Every month I will take a quick minute in this location of LeMonAide to say “thank you” to one of my clients. So look for your organization to show up in my new “LeMonAide Lights.”

You know the world brand and the tag line, “Nothing runs like a Deere.” Well, for the past 18 months I have had the good fortune to provide leadership development training and consulting services to both corporate John Deere and also their dealerships around the United States and Canada. I am now bleeding “green.”

The passive boss.

You may work with one, and if so, read on.

Because someone is in a leadership position does not guarantee this person is the epitome of perfection. Some bosses were knighted for their managerial position because of technical knowledge or organizational skill, not always because their resonant leadership.

So, some bosses may have learned passivity when working alone only to continue this modus operandi when influencing others to follow him/her.

The marks of passivity in leadership normally take four expressions. First, it is difficult to get a definitive answer from this person. Second, this boss may actually talk about your performance to another person, not you. Third, the passive boss will delay making decisions hoping circumstances and other people will take this off his/her plate. And, finally, when someone continues to change his mind even after a deadline, he normally is a passive leader.

Notice at the core of a passive boss is an unwillingness to take responsibility.

Well, that is not good news if you work for one. What we have to do now is craft a strategy for working for a passive person who happens to be in a position of positional power.

The first segment of this strategy is to establish your own deadlines. If your boss has difficulty pinning this tail on the scheduling donkey, do it for her. Just say, “Can we agree next Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. all the information you need from me for this meeting will be on your desk.” That was not a question; it is a declaratory statement.

The second methodology is to pitch choices. As you are working on a particular project and you know you will need a definitive decision from your boss, give this person at least three choices. You have to make sure all three choices are acceptable to you so whatever your boss decides will be “peachy” with you. Please note I am not suggesting you walk up to your boss and ask, “What do you think we need to do here?” For a passive leader that question is an open invitation to procrastinate and then deny responsibility.

The third initiative you can take is build an “assumed agreement” with your passive boss. It will sound like this, “So, if I do not hear anything from you by tomorrow at 5 p.m. when we leave work, the next day I will stop what I am doing and move to this new project you have highlighted. Do you have any questions about the way I have set up our agreement?” If the answer is “no,” write your boss a quick e-mail spelling out what his silence means to the way you will precede.

If your boss says nothing, using the skill above, your boss has said something important. Assumed agreement is an interpretation of silence which is born out of passivity.

The last action you want to take with a passive boss is try to convert this person. It is not in your job description to rehabilitate your boss. You are not Dr. Phil or Oprah. You are someone who works for a passive boss and you need to take an active role in making sure you do not leave work as…the victim.

It is not often I recommend a book which does not have a specific bridge to doing business. This month is one of those times.

A long-time friend from Massachusetts suggested a book to me I just could not put down. It is a disquieting real-life story of a 12 year old boy who fled the civil war terror in Sierra Leone and, at age 14, was forced to become a boy soldier.

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah (ISBN:13:978-0-374010523-5) is a breathless tale of this child emotionally gutted by the inhumanity of war, who is rescued by UNICEF and makes a painful and restorative trip back to a humane world.

I recommend this book for two reasons. First, this story will remind all of us about the power of the “scene.” Put an innocent, carefree teenage boy in a savage environment salted with drugs, constant reruns of “First Blood” and physical threat and then watch the emergence of savagery.

Second, and here is the redemptive message, hold the damaged child close and permit the writhing, cursing and anger to slowly seep out until the original creation weeps for salvation and restitution.

You will not be the same after reading this book.

There is one of my 50 minute CD training programs which is especially helpful right now, Skills to Find My Next Big Idea (From My Small Brain). I am convinced every time I watch the news that what most of us need right now is just a new idea. Come on, the old ones do not seem to be working.

In this training program you will learn the sequential steps to generate wild and crazy new ideas, how to “play” with those ideas to find the next iPhone, Huggies or Jiffy Lube and then how to pitch your blockbuster idea to the people with power in your organization.

To order a copy of the CD, please go to www.execenrichment.com and choose the Our Products option. You’ll see a list of current products available.

New Free Article

Have you been spending more time “worrying” lately? If so, you may want to download my latest article, “The Worth and Waste of Worry.”

I am convinced “worry” has both a positive and negative quality. The problem is the negative normally storms off into a “worry cycle” where the anxiety feeds off of itself. This is a valuable article for reprinting in your company/organization newsletter. After reading this prose…you should sleep better!

To download a copy of this article, go to www.execenrichment.com and choose the Downloadable Resources option. After filling out a brief form, you will be led to a list of current articles available.

