When did we stop accepting responsibility? When did we stop talking?

At some point, we have to realize that we are no longer communicating, all we are doing is data dumping. Everyone thinks they are right and everyone else is wrong. We are divided into tribes that hate each other for no other reason than they believe in something slightly different us. We spend hours trolling each other on social media to the point that social media is no longer social.

How do you expect to find common ground if you cannot talk about simple stuff? How do you solve problems when you cannot define the problem?

At some point, we will need to work together to solve things; at some point, we have to remember we are all under the same flag, constitution, and it supposed to be equal under the law.

Reject the labels, rejected the memes, and for Pete’s sake stop deflecting bad things to innocent people!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

The importance of follow through: thoughts from an educator

Saying what you mean, and meaning what you say; that is something we should all be striving for in life. It is even more important when you are hiring people, writing recommendations, mentoring people, etc.

I have said it before and will say it again, everyone’s time is valuable, including the person applying for the job. What kind of relationships are you building with a non-caring attitude?

This is more than just communication (which many people do not truly understand), this is about effective communication.

Lessons from an MBA program.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Certificate training program in leadership/leadership development

Summary

Strong leadership is the cornerstone for a successful institution, and strength comes from training as well as experience. It is often the case specific training does not occur before a leadership appointment nor does it occur after a leader is chosen; rather it is often based upon seniority or the “old boys network”, as can be clearly in many companies. The kind of leadership needed for this arena in the 21^st century is different, and requires and upgrade in tools and training.

A certificate in leadership/leadership development would give the much needed specific knowledge of four key areas, to leaders. It will give them the training they do not have and will not get, it will provide stability, reduce turnover of positions because leaders are not feeling overwhelmed, and it can build a network between peers and make the atmosphere more collaborative.

While there are programs that exist in the industry, most are geared towards specific companies and do not incorporate graduate level MBA education.

Who can benefit from this? All C level leaders, Program managers, Directors, supervisors, those seeking advancement, and so much more.

The 4 Courses plus one project:

Leadership 

Human Resources Management 

Law and Ethics 

Strategic Leadership

Want to learn more?

http://www.theeteamconsulting.com/about-us.html 

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Omission in the day and age of instant communication is dangerous

Let us look at this sentence: “I don’t like because of color”. If inserted into the wrong conversation in the right way, all of sudden you have an argument about racism. The whole sentence was really: “I don’t like this couch because the of the color”, a significant difference.

When people alter, or omit words from sentences, it can have a profound effect on a conversation, when leaders do this, it can have a devastating effect in general. Leaders who consistently keep their employees in the dark are fostering a culture that thrives on rumors because we all know that information gap will be filled by something. It is even more sad when the information that was withheld was not even vital!

If you want “buy-in" from your employees than you need to give them something to buy; if you want to have civil conversations then you need to check your sources before you quote. The standards of using references that are peer reviewed and reliable is not just for academia.

A lesson from a communication course. #communication #leadership #education

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

You must serve with honor: an educator’s thoughts

Due to the nature of politics, education is once again thrown in the political mix. It is a pity that, every 2,4,6, or 8 years, the noble profession of education must be subjected to the political whims: but we must be prepared for it because we are public servants.

Innovation is great, change can be good, dedication is necessary but sometimes difficult when eggs are being thrown at you. As educators, we need to always be striving to serve with honor.

Serving our students honorably means we are giving them our best no matter what the circumstance, it means we are rising above chatter, it means we are trying to do what is right in the face of all that is wrong, it means being a professional.

Educators, keep serving with honor because in the end, honor is everything.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

The non-interview interview: why do employers do this?

Are you aware that most jobs posted (especially in the education sector where I work) have already been filled? Are you aware that it is a common practice for employers to interview people that they have no intention of hiring?

I am not going to try and analyze the various reasons as to why because that is not my problem; I am going to discuss why this practice is unprofessional and does a disservice not just to the candidate, but also to the company.

The candidate’s job at an interview is to bring their “A” game. They need to be prepared, have researched the company, have poignant questions to ask, etc. In today’s market, it is common to have most candidates prepared like this.

