Expanding the View

It's that time. The time to stop trying to be all things to all people and consultants. And as with the question posed to Nancy Pelosi today, it's time to start grooming burgeoning talent.

So it's with great joy that I'd like to introduce you to a new voice on The Consultant's Desk. Charity Rowell is a DeVry undergrad earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Her focus is on Human Resource Administration and her talents are many. Her perceptions are strong. She does excellent research and is well spoken. In addition to all of that, she goes the extra mile when formulating a response by collecting the information that is needed for a reliable and accurate response.

I've asked her to share with us the knowledge she gains from her studies so that we may move forward with new perspectives of what is currently being taught in terms of progressive principles, theories, and practices in Human Resources and consulting.

If a concept is not clear, please come here and ask Charity to explain it. Definitely enjoy the voice of future trends in professionalism, Human Resources, and consulting. Join her as she takes a seat at the Board conference table.

All in the Course of a Day

The editor of SmartPros put out a call to her readers two weeks before the anniversary of September 11, 2001. SmartPros asked its readers to share their thoughts on how they will spend the one year anniversary of 9/11, and we received some wonderful letters.

In a note that preceded the publication of the messages that arrived in response to the call, the editor said, "Sept. 11, 2002 -- Perhaps you will be as surprised as we were by the varied responses: an emotional tribute to a firefighter, a political commentary, a letter from a man who will be on active duty on this 9/11 anniversary, flashbacks to one year ago, and a dose of 'business as usual.'"

The shock of those events still haunted my psyche and influenced the words that I chose to submit in response to the call. Today I not only share those thoughts with you but also solicit your input about what you were doing on September 11, 2001 and how you will be remembering that day.

All in the Course of a Day

September 11, 2001 awakened as any other day for a solo practitioner/consultant. The crush of work and administrative issues that were left undone impatiently waited for attention, with their new siblings - the To Do list for the new day.

One dawning news story was different from the rest. Although the newscaster reported that a plane had just crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers, there was something just not right about the report. It was surprising that the newscaster didn’t catch it. The site of the accident is extremely visible. The likelihood of not seeing the tower was like not seeing an elephant on a plain in Kansas.

In the time it took to register that thought the next one demanded an answer. Was that a passenger plane or a private one? If a passenger plane, this was as horrible an event as The Challenger.

Within the next 90 minutes, the toll of crashes and lost lives mounted as both towers crumbled and came crashing down on all humanity beneath and within them and as the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania added to the destruction toll. All those souls who went about doing their usual routine on a Tuesday morning. The carping about wages, hours, the difficult co-worker or supervisor. Attending to the mindless opening rituals of the day and fully expecting the workplace to be a safe environment, these people experienced an earthquake jolt in their sense of what and where is safe. Little did any of us anywhere appreciate the far-reaching ripple effects of the attacks on the World Trade Towers, the Pentagon, and the aborted attack on the White House.

But as a solo practitioner, there were appointments and projects that had real deadlines and penalties for missing them. So life was still business as usual - press on to meet the commitments and deliver.

As the day wore on, little resembled normal. Public transportation is my sole means of commuting. On September 11, transports seemed to take even longer than usual. At the first juncture, I finally gave up waiting for the bus and walked the uphill mile to deliver one document. The intention was to then speed my way to the downtown library to use the resources necessary for the project – the only place where those resources were available. I was stopped. The manager at the site informed me that bus service to downtown was terminated for the next several days and all of downtown was closed.

I was forced to slow down that day and take an even closer look at the humanity that passed around and about me, to listen more carefully to the stories these people told. Some were completely oblivious to the events and continued in their microbial worlds. Others sublimated. A hush hung over the city as people numbly waited, waited for some piece of reality that said none of these horrors had actually occurred.

For me, life and business could not stop and ponder any longer than taking lunch and walking back to my SOHO. Clients and businesses were still depending on my performance. Bills still needed to be paid, deadlines still needed to be met through alternative means.

As the ensuing weeks wore on, many considered whether there would be other attacks and projected the locations of the next likely sites. I stood on bus stops and waited in lobbies and wondered if I and my fellow waiting companions would become the next attack statistics. Victims merely because we happened to be standing where the shrapnel or debris fell to snuff out our lives as well.