What do you do when the check arrives?

If you have asked someone to join you for breakfast or lunch when you will be doing business, take care of this uncomfortable time before you roll out the silverware from inside that napkin.

Since you have the initiative, give the ground rules for the check up front. You can say, “How about if we get together for lunch on Wednesday to discuss the new initiative.” If you get an affirmative response you have three choices. You can then add, (1) “Let’s do ‘Dutch,’", (2) "I will be picking up the tab," or (3) "Put the bill on my/our expense report.”

The etiquette here handles this before the end of the meal when the two of you are blathering, “No, no, let me get this,” or “What do you think we should do?” or “I thought we were each paying for our own meal.” None of those are appetizing options.

For those of you who regularly lead a meeting, here are four suggestions on how to wisely use the time when everyone is together.

First, before the meeting send out an agenda and give a start and ending time. Most meeting notices have a start time, but when this conclave will end is usually a mystery. Come Hades or high water, these time designations must be honored. You are probably asking, “Well, if the meeting has energy and everyone is engaged why would we want to end because an e-mail said so?” Because, when the meeting time parameters are honored by the team leader the participants will trust this person in the future.

Second, dismiss people after they have made a specific contribution. Does everyone have to hang around to hear conversations about areas over which they have no control or interest?

Third, if the team needs to debate an issue, give a time limit for the argumentation. If the debate does not result in any definitive decision, put it on the agenda for the next meeting.

Finally, throughout the meeting keep a running list of the team’s accomplishments on a whiteboard or a flip chart. At the conclusion of the team session (which we all know will honor the original time parameters!) direct the team’s attention to the list. This will visually reinforce the fact that this meeting was a good use of time.

If you have not heard, this is a good time to call your airline or travel agent to book flights this summer. Prices have come down because of the economy and empty seats.

I normally do my booking 90 days in advance and I cannot believe the fares out there right now. Some of my normal destinations for working with my clients have returned to fares I have not seen in five years.

This month’s MP3 recording is entitled, “It Won’t Happen…Overnight.” All the banter on television and radio right now is centered on this question, “How long are we going to have to wait to see some effects of the stimulus package?” Like children who repeatedly (ad nauseam) ask, “Are we there yet, Mommy?” we are not only dealing with an economy on life-support systems but our national impatience. You may find my thoughts entertaining and energizing.

To listen to the podcast, go to www.execenrichment.com and choose the Downloadable Resources option. After filling out the form, you’ll see the screen where you can choose the podcast option.

Most sales do not happen unless you put your face with your product.

The physicality of “showing up” gives the potential buyer a place in his/her mind to lodge your product. Without the face, your product/service is just another option on the crowded landscape of commerce.

So, what is a good reason to show up? Below you will find a legitimate list of reasons for your body to walk through the door. Which one of these is most feasible for you?

To meet with a committee who will make a sales decision

To meet the president of an organization

To take a tour of the facility so you can get a better idea of the organization’s market

To report back what you have put together to supply value to the customer

To deliver a written proposal

To give a detailed response to a question posed by the potential client

To physically demonstrate your product line

To give your client an option to watch you in action (making a presentation to a particular team within the organization)

To conduct a conference call with previous clients of yours

To show a highly customized PowerPoint presentation on how your product/services will specifically meet the needs of this particular client

Remember that your face, mannerisms, natural humor, and knowledge often never make it to the sales proposition until your body walks through the door.

Date

Location

March 12-13, 2009

Houston, Texas

March 16-18, 2009

Las Vegas, Nevada

March 19-20, 2009

Fargo, North Dakota

March 23, 2009

Richmond, Kentucky

March 26-27, 2009

Houston, Texas

March 29, 2009

Kansas City, Missouri

March 31, 2009

Houston, Texas

April 1, 2009

Hammonton, New Jersey

April 2, 2009

Syracuse, New York

April 3, 2009

Sedalia, Missouri

April 6, 2009

Springfield, Missouri

April 7, 2009

Tulsa, Oklahoma

April 8-9, 2009

Houston, Texas

Sometimes we struggle with the correct expression of time, money and quantity in business writing.

Here is the rule I use: When subjects expressing time, money or quantity represent a total amount, use singular verbs. When these same subjects represent a number of individual units, use plural verbs.

Below you will find three examples of this rule.

Three months is too long a time to wait for that order to arrive.

Three months have passed since our last conversation.

That $15,000.00 was the amount I saved on this purchase.

Thousands of dollars have already been spent on this purchase.

Ten acres is considered a small farm in this area of the country.

Ten acres were plowed for spring planting this year.