Pink.  In the book, Pink interviews the book’s authors, Harvard Business School Professor, Teresa Amabile, and Developmental Psychologist, Steven Kramer.

You may recall that Daniel Pink is the author of Drive, a best-selling book that I reviewed last year in WorkPuzzle, and he is an expert on the topic of motivation.  He called The Progress Principle the best business book he has read in many years.  Because there are more than 11,000 business books published each year, that got my attention!

The basic premise of the book explores the questions:  

How and when are people most engaged and motivated at work?

To research this important topic, the authors recruited 238 people across seven companies and had each of them complete questionnaires and diary entries over a period of time.  In total, they amassed over 12,000 days worth of data.  In addition, they connected with more than 700 business managers to get their perspectives as well.

What were their findings?  

What motivates people the most, day-to-day, is making progress on meaningful work. 

I’ll share parts of the interview below.  Hopefully, it will spur you on to learn more about this important topic as well.

1.  Focus on small wins and incremental steps.  

Q:  Lots of business books talk about the need for bold, audacious goals — and deride those who “think small.”  But your book, which is based on research far more rigorous than its counterparts, takes a different stance.  You emphasize the power of “small wins.”  Why are those so important in the performance of individuals and organizations?

A:  Try to remember the last time you – or anyone you know – had a truly enormous breakthrough in solving a problem or achieving one of those audacious goals.  It’s pretty hard, because breakthroughs are very rare events. 

On the other hand, small wins can happen all the time.  Those are the incremental steps toward meaningful (even big) goals.  Our research showed that, of all the events that have the power to excite people and engage them in their work, the single most important is making progress – even if that progress is a small win.  That’s the progress principle.  And, because people are more creatively productive when they are excited and engaged, small wins are a very big deal for organizations.

2.  95% of managers igore the most potent motivators. 

Q: In addition to examining 12,000 daily diary entries from workers, you also surveyed a few hundred leaders — from CEOs to project managers — about what they think really motivates employees.  What did you find out?

A: Our survey showed that most leaders don’t understand the power of progress.  When we asked nearly 700 managers from companies around the world to rank five employee motivators (incentives, recognition, clear goals, interpersonal support, and support for making progress in the work), progress came in at the very bottom. 

In fact, only 5% of these leaders ranked progress first – a much lower percent than if they had been choosing randomly!  Don’t get me wrong; those other four motivators do drive people.  But we found that they aren’t nearly as potent as making meaningful progress.

3.  Negative events significantly outweigh positive events. 

Q: Negative events have a more powerful impact than positive ones.  Why?

A:  We were pretty shocked to discover the dominant effect of negative events on inner work life – people’s mostly-hidden emotions, perceptions, and motivations at work.  Setbacks have a negative effect on inner work life that’s 2-3 times stronger than the positive effect of progress. 

When we checked into whether other researchers had found something similar, we learned that it’s a general psychological effect; “bad is stronger than good.”  The reason could be evolutionary.  Maybe we pay more attention to negatives, and are more affected by them, out of self-preservation.  So – because positive inner work life is so important for top performance, leaders should do whatever they can to root out negative forces.

4.  Time pressure only helps those who are working on legitimate, mission-critical deadlines.

Q:  I was especially intrigued by your findings about time pressure.  Sometimes it helps; other times it hurts.  Tell us what you found.

A:  The typical form of time pressure in organizations today is what we call “being on a treadmill” – running all day to keep up with many different (often unrelated) demands, but getting nowhere on your most important work.  That’s an absolute killer for creativity.  Generally, low-to-moderate time pressure is optimal for creativity.

But we did find some instances in which people were terrifically creative under high time pressure.  Almost invariably, it was quite different from being on a treadmill.  Rather, people felt like they were “on a mission”— working hard to meet a truly urgent deadline on an important project, and protected from all other demands.

These are all important topics that I can apply to my personal performance as well as working with those on my team.  I’ll provide an update to what I’ve learned...after I finish the book.

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

What is the Economy Doing To Your Candidate’s Brain?