Racial tensions took four ratchets up on the scale of intensity. A new class of people became targets. Hate and incendiary speech proliferated discussion boards and meetings, born of the shock that needed mitigation. My determination to create acceptance of diversity and others as individuals intensified.

In the end, everything has become part of the new reality. The United States tasted the bitter gunpowder of warfare in her own bosom and gained a new understanding of why some countries hate. Some ponder how there can be acceptance of living in a state of wondering from minute to minute, hour to hour, whether their home or workplace, school or shopping center will be the site of a missile that turns it into a shambled heap of debris and death. In the long run, we learned that it is impossible to live in that type of fear. United States citizens took a step into appreciating what that type of life is like. We were given an opportunity to identify with the issues of other countries gripped in the vice of warfare not only on their homeland but in their everyday lives. The reality is not comfortable. A means of surviving and overcoming the fear needs to be in place. Life has to keep going.

So, on September 11, 2002, there will be no planned observation of the day, no recollection. I’m still a solo practitioner and consultant. I still have deadlines and commitments that grow like bacilli in a Petri dish. September 11, 2002 will be a matter of getting as much done as possible in a day. It will be all things that are now normal in the course of a day.

- Yvonne La Rose

Additional Content of Interest:

• Workplace Safety Measures
  
• Talent Genius
  
• Leadership in Dangerous Situations: A Handbook for the Armed Forces, Emergency Services and First Responders
  

Diversity Inroads at the 2012 Olympics

It seems the USA Dream Team has super powers beyond the basketball court. As I listened to Bryant, Durant, and James being interviewed after helping the Team win a Gold Medal for their country, I heard them verbalizing what I was thinking, what I was saying to myself, what I have advocated for so long. They spoke of having respect for their competitors. They proclaimed the importance of focus on doing well in the sport and putting forth their best effort to win - for their country. They expressed the supremacy of being a professional in your field. And they demonstrated the veracity of their expressions with the gestures of appreciation extended to their competitors and their coaches.

That was what the Olympics was about in Great Britain. It was the exemplification of the standards we need to use to guide us in the execution of our daily lives as we work - and live. Using the focus that the Dream Team members exhort will deliver the best that can be achieved. It will also deliver the best price to be had.

However, it became clear on a daily basis that these Olympic games were groundbreaking for more than the World records that were broken and reset. This was an Olympics that was also a celebration of diversity. Starting with age and while not the oldest in the history of Olympic games, Japan's Hoketsu at age 71 was the oldest Olympic competitor (equestrian) this year. Likewise, the 39 year old Iovtchev of Bulgaria was the oldest male gymnast this year. He noted that had he not entered the competition, a great many in his country would have wound up unemployed. His presence helped to continue the Bulgarian gymnastics federation.

It was rumored that there was a woman over 50 who competed in gymnastics but I can find no record of such an entrant. Perhaps the rumor was about 86-year-old Johanna Quus but she was not an Olympics entrant. She performed at the Cottbus, Germany World competition. However, the women's beach volleyball team included three women, Jen Kessy, Misty May-Treanor, and Kerri Walsh Jennings, who are aged 35, 35, and 34, respectively.

Speaking of women, are you aware that women were not allowed to compete in the original Games? They sort of wrangled their way in. It took a few centuries for them to actually gain access to the field and legitimately vie in the competitions. They made it by the Nineteenth Century. These 2012 Games were the first in which women were represented in all national Olympic committee entries. This was the first time for Qatar, Brunei, and Saudi Arabia to have women in the games. Muslim women also made inroads. They pushed the barriers out of their way and succeeded in making striking accomplishments on the fields of competition and behind the scenes in planning and deveopment. This year the religious holiday of Ramadan fell directly in the midst of competition. Woroud Sawalha faced challenges of attire in addition to those of their sport and restrictions on where they could train. They made astounding victories in their own rights.

