Inaugural Issue         February, 2002
Welcome to the premier issue of The Manager's Exchange.

I hope you enjoy our inaugural issue. Our mission is to provide resources for Extraordinary Managers to be at their personal best everyday and develop Optimum Performance in their workplace.

A large element of performance goes far beyond the technical skills needed to do a job. These skills are the personal and interpersonal skills that allow you to maximize your technical ability, the talents of everyone on your team and the resources you have available to do your job. These skills make the difference between good managers and Extraordinary Managers. We call them nontechnical skills. We dedicate our time and resources to developing nontechnical skills in the workplace. We believe managers are a great place to start, because you impact so many people. Through your example and guidance you greatly influence your workplace.

Our newsletter is for you.

Topic of the Month
The Language of Success
Many factors contribute to success: financing, equipment, facilities, economic environment, good business practices. These are the obvious. Businesses take care of the obvious. More subtle yet equally important elements include the personal and interpersonal skills of your staff, especially those in positions of influence. Language For Success is among these skills. Language and its impact on performance are often over looked. When they are not, Extraordinary Managers begin to evolve. The advantage gained from using language effectively impacts your personal performance, your leadership ability, your ability to form and sustain successful teams and more.

Extraordinary Managers who recognize and develop their Language of Success eliminate problems of motivation and performance. They are able to inspire others and effectively coordinate their efforts. It makes the difference between good managers and Extraordinary Managers. Language serves as the vehicle through which we not only speak to others, but also the way we speak about ourselves, each other, our work and the problems sure to come up in the workplace.

Language forms the context in which we explore our work, problems and their solutions. The context we develop includes our assumptions, opinions, intentions, concerns and much more. Language underlies them all and determines the way that we approach our work, the problems we encounter there and the solutions we develop. Language builds the foundation for our attitude. And our attitude impacts how we approach our experiences including whether we approach a problem looking for a fight and someone to blame, or whether we approach a problem looking for a solution.

Unfortunately, we learn our pattern of language, long before we are aware that we are doing so. And we certainly are not aware of the impact our choice of language is having on us. A large part of our early adult life is often spent looking around, scratching our heads and wondering what is going on. and investing our time and energy solving the problems that result from ineffective perspectives. Only when we begin to figure out what our perspective is and how it gets in our way can we replace it with a more effective approach than the one we had. Pollyanna approaches are unrealistic, ineffective and self-defeating. Language of Success is beyond spouting worn-out cliches, positively skewed feedback and forced platitudes.

Language of Success allows you to do three things when you communicate: create a context, align your resources and coordinate action. Extraordinary Managers are effective because they do all three.

Our premier issue introduces Language for Success as a critical element for becoming Extraordinary Managers and developing Optimum Performance in the Workplace. Our next three issues will expand on this introduction.

The Coach's Exchange (Comments from an executive coach)
The Coach's Exchange responds to the questions and comments offered by our readers. This month's questions demonstrates an application of Language for Success in impacting workplace dynamics.

The mood is so negative in our office. How can we change it?
This is an important issue to address. Managing the atmosphere or mood in your environment is one of the most important ways that you can impact workplace performance.

The easy answer is to treat each other with respect, build trust, develop a positive attitude and balance getting the job done while taking care of your people. Such pat answers provide intellectual stimulation at best; and recipes for disaster at worst when used to point fingers and assign blame. They are essential ingredients to build and maintain positivity in the workplace but are often ticked-off as though they can be handed out like candy and new pens. So, assuming you want to invest time and energy to develop positivity in your office, what can a manager do? Keep this in mind:

1. As the manager, you set the pace and the direction, as well as the mood in your office.
2. Your goal for positivity addresses a way of engaging with each other. It actually refers to an atmosphere of lightness, respect, helpfulness and optimism.
3. This is not a short term project. It is an ongoing approach to working together. The amount of time it takes to establish positivity in the workplace depends on the current state of affairs, your commitment to refocusing attention on the positive aspects of the work in your office and the amount of attention you give it.
4. Have conversations with each other individually and collectively about your desire to create a positive, enthusiastic, and supportive environment in your office. Enter into those conversations with an intention to learn

1. What a positive work environment means to each of you.
2. The benefits you each see in changing the mood in the office.
3. Who is willing to work toward that goal.
4. The common threads among you that will make this worth while.