The employer’s main job is to have looked at the candidates resume, done some basic research such as LinkedIn, be prepared with good interview questions, and to be objectively considering every candidate they interview. From a candidate’s perspective, there is nothing worse than walking into an interview where it is obvious the employer knows nothing about you, where they are late to start the interview, people enter the interview late, and at the end, it is also obvious that they are not really serious about hiring.

A professional interview deserves professional interviewers who are truly looking at you as possible fit for their company. This current practice of the non-interview also explains why employers are not getting back to candidates at all after interview: lack of forethought about their company reputation and taking advantage of people in this saturated job market.

Word does get around, and if the company is not careful, it could become known as the company of “do not waste your time applying because they are not serious”.

At some point, we must understand it is not the candidates fault. Lessons in leadership.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

When does it become your fault? A question for leaders/managers

One of the most common reasons people fail at a job is because expectations and details of the job were never clear. This happens from front line workers all the way to CEOs. When people have to get fired, “under performance” is often put as a reason. Maybe you write, “they were not good at their job” or “they did not have the right skills”, etc.

However, whose job is it to make sure that your employees are ready to the job? Whose job is it to make sure they are making progress throughout the year? The managers and HR.

I recently wrote about unprofessional behavior by the HR departments and hiring managers during the interview stage. The general consensus is that it has become a common occurrence for companies to simply ignore candidates who are not chosen after a professional interview. Some people are of the mindset that maybe the candidate was not “properly prepared” and did not “set the right expectations”. However, at some point we have to acknowledge that it had nothing to do with the candidate and everything to do with company bad habits.

Give credit where credit is due, but also take blame when the blame is on you. Stop excusing company bad behavior no matter how common it might be!

The leaders are responsible for setting the stage for employee success, at the very least they do their best to give them all the tools needed to be successful. Leaders are also responsible for any culture of rude unprofessional behavior that exists in their company.

Leaders, time to stop blaming others and accept responsibility for mistakes. How you bring them in is how they will leave.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Our experiences: a thought on communication

If we think about it, we can probably find shared experiences for every human being throughout the world. However, just because we have all experienced something, it does not mean we all experienced it in the same way.

High school for some was a glorious time full of fond memories and future promise, yet for others, it was a time of despair, survival, and a time to be forgotten. The same could be said for going to the grocery store because depending on your neighborhood, it could have been a fun trip or you were running a precarious gauntlet.

In business (and in life), the first step to proper communication is to recognize that our experiences and our motivations are different (remember different, not better nor worse). As a manager, in order to understand why your staff comes to work every day, you must make the effort to know who they are as people. Common ground can be built from knowing who your people truly are.

Be careful not to casually dismiss someone else’s reaction to a situation, do not be so quick to tell them to “get over” something; especially if you have not made the effort to know more about them. This does not mean we excuse everyone’s bad behavior; this is more about generalizing, and thinking one size fits all. This is especially true in trying to understand cultural differences.

How we try communicate versus what we are actually communicating, can be the difference between closing a deal, retaining a good employee, and losing a deal, losing that good employee to another company.

Are you aware of how you communicate? Do you adjust your communication style to fit your audience? Or are you the type of person who believes everything should be adjusted to you?

These are things to ponder: lesson from an MBA Program.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

What kind of message does this send to your employees? #leadership #communication

This is a real message sent out to employees in regards to a holiday party:

“Please RSVP by COB Friday, December 9th.

Holiday Party RSVP

The Coleman University Holiday Party will take place on Friday, December 16th in Hopper Hall from 6-10pm. The event will include games, raffles, and a dance floor. The cost to attend is $5 per employee and you can bring one guest at no cost. Please pay at the front desk and RSVP by COB Friday, December 9th. We ask employees to provide a dessert item, employees bringing dessert will get one raffle ticket (only one).”

Never mind the grammar issues in the message, never mind the acronyms that are not necessarily clear: you are charging your hardworking employees for a Christmas party! If money is an issue, perhaps just have a potluck, or maybe no party at all?

The little things are what matter, it is the little things that get noticed, and these little things are the difference between retaining your employees and losing them.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Do you listen and take action or just hit delete and hope? A communication question

As employer and as a leader, you are going to get negative emails from employees from time to time because life happens.

How you respond to those emails can be the difference between solving a problem and creating new one. By the way, not responding at all is a negative way of responding because every person wants to know that their point has been heard.

