The 7 Secrets of Inspiring Leaders

I'm a student of leadership. I love reading books and articles about leadership styles, theories and principles - and I try to implement those that make sense for our work environment. I recently came across an article that I have kept since 2008. It was written by Carmine Gallo who claimed it would provide "insights into selling your vision, your value - and yourself." The article is based on a book "Fire Them Up! 7 Simple Secrets to Inspire Your Colleagues, Customers and Clients."  I thought I would share these insights with you to see what you think.

1. Demonstrate enthusiasm constantly. You cannot inspire unless you are inspired. You can't teach passion. You either have it or you don't. Are you excited about coming to work everyday? Do you love our customers? If not, what needs to change?

2. Articulate a compelling course of action. Short. Vivid. Think of Bill Gates' vision - a computer on every desk, in every home. The power of a vision sets everything in motion. Are you inspired to "bring creative, trusted and valued solutions to government and business?"

3.  Sell the benefit. Why should you care? The answer should be clear. No guessing. Our mission says we want to "increase the prosperity and competitiveness of Tennessee." Is that worth the time and money and energy that we put into our work?

More to come in a future post....

Annual Performance Reviews

Supervisors are participating in training during the next few weeks to learn about the new forms for this year's process and how to conduct an effective annual review meeting. We have many experienced supervisors and a few new ones. These annual training programs are always a good refresher for those of us who have been doing this for a while.

As I discussed during my staff visits around the state, there should be no surprises during this meeting. Supervisors should already be aware of all your outstanding accomplishments of the year and you should already be aware if your supervisor has any concerns about your performance. This is merely an opportunity to document all of those in one place. The majority of the time should be spent developing and agreeing to your work plan for 2013.

I scan every performance review for every employee. I always enjoy learning about the exciting things that have occurred that for one reason or another I have not been aware of. I'm always impressed with the breadth and depth of our work and the strong relationships we have across the state.

We also track performance review ratings over time to look for rater consistency across each agency. Remember our starting point for every review is a "3". That assumes you are coming to work every day working your plan. It is your responsibility to document performance surpassing a "3" and it is the supervisor's responsibility to document performance below a "3." In the end, the agency director is responsible for ensuring that managers are evaluating employees fairly.

Once employee reviews are complete, agency directors have their reviews and once those are complete, the assistant vice presidents have their reviews. Ultimately, I will also have my review with the president. Like you, I am already pulling together documentation of my performance last year.

I hope the process goes smoothly for everyone. If you have any issues or concerns, please contact Judie Martin, the IPS human resource office.

New Legislators are Coming to Town

This week the Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership will host the Newly Elected State Legislators Workshop in cooperation with the Baker Center for Public Policy. More than 50% of the newly elected state senators and representatives of the 108th General Assembly will spend two days in Knoxville.

The main focus of the workshop is "transitioning from campaigning to governing." They will also learn about the economic conditions of the state from Dr. Matt Murray and the state budget process from F&A Commissioner Mark Emkes. Lt. Governor Ramsey and Speaker Harwell will open the session. The president is hosting a dinner to recognize the new delegation and we will be joined by returning legislators, board of trustee members and other special guests.

This is the third biennial session that the Naifeh Center has hosted and we are looking forward to an outstanding two days.

Happy New Year!

2013 promises to be an exciting year.

With updated strategic plans in place at the UT System, IPS and all the agencies, we have a clear roadmap for what we want to accomplish. Our strategy implementation teams are preparing annual work plans and the annual performance review process is right around the corner. Our goal is to align each employee's goals directly to his/her agency goals that are also linked to IPS goals and UT System goals. If we do this successfully, every employee will clearly see how his/her daily work activities help accomplish agency, IPS and UT goals. That's perfect alignment and a hallmark of high performing organizations.

The general assembly will convene next week and the Governor will present his budget shortly thereafter. We are hopeful for a good budget year (no budget cuts!) with an increase in operating funds as well as salary and benefit increases. I'll certainly keep you updated as information is available.

There are many exciting things happening across the state and throughout the institute. I look forward to hearing about them and sharing your excitement and successes throughout the year.

Happy New Year!