5. Focus your attention on developing these common threads of positivity. Avoid conversations about who does what to make things negative.
6. Instead, brainstorm simple ideas that everyone can do on a daily basis to lighten up the mood in your office and change your focus away from problems.
7. Some of the basic guidelines for ending negativity include the following:

1. Show up at work glad to be there and eager to serve your co-workers and clients.
2. Establish a Gossip-Free Zone. When you notice you are doing it, end it. Walk away when others are participating in it. If you have a gripe with someone, speak with them personally and in private.
3. Establish a Complaint-Free Zone. Complaining involves just sitting around griping for the sake of griping rather than addressing problems. Talking with another person about how to make things better is different than complaining and is encouraged.
4. When problems surface, help each other identify the root cause and ways to solve it.
5. Develop a practice of greeting each other cordially, commenting about what we see that we like.
   Note: I know, your first thought is "Yuck, how unrealistic and artificial is that!" That just shows you how ingrained negativity is. Why is ignoring someone and grunting at them in the morning any more realistic than smiling and making a pleasant remark? If you really have a bone to pick, smile, great them pleasantly and make an appointment to talk later. Address your grievance. Then get over it.

8. Brighten and lighten up the office by cleaning it up, sprucing it up and having pictures, posters and literature that is uplifting, humorous and inspiring.
9. Remember, people will see through a facade of let's make things "look good" around here instead of "let's do things well" around here.
10. The items previously listed are a start. They will not work when layered over fundamental issues of distrust, disrespect and inequity in a work environment. It is a start. Addressing problems fairly, head-on, openly and honestly on a day-to-day basis is the best way to build and maintain trust, respect and a positive, can-do attitude.

These are good guidelines to start your Positivity in the Workplace strategy. Build them into whatever is currently going on in your office. Do it slowly over time. That way you eliminate a sense of overwhelm and frustration and the feeling that you are taking on one more project in an already stressed out environment.

Manager's Poll for Future Issues
Let's begin to formulate our definition of Extraordinary Managers.

1. What behaviors do Extraordinary Managers demonstrate? Eg. Extraordinary Managers are great communicators.
2. What problems do Extraordinary Managers minimize or eliminate in the workplace? Eg. High turn-over

Your input is greatly appreciated. Send us your comments, ideas, questions and concerns. We would love to feature them in future articles.

Words for Inspiration
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody else sees and thinking what nobody has thought.
Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi

Managers, can easily discover ways to benefit from Language for Success in their workplace today. Language for Success, a subtle element of success with profound effects, can be developed, encouraged and instilled in your work environment. Is your language helping or hindering? Is your language a Language for Success?


On Becoming an Extraordinary Manager
Questions for Reflection
On a scale of 1 - 10, what is the level of Positivity in Your Workplace?
What relationship do you notice between Positivity in Your Workplace and Language for Success?
What did you do today to make your workplace a better place to be?
What can you do tomorrow to make a difference?

TeleclassesTopic of the Month
Free monthly introductory teleclass: Extraordinary Managers
Join us to see how teleclasses work and how valuable our teleclassses are to you!
This month's session will be held       12:00 - 1:00 PM CST Thursday, February 21, 2003
Manager's Mastermind Group
Language of Success

E-courses
Managing OPTIMUM Performance: an E-course Learning Series Dates in 2003

E-course A: Language for Success E-course B: OPTIMUM Performance E-course C: Planning Your Success E-course D: Tools for Your Success E-course E: Leading Yourself and Others to Success

Begins February 19 Begins April 9 Begins May 28 Begins July 16 Begins September 3

Products
Language of Success e-book or Hard Copy

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