Try and see the issue from the point of view of the employee, if you cannot, ask questions, and ask the employee what they would like to see happen. You might be able to fulfill their wish, but maybe all they wanted to do was vent; venting can be cathartic for people.

There are too many people in authority who feel they must defend and counter every argument, rather than listen, understand, and try and help a person get through the issue.

Leadership often means you must put the needs of your employees ahead of your own ego.

So before you hit that delete button, before you decide to ignore that person, ask yourself: how am I helping this person by my action (or lack of)?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Criminal Justice System: An Education Problem

Whatever political party you belong to, whichever label you put on yourself, all sensible people know that our criminal justice system is far from perfect. We have left the “correctional and rehabilitation” parts out and focused on the “punishment” thereby creating issues that should not exist.

The system changes with the political winds (should not happen), and industries whose CEOs names we do not know, are making huge profits from it. Inflated phone calls for prisoners, expensive commissaries, prison labor, the bail bond system, debtors prison (still exists just not called that), fining communities into poverty for minor offenses, etc.

Private prisons can only make a profit if there are prisoners, and we have seen judges go to jail recently for jailing kids and adults for a healthy kick-back.

We have police officers, through no fault of their own, that are inadequately trained to handle a lot of situations and there is no training in sight. We have communities that distrust the police because the police do not know them and vice-versa; and whether we want to admit or not, too many people are being killed by the police (estimated 945 this year as I write, and that does not include prison population).

How do elementary school students get handcuffed or pepper sprayed in their school? How does a child acquire an arrest record for defiance before they have even entered high school? Do we not see there is a problem here?

It is likely that someone will troll this article with crime statistics attributed along color lines, that happens often. I hope they keep in mind that this is universal, and goes beyond skin color.

These are the kind of things everyday people are concerned about (along with being able to pay the bills), these are the sort of issues I hope the next administration takes a serious look at because our children, the future of our country are being affected.

Serious problems deserve serious solutions that include serious conversations with the people affected (the poor).

We can do better, we need to do better, let us do better!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

My hope for the election: an educator’s thought

My hope is simple. It is not partisan; it does not involve any labels or slogans such as conservative and liberal.

My hope is for understanding as we move forward. Unless you understand something or someone. It is human nature to look at things and people suspiciously. Suspicion, leads to fear, that leads to hate (sounds like Star Wars but it is true), and that eventually leads to destruction.

You might not see what I am seeing, you might not agree, however, America does have an important choice to make tomorrow, and that is whether we truly believe in an America for all or divided America.

It is ok to listen to each other, to try and understand each other.

 

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Sharing some good articles on leadership 09/16/2016

I am a firm believer in sharing good an relevant material, that is how we learn. Today I am sharing two articles by Jeffrey E. Reeves (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyereeves) .

I hope you get something out of this as well!

Leadership… An Informed Perspective August 26, 2016

“Leaders create the vision.  Managers create plans.  Your vision motivates people to action; plans are an outcome that guides your team toward making your vision a reality.  Leadership and management are the two elements of being-in-charge and being responsible.  The ability to discern which element one is dealing with or which is dominant at any moment in each unique situation is—in my view—the main characteristic of a great leader.  I call this characteristic wisdom”.

Read the rest here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-informed-perspective-jeffrey-e-reeves?trk=prof-post

Leadership: Part II - How the Planning Padlock Stifles Leadership, September 16, 2016

“Leadership is about creating a vision. Planning is an afterthought that often turns a leader’s vision into nothing more than a pipe dream. Consider..."

“Leaders articulate a vision in words and deeds that motivate individuals to embrace the leader’s vision, take action, and transform the leader’s vision into a reality whether the leader is there or not. MLK’s vision advanced civil rights and continues to do so today. Men landed on the moon long after JFK’s death and are now looking forward to colonizing Mars. The Missionaries of Charity of Charity survive and thrive even after Mother Teresa becomes a saint in the Catholic Church"

Read the rest here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-part-ii-how-planning-padlock-stifles-jeffrey-e-reeves?trk=hb_ntf_MEGAPHONE_ARTICLE_POST

“By Jeffrey E. Reeves, Leader of Small Biz Mastermind Alliances and Advisory Boards –“

Shared by:

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam 

When a school closes: what happens to the students? An Education Issue

In the last couple of years there have been some high profile school closings or near closings. And for the record it has not always been for-profit schools. There are public schools, private non-profit schools on that list.

