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Recently in an interview, a friend of mine Doug mentioned an analogy of dealing with conflict his mentor gave him:  “always go head first into the storm…”  This analogy is dead on.  Are you a storm chaser or are the storms chasing you?

One of the least desirable functions in your organization is dealing with conflict.  Here are examples I’ve faced this past year:

• A project is over budget but no one has had a conversation with the client yet on delivering the bad news
• Employees not delivering “rock star” service to our clients
• Compensation disputes
• An ever-changing scope of work within a project
• A key leader missing critical deadlines
• A vendor sending ill-advised emails to our staff
• Key team members working against each other
• An employee with a less-than professional “grooming”- (those are always fun)
• A CEO client causing disruption in a project and creating confusion for all the stakeholders

What’s normal in organizations?  Employees, managers, and even owners that pass the buck, blame the client, have excuses (many that are valid but still doesn’t solve the problem), and seem to be able to bring “grey” and lack of clarity to situations that need answers and clarity.  What’s normal is to run away from the storms, hand off problems, avoid accountability, and often ignore the lightning strikes that are happening all around.

What’s not normal?  Be a storm-chaser.

• This doesn’t mean you seek conflict, you look where conflict exists…. where elephants are sitting in the middle of the conference room, and work for resolve in a positive, productive way
• Recognizing your client problem is not going to magically disappear, you get the right people together, have a candid conversation about what needs to be done, and get clear action items and responsibilities assigned.
• You own the problems until they’re resolved.
• You don’t take criticism, insults, and anger personally.  Your identity is grounded in something that is stronger than any one person’s opinion of you.  You listen and then shift to being solution oriented.
• While it’s often easy to see who’s to blame, you take the accountability and go after the storm.  You’re not a martyr, you simply understand the vision and mission of your organization is worth protecting and it just needs to get done.

To be a great company, run a great project, or to stay on course with your mission/vision, you need storm chasers in your organization.  You want to differentiate yourself in the workplace?  Be a storm chaser.

It’s been said that one great employee is more valuable than three good employees. Agree?

We’ve got some great employees on our team, here are some of the lessons I observe from them:

• Seek accountability rather than run from accountability. Good employees have good reasons why things don’t get done.
• Embrace Change. With good employees, you find yourself having invest more time to sell the change.
• Understand the goals of the organization and align their activities to them. Good employees get a lot of stuff done, but regularly the wrong stuff.
• Great communicators and fill in cracks within their teams. Good employees know their jobs pretty well but miss opportunities to keep others in the loop.
• Have integrity and build others. Good employees have integrity and build themselves.

You probably know who these people are at your organization. Your stress level goes down when the walk in the room, they’re a breath of fresh air, and you find yourself thinking he/she has it covered… Got great?

Sidenote: The “metrics” on this works as well… Think profitability over a fixed cost, not revenue.

Knots restrict, discourage, block, confuse, entangle, stall, frustrate, slow, and disable.

Knots exist in our organizations, marriages, theology, and more…. only to prevent us from fulfilling our purpose, design, and experiencing opportunities in life….

What does it look like?

• Withholding key information from a team member (lack of communication). KNOT.
• Fear. KNOT
• Analysis Paralysis, studying all the variables but never get to the “doing”. KNOT.
• Being full of all the reasons “why not”. KNOT.
• Nitpicking theology only to discourage people trying to do something good. KNOT.
• If you find yourself blowing holes in people’s opinions or methods you might be a… KNOT.
• Waiting for all the stars to be aligned… KNOT.
• Ignoring inefficiencies. KNOT.
• Really smart people full of theories but no action. KNOT
• Employees that are better than nothing. KNOT.
• Disregard for policies and procedures. KNOT.
• Overkill policies and procedures. KNOT.
• Not telling your spouse what really frustrates you. KNOT.
• Complaining about all the knots. KNOT.

You want to be a “differentiator” as an employee, volunteer, spouse, or friend? Be great at identifying and un-doing the KNOTS that exist everywhere…. and DO.

To see Mt. Rushmore in a magazine is one thing, to go there and see it in person is amazing, but to focus in with binoculars (as my son Easton is doing here) gives one a whole new appreciation of the detail that went into sculpting this monument. It took Gutzon & his son Lincoln Borglum 14 years and 400 workers to complete this work of art.

In our workplaces, ministries, and even small day to day encounters, the ability and power of focus can be a maximizing, life-changing differentiator.

Most of us fall into rock-skipping. We’re busy, trying to consume only what we absolutely have to, and are sprinting an inch deep and a mile wide at work and in life. We’ve all heard “focus”, but what can that really look like?

