Making the living dead, or zombies as they are more commonly known, is not as hard you might think. In Voodoo folklore, where it all started, zombies aren’t dead at all (myth #1). They’re normal human beings, like me and you, that have been hypnotised in to a death-like state – in which the victim’s will is entirely subjected to that of the Bokor (a Creole word meaning: Manager).
Real zombies behave like regular people, but are completely unconscious (like old people in the supermarket). They’ve zoned out and switched off. In fact, the only way you can pick a real zombie out of a line-up is to look deep in to his eyes – where you’ll see the vacant, dispossessed emptiness you’ve seen a thousand times, staring back at you in team meetings, coaching sessions and performance reviews.
Every manager tells me that their team is Zombie free and every engagement survey tells me they are there in spades. Zombies are sneaky like that. If you have watched a lot of Zombie movies you probably think they are bumping around from desk to desk, devouring executive assistants, chewing on brains and groaning at the Cappuccino machine (myth #2). You wouldn’t think of them as sneaky. But they are. It’s not purposeful, obvious sneakiness. It’s subtle, under the radar sneakiness, because no one wants to be outed as a Zombie. It’s embarrassing. And potentially career threatening. When you apply for other jobs, put your hand up for a promotion or ask for a raise, the last thing you want is a reputation as a Zombie.
Here’s how to find the Zombies:
Zombies have questionable values and spend more time than you could possibly imagine trying to get you replaced (they certainly won’t get you promoted). They oppose your ideas – no matter how good they are, compete for your attention, avoid learning new things, rely on you mercilessly for basic ‘no-brainer’ stuff, and are risk averse. Zombies drain you of every last ounce of energy.
Recognise them now? Good, because when there are enough of them, they will turn you in to a Zombie. Meanwhile, Zombies won’t help you hit your numbers – or whatever key result you’re there to achieve – and they won’t help you reach organisational objectives or realise visions or missions. With Zombies, there is no upside.
In the movies you have to decapitate a Zombie to destroy it (myth #3). In business speak, you have to ‘fire’ them. But in these uncertain times it is not so easy to replace the head you just severed. And, even if you could, other Zombies will spread their discontent lickety-split (not a myth).
Zombie movies just wouldn’t work if they told the truth. If Zombie-ness could be reversed by a mad scientist it would take away all the tension. In real life, what wouldn’t we give to take away tension. We already have enough tension, thank you very much, so bring on the de-zombification instructions – only without the mad scientist.
How to de-zombify a Zombie:
Zombies are like Werewolves in one regard: they can be released by the one who truely loves them. In fact, it doesn’t really have to be a lot of love. Support and encouragement will do the trick. A little bit of care and attention. Empathy works too. Even a kind word can unbind the spell if it is done often enough.
I could go on but it would only complicate what is really very simple: Caring, supporting, encouraging, empathising, paying attention, giving feedback and a little non-competitive praise, being there. They all work. No training required or complex leadership theories to whiteboard. Just do it and watch people wake up and switch on. It’s a miracle.
Most of the time it’s a serious question asked by a seriously confused and frustrated senior manager with a thumping headache (earned by continuously banging a real head against a metaphorical wall):
“Why don’t my &^%$ing managers coach?”
Apparently it’s a mystery, so vast and unfathomable, that the brightest and boldest of business are stumped. Having observed 1000′s of managers and noticed where they focus their time and energy, I can tell you, it’s no mystery.
Here’s the skinny on why managers don’t, won’t or can’t coach.
1. Many managers just don’t dig (love) it.
They’ll tell you it’s a time issue… but… when you measure managers by performance outputs and humanistic outputs (team member willingness to work, absenteeism, turnover, etc) the top 10% – consistent high performers – almost always find the time they need to coach – a lot.
On the other hand, the bottom 40% (what we call Group C managers) almost never coach and no matter what you take away from them to give them time, it will always be frittered away somewhere else (reports, emails, meetings, schedules and answering the same questions over and over are the most popular).
