It’s hard to argue that a primetime network T.V. show that debuts after the Super Bowl has any mission other than to entertain the masses. It’s perhaps unfair then to ascribe any responsibility to the “Undercover Boss” other than the blatantly obvious—we all knew what we were getting—another reality show.

In reality T.V., however, there is an endgame separate and apart from mere entertainment. The Bachelor promises love, American Idol fortune and fame, and The Apprentice, a dream job with The Donald. In the case of the Undercover Boss: the chance for an executive to “garner an up-close look at his company and workforce to see how and where improvements can be made.”

And so I found myself hopeful that Larry O’Donnell, President and COO of Waste Management might provide both entertainment and some real lessons on management and leadership. Unfortunately, Larry missed the boat on the valuable learning of the day—namely the importance of a feedback loop within an organization.

Initial praise for the show ran deep, with the New York Times quoting executive producer Stephen Lambert “Anybody who has had a boss, or who has worked in a company, will understand this show…and for the person in charge, to be able to see what their employees are really doing seemed like an exciting idea.”

Exciting isn’t exactly the word many would use to describe a manager’s responsibility to know what his employees are doing. Shouldn’t it be expected (or at least aspired to) that leaders know what their front-line workers are up to?

With the five employees Larry shadowed on candid-camera, he proposed tailor-made remedies to each of their complaints—a task force here, a new policy there, a modest wage increase for another. Larry was genuinely touched by the challenges his employees faced and was humbled by the dignity and respect with which they carried themselves and contributed to the organization. Yet it’s not what Larry learned that was disappointing—it’s what he didn’t learn.

Standing on a podium presenting his “findings” to a raucous crowd of WM employees, Larry failed to consider the issues facing the remaining 45,000 employees of Waste Management. Larry didn’t look at the big picture of what the show revealed. Instead of fixating on the individual problems that surfaced during the show, Larry should have realized that WM appears to be an organization in which no effective feedback loop exists. To be sure, the five lucky employees who spent a day with Larry weren’t the only ones suffering at the hands of the productivity missives barreling down from the top.

It’s not just a problem that female garbage collectors aren’t given the decency of bathroom breaks: it’s a problem that Larry didn’t know that that was the case. It’s not just a problem that employees were dashing out of the cafeteria, petrified of being docked pay–it’s a problem that their behavior had never reached him. If Larry heads back to WM and makes only incremental changes in a few of the company’s practices, he’s missed an enormous opportunity to improve something much more critical to his company.

The key lesson for Larry is that productivity initiatives are a two-way street. There’s got to be an information channel that goes from bottom to top as well as from top to bottom. Based on his week in the field, Larry might have realized that Waste Management wasn’t doing a good job of listening to and soliciting feedback from its frontline employees—hearing from them what was working and what wasn’t, what was helping them and what was hurting them. Making people happy, giving them ownership in processes and policies, and treating employees like valued and respected members of a community or organization—that’s the way to increase productivity.

Senior leadership has a responsibility to know what employees are doing on a regular basis—it shouldn’t be treated as a special event. I believe management has a responsibility to work the front lines of every organization. There’s a reason we have a “take your kids to work” day and not a “take your boss to work day.” It’s expected that the boss knows how to pick up trash, make a widget or close the deal. Many companies are on top of this: Zappo’s CEO spends time talking to customers and filling orders and the CEO of Burger King knows how to work a cash register. And even on Wall Street, you’re hard pressed to find a managing director who didn’t cut his or her teeth pulling all-nighters as a lowly analyst. Wouldn’t it have been great if Larry had taken his moment on reality TV to learn that lesson–and to show the rest of us what that transformation could look like?

To see the HBR comments, click here

December is performance review month. While the merits and validity of a year-end review are often the subject of

Your managers will spend much time (hopefully) preparing to deliver your review in a thoughtful and constructive manner. You should spend as much time, if not more, preparing yourself to receive the feedback in a thoughtful and constructive way too—to impress your manager, address negative issues head-on, and set a positive tone for the year ahead.