• At work…. The nature of my job is to be an inch deep and a mile wide as Operations Manager…however, our initiatives won’t get done without focus. Bill Hybels talked about having a “6 initiatives in 6 weeks” approach to your critical items. I find this very helpful to be able to say “no” to important things but will simply have to wait. Here are my current “6″ that are my focus to April 15th at Pinnacle as an example:
  Web strategy with blog- initial steps to build a contributing writer team for future blog
  Video research for online snippets for training and solutions for clients
  Bootcamp- 2 week training curriculum developed for new sales executives/employees
  Chief Technology Officer strategy as more companies are looking to outsource IT
  Marketing plan rolling with client experience focus
  Existing Customer process defined
• Freakanomics is a good read about focus. It shows how much common knowledge we all believe to be true is actually false when someone takes the time to dig into the data/details. (Like, is it more dangerous to have a gun in your home or have a swimming pool?) Real information is power, it takes focus to find real information…. Focus= Power
• Every day interactions. When we take time to stop and focus on a person (maybe at the grocery store or with a neighbor), we can make a real impact rather than having a relationship of news/sports/weather. Rob Wegner delivered a great message on this available here for $4 http://www.wiredchurches.com/s.nl/it.A/id.2717/.f His statement: Small intervention + Focus= BIG IMPACT Small intervention + No Focus= Little or no impact.
• I get overwhelmed with the amount of information available to me. I can’t read all the blogs, books, or attend enough conferences to keep up. I find myself “wishing” I knew more about scores of subjects. I’m learning…”it’s OK not to know it all, take a deep breath, pick my target, and focus on something to be an expert in…” Having great people around you with their expertise’ will fill in your gaps of information.
• Ever been to a Cirque du Soleil show? You’ll see what crazy, amazing ability can come from focusing on one talent. To see how fast and how many bowling pins two people can fire off at each other without dropping a single pin was staggering. I admire their focus to a single craft.

The people around me that are changing the world are focused on specialties. They are not spread thin, Jeopardy wanna-be-winner, know-it-alls. They are satisfied with being great at tackling a single problem/challenge, in a single area, for a single company/organization at time. They know what they can and cannot do. The employees I see that make a real impact have the ability to focus and be a real expert in their field…they do not skim the surface. Great Mom’s and Dad’s are taking time to focus with their kids in small interventions.

Are you focused or are you just trying to keep up?

I don’t always agree with my leadership. That goes for work, church, government, or any other organizations I’ve been a part of… I have an urge to make sure my peers around me know that I don’t “agree” with some decision being made or roll my eyes at the latest “edict” from above… but that may be dead wrong.

Most of the time, business plans, ministry methodology, or Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) plans are not revolutionary. They’re not flashy. They’re just OK. I’m guessing most of yours are too.

However, if you apply an aligned team to mediocre plans- great things can happen. The same is true of many products. Average restaurant food with a great staff can= a great experience.

Our leaders need our support despite their mediocrity at times. Whatever we choose to be a part of, we should choose to align with its leaders so greatness may happen.

• It’s been said, “leadership teams can yell and scream at each other within the boardroom but when they come out…they should choose to align to the vision/plan regardless of their personal views”
• Sometimes, brown-nosers and “yes” men are absolutely right
• My church doesn’t need another critic, it needs me to jump in and be part of the solution
• My owners don’t need me to buck their initiatives, they need me to be a driver
• Choosing to be “aligned” is a conscious choice that is made daily to every organization you’ve chosen to be a part of
• Alignment is knowing when and how/whether to voice your ideas, concerns or disagreements
• I need to know who my “first” team is and be completely aligned with them
• My frustrations need to have a neutral, healthy outlet (or as Wayne Cordeiro would say, a lightning rod) so I don’t bring negativity to the team
• Normal is being a water cooler critic, a maximizer aligns with a vision

The day we can no longer align with our team may be the day we need to move on to a different vision, job, or church. And if you leave, leave well without leaving landmines or toxicity to those who remain. I’m assuming you had a reason to be where you’re at today… are you a supportive, aligned driver or are you the hurdle, elephant-in-the-room dissenter?

Part of maximizing our lives is maximizing the things we’ve chosen to be a part of… sometimes it’s simply choosing to align.

5K races don’t mean much if you only run 3 miles. A 14 foot free throw doesn’t score any points. In the work place, those who can be finishers stand out from the crowd and people take notice. The halls and cubicles where you work are full of people that get projects and tasks 80-90% complete. You want to stand out and be a performer? Finish.

3 Ways to be a Finisher:

• Look for an opportunity to take an initiative that has been stalling out or hanging incomplete at work. Take it, and in your mind make yourself 100% responsible. Do what it takes to get it done and done well. Want to be normal? Be cynical and roll your eyes at how the project is just another company objective that will never get done…
• In meetings and conversations, be the best note taker- pay attention and get the details of what needs to be done whether it’s your responsibility or not. Help remind people of the tasks to do, priorities at hand, and assist people by reminding then what needs to get done. Normal is people on your team missing details leaving projects incomplete, clients unhappy, and money uncollected. Fill in the cracks for your team so your team finishes strong.
• Be willing to make a decision. Everyday there are scores of emails and conversations filled with questions, hurdles, and excuses. Bring clarity and be solution oriented… take those things that are spinning and bring them to a finish line. What’s normal? Add to the confusion, be vague, ask questions that seem really smart but just keep things undone, offer more reasons why something can’t be done and how you don’t have enough information. Hide in the multitudes of 80%.

There are incomplete puzzles all around your work, embedded in your emails, and with your clients. What will you do?

Being a finisher comes with a price. You’re going against the grain and at times it exposes “the normal” in others. People on your team will get defensive and will even go behind your back. Stay the course. Just keep doing.

At the end of the day, if you’re truly “for” your team and focused on the mountain your team is trying to climb- you’ll find purpose and growth in your work and in your life.