Often there are internal politics, outside politics, and other agendas involved in these closings; sometimes it is just because the school was run really badly. (I have mentioned before that having a leadership title does not automatically make you a leader)

During all this struggle and fighting, the people we seem to hear the least from are the students. What is the solution for the students? Even if their debt was forgiven, many students have put years of work into a degree that they cannot finish, and those students cannot or will not be going anywhere else.

The recent high profile closing of ITT and Corinthian have and will continue to have a big effect on the industry in general because the accreditor ACICS is also in jeopardy.

So back to my original statement/question: what is the long range plan for students? What is the plan to truly help the students fulfill their dreams and goals? Are there any ideas floating around that might work?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Do not lie to your employees: Lessons from an MBA class

Companies sometimes get bad news and it is not uncommon for this bad news to affect employees. Obviously the news must be disseminated in a timely manner, however, there are some companies whose company culture it is to practice a dangerous form of deception with their employees: they lie to them.

When you lie to your employees, all you are doing is sweeping the trash into the closet, and that closet will eventually be opened. When you lie to your employees, you are saying you do not value them or trust them. When you lie to your employees you are missing an opportunity to solicit some potential solution from your staff; believe me, if the vested in the company they want to help see the problem fixed.

Your employees know the pulse of your company, especially if they have been around for a little while; they know the cycles, and they can quickly separate the truth from falsehood. After all, they run the day to day operation of the place.

Tell them the truth, ask for their help, and you might be pleasantly surprised by the helpful responses.

Today’s lesson,

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

The Artful Dodge of an Apology: lesson from an MBA program

In my experience, most apologies are given to make the person apologizing feel better, and societal norms in this country say we must accept that apology and not hold a grudge, etc. What is not factored in is the human factor; the fact that we are thinking, breathing and feeling creatures.

How you treat your employees before they leave and how you treat your colleagues before you part ways will have a lot to do with how that apology is truly received. If you had made the effort beforehand, you probably will not have to apologize later, or give false platitudes such as “it is nice to see you”.

This sounds cynical, I know, however, the point of this write up is to prevent these issues from becoming issues in the first place, and it starts with authentic leadership.

Some things to think about that get taught in class every day, but do not necessarily get put into practice.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Writers are welcome!

Do you write articles about education issues or educational leadership? Do you want to grow your audience and help grow a fledgling blog into a large one?

The ETeam welcomes writers (and before you ask, not there is no charge) to contribute to our blog!

Go to: http://www.theeteamconsulting.com/contact-us.html fill out the contact me or email direct to: principal@theeteamconsulting.com

When submitting articles, please make sure to submit an appropriate picture to go with it, and please keep it relevant to the important issues in education and leadership.

Let’s make a difference, let’s change the world!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Quick plan to start getting to know your employees

If you know nothing about your staff other than their job description, if you have trouble having a non-work meaningful conversation with them, and if you do not know their first names, then you have work to do.

Here is a quick plan to correct this:

1.      Monday. Ask them how their weekend was and actually pay attention. If you have a lot of employees alternate the weeks

2.      Tuesday. Ask how their week is set up and what projects they are working on. Inquire if they need help with any of them. This shows you are paying attention to what they are doing and are available if they need you

3.      Wednesday. Send a mid-week pep talk or check in to everyone, make the message about them and their efforts (avoid sarcasm)

4.      Thursday. Week is almost ended, check on their projects but most importantly ask what fun plans they have and listen

5.      Friday. People slow down on the last day of the week, so this is not the day to be a hard case (but they still owe you an honest day’s work). Do you have a casual Friday dress code or some kind of fun Friday activity? Make sure you say goodbye to everyone before you leave or they leave (you should be last out)

Simple enough right? Then why isn’t this happening regularly?