Last week, we spent some time with the leadership team of a client who wants to retool their interviewing approach.  They were excited about opening their sourcing aperture to include younger candidates, but worried they may not be able to successfully connect with these candidates during the interview process.

As we worked through these topics and provided some insight, another theme resurfaced—candidates have significant financial obstacles that appear to be keeping them from considering the real estate industry as a career option.

I want to address both of these topics today.  It may surprise you that this is not a problem that is limited to the real estate industry.  In a recent article in Business Insider, journalists Vivian Giang and Aimee Groth, document 13 ways that the recession has changed the way that young people view work.

There are a lot of companies trying to make sense of, what seems to be, odd behavior.  I’ll list seven of the most relevant issues (in my opinion) below, but you may want to take some extra time and see what I’ve left out.

1. They're more risk averse.  In one sense, a job is like a financial investment.  You invest time hoping to get a return.  So, how do young people look at investing right now? “Because they have a limited history, they are much more likely to change their behavior due to a single year’s performance in the markets than an older person, who might have several decades of experience,” says Stefan Nagel, an associate professor of finance at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.  Because of this, they won't invest as much -- into the stock market, or any one job.
2. They question traditional hierarchies.  When making a business deal with a member from this generation, it's essential that all parties involved act as if they are of similar ranking.  In other words, if you expect to be treated differently because you are of a higher rank, think again.  Younger workers are more willing to challenge managers and traditional hierarchies, so communicating on a more casual tone between equal ranks will make the meeting run smoother.
3. They believe luck plays a big role in success.  People who started working during a recession "tend to believe that success in life depends more on luck than on effort, support more government redistribution, but are less confident in public institutions," according to economists Paola Giuliano of UCLA's School of Management and Antonio Spilimbergo of the International Monetary Fund.
4. They're more willing to settle.  Those who graduate during a recession are more likely to compromise and start at lower-paying, lower-level positions -- sometimes completely unrelated to their original career plans.  But Kahn from the Yale School of Management advises Gen Y not to accept the status quo: "Be mindful that you might not be reaching your full potential right now ... recessions make people fearful, so they tend to settle for jobs that don't stretch them; to overcome that pitfall, you need the right mindset."
5. They want answers immediately.  According to CareerBuilder's Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources, the one thing that Gen Y can't tolerate is uncertainty.  The savvy-tech generation expects immediate answers and instant access.  "Ambiguity drives them crazy. They want an answer."
6. Reliance on technology also makes this generation more socially awkward.  According to Mary Crane, a business consultant, Gen Y doesn't know how to dress or act appropriately in professional settings:  "Over 80 percent of them own a cell phone, yet none of them use their cell phones to call people.  They use them to text message.  Employers are finding that when they suddenly put these people in an interview, they're not used to normal discourse.  They're used to seeing questions pop up on their cell phone."
7. And like the generations before them, they still value hard work.  Rachel Olding of the Sydney Morning Herald writes:  "Young people have simply never known what proper job security is.  We are so acutely aware of how difficult it is to find a job that when we eventually get one, we work incredibly hard to protect it and remain wary of how fleeting it may be.  We entered the workforce when a job was a rare privilege.  Some of us work with the fear of being fired and accept that as legitimate because, well, that's just the way things are these days.  If you're not the best at your job then employers are entitled to get someone who is."

There is value in becoming a student of your candidates.  While some of these ideas are a good place to start, do your own research.  Ask questions during interviews that help you understand how a candidate thinks.  Document the responses and look for patterns.  

As you develop your own knowledge base, I think you'll find your interviews improve and you'll do a better job of engaging the most talented individuals.

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How To Answer The Excuse: "I Don't Have The Money"

This edition is intended for our recruiter clients and those in the real estate industry who actually talk to new agent candidates on a regular basis.

We have heard the common and repeated concern that candidates have now more than ever (even if they have shown initial interest in knowing more about becoming and agent): "I don't have the money."  This statement has begun to take a significant toll on new agent enrollment in licensing school and new agent ventures overall.