Then there were those who entered the Games and did not look like any of their competitors. Oscar Pistorius was the first athlete who is a double amputee to compete in and win the Men's qualifying 400M. Although a teammate took a fall during the Men's 4x400 qualifying heat that appeared to disqualify South Africa for that event, South Africa (his team) lodged a protest and was allowed to compete for a medal in that race. The men's team took no medals in either of his events.

Pistorius probably faced challenges as grueling as those endured by fellow countrywoman Semenya. The sweetness of victory was not kept from her. Semenya came from last in the Women's 800M to cross the finish line as a Silver Medalist.

Lest I be accused of overlooking youth, women's USA gymnast Gabby Douglas at age 16 was the first Black woman to win Gold in the the Women's Gymnastics and also helped her team to win the All Around Gold.

There's so much to say about these 2012 Olympic Games. However, it's time to take a breather. But many of the situations that arose is these Games brought back memories of bygone Games and competitors. Those will come in a little while.

Sponsored Link: The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2012 Edition

Management Consultants According to the Book

Although we've looked at the duties of a Consultant and considered when to use one, there was nothing that pointed our attention to the official Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) in order to get the official word on what a consultant does. So let's resolve the mystery. Let's turn to the OOH and get more information.

It helps to know where to find it. It's a publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Once you've reached the OOH page, you'll discover there are a lot of ways to explore occupational titles and classifications. You career coaches probably already know about the Handbook and use it to discuss career options with your clients. And during these horrid economic times (complete with lack of jobs in particular titles) you recruiters undoubtedly use it to help your clients discover alternatives to what used to be the right fit for their personnel.

Technology is changing many things. Demand for certain types of work as well as certain types of skills are just two examples.

But we have something specific in mind, a Consultant, so let's examine how to find that classification. We can go to the alphabetical index and select "C" in order to search for our term. Unfortunately, it only lists "Consultants, financial" and tells us to see "Personal Financial Advisors." That's not quite what we had in mind. We want information about a Management Consultant. Sometimes the best thing to do when the answer is too difficult to find is to use that trusty site search box. The Government's works very well; it provides us with quite a few titles that fit our query. The four that are closest are

• Management Analysts
  
• Operations Research Analysts
  
• Human Resources Managers
  
• Administrative Services Managers
  

Each of these titles is slightly different from the others and can sometimes simultaneously serve two or three of the roles defined by the OOH. Fortunately, there's also the last classification, Administrative Services Managers, that can be considered an outside specialist who performs more executive management services on a contract basis an could in many instances be a long-term relationship rather than provide ad hoc support.

The Human Resources Manager principally focuses their efforts on the matters connected with personnel issues. The Management Analyst could also be called the solutions person as they look at more of the internal issues that impact the company's overall financial status. Many times these issues derive from the same source. So it's important to carefully consider what needs to be addressed so that you can identify and retain the right type of specialist and carve out the terms of engagement that most accurately fit your needs.

There's more useful information in the OOH that will help guide you to more satisfying engagements. It's a good idea to explore it even in a limited way so that you have a good starting point for remedying your needs or counseling your clients.

Sponsored Link: The Rules of Management, Expanded Edition: A Definitive Code for Managerial Success (Richard Templar's Rules)

Facing the Facts

It's been more than 20 years since the revelatory incident happened. It drastically changed my opinion about me and the way I perceive things.

As I approached a store entrance, an attractive young man who appeared to be in his early to mid 20s pulled into a handicapped parking space. He was driving a new sports model car. By virtue of the fact that he killed the engine and readied himself to exit the vehicle, it was apparent he planned to remain in the spot and was not using it to gain access to another space.

I stopped as I passed him to share some information. "Excuse me. This is a handicapped parking space. You may want to park somewhere else," I advised.

"But I am handicapped," he replied.

It was an indelible experience. In that instant, it was obvious to both of us that I had a major prejudice that needed to be overcome; it was an attitude about those with handicaps that needed to be altered in a major way.

Other Views

Since then, I've encountered others who have not yet had that type of revelatory life experience and speak of the handicapped or disabled in condescending terms and judgmentally dismiss them as not capable of filling some type of vacancy because of their "handicap."