Lesson from an MBA course.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

I did not write this but I am going to share it

5 Signs You're Going To Fail As a Leader

1. Squashing the talents and strengths of team members.

Not recognizing their unique strengths and talents beyond a job description, and how that translates to high performance, is certainly an engagement killer. People love to use their unique gifts. The best leaders will leverage close relationships with employees by finding out what their strengths are, and bringing out the best in their employees.

2. Hoarding information.

Here's the real reason leaders hoard and withhold information: It's about power and control. And control is one of the most effective ways to kill trust. A leader hoarding information to control his environment and the people in it cannot be trusted. The reverse of this is a leader who acts responsibly by sharing information and being transparent with their team.

3. Micromanaging.

Micro-managers operate their way because, again, it's about power, and power is about control; don't let them fool you by making you believe it's to keep from things going bad, or because they want to ensure things are done "the right way" as the "experts". So how do you avoid a micro-managed environment? Three ways:

• First, pay attention to your hiring process. Are you asking the right questions to assess and measure culture fit, and the work behaviors you desire on top of your technical and other hard skills?
• Secondly, are team members being trained properly? And do you have an engaging onboarding process that puts the emphasis on developing the team?
• Lastly, are you listening to feedback (and doing something about it) that will further support staff needs, and improve yourself (and your business, I might add) as a leader? When you hire bright people that reflect your and your company's values, equip them to succeed, and share power with them, you have extended trust their way, and are on your way to building a great team.

4. Getting the last word

Are you an employee reporting to a manager who is always right, and has the final say on everything? In leadership literature, this is a person with low EQ (Emotional Intelligence).

When this leader doesn't solicit the opinions of others, get buy-in from team members (especially when change is on the horizon, because change is often scary), trust erodes and morale goes in the tank.

When this leader doesn't lay out a vision and listen to the collective voice of the team in pursuing the vision, chances are team members will not feel cared for, respected, or valued.

As a result, team members will become increasingly passive and resentfully compliant. Does that resonate?

5. Not making themselves available.

Some (but not all) meetings are important and necessary. We all get that. But when leaders are booking unnecessary meetings while spending less one-on-one time with team members, that leader is sending a message that they don't care about them.

This may not be a reflection of character, but it's what is coming across to team members. If you want to avoid your schedule being a reflection of your priorities and showing that you don't care, create margin and build in time (15-20 minutes at the most will do the trick) for one-on-ones.

Or you can block off time for team members to drop by and ask questions, address concerns, get mentored, and just "check-in."

Read the whole thing here: 5 Signs You're Going To Fail As a Leader

These are common mistakes we all experience and the leaders doing this often do not know (or sometimes do not care) that they are doing it. In my experience numbers one and four are the deadliest.

The question is, what are you going to do about it?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Keeping bridges intact in today’s digital age

We have a tendency to pour a lot of ourselves into our work, especially in the education industry. We spend countless hours of unpaid overtime, answering student emails, working on projects that will benefit the institution, grading, etc, etc. Our spouses get mad at us, our children get mad at us, and we promise ourselves we are going to slow down and take that vacation. We spend so much time at our job that our social lives can be completely wrapped up in it.

So what happens when for some reason or another you lose that job? How do you cope, but more importantly, how do your coworkers behave with your loss?

Job loss is nothing new, but in this day and age of instant information, it is not uncommon to find yourself being interviewed by someone you laid off, or competing with someone you know from an old job. How did you treat that person when they left? How did you treat that person before they left? Crucial questions on how future events might play out.

I personally find that I get the most LinkedIn requests, or requests for recommendation when people separate from their job and they need something, and those people quickly disappear once they get what they needed; until the next time.

While most people are believers in paying it forward, we are all human. We remember the slights, the broken promises, and the fact that the only time we hear from you is when you need something. Was your relationship genuine in the first place?

This is not saying you have to be everyone’s friend, but I am suggesting that the level of authenticity you displayed with past coworkers will determine how they view you in the future (professionally).

Try not to burn bridges, and this goes as much for the former employers as the former employee because, technology is creating a long memory. A business that is known to be unstable and have a revolving door is going to attract only temporary employees, and that business will become a way-stop for those looking for something else. Do not get it twisted, businesses can become desperate for good talent as well.

Treat your employees well while they are with you and when they leave you, because you are likely to see them again, and they can affect your future as a company. 

Lessons from an MBA program.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam