Roman's miles

Becoming the ideal boss

Some time ago I posted a blog on the boss of a dream. Looking at a person from a subordinate side, what traits she should have. Now I want to drop a few tips on how to become a good boss. I won't mention here personal characteristics that every pro should possess but confine the list only by the ones describing an ideal boss, a boss others want to work with.

• Be a leader. It's been told thousands of times that one has to lead and not to manage but I don't agree do exclude the manage part though, anyway, leading is the predominant part of the leader-manager tandem. Personal example, initiatives, generation of ideas - the boss must work harder than her team members to become a model. Take some job on you even if you manage a very big group. Don't be just a task dispatcher and a reporter.
• Be a mouthpiece of the team. Promote the team, promote the people working for you. Make them known, build their publicity. Send the members to represent the team occasionally. Don't become the only face of the team. Don't accumulate members credits on your account but amplify merit and deserts of the group outside.
  
• Excite via interesting. Typically we read encourage instead. Agree, but the best encouragement is to let an employee to deal with things he loves. Not always it's possible to give all things they love. But at least know what they want to do and try to make it happen.
• Manage and care. Anew, the odious manage word. But that's a must of a good manager. While balancing between well-being of the company and well-being of an employee the latter has to prevail in the manager's choice. If it's impossible then it should be exceptional and caused by lack of any other choice. Try to protect your folks and reward their job. Promotions, bonuses, trainings, conferences, titles - just a few items in the arsenal. Don't be a cheapskate and don't care for the company too much at expenses of the people working for you.
• Make them want to work for you. People won't always work for you and you won't be their boss forever. Build great relationships with them and deserve their desire to work for you again in the future. Discuss with the employees their plans and dreams, help them to plan career paths and help develop them later. Don't hold the people if you know there is a better place for them and the company somewhere else. Put your employees above all and they'll work for you with desire, passion, and producing great results.

As usually, waiting for your feedback to replenish the list by your ideas.

Technorati tags: boss, employee, job

Fighting a micro-depression. Unfailing recipe

That was it, again; I haven't felt it for a long time but now the same dull wave rolled me over... A depression.

There was only 2pm and all the day and the evening of suddenly freed time until tomorrow morning flight but nothing excited me. Lots of emails were waiting for my attention, dozens of blogs waited to be read (and to write), downloaded books, podcasts - nothing could break the armour of boredom, locked, surely, the receptors of passion and creativity.

A light sense of panic that the day will be merely killed and tomorrow won't bring any change flashed in my mind. Briefly skimmed over the morning events - no apparent reason for the depression. So it's again a short circuit of the mood wires. Barely the tank of excitement gone:-) Ok, simple to analyze - harder to fix. What to do?

First off, calm down. If there is no logical reason it's all about feelings and senses. The tank analogy keeps working. The engine needs fuel - what to choose? For each the recipe is personal: lovely music, a book, a movie, good whiskey, a pipe - you've got the idea. Envision how you can rejoice yourself (where the "gas station" is). Do it alone or in a company, in  a pub or on a beach, immediately or later. Though not always we're flexible to play with time - our empty car has to be towed to the "gas station".

Here is the second tip. Once you recognize you're out of gas don't try to push the car by force. Try to roll down to the "gas station" slowly. Try to choose tasks that can be done mechanically. Don't do any creative job, anything requiring the very "gas" of inspiration.

Lastly the recipe cured me today. A nice Italian restaurant in the downtown of Palo Alto, a caprese, dug legs, and a glass of Rijoca did their job very well! A new book of Murakami made the evening almost perfect. I'm full of energy for the flight (SFO-PDX-FRA-TLV) and the depression is off and away.

So here is my recipe and to say the long short:

• Know to recognize micro-depressions;
• Have a set of recipes handy (and diverse);
• Don't push yourself before the treatment;

p.s. If it doesn't help maybe one glass of Rijoca wasn't enough? Are you already getting Prozac? (just kidding...)