It was interesting to listen to the executive recruiter who met a manager who is a Thalydamide survivor. "He only has one hand," the recruiter exclaimed, "But he can do all the things I can with his one arm. He can drive a car. He can type faster than I do ..." and he went on to describe the "adaptations" the manager has developed in order to do all of the tasks that others do with two limbs.

Considering this recruiter's amazement with the novelty that one with a "disability" can actually be hired for a management position and successfully function on the same level with their peers, the next question was who had recruited and hired this manager. After all, the manager was working for the recruiter's client. This recruiter, it appeared, would have passed on the manager; he would have considered the man as not qualified. However, the manager has all of the qualities one could want in an essential member of your corporate executive team.

The Right Question

Having assistive devices is not a red-flag situation that your candidate is not qualified for the position. It's only an observable signal that the person has a different way of doing the things that many other candidates manage. The interviewing question that should be put to all candidates is not, "Does your handicap require any special accommodations?" Nor should the first thought be the additional costs of having the person on your team because of major modifications to the workplace in order to have them there. Instead, the appropriate question for all candidates who are under serious consideration is, "Do you need any accommodations in order to fulfill the requirements of the position?"

What Isn't Seen

What's interesting is there are many invisible "disabilities" that are never addressed nor accommodated. The only reason a person with a prosthetic eye, for example, is never "accommodated" is because it isn't immediately obvious. If it never comes up in the interview and if the candidate has reached a means of dealing with doing the same work as their peers with a minor, unobtrusive adjustment, no one is the wiser unless the medical records search discloses the matter.

Other conditions that are not obvious yet may be legally termed a disability are emphysema, pregnancy, anemia or heart murmur. They are "invisible" conditions (in the case of pregnancy, short-term invisible) but are not carte blanche total disqualifications of an otherwise qualified candidate. These conditions may require some accommodation provided by the company or, in greater likelihood, an adjustment of some sort by the person with the condition so that they are able to do the same work in the same amount of time (or less time with better results) as their peers.

Changed Perceptions

That was more than 20 years ago. My perception of what having a disability means and how people who are classified as such appear has drastically changed. My idea of entitlement for a person with a disability has also drastically changed.

The pivotal lesson here is to take stock of what you believe a person with a disability means and to what they are entitled. If you believe they are just as entitled to a marketable wage, advancement, and access, if you believe they are just as capable of producing cost-saving and quantifiable positive results for your company, you deserve the opportunity to have them on your team or present them to your client.

Yvonne LaRose was recently selected to serve on the Los Angeles Metro Accessibility Advisory Committee. She was a Disabilities Accommodation Provider in the Bay Area of California from 1993 to 1997. From 1993 to 1996, she was a news reader for Broadcast Services for the Blind (BSB). The service is a private band radio station based in the Rose Resnick Lighthouse for the Blind that reaches 13,000 listeners in 13 counties). From the BSB studio, she produced and hosted her very popular bi-weekly radio newscast, "Legally Speaking" that aired from 1994 to 1996.

Thoughts on Enterprise Social Media Protocols, Pt. 2

Star status is important to some and not to others. Knowledge that they've been part of the end product sometimes carries its own limelight. To cut the negative side of competitiveness, it's important to acknowledge the more significant contributions of certain members of the team. However, the leader also needs to recognize how the rest of the team contributed to reaching that plateau.

Secretiveness among members needs to be discouraged. If there's an offsite meeting or finding, the results need to be shared with those who could not be present. It's such bad form to have suspicion coloring what's done. It leads to mistrust and eventual exits that create delays in the project while the replacements are hired. And the project will then have to absorb at least some of the replacement costs of search, intake, training, and returning to the point where the team was before the loss of manpower.

Make certain systems work. If there's a malfunction, the basis for it needs to be discovered and disclosed so that it won't happen again and so that successors don't have to deal with it. The basis for the malfunction, once discovered, needs to be revealed so it can be avoided and personnel can feel as though their efforts are subject to being thwarted (i.e., a major waste of time).

