Dealing With “Chatty Cathies” and “Flapjaws”

Last week I spent a half day with two of my Future Leader coaching clients. These are the guys the CEO expects will take the helm and lead the firm when the current execs step down very soon.

Ray and William are both extraverts, like me. Extraverts have to talk in order to think. Believe me, the three of us did a lot of talking, and they came up with great ideas and a plan for moving forward. That’s the beauty that comes from extraverts working and talking together.

It’s unlikely they would have made such gains if they had each worked on the problem alone, in their offices.

Ray, William, and I are different from a lot of the engineering population. Statistically, the majority of engineers are introverts. Introverts like working alone. Introverts don’t talk until they have finished their thinking.

Introverts wonder when the extraverts are going to shut up. They call us “Chatty Cathies” and “Flapjaws.”

How do you, as the boss, help these two groups coexist?

FOR THE EXTRAVERTS

Most extraverts don’t realize how much they talk. They also don’t realize how their talking grates on introverts’ nerves. Here’s what you need to do to educate your extraverts.

• Tell them you understand they need to talk to think
• Make them aware that they talk a lot, which is an energy drain for introverts
• Have them identify who they work with, particularly clients, that would appreciate them talking less
• Remind them to ratchet it back, as I told one extravert, before going into meetings with introverts
• Institute the 5-second rule—They have to wait 5 seconds before speaking when someone else finishes.
• Tell them to jot down ideas when they get them, but not to interrupt to share an idea the moment one pops up.. Extraverts are world-class interrupters.

Next week: How to get Introverts to extravert just a bit—and what extraverts call introverts

CAN YOU HELP?

Last week we included a link to a one-question survey we are conducting. If you didn’t have a chance to follow through last week, could you do so now?

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We are conducting this simple survey to gather input from you that we are using to design Creating Tomorrow’s Leaders Today, an upcoming Future Leaders online coaching program for engineers. Stay tuned for more details.

Closing Some Communication Gaps

This week’s tale from the human side of business.

I was meeting with Sue, a client who is a principal in a pretty large firm. She and her team are working on a high profile project. Another senior engineer, George, had been recruited to help Sue’s team out. George had a big project of his own.

For the second time, George had failed to finish work when he said he would. Sue’s frustration was that George had set an expectation for Sue that he would be done on Monday. When Monday rolled around, he hadn’t completed the work. Sue was livid.

“Why didn’t he tell me he couldn’t get the work done until Tuesday? I could have lived with that,” a frustrated Sue exclaimed. “As it was, I had to tell the boss that the report wasn’t ready for him to take into his Monday meeting with the client. You can imagine how happy he was at that.”

When I asked if George knew the boss needed the report, Sue said, “No, but he would have known if he would come to team meetings, but he doesn’t.”

Several things are at play here.

• George needs to learn the importance of setting realistic expectations. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. He needs to understand the logic behind the deadline.
• Sue needs to let George know that the boss needed George’s report for his Monday meeting with the client. She needed to tell WHY the timing was critical.
• George needs to attend team meetings so he knows what’s going on. Even though he has a big project of his own, he is a critical member of Sue’s team and needs to participate that way.
• Sue needs to have one person take notes in team meetings, then write up and circulate the notes. That way, team members who are on vacation, out sick, or meeting with the client can be kept up to speed on what’s happening.

We need a favor

We are putting together material for an online coaching program for future leaders. We always say we take the mystery out of what they didn’t teach in engineering school. As a favor to us, click on the link below and tell us what the two toughest things are that you have had to learn as an owner, CEO, or manager.

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Thanks so much for your help. We will share collective responses in a future posting.

Taking Stock in the Future

The emotions in the comments were almost palpable.

“What is wrong with these guys?” bemoaned the 60-year-old exec. “When I was their age, I worked 60 hours a week, raised my family, and still bought into the company. These guys, though—they aren’t stepping up and buying stock. What’s up with that?”

Thus, the generational issue raises its head again--particularly with Boomers eyeing retirement. They are the primary stockholders in their firms, and the firms need staff to step up and buy company stock so the Boomers can leave.

The Boomers see the issue as one of loyalty. Truth be told, some also want to see that stock price go up so they will take home more when they do cash out.

For the staff, though, it’s a leadership issue. I’ve been hearing this from clients for some time. Now Watson Wyatt, an international consulting firm, has documented it. The data is for Canada, but I think it is significant enough that we can use it here.

Let the data speak

Watson Wyatt put employees in groups according to age: Under 30, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60 and over. Here is what they found.

• No. 1 driver for all age groups except 30-39 is Strategic Direction and Leadership. No. 1 driver for ages 30-39 is Rewards (pay and benefits). That’s hardly surprising since this is the group most likely raising young families.
• No. 2 driver for all groups except 30-39 is Rewards (pay and benefits). For the 30-39 group, it’s Strategic Direction and Leadership.
• No. 3 driver for all three groups is Communication.

The message is clear: If you want staff to buy stock, you have to tell them what future they’re buying into. And you’d better be making a profit.

Strategic Direction and Communication

You, company leaders, need to provide and communicate strategic direction for your firm. Putting together an annual strategic plan and handing out copies is not enough. One firm has a schedule for who is going to communicate what strategy-related message, when, to whom, and by what means. They let staff know what progress they’re making on their goals.

Teach Them What You Had to Learn

You need to identify the folks you want to step into leadership roles and educate them about the job. One 40-something client made this point last week: “They keep calling us the future leaders, but we are leading now.” In his case, he’s right. Just like you, they didn’t learn how to run a company in engineering school. Help them learn what you didn’t know.

Share Your Thinking

Once you identify those leaders, you need to get into the financials and history for your firm. These 40-somethings need to understand why you make the financial decisions that you do. They probably don’t have your decades of experience with the firm, so, for example, they need background on why you got out of a particular market 10 years ago. You have 20, 30, maybe 40 years of knowledge about your firm in your head. You need to share it.

Be Creative in Stock-Buying Plans

The 40-somethings are likely raising a family, looking at ever-looming college costs, and starting to deal with their own aging parents. Taking out a sizable loan to buy stock in the company isn’t going to happen. Thus, you need to get creative in offering ways to buy stock. Some firms are giving stock as a bonus. Others encourage staff to use bonuses as a means to buying stock. Another firm has a payment plan.

ON A SIDE NOTE

The exec in this tale talked about how he and his partners all grew up as a family as they built the firm. Thinking out loud, he said maybe the company should have a cookout or some other get-togethers so folks could get to know each other better. That’s typical Boomer thinking.

When I relayed that comment to a 40-something, he said, “I don’t need to get to know those guys any better. I know them well enough.” That’s typical Gen-Xer thinking.

Boomers need to recognize that Gen-Xers are focused on their families, not the company. In our tight labor market, a top-quality engineer can quit in the morning and find another job before the day is out. Their priority is taking care of their families.

What’s a Boomer exec to do? Provide that Strategic Direction they want, demonstrate leadership and grow new leaders. Be creative in ways for the staff to buy stock.