These managers really, really don’t dig coaching – it’s not part of who they are – and they really, really don’t want to do it. You can tell them what to do and how to do it (over and over)… you can give them reasons why they should do it… and they will still creatively avoid doing it.
As part of our Humanistic/Performance Culture Diagnostic we assess how much managers enjoy coaching. Collectively, Group C managers have the lowest coaching enjoyment score… BTW so do their team members (who don’t dig being coached either).
“I flat out love coaching. There’s something there that’s real. You get your hands on it, and you can make somebody better than they were. That’s one hell of a feeling” – Tom Martinez (quoted from The Talent Code).
It’s a tough pill to swallow… but… you will not change these people and they will NEVER feel like Tom Martinez. Your effort will be wasted. Channel your energy in to (1) recruiting better next time and (2) fishing where the fish are: Group B managers.
Group B managers are the 50% with highly variable, mid-range performance and humanistic outputs: some weeks/months/years they do well, others not so much. Some team members love them, others hate them. They’re up one day. Down the next. Over the long haul, ups and downs even out to around 60-80% of the output of high performers.
This group is a sweet spot. Group B managers coach (a little) and they enjoy it more than their Group C colleagues (as do the people they coach), but they don’t make constant and consistent improvements (which they should)…
2. Managers won’t improve if no one tells them how to.
If you have read Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, Geoff Colvin’s Talent is Overrated or Daniel Coyle’s The Talent Code you will have heard of Anders Ericsson, who studies how expert performers acquire their superior performance. To cut a long story short, the difference that makes the difference is what Ericsson calls Deliberate Practice. And you need, roughly, 10,000 hours of it to get really, really good.
Maybe 10,000 hours is too much to ask. Lets dial it down to 1,000 and go for reasonably competent. At 10 coaching hours a week it should take about 2 years to get there. Really? Two years to be a reasonably competent coach? Well, yeah. A two-day workshop and some forms just doesn’t cut it. You need a 2-year ‘action-learning’ coaching program (or less if managers coach more often), where the emphasis is on continuous improvement.
Here are 3 ideas we have found useful to get started:
Teach managers how to practice deliberately (read the books mentioned above)
Conduct structured group coach-the-coach sessions (with real, peer review ‘case-studies’)
Regular feedback from the people being coached (based on behavioural frequency)
When managers don’t practice deliberately and continuously improve it is very easy to grow bored and ambivalent to the coaching process. It’s another chore. Both participants become unenthusiastic and commitment lowers – slowly at first, then all of a sudden. Without commitment to change, people won’t…
3. Managers can’t make a difference because people don’t, won’t or can’t change.
Coaching isn’t always the answer. When it works it’s because people are ready, willing and able to change. If they are disengaged or even just a little apathetic toward their work (or their manager) change will come slowly – if at all.
Coaching is suffering from ‘if-you-only-have-a-hammer-everything-looks-like-a-nail’ syndrome. It’s what training used to be – the go-to solution for almost every problem. What managers are failing to do is diagnose individual performance gaps. They are not analysing the root cause of under-performance before they proceed with a solution.
Imagine going to the doctor and being prescribed anti-biotics while you were in the waiting room. The prescription is only one part of the reason you’re there. Mostly, you go to the doctor for the diagnosis. Based on that, you might have a number of options to resolve the issue now and prevent it from reoccurring in the future.
Our research shows the average [frontline and middle] manager spends a little less than 10% (3-4hrs/week) of their time on one form of coaching or another (performance, skill, technical) and much less than one-half of one-percent (10 – 20 minutes, maybe) diagnosing the root causes of under-performance or disengagement across their team.
We lost. There just isn’t enough to go around. It’s possible a mountain of it is stored away in some government warehouse – along with the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail – that may form part of a ‘Brave New World’ cloning conspiracy in the distant future – but for now, it’s time to retreat and start something new:
A war on incompetence.
After-all, the evidence is clear: there are far more incompetent managers than there are talented people.