If someone on the team is promised feedback, more information, asked to attend a meeting, they need to receive what they've committed to. Make it on time, or as close to on time as possible. They may be sitting on something that requires that bit of information; delay causes their part to either not be delivered or delivered late. Coming back to the team member for a meeting that's before the appointed time is the same as telling them their schedule has no value and that you feel they're simply sitting around with nothing to do and waiting for your precious presence. Don't come off as smug and self important.

Additionally, the team member may have quite a bit on their plate. Putting the meeting (whether in person, by phone or Skype, or some other mode) on their calendar and clearing out a point when they can give you their undivided attention allows them to keep their workflow moving and timely. A spontaneous change because one has jumped the gun or suddenly has an open slot in the day is quite simply selfish. Other priorities then get shifted to a different situation. Progress is thrown off to the point of having to be rescheduled to another day or may even be lost because there simply is no longer any time for the exercise. Keep appointments. If it can't be done and you realize it, reschedule for another time that is mutually convenient.

Now that we're in the 21st Century, people seem to forget some of the Web 1.0 netiquette we used to practice. There used to be these cute little abbreviations and initials that gave us clues, initials such as "afk" which stood for "away from keyboard" (a tactful way of saying I need to get something, put out the fire, go to the bathroom, etc.) and "brb" which stood for "be right back." Both of those let us know that the person on the other end was no longer available for a short duration.

Unfortunately, we've lost touch with those practices. Now people will walk away from the computer and have a meal, go visit with someone in another building, have a conversation with someone else in person for 30 - 60 minutes. Respect your team mates and their time. Let them know when you're stepping away. Let them know when the absence will be protracted. You're more apt to get their future cooperation when they're shown that they and their time are valued.

Thoughts on Enterprise Social Media Protocols, Pt. 1

Enterprise Social Media relates to shared information from one department manager to the rest of their personnel as well as from one department to another (or several), and then from the CxO office to the rest of the enterprise. That means reaching out to all of the teams, whether in the 2-3 person business as well as the global enterprise with thousands of employees.

Because the reach is so vast, and the message can be distributed so quickly, great care needs to be taken that people who are hired appreciate and respect the sensitivity of information that is shared. Team members need to keep project details and findings within their team until they are told it is ready for distribution. Even then, their leader needs to define the breadth of the distribution.

Corporate culture with regard to feedback and results of work can be playful on occasion just to keep things fresh and not oppressive (or boring and tedious). However, the jocular moments need to be defined as such because a text message or email doesn't contain voice inflections (unless they're composed on a voice synthesizer) and not everyone from the same country, let alone the same region, understands some things that are humor. But I digress.

Team members need to respect one another in every way. Likewise they need to be imbued with the power to build the results of what they do by being able to offer a different perspective or even object to something that's been put on the table. But they also need to take responsibility for those positions by offering the basis for the position. When points of differences are defined, it's easier to understand where the idea won't work in a particular situation but may be one of the potential solutions in another setting. And understanding the reasoning behind the support or rejection helps to shed light on the project side of it and not allow it to be construed as a matter of personality.

There's no room for gossip (unfounded information about others or things); there's no room for needless distractions that tend to cause panic or discomfort. Constructive criticism should be encouraged for the sake of growth and learning. Learning should be encouraged. Good communication skills through open, tactful speech should be encouraged. Tact is paramount followed by exchanges between parties for the sake of transmission of information as well as building alliances. And exchanges of information mean confirming that the correct message was heard by the correct party(ies). Confusion about terms and terminology should be cleared up quickly so everyone is on the same page.

Nor should there be any space in any way for threats of punishment, suggestions of coercion, destruction of input to work or research or work, withholding of privileges for lack of consent. Abusive and retaliatory consequences simply do not belong in your corporate culture much less on any of your teams. Isolation, being ostracized, personality differences, failure to recognize the advantages of diversity of culture, ethnicity, abilities, and even age make being in your enterprise not a healthy place to be. Get rid of all of it and don't let it slide under the door.

Star status is important to some and not to others. Knowledge that they've been part of the end product sometimes carries its own limelight. To cut the negative side of competitiveness, it's important to acknowledge the more significant contributions of certain members of the team. However, the leader also needs to recognize how the rest of the team contributed to reaching that plateau.