2009 has been a tough year for many of us. Most people I know have been hanging on for dear life at their jobs, versus swinging for the fences. It is rare, these days, to hear, “I knocked it out of the park.”

For those who are more apprehensive than usual regarding the fateful meeting with the boss, take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone. More importantly, know that there are three things you can and should do to prepare yourself, whether or not you expect the conversation to be difficult.

The goal of the performance review, from your perspective (not just your manager’s), should be to:

1. Highlight what you’ve done well
2. Acknowledge areas of weakness
3. Demonstrate what you’re doing now to make things better next year

1. Highlight what you’ve done well

Before your performance review, you owe it to yourself to take stock of your accomplishments and be ready to toot your own horn. No one else is going to do it for you. This may be your only chance to let senior management know about 2009 “wins,” big or small. Failing to go into that meeting prepared to dazzle your manager with what you’re most proud of is nothing short of professional negligence. Too many people walk out of a performance review caught off-guard and realize after the fact that they’ve just spent thirty minutes talking about what went wrong without ever mentioning their important clients, biggest deals or contributions to the firm.

2. Acknowledge areas of weakness

Don’t fight the obvious. I’ve spoken to several people lately who have expressed a great deal of concern about their upcoming reviews. In two cases, both people told me right off the bat about the criticism they knew was coming at them. If you know what’s coming, don’t try to hide behind it. You’ll do far better with your manager if you acknowledge the issue and then show how you’re moving past it or why it actually isn’t a problem after all.

Anna B., a human resource professional, had been receiving rave reviews from her internal clients in the various business divisions she covered. Her HR manager, however, didn’t like Anna’s direct approach and disregard for the hierarchy implicit in the organization. Anna spent a lot of time thinking about the differences between her and her manager before her performance review. She recognized her work-style was different and could be perceived as threatening, but she also knew that she delivered results and her clients valued her contributions greatly. She decided to frame the discussion like this: her process might be different, but her work product was excellent. If the firm valued process over product, then perhaps she should look for something new. If the firm valued her work product, then she and her manager needed to find some common ground on process while not sacrificing the end goal: great client service, which she was delivering.

3. Demonstrate what you’re doing now to make things better next year

Here’s where you’ve got to be ahead of the eight ball. It doesn’t fly to just sit there and listen and agree to work harder or smarter or better next year. You’ve got to show a meaningful understanding of what went wrong, or what was sub-optimal, and then show what you’re already doing, or planning to do, to fix the situation.

David M. had just moved cross-country and his productivity had slipped. He knew he wasn’t on top of his game while getting his life up and running in California. He himself was upset that he hadn’t been able to produce the results he had hoped for in the 4^th quarter and he was nervous about his upcoming review. I asked David how he was going to improve his productivity in the new year. He mentioned several new initiatives underway and the fact that his transition period would be over. I encouraged David to pre-empt the criticism. He needed to walk into that meeting, acknowledge the disruption his move had caused and then move past it quickly with a concrete timeline and action plan for producing results in the first half of 2010.

The performance review can be a valuable learning experience. It takes work, however. Don’t be an observer—be an active participant in the conversation. Know and be able to communicate what has gone well, what hasn’t and how you’re working to improve next year—and you’ll be well positioned for a constructive dialogue that shows you to be the competent and capable professional you are.

To see the HBR comments, click here

2. Share the good before the bad-always try to find something good about the work someone has done-even if the deliverable or work product is a total failure, you can and should try to at least acknowledge someone’s effort or their time, a good attitude or intentions, or someone’s willingness to attempt the task. * this is not always possible, see below for exception to the rule.

3. Highlight specific examples of why something is bad or wrong-show evidence and be specific-go back to high-school English class here and use ways in which or reasons why.  Don’t say “this memo is terrible, you need to re-write it,” instead say, “The overview section is far too broad and the management section is missing key principles.”  Or, “I don’t agree with the organization and the focus on operational challenges, I think the memo needs to instead highlight the following three points.”