BTW, If you’re an incompetent manager, it’s probably not your fault. Your incompetence isn’t a reflection of your potential, intellect or personality. You just lack the skills/capability/know-how/beliefs/etc necessary to get the job done. Instead:
You’ve been elevated to a position of responsibility (which indicates you’re more competent than you really are) without knowing what really works and matters most.
You don’t want to let anyone down (so you want others to think you are more competent than you really feel) even though you don’t have the tools you need to be the best you can.
And you’ve been on a leadership training course (so you should be more competent than reality reflects), but not shown how to convert these complex theories into practical solutions.
When we ask employees what causes them to be loyal to their manager they use short, simple words: support, encouragement, feedback, available. Ask them what causes disloyalty – where they advertise freely and frequently how hopeless, helpless or worthless he is – and you get long, angry sentences that vary in content, but are identical in spirit: my manager is missing-in-action.
Bear in mind our research shows that a little under half the people we ask are defined as Detractors (using a loyalty score developed by Satmetrix, Bain & Company, and Havard’s Fred Reichheld) when it comes to their manager – these are unhappy employees who can damage your brand through negative word-of-mouth and impede growth by under-performing and switching off.
That’s a lot of missing managers! Where are they? And why, given they are responsible for their team, aren’t they showing up?
Based on our research, observing 1000′s of [frontline and middle] managers and noticing where they spend their time and energy, we offer 3 reasons (more technically know as ‘excuses’) and suggest 3 commitments any manager can make to improve performance and switch people on: … Continue Reading
Over the new year break we moved house, which meant packing 1000′s of books on leadership, change and work. If all these books were lost in transit, I wondered, which would be the dozen essential books I would need in 2010.
Some books I treasure but felt would be right for a different time. Others might not make my all time top 10 but they’re absolutely necessary to tackle the challenges and opportunities facing us today.
After much deliberation I picked my final 6absolutely essential books that will make you a better leader. (follow @newrulesofwork for an updates). … Continue Reading
There’s no doubt Gordon Ramsay can cook (even his Cesear Salad looked great) and he’s definitely charismatic. But there’s something about Ramsay as a leader that people are drawn to beyond his technical ability and charm.
We’ve all met charismatic people that can’t lead and great leaders that lack charisma. Through all the shouting, abuse and frequent use of the F-word Ramsay applies some basic leadership principles shared by most successful leaders that transcend charm and expertise.
So what is Ramsays secret recipe? Here are 3 principles that any leader or manager can learn from and apply immediately. … Continue Reading
In the last 50 years ordinary men and women have cured countless diseases, saved millions of lives, returned safely from the moon, invented bag-less vacuum cleaners and removed the pips from fruit.
So why, oh why, do we find it so hard to conduct an effective team meeting?
Surely, scientists will soon announce a missing gene in our DNA (the meeting gene?) that has blinded us to the horrors done unto others in meeting rooms around the globe.
Perhaps some bright spark will find a defective managerial neural pathway, that pumps adrenaline when we gather people to read emails at them (or the minutes from incredibly important meetings they were not worthy enough to attend).
Is it possible that long monologues about ‘what needs to change around here’ will have a delayed, explosive impact sometime in the distant future? … Continue Reading
Where did all the meetings come from. Now, more than ever, frontline and middle managers are being dragged from one meetings to the next. Project meetings, product development meetings, change management meetings and meetings to discuss the forthcoming meeting meetings, to name just a few. All day, every day. Always exactly an hour long and almost always bullshit meetings designed to keep people from getting anything done.
If your job purpose is to manage a team, surely the only essential meeting that you must attend is a team meeting. Ironicly that’s just about the only meeting the great bulk of managers don’t, won’t or can’t attend (or even organise) on a regular basis.
There’s really not that much to commend the founding fathers of industrial age management theories, but they did at least understand that the point of managers was to organise labor, which is to say… people.
Two hundred years later we’ve learned that in the knowledge age people don’t need to be ‘organised’ like illiterate factory drones, but there must be something more useful managers can do – other than hiding in little glass boxes, huddled with other absent managers, talking about work they haven’t done.
Not all meetings are bullshit. But plenty are.