I'm unclear how most recruiters choose to answer this objection, but I have a few thoughts that hopefully might stir some creativity and resolve in your ability to challenge this response.

What are their options?  Most smart people know that it takes education and often risk and investment, to succeed at anything in life that is worth doing.  Remember the old saying..."If everyone could do it, it would be too easy, and everyone would."...meaning that the competition would be too great for anyone to really succeed.  But, that's not my point...

My focus here is primarily on the cost and reward of any education.  Education is almost always an integral piece of the solution to being stuck with no options for growth.  Education helps one figure out if something is right for them, and gives them hope and freedom for the future.  These facts are so widely accepted that most households are willing to shell out plenty of money to make sure it happens.

A May 2011 Pew Research white paper called "Is College Worth It?" reports that 5% of all household debt, including mortgage, is dedicated to education.  This, despite the fact that only 40% believe they have gotten their money's worth:

"Amid rising costs and a sluggish economy, many Americans are questioning whether a college education is good value for the money.  A large majority (75%) of the public says college is no longer affordable for most Americans.  And only four-in-ten say the higher education system does an excellent (5%) or good (35%) job providing value to students given the amount of money they and their families are paying for college."

So, from this finding one would expect, given the economy and 60% believing it wasn't worth cost, that enrollment would be down.  But, it's not- It's up!

So, what's happening?  The answer seems clear:  People are using this moment in history to invest in their futures.  They are using this time to bite the bullet and make the necessary sacrifices now, so that they can build a better future later.

Education builds hope.  It opens options.  It gets people out of a sense of learned helplessness and helps them build towards something new.  Everyone needs this hope.  There are reasons that people click on our ads and tell you that they want to be contacted.  They had a moment of hope.  Remember, people will often resist change and throw into your lap their worst fears, often times subconsciously, hoping that someone will help shake them out of their own self-sabotaging defenses.  It's not your job to convince them... However, it is your duty to challenge them.  If you believe that education in real estate is worth it, it seems a bit easier to sell.  How much less does real estate licensing cost than a college education?

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

The Rise of the Free Agent: Good News for Real Estate Recruiting

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog that boldly stated that the publication of some recent articles (one most notably in USA Today) about an increased number of people becoming entrepreneurs, was probably a false trend.

Well, I might have been wrong... As I researched this topic some more, I found some additional data that may be very good news for the real estate industry.  Kelly Services, an internal staffing and Human Resources consulting company, recently published research that documents a significant trend toward employees becoming “free agents” in today’s job market.

This topic was highlighted in a recent ERE article written by John Zappe.  Here’s how John summazied the research:

“The number of 'free agent' workers has nearly exploded in the last three years, and now 44 percent of working Americans describe themselves that way.  A Kelly Services survey says economic necessity, the desire for more freedom and flexibility, and age have driven up the number of workers not tied to a single company for their livelihood.  It’s a dramatic change from 2008, when Kelly’s survey found 26 percent of workers describing themselves as free agents.”

That’s a trend worth noticing.  When an employment statistic goes from 26 percent to 44 percent in just three years, something is changing.  So, what’s changing?  The research addresses some causes:

“A significant driver is the economy.  Respondents to the 2011 survey were twice as likely as their counterparts in 2008 to say they became free agents because they were laid off or couldn’t find another job. …Also fueling the rise is the increasing reliance of American business on contingent and contract labor, say the authors of a whitepaper detailing the results.  Companies, note Jocelyn Lincoln and Megan M. Raftery, 'can scale up and down faster and easier by adopting more flexible workforce strategies.'”

So, lots of workers have been laid off in the last three years, and many companies are hesitant to commit to a typical employee relationship as they rehire to meet their needs.  So, how does that help the real estate industry?

What used to be strange (working as an independent contractor) is now becoming much more normal.

The research goes on to highlight one other issue that I thought was worth noting—the “quality” of the typical independent contractor.  Are these folks all the corporate losers who can’t keep a job?  Not according to the research:

“More than one-third of all free agents have earned a master’s degree or higher, and compared with traditional employees, more free agents (77% compared to 62% for traditional employees) possess technical or professional skill set.  What does this trend mean for American business?  It means there’s a huge pool of available talent in nearly every discipline and industry for employers to tap.”

So how do you go about tapping this great pool of talent?  The Kelly Services researchers found three trends:

1. Money.  You need to offer opportunities that reliably produce cash for the independent contractor.  Remember that you’re competing for the attention of the best candidates with other companies that do compensate for verifiable skills and results.
2. Type of Work/ Quality of the Project.  We talk frequently in WorkPuzzle about the tendency of individuals to languish in their jobs.  Be ready to address this issue.  Will the individual find the work you’re asking them to do interesting and engaging?  This needs to be a major theme of the interview.
3. Reputation of the Company.  This one surprised me.  I suspect that talented people who operate as free agents want to be associated with organizations who (in their own mind) match their level business acumen.  The more prominent and trusted your company’s brand, the higher the level of talent you’ll be able to attract and engage.

The final thing worth noting is that many talented free agents have multiple jobs.  While it is the desire of many real estate companies to hire full-time agents, it may be difficult to get someone to a full-time status without first taking some babysteps.  The facts are that kids have to be fed, mortgages have to be paid, and most talented free agents want a “project” to grow into a fulltime obligation—not be deemed one from the start.  That’s too risky and doesn’t fit the free agent’s mindset.

Your homework…study the free agent trend and be able to speak about it during interviews and other recruiting conversations.  It is one of the few truly positive trends that could directly help the real estate industry.

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How Your Expectations Shape Your People

In the last edition, I revealed definitive research that should forever alter your approach regarding professional negotiations...from one of an aggressive--win/lose strategy, to one of positive expectation.  If you haven’t read it yet, please read it now...My hope is that it will change your view forever regarding what makes for a successful negotiation process.

How do you decide who will succeed and who will fail?  Despite the fact that some of you are convinced that you can reliably predict who will succeed and who will fail, research suggests that it might actually be your expectations that are producing the results. 

The Rosenthal Effect refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the expectations placed on people, the better they perform.  Since 1968, a number of experiments have proven that the reality of performance can be greatly influenced by the preconceived expectations of others.

In the famous first study, Robert Rosenthal told a number of teachers that they had assessed all of the incoming 5th graders with a special new instrument that was designed to identify which children were poised to experience an intellectual “growth spurt” in the upcoming academic year; they were “high potential” children.  In reality, these children were chosen at random, and there was nothing special about them at all.

By the end of the year, the majority of that group had, indeed, made the greatest strides among all the children, despite the fact that there was nothing different about those children, outside of having the highest expectations placed on them.

What did the teachers do differently with these students?  They tended to downplay obstacles, they showed more positive patience and, most importantly, they conveyed a strong confidence in their belief that these children would do well.  The children apparently picked up on this positive expectation and lived up to the challenge of achievement.

The Rosenthal Effect is a form of self-fulfilling prophecy.  In this respect, people with poor expectations internalize their negative label, and those with positive labels succeed accordingly.

We all are guilty of doing this.  We make snap judgments about people early on in our experiences with them.  When we do this, we unconsciously set the stage for failure.

This once again proves a simple, yet eternal principle:  If you want to bring out the best in people, expect the best; expect that they CAN do it...show patience, positive confidence, and a greater number of people WILL succeed.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How to Guarantee Improved Negotiations

In Real Estate, perhaps more than most industries, much of the work requires good negotiating skills.  Whether you are helping clients buy or sell as an agent, or recruiting an experienced agent, there are numerous opportunities to practice your skills.  Do you trust your skills?  Or, do you need to brush up on them?

The surprising news, according to researchers Anderson and Ross (Journal of Experimental Social Psychology), is that your techniques may play a considerably lesser role than you would imagine.  So, what does matter?

Before I tell you the answer, allow me to describe how Anderson and Ross set up their research:

Varda Liberman and colleagues had undergraduates negotiate with a postgraduate student (Stooge- who was told nothing of the purpose or design of the study) about the division of university funds between undergrad and post-grad students.  Half of the undergrads were told that previous negotiations had reached agreement (a positive expectation), and half were told just to "try their best" (no expectation).  The result was that all 17 of the "positive expectation" group reached an agreement, while only five out of 17 of the "no expectation" group agreed.  Also, the positive group rated the offers made to them as much more fair and were more satisfied with the outcome.

Another, much tougher experiment required Jewish Israeli Business School students to negotiate with an Arab Israeli woman over the division of funds between Israel and Palestine.  You can imagine all the pre-concieved biases that would potentially have a negative impact on this discussion.  But, again those who had their expectations set toward a positive outcome found far greater agreement (31/38 vs. 13/38), and were also happier with the outcome.

So, clearly, what we anticipate greatly influences outcome.  If you go into a negotiation believing the worst, and expecting to be taken advantage of, you're likely to be too aggressive and competitive.  Your motive is to win "the battle."  Or, on the flip side...if you are overly concerned about offending and are too passive, you might make easy concessions and likewise, not be pleased with the result.

So, why does positive expectation work?  Positive expectations breed trust and acceptance of the other person as a reasonable, rational person.  That in turn creates a baseline of legitimacy of both parties needs, and minimizes the gamesmanship.  The jockeying for the best maneuver to "win" is no longer the central goal.

Now don't get the wrong idea... It's not that it makes you blindly trust the other person.  You still retain the right to assess whether your opinions/beliefs are being considered as well.  Expectations can remain high.

The overall principle is a simple one:  Assume the best in people first, and your success will improve.  The right principles are always the eternal ones.  They aren't just the right things to do...they are what's best for everyone.

In the next edition, I'll share how this principle is vital for those who recruit, train, and mentor new agents.

Reference:  Liberman, V., Anderson, N., and Ross, L. (2010).  Achieving difficult agreements:  Effects of Positive Expectations on negotiation processes and outcomes.  Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46 (3), 494-504 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Are You a River Person or a Rut Person?

By river people, I'm not talking about the guy who lives in a van down by the river (like on Saturday Night Live).  Rather, I'm referring to the type of person who keeps everyone around them hopeful and motivated to press on toward a goal, even when times get tough.  Don't confuse my use of the term with what a few self-help gurus have suggested.  I'm talking about these people in contrast to those (some by no fault of their own) who have become "rut people," or those who have been infected by the dreaded learned helplessness (LH).  (I'll explain more about LH in the next edition.)
 
Over the past 25 years of providing psychotherapy, my chief mission has been to free people from unconscious ruts that control their lives.  This isn't easy.  People rarely see how they have boxed themselves into a view of themselves and a view of the world that limits their perspective, beliefs and actions.

When a person is in a rut through learned helplessness, they limit their own movement, growth, vision and freedom to act.  They see the world in a fixed way, and try to convince everyone around them that their "rut trapped" perspective is indeed reality.  The way they lead their life unveils consistent themes, describing their own personal rut repeatedly acted out.

A person who is not stuck in a rut, flows like a river, emanating wisdom, humor, and humility, even in difficult times.  They may have a long list of things that haven't worked out, but have no regrets for their efforts.

When things are going well, economically and emotionally, it is much more difficult to differentiate the "rut people" from the "river people."  In good times, everyone can fake their way to appearing like positive, hopeful geniuses.  But when the tide goes out, you can sure see who isn't wearing a swimming suit!  In difficult times, ruts are bound to show themselves.  Even the most fluid people can be temporarily thrown into a rut in these extreme circumstances, simply because life isn't familiar or secure.

Losing a job, a home, and plans for the future can certainly appear as an insurmountable rut.  "River people" however, don't allow themselves to get stuck there.  They manage to continually pull themselves up and out of the rut, dust themselves off, and move on with life.  I feel fortunate to know many river people and they are always refreshing and encouraging to be around.  They are the Salt and Light of our world.