4. Give concrete actions strategies for improvement of performance – Be explicit and be generous in sharing ways this person can improve-perhaps it’s suggestions of people to talk to or sharing a recent example of a deliverable that was well thought out or well received.  If it’s someone’s bad attitude you’re confronting, then give actionable pointers to help that person be perceived as having a good attitude-you might suggest getting to the office earlier in the morning, proactively offering to help out on their teams more often, assuming more responsibility within a given team without having to be asked to do so, or spending more time mentoring junior team members, for example.

As a junior VP on Wall Street, my boss (a managing director) took the reigns of a conference call one day with one of my clients-she essentially ran the entire call without letting me speak or asking my opinion.  I didn’t get a word in edge wise – which was insulting given that I was this client’s key liaison.  After the call, I was fuming.   I immediately gathered my nerve, however, and went into her office and asked her if she had a moment.  In a respectful but firm voice, I told her that I’d appreciate it, going forward, if she’d let me lead calls with this particular client given my relationship with them and the fact that I was closer to the specific deal than she was.  I emphasized that it undermined my credibility with the client to let her run the call.

She immediately i) understood my point ii) apologized and iii) agreed to let me lead calls going forward.  The strategy worked. Here’s why:

• I took it off line.  I didn’t interrupt the call and try to take over from her or cause a raucous in front of the client (step 1)
• I was specific in telling her why this was bad/wrong i.e. it undermined my credibility (step 3)
• I proposed a solution: “going forward, I’d appreciate if you’d let me lead the call next time…” instead of marching into her office and asking her why she didn’t let me speak (it didn’t really matter at that point, it was already over, what mattered is that it didn’t happen again) and focused on the future (step 4)

Note that in this case I don’t have a step 2; I don’t think you always need it, especially during “real time” feedback/criticism.  If it’s in the heat of the moment, then the important thing is to get your point across effectively.  My boss didn’t need me to tell her what a great job she did leading the call in this case.

Lauren is like a lot of successful entrepreneurs I know, especially women.   She’s a multi-tasker in every sense of the word. She runs a successful business, but she does it part time.  Or better said, she runs it on her own time.  There is an important distinction there.

When Lauren sees a call come in from someone she’s not equipped to speak with at that very moment, I advise against taking the call.  It really doesn’t do you any favors to pick up a call when you’re at the playground or in the grocery store-the kids shouting, the deli counter repeating back your order or the fire trucks going by-none of that messages professionalism.

Instead, let the call go through to voicemail and then return the call promptly when you’re somewhere quiet you can talk.  Or, if you’re not going to be somewhere quiet for a period of time, send a quick note on your blackberry with, “I saw that I just missed a call from you-my apologies.  I’m tied up for the next few hours (or I’m in a meeting), I’ll get back to you at 4 pm…”

If you do pick up the phone by mistake, here are a few options of what you can say to get off the phone quickly and maintain your professional mojo:

• Hi Jonathan, it’s great to hear from you, I had a note in my calendar to call you this afternoon.  I’m actually headed into a meeting in ten minutes, however. Would it be alright if I got back to you later this afternoon?
• Jonathan, hello, how are you?  I’m so glad to hear from you.  I know we need to catch up, but I’m unfortunately tied up for the next few hours.  Is there any way we could speak this evening after 8 pm or tomorrow?
• Jonathon, hi, how are you?   I’m going to be out of pocket for most of the afternoon, but I wanted to pick up briefly so that we could schedule a time to talk that works for both of us.

You’re client doesn’t need to know you’re at the gym, having lunch with friends or sipping a midday martini.  It’s not disingenuous to say “I’m tied up” or “I’m headed into a meeting” even if that meeting is with your toddler or masseuse.  The beauty of technology is that more and more people work on their own time.  So, the important thing is to message a sense of availability and enthusiasm-the availability doesn’t have to be immediate.  Its okay to not be able to take a client call the moment the call comes in-just be sure to propose some alternate times, get back to the client quickly, and then service the hell out of them when you do speak next.