Here are 6 proven ways to avoid or shorten those hours of your life you’ll never get back:
I don’t smoke, drink or do drugs. But I am an addict: Twitter and Leadership Guru’s (and the wisdom they dispense). It occurred to me I could combine my addictions and scratch my leadership wisdom itch while I keep track of friends. Not so easy, it turns out.
Only a few Leadership Guru’s are leading the way on twitter. Many that are on the twitter bandwagon dispense endless waffle about their incredibly exciting, important lives – “going somewhere important tweet tweet… at the airport tweet tweet… met another important person tweet tweet… ate sushi tweet tweet…” Yawn – I want wisdom, not drivel! I want to be inspired, not see blurry photo’s of another dimly-lit audience! I want to learn!
Here is my list of the leadership guru’s that make their 140 characters count: practical, useful and inspirational, with a reasonably good balance of wisdom and self promotion. I’ll keep searching and updating this blog post.
You probably don’t need me to tell you this… Stephen Covey (the elder) is the author of the incredibly successful ’7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. He’s also written a pile of other books and is the leadership half of FranklinCovey. Tend to get only a few tweets from Stephen each week. Almost completely focused on leadership and the Covey approach.
What to expect:
There are three constants in life… change, choice and principles.
Pay the price on a daily basis to learn. Leep learning. Keep reading. Get educated. Be accountable.
5 reasons to teach: to learn better, to motivate you to live it, to increase your ability to listen, to legitimatize change and to bond.
Rick Myers is the CEO of TalentZoo, the #1 site for Ad, Marketing & Media Professionals. You get a mixed bag from Rick, but when he tweets about leadership and managers, he’s right on the money. Usually a couple of tweets a day.
What to expect:
Always struck by how many managers are complaining about an unmotivated staff. Too many managers ducking responsibility.
Losing talent is like a swift kick in the groin. Fight to keep your best people.
Too many people underestimate the power of time off. Time away from the office is good for the soul.
If you haven’t seen Sir Ken Robinson’s inspirational TED speech, you really should. In it, Sir Ken makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. All leaders and managers have a lot to learn from the mistakes and opportunities of our education systems. Ken mostly shares other links and ideas in his tweets, which are infrequent.
What to expect:
Take a look at Conscious Capitalism.I moderated last year, couldn’t this year. Very interesting initiative.http://vimeo.com/7334395
Ruminating on 3 wonderful days at Vancouver Peace Summit with the Dalai Lama http://bit.ly/1r5awX
Being born a human being is a rare event in itself and it is wise to use this opportunity as beneficially as possible Dalai Lama
Ken Blanchard invented the leadership fable genre when he co-authored the classic: “The One Minute Manager”. His educational and entertaining seminars, book series and dedication to leading at a higher level are legionary. A few tweets each day. Mostly leadership and life wisdom, links and blog posts.
What to expect:
Don’t hang around people that are miserable all the time… Life is a very special occasion, worrying will make you miss it.
Tom Peters is an author and speaker with a lot to say about leadership, design and EXECUTION. Author of “In Search of Excellence” and many other interesting and engaging books. Tweets with passion… 6 in one day, then nothing for a week…
What to expect:
I hate the term “behavioural economics.” Call it what it is: “Psychology”!
Oh my god. Seth and I disagree. BIG TIME. On a marketing hierarchy list, he puts strategy 1st, execution last. My take: 100.00% backwards!
‘Tis a time of “matchless opportunity”–not to “nab customers from ailing competitors,” but to behave with decency and grace toward all.
Robin Sharma is the author of “The Greatness Guide” and “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari”. Usually 3 or 4 tweets per day. Mostly focused on educating about leadership.
What to expect:
Leadership distilled down to 3 words: Make a difference.
In these time of deep change, EVERY employee needs to see themselves as part of the leadership team!
The difficult conversations you are resisting are the ones you need to be having.
Mike Myatt is a top CEO Coach and author of “Leadership Matters… The CEO Survival Manual.” Mike is a frequent tweeter, with many tweets each day. Very focused on leadership.
What to expect:
Multitasking is tantamount to executive suicide as it leads to a lack of focus and initiative overload.
Listen well, learn well, serve well and you will lead well.
Reclusive leadership is non-existent leadership. You can not lead, challenge, motivate, or inspire while in stealth mode.
John C. Maxwell is a bestselling author and speaker on leadership (Dr. Maxwell has sold more than 18 million books). Three of his books that have sold more than a million copies:The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. Tweets are focused on leadership (mostly quotes from others) and life in general, some personal and links to new blog posts.
What to expect:
Wisdom is knowing what to do next; Skill is knowing how to do it, and Virtue is doing it. -David Starr Jordan
How far will I go to illustrate a favorite concept? New blog post: http://is.gd/5fuPE
Discover your uniqueness, then discipline yourself to develop it. – Jim Sundberg, pro baseball player
John Baldoni is an internationally acclaimed leadership author and speaker, Harvard Business Publishing columnist, and executive coach. Tweets are focused on leadership (mostly links to his column and blog posts).
What to expect:
What can “Humpty Dumpty” teach us about recovering from mistakes? Read my Harvard Biz column athttp://bit.ly/6gKmWP
Should leaders take direction from others? Check out “On Leadership” in the Washington Post.http://tinyurl.com/y9v4vrd
You are invited to watch my new video, Lead Your Boss, the subject of my new book. http://tinyurl.com/yfz2oj5
Orrin Woodward co-authored the NYTimes/WSJ Best Seller Launching a Leadership Revolution. Mr. Woodward speaks on leadership and personal growth across the globe. Orrin tweets frequently throughout the day and is mostly focused on leadership qualities.
What to expect:
Too often we view learning as a period of life, instead of a way of life.
Character is magnitudes more important than reputation. Reputation is based upon others opinions, character is based upon your facts.
Have we ever thought that low self esteem is earned by low performance & that only through changed actions will esteem improve?
Brian Tracy has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed more than 4,000,000 people in 4,000 talks and seminars throughout the world. He is the top selling author of over 45 books. Brian tweets frequently (mostly via his Facebook status) with a mix of quotes, links to posts and some marketing.
What to expect:
The truth is that the future belongs to the competent.
Tony Robbins has directly impacted the lives of more than 50 million people from 80 nations with his work in the field of leadership psychology and peak performance. Tony also founded the International Basket Brigade, providing baskets of food and household items for an estimated 2 million people annually in countries all over the world. Tony tweets inspirational quotes and blog/video posts, usually a few tweets each day.
What to expect:
Check out my free new video on how to make your new year/goals/dreams a reality http://bit.ly/8gkVgZ
“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”—Darth Vader, Star Wars
It’s a new year & a new decade. Remember Hesitation kills so many dreams. Take action today & create a new momentum for your life. best2U!
Rosabeth Kanter is a Harvard Businss School Professor and author of SuperCorp, a look at how a new generation of values-driven businesses do well by doing good. Rosabeth usually tweets 3 -5 a day on business and leadership related topics, including quotes, blog posts (her own at hbr.org and others).
Alexandra Levit is a business/workplace author and speaker with four published books (including New Job, New You) and a WSJ column. Alexandra’s goal is to “help people find meaningful jobs – quickly and simply – and to succeed beyond measure once they get there”. Usually tweets 3 -5 a day on career and work related topics (also communicates with other followers frequently).
Gretchen Rubin is the author of the book The Happiness Project – a memoir of the year she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, the current scientific studies, and the lessons from popular culture about how to be happy. Gretchen usually tweets 3 -5 a day on career and work related topics (also communicates with other followers frequently).
What to expect:
Take Time for Projects and Keep a New Family Tradition.: I’m working on my Happiness Project, and you could have o…http://bit.ly/cg1GRs
Lolly Daskal has spent over a decade providing business and coaching services to people from all walks of life. Lolly is also a speaker and offers workshops focusing on personal and professional empowerment. She is the author of hundreds of articles and columns and her first book is slated for a 2010 release. Tweets frequently and daily.