Technorati tags: motivation, depression

My English links

For folks, like me studying English and willing to improve it, I list a few links I found useful:

• The elements of style by William Strunk, Jr. - probably the classic on English style and grammar. A must read for anybody whose mother tongue is not English;
  
• Keables guide - (brought by Gai Kawasaki) grammar rule, a set of style advice, an extension to the previous one;
  
• Bad Language - a blog by Matthew Stibbe about English among other interesting things - a must for any blog reader interested in improving writing;
   
• English Zone - a huge portal of English-related things.
• Quote Finder - a resource of seeking quotes, idioms, expressions, used in context or by known people;
• Common Errors in English Usage - an on-line version of a book listing most widely misused words in English;

How would you extend the list?

The war changes our plans

Just got an email from my boss that our global meeting that was planned to come about in Israel this Sunday is moved to Germany. No trip to the See of Galilee, no working sessions on the beach of Hertzlia, no team trip to Jerusalem. The war that has started so unexpectedly and is developing so fast is bringing its own corrections to our life. Thank God, only to our plans. The switch from vacation to reality was instant...

As Maxi suggested the good thing about it is the next year we'll have a chance to organize another global meeting in Israel. Had this one taken place now we couldn't have planned it for the next year:-)

Technorati tags: Israel, Lebanon, war

THE vacation is about to end

The vacation is about to end. We're flying back with Lia after six nights in Singapore and I'm writing an account on the trip sitting in seat 81C in Lufthansa - we're on our longest leg of this trip back - SIN-FRA. Just as Scoble invited  calling him while he's on road I invite you to call my skype (rytrom) or googletalk (roman.rytov@gmial.com) or drop me an email. There is a long way yet to go: 11 hours to FRA then almost a 5 hours stop-over and 4 other hours on FRA-TLV. I'm connected everywhere, thanks to Lufthansa, so the odds are good you'll reach me if you want.

Before we booked the trip I'd asked a forum how to spend my miles in the most efficient way: how to fly and where to stay . Now it's my turn to contribute back to the community. So this blog is mostly for the forum habitants and aimed to address their points of interests.

We opted for Hilton Singapore basically because we thought it's better in terms of the price/quality comparison (in plane English it was just significantly cheaper than Conrad). The result of this experiment is "A-" for Hilton. I'm really satisfied with everything in the hotel and gave a small minus simply to recognize some direction to polish it to perfection.

The hotel is located in a great place from any perspective - Orchard street - the hart of the shopping area, the sign of modern (Americanized?) country, a concentration of many exquisite and rather modest restaurants, parks, cinemas, cafeterias, night clubs, and, did I mention the shopping gravitational fields of Singapore? Orchard metro station just a couple of blocks down the street; buses, taxis - transportation neither is a problem in Singapore in general nor in this place in particular. The hotel is one of the best of Hilton (at least of those where I've been) and it was recently renovated. We were upgraded to an executive floor (I'm still a diamond in Hilton this year!). The 18th floor has a spectacular view and a spacious room. Other things are quite standard.

The gym of the hotel is one of the best. It has all the equipment a professional athlete needs: 5 treadmill, a few bike machines, tens of different devices for weight lifting, a mirror room for aerobics, and two saunas - a dry and a wet one. On the roof there is quite a big pool (I'd guess about 15 meters) and none of the facilities is ever crowded. Now the really good thing about all the above is it's open 24 hours/day! During working hours there is a professional instructor in the gym but if you struggle from a jet-leg or want to come there bright and early everything is easily accessible - just make a call.

For executive members there is a lounge which is very poor. Breakfasts include only a selection of juices, muesli, and fruits so if you're used to have meaningful breakfast plan to eat outside. The hotel service was just great. Very fast to satisfy any caprice, willing to help, and absolutely friendly. No hint or soliciting for tips as some on the forum alerted.

Actually, I gave the minus to the hotel not because of the poor breakfast but the Internet. It's not free neither in the rooms nor in the business center(!). I met a similar situation only in Double Tree hotel in Washington DC. I think the Internet is supposed to be free when a hotel charges you 250$/day, let alone a business center. It is like this even in Europe in most of the big brands but in Singapore the norms are apparently different. Again, all in all, we were very satisfied with the hotel and recommend it to everyone who's seeking a place in Singapore.