As leaders, you owe it to yourself and those you coach to be this Salt and Light for your organization, to give people hope.  Whether you're coaching agents or interviewing new candidates, help people find hope and envision the opportunities that can unfold if they exercise the "formula for confidence."  Help them realize their freedom and potential through new ideas, new innovations, new training, new commitments, new values, and perhaps even an entirely new direction.

You'll find that everyone within an organization benefits once every single individual tributaries finds their "flow," and can contribute their full potential once again.  It's not only practical to encourage this hope, it's the right thing to do.

But, change is difficult - Even the most healthy, rational people tend to avoid change, preferring instead the security and safety of what is known.  Ironically however, change can produce incredible growth, if responded to effectively.  If you're interviewing new candidates without both empathy around change, PLUS the encouragement to change, you're missing an incredibly useful and helpful tool.

Have candidates answer this question:  When have you experienced the most growth in your life?  For most people the answer is when they were undergoing tremendous change, accompanied by uncertainty...perhaps when they were much younger.

It's normal to risk more when we're younger, because we don't have that much to lose. If you analyze that statement, you will begin to see the problem:  Security and hanging onto what we've acquired becomes paramount for most of us when we're older.  We cling to it and cherish it, without ever reflecting on its inherent value to our well-being.

Of course it's irresponsible to take foolish risks.  But, you can also make the argument that it is foolish to follow a course of action simply because it offers the illusion of security.

In the next edition, I'll describe the concept of Learned Helplessness, so that you can better understand how people get stuck in ruts, and how you can help them out...

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Blazing a Trail for New Agents to Follow

Since it’s summer, I thought I’d lighten things up a little bit and share a personal experience I had with two of my sons over the weekend.   

One of the advantages of living in the Seattle area is our close proximity to the Cascade Mountain Range.  As you may know, we get near constant rain (and snow in the mountains) for most of the year.  But when the rain does stop in July and August, we’re left with a lush landscape in the nearby mountains.

This year, there was a particularly large snowpack, so the mountain streams and rivers are flowing strong, and most of the alpine lakes are up to their brims with cold, clear water.  Perfect for trout fishing.

Every summer, I try to take each of my kids on a backpacking trip near one of these pristine alpine lakes.  Last weekend, we decided to hike around Lake Snoqualmie.  You can view our route by checking out this posting on Trimble Outdoors.  You can also take a look at a satellite view on Google.

Our original plan was to stop at Dear Lake (the third of the four alpine lakes along this trail), but we couldn’t find a campsite we liked.  So, we hiked an additional mile to get to the northern most tip of Snoqualmie Lake.  The total distance to our campsite from the trailhead was just over six miles.  The hike took about four hours and we logged about 2,000 feet of elevation change along the trail.

When we finally arrived at the lake, we were rewarded with perfect weather, clean, crisp air, breathtaking scenery, and amazing peace and quiet.  Since there were a few other people camping around the lake, we used our small inflatable “trail rafts” that allow us to fish away from the shores.  With no one else on the water, it makes you feel like you have the lake to yourself.  As the sun was setting, we cooked up some of the trout we caught, and then enjoyed a warm campfire for as long as we could keep our eyes open.  

The next morning, my boys jumped back in rafts and headed back out onto the lake to do more fishing, while I stayed back and read.  During this morning session, my son Clark hooked into the largest fish of the trip—a fat 16-inch cutthroat trout.  Before leaving, we hiked down the outlet stream that empties what the snowmelt inlets continually feed the lake.  After lunch, we packed up camp and made it back to the trailhead just after 5pm, and we were home before dark.

What a great privilege to be able to enjoy this type of natural beauty...and to experience it with my teenage boys.  These are great memories.  But, is there a recruiting lesson in all this?  Believe it or not—there is!  And, it originates from a comment my younger son made as we were hiking out from the lake on Sunday afternoon. 

I’ll share more about this in my next WorkPuzzle entry... 

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.