What to expect:
in times of difficulty, slow yourself down, focus on the blessings hidden within your circumstances.http://bit.ly/2K1u87
Lead from within: Your life is made up of small moments which have a large impact. http://bit.ly/2K1u87
do you want to be safe and good or do you want to take a chance and be great?
Bill Gates the philanthropist and global thinker. Tweets are not specifically about leadership but touch on topics that go to the heart of leadership (or relate to a wider context of global leadership). Bill uses Twitter thoughtfully – shares links to talks, thought provoking articles and his The Gates Notes blog on a regular basis.
What to expect:
Great talk w/MIT students, very thoughtful. Live webcast from @Harvard next. ustream - http://bit.ly/dhBwrH and on Harvard homepage.
TED just posted Michael Specter’s (The New Yorker) talk -http://bit.ly/btCaTA – was very interesting, got people talking. Your thoughts?
A great WSJ article on the benefits of increasing the school week – http://bit.ly/d06oAW – we should resist reduction as much as possible
Marcus Buckingham was a senior researcher at Gallup Organization, where he studied the world’s best managers and organizations. Best-selling books include: First, Break All the Rules, Now, Discover Your Strengths and Go Put Your Strengths to Work. Marcus tweets daily on leadership, strength and personal updates.
What to expect:
Just thinking: which would you rather put to the test–your nerves, your relationships, or your beliefs? Me? My beliefs.
Time to plan Q2. I loathe projecting, but love visioning. Am still trying to sort the difference. Which one most invigorates u?
http://nyti.ms/as2jA6 @ their best leaders show us a better future. @ their worst they pick on each other, & cry foul. I expected better
The Best Leaders May Be the Ones Least Noticed. From: marshallgoldsmith.blogspot.com - The Gist: Conventional wisdom exaggerates -- if not glamorizes -- the leader's contribution: Take the leader out of the equation, and people will behave like lost children. @coachgoldsmith thinks this is hokum. As the ancient proverb says, "The best leader, the people do not notice. When the best leader's work is done, the people say, 'We did it ourselves.' "
Leadership as an Influence Process From: howwelead.org (@kenblanchard) - The Gist: Leadership is a transformational journey starting with self leadership, then moving to one-on-one leadership, then to team leadership, and then to organizational leadership. Self leadership really starts with just finding out who you are and whose you are, and getting perspective on your life...
Video: PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi describes 'Performance with Purpose' From: Yale School of Management - The Gist: For Indra Nooyi ’80, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, running a global corporation is more than just increasing quarterly profits and maximizing market share - you can’t measure the performance of the company without taking into account its impact on the world.
Making the living dead, or zombies as they are more commonly known, is not as hard you might think. In Voodoo folklore, where it all started, zombies aren’t dead at all (myth #1). They’re normal human beings, like me and you, that have been hypnotised in to a death-like state – in which the victim’s will is entirely subjected to that of the Bokor (a Creole word meaning: Manager).
Jason Moore is the Van Helsing of workplace Zombies – only without the fancy crossbow. He helps leaders create personal and organisational value by building a humanistic performance culture without the Zombies. Jason blogs his thoughts on making work a better place to work at www.newrulesofwork.com.
Most of the time it’s a serious question asked by a seriously confused and frustrated senior manager with a thumping headache (earned by continuously banging a real head against a metaphorical wall):
When we ask employees what causes them to be loyal to their manager they use short, simple words: support, encouragement, feedback, available. Ask them what causes disloyalty – where they advertise freely and frequently how hopeless, helpless or worthless he is – and you get long, angry sentences that vary in content, but are identical in spirit: my manager is missing-in-action.
Over the new year break we moved house, which meant packing 1000′s of books on leadership, change and work. If all these books were lost in transit, I wondered, which would be the dozen essential books I would need in 2010.
There’s no doubt 
You probably don’t need me to tell you this… 
If you haven’t seen 
Alexandra Levit is a business/workplace author and speaker with four published books (including 