Now the flight part. I had a dilemma on how to fly there from Israel: either on a first in Lufthansa or in a business in Singapore Airlines. Since the money (miles) was quite the same for both options I stuck to the first of LH (never ever tried it before nor their new HON lounge in FRA). What can I say? The service is great, but in a business of LH it's not any worse. The seats are, hm, strange, comparing to their new business. I'm a bit disappointed by the first class (comparing to the business, of course). I think it's a waste of money (looking at the delta in the prices between the business and the first). It's cool to get a pyjamas, an additional appetizer (compared to the business), and, hm, that's all! The seats are flat, but in the (new) business they're almost the same flat either. The drinks, the choice of movies, the personal attention, what did I forget? - I feel it's a new business flight on an old first class chair. Don't misunderstand me - it's a great pleasure to fly in the first of LH. But I'd say it's like if a Audi A8 were cost 60K and a BMW 750 - 90K. There is no 50% of superior quality between two brands (so I didn't find between the business and the first).

Where the difference IS though is the lounges. The HON lounge is much, much, much better than the senator ones in every single parameter of comparison. No welter (as in any SEN lounge), the number of drinks (I guess it's 8 times more in the HON), the food and snacks (again, the factor of 8 in favor of HON), the environment, the bath (instead of a shower), the coolness(?!). If I really liked anything in flying the first then it's the HON lounge of FRA:-) It seems the ideal way is to be just a HON of LH and fly in a business. By the way, I hardly foresee my next trip in a first on my own or the company's expenses (unless I'm luckily upgraded from a business).

In the last point I want to say it was a great way to spend my LH and Hilton miles collected hardly during last years and answer to Jeff Opdyke's article. I offer my way to compensate our wives for long and frequent business travels we ought to have. Spend the miles with her and for her. I'm saying a big thank to Lia whose tolerance and acceptance of my choice for the sake of my career (eventually - our family) made it's all possible. This time it was much better than a business trip and a real vacation.

Technorati tags: travel, frquent flyer, singapore

Zidane's headbutt is in a game:-)

It's amazing how fast an Italian programmatore wrote a funny game ensued from the tradegy final of Zidane.

http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Sport/2006/07_Luglio/10/pop_zidane.shtml

Technorati tag: zidane headbutt, zidane, soccer

The dream job, home proximity, and travels

A friend of mine is looking for a job and answered my question of "what is your dream job?" by mentioning (besides an challenging position, acceptable conditions, and stability) a close proximity to the home. The last one jolted me into writing this blog.

I think that for most of us  a job which we have to spend 2 hours/day traveling to it is not a half-full glass situation but a full-glass. Why? Because being isolated in a car we are doomed to spend the time listening to something or talking to somebody. Why not to use it efficiently and listen to something useful? Nowadays there are tons of audio books, podcasts, and interviews with interesting people.

But the ideal situation is when you can get to the office and use not only the ears but the eyes and both hands to study on the way. Lock yourself to a learning mode and your knowledge base will grow significantly. Just imagine if you can spend daily an hour (so the office is not really far) on learning additionally! It's about a book in a month at least. 12 new books a year - compare to how many you read today.

The same situation with jobs requiring travels. Don't perceive the time (on the way to the airport, in the airport, and in the plane) as wasted time. It's your added time to learn. With travels it's even more efficient. After a working day nobody waits for you at home (sorry, at a hotel) and you can spend the rest of the evening completely on yourself. I know a few consultants who worked 4 days out of city and in such a mode and completed an MBA (from a very respectful school).

No doubt, it doesn't come for free. If you travel the family struggles (so you do). I'm not appealing for a job that will give you a "gift" of 3 hours of learning daily. What I'm saying is if you get such an offer don't look at the travel time as a few wasted hours of your life. Don't kill it by Sudoku, a radio-show, or a useless talk with a traveler. Equip yourself with studying materials and be happy to grow.