Danielle Brehm, the waitress, had no idea she was serving Alan Richman, a GQ writer on a high profile, 20,000-mile search for the perfect pizza.  Danielle’s quick thinking and willingness to jump into the void proved invaluable to Mike Weinsten, Tomatoes Apizza’s owner.  In a time of crisis, Danielle simply stepped into the breach. She had no idea who she was serving.  “She took care of him,” says Weinstein, emotion in his voice. “She made a solid pie.”

Without Brehm, the pepperoni pie from Weinstein’s pizzeria wouldn’t have landed at number 21 in GQ Magazine’s “Best Pizza in America.”  Danielle is a model of good behavior-if everyone showed the initiative she did in managing through a crisis (no chef? no problem-I’ll do it myself) corporate America would look a hell of a lot better.

At the end of the day, “when the going got tough, at the moment of pizza truth, she made a pie that changed everything.”

Pizza lover’s bonus gqpizza/american pie

Going forward, I promise to stick to this formula.  It is pure coincidence that this post comes at exactly the time I am launching my long-overdue blog.  I know that I owe you all at least 19 additional posts before again even thinking of mentioning a promotional tidbit…  You have my word.  So without further ado, here goes-the best SSP Great on the Job could ask for.  Apparently, it’s time to reach out to Wal-Mart.

* * * * *

Sunday, May 24, Eduardo Castro-Wright, Vice Chairman of Wal-Mart, was interviewed for the NYT business section.  Castro-Wright was asked, among other things, what business schools should be teaching more or less of.  Here’s what he said:

I’ve done this quiz several times when we have gone to talk at business schools. I always ask people, “So who’s taking accounting?” And everybody raises their hand. And, “Who’s taking strategy?” And everybody raises their hand – and you go on with your typical curriculum about the business school. Mostly they are very good at teaching strategy, operations, management, finance, accounting.

But then I ask, “O.K., how many courses have you taken on how you talk with an employee you’re firing?” Or, “How do you talk with the person who comes to your office late at night to tell you that her daughter is sick and she might not be able to come in the following day?” Or, “What do you say when they come in with issues in their marriage that are impacting their job?”

As managers and leaders of people, those are the kinds of questions that one deals with probably 80 percent of the time. I think that business schools could do more to prepare kids to deal with the often more difficult side of business management and leadership. The balance of courses is probably weighted to the numeric side of business as opposed to the people side of business.

I couldn’t agree more.  Technical skills are important.   But in my mind, in 9 out of 10 cases, the precursor to success isn’t being the smartest, hardest working or most technologically savvy.  In fact, it’s the way you ask for time off when a family emergency arises, or how you handle a crisis when, as my dad used to say, the feces hits the rudders.  And frankly, it’s how you introduce yourself on your first day, week, month on the job in a way that is interesting, compelling and memorable.

So what should you do when an employee tells you that his daughter is sick?  1) you can and should be as supportive as possible to your employee, and 2) you need to maintain the forward momentum of your organization.  Here’s the rap:

1. Be supportive and empathetic “I’m so sorry for your situation, is there anything we can do for you or your family?”
2. Offer to help with his workload if necessary: “do you need help in getting anything taken care of while you’re out?  do you have backup to cover for you?  is there someone I can reach out to on your behalf to make sure nothing falls through the cracks while you’re out?”

In an ideal world, your employee would come to you with the solution in hand (I’m going to be gone tomorrow but I’ve covered my bases and Jonathan will take over for me).  But if that doesn’t happen, ask how you can help move that process along.  The goal is for you to make sure your employee and your firm are both taken care of, so if you have to step in or step up, its worth it to keep things running smoothly.   And besides being the right thing to do, it will no doubt generate goodwill on the part of your employee.

With that, an introduction to Great on the Job.  Take a look around the site and see what you think!

best, jodi

Management Guru Fans Bonus: NYTimes/EduardoCastro-Wright