Managing Monkeys

If you have ever been to the island of St. Kitts, you probably remember the monkeys.  Island lore says the monkeys came with the French settlers in the early 1600’s as pets.  When the French left the island several years later, they left the monkeys to go wild.  The monkeys now outnumber the people on the island and have adapted to be pests to local farmers. 

Some of the locals have taken advantage of the mild mannered disposition of the monkeys.  As you walk into the central square from the ship port you will see a few of the locals walking around with 2-3 Green Vervet Monkeys on their shoulders.  They are cute – complete with matching outfits in St. Kitts colors, a diaper, and willing to jump right on a stranger. The monkey wranglers quickly try to put them on your shoulders and offer to take your picture with them…and want a few dollars in exchange for the opportunity.  It is a novelty, fun for a few minutes diversion, and inexpensive souvenir shot – but you don’t want to keep them too long.  They can start to pick at you, climb where you don’t want them, and might end up costing you more than you want to pay with a pushy monkey wrangler.

Monkeys can have a similar effect on managers and leaders.  You’ve experienced it. 

• A member on your team approaches you with a problem and not sure how to handle it.  You find it easier to take care of it yourself than coach them through it and now you have their monkey. 
• A new project or task is assigned to your department.  It should be passed on to one of your staff, but it is something you like to do.  You keep it and now you have another monkey to manage.
• A staff member approaches you about a task.  You tell him you will think about it and get back to him.  Another monkey jumps on your back.

Limit the monkeys by taking three steps:

1. Keep the monkeys where they belong.  Ask open ended questions with your team when talking about issues.  Ask them what they can do.  Ask them to evaluate the options.  Ask them when they would like to give you and update on the progress.  By doing so, the monkey stays with someone else instead of landing on your shoulders.
2. Commit to developing people.  Chances are that you grew in your skills and knowledge by taking on new and challenging projects that stretched you at the time.  Your team needs the same opportunity.  Pass that favorite task or project onto one of your team so it can become one their favorites.  Provide details, be available for questions, but let them manage the monkey – even when it is favorite one that might not seem like a monkey.
3. Recognize and control the monkeys.  Just as the uncontrolled monkeys on St. Kitts can cause problems, so can the unchecked monkey with your team.  The monkeys were just pets until no one was watching.  Keep the monkey population low by assigning monkeys to a person with a deadline and provide the needed opportunities to check in on their progress.

The monkeys you accept will cost you at some point.  Be intentional about which monkeys stay and which ones stay where they belong.

Empowered Service

I was sitting in McDonalds in the San Juan airport a few days ago.  They had the largest seating area at a food venue but you had to buy something in order to stay there.  It was mid-morning when I ordered and I asked for the hash browns.  I was politely told that they didn’t have those at this location – so I ordered a healthier fruit parfait, and returned to my seat and luggage.  Several minutes later, the lady who took my order walked out with a big smile on her face and handed me two large hot McDonald’s hash browns.  “I found these for you and was hoping you would still be here – have a great day in San Juan!”

Kumba is a taxi driver on Tortola.  He was giving us a tour of the island – 7 in our group and 6 in another group settled into what looked like a safari truck.  We were running a bit behind in the schedule promised for the tour due to extended pauses looking at scenery.  Our kids were anticipating the 30 minute stop at the beach.  Because we were running behind, Kumba announced the beach was simply going to be a pit stop so the other group could get back in time for their commitment.  I shared with him that our kids were looking forward to the beach stop and asked if there was a way to extend it.  Kumba asked if would be ok to leave us a little longer – he would drive the other group back to the port and then come back to get us.  Even though it added an hour to the trip for him driving, there was no extra charge.  It worked out – the other group made it back for their commitment, we got to stay at the beach a little longer, and Kumba got a good tip.

Taxi drivers and McDonalds generally aren’t the first things that come to mind when you think of magic moment Service.  Someone along the way had empowered both of these individuals to do what was needed to make the customer a fan.  They more than likely impressed upon them the domino effect a good experience has throughout the day and on recommendations.  And chances are they modeled it for them.

What are you modeling with your team?  Are they empowered to brighten the day of their customers?

Creative Leadership

I just returned from a South Caribbean cruise that provided a few opportunities for reminders on leadership.  I’ll share a few in the next posts.  One of the favorites?  A quartet of kids in St. Kitts making their own brand of music.  Their instruments?  A ukulele, a flute made from PVC pipe, a cheese grater, and a triangle.

Chances are their songs won’t make ITUNES top download list in the near future – but they were having fun doing what they enjoyed, they made a lot of people smile, and they showed some ingenuity using what was available to them. They even made a few dollars from the looks of the traffic stopping to listen.  They weren’t sulking about not having the instruments they wanted and didn’t have.  They weren’t arguing about who got to play what instrument – at least not in public.  Nothing but smiles.

Leadership is about looking at the resources you have available and coming up with a plan on how to use them best. What is your cheese grater that needs to reallocated?  What is your piece of PVC that would be better with holes in it?

Leadership is about creating the future with something greater than the sum of the parts –  individually each of the instruments have limited options (haven’t heard a CD dedicated to a cheese grater).  Together, much is possible and much more than credited alone. 

Leadership is about keeping people motivated and making a great impression with the work they do.  Help your team celebrate the roles they have and blend together.

Take a look around you.  Inventory your resources. Create the future.  Celebrate the successes.  Learn from some kids in the South Caribbean looking to have some fun.