Technorati tags: career, job, travel, study

Getting good at giving feedback

David Maister's "Getting good at getting feedback"  has begotten an interesting discussion following the post. Not a big surprise that the readers (including myself) started talking also on how to provide good feedback. In another post on the importance of feedback (but tackled from the opposite site) his author touches the delicacy of the act of providing feedback and claims that it must be only positive. Though two blogs touch the feedback theme in different contexts I see they have a common background. Feedback's importance, efficiency, effectiveness, and delicacy of the act are in the scope of this post.

First of all, on the importance of feedback. Whether we consider your working environment, a toastmaster club, a synagogue/church/mosque, a parent-teacher school association, or a club - as soon as you respect an opinion of the people that may give you feedback - eagerly seek for it! If you feel that the people know you enough and they can provide meaningful information on how you're doing - try to draw it from them. That's the most practical way (if not the only one) on improving yourself, on polishing the traits that are not perfect yet, and on identifying the skills that need additional development (although be ready to get surprised here!:-). I'm not on the idea that feedback should be positive only. If it is such then it plays a role of support and encouragement but doesn't help at all to avoid mistakes in the future and change to the better.

Feedback is the only measure (or, rather, the only objective one) of how we're really doing. Regardless of what we're doing without requesting feedback the risks, that our own opinion is ostensible, are high and from an outside perspective we're not as good as we assume. David's post talks  in length about how to receive and absorb feedback so my part is easy - a few tips on how to give it.

• Bear in mind that giving feedback is a delicate act. You're driven by a desire to help a person and point to the skills/traits/characteristics/aspects that require additional development but depending on how you compose and present it the reaction maybe painful and instead of achieving the target you'll bring only damage.
• Always start with positive things. Maybe the major part of the feedback has to be about the positive things (unless the feedbackee recognizes you as a coach and the way you provide the feedback is very straightforward).
• Add a to-pay-attention-to part and itemize it. Simply to encourage people and say that everything is alright doesn't have any implications in a practical plane. Feedback is not about encouragement only but also about identifying problematic spots, visible from outside.
• Feedback is always subjective. Again, unless you're in a trainer's role remember that what you're saying is your personal opinion (even if you're a direct boss). Shape it in a form of your personal preferences and feelings as opposite to some objective truism.
• Feedback is personal (it's given to people, not products). Don't rush to mention all possible things to improve at once. Start with few most important and next time add something new.
• If you're in a boss position try to embed the culture of often evaluations in the team. Maybe not only downstairs on the hierarchy tree but also upstairs and between the employees. Build the common understanding that feedback flows exist only to let the people improve themselves, become better, and work better. Make it safe to give and request feedbacks. Demonstrate values of given feedbacks and make the team seeking for feedback.
• Try to do it in as less formal environment as possible. A one-to-one dinner, a walk together, or any other informal situation will work better than a conversation in the office.

It's hard to overestimate the significance of getting feedback and the importance of giving it right. The more feedback we get the higher odds we'll find our weaknesses. But not less important to know how to compose and deliver feedback right. What are your tips on doing so?

Technorati tags: feedback, career, management, team

Three miserable squares

Lisa Haneberg has recently published an amazing web-cast where she contrives in less than 30 minutes to share with us 10 powerful and efficient ways to generate breakthroughs. An interesting reading (actually, watching or listening) and a good foundation of sharing our tricks and tips on streamlining the efforts towards breakthroughs.

I agree with all the ten ways and want to comment on the introduction part of the cast (without  having a bash at the matter).

Lisa's comment that "everything in life can be explained by 2x2 matrix"  (see, for example, today's continuation of "how to fire" -  the managers' must read of the week) brings the 4 squares to the picture. She fairly describes the advantages of the top-right square, concurrently depicting problematic traits of the three "bad" squares. Completely supporting the point, I want, nevertheless, to advocate for the loser squares and to show situations where they may still represent a working mode - if not as efficient as the favourite of the matrix, still fairly important and bringing their own positive value.

Let's start with the Stargazer square. Lots of ideas - no action. How can we come up with great ideas if never gaze at the stars? Yes, it's a mode of dreams (no actions), seeding thoughts, and bearing creativity. It doesn't help to focus the laser beam but inflames the beam prior that. The Stargazer is an incubator of your ideas, dreams, and thoughts. It's a farm of dozens of "what-if" questions where, hopefully, a few (at least) will hatch to real missions, tasks, and plans. The very first Lisa's tip ("clearly decide where you want to go") is impossible without an incubating phase of the startgazer. While you're deciding you can't focus - simply nothing to focus on. But once you have decided the mission has been shaped and transition from the stargazer to the P2 mode must be completed.

The  Victim square. Many actions - no focus. It's a laboratory of solutions, an experimental play ground for various views. Most likely it's a destructive zone if we look at it through the prism of a beam. But, similarly to the incubation phase, this phase is necessary to try and test various approaches. Arguably, it can belong to the P2 phase itself but this question is rather a question of taste and terminology. The point here is to acknowledge and appreciate the "trial and error" phase of the mission although no results except excluding other wrong ways may ensue from it.

The Stuck square. No actions - no focus. The double-no square is the hardest client for my advocacy to defend:-) Still, we need sometimes to relax from anything, to turn our beamer completely off and just sit in the silence and darkness. It's even not a planned relaxing activity (mediation, a spiritual training, or a planned vacation) - really nothing, absolutely unplanned, and even spontaneous. The unplanned here is key. I'm sure to recharge our battery we need it occasionally too.

I want to reiterate that I didn't mean to argue and bring contras to Lisa's web-cast. Instead, wanted to draw your attention to the fact that sometimes we're too focused, too productive-oriented, too much care about effectiveness, and feel guilty of not progressing to the target on full gas. I believe it's about proportions. The majority of our time should (ideally) be devoted to focus the laser but at the same time we have to not be greedy to spend some time on the three other  squares too and let the beamer to rest a bit.

Related posts:

Three pragmatic isolations

An escape door

Technorati tags: GTD, productivity, discipline

Advocating emails (and Blackberry)

David Lorentzo fights his battle with an email disease and has taken the second step in building his new email lifestyle. This time (and please read the entire story - the links at the end of his blog) David tries to delete emails immediately that are not addressed directly to him. He admit, though, that it may sound drastic to us and that he's in the very beginning of the experiment so he may find it uncomfortable and change his mind in the future.

I think that the last recipe can't be accepted easily. It seems to me that David is struggling with the growing snowball of emails (like many of us) and the number of emails he ought to devote a dose of attention simply is unmanageable. But to delete emails not addressed directly to you sounds like throwing out the baby with the bath water.

We're CC-de on purpose and usually it's not spam. Sometimes you have to be in the loop, stay tuned, and keep track of the events. If you grow email culture in the organization (or at least in your team) then people start using the CC field, distribution lists, and emails in general cautiously. The same is true for Blackberry (which David got rid of some weeks ago). You don't have to answer every email from the BB and to answer any email immediately at all! The last point has been proved by David during his experiment.

I think that email is a very powerful tool and, as any powerful tool, it requires  safety measures. But when we try to get rid of emails (as a tool) instead of using it properly I feel we put the cart in front of the horse. A few short tips on how I tame the email monster.

• Use a few rules performing rough filtering. For instance, emails CC-ing me get to a special folder as opposite to directly addressed to me. Distribution lists is another clear candidate for auto-sorting to folders. Then different folders get different priority of my attention;
• Emails required future actions are marked "unopened" until they're answered or a corresponding task or event is created;
• BB is used only to trace the email flow and not to answer directly unless the answer is brief or criticality and urgency is high;
• BB is  used  only in a  out-of-desk mode - this is its purpose! I don't know why David likes so much no-blackberry-time while he's in a plane (taxiing, landing) - what so important in these few minutes if not to check "breaking news" from others?
• Emails are read in a the reverse chronological order. It saves time to you by not reacting to outdated emails and not dealing with the tail of the story;
• Use messengers for short-and-quick communications. GTalk is the best to my taste and is available on BB too:-)

Again, I admit the problem of uncontrolled emails exists. But don't believe that Stalin's principle - "no man, no problem" - may be applied to emails. We should develop and share better practices (and, apparently, better tools) to manage it more efficiently along with other communication means.

Technorati tags: email, blackberry, GTD, productivity, culture